We live in very sobering times. We are in the end part of the end times, wondering when the antichrist will appear. Already the spirit of antichrist is prevalent in the world. Last Wednesday, Argentina legalized abortion. I wanted to cry when I read the news and saw the zealous cheers of the women. Judgment is so near we can almost hear its footsteps outside our doors, yet so many are still lost in the darkness of sin.
Those of us who know what time it is and what is coming can’t help thinking about it. I walk around thinking “Have I done all I can? Am I in sin in any area? Could I be left behind having overlooked some area of sin ? Will I get into heaven? I thought it was just me until I talked to a friend of mine out in California last week who said she is constantly double-checking herself as well. We are both women who greatly fear God, and we know every person has to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.
Philippians 2:12-16
12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
We want to be absolutely certain we are doing our best and doing right in every area. So this got me to thinking.
We all are thinking about what’s coming, (and how can we not since it’s right at our doorsteps) and the question on our minds is How much of what’s coming will I be here for and am I strong enough to endure it?
And we know we are told Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. – Luke 21:36
Let’s read that in context:
Luke 21:34-37 – This is Jesus Himself speaking
34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
37 And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.
Luke 21 is kind of a parallel of Matthew 24 where Jesus tells what is coming at the end, so the context of these verses are for our time.¬¬ Which tells us that WE, more than any generation before us, need to be watching and praying that we will be accounted worthy to escape those things that are to come. And I don’t know about yall, but I’ve seen some of what’s coming and I don’t want to be here for it. If I had my wish, no one I care about would be here for it.
But I think it is really up to US whether we are here or not for what I call The Horrors. When satan comes down to earth, evil will reign and the people of God will suffer terribly. Many will be martyred. Some will deny Him to save their temporary hides and then lose their souls and be turned over to satan and the demons for eternity. Eternity is a long time, yall. There’s no exit door down in Hell. That’s a one-way ticket if you get sent there. I’m just sayin. The time to think about this is NOW. If you are in sin, you should be scared out of your wits!! If you are shacked up, or committing adultery, or doing any sin, you need to get right so you don’t go there! I visited it one time and I still remember CLEARLY the INTENSE emotional pain of separation and I testify to you now YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SENT THERE!!
Okay, so exactly HOW can we be counted worthy to escape all that is to come? That is the million dollar question that I am going to attempt to answer today. First, let’s start by looking at the meaning of the word translated Worthy.
The Greek word translated Worthy in Luke 21:36 is (pronounced)
kuh-tox-ee-AHH’-oh and it means worthy or ENTIRELY DESERVING. It appears 3 other places & is translated Worthy in each one of them.
Luke 20:35 35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
Acts 5:41 41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
2 Thessalonians 1:5 5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
So to be worthy means to be totally deserving. And of course we know it is the sacrifice of Jesus that makes us deserving of salvation, But we must also have a part to deserve escaping the horrors to come, otherwise, Luke 21:36 would not say Pray you will be accounted worthy to escape those things that are to come.
I have been praying about this a lot, because I also wanted to understand what makes us worthy.
Hebrews 5:5-9
5 So also Christ glorified not himself (this shows great humility because even as a child, Jesus KNEW who He was. When His parents found Him in the temple when He was 12 and Mary said What are you doing here?, He said Don’t you know I have to be about My Father’s business? Since He was discussing scripture, not contracting to build anything, we know He wasn’t talking about Joseph.)to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; (This shows Jesus truly feared God and also that He spent time with God).
8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; (This shows Jesus submitted to refining).
9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
As I was pondering this subject of who will be counted worthy to escape, I began comparing the groups.
1. One group, judged worthy, gets to leave early and avoid the horror show that’s coming.
2. The other group, which the Lord has told us will be left behind for REFINING, has to stay for the late show they will NOT want to see.
The difference in the two groups is obvious. REFINING. And that immediately reminded me of the wilderness, since that is where many of get refined.
So it is obvious that we need to submit to the Lord now for any refining He wants to do, and even seek Him and ask Him to do it before that time so we won’t have to stay behind. I don’t want to be here for any of that, yall! I want to have my work done, and be done with refining and get to go home. My only and very deep sadness is those I love that cannot go with yet because they aren’t ready. So I’m praying extra hard for all of them ?.
So I was emailing with Nicole about this podcast when I first started working on it and she said, FAITH, and Luke 18:8. So yes, you must have real FAITH in Him to be counted worthy to escape. If you are lacking in faith, pray and ASK HIM TO INCREASE YOUR FAITH. Will the Son of Man find faith in the earth when He returns. Be sure He does find it in you.
People living lukewarm lives, not getting out sin, wanting to give up the walk, those who put their hand to the plow and look back are unlikely to be found to be worthy of the kingdom.
I was in worship Tuesday when I asked the Lord about who will get left behind and how can we not be part of that group. I was just asking Him, Lord, what makes some worthy to escape and not others? And you know the Lord always answers us in very simple terms. He gave me 3 words.
1. The first word the Lord spoke to me was Surrender. To surrender means to CEASE RESISTING. And that begs the question: What have you been resisting the Lord about? And is it worth being left behind for the worst horrors that have ever happened in this world?
• We ALL resist the Lord at some point in our walk if we are truly following Him. That’s just our flesh, our human nature, before it is crucified. But He is asking us to CEASE RESISTING Him, to truly let go and SURRENDER whatever we are resisting Him on. Can you let go? Can you let Him have that and take your hands off of it??
2. The second word the Lord spoke to me was Submit. To submit means to YIELD TO AUTHORITY. What have you not been yielding? What authority in your life have you been refusing to submit to?
• And let me explain about submitting to authority so it will make sense. This is one of the reasons we must know the Word of God – You submit to authority like police, government, and any other authority in your life UNLESS or UNTIL THAT AUTHORITY TELLS YOU TO DO SOMETHING AGAINST THE WORD OF GOD. THEN YOU SUBMIT TO GOD, NOT THEM. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND ESPECIALLY IN THE TIME WE LIVE IN. we never submit to a person or any authority if it means going against the lord.
• EXAMPLE: Let’s say you are a female and you become pregnant but the present authorities say you have to abort your child. We do NOT submit to THAT. Abortion is murder, I don’t care how you dress it up or try to reword it. It is tearing an innocent little baby limb from limb from its mother’s womb and it is murder. And after a certain number of months they know those innocent little babies can FEEL PAIN in the womb as they’re doing that, too.
• Can I really learn to YIELD TO AUTHORITY at all times, even when I dislike the authority that rules, to bring honor to the Lord?
• We will have to make many choices about submission in the days to come if Jesus tarries. Especially here in the U.S. because our country is a MESS. It is spiraling into evil and chaos and without mass repentance, we can’t stop it. It is VERY IMPORTANT YOU UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE QUICKLY APPROACHING THE TIME WHEN MANY OF YOUR DECISIONS IF YOU ARE LIVING FOR THE LORD WILL BRING PERSECUTION. Remember: REJOICE WHEN YOU ARE PERSECUTED. The Word says: "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. When I am being persecuted, I generally feel like doing anything but rejoicing, but lets keep our focus where it should be and do our best. We are just temporary travelers down here. We get to go HOME soon, but those who refuse and reject Him will not ever go home. These are those who persecute us, who will take things from us, who will hate us for His Name’s sake. Their recompense from Him will be HORRIFIC. Remember to pray Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
3. The third word the Lord spoke to me was Selfless. To be selfless is defined as HAVING NO CONCERN FOR YOURSELF. That means you’re not worried about your RIGHTS, you’re not concerned everybody’s going to have enough and you’ll not have anything. In a nutshell, it means you’re doing what you can for others and YOU TRUST GOD to take care of YOU. It means you get your mind OFF OF YOU. We don’t see much of that any more, do we?
Selflessness is related to TRUE HUMILITY. Though we hear people say I’m humble all the time, the truth is the truly humble will never call themselves humble. That’s usually PRIDE saying I’m humble. Just so you know that. To understand humility, let's look at a dictionary definition: not proud or haughty, not arrogant or assertive, ranking low in heirarchy. And we know James 4:10 tells us to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift us up.
James 4:10
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
What He wants from us hasn’t changed. He wants us to stop resisting Him. He wants us to yield to authority and to stop thinking about ourselves and our wants and needs and be concerned for others instead which is a sign of our TOTAL TRUST IN HIM to take care of OUR needs.
I want you to ask yourself this week:
• Can I truly surrender to Him what I know He wants me to surrender right now?
• Can I learn to be selfless? In our self-centered, self-focused society - in the Age of the Selfie, Can I start now to help others starting now and truly TRUST HIM with whatever I need? Can I learn to live HAVING NO CONCERN FOR MYSELF? Can I feed someone else in need even with the very last of my food in that time, if you require it of me? Am I strong enough in faith to remember the woman who oil and meal did not fail for the entire famine because she shared her last crumbs with Elijah?
• Can I really submit to authority when I don’t want to as long as they are not asking me to do anything against His holy Word?
These are difficult things for all of us to do. They require taking up our Cross and following Him. They require us to deny what our flesh wants to do what HE wants. To obey Him and to properly represent Him in the earth. Help us Lord to remember that our lives our words and behavior will be the only Bible some people will ever read.
And help us to KNOW – TO REALLY KNOW – THAT WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS US and all of heaven is cheering for us when we make right choices.
