Hidden in Plain Sight, The Lords Way..

In the book of Daniel we read that knowledge will be increased at the time of the end. As we draw closer to the time of the end, knowledge has indeed increased, and more of what the Lord has hidden in his word as treasure for us, is coming forth. I am amazed at how we can read the same passage of scripture time and time again and never "get it" until the Lord enables us to get it. Such was the case this morning, as I consider the major upcoming "escape" and tribulation hour, I felt led to re-read the story of Abraham and Lot.

The stories of Noah and Lot are a big deal, no, let me correct that..a HUGE deal. Why? Because our Lord clearly told us that his coming, the coming of the Son of man will be just exactly like the days of Noah and Lot, but he did not stop there, he pointed out specific elements of the stories for us to focus on.

Luke 17: 26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

We see eating drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting building right up to the day that Noah entered the ark and Lot left Sodom, then the flood came, and fire and brimstone came, and destroyed them all, it will be just like this the day the Son of man is revealed.

31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. 32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.

On this day that the Son of man is revealed, there will be a "leaving" event just like Noah left the surroundings of the world to enter the ark, and Lot left Sodom, and there will be a destruction event on the same day. There will also be a revealing event, our Lord adds to the story of Noah and Lot the fact that on this coming day, he will be revealed. He does'nt stop there, on this same day there will be a time of decision when people will have a choice to lose his life to preserve it, or save his life and lose it. And last but not least, the Lord comes back at us with the one taken one left idea, that plugs into the stories of Noah and Lot. Now, regardless of who you think was taken or left, we know for a fact, that Noah and Lot went physically into places of safety and the godless were destroyed, so we know for a fact that the same event is coming in the future.

This future event of physical escape from flood and brimstone/fire is something we are told to pray for in Luke 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. I can assure you with 100% confidence that if the Lord told us to pray for an escape from all, there IS an escape from all. This escape is also known to many as the rapture.

This brings us to my reading this morning and another hint, another whisper, another clue as to what we are looking for in the day of Noah and Lot and the coming of the Son of man. In Matt 25 we see the parable of the virgins. 5 were foolish and 5 were wise. The wise virgins were ready when the master showed up, and they went into the wedding and the door was shut...
Noah went into the ark, and the Lord shut the door behind him..inside was safety, outside the flood. In Rev 4 we see an open door in heaven, then we see redeemed, rewarded men in heaven (crowns and white clothing). And here's this mornings tie in within the story of Lot:

Gen 19: 10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

It's written all over the place there, can you see it? Lot pulled through the door, into safety....outside the door, the men were smitten....remember the parable of the virgins? 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not

They wearied themselves to find the door....Lord open the door....the Lord says "I know you not." I know you not? Where have we heard that before? Oh yea, right here:

Matt 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you ( I know you not): depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Its all there, tucked right inside the story of Lot, which along with the story of Noah, we know tells us everything we need to know about the coming of the Son of man. We have doors, opened when the wise go through them, then closed and the foolish are without trying to gain access. We have a few saved, Noah out of an entire world, Lot out of an entire city, we have "I know you not" told to the many....its all there. Why will so few be saved? Why will many be told "I know you not?" Why do people assume that God thinks like men think? Why do people assume that the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord equates to a license to sin and do whatever they want?

1 Chron 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

The Lord does not change. If he expected Solomon to serve him with a perfect heart, he expects us to, if he expected a willing mind from Solomon, he expects it from us. If we seek him, we will find him, if we forsake him, he will cast us off forever. John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. It's in the old testament, its in the new testament, if you abide not "in Christ" there is a terrible price to pay. Don't let the babylonian snake oil,religious salesmen/CEO "pastors" sell you sugar coated lies.

Before us today is laid both a promise, and a warning. This is nothing new, it has been the same from the very beginning. Seek peace and pursue it, kiss the Son lest he be angry and destroy you in your way(Psalm 2). KNOW HIM and be known by him today. There is an escape from all coming, if there were not, we would never have been told to pray for it. Noah was told to build and ark for his escape, Lot was told to walk out of Sodom for his escape..you are told to PRAY for your escape. The bible is clear, and there are no idle words within it. Blow off the commands, the warnings and the promises at your own peril. Will your own pet theories of how the escape will or will not happen prevent you from taking part in the escape? If the woman with the issue of blood never believed touching Jesus would heal her, she would not have been healed. If the centurian whose sick servant lay near death did not believe that Jesus could say the word and his servant be healed, there would never have been the healing. If Noah shrugged off the Lord's command to build the Ark, the flood would have had more victims. If Lot would not have walked out of Sodom (and life as he knew it), the fire and brimstone would have had more victims. If you do not pray for the escape from all as you have been specifically told to, the tribulation will likely have more participants.

The Lord meant what he said, every word of it. The day that the Son of man reveals himself to us is close. The time for debate is over, the time to get ready and be ready is today. The signs are all around us. You are dearly loved, keep the faith. Please pray for my family and for me, you are in my prayers. Grace and peace to you who are in Christ

Hidden in Plain Sight

The Lord floored me yesterday. I'm driving home and pondering all the confusion about the rapture/escape, the tribulation, etc. So I think to myself, I guess I'm going to have to get out and excel spreadsheet and get scientific with this thing. Then I start thinking about all the people who have already done this and are still as confused and divided as ever.

Why is it that so many people can read the same bible and come away with so many different understandings of it? Why is it that people can study the bible for a lifetime and never get any closer to the truth than they were at the beginning? Here's the answer hidden in plain sight:

Jesus Christ is the key that unlocks the mysteries in the bible. Simple, hidden in plain sight, but even that answer has different layers to it. The surface layer is the more obvious one, that is, you use the bible to interpret the bible. The not so obvious key to all of this is: when you are using the bible to interpret the bible, what are you doing? You are using Jesus Christ (the word made flesh) to interpret the bible. That is, the person of Jesus Christ, is the key. Let's look at this closer.

We know that Satan has the bible memorized. He used the word (twisted) to try to trip up our Lord in the desert after 40 days and nights of fasting. So the devil himself has done a techinical, letter of the word analysis of the Word of God backwards and forwards and he still does'nt "get it." Question is, why not? He does'nt "know" Jesus Christ, the person, the personality.

This is HUGE guys, and its the reason so many people today don't "get it." You can study the bible till you die, and never come and closer to the truth than when you started because the bible has layers of meaning. There is hidden treasure within the word of God, and the only way, you will ever ever ever figure out what our Lord is really saying is to know the Son of God, personally and intimately. You must know him intimately and he must know you the same way. Hidden in plain sight. The key:

Pr 9:10 -
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

If you don't "know him" you'll never, ever "get it."

Why so many different views on the rapture? Why so many different views on the tribulation? Because of the different relationships with the Son of God.

Here's an example:

Let's say my wife writes a letter to the world. This letter has hidden meanings in it, layers upon layers of meaning. So the world gets ahold of this letter and all kinds of 'experts' start studying the letter to "really" figure out what it means. Who will be in a better position to "really" figure out the meaning? Her close family...the people who really really know her, or analytic freaks with computers and spreadsheets? The answer is obvious, and its no different than the letter (bible) written from God to man. Those who really really know the person of Jesus Christ, are in intimate relationship with him, are the ones who will "get it." Everyone else is spinning their wheels and getting nowhere.

It's so obvious now that I see it from that point of view, hidden in plain sight. Use the bible to interpret the bible, means use Jesus Christ (the person) to interpret the bible. That means we use our intimate, close relationship with the Son of God to interpret what he means. Understand that this has nothing to do with "private interpretations" of the bible. It has to do with those "in Christ" understanding, which is to say, the sons and daughters of God himself, understanding it. The inner circle will "get it" and we know that the inner circle, those who are "in Christ" are few in number. Does this help to explain why a million people can pick up a bible and the vast majority walk away with differing, conflicting views on it? You bet.

A few will find the narrow gate that leads to life (Matt 7:14). This also means that only a few "get it." Our personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the key that unlocks the understanding through the Holy Spirit. Re-read: Pr 9:10 -"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

If you want to know what his word means, you have to KNOW HIM.

This idea of knowing Jesus is huge.

Matt 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, 10 but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' 23 Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. 11 Depart from me, you evildoers.'

Here's an example of rapture/tribulation "not getting it." I've seen lots of commentary about the sun black as sackcloth and moon red as blood being some kind of impediment to the rapture of the church before the 7 years of hell starts. People ask, are there going to be multiple blood red moons and black suns? As if that were impossible or improbable. What's described by the sun black as sackcloth and moon red as blood are solar and lunar eclipses. There have been many already in recent history and there will be many in the future, so trying to time the "day of the Lord" by solar and lunar eclipses gets you nowhere unless they are combined with other events. This past fall we talked about the coming solar and lunar eclipse cycle in 2014-2015 that will be extraordinary. Here it is:

The four lunar eclipses will occur on:
Passover, April 15, 2014
The Feast of Tabernacles, October 8, 2014
Passover, April 4, 2015
andThe Feast of Tabernacles, September 28, 2015

In addition to the four lunar eclipses in 2014-15, there will be two solar eclipses. They will occur on:
Adar 29/Nisan 1, March 20, 2015
The Feast of Trumpets, September 13, 2015

Yep, multiple blood red moons and suns as black as sackcloth. They are indeed signs in the heavens but it will take faith, even then to understand what happening when is meaningful from a prophetic standpoint. These are events we know about, but the Lord could easily insert unplanned black suns and red moons wherever he wants to.

If we want to understand the word of God, we have to draw close to Jesus and do what pleases him, its that simple. The bible was written in such a way that it will keep those who don't know him confused forever.

If satan has'nt been able to figure out the word of God and he has analyzed it 7 ways from sunday, how does mankind think they'll be able to do it? Men can do it through the Holy Spirit and knowledge of the Holy One. Huge.....just huge. If there was ever a time people needed to "get it right" it would be today. The issue I write about today is why its useless to debate people who don't "get it." If they don't have the same relationship that you do with the Holy One, you are better off arguing with a piece of drywall.

Time is short, grace and peace