Summary of Bible references on the Rapture

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
35,157
6,253
113
https://www.yahoo.com/news/5-rare-1-000-rain-170329380.html

Wed, August 24, 2022 at 6:59 PM


On July 26, 9 inches of rain fell in 24 hours in St. Louis, shattering an all-time record, with over a foot of rain measured in some suburbs.
Two days later, dozens died in eastern Kentucky when more than 10 inches of rain fell, sending rivers rising several feet in hours to well beyond historical record crests and washing away homes near the shores.
As August began, another heavy rain event drenched southeastern Illinois with radar estimates of 10-13 inches of rain in just hours. That same week, the normally arid Death Valley had a year's worth of rainfall in three hours, swamping the region with floodwaters that shut down every road inside the national park, some suffering moderate to severe damage.
Just this week, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex suffered widespread flooding as 3 inches of rain fell in an hour, part of a series of thunderstorms that would drop more than 9 inches at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in 24 hours, with some suburbs in eastern Dallas reporting more than 15 inches of rain.

Not to be outdone, some areas of Mississippi saw more than 8 inches of rain in only three hours on Wednesday morning. The sudden flooding caused the need for dozens of rescues and prompted Flash Flood Emergencies.

All six extreme events reached the local threshold to be classified by the National Weather Service as a "1-in-1,000-year" rainfall event, yet all occurred within the same month, much less a millennium. Last year, deadly flooding that struck New York City and New Jersey from the remnants of Hurricane Ida and catastrophic flooding in west-central Tennessee also qualified as extremely rare 1-in-1,000-year rainfall events.
 

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
35,157
6,253
113
Just how close is it?

https://rumble.com/v1h9xp7-shortness-of-the-hour-08252022.html

What is the purpose of prophecy? You get warned so you can repent, turn to the Lord and be saved. But what happens if you don't repent? In this prophecy they say the US has refused to repent so the judgement is coming.

When Jonah preached they repented and that caused the judgement to be delayed, however the repentance was half hearted and years later the judgement came. There is no point to prophecy if there is nothing you can do about it. Prophecy should cause you to repent and to pray.
 

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
35,157
6,253
113
When secular shows and Bible exposition merge

 

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
35,157
6,253
113
World History in light of the Gospel going forth

At the turn of the century in the early 1900s the gospel was going all over the world, it was a major move in the church and this was interrupted by WWI.

That is a preview of what the Lord is saying, this gospel will be preached throughout the entire inhabited earth and then the end will come. WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, the Holocaust, the atom bomb and then the Nuremberg trials are the preview of the end of this age.

Today the gospel is going forth exponentially more than it was then. We have youtube, the internet, websites and forums, and you have google translate. The bible is free online and there are many commentaries and tools that are also free.

This is the word of our testimony and it is being established by the mouths of many witnesses.

Just like Acts we have filled the internet with this man's teaching and we are determined to shine a light on evil and salt this world.

There is a wide variety of testimonies. You have a small pastor in California with the S4C Global community church. There are people all over the world watching his videos. You have wacky preachers like Dr. Barry Awe, you have retired executives like Chuck Missler, you have prophetic dreams like Ken Peters or Dana Coverstone, you have people who used to be in satanic cults, you have Ken Potter who "asks the watchmen" doing interview shows, and you have the prophecy club which also highlights prophetic speaking like Dimitri Duduman. My point is this is like all the different free will offerings used to build the tabernacle according to the word of Moses.

Remember the great commission, remember that we are witnesses of His glory and majesty, and remember in this word there is light and the light overcomes the darkness.
 

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
35,157
6,253
113
Revelation 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. 14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.


I suspect that this flood is the destruction of the 3 Gorges dam which would take place if there were a war with Taiwan.

16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

Look at the drought in the Yangtze river basin, this will help swallow up much of the flood waters.


17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

"The remnant of her seed" sounds to me like those who are left after the rapture.
 

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
35,157
6,253
113
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

I recently watched a message on Youtube from a preacher who had "88 reasons why we don't know the date or time". He began his message with references from 9 different chapters in the Bible showing that the rapture is Biblical. It was a great introduction that had me really looking forward to the "88 reasons". However, it fizzled after that. The 88 reasons for why we don't know the date and time became one reason inferred from illustration of the rapture as the bridegroom coming for his bride. His point was "it is supposed to be a surprise". That was the most sexist teaching I ever heard.

The bride is "supposed" to be beholding and reflecting the groom. If the two were dancing the groom is leading but the bride is not supposed to be tripping all over his feet, she is supposed to seamlessly follow his lead so the two move as one. I had an experience once, I was at this big training in the Bible, Christians from the entire country were there. Each of us was going to be tested by the trainer, it was "supposed to be" a surprise. There was this very pretty sister that I liked (the daughter of an elder) and after a meeting I was standing in a group waiting on something. I was looking at her from across the room. She knew I was watching her, she made sure I had a very clear view of her, yet her head was buried in her Bible diligently studying it. From that I was able to discern that I was going to be tested that night. So I studied and sure enough I was tested that night. It has always been my experience that women are much more in the know about what is going on. They may pretend to be surprised when the bridegroom comes but that is just so they don't hurt his feelings.

Luke 12:39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

Understand what? Is he supposed to know? If I was in the home security business I think I would be tuned in to when thieves come, what they are looking for, and when there is a thief in the neighborhood. This simply says the owner doesn't know what hour he is coming. No doubt he has put locks on the doors and taken other precautions to protect the house. So it should not be a surprise.

John 16:4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,

This is what the Lord is saying, we have been warned about what to look out for.

John 12:42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue;

It was shocking to people that the Democrats were accusing 75 million Americans who voted for Trump of "insurrection" and wanting to "reeducate their children". But we were warned this would happen. It is shocking that they said it was unconstitutional to mandate vaccines and a few months later mandated them, but we were warned that this would be a time of lawlessness.

Matthew 24:10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,

Again, we were warned about cancel culture as well. I just heard a man share how he had become a "witch" and a Catholic priest agreed to ordain him as a Catholic Priest if he in return would ordain the Catholic as a witch. He also told of how a Catholic Bishop also made the same agreement.

Luke 19:44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

We were told specifically that we are supposed to recognize the time of the Lord's coming to us. We are told specifically that we will see "the day approaching". Imagine you were the betrothed and your fiance is preparing a "mansion" (a bridal suite) for you. I would bring him lemonade and notice that the shingles were just delivered. Later I'd bring dinner and notice the carpet is being installed. I would see the day approaching. Enough with the "ding bat" jokes and "dumb blond" jokes, I am not a fool. The woman is betrothed, yes she may not know the hour but surely she knows it is coming shortly and to get ready. The house owner may not know what hour the thief is coming but surely he is paying attention to the news, seeing all the crime and knows it is coming. He should have prepared. Surely if you are aware you see them putting people out of the synagogue and you see the apostasy in the church.

Matthew 16:3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

There are signs of the times that we are supposed to be able to interpret and we will be rebuked if we can't. Weather forecasting is not perfect, and yet we do it every day. We understand that all the signs taken together have significance that can be interpreted.

Revelation 3:3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

If you are oblivious to what the bridegroom is doing do you really love him? You love sleep more than Him? So yes, you may not know the hour, but you should know the time that we are living in and realize the day of the Lord is at hand.

4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

This is a direct contradiction of what this brother taught. You are not supposed to be surprised, you are supposed to be in the light. Imagine the house owner didn't know what hour the thief was coming, but then his dogs started barking and he woke up. Doesn't mean he was surprised. If he had prepared and was ready for him this is not a "surprise".

A servant should be like his master. Luke 9:51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.

The Lord knew when the time approached, so if you are a servant like the master then why wouldn't you? In August Mayor DeBlasio said teachers would be required to have the vaccine by September 27th. I knew this would not be rescinded because this was God's judgement. Within 24 hours I was calling to inquire the process to retire. Others were protesting, complaining, crying, and wringing their hands. They were caught by surprise. I went to rallies as part of the process of shaking the dust off my feet as a testimony against them.

John 16:21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world

The Lord's second coming is not only likened to a bridegroom coming for His bride, it is also likened to a woman giving birth to a child. The woman does not know the day nor the hour that she will give birth, that doesn't mean that giving birth "is supposed to be a surprise". Surely she knows she is pregnant. During the Revelation 12 sign that appeared on September 23, 2017 Jupiter was in the woman's womb for 42 months before coming out. That was a great sign in the heavens of what was coming.

Luke 12:42 The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?

This is another analogy given to the Lord's return. The faithful servants are supposed to know the "proper time". Who wants a cook that is surprised when it is lunch time or dinner time? Think about Passover, they were given detailed instructions on what to prepare and when to prepare it so they would all be well fed prior to leaving Egypt.

Luke 14:17 At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’

The Lord's coming is also likened to a great banquet that we have been invited to. If you are the Lord's servant what are you saying? Come, for everything is now ready. It isn't a surprise for you.

Matthew 21:34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

The Lord's coming is also likened to harvest time. Are farmers supposed to be surprised that it is harvest time? A real farmer is walking through the field every day inspecting the crops. A real farmer sees the day approaching. The farmer doesn't know the hour that he will reap but that doesn't mean he is surprised when the harvest does come.
 

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
35,157
6,253
113
Babylon the Great

Mystery, Babylon in Revelation 17 refers to the Vatican in Rome. Babylon the Great in Revelation 18 refers to the US and multinational corporations.

18 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

The merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. The US imports over 2.5 trillion dollars worth of goods a year. Vatican city is a non commercial economy with no major imports or exports. No merchants are waxed rich because of the abundance of her delicacies.

4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. 7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. 9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

I can see them saying that the Vatican is a great city, but a mighty city? Italy is not a superpower, and how much less the Vatican.

11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

The great Babylon in Revelation 18 is a consumer nation. Compared to the US the Vatican is a trivial consumer. China is the biggest merchant of the Earth, and their biggest customer by far is the US. They wouldn’t care if the Vatican went up in smoke, but if the US does, that is different.

12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, 13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. 14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. 15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 And saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! 19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

No shipmaster has been made rich by trade with the Vatican. The US on the other hand has major ports in the Atlantic and the Pacific.

20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. 21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. 22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;

The Vatican is a non commercial city, they are describing commerce.

23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

The Great Babylon in this chapter has merchants who were the great men of the earth. Bill Gates is a “great man of the earth”, Elon Musk is a great man of the earth. Google, Pfizer, Hollywood, Disney, these are the things that have deceived the whole earth. The Vatican does not have “merchants that were the great men of the earth”.

24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Are we talking about the CIA? Epstein island and child trafficking? All the various wars we have been involved in around the globe?

Jeremiah 51:7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

The word of God is fine gold. The US took the word of God to the whole world. That was like a cup of fine gold. But in that cup they filled it with McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Hollywood movies, Pfizer vaccines, etc. When the world realizes that the vaccine is a kill shot who do you think they will be mad at, the Vatican? No, it was the US that pushed this on the world.

13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.

The US has bases on every continent, all seven of them. The US dwells on many waters. No other country can say the same. Britain used to be the empire that the sun never set on. She is the mother of the US.

Jeremiah 50 and 51 describe many nations coming against Babylon to bring it down, that they are very skilled and have the top weapons. You would not need that to go against the Vatican, but you would certainly need that to go against the US.
 

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
35,157
6,253
113
Luke 16:1-12 -- What is this I hear about you wasting the Lord's gift to you?

Luke 15 has three stories that are very familiar topics to preachers. The lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. Everyone “knows” those stories, but then you come to Luke 16 and it is “say what?” When I come to a chapter like this I have to wonder if I really understood what I was reading because if I did why is this chapter so mind boggling? In chapter 15 we are rejoicing over finding something that was lost. This chapter is about a manager who is about to lose his job because the owner has not been getting a good return on his investment. Secondly, I very much dislike the tendency of expositors to refer to “additional teachings'' because they didn’t know how they fit in. That is like rebuilding an engine, you took it apart, then rebuilt it, and now you are left with a few extra parts and you are trying to tell me these are “extra”. They aren’t extra, you just don’t understand how they fit in! Finally, I love chapters and verses of the Bible that I do not understand because I have something to pray over and I know when the Lord opens up the verse to me it will be a new revelation that I didn’t have before. That is what I hope to see here in chapter 16.

16:1 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

The context is the manager is being audited with the threat that he very likely will lose his job. The analogy here is the manager of a business like Best Buy is being audited, but the greater context is that Jesus is the owner of this business, He is building His church, and this person is one of His servants. For comparison we should consider the verse where He says He gives one servant 5 talents, another 2 and another 1 and tells them to trade while He goes into a far country and then when He returns they each need to give account of what they have done with that talent. If you are the manager of a BestBuy nothing in that store belongs to you, everything belongs to the owner, and it is your job to sell it to the people in that city. Likewise, if you are a Christian nothing belongs to you, every experience and gift you have has been given to you from the Lord and if you don’t share that gift it is a waste. When I was first saved I met with a church that had the practice of giving testimonies during every meeting. The message might go for an hour but then they would reserve another 30 minutes for all the members to share testimonies. Generally there was a time limit, definitely don’t speak for more than five minutes, but usually the time limit would be shorter. It can be terrifying to stand up in front of hundreds of people and share your poor little pathetic experience. So for months I was struggling, the Spirit was bothering me to share some experience, but in my mind it was too trivial. The meeting would end and I would go home defeated. Then I read this verse and it really terrified me. I felt the Lord was speaking to me, I have given you many experiences and what have you done with them? I am hearing that these experiences are wasted on you!

3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ 5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’ 7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

There is a verse in Proverbs that says a word spoken in season is like apples of gold in settings of silver. To have that perfect testimony that exactly hits the point, it is like a beautiful treasure. I knew I had many experiences I wanted to share, but you want that perfect time. But once I thought I could get fired my thought was it is time to have a “going out of business sale”. Better to get something rather than nothing. I started to share my testimonies, didn’t worry if they were perfect, everything was being marked down. It didn't matter that the testimony didn't fit the message, everything must go!

8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.

This word “dishonest” is also translated as “unjust” and “unrighteous”. A hard word to swallow, but true. Everyone wants to have a “perfect” testimony. Sorry, if your testimony is “perfect” then you are being dishonest. The truth is that you are unrighteous and unjust and are in the process of being transformed. You aren’t there yet. Why is it that we think we can be street smart when we are in the street, but the minute you step into the church you can’t do that?

For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.

Most Chistians sit dumbly in the meeting hall. Why? They are afraid to share a testimony that reveals they are dishonest, unrighteous or unjust. Yet, look at all these prevailing ministries of people who once were in gangs or on drugs. They begin by sharing the testimony of how they were unrighteous.

9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Everyone loves to quote the verse that “money is the root of all evil”. Of course, there is no such verse in the Bible. The real verse says that “the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil”. It isn’t money that is the root, it is the love of money, and it isn’t the root of all evil, but rather all sorts of evil. The Lord just threw in a side teaching here, you can use money in this age to help you get welcomed into eternity. Money is temporary, it is a vapor, it will disappear, but as long as it is here you can use it to get something eternal. There is no way to save money eternally, or to put money away so that your children and grandchildren and great grandchildren will all be rich. But the one thing you can do with money that will last for eternity is to “gain friends for yourself that will welcome you into eternity”. The same is true of that talent the Lord gave you to use in this age. There are many Christians who have helped me on my path and I intend to welcome each and every one of them into the eternal habitations. My cousin was extremely diligent to raise money to help a hospital for the disabled (his daughter was paralyzed in an accident) and also to raise money for the local lacrosse team. At his funeral it was standing room only in a church that must have held at least a thousand people.

10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

I sure hope you just caught that. How many people ask “if there is a God why does He allow this?” referring to all kinds of corruption and unrighteousness. God is not about to trust you with true riches until He knows how you will handle worldly wealth. In this age your behavior will prove whether or not you can be trusted with true wealth. Did you waste the experiences the Lord gave you? Did you waste the gift God gave you? If so, at the judgement seat of Christ you will lose your job as a manager, I suspect there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Or, were you honest about being dishonest? Did you share your testimonies of being unrighteous, how the Lord saved you, redeemed you, and sanctified you? Did you make friends with money that would welcome you into eternal habitations? If so there might be a thousand people cheering you as you appear before the Lord, just like my cousin. All those people who were so corrupt, robbing widows of their houses during the mortgage crisis, that will surely be a key piece of evidence as they appear before the Great White Throne as to whether they are cast into the Lake of fire or not. In the grand scheme of eternity our life is a blip on a screen, but it is enough for the Lord to know whether or not to give us the true riches, and it is enough to judge beyond a reasonable doubt if someone should be tossed into the Lake of fire.

Chapter 15 talked about all those believers who went astray, backslid, and needed to brought back to the Lord. Chapter 16 talks about those silent ones sitting in the pews. They are not the lost sheep but they are wasting the Lord's gifts to them.
 

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
35,157
6,253
113
For those that love the Lord

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

The Lord has given us commands, if you love the Lord keep those commands. Today we have people telling us we can ignore those commands. This thread is not for those who think we can tell others to ignore Jesus' commands.

Luke 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

These are the two commands in particular. The context of watch is the Lord's second coming. We are commanded to be watching for the signs, to know the prophecies, to be alert for what is coming. Instead many use the expression "no one knows the day or the hour" as though that absolves them of having to keep this command. If you were assigned to the defense of the nation to guard our air space from foreign airplanes and missiles I would not be very happy with you if your attitude was "hey, no one knows the day or the hour" as an excuse for not watching. Yes, we know that, that is why we have you on the wall watching. The second command is to pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape. Today we have these teachers saying "once saved always saved" nullifying the Lord's command here. There is no need to pray always that you might be worthy to escape because if you were saved once then that is it, you have a lifetime pass to the amusement park.

Mark 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. 34 For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. 35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: 36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Who is the porter that is commanded to watch? Well Jesus was talking to the 12 apostles, so they are obviously the porter. But then He concludes "what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch". He commanded the 12 apostles to watch and then He said that same command applies to all believers.

1Corinthians 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

While we are watching we will see some scary things. We will see millions of coffins being readied, we will see guillotines being purchased, we will see 87,000 IRS agents being hired to use guns and deadly force, we will see sorcerers deceiving the whole world with a kill shot, and we will see war, famine, and plagues coming upon this earth. So we don't simply watch, we stand fast in the faith and we behave like men. Be strong. We are on a ship heading into a monstrous storm.

1Thessalonians 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

People who are not watching are either sleeping or are not sober. If you are drunk on the worldly wine you cannot watch. If you make a giant salary from Pfizer it is very hard to watch. On the other hand if you have been lulled to sleep with the world's lullabye, all the banal, useless media they blast constantly until you fall asleep, then you too can't watch.

Revelation 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

What? Only those who are not watching are the ones who won't know what hour the Lord is coming? How can that be? Suppose I was going on a trip to Asia and you ask when will you return. I say I don't know the day or the hour, but I'll let you know. A few months later you get a message that I bought a ticket for a plane that arrives in two weeks. The New Testament is very clear on this. Two thousand years ago there was no prophecy that would tell us the day or the hour, however, if we are watching we will have a heads up prior to the Lord's coming.
 

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
35,157
6,253
113
It's weird, it's freaky

 

ZNP

Well-known member
Sep 14, 2020
35,157
6,253
113
As in the days of Noah

7:6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

I thought this was interesting little detail. I was wondering how old Noah was when he got the vision of the coming flood and began to build the ark? No one knows, however we do know that he had three sons at the time. I suppose they could have been toddlers, but it would be a lot easier to take on that major construction project with three sons that are at least teenagers. So let's suppose the youngest is 13 and Noah first started having sons when he was 16. Perhaps the youngest was born when Noah was 21, add 13 and you have 34 years. This is simply speculation. So then, 600-34 is 566 years. I was wondering if any big thing happened 566 years ago that might indicate the beginning of this construction project during the age of grace (Noah spelled backwards is grace). That takes us to 1456, the time when the Gutenberg Bible was first printed.

Obviously the printing of the Bible was a very big day in the age of grace, and it may have been signified by the day that Noah got the vision of this coming flood.