Preparation is going on all around us, every day. In
our personal lives we prepare for work, school, and travel. In the
business world, people prepare for meetings and presentations. At this
very moment farmers are preparing to harvest their crop; the very same crop
that they planted back in April/May, and they spent February/March preparing
the ground to receive that crop. Brides spend months preparing for their
‘big day”. A great concern is placed on temporal preparation for things
of this life; should not an equal concern be placed on spiritual
preparation?
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our
God.” Isaiah 40:3
The Bible tells us that the only way to be received
into the kingdom of God after death is to first receive the Son in this life (1
John 5:12). A testimony that you have received the Son and he has
received you should be the most important focus of every human being; both
obtaining that testimony and keeping that testimony. Satan does all he
can to distract and disrupt the finding and keeping of this testimony. A sanctified life is a married life.
“So, can you be single and sanctified?” Of course you can; because the
marriage is between you and God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Ghost. Moreover, the scriptures will bear out that the institution of
marriage between a man and women (not a same sex marriage; there can be no such
marriage no matter what the world says or a piece of paper) was meant to be an
allegory to the relationship that Jesus wishes to have with you. He will
be a: faithful, loving, caring, providing husband; and we are to be a faithful,
loving, caring, obedient bride. This union operates under the common
banner of edifying God and advancing his kingdom. Now, as in a temporal
marriage, the bride will prepare for the receiving of her husband. So our
spiritual man must prepare for the reception of the groom (Jesus Christ).
How is this done? The heart prepares to receive the Holy Ghost by a
singular, earnest act of repentance. Not “I’m sorry I got caught” type of
repentance, but a: broken, contrite, penitent, forsaking, repentance.
This is only logical, what husband would receive a wife that was not willing to
forsake all others? What possible chance could a marriage have if the
wife was not prepared in her heart to be devoted to her husband? So the act of
repentance prepares the heart of man for the reception of the Holy Ghost.
You forsake the world, and its vices; you are then forgiven, cleansed, and made
ready. You are made ready to make a covenant, ready to make a vow, ready to
receive the Son and be received.
The blessing of forgiveness can and is often confused with
the blessing of full salvation. The feeling of forgiveness and being
“cleansed” is a wonderful feeling; so wonderful that one could believe “this
must be the height of the spiritual experience with God.” “This must be all
there is.” The Bible will declare plainly that this is untrue. It
is only the preparation phase, there is another work to be done; there is a
marriage that must take place. It is entirely possible that there are
many, many people who have been made ready to receive the Son of God and never
made it to the alter to make a vow to him, to commit their life to him, to
receive him and be received. As in a
marriage, emphasis must be given to both the preparation and the union; however
the whole of the service is not about the preparation but the union. It is the union of God and man that brings
full salvation; that brings new life. A life
devoted to a: loving, caring, providing, sympathizing, guiding, Jesus Christ; a
wonderful life, a complete life, a sanctified life.
