By: Zachary Teasley
As the title of this lesson starts us off with a self-examining question, “Are You Ready?” We are referring to the great and glorious return of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. When He returns to this earth to judge every living soul who has ever been born and have walked the face of this earth either in Christ and redeemed as a Christian or in a loss condition as a nonbeliever or one who has voluntarily decided not to obey God’s gospel call after coming to the knowledge of the truth (this means that they had a chance to hear the gospel but rejected it). Our God is a loving, just, fair and patient God, and gives each person the option of free choice to either accept and obey God through baptism or to reject or disobey Him, but keep in mind that there are positive or negative consequences to any choice or decision that we make in this life. We will now read a passage of scripture which beautifully encapsulates or brings out the points of this article which is to be alert and aware of God’s power and promises and please do not allow oneself to be caught up and distracted by the temporal attractions and cares of this world, because if you do fall prey to this world, then you will face eternal punishment from the Almighty God, for it says in II Pet 3:3-11, “knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgement and perdition of ungodly men. But beloved do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” After reading this scripture text, we would like to point out that we are now living in the last days and many are mocking God and scoff when they hear or read something about the Almighty God and they believe that if the Lord has not returned or come back by now that He is fictional or made up. Brethren, it is a very sad commentary, but Christians who have obeyed the gospel of Christ and who are members of the household of faith have left the Body of Christ or departed from the faith because they have given in to the attractions and cares of our society. God tells us through His inspired writers and warns us to remain alert and vigilant regarding the world around us for in the passage from II Peter 3, verse 14, God tells us to be “diligent” to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.” It is important to emphasize that this requires some very strong faith, inner strength, along with solid resistance skills not to give in to the temptations that surrounds us, and unfortunately will not go away. Citing some other helpful scriptures from Peter, 1 Pet 2:11-12, “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. The word, “abstain” is of great importance because it indicates that we must resist lusts and forcefully prevent our faculties (mind and body) from responding to it, read also James 1:22-23. Additionally, back in II Pet 3 which was quoted, in the first parts of the passage, Peter mentions the fact that these people who have willfully forgotten about who our Almighty God is and the magnificence of His wondrous power have eroded themselves and departed from or left the faith and ironically that by the same powerful word that spoke this world into existence will be used to judge them at the end upon Christ’s return on judgement day, II Pet 3:3-8. Moreover, II Tim 4:1-3 also warns us about this departure away from God, for it says, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.” Many Christians who have been added to the Body of Christ rightfully and truthfully, have departed the church in the same manner as described in II Peter 3 and 1 Timothy 4. Consequently, as II Peter 2:20-21 explains that if we obey God and allow our mind to be overtaken again by the world and sin, then the “latter end is worse for them than the beginning.” Getting us back to the question of: Are You Ready? Are we rightly dividing God’s word? Meaning are we properly understanding it and living by it? Because we have available to us, God’s complete revelation which tells us everything that we need to know God and how to keep His commandments, we can know if we are on the right path or not to making Heaven our home upon God’s return to judge us and to take us back to Heaven with Him. II Pet 1:3, says “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” As Christians in the Lord’s kingdom, when we grow to the required level of spiritual maturity, we should be able to self-examine ourselves honestly and humbly and determine if we have been living faithfully or unfaithfully to God, see II Pet 1:8-10. If we find our behavior to be unacceptable, then we will respond by repenting of the wrong doing and making it right with God, 1 Jon 1:9-10. Saints, lets continue onward in our spiritual growth onto spiritual maturity and when Jesus comes back and ask us, Rev 20:11-15, “Are You Ready?” We can confidently say, “Yes I am Lord, let’s go!” See 1 Cor 15:56-58.