Hi Friends,
Today is Easter, also known as Resurrection Sunday. When I was a child, in Illinois, it rained every Easter, and then every Sunday after Easter for weeks at a time. I would note this, year after year. But this year here in New Jersey, it has not rained at all today. Perhaps Illinois gets more rain than New Jersey. Once, in Illinois it rained everyday for almost a month. At the time, we all joked that 30 days of rain was plenty. And we were all thankful that we should not see 40 days of rain like Noah and the Ark!
However, we are entering a time just like the days of Noah.
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man: 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 was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
“It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 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. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”
“Where, Lord?” they asked.
He replied, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.” Luke 17:26-37
The response the Lord gives to their question seems to make no sense. However, the answer he gives is really to the question, “What is the fate of those, who are not taken? Where will they go?
What was the purpose for the Lord’s teaching? Was it not to warn us of a future event - the Lord’s return for his bride, the Church? He uses Noah and the Ark, and Lot and Sodom, two stories of rescue, deliverance, and destruction to compare them with what we call “the rapture of the church.” We will be “caught up” or “gathered together” to meet the Lord in the air.
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
For those of us who know the Lord and are waiting for his return, it will be an exciting moment.
“In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:52-53
But with the rapture of the Church comes a warning—only a few people were saved in both stories and everyone else was destroyed. Noah, his wife, their three sons and their sons’ wives were saved, a total of 8 people. Everyone else on the earth was destroyed. With Lot, only his wife and his two daughters escaped Sodom. Those men who were engaged to Lot’s daughters, refused to leave, laughing at the idea that God would destroy the city. And Lot’s wife, who was very unsure of the whole thing, looked back to see Sodom go up in smoke. She had been warned by the angels not to look back, but she couldn’t help herself. Her heart was for Sodom. With no self-control, no fear of God, she was turned into a pillar of salt.
Jesus warns us as believers:
“Whoever tries to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” Luke 17:33 He warns us that when the trumpet sounds and when we see him, to not go back and get our possessions. The Lord is to be our treasure and our great reward, not the things we own on this earth. We cannot look back or go back for our possessions, for if we do, we will be left behind.
Jesus tells us that two will be in a bed, one will be taken and the other left. A man’s wife who believes God, prays and goes to church will not save him. Nor can a devout, God-fearing man save his wife. Every person needs to have a personal relationship with the Lord independent of anyone else. If Jesus is not Lord of your life, then you too will be left behind.
So where will those who are left behind go? And the answer the Lord gives is: ““Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
The dead are those who are physically alive but spiritually dead, never having been born again. They will spend eternity with the vultures–the devil and his demons, in the lake of burning sulfur.
“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Revelation 21:8
As Christians, we hope and pray for our family, friends and loved ones. And we place our trust in God that he will move upon their hearts and help them to realize that to serve him is joy and to know him is peace. We pray that they will become born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, and that when the trumpet sounds, they will be ready to go with the Lord!
I have two visions to share with you today.
The Visions
The Keyboard
I saw a row of numbers like those at the top row, on a keyboard. The white numbers were printed on black keys. There was also a black horizontal bar about 14”w 2.5”d and .25” H. I saw two hands on the row of numbers, attempting to center over the number 3. Then the hands pushed the row of numbers under the slim black bar to partially conceal them.
The number three is most prominent number in the row of numbers. According to one source, the Biblical meaning of 3 is “harmony, new life and complete.” The number 7 also means “complete.”
Years ago, the Lord asked me to go to the youth room and pray over every seat in the place. I laid my hands on each chair and prayed in the spirit and moved on to the next when it seemed that I was “done.” When I prayed over the last chair, I sat down and immediately the Lord gave me a vision of “777.” I knew that seven means “complete,” but three sevens must be “really complete!” It made me feel very happy that the Lord acknowledged my effort to do as he requested.
The Bible will very often show three words repeated to give emphasis:
“And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” Isaiah 6:3
"A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him." Ezekial 21:27
"O land, land, land, hear the word of the Lord!" Jeremiah 22:29
“And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! Revelation 8:13
The number three also represents the idea of harmony. The Trinity, three in one, is the perfect example of divine harmony: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The Lord speaks of the unity he has with the Father and of the desire for the same unity and harmony within the body of believers:
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:20-23
A Song of Ascents, of David:
“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!” Psalm 133:1
In the vision, the hands pushed the numbered keys under the panel or bar to partially hide them. I believe that this shows God’s intention to make his will, or his plan known to those “who have eyes to see.”
“The disciples came to him and asked, ‘Why do you speak to the people in parables?’
He replied, ‘Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” Matthew 13:10-17
We should celebrate for the Lord has given us understanding, eyes to see and ears to hear what he is saying to us.
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
“Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3
The number three also represents “new life.” And, new life begins, not so much at natural birth but at the time we are born again, when we are born of the Spirit. As a natural man, we are unable to discern spiritual concepts as “born again,” because our spirits are not alive. But when we experience the presence and power of God, with the conviction of the Holy Spirit, everything changes. We see our wretched failures before the Lord. We feel godly sorrow over the sins that we have committed which have separated us from God. Our desire is to seek the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness. We want to give him the keys to our lives, and say to him, “You are in charge, do with me as you will. I am yours, and you are my God.”
When we are born again, everything is made new: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Now we are able to be united with the Lord. We are one with him, and one with believers. This is the completeness, the harmony and the new life shown in the vision by the number 3.
The Truck Becomes a Boat
In this vision, I saw a truck. My view was from above the truck bed, looking at the back side of the cab and its rear window. Suddenly, the truck bed turned into the deck of a boat, and the exterior back wall of the cab became the transom on a boat.
At first I did not understand this vision. It seemed an odd thing for a truck to change into a boat. However, I can appreciate a truck turning into an airplane. I am sure that many people have imagined at some time, that their vehicle could sprout wings and fly over the traffic. So we can understand the desire for a truck to become an airplane. But what reason is there for it to become a boat?
So I prayed for understanding and the Lord gave me this scripture:
“I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”
1 Corinthians 9:22
This makes perfect sense now. The scripture above was from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. He wanted to reach as many people as possible with the good news of the gospel. So he tried to relate to everyone:
“Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
Jesus reached people through his teachings using ordinary life experiences to teach eternal principles. He spoke of farming, for many people were engaged in working the land. Many shared these common life experiences: planting seeds, growing fruits, and crops, pruning vines and branches, celebrating harvest season and festivals. He spoke of himself as the good shepherd and how he raised and cared for his flock. He told parables about catching and sorting fish. He took time to relate to women and children. The Lord wants everyone to hear and understand. Yet even today, there are those who will not receive his message of salvation and eternal life in the kingdom of God, simply because they have hardened their hearts.
The vision of the truck becoming a boat was given to encourage us to share the gospel with those around us. So like Paul, we should try to relate to others, “that by all possible means” we might reach them for the Lord.
Many people can relate to a truck, even if they have never driven one. We see trucks all around us everyday for they bring goods and services to all. Mail and delivery trucks, pick up trucks, semi-trucks and dump trucks all do work.
A boat can carry cargo, and transport people. It can work as a fishing boat, as a patrol boat, or as a weekend pleasure boat. Boats traverse oceans, and navigate up and down rivers.
I believe that the scripture that the Lord gave me, is central to the meaning of the vision–the truck becoming a boat.
“I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” His mission on earth was to reconcile people to God by his death on the cross. And to teach people about the kingdom of God. He invited his first disciples who were fishermen to join him saying, “Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19
The Lord asks us today to do the same, for many people need the Lord and his salvation.
“He is patient for your sake, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
He wants us all to all get on board with his plan, to become fishers of men. The Lord’s commission to his disciples applies to us all:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
In Summary
We need to be prepared for the Lord’s coming for his church. We do this by becoming born again and filled with the Holy Spirit. We please the Lord by living in oneness of Spirit, in harmony with God and with our brothers in Christ. We do not want anyone to be left behind, so we make every effort to reach others for Christ.
Thanks for reading! God bless you all. Please share this post with your neighbors and friends.