THE LIE - NO MAN KNOWS THE DAY OR THE HOUR

I nearly have the patience of Job - the trials the Lord has given me have made me into an amazingly pliant and slow to anger individual.  I would never trade those trials for anything - but I would never wish them on Hitler, nor Pol Pot.  My lead, who is a Dutch Reformed Christian fellow - saved by grace, no works or gifts of the Spirit required.   Free pass to heaven - that kind of thing, mentioned that he thought I was full of hooey for believing that anyone can know of the future, let alone when the Lord will come.  He quoted scripture on his i-Phone that "no man knows the day, nor the hour".

I patiently told him that this position was one for the lazy, ignorant and faithless (notice that I did not call him those things - just that he was taking company with those if he chose to harbor that attitude) - that we were given signs of His imminent return and told to watch and wait for that event.  If this were the case, how ridiculous would it be to just throw our hands up in the air and say it was "no use to be ready, because no one knows the hour any way".   This is really weak reasoning - by any stretch.

I then pointed out the following scripture:

THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE
THESSALONIANS

CHAPTER 5

Saints shall know the season of the Second Coming of Christ—Live as becometh saints—Rejoice evermore—Despise not prophesyings.

  1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

  2 For yourselves know perfectly that the ^aday of the Lord so cometh as a ^bthief in the night.

  3 For when they shall say, Peace and ^asafety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not ^bescape.

  4 But ye, brethren, are not in ^adarkness, that that ^bday should overtake you as a thief.

  5 Ye are all the ^achildren of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

  6 Therefore let us not ^asleep, as do others; but let us ^bwatch and be ^csober.

  7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

  8 But let us, who are of the day, be ^asober, putting on the ^bbreastplate of ^cfaith and love; and for an helmet, the ^dhope of salvation.

  9 For God hath not appointed us to ^awrath, but to obtain ^bsalvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

  10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should ^alive together with him.

  11 Wherefore ^acomfort yourselves together, and ^bedify one another, even as also ye do. 

I was not trying to create tension or contention - just defend myself.  He then pointed out that he holds my future in his hands (he can approve of my continued authority to act in the name of the FAA in my engineering role).  IE - agree with me, because I will fail you on your next audit.  I then pointed out that I am a just man (not made perfect yet) who pays a tithe to the Lord from my earnings and that I am a fine engineer.  I then laid out the facts on the last two people who attempted to take down my career over my value set (religion and attendant values).  One took exception to my defense of the law of chastity and proceeded to shred me (frothing at the mouth, etc and mocking God and anyone stupid enough to believe in Him).  I was at the end of my rope due to that and my wife's health problems and said a prayer on my knees at the end of the day when all were gone home, asking these specific words "Lord, please judge between me and this man - and if I am lacking, please correct me.  If he is found lacking, please 'stay his tongue'.  I cannot take much more of this."  That was a Friday evening.  Monday morning, all he could do was croak and communicate on paper.  Something gripped his voice until he retired two months later and then died 11 months after that of throat cancer.

There were two other cases where there was a death involved and an about face of 180 degrees in attitudes.  I blogged them earlier.  I have to warn people when it comes to throwing me under the bus when it comes to my employment.  I made a solemn covenant with the Lord years ago as we embarked on making our family - that I would ALWAYS pay my tithing and consecrate all my efforts and talents to Him - and asked that, in so doing, that He would never "let my barrel run dry" (always have enough to sustain our growing family).  I had NO idea how the Lord would support our family and sustain us through thick or thin.  Once, it was an airplane crash that saved our family after Sept 11th and they cut 50% of the personnel in my company.  By that tragic miracle, we were sustained.  I have seen the hand of the Lord over and over again - and sadly had to witness the wreckage of those who attempted to get in the way of a faithful tithe-payer.  It is at the same time, humbling and affirming beyond measure - God WILL fight my battles when I turn them over to Him.

When I sense that someone may deal unjustly with me, I immediately warn them, giving them past history.  I give them a fair chance to come clean - because I know the Lord will make a clearing move, if they do not.  When someone attempts to slander the Lord or Joseph Smith or others, I give them a fair warning - that IF they do not IMMEDIATELY change course, they are headed for disaster.  Then I sit back and watch to see the glory of the Lord.  He never fails us when we ask in faith.  You see, I happen to believe the scripture completely and directly when it speaks of the works of Nephi and so many other greats.  I know that I possess the same Priesthoods and power that they do - and that I pray to the same God that took down the walls of Jericho.  If God was good enough to protect them, then He will do the same for me.  That is my heritage and my faith that burns in my heart.

So, when people tell you a lie, be patient, firm and attack the lie with truth and your conviction.  When we allow error to remain unchallenged, we become part of the problem and not the solution.  Those who open their mouths and are part of the solution will make it to the next phase.  God will sustain those who are valiant in the truth.