Jesus' Return (for the Rapture of all who belong to Him) is Very Near

The Bible at Bible.com ^ | Today Feb whatever it is, 2010 | self

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Disasters - earthquake, Tsunami, others - happening rapidly now.

Read Matthew 24. There will be earthquakes.....etc.

When we see these events occurring in increasing frequency it is because these are the "birth pangs" that we have been told by Jesus Christ Himself - would happen closer together in time as do the birth pangs of a woman in labor. The closer she gets to giving birth, the worse the birth pangs become and the closer together they come.

[terycarl]

Christ was quite fierce in His attitude about such groups 2000 years ago

Catholics were the only Christian group 2,000 years ago and Christ was very pleased with us......still is!!!!

[Quix]

UNMITIGATED NONSENSE on both counts.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Naaaaaaaaa.........you’re fine. :)

[philetus]

Satan is the king of this world.

[philetus]

And yet the occurrence of pestilences is at an all-time low.”

Is it?

pes·ti·lence (pst-lns)
n.
1. A usually fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague.
2. A pernicious, evil influence or agent.

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

Catholics were the only Christian group 2,000 years ago and Christ was very pleased with us......still is!!!!

You gotta be kidding... LOL... (I do hope you're not serious here...).

First of all -- 2,000 years ago, there was no such thing as the Catholic Church. We're talking about when Jesus, the Messiah of Israel was still a young boy at the time. He had not even gone on His ministry to Israel at that time.

BUT, perhaps you were talking about "roughly" 2,000 years ago. if so, then let's say you're talking about right after the time that Jesus ascended into Heaven in the direct sight of about 500 of His own Jewish brethren.

There was still no Catholic Church at that time. Jesus was a Jew, who has Jewish disciples, and His Apostles were all Jewish. When the first ones listened to Peter preach, they were all Jews from other areas, coming into Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days.

We can move ahead to a council held in Jerusalem to discuss the status of Gentiles in the Jewish church at that time (you can read about it in Acts). The door wasn't fully opened to even Gentiles until that time. There was no Catholic Church at that time either. It was a Jewish church, who has Jesus as the Messiah of Israel, discussing how to allow Gentiles to participate... :-)

We can move ahead about 60 years into the future from that time, to about the time that John wrote the book of Revelation. There was still no Catholic Church at that time.

And we can keep moving ahead to 4th and 5th Centuries before a structure called the Catholic Church can be considered to be in place, or beginning to be "in place".

---

The Origin of the Papacy

With the influence of Constantine (A.D. 280-337), who made Christianity a “religion of power,” the bishops strengthened and increased their privileges. During this time there were five metropolises: Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. Rome in the West and Constantinople in the East gained greater prominence because of their locations (Mattox, 1961, p. 137). While the power of the episcopacy grew in these cities, so did the controversy over which of these two cities, and their representative churches and bishops, should have supremacy.

On October 10, 366, a man named Damasus was elected Bishop of Rome. He was an energetic man who fought for the pontificate against his opponent Ursinus, another bishop elected by a small number of followers (see “Damasus I,” 1997, 3:865-866). During his pontificate, Damasus fought to confirm his position in the Church of Rome. He also fought to compel the other cities to recognize the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome over all other bishops. Damasus even went as far as to assert that the “Church of Rome was supreme over all others, not because of what the council [of Rome in 369 and of Antioch in 378—MP] decided, but rather because Jesus placed Peter above the rest, elevating him as the cornerstone of the church itself” (“Saint Damasus,” 2005).

In spite of Damasus’ efforts to establish the preeminence of Rome and his pontificate, he did not finish his work. After his death in December 384, Siricius was elected as the Pontiff of Rome. He was less educated than Damasus, but empowered himself with a higher level of authority than other bishops had demanded. Siricius claimed inherent authority without consideration of the Scriptures. He demanded, and threatened others, in order to gain more and more power. He was the first to refer to himself as Peter’s heir (see Merdinger, 1997, p. 26). Siricius died on November 26, 399. Without a doubt, he and Damasus were principal forces behind the development of a universal ecclesiastical hierarchy.

In 440, Leo I became the pontiff. He was an ardent defender of the supremacy of the Roman bishop over the bishops in the East. In a declaration to the Bishop of Constantinople, he stated:

Constantinople has its own glory and by the mercy of God has become the seat of the empire. But secular matters are based on one thing, and ecclesiastical matters on another. Nothing will stand which is not built on the Rock which the Lord laid in the foundation.... Your city is royal but you cannot make it Apostolic (quoted in Mattox, 1961, pp. 139-140).

The supremacy referred to by Leo I was based on the assumption that the Lord exalted Rome, including its church and pontiff, over other major cities because of traditions about Peter. By that time it was accepted as “fact” that Peter had been the first Bishop of Rome and that he had been martyred there. Those traditions, along with Rome’s legacy as an evangelistic influence in the first century, gave the city a “divine aura” that supposedly connected it to the apostolic age and distinguished it from other cities. These beliefs greatly influenced the development of a hierarchy in the church.

On September 13, 590, Gregory the Great was named Bishop of Rome. He was another advocate of Petrine tradition, and named himself “Pope” and the “Head of the Universal Church.” By the end of his pontificate, the theory of Peter’s primacy and that of the Bishop of Rome was firmly established. Finally, with the appearance of Boniface III on the papal throne on February 19, 607, Roman papacy became universally accepted. Boniface III lived only a few months after his election. Many other bishops followed his legacy of “runners for supremacy.”

[skeptoid]

. . . . .It was an inane analogy to the working of the Holy Spirit with an old Ralph Macchio flick that these hyper-charismatics all too often employ. . . .

You are suggesting I ought to keep informed about feelgood movies targeted at teenyboppers of the '80's??

Without having watched the Karate Kid, AC's posts were nonsensical gibberish. I knew nothing about the Karate Kid or Pat Morita (after Happy Days and Sanford and Son), and I still know nothing about Ralph Macchio beyond the Karate Kid stuff I found on Wiki today. So while I NOW READILY UNDERSTAND the analogy, it was gobbledygook without knowing about the Karate Kid plot (and I make no apology for not knowing this particular sack of tripe).

And then there's the Danuelson/Daniel-san Meoggie/Miyagi issue, but life is short and priorities must be assigned, eh?

Dare I say it - credibility is a serious criteria in things both literary and theological, not to mention scientific, philosophical, governmental, animal, mineral, and of course, vegetable (if you get my meaning).

Dedicated to eliminating inanity,
I remain,
skeptoid

[American Constitutionalist]

Still not understanding, we do not always see what GOD is doing in our lives.....
God is working behind the scenes like a caterpillar is in the cocoon, we sometimes do not know the transforming power that GOD is doing in our lives...

[American Constitutionalist]

Ohh ye of little faith...
No doubt that there is power in our tounge ? our words ?
So ? you think, with your own human wisom that our words do not have any effect ?
The bible says, there is power in our tounge, we can speak life, or death, blessings or cursing, go ask a woman, tell will tell you that hurtful words from their husbands cause pain in their lives, and the love they had for their husbands die...

No street preacher, the LORD REBUKE YOU !

Though you say you see, yet, your still blind, though you say you hear, yet, you still can not hear...

[American Constitutionalist]

In the first place, it if GOD who sits on the throne....
Does not ? the bible tell us to bless others ?
The bible tells us there is power in our tongue, to either speak life or death, blessing or cursing...
GET OUT OF THE RELIGIOUS SET MIND SET and let the LORD deliver you from carnal thinking.

[American Constitutionalist]

Typo correction to the religious minds who would even find fault in my spelling.....

Correction :

In the first place, it IS GOD who sits on the throne....

[caww]

Thank you for this Star....clarifies some things I questioned and I will look further into the origins. So indeed it was man who claimed this title of Pope and designed it insisting that he was next “in line” to Peter.

I recall Jesus had something to say to the disciples about who would be greater...when they argued among themselves about this....He basically put things into perspective thereafter, and it had nothing to do with a Pope or one who would be in succession to any of the disciples. Had Jesus wanted lines of succession He would have given instructions on this I would imagine. Reminds me of the Jewish nation wanting a King when God himself was there King yet they were not satisfied.

so ultimately looks like they were arguing over who and also where “The” primary Church would be. Interesting!

[Atchafalaya]

To quote Mel Allen, “How about that”! Maybe.

[streetpreacher]

Pray for Copeland. He may need it.

[Quix]

As I’ve put it for a long time hereon . . .

ARROGANT BUREAUCRATIC POLITICAL POWER-MONGERING gone to seed and that 100’s of years after Christ.

NOT ANYthing close to what Jesus would want to touch with a 100’ pole, much less establish.

[Quix]

Thank you for this Star....clarifies some things I questioned and I will look further into the origins. So indeed it was man who claimed this title of Pope and designed it insisting that he was next “in line” to Peter.
I recall Jesus had something to say to the disciples about who would be greater...when they argued among themselves about this....He basically put things into perspective thereafter, and it had nothing to do with a Pope or one who would be in succession to any of the disciples. Had Jesus wanted lines of succession He would have given instructions on this I would imagine. Reminds me of the Jewish nation wanting a King when God himself was there King yet they were not satisfied.

so ultimately looks like they were arguing over who and also where “The” primary Church would be. Interesting!

#############

WELL PUT.

Thx.

[GiovannaNicoletta]

Fifty Signs We're in the End Times:

1) Increasing instability of nature. (Matthew 24:7 & Luke 21:11)

2) Increasing lawlessness and violence. (Matthew 24:12)

3) Increasing immorality. (Matthew 24:37)

4) Increasing materialism. (2 Timothy 3:2)

5) Increasing Hedonism. (2 Timothy 3:4)

6) Increasing influence of Humanism. (2 Timothy 3:2)

7) Depraved entertainment. (2 Timothy 3:4)

8) Calling evil good and good evil. (2 Timothy 3:3 & Isaiah 5:20)

9) Increasing use of drugs. (2 Timothy 3:3)

10) Increasing blasphemy. (2 Timothy 3:2)

11) Increasing paganism. (2 Timothy 3:1-4)

12) Increasing despair. (2 Timothy 3:1)

13) Signs in the heavens. (Luke 21:11,25)

14) Increasing knowledge. (Daniel 12:4)

15) Increasing travel. (Daniel 12:4)

16) The explosion of cults. (Matthew 24:11)

17) The proliferation of false christs. (Matthew 24:5)

18) Increasing apostasy in the Church. (2 Timothy 4:3-5)

19) Increasing attacks on Jesus. (Romans 1:18-19)

20) Increasing attacks on the Bible. (Romans 1:18-19)

21) Increasing persecution of Christians. (Matthew 24:9)

22) Increasing occultism. (1 Timothy 4:1)

23) Wars and rumors of wars. (Matthew 24:6)

24) Weapons of mass destruction. (Luke 21:26)

25) Increasing famine. (Luke 21:11)

26) Increasing pestilence. (Luke 21:11)

27) Computer technology. (Revelation 13:7)

28) Television. (Revelation 11:8-9)

29) Satellite technology. (Revelation 11:8-9)

30) Virtual reality. (Revelation 13:14-15)

31) Unification of Europe. (Daniel 2 & 7)

32) Far Eastern military powers. (Revelation 9:16 & 16:12)

33) Movement toward world government. (Daniel 7:23-26)

34) Regathering of the Jews. (Isaiah 11:10-12)

35) Re-establishment of Israel. (Isaiah 66:7-8)

36) Reclamation of the land of Israel. (Ezekiel 36:34-35)

37) Revival of Biblical Hebrew. (Zephaniah 3:9; Jeremiah 31:23)

38) Re-occupation of Jerusalem. (Luke 21:24)

39) Resurgence of the Israeli military. (Zechariah 12:6)

40) Re-focusing of world politics on Israel. (Zechariah 12:3)

41) Russian threat to Israel. (Ezekiel 38 and 39)

42) Arab threat to Israel. (Ezekiel 35 and 36)

43) Denial of the Second Coming. (2 Peter 3:3-4)

44) Denial of creation by God. (Romans 1:18-22)

45) Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. (Joel 2:28-29)

46) Translation of the Bible into many languages. (Matthew 24:14)

47) Preaching of the Gospel worldwide. (Matthew 24:14)

48) The revival of Messianic Judaism. (Romans 9:27)

49) The revival of Davidic praise worship. (Amos 9:11)

50) The understanding of Bible prophecy. (Daniel 12:8-9)

So yes, like I said, Jesus gave us the signs of His return, as we can see in the Scriptures above, and He commanded Christians to look for His return and to recognize the signs when they occur.

It is only the willfully blind, lovers of this world, haters of God, or those who know they are not ready to stand before their Creator who will deny to their last breath that man was given signs by Christ or that they are happening.

But, there is no doubt at all, that we were given advance warning by God of what would happen before His return and there is absolutely no doubt that we can know when it is near. And at no time in the past few thousand years have all of these signs happened in conjunction with each other as they are now.

I would also like to see the hard data showing that we are having more earthquakes than in the past.

Footsteps of the Messiah, Chap 4, p96

Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum

The earthquake factor is even more interesting. According to the Encyclopedia Americana, between the years 63-1896 A.D. there were only twenty-six recorded earthquakes. Most of the world’s earthquakes began to occur since 1900 (per USGS Natl Earthquake Information Center. Earthquakes with 1,000 or more deaths from 1900.) http:neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqsmajr.html. 12May2000

More recent web lists form USGS record some 80 quakes from 856AD to 1896, and some 432 major quakes for the 20th century, while in the first decade alone over 432 major quakes over 6.0 have been recorded (this tally is not consistent though, as some of those in the 20th century 432 tally are less than 3.0 located in remote areas or are aftershocks, while frequently over 100 quakes are recorded daily in the same range in the early 21st century. see http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/historical.php)

One article from the “Dispatch from Jerusalem”, 3rdQtr, 1992, p.11 referenced in Footsteps of the Messiah provides a greater number in middle centuries as recorded:

“In the first 1000 years after Jesus, there were approxiamately 5 recorded major earthquakes (although we are sure more occurred in remote locations). However, the trend has been on the increase:

• 14th century, there were 157 major earthquakes.
• 15th century, there were 174 major earthquakes.
• 16th century, there were 253 major earthquakes.
• 17th century, there were 278 major earthquakes.
• 18th century, there were 640 major earthquakes.
• 19th century, there were 2119 major earthquakes.
• Nearly 900,000 earthquakes have been recorded thus so far in the 20th century. An earthquake every hour!”

The trend does appear to be undeniably increasing with respect to the impact of earthquakes upon humanity.

[AppyPappy]

Then who are you to command God to do anything? We are His. The sheep of his pasture.

[AppyPappy]

I guess you missed that whole computer and machine era. The reason we have more measurable earthquakes is because we can now measure them.

This whole “The time is now” mindset was rebuked by Paul in the First Century.

“God sets up kings and deposes them”...Book of Daniel

[GiovannaNicoletta]

This whole “The time is now” mindset was rebuked by Paul in the First Century.

I see you forgot the supporting Scriptures. Or maybe you couldn't find them because they don't exist.

Hey, was there a one world government in the first century like there is now? And the technology to enable fist century human beings to fulfill Revelation 13:16 like there is now?

Oh, let me add before I go:

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. (2 Peter 3:3,4)

There's been enough fulfillment of that prophecy on this thread alone to erase anybody's doubts about the time we're living in.