Prepare to Meet Your God
To be prepared to meet God, we must come into contact with His holiness, be convicted of our sins, and claim the blood of Jesus for salvation.
In this sermon, Basilia Schlink discusses the importance of being prepared to meet the Lord. She shares a vision given to Sadhu Sundar Singh, where a man in hell questions God's love due to the darkness and anguish he experiences. An angel offers the man a chance to enter heaven, but the overwhelming holiness of God repels him, causing him to return to the depths of hell. Schlink emphasizes that sin cannot stand before the holiness of God and highlights the need for the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse and make us holy. She concludes by urging listeners to seek the light of God's holiness and embrace the blood of the Lamb in order to enter into eternal joy in the kingdom of God.
Full Transcript
God lives and works today, but who experiences this joyful reality? Whoever is prepared to meet the Lord and who doesn't spend his life running away? Today's meditation by Vasiliya Shling tells us what it means to be prepared. God once gave a vision to the famous missionary Sadhu Sundar Singh from India. He saw a man in hell who was beside himself over the horror and pain he was suffering.
He cried out in rage, How can God be a God of love if he created such a place of darkness and anguish? God sent one of his angels to the man, bearing the message, Heaven is open for everyone. You are welcome to come if you want. And so the angel led the man out of darkness and hell to the edge of the heavenly world.
This heavenly world, however, was so completely filled with light and the holiness of God that the man was repelled as if by a bolt of lightning. God didn't have to condemn the man to hell. Of his own accord, the man reeled back into the deepest abyss.
Why? Light repels darkness. Sin cannot stand before the holiness of God. For this reason, it is the greatest grace when we allow the holiness of God to come into our lives here on earth, when we let ourselves be convicted of our sins and chastened by his light.
Give me your light to bring my soul salvation, To set us free, oh hear my supplication, And give me light. Give me your light and do not let it spare me, Show me my sin and to repentance grant me, Then I'll be free. To a large extent, we people spend our lives running away from God.
But we can't ever escape his holiness. According to Psalm 139, even if we flee to the outermost parts of the sea, God's holy eyes will still find us. And one day our lives will be revealed before his judgment seat.
When we must stand before the holiness of God, we need one thing, the blood of Jesus Christ. It is the blood of the Lamb, the blood which was shed to take away our sins. However, only the person who first comes into contact with the holiness of God, who brings his sin to light and is chastened by the light, can lay claim to this blood.
That person will hurry to the arms of Jesus and will call upon his blood. He will be made holy through the blood of the Lamb, so that one day he can meet God and not be repelled. And that person will enter into the kingdom of God, into eternal joy.
I thank you, scorched and bleeding Lamb divine, Those wounds bring healing for all ills of life. I thank you, Lord, I thank you thousandfold, O victim pure, with love I you behold. By the same author, please write to God Lives and Works Today, 9849 North 40th Street, Phoenix, Arizona, 85028-4099.
That's God Lives and Works Today, 9849 North 40th Street, Phoenix, Arizona, 85028-4099. God bless you.
Sermon Outline
- I. The Reality of God's Holiness
- A. God's holiness is a reality that cannot be escaped
- B. Sin is repelled by God's holiness
- II. The Human Tendency to Run Away
- A. People spend their lives trying to avoid God's holiness
- B. However, God's holiness is always present and will be revealed
- III. The Need for the Blood of Jesus
- A. The blood of Jesus is necessary for salvation
- B. Only those who come into contact with God's holiness can claim this blood
- IV. The Call to Repentance
- A. We must bring our sins to light and be chastened by God's light
- B. This is the first step to meeting God and entering the kingdom of God
Key Quotes
“Light repels darkness. Sin cannot stand before the holiness of God.” — Basilea Schlink
“Give me your light to bring my soul salvation, To set us free, oh hear my supplication, And give me light.” — Basilea Schlink
“I thank you, scorched and bleeding Lamb divine, Those wounds bring healing for all ills of life.” — Basilea Schlink
Application Points
- We must allow God's holiness to come into our lives and convict us of our sins.
- The blood of Jesus is necessary for salvation, but only those who come into contact with God's holiness can claim it.
- We must repent and turn to God to enter into the kingdom of God and experience eternal joy.