If the Lord decides to tarry, we maintain the possibility to see some of the greatest days this world has ever seen. From what perspective? Souls saved, love, joy, peace, prosperity, etc. Yes, the end will come some day but the Lord never said, look forward to or dwell on or make your constant observation the days of judgement waiting for this world.
Amos 5:18–20 (ESV)
“Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, and not light,
as if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?”
We remain in the Age of Grace. This is a time and season for darkness to be Restrained.....The Restrainer which this servant believes is the Spirit filled Church, has a job to do. Salt has a job to do. Light has a job to do.
Matthew 5:13 (ESV)
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”
This is the best-known version. It comes right after the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is telling his disciples they are meant to preserve and flavor the world; if they lose that distinctive quality, they become useless.
The two parallel passages are:
Mark 9:50
“Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Luke 14:34–35
“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away.”
In the ancient world, salt was used as a preservative and flavoring. Pure salt (sodium chloride) doesn’t actually lose its chemical saltiness, but the salt people commonly used was often mixed with other minerals. If the actual salt leached out, what was left was just tasteless, worthless powder—good only to be discarded.
Jesus is using that picture to warn disciples: if they lose their distinctive character (holiness, truth, influence), they become ineffective.
The Lord God is not sitting up in Heaven rubbing His Hands together in glee at sending the wicked to hell as soon as possible.
1 Timothy 2:3–4 (ESV)
“This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
2 Peter 3:9 (ESV)
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
Related Old Testament statements:
Ezekiel 18:23
“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?”
Ezekiel 33:11
“As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”
These passages show God’s desire that people be saved and come to repentance, not that any perish.
We are to be praying for our enemies, right now today. How pleasing will it be to see our current enemies turned into Christ loving fanatics who are even more on fire for Jesus Christ than they ever were for hell and death? Faith, hope, love, joy and peace are our Christian Operating System. We do not bring the Kingdom of God to earth through earthly or carnal means. We love, we step aside and allow the Spirit of the Lord to shine Light and Life into this world.
If the Lord should tarry, we have alot of work to do. On the topic of the unexpected arrival of the Lord. "readiness" is not something we do one or two days around the Feast days. Watching and readiness are everyday events, they are not seasonal. Binding and entwining ourselves, our lives with the Lord is an every day thing, not a once a year thing. Loving and walking and building relationship with the Lord is an every day thing. So, the annual feast of trumpets predictionfest and the hype that goes with it is counterproductive in every way possible. Yes, we should be ready for the Lord to arrive. Yes, we should observe both what the Lord has done and what He promises to do. But......we should not forget during the other 353 days of the year what we remember on 2 days.
The foolish virgins of Matt 25 were foolish because they believed they could "rent a relationship" with Jesus Christ "just in time" like they were a business model and not a real relationship between God and mankind. We dont make that mistake. This walk, this watching, this readiness is the "rapture solution" to pre, mid, post trib etc. We are watching and ready every day, not two days per year. Our eyes are on Christ every day. We are living in obedience and love every day. Those who think they can game the system and "fool God" with renta-relationship theology are going to be very disappointed.
We know what we need to do, now lets do it. You, are known by name and you are dearly loved by the Lord God, by this servant through the Spirit of the Lord who lives in me, and by the brothers and sisters of the true Church which is the living, organic, Body of Christ.
All this ^^^ is how we finish strong, how we finish the race and how we win the game called life.
Please join with your brother in praying over the prayer targets today.
Glory to God
grace and peace
