Now Is The Time!
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 28 viewsNotes
Transcript
Text:
2 For God says,
“At just the right time, I heard you.
On the day of salvation, I helped you.”
Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.
28 And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.
Be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:11-6:13).
Now is the time to be......reconciled to God!
Knowing the terror of the Lord (verse 11), Paul in this section of scripture lays down the basis for why we should be reconciled to God. In the previous verse, he states that we must all stand before the judgement seat of Christ and receive the things done in our bodies according to that we have done whether it be good or bad. So now we ask the question “What is this terror that Paul speaks of” it is quite simple actually, the scriptures declare in Hebrews 12:29
29 For our God is a devouring fire.
and again in Jude 23
23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.
Saints of God, “Now Is The Time” to start snatching people out of the fires of Hell, Now Is The Time to start snatching people out of the hands of Satan, we need to snatch our family members, we need to snatch our friends, we need to snatch our co-workers, we need to snatch our enemies, we need to snatch the community, we need to snatch the community, we need to snatch the nation, we need to snatch the world! Right now......NOW IS THE TIME!
There is a false-doctrine that has infiltrated the church where we have preachers that are preaching that there is no such thing as Hell. But Jesus says there is a such thing as Hell!
Jesus eludes to this by saying:
41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!
And Hell itself will be cast into the Lake of Fire!
14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. 15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.
But I declare to you today, that God wants to save you from this destiny! He is not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance!
I am very opinionated to the fact that this type of preaching in and of itself is somewhat inconspicuous in today’s society (2020).
If we were to really think about the various sermons we’ve heard over the past year or so, when was the last time you heard someone preach about the coming judgement or what it takes to be saved and to stay saved in this day and time?
It ought to be that the frequency of this type of preaching and teaching should be more prevalent in the time that we live in.
I’m afraid that many in the church have taken their ease; while others have been distracted by the cares of this life. However the fact remains that when this life ends there are only two ways you can go, up or down, heaven or hell (the lake of fire). You can pull the covers over your head all you want to and act like the possiblity of you going to hell isn’t there, nevertheless it is still there and the church has a responsibility to warn men, women, and children everywhere. We have to do as Brother Jude says “snatch them out of the flames of judgement”.
When we present the gospel, the death burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When people, believe on Jesus and believe in the gospel, when they repent of their sins, and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ and when they have received the baptism of the Holy Ghost, God snatches them out of the fire! He snatches them out of the hands of the devil, He snatches them out of the world, He snatches them out of the fires of hell, He snatches them out of damnation, He snatches them out of sin, He snatches them out of addiction, He snatches them out of bad habits. Is there anybody here this morning that’s been snatched out of the fire by God you oughta wave your hand, you ought to give God glory! When God snatches you out
This is what it truly means to be in the church.....the church is the ekklesia and the word ekklesia means called out ones, God called us out and when we believed, he snatched us out!
This is why Paul later in scripture says:
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
When you have been baptized into Christ and baptized into His spirit you are in Christ, and if you are in Christ then he makes you a new person. The old life is gone, the old way of doing things is gone, the old way of speaking....gone, and a new life begins!
Paul says in verse 18 “And all things are of God” or that this is a gift from God! It is the reason in which he died for you. Jesus died for you so that a new agreement could be made so that you could believe on Him and receive salvation which comes from the power of the Holy Ghost! Jesus dying for the removal of sins was a gift from God. The outpouring of the Spirit of God is a gift from God! Jesus did this, he died for you so that you could be reconciled back to God! The bad news is that sin seperates us from God, but the Good News is that Jesus’ died so that your sins could be forgiven you! God has given us (not only Paul but the church) the task of reconciling people back to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them.
So now Paul says in Chapter 6:1:
1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
Paul says as God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. When you have heard the gospel, you ought to respond to the gospel. Don’t let Jesus suffering and dying be in vain! Don’t ignore what Jesus has done for you and continue living in and going down the road of destruction! Then he says in verse 2:
2 For God says,
“At just the right time, I heard you.
On the day of salvation, I helped you.”
Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.
God is pleading with you, He’s not willing that any should parish but that all come to repentance! God is saying I want to help you, I want to save you, I want to deliver you, I want to heal you, I want to establish you, I want to raise you up!
NOW IS THE TIME! RIGHT NOW, TODAY IS THE DAY THAT GOD WANTS TO SAVE YOU! TODAY IS THE DAY GOD WANTS TO DELIVER YOU, TODAY IS THE DAY THAT GOD WANTS TO RAISE YOU UP! TODAY IS THE DAY OF SALVATION! NOT TOMORROW, NOT NEXT WEEK, NOT NEXT YEAR RIGHT NOW!
Paul says in Romans 13:11
11 This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
We are living in urgent times, men, women, and children are dying and being called into judgement everywhere. We see the signs of the times as was predicted by scripture everywhere. I want you to understand that time is running out! We are in the late hour of human history, and now it is time for you to wake up! WAKE UP! Thou that sleepest, when you are living for yourself and not for God you are sleeping! When you are living a sinful life, you are sleeping! When, you are not working for the LORD you are sleeping, when you are half-stepping for God, you are sleeping! Saints of God, those under the sound of our voice, IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP! It’s time to raise shine and give God the glory! It’s time to live for God now! It’s time to work while it is still day, for night cometh where no man can work!
12 The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.
The Bible declares that:
17 For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God’s household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God’s Good News? 18 And also,
“If the righteous are barely saved,
what will happen to godless sinners?”
I know that many people out there think that if they just live good enough they can make it to heaven, if I just treat my neighbor right, and if I don’t do this and that I can make. But I come to tell you this morning that your righteousness is as fifthly rags! The only way that your gonna make is that you believe on the gospel, repent of your sins, surrendering your life to God can you make it! You cannot justify yourself, you cannot put yourself in heaven, the preacher cannot put you in Heaven.....you must believe the gospel, repent of your sins, be baptized in Jesus name, and be filled with the precious gift of the Holy Ghost!
Saints of God.....Now is the time to live right!
28 And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame.
We don’t want to be caught outside the will of God.....should the LORD come back, you won’t have time to get it right! If the LORD was to call you home today, you might not have a chance to get it right before you go into judgement! We gotta get it right, right now!
We don’t want to be caught being lukewarm for Jesus, we don’t want to be caught having not done anything to contribute to the building of the kingdom of God! The old song we sing sometimes.....don’t let Him catch you with your works undone! It’s time to be on fire for Jesus! It’s time to really live for Him! It’s time for you to forgive if you need to forgive, it’s time to love like God wants us to love, it’s time to live like God wants us to live.
16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.
We need to do as John says, we need to remain in fellowship with Christ! Now is not the time to be half-stepping, now is not the time to be backslidding, now is not the time to be half-hazpardly lukewarm! It’s time to be about the father’s business! I want to ignite something down inside your spirit, I want to reinvigorate your walk with the LORD, I want see this church on fire for the LORD! I want to see souls being saved! I want to see the glory of God manifested before our very eyes! I want to see miracles, signs, and wonders performed! And the only way it’s going to happen is that we need to really turn to God and run like never before, we need to call on God and ask Him to save us some more! We need to call on God and ask God to fill us again! We need to seek the LORD while he may be found!
We don’t want to be like the scriptures declare in Daniel 12:10.....
Where it says that the wicked will continue in their wickedness.
10 Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials. But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it means.
When the Lord Jesus Christ appears, we don’t want to be ashamed, we don’t want to shrink back at his coming. When Jesus comes to rapture the church, we don’t want to stand before the judgement seat of Christ and be ashamed.....we want to hear Jesus say “Well done thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things, enter thou into the joy of the lord.”