THE HIDDEN, THE HOLY

“Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth…. it may be that you will be hidden in the day of the LORD’s anger.”  (Zeph 2:3)

Who can escape the brunt of the coming earthly judgments of God?   Those who are meek He may hide.  Others who are holy may die for love of their LORD.  Both the hidden saints and the martyred saints are a holy remnant.

THE MEEK

Who are the meek?  T.L. Lowery, a mighty minister of the LORD for over sixty years, wrote in his book Apostles and Prophets,  about the meekness in Moses who submitted himself under the authority of Almighty YAH therefore God entrusted him with great responsibility in leading His people.    Brother Lowery further wrote, “Meekness is not weakness.  Being meek does not mean being shy or demure.  Meekness is not low esteem; it is proper esteem.  Meekness means that the center of your life is not yourself.  Meekness means that you realize… without the breath of God, we would all be nothing.”

This sounds very similar to something the LORD spoke to me many years ago.   Being up in front of people, with the gifts of God, speaking and singing, I was very much aware of the possible ensnarement of pride.   The LORD told me, “Humility is NOT denying WHO you are, it is knowing WHY YOU ARE.”   Without Christ, I am nothing.   Yet He has called me, called you, to be the temple of the Holy Spirit!   Wow!  We NEED to know WHO we are IN CHRIST and to know we are nothing apart from Him!

The LORD told me this because it is easy to fall into false humility.  And certainly the devil does not want us to arise to our destiny in Christ.  He wants to keep us defeated.

But we can never become who we are meant to be in Christ without being meek, submitted to the will of the LORD.    As Pastor Sissom has spoken of the remnant recently, the meek are the remnant of the LORD.   Not to deny the literal prophetic application, but in an application regarding the Church, the meek are the 144,000.  The remnant is a holy remnant, set apart for the LORD.

“I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD.  The remnant of Israel….”  (Zeph 3:12-13)

Jesus stated it this way:  “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”  (Matt 5:5)  Glory!  That’s good news!

NOT APPOINTED TO WRATH

Christians are “not appointed to wrath” , the wrath of God. (1 Thess 5:9) This refers to those horrid “wrath” judgments of Revelation.    HalleluYAH!   However, there’s a lot of trials and tribulations that precede those wrath judgments.

Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

There are judgments in motion today: judgments in our own lives to bring us out of sin and to the LORD, judgments in the world calling the world to repentance.  From some of these major judgments in the world, wouldn’t it be nice to be spared?   Do you not think that America is already under judgment?   God can spare us from the brunt force of that judgment.  But just as Noah and his family was spared the destructive part of the flood judgment, nonetheless he needed to endure the living conditions on a smelly ark!

I believe that twice in my adult lifetime, the LORD has spared this city of Houston the brunt force of judgment because of the prayers of the saints here.   The first time, I believe we were spared an attack on 9/11/01.  We did have a lesser judgment that preceded that – a flood in that year.  The Church arose to that situation in helping out the needy, thus perhaps we were spared a disaster on 9/11.

We were also spared the brunt force, a direct hit on Houston from Hurricane Rita in 2005.

Interestingly, some intercessors believe that spiritually, Houston is a “city of refuge”.  A refuge is a place to be hidden.

So do you want to be hidden?

THE CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA

You can choose to be part of the faithful church of Philadelphia.  (See The Philadelphia Prayer)  This church, who kept God’s word and by name means “brotherly love”, had NO rebuke from the LORD.   They are promised:

“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” (Rev 3:10)

That sounds a lot like Zephaniah’s word that “It may be that you will be hidden in the Day of the LORD’s anger.”  (Zeph 2:3)

It sounds a lot like Psalm 91!

It also sounds like Psalm 27:5 : “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of the tabernacle He shall hide me.”

If you don’t know where the “secret place” is, you had better find out before the “time of trouble” is upon us!  Seek the LORD.

So it just may be that the faithful church of Philadelphia may be hidden through judgment, kept from the full brunt of the tribulation and judgment.

THE SUFFERING CHURCH

But here, I want to mention the only other church of the Revelation churches that had NO judgment from the LORD.  The “suffering church” of Smyrna.

I feel the world is in tribulation now.   Certainly, the saints that are being martyred in Syria, Egypt, Sudan, North Korea, and many other places across the globe are experiencing tribulation … and for them it is GREAT TRIBULATION!  Is the church of Philadelphia, or those who may be hidden, any better than the suffering church of Smyrna?   Why aren’t they being hidden?

God has always had those saints who He delivered for His glory and those that died for His glory.   God will be glorified in both those He hides in the church of Philadelphia and those who die clinging to their faith in Him, praising His name as they are tortured to death.   Smyrna is precious to the Lord, you can be sure.

“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.”  Psalm 116:15

He tells them, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”  (Rev 2:10)

Throughout Scripture, the Word of God reveals these two kinds of saints:   the holy hidden and the holy martyred.   The holy hidden were delivered from lions!  The holy martyred were mauled to death by lions!  Baby Moses was hidden.  Many other Jewish babies were murdered.

“32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy— “ (Heb 11:32-38)

St. John was hidden.  St. Peter was crucified upside down.   Some refuges from the murderous Islamic countries have escaped.  Yet, crucifixions are becoming more and more commonplace where Islamic radicals rule the streets.

We don’t know which path the LORD will choose for us.  We may be hidden IF we are meek and holy.  We may die at the order of an antichrist who sends out a drone to hunt us down.  Our prayer should be, “Thy will be done!”   We should prepare our hearts to be faithful no matter what!   We should pray beforehand to be faithful to our God!

Nonetheless, here is the preparation.  Zephaniah tells us how to be “hidden” through disastrous times. “It may be that you will be hidden in the Day of the LORD’s anger.”  (Zeph 2:3)

Continued > HOW TO BE HIDDEN