It pays to be ready

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. A friend of

the family got the Holy Ghost the other day. He was an elderly gentleman,

a good man, and an inhabitant all of his life of the great rural heartland

here in the mid-western united states. He was a man of character,

someone who was respected by all and dearly loved by his family. He

was peacable and a long-time church attender.

But without the Holy Ghost, he was not saved. Peter made mention

in his first epistle about how the righteous are scarcely saved. In other

words, just being "good" is not "good enough." This is because without

the Spirit of Jesus down in our hearts, we cannot be purged of our sins.

Remember, to God our righteousness is as filthy rags. There is no

way that we within ourselves can be justified without having the

blod of Christ applied to our souls. Also remember, because we

think that we are living a "good" life, doesn't mean that we can trangress

a few things and still make it to heaven. I know people who fall into

this trap too. The Holy Ghost is given so that we may live above all

sin.

But this man that I speak of got the Holy Ghost and was changed

dramatically. Whereas before he was a "good" man (none is good

but God), now he was an excited man wating to work for the Lord.

There is a tremendous difference between the two.

He died a few days later. He was on the road driving, and died

suddenly. He got the Holy Ghost just in time. But if he had waited

but a few more days to surender all to God, he would not have had

the Spirit of God he needed for his salvation.

So my theme tonight is this: "It pays to be ready." We never know

when our appointed time is. So I would encourage each and everyone

who reads this to not wait, surrender all to God today. Examine yourself

and set aside any weight. Do not wait until you only have a few days to

work for God, or none at all.

Be sincere in ALL things. Be working actively for the Lord.

Be the elect.