Don’t Be Late To Decide
November 16, 2022
Don’t Be Late To Decide … what do I mean by that?
By decide, I mean one thing and only one thing
By ‘Don’t Be Late’ I mean one of two things.
Last year, in 2021, it is estimated almost 43,000 died in automobile accidents.
Estimates are that only 24% of the US population consists of born-again Christians,
Drug overdose deaths from mid-2020 to mid-2021 was greater than 100,000
By auto and drug deaths alone, over 100,000 individuals in the United States decided too late.
Then there is the question of the Rapture. According to 1 Thessalonians 5:9 born-again Christians would be raptured.
God’s wrath is poured out when the Sixth Seal is broken as described in Revelation 6:12-17 when none will be safe.
The Tribulation is not the end for those who will yet decide to follow Christ as John wrote in Revelation 20:4
Even during the Tribulation, we are given the opportunity to repent and follow Christ. Revelation 3:19 says, Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.
And it gets worse for those who have waited too long to decide or have refused to accept Christ. In chapter nine of Revelation there are three plagues unleashed on the earth that kill over 1/3rd of mankind in Revelation 9:20-21. In spite of all that was happening, for them anything was preferable to giving up a life or lifestyle of sin.
Sadly, horribly, they will join the devil and his angels in the lake of fire described in Revelation 19:20
And described again in Revelation 20:10, where They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Jesus taught on this in Matthew 25:31-46 when those who followed Him were divided into two groups, sheep and goats. First looking at verses 31-33 the sheep and goats are divided. Then He explained how the sheep and goats are divided in verses 34-36. Then we have the amazing response of the those on His left in verses 37-39. Look at how Jesus began describing this response, Then the righteous will answer him, the righteous! Not truly righteous, not at all, although they truly believed themselves to be righteous … especially in their own eyes – this was clearly aimed at the Pharisees.
After this Jesus presents the first part of the conclusion to this story or parable in verses 40-43. When Jesus gave us the King’s words, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, this is the same fiery lake of sulfur already mentioned this evening in Revelation.
Then Jesus provides the final conclusion of His story in verses 44-46 and theconsequences for those who choose poorly. Let us pray for more and more to choose an eternal life full of joy with our Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit instead of eternity with Satan and his fallen angels in a lake of fire.
It is so easy with our busy lives to forget others who do not believe, but when we keep the eternal stakes in the foreground of our minds. We live in a secular time when such prayer is not sought after and even rejected and ridiculed – even hated as Jesus said in Matthew 10:22 and Mark 13:13.
So¸ none of what the world says matters, as the stakes are so high, eternal joy or eternal damnation. Let us keep that in mind as we seek to join the sheep on the right of Jesus.
END.