b'END TIMESThe Blessings of Being ReadyBy Michael Forti The virgins who were READY went in with Him toeagles, they will RUN and not grow WEARY, they the WEDDING BANQUET. And the door was shut.willWALKandnotFAINT(KJ-NIV).Wouldyou Later the others (who were not ready) also came.agree that the Lord is going to BLESS all who are H undreds of years before Jesus came; God spokeSir!Sir!theysaid.Openthedoorforus!Butwaiting and watching for Him to come? Why?through the Holy prophets a total of 332 proph- Jesus replied, I tell you the truth,WhatdoestherestofGods ecies concerning the messiah to come. When JesusI dont know you. Therefore keepWord teach about the REWARDS? came, He literally fulfilled all of the prophecies withWATCH (NIV).Jesusclearlyteachesthattrue 100 percent accuracy. If thats the case, why didNotice, the faithful will be invit- believers will ESCAPE the coming the people reject Him as their long awaited Saviored to the wedding banquet andJUDGEMENT and WRATH of God and then crucify Him on the cross? For some oddthey will be BLESSED! The othersiftheyarewaitingandwatching reason, days before Jesus was crucified, He walkedthat are NOT ready and remainingforHimtocome.Luke21:34-36 into the temple, pulled out His whip, turned overwatchfulwillbeLEFTBEHIND.says,Becareful,oryourhearts thetablesandchasedoutthemoneygrubbersDid you happen to notice that thewill be weighed down with dissipa-who were buying and selling in the temple courts.foolish virgins think they know thetion, drunkenness and the anxiet-Jesus said, It is written, My house will be a houseLord? They even know about theies of life (a life filled with idolatry), of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbersopen door. How about Philippiansandthatdaywillcloseonyou (Luke 19:46, Matt 21;13, John 2:16).It appeared3:20-21? But our citizenship is inunexpectedlylikeatrap.Forit thattheyweremoreconcernedwithWORLDLYheaven. And we EAGERLY AWAITwill come upon all those who live wealth instead of looking for their Savior to come.aSaviorfromthere,theLordon the face of the whole earth. Be No wonder they did not recognize Jesus when HeJesusChrist,who,bythepoweralways on the WATCH and pray came. Unfortunately, the same thing is happeningthatbringseverythingunderHisthatyoumaybecountedworthy today, even within much of the main line Christiancontrol,willTRANSFORMourMichael Forti toESCAPEALLthatisaboutto church. What are we doing about it? lowlybodiessothattheywillbehappen, and that you may be able However, there were a few faithful believers wholike HIS GLORIOUS BODY. WOW,tostandbeforetheSonofMan werepreparingtheway.Throughouttheentirewhat a blessing. Im ready for my new body (NIV)!(NKJV-KJV-NIV). Bible, Old and New, Jesus teaches that He is ONLYHebrews 9:28 says, So Christ was sacrificed onceWhatabout1Thessalonians1:9-10?Theytell COMINGforthosewhoaremakingpreparations,to take away the sins of many people; and He willhow you turned to God from idols, to serve the liv-whotrulyloveHim,whoareeagerlywaitingforappear a second time, not to bear sin, but to BRINGing and true God, and to WAIT for His Son from Him,and,forthosewhoaretrulysaved.IfyouSALVATIONtothosewhoareWAITINGforHimheaven, whom He raised from the dead-Jesus who takeacloselook,youwillseethatJesushasa(NIV)RESCUES us from the COMING WRATH(NIV). No BLESSING for the wise virgins who are ready, wait- WhatdoesIsaiah40:31say?Butthosewhoquestion,itwillbebeneficialtobeWAITINGand ing and watching for Him to come. WAITandHOPEintheLord,HewillRENEWWATCHING for our Lord when He comes. To begin, lets take a look at Matthew 25:1-13.their STRENGTH. They will SOAR on WINGS likeFriends,ifyouaretrulysavedbythegraceof God, you will be bearing the fruit of genuine salva-tion. You will have the desire to please God and not However, there were a few faithful believers who werethe world. You will be more heavenly minded and less worldly minded. You will get your spiritual pri-preparing the way. Throughout the entire Bible, Old andorities lined up with the will of God. We are saved by the precious grace of God and not by works (Eph 2:8-10). However, those who are truly born again New, Jesus teaches that He is ONLY COMING for thosewill be bearing the fruit worthy of repentance (Matt 3:8, 7:15-17, 1 Jn Chs 1-2). who are making preparations, who truly love Him, whoHis Word also teaches that there are GIFTS and are eagerly waiting for Him, and, for those who are trulyBLESSINGS being poured out on the faithful who areEAGERLYWAITINGfortheirLordtocome. 1Corinthians 1:7 says, Therefore you do not LACK saved. If you take a close look, you will see that Jesus hasany SPIRITUAL GIFT as you EAGERLY WAIT for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed and for Him a BLESSING for the wise virgins who are ready, waitingtoCOME(1Cor12:8-11-NIV-KJV-NLT).Notice that 1 Corinthians ends with the teaching on the and watching for Him to come. Continued on Page 51.Kurt Carr - Bless6.Gene Moore - Tunnel Somebody Else Vision2.Kirk Franklin - Long Live7.Paul Morton - A Month Love Of Sundays3.Vashawn Mitchell -8.Joe Pace/Shiloh Church - Elements Behold Our God4.J.j. Hairston - Miracle9.Bebe Winans - Need YouWorker 10 Joshua Sherman - Tribe 5.James Fortune - Dream2 Kingdom Vol.1Again4 SEPTEMBER 2019 BOCNEWS.com'