Biblically viable or false prophecy?

[oyster67]

Would you ever post a sign up in public with a message about the imminent return of Christ? What verses would you quote to say you know Jesus is returning soon?

Matthew 25:13
“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”

Luke 12:40
“Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”

Revelation 22:7
“Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.”

 

[Locoponydirtman]

Those signs serve their purpose. If it witnesses to the believer or causes the scoffer to scoff.

 

[oyster67]

So are signs like this more helpful or are they damaging?

Ezekiel 33:6
“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.”

 

[Reborn-Adopted]

The problem is that people don't understand what "soon" means from Jesus' perspective.

Did Jesus preach his imminent return? No, he didn't, and that's rather obvious by his own words in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 2:10
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

For a statement such as this to be consistent with an imminent return belief, one would need to add a parenthetical remark in their own mind such as this:

(But wait! I might return at any given moment in time, so you might not need to suffer such things)

Neither Christ nor the apostles taught an imminent return of Jesus.

JESUS Said John would live until He Came Back.

John 21:22
Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

 

[persistent]

Here's another example from the book of Revelation.

Revelation 11:3
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

How does a prophecy like this even make sense if the imminent return of Jesus is a reality? It only makes sense to those who add a parenthetical remark in their own minds like this:

Boy oh boy Runningman, your post is one that could really be split up to two or more threads. The verse notonmywatch quotes seems to be the clincher to ease any 'anxiety', for the matter concerning 'soon', of how people like lonelysummer is referring to understand 'soon'.

Revelation 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

I don't think Jesus wants any of His people to be glued to the daily news reports and fearful about world events and the verse in Revelation should set people's minds at ease: Unless someone here shows another verse which is contrary to this. Or is this verse to be understood in some other way?

This is only partial response to your thread and see where it goes from here. Not sure which of your questions is more or most significant?

 

[Runningman]

I knew a guy who stood at the side of a busy street holding a sign saying "REPENT!" To me it seems better to have a real person to go along with the sign with whom people can ask questions, etc.

Once when I was sitting at the transit station where I lived, a guy came walking through passing out tracts. He gave me one and I asked him who he was with and if he could answer a few questions. He just walked away! I kept yelling at him to come back and he just kept going. LOL

Lol maybe he had one too many confrontations that didn't end well from him. Was the tract at least good?

 

[Runningman]

JESUS Said John would live until He Came Back.

John 21:22
Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

Jesus was actually a bit vague about it, rather posing the question rather than taking firm action and making John immortal right then. Otherwise, John would still be alive somewhere wouldn't he?

John 21
23Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

 

[ResidentAlien]

Lol maybe he had one too many confrontations that didn't end well from him. Was the tract at least good?

You're probably right. I can't remember what the tract was exactly; it was about what you'd expect from a tract.

 

[Reborn-Adopted]

Jesus was actually a bit vague about it, rather posing the question rather than taking firm action and making John immortal right then. Otherwise, John would still be alive somewhere wouldn't he?

John 21
23Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

Ummm ...70 A.D. was in their generation.

 

[TheDivineWatermark]

Jesus was actually a bit vague about it, rather posing the question rather than taking firm action and making John immortal right then. Otherwise, John would still be alive somewhere wouldn't he?

John 21
23Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

Jesus also did not say that this disciple that Peter asked about was "John" (nowhere in Scripture does it identify "the disciple whom Jesus loved" / "that other disciple" etc--speaking of this same person--as being"John" ["tradition" says this is the case]. One can also consider just WHY Peter would have been prompted to even ASK such a question regarding this specific person/disciple... [interesting!] )




By the way, I do agree with your general premise... Jesus had not stated that that disciple WOULD NOT DIE, but "IF I WILL / WISH that... what is that to you? Follow thou Me."

 

[Runningman]

Jesus also did not say that this disciple that Peter asked about was "John" (nowhere in Scripture does it identify "the disciple whom Jesus loved" / "that other disciple" etc--speaking of this same person--as being"John" ["tradition" says this is the case]. One can also consider just WHY Peter would have been prompted to even ASK such a question regarding this specific person/disciple... [interesting!] )




By the way, I do agree with your general premise... Jesus had not stated that that disciple WOULD NOT DIE, but "IF I WILL / WISH that... what is that to you? Follow thou Me."

You’re right, but I believe the disciple who Jesus loved was probably John. John authored the gospel of John and some of his talking points sound like he’s referring to himself as the disciple Jesus loved.

John 21
24This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

 

[TheDivineWatermark]

John authored the gospel of John

"Tradition" states this is the case, but nowhere in Scripture does it identify the writer of what we call "the gospel of John" as being "John".

and some of his talking points sound like he’s referring to himself as the disciple Jesus loved.

John 21
24This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

Yes, but nowhere does it state that the writer of this gospel was "John," nor does it state anywhere in Scripture that "the disciple whom Jesus loved" / "that other disciple" / the one who leaned on Jesus' breast at supper [21:20], (and the writer of this gospel), etc etc, was "John".

[the part of your post I bolded (coupled with the previous part of your sentence) sounds as though you think Scripture tells us the writer of this gospel is ID'd as "John". It doesn't. Nowhere does it state the identity (BY NAME) of the writer of this gospel.]

 

[tourist]

Technically He is coming soon. It could be any minute. We just do not know the day or the hour but we are told He will return.

So as long as they do not give an hour, day, or year then I see no wrong in this sign.

I see nothing wrong with the sign either. Jesus himself said that he is coming soon. He also said that while he may tarry, he will not be late.

 

[tourist]

Nothing wrong with this sign. In fact it should go on billboards right across your city.

Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. (James 5:8)

I fully agree with your point of view.

 

[Runningman]

"Tradition" states this is the case, but nowhere in Scripture does it identify the writer of what we call "the gospel of John" as being "John".



Yes, but nowhere does it state that the writer of this gospel was "John," nor does it state anywhere in Scripture that "the disciple whom Jesus loved" / "that other disciple" / the one who leaned on Jesus' breast at supper [21:20], (and the writer of this gospel), etc etc, was "John".

[the part of your post I bolded (coupled with the previous part of your sentence) sounds as though you think Scripture tells us the writer of this gospel is ID'd as "John". It doesn't. Nowhere does it state the identity (BY NAME) of the writer of this gospel.]

Huh. Interesting. I didn’t even notice that until now. Who wrote the gospel of John? well I can tell from the words used that the author was at least a male.

 

[tourist]

What verses would you quote to say you know Jesus is returning soon?

Revelation 22:12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work

 

[ZNP]

What verses would you quote to say you know Jesus is returning soon?

1. The prophecy concerning the Fig tree and all the trees indicating that the 1948 Generation shall not pass away until we see Jesus returning on the clouds. Psalm 90 which tells us a generation is 70 years unless they are rebellious in which case 80 years. Hence we would expect to see Jesus return in the clouds prior to Israel's anniversary in May of 2029.

2. Prophecy in Joel that a worldwide pandemic that shuts down the world's economy because God is proclaiming a Sabbath and a fast to announce that the Day of the Lord is at hand.

3. Reference the drying up of the Euphrates river.

4. I would point out that the Beast in Revelation rises during the tribulation. It is a giant computerized system that has digitized currency, provides some sort of social credit score to determine who can and can't buy or sell, and is an army of cyborgs as everyone marvels at the Beast saying who can make war with it. Therefore the moves we are seeing today to create this one world currency, this social credit score and Elon Musk's army of cyborgs is a major sign.

5. Of course the fulfillment of the Revelation 12 sign on September 23, 2017 has to be a major sign of the end of the age is here.

I could go on, but this is where I would start.

I met someone on the Internet once who kept falling for false prophecies about the return of Christ. The last time I talked to her, she had said something about being concerned about all of the predictions not coming true. Her faith was damaged.

Her faith was damaged? Perhaps her lack of faith was exposed.

 

[Runningman]

Nothing wrong with this sign. In fact it should go on billboards right across your city.

Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. (James 5:8)

Personally I don’t think that’s the best approach. Jesus warned against becoming apathetic, lukewarm if you will, about his return probably because it wasn’t going to actually literally be anytime soon… not how people perceive soon anyway.

Maybe rewording it something like “Jesus Christ could be coming soon! Be watching!”

 

[awelight]

Would you ever post a sign up in public with a message about the imminent return of Christ? What verses would you quote to say you know Jesus is returning soon? To be clear, I don't mean "soon" as in the sense that with God a day is like 1,000 years and 1,000 years is like a day. A normal person would read this sign and think "Oh, Jesus is returning this week at least." Then they wait, but what if Jesus doesn't return? Would you consider signs of this nature to be a false prophecy?

I met someone on the Internet once who kept falling for false prophecies about the return of Christ. The last time I talked to her, she had said something about being concerned about all of the predictions not coming true. Her faith was damaged.

So are signs like this more helpful or are they damaging?


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Probably more damaging than good. After all, you can't scare someone into Salvation.

Too many people, who call themselves Christians, want the benefits of Salvation - forgiveness from the Wrath to come and eternal life - but care nothing for the actual Christian lifestyle.

The Bible is equally divided into three parts: 1) Doctrine; 2) Moral living; 3) Prophecy. An imbalance in these three can cause an imbalanced life. I am always suspicious of those who spend all their time on Eschatology.

 

[TheDivineWatermark]

well I can tell from the words used that the author was at least a male.

Right. Agree with you there.