I have been reading about the end of the world for 40 years. In 1970 Hal Lindsey published the book "The Late Great Planet Earth". I read it a couple years after it came out. It scared the hell out of me... I mean that literally. Pretty certain that things were going to collapse, come to an end, tribulation, wars, antichrist, beast, mark, rapture.... really a horror show.
It affected me. It's not why I got saved, I got saved because I was lost in this life.
If you were alive then and remember the book..it affected you too. But it's probably NOT why you came to Jesus. In fact most of the people scared by end times things make pretty short term shallow converts.
A spirit was released at that time that had a profound negative impact on the nation, the church, the community in our nation and has manifested in the rise of skeptic rooted atheism we see today.
Much of the frankly foolish parsing of news events twisted into fitting some scriptural paradigm of prophetic meaning based on Ezekiel, Daniel, Matthew 24 and Revelation has been going on in churches and books since that time. Even the popular website, Rapture Ready has become a parody of itself by defining the failed attempts to predict the end of the world, the rapture, the tribulation etc ad infinitum.
I have seen an read accounts of how events in Israel, Russia, Europe and the Conflicts in Arab countries are a clear indicator of the end of the world. The coming of the Lord. The one that jolted me into reality regarding these things was one such account .... published in 1895. It took events around that time and structured them into a tapestry that predicted the coming of the Lord with great confidence.
You can still find those books in Christian bookstores... written about events going on right now. Websites are up and running, some very well intentioned that take current events and use them to warn people to expect the skies to part.
If anyone should question these things they are buffeted with all kinds of Bible Bullets that define people as scoffers who question IF such things make any sense at all. If your expectation of Jesus revelation to you is dependant on what you see on TV or hear on the radio surrounding events in the middle east, you are being duped.
What is worse, is you are being poisoned against living your life in the Presence of Jesus. You don't see him active and present in your life. Unbelievers around you think you are crazy. They read these books too and the devil has used them as an inoculation against the TRUTH of the Gospel. It's actually a clever scheme. End times fantasy has crippled evangelism in our world. When people should be invited into a Life WITH Christ here and now, they are told of some time in the future when if they measure up somehow (don't miss the rapture) they will be able to spend real quality time with him. Kind of a spiritual Harry Chapin song, "Cat's in the Cradle". We'll have a good time then...
On this day after Christmas I am more aware of how anticipation can be a trap. How hoping for a future event kills the joy in the moment. How on this day there is a let down. That's what finding all this out is for many, a jolt into reality they didn't know they wanted until they got there. They loved that day before Christmas feeling that futuristic prophetic interpretation gives them. There is also a one upmanship about it all. Kind of like the contest level yard displays I see in some neighborhoods. It's like we decorate out theology with more and brighter outlandish claims of this or that fresh revelation of the coming of the Lord. I will offend some, but the Harbinger was the last one such.
Jesus on the sermon on the mount tried hard to get his followers to understand that living here and now WITH HIM was supposed to be the chief goal of man. Somehow that got all mixed up into causing people to think we should wait for some future event. It only causes disappointment. Like the day after Christmas.
The divisiveness that has been manifested by all this vain speculation (at least that's what the Bible calls such foolishness) divides the body of Christ into pre trib, mid trib, post trib, no trib, millennial, amillennial and a dozen other such iterations. Anything that focuses on some future event is excuse enough for not living what we should here and now in the presence of the True and Living God, the Creator of all the Universe, King of Kings, True God here and now among us.
Darby and Scolfield were wrong... and they know it now. They made heaven, but really know the truth. If they could come back (they can't) they would say STOP... we were wrong.
Godless sects have risen up from this false teaching. Jehovah's Witness is one such. They have been predicting from Watchtower as a publication for instance, the end of the world over and over and over again. They came out of William Miller's preaching about the end times in the middle of the 1800s. Now they devolved into a cult of lost people who no longer believe Jesus is God. That's where this error filled teaching will lead you... to apostasy.
I enjoy having a Jehovah's witness team come to my door. I seldom argue the business about Jesus as God... I start to talk to them about the Presence of the God here and now, His love for them, His action right here and now in their lives, how they can SEE HIM, experience Him, Know Him. Then I gently tell them of the Power of the Holy Spirit and the Presence of Jesus (There's the rebuttal to True God for them) and how wonderful it can be to know Him in that way. More than once a Jehovah's Witness has left my house in tears shaken by the reality of the Presence of Jesus. They came to witness (a verb) I was simply a Witness (a noun). That is the difference and we can't be that if we are living in fear or anticipation of an event that will never come to pass.
The problem with all flawed and error filled theology, Jehovah's witnesses and the whole end times machine (Much of it money driven) is they say "It's not Biblical" to NOT believe as we do. So they fire the Bible bullets and hope you are hit. What they think are Bible Bullets are in fact fiery darts.
When I see Jack Van Impe on TV it saddens me. He has been doing this dance for decades and is more confused today than he was in the 80s. He knows the Bible cold and can stretch and twist events to fit scripture and the other way around week after week after week.
The last thing that impacted me to turn the light on was the historicity of the Bible. I decided to try to prove that many of the things mentioned in Ezekiel, Matthew and Revelation haven't happened yet so they must be unfulfilled prophecy. I failed in my quest. They all proved to have been rooted in historical events. I will ask readers to do their own work. It will tear you up for a while as you discover how far afield you have gone under the influence of false teaching. The Bible is true. It all happened. There are however occasions when history does repeat... knowing which is which is all the trick... just don't be deceived by the devil's scheme.
IF the light comes on for you.... freedom will be the result. Joy, Peace, Patience. In fact, I don't believe it is possible to live in the fullness of the fruit of the spirit without proper understanding in these areas. I hope you find it.. I'll see you in Heaven in any case and then you'll stand with Scofield and say, I was wrong.
9 comments:
Well, I don't follow guys like van Impe, Hagee or LaHaye anyway. I agree that histroy is cyclical. Nothing new under the sun. However, we do know that some things are yet to happen. The final redemption/resurrection of man, the New Heavens and Earth and Satan's final destruction, the restoration of all things are not past events. They may be settled in Heaven, but they must still manifest in this realm. How they come about is where I think much of the dispute comes from.
Vincencio, You are on the money on this. How it will happen is the question. Was all that settled at the cross? Is the New Heavens and New Earth just "there". Is mans redemption a singular occurrence? How does resurrection look? I know how hard it is to ask the questions. Maybe that's why I have hesitated to go public with all this so long. I don't know all of it. Neither does anyone else. YET, there is a need to expose what is patently fantasy. Hang in there. I will.
Sorry bout the spelling Vincenzo. TYPO
Quite likely at least one pont has not happened
The shaking in Hebrews
Paul said that I might attain to the resurrection (clearer in the original language) Also Before Jesus comes He looses angels to gather out of HIS kingdom all things that offend.
Also Paul states we know not what we shall be if memory serves that's future tense in the original language.
Original language three tenses and gendered Words. Root Words are parts of a whole. An example of three tenses SPECIAL TOPIC: GREEK VERB TENSES USED FOR SALVATION
Salvation is not a product, but a relationship. It is not finished when one trusts Christ; it has only begun (a gate and then a road)! It is not a fire insurance policy, nor a ticket to heaven, but a life of growing Christlikeness. We have a proverbial saying in America that says the longer a couple lives together, the more they begin to look alike. This is the goal of salvation!
SALVATION AS A COMPLETED ACTION (aorist)
• Acts 15:11
• Romans 8:24
• 2 Timothy 1:9
• Titus 3:5
• Romans 13:11 (combines the aorist with a future orientation)
SALVATION AS A STATE OF BEING (perfect)
• Ephesians 2:5,8
SALVATION AS A CONTINUING PROCESS (present)
• 1 Corinthians 1:18; 15:2
• 2 Corinthians 2:15
• 1 Peter 3:21
SALVATION AS A FUTURE CONSUMMATION (future in verb tense or context)
• Romans 5:9,10; 10:9,13
• 1 Corinthians 3:15; 5:5
• Philippians 1:28
• 1 Thessalonians 5:8-9
• Hebrews 1:14; 9:28
• 1 Peter 1:5
Therefore, salvation begins with an initial faith decision (cf. John 1:12; 3:16; Rom. 10:9-13), but this must issue in lifestyle faith (cf. Rom. 8:29; Gal. 2:19-20; Eph. 1:4; 2:10), which will one day be consummated in sight (cf. 1 John 3:2). This final state is called glorification. This can be illustrated as
1. initial salvation—justification (saved from the penalty of sin)
2. progressive salvation—sanctification (saved from the power of sin)
3. final salvation—glorification (saved from the presence of sin)
Reflects 3 tenses in God sight
Worship isn’t limited to singing or the song set before the sermon. Rather, as an act of continual prayer, worship is meant to fill each moment of every day (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Our bodies were intended to be temples of worship (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and, according to Scripture, every believer is a priest, whose duty is to bring sacrifices to God (1 Peter 2:9). We offer ourselves to God in worship—living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to Him (Romans 12:1-2).
testing is throughout the range of tenses hence the comments of vechile of honour and some of dishonor in the masters house and studying to show ourselves approved.
I would propose, however, that these cycles are repeating with greater frequency and intensity. Birth-pangs the Bible calls them. Eventually, the birth results. Again, it's a matter of how and when. Not as far off as we might think, but not in the manner we've been led to believe, not exactly. That's my opinion anyway. I read an interesting article by Rick Joyner where he talked about redemption of man, the earth, etc. The redemption of the earth will take time but will be glorious when it is complete. The article must be true because many of the heresy hunters had a field day with it. lol
To Vincenzo December 26, 2013 at 6:10 PM
In no way was I implying heresy any where. There are only two other people that commented. Me and gene. The outline with the tenses and usages. ifs from a retired Christian college professor who taught Greek for around 30 years. Feel free to study it out. This is a great failure in America that draws much attention from those who teach linguistics in college level schools out side of America. As many misinterpret the original language in use and meaning. In no way was I accusing anyone of heresy. I just thought that post may be useful as we where all desiring to grow. Simply a tool for all readers. In no way was my post meant to confirm deny or accuse. Thank you for the persecution and slander though. Since I simply sought to give a tool useful in studying scripture.
Just so everyone knows I would not want to be accused of heresy!
This is a basic explanation of Greek Biblical tenses Root Words and gendered Words also affect yet fall into these guidelines.
Kind of Action and Time of Action for Each Verb Tense
Tense Name
Kind of Action
Time Element (In Indicative Mood)
Present
Progressive (or 'Continuous')
present
Aorist
Simple (or ‘Summary’) Occurrence
past
Perfect
Completed, with Results
past, with present results
Imperfect
Progressive (or 'Continuous')
past
Future
Simple Occurrence
future
Past Perfect
Completed, with Results
past
Future Perfect
Completed, with Results
future
It is very hard to translate the range of meaning and application into English, it is a very young language not nearly as intricate or detailed and many times some Words in English must be added for us to understand even a partial meaning of what the original language means and states.
Anonymous, I was not accusing you of heresy. I was elaborating further on the earlier post I made to Gene, before you posted.
Sorry sir I reread and reread my comment and thought well I'm the only other one on the post besides the owner. My mistake :)
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