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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'm thinkin' you got it backwards...That site calls your religion a cult because of it's cross with Mary on it (and numerous other things)...
There are those who debate doctrinal differences, but do so in a polite and honest fashion.
Unfortunately, there are also some here who are nothing more than bigots who will openly lie and fabricate falsehoods to fit their agenda.
View of Tyche the goddess of fortune holding the child Plutos, the god of plenty. The huge statue dates to the second century A.D.
Note too the crown of acanthus leaves on Tyches head.
He calls LOTS of other faith cults.
Looks like a bit of untreated Paranoia going on.
I understand what you believe I just don’t agree with you that it’s all so black and white in regards to Romanist dogma and it’s infallibility and to refer back to the source for confirmation of the premise is circular reasoning.
I do like the idea of “Bing the Pope”, though.
>>There are those who debate doctrinal differences, but do so in a polite and honest fashion.<<
I really feel they are the Blessed that Our Lord will smile on.
As we know, Mary is NOT the dispenser of any type of Grace...
This is a damnable, hellish heresy and they are making a Saint(?) out of this Christian impostor...
That's religion for sure, but it is in no way Christianity...
Well that’s your loss if you don’t want to believe fact.
It is always more reassuring to find comfort in falsehoods that fit one’s agenda.
It’s like watching NBC then flipping on Glenn Beck. Truth is truth. It’s just a matter of whether one chooses to believe it or not.
If you and others could contain your unbridled excitement of having found yet another Catholic-bashing website and read a little further, you will find that this church and its pastor ALSO HATE Calvinists, Pentecostals, Evangelicals and Southern Baptists. But if you are comfortable accepting everything they say as fact, by all means go right ahead.
Any quotes from Padre Pio are not from the Vatican. Anyone can have an opinion. Padre Pio thought that women should never wear pants in church. That doesn’t make it so.
What a bunch of poppycock...Your pope is wrong, again...
Mary did not offer her son Jesus to the FATHER for anything...
GOD OFFERED THE SON (FOR US)...
together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and her motherly love like a new Eve for all children of Adam As "The New Eve"
What kind of gibberish is that??? The holocaust of her maternal rights??? A new Eve???
I’m praying for us all to understand love.
It has nothing to do with that sight...It has to do with your religion having Crosses with Mary on them...
See post #610, I’m reasonably certain that the pictures are false.
I posted the location. And I accept the verification offered at the site.
No amount of proof would satisfy those who are determined to deny the meaning of the clear and foul words of the RCC catechism, its popes and its saints.
If I posted an 8 x 10 glossy of that cross on the front door of the basilica in Rome some Roman Catholics would just as quickly say it was "photoshopped."
As I said, after hearing RCs defend Ratzinger's "global authority," we now know RCs can stonewall, deny, defend just about anything...
SCRIPTURE: "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men..."
RCC: "No, there are lots of 'em."
I accept the verification of that photo. You don't. I'm not surprised.
>>It has to do with your religion having Crosses with Mary on them... <<
Prove it.
Give us an example of a cross with Mary on it that is not an image taken by a religious bigot (bigoted against MANY faiths, not just Catholics)
Show us, the ball is in your court. Where is there a “Cross” with Mary on it?
Do you also accept what that site says about Calvinists, Evangelicals and Southern Baptists? Or do you only accept what they say about the Catholic Church?
I accept the verification of that photo. You don't. I'm not surprised.
I posted several VERIFIABLE photos (i.e. they can be viewed on multiple websites) of the basilica in question. It is one of the oldest and most visited churches in Rome. NOTHING in any photo even comes close to resembling the picture you posted.
So then you never ask anyone to pray for you, right?
The ball is in your court too.
WHERE is the “Main Mary Basilica in Rome”?
Show us. You didn’t post a location, you posted gibberish.
Anyone taking a picture to prove a point would at least have a real name of a particular church.
Unless they want to hide the fact that this is not real.
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