NONE OF US doubts that the return of our Lord is imminent, but we prob ably don't recognize how soon this climactic event may take place. In view of this, "What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God" (2 Peter 3:11).
There is a preparation that is of utmost importance as we look forward with hope and thanksgiving to the re turn of our loving Lord. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, and righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:11-13; italics supplied).
To live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world! To be a peculiar people zealous of good works requires an inward, supernatural, divine change in us. Christ longs to give us a new heart and to renew a right spirit within us. Humanly speaking, it is impossible. In fact, many take as their reason for living as they do today the ancient credo, "Everybody's doing it!"
What else could so dramatically determine our foolish, fickle, immodest fashions? Fashion designers manipulate us like puppets on strings. If the new fashion calls for the short, the tight, the skimpy, the revealing, we conform.
It is my conviction that our dress and deportment ought to reflect our status as daughters of God. But some may say, How would a woman look if she strictly followed out these instructions in dress? The answer—she would have becoming clothes of good material, modest in color. She would look attractive to sensible people, in neatly tailored dresses and comfortable low-heeled shoes. Above all, she would look pleasing to the Lord, and this is all-important.
Ample Provision
God has made ample provision that through the mighty power of His grace, and the effectual working of the Holy Spirit, we can live Godlike lives in this present world. We have to admit that much of the blame and the reason for our decadent society, our crime-filled streets, and our lack of principles and morals rests on the influence of the home. Home must be a place where there is worship and study and prayer. A place where our children can learn from the early years those fundamental truths and practices that they should see exemplified in us that will enable them to grow up to be strong, and moral, and clean. And it is still true that the home to a great extent depends upon what the wife and mother makes it.
The inner preparation for Christ's coming involves absolute and complete surrender to the will of God, holding nothing in reserve. Even for this, we have no human capability, but God in His mercy and His love provides the motivating power.
Actually, the life that we must live has already been lived. Jesus did that for us. But we must be willing to ask Him to appropriate to us His perfect life of righteousness. He longs to do this. He is just waiting to do this, but we must decide to let Him do so.
If we just determine, come what will or may, by an act of our will to give our selves to Jesus, then there are no temptations, no powers in heaven or earth that can cause us to sin. The testimony of the Bible writer is clear, "For I am persuaded, that neither life, nor death, nor angels, nor principalities . . . nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:38, 39). The servant of God tells us, "If you take even one step toward Him in repentance, He will hasten to enfold you in His arms of in finite love" (Christ's Object Lessons, p. 206).
So you see, it's an act of our will. When once we decide, God will impute to us, give to us, the righteousness of His Son, the life that He has lived to cover our old life of sin. Then through His grace, and the inward working of the Holy Spirit, as we constantly submit ourselves to Him, dying daily, He will impart to us daily the righteousness we need, the strength that we need, the grace that we need to live a Christian life now in this present world.
And so, this inward change will be reflected outwardly in our dress, in our deportment, in how we react to things, and in our speech. Everything about us will be a proof that Christianity is real, viable, and beautifully possible.
This experience of complete surrender to God affects every aspect of our living. It will motivate us to keep our bodies in health and in vigor by right exercise, proper eating habits. Because in a new sense we will recognize that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we will eat right, exercise right, and think right. Proper mental health will also be a benefit that results from a right relationship with God. We will make our homes little heavens on earth because our living will be heavenly. Our children will know it; our husbands will know it; our neighbors will know it be cause we have a new, a vibrant, a different source of power for our living. Be it forever understood, God did not make us inferior. He made us equals, and the serenity of this knowledge and the power of God working within us will en able us to live as Christian women ought to live.
Finally, when Jesus comes we will have so fully reflected Him, lived for Him, and been prepared by Him, through the working of the Holy Spirit, that He will want us to be with Him throughout the unending ages of eternity. This is why He is returning to gather those who are His. There is only one way we can miss heaven and that is because we will not, by an act of our will, permit Him to save us.
