“(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” 2 Corinthians 6:2
People today are getting worse and worse, time is closing in
on us, and people are distancing themselves from God more and more. Just before
God flooded the earth and killed every living soul, God gave this warning, “And
the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is
flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 6:3 The
warning today is “…now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of
salvation.” I am fearful that the people of this world are ignoring God’s
warning as they did before the flood, God is angry and wrath is coming, why, “And
GOD 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.” Genesis
6:5 If God looked upon the earth and saw the greatness of human wickedness thousands
of years ago, just imagen what is seen of God on this earth today. As
Christians and churches, we are supposed to be working in a partnership with
God, “We then, as workers together with him…” 6:1 This does not mean
that God has a need of human help, because God is eternally self-contained and
needs nothing from no one. But one of God’s blessings to us is that He chose to
give us the grace to work with Him, in salvation, teaching His word, and
working with other believers in many ways. God said in 1 Corinthians 3:9 “For
we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's
building.” This is God’s grace to us, and if we fail to do our part then
God will do it a separate way and use someone else. However, we need to understand
that God using us is also a gift of grace. The blessing of planting and
watering is God’s grace to us, but also God’s commandment to us. The Great
Commission to the churches is clear, “Go ye therefore, and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28:19 – 20. The first message the world needs to hear from us is
simple, “…now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
Salvation of the lost is getting lost and most of it is our fault. We are, as
both churches and Believers losing our fire to preach the gospel to the world,
and this is the time it is most urgent. I understand that we live in a
time of few salvations, we are simply not seeing many saved. However, this
should strengthen our urgency, not make it dwindle. God said, “…I have heard
thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation…”. I believe, as most
believers and churches do also believe, that we are living in the last days. It
does not matter what God is doing, God has a right to do as He choses because
He is God. However, God gave us a work to do and for us to do that work is a
gift of His grace, but are we failing to be receptive of God’s kindness to us
and failing in our commission from Jesus Christ? Jesus told us to “go”, and He
never told us to stop or even slowdown. The measuring stick of our goal, is not
only getting the gospel to the world, but to every lost soul. “And he said
unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Mark 16:15 Are we wasting God’s grace and our opportunity for souls to be
saved? Can we all, as individual believers and even as churches say what Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his
grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more
abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
Are we truly laboring more abundantly than they all?
