Gone Fishing

“And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.”  Luke 12:43  NKJV

I am enjoying a visit this weekend by my daughter and two grandchildren so I decided to repost the following article from a few years ago based mostly on the fact that one of this weekends activities is going to be taking the kids fishing.  Thinking of that reminded me of the subject of fishing in the Bible and the prominence it has in the scriptures.  As so many of us believe or time on this earth is almost up, I hope you find these words an encouragement as we await the call to “come up here”.

A subject that usually comes up between believers who are faithfully watching for our Lord’s return concerns the question of what more is expected of us than just watching.  A few years back I was fishing alone for my favorite species, largemouth bass, and while doing so began an interesting conversation with the Holy Spirit concerning fishing. Now that may sound funny to some, but we do talk a lot ( I mostly try to listen ) and He shared some things with me that I believe address the question of being a faithful and wise servant while waiting for His return. 

“Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."   Mark 1:17 NKJV

This was the first thing the Spirit brought to mind as I was fishing, and then He asked a question; "why do you think so many of the disciples were fishermen"? As I thought that one over, it occurred to me that obviously there must be qualities a good fisherman must possess which are uniquely suited for spreading the gospel. As I then thought about that, I came up with what I will call the "essential three".

A good fisherman is always prepared. When I go fishing, I always try to take absolutely everything I think I might need in order to be prepared for anything that might happen. Things like extra tackle, rain jacket, life preserver, power bars, water, you name it I probably take it. How often and how many examples I could give that I was lucky I was prepared. As my friends like to say, if it can happen, it will probably happen to me. Did I mention the first aid kit? I will leave that story for another time.

A good fisherman is always patient. I think anyone who has ever fished understands the need for patience, for on any given day your luck can change. I remember fishing one day in a lake high in the Rocky Mountains that I had hiked two days to get to on the advice of a guide who often took people there. I began fishing mid morning and for the next six hours caught nothing. I was so tempted to leave, but the guide had been adamant there were fish there. So I decided to finish the day, and it ended up that I was glad I did. About five o'clock or so the entire lake just erupted with fish trying to get dinner and I had an hour or so of fishing like I had never, ever experienced. I literally never threw a cast that did not result in a strike.

A good fisherman is persistent. You know, there are days where it seems all you do is lose fish. I have had  days where I got strikes, saw fish following my lures, and even hooked several large ones. Yet I never landed a fish. Frustration is easy to come by on a day like that, and I think it is pretty easy to call it a day and decide to try again later when things like that happen. Yet I do recall someone telling me once "it's called fishing, not catching, for a reason". Persistence pays off eventually, so it's better not to get discouraged if you have a day of bad luck for there is always tomorrow.

As I was thinking of all of these qualities, the Spirit then told me to read the following verse and tell Him what I saw.

“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”   2 Timothy 4:2 NKJV

What did I see? Well, Jesus said if we follow Him, He will make us fishermen. So when He says "preach the word" I see it as telling us to go fish! As far as "be ready", I would certainly call that the same as being prepared. "Convince, rebuke, exhort" certainly looks a lot like being persistent, and there is no question "longsuffering" means be patient. So as always, my question to Him was, "is it really this simple"? His answer was, as you might expect, another question; "how are people like fish"?

So this one took a little more time to figure out, but here is what I came up with. In my experience, there are basically four types of fish out there.

1. Those that reject. No matter what you throw out there, they are not interested.

2. Those that are curious. They will follow your lure, maybe play with it, but never bite.

3. Those that nibble. They want a taste, but they won't swallow the hook.

4. Those who accept. They are not only interested, they swallow hook, line, and sinker.

After I thought of this, I realized that when teaching the Parable of the Sower, Jesus also said there were four types of "ground". As I have shared before, I do so appreciate the simplicity of the scripture. God has taken pains to write His message in such a way as to be simply shared and understood. As we "fish" by sharing the Gospel with an unbelieving world, remember the message from Paul to Timothy by being prepared, patient, and especially persistent. and never forget we are called to be fishers of men.

“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Romans 11:25 NKJV

 

Scholars have noted that the phrase “fullness of the Gentiles has come in” is a term taken from the waterfront referring to a ship waiting to sail until all the crew has come onboard. The following is an excerpt from a teaching from Jack Kelley on this passage.  

There are two Greek words in this verse that lend critical support to a proper understanding. The first is translated “full number”.  In Paul’s time it was a nautical term that stood for the predetermined number of sailors necessary to operate a ship. Until the ship had its full number of crew members, it could not legally set sail.  Sometimes ship captains who found themselves a man or two short when it came time to leave the harbor went through the water front bars late at night looking for drunken sailors they could kidnap.  When they had the number they needed they set sail immediately.

And the second, translated “come in” is also a nautical term that described the ship’s arrival at its intended destination.  We’ve all heard people say how much better life will be “when my ship comes in.”

By using these terms, Paul was saying that the hardening of Israel’s heart will not be fully removed until the Church reaches its predetermined number and arrives at its intended destination, which the Lord called “my Father’s House” in John 14:2-3.  It was a reference to the rapture.  There’s nothing arbitrary about God’s action here.  He has already determined the number and will take the Church to its intended destination as soon as it’s reached.  But as far as I can tell no one on Earth knows either the full number or the current number. All we can know is that we’ll be raptured when the full number of Gentiles has come in and it could literally happen on any given day. 

https://gracethrufaith.com/end-times-prophecy/no-one-knows-the-day-or-the-hour-2/

True believers who watch understand just how close we are to going home.  Our responsibility to be found doing His business when He comes is in sharing the good news with others.  If you are reading this and have never made the decision to accept Jesus Christ into your heart and accept the free gift of eternal life He has offered you, I urge you to do so right now. You can do that by praying this prayer and accepting the gift of eternal life God has offered you by the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”     Romans 1:16 NKJV

May Jesus find us all “so doing” when He comes.

Keep watching.

More Than One Delivery

“For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,”    2 Peter 2:4-9  NKJV

Like many fathers to be, my first trip to the delivery room was an eye opener to say the least.  While you can try to prepare yourself, experiencing it is really the only way to understand what really goes on in there.  Fortunately for me, the gravity and apprehension I was feeling lightened considerably thanks to something that happened in the time leading up to our delivery.  My wife and I were walking the halls trying to speed things up when we approached a room where a woman was quite obviously in labor.  Truth be told, my impression from the volume was that it was a difficult and painful labor and my anxiety began to rise immediately.  Imagine then my surprise and relief to hear the nurse shout loudly, “oh for crying out loud, it’s not that bad.  Put a cork in it honey!”

Now as humorous as that incident might have been, I am certainly in no position to judge.  While some might find delivery easy, it stands to reason others might find it hard.  My thoughts this past week seemed to focus again on Jesus’ use of childbirth and labor to describe the end of this age.  It occurred to me that there are three deliveries on our immediate horizon that we all should be concerned about as only one could be considered easy, while the other two will be as horrific as anything you could imagine.  Fortunately, it’s completely up to us to choose which one to participate in.

“the Lord knows how to deliver the godly”  The next delivery on God’s calendar is the taking of His Church to heaven in the event we call the rapture.  It is God’s promise to all who have chosen to believe in the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, who died and rose again for our sins. 

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:”   John 1:12  NKJV

We are told by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians that there will come a time when Jesus will return and take all of those who have made this choice to be with Him forever.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord”.   1 Thessalonians 4:16-17  NKJV

I believe it is fair to say that this delivery is going to be the easiest, if not the most joyful delivery anyone has ever experienced.  In the blink of an eye those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God will all be changed and receive the body we will have for eternity as we enter into the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  This is the delivery everyone should be watching for right now if you consider all the signs which point to it being about to happen.

“and to reserve the unjust under punishment “.  

The second delivery takes place immediately after the first one as those who chose not to believe are left behind to experience God’s judgment.  We are told that part of the first delivery is the removal of the “restrainer”, or the Holy Spirit and when that occurs the evil that He has been restraining for thousands of years will be released.  While we have begun to witness increasing amounts of anger and demonstrations which have surprised many, imagine if you will the violence that is going to erupt when there is nothing to hold it back.

“Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 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. 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.”  2 Thessalonians 2:5-8  NKJV

Do we live in a truly evil world?  I am sure that most of us would like to look at the world we live in and describe it as inherently good, albeit with some evil in one form or another always present for the forces of good to do battle against.  The hope is that those who would do evil are in the minority and for the most part severely outnumbered by a peace-loving majority.  While not all would agree totally with that position, the Word of God tells us in no uncertain terms that a time is coming when evil will no longer be held in check, and this world will descend into chaos as everyone turns against each other and lawlessness is the order of the day.  That day comes when the restrainer, the Holy Spirit, is removed from the earth along with the Church at the time of our deliverance at the rapture.

“Woe is me!  For I am like those who gather summer fruits, Like those who glean vintage grapes; There is no cluster to eat Of the first-ripe fruit which my soul desires. The faithful man has perished from the earth, And there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; Every man hunts his brother with a net.”           Micah 7:1-2  NKJV

I believe the Bible makes it clear that the rapture of the Church could happen at any time.  Many believe that this passage from Micah describes what this world will look like when all of the faithful men and women of the earth have suddenly disappeared by virtue of the rapture of the Church.  If we ask ourselves the question just what this world would look like when the restrainer, the Holy Spirit, is removed from the earth at the rapture, I believe this passage from Micah tells us exactly what will happen.

Most of us are familiar with the observation of the philosopher Edmund Burke when he said “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”.  Well, what happens when, according to this passage, there are no faithful men?  Every man is against his own brother, and evil is rampant on the earth.  Talk about all that is necessary to create the “perfect storm” of evil, God simply removes His Church along with the Holy Spirit and there is nothing left to fight against Satan and his forces.

The disappearance of millions of people in the blink of an eye will terrify as well as enrage those who are left behind and it is easy to imagine how the world will react.  The resulting breakdown of society and inability to enforce order will set in motion Satan’s plan for someone to step forward who will promise to restore peace and stability to a world gone mad.  The Bible calls him the anti-christ, and his ascension to power will set the stage for the third delivery we are told will occur and that is the point in time where God will choose to judge His chosen people for their refusal to accept His Son as their Messiah.

“Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.”   Daniel 9:27  NKJV

The third delivery is the nation of Israel entering the time of their judgment from God which is most commonly referred to as the Great Tribulation.  It is the last three and one half years of the seven year tribulation, also called the seventieth week of Daniel. It is also known as the time of Jacob’s trouble which personalizes this period as being directed specifically at the nation of Israel. 

 

Since history has shown that Satan’s priority is the destruction of Israel, what do you think he tries to do first?  Is it possible this passage from Micah refers to the rapture of the Church?  I think it certainly may well do that, considering the description it gives as to what the world looks like with the absence of the faithful.  Without the Holy Spirit present on earth in the body of the true Church, the evil that is presently being “restrained” will manifest itself in a fury this world has never seen, most assuredly in the direction of the nation of Israel. This evil, however, will not appear out of nowhere and I believe what we are witnessing today is somewhat like the filling up of a lake behind a dam until the point is reached where the dam will fail and a flood consume all that is before it.

I believe a close study of the events that the Bible tells us lead up to the “peace” that the coming man of sin brokers between Israel and its enemies supports the idea that there are some very serious conflicts which take place first.  The majority of scholars I have studied believe that the attempted invasion of Israel outlined in Ezekiel 38, 39 and the deliverance by the direct intervention of God is the event which allows this peace agreement, and the tribulation, to begin.  Considering this, my question for years has been, “what is holding back Israel’s enemies right now”?  If your answer is the restrainer, then it follows He has to be removed before this attack can go forward.

While we might look at the world right now and consider much to be truly evil, it holds no candle to what it will look like when the Church, along with the Holy Spirit is removed at the rapture.  Currently, the restrainer is holding back Satan’s full fury and the evil that he has planned for this world, but according to the Word of God it won’t last forever.  The Church will be taken and be spared from having to endure the evil which will come upon mankind, and the most important question which needs to be asked is are you part of the body of believers which make up the Church?   

A question I almost invariably always get when I talk on our prophetic future is the same one the disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 24.  When will these things take place?  The simple answer is that we don’t know.  Yet considering how much Jesus talked about them, especially His referencing the Days of Noah and the birth pangs of a woman in labor, and then throw in for good measure that we were told if we watch we will know the season, many believe we are already in the delivery room waiting for the delivery.  

Although some might disagree, there is considerable support for the premise that the future tribulation period begins on the Jewish holiday of the Feast of Trumpets.  This year it will occur around September 23-24, and the reason we do not know for certain exactly when is that it is based on the sighting  of the new moon.  This is why according to Jewish tradition it is also referred to as the feast which begins at a time where “no one knows the day or hour.”  For numerous reasons, this coming Feast of Trumpets in September has caught the attention of a great many people and the possibility of the rapture happening next month is exploding across social media.  While I believe that the rapture could happen at any time, I would have to agree that much of what I have read is based on excellent scholarship.

The most important question, however, is have you made the choice to accept the gift of salvation made possible by the sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus Christ?  If not, if you are reading this you still have time to do so before the delivery of the Church to its eternal home occurs. Becoming a believer is simply accomplished by asking Christ to come into your life and help you live life as He directs.  If you want to do that today, just pray a prayer like this to Him;

"Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins.  I want to turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life to you. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen." 

 

If you make that choice, we have God’s promise that we will be delivered from this world; spared just like Noah and his family were, from the judgment that is coming in the second and third deliveries.

Keep watching.

The Fifth Dispensation

“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”     Romans 11:25. NKJV

"For I [am] the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.”   Malachi 3:6 NKJV

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD.   Isaiah 54:17. NKJV

Many rightly understand the passage from Romans as referring to the coming rapture of the Church, and that it reveals that there is a certain number of believers God is waiting for before He gives Jesus permission to call us home.  Yet I think the focus on the rapture might hide another important point God is trying to make here and that is the nation of Israel finally coming to the realization that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the prophesied Messiah. Why does this passage use the word “until”?  My guess it’s because it takes the rapture of the Church to open their eyes.

Now I want to draw your attention to the passages from the books of Malachi and Isaiah. The context of this verse is from a prophecy by God concerning His future judgment on the nation of Israel.  What I want you to notice though, is His statement that “you are not consumed” in Malachi, and “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” in Isaiah.  In simple terms, what I and many others believe is that Israel is being protected from its enemies by God for the express purpose of being preserved for His judgment, and the fulfillment of the seventieth week prophesied by Daniel which is also known as the tribulation, or the time of Jacob’s trouble. It’s also what most dispensational scholars consider to be the end of the fifth dispensational period.

While many may have heard the term dispensation, most are unfamiliar with its meaning.  In simple terms, Bible scholars have identified and listed seven distinct periods of time in mankind’s history where God has chosen to deal with the world  in different ways, with the end result of each period necessarily requiring God’s judgment.  While some believe this school of thought is relatively new, some of the earliest church fathers taught about some of these periods of time, or dispensations, to the early church and also in their writings.  While the number of these dispensations have now settled on seven, the point I want to make today is that while we are in the sixth, and quickly approaching the seventh, the fifth one hasn’t been completed but only temporarily interrupted.

Here is a list of the seven dispensations for those of you who are unfamiliar with the subject.

1.  The Dispensation of Innocence; Between creation and the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden

2.  The Dispensation of Conscience; Between the Fall and the flood of Noah

3.  The Dispensation of Government by Man; Between the Flood and Abraham

4.  The Dispensation of Promise; Between Abraham and the time of Moses and the Giving of the Law

5.  The Dispensation of the Law of Moses: Between the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai and Jesus

6.  The Dispensation of Grace; Between Pentecost and the Rapture

7.  The Dispensation of the Kingdom Age; Between the second coming of Christ and Eternity known as the 1000 year Millennium

As I read with dismay the path that this world is on, I often have to remind myself that while the coming tribulation is certainly a well deserved judgment on the whole world.  Yet it would be a grave mistake to forget that its main purpose is to turn the nation of Israel back to God.  As revealed to the prophet Daniel, God’s timeline for the nation of Israel and the fifth dispensational period, consists of seventy “weeks” of seven years, of which only sixty-nine have been served.  The last seven years we know as the tribulation is the seventieth week and is the time that Israel will finally come to understand God’s plan for them.

“Seventy weeks are determined For your people and for your holy city, To finish the transgression, To make an end of[ sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.  Daniel 9:24. NKJV

At the same time, of course, the world will also be given a lesson concerning who it is who actually rules, and that Israel is indeed His chosen people.

“So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.“Surely it is coming, and it shall be done,” says the Lord GOD. “This is the day of which I have spoken.”    Ezekiel 39:7-8. NKJV. 

The current rise of rampant anti-semitism throughout the world is simply the preparation for what will occur when the rapture takes place at the end of the sixth dispensation and the Church is removed from this world.  At that time, the last “week” of the fifth dispensation will occur and Israel will have no one to defend them other than God, which I believe is the whole purpose behind what will happen when the Church is removed.  When Israel has no one to turn to other than God Himself, the realization of Jesus being their true Messiah will finally occur.

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn."  Zechariah 12:10. NKJV

While so many people and nations wish to eradicate Israel’s existence, their ignorance of prophecy condemns them.  Israel will never be destroyed because the God of the universe is their defender.  There is no reason to be surprised, or to question the futility of those who would attack Israel as who indeed can succeed when it is God who is in control? I want you to consider this, and then wonder as I do if what we are seeing right now is the earth warning us that Christ’s return for His bride, the Church, is nearer than many of us think.  In order for God to finish His work with the nation of Israel, the Church must be removed via the event we call the rapture.  

At a time when so many in the body agree that all the pieces are in place for the seventieth week of Daniel to begin, the choice to accept God’s grace by the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ is the most important one you will ever make.  If you have never taken the step of asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart and save you from eternity without Him, I encourage you to do that right now.  Simply tell Him you are sorry for your sin, ask Him to forgive you, and accept the sacrifice He made to die for your sin, and He has promised not only to forgive you but to make you one of His own and come into your life and provide all the help you need to begin to live for Him.  You can do that right now by praying a prayer just like this one;

"Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen."

Keep Watching