Fear
Matthew 22:4“Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’
5“But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.
6“And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.
7“But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
8“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
9‘Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’
God is never going to scare people into loving Jesus. He is never going to scare the church into agreeing with Jesus' return. No one wants a bride who is only getting married for fear of loss.
God is perfectly orchestrating events...Seen and unseen...To get any who want to live with God forever to ELECT to live more and more in the fullness of Jesus.
Waiting for something "big" to happen will be the biggest mistake would-be end time leaders will ever make. Some...Many...Big things ARE happening. We live in the most unprecedentedly unsettled moment the earth has ever seen, yet life goes on. Life will always go on until it doesn't for some. At that point, those who have given everything to respond to the wedding will move on with Jesus, and those who haven't won't. Some will be left out, and some will be burned up...
Most will simply reject what could have been theirs forever because they didn't want God, they wanted everyone else to want him so it would be safe for THEM to want him. That will never happen. That moment is not in the Bible. What IS in the Bible is that day by day, the intensity will continue to increase in a way that will always feel normal, until it's simply too late.
"Too late" is much more near than you might think, but if you are waiting to see "too late" more clearly, you don't really love him anyway. It shouldn't take any more intensity to say yes all the way.
It's a test.
Matthew 24:21“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22“And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
23“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it.
24“For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25“See, I have told you beforehand
37“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
38“For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39“and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
40“Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.
Get in at the beginning...Set your eyes at the beginning...
Luke 21:25“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;
26“men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
Otherwise, you'll likely miss it entirely:
Luke 21:33“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
34“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
35“For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Matthew 25:yourselves.’
10“And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’
12“But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Matthew 25:29‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
30‘And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
31“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32“All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33“And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
If you call yourself a son, you are supposed to see that is great privilege and responsibility:
Matthew 8:11“And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
12“But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 13:41“The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,
42“and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43“Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
44“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Matthew 22:11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.
12“So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.
13“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.’
14“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Luke 13:27“But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’
28“There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.
29“They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.
30“And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”
5“But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.
6“And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.
7“But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
8“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
9‘Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’
God is never going to scare people into loving Jesus. He is never going to scare the church into agreeing with Jesus' return. No one wants a bride who is only getting married for fear of loss.
God is perfectly orchestrating events...Seen and unseen...To get any who want to live with God forever to ELECT to live more and more in the fullness of Jesus.
Waiting for something "big" to happen will be the biggest mistake would-be end time leaders will ever make. Some...Many...Big things ARE happening. We live in the most unprecedentedly unsettled moment the earth has ever seen, yet life goes on. Life will always go on until it doesn't for some. At that point, those who have given everything to respond to the wedding will move on with Jesus, and those who haven't won't. Some will be left out, and some will be burned up...
Most will simply reject what could have been theirs forever because they didn't want God, they wanted everyone else to want him so it would be safe for THEM to want him. That will never happen. That moment is not in the Bible. What IS in the Bible is that day by day, the intensity will continue to increase in a way that will always feel normal, until it's simply too late.
"Too late" is much more near than you might think, but if you are waiting to see "too late" more clearly, you don't really love him anyway. It shouldn't take any more intensity to say yes all the way.
It's a test.
Matthew 24:21“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22“And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
23“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it.
24“For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25“See, I have told you beforehand
37“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
38“For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39“and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
40“Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.
Get in at the beginning...Set your eyes at the beginning...
Luke 21:25“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;
26“men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
Otherwise, you'll likely miss it entirely:
Luke 21:33“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
34“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
35“For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Matthew 25:yourselves.’
10“And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’
12“But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Matthew 25:29‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
30‘And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
31“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32“All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33“And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
If you call yourself a son, you are supposed to see that is great privilege and responsibility:
Matthew 8:11“And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
12“But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 13:41“The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness,
42“and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43“Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
44“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Matthew 22:11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.
12“So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.
13“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.’
14“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Luke 13:27“But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’
28“There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.
29“They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.
30“And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”
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