What does the Lord tell us above? He knows how to deliver the righteous from what? That word up there is this:
| from temptation, | πειρασμοῦ | peirasmou | 3986 | an experiment, a trial, temptation | from peirazó |
Which is the same word the Lord uses here in the Lord's prayer:
Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.'"
| us not into temptation.'" | πειρασμόν | peirasmon | 3986 | an experiment, a trial, temptation | from peirazó |
and it is the same word the Lord uses here:
Rev 3:10Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
| of testing, | πειρασμοῦ | peirasmou | 3986 | an experiment, a trial, temptation | from peirazó |
The Lord is very very clearly telling us something. When the Lord taught the disciples how to pray, giving them the Lord's prayer, He gave us a prayer in which we pray DAILY not to be led into "an experiment, trial, temptation-strongs 3986" And He did not leave us with this concept in a vacuum either. He placed it into perfect context for us with Lot. What happened with Lot? His city was destroyed and He was spared. The city was not destroyed until Lot physically departed. That is a biblical fact, not open to debate by anyone. Who departed the city? Lot did, that is very clear. And what are we told here?
Luke 17: 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.
How much more clear could He say it? The day that Noah physically entered the place of safety (the ark), then it began to rain. The day Lot physically moved to a place of safety, then destruction came down.
Revelation 3:10 tells us that there is a trial/experiment/test coming for the entire world, for all them that dwell upon the earth. But that church would be delivered from it. What kind of worldwide trial/test can we think of? Oh yea, the tribulation, thats it! People can argue it, and slice it, and dice it, and debate it until they are blue in the face but it will not change the very clear context the Lord has given us of the escape. There is a physical deliverance coming, people can call it whatever they want to, but it is coming. The examples of Noah and Lot were given to us to describe how it happens. We physically LEAVE, then destruction comes. How, when, where etc that physical departure occurs is irrelevant to this discussion.
The Lord knows how to deliver His own. That is what we read in 2 Peter 2:9. Do you ever feel like Lot, vexed with the lawlessness and the tolerance of wickedness and perversion on every side? People act as though nothing was wrong. Everywhere we turn the Lord has been removed from this world. Will mankind erase the Creator or will the Creator erase mankind? The Word tells us who wins that fight.
The purpose of today's post is to encourage you to look forward to what the Lord clearly details for us in His Word. A physical deliverance is coming, just like it happened for Lot and Noah. The Lord told us in no uncertain terms that He knows how to deliver us. Lot and Noah were not "spiritually delivered" then their bodies sunk below the waves of the flood or burned to ashes in Sodom. That's not how those events happened.
We were told clearly what to do and how to pray:
36Watch 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.
What to do? Watch and pray ALWAYS that we may escape ALL that is about to happen. We were told to do this always. We were also told to pray:
Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.'"
^^ That means lead us not into trial, experiment, temptation. One that we know is coming upon all those who dwell on the earth (Rev 3:10).
Debating with people who believe otherwise is useless. They are correct when they argue that there will be believers on the earth during the time of the tribulation, the question is, which believers? Perhaps the very people who argue with you until they are red in the face are the very people who will populate the tribulation with believers? Who are we to argue them out of their belief? As they believe, so they receive. I would not wish that on anyone but they are free to believe what they want to.
There are redeemed and rewarded men in heaven in Revelation 4 and 5. They are the elders:
Rev 5:6And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 8And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
How do the scoffers explain redeemed and rewarded men in heaven from "every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation?" How did these redeemed and rewarded (they have crowns) men get into heaven? They have no explanation for it, they will not even touch the subject because it destroys their arguments. We have a simple and straightforward answer: a door was open in heaven in Rev 4:
Rev 4:1After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
This is another fact that vexes the scoffers terribly. Does the Lord open doors for no reason? Did He open this door just as eye candy or are people actually going to pass through this door? What is the purpose of a door? We don't need a 200 page e-book to explain to us what doors are used for. The simple explanation works fine. It also explains how redeemed and rewarded men are seen in heaven in Rev 4-5.
Have you ever heard of Occam's razor?
Occam's razor (also written as Ockham's razor from William of Ockham, and in Latin lex parsimoniae) is a principle of parsimony, economy, or succinctness used in logic and problem-solving. It states that among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions should be selected.
It explains all of this. A door is open in heaven and what do you know in the next chapter redeemed and rewarded men are in heaven. It also explains why the Church is mentioned specifically by name in Revelation 2-3 then it is not mentioned at all for the rest of the book of Revelation. What is the Occam's razor explanation for this? Again, we do not need the 200 page e-book to tell us what we can figure out with simple reason.
And none of this ^^ stands on its own. The Bible reinforces these ideas from multiple angles.
There is a physical deliverance coming and we are told to pray for it daily. Be encouraged.
grace and peace
