ARE  YOU  READY  TO  FACE  GOD?
Amos 4:12

There is the age old question: What would you do today if you knew for certain that tomorrow at noon you would face God?  This question should bring heart felt emotion. Another question, and even greater is: How do you know you won’t face Him Tomorrow? 

Not only WWJD?                              What Would Jesus Do?

but rather WWJHMTD?                   What Would Jesus Have Me To Do?

After rehearsing the failures of Israel Amos 4:12 says “Prepare to meet ( Hebrew KIRAH = a meeting, whether accidently or determine) thy God”. Who can imagine it? – Facing the God of the universe. And recent events tell us we are only a breath or an earthquake or a hurricane away from that eventuality.

Our Christmas messages told us that Jesus left His home in glory to save us and to show us that God wants every single one of us to spend eternity with Him.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. II Peter 3:9

He also provided the only way to get there.  Jesus is that Way (John 14:6) “I am the Way, The Truth and the Life” and John 14:2,3  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Question: Are YOU ready to face your God?

Our Scripture Reading gives us a preview of the end:  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? - Rev. 6:12-17

And Rev. 20:12-15 is the conclusion: And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

A song that I heard Jack Holcomb sing in the early 1960’s has stuck with me. It has special meaning to me, since I am one of those types that responded more to the threat of being Judged than to the appeal of Love. (At least at first).

I Dreamed that the great judgment morning
Had dawned and the trumpet had blown
I Dreamed that the nations were gathered
To the judgment before the White Throne

From the Throne came a bright shining Angel
And he stood on the land and the sea
And he swore with his hand raised to heaven
That time was no longer to be

The Rich man was there but his money
Had melted and had vanished away
The Pauper he stood in the judgment
His debts were too heavy to pay

The Great man was there but his greatness
When death came was left far behind
And the angel who opened the record
No trace of his greatness could find

And oh! The weeping and wailing
As the lost were told of their fate
They cried for the rocks and the mountains
They prayed… but their prayers…. Were … too …. late

 Matthew 7:21-27 – Tells us that not everyone enters the Kingdom, but those that do the will of God.  It then gives a graphic illustration for those of us that know what a hurricane can do. The wise man builds his house upon the Rock, while the foolish man settles for sand.

While you still have time it would be wise to examine your life and see if you are indeed in the faith. II Corinthians 13:5  Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified (ADOKIMOS) KJV – “Reprobate”

We are sometimes asked whether it is O.K. to have New Year’s (ROSH HASHANNA) Resolutions. I respond with the Biblical idea as continued by the modern Jewish community.  They believe – no doubt with reservation - that on this day those who are found wholly righteous, those with YETZER TOV, a good spirit are written in the Book of Life. Those with a wholly wicked spirit, YETZER RA are entered in the Book of Death and the undetermined ones (Most of mankind) are held in the balance for the next ten days, until the Day of Atonement (YOM KIPPUR). On that day, the books are sealed, and the sentence decreed for the year cannot be changed. While we do not ascribe to these details, we do recognize the need for constant evaluation of our walk with God.

[Incidently, the Jewish New Year will be on Oct. 4 in 2005 and Yom Kippur on Oct. 13. and it will be the year 5766]

How important is it to consider God in your plans? Jesus responds to the farmer who neglects to consider Him in his plans for expansion in Luke 12:20  “This night thy soul shall be required of thee”

Do not fool yourself. Peter in Luke 22:33 declares to Jesus “I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death”, not realizing that before the night was over he would deny the Lord three times! Paul on the other hand illustrates the person who has settled the issues of life. In II Timothy 4:7 he has “Kept the Faith”, he has  “Fought the good fight”

Let us close with Romans 13:11-14 where Paul warns us that “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”

May the Lord inscribe you for a blessed and happy 2005!