If we don’t know what time it is, and we aren’t ready when He returns, will we have a chance to reschedule? No! If we aren’t ready when He returns, we will lose our Salvation, our true eternal life. We will suffer Spiritual death, the true death.
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another End Times post.
We all understand the importance of time, right? If we don’t keep track of time, it causes us all kinds of problems. These problems can cost us time, money, or something more.
Well what if we aren’t keeping track of cosmic time? What if we aren’t keeping track of when Jesus Christ will return? If we aren’t ready for His return when He comes, will we be able to reschedule with Him?
No, we won’t. And we’ll have to suffer the consequences. If we want to avoid this fate, we need to know what time it is.
So that’s the topic for today. Let’s get right into it.
Wake Up—Every Day Gets Us one Day Closer
It’s vital to know what time it is.
First, think about the truth of this in everyday life. If we have an appointment at 3:00, but we have no idea what time it is and we aren’t paying attention … then we’ll miss our appointment. Not knowing what time it is means bad things for us. And we could think of a million more examples why it’s important to know what time it is.
Now, how about knowing what time it is when it comes to Jesus’ return? No one knows the day or the hour of His return, a point I often stress here on this blog. But we will know the season, which Jesus told us in Matthew 24 after describing all the signs and events that will happen in the End Times.
(32) “Learn this parable from the fig tree. After its branch becomes tender and it sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near. (33) In the same way, when you see all these things, you know that the Human One is near, at the door.
Matthew 24:32-33 (CEB)
Yes, I really know in my heart that Jesus is almost here. He’s at the door, like verse 33 says. ‘Tis the season. The season of the End. I hope you all know too, Readers.
Not knowing what time it is causes problems in our everyday life. But not knowing what time it is when it comes to Jesus’ return? That’s going to do much more than “cause problems” for us. That’s a mistake that leads to our damnation, Spiritual death, the true death. That’s a mistake that has everlasting consequences. That’s a mistake no one can afford to make!!
In Romans 13, there’s a passage that tells us to wake up and understand what time it is. It tells us to understand the season and act accordingly. Let’s look at Romans 13:11-14.
(11) As you do all this, you know what time it is. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your sleep. Now our salvation is nearer than when we first had faith. (12) The night is almost over, and the day is near. So let’s get rid of the actions that belong to the darkness and put on the weapons of light. (13) Let’s behave appropriately as people who live in the day, not in partying and getting drunk, not in sleeping around and obscene behavior, not in fighting and obsession. (14) Instead, dress yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, and don’t plan to indulge your selfish desires.
Romans 13:11-14 (CEB)
Take special note of verse 11. It says that “our salvation is nearer than when we first had faith.” All Christians should rejoice over this news! Yes, every single day that goes by, we get one day closer to either our death or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. For Saved Christians, both of these options mean an end to our suffering and pain here in this fallen, sinful world. Every day that goes by, our Salvation is one day closer. So we’d better act like we understand this.
We’d better act like our lives or our world could end tomorrow. This means doing the right thing, today. It means walking in the Spirit. It’s time to do that.
The Party Is over!
Look at Romans 13 verses 12-14, above. Paul tells us it’s time to stop the party. There’s no more time for that. What will you do if Jesus returns, and you’re not ready? What will you do if you don’t know what time it is, you think you have time to party and get drunk, and then Jesus comes back? You’ll be lost and damned, that’s what will happen.
Stop the party! The party is over now! There’s no more time to party! Be alert, be clearheaded, and be ready!
Paul says there’s no more time for partying and getting drunk, sleeping around and obscene behavior, or fighting and obsession. This is how the people of the world live, people who live a life of following their momentary desires and lusts wherever they lead. Hedonists, pleasure seekers. Paul creates a contrast between the people of the light and the people of darkness.
The people of darkness do these things he mentioned. Getting drunk, fornicating, and more. But the LORD Jesus is the Light, and the people of the Light, Christians, aren’t supposed to live this way. That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun or enjoy ourselves at all before the End, but it does mean we need to give up the ways of the people of darkness. We need to live as children of the Light, and walk in the Spirit rather than the flesh. Those who walk in the flesh will not inherit God’s Kingdom (Galatians 5:21).
The spirit vs. flesh dynamic is something I often write about on my blog. I often write about ignoring the momentary desires of the flesh for short-lived sensual pleasures (any pleasure that stimulates the senses) and seeking Spiritual things instead. It makes more sense to walk in the Spirit—this leads to infinitely more pleasure in the end! The Spiritual pleasures of Heaven are eternal. The pleasures we can enjoy here in this fallen world are temporary. If we live a life of seeking these pleasures, we get drawn into a cycle of chasing new pleasures that never ends. If we live for the pleasures of the flesh, we will never be satisfied. We will always need more, more, more.
Paul tells us in Romans 13 to stop living this way now, while we still have time to change our ways. Stop walking in the flesh. Walking in the flesh produces all the sins mentioned in the Romans 13 passage, and more. Let’s look at Galatians 5, the chapter where this flesh vs. Spirit dynamic is explained (in the CEB version, flesh is translated as “selfish desires”):
(17) A person’s selfish desires are set against the Spirit, and the Spirit is set against one’s selfish desires. They are opposed to each other, so you shouldn’t do whatever you want to do. (19) The actions that are produced by selfish motives are obvious, since they include sexual immorality, moral corruption, doing whatever feels good, (20) idolatry, drug use and casting spells, hate, fighting, obsession, losing your temper, competitive opposition, conflict, selfishness, group rivalry, (21) jealousy, drunkenness, partying, and other things like that. I warn you as I have already warned you, that those who do these kinds of things won’t inherit God’s kingdom.
Galatians 5:17; 19-21 (CEB)
So our main task is to stop doing whatever feels good. This is walking in the flesh, and this leads to all the other sins mentioned. We need to start doing the right thing, and drawing closer to God. We could call that doing the Spiritual thing. This doesn’t always feel good, and it often doesn’t feel as good as walking in the flesh. But walking in the flesh will lead to our eternal damnation, as verse 21 says. When we keep that in mind, walking in the flesh is never worth it. Be Wise and walk in the Spirit.
Walking in the Spirit has benefits of its own, which are better. If we walk in the Spirit, ignoring the momentary desires of our flesh and seeking God instead, we produce the fruits of the Spirit and become better people. The fruits of the Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22-23.
(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this. (24) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the self with its passions and its desires.
Galatians 5:22-26 (CEB)
(25) If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit. (26) Let’s not become arrogant, make each other angry, or be jealous of each other.
In verse 24, Paul says that those who belong to Chris have crucified the self, the flesh, with its passions and desires. That doesn’t mean we don’t feel them, but that we’ve overcome them. These things don’t control us. When a desire arises, we have control over what to do with it. Our lusts and appetites don’t control our actions. We walk in the Spirit, not the flesh.
In verse 25, Paul says, “hey Reader … are you in or out?” Are we going to walk in the Spirit or not? If we’re Saved Christians, if we’re people who follow Christ … then let’s follow the Spirit. There can be no half-in, half-out. We need to go all-in on walking in the Spirit, subduing and taking control over our desires of the flesh so they don’t control us instead. All these desires are momentary, temporary, and so are the earthly pleasures we can enjoy. It’s not worth it to lose our Salvation over these temporary things. Not when the pleasures of Heaven are eternal!
So heed the warnings of Scripture, and stop walking in the flesh while there’s still time.
Nothing Worse than not Knowing the Time …
If we don’t know what time it is, we’ll miss appointments, meetings, dates, and whatever else. These misses are inconvenient and force us to reschedule. They can cost us time, money, and maybe other things too.
But these misses don’t kill us. Now, how about not knowing Jesus Christ is coming back soon? If we don’t know what time it is, and we aren’t ready when He returns, will we have a chance to reschedule? No! If we aren’t ready when He returns, we will lose our Salvation, our true eternal life. We will suffer Spiritual death, the true death.
That’s more than an inconvenience, more than a loss of money. That’s a loss of everything, and it’s so unnecessary when Jesus’ Salvation is available to all!
We can’t make that mistake. Look at events in the world today, understand the signs of the time. Know what season we’re in: The season of the End. Read Scripture, and understand these are the final days.
Once we do that, it’s time to get ready. And how do we do that? We stop walking in the flesh. We stop living as the children of darkness do, as the people of the world do. We turn to Jesus and profess our Faith in Him. Then we start walking in the Spirit, fighting and overcoming the desires of our flesh for temporary, short-lived pleasures. We start seeking God instead, and the eternal pleasures of Heaven.
We stop partying, getting drunk and fornicating. When Jesus comes, we’ll be ready. We won’t be caught off guard like people who won’t stop partying.
There won’t be anything worse than being drunk and partying and enjoying ourselves on the day Jesus returns. Then we’ll know we’ve misspent our life following our flesh instead of God, and we’ll know we don’t have any more time to correct that mistake. Time’s up. We’ll know that we made the wrong choice, there’s no time to fix it, and now we must suffer the punishment of eternal damnation.
Listen, Readers. Nobody needs to suffer this fate. Heed the warnings, change our ways, walk in the Spirit, and try to warn others too. Every day we get closer to either our death or the Second Coming of Christ. If we reform our ways now, when we still have time, then neither of those things will be bad for us. If we live a life of walking in the Spirit, both of those things will be a joyous occasion; an end to our pain and the start of our true, eternal life with God. But we need to do what needs to be done now, while we still have time. There’s no more time to party. It’s time to seek the LORD now.
Know what time it is. The Second Coming of Christ draws closer every single day! Jesus is coming back soon, and if we aren’t ready for Him, it’ll cost us everything.
Well that’s all for this week. If you enjoyed today’s post, be sure to Subscribe using the link below. And please consider Supporting My Blog using the Tip Jar. Any amount is much appreciated!
Until next time, be strong and do good!
Your new best friend in Christ,
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