“ Great Sermon! ” I understand this is an debate solely among premillenialists. But I’m a postmillenialist. Let me just point out the verse that says that “no man will say to his brother ‘know the Lord’, for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.â€
“ Great Sermon! ” Rev 3:10 the word - keep - doesn't mean raptured or caught up. It means to guard, to take care of, attend to. People always use Rev 3:10 to prove that they will be raptured before the great tribulation. The church at Philadelphia and Smyrna will be the two witnesses, the two lamp stands during the GT. The people of God that are like those two churches in Rev will bare witness of Christ gospel. The other five lamp stand churches are apostates and God will not use them in the GT. We will go through it! Be ready.
“ Great truths. ” This was a very good message. I am glad to hear that this speaker believes that the Church will go through the Tribulation. It is so relevant especially in times like these...
“ What about the church in Philadelphia? ” Revelation 3:10...: "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience (Christ's waiting to rule), I (Jesus) will keep thee from the hour of temptation (tribulation), which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth."
This verse strongly suggests a pre-tribulation offer (rapture) as I understand it.
How a believer understands God's Word (the Bible) in this case does not affect the believer's salvation. Our waiting for the blessed hope of the Lord Jesus' return, at any moment, should affect how we live though. That is another reason why I see more merit in a pre-trib rapture position over the other positions, which do not look for the Lord's possible return at any moment.
“ Great Sermon! ” I was battling with suicidal thoughts and i heard this sermon just at the right time. Thank you.I now understand who they were coming from and have committed my way to The Lord.
“ Who Populates the Millennium? ” Thanks, Pacman76706, for listening! Please read my previous comments for a fuller answer to your question. Let me say at this point that I find no clear evidence that ALL unbelievers will be destroyed at the Return of the King. We only KNOW for sure that it is those unbelievers who resist Jesus' Coming who are for certain destroyed at Armageddon. I suggest that those unbelievers elsewhere who are WILLING to submit to Jesus' rule will be allowed to enter into the Messianic Kingdom. Why would Jesus need to rule in His earthly Kingdom with a rod of iron (Rev. 12:5, 19:15) if only resurrected Believers inhabit the Kingdom? And if only the resurrected Redeemed inhabit the Kingdom, where do all the babies come from (Rev.20:7-9) that comprise the multitude led by Satan in his final rebellion? It appears that some submissive unbelievers are allowed into the Kingdom whose presence (and ultimate rebellion) will demonstrate conclusively the absolute depravity of fallen man even in the near perfect conditions of the Messianic Kingdom with Jesus visibly and gloriously reigning on the Throne of David in Jerusalem AND Who is assisted by glorified Saints in His reign!
“ Thanks Giancarlos for your comment ” Thanks, Giancarlos, for your thoughtful comment. I am a BIG admirer of Dr. John MacArthur and have been for more than forty years. Anything he says MUST be taken seriously, and I ALWAYS do. However, it is his understanding of the identity and nature of both Israel and the church which lead him to embracing a pre-trib rapture. If this understanding is incorrect, so on this point, so will be his deduction of a pre-trib rapture. I hope he is correct, but remain unconvinced that he is on this point. Your quote of Dr. MacArthur, while relevant to the discussion, does NOT refute a post-tribulation rapture. If, as I suspect, the Holy Spirit will move in astonishing ways during the first half of the final seven years, He will position each Believer (willing to obey His voice) to the exact place in the world for him/her to have an optimal evangelistic ministry that will occur during the final half of the seven years. As God protected and provided for Israel during the plagues of Egypt, He will have no difficulty providing for the Faithful during the Great Tribulation. We will NOT hunker down in bunkers!!! We will stand on the rooftops and shout the Gospel...and consider it an honor to lay down our lives for the honor of our King! Come, Lord Jesus!
“ Great Sermon! ” Denise,
Is is a pleasure and my duty to pray for you.
Trials can be frightening some times. But I will pray that God will strengthen you in the inward man and that he will be glorified. I pray that he will flood your spirit with his word of his promises to comfort you.
May you draw close to the one who said I will never leave you nor forsake you.
May the grace of God sustain your praise.
“ Great Sermon! ” I am listening to this sermon in while living in a thirty five foot R.V. in the midst of failed business, a lost home, life savings and lost health. I am fifty two years old and still ailing and I don't know when this journey will come to it's close. God help me to find hope and strength through this lonely dark night.
“ Enlightening Sermon! ” The insight and principles laid out in this message are outstanding. They really bring together the 4 "secrets" that will make our prayer life much more effective and give us many blessings as we see our prayers answered. This message should be heard regularly so that these "secrets" will form our daily prayers, not only when we have needs, but to better communicate with God, who welcomes them.
“ Great Teaching! ” This teaching is what we Christians really need to know to be effective in evangelizing our neighbors who have questions about the difference between Islam's Allah, the JW's Jehovah, and the one true God of the Bible, Yahweh, who brings salvation.
“ Responding to Dylan's comment ” Thanks, Dylan, for listening and for entering into the conversation. I think that you have missed Jesus' point. Jesus is establishing an over-arching truth of spiritual warfare that is so fundamental that even the Pharisees cannot argue against its powerful implications. There is no "sort of" in this statement. If Satan's servants are working against their master, his kingdom of darkness will not stand. Therefore, Jesus argues, He cannot be of Satan's kingdom as His enemies were asserting. A truth so fundamental applies to God Kingdom, as well. God would not sabotage the sanctifying work of grace of His Spirit in the lives of His redeemed ones by allowing us to have two fundamentally different natures with two diametrically opposed allegiances belonging to two conflicting kingdoms. To do otherwise would make no sense at all and would set the Child of God up for interminable frustration and failure! Life in this world is challenging enough having to live out our days in a fallen earth-suit as we await our deliverance through death (yes, a blessing in many ways) and the bodily resurrection. Jesus died that we might have life and have it more abundantly. God has set us up for victory, not defeat!
“ Great Sermon! ” To Mark:
That's a good point. I think "a house divided against itself cannot stand" was not a metaphor applicable to the relationship of the human body and the human mind. It was used to illustrate that one cannot "sort of" be on the side of God or Satan. God gives Christians a spiritual awareness when they are redeemed that allows their mind or house to base itself in Him. The spirit will always be at war with the body because of the innate fallen nature of our physical body no matter how pious and obedient we are. "Being divided" against oneself in this instance isn't referring to the war between body and spirit or body and mind but being spiritually on the side of God or the side of Satan. It helped illustrate the illogical accusations of the Pharisees and how if one is truly a servant of God, one cannot also be serving satan. The Pharisees accused Jesus of doing this, but the line "a divided house cannot stand against itself" was to illustrate how such accusations didn't hold their weight logically or spiritually. We will always be at war with our bodies until we no longer are stuck in them.
2/16/2024 5:21 AM
