First, the pre=trib rapture in 2 Peter:
2 Peter:4For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemnedthem with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 7And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
Its all there guys, Noah Lot judgement and deliverance for the righteous. This is a direct tie in to Mark 13, Matt 24 and Luke 17. As it was in the days of Noah remember? And what does the Lord specifically tell us here in 2 Peter? Read verse 9, what does it say? The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations. That word temptation is the greek word peirasmou which just happens to be the same exact greek word we read in Revelation 3:10 which also tells us we will be kept from the hour of temptation. That word peirasmou means an experiment, a test, a trial.
We know that the time coming known as the tribulation or the time of Jacob's trouble will be a great test and trial for those who are on the earth. We also know (because we use the bible to interpret the bible) that some people will be delivered physically just like Noah and Lot were from this time of temptation, trial and testing. For those who dont know how to interpret what being "kept" means in Rev 3:10, its explained for us in the stories of Noah, Lot and here in 2 Peter. The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations just like He did with Noah and Lot. So we must ask ourselves how were Noah and Lot delivered? They were completely physically delivered. That is, not one second of treading floodwaters for Noah and not one fiery ember on Lots clothes. That's not my opinion, thats biblical fact.
Over and over and over again we read about the deliverance of the godly, but tribulation trial testing and death for the wicked. What part of this biblical pattern do people not understand?
Know this and digest it from the Lord's own Word: The Lord knows how to deliver the righteous out of peirasmou=trial, temptation, testing, tribulation
Second point thats a follow up to the first:
The Lord will arrive for us suddenly and for most-unexpected. I was reading the gospel of Mark this morning and heres what jumped out at me:
Mark 1112The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
Anything seem odd to you about this thing Jesus did? He cursed a fig tree that wasn't in season for fruit! Seems kind of unfair doesn't it? We all know that to walk up to a fig tree when its not fig season and look for fruit is going to be a disappointing experience, did the Lord not understand that? Of course He did, so what's the messsage? Many lessons here.
First lesson, the Lord isnt teaching fig trees lessons from His Word he's teaching us humans. Whats the lesson we take from the unfortunate fig tree? Regardless of what season it is, when the Lord arrives at your door, He better find fruit. The fig tree is also used to point to the time of the end:
Matt 24:32Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
How many times has the Lord told us that His coming would be unexpected and sudden like a thief? 2 Peter ties into Mark 13, Luke 17, Matt 24 and now we have another direct link to Matt 25 the parable of the virgins and the parable of the talents. The wise virgins brought oil enough to patiently wait for their Lord. They were ready and prepared to wait-a lesson for us. The parable of the talents tells us the same thing the unfortunate fig tree teaches, that is we need to be prepared to show some fruit, some use of our talents, some profit on what the Lord has given us when He returns suddenly for us.
Matt 25 has it all. What is the Lord saying to the churches today? Be watching and ready, but also be prepared to wait. What happens if 2012 comes and goes and nothing unexpected happens? Will we be prepared to wait? What happens if the Lord shows up for us tonight? Will we be watching and ready?
You have read it here more than you probably care to-we must be perfectly prepared to wait another 10 years for the Lord to come back for us but we also must be ready for the Lord to arrive for us tonight.
Many people are becoming fatigued in their waiting. Somehow someway those of us who believe must ensure that we stay patient. I believe that one of Satan's tactics in this war is to push and pull people to rip them off their foundation through false signs and signals. The evil goal is to make people impatient enough for them to give up watching and readiness basically turning them into foolish virgins.
We may be very close to the escape or we may be years away. I will be watching the earthquake activity closely toward the end of this month and into the end of March. Also the summer will be telling if you remember the events of last summer in New Zealand. January through June or so will put us on the Leo side of the sun which is where this destroyer (in theory) is approaching us from. If we see more widespread destruction during the same window of time, we'll have some objective evidence that our theory has some life to it. What does this theory have to do with Christianity? If the Lord sent a destroyer, and the Lord knows how to deliver the godly from peirasmou (2 Peter 2, Rev 3:10) then we may be very close to being delivered.
Now a quick note about writing:
The Lord has a way of blocking my writing to shut down things He does not want written here. He has done this in the past with me. So when the Lord allows something to be written here, this writer considers there to be some life there. Another writing factor here is internal resonance (what resonates spirit to Spirit within me) tells me which direction the Lord's thinking is going and therefore what should be written here. Its kind of like following a river that is changing direction when it wants to. Another way I "hear" the Lord is when I am reading the Word some thing jump right off the page at me. This I know is Spirit of the Lord in action and its the Lord speaking to me. Different things jump off the page at different times. The Lord told us His Word is living and active and sharper than a double edged sword. I believe it.
grace and peace
