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A Sobering Message to Comet Elenin 9/29 Date Setters – Repent

09/26/2011 34 Comments

First, I want to assure you that I long for the Lord’s appearance and I believe it is near. I also think there are good arguments to support the idea. Unfortunately, there are also some really bad ones. I think it is neat that the constellations are lining up as Revelation 12 describes on 9/29 because I think it is the real birthday of Jesus but I would never use that as predictor for Christ’s return. I confess that I used to get excited by many of the various date setting schemes. However, I was convicted by the Spirit of God when I saw that they always fail and lead to great error and confusion. I repented and I refuse to set dates or make predictions. To say the time is near is enough. John the Baptist came as a prophet declaring the Day of the Lord. His message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”(Mt 3:2). Will you listen?

Harold Camping recently set a date and when it passed, he simply moved it forward. This is not new behavior as he did the same thing back in 1994.

Harold Camping, in his book Are You Ready?, predicted the Lord would return in September 1994. The book was full of numerology that added up to 1994 as the date of Christ’s return.  (rapture ready.com)

The only reason someone does not repent when they have advocated a date and it passes is pride. Pride is the root of sinfulness. CS Lewis famously wrote:

Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind. (Lewis, Mere Christianity, 122)

If you are right and Jesus returns then Hallelujah but I hope you are prepared to humble yourself when nothing happens. So what are you going to do if nothing happens on 9/29?  Will you be like Harold Camping make excuses and change the date or will you admit you are wrong and repent of date setting? Repent means you completely turn from it. What I would like to suggest is that you simply learn your lesson and never engage in it again. I pray you will swallow your pride, turn to Jesus and repent. Also, do as I am doing and teach others not to do it. It is your duty as a disciple. This sort of thing has caused so many problems for Christians, it is not harmless, it ruins lives!

For the past month, reports have been pouring out of Vietnam that an unknown number of Hmong Christians have been killed, attacked, or arrested by military forces.  The Vietnamese government has closed off outside access to the Muong Nhe District in Dien Bien, where an estimated 10,000 Hmong Christians from the Central Highlands and Dien Bien have been congregating since late April.  Insiders who are able to leak information past government forces and media controls have reported that as many as 70 Hmong have been killed so far, though exact numbers cannot be confirmed.  These Hmong have also been brutally attacked and arrested by the Vietnamese government, while most are fleeing into hiding to spare their lives.  Meanwhile the outside world is unable to send in help.

But why did this even take place?  What led 10,000 Hmong Christians to come together in peace yet face such a brutal and violent end?  Answer: Harold Camping.  Worldwide media have reported on the gathering of Hmong in this region, and ICC sources have confirmed the underlying premise of these gatherings to be primarily due to Mr. Camping’s influence.

Persecution.org

Knowing that date setting leads to this sort of thing should pierce your heart and lead to repentance.

See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

(Mt 24:25-27)

Please see the Date Setter’s Diary at Rapture Ready.com

 

Filed Under Apologetics Tagged With 9/11. Prophecy, 9/29/11, Comet Elenin, Date Setting, Rapture, Revelation 12, Second Coming, tribulation

Why Eschatology is Important Part Three

07/20/2010 5 Comments

continued from Part 1 & Part 2 (make sure to hover the pointer over scripture references)

In this installment I get to the purpose of this series, “Why Eschatology is Important.” My motivation for writing this is that I have noticed that one’s eschatological persuasion influences almost every other element of theology. An errant eschatology is the root of numerous heresies from pluralism to “kingdom now” theology.  I am also writing this because I have had friends say to me, “We really can’t know anything about all of that, so it’s a waste of time.”  There are a number of problems with that view.

First, Jesus spoke on it at length in the kingdom parables, the two Olivet discourses, and in the book of Revelation. Some make the error of making it plural “Revelations”, yet verse one is explicit, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,” (Re 1:1). The revelation from Father to Son to angel to disciple to you and me, this is a great privilege! Not to mention, the book of Revelation is the only book of the bible that promises a special blessing to those who study it (Re 1:3). Furthermore,  Titus 2:12-13 infers that waiting for our blessed hope is an incentive to Godliness. Peter even speaks of “speeding its coming” (2 Pet. 3:12). Since the Lord and the disciples thought it was that important for us, shouldn’t we study it diligently?

Next, eschatology is a major theme of the Old Testament. God inspired the prophets and apostles to write a plethora of apocalyptic material. For instance, Isaiah 34:1–8 and Obadiah 15 describe a Day of the Lord when God will judge all nations of the world.  Joel 3:1–16 and Zechariah 14:1–3, Zec. 14:12–15 refer to a Day of the Lord that will involve God’s judgment of the armies of all the nations of the world, when those armies gather to wage war against Israel and the city of Jerusalem. The ramifications for world politics are enormous. Have you ever considered how your vote plays a part? God went to great lengths to deliver and preserve his word; we ought to take it seriously.

Another reason is that, as Isaac Newton observed, God held the first century Jews accountable for knowing prophecy. It is likely he will us as well. In fact, Jesus taught that we have a responsibility to know prophecy and keep watch. “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Mt 25:13)  “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.” (Lk 21:34) Paul confirms this in his letter to the Thessalonians, “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.” (1 Th 5:2-5)

My reason for walking through the visions in Daniel was to demonstrate that God has written the future in advance and that the Jewish Messianic expectation of a political kingdom was (is) justified. The Scriptures certainly teach that God created the universe for His own purposes (Rev. 4:11). As a result, the heavenly and earthly realms are owned and ultimately ruled by God (1 Chr. 29:11–12; 2 Chr. 20:6 Ps. 47:2; Ps. 103:19; Ps. 135:6; Isa. 40:12–26; Jer. 10:7, 10; Dan. 4:17, Dan. 4:34; Acts 17:24; 1 Tim. 1:17; Rev. 5:13). Yet they are now under the rule of a usurper. Mankind was given dominion over the earth in Genesis 1:26, yet Satan took it away when he enticed Adam to disobey God.  Satan is god of this present world system. Jesus said it twice, (Jn 14:30; Jn 12:31) Paul taught it, (2 Cor. 4:4; Eph 2:2) and John,

“We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)

The protoevangelium (first gospel) of Genesis 3:15 prophesied that the seed of the woman would one day crush his head. Like bookends, I believe this event is also prophesied in Revelation 20. Now we patiently await His return. He is coming!

Just before the ascension (Acts 1:6) the disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Did Jesus say, “Sorry guys not going to happen, Israel forfeited?”

Nope.

He says “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”

It wasn’t for His disciples to know. Yet this infers a future time that God has fixed when He will restore the Kingdom to Israel. This time was prophesied by the prophets and Jesus reveals it explicitly in Revelation 20. In His word He told us to watch (Luke 21:34, Matt 25:14), he gave us signs to watch for (Matt 24:6-8, 2 Tim 3:13, 1 Tim 4:1-2, 2 Pet. 3:3-14, Jude 16-18, 2 Tim. 3:4-5). It is our blessed hope (Tit 2:13). We are told to pray “Thy Kingdom Come” and to “speed its coming” (2 Pet. 3:12). The future Kingdom that bible believing Christians are eagerly anticipating also delineates a major division in biblical theology, millennial views.

…Continued

Filed Under Eschatology Tagged With Daniel, End Times, Eschatology, Great Tribulation, last days, Millennium, Parousia, Premillennial, Revelation, Second Coming