Sunday, April 01, 2012

4/1/2012, Day 13 of 77 Watching For the Lord's Return

post script at the top :) Sorry for the long post, I started writing with the thought I would only have a couple sentences today, it appears the Lord had other ideas:

I have had trouble thinking clearly lately, thus less posting. I wanted to briefly post today about a piece of personal evidence for the pre-tribulation, pre-flood rapture of the Bride. My proof is, we all know there is no shortage of people telling us we will all be around during the tribulation so I have repeatedly asked the Lord if I am wrong about the pre-tribulation rapture, if I should be stocking up on food, water , guns etc.

I can tell you emphatically that although I have the means to stock up, our family has only done preparation for short term disasters which all of you should do. Have food, toilet paper etc enough to get you through 2 weeks to a month. Beyond that I hear a resounding NO for major "prepping." This tells me personally that I will not be here to need major prepping supplies. There are a couple different ways to interpret that but I will leave the interpretation with the stories of Noah and Lot. Noah and Lot escaped pre-flood, and pre-fire and brimstone, so will we.

I have seen a number of sincere believers pointing to the month of April as a time of major destruction and possibly the escape from all. I have seen this before, when nothing out of the ordinary happened so on one hand I believe we would be wise to have patient endurance held tightly. On the other hand, one day that could be today the Lord will return for us and call us up into the clouds to be with Him forever. As a brother who will watch and practice readiness daily I take all warnings of the Lord's return seriously.

If people come out of the woodwork every day saying the Lord gave them a dream or vision of His return and imminent destruction, I am going to take it all seriously. Why? Thats what being ready every day means to me. With or without other peoples dreams and visions I plan to be watching and ready. What if nothing happens? So what, we were doing what we were told to do, be watching, be ready, right?

If people have dreams and visions and they all turn out to be false, it does not matter one iota to this brother. We were told to be watching and ready daily. If the outbreak of recent dreams and visions pointing to the next 30-60 days proves correct, then we are outa here. If they prove false, we continue to watch in readiness with great patience.

Those people who mock and criticize with the argument "they will lose their faith if this or that doesn't happen" do not understand us or the Word of the Lord. Our faith is in Jesus Christ alone, and we practice obedience to His Word. We, unlike them obviously, are watching in readiness DAILY. So many out there today will tell us "He cant come back until this or that happens so watching today is foolish." Yes, there are things that need to happen before the second coming where the Lord rules and reigns here for 1000 years but there are zero pre-requisites for the escape from all to happen.

Show me the pre-requisites for the escapes of Noah and Lot and I will show you the pre-requisites of our day. Noah escaped all. Lot escaped all. Luke 21:36 clearly says some who are found worthy will escape all as well. What part of escape ALL to people not understand? What part of Noah escaped ALL of the flood do people not understand? What part of Lot escaped ALL of the fire and brimstone do people not understand? Are they trying to talk themselves out of the escape? What fascination do they have with the tribulation that they sell themselves on it and those who listen to them?

The Lord rewards them according to their faith. We receive according to how we believe.

Matt 85When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6“Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”

7Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”

8The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.


And speaking of faith.....

Have you ever heard people say "We are saved by grace?" I have, its all over the place. Do you see the problem with that statement? The words are true enough but "we are saved by grace" by itself is an incomplete statement. What does the bible say?

Eph 2:8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:9Not of works, lest any man should boast.


You are saved by grace THROUGH FAITH. Why is it people clip off "through faith" today? Did the Lord not make Himself clear? It's even in the same sentence yet people stop their statement after "saved by grace." I would like to lock these people in a room with a continuous recording for a week until it sinks in:

by grace are ye saved through faith
by grace are ye saved through faith
by grace are ye saved through faith
by grace are ye saved through faith
by grace are ye saved through faith
by grace are ye saved through faith

Todays babylonian form of Christianity does not like "through faith."

Todays so called Christianity likes the part where we enter into Christ by grace, but they do not like the part where we must ABIDE in Him (John 15). Oh, we are required to "do" something? If you were not required to do something it would be useless for the Lord to command us to do so many things. What happens to the branches in the vine that do not abide? They are cutoff and thrown into the fire, does that sound "saved" to you? Re-read John 15 and you tell me. We are saved by grace THROUGH FAITH. Have you ever wondered why Matt 7:13-14 says few will enter the small gate that leads to life and many will go through the broad gate that leads to destruction?

That scripture, Matt 7:13-14 is one of the big reasons this blog was started years ago. WHY will few make it through the small gate and doesn't anyone care that the Lord made that statement? Of all the churches I ever attended and there were many I never heard a preacher one single time quote Matt 7:13-14, not once. Why? "Oh people might get a "spirit of fear" if we preached the truth!"" Well thats not for them to decide now is it? Did the Lord say it or not?

Few will make it through the narrow path and small gate. A remnant, very few were saved over and over and over again throughout the history of Israel, bear fruit or be cutoff from the vine, the parable of the talents, no return on investment means a portion with the wicked, the wise and foolish virgins, the parable of the sower only the seed that fell on good soil produced a crop.

If only a few are going to make it according to Matt 7, does it make more sense why in Luke 21:36 we are told to pray that we are counted worthy to escape all thats about to happen? How many people today are taking too much for granted? If few will be saved through the small gate, how many will be raptured? Few. If only a remnant was saved throughout the history of Israel, and only a few will be saved according to the book of Matthew what kind of people should we be? Does it make more sense now why people say we are "saved by grace" then leave off "through faith?" How much extra effort does it take to utter the two extra Words? The Lord said it, not brother D.

I am eternally thankful for the grace of the Lord, AND I recognize the Lord's Word that we are saved by grace THROUGH FAITH. I recognize that we are to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling." The "faith vs works" argument is a trap the enemy has set for many believers. Does the Lord require anything from us? Who is told to obey the Word? We are. Who is told to "watch and be ready?" We are. Did the Lord tell us to do other things? Yes. If we know what our Master told us to do and we do not do it, what will be the cost?

Why discuss these things? The question remains, why will few make it through the small gate that leads to life? Do people even care? Why will the Lord tell many:

Matt 721“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Many will be told ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Who are these "many?" They are Christians. Do atheists call Jesus "Lord?" How about satanists? How about Muslims? No, none of them call Jesus Lord, CHRISTIANS DO. The warning is for us. We disregard, and marginalize, and downplay the warnings at our own peril.

If the Lord is going to begin His judgement and wrath on this earth soon we would be wise to be found in right standing with Him and not according to the wisdom of men, but according to the wisdom of God Almighty. What does the Word say? If the Lord gave us warnings have we taken them seriously or have we allowed men to explain them away with words our itching ears wanted to hear.

These are hard words to bear, I know. The warnings are not mine, they are the Lords. The Lord had me setup this blog specifically because of the questions, why will few make it through the small gate that leads to life? This is His blog, not mine. I just happen to be the only writer here. Few people read this thing and I have considered "why bother writing it?" The Lord's reply was that if even one person reads it, just one then it is enough. How precious is one soul? Each soul is costly beyond measure. This reveals some of the Lord's thinking that He would have a nobody like me write for years if it will reach a single soul.

Thus you see continued writing here.

Done for today. Keep the faith, grace and peace