He’s coming back. 

 No, I’m not talking about Jesus. That’s a given...He promised He would return, and it would seem that every generation since His first departure has believed they would be around to see His second coming. Rest assured, whenever that may happen, His second return is eminent; but as He told us, no man knows the hour or the day. (Matt. 24:36). My concern is that we tend to get more preoccupied with looking for and trying to figure out just when that will happen, than we do with ‘getting ready’ to meet Him when He does indeed return. 

Getting ‘ready’ you say? Well you prayed the ‘sinners prayer’, so of course you are ready; it’s a ‘done deal’, is it not? That’s what we have been taught and tell ourselves all the time. And yet...how often do we read in scripture, these passages that suggest there is something we ought to be doing until that blessed day comes when He does return? You know, passages like ‘Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom but he that does the will of God’. (Matt. 7:21) 

Or how about the story of the Ten Virgins in Matt. 25 where they all fell asleep waiting for the return of the bridegroom. Then they woke up as the alarm sounded and the spirit began to illuminate their lamps (word). We read that when the “bridegroom came, those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut.” (10). So what happened to those five foolish virgins when they returned and found the door shut? They cried out to the Lord...but were told He did not know them. (12). So much for that verse many like to hang their hat on that says ‘whoever will call upon the Lord will be saved’. (Rom. 10:13). Didn’t seem to pan out well for this group. 

And if you need a refresher on the difference between the ‘wise’ and the ‘foolish’, you might look over Matt. 7:24-27 real quick. 

By chance, is that verse in Revelation 19:7 underlined in your bible that talks about “His wife has made herself ready”....and are ‘Blessed to be called to the marriage supper of the Lamb?” (7-9). I mean, we certainly have been forewarned that Jesus is returning for a ‘bride’ who is ‘spotless, without stain or wrinkle, holy and blameless’, have we not? (Eph. 5:26-27) 

Oh, I bet you were told that on that day you ‘accepted Jesus’ that you were made ‘perfect in His sight’ and that when God looked at you, He didn’t see your wretched, sin-filled heart, but He saw Jesus in His holiness and therefore because you expressed faith, saying ‘Lord, Lord’, that you were ‘ready’ to meet Him. But just what if...that was only ‘partly true’? I mean, if that was indeed the case, then why all these other alarming verses we read in the NT? 

Take Paul’s admonition, for example, where he wrote: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor. 7:1). Wait,...what?  You mean...we were not already ‘cleansed’? Well, all your past sins were forgiven. 

 Or what was John talking about in his first epistle where he wrote: “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (3:3). That does not seem to jive or add up with modern church teachings today. That’s why it is so easy to just casually dismiss verses like these as we read through our bibles. 

 And remember those seven churches that Jesus addressed in Revelation 2-3? He had some pretty strong words of warning for them...suggesting that even though they thought they were doing great, He had not found their works ‘perfect or complete before God’? (3:1-2). And despite that sense of having ‘arrived’, the church at Laodicea was obviously blind to their wretched and miserable condition, as Jesus described there in 3:17-18. They were on the verge of being ‘spewed out of God’s mouth’. 

 You probably know from experience, that when you get invited to a big wedding, there is some ‘preparation’ that takes place before you go. It’s not uncommon for some bigger and fancier weddings to even suggest a ‘required dress code’ of sorts, like ‘please dress formal’, and such. Jesus told a parable in Matt. 22 about a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son and those who were invited were told to get ready. And for some odd reason, they were not willing, having gotten busy with ‘other things’. Why some even made light of the invite and just ‘went their own way’. Nonetheless, the king who had grown angry sent servants out to invite others who did come. Interestingly, we read where one came in improperly dressed and was cast out. That is followed up with that unnerving passage how ‘many are called, but few are chosen’. (14). 

 Allow me to preface this short illustration I have used before, by declaring that I am thoroughly convinced that no man can find salvation in Christ by earning, working for, or doing acts of righteousness, where they are rewarded with eternal life that Jesus came to offer. It is by His grace, through faith, that we are saved, and not of any works lest we boast. It is the gift of God. (Eph. 2:8-9)  We good with that?

Now having said that, I fear that far too many sincere believers have been misled, if not deceived, into believing that obedience to God has absolutely nothing to do with faith in God. And nothing could be further from the truth. We have convinced countless souls that on that day and very moment that they ‘prayed to receive Christ’, that a full guarantee of ‘salvation’ was given to them, simply because of their profession of faith. 

 This would be akin to a high school senior receiving their ‘acceptance letter’ to their dream college in which they applied. What a day of rejoicing that would be for this student and their family; especially if it came with a ‘full-ride’ scholarship. 

 But make no mistake about it, when they receive that letter, it does not come with a ‘diploma’. Yet, they are assured that provided they fulfill their end of the agreement and attend and do and complete the required course work, that they will be granted access to walk that stage some four years later and receive their diploma in front of all their family and friends and fellow classmates. Imagine the deceived student who thought that the diploma came with the acceptance letter and believed it was guaranteed regardless of what they did or did not do during that four year time period. Sounds something like the nightmare many will face on that day Jesus spoke of in Matt. 7:21-23, does it not? And does Matthew 24:13 ring a bell? 

Again, while we don’t ‘earn or work’ our way into heaven, there is a bit more than just ‘saying, Lord, Lord’. “Why do you call me Lord, and not do ...the things I say?” (Luke 6:46) 

There is a familiar statement we read in Matt. 25:23 that we like to quote often with the hopes we all hear it some day when we stand before God. You should note that it does NOT say “Well believed”...or “Well Professed...thou good and faithful servant”...it says: “Well Done...”. 

 So back to my opening statement here where I said “he was coming back”. Who else, besides Jesus...is coming back? 

If you read my post from yesterday, I explained how we have a land to possess and hostile enemies that need to be removed from it. We read where the story of the Israelites tells how they went in to this land of peace and rest, clearing the land of the Canaanite nations that were on it because they were hostile to the things of God. So too, do we have a ‘land to possess’. It is our defiled hearts that are littered and controlled not by Canaanite nations, but the sinful deeds of the flesh nature. But it is not really just ‘flesh and blood’ that had ruled and controlled us through that old nature, but rather ‘spirits of wickedness’ and such that defiled us. These are the ‘nations’ that need to come off the land. (Eph. 2:1-3; 6:12; Mark. 7:21-23). This carnal nature of ours is hostile to God and needs to be put to death...one by one. (Rom. 8:7-8,13) This is what it means to be ‘sanctified and made holy’. And Hebrews 12:14 says that ‘without this holiness, no man will see God.” 

 So who else...is coming back? You might look at Matt. 12:43-45. Just as Joshua led the people in to remove their enemies off the land, so does Jesus lead us by His Spirit to do the same thing with our hearts (Rom. 8:13-14). Spirits of pride and spirits of lust and anger and spirits of unforgiveness and rebellion and spirits of every conceivable wicked thing...need to come out and stay out. Yet, Jesus tells us...that when these ‘unclean spirits go out of a man’...what will they eventually seek to do? Come back. (44) 

Hence, Peter’s warnings to us to remain vigilant and alert given our enemy, the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking to devour. (1 Pet. 5:8). Then there is Paul’s warning to ‘give no place to the devil’. (Eph. 4:27). And what did Jesus alert us to in Matt. 24:43? A ‘thief’ you say? And what does a ‘thief’ come to do? (John 10:10). Sounds like a spiritual war is in the process. Maybe that’s why we read in scripture about having all these ‘weapons’ at our disposal. (2 Cor. 10:3-6; Eph. 6:10-18) 

 Can you imagine a person enlisting to join the military service and when they show up on their first base assignment, they spend all their time at the NCO club playing bingo, or swimming at the Rec club or bowling at the lanes and making pottery at the Arts and Crafts center. What would be the response of their commanding officer when they refuse to take up their weapons and prepare for battle because they still have three more frames to bowl? Would you mind finishing up today by reading 2 Tim. 2:1-7? And Lord willing, I’ll see you here tomorrow. :- )