Albert N. Martin

Now, may I urge you to turn with me in your own Bibles to the second letter of the Apostle Paul to the church at Corinth.

Speaking of himself and his companions in gospel endeavors, the Apostle writes in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him. And working together with him we entreat also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain (for he saith, ‘At an acceptable time I hearkened unto thee, and in a day of salvation did I succor thee: behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation’).”

Deeply embedded in that place in the brain where thoughts are embedded is the language of Psalm 90, in which the Psalmist reflects upon the eternity of God on the one hand and the transitory nature of man on the other, and says that we bring our years to an end. “The days of our years are threescore and ten, or even by reason of strength fourscore years. Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow; for it is soon gone, and we fly away.” In the language of the Old Authorized Version in the 1901, as well, you see the threescore years of allotment is your basic ration of time. The ten is added, or by reason of strength the twenty, but the basic calibration of our allotment of time in this earth is couched in this language: threescore. It has been that realization, more than any other, which has made these past weeks and months, I say, a most sobering experience in my own heart and life.

Therefore, as I have been thinking and praying about what text I should use in this series that we have entitled “Signposts to the Celestial City”—texts of Scripture which in a very succinct and focused way point us to the way of life and salvation—it was inevitable that a text that focused on the subject of time would be impressed upon my mind and upon my spirit. For a number of weeks the text which has been deeply impressed upon my mind and spirit is found in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Even though it is a parenthetical statement, it is nonetheless a tremendously powerful statement that constitutes one of those very clear signposts to the Celestial City. It is the latter part of verse 2, “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Do you see all the words in that brief part of our text that have elements of time embedded in their very essence? “Now is the acceptable time; now is the day.” Now. Time. Day. These are all words that bring us into conscious acknowledgment of this reality of time.

The first thing we note about this sign is the repeated call to attention to this signpost. Look at our text. Two times we have the word ‘behold.’ The part of our text upon which we focus our attention begins with the words, “Behold, now is the acceptable time.” Again. “Behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Now, this word ‘behold’ is in technical terms a particle calling us to strict, concentrated, alert attention to something. It is a word that is to act like a trumpet blast in the ear of a man taking his afternoon nap. If you were taking your afternoon nap tomorrow and a trumpeter got his trumpet two feet from your ear and let out a blast, I think the most dull, drowsy, deep napper among us would probably levitate from his bed. This word is meant to act like a trumpet blast upon the sleepy and upon the drowsy. It is meant to act like a thunderclap coming out of the clear, blue sky to someone ambling through the fields with his mind running in a hundred directions of innocent rumination, and suddenly the very earth shakes with that thunderclap, and the sky has now fixed his attention.

God speaks to us from this signpost, and He says twice: “Behold.” There is something of supreme importance that demands your immediate and concentrated attention, and in case you didn’t hear the trumpet the first time, God gives a second blast and says: “Behold!” There is the repeated call to attention to this signpost.

To change the imagery of the trumpet blast or the thunderclap, we should look upon this signpost, as we draw near to it, as having a word that is set before us on the signpost in the brightest-of-day orange glow, a neon light. It keeps blinking off and on, off and on, and says, “Behold, behold; behold, behold.” Like those lights that you’ll see on route 80 which is forever under construction. If you go any distance at all in the Western direction of the country, and you’ve been cruising along where there are two or three lanes going west, and it’s suddenly going to be crowded down to one lane. There are those bright lights that will take the driver that is closest to the Land of Nod, and suddenly, those lights awaken him! This is what God is saying.

I had not yet been able to verify this, but I believe it is a true story. An incident is told in the life of Whitfield that as that mighty man of God with such a large heart and compassionate soul for the salvation of sinners was preaching on one occasion, there was someone in the audience who had the temerity to fall asleep under the great preacher’s proclamation of the gospel. Whitfield, as a true preacher, was not one who simply would draw on no matter where the people were. A man who has got anything of preacher in his spirit and a love for sinners in his heart is not interested in just thumping along the truth, whether or not it’s being attended to or not! He preaches to people’s faces and eyeballs to see if he has their attention, and if there is engagement of mind and spirit, as much as he is able to read it. He was convinced this man was not simply in deep, reflective meditation; he was sound asleep. So Whitfield stopped, and often if you do that someone that’s sleeping wakes up and looks around to see if someone is looking at them. Some of you kids have had that happen in the classroom, haven’t you?

Well, Whitfield stopped, and the man dozed on. So suddenly, that great preacher raised one of his legs and brought it down with full force upon the wooden platform, and the man woke up with a start. Whitfield fixed his burning eye upon him and said, “Sir, thou shalt not sleep when the trump of God summons thee from thy grave and Almighty God calls thee to judgement!” Needless to say, the slumbering pew-occupier didn’t sleep for the rest of that sermon.

I trust I don’t have to bring my foot down on the platform. I trust the voice of God speaking in Scripture is enough coming through to every boy, to every girl, to every man, to every woman. Whatever God has to say in this signpost, He’s saying, “It’s of such importance that I give you a repeated call to attention. Behold, behold, if you miss everything else don’t miss what I’ve inscribed upon this signpost.” It is a matter of life and death, of Heaven and Hell.

Bible References: 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Psalm 90:10

Listen to this message (25 minutes):

For more 25 minute sermons by Pastor Martin, visit us at God’s Word to Our Nation