ONE DAY CLOSER
As we awoke this morning and began to prepare to come to the House of God I wonder how many of us had the thought to run through our minds that this might be the day that Jesus comes to take his Bride away? How many of us contemplated that before this day will end, we could be standing before the Judgment Seat of Christ as the Books are opened and every word and deed would be revealed for all to hear.
Those secret words that we have spoken in anger against God and man will be written down in God’s record book. The heart of every one of us will be revealed for just what it is. Our deepest desires will be made known and the thoughts and intents of our hearts will be interpreted.
Where will we stand in that day? How shall we behave when we behold his glory?
We sing the song, “I Can Only Imagine”, and yet can we really imagine what it will be like? I do not believe that the finite mind of man can even begin to fathom the awesome power and absolute holiness of our God. We can guess, we can try to imagine, but we can’t even begin to know what that day will be like!
It will be a day of rejoicing. It will be a glorious day, and a great homecoming, and a day that will we will receive our crown of righteousness at the hand of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There will be praise and worship that will break forth spontaneously and continue to reverberate through all of Heaven as the shouts of victory and praise rise like crescendos before the Throne of God. No one will need to tell us to raise our hands then. No one will have to lead us in the songs of praise. No music will be necessary though there may well be music in the air.
That great moment when we realize that every trial is past, every sickness is gone forever, death can touch us no more, and the final victory has been won, will be more than we could every imagine.
Think of this! If you were to awake tomorrow morning with every debt paid, all sickness healed, no sadness in your heart, no worries for your future, no concern for anything or anyone, all your troubles are gone, there is no temptation to sin, and no need to get up and go to your job ever again because everything you could ever desire was made possible by a very wealthy donor, what would you feel like?
I hear of those who win lotteries, or who are chosen as recipients of huge amounts of money through some contest, as they rejoice and shout for joy. It’s hard to imagine anyone who would not get excited about winning or receiving wealth beyond their greatest dreams. Can you just picture them calming saying thanks and without any emotion at all just closing the door in the face of those who gave them the check? I wonder if the TV cameras would record that scene? Even if I were to be cool, calm and collected end front of the camera for the sake of propriety, look out when the door shuts!
Folks - that day is coming! We are one day closer to the coming of the Lord to catch His Bride away. We are one day closer to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. We are one day closer to the fulfillment of every word of the Revelation when Jesus finally reclaims what is rightfully his through his victory at the cross.
Yes, we are One Day Closer to that great and wonderful day! Are you ready for that day? Is your heart cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb? Are your sins washed away? Have you been born again by the Spirit of the Lord?
There are many who sit in our churches week after week and never give a single thought to the coming of the Lord. Each day passes like the last and there is no change in their heart. I have never understood how anyone can sit in God’s House, hearing the Word of the Lord and know of his soon coming and yet there seems to be no change in their lives at all.
It seems that the more they hear the Word of God, the less effect it has upon them. Their hearts are stone and that stony heart can only be broken by the power of God as we willingly allow God to break us.
They are like the evil servant of Matthew 24:48-51, "But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Understand that this is a servant of the Lord. He is not a rank sinner or someone who has never experienced the grace, mercy and salvation offered by Jesus. He once walked with the Lord and served the Lord will all his heart and yet we find that his commitment grows lax. He becomes apathetic and lazy. He loses his love for his fellow servants and begins to cut them down with his words and to hate the things of God or count them as useless because he doesn’t see the results of his labors.
Not only does he hurt, injure and destroy his fellow servants but he then chooses a new circle of friends. He finds those who like the party life. He finds those people who seem to be good people, maybe even claim to be Christians, but they are a part of the devil’s crowd and love to live in revelry and are drunk on the pleasures of this life. He is caught up in the whirlwind of the pleasures of sin before he can stop it because he chose to run with others who are in the same condition.
What a great and dreadful awakening that servant will have when his Lord returns at a moment and time when he is least ready to meet him?
The Lord knows our hearts. He knows our motives. He knows every little secret that we have hidden away in some dark corner of our life that we hope no one ever finds out about. Nothing is hidden from him and he chooses his faithful servants from those who have searched out those hidden sins and repented of them and who have them covered and washed away by his own blood.
The disobedience of that servant did not cause his Lord to delay his coming. Neither did his obedience speed up the day of his Lord’s return. It is the Lord’s sovereign will and the time of his coming is fixed. The warning to you and I is simple. You don’t know when he will come but you know he is. The only way to be ready for his return is to be ready all the time.
Isaiah 5:14-16 says, "Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness."
I believe that one of the reasons that hell’s fires grow larger is because of those Christians who are giving up on God and going back to the life of sin.
Those who have known the love of God; who have experienced his great Salvation; whose hearts were once cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb; who have heard the Word of the Lord over and over again; and yet turn away from him and chase after the things of the world, will suffer far more and be in a worst state of torment that those who have never known the Lord at all.
Luke 12,47 says, "...For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required”
That not only speaks of our service to the Lord but also gives us a warning that we are to live in obedience to God’s Word or we will answer in a far greater fashion if we do not obey him.
I go to churches and see those things that we call worship that give no glory to God at all but only lift up the ability of man or the arm of the flesh.
I go to churches where there are messages of fun times, educational classes, family cares, entertainment for all ages, vision building for large facilities, but where is the message of the gospel. Where is the message of the soon coming of the Lord?
Messages of faith to force God to give us what we want and messages that satisfy the desires of the flesh through prosperity and holistic healing won’t make us ready for the coming of the Lord. They force us to focus only on this life and our own desires. Where does that make your treasure, in Heaven or right here and now?
God isn’t coming after huge buildings, educated minds, or lives of people that are bloated with pleasures. He is coming after a faithful servant with a heart after God who desires only to hear the truth of God’s Word and who is looking, watching and waiting for the Lord to come back after him for he has no place in this world. His heart is after God because that’s where his treasure is.
All of those who are puffed up in their religious position of wealth and authority, all of those whose pride makes them think that they are above their brothers and sisters in Christ because their great “faith” proves so, all those who lift themselves above everyone else because of their great education, their wonderful talents, and all those who have such pompous attitudes to think that they are better than others will not enter into Heaven’s Gates.
Their message is a message of faith in their faith, not in God. Their message is a message of faith in their own self-righteousness, not in the righteousness of God. Their message is a message of faith in the riches and wealth of this world and not in the provisions of God. Those messages have no power to deliver or set free. They have no power to save. They are only messages to sooth the mind and fool the heart but the end of them is eternal damnation.
They are preaching another gospel, which is no gospel at all.
Paul says in Galatians 1:6-8, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."
Yes we are one day closer to the coming of the Lord. Perhaps this will be our last day. Maybe Jesus will return before this message is finished. Are you ready? Are you looking for his coming? Is your heart clean before God?
Our Youth Camp starts tomorrow and I have heard many say that they are hoping that Youth Camp will be a great time of revival and renewal! All that is wonderful and great and I pray that God will move beyond our wildest dreams to change our lives forever – but what if Jesus comes before tomorrow? What if Youth Camp never comes because Jesus comes first? Will you go to meet him in the air or not? If you aren’t sure, don’t take a chance? We are one day closer to his coming and we don’t know when it will happen but he is surely coming again.
Oh what a wonderful day awaits those who are found as faithful servants when the Lord returns to take his Bride away!
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
1 Corinthians 15:52-55, "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
Those who are found faithful will arise to a wondrous and glorious eternal day and live forever in that great place called Heaven where no sin and evil can ever enter.
Those who are not faithful will also arise, but they will see no day for theirs is an eternal night, without any light, no ray of hope, no comforting spirit, eternally bound with all that is evil and sinful forever, where no good can enter.
We are all one day closer to the coming of the Lord! YOU are one day closer to eternity! Are you ready for that day to come? Are you watching and waiting, keeping your eyes on the eastern sky? Do you go to bed each night wondering if Jesus will come before morning? Do you awake each morning thinking that this might be the day He will come?
Most don’t think that way at all and that’s why most will not go when Jesus comes. He is only coming after a perfect Bride without spot, wrinkle or blemish. Your heart must be right, your garment of righteousness must be pure and washed in his blood, and your faith must be pure and without blemish.
We are one day closer to His coming – are you ready if he comes right now?
If you are then you can rejoice in that knowledge and you can be excited about his soon return. If you aren’t ready then that day is not a day that you are looking forward to. In fact, when you think of the coming of the Lord, it may be with a sense of fear and dread, not one of joy and peace.
If you are dreading his return then it’s time to get your heart right and make yourself ready right now.
You are one day closer to the coming of the Lord and this may be the last day before he comes so don’t delay.
