CS1,
I was speaking specifically about the promises Paul made to the Church of Thessolanika. Don't forget the same promise was made to the souls told to wait in Rev 6. God would round up all the rotten apples in the Roman Empire, AKA, the Jewish religious order in all the synagogues, who were persecuting Christians. As He said in Mat 13, First gather up all the tares to be bundled and burned, or something along those lines. The persecutors of those under the alter, all the martyrs, were gathered to Jerusalem and perished in the great tribulation or the fires that followed when Titus broke through the walls. Words have meaning and the literally way to take these passages is that this would happen to the one's responsible, the ones who killed the Son and His disciples and followers. "Vengeance is Mine, Saith the Lord, I will repay!!"
Paul is and was my hero, HE DID NOTHING IN VAIN.
In a way. The presence of the Lord can come without judgment but the Lord is always present for any of His Days of the Lord. Yes, Peter cited Joel stating they (Peter and his generation) were now living in those days foretold by Joel. You left out the best part of Acts 2, start back a little sooner:
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
The spirit poured out was the Holy Spirit at Pentecost!!! I sincerely hope you realize this and understand the gravity of what was happening??? Please tell me you can see that!! Peter invokes Joel because Joel's prophesy was happening right then and now!! Peter is saying WE ARE NOT DRUNK, REMEMBER WHAT JOEL SAID? They taught (shall prophesy), they saw visions and dreams. This happened in the last days - their last days!
WOW, THIS TIME YOU STARTED CITIING ACTS 3 TOO LATE AND MISSED THE CONTEXT AGAIN. Let me pick up right before you started quoting:
22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days.
The Prophet was JESUS!! Every soul that did not hear Jesus would be utterly destroyed from among the people. AND THEY WERE. Peter is saying basically every prophet from Samuel on down discussed the days they were living in. They certainly weren't talking about our days. They were living in the last days of their nation, their Jewish age, their age as God's Chosen nation. It was all about to end and they were going crazy about realizing it. The writer of Hebrews echoes what Paul says in Acts 3 and confirms they were in the last days.
Heb 1: God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
I hope this helps straighten out your eschatological belief system? You are looking for certain things that happened long ago.
I was speaking specifically about the promises Paul made to the Church of Thessolanika. Don't forget the same promise was made to the souls told to wait in Rev 6. God would round up all the rotten apples in the Roman Empire, AKA, the Jewish religious order in all the synagogues, who were persecuting Christians. As He said in Mat 13, First gather up all the tares to be bundled and burned, or something along those lines. The persecutors of those under the alter, all the martyrs, were gathered to Jerusalem and perished in the great tribulation or the fires that followed when Titus broke through the walls. Words have meaning and the literally way to take these passages is that this would happen to the one's responsible, the ones who killed the Son and His disciples and followers. "Vengeance is Mine, Saith the Lord, I will repay!!"
Paul is and was my hero, HE DID NOTHING IN VAIN.
In a way. The presence of the Lord can come without judgment but the Lord is always present for any of His Days of the Lord. Yes, Peter cited Joel stating they (Peter and his generation) were now living in those days foretold by Joel. You left out the best part of Acts 2, start back a little sooner:
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
The spirit poured out was the Holy Spirit at Pentecost!!! I sincerely hope you realize this and understand the gravity of what was happening??? Please tell me you can see that!! Peter invokes Joel because Joel's prophesy was happening right then and now!! Peter is saying WE ARE NOT DRUNK, REMEMBER WHAT JOEL SAID? They taught (shall prophesy), they saw visions and dreams. This happened in the last days - their last days!
WOW, THIS TIME YOU STARTED CITIING ACTS 3 TOO LATE AND MISSED THE CONTEXT AGAIN. Let me pick up right before you started quoting:
22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days.
The Prophet was JESUS!! Every soul that did not hear Jesus would be utterly destroyed from among the people. AND THEY WERE. Peter is saying basically every prophet from Samuel on down discussed the days they were living in. They certainly weren't talking about our days. They were living in the last days of their nation, their Jewish age, their age as God's Chosen nation. It was all about to end and they were going crazy about realizing it. The writer of Hebrews echoes what Paul says in Acts 3 and confirms they were in the last days.
Heb 1: God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
I hope this helps straighten out your eschatological belief system? You are looking for certain things that happened long ago.
Nothing you have said changes what Jesus said about HIS coming for HIS saints.