Behold, I Come Quickly!

 

For the first time since I started seriously watching for the Lord's return,  I feel a deep sense of urgency, of excitement, anticipation and yet, a gnawing sorrow for the world. I truly believe we are so close to the Lord's return. It is NOT years away. I say that with conviction in my spirit.  Yet having said that, I realize that so many who call themselves "Christians" will not be going, but will be left behind in order that through Tribulation, they will hopefully finally fully commit their lives to Jesus. Unfortunately, this may end up require their martyrdom. That's why I try on this blog to warn the Lukewarm believers to stop playing church and wake up!  I feel this is my mission from the Lord. And I cannot keep silent, no matter who I may offend. 

 

Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.  Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”   Revelation 19:7-9 

In heaven right at this moment, angels and saints are preparing for the Marriage of the Lamb! Will you be there? Does the Lord require something from His Bride? Wouldn't any husband want a pure Bride who took the wedding seriously? Notice the Bride's gown in the above passage. The fine linen is neatly woven together by threads of her righteous acts. These are not the righteous acts of God imparted to us, but our own righteous acts.  So, the Lord does require something else from us besides belief in Him.  Jesus gives us more insight into this special wedding garment in a parable He told.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 22:11-14\

The man was speechless. Why? Because He had no testimony. He had no righteous acts. He believed in the Bridegroom (Jesus), knew about the wedding, but He had not prepared himself, purified himself through his relationship with Jesus, by following Him and obeying Him. For only by following Jesus and being led by Him are we even able to do anything good. 

 

Here we find even more clarification as to what these righteous acts are.

 

And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.  Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:12-14

"Those who do His Commandments."  Hmm. That reminds me of another Scripture in Matthew 7:21-23

 

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

The above people obviously believed in Jesus, believed He was the Son of God who had died for the sins of the world and rose again. They, at one time, had even done wonders and miracles in His name!  Which meant at one time they must have had the Holy Spirit within them, right?  I only say that because you may recall the story in Acts 19 where some non-believers attempted to cast out a demon from a man in the name of Jesus but the demon ended up beating them all up! So, it would seem that you have to have the Holy Spirit within you to be able to cast out a demon, right?  But somewhere along the way, the people in the above verse drifted from the Lord and ended up going back to a life of sin. 

I say all of this to urge those of you who love Jesus to keep clinging to Him, walking with Him, and obeying Him. Do the will of your Father in Heaven, be a light to everyone around you, preach the Gospel in and out of season, and create for yourself a beautiful wedding garment. 

To those who don't take your Christian walk seriously because you've been taught it's only a matter of believing in Jesus AND to those who started out strong in your walk with the Lord but you've drifted away from Him and you're dabbling in daily, willful sin, AND to those who simply have many things (spouse, money, job, children, fame, pleasures) that you've put ahead of the Lord, AND even to those who rarely read your Bible or pray and have little to no relationship with the Lord, though you still believe,  this is a WARNING. It's time to repent and return to your first love. Time is extremely short! 

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Revelation 22:17

If you want to hear some real and excellent preaching on this topic, I encourage you to set aside an hour and listen to this Pastor. He uses Scripture after Scripture to prove that you can't play around with God, that God requires something of us after we are saved