Who Is Able To Stand

# 84 – Today's Du-votional comes from 1Sa 6:19,20 Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter. 20 And the men of Beth Shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? And to whom shall it go up from us?" (1 Sam 6:19,20) No word on how these men died, but I would wager they dropped over from fright and sheer terror. Note the words, “Who is able to STAND before this holy Lord God.?” It's not like God hadn't warned the people. Ex 19:21 says, “And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the LORD, and many of them perish.” These people peeked into the ark of the covenant, got a glimpse of the unveiled holy God and died on the spot. It's just as Isaiah said in Is. 6:5, when he found himself in the presence of God. “Woe is me I am undone.” ….For I have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.” Isaiah survived his encounter because by an act of God he was cleansed and his sins were purged. What about you? Will you stand or will you fall in the presence of God on judgment day when you meet your Maker? Listen to the lot of those left behind on that Day: Re 6:15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" The answer on That Day is no one on earth will be left standing, because those who are found in Christ will have already departed meeting the Lord and His army of victorious saints in the air. 1Th 4:16,17 says, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Beloved, find out what it means to be “found in Christ.” Pray that God will open your eyes to the truth of Php 3:9 where the Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul tells us what it means to be found in Him: “ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;” Being found in Him, is placing your faith in Christ's righteousness and not relying on your own works or goodness. That truth is further illustrated in Ro 10:3, where we are told to submit to the “righteousness of God” which is embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ. “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” Submit to Jesus! Clothe yourself in Christ in baptism, and continue in the faith, living a life of submission to Him until He comes again.