Jesus – The Only Solution
Romans 8:18-22 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (19) For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. (20) For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; (21) because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (22) For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
Why does creation eagerly await the revealing of the sons of God? Because until they are revealed, things will only get worse.
Creation is groaning for the glory of Jesus to be revealed in US. It is important to understand the plan God has to make the way straight for the return of Jesus. I am not talking about theological musing…I am talking about the practical solution to the multiple crisis of our day. The news of the day is forcing a choice on the people of the earth. Whether or not we realize it, we have a part to play in what is happening in the earth. If you feel powerless, it is only because the enemy has deceived you into feeling like there is nothing you could do. Heaven…earth…all of creation is WAITING FOR YOU TO DO SOMETHING. For real.
Paul was the perfect person to deliver this message. Paul was a first fruit of what one entire generation of Jesus lovers will choose.
Think about Paul and what he said here…think about the mouth these words came from. These words were uttered by a man who responded to God by doing a complete 180 in his life. He defined repentance with his response to God. Paul gave his entire litany of hopes and dreams…plans for his own life…everything his society counted as valuable he called “rubbish” and gave it a huge shove away from him, took up his cross, and followed Jesus…the very one he had been persecuting. For the sake of Jesus, Paul was beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, ridiculed, plotted against by some of his former best friends. Paul wrote a huge portion of the New Testament. Paul started and cared for numerous churches. Paul had shown himself numerous times to be a son of the Most High, yet Paul said “all creation is groaning” for the time when the sons of God will arise. Paul was looking for an entire generation to respond like he did. Paul was looking forward to our hour.
Paul had a vision MUCH bigger than his own personal transformation, or being responsible for some revival happening. Paul had his eyes set on one thing…just like David…God with mankind. In fact, every person held up in the Bible as great has had their eyes set on this same thing. They all have the testimony of Jesus: there is no life possible until God is back in the garden. All of creation is groaning about this. Do you feel it? Do you see it? Do you hear it? Creation is waiting on YOU…it is waiting on ME! God doesn't want you to have a good life without him…he wants you to finally agree that life isn’t even possible without him back on earth. We are supposed to respond to this with everything. All of creation is pained until we do.
I was watching a video this morning of an air drop of food to religious Yazidi people in Iraq. Tens of thousands are starving on a mountain as Islamic radicals are surrounding the mountain, just waiting to kill them or watch them starve. These same radicals are teaching their kids to behead anyone who doesn't hate like they do. The stage is being set for World War III all over the world right now. Israel is literally fighting in a corner with no help, and her very survival is once again on the line. Earthquakes and disease are literally shaking the planet. Kids are being sold into sexual slavery at an alarming rate. The economy is completely false, running on vapors that almost no one understands. Much of the world is literally starving while small pockets by bigger homes and nicer cars. The most wealthy, famous, and popular among us are so miserable they are literally taking their own lives just to escape the pain…creation is groaning. It is waiting for you. It is waiting for me. To do what? To arise. To repent. To trade this so-called-life for the dream that Paul saw. The dream in Jesus’ heart. This is what all of creation is waiting upon:
John 17:9-26 "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. (10) And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. (11) Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. (12) While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. (13) But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. (14) I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (15) I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. (16) They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (17) Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. (18) As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. (19) And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. (20) "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; (21) that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. (22) And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: (23) I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. (24) "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. (25) O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. (26) And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
Right now, in this hour, Jesus is still waiting on what He prayed for in that upper room. Jesus looked at His best friends and said something like this: “I am not praying for the world, I am praying for the sons of God to arise. I’m not praying for the wars to subside, or more air drops of food, or for the hurricanes to die down…I am praying for YOU to be sanctified…set apart…just like I set myself apart. THIS is what the world is groaning for. Whether THEY know it or not, YOU are supposed to not just know it, but participate in it! I am not asking you remove them, Father, but that you keep them from satan and his forces. I want them to be divided out…set apart…by loyalty to Your word so that they can be holy…they can be like you and I are. I want everyone from Peter here, to the last one saved before my return, to be one…one in their stand for truth at cost, one in their knowing of who I am, one in their experience of my power, one in their seeing of my glory, one in their love for me, and one in their love for each other. I want them to be one in their understanding that me being with them, where they are, is the only solution for the world. I have made a provision…paid the price…for MY glory to be given to them so they can grow into this. As they become more like me on the inside, the world will see me in them. The light of my glory will begin to fill creation more and more until it is ready to behold me in my real nature…bright glory of perfect holiness. When they are one like this, Father, then the world will KNOW that I am the Messiah…that is when I will return to be with creation so it can stop groaning!”
This is what Paul was describing. This is what creation groans for. This is where the whole thing is going. This requires participation. Jesus is NEVER going to force hearts to agree with Him in this. For love, Jesus refuses to violate free will. He commands the wind and the waves, but he never commands the hearts of His disciples to see things the way He does:
Matthew 8:23-27 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. (24) And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. (25) Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" (26) But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. (27) So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"
Peter learned this lesson well. Peter said that we need to consider what is happening to creation as we decide what kind of life we want to live. Peter threw out there the most outrageous idea: we are not waiting on Jesus to return, GOD IS WAITING FOR US TO RESPOND:
2 Peter 3:9-13 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (10) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (11) Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, (12) looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? (13) Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
God is NOT waiting forever. God wants back in the garden because He LOVES people. People can no longer live without Him.
God is done waiting for the people of the earth to respond of their own volition. For 2,000 years God has patiently waited for the earth to respond to His final call to choose Him or choose death. His patience has left most of the world confused about what life really is. It is impossible for un-renewed people to live on the same planet as God in His manifest glory. The early Church understood this and worked…actually intentionally hastened…the day of His coming so they WOULD BE READY:
1 Timothy 6:14-16 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing, (15) which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, (16) who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
In His massive patience, God has allowed generation to generation to work this out in their hearts…to choose Him or reject Him… over the course of the 70 or 80 years that people are given, at best. But there comes “a day” when God has promised to stop waiting on us, and instead hem the whole earth into a valley of decision. You are walking toward that ever narrowing valley as we speak. That time began last December. For real. It is a 7-year period of time called the Tribulation. It is the final “week,” or set of seven years, of natural history, and you are wandering into it right now…as we speak.
The Tribulation is the final storm Jesus is allowing to rise up on the earth. He is removing His hand of restraint from the desires of mankind. Everyone is being empowered to get what they want in this hour. Evil men need no help in figuring out what they want, but will the sons of God be revealed in their desire for a life completely given over to Jesus…loving the hour of His appearing? He who restrains is slowly lifting His hand of restraint…can you feel it?
2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. (8) And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
Jesus is lifting His hand of restraint. THAT is why the world seems to be on fire. Out of the sea of this time, the end time global super power is emerging. This beast is unlike any other the earth has ever seen. Do you see them on the news as their babies hold up the heads of men severed from their bodies? This is the result of an empowering of hate by the largest government of the world in order to remake the earth in some sort of sick humanistic state. This isn't the first time that man has planned his own demise…just the beginning of the most successful attempt. We are literally witnessing World War II play out on a much bigger scale.
This last attempt of mankind to control his own destiny will be fierce against anyone loyal to Jesus. It hates anyone who threatens to resist it. The thunderhead of this storm has already been allowed to gather in the Middle East. It is growing by the day. It is promised to rise up with great wind and waves. It will be fast like Alexander the Great’s conquest of the known world in less than 10 years (leopard), it will be extensive like the massive empire of the Medes and Persians (bear), and it will be menacing in its threats of punishment for all who do not bow to its golden statues like Nebuchadnezzar (lion). It is coming up out of the storm that Jesus is allowing to toss the sea of the earth’s political shiftings:
Revelation 13:1-10 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. (2) Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. (3) And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. (4) So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (5) And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. (6) Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. (7) It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. (8) All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (9) If anyone has an ear, let him hear. (10) He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
THIS is where this time is leading us to. The 42 months this passage refers to is 1,260 days, or 3.5 Jewish years. This is the second half of the Tribulation…called the “Great Tribulation.” The cloud we see forming now in the middle east will grow. It is the final process of groaning…the labor pains of the delivery of the New Heavens and New Earth that Peter talked about. It is like any other birth, it has intensity and pain before the miraculous delivery. That is what Jesus promised:
John 16:20-23 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. (21) A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. (22) Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. (23) "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.
That day, the day of delivery, will culminate with the Bride being ONE with the groom…whatever we ask will so perfectly align with the plan of God that every prayer will be met with a miraculous demonstration on earth, just like Jesus when He healed the sick and cast out demons. This is the time of the greater things Jesus promised…the time when Joel promised the Spirit would be poured out on all the servants of God. This will happen at the time the sons of God reveal themselves in “patience and faith.” This is the worst and the greatest time the earth will ever see…but it requires WISDOM as you walk into the hour:
Daniel 12:1-4 "At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. (2) And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. (3) Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever. (4) "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."
Daniel was told OUR hour…the hour of the internet increasing knowledge and global travel becoming normal…was the hour of greatest trouble where the wise ones…the sons of God…would be revealed. The final storm Jesus releases is designed to get the occupants of the boat to respond in faith…hastening the day. We WILL hasten the day, either by rebellion or faith. This time the Bride will command the wind and the waves…praying like Jesus…not for the world…not for the wind and waves to subside, but primarily that the sons of God would be revealed in unity, glory, and sanctification.
The antichrist armies are beginning to form on the earth. They hate Christians and Jews. They are easy to see. They are on the horizon for US, but front and center for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. How are you supposed to respond?
Joel 2:11-14 The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it? (12) "Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." (13) So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. (14) Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him— A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?
God has promised that THIS is the only solution…responding like Peter…responding like Paul…hastening the day of His appearing. Why? So that the Spirit could be poured out, Jesus’ glory seen in His Bride doing the greater things, and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord could be saved before He returns. THIS is what creation is groaning for:
Joel 2:28-32 "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. (29) And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. (30) "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. (31) The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. (32) And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
YOUR solution to the problems of the hour is what all of creation is groaning to see agree with God.
So that begs the question: how will you and I respond to the news of the day? Do we ignore it and focus on what everyone else is clamoring for? Do we pretend it isn’t happening and say “it has always been this way.” Do we cheer when a clearly evil government picks and chooses who it will help? Or do we cry out night and day in fasting and weeping and mourning for the owner of the garden to return and set things right? IS JESUS OUR ONLY SOLUTION? IF SO, DO WE REALLY MAKE CHOICES THAT REFLECT THAT?
We can pull religious Yazidis off mountains in Iraq…and we should…but unless we carry them to the mountain of God… they will still certainly suffer a far worse fate than starving on a mountain. We can drop food to people that are starving, but unless we give them the manna from heaven, the food of the truth of the word, they will still starve for eternity. Jesus is the only solution:
Revelation 20:15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
Jesus WILL NOT RETURN until the sons of God arise in the middle of the stormy sea and cry out for Him to save them and everyone else. The great commission was given to the Bride, and the Bride is the only one who can accomplish it. The end will not come until the great commission is done:
Matthew 24:13-14 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. (14) And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Joel said the great commission REQUIRES the pouring out of the Spirit on all the servants of God. Just like the Bride started the great commission in the upper room, praying night and day for power to come from on high, she will finish it taking part in night and day prayer for the glory of the Lord to come to earth. We desperately need a second Holy Spirit Pentecost…it is our only hope of making it through the storm...it must happen before Jesus returns. The first one came to 120 praying night and day. The second one is promised to come the same way.
Just like in that little row boat on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus is waiting for us to make Him our ONLY solution…our only reason for breathing, and crying out to Him our main activity. Until we do, all of creation will groan and suffer more and more. How many will agree with Him?
Luke 18:6-8 Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. (7) And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? (8) I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"
Why does creation eagerly await the revealing of the sons of God? Because until they are revealed, things will only get worse.
Creation is groaning for the glory of Jesus to be revealed in US. It is important to understand the plan God has to make the way straight for the return of Jesus. I am not talking about theological musing…I am talking about the practical solution to the multiple crisis of our day. The news of the day is forcing a choice on the people of the earth. Whether or not we realize it, we have a part to play in what is happening in the earth. If you feel powerless, it is only because the enemy has deceived you into feeling like there is nothing you could do. Heaven…earth…all of creation is WAITING FOR YOU TO DO SOMETHING. For real.
Paul was the perfect person to deliver this message. Paul was a first fruit of what one entire generation of Jesus lovers will choose.
Think about Paul and what he said here…think about the mouth these words came from. These words were uttered by a man who responded to God by doing a complete 180 in his life. He defined repentance with his response to God. Paul gave his entire litany of hopes and dreams…plans for his own life…everything his society counted as valuable he called “rubbish” and gave it a huge shove away from him, took up his cross, and followed Jesus…the very one he had been persecuting. For the sake of Jesus, Paul was beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, ridiculed, plotted against by some of his former best friends. Paul wrote a huge portion of the New Testament. Paul started and cared for numerous churches. Paul had shown himself numerous times to be a son of the Most High, yet Paul said “all creation is groaning” for the time when the sons of God will arise. Paul was looking for an entire generation to respond like he did. Paul was looking forward to our hour.
Paul had a vision MUCH bigger than his own personal transformation, or being responsible for some revival happening. Paul had his eyes set on one thing…just like David…God with mankind. In fact, every person held up in the Bible as great has had their eyes set on this same thing. They all have the testimony of Jesus: there is no life possible until God is back in the garden. All of creation is groaning about this. Do you feel it? Do you see it? Do you hear it? Creation is waiting on YOU…it is waiting on ME! God doesn't want you to have a good life without him…he wants you to finally agree that life isn’t even possible without him back on earth. We are supposed to respond to this with everything. All of creation is pained until we do.
I was watching a video this morning of an air drop of food to religious Yazidi people in Iraq. Tens of thousands are starving on a mountain as Islamic radicals are surrounding the mountain, just waiting to kill them or watch them starve. These same radicals are teaching their kids to behead anyone who doesn't hate like they do. The stage is being set for World War III all over the world right now. Israel is literally fighting in a corner with no help, and her very survival is once again on the line. Earthquakes and disease are literally shaking the planet. Kids are being sold into sexual slavery at an alarming rate. The economy is completely false, running on vapors that almost no one understands. Much of the world is literally starving while small pockets by bigger homes and nicer cars. The most wealthy, famous, and popular among us are so miserable they are literally taking their own lives just to escape the pain…creation is groaning. It is waiting for you. It is waiting for me. To do what? To arise. To repent. To trade this so-called-life for the dream that Paul saw. The dream in Jesus’ heart. This is what all of creation is waiting upon:
John 17:9-26 "I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. (10) And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. (11) Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. (12) While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. (13) But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. (14) I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (15) I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. (16) They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (17) Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. (18) As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. (19) And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. (20) "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; (21) that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. (22) And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: (23) I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. (24) "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. (25) O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. (26) And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
Right now, in this hour, Jesus is still waiting on what He prayed for in that upper room. Jesus looked at His best friends and said something like this: “I am not praying for the world, I am praying for the sons of God to arise. I’m not praying for the wars to subside, or more air drops of food, or for the hurricanes to die down…I am praying for YOU to be sanctified…set apart…just like I set myself apart. THIS is what the world is groaning for. Whether THEY know it or not, YOU are supposed to not just know it, but participate in it! I am not asking you remove them, Father, but that you keep them from satan and his forces. I want them to be divided out…set apart…by loyalty to Your word so that they can be holy…they can be like you and I are. I want everyone from Peter here, to the last one saved before my return, to be one…one in their stand for truth at cost, one in their knowing of who I am, one in their experience of my power, one in their seeing of my glory, one in their love for me, and one in their love for each other. I want them to be one in their understanding that me being with them, where they are, is the only solution for the world. I have made a provision…paid the price…for MY glory to be given to them so they can grow into this. As they become more like me on the inside, the world will see me in them. The light of my glory will begin to fill creation more and more until it is ready to behold me in my real nature…bright glory of perfect holiness. When they are one like this, Father, then the world will KNOW that I am the Messiah…that is when I will return to be with creation so it can stop groaning!”
This is what Paul was describing. This is what creation groans for. This is where the whole thing is going. This requires participation. Jesus is NEVER going to force hearts to agree with Him in this. For love, Jesus refuses to violate free will. He commands the wind and the waves, but he never commands the hearts of His disciples to see things the way He does:
Matthew 8:23-27 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. (24) And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. (25) Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" (26) But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. (27) So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"
Peter learned this lesson well. Peter said that we need to consider what is happening to creation as we decide what kind of life we want to live. Peter threw out there the most outrageous idea: we are not waiting on Jesus to return, GOD IS WAITING FOR US TO RESPOND:
2 Peter 3:9-13 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (10) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (11) Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, (12) looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? (13) Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
God is NOT waiting forever. God wants back in the garden because He LOVES people. People can no longer live without Him.
God is done waiting for the people of the earth to respond of their own volition. For 2,000 years God has patiently waited for the earth to respond to His final call to choose Him or choose death. His patience has left most of the world confused about what life really is. It is impossible for un-renewed people to live on the same planet as God in His manifest glory. The early Church understood this and worked…actually intentionally hastened…the day of His coming so they WOULD BE READY:
1 Timothy 6:14-16 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing, (15) which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, (16) who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
In His massive patience, God has allowed generation to generation to work this out in their hearts…to choose Him or reject Him… over the course of the 70 or 80 years that people are given, at best. But there comes “a day” when God has promised to stop waiting on us, and instead hem the whole earth into a valley of decision. You are walking toward that ever narrowing valley as we speak. That time began last December. For real. It is a 7-year period of time called the Tribulation. It is the final “week,” or set of seven years, of natural history, and you are wandering into it right now…as we speak.
The Tribulation is the final storm Jesus is allowing to rise up on the earth. He is removing His hand of restraint from the desires of mankind. Everyone is being empowered to get what they want in this hour. Evil men need no help in figuring out what they want, but will the sons of God be revealed in their desire for a life completely given over to Jesus…loving the hour of His appearing? He who restrains is slowly lifting His hand of restraint…can you feel it?
2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. (8) And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
Jesus is lifting His hand of restraint. THAT is why the world seems to be on fire. Out of the sea of this time, the end time global super power is emerging. This beast is unlike any other the earth has ever seen. Do you see them on the news as their babies hold up the heads of men severed from their bodies? This is the result of an empowering of hate by the largest government of the world in order to remake the earth in some sort of sick humanistic state. This isn't the first time that man has planned his own demise…just the beginning of the most successful attempt. We are literally witnessing World War II play out on a much bigger scale.
This last attempt of mankind to control his own destiny will be fierce against anyone loyal to Jesus. It hates anyone who threatens to resist it. The thunderhead of this storm has already been allowed to gather in the Middle East. It is growing by the day. It is promised to rise up with great wind and waves. It will be fast like Alexander the Great’s conquest of the known world in less than 10 years (leopard), it will be extensive like the massive empire of the Medes and Persians (bear), and it will be menacing in its threats of punishment for all who do not bow to its golden statues like Nebuchadnezzar (lion). It is coming up out of the storm that Jesus is allowing to toss the sea of the earth’s political shiftings:
Revelation 13:1-10 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. (2) Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. (3) And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. (4) So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (5) And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. (6) Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. (7) It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. (8) All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (9) If anyone has an ear, let him hear. (10) He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
THIS is where this time is leading us to. The 42 months this passage refers to is 1,260 days, or 3.5 Jewish years. This is the second half of the Tribulation…called the “Great Tribulation.” The cloud we see forming now in the middle east will grow. It is the final process of groaning…the labor pains of the delivery of the New Heavens and New Earth that Peter talked about. It is like any other birth, it has intensity and pain before the miraculous delivery. That is what Jesus promised:
John 16:20-23 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. (21) A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. (22) Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you. (23) "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.
That day, the day of delivery, will culminate with the Bride being ONE with the groom…whatever we ask will so perfectly align with the plan of God that every prayer will be met with a miraculous demonstration on earth, just like Jesus when He healed the sick and cast out demons. This is the time of the greater things Jesus promised…the time when Joel promised the Spirit would be poured out on all the servants of God. This will happen at the time the sons of God reveal themselves in “patience and faith.” This is the worst and the greatest time the earth will ever see…but it requires WISDOM as you walk into the hour:
Daniel 12:1-4 "At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book. (2) And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. (3) Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever. (4) "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."
Daniel was told OUR hour…the hour of the internet increasing knowledge and global travel becoming normal…was the hour of greatest trouble where the wise ones…the sons of God…would be revealed. The final storm Jesus releases is designed to get the occupants of the boat to respond in faith…hastening the day. We WILL hasten the day, either by rebellion or faith. This time the Bride will command the wind and the waves…praying like Jesus…not for the world…not for the wind and waves to subside, but primarily that the sons of God would be revealed in unity, glory, and sanctification.
The antichrist armies are beginning to form on the earth. They hate Christians and Jews. They are easy to see. They are on the horizon for US, but front and center for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. How are you supposed to respond?
Joel 2:11-14 The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One who executes His word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it? (12) "Now, therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." (13) So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. (14) Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him— A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?
God has promised that THIS is the only solution…responding like Peter…responding like Paul…hastening the day of His appearing. Why? So that the Spirit could be poured out, Jesus’ glory seen in His Bride doing the greater things, and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord could be saved before He returns. THIS is what creation is groaning for:
Joel 2:28-32 "And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. (29) And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. (30) "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. (31) The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. (32) And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the LORD has said, Among the remnant whom the LORD calls.
YOUR solution to the problems of the hour is what all of creation is groaning to see agree with God.
So that begs the question: how will you and I respond to the news of the day? Do we ignore it and focus on what everyone else is clamoring for? Do we pretend it isn’t happening and say “it has always been this way.” Do we cheer when a clearly evil government picks and chooses who it will help? Or do we cry out night and day in fasting and weeping and mourning for the owner of the garden to return and set things right? IS JESUS OUR ONLY SOLUTION? IF SO, DO WE REALLY MAKE CHOICES THAT REFLECT THAT?
We can pull religious Yazidis off mountains in Iraq…and we should…but unless we carry them to the mountain of God… they will still certainly suffer a far worse fate than starving on a mountain. We can drop food to people that are starving, but unless we give them the manna from heaven, the food of the truth of the word, they will still starve for eternity. Jesus is the only solution:
Revelation 20:15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
Jesus WILL NOT RETURN until the sons of God arise in the middle of the stormy sea and cry out for Him to save them and everyone else. The great commission was given to the Bride, and the Bride is the only one who can accomplish it. The end will not come until the great commission is done:
Matthew 24:13-14 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. (14) And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
Joel said the great commission REQUIRES the pouring out of the Spirit on all the servants of God. Just like the Bride started the great commission in the upper room, praying night and day for power to come from on high, she will finish it taking part in night and day prayer for the glory of the Lord to come to earth. We desperately need a second Holy Spirit Pentecost…it is our only hope of making it through the storm...it must happen before Jesus returns. The first one came to 120 praying night and day. The second one is promised to come the same way.
Just like in that little row boat on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus is waiting for us to make Him our ONLY solution…our only reason for breathing, and crying out to Him our main activity. Until we do, all of creation will groan and suffer more and more. How many will agree with Him?
Luke 18:6-8 Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said. (7) And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? (8) I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"
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