Be Ready
Be ready. Every time Jesus spoke of His return, He told His disciples to be ready. The warnings in the Bible are for believers. Unbelievers don't read or believe the Bible. Believers are the warning to unbelievers, and the Bible is the warning to believers...believers, Be Ready!
Luke 12:39-40 “Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”
You do not need to be ready to die. You do not need to be ready to get raptured. Neither of these require any help from you. You must be ready to endure. To live for Jesus is harder than dying for Him...that is why the brain of the believer, when told to be ready, instantly defaults to some imaginary scenario where a gun is to their head and someone demands they renounce Jesus...yes, this is intense, but much more intense is day in and day out laboring in the harvest in love while being persecuted, resisted and threatened with loss...the American church mostly has no concept of what this feels like...we must get ready.
The Book of Revelation...the Revelation of Jesus Christ is mostly the story of a wedding...it is the telling of the wedding being made ready...and the cast of characters coming into their proper places.
First, in Chapter 1, we meet the Groom in all of His glory. 30 unique descriptions of Jesus can be found in a few paragraphs in Chapter 1. The rest of the book reveals the fullness of the first and last, the alpha and omega, the faithful witness...the one with the sword of truth. Revelation isn't the revelation of the antichrist...it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ!
2. We meet the groom's Bride-to-be in chapters 2 and 3. Seven unique "characteristic" pictures of the different people, congregations, and geographic expressions of the Bride are laid out Revelation 2 and 3. This is a picture of the mostly spotty and impure Bride going into the events of Revelation. This is essential to grasp!
According to Jesus FIVE SEVENTHS...5/7...71% of the Bride is unready to overcome the tribulation that follows right on the heels of the introduction of the wedding party!!!
Jesus instructs the spotted and impure Bride how to get ready. If she refuses to see her spiritual poverty, she WILL NOT endure...
Revelation 2:5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.
Revelation 2:16-17 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth. “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.
Revelation 2:22-23 “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.
Revelation 3:2-3 Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.
Revelation 3:15-19 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
Let me say this clearly...by the signs of the times we are at a critical point for those who count themselves among the Bride to take a serious look at Jesus' plan. It is essential that I am "ready to overcome." Even Smyrna (the already persecuted Church in tribulation) and Philadelphia (the night and day praying church), the "ready" churches, are admonished to "overcome." There is a real time of trouble coming and endurance is the key:
Matthew 24:9-14 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.
Being ready to endure means walking in wholehearted love fully aware of Jesus plan...the plan of our spouse. What kind of bride is indifferent to the plans of the groom to build the home?!
Readiness...agreement with Jesus is expressed in the reality of Philadelphia and Smyrna...loyalty to Jesus in Tribulation..Seeing what appears to be "little strength" to the world as REAL strength as a testimony to who is really right about life!
This means making worship and prayer your strength. That takes faith. Faith is confidence that God really does what He says He is going to do. You aren't born with confidence. Confidence is learned over time. You must "buy the oil" of faith...in a history of calling on God in intercession and seeing Him break in... in advance. You buy the oil for the long dark night by investing all you have in a wholehearted lovesick chasing after Jesus in prayer and fasting and giving...this is the key of David...this is the "one thing" desire of David that unlocked heaven on earth in the form of night and day worship and prayer. This is what David said would keep him safe in a time of trouble:
Psalms 27:4-5 The one thing I ask of the lord — the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the lord all the days of my life, delighting in the lord ’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
David was so serious about putting all of His eggs in the basket of God's strength that he hired 24,000 people to maintain night and day worship in Israel. This literally changed the land, the economy, and the peace of the people in the land. It turned away all foreign invaders...it produced the greatest prophetic outpouring earth had seen until that time as expressed in hundreds of prophetic declarations in the Psalms...
...but much more is available to the Bride with the indwelling Spirit. Will she see her great hour and make herself ready?? Of course she will...but will I be counted in her company?...that is up to me. Everyone gets what they want. Jesus commands the wind and the waves, but He woos the heart of man. He refuses to violate my desire. Jesus is arranging the circumstances of the earth to give me incentive to get ready. Will I respond, or will I argue away the signs and stay comfortable where I am? This is the greatest hour to get ready!
John 17:15-18 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.
Revelation 19:7-8 Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.
Matthew 25:1-13 “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’ “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’ “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.
Luke 12:39-40 “Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”
You do not need to be ready to die. You do not need to be ready to get raptured. Neither of these require any help from you. You must be ready to endure. To live for Jesus is harder than dying for Him...that is why the brain of the believer, when told to be ready, instantly defaults to some imaginary scenario where a gun is to their head and someone demands they renounce Jesus...yes, this is intense, but much more intense is day in and day out laboring in the harvest in love while being persecuted, resisted and threatened with loss...the American church mostly has no concept of what this feels like...we must get ready.
The Book of Revelation...the Revelation of Jesus Christ is mostly the story of a wedding...it is the telling of the wedding being made ready...and the cast of characters coming into their proper places.
First, in Chapter 1, we meet the Groom in all of His glory. 30 unique descriptions of Jesus can be found in a few paragraphs in Chapter 1. The rest of the book reveals the fullness of the first and last, the alpha and omega, the faithful witness...the one with the sword of truth. Revelation isn't the revelation of the antichrist...it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ!
2. We meet the groom's Bride-to-be in chapters 2 and 3. Seven unique "characteristic" pictures of the different people, congregations, and geographic expressions of the Bride are laid out Revelation 2 and 3. This is a picture of the mostly spotty and impure Bride going into the events of Revelation. This is essential to grasp!
According to Jesus FIVE SEVENTHS...5/7...71% of the Bride is unready to overcome the tribulation that follows right on the heels of the introduction of the wedding party!!!
Jesus instructs the spotted and impure Bride how to get ready. If she refuses to see her spiritual poverty, she WILL NOT endure...
Revelation 2:5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.
Revelation 2:16-17 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth. “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.
Revelation 2:22-23 “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.
Revelation 3:2-3 Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.
Revelation 3:15-19 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
Let me say this clearly...by the signs of the times we are at a critical point for those who count themselves among the Bride to take a serious look at Jesus' plan. It is essential that I am "ready to overcome." Even Smyrna (the already persecuted Church in tribulation) and Philadelphia (the night and day praying church), the "ready" churches, are admonished to "overcome." There is a real time of trouble coming and endurance is the key:
Matthew 24:9-14 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.
Being ready to endure means walking in wholehearted love fully aware of Jesus plan...the plan of our spouse. What kind of bride is indifferent to the plans of the groom to build the home?!
Readiness...agreement with Jesus is expressed in the reality of Philadelphia and Smyrna...loyalty to Jesus in Tribulation..Seeing what appears to be "little strength" to the world as REAL strength as a testimony to who is really right about life!
This means making worship and prayer your strength. That takes faith. Faith is confidence that God really does what He says He is going to do. You aren't born with confidence. Confidence is learned over time. You must "buy the oil" of faith...in a history of calling on God in intercession and seeing Him break in... in advance. You buy the oil for the long dark night by investing all you have in a wholehearted lovesick chasing after Jesus in prayer and fasting and giving...this is the key of David...this is the "one thing" desire of David that unlocked heaven on earth in the form of night and day worship and prayer. This is what David said would keep him safe in a time of trouble:
Psalms 27:4-5 The one thing I ask of the lord — the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the lord all the days of my life, delighting in the lord ’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
David was so serious about putting all of His eggs in the basket of God's strength that he hired 24,000 people to maintain night and day worship in Israel. This literally changed the land, the economy, and the peace of the people in the land. It turned away all foreign invaders...it produced the greatest prophetic outpouring earth had seen until that time as expressed in hundreds of prophetic declarations in the Psalms...
...but much more is available to the Bride with the indwelling Spirit. Will she see her great hour and make herself ready?? Of course she will...but will I be counted in her company?...that is up to me. Everyone gets what they want. Jesus commands the wind and the waves, but He woos the heart of man. He refuses to violate my desire. Jesus is arranging the circumstances of the earth to give me incentive to get ready. Will I respond, or will I argue away the signs and stay comfortable where I am? This is the greatest hour to get ready!
John 17:15-18 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.
Revelation 19:7-8 Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people.
Matthew 25:1-13 “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’ “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’ “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.
Comments
Post a Comment
I appreciate your comments.