Today Is the Day!

I. Introduction
 A. 2Corinthians 6:1 We appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
II. Explanation
 A. In the verses before 6:2 in 2Corinthians, Paul has been talking about this great salvation God has wrought in Christ. In the last verses of 2Cor.5 he says that in Christ God makes people new. For through Christ people are reconciled to God because God no longer counts their sins against them since they were counted against the sinless Jesus. And then he implores them on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God.
  1. And then in 6:1, Paul urges the Corinthians not to receive this amazing grace of God in vain.
  2. And now in v.2 Paul tells us why this grace of God must not be received in vain: for “now is the favorable time; now is the day of salvation.”
 B. In order to make his point, in v.2 Paul quotes from the OT book of Isaiah.
  1. Isaiah was a prophet of God 700 years before Christ. More than any other prophet, he foretold a time when God would send a Christ into the world to save Israel & the other peoples of the world.
   a. Isaiah 49 is one of the chapters in Isaiah where he talks most plainly about the coming messiah and the coming day of salvation.
   b. In Isaiah 49:8 Isaiah is talking about this coming day of salvation and this coming time of God’s favor.
   c. So Paul quotes from this verse in Isaiah to express the magnificence of the grace which he is urging them not to receive in vain, for he knows Isaiah 49:8 is referring to the era which began when Christ came: “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
 C. You see, when Christ came, a new day dawned, a new era began. Even the calendar recognizes it. A whole new reality came into being. All those who live after the time of Christ live in the era of redemption.
  1. To those who are perishing the world may seem like it goes on as before, but – because of God’s word – we know better. We know that Christ’s coming has changed everything. We know that the river of life has flooded into the barren wilderness of human sin and has begun to turn it into a lush garden of God.
  2. We know that man has desperately needed salvation since the fall of Adam, and that in Jesus Christ God has listened to man’s need, and sent Jesus to rescue us.
  3. We know that His coming doesn’t just adjust our lives; it doesn’t just give us a little help. Rather, it makes all the difference in the world. It replaces mourning with dancing. It replaces God’s righteous disapproval with God’s warm welcome of sinners. It replaces death with everlasting life. It replaces despair & meaninglessness with hope & purpose. "The old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (2Cor.5:17)
  4. And those who lived in this age are the ones  "upon whom the ends of the ages have come" (1Cor.10:11).
  5. “now is the favorable time” is Jubilee language: every 50 years: debts cancelled, slaves released, lands returned to original owners
  6. When Christ died on the cross, a great door was opened. The barrier between God and man was removed. The curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom (Matt.27:51).
  7. And multitudes have been streaming through this door ever since.
  8. Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Our confidence is not in ourselves but in the Christ of God, who was the spotless sacrifice for our sins, and whose righteousness we are given so that we can become the very children of God.
III. This is too great a salvation to miss out on, such a marvelous salvation that we must not receive it in vain!
 A. Luke 1:68–70 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,” (Zacharias when his speech was restored.)
  1. No offer like this has ever been made.
  2. Toll fine story
  3. The stakes are even higher than they were before Christ. He brings with Him far greater opportunity and riches of blessing, but if we refuse Him, the consequences are much worse than they would have been before.
  4. Hebrews 2:3 How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
 B. The door will some day be closed. The openness is temporary.
  1. It is now, but it won’t be forever. And Jesus emphasizes the nowness of this salvation.
   a. He said: “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’” – Luke 13:24–25
    (1) The door is narrow in two ways: only through Christ, and only open a short time.
    (2) You can see that the second is clearly a part of what Jesus means by v.25.
    (3) But the big thing here is that there is an open door right now!
   b. In Luke 12:19–20 Jesus described the person who puts his confidence in his earthly accomplishments: I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This very night your soul will be required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
   c. Right at the end of His life, Jesus told the parable of the 10 virgins (Matt.25:1-13), where the door is shut on the 5 foolish virgins because they had no oil for their lamps.
   d. Over and over Jesus emphasizes the nowness of this great opportunity for salvation. Don’t wait!
  2. The time of opportunity is limited. The Bible’s message to "be reconciled to God" and to "not receive the grace of God in vain" is not only a true message, it is an urgent message!
  3. We need to wake up and be alert to God’s call – before it is too late. 
  4. I’ve had the unique experience of rushing my little sleepy children out of a burning house. I’ve had the experience of running around inside the non-burning part of a burning house, seeing if there was anything I should grab so as to save it from being consumed.
   a. Let me ask you this question: How long would you wait to leave the house when it’s on fire?
   b. What if there was only 10 minutes left of your favorite TV show? What if your team was rallying in the 9th inning?
   c. When a house is on fire, do you know what a blessing it is to have a door to the outside?
  5. The Horse & His Boy: When Shasta rushes to tell the people of Archenland that the army of Tashbaan is rushing to attack: How long after they hear the message before they close the gate?
  6. Now is “the acceptable time;” today is “the day of salvation.”
  7. Tomorrow may not be the day of salvation. But today is.
IV. This certainly applies to those who have never received Christ. They must flee to Christ while the fleeing is good. But it also applies to those who have believed, and over time have drifted from Him. After all, this was written to church people.
 A. And it’s very possible for Christians to drift away from Christ.
  1. In Jesus’s letters to the 7 churches in Asia in Rev.2-3, the first church, Ephesus, (though they had done many things right) had lost their love for Jesus (Rev.2:4), and the last church, Laodicea, had left Jesus outside, and He was knocking to come back in (Rev.3:20).
  2. One of the things the Lord taught His disciples on their last night together was that they needed to abide in Him, and not be separated from Him (John 15).
  3. I’ve known seasons in my own life when I didn’t abide in the Lord, but drifted from Him.
  4. Sadly, there are Christless Christians in desperate need of coming home. Maybe you?
  5. The 5 foolish virgins were in the company of the wise virgins, but they themselves had no oil. Their fire had gone out.
 B. They were so foolish to put it off, weren’t they? And we’re foolish if we put it off too!
  1. Now is the favorable time; today is the day of salvation!
  2. This is urgent stuff! It’s so foolish to take it lightly!
  3. When a wise person is awakened by the sound of a distant smoke alarm, he jumps out of bed in case there might be a fire. A fool covers his ears and tries to go back to sleep.
  4. One day Christ will return like a thief in the night. Or perhaps He will call us home unexpectedly.
  5. We ought to live in a constant state of readiness, not allowing unrepentant sin to reside in our hearts, not allowing animosity to dwell in our hearts toward others, not living casual, laid-back lives – as if there is no danger to be concerned about.
 C. Last year God convicted me of the sin of procrastination.
  1. I never realized it was a sin.
  2. Now let me qualify this. Not all procrastination is sinful. When there is something you know God wants you to do, I believe it is sinful to put it off because you don’t feel like doing it now..
  3. But when God convicted me of my sinful procrastination, He showed me that my procrastination was based on at least two heresies:
   a. The heresy of thinking life is long, the heresy of thinking that I have more time than I need (to do what God wants me to do).
    (1) God has only given us a certain amount of days to live on this earth.
    (2) The parable of the talents
   b. The heresy of thinking that my time is my own.
    (1) God calls me to make the most of the rest of my life, making the most of the rest of my day
    (2) Ephesians 5:16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
    (3) I am not my own, I’ve been bought with a price. (1Cor.6:20)
    (4) I take my desires and feelings so seriously. But the thing I should be taking seriously is God.
     (a) Ten commandments: first is You shall have no other gods before Me.
     (b) Lord’s prayer: Hallowed be Thy name: first petition
 D. God is calling you.
  1. Acts 17:30–31 “God overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he commands all people every-where to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world” (through Christ).
   a. He doesn’t tell us when that day is, does He? Matt.24:44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
  2. Hebrews 3:15 “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”