This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies. |
Locked on 10/27/2009 12:40:43 PM PDT by Admin Moderator, reason:
Childish behavior. |
Posted on 07/25/2009 2:40:04 AM PDT by Quix
The Bible says we cannot know the time of the Lord's return (Matthew 25:13). But the Scriptures make it equally clear that we can know the season of the Lord's return (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6):
"You yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night... But you brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober."
This passage asserts that Jesus is coming like "a thief in the night." But then it proceeds to make it clear that this will be true only for the pagan world and not for believers. His return should be no surprise to those who know Him and His Word, for they have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to give them understanding of the nature of the times.
Furthermore, the Scriptures give us signs to watch for signs that will signal that Jesus is ready to return. The writer of the Hebrew letter referred to these signs when he proclaimed that believers should encourage one another when they see the day of judgment drawing near (Hebrews 10:25-27). Jesus also referred to the end time signs in His Olivet Discourse, given during the last week of His life (Matthew 24 and Luke 21). Speaking of a whole series of signs which He had given to His disciples, He said, "When you see all these things, recognize that He [the Son of Man that is, Jesus] is near, right at the door" (Matthew 24:33).
A Personal Experience
Every time I think of "Signs of the Times," I am reminded of a great man of God named Elbert Peak. I had the privilege of participating with him in a Bible prophecy conference held in Orlando, Florida in the early 1990's. Mr. Peak was about 80 years old at the time.
He had been assigned the topic, "The Signs of the Times." He began his presentation by observing, "Sixty years ago when I first started preaching, you had to scratch around like a chicken to find one sign of the Lord's soon return."
He paused for a moment, and then added, "But today there are so many signs I'm no longer looking for them. Instead, I'm listening for a sound the sound of a trumpet!"
The First Sign
One hundred years ago in 1907 there was not one single, tangible, measurable sign that indicated we were living in the season of the Lord's return. The first to appear was the Balfour Declaration which was issued by the British government on November 2, 1917.
This Declaration was prompted by the fact that during World War I the Turks sided with the Germans. Thus, when Germany lost the war, so did the Turks, and the victorious Allies decided to divide up both the German and Turkish empires.
The Turkish territories, called the Ottoman Empire, contained the ancient homeland of the Jewish people an area the Romans had named Palestine after the last Jewish revolt in 132-135 AD.
In 1917 Palestine included all of modern day Israel and Jordan. In the scheme the Allies concocted for dividing up the German and Turkish territories, Britain was allotted Palestine, and this is what prompted the Balfour Declaration. In that document, Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, declared that it was the intention of the British government to establish in Palestine "a national home for the Jewish people."
The leading Evangelical in England at the time was F. B. Meyer. He immediately recognized the prophetic significance of the Declaration, for he was well aware that the Scriptures prophesy that the Jewish people will be regathered to their homeland in unbelief right before the return of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:11-12).
Meyer sent out a letter to the Evangelical leaders of England asking them to gather in London in December to discuss the prophetic implications of the Balfour Declaration. In that letter, he stated, "The signs of the times point toward the close of the time of the Gentiles... and the return of Jesus can be expected any moment."
Before Meyer's meeting could be convened, another momentous event occurred. On December 11, 1917 General Edmund Allenby liberated the city of Jerusalem from 400 years of Turkish rule.
There is no doubt that these events in 1917 marked the beginning of the end times because they led to the worldwide regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland and the reestablishment of their state.
Since 1917
Since the time of the Balfour Declaration, we have witnessed throughout the 20th Century the appearance of sign after sign pointing to the Lord's soon return. There are so many of these signs today, in fact, that one would have to be either biblically illiterate or spiritually blind not to realize that we are living on borrowed time.
I have personally been searching the Bible for years in an effort to identify all the signs, and it has not been an easy task to get a hold on them. That's because there are so many of them, both in the Old and New Testaments.
I have found that the best way to deal with them is to put them in categories, and in doing that, I have come up with six categories of end time signs. We will explore these catetories beginning in Part 2 of this series.
I just want to know where Marysecretary finds that the Holy Spirit points to Jesus, IN scripture.
Because if she is being taught that and it is not in scripture, then it is tradition.
Didn’t think Protestants believed in tradition.
Just like someone else (I forget who) stated that although there is no scriptural basis for God being outside human time, it is taught.
Then it’s tradition.
Call me an opportunist. :)
I’m calling it “Evangelism”!
Heh. :)
I don’t think there’s a Scripture saying explicitly that Holy Spirit decries worship.
I think there is one that He always points to The Son or glorfies the Son or some such.
Will ponder. If I come up with a successful way to search, will lt you know.
Sometimes
y’all’s RABID REALITY DISTORTIONS
take yet MORE shocking leaps off planet.
Thanks!
Do you DENY that you believe in UFOs which are inhabited by fallen angels?
Would you like proof of anti-Catholics admitting to Nestorianism and denying the Trinity? I would be happy to provide it.
Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Seems as tho you guys are so caught up in your formal religion, and it's rulebook (catechism) that you don't even know what Jesus taught much of the time...
The Holy Spirit speaks to people's hearts to accept Jesus as their Savior...
***Yes, and there are three persons. The Holy Spirit always points us to Jesus. He does not want our worship.***
Do mean by this that God is actually three separate and distinct people and that the Holy Spirit is not God, but a subordinate person to Jesus?
They are three distinct people; but They are One...A little beyond your grasp, eh???
Jesus was on earth while His Father was in Heaven...But He and the Father are one...
***The Nicene Creed is in the Holy Mass and the Apostles Creed starts the Rosary.
Basically the same thing, right?***
Well, yes, and no.
In the short answer, the Nicene Creed is the only Creed authorized by the complete Church at the Council of Nicea in 325. The Apostle’s Creed is the first, and was first found in writings dating back to approximately 135 AD.
The long answer is that the Apostle’s Creed was developed in response to Gnosticism; the creed states that Christ, Jesus, was born, suffered, and died on the cross. This is a statement directly against the heretical teaching that Christ only appeared to become man and that he did not truly suffer and die but only appeared to do so. It is also a defense of the Gospel of Christ.
The Nicene Creed was developed later in response to the Arians; Arius, a Libyan preacher, had declared that although Jesus Christ was divine, God had actually created him, and there was a time when he was not. This made Jesus less than the Father and contradicted the doctrine of the Trinity. Arius’s teaching provoked a serious crisis.
The Nicene Creed of 325 explicitly affirms the divinity of Jesus, applying to him the term “God”. The 381 version speaks of the Holy Spirit as worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son. The Athanasian Creed describes in much greater detail the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Apostles’ Creed, not formulated in reaction to Arianism, makes no explicit statements about the divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit, but, in the view of many who use it, the doctrine is implicit in it.
So, yes, and no.
I don’t get your point.
Why should I deny facts.
The bottom line of 47+ years of research . . . including the exceedingly scholarly work done by the panels Guy Malone has assembled . . .
leave little, if any doubt, for the well-informed, perceptive, discerning, remotely bright folks . . . that the critters flying about in UFO’s [not counting our personnel piloting ones they taught us how to build and fly on our own]
ARE, INDEED, FALLEN ANGELS, nephilium etc.
REGARDLESS of whether they are fallen angels or the claimed citizens of distant orbs . . . or a combination . . .
THEY ARE ALL working in concert with human evil doers to establish the END TIMES GLOBAL GOVERNMENT ruled by satan.
That’s just a fact.
Ignorance of the fact; denial of the fact—won’t make it go away.
OThuga is scheduled to turn American sovereignty over to said global government more formally than ever before in Copenhagen in a matter of weeks.
Denial of that fact won’t change it.
Folks in denial of such will have to live with the consequences of their denial.
I support ATS’s motto:
DENY IGNORANCE!
***I dont know any such sects. Nor do I know anyone who rejects the Holy Trinity. Is that your opinion,for its not mine.***
You’ve never heard of the Oneness Pentecostals? You’ve never heard of the Mormons? You’ve never heard of the Jehovah’s Witnesses? You’ve never known anyone in any of these?
I have no idea about your going off on Nestorianism and the Trinity.
***Do mean by this that God is actually three separate and distinct people and that the Holy Spirit is not God, but a subordinate person to Jesus?
They are three distinct people; but They are One...A little beyond your grasp, eh???
Jesus was on earth while His Father was in Heaven...But He and the Father are one...***
For one thing, God is not a person. He is God. You say that Jesus and the Father are one. What about the Holy Spirit? Why did you leave Him off your post?
***I have no idea about your going off on Nestorianism and the Trinity.***
The Pentecostals are the largest Protestant denomination that have a significant amount of their flock to be practicing Nestorianism, or even denying the Trinity altogether - the Oneness crowd comes to mind.
Oh,I think most sensible people on these threads know I’m not hitting on you, LOL. Are you hoping I will? Not to worry.
See post #1298.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.