With all the things going on in the world, it has become quite popular to predict "the end is near," and maybe it is. What I believe the Lord impressed me with today though cuts completely against the grain of today's "christian" thinking.
Luke 17:22And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. 23And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. 24For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. 25But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. 26And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27They 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. 28Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. 31In 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. 32Remember Lot's wife. 33Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. 34I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 37And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.
First of all, this is not talking about the Lord's "second coming." If the Lord was coming back to earth to rule and reign, why would the people be warned concerning their need to LEAVE? Where would they be going? Nowhere, not during the second coming:
31In 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. 32Remember Lot's wife.
^^^These people are being warned not to go get stuff out of their house, but why? They are going somewhere...These aren't the wicked going to judgement either, why would the Lord warn the wicked getting stuff from their house if he had already decided to come take them to judgement?
The event you are reading about in Luke 17 above, has the following prophetic warning signs:
eating
drinking
marrying
planting
building....
But you might say "hey those are not warning signs at all! That's stuff we do everyday!" Yep..
And those things are your warning sign...no warning at all really. The wicked will know in one day that they are done, the day the righteous leave, on that day, the flood comes.
Noah went into the ark, that day the flood came...
Lot left Sodom, that day fire and brimstone fell...
Nowhere, and I mean NOWHERE in the bible can you find "the wicked taken away and that day the flood/judgement falls on the righteous." Which is exactly what many people will tell you is going on in Luke 17 with "those taken."
Who is warned not to go into the house to get anything on that day? WE ARE. Gosh, sound familiar? On that day, don't go down to the house to get anything?, where have we heard that before? Oh yea! How about here:
Matt 25 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. 7Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10And 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. 11Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
Did you see it? The warning in Luke 17 tells us don't even go down into your house to get anything? Matt 25 tells us that the foolish virgins "went to buy" and while they were away looking for something they should have already had, the Lord took away the righteous and the door was shut..
On that day, we either are ready or we are not. Our hearts should not turn back to this world for anything, no need to go into the house or return from the field, or go "buy oil," none of that. Our hearts are already stayed on the one thing we need today, and the one thing we will need on that day, our treasure on earth and in heaven: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Everying else is absolute rubbish..utterly useless. What is there to turn back for when we have HIM?
The Lord greatly encouraged my heart today with this re-reading of Luke 17. He tells us in plain language that even a child could understand (and thats the key) that there is no sign preceeding his coming, but there will be a very shortlived sign for the wicked that their doom is on the way, and that sign is the departure of the righteous. Read it again for yourselves, thats exactly what it says.
Today there's a growing fad in so called christianity to try to debunk the Lord's own words on this matter? "There is no escape" they tell us, certainly no escape from ALL they tell us. Really? REALLY? They argue against a stone wall. They argue to their own demise. What happens on the day that their own arguments come back to haunt them? What happens on the day that the escape from ALL happens, EXACTLY as the Lord said it would, and they are not taken in the escape because 1. they did not pray for it as they were told to do, 2. they had no faith for it, their faith puts them in the tribulation/time of Jacob's trouble 3. they taught others to become faithless towards the Lord's own promises....
The bible is used to interpret the bible right? And yet people will argue with you until the veins pop on the side of their head that there will be no escape?
If the bible interprets the bible then tell me: how much "tribulation/flood" did Noah have to endure? Did he sit outside the ark and tread water for "half" or all of the flood? No? Then why should we expect to? "but brother D, who will witness to the lost if we all escape?" Gosh, I don't know? Who witnessed to all the lost when Noah was in the Ark? Or were the lost already given enought time before the flood and there was not witnessing necessary for them? Noah witnessed to zero lost people from inside the ark. Re-read Luke 17...it will be JUST LIKE that, Noah and Lot when the Lord comes back for us...use the bible to interpret the bible.
Again, Noah didn't stick around to "witness" when he went into the ark, Lot didn't put up an asbestos shelter so he could "witness" to the lost while the fire and brimstone was coming down, so should we expect to be here to "witness?" Just like the days of Noah and Lot, let it sink in real good....
If we are not here, who will witness? Hmmmm, how about the two witnesses? These two witnesses will have a worldwide audience:
Rev 11:10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
How about the angel flying through the heavens proclaiming the gospel, is he not witnessing to the lost?
Rev 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth--to every nation, tribe, language and people.
There will be no shortage of "witnessing" during the tribulation, its just that those of us who are "in Christ" before the time of Jacob's trouble are NOT the ones doing it....
What about the 5 foolish virgins who are left behind, what happens with them. Don't you think that a few of them may repent and witness to the world? The list goes on......
There is an event coming that involves 1. the righteous leaving just like Noah went into the ark and Lot left Sodom, and then judgement falls. The only "prophetic warning" is eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving in marriage....kind of no warning at all right?
For this reason, those of us who take the Lord at his word and expect him to show up each and every day till the end of time, we strive and encourage readiness TODAY, not at mid-trib, not at 3/4 trib, not after the tribulation..TODAY. What argument can people find against that? We live for Jesus today and we are prepared to live for him each and every day till the day he shows up, regardless of what happens in those days.
"but what if the tribulation starts and everyone is still here, won't people "lose their faith?" Oh, you mean watching prophetic fulfillment fall into place like dominoes? You mean, I'll "lose my faith" by watching the bible fulfill itself word for word every day? I'll "lose my faith" watching the anti-christ stand in the temple and proclaim himself to be god" exactly as the bible said he would? What a ridiculous argument...
In fact every argument that sets itself up against the plain, simple reading of scripture is destined for failure. We learn what the scriptures mean by the Spirit of God. No Spirit, no learning, simple. Oh sure, you can learn the way the world learns, through "christian scholars" and such, but what did Jesus say about those men?
1 Corinthians 3:18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. ...
1 Corinthians 1:20 where is the wise? where the scribe? where a disputer of this age? did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world?
Indeed...the Lord HAS made them foolish. The "wise disputers" of this world are coming to nothing. For this reason, you must seek the Lord for yourselves. You must get your own revelation from the Lord of what his truth is, or is not. You must get your own revelation of the truth, no other man can give it to you.
Can you fill your belly with potato by watching me eat one? So too, you cannot fill yourself with revelation except by the Spirit of God working in you as an individual, which you must seek on your own.
Prov 2:1My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
3and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6For the Lord gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
We may have awhile to wait until the Lord comes back, until he does, let us encourage one another and let us determine to be patient and full of grace and peace each day while we wait for our master to arrive.
We are dearly love, grace and peace
Be Anxious For Nothing
5 years ago
