The book of Hebrews says, “Christ … will appear a second time for salvation, without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him” (Hebrews 9:28).[1] When we talk about salvation, a lot of times we limit it to our initial salvation experience when Yeshua (Jesus) forgave us of our sins and opened the door for eternal life. But there is more to salvation. There is a complete and thorough salvation experience that we are to have. Paul wrote, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). So there are experiences yet in our salvation that we are looking for before Yeshua returns.
Isaiah 58 gives us an important key: “Is this not the fast which I choose, … to divide your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” (Isaiah 58:6–7). God emphasizes this idea that we are not to hide from the awareness of our personal needs, our own flesh. If we are wondering why we do not have the experiences in His presence that we are looking for or the deliverances that we are seeking, it might be that we are hiding something God is trying to get to. If we are hiding it from ourselves, there is a good chance we are hiding it from Him. When we are not honest with ourselves, we withdraw from His presence.
If you are going to meet the Lord, you will have to come into the light of His truth. If you do not hide yourself from your own flesh, “then your light will break out like the dawn, and your recovery will speedily spring forth; and your righteousness will go before you; the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am’” (Isaiah 58:8–9). Instantly, you will break through into the true presence of the Lord that you have not had before, and you will find your recovery and release from those things that held you in bondage. We must bring it all out into the Light (John 3:20–21). When we come into His presence, we come into the Light and all things are made light. If we reject the lies that hide us, we will be prepared to stand in the awesome presence of God and not shrink back in shame at His coming (1 John 2:28). We must practice this presence of God so that He becomes our dwelling place.
Why is there so much deception, lying, and falsehood going on today? It is because people are hiding what is really in their hearts. But God knows all things. We may be fooling ourselves; we may be hiding from our own flesh, but we are not fooling Him. We are to know the truth, and the truth will make us free (John 8:32). Yeshua is the truth, and He transforms us into His likeness (John 14:62; 2 Corinthians 3:18). We wait eagerly for His return because then truth will return to this earth. If you open your heart to the truth, that truth will set you free—and that is what we need in this generation.
Listen to this entire message: GIG82 The Hiding Place of Lies
[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).