Well it is definitely summertime! Temperatures in the high 90's around here, but praise the Lord for air conditioning. We preachers holler about the good old days of brush arbor meetings and the saw dust trail. I thank God for the Spirit of God that worked in those old fashion meetings, and pray, " Lord, do it again! "But I am glad to be living in a day with the modern conveniences and comfortable setting of a our churches today. But may we be thankful for the Lord's blessings and continue to see His mighty hand of revival in our mist.
Here is the message from this past Sunday:
" Are you prepared to meet God? "
Amos 4:6-13
Text verse: vs.12 " Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. "
Israel was backslidden on God and God's wrath was kindled against them. He had been good to them and He had cursed them. Yet they would not return to the Lord. He threatened them with judgment and justice ( vs. 6 ). He sent famine, he sent drought, ( vs.7 ) He sent a scorching wind and destroyed their crops with worms ( vs. 9 ). Their sins were very great and they were in no wise prepared to meet Him. God had sent messengers of judgment to Israel, but now He will come Himself, and they had better prepare to meet Him in judgment. The Lord pleaded with them to make preparation!
I believe God is doing the same thing to America today. He has blessed us as a nation. He has been so good to us in so many ways. Look at the ways God has been good to us. Freedom, prosperity, technology, leadership, Gospel preaching, and wonderful life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet we as a nation have turned our backs on the Lord. He gave us such a wonderful country. He has truly raised up a miracle nation in just a short period of time compared to other nations of the world. Yet we don't give Him the glory He deserves. So God sends judgment to get our attention. To cause us to repent and turn from our wicked ways. America has sinned against a Holy God, by our national sins of abortion, perversion, lawlessness, drugs, alcohol, and our defiance of His laws and commandments. He has every right to judge us. God says, prepare to meet thy God.
God wants each of us, as individuals to be prepared to meet Him. Are you?
I. The fact that everyone will meet Him requires preparation.
God called upon Israel to prepare for the meeting. " Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. " God told Israel in Amos 3:2, "...I will punish you for all your iniquities. " They were rebellious, and stubborn. They wanted their own way. God said, if you continue to rebel against me, I have no other choice but to punish you! And He did - ( verses 6-11 ) Five times God gave them punishment, but they would not return unto Him.
God has dealt with man over and over in history. In Noah's day, ( Gen. 6:5-7 ) Man was so wicked, ( vs. 5 ) " And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. " So God sent the flood. Noah preached to them for 120 years, but they ridiculed him, they laughed at him. When the day of judgment came, many good people were not prepared. Many people who were sincere were not ready and were destroyed in the flood.
Today is our preparation day. " While it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. " ( Heb.3:15 ) Today, God is speaking to us, warning us, giving us another chance. Today is our preparation day! Are you prepared to meet God?
II. Why must we prepared to meet God now?
Why is there such an urgency in being ready to meet God? I believe there are several reasons, but especially:
1. Because death may come at any day. ( Heb. 9:27 )
All men must die, sooner or later. Lamech lived for 777 years, but he died. Methuselah lived to be 969 years, but he died. You too must die someday. God in Heaven has written down on His heavenly records the date that you are going to die. I don't know when it is, you don't know when it is. The Bible says, it is appointed unto men once to die and after death is the judgment. That means every man, woman, boy and girl must someday die, and when they do they must face God. If you die without Jesus Christ, you will be unprepared to meet Him, because you did not receive Him as your personal Saviour. Life is a vapour, Life is brief in comparison to eternity. Are you prepared to meet God today?
My mother did not know she was going to die on September 21, 1999, just a few days before her 60th birthday, but she did. She had a massive heart attack, but thank God she was a Christian. Are you today? Don't be so foolish to live your life so carelessly, thinking you have tomorrow. So many do not have time for God today, yet they have time for work, overtime, they don't go to church, they don't pray, but one day they will find time to die.
Remember in the Word of God, the story of the man who didn't have time for God, and he met God unprepared. ( Luke 12:16-20 ) God called this man a fool. So many today like this man are foolish. They think they will never die, and live their lives for themselves, living for self, eating, drinking and partying, one day they will die unexpectedly and they will be unprepared to meet God!
2. Secondly, we need to prepare to meet God because the Lord Jesus Christ may come at any moment. ( Matt. 24:36-44 )
Now suppose Jesus came today. Suppose in the next 5 minutes, the clouds of Heaven were to break open, and the shout from the Lord were to come from His lips, " Come up Hither! " Suppose the dead in Christ were to suddenly rise from the graves, and every living Christian were to disappear before the eyes of the lost! Would you be ready? Friend, there is a date on God's calender set for His coming. Only the Father knows when it is, so I ask you this question: Could it be today? It maybe today, tomorrow, or ten years from now. But there is at least one chance that today could be the day of the Lord's return. Are you prepared to meet thy God? The fact that Christ can return at any moment, behooves us to be ready for His soon return. To be prepared to meet Him in the air, because if you're not ready when He returns, you'll be left behind and lost forever. If you are not saved, today is your opportunity to get saved and make preparation for His return and to be prepared to meet Him.
III. How to prepare to meet God.
Israel was required to seek God. ( Amos 5:4 ) Israel was God's chosen people. Yet they had broken their covenant with God. They defiled His altars, they were idolatrous, they were wicked, sinful, following after the heathen around them. God told them to repent. In Acts 17:22-31, God has commanded all men everywhere to repent. When John the Baptist came preaching, his message was a message of repentance. Repentance means to change your mind. We must change our mind in respect to: 1. Sin, we must be sorry for it, we must hate it and renounce it in our lives. I realize it was my sin that put Jesus on that cross. I must turn from it and not practice a life of sin, When a person gets saved, he has a change of mind about sin.
2. He has a change of mind about God. He realizes that God is real, He is holy, and sovereign. You must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him. God is your only hope. A change of mind about God.
3. A change of mind about your self. You see yourself before a Holy and righteous God, as a poor, lost sinner. ( Romans 3:23 ) Are you willing to accept Christ today as your Saviour? He will forgive you of all your sin and He will receive you and make you His dear child.
Call upon Him, ( Romans 10:9-13 ) and be saved. Are you prepared to meet God today? If you were die in the next 5 minutes, would Heaven be your home? If Jesus came back today, would you go to be with Him? Make preparation for Eternity now!
God bless,
Pastor Taylor
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