Posts tagged ‘end times’
Two New Books: Anti-Semitism and God’s Highest Purpose
Whatever is removed from under the Temple Mount, is unceremoniously dumped in the Kidron Valley.
I am Amazed at the Division Eschatology Creates!
The overriding problem here is not the difference of opinion, but on the emphasis that people who believe that the Bible teaches a Pretribulation Rapture may in fact wind up going to hell because of it!
Vern Poythress’ “Understanding Dispensationalists”
Those who would so quickly decide that Dispensationalists are heathens, pagans, cult members, or heretics might take a few cues from Poythress!
Islamic Terrorist Phone Transcripts
It is interesting to me how the world’s leaders continue to use Jerusalem as this huge pawn in their game of “king of the mountain.” Jerusalem is God’s Holy City and I doubt seriously that He will allow this to go on much longer. His patience thus far has been remarkable, but if we understand the Bible correctly, we know where this is all heading.
Still MORE Problems with Dispensationalism, Part 3 – Yee Haw!
Most people who are anti-Semitic do not even think they are and believe they are simply “defending God.” These people need to ask themselve why they hate the Jewish people so much.
Problems with Dispensationalism, Part 2 (God’s Sovereignty)
One of the constant hammerings that Dispensationalism takes is the charge that it impugns God’s sovereignty. It apparently does this in a number of ways, but chiefly, it is alleged that Dispensationalism teaches that man has continually thwarted God’s plans. Here is a quote from Bernie Gillespie’s site, in which he wrote an article about what he believes to be the problems with Dispensationalism:
“[Dispensationalism] impugns the sovereignty of God. It teaches that most all of God’s plan(s) to save Mankind failed because it was thwarted by human inability. That’s why dispensationalism teaches that the Church age was a surprise to the prophets. They did not anticipate that when Israel failed to receive Christ that God would turn to the Gentiles. The truth is, the Old Testament does teach that salvation would come to the Gentiles. And the failure of Israel was not a surprise to God, but on the contrary, totally expected. He anticipated all Humanity to fall short of His glory. That is why He determined to the save the world, both Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, in and through Jesus Christ.”(1)
Of course, the tragedy here is that nowhere does Dispensationalism advocate that God has failed…ever. Mr. Gillespie makes the same mistake others have made by assuming that God’s plan always equals His salvation. Gillespie also assumes that he is correct in understanding God’s current dealings with Israel; that God has completely and forever rejected them and in its place, created the Church. This is incorrect and what it says by implication is that God did fail. Even though He created the nation of Israel, and made many promises to them that He said He would never break, it would appear as though He did break those promises, because according to the Covenant Theologian, Israel failed, so God with finality did what He said He would never do; gave them up. Mr. Gillespie’s sentiment with respect to God and Israel is incorrect. Paul makes this perfectly clear in Romans 9 – 11; something that Covenant Theologians have a very difficult time explaining.
Gillespie further confuses the issue with his apparent limited understanding of the Church, believing as he does that the Church was actually revealed in the Old Testament. He believes this because as he points out, the prophets knew that the gospel would eventually be extended to the Gentiles. The truth of the matter though is actually different than what Mr. Gillespie believes. The “mystery” of the Church in its entirety was revealed in the New Testament by Paul. Gillespie is taking two completely different topics (1. the gospel to the Gentiles, and 2. the Church) and treating them as if they are one and the same, however, he has not shown that they are one in the same. That is because he cannot, since Scripture is clear that any aspect of the Church was revealed only by Paul and no one before him.
On the plus side, Gillespie is correct when he states that “the Old Testament does teach that salvation would come to the Gentiles.” Certainly there is no question about that, nor should there be. That is plain from numerous places in Scripture (cf. Genesis 8:20-21; 14:18; 17:4; 22:18; Leviticus 19:33ff; Jonah 3:1; Genesis 17:4; 22:18; Psalms 2:8; Isaiah 42:1, 6; 49:6; cf. Romans 11:1ff; Ephesians 2:11ff). This in no way coincides with the revelation of the Church.
Not one of the Old Testament prophets knew of this entity called the Church, nor did they know how the Church was designed to work spiritually. Paul is the one who claims to be the revealer of that mystery (cf. Ephesians 3:1-6). He makes special mention of the fact that “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,” (Ephesians 3:6).
In the verse immediately prior to the one quoted, referring to this same mystery, Paul unequivocally states, “the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit,” (emphasis added). Here then, we see that Gillespie is in disagreement with Paul. While Paul would agree that the prophets foretold of the extension of the gospel to Gentiles, he would unequivocally disagree that these same prophets knew of the Church. In fact, there is no reason to believe that the prophets understood that the gospel would be offered to Gentiles outside of Israel. That was being done then, in essence, though in a very limited fashion. Since Israel was supposed to be the light of the world, it is natural to conclude that these prophets likely thought in terms of a greater number of Gentiles coming to salvation through the nation of Israel. They had no idea that God’s plans and purposes included a new entity called the Church. None whatsoever.
Because of the obvious nature of Paul’s claims, it is difficult to understand how Mr. Gillespie (or anyone else for that matter), would arrive at the conclusion that one of the main issue at hand between Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism has to do with the gospel being extended to the Gentiles. This is simply not the case in God’s sovereign plan. The gospel was always intended to be extended to Gentiles, as stated. The mystery that Paul reveals goes much further than simply the gospel being extended to the Gentiles, in which this new entity called the Church, would be composed of Jewish and Gentile individuals as fellow heirs, outside of the nation of Israel. This is all part and parcel of God’s sovereignty. He will accomplish His purposes in all of His Creation.
This leads us to this extremely important point. Based on the fact that God is sovereign and according to the passages like Deuteronomy 32:39; Job 42:2; Psalm 2; 22:27-28; Proverbs 16:9; 19:21, and a host of others, God will bring about His purposes, it stands to reason then that man has two choices. They are 1) to voluntarily, with fear and humility bow to God, delivering to Him all that you posses, and all that you are in order for His will to be accomplished in and through you, or 2) resist God, attempting to keep for yourself all that you possess, and all that you are, but His will is still going to be accomplished through you, whether you like it or not.
I believe this is of supreme importance. God’s will is going to be completed and we can be carried along by the scruff of our necks, kicking and screaming, all the while thinking that we are our own person. We can do that, or we can humbly submit to Him, so that we are lining ourselves up with His will. In doing the latter, we place ourselves in the place of blessing God has allotted for us.
All the people who choose hell as their final destination by ignoring God’s saving grace, still do God’s will, though they may think that they are doing their own. This was the case with Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar and countless other individuals who believed that they lived their life, doing what they wanted to do, accomplishing what they wanted to accomplish. This is actually the furthest thing from the truth. God used them for His purposes and plans.
Everyone who has ever lived, is living or will ever live, does what God wants them to do. This is not mere “puppetry,” absolving man from any responsibility for his crimes and sin. This is God’s sovereignty in action, fully in control of all aspects of His entire Creation. How could it possibly be otherwise, if we are going to say that God is sovereign?
Each person has a choice, but the choice is not whether they will or will not do God’s will. The choice is how will they do His will? Will it be done while all the time believing that they control their own destiny, or will be done with the heart that is glad to give up their own life in order that His will be done in and through them knowingly?
No one is in reality their own god, even though they may come to believe it. God’s purposes will not falter or fail. His sovereignty has always been on display, but the problem is that some simply do not recognize this truth.
This will all be made clear for each and every individual – whether spirit being, or human being. All will acknowledge that God is fully and absolutely sovereign, by Himself, with no one who has ever been, or will ever be a threat to His sovereignty.
Dispensationalism has no problem whatsoever understanding that God is fully sovereign over everything which He created. This is overriding truth and highest purpose of all that He accomplishes. His sovereignty is what Creation was made to recognize and understand. It is in voluntarily recognizing and understanding His sovereignty that glory is given to Him.
May we endeavor to glorify Him more and more each and every day while we live. May we seek His face, in order to understand the comprehensive quality of His sovereignty. May we glorify Him through our adoration of Him, because He is sovereign.
God reigns. He reigns supreme. He will always reign supreme. There is no other that deserves our love, our adoration and our worship. He is God, the Sovereign Most High. Holy is His Name and may He receive blessing and honor from all that we do, think and say.
(1) http://www.inchristalone.org/PDFiles/Everlasting.PDF
2012, Devils, Demons and Nephilim..oh my!
Cover of upcoming book
Lately, I have been reading a number of books that delve into the area of the Nephilim, found in the Bible in Genesis 6. What is interesting of course is that the Bible really does not say a whole lot about it. They are mentioned and since their presence occurs prior to the global Flood of which only Noah and his family along with all the animals were saved, it becomes clear that it was like due to their presence on the earth, that many became so evil. This level of evil required God to take drastic action. Everything had to go since there was nothing left untouched by the presence of the Nephilim, except Noah.
What I particularly find fascinating is the fact that even though God destroyed the earth, killing all human life, these same type of beings were found again in the book of Numbers, when the nation of Israel first approached the Land of Canaan. They were supposed to go in and conquer the land and God was also going to use Israel as His arm of judgment. Instead, out of the 12 spies that were sent into the land to scope it out, only two came back – Joshua and Caleb – with a report which indicated that they should go into the land to conquer it, because they believed that the Lord would surely give them the victory.
The other 10 spies basically stated that to go in and try to conquer the land would be a suicide mission. In the fact, the text states that the 10 spies said, “there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them,” (Numbers 13:33). So here again is the use of the word “Nephilim,” the same word that was used in Genesis 6. So the 10 spies saw the outward appearance of these giants, and in spite of what the Lord had continually done for Israel, and how He had overcome every obstacle for them, they could not see beyond the outward. Because of the report of the 10 spies, the people sided with the 10 spies and moaned, groaned and complained about it to Moses. In fact, in the next chapter – Numbers 14:10 – we see that the people were literally ready to kill Moses! It was only the Lord’s direct intervention that kept Moses alive.
Moving ahead a few thousand years to the life of Christ, we read His words as He explained to His disciples what it would be like in the end times, prior to His return. We find the text in the Olivet Discourse found in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. What is interesting here is how Jesus states that during the time prior to His return, the days will be very reminiscent of the days of Noah. Christ elaborates in Matthew 24:38-39 by stating, “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
So on one hand, Christ is saying that life will go on as normal for most. They will not see anything that makes them thing something strange is happening. But if we take our cue from Genesis 6, could it be possible that the time before Christ’s return will see a return of the Nephilim to the earth? If you talk to New Agers and Occultists, the testimony of “transmissions” they’ve received over the years points to this very fact. Interestingly enough, in a book I am just putting the finishing touches on titled Some of Satan’s Major Lies Seen as Truth, I discuss one aspect of church doctrine that has been denied for some time; the Rapture. Many within Christendom do not believe for one reason or another that the Rapture is going to occur. They do not see it taught in Scripture and because of that, they do not agree that it is an actual event.
Interestingly enough though, there are many within the New Age movement who have been taught this very doctrine, by aliens! Sounds bizarre? Of course it does, until you begin to see that these aliens may in fact be none other than demons and fallen angels masquerading as intelligent beings from other worlds. These beings who have the ear of many within the New Age movement, blatantly teach that one day in the not-too-distant future, a major evacuation of upwards of 20 million people will be taken from the earth in “the twinkling of an eye.” In fact, what they teach is very similar to what the Bible teaches and they use the verbiage from the Bible to drive their point home to these lost individuals who believe that “we are all god because god is in all and through all.”
The question then becomes, Why on earth would Satan waste time teaching LOST individuals a doctrine that is absolute fantasy?!” There can only be one reason; he knows it will occur. On one hand, he is teaching those who are lost that the event will happen, and at the same time, is getting the word out among many within Christendom that the event will not occur! He is playing both ends against the middle. If the event was not going to occur, there would be absolutely no good reason for teaching those within the New Age movement that it was going to occur. When it does occur, these folks will simply understand the reason for the event’s occurrence, which is that the 20 million people who have been taken, were evacuated because they are holding the planet and its citizens back from evolving to the next evolutionary and spiritual level! For those who may doubt this, do some research on the New Age movement and their teachings.
Satan knows his time is short and he has only one card left to play in the form of the Antichrist. He is setting the stage (with God’s permission) to mount a fullscale offensive against God the Son, as He returns at the end of the Tribulation/Great Tribulation. We know it will not succeed, but he has to try anyway.
These are some interesting times; moreso than possibly any other period of history, due to the proximity with the events of Matthew 24. Some things have already occurred and each day draws us closer to the end. Just as it was in the days of Noah, when he preached for 120 years that the end was coming, so is it today. Noah preached and people laughed. We preach and people laugh, saying “Where is the promise of His coming?” (cf. 2 Peter 3:4)
Psalm 2 informs us that God has the last laugh, but even then, He offers salvation to those who recognize their need for it. The time is short and even if the Tribulation/Great Tribulation is 1,000 years away from today, no one knows when their last day on this earth will be. It seems to me that it is too much to risk by putting off a decision that will make a difference in eternity.
Many within this world are currently looking to 2012 as the final countdown and last hurrah of present earth. They believe an end will come (though not the biblical end), and a new beginning with occur after that. The truth is that the end will come; the end of this age. Christ returns and sets up His kingdom from which He will rule for 1,000 years. Those who are His share that time and forever after that with Him. Those who are not, will not. It is very simple and very plain. Those who ignore the warnings are putting their very souls at risk. I pray that you will recognize your need for Him as Savior.
The Searing Storm of Socialism
I find it fascinating that this country, after having been a democracy since its inception, is now on a fast-track to Socialism! The absurdity of this is that there are people who actually believe that Socialism works! This in spite of the fact that it has never worked anywhere in the world before.
Frankly, I think this is all a stunt to simply take what people earn and give to others. It’s another form of Robin Hood, with Obama being Robin and he’s certainly taking what he can, in order to give to the “hood.” In a short time, he has literally taken over many of the banking institutions, GM, as well as others, and now wants to create healthcare for everyone. As more than one senator has asked, where is the money coming from to put this plan into action? Obviously, it is coming from those of us who pay our taxes year in and year out.
What I also find interesting is that ever since Obama took office, not ONE peep has been heard from two of the most loudmouthed individuals representing the African American community. That’s right, I speak of none other than Jackson and Sharpton. Where have these guys been hiding? Is it possible that the White House door has been open for them all the time? If so, how has the press not found out about it? Oh, that’s right, Obama doesn’t feel he needs to share that knowledge with the public, even though it is the public that owns the White House. I realize Bush did this, but he wasn’t right either.
It is exceedingly interesting how fast and far left this country is moving. However, when all is said and done, it is occurring only because God is directing things. As a Christian, I am commissioned by God to pray for the leaders of this country and the world. I have no fear that Obama will actually ruin anything. What he accomplishes while in office will be what God ultimately wants accomplished and the reality is that as we move toward the final stage of the End Times, God’s designed ends will come to fruition. Care to know what they are? Read Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation, or you can read “Footsteps of Messiah,” or “Return of the Antichrist,” by Patrick Heron.
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