I’m struggling this morning without a start, but I think this song is a message in itself: chosen vessel, set apart, empty, weak, and small, but carrying the greatest treasure—Christ, the greatest treasure of all.
I hope we reflect on that. I hope we realize the greatness of Christ. I hope we realize that He is in us, desires to glorify Himself through us, and desires that His purposes might be served through us.
Well, let’s begin with prayer this morning.
Lord, how we come to You this morning. O Lord, You have set us apart. O Lord Jesus, such great things You have indeed done in these chosen vessels. O Lord, how far short we seem to have fallen of Your great purpose for the vessel.
But Lord, we come back to You today. We ask that You might fill us with Your Holy Spirit. Fill this room with Your Holy Spirit. Lord, fill me with Your Holy Spirit, that we might be able to discern what heaven is saying.
Lord, deliver us from all distractions. Deliver us, Lord, from ourselves, that we might have ears to hear and eyes to see what You’re saying to Your people in this last hour.
Lord, we offer ourselves to Thee. Lord, we are just vessels, earthen vessels, but called with a heavenly calling, an eternal call, an eternal way, an eternal life.
Lord, I do not want to hinder what You want to say this morning. I plead the blood over me and over all of my words. I do not want to misrepresent You or Your heart this morning, but I do want You to speak. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well, as we come this morning, as everyone knows, I’ve been looking at the book of Revelation. The theme, I guess, that has gone through it all is: the time is at hand. That was the first message I gave out of the book of Revelation.
We’ve come to that sixth seal in the book of Revelation. The sixth seal starts with a great earthquake, and then you see 144,000 pious Jews being sealed, preparing for Jacob’s trouble that lies ahead—for the Jews, for us Christians, and for the world. The great tribulation and Jacob’s trouble are one and the same.
In preparation, the Lord not only seals these 144,000, but He brings into view a group, a multitude that cannot be numbered. In that multitude are the ones who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes and have been washed in His blood. It says they have linen robes.
Brothers and sisters, linen robes speak of the righteousnesses of the saints. We all have that golden robe of righteousness that, praise God, we are clothed with when we accept Christ. Because you have that golden robe, you can go into the throne room before God and stand in the righteousness of Christ.
Oh, how we thank Him for that golden robe—a robe that, once put on, can never be removed. It cannot even be soiled, because it is His righteousness. Even our sins cannot soil that robe, that golden robe, because it is His righteousness that you stand in before the throne.
But oh, how the Lord desires us to have that linen robe as well, where the righteousness of Christ is worked out in our lives and worked out in the righteousnesses of our own lives. That complementary robe, I’d like to call it.
God sees that golden robe, and I think Christ is looking for that linen, where He sees Himself in His saints. We thank the Lord for what He has done for us.
And we see these ones. Who are these ones? Well, some interpretations, of course, say it is all the saints that have passed away. It is a multitude that cannot be numbered. But I’d like to suggest that because it speaks of this linen robe, what is really in view here is the overcomers down through the ages.
It is like the Lord said, “I’m going into this period of great tribulation upon this world, and there are some things that are necessary. I’m going to seal some pious Jews, some who still have a heart after Me, even though they do not know My Son. And I’m going to bring before Me these overcomers through the ages. I’m going to view them, and in view of what I see, I am going to move on into this next period.”
But before that happens, there seems to be something that will precede that great earthquake, the sealing, and the view of all the overcomers down through the ages.
Through the first eleven chapters of Revelation, everything seems to be progressive and follows a timeline. After that, it is more difficult, and it becomes obvious that the Lord is using some of those chapters to further develop events that are happening.
We come to Revelation 12, which we’ve spoken of many times here—the man child. I’d like to read Revelation 12:5, King James as usual:
And she brought forth a man child,
who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron:
and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.
This event seems like it will probably occur between the fifth seal and the sixth seal and kick off all of these events. In other words, those firstfruits that God will raise up and rapture right to the throne—not to the cloud, but right to the throne.
These firstfruits, to kick off, so to speak, to initiate that new dealing of God with the world, the Jews, and His people—these are the overcomers.
As I’ve been going through this, I said, “Well, Lord, it appears that the next thing I need to share on, before I get too much into that sixth seal and the seventh one, is this matter of overcomers.”
We had a whole week of sharing on the overcomers at the 2013 Christian Family Conference. I would encourage you, since they are going online, particularly if you didn’t hear those messages, to read them, because I do think they are getting us ready for the Lord’s soon return.
That conference really did focus on overcomers—being an overcomer. I wanted to sing this song because, brothers and sisters, it is not just the great and mighty ones, the ones that are speakers and all of that, who might be chosen to be overcomers. It is the hidden ones so often.
That was highlighted at the conference when we referred to the ones like the shepherds in the field, who welcomed the Lord Jesus Christ the first time He came. We think of Mary, who offered herself willingly unto the Lord in a perilous day and hour, when she would have normally been stoned to death for bearing a child out of wedlock.
We think of Joseph, who was supposed to be the first one to throw the stone, being compassionate and merciful because the angel appeared to him and confirmed to him that this indeed was the Lord.
I think of Anna and Simeon in the temple, praying and knowing the Lord was coming, knowing that He was to arrive. Simeon was told that he would not pass away until he saw the consolation of Israel. After he did, he said, “Okay, Lord, You can take me now. My ministry is fulfilled. I’ve been praying all these years, and now I have seen, and You’ve kept me alive. I’m ready.”
What a joyous blessing these ones had. They were the overcomers, brothers and sisters. Not only were they overcomers, but they were used as links to bring in the Lord Jesus Christ—the link which we spoke about at the conference.
Down through the ages, we talked about some other vessels. There were many overcomers down through the ages in the Old Testament, but there were some chosen at a specific time in history to become that chosen vessel, the link that would link from one age to the other and bring in a king.
That is why we spoke on Samuel particularly with the children. He was the transition from the age of law to the age of the kings. Brothers and sisters, he was the one who anointed King David. In other words, he was an overcomer, but he was also a link.
He had a special privilege to be able to serve as the link. There were many overcomers, but Samuel had that special calling.
I mentioned Simeon and Anna and all of the others. John the Baptist, who was spoken about, certainly was the link called. It is very clear in the Word, from Isaiah and also the New Testament, that he was raised up to prepare the way of the Lord, to bring in the King, to be the link.
There were other overcomers, but these ones were specifically chosen at that hour in history: the overcomers chosen to be the link to bring in the King. They were privileged.
I began to meditate on the thoughts from the conference, and what really caught my eye was four of Brother Stephen’s prayers: the beginning prayers from his three messages, and the ending prayer of the third message.
I considered these things and was prepared to share a little bit as we were going to have our testimonies last week. But the more I meditated, the more I felt like the Lord was giving me something that I should share with all of you, not just for me. It certainly is for me, but something for all of us.
So I began to prepare messages last Thursday, and I worked all through the weekend. It’s interesting: the Lord was pouring out His heart to me. I really believe that.
Yesterday morning, I was at Chick-fil-A. It is a place where there are so many Christians; it is just a different atmosphere. I can go in there, get in the back at a table by myself, and early in the morning there are not too many people in there. It is really a great atmosphere.
The Lord woke me up very early, so I was there when they opened at six. About nine o’clock, I got a call from my wife: “Jerry, our neighbor is in his house. His wife has called. He’s cleaning his guns and saying that he’s going to kill his neighbor, that he’s going to take him out. He’s had enough.”
This particular man had been struggling a little bit with dementia recently, but we did not seem to think it was too critical or too bad. But something clicked. His neighbor had never done anything to offend him or to be any problem. Something clicked in his mind, and he was determined that he was going to take this man out. He was cleaning his weapons.
His wife, of course, was very upset, and my wife said, “Jerry, you’ve got to do something.” I said, “All right.” I was able to get his brother, and we went to talk with him. He was adamant. That was all he would talk about. It was locked in his mind.
I was thinking, “Man, we’re going to have to do something. We’re going to have to have an intervention. We’re going to have to get this man somewhere that he can be taken care of.”
He would not stop talking about it. By the way, he was a Redskins fan. So I said to him, “Look, let’s go down and look at the Redskins park. They’re getting ready to do all their practice. We might find them practicing down there. Let’s get down there and see what’s going on.”
He would not get off the subject, but I said, “Come on, let’s go. Just get in the car and go.” He said, “All right, I’ll do that.” Finally, he had to change his clothes and shave, and I got him in the car.
The whole deal was that while he was in the car, his brother was going to take all the weapons and bullets out of the house. We proceeded. I had him in the truck, and we went down to the Redskins park. We could not get in, of course; it was all gated and locked up. So I drove around it about four times. I just wanted him to calm down.
But that thing was still on his mind. He kept telling me, “I’m going to take care of this.” I talked to him about the Lord. I talked to him about my grandchildren, his grandchildren, and all the past history I knew about him, trying to get his mind off this thing.
Finally, I said, “Well, let’s go.” I hope I have enough time to share what’s on my heart, but this is important because the Lord really used it.
It was about ten o’clock at that point. I said, “Have you eaten breakfast?” He said, “No.” I said, “Well, let’s go get something to eat.” He said he was not very hungry, but then admitted he was a little hungry.
I said, “You like barbecue, right? Everybody loves barbecue.” He said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I said, “I’m going to take you to Q.” You all know about Q, a local barbecue place. He had never eaten there, and I said, “We’ll go there, man, and get you a barbecue.”
We got to Q, but it was only 10:30. They said, “We’re not ready to serve yet,” because it takes about sixteen hours to cook it. It would be another twenty or thirty minutes. So I said, “Let’s go to Chick-fil-A.”
We got him in Chick-fil-A, and he ate. On the way out of Chick-fil-A, I do believe the Lord began to work. He said, “Jerry, you may have kept me from going to hell today.”
I said, “What are you talking about?” He said, “I wanted to kill that guy.” I said, “I know that’s what you were doing, but you’ve got to get your mind off of it.” But he could not. He was still struggling.
At that time, I got a phone call. Some of the other family had come down from Charlottesville, and they said, “We’ve got to do an intervention. We’ve got to get him to St. Mary’s. Jerry, you’ve got to get him there.”
I was thinking, “All right, when this guy kicks off and gets in that other frame of mind, it can be dangerous.” So I went to one of my other favorite places, Walmart, because I had to kill some more time. The family could not get there before 11:30, and it was about a quarter to eleven.
We went in Walmart, and I said, “Ernie, I’ve got to get something for my wife.” I finally picked up some paper towels. We went out and got back in the truck. I knew at this point that this was critical.
Once I got on the interstate and headed toward St. Mary’s, he was going to understand what was happening. He had told me a number of times that the only reason I was riding him around was so they could get the guns out of his house. He had figured that out.
I just went before the Lord and said, “Lord, what will this man do? I don’t know what he’ll do.” Then I said, “Ernie, your medicines might be messing you up. I’ve gotten a call, and the doctor wants you to go to St. Mary’s so he can check and make sure everything’s okay.”
He said, “I don’t want to go.” I said, “But you need to.” He said, “No, no, no. You just take me home.” So I started down the road toward home. Of course, I went down Route 1 instead of Interstate 95.
I told him, “Ernie, you really do need to get that medicine checked. You need to go.” So I turned off Route 1 on Sliding Hill Road, which goes to the entrance to the interstate. He said, “My doctor’s right over here. We can just go there.” I said, “No, your doctor’s at St. Mary’s, and that’s where we’re going.”
To keep it short, he got to St. Mary’s. We made it.
When I got home about two or three in the afternoon, I said, “Lord, what is all this about? I want to minister Your Word. I’ve been preparing, and I need to share tomorrow. What is this all about?”
The word came back to me: intervention. “You’ve been in an intervention, and that’s what I want to do with My people. I need to have an intervention.”
Now, what is an intervention? When you intervene in a perilous situation, where somebody’s life is at risk, you cannot just ask them. You have to compel. You have to be willing to compel them to cooperate.
In fact, they may not cooperate, but you are compelled to do the right thing. Compelled was the word that kept coming: intervention, compelled.
It was like the Lord was saying, “Jerry, I want to compel My people that the hour is at hand, that I am coming soon—more immediate than you may think. I’m at the door. I am knocking. Do you hear? Compel them that it is time for them to wake up.”
“Compel them that it is time for them to get serious with Me—serious about My purpose, serious about My calling on their life, serious with Me. It is an intervention. It is not an asking; it is an intervention. It is a compelling.”
That is the spirit of this message. Actually, I have three messages. The first one today, if I get to it, is “A Perilous Time, but a Privileged Hour.” The second one is “A Time to Prepare.” The third one is “The Time Is Now.”
A perilous time, a privileged hour, a time to prepare—the time is now. I really feel like the Lord is speaking, brothers and sisters.
As I looked at these prayers of Brother Stephen, what I realized was that it was not our brother praying; it was the Lord speaking. I am not trying to lift up man. Our brother was just a vessel that shared the Lord’s heart.
So the focus I have this morning is on that first prayer. I made a list of all four of them. You can get them from the side when we finish, but they will be on the overhead as well.
If you look in the Old Testament, a prophet—a real prophet, one appointed of God, not prophets appointed by men, not prophets who say they are prophets—speaks the mind of God.
They also reveal the heart of God, not just His mind. Not just what He wants, not just what He is going to do, but His heart—the heart behind it. They express God’s mind and God’s heart. They stand between God and His people and convey what is on God’s heart as a prophet.
But a prophet is also one with the God of whom he speaks. So I began to meditate on these prayers, and I believe the Lord was really trying to share with us His heart for this very hour—for us right here in this room, and for all the Christians who listen at this very hour.
Now, I would like to read that prayer:
Dear Lord, how we praise and thank Thee that, in this perilous time, Thou hast gathered us before Thee to prepare us for Your imminent return.
Dear Lord, we do pray there will be a real preparation in each one of us, that we may not only be prepared to meet our dear Lord, but that we may be used by Thee to prepare the way of Thy return. What a privilege. What an honor Thou hast called us to.
Lord, we look to Thee, for only Thy grace can enable us to answer Thy call and to be truly the link that Thou art looking for in these last days. We commit this time into Your hands and pray that You would bless it. Deliver us from mere mental acceptance, but enable us by Thy Spirit to enter the reality of Thy calling. We give Thee all the glory in Thy precious name.
As I looked at this, what impressed me so much was the time in which we live. We need to know the time in which we live. Our brother began, “It is a perilous time.”
I think the Lord is telling us that this is not merely a difficult time, but a perilous time. It is perilous because His coming is so close, things are very intense, and we can easily be swayed.
It was a perilous time yesterday. That is the kind of time we are in today. It is perilous. I think the Lord is warning us that the gates of hell, which He spoke of in Matthew, have been opened against the church.
Brothers and sisters, it is perilous because we live in the Laodicean age. Lukewarmness is the peril that may ensnare us. The Laodicean spirit is really a spirit, and it has not only gripped God’s church; it affects us more than we may think.
This spirit lulls us into complacency. When we are complacent, we are no longer watching, no longer ready, and easily misled. It brings on passivity.
When we are passive, we are no longer spiritually engaged. We are not spiritually sharp, not ready, not the warrior on the alert and ready, not discerning; and we become easily ensnared.
This lukewarmness tends to strengthen our self-love and our self-life and diminish our love for Christ. He is no longer the first love. We become our first love.
This Laodicean spirit is willing to give us plenty of knowledge about the Bible, about God, and about His Word. It wants us to have confidence in our knowledge instead of in our Lord.
It is satisfied if we are satisfied with knowledge, but the danger to it is that we might enter into the experience of what God shows us in His Word.
Not only do we have the Laodicean spirit, but the enemy is furious, brothers and sisters. His fury is seen in the atmosphere that we have been experiencing these days, in the weather patterns, in our economy, and in the outrageous lasciviousness of this world that has been forced upon us recently, even by our own government.
He is furious, but he cannot touch Christ except through His body. That is why he is after us, brothers and sisters. I hope you begin to sense the hour in which we live.
His activity has greatly increased. He is out to destroy us, divide us, and strip us of spiritual reality. Particularly, his anger and fury go against brothers and sisters who want to stand together in oneness and unity, that the Lord’s will might be done on this earth.
Christianity itself has been assaulted in this hour. A new religion is coming out, born out of humanism—the spirit of humanism. A new religion is sweeping this world. It is called political correctness.
Political correctness means that we do not want to offend anybody. That is why, in the training manuals now in the military, they can no longer say anything negative about Islam. That is an order written in their code.
They no longer can call terrorists terrorists. They are now freedom fighters. One thing that they can discriminate against, though, is Christians. You know why? Because we are an offense. Our very gospel is offensive.
We say that you cannot be saved unless you accept Jesus Christ. So that offends all the other religions and all the other people. Everything is acceptable except Christianity. Political correctness is the new religion, brothers and sisters, and it is now being enforced by the government.
The enemy, for so long, used the world to entice us Christians, to draw us in and to suck us in. Now I feel like the enemy is saying to us, “You now have a choice. Are you going to follow the world, or are you going to follow Christ?”
“I have sucked you in with all my pleasures and desires, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes.” What are you going to do? What are you going to choose: Christ or the world? I think we have come to that hour.
This is also the age in which the Bible says the enemy comes as an angel of light. I think he really reserves this tactic for those who have a heart for the Lord—a real heart for the Lord. They want to serve the Lord. They want to respond to the Lord.
That tactic is this: he wants to get them to serve another purpose besides God’s purpose. It may sound like God’s purpose, something to do with Christ, but it is far short of His eternal purpose and the purpose He has for this hour.
So what is God’s specific purpose for this hour? Let’s read a little more in that prayer:
To prepare us for Your imminent return. O dear Lord, we do pray that there will be real preparation in each one of us, that we may not only prepare to meet our dear Lord, but that we may be used by Thee to prepare the way of Thy return.
Do you want to know what God’s specific purpose is for us in this very hour in which we live? I think it is described in this prayer.
This purpose is connected to and a part of God’s eternal purpose: to have a bride for His Son and to have a new heaven and a new earth, sharing in all the glories that will occur during that age.
But before that, the Lord is going to have the kingdom age on this earth, a thousand-year millennium. We are about to go into that kingdom age. The event that we are waiting for is the Lord’s return, and we will move from the age of grace into the kingdom age.
That does not mean we do away with grace, of course. We still live by grace in the kingdom age. But His imminent return means that His specific purpose for you and me is twofold.
First, we need to be prepared to meet the Lord. We need to be ready spiritually. We need to allow Him to work the cross in our lives, which simply means that when His will crosses ours, we need to yield to His.
He wants to transform us into His likeness. Oh, we need to let the Lord transform us, to shine His light on our life and say, “This goes; that goes.” The more the negative things go, the more the positive life that is within us is revealed.
Transformed, prepared to meet the Lord, something of His own heart—that is the first part of His purpose for this hour.
The second part is that we may be used to prepare the way of the Lord. Without the first, the second is not possible. We have to be prepared; then we can prepare the way of the Lord.
John the Baptist was a very good example. John the Baptist preceded our Lord in his birth, and he spent many years off in the desert, in the Word of God, I am sure.
He had just those camel-hair skins to wear. He was not into worldly things. He was into what God’s purpose had called him to. He was called to be one who prepared the way of the Lord, and he had to be prepared first.
His life was not an easy life, but it was concentrated on one thing: being prepared that he might prepare the way of the Lord. Brothers and sisters, when he was called to that hour, he only ministered for six months. God had prepared him for that hour.
God is preparing us. He wants to prepare us for this hour that is upon us, that we might be those who can bring in the King.
John’s message was, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Repent means to change from your old ways. You need an intervention in your life, to say, “Oh, look, I need to halt. There are so many things I thought were important in my life, but now I know what is important.”
John’s message had such great impact because he knew the Lord. The Lord’s life was in him. The Spirit was upon him.
The Spirit was upon him not just as a gift. It was upon him because of the reality of Christ that he was living, and people sensed it. They sensed the authority. They sensed the Lord in his sharing and in his words, and many were truly repentant.
He asked them to repent not only of their sins, but of their religiousness. You know what that is? That is going through the motions.
I think young people can understand—just going through the motions in your life, going through this, coming to fellowship, saying an occasional prayer, going through the motions. John said, “You need to repent of these things. Get serious.”
So what is the specific purpose that God has for you and for me in this hour? Twofold: we need to be prepared to meet Him, and we need to prepare the way for His coming.
Young people, this is not just for adults. You live in this hour as well, and you have a responsibility. The Lord would challenge you as well that you need to make His purpose your purpose in your life. That should be the governing purpose in your life.
Yes, if the Lord tarries, you will go on, I hope, to get an education, and many will become married and have families. I do not know that the Lord will tarry that long.
I was particularly impressed that Brother Stephen, ninety-eight years old, said, “I believe the Lord is coming back in our lifetime,” and he included himself in that. It is so soon.
Purpose should govern our lives. I find today, among younger people sometimes, a lack of purposefulness in their lives. Well, there is a purpose: God might prepare you for His work in the kingdom. God might prepare your heart. That is the main purpose.
Yes, you will get educated. Yes, you will have a job and a family and things to take care of and responsibilities. But there should be one thing in your life that guides all of this, and that is God’s purpose. You need to be purpose-driven, as the book says.
I want us to be clear on God’s purpose for this hour. First, we need to be prepared for His very soon, imminent return. Second, we need to be willing to be those who will stand and bring in the King. That is mostly going to be intercessory prayer.
But knowing purpose is not enough. You need to be called into this purpose. You need to know that God has called you.
Let me read some more from that prayer:
What a privilege. What an honor Thou hast called us to. O Lord, we look to Thee, for only Thy grace can enable us to answer Thy call and be truly the link that Thou art looking for in these last days.
Privilege and honor—you have called us to. By Thy grace, enable us to answer the call, to truly be the link that You are looking for.
God has a great purpose. He is calling us to take up this purpose. The call is personal. The call is personal. It has got to be individual.
You need to know the Lord, the Holy Spirit, is trying to do an intervention in your life. He is saying, “I have a great purpose, but I need those who will answer the call. I’m calling you.”
But the call requires a response. The Holy Spirit is calling you even this very moment, as we speak, to respond to God’s purpose, to be that link. Brothers and sisters, there needs to be a response.
A link joins two things together. The link that God is looking for will join the age of grace to the kingdom age. But, brothers and sisters, fundamentally, basically, it links the will of God in heaven to this earth. That is what the link does.
Remember the Lord’s Prayer:
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Christ is the true link, but we are to be a part of that link. If we are part of Christ, which we are, and are in harmony with Him, then we can be that link and be able to say, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
But that prayer is preceded by, “Thy kingdom come.” That is the purpose: Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. That is what God is calling us to be.
The calling is individual, but the link itself is corporate. We are to be joined together spiritually, standing together in oneness, that God’s purpose might be served. We have been called in this hour to bring in the King, and that means we have got to be prepared ourselves.
There is a little scary verse in the Word: “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Many are called; few are chosen. The chosen ones are the ones that respond.
Many will be called to this. A few are chosen because they will respond.
This calling requires a response. You know what that is? It is very simple. It is almost like the beginning of our spiritual life: to give yourself to the Lord.
In the beginning, we gave ourselves to the Lord because we wanted His eternal life. But now He is asking us to give ourselves to Him that His purpose might be served and that we might serve His purpose—that we might have the privilege to be that link in this hour.
Samuel was privileged. He had the honor of anointing King David. There were other overcomers, but he was right there at that specific hour when the king was going to be anointed.
So were John the Baptist, Anna, Simeon, and the shepherds in the field—all there just at that hour. They were overcomers in their lives, and God used them to be the link.
In that prayer, it speaks of a privilege and an honor: “A privilege and an honor, Lord, to what You have called us to.” God is calling you. I think He wants to do an intervention in our lives.
An intervention is a compelling. Compel. I believe today He wants to compel us to respond to His purpose and His call, not just ask us.
Remember, He said, “Compel them to come in. Go to the hedges. Compel them.”
One thing I know about God’s compelling: He will not cross your will. You have got to be willing.
When that intervention occurred yesterday and I was at Walmart, that is what occurred. “Lord, if I try to take this man in there against his will, I believe he will turn back to the fury that I had experienced previously. I need to compel him, but Lord, You have got to work so he will accept it.”
Praise God, I said, “Ernie, I need to take you to see your doctor.” He did not want to do it. He still resisted. But finally, he yielded.
The Lord is compelling, but He will not cross your will. He wants you to be a part of His great purpose, brothers and sisters.
Samuel had the honor and privilege. So did John the Baptist, of bringing in the King. We are living at the edge of the Lord’s return, and we now have the honor and, I believe, the privilege to be those who can bring in the King.
It is your choice. It is your choice.
There is a nice little part of that prayer: “Only Thy grace will enable us to answer Thy call.” Only Thy grace will enable us to answer Thy call. Will you answer the call?
It is a perilous time, brothers and sisters—perilous. But it is a privileged hour in which we live. Will you answer the call?
Lord, we come to You today. Lord, Your return is so imminent. Lord, it is like You are not going to back off. Lord, You are compelling us. You are doing that intervention in our lives to really get serious about Your return, about being ready, and about being a willing vessel to bring in the King.
Lord, right now, we do not know all that is going to involve in our lives personally. But Lord, I want to say to You, we are willing. And Lord, if we are not willing, I want to say, make us willing to be willing.
It is by Your grace that we can respond to this call, and only by Your grace, Lord. But Your grace is sufficient. Lord, in our weakness, You show Your great ability and power, and we thank You.
Now, Lord, I do pray that You will not let us go until we respond. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.