Let us have a quick word of prayer.
Lord, we thank You, Lord, for this time today given to us. We praise You and worship You. Lord, You are our living hope.
Lord, we exalt You and magnify Your glorious name. Lord, in this time, help us. Help me, Lord, to speak Your word. I am unworthy in Your presence, Lord. Thou may enable me and give me the Holy Spirit’s help to utter Your word.
Lord, we commit everything into Your hands and ask this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
This is the theme I would like to speak on today: we want to know the time, what times we are living in, right? At the same time, we want to utilize this time to be prepared to meet our Lord—the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I think this will be helpful to you. I have put it in the PowerPoint slides.
I have divided this preparation into three separate topics:
Now, the first one is salvation.
God’s Word says in 2 Corinthians 6:2:
For He saith,
I heard thee in a time acceptable,
And in a day of salvation did I succor thee:
Behold, now is the acceptable time;
Behold, now is the day of salvation.
Our God is a loving God. He does not want anyone to perish; He wants to save us.
God’s wrath was upon people because of sin. Man cannot do anything to save himself from sin. Because of sin, God cannot accept man, so God has to do all things for us.
He made the way for salvation.
Now the Lord says, “Today is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time.”
God has done all things for us and brought salvation to mankind. He has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ and hath given us the ministry of reconciliation.
Through Jesus Christ, God reconciled man to Himself. How? God has done all things.
Through Jesus Christ, He sent His Son Jesus Christ into this world and laid the punishment of sin upon His body. Through His blood, we receive the forgiveness of sins and salvation.
This sin is very dangerous. We see the gravity of sin in Genesis 6:5:
And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
And that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
Was only evil continually.
You know, a lemon is sour. We cannot change its taste; it is sour. A dark skin, however many times we wash it, we cannot change the color. It is the same with the spots of a leopard; it cannot change itself. The neem tree is bitter. It cannot change to sweet.
Why? Why? Because it is nature.
By nature, man is also sinful. David said, “I was a sinner from my birth, when my mother conceived me.” By nature, we get sinful thoughts and evil activities.
We cannot change ourselves. We cannot deliver ourselves from sin. That is why we are helpless. The wages of sin is death, and nobody can save us from sin.
That is why God had to come down Himself, and He had to do all the work for us.
Excuse me.
Because of Himself, God turned away His anger from us.
Isaiah 12:1-2 says:
And in that day thou shalt say,
I will give thanks unto Thee, O Lord;
For though Thou wast angry with me,
Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortest me.Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid:
For the Lord is my strength and song;
And He is become my salvation.
Our Lord has become our salvation today through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Today we can say, “Behold, God is my salvation.”
He made salvation so simple. The salvation of man could not be achieved without the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but after that, He made it easy to receive the forgiveness of sins.
Just praying in His name—a little prayer, “Lord, save me”—will lead us to salvation. He made salvation so simple.
Why are we discussing this? Because salvation does not last forever. There is a time limit.
In Acts 17:26-27, we see that there are determined times appointed. The door of salvation is going to be closed soon.
There is a determined time for salvation and for the grace of God on this earth. Hence, seek the Lord and call upon Him while He may be found and while He is near.
Today is the day of salvation. Know the time. What time are we living in? Today is the day of salvation, and today is the appointed time, because we cannot guarantee tomorrow. There is no guarantee.
Ecclesiastes 9:12 says:
For man also knoweth not his time:
As the fishes that are taken in an evil net,
And as the birds that are caught in the snare,
Even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time,
When it falleth suddenly upon them.
You do not know when the evil net will fall upon us suddenly and we get trapped. Then we cannot find any deliverance from sin and from this world.
This is the last chance. It is a warning, a signal of alert, to receive salvation.
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?
We are going to the next topic: spiritual boundaries.
Hebrews 10:25 says:
Not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is,
But exhorting one another;
And so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.
The day of deliverance—the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ—is approaching very, very fast.
These are the signs of the end days. We hear a lot of news nowadays about World War Three, pandemics, and many other things. The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is imminent.
That is why God’s Word exhorts us concerning the assembling of ourselves together, as the day is approaching.
What are those things we see here? We remember Acts 2:42:
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,
In the breaking of bread and the prayers.
These are the four important pillars for a believer. We have a territory; these are our spiritual boundaries:
When we buy land or property, we have boundaries, and we ensure that those boundaries are intact. If we miss one pillar or one cornerstone, there is a chance that the other side can occupy that space.
First, we have to see that our boundaries are fixed. The spiritual boundaries are God’s Word, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayers. These are important in our spiritual life, and in these end days we have to fix these boundaries.
Let us see about God’s Word. In Proverbs 29:18, we see:
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
There should be a vision to reach eternal life. We can say that vision, or direct communication from God, can be considered divine revelation.
We know that God’s Word is a light unto our path. God’s Word sets our spiritual way in the right direction.
Back in our country, we see villages that are very dark at night. When we walk, there could be a snake or something else on the road. If we carry a lamp, we can see it and avoid stepping on it. We can escape from danger.
God’s Word is like that. It gives us light for a short distance, so we can plan for the short term.
At the same time, when we are driving on a highway, we want to see far ahead. We put on the high beam, and we can see farther. God’s Word is like that: through God’s Word, we can see things that are in the future. It directs us and guides us.
So we can plan for the future through God’s Word.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
And light unto my path.
The Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24:35:
Heaven and earth shall pass away,
But My words shall not pass away.
That means God’s Word has no expiry date. God’s Word never fails. God’s Word endures forever; it is true, it is living, and it lives forever.
In Matthew 7:24-25, Jesus Christ says:
Every one therefore that heareth these words of Mine, and doeth them,
Shall be likened unto a wise man,
Who built his house upon the rock.
Faith comes from hearing God’s Word.
Faith and obedience go together. You cannot see them as separate entities. When there is weak faith, we can see that there is disobedience to God’s Word.
Faith comes from hearing God’s Word, which is the Word of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 119:89-91 says:
For ever, O Lord,
Thy word is settled in heaven.
Thy faithfulness is unto all generations:
Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
They abide this day according to Thine ordinances;
For all things are Thy servants.
How did God create this universe—heaven and earth? Through His Word. Through His Word, He created all this.
God’s Word is established in the universe. He created it. All these planets abide by God’s Word. They are stable. They are unmoved.
They obey God’s Word. Creation obeys God’s Word.
In Psalm 103:20, we see angels who obey God’s Word. Creation obeys; the planets obey God’s Word; angels also obey God’s Word. So where is the problem?
If there is disobedience, there is weak faith. The faith is shaken.
The problem is with man. Because of man’s disobedience, faith is shaken. He is not stable and is moved.
We can see the example of the Lord Jesus Christ—how His faith was. When there was a storm, Jesus Christ was not afraid. He was tired, and He was taking rest.
Why were the disciples afraid? Because they were weak in faith.
But the Lord Jesus Christ had faith in His Father, so He was resting. You can see that He is the example for us—the Author and Finisher of faith, our Lord Jesus Christ.
This shows obedience and strong faith.
This is an amazing experience in the believer’s life. We see this as the experience of Mount Zion. In Psalm 125:1:
They that trust in the Lord
Are as mount Zion, which cannot be moved,
But abideth for ever.
The mountain is so huge and strong; it cannot be moved. This is the experience of having strong faith. This experience brings us to Mount Zion—unmovable, unshakable faith.
In Hebrews 12:22, we see:
But ye are come unto mount Zion,
And unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
And to innumerable hosts of angels.
This is the experience of strong faith. We come to that place where we are not shaken in faith.
Sometimes there could be a test for us, testing how strong our faith is. But we are not shaken when we are at Mount Zion. Let there be a storm, a tsunami, an earthquake, or a war—we know the time, we know what times we are living in. We are not shaken because we are on the mountain of Zion.
Let us elaborate more on faith for a few minutes.
Faith is like a toothbrush. You cannot share it. You cannot share the faith of your father, mother, or grandfather. Your faith alone will save you.
You should have your own faith in Jesus Christ.
Where is your faith? When you see a football full of air, it moves fast. When we hit it, it jumps up and down, and we can play with it. But a small needle can make a leak, and the air can go out. Then when we hit it, it will not move.
A football full of air is like having strong faith, and a football without air is weak faith.
Where is your faith? Are we trusting silver, gold, or property? Where is our faith?
Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion and are not shaken. Why is man now shaken? Why is his faith shaken? Because his trust is not in the Lord. He has not reached Mount Zion; he does not have that experience.
Next, we are going to the other topic of fellowship. Among the four spiritual boundaries, one is the doctrine of the Word of God, and the second is fellowship.
In Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, we see:
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow;
But woe to him that is alone when he falleth,
And hath not another to lift him up.
Assembling together and coming together helps us. It gives us spiritual warmth. If one falls, the other lifts him up. If one is weak, the other supports him. Fellowship is very important.
And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him;
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
This is very, very important.
The third point is the breaking of bread. The Lord says, “This is My body which is given for you.”
When we take part in the bread, we are saying that we are also broken in our body. As the Lord’s body was crushed and broken, when we take part in the bread, we are saying, “This is also my experience. I am also crushed and broken in my body. I am dead to sin, and His life is in me.” This is my experience.
Prayer is having a desire for the will of the Lord and coming into His presence to ask for its fulfillment.
Power is released when we kneel and pray, agree, and pray together. Kneel before God so you can stand before the enemy.
We can come across all difficult situations when we pray together.
The next one is walking in the highway.
Isaiah 35:8 says:
And a highway shall be there, and a way,
And it shall be called The way of holiness;
The unclean shall not pass over it;
But it shall be for the redeemed:
The wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein.
You can see that the highway is the path of holiness.
Those who are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, receive holiness and the righteousness of God. So they walk on this highway, and this is the path of holiness.
Even fools can also walk on this highway when they receive counsel and wisdom from God. They can walk without stumbling, and they are made righteous when they believe in Jesus Christ.
We can see that Jesus was again a role model for us in holiness. Jesus was holy. In Hebrews 7:26:
For such a high priest became us,
Holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners,
And made higher than the heavens.
Jesus was separated from sinners and was not defiled while He was on this earth.
To become holy, we do not have to go out of this world. We see some monks who want to be holy, and they go to mountaintops and hill stations; they live outside of this world. The Lord was not saying to be like that.
Jesus Christ was among sinners. He hated sin; He loved righteousness. But He was separated from sinners. He was not defiled at any point in time.
You can see the example of an electrical wire. There is copper wire inside an insulated electrical wire. Electricity passes through the wire, but it does not affect the outer cover of the wire. When we touch it, we are not electrocuted, right?
We are in this world, but we are separated from sinners. We are set apart. We want to save lost souls. If we go outside the world, there is no benefit.
When we see the graph of holiness, it should always be increasing, increasing, until we reach that point—the day of salvation, the approaching day when the Lord Jesus Christ returns.
Holiness is important because the Lord says, “Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.”
Sometimes, when there is a special conference, holiness increases too much. It goes high, high, high, high. Then suddenly it drops down, down, down, down. During weekdays, it may go below zero, and on Sunday it comes up again.
It should be either stable or increasing day by day. That should be our experience.
The next one is to always keep our thoughts high.
In Isaiah 55:9, the Lord says:
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
The Lord has higher thoughts for us and greater plans for us.
As a father, I tell my children, “Study; this will become good. You will become great.” But they may say that they do not want to work hard; they want to do less. As a father, we have bigger plans for our children.
But children do not have that much capability to think about bigger things. Our Lord also has great plans for us.
We believers think about what to eat, what to drink, what to wear, and where to go, when the Lord is saying, “I have bigger plans for you.”
Those plans have never been seen and never been heard. That inheritance is never perishable, never spoiled, and never fading. This inheritance is kept for us in heaven.
This is very precious.
I will give you a small story about a rich man. He had a dream. He went to heaven in his dream and was standing before the gate of heaven. He wanted to go inside heaven.
One angel came and asked him, “What do you want?”
He said, “I want to go inside heaven.”
The angel said, “No, your name is not in this book. Sorry, you are denied.”
The man said, “No, no, no. I am a rich man. I have a lot of money. I am very popular.”
The angel said, “No, I am sorry. You cannot enter heaven.”
Then he started pleading with the angel: “Please, please allow me to go inside. At least allow me to be a doorkeeper of heaven.”
The angel said, “Sorry, we do not have those positions. They are already done by angels; we are doing that job.”
“We have only the positions of kings and priests open.”
“So your name is not there, and I cannot allow you inside.”
See, the Lord has given us that privilege. As children of God, as a holy nation, He has made us kings and priests in Jesus Christ.
In these end days, we have to make use of our time more profitably. Redeem the time, because time is precious.
Time is precious. We can restore other things that we lose, but time waits for none. Time is very important; we cannot restore it back.
Time is precious, and we want to convert this time into treasure—our treasure. It is like our investment in heaven.
When we spend more time for the Lord, we are investing in our future in heaven. So make use of time, talent, and treasure, because this will be added to your treasure, like a bank account. We will receive a reward from our Lord when we meet Him.
The other day, in the open sharing time, we also heard about how to redeem the time. Consider sellers and how they make use of time.
When there is a strike, they close all the shops and are not allowed to sell anything. But sellers in India may lift the shutter a little bit and sell through the back door. They want to earn more money, right? They are trying to sell more secretly.
This is how they redeem that time. Worldly people are so clever in that way. How much more clever should we as believers be in making use of time?
When the Lord Jesus Christ was in Samaria, He was speaking to the Samaritan woman. He was busy sharing the gospel there.
Then the disciples came to Him and gave Him food. “Lord, eat this food. We brought it for You.”
He said, “This is not My food. My food is to do the will of My Father and to see that work finished.”
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest?
Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields,
That they are white already unto harvest.
The harvest is ready. Go and bring the harvest. “My food is not this; My food is in the fields.”
The harvest is ready, not after four months. It is ready now.
For that harvest, how much hard work has already been done? They had to plow the fields, sow the seeds, water them, and protect them. All this has already been done for you.
The generations before us have already done this. Now the crop is ready. Which is harder: to plow the fields, sow the seeds, water them, and wait for the crop, or just to go and bring the ready crop?
You are entering into their labor. You do not have to work as hard, because it has already been done. But at the same time, you will get the same wages. They also get the same wage, and you also get the same wage. The salary is the same.
So go and bring the crop. It is ready. The harvest is ready.
The next one is being a blessing to others.
Believers are like signposts. When you see highways, directions are given: take right, take left; after one hundred miles, you will reach the destination.
Believers are also like signposts. We have to guide other people and direct them on the right path so that they reach their destination safely and in time. Be a blessing to others.
Some signboards are broken, and some signboards have fallen. That can make people stray. All signboards are not the same and do not serve the same purpose. They are different. Each one has his own purpose.
Jacob was a blessing to Laban when he was with him. Laban became prosperous because of Jacob. See how much blessing Jacob brought to his father-in-law, Laban.
Our spiritual race is like a marathon race. It is not a short-distance race.
As we are approaching the end, we see in Romans 13:11:
And this, knowing the season,
That already it is time for you to awake out of sleep:
For now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed.
The day of salvation is approaching very fast. As it approaches fast, we also have to run the race very fast.
Know the time. This is the time to know the time and get prepared to meet the Lord. It is not time to sleep. Our salvation is nearer than what we think.
Usually, in a short race, they run fast and finish the race quickly. But in a marathon race, they start slowly because it is a long race. You have to run perhaps five kilometers, ten kilometers, or twenty-five kilometers.
They start slowly, and when they reach near the destination, approaching the finish, they run very fast. They gather more energy and try to run fast before the finish line.
But sometimes what happens is that we do not know the time—what time we are living in. We do not know whether it is a marathon race or a short race.
Sometimes we run very fast in the beginning—fast, fast, fast, fast—and suddenly collapse. We will not reach the destination. We lose our energy, and somebody else takes our course.
We want to know the time, what time we are living in, and how we are running this race. We have to reach the destination, and we also have to focus on the prize we are receiving.
Run to receive the prize. Prepare to meet the Lord.
In Revelation 19:6-7, we see:
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude,
And as the voice of many waters,
And as the voice of mighty thunders, saying,
Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth.
Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto Him:
For the marriage of the Lamb is come,
And His wife hath made herself ready.
There is a trumpet sound coming now. The Lord is coming. The marriage of the Lamb is coming soon. So get ready, get ready; be prepared. Be prepared. The Bridegroom is coming.
The Lord Jesus is coming back again—the second coming of Jesus Christ—and He is going to rapture the church. He is coming for His church. The church is the bride.
The Lord Jesus Christ is coming back soon to take His church with Him. The rapture is going to happen, but the bride should be ready. The Bridegroom is coming.
We do not know the time when He is coming. He said, “I am coming like a thief.” A thief will not give you a notice period, right? He will not say, “I am coming on such-and-such a date, at such-and-such a time. Whether you are at home or not, I will come and steal.” He will not give prior notice.
We have to be ready. We should be awake. The bride should be ready.
Here in India, we see that the bridegroom already sits on the stage, where chairs are ready, waiting for the bride to come. The bridegroom has already come, but the bride is late. They wait for the bride to come for the marriage.
Usually, it happens like that because ten to fifteen people are with the bridegroom, decorating and arranging makeup. Everything takes time.
But in spiritual life, nobody makes us ready. The bride herself should get ready. Nobody helps us, and we do not know the time when the Bridegroom is coming. So that is very important.
Now we hear three trumpets. The first is about salvation—the trumpet in the wilderness. Now, what is happening is the trumpet in the church. The third trumpet that is going to happen is the trumpet for the marriage of the Lamb.
If we neglect the first two, we are lost, and we have to face the consequences. The seven-year period of tribulation is going to come. At that time there is no grace; we have to face those consequences. They are very serious.
So be ready now. The trumpet in the wilderness is about salvation; we have to get ready for that. The trumpet in the church is what God is speaking to us now. If we hear that, then we can hear the third trumpet sound.
The sons of Issachar are mentioned in 1 Chronicles 12:32:
And of the children of Issachar, men that had understanding of the times,
To know what Israel ought to do.
They knew the times. The sons of Issachar understood the time they were living in, planned for the future, and told Israel what to do.
They were a separate tribe. They were sons of Jacob; Issachar was a son of Jacob. They were ready. They knew and understood.
So we have to be like that as believers. Be prepared to meet our Lord. Be prepared to meet our Lord.
One young schoolboy used to go to school and come back home. One time, his father said, “I am going on a far trip to another country. Wait for me until I come back.”
Then the son asked, “What is the sign? How can I know when you are going to come?”
His father took him to the backyard and showed him a tree. He said, “Now this tree has green leaves, okay? When these turn yellow, you will see that I will come at that time.”
The boy remembered that, and the father left for the other country. Every time the boy came back from school, he went to the backyard and looked at the color of the leaves. When they were still green, he knew it was not the time for his father to return. Disappointed, he went back.
Every time, he went to the backyard and looked. One fine day, he saw that the leaves had changed to yellow. You can imagine the happiness he had: “Oh, my father is coming back today!”
He did not go back home after coming from school. He threw down his bag and ran around the tree in happiness.
See the signs. See the time and season. Our Father is going to come back to receive us. What a happy occasion.
We are not afraid of the situations, circumstances, and times, because our time of deliverance is coming very fast.
The creation is groaning to be delivered from this pain, the travail pain. We are going to be delivered from that pain. That is our joy and happiness.
Our Father is going to come. Let us be prepared for that. Thank you.
Lord Jesus Christ, I praise You. Thank You for this time. We praise You. God, help us, Lord, to be prepared to meet You at the second coming. In Jesus’ precious name I pray. Amen.