Right and wrong, good and evil have bowed the knee to personal Ideology; relativism’s twin brother.  “Sacred” and political parties have all embraced it and promote it under the guise of partisan religious and political freedom.  All its ideologues both in and out of our pews and pulpits have become self-serving bigots “calling light darkness and darkness light.” It’s a gutless popularity game complete with shaking hands, kissing (or baptizing) babies and great big charismatic smiles.  In this the church and the world have locked arms in duplicity with roots going down to hell.
~Beware the man riding a white horse with a bow in his hand!~
(Isa.5:20; Rev.6:1-2)  LC

—So please follow with me.  A little more on readiness and then moving on.

**All scripture references are taken from the NKJV**

Well we have spent the last 5 blogs mainly talking about the need of “readiness” for the coming of Christ.  Hard to believe isn’t it?  I mean why spend so much time on that, right?  A couple of things to consider here.  Firstly, the current church’s understanding of “readiness” and that of scripture are light years apart.  Secondly what good is it to know all the “ins” and “outs” of this subject and miss it anyway?  There will be a lot of so-called theologians and “know more than you’ers” on earth looking up after the fact.  All the parading and posturing will be over.  All that will be left then is the shock of being wrong and a fearful sense of the consequences.  The door will be closed on the generation of the foolish beguiled by the beguiler.  The one who shuts and no one opens and opens and no one shuts will put an end to the hypocrisy (Matt.25:10;Rev.3:7).  Yes all you faithful, this hypocrisy will end!  

“Let us reason together”

It seems to be assumed by most Christians that they are ready to meet the Lord when He comes.  We sing songs like, “Oh I want to see Him”, “I’ll fly away oh glory” etc.  But, and that’s a big BUT, do we really know what we are talking about, or singing about?  To date the Christian church is all over the map theologically and yet we assume we believe in Jesus.  So how is that possible?  Let me say that again with bigger letters!  HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE??  Let’s string out some questions here.  Can we really believe in a self defined denominational, interdenominational, non-denominational or what-have-you-ational Jesus and still be believing in the Jesus of scripture?  Is He still Jesus or some fabrication of our minds or institutions, and does that matter?  Do we really think that that’s who’s coming back?  Is Jesus going to appear as the Lord of “different strokes for different folks?”  Well some how multitudes of Christians, especially on the Western side of the aisle, have convinced themselves of that.  So let’s ask some further questions.  Who’s in charge here, us or God?!  Do we dictate who Jesus is and who He isn’t, or does God?  Can we really be all over the map (or off the map) biblically and be justified?  Does God really care, and if He doesn’t care, as so many seem to think, why do we have the Bible?  Are we just supposed to believe in the book and not necessarily what it says?  Are good intentions all that matters: just being sincere?  Is Jesus going to accept us because we meant well?  Truthfully,  “You may believe that but I don’t”, “that’s your interpretation not mine” is fairy tale thinking for extremely inept individuals that need to throw a ball up in the air and watch which way it goes. That is, down! It has always been that way. Truths that govern laws don’t change. The same is so with the truths of scripture. Seriously, it’s far too late in the game to be pulling punches here.

What part of the word “Truth” do we not understand today?  Concepts, precepts, principles, laws and formulas work only one way!  That’s why they are what they are.  Two plus two always equals four.  It works out no other way unless it’s wrong.  In Lewis Carroll’s novel, Alice in Wonderland, Tweedledum and Tweedledee had this very reasonable discussion,

“I know what you’re thinking about,” said Tweedledum: but it isn’t so, nohow.”
“Contrariwise” continued Tweedledee, “if it was so, it might be; and if it were
so, it would be; but as it isn’t, it ain’t. That’s logic.”

Hmm, “but as it isn’t, it ain’t.” What part of that do we not understand today church?  There are some things that just “ain’t” because they “aren’t” nohow, right?  God’s people need to understand it can’t be every way!  Jesus is only Jesus and He will come back only one way- “that’s logic.”

Then there is this further story of Alice’s discussion with the Red Queen a little later on in the novel,

“Nobody can do two things at once you know?” The Red Queen said, “Let’s
consider your age to begin with- how old are you?”, “I’m seven and a half
exactly,” said Alice. “You needn’t say exactly,” the Queen remarked; “I can
believe it without that. Now I’ll give you something to believe. I’m just one
hundred and one, five months and a day.” “I can’t believe that!” said Alice.
“Can’t you?” The Queen said in a pitying tone. “Try again: draw a long
breath, and shut your eyes.” Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she
said: “one can’t believe impossible things.” “I dare say you haven’t had much
practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-
hour a day. Why sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things
before breakfast.”

So let’s draw a long breath church, shut our eyes and pretend real hard that more than one, perhaps many, of our current 2nd coming scenarios will actually come pass, and that there’s no consequences if we happen to get it wrong.  Impossible? Yes, but that’s the fun of it all; believing impossible things.  Protestantism, Catholicism and all the other “ism” departures from New Testament Kingdom thinking have been playing this game for centuries.  Why stop the fun now? Perhaps we just need a little more practice. But unfortunately this isn’t Alice’s Wonderland and practicing the impossible isn’t going to change what is coming.  There is only one Jesus who is soon to be revealed in only one way.  It doesn’t matter how many other scenarios we have practiced in our minds, in our churches or from our pulpits.  Being wrong will be wrong and there will be consequences– “That’s logic.” 

The apostle John wrote,

“He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar
and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God
is perfected in him.” 1Jn.2:4

The apostle Paul highlights this in his letter to the Corinthians.  Note the following,

“Now if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached,
or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different
gospel which you have not accepted- you may well put up with it.”
2Cor.11:4

Paul was correcting them for their openness to lies.  There is only one Jesus.  His mission, His will and His coming is defined as one in scripture.

~Once relativism takes over, even the best ideas with the most credible proof, are nothing more than ideas treated with indifference.  Clarity becomes impossible, standards are considered a threat to freedom, confusion is celebrated and truth is self-defined.  In such an environment law and order crumble and biblical truth becomes completely subjective!  Society ignorantly is screaming for judgment today or an extremely undeserved measure of grace and mercy.  Which we get will be decided by the very system of things we have turned our backs on- absolute truth and the God who established it!  There is nothing relative about the cross of Christ or the grace that governs it. That fortunately is absolute!!~ 

~Trying to teach biblical truth today has a culture heavily weighted against it.  Such words are neutralized as fast as they can be spoken, but speaking them is necessary for the day we are entering.  The recklessness of the current Christian church’s rebellion against Biblical truth will give way to obedience.~

Let’s Move On—

There are many today that believe that Jesus could come back at any moment (imminency); that everything has been fulfilled for His return; which is absurd.  How can we possibly think that all the scriptures involved with His return have been fulfilled?!  And how can we even dare think that we are ready?  Such thinking is not only deception but incredibly arrogant!  Do we really think that in the midst of all our divisions, unaccountability, contradictions of belief, prayerlessness, powerlessness, mercenary attitudes, immorality, arrogance, self-promotion etc. etc, we’re ready for His return??  What have we done church with the Holiness and Sovereignty of God?  What have we done with the Authority of His Holy Word?  Where is His Kingdom and His power?  Where is true revelation from heaven.  Where is godly fear?  What about the unconverted state of our towns and the world?  Where is humility, brokenness and tears for the lost and hurting people both in and out of the church?  Where is passion for more of the unfathomable riches of Christ?  Are we out of our minds??  May Jesus not come back today!  I said, may Jesus not come back today!! We’re not READY!  We are far from it.  We are going to meet the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The bar is not going to go down to our level, but up to the level set by the Cross.  God help your people to understand this.  How can I make it more clear?

When Jesus approached Jerusalem for the last time the scripture says,

“Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had
known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your
peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes…because you did not know
the time of your visitation.‘” Lk.19:41-44

This is one of the most insightful statements in the New Testament, exposing Israel’s lack of readiness to receive their Messiah.  Its significance is passed over way to often as it highlights our situation today.  Especially note the words “because you did not know the time of your visitation.”  This is a very clear reference to the purpose of John the Baptist’s ministry in preparing the way for Christ’s coming.  Note the following scripture,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and
hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways
smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'” Lk.3:4-6

This scripture draws from the custom of the day preparing for the visitation of a dignitary.  They would prepare the way for his/her coming and make the pathway for their arrival as trouble free as possible.  John the Baptist was doing that spiritually for the coming of Christ.  Jesus was referring to exactly that in Lk.19:41-44 with His words, “you did not know the time of your visitation.”  Israel was not ready for their visiting dignitary-Jesus Christ.  So many of their hearts were not properly prepared in spite of John the Baptist’s unique ministry.  So they crucified their Messiah!  

The world will again see forerunners preparing the way for our Lord’s return.  These coming forerunners will be many this time around.  They will rise up globally.  Just as John the Baptist was prepared in the wilderness so it is with this group; out of sight.  But who will hear their report!  Let me add a little bit here.

Just as first century Israel shifted from about 1600 years of the law of Moses to grace and truth through Jesus Christ.  So also the church will shift again from about 1800 years of the religions of man (Catholicism, Protestantism, Mormonism, Jehovah Witness etc.) back to the Kingdom thinking Jesus introduced in the New Testament.  I can’t emphasize this enough.  The walls of this Jericho of man are coming down.  Multitudes will and are trying to save it but it is coming down.  This will be one of the greatest shifts in the history of the Christian church by far!  Forerunners are being raised up to prepare hearts and minds for the immense changes that will soon come.  They are being raised up behind the scenes right now but will soon become evident.  Who will believe their report?  Who, who, who will listen to the thinking and theology that has been largely covered up over the last 1800 years?  We will soon find out.

~The tension between our will for God and His will for us continues to increase, and the majority don’t know the difference.  The battle between self righteousness and God’s righteousness likewise continues on as we approach Christ’s coming.~

We are not ready for this church.  It isn’t on the current church system’s radar.  We are living in the past.  Amazingly we are  following in the steps of first century Israel’s unreadiness.  While we should be focusing on humility, repentance and cleaning house in every way possible, we are smug, self-righteous and defensive.  It is this self-righteous smugness that is blinding the eyes of so many from seeing the day of our visitation.  It is also this same blindness that is driving our arrogant assumption that Jesus could come back at any moment and that all has been fulfilled for His arrival.  We ignorantly and arrogantly imagine ourselves ready in spite of all the evidence otherwise. The closer we get to His coming the further away from readiness we become.  God have mercy on this generation and give us more time, please!  Even the apostle Paul wrote,

“…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection of the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended...”
Phil.3:10-13

Amazing words!  How did we ever get to where we are today?!  Such arrogance and callousness of thinking that we are just fine, that we are ready to meet the Lord.  Are we better than Paul?  He said, “I do not count myself to have apprehended.”  Where are words like that today?  Where is a willingness to entertain words like that today?  Our smugness underscores how unready we are!  We need serious repentance in this hour which I am convinced will soon come by the grace of God.  We naively and callously go on with all our Second Coming scenarios evidently ignoring the need for repentance; straining out a gnat we swallow a camel.  Reader beware:  Avoid these people and their insolent arrogant scenarios and insults that assume readiness ignoring the holiness and judgement of God!  God save us from this rebel generation.  Moving on. 

God has the option to do something new whenever He wants.  We are on the verge of that.  It will not be new in the sense of something that has never happened, but it will be new to us.  It will be what we have no familiarity with because of our years catering to walls and all the theology and gimmicks that promote them.  Humility and brokenness is key.

The tension between our will for God and His will for us continues to increase, and the majority don’t know the difference.  The battle between self righteousness and God’s righteousness likewise continues on as we approach Christ’s coming.  The scripture says “that no flesh should glory in his presence” 1Cor.1:29, but it seems the opposite is true today.  Self-righteousness enshrines itself in so many of our churches masking itself as the counterfeit that it is; making dupes of millions claiming Christ.  It’s as deadly as sin itself but far more noxious in many ways.  Again the apostle Paul writes,

“That I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,
which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the
righteousness which is from God by faith…” Phil.3:8-9

God is soon to rise up.  Count on it.

“Now I will rise, says the Lord; now I will be exalted, now I will lift myself up. You
shall conceive chaff, you shall bring forth stubble; your breath as fire shall
devour you. And the people shall be like the burnings of lime; like thorns cut up
they shall be burned in the fire. Hear, you who are afar off, what have I done;
and you who are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid;
fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: ‘Who among us shall dwell with the
devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?’ He who
walks righteously and speaks uprightly, he who despises the gain of
oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, who stops his
ears from hearing bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil: he will
dwell on high; his place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; bread will
be given him, his water will be sure.'” Isa.33:10-16

Now, can Jesus come back at any moment?  We’re going much deeper into scripture now.  Two passages to remember folks,

“Whom will He teach knowledge? And whom will He make to understand the
message? Those just weaned from the milk? Those just drawn from the
breasts? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon
line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” Isa.28:9-10

We are not the interpreters of scripture.  I said, we are not the interpreters of scripture as centuries of Protestantism has taught us to be.  We are the discoverers of the interpretation of scripture -Write that one down and use it as a page marker in your bible- It is up to us to find out scripture’s interpretation of itself.  Our God is well aware of the fickleness and vanity of man so He placed the interpretation of scripture within its own pages.  The only way the human element comes in is if it is forced upon the text from the outside; from distorted motives.  So we place precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, and gather here a little, there a little throughout scripture to find truth.  One more scripture,

“And consider that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation- as also our
beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to
you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are
some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist
to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the scriptures.”
2Pet.3:15-16

The whole flagrant arrogant idea that you can believe what ever you want as long as you are personally comfortable with it is a justification from hell.  People throughout Christianity today are twisting scripture under this fatal justification.  Peter calls it the twisting of scripture “to their own destruction.”  It’s time to relabel some things as destructive instead of justifying them as freedom!!  Beware saints of God!  What we promote today as orthodoxy is far from it.  No, the Lord will not come back at any moment.  We’ll look at those scriptures next post.

Luther Canon
Sola Scriptura