The month of September coincides with the Hebrew month of Elul on the Jewish calendar. This is a special month of spiritual reflection that precedes the Jewish High Holy Days, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Elul is the 12th and final month in the Jewish calendar [ the civil calendar]. The sixth month counting from Nisan, April, on the religious calendar. It is a month that connects the past year with the coming year— It was a time when they got their spiritual house in order. A time of reflection and repentance. During this period of time, The Jewish people read Psalm 27 twice a day. The stretch between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called “The Days of Awe,” a period of judgment and repentance, forgiveness and spiritual renewal, of standing in awe before God. [ in awe of Him! Awe= The Wonder of it all, Respect, Worship].
An update in current events: Red Heifers arrive in Israel, [Numbers 19:2,] five red heifers landed at the Ben Gurion Airport 9/15/2022. They are needed for the temple worship that will be instituted in the tribulation.
Even as prophecy is unfolding all around us it does not seem to affect the professing church. It is as though they are locked in some false narrative that they are safe and secure and are immune from the warning and admonishments in the Word of God. Paul gave this warning in the Word of God, 2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? There are five warning given to the believer in the book of Hebrews. Jesus Christ, Himself gave you warning in the messages to the churches, and the warning is summarized in this admonishment, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;…
Song of Solomon 6:2-3, My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. Son 6:3 I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies. This is an expression of love initiated by the believer to which The LORD responds. But yet I do not see this happening in the church today. Rather than coming to Church with acts of faith and worship and to stand in awe of the LORD. We come to church with a spirit of division, jealousy, and a root of bitterness, Psa_36:2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful. Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
People are sleep walking through these days. Listen: Rom_13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Eph_5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
1Co_15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
1] We need to be talking about prophecy. Rev_19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. We are living in the days that prophecy is being fulfilled. But yet the Church is living without a sense of urgency. The beginning of the day of the LORD is the rapture and the next event on the calendar. If you think things will get better, they will not. If you think these times will pass and we will soon get back to normal, there is no more normal. There is no going back – we are here
2] Being aware of Prophecy gives us a sense of urgency. What will it be like the day after the rapture? Fear, uncertainty, complete chaos, danger, lawlessness, financial disaster. Your friends will not be able to give you comfort. You can have all the silver and gold in the world and what will it bring you?
If you miss the rapture, you will go into the tribulation, and you still must believe the gospel to be saved, to have a home in heaven, to not spend eternity in a lake of fire. To hear His word and believe the gospel is to have LIFE, Joh 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life
To have eternal life and to be a follower of Christ is to be ready for the rapture or death, and the JSOC. If a person is wrong about the need to be born again, they are wrong about everything. If a person is wrong about how to be born again, they are blind, 2Co 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
What will we do at the rapture? I believe at the rapture we will look to see if all the family is there. If all our family and friends are in. [ I read this story it was around 1968 or 69- The mother was an afraid to die. She told her son of her fear of not getting into heaven. Her son left to find some one to get his mother in. The hour was getting late, the weather was cold and raining, and finally there was a church, and in the house next door a light was on. The Pastor answered the door and the little boy said, “Sir, would you come get my mother in. The Pastor thinking, she was trapped out in the cold and after a bit they arrived at the house and found his mother sick, afraid to die. That Pastor said, I kneeled beside that bed and took John 3:16 and preached to her the Gospel and she believed and got in.]
1} The Gospel is the Power of God unto Salvation, Romans 1:16, 1 Cor. 1:17-18, For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
The printed materials that are pushed out for people to buy, to do, sent out by preachers, and churches are a hinderance not a help, Isa 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsted, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isa 55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Isa 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; It is without money and without price. It is not a business it is a calling.
Paul called out enemies of the gospel by name; they took their anger out on Paul but it was the gospel they were fighting. Just as Paul was persecuting the church till, he met Christ, so, the one walking in darkness creates chaos to mask their own rebellion until they come to the knowledge of the truth. 2Ti_4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: The enemies of the Gospel are in the Church, and they create such a stink that people avoid the church.
2] Believe the promises of God. I was listening to a prophecy speaker and he said, get ready the rapture is coming, and he ended the broadcast. I am thinking, how are they going to get ready?
It does not matter if you are a member of a Church, have been baptized, confirmed, if you do not know you are saved, you need to believe on Christ for everlasting life. You do not need a lesson on how to be a better you. Maybe you say, I thought you had to be born again? Answer: You do! He promised the New Birth to those who believed on His name, Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, to them that believe on his name: Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Believing on His name is the same as believing on Him.
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
3] There are believers who are not ready for the rapture or the JSOC, 1Jn_2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. That means “be ashamed from Him.” The fundamental thought is that of separation and shrinking from God through the shame of conscious guilt.
I do not think any believer wants to face the LORD and not be in fellowship with Him! The way back for the believer is to repent. Every time the word repent is used in the Revelation, [12 times] it is never in reference to obtaining eternal life but rather to turn from sin ongoing or engrained in the Church, in the home, or in believer’s life.
So, how does the believer who is out of fellowship prepare for the Rapture, to meet the LORD? Answer: Rev 2:5 “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works;…..”
[1They have left their first love in the sense that they forgotten the early days of that relationship and have taken it for granted. Jesus tells them to remember where they have fallen, and do the deeds they did at first]
This means to confess your sin and start walking in the light, 1 John 1:6-9. How do you repent from walking in darkness? Answer: Starting walking in the Light! Will He forgive? Answer: 1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. That fellowship is with you and Christ.
When we forget our first love our life becomes about something other than Christ and His Gospel. May I never forget, may you never forget, we are redeemed for His pleasure. And may we never lose sight of why the work matters, Joh_4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
That work started with the LORD, Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; And on the cross Jesus said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. He was perfect in His birth, endured the process and was made perfect in His life and was perfect in His death, It is finished:
Yes, He finished the work, and you can be sure of His forgiveness and acceptance, 1 John 2:1-2, My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
He is our intercessor, but notice where He is? He is with the Father, Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Rom 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
As of today, the rapture has not taken place, you can repent and do the first works. There may be sins committed, and you will need to repent and confess to be back in fellowship and to be ready for the rapture.
Or maybe you just put your life on automatic pilot, and you have not followed the Lord in a long time, Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
[compare 3:17 with 2:9 = The church at Smyrna thought they were poor but Jesus said they were rich -The church at Laodicea said they were rich but Jesus said they were poor}
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Speaking to the believer and the Church that has locked Him out of their mind, heart and soul. You must initiate the move: hear and open, He will respond. The word sup is a word of fellowship!
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