When God tells you your time is up, the next thing He expects from you is to prepare just as God told King Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’” – Isaiah 38:1
Knowing that you are about to die, what do you do? You set your house in order. In the same way, knowing that the Lord is about to destroy the world, what do you do? You set your life in order. In other words, you prepare for what’s ahead.
And just as God told Noah, He is about to destroy the earth and so they should prepare… You can’t stop it, you just prepare for it. As soon as the message comes what God expects from you is this: that you do according to all that He has commanded.
Genesis 6:22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.
If God says He is coming to destroy the earth, what is expected of you?
1. Being Prepared: He Himself gives exact instructions on how to save you from His own destruction.
2. Being Ready: He gives the time and the season by which you must be ready.
Let us go to Exodus to see what the Lord required of the Israelites when He wanted to appear before them. First, He gave them the exact number of days to prepare—three days. And on the third day, He would appear.
The key thing here is this: once He has said He will appear, He will. And before He does, it is expected of you to prepare—just like a bride prepares before meeting a bridegroom when the date for the wedding has been set. Likewise, once you are told that you are going to meet the Lord, YOU MUST PREPARE YOURSELF AND BE READY.
Now in Exodus 19:10–11: “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.’”
Let’s break it down: first let’s take the command as a whole, where He instructs Moses to get the people prepared and ready for the third day for His appearance. Once the message came, their entire business for the rest of the days was to prepare for that appearance. Notice this: once the command is given, all that is expected of you is to prepare to meet the Lord, is like a judgement that has been passed, just as it happened in the time of Noah. Noah’s business after receiving the command was to prepare till Ark was built, then he entered the Ark and the flood came.
Let’s take a look at this parable: once the message came, their only business was to leave everything behind and get into the Ark or the wedding Banquet. But just like in Noah’s days, while Noah was telling them to repent and come on board, they kept making excuses—one said, ‘I have land to farm,’ another, ‘I have animals to rear,’ and yet another, ‘Charlie Noah, I just got married, and you want me to enter the Ark?’
Luke 14:16-20 Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
Again, just as He commanded Moses to send the message to the people, so has He sent out His servants—the prophets, apostles, teachers, evangelists, and all the other ministers—to go out and prepare the people for the appearing of Christ. The job of the fivefold ministry is to prepare man for the Second Coming. Just as He told Moses to tell the Israelites to prepare for His coming, so has He told His servants to tell all men on this earth that the Lord is coming and that they must prepare to meet Him.
Ephesians 4:11-13 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
So those He has sent out are all for one purpose: preparing man for His return. One is not greater than the other. It is not about ranks—who is bigger or who is smaller. No, it is about saving man from the snares of the devil and preparing him to meet the Lord. This is done in different dimensions, different workings. But the point is, it is the same Jesus doing all of it; it is the same Spirit. Just as He told Moses, it is one task: prepare the people to meet the Lord. And that is the task of every minister of God but how it is executed is differs from one another.
Then again, these roles are simply about work, not about who is greater or smaller. Take a man who wants to build a house: he will need a carpenter, a plumber, a mason, an electrician, a painter, a roofer, and even labourers to carry materials, all for the purpose of building one complete house. Each has their role, and without one, the building cannot be complete. As little as you may see one, without it the building will be incomplete. Imagine building a house without roofing—how do you sleep in such a house? As Paul said, the end goal of all the roles is that we become a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).
You can also look at it this way: we need water, food, and breath to keep us alive and growing. If you take just one away, you will die. It is not about the value or weight of the role assigned—whether apostle, teacher, pastor, or evangelist—but about each one using their office for the assigned work to make the church whole. 1 Corinthians 12:22–23: No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor”
Assume water makes up 90% of life, food 9%, and the breath of life 1%. Do we say water is 90% and so we will only take water without food and breath? Or do we say breath is less important because it is only 1%? Certainly not! We will die without it, even though only one percent is required. We will also die without food, even though 9% is required. It is not about the weight but about meeting each requirement, whether small or great. So Paul concludes: “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”
The apostle’s job is to perfect the saints. The prophet’s job is to perfect the saints—it is not to prophesy about who will be president of Ghana. No, please. The pastor’s job is to perfect the saints for the appearing of the Holy One. It is not about tithes, welfare dues, or meeting offertory targets. The teacher’s job is also to perfect the saints so that we can meet Christ, is not about proving Adam is not the first man.
The time given for the work? Until we come into the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man. (Ephesians 4:11-13) Why “until we become”? Because Jesus is ready, all things are ready—the only one not ready is man. God is kind enough to wait until we are ready, until we actually mature to the level He requires. Then He will come.
God is ready: Luke 14:17: “At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’”
He is waiting until we become ready: And Revelation 19:7 says: “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”
The emphasis is on “made herself ready.” Why hasn’t God come yet? Because we are not ready. And so the command to His servants is to prepare us until we become ready. God is patiently waiting. It is sad to see prophets and pastors arguing about who is right and who is wrong while God is waiting for us.
Remember Lot and his wife. God made it clear that He could not destroy the city until they had reached safety, because He showed them mercy and did not want them destroyed. The emphasis here is that until they were safe from the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, God did nothing. Will God see to it that we are destroyed? Certainly not. But what He expects is that we do according to all that He has said, so as to be saved from the impending destruction by FIRE. Looking back like Lots wife is your choice.
Genesis 19:21 And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”
So we can see from here why He is still waiting:
“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
“Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord GOD. Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23).
“As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11).
He has no pleasure in our perishing. Instead, He is kind enough and patient enough to wait for every man like He waited for Lot and the wife to run to safety before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah. He is waiting for everyman on this earth, Yes, every man. Because in the Bible, He came to save man—not just Christians. Whatever label you have, turn from your evil ways and come to Jesus—whether Christian or Muslim, Traditionalist or Jew, Catholic, Pentecostal, Methodist, or Presbyterian. Whether Sunni or Shia, Anglican, Baptist, or Lutheran, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, atheist, Hare Krishna, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Orthodox, Charismatic, or Spiritualist—there are no labels when it comes to the salvation of man. Just turn to Jesus and be saved, turn away from this crooked world.
Again, like two people who want to get married: if the man is ready and the woman is not, can the marriage happen? Certainly not. In the same way, God is ready, but we the bride are not ready. But for how long? If a man is ready to marry and the woman says she is not ready, how long will the man wait? Will he wait forever? Ten years? Fifty years? Certainly not. What is the next option if the one you want to marry is forever not ready? You move on and look for someone else.
This is the case of the Israelites and God. He came for them, but they were not ready, so He turned to the Gentiles. Now, whoever is ready should join, because God is not waiting forever. If God left the Israelites—His beloved—to look for others, do you think you, Mr. Gentile, you can also go about with your excuses? No. If you are also not ready, you will be left behind.
Matthew 22:8–9: “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited [Israelites] were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many [Gentiles] as you find, invite to the wedding.’”
Once men make themselves ready, once the bride makes herself ready, then there will be a feast. We will see the Bridegroom. But He will not wait forever. That is why He said: this time around, whoever is ready. So, like the five wise and five foolish virgins, if He comes and you are not ready, you will be left behind.
“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7).
Next: Part 2: Prepare To Meet Thy God: That’s Your Whole Duty on This Earth
