Summary of Bible references on the Rapture

Luke 13:22-33 This is where we are headed

22 Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.

Among the believers we have already seen the twelve, the others (70), the witnesses (500), those that are being fed (5,000), those that are being nursed back to life, and now we hear of those that try to enter into salvation but won’t be able to.

25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

The Lord compares the rapture of believers to Noah entering the ark and then the door being closed. Once that happens many people will wake up and bang on the door, “Lord open the door for us”. The issue isn’t that they didn’t know all the doctrine concerning pre tribulation, mid tribulation and post tribulation rapture, the issue is that the Lord doesn’t know them and He doesn’t know where they are from. Isn’t that incredible? He knew the woman at the well, He knew who she was, He knew where she was from. When they brought a woman to Him caught in adultery He knew all the sins of those that brought her there and began writing them in the dirt. When He was invited to a Pharisee's house for dinner He knew what He was thinking. Throughout the gospels I am amazed at what He does know, sometimes we overlook how amazing are the things He doesn’t know. Think about it, this person thought that they also should be taken by the Lord, in their mind they are a pretty big deal. Can you imagine, some people that were of no account were taken by the Lord, and yet this guy who thought he was a big shot wasn’t?

Luke 12:6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pence? and not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God. 7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

These rulers and leaders were involved in selling people. They were involved in glorifying their own names with statues and glowing histories while these people are seemingly forgotten. Then it turns out that the Lord didn’t pay any attention to their history books, He has no idea who they are or where they are from. But that person you thought was of no account, the Lord knew them, He knew where they were from and what they had gone through.

26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’

Hold it! How does He know they are evil doers? He knows what they did, He just never approved it. He never authorized their actions. They may have blamed Him for what they did, but that was just evil. Maybe they taught that keeping the Sabbath was equivalent to treating people worse than an animal, reminds me of religious teachers justifying slavery because Noah cursed his son. Where did that come from, the pit of hell?

28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.

So much for having the best seat and the big name. There is one very interesting aspect to this. Christians teach that no one is thrown into the Lake of Fire until the Great White Throne judgment. Yet prior to the Great White throne judgement we learn that the false prophet, a man, is already in the Lake of fire. I suspect he was like these ones here, he was so good at deceiving others he had even deceived himself. He demanded to be judged at the judgement seat of Christ, so the Lord accommodated him and sent him to the Lake of fire early.

29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

This goes back to the question about “are there only a few that are saved”. There are only a few people that can have the best seat or the best name. There are only a few that can be first. But you don’t need any of that to be saved. You can have the last seat and the last name and wind up with the first name. Jesus is the first name, to be saved is to know Jesus and to call Him Lord. If you do then you will obey Him and if you do that He will know you and where you are from.

31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”

Why does Herod want to kill Him? It seems like He has been exposing the Pharisees and the lawyers, Herod was the king. There was a conspiracy, they all worked together. Prior to the holocaust the Pope signed a deal with Hitler to avoid persecution. Kings and religious leaders have worked together for thousands of years. 9/11 was an inside job by some in the US government. They could never have done that if those who investigated the crime didn’t rubber stamp the official account. In the Bible this kind of investigation would have been done by the levitical priests. Herod’s goal was to keep in power as King, to do that He had to be the puppet of the Romans, the Jewish leaders goal was to keep in power, to do that they acquiesced to Herod and the Romans. Exposing the priests would bring the whole house of cards down, so Herod needed to act.

32 He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’

Healing the bent over woman provoked Herod. The common people were being treated as beasts of burden so that the kings and rulers could walk around without lifting a finger. The elimination of serfdom weakened the kings hold on power, the parliamentary system weakened the kings hold on power, the expansion of the middle class weakened the ruling class’s hold on power. That is the Lord’s goal, bind the strong man and plunder His house. He likens that to the day of resurrection. The Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation were two important steps toward this goal. Martin Luther King Jr. said "All tyrants, past, present and future, are powerless to bury the truths in these declarations". To God a thousand years is a day. To God it has been two days since the Lord’s crucifixion, it is now the start of the third day when we will rise from the grave with Him. It is time for us to stand up straight.

33 In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

We are heading to Jerusalem! That is the Lord’s goal, the city of peace. This is the necessary step towards the goal in “any case”. My salvation was one case, your salvation is another case, in every case our salvation from Satan’s bondage is at the cross of Christ. This is where we are headed.

He goes through many of the most immediate signs slowly and with graphics, so it will certainly make it simple for anyone not familiar with these signs.

He refers to the super blue blood moon that took place during the Jewish festival that celebrates the Almond tree.

The poetry of the symbols is of exquisite beauty. In contrast to the words of terror, in harmony with the words of hope, he sees the almond-bough, with its bright pink blossoms and its pale green leaves, the token of an early spring rising out of the dreariness of winter. The name of the almond-tree (here the poetical, not the common, name) made the symbol yet more expressive. It was the watcher, the tree that “hastens to awake” (shâkêd) out of its wintry sleep, and thus expresses the divine haste which would not without cause delay the fulfilment of its gracious promise, but would, as it were, make it bud and blossom, and bear fruit. Ellicot

Luke 14:1-14 -- "Jesus Freak", the worst seat at the feast.

14 And it came to pass, when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him. 2 And behold, there was before him a certain man that had the dropsy. 3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not? 4 But they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go.

(Dropsy refers to congestive heart failure). In the last chapter we saw the response of the ruler of the synagogue, in this chapter we see the response of the “silent majority”. In the last chapter we learned that the Lord’s goal includes exposing the hypocrisy of a corrupt counterfeit bill to the kingdom of the heavens. In this chapter we learn about the silent majority, those who hold their peace.

5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a well, and will not straightway draw him up on a sabbath day? 6 And they could not answer again unto these things.

According to the rabbinical law you were not supposed to pull an ox out of a well on the Sabbath. You were allowed to lower food and water down to the ox, but you had to wait till the next day to pull the ox out. They knew this, but then they also knew that this was a stupid rule. The ox doesn’t know it is the Sabbath. In the wild an ox falls into a well and can’t get out, that ox is going to die. So this ox is going to panic and may break a leg trying to get out. Imagine you were the ox, your owner sees you in the well, but just leaves you there! How cruel is that? You do all that work for him and he is just going to leave you to die? One person can’t pull an ox out, so they would need help. This is why they are all keeping quiet, they don’t want to admit that they do this in public, but they can’t deny it because everyone knows they do it. It is a stupid, cruel rule, no one obeys it, but they are afraid to say that. That is hypocrisy, that is the leaven of the Pharisees. They keep people in line with fear but no one believes them, they don’t obey them, they just don’t want to make waves.

7 And he spake a parable unto those that were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them, 8 When thou art bidden of any man to a marriage feast, sit not down in the chief seat; lest haply a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him, 9 and he that bade thee and him shall come and say to thee, Give this man place; and then thou shalt begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that hath bidden thee cometh, he may say to thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have glory in the presence of all that sit at meat with thee. 11 For every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

This is what people are really afraid of, public humiliation. What did the Lord say, don’t fear those that can just humiliate you and after that there is nothing more they can do, rather fear Him who after you have died has the power to humiliate you for eternity. Why is it that people deny the Lord before men? They are afraid to be shunned and humiliated. The Lord is not teaching us how to be social climbers. You need to connect this account with the earlier point Jesus made(Luke 12:8-9). If you confess Jesus before men you will be shunned, you will be given the worst seats at their feasts. But if you confess Jesus before men then He will confess you before the angels, at the feast that He is going to give at the end of the age He will say “friend go up higher”. If you choose to start the feast in the most despised seat, the “Jesus freak” seat, then there is nothing they can do to you, but you give the Lord an opportunity to honor you.

12 And he said to him also that had bidden him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor rich neighbors; lest haply they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. 13 But when thou makest a feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14 and thou shalt be blessed; because they have not wherewith to recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just.

This is how you lay up treasure for yourself (Luke 12:16-21). Man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things he possesses. If the US dollar is about to become worthless then you are in the exact same position of that rich man who died. Once he died the grain in the barn was worthless to him. He could have used it to give a feast to the poor and then when the Lord took him he would have had treasure stored up in heaven. During the tribulation our money will become worthless. But right now there are people who can’t pay their rent, can’t buy food. One minute you could have used that money to store up treasure in heaven, the next minute it will be gone. Give to those who cannot recompense you and then you will be recompensed in the resurrection. This is a tremendous investment opportunity for you, where thieves don’t break in, moths don’t destroy, a purse in heaven that faileth not.

Luke 14:34-35 If you want to be part of the Lord's ministry you need to be salt

34 Salt therefore is good:

Strange conclusion to this chapter. To renounce all that we are is to renounce our ego, our family heritage, whatever we count as gain to us. What salt does is it causes all the water to come out of the fish or the meat that it is preserving. Without any water it can’t rot. This chapter is telling us that we need to be salted. We will be attacked, just like microbes will attack the fish or the meat. Before refrigeration this was the only way to preserve meat and fish. This section began with a warning to beware the leaven of the pharisees, but it ends with the conclusion that “salt therefore is good”. Salt tells the water to “come out of her my people”. This is what we are telling the saints concerning these tech giants that want to control what you can and cannot say, what you can and cannot think. Come out of her my people. They are controlling you through public humiliation, mocking, branding you a "Jesus Freak".

but if even the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned? 35 It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill: men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

My senior year in college our gospel was very effective on campus. We had a solid core of four or five brothers who would meet every day at lunch and during lunch we would preach the gospel in the cafeteria. My university had five colleges with cafeterias that we would eat at, every day we would eat at a different one. During my last semester I was eating at one of these cafeterias, it might have held 400 and this was way before social distancing. It was packed, wall to wall college kids eating lunch. Each table held ten people and I was sitting at this table in the center of the cafeteria and the other nine seats were empty. At other tables you would see two people sharing a chair, or an eleventh person standing and eating at the table or people heading to the elevators to eat their lunch in their room. It was like one of those western movies where the gunslinger comes in, and everyone else clears out. Don’t get me wrong, for three years there was a lot of mocking, a lot of insults, a lot of friends and family that opposed my stand. There were also many others on the campus that did believe, but they kept it to themselves, and you couldn’t tell them from anyone else. It must have been hard, kind of like Lot “sore distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked”. The Lord said His yoke was easy and His burden was light, is this really easy? Let’s compare. In the world they are struggling to get to the top of the heap. There are many people who give it everything they have and yet the world still finds issues. These debates about who the greatest of all time is for the various sports is one example. Why isn’t it good enough that they gave it everything they had? Second, what about those who get injured. The Lord asks us to give it everything we have, if we get injured it doesn’t stop us from doing that. But in the world they judge you by the ugly metric of idolatry. In the world you can be an ox working hard, but if you fall into a pit they can have all kinds of reasons why they can’t pull you out. In the world you sit down to build a tower all kinds of things can happen, calamities that are completely beyond your control. Suppose you come to a team and you want to make them into one of the all time great teams whose name is respected and then they trade you? You have no control over that, but in the New Testament we have a covenant, we don’t get traded. It is up to you, you can give 100%, that is your choice. Our being salt indicates that we have a relationship with Jesus and with God. Salt had to be added to all the offerings, it was required. God requires that Jesus have this relationship with us. Also it is not up to you to keep the ark of the covenant from falling. All you need to do is follow the Lord, everything is ultimately on Him. He is the one that is coming with an army. We saw Him coming and the gospel was all about the conditions of peace with God. For the last two thousand years millions, hundreds of millions, even billions of Christians have received Jesus as their peace offering. The peace that we make with God requires that we renounce everything that we are and count it as dung. This is the road we take to the Lord’s second coming. At the time of Jesus the Roman roads were built to transport salt. From the moment Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem you see this process, He is salting the disciples. “He that is least among you shall be great” dealing with their ego. “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head”. Jesus Christ is our offering to God. However we are the salt: “You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of your covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” (Lev 2:13). We are added to these offerings. Jesus is our peace offering, but you need to add salt to the peace offering and we are the salt. Jesus is the burnt offering, but you need to add salt to the burnt offering and we are the salt. If you have lost your saltiness then you won’t be added. If you want to be part of the Lord’s ministry then you need to be salt.

Luke 15 -- How do you prepare for the Lord’s return?

1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

This is a valid point. The Lord has made a very definite point of the need to hear his word and obey. How is it that the servants of the Lord who do not obey His word will be judged strictly and yet he is welcoming sinners and eating with them when they don’t pay any attention to God’s word?

3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

The Lord is comparing them to a lost sheep. The 99 are doing what they are supposed to, that is good, but one gets lost it is the shepherd’s duty to find it. The Lord is doing what he is supposed to do. Remember, Jesus is setting a pattern for the 12, for the 70 others and for the 500 witnesses. As a disciple we need to listen and obey. However, if you are put in the position of a shepherd then you have greater responsibility to seek out a lost sheep.

5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’

Why include this? Have you ever noticed that many testimonies and many meetings concerning evangelism focus on this experience of finding a lost sheep and bringing them home? Maybe the saints who were born into Christian homes and who were never “lost” may mutter a little. Why are the meetings always about former drug addicts and gang members? The Lord is explaining why.

7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

What is going on in this age? The Lord is seeking the lost sheep, He is getting his flock of sheep together. We are not sitting in judgement over lost sheep, instead we are rejoicing with each one that repents and returns to the flock. Five years ago people may have felt they didn’t need the church, now they see how powerless and puny they are without the church. We are seeing people repent and return as the church is the only counterweight to the Satanic system. Over and over again I am continually bothered by the Lord’s charge to “watch” and to “prepare”. He says we don’t know the day or the hour so therefore we need to watch, we need to prepare. What does He mean? When you find these lost sheep you are preparing. We need every member for this battle. If you watch football you know the name David Tyree. He was a lost sheep, the coach rescued him, and when they needed it most it was David Tyree who delivered.

8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Right now we are praying for the Lord to shine His light. Yes, it will expose corruption but it will also enlighten the lost coin, that one who is in a position to take a stand for the Lord. If an elected official or election official or judge repents we will all rejoice. This is what it means to prepare, we need that coin, the storm is about to hit, so right now while there is still a chance find it.

11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

I am reminded of Hunter Biden. Can you imagine if he comes to his senses? Suppose he takes a sober look at his life, the way his dad and the rest of the family used and abused him. Suppose he repents, confesses his sins, and turns to the Lord! It would be stunning, millions would be rejoicing. This is the difference between keeping in power through the fear of death and having a kingdom built on righteousness where we all stand on the blood of Jesus Christ. These ones that we are seeking they are not just “sheep” in the Lord’s flock, they are not just “coins” with a like precious faith, they are sons. What we need in order to watch are “sons” of God. What we need to be doing to prepare for the coming storm are sons of God. Sons who have repented of their sins, confessed, and rededicated themselves to the Lord. If you are a shepherd, or a woman over a household or a father, you will be held accountable for how you took care of that which was entrusted to you.

Are we really "supposed to be" surprised at the Lord's coming?

I recently watched a message on Youtube from a preacher who had "88 reasons why we don't know the date or time". He began his message with references from 9 different chapters in the Bible showing that the rapture is Biblical. It was a great introduction that had me really looking forward to the "88 reasons". However, it fizzled after that. The 88 reasons for why we don't know the date and time became one reason inferred from illustration of the rapture as the bridegroom coming for his bride. His point was "it is supposed to be a surprise". That was the most sexist teaching I ever heard.

The bride is "supposed" to be beholding and reflecting the groom. If the two were dancing the groom is leading but the bride is not supposed to be tripping all over his feet, she is supposed to seemlessly follow his lead so the two move as one. I had an experience once, I was at this big training in the Bible, Christians from the entire country were there. Each of us was going to be tested by the trainer, it was "supposed to be" a surprise. There was this very pretty sister that I liked (the daughter of an elder) and after a meeting I was standing in a group waiting on something. I was looking at her from across the room. She knew I was watching her, she made sure I had a very clear view of her, yet her head was buried in her Bible diligently studying it. From that I was able to discern that I was going to be tested that night. So I studied and sure enough I was tested that night. It has always been my experience that women are much more in the know about what is going on. They may pretend to be surprised when the bridegroom comes but that is just so they don't hurt his feelings.

Luke 12:39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

Understand what? Is he supposed to know? If I was in the home security business I think I would be tuned in to when thieves come, what they are looking for, and when there is a thief in the neighborhood.

John 16:4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,

This is what the Lord is saying, we have been warned about what to look out for.

John 12:42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue;

It was shocking to people that the Democrats were accusing 75 million Americans who voted for Trump of "insurrection" and wanting to "reeducate their children". But we were warned this would happen.

Matthew 24:10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,

Again, we were warned about cancel culture as well.

Luke 19:44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

We were told specifically that we are supposed to recognize the time of the Lord's coming to us. We are told specifically that we will see "the day approaching". Imagine you were the betrothed and your fiance is preparing a "mansion" (a bridal suite) for you. I would bring him lemonade and notice that the shingles were just delivered. Later I'd bring dinner and notice the carpet is being installed. I would see the day approaching. Enough with the "ding bat" jokes and "dumb blond" jokes, I am not a fool.

Matthew 16:3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

There are signs of the times that we are supposed to be able to interpret and we will be rebuked if we can't.

Revelation 3:3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

If you are oblivious to what the bridegroom is doing do you really love him? You love sleep more than Him?

4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

This is a direct contradiction of what this brother taught. You are not supposed to be surprised, you are supposed to be in the light.

A servant should be like his master. Luke 9:51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

The Lord knew when the time approached, so if you are a servant like the master then why wouldn't you?

John 16:21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world

The Lord's second coming is not only likened to a bridegroom coming for His bride, it is also likened to a woman giving birth to a child. The woman does not know the day nor the hour that she will give birth, that doesn't mean that giving birth "is supposed to be a surprise". Surely she knows she is nine months pregnant. During the Revelation 12 sign that appeared on September 23, 2017 Jupiter was in the woman's womb for 42 months before coming out. That was a great sign in the heavens of what was coming. 42 months ago the Abraham accord was signed.

Luke 12:42 The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?

This is another analogy given to the Lord's return. The faithful servants are supposed to know the "proper time". Who wants a cook that is surprised when it is lunch time or dinner time?

Luke 14:17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

The Lord's coming is also likened to a great banquet that we have been invited to. If you are the Lord's servant what are you saying? Come, for everything is now ready. It isn't a surprise for you.

Matthew 21:34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

The Lord's coming is also likened to harvest time. Are farmers supposed to be surprised that it is harvest time? A real farmer is walking through the field every day inspecting the crops. A real farmer sees the day approaching.

Luke 16:1-12 -- What is this I hear about you wasting the Lord's gift to you?

Luke 15 has three stories that are very familiar topics to preachers. The lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. Everyone “knows” those stories, but then you come to Luke 16 and it is “say what?” When I come to a chapter like this I have to wonder if I really understood what I was reading because if I did why is this chapter so mind boggling? In chapter 15 we are rejoicing over finding something that was lost. This chapter is about a manager who is about to lose his job because the owner has not been getting a good return on his investment. Secondly, I very much dislike the tendency of expositors to refer to “additional teachings'' because they didn’t know how they fit in. To me that is like rebuilding an engine, you took it apart, then rebuilt it, and now you are left with a few extra parts and you are trying to tell me these are “extra”. They aren’t extra, you just don’t understand how they fit in! Finally, I love chapters and verses of the Bible that I do not understand because I have something to pray over and I know when the Lord opens up the verse to me it will be a new revelation that I didn’t have before. That is what I hope to see here in chapter 16.

16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

The context is the manager is being audited with the threat that he very likely will lose his job. The analogy here is the manager of a business like Best Buy is being audited, but the greater context is that Jesus is the owner of this business, He is building His church, and this person is one of His servants. For comparison we should consider the verse where He says He gives one servant 5 talents, another 2 and another 1 and tells them to trade while He goes into a far country and then when He returns they each need to give account of what they have done with that talent. If you are the manager of a BestBuy nothing in that store belongs to you, everything belongs to the owner, and it is your job to sell it to the people in that city. Likewise, if you are a Christian nothing belongs to you, every experience and gift you have has been given to you from the Lord and if you don’t share that gift it is a waste. When I was first saved I met with a church that had the practice of giving testimonies during every meeting. The message might go for an hour but then they would reserve another 30 minutes for all the members to share testimonies. Generally there was a time limit, definitely don’t speak for more than five minutes, but usually the time limit would be shorter. It can be terrifying to stand up in front of hundreds of people and share your poor little pathetic experience. So for months I was struggling, the Spirit was bothering me to share some experience, but in my mind it was too trivial. The meeting would end and I would go home defeated. Then I read this verse and it really terrified me. I felt the Lord was speaking to me, I have given you many experiences and what have you done with them? I am hearing that these experiences are wasted on you!

3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ 5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’ 7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

There is a verse in Proverbs that says a word spoken in season is like apples of gold in settings of silver. To have that perfect testimony that exactly hits the point, it is like a beautiful treasure. I knew I had many experiences I wanted to share, but you want that perfect time. But once I thought I could get fired my thought was it is time to have a “going out of business sale”. Better to get something rather than nothing. I started to share my testimonies, didn’t worry if they were perfect, everything was being marked down.

8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.

This word “dishonest” is also translated as “unjust” and “unrighteous”. A hard word to swallow, but true. Everyone wants to have a “perfect” testimony. Sorry, if your testimony is “perfect” then you are being dishonest. The truth is that you are unrighteous and unjust and are in the process of being transformed. You aren’t there yet. Why is it that we think we can be street smart when we are in the street, but the minute you step into the church you can’t do that?

For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.

Most Chistians sit dumbly in the meeting hall. Why? They are afraid to share a testimony that reveals they are dishonest, unrighteous or unjust. Yet, look at all these prevailing ministries of people who once were in gangs or on drugs. They begin by sharing the testimony of how they were unrighteous.

9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Everyone loves to quote the verse that “money is the root of all evil”. Of course, there is no such verse in the Bible. The real verse says that “the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil”. It isn’t money that is the root, it is the love of money, and it isn’t the root of all evil, but rather all sorts of evil. The Lord just threw in a side teaching here, you can use money in this age to help you get welcomed into eternity. Money is temporary, it is a vapor, it will disappear, but as long as it is here you can use it to get something eternal. There is no way to save money eternally, or to put money away so that your children and grandchildren and great grandchildren will all be rich. But the one thing you can do with money that will last for eternity is to “gain friends for yourself that will welcome you into eternity”. The same is true of that talent the Lord gave you to use in this age. There are many Christians who have helped me on my path and I intend to welcome each and every one of them into the eternal habitations. My cousin was extremely diligent to raise money to help a hospital for the disabled (his daughter was paralyzed in an accident) and also to raise money for the local lacrosse team. At his funeral it was standing room only in a church that must have held at least a thousand people.

10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

I sure hope you just caught that. How many people ask “if there is a God why does He allow this?” referring to all kinds of corruption and unrighteousness. God is not about to trust you with true riches until He knows how you will handle worldly wealth. In this age your behavior will prove whether or not you can be trusted with true wealth. Did you waste the experiences the Lord gave you? Did you waste the gift God gave you? If so, at the judgement seat of Christ you will lose your job as a manager, I suspect there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Or, were you honest about being dishonest? Did you share your testimonies of being unrighteous, how the Lord saved you, redeemed you, and sanctified you? Did you make friends with money that would welcome you into eternal habitations? If so there might be a thousand people cheering you as you appear before the Lord, just like my cousin. All those people who were so corrupt, robbing widows of their houses during the mortgage crisis, that will surely be a key piece of evidence as they appear before the Great White Throne as to whether they are cast into the Lake of fire or not. In the grand scheme of eternity our life is a blip on a screen, but it is enough for the Lord to know whether or not to give us the true riches, and it is enough to judge beyond a reasonable doubt if someone should be tossed into the Lake of fire.

Luke 16:13-31 Everyone witnessing for the Lord is forcing their way into it

13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

There are many reasons why someone is not faithful to the Lord. Maybe you just need a push, or maybe the real problem is that you love money and have become a servant to money. In that case your pretense at serving the Lord is only lip service and not genuine.

14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.

We need this vision. We have had many examples of those who justify themselves in the eyes of others. That is a terrible example for someone trying to learn how to minister. To elevate yourself above others is detestable in God’s sight, but all too common.

16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

This is another one of those “say what?” verses. If you want to serve the Lord you need to “force your way into it”. There is going to be resistance. Your family will resist, your friends will resist, maybe even the government will resist. No one serves the Lord without having to deal with persecution. Not only so but Satan is the “accuser of the brethren”. Imagine Paul forcing himself into ministry after having aided in the stoning of Stephen and also in the arrest of the saints. Imagine Peter forcing himself into ministry after denying the Lord three times. Satan wants to sift us as wheat. We are sinners, we are dishonest, we are unrighteous. But, we overcome by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony.

18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

This is simply one tiny example of the law that is not going to disappear. The word of God convicts us of sin. But the same word confirms that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that His blood washes us as white as snow. So then if you believe you are a sinner you also need to believe that you have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

In this story you are that rich man. It is so easy for us to point our finger at some other person, condemning others. This chapter is not about others. We are the unjust manager of the Lord’s business. We are the ones who need to make friends with the gifts the Lord has given us while we were on this earth. We are the ones who need to force our way into ministry despite the accuser of the brethren holding up all our sins. And yes, we are the rich man. Dressed in purple means we are royalty, son of the king. Fine linen indicates we are clothed in righteousness. Lived in luxury means we had all the riches of the word, and the Holy Spirit every day. At our gate is laid a beggar means the Lord has sovereignly arranged that a person in need of our help is right there, at our front door. The dogs licked the sores indicates that even the dogs are helping this beggar, where are you?

22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham,have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

Say what? We are born again Christians, redeemed by the blood of the lamb. This cannot possibly refer to us! First of all Hades is not Hell. Hades is where you go when you die. Second of all I have experienced something similar to heartburn every time I missed an opportunity to help someone. There is a regret in the pit of my stomach, and I am in agony. That was my experience for months till I finally decided to start speaking in the meetings regardless of whether or not it was perfect.

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.

Abraham calls him “son”, so he is a child of Abraham. He received good things in this life, don’t many Christians teach that “receiving good things” means you are blessed? Why would you think this person does not depict a Christian, of the household of faith, a person who was “blessed”?

26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

OK, fair enough, this chasm is a pretty good indication. There is a very clear separation between the two. But I don’t see any reason to conclude that he depicts an unbeliever.

27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

The gospel of Luke is not a hodgepodge of disconnected stories. Within the context of chapter 15 this refers to a believer who has received the treasure of eternal salvation. It is our job, like the manager who is being audited, to share this gift with others. You will have to force yourself into this because we all are sinners, and yes, Satan desires to sift us like wheat. But there will not be room for any excuses. You cannot claim you didn’t have an opportunity because when you appear before the Lord you will learn that there was a person right at your gate who needed salvation.

29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Ouch. We often think “if I saw this” or “I saw that” then I would believe. If I saw the Red Sea parted, or if I saw Jesus rise from the dead. But it turns out that is not true. There were lots of people who saw each of those events yet they didn’t believe. The good news is this, you can get all the faith you need from the Bible. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God.

Sign of Jonah

May 26th we had a blood moon over the Pacific ocean (the ocean was turned to blood) and then on June 10th we had a ring of fire eclipse. That means that in a single lunar month the Moon did not give it's light and the Sun was darkened according to the prophecy in Joel. The next time this happens is in 2026.

On June 10th we had a ring of fire eclipse of the Sun that went over two places in Canada: "Alert" Canada (small town of 19) and Nunovit (reminiscent of Nineveh which in turn reminds us that the only sign the evil and adulterous generation will see will be the sign of Jonah). Then on June 11th a man was swallowed by a whale and then spit out (this was covered on national media including Jimmy Kimmel).

Also on June 10th there was a replica of Noah's ark in the UK and the story came out that it had been detained because it was not sea worthy.

Jonah was the 40 days of warning. This in turn reminds us of the Solar eclipse over Washington DC Aug 21, 2017 and that was 40 days before the day of Atonement.

There was a solar eclipse that occurred at the time of Jonah as well. June 15th, 753 BC the Assyrian eclipse went over Iraq, Syria and Nineveh at the same time as the preaching of Jonah. This was the same day on the Jewish calendar as this eclipse on June 10th.

The 9th of Av (August 17th, 2021)

• 1. The Spies Returned With a Bad Report
• 2. Both Holy Temples Were Destroyed
• 3. The Battle at Betar Was Lost
• 4. The Romans Plowed the Beit Hamikdash
• 5. The Jews Were Expelled From England
• 6. The Jews Were Banished From Spain
• 7. Both World Wars Began

In Florida we had a building collapse, the first one to be pulled out alive so far is a kid named Jonah.

The building was 8777 Collins Ave, 8 people were saved on Noah's ark, 7 days 3xs of the dove.

Drudge report came out with the big headline "no miracles" and in the background of the picture are two cranes with the name "Alpha". God is there, they are simply blind.

"This is the prophesied M.O.B." (an interesting angle)

Luke 17:1-21 -- Surprise! The kingdom of God is in your midst!

17 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.

We just saw a video of police shooting a man walking away from them 7 times in the back. As a result there were protests that resulted in a lot of damaged property. This video of the man being shot in the back is certainly a “thing that will cause people to stumble”. I have no issue with you saying that they should not have responded by smashing windows. But they talked to a woman on the street and she said it very clearly, if you want people to stop destroying property stop shooting black men for no reason. That said, it turns out there was a reason to shoot him. This man had attacked police previously with a knife and he had a knife in this incident as well. There was a warrant out for his arrest at the time and he was violating a restraining order when the police were apprehending him and he was resisting arrest. Add to that there were three kids in the back seat of the car that could have become kidnap victims. This rush to judgement by Lebron and the NBA was an example of this video causing people to stumble. Anyone responsible for stoking the fire of these riots, you caused people to stumble.

2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves.

The Lord will take into account the events that provoked the outrage. If you cause someone to stumble you will be guilty of that. Who caused them to stumble? Without a doubt the video being shown on the mainstream media without context, without background information was the most egregious. I don’t blame someone for videotaping the incident and posting it to a platform like Youtube. But journalists need to exercise responsibility in presenting a story like this. I think Lebron and the NBA should also share responsibility, not as much as the media because technically it isn’t their job to investigate, but if you are going to claim this is an instance of police shooting black men for no reason you should be sure you know what you are talking about first. How hard would it have been for Lebron who has agents and lawyers to ask one of them to look into this, talk to the police and get their side even if you agree to keep it off the record. Now that the court has ruled the police acted appropriately I can imagine lawsuits against the NBA for their role in inciting riots.

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them;and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

This is a very tough word. Only Jesus is qualified to say this, I think anyone else would be ashamed to say this. People talk about being transformed into the image of Jesus and "what would Jesus do". This is where the rubber meets the road. The media needs to publicly repent, if they don’t they will simply continue this irresponsible behavior. Lebron and the NBA need to repent. The police need to publicly repent when they are at fault. The looters and rioters need to publicly repent. In the last year we had 2,000 blacks killed with handguns in the US, not by police but by criminals and gang violence. This man that sparked this incident, Jacob Blake, was not killed and shooting him may have actually saved lives. Therefore I think that the repentance by the Media and the NBA needs to include money paid to the police and inner cities to reduce this violence. After school programs and gang task forces.

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

What is the meaning of the protestors when they want to defund the police? They want this mulberry tree uprooted and planted in the sea. The thought that these protests are not having the desired effect and you need to become violent and destructive is a lack of faith. I heard someone say that they tried peaceful protests with Kaepernick, but they treated him like “excrement”. So let’s make sure we are clear on the facts. Kaepernick opted out of a contract that would have paid him $14 million, presumably because he felt he was worth more than that. There are very few people on this planet, much less the US, that would say a job offer of $14 million is an insult. Saying he was treated like excrement is only valid if there are actually people out there offering $14 million to pay for excrement. Instead of Kaepernick I would use Gandhi as the example of how faith like a mustard seed can see a mulberry tree uprooted and cast into the sea. He once was asked by the British “what exactly do you think is going to happen? Do you think we will just pack up and leave?” He said, “yes, that is exactly what will happen” and that is exactly what did happen. The response of many people seems to overwhelmingly support a just and equitable treatment of all by the police. You have popular support for justice and righteousness. However, claiming injustice exists when it doesn’t and ignoring injustice that does exist undermines any legitimacy this move has. I have heard that the BLM movement has received billions of dollars in donations. Yes, billions of dollars. Have they spent one dollar on the inner city? I and others have looked for evidence that they have and have not found any. Instead we have found that the founders have been able to buy million dollar properties for themselves and their families. If you care about justice one of the worst things that can happen is to have a phony movement raise billions of dollars that they scam off of people. No one will trust them after this.

7 “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? 8 Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

People are upset that Kaepernick didn’t get hired by any other teams to play quarterback. I guess he was expecting a pat on the back and a thank you. If we are servants of righteousness then he was simply doing what he was supposed to do. At the judgement seat of Christ you will be very happy if you can say you were faithful to do your duty.

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

This is the way it is today. The Lord has shown us the way of faith, how many receive this with thanksgiving? I also am quite disgusted by those who don’t return. Lebron was very vocal and prominent about condemning the police in the entire country as being racist after seeing the Jacob Blake shooting. Has he apologized? Has he returned to say he was wrong? What about the Milwaukee Basketball team, have they? What about the NBA, have they? The ratings of the NBA has tanked because of this. If they do not return, repent and apologize they will continue to appear leprous.

20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

I remember people saying that our faith in the Lord was a “crutch” indicating that we were somehow weaker than those in the world. Well, let’s see how that works out now. These “great and powerful” kingdoms are turning into a big joke. I saw a video of people in a restaurant in China during these floods. The water in the restaurant was about a foot deep, yet it was packed. China recently required churches to put a big portrait of Xi JinPing up in the sanctuary. It would be hilarious to see all these various photos of this horrific flood in China with people sitting and standing beneath a portrait of Xi JinPing. California was very progressive. According to many in California hell is simply a myth. A very famous native of California is Ron Reagan, President Reagan’s son. He famously said he wasn’t afraid to burn in hell. Well, that is definitely the attitude you need if you want to live in California today with their apocalyptic fires. Portland and Seattle are supposed to be very progressive cities, tell that to the protesters. There is going to be a very clear distinction made between the church, the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of man. Their house is on fire, they are in a panic, and all those weak Christians who needed the Lord for a crutch are the only ones they can lean on for support.

Luke 17:22- The US government is a "dead body"

22 Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. 23 People will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running off after them. 24 For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.

CS Lewis said that suffering is God’s megaphone. The suffering we are seeing is God calling out to repent and seek Him.

25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

I know many were disappointed with Trump being rejected, with Stop the Steal rallies being rejected, with calls for justice being rejected, but this has to happen first. At the end of the age those that are following the Lord to take up their cross and follow Him must also “first be rejected” and suffer many things.

26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

It is amazing how so many people all over the earth are able to tune out what is going on. Pandemic, no big deal, we’ve seen these before. Hurricanes and floods happen every year. Fires in California, that is old news. Climate change, it isn’t real, nothing to see here. The ice is melting, happened before, besides now we can sail through the North pole, saving money. So yes, a judgement is coming, only this time it will be by fire and not flood. Just because you don’t see people getting ready doesn’t mean that Noah and his family aren’t preparing. In the last few months I have seen China preparing for war with Taiwan, Israeli drones and US bombers attacking Iran, and a massive cyber attack by China on our infrastructure. Meanwhile Biden’s focus has been on reversing an Executive order to prevent China from having access to our power grid, opening the border to immigrants during the pandemic, and on destroying women’s sports. The order that men can use the women’s locker room, bathroom, and compete against women is not just going to destroy women’s sports, it will also destroy public school. Noah was a preacher of righteousness right up until he entered the ark. This age we have had preachers of righteousness and will have them right up until the rapture.

28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

Why hasn’t God judged us already? Because Abraham is praying that his cousin Lot would be saved. God wants to rescue the very last person that He can before the fire falls. These are the two types of the rapture that the Lord gives us. You have Noah whose focus and labor was on building a boat that would make it through the flood. His entering that boat with his family is a type of the rapture. Imagine you are Noah, you have flocks and herds of every kind of domesticated animal and you have built a huge barn that is an ark. When the flood is over you inherit the entire world. It may seem terrible but it is also the way in which the Lord’s kingdom comes to the earth. We heard the warning and we heeded the warning. In contrast to that Lot also is saved, but what a pathetic salvation. Don’t think that just because you are righteous you can ignore the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, you will pay the price if you don’t come out from their midst today.

30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything.

There are two raptures, the one at the beginning of the tribulation is compared to Noah, the one at the end is compared to Lot. If you have forgotten, Lot is pulled out of Sodom right before the fire and brimstone falls and destroys it. But that was in the cities. If you are there at the end of the tribulation you need to flee the cities. Getting prepared means just that, you are ready to go the minute you hear the word. If you need a go bag you better be carrying that with you. Believers need their lamps to be lit and their vessels to be full of oil. That is what it is to be prepared. If you don’t realize something is about to happen then you are asleep. Xi has stated clearly to the world that the entire world will be under one government, a government that is controlled by China and other totalitarian states. However, to accomplish that they will need to take out the US and it will happen so fast that you will have to run. It will be almost instantaneous. Shock and awe. Like a blackout where in an instant nothing works.

32 Remember Lot’s wife!

She looked back at Sodom. She actually longed for that sinful world. She almost made it out. To be prepared is to set your mind for the Lord, looking for a kingdom of righteousness. The Lord’s warning is you can’t go back, you can’t even look back. Either you are longing for a world in which righteousness dwells or you aren’t. No middle ground.

33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

This is referring to the rapture. The Lord is comparing the day Noah entered the ark with the day people all over the world are raptured. For those that think the story of Noah is a myth you haven’t been paying attention to the major archaeological discoveries made over the last 40 years. This is a very clear reference to the fact that the Earth is a sphere and that at the same moment someone is working in the field or grinding grain, others are sleeping in bed. This tells us something else which is almost a contradiction. People are not in the fields or grinding grain during a holy day. This verse indicates the Lord does not return during a Holy feast day. However, Paul told us that the feast days are a shadow of things to come and all the major events in the Christian faith (crucifixion, resurrection and outpouring of the Spirit) all occurred on a feast day. There is even an interesting theory that Jesus' birth was on a feast day, possibly the festival of trumpets. One would think that the rapture of the saints would therefore be on a feast day.

37 “Where, Lord?” they asked. He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”

Where? He was telling them when, not where. If the rapture is worldwide the question about “where” doesn’t make sense. So I think this question goes all the way back to “first the Son of man must be rejected by this generation and suffer many things”. During the first Gulf war you had the coalition forces arrayed against Iraq. A huge airforce in the desert, they were like vultures and they had gathered where the dead body, Iraq, was. When the bombs began to drop it was lightning lighting up the sky. CNN was beaming this from one end of the sky to the other. That was like a dress rehearsal for the Lord’s return. Where was Jesus crucified -- that was in Jerusalem. Who were the vultures? The Romans and the Jewish leaders dividing up the empire. I don’t doubt that during the Great Tribulation we will also return to Jerusalem in Israel. But that is the depiction in the book of Matthew and the end of the Great Tribulation, Luke appears to present the situation at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. In my opinion based on my reading of the Old and New Testaments and world history Jerusalem today is not the “light on the hill” nor is it “salt and light” to the nations. I believe that was what the New world was dedicated to be 400 years ago with the Mayflower compact. I believe you will see the vultures in the US along with the dead body. A dead body cannot stand up for righteousness, it cannot speak the truth, it cannot uphold justice. It is dead and simply something for the vultures to pick at and eat. The last three months the response from our elected officials to calls for transparency, righteousness and justice have gone unheeded. It is as though the body of our government is dead, surrounded by vultures ready to devour it.

Recently the foreign press has described Biden as a walking corpse.

Luke 18:1-8 -- Becoming men of faith who don't faint

1 And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint;

When you look at these historical figures like Paul, or Gandhi, or Nelson Mandela that is what stands out. They didn’t faint. Their faith and perseverance is a glorious testimony. It isn’t just the destination that is important but the journey. This journey is how God refines and purifies his people. This is how we become a people of faith.

2 saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, and regarded not man:

It doesn’t say the name of the city, I wonder if He was referring to Belarus? Maybe Hong Kong? Beirut? Portland? Kenosha? This is what people are protesting, judges who don’t fear God and don’t regard man. Probably He was talking about Washington DC.

3 and there was a widow in that city;

This should be the face of the protestors, not a teenager with a mask. A widow, a woman who has been bereaved. She isn’t going to terrify people in a restaurant, she isn’t going to torch some business. This is a powerful face that unrighteous judges fear. You can meet a group of teenagers with masks with cops in riot gear and tear gas. But do that to a widow coming to ask you to do your job and the optics are terrible. There is no way to win that battle. It is like two big old cops arresting Rosa Parks for sitting on a bus. The unrighteous judge can not win that fight. This woman might have lost her husband in a war over phony WMD’s, maybe she lost her house in the mortgage meltdown. Maybe her child was killed due to gang violence in the inner city. Who was the first woman that was convicted of a crime for Jan 6th, a grandmother who confessed to trespassing in the nation's capital.

and she came oft unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

That is his job! She isn’t calling for him to be fired. She isn’t calling to defund the judiciary. She is just asking him to “do your job”. Many are now mocking the NBA telling them to “just do your job”. Flip the script, go to these responsible to deliver justice and tell them “just do your job”. Also, come often. Why has Washington DC set up barbed wire and 25,000 troops. Is this to keep this widow from coming to them?

4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest she wear me out by her continual coming.

This is a marathon, it isn’t a sprint. This battle has been going on for 2,000 years. We have gotten rid of Caesars whose idea of a fire sale was to burn down the city and keep the fire department from helping put out the fire. They fed their enemies to lions or simply impaled them on stakes and listened to their moans as they died. For centuries kings could throw people in jail without even admitting they were there. We got “habeas corpus” passed so that if you want to do that you must make it public. We got rid of slavery, got rid of apartheid, got rid of Jim Crow, and passed a whole list of laws. This was because of persistent prayer, faith, and perseverance.

6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unrighteous judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his elect, that cry to him day and night, and yet he is longsuffering over them? 8 I say unto you, that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

The unrighteous judge is the “universal weight machine” where you can build your faith. We know we need to go to the gym three times a week just to keep healthy, well spiritually we need the unrighteous judge to build a healthy life of faith. Also, please note, when the Lord comes this situation will be taking place and He is asking, will I find the Bride of Christ, who lost their husband due to injustice and a monkey trial, appealing for justice? Will she be coming oft? Will she be praying and not fainting?

Luke 18:9- self exalting wokeism

9 And he spake also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at nought:

Wow, what a beautiful juxtaposition comparing the widow appealing to the unrighteous judge with those who trusted that they were righteous. When you hear the debate about racism it is so clear that those on either side of the debate “trust in themselves that they are righteous”. It is clear that they are “setting all others at nought.”

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I get. 13 But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful to me a sinner.

What is a “pharisee” and what is a “publican”. Forget that, let's use terms we can understand. A BLM protestor went up to the temple and prayed “God I thank you that I am not as the rest of men, slave holders, redliners, abusive police, or even this right winger with a MAGA hat on. I protest twice a week, I tweet everyday”. Or, a talk show pundit went up to the temple and prayed “God I thank you that I am not as the rest of men, millionaire athletes pretending to be activists, people who should just shut up and dribble, I post two shows a week, I tweet everyday.”

14 I say unto you, This man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The message here is that every single one of us needs to humble ourselves. Stop boasting that your ancestors were slaves. There are a lot of people who have descended from slaves. Stop boasting in how hard you worked to get where you are. You were fortunate to be born in this country, you were fortunate in so many ways, give thanks to the Lord, humble yourself.

Luke 18:15-17 What is holding you back?

15 And they were bringing unto him also their babes, that he should touch them: but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them unto him, saying, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for to such belongeth the kingdom of God. 17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein.

I think it is great that these kids are getting “woke”. You don’t need to wait until you won’t make a mistake before coming to the Lord. This is how we grow and learn. So what if you stumble, all those who have gone before you have also stumbled and yet the kingdom of God belongs to them. Let me illustrate what the Lord is saying here. Suppose you were in a church meeting with two hundred people. You have every age, even young children with their parents are sitting in the meeting. Then unexpectedly the worship leader asks those who don’t know how to play the piano to stand up. To those who are standing “who wants to come up here and learn how to play the piano?” The seven year old shoots their hand up. That is what "to such belongeth the kingdom of God" means, you have to receive the kingdom like a little child, otherwise you will never enter in.

What happened to everyone else, do you really think they never wanted to learn the piano? So what was stopping them?