Will You Still Be Standing When Christ Comes?
There is a day coming when the noise of this world will suddenly become meaningless. The business meetings, church programs, political arguments, social media, money, possessions, popularity, titles, applause, and personal plans will all become small in one moment. The day Christ returns will not ask whether you were ready. It will reveal whether you were ready. Many people speak about the coming of Christ as though it is only a doctrine to discuss. They debate the timing, argue about prophecy, study charts, preach conferences, and sing about Heaven, yet continue living as though the Lord will never actually come. That is dangerous. The return of Jesus Christ is not entertainment for Christians. It is a warning to the careless, a hope to the faithful, and a terror to those who have built a religious life without obedience. The Church must stop pretending that activity means readiness. You can be busy in ministry and still be spiritually asleep. You can preach every week and still refuse to obey God in private. You can lead worship and still love the world. You can wear the title pastor, prophet, evangelist, apostle, bishop, elder, or minister and still be living against the Word you preach. Jesus did not say, “Blessed is the servant who was popular when I returned.” He did not say, “Blessed is the servant who had the largest congregation.” He did not say, “Blessed is the servant who raised the most money.” The question is whether you were faithful. There are people who preach holiness but live secretly in sin. There are people who preach honesty but manipulate money. There are people who preach marriage while living in adultery. There are people who tell others to fear God while they themselves have stopped trembling before Him. There are ministers who know what Scripture says but change the message because they fear losing members, donors, influence, invitations, or money. You may impress people, but Heaven is not impressed by performance. God sees behind the pulpit. God sees what happens after the microphone is turned off. God sees how you treat the poor person who cannot give you anything. God sees how differently you treat the rich person who can fund your ministry. God sees when you soften His Word because a wealthy person is sitting in front of you. God sees when you refuse to rebuke sin because you are afraid that people will leave. God sees when money begins to control what you preach. And you will answer for it. Second Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the word.” It does not say, “Preach what your generation finds comfortable.” It does not say, “Preach what keeps people happy.” It does not say, “Change the message when the offering becomes smaller.” It says, “Preach the word.” God's Word does not need to become modern enough for sin to accept it. Truth is not outdated because a generation hates it. Holiness is not old fashioned because culture has changed. Sexual purity is not old fashioned. Marriage is not old fashioned. Repentance is not old fashioned. The fear of God is not old fashioned. Judgment is not old fashioned. Hell is not old fashioned. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Church is in danger when it begins to believe that the Bible must be rewritten in order to survive modern culture. No. The Church does not save the Word of God. The Word of God corrects the Church. If Scripture offends your generation, preach it anyway. If truth makes people uncomfortable, preach it anyway. If people stop giving because you refuse to bless their sin, let them keep their money. Silver and gold belong to God. A servant of God should never become so dependent on human money that he becomes afraid to tell human beings the truth. What does it profit you to build a large ministry and lose your soul? What does it profit you to fill a church and empty the Gospel of its power? What does it profit you to become famous on earth and stand ashamed before Christ? Some ministers have become professional comforters of people God is trying to correct. They know what Scripture says, but instead of warning people, they entertain them. Instead of calling them to repentance, they tell them everything will be fine. Instead of confronting greed, immorality, pride, dishonesty, unforgiveness, corruption, and rebellion, they avoid those subjects because those messages may affect attendance or giving. That is not love. If a building is burning and you know people are sleeping inside, love does not whisper. Love shouts. If judgment is real, the Church must speak like judgment is real. If Hell is real, the Church must stop preaching as though every road eventually leads to Heaven. If Christ is coming, pastors must stop preparing people only for prosperity and begin preparing people for eternity. There are believers who know more about receiving blessings than dying to self. They know how to claim houses, cars, promotions, visas, marriages, contracts, and money, but they know very little about holiness, sacrifice, obedience, purity, forgiveness, repentance, restitution, and carrying the cross. Something is wrong. Jesus did not die only to improve your earthly comfort. He died to save you from sin. He did not call you to decorate your old life with Christianity. He called you to die to the old life and follow Him. The day Christ appears will expose every false confidence. Some will discover that church attendance was not the same as knowing Jesus. Some will discover that preaching was not the same as obeying Jesus. Some will discover that spiritual gifts were not the same as holiness. Some will discover that being admired by Christians was not the same as being approved by Christ. Matthew 7:21 says, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Read that again slowly. Jesus was not speaking about people who never heard His Name. He spoke of people saying, “Lord, Lord.” That should make every believer examine himself. Do not ask only, “Do I go to church?” Ask, “Am I obeying Christ?” Do not ask only, “Do I preach?” Ask, “Am I living what I preach?” Do not ask only, “Do people respect me?” Ask, “Does my private life honor God?” Do not ask only, “Am I gifted?” Ask, “Am I holy?” Do not ask only, “Does my ministry look successful?” Ask, “If Christ came tonight, would I be ready?” The world also needs to wake up. There is a dangerous desire for peace without God. Humanity wants safety without repentance, unity without truth, prosperity without holiness, and solutions without surrender to Christ. The world wants somebody to calm fear, stabilize nations, fix economies, end wars, protect markets, and promise security. But Scripture warns about false peace. First Thessalonians 5:3 says, “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them.” Do not allow a peaceful voice to make you spiritually careless. Not every promise of peace comes from God. Not every powerful leader is carrying God's truth. Not every solution is salvation. The world may become calm while eternity is becoming more dangerous. You must know Christ for yourself. There is coming a time when people will desperately want answers. Systems will shake. Nations will fear. Religious confidence will collapse. People who thought they understood everything will suddenly realize how little power they have. And when that happens, do not expect money to save you. Money cannot stop judgment. Technology cannot cancel prophecy. Governments cannot vote away eternity. Military power cannot shoot down the throne of God. Science cannot keep your soul on earth when your time is finished. The human race is not in control of eternity. God is. Some of you are comfortable because judgment has not happened yet. You mistake delay for approval. You say, “Nothing happened.” You sinned and woke up the next morning, so you think God did not care. You lied and your business still grew. You cheated and your account still increased. You committed adultery and nobody discovered it. You preached wrongly and people still applauded. You manipulated people and your ministry still expanded. And because there was no immediate punishment, you convinced yourself that everything was fine. Everything is not fine. Ecclesiastes 8:11 warns that because judgment against evil is not executed quickly, people become more confident in doing evil. God's patience is not His approval. His delay may be mercy. You are being given time to repent. Do not turn mercy into an excuse for rebellion. Pastor, examine yourself. Minister, examine yourself. Christian, examine yourself. Young person, examine yourself. Parent, examine yourself. Businessman, examine yourself. Leader, examine yourself. The person who does not believe in God, examine your life. You are moving toward eternity. The trumpet will not ask whether you finished your plans. Death will not ask whether you completed your house. Judgment will not ask whether you were ready to leave your money behind. When God says time is finished, time is finished. You cannot tell eternity, “Give me another week.” This is why you must stop delaying repentance. If God is correcting you, respond. If your preaching has become dishonest, return to the Word. If money has become your master, repent. If you treat wealthy members differently because of what they give, repent. If you preach only what people want to hear, repent. If you are living secretly against what you publicly preach, repent. If you have changed Scripture to protect your lifestyle, repent. If you are sleeping spiritually because people still call you “man of God,” wake up. The title will not save you. The microphone will not save you. The collar will not save you. The church building will not save you. Your followers will not save you. Your denomination will not save you. Jesus Christ is the Savior. And He will not share His throne with your religious reputation. The Church must return to trembling before the Word of God. Preach repentance. Preach holiness. Preach grace. Preach mercy. Preach the cross. Preach the blood of Jesus. Preach obedience. Preach judgment. Preach Heaven. Preach Hell. Preach Christ. Do not remove the difficult parts because modern people do not like them. A doctor who hides a deadly diagnosis because he does not want to upset the patient is not loving the patient. A preacher who hides eternal danger because he does not want to lose members is not loving the people. Tell them the truth. Tell the rich the truth. Tell the poor the truth. Tell the young the truth. Tell the old the truth. Tell the powerful the truth. Tell yourself the truth. Christ is coming. And if He does not come during your lifetime, you are still going to meet Him when you die. Either way, your meeting with eternity is coming. Think about that. You may not live to see the end of the world, but you will certainly see the end of your world. The day you die will be the end of earthly opportunity for you. On your deathbed, your theology will become personal. Your breathing may become weak. Your family may stand around you. Your body may refuse to respond. People may call your name. Machines may make sounds around you. And suddenly every sermon about eternity will stop being theory. At that moment, you may wish you had taken God more seriously. You may remember the compromises. You may remember the warnings. You may remember the Scriptures. You may remember the secret sins. You may remember every time conviction came and you pushed it away. Why wait until your body is dying before you become serious about where your soul is going? Wake up now. This is the mercy of God speaking before the final moment. The warning is not hatred. The warning is mercy. Nineveh was warned because God was giving Nineveh an opportunity to repent. They responded. You must respond too. Do not demand another sign. Do not wait for another dream. Do not wait for another tragedy. Do not wait until somebody close to you dies. Do not wait until your own body begins shutting down. Take God seriously now. Christ is not coming back for a Church that only knows how to talk about Him. He is coming for a people who belong to Him. Live ready. Preach ready. Forgive ready. Repent ready. Obey ready. Do not allow money to silence truth. Do not allow culture to rewrite Scripture. Do not allow popularity to become your god. Do not allow ministry to become your hiding place. Do not allow the applause of people to make you forget the judgment of Christ. One day the trumpet will sound, or one day your heart will stop. Either way, you will face the reality of realities. And on that day, there will be no more pretending. So while mercy is still speaking, come back to God. If you know you are not right with God and you want to surrender your life to Jesus Christ, pray sincerely from your heart: “Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus Christ. I admit that I am a sinner and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose again. Lord Jesus, forgive me, wash me with Your blood, and have mercy on me. I repent of my sins and turn away from my old life. Come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Give me the strength to obey You, follow You, and live for You from this day forward. Write my name in the Book of Life and help me to remain faithful to You until the end. Thank You for saving me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”