Posted on 08/21/2011 7:22:17 PM PDT by Former Fetus
It will take 1000 years to cleanse the earth to make it ready for New Jerusalem........
You found it!
Hey, I'm a highly opinionated postmil myself, but I don't believe eschatology should be a "get-behind-me-Satan" issue for Christians. None of the basic protestant eschatologies - pretrib, midtrib, posttrib, and pre-, mid-, and postmil - have been viewed as heretical by doctrinally orthodox churches throughout church history. All of those viewpoints pop up in Trinitarian churches. I do not believe that a "faulty" view on eschatology can rob someone of their salvation. All views are permissable within a church's Statement of Faith, IMO. But I've been in churches, and among groups of fellow Christians, who do make it a salvific issue, however. They don't understand how I can believe in a literal resurrection and Second Coming, and yet not believe that it's coming in my lifetime. I just remind them that Hal Lindsey and Edgar Whisenat taught that the Rapture was coming in the 1980s, and yet we're all still here :)
That said, sanctification is IMO somewhat related to the issue of eschatology. If people are getting saved, if sanctification is really occurring in a society en masse, and hearts are progressively changing over time, then I would expect the compound effect to be a gradual bettering of that society as the behavioral demographics shift (less crime, sickness, nanny-statism, etc). I get raked over the coals by many evangelicals on this board for not believing that we're not on the precipice of the Great Tribulation. Such a view runs contrary to the evangelical expectation that the world is a sinking ship and there's nothing anyone can do, prior the Second Coming, to impede it.
I don’t mean to be mean or anything but after you get done fumbling around with trying to understand passages like Matthew 19:28, and Acts ch 1 vs. 1-12 a great question to toss around the water cooler is: “Where does the Bible teach that God cut a covenant of works, redemption and grace” with man, or in the case of redemption between the Godhead? (as our reformed brethern constantly assert).
There are many verses that refer to Jerusalem will be where the King sets his throne. Here are some just a few.
Zec 14:8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
Zec 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
Zec 14:11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
Zec 14:14 And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
Zec 14:16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Zec 14:17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
This will all occur between now and 2015.
Bless you in your search for Truth.
Again, this Jerusalem is not a place but the bride of Christ, Rev 21
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