Ready Or Not Here I Come

When I was a kid there was 2 Games that were my favorite games of all, One was a twist on the traditional freeze tag ( we played-it the same with one twist ) you had to tackle each other in order to freeze them) They weren't froze until you took them down to the ground.

We sure tore Up alot of shirts. I remember several times when we would have to call time out to go-inside and get another shirt.

But without a doubt my favorite game was ( Hide and go seek)

You know the Game

Somebody would have to count while everybody else would go and hide) Then after counting to 10 or 50 depending on what everybody agreed on) They would pickup Their heads, open their eyes and holler) ready or not here I Come.

I remember how Exciting that was) Once I was hid and I was sure I could not be Found I Couldn't wait to hear those words (ready or not here I Come. )

that meant (whether you're in your hiding place or not I'm coming)

My greatest responsibility as a minister and especially as a pastor, is to hear what the spirit IS saying and to Faithfully, and correctly interpret that message, and then to boldly declare it whether it's popular or not.

whether it's comfortable or not

whether it Encourages and builds up or it reproves and rebukes.

I know there are many messages that I could share with You today ' and anyone of them could encourage you in your faith and your walk with God.

But I must speak what I hear God saying

In other words I must speak what I hear The spirit saying with urgency

There is an urgency to this message

I feel like Noah who was building an ark to save his family and to repopulate the earth

I Feel like I'm standing at the door of the ark Sounding the warning knowing that any minute the door of grace is going to close.

Noah must have shouted, and pleaded (please come into the Ark, the door is open/ I've done all the work ( I built the ark) all you have to do is come in.

thats what Jesus is saying today: I've done all theWork, i've built the ark with my cross my blood has opened the door. You don't have to be lost

Noah preached and pleaded, (the Flood is coming) Judgement is coming.

Today the urgency of the Holy spirit is upon us, he is saying) ready or not Jesus is coming,

(you may not believe it, you may ridicule it, you may laugh It off, you may criticise it or you may say (I do believe that he's coming again but Not for awhile, (maybe 20-30 years) or a hundred years, after all you might say (it's been 2. ooo years, And he hasn't Come yet)

I remember when I was growing up, we rarely left a service without hearing (Jesus is coming)

We sang songs about it) songs like: Jesus is coming Soon (matt 24) (Jesus getting us ready for that great day) harvest time, and many others,

Every preacher reminded us Jesus is Coming soon ( Tongues and interpretation. often confirmed it)

We lived with a sense of Urgency of the hour, we were constantly reminded (these are the last days.

I literally lived with a fear of missing the rapture (it was that real to me)

Many times as a rebellious - child, not Quite right with God, I would Find myself Fearing that I may have been left behind. it was a very Scary prospect.

Then something happened the church fell into a slumber, she began to cozy up to the world, she began to Fall in Love with money and with Pleasures and she fell out of Love with Jesus- she began to do what the old song said not to do (she got adjusted) She Got comfortable with the world and all of a sudden the church Quit singing about heaven, and very rarely did we hear a message about Jesus Soon return.

it became more and more about being happy than being holy, and it became more about being comfortable than being Converted, and it became More about our kingdom than his.

and Just Like the 10 Virgins we fell asleep) while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept :

It is a fact that the church In General has been asleep, she has long been referred to as the Sleeping Giant, Because the devil knows what the church is capable of when she's Awake, when she's awake she is Awesome, when she's awake she's a threat to hell when she's awake she is glorious.

But when she's asleep, she's a laughing stock, A mockery, a source of criticism and humiliation.