When? NOW!

There once was a man living in a very old house. The house was falling apart bit by bit every month. One month a shingle fell off the roof. The next month a window cracked and broke. A few months later tiny holes in his roof started to appear. Confused and baffled the man decided to call an architect friend of his to ask him what was going on with his house. The architect looked over the house very carefully, from top to bottom, and finally concluded that the house was slowly but surely crumbling around them. You see the land the house was built on was once a marsh so the foundation of the house was very shaky and unstable. The instability of the house’s foundation was making the house fall apart bit by bit. Knowing the dangers of living in as unstable house, the architect advised his friend to move out of the house as soon as he could before it came crashing in on him. The man looking at his house and figuring it would take a lot of work to move all his stuff out, asked his friend how much time he had before the house completely gave in. His friend, being an expert, looked at the house and said “well, no one can tell you that. It could be today it could be next year. I don’t know exactly when but I know this house is going to fall down one day.” The man decided that he would spend just a few more months in the house… until things got really bad. Every month the house deteriorated, and then the decay became more frequent. Now it was every week that the house was falling. But still the man refused to move. He figured, “since it’s just every other week, I still have time”. Soon the house was falling apart day by day in bigger and bigger chunks. Every day the man came home from work and said, “Tomorrow I’ll move”. One rainy day what was left of the roof came crashing in on the man while he was sleeping and killed him. The architect, when he heard about his friend’s death exclaimed, “I told him months ago to move. Why didn’t he just listen to me? Had he moved out of his house he would have been saved!”


What is salvation?
Salvation refers to us being saved or redeemed from our sins by God because of his grace and mercy towards us. We know that Christ left his home in glory to come live and die on earth as man in order to save us from our sins (Lu. 19:10, I Tim. 1:1, Ac. 4:12, Ro. 5: 8-9, He. 5:9).
He did so in order to take away our sins and to break the power that the devil had over us. Because Jesus died on the cross for us we know that we can come to him for the forgiveness of our sins and walk in newness of life (Is. 53:3, He. 2:9, I Pe. 3:18).

How do we receive salvation?
The Bible outlines for us a three step method of salvation. In order to be saved from our sins we must first of all
1. Repent: which means to turn away from our sins and to never go back to them.
(Lu. 13:3, Ac. 3:19, Ac. 17:30, Ez. 18:21)

2. Be baptized in Jesus name: which symbolizes the burial of our old selves and the resurrection of our new selves.
(Mk. 16:6, Jn. 3:5-6, Ac. 22:16, Ga. 3:27, I Pe. 3:21)

3. The third step is actually a gift to all who follow the first two steps. Everyone who repents and is baptized in Jesus’ name will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
(Ac. 2:38, Joel 2:28, Mat. 3:11, Lu. 11:13, Ac. 1:8)

The Holy Ghost is the comforter and guide we need to be able to withstand the attacks of the enemy. Without the Holy Ghost we cannot make it in this world as Christians because we do not have it within ourselves to do good, or to even know what is good and what isn’t.
(Ez. 36:27, Jn. 16:13, Jn. 15:26, Jn 16: 7-8)

When do we receive salvation?
The Bible says there is a time for everything. However, when it comes to salvation the Bible is very clear that the time for salvation is now.
• 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 : “We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I sucoured thee: behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation.” (KJV)
• Romans 13:11-12
• Hebrews 3:7-8

Why NOW? Because we, first of all, don’t know when the Lord is coming back (Rev. 3:3, 5). Secondly, because it is better to get saved too early than to wait and end up being too late(Ec. 11:4, Mt. 25: 1-13). And thirdly, because we are not promised tomorrow (Pr. 27:1).

Most Common Reasons for procrastination
- I’m not good enough.
Who says you need to be? God wants us to come to him as we are, diseased, wicked, possessed, addicted, whatever it might be only God has the power to heal and to free you. Of all the lepers and diseased people in the Bible Jesus healed which one of them first made themselves whole before they came to Christ for help?

- I still want to have fun.
Answer me this then, while you’re busy “having fun”. What will it profit you if you gain the whole world but then lose your own soul in eternal hell (Ja. 2:14)?

- I’m not a bad person, I don’t need to do anything to go to heaven because I’m already good enough.
You think so huh? Well have I got news for you! The Bible says you are not saved by works of righteousness which you have done, but according to God’s mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Good intentions alone cannot get you to heaven. Unless you are born of the water (baptized) and of the spirit (Holy Ghost filled) you will not see the kingdom of heaven (Jn. 3:5, Ga. 2:16, Ep. 2:8-9, Tit. 3:5).

God stands with his hands outstretched waiting to forgive you of your sins and to save you from the trap the devil has set before you. But he’s a gentleman; he cannot force himself on you. God will never force you to do anything you do not want to do. He will never force you to love him. He will always, always, wait for you to call out to him, to ask for him.

There will come a time when all who have been planted in this world will be harvested. It is plain to see from the parable in Luke 13:6-9 that only those who bear fruit will survive. Those who do not bear fruit will be cut down. But how do bear fruit you might ask? John 15:4-6 says God is the vine and we are the branches and we are to abide in him in order that we may bear fruit.

If you show God that doing evil is more important to you and “more fun” for you than his gift of salvation, he will leave you to your evil deeds (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28).
A father can only warn a child so many times until he has to let the child learn from experience. But how painful do you think it is going to be for you to go through life hurting and scared because you ignored a warning as opposed to carefree and happy because you heeded good advice?

What makes it even worse is that we are not like God, we are restricted by time. This world will one day pass away and the lives we are living here will one day end (Ja. 4:14). Like the man in the old house, we are living in a world built on unstable ground. Wars break out every day, and terrorist attacks spring up from all corners of the world. Cars are becoming faster and faster, and it now seems like the world is moving at the speed of light. The fact of the matter is if we don’t move out of this house of the world and take refuge in the Lord and make him our rock, our shelter, and our fortress, we will surely die. NOW is the time for salvation, NOW is the time to move out of this house into God’s grace and mercy before the world comes crashing in on us and kills us.