Are You Ready to Meet God?

Your time is nearing. You are growing older fast. Every man, every woman will have to answer this question: "Am I ready to meet God?" What about it friend? Are you ready to receive your "sentence"? The Lord is speaking to you this very moment. Listen! Don't turn him away. Today is the time. For even one second after death will be too late.

You remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus. When Lazarus died he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. What bliss and unspeakable victory was his! The rich man also died, we are told, and was buried. And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.' But Abraham said, "Son, remember that you in your lifetime receivest your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he is comforted, and you are tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from here to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from there." Then he said, "I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." Abraham said unto him, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." And he said, "No, father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." And he said unto him, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead" (Lk 16:20-31).

What about it, reader, which way are you traveling? What choice have you made? We can know if you are ready if you will answer these questions:

1. Have you been born again? Another way of saying it is "have you received the Spirit since you first believed?" That is the only way to really know that you are a child of God. Do you have God's witness that you are truly converted (Acts 2:4; Rom.8:15-16; 1Cor.14:21-22)? Remember, "It is the Spirit", John said, "that beareth witness" (1Jn. 5:6). If you do not have this testimony of the Spirit ("stammering lips and speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance"), may I plead with you to obey God before it is too late. Seek him while He may be found. Please do not go on to meet God unprepared.

2. If you have received the Spirit, then are you now being "led" by the Spirit? Conversion is not enough my friend. Being baptized with the Spirit "converts" you. But it is possible, as some did in Paul's day, to "make shipwreck of your faith". What multitudes we see in this condition today! If you're in one of Christianity's "churches", you are straying far away from the leading of the Spirit. The Spirit is NOT leading you into any of Christianity's denominations. It is wrong for you to be there. Such places, even though led by ministers who have the real holy Ghost, have forgotten their "resting place" (the holy Ghost). Instead, they are teaching "as God's commandments" the traditions and creeds of their denominations. Baptizing in useless water, instead of waiting for Jesus' baptism. Passing out as communion, carnal bread and grape juice instead of having "real" communion in the Spirit. Filling their buildings with Spirit-less strangers of the new covenant, yet falsely calling them God's "elect". Multitudes there now, are destitute of the love of God; having been confused and divided by those masquerading as "pastors" - the very men which the Lord will turn away - saying, "I never knew you - depart from me ye that work iniquity" (Mt.7:23).

Friends, we need to get ready. The Son of God died for you. Yes, dear one, for you the crown of thorns encircled his precious brow, for you the soldier's spear brought the blood from his dear side, for you he cried in triumph, "It is finished." For you, the Lord wanted a complete obedience, so that the world's most dreaded hour can be turned into a jubilant victory. The thought of meeting the One who has redeemed us from the bondage of sin can bring only joy and peace, and that abundantly.

Paul tells us, "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2Cor.5:10). And it was the exiled apostle John who, while "in the Spirit" on the isle of Patmos, was given the great privilege of foreseeing this oncoming Judgment. He wrote, "I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the BOOK OF LIFE, and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works." (Rev.20:11-12)

Reader, we were there, both of us. John was there, too. Everybody was there. None was missing. Yes, it is just as Matthew tells us, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, `Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world...' Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, `Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels...' And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal" (Matt.25:31-46).

On which side of Jesus will you be? Now is the time to decide. Pray that God will LET you make such a decision. It will be forever too late to change how you lived, once you depart from "the earthly house of this tabernacle" (II Cor. 5:1). One moment within the silence of eternity, and your eternal abode will be forever determined. My friend, the coming of Jesus, the great Judge of the universe, is nearing. Don't trust in something you did yesterday. You need him today. Won't you repent of your sin before it is too late? He will give you the assurance of his blessed Spirit, if you will follow after him in trust and in surrender. And if you are one of those who has "gone astray" from the love of God; if you are one who is standing against anything good, or against those who are doing good for the kingdom of God; if you are one who claims to know God, but whose hidden sin cannot be hidden from Him who has eyes to see... now is your chance. The world's most dreaded hour may not be far away for you. Are you ready to meet the judge of all hearts? Amen.

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