**WHAT IF YOUR TOMORROW WAS CANCELLED?*

Luke 12:16-21

16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:

17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down MY barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all MY fruits and MY goods.

19 And I will say to MY soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, [and] be merry.

20 But God said unto him, [Thou] fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

21 So [is] he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

James 4:13-14

13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:

14 Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

As I write this...it is 11:55 PM and I am on the brink of another tomorrow...but then I could have a massive heart attach and be gone before the new day. Not one minute is guaranteed. Garth Brooks sang a song that spoke to the issue of our mortality. The lyrics are curious if the singer made sure that his wife was aware of his love for her and if he had prepared her to live without him. 

Death is one subject no one really wants to talk about. We always live as if it happens to everyone else...but IF it happens to us, it will happen many....many years from now. I remember one of my friends brag that he would live to be a hundred. He made it to fifty. I am now 46 soon to be 47. 

I see that the clock has gone to 12:03 AM so I made it into that tomorrow....which is now today so tomorrow still may not come and if it does there will be a day when it does not. What will I have to show for my life? What will men say about me? Who will truly mourn my death? 

What will God say when I stand before Him? Will His evaluation of my life be greatly different than my own or other men’s estimation? While some may praise my achievements...other will curse my failings and God will judge both. Praise Him that I will be judged in relation to receiving Jesus by His mercy in saving me and not as a man with no Savior. Still...it will be a somber time and maybe a sad time and maybe a time of great loss and tears. 

We live for such fleeting things and waste our time on things that are destroyed while we are still here...left behind when we go or will be destroyed when He comes. I am in the preparing even at 46...why? 

Because what.....

**IF MY TOMORROW IS CANCELLED**

**WHAT IF YOUR TOMORROW WAS CANCELLED?**

Imagine this scene (scenario) if you would: It is evening, and you have just finished supper. You decide to sit in your recliner and relax for a few moments. You and your family tune into the Cosby show for some reruns and humor. Suddenly, right in the midst of your laughter, you hear a voice from the news center saying, “we interrupt this program to bring you a very important announcement. TOMORROW HAS BEEN CANCELLED.”

How ridiculous, you may say, but is it? For you see, that announcement comes to millions of people in the course of every day life.

For all you and I know, this announcement could be for you and me today. 

In the past year how many do you know who have heard those same words, YOUR TOMORROW HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

For many of you, who are sitting here today and listening as I preach, this announcement has almost become a reality in your life. A near heart attack, a near fatal accident, brushing death with cancer or pneumonia – those things and others have almost brought the announcement – YOUR TOMORROW HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

Every one of us is only a breath away from this announcement, that our tomorrow has been cancelled.

James tells us that we should live our lives with the realization that our plans, our very lives, are not certain. What seems to us so stable and sure is what we have “in this present world.” Yet what we have in this “present world” may crumble and fall today.

To many people this is the “real world.” To them there is no other world. To them this is all that life has to offer.

Most people say – “Yes, it’s the real world and you only go around once so you’d better grab all the gusto you can get.”

The tragic thing is, that we Christians often buy into this philosophy. But according to God’s Word, it’s a lie. This is not the real world; there is a world beyond this one, a world where there is no pain, sickness, or tears. A world with gates of pearl and streets of gold. A world where death is not allowed to exist.

Be careful how you get attached to this present world.

If we get too friendly, too attached – possessive of our possessions to the point that they possess us – then we become a friend to this world and an enemy of God.

I ask you, WHAT IF YOUR TOMORROW WAS CANCELLED?

Tomorrow was cancelled for this rich man in Luke’s gospel chapter 12. This is a parable that Jesus is sharing but for many this parable has become a reality.

The world’s philosophy is “Take care of number one!” Notice the repeated word “my” which points to this man’s ingrained selfishness.

He was concerned only about himself and nobody else. He didn’t care to help the poor and needy. He wanted to get all he could in this life for himself so he could just sit back and enjoy it.

This man had success, satisfaction and security. What more could he possibly want. You could say that as far as this world was concerned he had it made, he was enjoying life.

We need to be careful about having a false confidence in things or in people.

2 Kings 18:21

Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, [even] upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so [is] Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.

Psalm 30:6 

And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

Obadiah 1:3 – “The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘who will bring me down to the ground?’”

Jesus made it clear that life does not come from an abundance of things, nor does true success or security. This man had a false view of both life and death.

There are a lot of people that are like this rich man. In this world they feel secure, invincible, that they will live to be 100 years old. They refuse to think of death; they refuse to think of eternity; they refuse to think of judgment. As far as they are concerned this world is all that there is. But how foolish to think this way, death will come to all. All will face eternity either in the presence of God or expelled from his presence eternally. All will face the judgment one-day.

But this man’s tomorrow was cancelled with the words of verse 20 – “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you.” 

Death caught this man when he least expected it.

We would be tempted to say, “Too bad this fellow dies just when he had everything going for him! How tragic that he could not finish his great plans.” But I tell you, the great tragedy of this story is not what this man left behind but what laid before him: eternity without God!

Death has no favorites. It doesn’t respect age, position, importance, prosperity or anything else. Young people hear me, just because you are young and have your whole future ahead of you don’t think you can’t hear those words, YOUR TOMORROW HAS BEEN CANCELLED! There may be some here today who would say, I’m a good person, I treat people fair so I should live a while yet but you could also hear those words, YOUR TOMORROW HAS BEEN CANCELLED!

This man lived without God and he died without God. What a tragedy.

But, what if you and I had a guarantee? Let’s say tomorrow is not cancelled. How are we going to live? Are we going to live as if this is the real world? Or as if there is something beyond this world?

John said: “This world and all its desires is passing away. But, they who do the will of God will abide forever” (1 John 2:15-17). 

James said: “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). Life is short. Listen to the Word of God:

Job 14:1-2 – “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue.”

Proverbs 27:1 – “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

1 Peter 1:24 – “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away.”

James could have easily said, “Today or tomorrow I’ll travel the world…I’ll buy that house…I’ll write that book…I’ll finish that project…I’ll…I’ll.” All of this presumes that tomorrow will not be cancelled.

We are a presumptuous people. We presume that we will have a tomorrow to deal with our sin or to do what we have been putting off for some time now.

But what if tomorrow was cancelled and you were not able to take care of that sin that you have been dealing with?

God’s favorite word is today. Now is the accepted time; Today is the day of salvation, not tomorrow. Listen to Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:2 from the Living Bible: “For God says, ‘Your cry came to me at a favorable time, when the doors of welcome were wide open, I helped you on a day when salvation was being offered.’ Right now God is ready to welcome you. Today he is ready to save you.” We Christians & sinners, presume that we have a tomorrow & will take care of that thing, but God says, “Don’t put it off, do it now, get help, open your heart to someone, spend time in prayer. Do it! Tomorrow might be cancelled. Don’t presume that you will have a tomorrow.”

Closing...........

Augustine made this statement: “God has promised us forgiveness for our repentance, but God has not promised us a tomorrow in which to repent.”

Now, today is the only time you have. Don’t put God off anymore. Your tomorrow may be cancelled before the close of this service.

Then look at the other side of the coin. Think of all the good and right and loving things you intend to do. All the loving acts of justice, mercy, kindness and mission. Good intentions. There are many in the church who have intentions to work for the Lord but never do. We presume that we’ll have a tomorrow in which to do those things. But what if tomorrow is cancelled?

What if all the things you intended to do or say to your spouse never get done or said?

What about all the loving actions you intended towards your neighbors and friends?

What about all the great things you intended to do for the church?

WHAT IF YOUR TOMORROW WAS CANCELLED?

How easy to forget that this is not the real world. It’s not going to last forever.

I want to close with these few thoughts.

Each one of our lives hangs by a thread.

Anyone of us could be called upon at any time to stand before God and give an account of himself. What if tomorrow were cancelled for you? For me?

The good news is this – that if tomorrow is cancelled, and you are in Christ – don’t worry about it. Because the day after tomorrow has already been planned for you. You will spend eternity in heaven before the Lord. 

The bad news is that if tomorrow is cancelled and you aren’t ready to meet God then you will have to spend eternity in hell, banished from the presence of God. Don’t put off what you must do today, now.

The choice is yours and you must make it before your tomorrow is cancelled.

*I Ask You, Will You Be A Rope Holder?*

Acts 9:23-31

23 And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him:

24 But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him.

25 Then the disciples took him by night, and let [him] down by the wall in a basket.

26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple.

27 But Barnabas took him, and brought [him] to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

28 And he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem.

29 And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him.

30 [Which] when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus.

31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.

You see, here we find (Saul) Paul in great need. His life is threatened. He must get out of the city of Damascus or be killed. In the darkness his Christian friends put him in a basket and lowered him over the city walls to safety. In this story we see a great example of people enabling someone else to do what they themselves cannot do.

Paul was the greatest teacher, preacher and missionary the world has ever known. No one could have taken his place. He could do what no other believer in Damascus could have done. Yet he would be unable to do it if he were caught and killed, and by himself he could not get out of the city to continue the great work God had given him.

Phil 4:13 *I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me* 

We teach this to be a faith verse as we encourage others that are struggling....but Paul.....in this verse....He wrote actually meaning he could from experience....he was shipwrecked, snake bitten, beaten, imprisoned, stoned, left for dead and driven from one city to another!! 

Sometimes we have to experience the Perils=Dangerous times like Paul....to realize that * We can do all things through Christ which strengthens us* 

But if it wasn't for a few good friends ...he wouldn't have went through those things but rather would have died thus no Phil 4:13 

So, we find a group of fellow believers, none of whom could have done what Paul could do, placing him in a basket and lowering him over the wall to safety. The fact is, if these believers had not done what they did the ministry of the greatest missionary the world has ever known would have been over. 

There is a great parallel here for many of us that become discouraged because they can no longer do what they once did in the church, or feel that their best days of service have passed them by. Just because you are not the great missionary doesn’t mean you are useless. The great missionary would never have been able to accomplish the task that God had for him if there hadn’t been some people willing to hold the ropes.

Lets look at those who held the ropes for Paul and see what we can learn form them.

I. THEY HELD THE ROPES INCONSPICUOUSLY (not noticed)  

A. We don’t know their names.

B. We don’t know anything about them.

C. We don’t know where they came from.

D. We don’t know their occupations.

E. What we do know is that they held the ropes for Paul so   

        that the Gospel could continue to be spread.

F. Maybe you aren’t the leader in the church you once were

        .......maybe you can’t do what you once did....maybe the 

        newer (younger) people in the congregation don’t even

        know of your great past contributions. But you can still 

        have a vital part of the future by holding the ropes for the

        next generation.

2. THEY HELD THE ROPES GALLANTLY (with bravery) 

A. Those who held the ropes for Paul did so in the darkest hour of the night.

B. At a time when they probably felt they needed to be resting they were on the city wall holding the ropes of Paul’s basket.

C. Even though there was a danger that they would be caught, they held the ropes.

D.     Rather than being concerned for themselves they held the ropes so the Gospel could go on after them.

E.      Veterans, you have been the leaders of this church for many  years. Some of you have poured your lives into this church, and maybe now you feel that you are on a shelf and a new generation of leaders has moved into place. But remember, it is not to your glory that you have worked it is to the Lord’s, and even now when you deserve a rest, you are needed to hold the ropes so the new generation can carry on the work of Christ.

3. THEY HELD THE ROPES OPTIMISTICALLY ( with hope and confidence)

A. Those who held the ropes did so without knowing the future.

B. They did not know what Paul would accomplish.

C. They did not know he would write almost 2/3 of the New            Testament.

D. They didn’t know that some day he would take the gospel as far away as Rome and Spain.

E. They had no idea what great things God would use Paul to do, but they held the ropes.

F. Before grabbing the ropes they did not quiz Paul to make sure he was going to do things just like they would have, they simply grabbed the ropes and held on trusting God for the outcome.

G. Veterans, you have carried the torch passed to you from the last generation well. You have indeed been faithful stewards, and now the new generation has moved into leadership, grab the ropes and hold on as they lead us into the future, without you holding the ropes, how will they continue the work?

4.      THEY HELD THE ROPES PATIENTLY

A. They stayed at the task until it was complete.

B. They didn’t let the basket half way down and drop it.

C. They held on until Paul was safely at the bottom, out of the basket             

        and on his way.      

D. They stayed with the task until it was complete.

E. When is our task complete?

F. When God calls us home.

***CLOSING***

Veteran saints, you have served well, and I know you may think you deserve a rest, but there is still work to be done. God may have raised up a new generation to lead this church into the future, just as Paul was destined to do great things for the kingdom of God. But those things would never have been accomplished if some people hadn’t held the ropes that night.

If the church is to move forward winning their community to Christ we must have some faithful rope holders who aren’t concerned if anyone knows their name, who will hold on no matter the cost, who hold on not worrying about the future but trusting a sovereign God to bless their humble efforts, and who will hold on until the task is completed. 

I ask you tonight,  will you be a rope holder?