“Prepare to Meet Your God”
Behold the exalted privilege of being adopted into the family of God, for if God is for you, who could ever be against you. But in this Christian, do not think for one moment that salvation is something you obtained or achieved in and of yourself. No, it is the power of God upon the soul of the one who is being saved. As a matter of fact, if God for one moment lifted His restraining grace from you, sin would run its natural course, and you would be a violent aggressor against the church, a hater of Jesus Christ. For He has not saved you for your own glory, but for His, and all the hosts of heaven marvel at such a great miracle. That is that fallen man who hates the righteousness of God, who would just as soon crucify Christ again to the bloody cross, can turn in one moment and long for the righteousness of God. For this purpose, God saved you, and He will not let you go. Christian, He will not adopt you into His family, fill you with His Spirit, call you beloved, and then cast you out as a rebel. Jesus said concerning God as a Father, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” So then, beloved, God the Father loves you with an everlasting love.
Therefore Christian, shall you continue to test the Lord in unrepentant sin? By no means, for if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will bring such conviction upon your soul that you will be miserable. And if you still refuse to yield to the obedience of His word, then He, who holds the Sun still and causes the earth to rotate around it, will use whatever means He chooses to subdue your stubborn heart. Though God is not the author of evil, He may use famine, sickness, disease, or even death to awaken you from your stupor. Listen to the prophet Amos concerning the sins of Israel, “Furthermore, I withheld the rain from you While there were still three months until harvest. Then I would send rain on one city, and on another city, I would not send rain; One part would be rained on, While the part not rained on would dry up. “So, two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink water.” Again, He says, “I smote you with scorching wind and mildew; And the caterpillar was devouring Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees; Yet you have not returned to Me. Therefore, thus I will do to you, O Israel, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.” The Lord may even allow Satan to have his way with you for a season so that you may learn the sinfulness of sin as we see in the letter to the church of Corinth, “I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
One might well say, “That is not the God whom I serve.” Well, my friend, I thank God every day it is the God whom we serve; otherwise, we would be vessels of wrath awaiting destruction. If sin ran its natural course apart from the restraints of God, we would be cast into hell where The Lord will tread us out in the winepress of His vengeance, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Christian, God is holy, and He will have His way with you, so do not provoke His jealousy. He’s preparing you for the great wedding feast for His Son Jesus, and His church will not be an unchaste bride. You see, in all of this, God’s purpose is for your sanctification, the removal of your fleshly appetites. This is God’s grace saving you from His hatred toward sin, in which He will not allow the wicked to go unpunished! Therefore Christian, may we prepare our hearts daily to bring Him glory by obeying His word with a heart of worship.