Posted on 06/06/2024 4:25:04 AM PDT by Cronos
For those of us who have raised children, you might remember the question. There was a commercial, as I recall, that used the question to emphasize one product or the other in a humorous way.
Children in the back seat of the car in the commercial kept asking, “Are we there yet?”
We who transported our young kids on those times – especially on longer trips to Grandmas or other destinations – have heard that question, often in whining tones as time went on. I certainly remember hearing it. And I’m sure my parents heard it on those long trips from Pekin, Illinois, where we lived when I was a child, on the road to Hampton, my grandparent’s home in south Arkansas.
At this late moment of this Church Age I, myself, seem to be whining this question, and I’m hearing it from others on a growing basis.
“Are we there yet?”
It is coming from God’s children – believers in Jesus Christ who, like myself, sometimes grow weary –or vexed – as ol’ Lot might have put it while enduring to the end his time in Sodom.
“Are we there yet?” That is, how long before we reach the end of our Lord’s tolerance for the evil flourishing all around us while we keep looking up,” as my friend the late J.R. Church used to put it at the close of his Prophecy In The News TV program each week.
Each and every day – actually, each and every news cycle – we are inundated with end-times storm warnings. And it seems as if the Words of Warning from the Chief Prophetic Meteorologist of all history is speaking directly to those who, as commanded by Him – are “watching in order to discern where this generation stands on God’s Prophetic Timeline.
Jesus gave the signals to look for as Earth’s inhabitants near the outbreak of history’s most virulent turbulence – that of the Tribulation era. The following is that Storm warning.
“Are we there yet?” Is that great storm of the ages about to invade at this particular time? Let’s listen again to that Heaven-Sent Forecast that we can rely on as 100% accurate because it was issued by God Himself.
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matt 24:6-13).
Heaven’s Prophetic Forecast, of course, covers a broad scope of history, so many parts of this Olivet Discourse prophecy by Jesus applies to much of history that has already un-scrolled since He issued this Prophetic Weather Bulletin. Let us very briefly dissect this Warning, first in terms of its broad, historical sense.
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars.”
Hundreds of wars have afflicted humanity since Jesus spoke these words. The greatest wars of all time, World Wars One and Two, have caused the deaths of millions. The Romans waged war on the Jews, the Temple was destroyed, and the Jewish people scattered to all the world.
“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”
As a matter of fact, it has been ethnic disputes and warfare that have wrought the deaths of millions across the world.
“And there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”
Earthquakes have continued to rumble throughout history, while the wars have brought famine and disease to countless generations. We have seen in our brief time on the planet as of late, a tremendous increase in these things.
“All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
These great troubles have been accumulative. They have indeed been like birth pangs, growing more intensive and coming in greater frequency.
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”
The history of hatred of the Jews is in full view of the eyes of the world. The Nazi holocaust is the number one sign of history that highlights the satanic hatred God’s chosen people have endured. Their rejection of the very name of Jesus Christ and their being blamed for His crucifixion has been the basis Satan has used to incite the world against all of Israel.
So history has proven the absolute accuracy of Jesus’ Prophetic Forecast. But it is the question “Are we there yet?” I wish to address with regard to whether this generation has reached the moment when the Lord will say enough is enough and call believers to Himself so the greatest Storm of all history can rage upon a world ripe for Judgment.
We must place the same template over what is going on at this very moment to try to help answer, “Are we there yet?”
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars.”
The most profound threat of nuclear conflict of history might now be in the offing. Even the Cold War could not match the danger. Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) was effective, as the world’s two greatest superpowers were able to control escalation into man’s final war.
Not so now. There seems no control, as the power centers with the nuclear weapons are scattered around the globe, and many decision-makers among the most diabolical of their leaders seem bent on having their way, regardless of possible ramifications of all-out nuclear war.
The primary cause of the conflict again centers around ethnic differences and demands. Greatest among these conflicts is the hatred of the Jews and of Israel by their neighboring countries.
And that hatred has expanded to include many within nations of Europe and even the United States of America.
The seas and waves of peoples are roaring in that the protests against the Jews and Israel are front and center in even what is generally considered the civilized West.
At this very moment, even some among the Jewish people themselves are shouting along with the Israel-haters, “Stop the genocide,” and “From the river to the sea.”
As Jesus forewarned, these Jews on the politically ideological left are “betraying one another.” The genocidal rage is building swiftly toward another holocaust. Jesus also had a forecast about this evil that will mark the very end of the age.
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt 24:21).
And hatred is building, too, against the Church – all believers in Jesus Christ and His Message of being the One and Only Way to Salvation (John 14:6).
The comment by a legal defense fund for Christian persecution states the following:
Biden is empowering the radical Left to wage a surreptitious war on our Christian faith – prayer, churches, the Bible, and even Christian kids sharing their faith in school are all under attack. The Biden FBI has even placed spies in churches and targeted “radical traditionalist” Christians for investigation…
We’re in court right now defending a teacher who was banned from praying anywhere a student might see her.
I’ve never seen anything like it… [Source: Jordan Sekulow, ACLJ Executive Director]
While unbelieving Jews must undergo the Tribulation Storm to bring forth a Remnant that will bring about God’s great Promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, believers of this Church Age (Age of Grace) will be taken (paralambano) to be with Jesus in the Clouds of Glory – In the Rapture. All indicators are that we have come to be right smack in the breaking turbulence of Jesus’ forecast of the end-times Storm.
And this is why I believe we can answer with a resounding “YES!” the question: “Are we there yet?”
I always think of the coptic Christians lined up on a beach in Libya by the IslamicState for bheadingg.
Those Christians did not recant their faith, they endured un to the end
Godsmack? Never really listened to them. I take it you are a fan?
Weakness of men and women of faith is what has caused the downfall of the United Methodist Church (and others like them). Don’t for a moment think that weak men and women wouldn’t jump at an excuse to turn away from fighting Marxism.
The thing is that the Kingdom of God is already inaugurated —
Note that in Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Mark 9:1
And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
Mark 14:25
“Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
And then AFTER the Resurrection:
Acts 1:3
After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God
Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Acts 28:31 He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!
And
Rev 1:6
and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Rev 1:9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom
Note that we are living in the kingdom of God inaugurated, but not completed yet — as 1 Corinthians 15:24
Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
As Peter wrote in
2 Peter 10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a] make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
for jesus said, no man knows the time... so everyday i wake up and say today is the day, that’s how i am postponing judgement.
The reason why Christians are still persecuted and sin still rampant is because though the kingdom of God is in the here and now, present in and through the Church. Yet it is a mixed reality that will only be perfectly realized at the end of history. This current “mixed” state can be seen as the Church on earth which now grows in the field of the world with both weeds and wheat until the harvest when Christ says he will “tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned. But gather the wheat into my barn” (Matt 13:30).
You don't know how other people think. In fact, human beings don't know how they think. Human beings are incredibly irrational in their thinking and have no idea what consciously and unconsciously drives their thinking.
From cults?
Do you consider dispensationalism a cult?
Don’t forget. 1994 Are You Ready? Howard Camping.
the fact is that the pre-tribulation rapture is a 19th century modernist creation.
it is not what Jesus said would happen - He told us that we would be persecuted for believing in Him
It’s what preterists do best ...
That's why I (and we) need a Savior.
God may have created us in his image, but we abandoned that highfalutin status when we fell from Grace
What’s a preterist?
Note that the main point is that the pre-tribulation rapture is just biblically false
i see nowhere a “ date” or “ time” set.
that makes you a ....
OkeeDokee. So, give me some evidence that the Rapture has not already occurred. How do you know that you were judged unworthy and left behind?
This all looks like Satan has assumed control, don’t it?
Wasn’t “The Rapture” supposed to be a hip-hop festival in Detroit?
You don’t know how other people think. In fact, human beings don’t know how they think.
\
so...is that what
you
think
?
/-)
( soory dude, but you walked right into that one )
.
I was going to give some thought to it, but why bother.;-)
Regarding the rapture - there is no biblical evidence for a pre-tribulation rapture. None at all
The event of our gathering together to be with Christ will take place but that is at the second coming and we are NOT going to be magicked out of the world before the big trouble with the anti-Christ.
You need to distinguish between the Particular Judgement (the judgement each of us goes through when we die) and the General (or Last) Judgement, and generally focus a lot more on the Particular Judgement. While none of us know when the Last Judgement will be, it seems safe to assume that most of us won’t be around for it, so as a practical matter focusing on the Particular Judgement makes more sense. How exactly that Judgement will look is generally not a focus, but the focus is instead on preparing for it
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.