"A traditional Reformed exposition of Matthew 24 and Revelation 20" by J. M. Kik.
Posted on 09/19/2005 9:13:46 AM PDT by xzins
To Calvinists, the game was never in doubt. The Christians win; Christ is victorious and all that's left is to spread the word of His triumph throughout the league.
My money's on His will being done on earth as it is in heaven.
"That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies" -- Genesis 22:17
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." -- Matthew 16:18
"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." -- 1 John 3:8
Christ Himself tells you to "be of good cheer" and you would rather be nervous about the outcome? It's not with an impotent "courage" that He exhorts us to be confident; it's founded on His accomplished and perfect redemption.
All of Scripture is an encouragement to man; an urging of perseverance and surety. Life is difficult and there are many distractions and troubles along the way.
But the over-riding truth of life is that Christ came to destroy the devil exactly as God ordained from before the foundation of the world. He isn't making this up as He goes along. He wrote this story before any of it was committed to time and space.
We're told God created us in order to illustrate His glory. How does it glorify God if the word fails?
Of course we "keep our armour polished" for the battles ahead. But the armour is of God, and it will protect us. And so we must never lose sight of the fact that Christ is victorious at this very moment.
LOL. That's why a salt shaker and your left shoulder are so vital to your salvation. 8~)
The primary difference being that Premils believe the Christian team will be down 200000 points in the fourth quarter, with 10 seconds remaining on the clock. The team will prove itself incompetent and incapable of playing competitive football, despite being prime draft picks.
In the Premil view the quarterback (held back by the coach until the final seconds of the final game of the season) is the only player who actually knows how to gain yardage, let alone score a touchdown.
Actually, in the premill view, those old reruns of Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers on "NFL Highlights" are real time live feeds!
The great Oddsmaker in the sky is taking wagers. Only a Cubs fan would bet against Him.
Am I mixing sports metaphors here?
We could make it a Raiders fan. 8~(
"the Christian team will be down 200000 points in the fourth quarter, with 10 seconds remaining on the clock"
...
A funny conversation I had with God,
God, "You don't need to wear a watch"
Me, "But how will I know if I'm on time?"
God, "What, you got a HOT date some where?"
"To Calvinists, the game was never in doubt. The Christians win; Christ is victorious and all that's left is to spread the word of His triumph throughout the league."
I just wanted you to know that I have been making some serious inquiries into Calvinism of late. Some of the completely insane comments and beliefs of my fellow Arminians has led me to conclude that either Arminianism is simply not well defended or that it might have some problems with it. Your Calvinistic defenses have been well thought out and well reasoned.
These debates, especially the lack of coherent and unified Arminian responses on this forum have been especially helpful.
"In the Premil view the quarterback (held back by the coach until the final seconds of the final game of the season) is the only player who actually knows how to gain yardage, let alone score a touchdown."
Now that sure sounds a whole lot like the game plan in Matt. 24:21-30 with the coach and quaterback on the same page. That is a good analogy.
If that's how the game ends, doesn't that contradict the expectations set by the coach in Matthew 28:18-20?
Statistically speaking, have we added players and scored points (Matthew 28) or given up points and lost players to injuries and defections (Matthew 24) by the time the two-minute warning sounds?
Does your eschatology trump your expectations?
"A traditional Reformed exposition of Matthew 24 and Revelation 20" by J. M. Kik.
Try it, Mikey. You'll like it.
And he did. 8~)
What greater understanding of God's will can be found outside of the 33 verses of Romans 9? To read Romans 9 gives meaning to the entire Old and New Testaments and to our merciful place in God's universe -- by His will alone.
11) For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth..."
Yes, you did. Let me ask the key question again:
Statistically speaking, have we added players and scored points (Matthew 28) or given up points and lost players to injuries and defections (Matthew 24) by the time the two-minute warning sounds?
Until now, the only people I knew who said that were RCs.
Sorry, Gamey, but calvinism wasn't born until the 1509. Calvinism didn't exist until after his birth....arguably not until after his death. See #578 and just about every history book ever written.
***Kind of a "health, wealth and prosperity" gospel, huh?***
Certainly not in any sense of the name it/ claim it, heresy crowd. I have already won. It is actually an irreverence against God and a lack of faith to behave as if I have not already won. History is already concluded. The Lord put away sin at the end of the ages. All we are doing now is the wrap-up.
***Our salvation is assured but I don't see anywhere the scripture says our "victorious" walk is assured.***
Nor have I implied that there is any assurance of a victorious walk. The vast majority of Christians in this world certainly don't walk that way or even believe that they have a victory. It is quite amusing to watch them work for it.
***Of course the enemy doesn't waste time on those who are no threat to his dominion or his strongholds.***
Perhaps Satan simply doesn't bother to even try to mess with those whom he knows he has no chance and concentrates his energy on those that he can rattle.
Of course, in a practical sense, I am no threat to Satan's dominion or stronghold, those people whom he has blinded (2 Co. 4:4). Breaking that "stronghold" requires nothing less than the creative energy of the Lord (2 Co. 4:4). So, I don't bother. It's not my job.
Besides, the Lord himself has already bound the strongman and is currently plundering his house. I guess I can get myself all worked up with the Pentecostals and start binding Satan so I can save people. Oh, perhaps, I can simply be a gospel witness and let salvation be of the Lord.
***That's why I don't think we should use our own observations nor the newspaper when trying to interpret scripture. Either we rest on the promises of scripture, or we go crazy trying to fit the next FreeRep post into the book of Revelation. Blessings!***
I see, peace without actual peace; a peaceless peace. If you say so. You have to redefine so many words to make your full Preterism fit the Scriptures why should I be suprised that peace would be one of them?
If the traditional belief of Christianity was premill, then why are all the historic creeds Amill?
We have added as many players as the coach has determined he needed to reach his goal. We have lost as many active players as the coach has decided they have served his sovereign purposes, some to injury, some to his determined attrition, some because they have outlived their determined usefulness. He has not lost a player and never will. He has never lost a point since all is going according to his sovereign plan. The only losers are the other team throughout the ages. We know who wins, but still have to play the game since we don't know when it's over and his purposes are fulfilled for us, individually, and ultimately for his creation.
The final score will be 1-0, since he is the only one that matters.
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