Become Holy Or Do Not Expect to Survive What Follows

Greetings in Jesus and Mary....

Bishop Strickland on his website....Pillarsoffaith.net has posted yesterday a podcast that is good for all of us to listen to (or read). Below is a portion of it to invite you to listen to it in its entirety. He is warning us that if we do not repent of our sins....God will have to get us on our knees a different way....it has always happened throughout history. Below is a portion of his talk and below that is a link to hear it in its entirety.
As usual - it is articulated very well!
God bless Bishop Strickland!
​Blessed Lent!!

"We have entered Lent. And Lent is not about minor adjustments. It is about survival of the soul. If we want to be among the ten, Lent cannot be casual. If we want to be preserved as a remnant, Lent cannot be symbolic. 
Prayer must deepen.  
Fasting must sharpen. 
Confession must become urgent. 
Homes must be purified. 
Hearts must be examined without excuse. 

Because here is the truth we do not like to hear: 
If God must purify a nation, He begins with His people.  
And if His people will not purify themselves, He allows events to do it for them. That is the pattern of salvation history. 

The Book of Revelation does not begin with plagues. It begins with letters to the churches. “Repent.” Over and over. Repent. Remove the compromise. Remove the lukewarmness. Remove the tolerance of corruption. Or I will come and remove your lampstand. 

That is not metaphor. That is warning. The survival of a Christian people depends on holiness. Not political victories. Not cultural influence. Holiness.  

If we do not become holy, we will not remain standing. If we do not become disciplined, we will not remain free. If we do not cleanse our houses, our houses will be shaken.
  
God was willing to spare Sodom for ten. But He did not negotiate below ten. There is a threshold. And we do not know how close we are to it. Lent may be mercy extended before that threshold is crossed.  

So do not waste it. Do not treat it lightly. Do not offer God token sacrifices while clinging to compromise. This is not a season for cosmetic change. It is a season for radical return. 

History is full of fallen cities. But it is also full of purified remnants. The question is not whether God will preserve His Church. He will. The question is whether we will belong to what remains. 

Will He find ten? Will he find homes that pray? Fathers who lead? Mothers who guard purity? Priests who preach without fear? Bishops who refuse silence? 
Will He find you?  

Lent is the answer we give before Heaven answers for us. Become holy. Or do not expect to survive what follows.  
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May Almighty God bless you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.  "
Bishop Joseph E. Strickland 

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Will He Find Ten? Bishop Strickland

Commentary on Will He Find Ten? Anthony Stine