Posted on 03/29/2015 11:21:01 AM PDT by kindred
Most of the trouble in our world takes place either when civil and ecclesiastical powers marry or merge, or when civil power takes it upon itself to completely stop religion. Not all religion is legitimately pointing to the Creator God, so it goes without saying that this statement does not include all religions in the most general sense of the word, but only those ordained by the Creator of mankind.
Biblical illustration of Book of Revelation Chapter 21 (Source: Jim Padgett, courtesy of Sweet Publishing, Ft. Worth, TX, and Gospel Light, Ventura, CA) Biblical illustration of Book of Revelation Chapter 21 (Source: Jim Padgett, courtesy of Sweet Publishing, Ft. Worth, TX, and Gospel Light, Ventura, CA)
Biblical faith has its various divisions which all come together to present the full will and counsel of God to a fleeting and temporary world. There is history, law, moral and spiritual guidance, poetry, the all-important gospel message and finally about one third of the Bible is prophecy.
Pre, mid and post exilic, Messianic and pre-millennial prophecies are divisions within the general prophecies of the bible.
All prophecy culminates or quite simply comes to a head at the full revelation of the part of prophecy aforementioned and well known as “pre-millennial prophecy.” As the term implies, this is when all prophecy converges in a single period of time or a single generation and it is just before the promised millennial (1,000 years) rule of Christ upon the earth.
It is when Christ returns that all government on a worldwide scale shifts hands overnight. All the nations and every aspect of world governance are placed in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ at the blowing of the seventh trumpet of God.
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (Rev 11: 15)
Great judgments, calamities and destruction takes place prior to Christ taking full authority over the earth, but they are the long awaited retribution for the centuries of man’s rebellion. They are not hapless and uncontrolled anger coming from God – they are promised judgments against the collective sins of mankind. They are not designed or executed simply or solely to wreak havoc or produce fear.
The full disclosure of prophecy is given to remove fear, not create it; in fact, the first fear eradicated is the presumption that evil will go un-punished – it is the great pay day for mankind and everyone will step up to the pay table, whether they like it or not.
Prophecy also removes the fear of accidental destruction of the earth by natural or manmade forces. Here is a short list of things men fear could be the end of our world. While some of these may touch this world, it is only in the most limited sense of the word; they will not result in the end of this world. ◾Pandemic diseases ◾Asteroids ◾Nuclear warfare ◾Global warming ◾Extraterrestrial intervention ◾Explosions on the sun ◾Your guess is as good as mine
Prophecy does not mince words: wickedness, mis-rule and wholesale perversion will all be severely dealt with, but the world is not consumed because God is not finished with this world. Many things are destroyed not only for judgment sake, but God has no use for the corrupted things of man. The cities (all of them) all fall together (Rev 16: 19) and there will be topographical changes across the globe, but the earth remains quite intact.
The Bible declares the future, the fate and the finish of man, but never the total destruction of the earth or of mankind. God, it is said, is not the author of confusion, (1Cor 14: 33) but he is the Master of consummation, that means he brings his plan to full fruition which is the redemption of those who pass through the temporary with enough savvy to see the eternal.
This world is a battlefield, not a playground (Eph 6: 12) and it is a great field of trial. It is the testing and proving ground for the souls of men and while it has its day to end, it does not end by accident – it ends only by design.
There is a marvelous lagniappe attached to all the promises of prophecy. When this earth is slated for its final day (2Pet 3: 10), all is not lost. God has no intention of leaving things suspended and beginning some indescribable fifth dimensional spiritual soup for the souls of men.
God provides a new heaven and a new earth. There will be no seas on the new earth (Rev 21: 1) and it is generally thought to be hundreds if not thousands of time larger than the present earth. There is no need for the sun, moon or stars because God himself is the light of that planet.
Finally, while there may be cities or centers of population there, only one major city will be there and it is called “The New Jerusalem.” This city expands across a distance more than one half of the United States in all directions – it is the city of the redeemed.
“Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.” (Rev 3: 12)
The politics of today will be thoroughly replaced by the monarchy of tomorrow and what a blessed day that will be.
Titus 2:
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. ;
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
Amen and Amen.
That creates a lot of trouble; I don't know about most trouble. For example can most murders or thefts be blamed on this? One does not have to be for the idea in order to keep it in perspective.
I suppose that all of our problems are created by our pride, lust and evil desires of things that God hates. Nevertheless, worthless and deceiving leaders of peoples, whether in the political realm or in the ecclesiastial realm who are there to do “God’s will” but do their own, are a great evil unto all the world.
Pride and lies are at the bottom of all sin, I believe.
I quite agree, the church went off mission when it presumed to take Caesar under its wing.
The church’s sins do not negate the promise of Christ, however. Our modern evangelical church is a “Roman Catholic” evangelical church, so to speak. That body, hobbled as it was by the bad choices of its history, was kept alive by Christ... how would there have been a Martin Luther or a Calvin or a Zwingli without it? There are no parallel offshoots from the Orthodox side. We should respect the Lord’s work, even in the face of things that have us absolutely aghast.
” they are promised judgments against the collective sins of mankind.”
I think that the word punishment needs to replace judgement. A judgement implies that an act can be found to be innocent or guilty, and this definition applies to legal and other less formal uses of this word. However, God’s judgement only refers to punishment of the condemned; it is a sentence.
A personal relationship and submission to Jesus is the only way to escape God’s punishment.
Actual biblical usage tends to go with the term judgments. Take that as you will.
[A personal relationship and submission to Jesus is the only way to escape God’s punishment.]
The truth of God in the flesh that set’s mankind free from the sin that so easily besets us, indeed!
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