09.24.07

Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. - Ephesians 5:1-4.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” - Ephesians 5:8-14.

An 18-year-old young man in Melbourne, Australia almost burned to death because he was too tired to wake up. His mattress caught fire from a lamp that fell and his feet were in the fire but he did not wake up! The young man was going the extra mile studying and had fallen asleep. Thankfully, a smoke alarm went off and the parents found the burning bed and the dangerous situation for their son. They rescued their son and dragged the burning mattress outside. The young man had minor burns on his feet and his mother had minor burns to one hand.

Can you imagine being so sleepy that you did not wake up even when your bed was on fire? It was a slow burning fire but still when there was enough heat to cause some burns to your feet you would think that it would wake you up. I wonder if the smoke alarm woke him up or if it was only after his parents rushed into the room and pulled him out of danger that he woke up?

This is a picture of a lost world. Billions of people across this world are asleep, spiritually blinded (2 Corinthians 4:4) to their spiritual need and the danger of hellfire that they will soon face. The lights have been turned out in their lives and they are adrift in a world of evil from “fornication”: to all types of “filthiness.” The world is rushing toward judgment with the end times upon us. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, appears to a candidate for being the anti-christ. The growth of Islam and Islamic nations provide us with an idea of how a one-world religion could come into being. The proliferation of nuclear weapons and with Pakistan on the verge of becoming a radical Islamic nation with nuclear weapons along with Iran give us an idea of what may be ahead.

We are running out of time to reach a lost and blinded world. If you knew that the Lord Jesus Christ was coming in the clouds tomorrow who would you share the gospel message with today? Who would you rush to and tell them it is time to “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” There is nothing to keep Christ from coming in the clouds tomorrow. He could come tomorrow and so what will you do today?