James 4:13-14: "Boast not thyself of tomorrow;
for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."
In this world there are many things that you can count on.
You can count on fire to burn.
You can count on rain to be wet.
You can count on flowers to have colors.
You can count on one drop of iodine to change the color of 5000 times its weight in water.
You can count on the sun to shine by day.
You can count on the stars to shine by night.
You can count on fishes to swim.
You can count on birds to fly.
You can count on 7x7 to be 49.
You can count on two times two to be four.
But you cannot count on tomorrow.
The future is in God's hand.
But for you only have "now."
Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is not here, and all you have is "now."
When the plagues were devastating Egypt, Pharaoh said, "tomorrow."
When Felix was troubled by the preaching of Paul, he said, "Go thy way for this time;
when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." (Acts 24:25)
God's Word says:
"Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts."
"Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
"Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."
Tomorrow is a lamp without oil, and tomorrow has left many in darkness.
Tomorrow is a key that has locked many in the dungeons of despair.
Tomorrow is the road that often leads to the house of never.
So, wisely use your today, and your tomorrow will be all right.
"Put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,
filthy communication out of your mouth ." (Colossians 3:8)
"Now it is high time to awaken out of sleep." (Romans 13:11)
"Turn ye now from your evil ways." (Zachariah 1:4)
"I am now ready." (2 Timothy 4:6)
Tomorrow is the fool's grave.
If you are counting on tomorrow you would sail the ocean in a paper boat.
Today is the "now" for salvation.
If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour by faith, you are lost now.
You are condemned now.
You're headed toward an eternal life in hell.
We know this because of what Jesus said in John 3:18: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God
John 3:36 says: "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life;
but the wrath of God abideth on him."
You are missing salvation now -- today -- this very moment.
You have decided to shut out of your life your only hope of eternal life.
God says:" All things are now ready."
God says: "Come now."
Everything has it's now, and yours is now.
It is now.
Nowhere in the Bible will you find God suggesting tomorrow or any other time
to trust Jesus as your Saviour.
The time is now.
Today is the time to become a Christian.
Today is the tomorrow that you talked about yesterday.
You have said to yourself before, "Tomorrow I will receive Christ as my Saviour."
Do it now!
Do it now!
You may not live another day or another hour.
We know that we can should never presume upon the future because life is unpredictable.
We don't even know what will happen this afternoon, much less next week or next year.
No one can predict the future.
I could tell you of so many people that I talked with one day,
and the next day they were dead.
We also know that life is brief.
Our lives are like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
The Greek word is the word "atmos", from which we get the word "atmosphere,"
which is that invisible layer of water vapor that encircles our planet.
Our lives are like a mist in the grand scheme of things.
Life is too unpredictable and too brief to live it without God.
We count our lives in years but God tells us in Psalm 90:12 "to number our days".
Everybody in this room is just one heartbeat away from death and eternity.
Dr. R. G. Lee told this story:
"A young woman showed me her dress in which she would be married. Happily, she said: "Tomorrow is the day of my wedding." That night she was killed in a car wreck.
Dr. Lee told of a man in one of his Bible classes.
The man said when asked to receive Christ, "I will accept Christ.
But I will do it next Sunday."
Four days later, he was dead, he was killed in an accident and the sawmill.
In my first interim as pastor, I had finished my sermon and the people were leaving.
One of the ladies stopped to talk with me on her way out.
She was a nurse in one of our large hospitals.
She told me about one of her patients who was critically ill.
She had learned that he was not a Christian, and he was close to death.
He knew this.
At the end of her shift, she went back to his room, and told him again about Jesus,
and asked him if he would receive Jesus as his Saviour.
He acknowledged that he needed Jesus, and if she would come back in the morning,
he would be ready to receive Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.
All through the night, she prayed for him, and she could hardly wait for the morning
to come and she could talk with him again.
She said that she left early before her shift was to begin, and went to his room.
Her heart dropped within her as she saw that his bed was made up.
He had died during the night.
The time to receive Jesus is now -- not tomorrow.
Tomorrow may never come.
You cannot count on tomorrow.
Possibly you are still without Jesus even though there have been many prayers
for you and many tears on your behalf.
You have had many invitations to receive Jesus Christ.
Your conscience has troubled you in the past, and now it's easy to say, "Tomorrow!"
Every time you say, "Tomorrow," it gets easier to say "Not now".
";Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
2 Corinthians 6:2
Receive Jesus Christ now!
Be ready when your day of death comes!
Today you are trembling with your destiny, and you are trembling within your heart.
Life is brief.
Death could come for you or me -- today -- tonight -- tomorrow!
The most important thing that you will ever do in this life is to be ready to die.
Some years ago, a young Christian in our church had just graduated from high school
and was looking forward to go to the university in the fall.
He and a young lady in our church was planning to be married in the fall.
He was a leader of our young people and he lived a Christian life
that was all who knew him.
One week out of high school, he started out to work on his summer job.
As he was driving to work, he had an accident -- his car left the road
and wrapped itself around a tree not even 12 inches in diameter.
The impact hit him on the driver's door, and he was killed instantly.
It happened in the front yard of one of our church member's.
No other car was involved, and it was a beautiful day.
No one could explain why his car left the road.
When we left our Sunday night church service, no one would have thought
that the next morning that he would be dead.
But he was ready, and he left here to be at home in heaven.
What about you?
It could be that someone in this service might not be on this earth tomorrow.
It could be that one of your loved ones -- one of your friends will be dead tomorrow.
Are you ready?
You cannot count on tomorrow!
Tomorrow may never come!
"Known only to him are the great hidden secrets
I'll fear not the darkness when my flame shall dim
I know not what the future holds
But I know who holds the future
It's a secret known only to Him."
Sermon was adapted from several sources by Dr. Harold L. White
