Many if indeed not all of us have heard the allegorical story of the frog and the boiling pot of water. If a person puts a frog in an already boiling pot, the frog will react suddenly and leap to relative safety. If the frog is placed into a cool pot, however, he will swim contentedly even as the heat is slowly increased by degrees. By the time the heat reaches critical levels for his well-being, he will have been dulled in his senses by the warmth and calm of the water and the effect will eventually overwhelm him, leaving him at the mercy of the imminent and sure-to-arrive boiling point.
God has chosen whom He has chosen, and shown mercy to whom He has shown mercy. Those that are His "know (His) voice, and they follow (Him)". They are called to be IN the world, but not OF the world, that is, not representing the ideals and attitudes of the world, but rather those of the Kingdom of God.
It is the slow, deliberate and cunning infiltration by Satan of the ranks of those who claim to be Christians that has weakened and, in some cases, destroyed the effectiveness of the witness to the Gospel in our modern society. Jerusalem, the "City Of Peace", has "become a harlot". The Word tells us that the faithful city (the city that is comprised of God's faithful remnant) has been enticed into lifestyles and choices that belie her position as God's chosen and chaste Bride.
Can we begin to claim that we offer, in Jesus' Name, a taste of the table of the Lord when we so readily and publicly are constantly tasting from the spotted and unclean banquet spread out on the "table of devils"? Have the praises of Him Who called us been drowned out by the hours of conversations we engage in concerning the delights of this world?
Imagine the form of film-making called cinema-verite, or "true film". This manner of producing a film is accomplished by simply letting the camera roll and capturing the unadulterated and pure emotions and attitudes and actions of the person or people involved. There is no editing done, neither is there any deleting of anything that is even a bit detrimental to the audience's perception of the story or the characters. Let us now imagine that a camera has been trained upon us... What manner of cinema-verite would we produce? What attitudes and actions would serve to paint the picture that the world would see on the screen? Have we been granted such a vision of the holiness of God that the film would show us desperately and wholly undone in His presence? Would the film show instead our constant and effusive lip-service to God and our play-acting in His Name part of the time while also clearly reproducing our sinful and vain dabblings in the pursuits of this world the rest of the time?
Father in Heaven, grant that we, who have been called of Thee by Thy grace, might no more walk according to the pattern of this world. Grant that we might instead be spent and exhausted in our pursuit of holiness and the circumspection of this world's attitudes, as Thy Spirit leads and guides us. Strengthen us in Thy might, so that we might daily cast off the affections of the old man and all its lusts, and instead be clothed in the new man, Christ Jesus, and His righteousness. Work by Thy power, O Lord, to make the image of Thine only-begotten Son more clearly manifested in us. This we ask for the sake of Thy glory in Jesus' Name. Amen.

John 3:21

"But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."

I remember when my parents would tell me to clean my room. They would (usually through the voice of my father) announce: "You have X number of minutes to get that room clean. At that time, I (we) will be coming in, and whatever is not cleaned up and put away properly is going out the window (or in the trash)." Now, understand that I had not only that time frame to clean my room; I had also had the chance to do it for days or even weeks previous. The one thing I did NOT have, however, was the luxury of waiting UNTIL they came into the room and turned on the light for their inspection. Imagine if I waited until the deadline, then rushed in and began frantically throwing things around in an attempt to tidy the room! No such luck would prevail but that my father would begin to fume and steam at the ears as he began disposing of the junk scattered around the room. Later, he would devise a method by which to dispose of ME.
God's Word tells us plainly that the time for beginning to clean the room of our soul is NOT when God sounds the trumpet and the world is called to the carpet to give account for their lives. No, the Gospel call to repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the call to get that room straightened out NOW! When the Light that makes manifest comes in, what has been done in the room already will be evident. Dust will appear as dust; dirty laundry will be seen to be nothing more or less than dirty laundry. No excuses will be tolerated and no further probationary periods of time granted. Either the room will be clean upon inspection, or it will not be clean.
What do we say then? Is it in a man to hear the warning of the coming Fatherly inspection and run to do today what should be done? No; the Bible tells us that it is in man's wicked nature to run and hide himself from God. As the "Where art thou?" in Eden caused the sinful man to ferret himself away in the bushes so as to try and conceal (in vain) his nakedness before God, so, at the end of time, shall the "shout, and the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God" cause those who have heard it to foolishly try and sequester themselves away from the Presence of the Almighty One. Crying to the rocks, "HIDE US!" and to the mountains, "FALL UPON US!", mankind will again refuse the blinding revelation that Light brings; he will instead run for the cover of the shadows.
God makes a distinction between that "which (He) hath cleansed" and that which is called "common" or unclean. The preaching of Peter to the Gentiles was necessarily preceded by the declaration of God that He had cleansed them; the Holy Spirit fell when they heard the Gospel preached, not when they were pressed to "decide" or "choose". If God had not already stated that these Gentiles were NOT to be referred to as "common", there would have been no purpose in Peter's going to their house and preaching unto them. That truly would have been a case of casting "pearls before swine".
Back to the analogy of the messy bedroom: The clarion call has gone out, and the time is coming for every room to be inspected for cleanness. Those whose rooms will be pronounced "clean" will be those whose hearts have been changed by God from unwilling to willing; the Light of Christ will make plain that work of God to change them. The Light does NOT change the room from clean to unclean; the arrival of the clear and perfect Light makes manifest what is already there. The Word says that "as many was were ordained unto eternal life believed". They believed because the hearing of the truth was finally made available to them, and they simply did what they were Divinely made capable of doing. No farmer throws seed onto an unplowed and unprepared field; he cannot expect the seeds to grow in an hostile environment and he certainly cannot expect the seeds to do the plowing and preparing for him. The Farmer, the Owner of the land of our hearts, knows what is needed for the seed to take root and flourish, and so He prepares the heart to recieve and makes the heart capable of being the environment for fruitfulness.
God, grant that we who have been prepared by Thy grace to receive Thy Seed, the Word, might bear fruit in abundance as Thy Spirit nourishes and waters our hearts in anticipation of Thy Divine increase. Let us further, O Lord God, be given Thy wisdom to go out bearing the precious Seed of Thy Word in order that we might sow it and see it take root in fields which Thou hast prepared to be fruitful for Thy glory. May we never desire to reflect anything but Thy mighty and perfect handiwork. Let us never boast that we planted ourselves or that we might somehow sustain ourselves, but only that we have grown in grace and in sanctification according to Thy instruction and Thy pruning of the deadness within us. All these things we ask for the sake of Thy glory in and through and all because of Christ Jesus, the All-Sufficient Savior Who hath purchased these fields with His own Blood. Amen.