I’ve probably been around too long to assume that Jesus will definitely return in my life time. In my late teens (oh so long ago!!!) there was a lot of excitement about Jesus imminent return and how the “rapture” could occur at any moment. All of the signs in the world seemed to match Jesus’ prophecies about the signs of the end times and I know friends were not only expecting Jesus to come in their lifetimes, at least one was worried that Jesus might return before his (my friend’s) wedding, so he would miss out on sex.
Now over 30 years have passed and the signs are still there (even more so) and I discovered that the pre-trib rapture has no scriptural foundation. I recognise that before Jesus returns there are many significant things that need to happen. Some of those could happen at any time – others will clearly take longer. The only thing I can say for certain is that they WILL happen at their appointed time and that Jesus WILL return with His saints and for those saints who survive the tribulation.
It is entirely feasible that all of this could happen during my lifetime, but looking back to those teenage years, I know I would have found it hard to believe that I’d be here 30+ years later and that Jesus hadn’t yet returned.
I suppose the thought of surviving until Jesus returns gives me mixed feelings. Firstly, how wonderful it would be to be caught up and whisked off to Jerusalem to meet with Him in the air!!!
But then I realise the hardships and the horrors that would have to be experienced in the preceding years before that glorious day arrived. Who could survive those years without the encouragement and forewarnings given in scripture – particularly in Revelation?
When those days have undeniably arrived, those who witness them will know there are only a few short years to go before our Lord’s triumphant return. How much more will they be encouraged to endure and overcome through those terrible times, knowing how close it is to His return?
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Showing posts with label rapture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rapture. Show all posts
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Thursday, May 21, 2009
21 Things My Bible Didn’t Teach Me.
This list is potentially endless so I’m limiting it to those things that I’ve come across personally. Even with that limitation I might have to do a second list at a later date.
1) The correct response to the gospel in order to be saved is to either a) ask Jesus into your heart, b) say the sinner’s prayer c) respond to an “altar call” in which you do both a & b.
2) Believers will be “raptured” from the earth immediately prior to the Great Tribulation.
3) Upon death Christians go to their eternal home in heaven.
4) Satan and his demons reside in and rule their kingdom from hell.
5) Between His death and resurrection, Jesus was tormented in hell by the devil
6) Jesus victoriously snatched the keys of death and hell from the devil.
7) The devil made me do it.
8) Baptism is optional (it can also be done to babies with a sprinkling of water).
9) Sin in the life of a believer doesn’t matter because all of our sins have been forgiven
10) God loves the world so much…
11) TULIP
12) God offends the mind to reveal the heart
13) People need hours of counselling/ inner healing/ deliverance sessions to be freed from hurts and problems caused by their past.
14) Faith is a force
15) Confess and possess
16) We should not question our leaders (“touch not the Lord’s anointed!)
17) There are different kinds of anointing and some Christians are more anointed than others
18) Tongues is THE sign of being baptised in the Holy Spirit
19) Scripture doesn’t really matter
20) God knows the future because He has fore-ordained everything that will happen.
21) Man has no free will.
1) The correct response to the gospel in order to be saved is to either a) ask Jesus into your heart, b) say the sinner’s prayer c) respond to an “altar call” in which you do both a & b.
2) Believers will be “raptured” from the earth immediately prior to the Great Tribulation.
3) Upon death Christians go to their eternal home in heaven.
4) Satan and his demons reside in and rule their kingdom from hell.
5) Between His death and resurrection, Jesus was tormented in hell by the devil
6) Jesus victoriously snatched the keys of death and hell from the devil.
7) The devil made me do it.
8) Baptism is optional (it can also be done to babies with a sprinkling of water).
9) Sin in the life of a believer doesn’t matter because all of our sins have been forgiven
10) God loves the world so much…
11) TULIP
12) God offends the mind to reveal the heart
13) People need hours of counselling/ inner healing/ deliverance sessions to be freed from hurts and problems caused by their past.
14) Faith is a force
15) Confess and possess
16) We should not question our leaders (“touch not the Lord’s anointed!)
17) There are different kinds of anointing and some Christians are more anointed than others
18) Tongues is THE sign of being baptised in the Holy Spirit
19) Scripture doesn’t really matter
20) God knows the future because He has fore-ordained everything that will happen.
21) Man has no free will.
Friday, July 25, 2008
END TIME PROPHECY or SPECULATION
The end times and the rapture in particular generate countless volumes of speculative fiction – much of which goes under the name of “teaching”. Often these books stir up fear, attempting to drive people to God to escape what they say will happen to those “left behind”.
The issues of the rapture and the great tribulation will take care of themselves if we ensure we give Jesus the priority. Put Him first and we will have no reason to worry. Draw closer to Him and we will increase in the confidence that He will never forsake us.
Personally I am convinced that NO Christians will be raptured prior to the tribulation. I came to this conclusion after putting aside all the books and turning to the scriptures to study the subject for myself. What I found completely changed my previous pre-tribulation theology.
Does that cause me to be afraid of what may be in store for me should I still be alive when the great tribulation comes? I can’t say I would look forward to it – but when my confidence is in Jesus, why should I let fear rule my life?
One of the reasons the book of Revelation was given to the church was to encourage saints who suffer extreme persecution, in particular those who will suffer the greatest persecution immediately prior to Jesus’ return.
In Revelation, alongside the trouble on earth, we are shown the glory of God in His heaven and that HE remains in control. We are shown how those martyred during the tribulation will be taken from earth to be with Him – and those who continue to suffer through this time, without the release given by death, can be encouraged by the joy of knowing that Jesus Himself will be returning VERY SOON. In fact the length of this whole period is continually reinforced – it will be only three and a half years!
Imagine how you would feel at this very moment if you could know for sure that Jesus would be returning in three and a half years time and all uncertainty of how long we have to wait for Him was removed.
And this is the big difference between most books about end times and the scriptures. The books create a sense of fear while the scriptures give encouragement and a sense of joyous expectation. The scriptures prepare us to be ready to welcome the Lord and inform us that believers will be reigning with Him after His return. And it is significant that those who have suffered during the great tribulation get SPECIAL mention among those who will reign with Jesus during the millennium.
Many people put their trust in books about the end times because of the perceived difficulties of understanding biblical end time prophecy. Unfortunately these books are more likely to result in confusion and the adoption of false doctrine.
Personally, I would recommend that BEFORE people turn to the teaching and ideas of others regarding end time prophecy – that they study the basics for themselves, relying ONLY on the Holy Spirit’s teaching from scripture. Recognise that the scriptures were not written for theologians, or for those with exclusive insight. The scriptures were written for us – the every day believer.
Start with the plain, simplest and most straight forward interpretation of what you read. If there’s something that seems to difficult to understand, come back to it AFTER you’ve built a foundation of what you CAN understand.
My suggestion would be to start with the prophecies of Jesus - such as Matthew 24. This gives a good basic frame work.
When you get to Revelation, don’t get overwhelmed by the symbolism. Too much concern about the things we don’t understand can lead to us forcing an interpretation upon the text. Ask the Holy Spirit for understanding, then put our questions aside and allow Him to do the teaching. The answers may not come as quickly as we like – but that usually means we need to learn something else first. (In school we couldn’t tackle mathematical problems until we’d come to grips with basic arithmetic.)
Most of the confusion with end time prophecy has come because we’ve followed the teaching of man rather than the teaching of the Holy Spirit. My own introduction to the subject was via books like Lindsay’s “The Late Great Planet Earth” – today many are introduced by La Haye’s novels.
ALL of those things need to be ignored. The BIBLE should be our only written source of doctrine.
When I put away all of the books and teachings of men and did my own bible study; firstly I found that it wasn’t as complicated as I’d been led to believe, and secondly I had to change my beliefs significantly.
The issues of the rapture and the great tribulation will take care of themselves if we ensure we give Jesus the priority. Put Him first and we will have no reason to worry. Draw closer to Him and we will increase in the confidence that He will never forsake us.
Personally I am convinced that NO Christians will be raptured prior to the tribulation. I came to this conclusion after putting aside all the books and turning to the scriptures to study the subject for myself. What I found completely changed my previous pre-tribulation theology.
Does that cause me to be afraid of what may be in store for me should I still be alive when the great tribulation comes? I can’t say I would look forward to it – but when my confidence is in Jesus, why should I let fear rule my life?
One of the reasons the book of Revelation was given to the church was to encourage saints who suffer extreme persecution, in particular those who will suffer the greatest persecution immediately prior to Jesus’ return.
In Revelation, alongside the trouble on earth, we are shown the glory of God in His heaven and that HE remains in control. We are shown how those martyred during the tribulation will be taken from earth to be with Him – and those who continue to suffer through this time, without the release given by death, can be encouraged by the joy of knowing that Jesus Himself will be returning VERY SOON. In fact the length of this whole period is continually reinforced – it will be only three and a half years!
Imagine how you would feel at this very moment if you could know for sure that Jesus would be returning in three and a half years time and all uncertainty of how long we have to wait for Him was removed.
And this is the big difference between most books about end times and the scriptures. The books create a sense of fear while the scriptures give encouragement and a sense of joyous expectation. The scriptures prepare us to be ready to welcome the Lord and inform us that believers will be reigning with Him after His return. And it is significant that those who have suffered during the great tribulation get SPECIAL mention among those who will reign with Jesus during the millennium.
Many people put their trust in books about the end times because of the perceived difficulties of understanding biblical end time prophecy. Unfortunately these books are more likely to result in confusion and the adoption of false doctrine.
Personally, I would recommend that BEFORE people turn to the teaching and ideas of others regarding end time prophecy – that they study the basics for themselves, relying ONLY on the Holy Spirit’s teaching from scripture. Recognise that the scriptures were not written for theologians, or for those with exclusive insight. The scriptures were written for us – the every day believer.
Start with the plain, simplest and most straight forward interpretation of what you read. If there’s something that seems to difficult to understand, come back to it AFTER you’ve built a foundation of what you CAN understand.
My suggestion would be to start with the prophecies of Jesus - such as Matthew 24. This gives a good basic frame work.
When you get to Revelation, don’t get overwhelmed by the symbolism. Too much concern about the things we don’t understand can lead to us forcing an interpretation upon the text. Ask the Holy Spirit for understanding, then put our questions aside and allow Him to do the teaching. The answers may not come as quickly as we like – but that usually means we need to learn something else first. (In school we couldn’t tackle mathematical problems until we’d come to grips with basic arithmetic.)
Most of the confusion with end time prophecy has come because we’ve followed the teaching of man rather than the teaching of the Holy Spirit. My own introduction to the subject was via books like Lindsay’s “The Late Great Planet Earth” – today many are introduced by La Haye’s novels.
ALL of those things need to be ignored. The BIBLE should be our only written source of doctrine.
When I put away all of the books and teachings of men and did my own bible study; firstly I found that it wasn’t as complicated as I’d been led to believe, and secondly I had to change my beliefs significantly.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
LINKS TO RECOMMENDED SERMONS
Good preaching and teaching can often be very hard to find. The following sermons have been helpful to me.
The following are links to recommended sermons on the SERMONINDEX website
Art Katz – Holiness or Blessing This seems to date from the mid 1990s when the Toronto phenomenon had its highest public profile. Art Katz preached this message during a visit to Australia.
The following are part of a ten sermon series on the book of Revelation. All ten sermons can be heard on the sermonindex site. I recommend these two in particular because they cover potentially contentious issues with a calm and Bible based approach.
David Pawson – “Rapture” Mr Pawson gives a historical and scriptural overview of teaching on the future event known as “the rapture”.
David Pawson- Millennium This sermon follows the talk on the rapture in the 10 part series, and examines the scriptural evidence regarding the 1000 year reign of Christ mentioned in Revelation 20.
The following are links to recommended sermons on the SERMONINDEX website
Art Katz – Holiness or Blessing This seems to date from the mid 1990s when the Toronto phenomenon had its highest public profile. Art Katz preached this message during a visit to Australia.
The following are part of a ten sermon series on the book of Revelation. All ten sermons can be heard on the sermonindex site. I recommend these two in particular because they cover potentially contentious issues with a calm and Bible based approach.
David Pawson – “Rapture” Mr Pawson gives a historical and scriptural overview of teaching on the future event known as “the rapture”.
David Pawson- Millennium This sermon follows the talk on the rapture in the 10 part series, and examines the scriptural evidence regarding the 1000 year reign of Christ mentioned in Revelation 20.
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