Christ is coming!
He wants us to be ready to receive the crown of eternal life He has for the faithful. If we desire to be judged ”the faithful,” then in the name of His Son Jesus, we must simply ask Him to make us “the faithful.” Then we must trustingly believe that He hears us and will do it. Now because we believe, because of His love for us, and because of our loving gratitude toward Him, we will fervently work to prepare for the greatest event of our lives, knowing that it will be far beyond what we could ever imagine. For it really is the event of a lifetime!
We must be ready in every possible way. We must devote ourselves completely to it as the priority and endure every trial for it until the end of time on Earth. In fact, we must receive a divine seal of readiness far beyond any Olympian. Unless we are sealed of God in our doing, wearing, eating, drinking, watching, listening, thinking, speaking, worshiping, serving, loving, we won’t be ready for the grand event.
If we continue holding onto that which pleases only ourselves, rather than God, we cannot be delivered from the wrath of God before the day of Christ’s return. The average person tends to not know our own heart. But God knows. By His Word—The Holy Bible (preferably the tried and trusted King James Version)—and the moving of His Holy Spirit upon our hearts, He seeks to guide us safely forward and upward. He does not tell us to walk in His ways simply to restrict us and bind us to boredom. He guides us only to deliver us from eternal death, because He loves us. Although He did no sin, He has already paid the penalty for our sins.
Why then do so many choose to die?
Actually, we are so conflicted. We ask God to take from us that which we love, because we know is contrary to His character, to His Word, to His will. And we should! We know that we could never do it without Him, without His almighty power. Yes. We want to be delivered. We want to be saved. We want to love God. We want to hate sin, to hate evil. Again, we know without Him, this would never be. Therefore as we are willing, God takes it and separates it from us. It can be as simple as that. But it must be a daily experience.
However, if we then decide to take it back up again and decide we’d rather have and do whatever we want now, rather than persist in right doing, then we can. That is our free choice. But know that this is returning to one’s vomit. This is turning away from God. This is turning away from Christ’s righteousness. It is turning to rebellion. There is no safety there. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23). In reality, it is hating God.
This is the very opposite of repentance. Without repentance, there is no conversion. Without conversion, there is no re-birth, no being born again. In this condition, no sins can be forgiven and blotted out. Instead, the names of these persons will be removed from the Book of Life. The penalty Christ paid for their sins will be voided. They will then be required to pay the penalty for their own sins.
Many of the things the professed people of God do—and wear, eat, drink, watch, listen to, think, speak, love, worship, or serve—show they do not love God. Rather, they show selfishness. It may be manifested in being a man-pleaser. It is one’s worst enemy. Even from this, if they desire deliverance while there is still time, God is able to bring them to repentance.
A soul who has true repentance will be sorry for having committed the sin against God more than for the consequences of the sin. Actually, God does it through His Holy Spirit, according to our choice and according to our faith. That soul is not the same person in any way. Period. A soul surrendered wholly to God is wholly converted and is a new creature. God’s love is in them and controls them. They do the will of the Heavenly Father, because His Spirit is doing the work in them. The work of the Holy Spirit in the life bears the likeness or fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (or self-control). This is the character of God. It is the law of God’s love in action.
Time is hurrying on toward the moment of Christ’s return. This is our time of probation to prepare for it. The door of probation is soon closing. If we die, it has closed for us individually. For those who will still be alive at His coming, probation will quietly close. You will not know the moment it closes.
Any dallying in sin is dangerous. It is playing on Satan’s ground. And we are no match for Satan, without God. While there is still time now, surrender wholly to God. Tomorrow—actually, the next moment—is not promised.
Don’t be deceived. Don’t act as though you have plenty of time. Ask God for repentance now—in this moment. Submit to being converted that your sins be blotted out, that you be born again.
”Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9).