Mark 1335“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
Do you see any qualifying statements in there like "keep watch when this or that happens?" No, it says keep watch...period. But those who distort the scriptures are not content with the Lord's plain language on this subject. They deny His Word to watch at all times, and they cite distortions to do it, like here:
2 Thess 21Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. 3Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessnessa is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
They tell us the rapture/coming of the Lord for the Bride cannot come because the anti-Christ has to be revealed before the gathering together to the Lord. Is that what the Lord said above? NO. "That day" is clearly stated as the day of the Lord, not the rapture.
saying that the day of the Lord has already come
for that day will not come
The two statements are practically on top of each other yet those who would twist the Word tell us "that day" is the rapture?
I am amazed at how many excuses people will come up with not to be watching and ready at all times. To not watch and not be ready every single day is to put oneself in peril. Is that my opinion or what the Word says, lets see:
Matt 25:1“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9“‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11“Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’
12“But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’
13“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Again, do you see any conditions or caveats in here ^^^ as to when to watch? No, you don't. You see watch....period. Not "watch when" or "watch if" it is watch PERIOD. That means right now, today and every day until He arrives. And, opposed to many people's opinions that we will all 'see each other on the way up' no matter what anyone does with their life after their 5 second teary eyed confession at the alter, the Lord says this:
The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11“Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’
12“But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’
What does the Word say? All the virgins went in? No, the virgins who were ready went in....Is that in direct conflict with so many people's opinion today that no matter what all the virgins will go in? Yea, there's a conflict and the Word wins that conflict. Those who were ready went in, therefore what? 13“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
How much more plain could the Lord make it for us? Yet many still refuse at this late hour. Their 'pastor' or preacher or teacher or doctrine or whatever somehow trumps the Word of God in their hearts and minds and they refuse to do what they were clearly told to do in plain language. Please tell me the downside of watching for the Lord every day? Please tell me the downside of being ready to meet the Lord every day? There is no downside, which is in itself a proof that it is the Lord's clear intent.
If we are watching and ready every day, then regardless of when the Lord arrives we will not be caught sleeping:
Mark 13:36If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
People can argue all they want to, but to argue this point is to argue oneself into peril. The fact is, and it is an absolute fact that we were told to watch without condition. That means watch NOW and every day. How many more ways could the Lord tell us to watch and be ready? He said it over and over and over again, yet many still do not take Him at His Word.
There is coming a day, sooner rather than later when many people will find out the hard way (unfortunately) that the Lord meant what He said in plain language. People try to 'spiritualize' everything the Lord said and they do harm to themselves and their listeners in the process. In spite of the Lord's warnings todays 'wise' people think they can enter the kingdom of heaven based on some man's 'doctorate of divinity' degree instead of their understanding as little children. What does the Word say?
| And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. |
Do little children have doctorate degrees? I don't think so. Do little children write 50 page thesis papers explaining to us why the Word of God does not mean what it says at face value? No, they don't. The Lord meant what He said at face value.
Why write about this today? Watching and readiness today is the clearest divide between the pre-trib rapture position and all the rest. All the others tell us 'don't bother to watch because the Lord cannot come back' for one reason or another. Their refusal to watch is a huge problem for them. What will the consequence be? I am not their judge but I would never ever want to be in their position. They know they were told to watch now, and they refuse. The Word says "watch" period. And they say "we don't have to."
Time is passing quickly. We will know soon enough who the wise and foolish virgins are. There is no argument or doctrine or teaching that can outperform watching and readiness to meet the Lord every day. Does watching every day promote holiness? Yep. Does watching every day meet the requirement of the plain reading of scripture? Yep. Does watching every day keep us focused on what's important in life? Yep. Does watching every day keep us from being found 'sleeping'? Yep.
If there was ever a time to be watching and ready for the Lord's return for the Bride (not the second coming) it would be today and in the days ahead. Obama will be 'coronated/crowned' on 1/20/2013. It will be interesting to see what happens in the days around his coronation. The people have chosen a type of anti-Christ for themselves. Obama is the most anti-Christ president the United States has ever had and we have had some bad presidents. What will the result be?
2013 has two bright comets coming in, one in the spring, one in the fall which just also happens to be our mega-quake windows and just also happens to be the exact time of the solar and lunar eclipses on the Feast days of 2014 and 2015. Spring and fall are the windows. Also we have had large earthquakes the past two years precisely on new years day. On 1/1/2012 there was a 7.0 earthquake then the strange sounds started in the heavens and animals died all over the world.
The shaking of the earth is a great sign of the Lord's approach:
Heb 12:25See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”e 27The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
The shaking is a process of removing what can be shaken, what a wonderful promise. The destruction of the economy, the social fabric, the babylonian religious systems and every thing else around us is a sign that the new beginning is near. The new beginning will be when the Lord rules the earth with an iron rod and Lord willing we are with Him as He does this. "They" may win every battle around us but they lose the war. How encouraging. We know how this story ends. Those who are in Christ will gaze in victory over their enemies soon. We have years to go before all is wrapped up but time is flying. As time speeds up we get closer and closer to ruling and reigning with our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot grasp with out feeble minds just how amazing this is going to be. The pleasures of this world that we deny ourselves will be outshined by a river of pleasures for us to drink from in the near future:
Psalm 36:8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
We do not worship the Lord in vain. What He has stored up for us we cannot even imagine. Keep the faith, be watching, be ready. Soon enough we will explode with joy and gladness that we fought the good fight and held on to the end-whenever and however that occurs for us.
grace and peace
