The time is now; a call to action
Joel 2:28 “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.
The prophet Joel is also quoted here in Acts 2:17 by Peter at the day of Pentecost when the Spirit came upon all who were gathered (it is not known how many). The Holy Spirit is given in different measures at different times in the Bible. Matthew Henry explains: “We often read in the Old Testament of the Spirit of the Lord coming by drops, as it were, upon the judges and prophets whom God raised up for extraordinary services; but now the Spirit shall be poured out plentifully in a full stream, as was promised with an eye to gospel-times,(Isa. 44:3). I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed. 2. The time fixed for this is afterwards; after the fulfilling of the foregoing promises this shall be fulfilled. St. Peter expounds this of the last days, the days of the Messiah, by whom the world was to have its last revelation of the divine will and grace in the last days of the Jewish church, a little before its dissolution. 3. The extent of this blessing, in respect of the persons on whom it shall be bestowed. The Spirit shall be poured out upon all flesh, not as hitherto upon Jews only, but upon Gentiles also; for in Christ there is no distinction between Jew and Greek.”
Yesterday I listened to a sermon by David Platt on how so many Christians who are in our nations churches today are not truly saved. God has placed that same burden on my soul. God is pressing an urgency into this burden; an anguish for those who think they are saved, but they are not. Christ did not call us to say a prayer or sign a card, but to become disciples. Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. The start of your life as a disciple begins with a humble heart, repentance, and a plea for forgiveness. It does not stop there. You are called to change and called to action. You are called to leave your sinful ways and to spread the Good News of Christ’s work in your testimony and the promise of eternal hope He gives freely to others. You are to be a vessel of encouragement for those who feel Christ knocking at their souls door; to answer His call for the same call to action.
Are their evidences in your life of Christ? Do you question your Salvation? Do you question your Salvation because their is little evidence of Christ, but much proof of a life still bound by sin? Paul had come to the Corinthians a third time warning them against continued living in sin and those leading them astray. He told them to do a self check: 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?–unless indeed you fail to meet the test! There is security in your Salvation, you cannot loose it, nor it be taken from you. The doubt of it is from Satan to steal your joy. If you do a self check and have doubt; repent and ask God to make the changes in your life to become a disciple of His and with that comes the security of it.
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