Biblically Optimistic and Gospel-Based
"For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." (Luke 21:22)
Posted on 05/24/2011 6:46:25 AM PDT by topcat54
On December 31, 1979, Smith told those who had gathered on the last day of that year that the rapture would take place before the end of 1981. He went on to say that because of ozone depletion Revelation 16:8 would be fulfilled during the tribulation period: “And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given to it to scorch men with fire.” In addition, Halley’s Comet would pass near earth in 1986 and would wreak havoc on those left behind as debris from its million-mile-long tail pummeled the planet.[5] Here’s how Smith explained the prophetic scenario in his book Future Survival which is nearly identical to what appears on the taped message:
The Lord said that towards the end of the Tribulation period the sun would scorch men who dwell upon the face of the earth (Rev. 16). The year 1986 would fit just about right! We’re getting close to the Tribulation and the return of Christ in glory. All the pieces of the puzzle are coming together.[6]
Nothing significant happened in 1986 related to Halley’s Comet, and there is no reason why it should have since it’s been a predictable phenomenon for more than two millennia as it makes its way around the sun every 75 to 76 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanvision.org ...
"For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled." (Luke 21:22)
As ridiculously unbiblical as date setting is (does anyone read Matthew 24:36?) Demar’s eschatology (which denies most of what the Bible says on the subject) is even less biblical and far, far more dangerous.
His “Jesus” is one will simply wait in the wings for thousands and thousands of years, until his followers, through their own political and military efforts, finally conquer the world for Him and hand over the throne to their greatful “Savior”.
This leads to a worldview that is much more like that of Islamists than of Biblical Christians. When unbelievers claim that “Christians” are just like radical Islamists, they are making this false assumption based upon the twisted theology of men like Demar.
"Entire ministries, seminaries, churches, and publishing companies are built on it. Of course, we don’t find today’s popular prophecy teachers arguing for a particular day or hour, but we do find them assuring us that we are the terminal generation and Jesus is returning “soon.”
Telling people that the Lord wants them to take up their cross and follow Him can't possibly pay as well as telling them they're part of a special group the Lord will evacuate before the battle. So, the shepherds continue to sheer their sheep on a regular basis, the sheep continue to meet and bleat on Que, and the next interpretation goes into the sausage grinder as soon as the last interpretation is published. Is not the workman worthy of his Ferrari or Mercedes?
When an organization as large and powerful as Calvary Chapel is utterly devoid of checks and balances or doctrinal, financial, and moral accountability, the results will not be surprising: abuse, power-struggles, and the oft-unspoken fear of raising even the smallest objection to the whims of the powers that be.
-- Jason Spellman, former Calvary Chapel pastor
"...the Calvary Distinctives [link now broken] are a whole lot different than the Westminster Confession. Anyone who reads the Calvary document should be troubled that Chuck Smith makes no reference to God as a Trinity, or to the Deity of Jesus Christ. You can believe in almost anything so long as you behave in the right way."Related threads:
-- Alex Murphy, October 9, 2009
Well I think Demur has got his theology more in line with the truth then what Dispensational date sitters do, Never the less whether the Dispensationist or postmills are right you got a few points about postmills wrong:
--one Jesus will not be sitting down at the Throne in the future, he is already sitting down and ruling.
--Christians will not conquer the world, Jesus will, he will conquer it through the Holy Spirit working through those that are his. He will take all the credit, not Christians through political and military efforts and taking all the credit themselves.
Islam is interested in conquering the world through lying and bloodshed, so is communism. Postmills don't believe that.
—one Jesus will not be sitting down at the Throne in the future, he is already sitting down and ruling
Last time I heard, he was standing...
Acts 7:55 (New International Version)
55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Just sayin...
will
“Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of heaven.” Mat. 26:64
When he sets up His Kingdom, the throne of David where Abraham and his seed are finally able to receive the promise given in Gen ch. 13, ch. 15 and 17.
Jesus is the second person in the triune Godhead. It was Jesus who, being the word, spoke the world into existance. He (Jesus) has always been and will always be God and as such in control of even the little things.
I’ll bet you didn’t know that.
Jesus IS the seed of Abraham referred to in Genesis. Gal. 3:16
The LORD said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
-- Psalm 110:1
Islam is interested in conquering the world through lying and bloodshed, so is communism. Postmills don’t believe that.
_______________________________________
I know some post-mills who do not consider these ideologies a threat at all.
Gee circlecity,
And I thought He was the second person of the triune God, thru whom all things were made that was made.
Why would one exclude the other?
Rev 3:21 "He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."
BTW, this book was written in 1881; you wouldn't believe how accurate it is!
In the late nineteenth century, Father Charles Arminjon, a priest from the mountains of southeastern France, assembled his flock in the town cathedral to preach a series of conferences to help them turn their thoughts away from this life’s mean material affairs—and toward the next life’s glorious spiritual reward. His wise and uncompromising words deepened in them the spirit of recollection that all Christians must have: the abiding conviction that heavenly aims, not temporal enthusiasms, must guide everything we think, say, and do.
When Father Arminjon’s conferences were later published in a book, many others were able to reap the same benefit—including fourteen-year-old Thérèse Martin, then on the cusp of entering the Carmelite convent in Lisieux. Reading it, she says, “plunged my soul into a happiness not of this earth.” Young Thérèse, filled with a sense of “what God reserves for those who love him, and seeing that the eternal rewards had no proportion to the light sacrifices of life,” copied out numerous passages and memorized them, “repeating unceasingly the words of love burning in my heart.”
Now the very book that so inspired the Little Flower is available for the first time in English.
Let the pages of The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life fill you with the same burning words of love, with the same ardent desire to know God above all created things, that St. Thérèse gained from them. Let them also enrich your understanding of certain teachings of the Faith that can often seem so mysterious, even frightening:
Jesus commands us to be ever-watchful for his return, and ever-mindful that we have no lasting city on earth. The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life is an invaluable aid to inculcating in your spirit that heavenly orientation, without which true human happiness cannot be found—in this world or the next.
Sure many of us were caught up in this dispensational pre-trib fervor, but the primary focus of life at CC was bible study and worship. While still attending CC I began to diverge from dispensationalism and the "Jesus is Coming Soon" mindset through my own study and prayer, but I wouldn't trade the 5 years I spent there for anything. If anything it taught me to be more accepting of my fellow Christians regardless of their circumstances, a lesson that we all need to keep learning.
My theology today is solidly reformed 5-point Calvinism, but I credit men like Chuck Smith, who taught that personal Bible study was necessary for Christian growth for planting the seeds that have brought me to where I am today.
I was converted in the heyday of dispensationalism back in the ‘70s. Fancied myself a true believer until a good friend opened the Bible to reveal the richness of what is embodied in the Reformed faith.
Interesting that is was the process and not the substance that stuck with you. I find that true of many former CC members. Truth is in the Bible, not in men. How we learn to study the Bible is obviously the key.
Amen and AMEN!
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