Ready or Not*

When we were children, we played the game Hide and Seek. We would call out, "Ready or not, here I come!". Is the Body of Christ ready to meet Christ? Solomon wrote that no one will have power over that day: "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those who are given to it...". (Eccl. 8:8). Solomon also wrote in this chapter that those who keep the commands of God will not suffer evil. He said that the heart of the wise discern both time and judgment, and there is both a set time and a judgment (v. 5-6). Those who think that evil is not punished quickly, set their hearts to do evil. Though a sinner's days may be prolonged, it will not go well with him because he does not fear and revere God (v. 11-12). In the days before the flood, God said that men's hearts were evil continually, and the LORD regretted that He had created man. Only the man Noah had grace with God (Gen. 6:5-8). It is the grace of God found in His Son, Jesus, that makes death but a shadow for those who believe, for we have passed from death unto life in Him. Have you found this grace with God? In the days of Noah, life went on as usual for men until Noah was shut into the ark and the earth was flooded. In the days before the total destruction of Sodom, life continued as usual for the wicked inhabitants of that city. Only Lot and his immediate family survived, because the angels pulled them out. The ashes of Sodom testify today of the day of destruction that they faced. Jesus said that the same conditions would exist before His appearing: life as "normal", and then sudden destruction (Lk. 17:26-30). Are we ready for that day? Because ready or not, He is returning. Have we silently tolerated sin, participated in it, and aided in its proliferation? God is not afraid to call sin, sin. However, we do not need to remain in sin. Paul, in listing the sins of men wrote, "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Cor. 6:11). We don't have to remain in sin, and suffer the consequence of sin, death. The Apostle Jude warned of a danger to the church of believers and wrote: "...It was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." (v. 3). Jude felt that the salvation faith of the saints was in danger from within the church. Ungodly men, who were ordained to condemnation from the beginning, were "turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." (v. 4). In the face of this spiritual undermining, even in the church, it is not enough to be comfortable and satisfied with your faith, but you will need to actively contend for it in order to keep it. Jude wrote that this undermining of faith in the church is the same that caused the Israelites, who had been delivered from Egypt by God, to then become filled with unbelief towards Him. This undermining caused the angels to fall, and end up in chains. It is the same underming that caused Sodom and Gomorrah to give themselves over to fornication until they could not be saved. They then became those who suffer the eternal fire (v. 5-7). The apostles felt by the Spirit the nearness of the day of reckoning. If they felt it so strongly then, how much closer is that day to us? Peter wrote: "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins...as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." (1 Pet. 4:7-8). As Jude wrote, Peter said that there was a need for fervency regarding the faith. He also wrote that in whatever way that we speak and minister, we are to do it by the oracles and gifted abilities that God has given to each. Only these things will cause God to be glorified. (v. 11). If we suffer, we are to suffer because of our faith, not in the suffering that the sinners and evil-doers will experience: "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saived, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? ...But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." (13-18). The Prophet Jeremiah wrote the Word of the LORD concerning the undermining of the truth, and the faith of the people of God, and again there is a comparison with the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah. The LORD said to Jeremiah: "I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of the evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah...concerning the prophets...Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land." (Jer. 23:14-15). The LORD warned not to listen to these prophets. "For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked." (v. 18-19). Those profane prophets were prophesying peace, and telling those "that walketh after the imagination of his own heart", that no evil will befall him. Jeremiah wrote about the latter days: "The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly." (v. 20). Jesus taught in a parable about a king who had prepared a wedding banquet for his son. The king saw among the guests one who was not clothed in a wedding garment. The king said: "Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless." (Mt. 22:11-12). Because that guest was not wearing a wedding garment, he was bound, taken away, and cast into outer darkness: "...there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." (v.13-14). This parable offended the religious Pharisees, who felt they were already justified in God, and did not want to listen to anyone who said that they were not accepted by God in their own righteousness. In Jewish wedding traditions, as well as in the scripture, there are wedding garments that must be made ready. The Word of Jesus in Revelation: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." (Rev. 16:15). And then they were gathered into the place called Armageddon (v. 16). I believe the day is near. We can understand that day as we understnd the appointed feasts of the LORD. We are coming into the season of the spring feasts now. Are we ready? *Based on Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 4/3/2022 message to the church. To contact us, submit a prayer request, give a praise report, or to support this ministry: P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX, 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and endtimeschool.com.