Thousands turn to the Lord amid `Lockdown.`

Marilyn C said:

Thousands turn to the Lord amid the `Lockdown.`

People have had the distractions of life taking away and now have time to reflect on what is important in life. A poll by the Joshua Fund found that over 40% of all respondents replied `yes,` we are experiencing a `wake up call` from God.

1 in 5 non Christians polled said that they were starting to read the Bible and Christian sermons on line to learn more about Bible prophecy and God`s plan for the future of mankind. They also are having more spiritual conversations with family and friends.

Over 40% of Christians said that they were reading the Bible more and watching/listening to more teaching on Bible prophecy.

Many evangelistic events have had amazing results. Over 100, 000 people from across the world indicated that they wanted to put their faith in Jesus after hearing the gospel message.

Ever since the `shutdown,` viewership among the millennials has increased over 200%.

I believe God I doing a work in our day amid earth`s horrors, and man`s plans. Let us continue to focus on the Lord. Who He is and what He is doing, and not on the virus.

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And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matt 24:14

A major sign of the Lord's coming.

Marilyn C said:

Thousands turn to the Lord amid the `Lockdown.`

People have had the distractions of life taking away and now have time to reflect on what is important in life. A poll by the Joshua Fund found that over 40% of all respondents replied `yes,` we are experiencing a `wake up call` from God.

1 in 5 non Christians polled said that they were starting to read the Bible and Christian sermons on line to learn more about Bible prophecy and God`s plan for the future of mankind. They also are having more spiritual conversations with family and friends.

Over 40% of Christians said that they were reading the Bible more and watching/listening to more teaching on Bible prophecy.

Many evangelistic events have had amazing results. Over 100, 000 people from across the world indicated that they wanted to put their faith in Jesus after hearing the gospel message.

Ever since the `shutdown,` viewership among the millennials has increased over 200%.

I believe God I doing a work in our day amid earth`s horrors, and man`s plans. Let us continue to focus on the Lord. Who He is and what He is doing, and not on the virus.

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Often the Lord will take something not so good and turn it around to do good.

Happy more are spending more time with the Lord and seeking Him.

If there are more people watching and reading things online about "Bible prophecy" then my heart grieves for them. I pray that the Lord will turn their hearts and attention away from such foolishness and toward the holy and precious Gospel, that they might be comforted, sustained, nourished, and brought into the household of faith.

-CryptoLutheran

Marilyn C said:

That `gospel/ good news of the kingdom, is God`s rule through Israel in the millennium. That will be preached in the tribulation by the 144,000 Israelis throughout the world.

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Since the word is given in the book of Matthew by Jesus, where in Jesus ministry, particularly the gospel of Matthew would you make that conclusion?

ViaCrucis said:

If there are more people watching and reading things online about "Bible prophecy" then my heart grieves for them. I pray that the Lord will turn their hearts and attention away from such foolishness and toward the holy and precious Gospel, that they might be comforted, sustained, nourished, and brought into the household of faith.

-CryptoLutheran

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Wonderfully said. IMO "Bible prophecy" has done much harm to Christianity

Marilyn C said:

A quarter of the Bible is prophecy. Do you want people to ignore that part of God`s word?

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The difference between biblical prophecy and modern day "Bible prophecy" is that biblical prophecy refers to the sacred ministry of the ancient prophets of Israel who looked forward to their coming salvation, that is, Jesus Christ. And so Jeremiah seeing the coming judgment from foreign powers is both heartbroken, but also knows that God is faithful and will restore what was broken; which is what happened in the Exile--but Jeremiah also sees further, that the time will come when God makes a new covenant.

When it comes to the Old Testament, so many ignore the historical context of the prophets, that what they preached was fulfilled in ancient times. Ezekiel, for example, does not predict a third temple to be built in Jerusalem, but as a pre-Exile prophet looks forward to the restoration of Jerusalem which occurred with the decree of Cyrus. Ezekiel's temple is the Second Temple, not a hypothetical third temple.

Biblical prophecy has nothing to do with making predictions based on current events, or predicting the end of the world, or any of that. Biblical prophecy has everything to do with God's promises made fill and full in Jesus Christ.

Taking St. Paul's statements about how many will give in to false teachings and false teachers isn't some how only relevant to people now in 2020 AD, as though right now is somehow special in "Bible prophecy", because it's not. Instead that warning has been relevant for the last two thousand years, because the last days have been with us since Christ came, lived, died, rose, and ascended. It's why the author of Hebrews says that "In these last days God has spoken to us by His Son", the coming of the Messiah was and is the inauguration of the "last days". We have been living in the last days for two millennia, because we are living in the death-throes of that fallen, wicked age, for this present and wicked age is perishing, because Christ has dethroned the powers and principalities and in victory defeated sin, death, hell, and the devil. That's the very Gospel itself.

No, I don't want people to ignore the prophets, or ignore the prophetic writings, or ignore the prophetic in Scripture. What I want is for people to read, study, and understand these things carefully and properly, in alignment with the whole counsel of Scripture and the faithful preaching and teaching of the Christian Church over the last two millennia.

Instead of people just making things up, and then leading more people astray.

When you make predictions and do this, you aren't just hurting your own faith, you are potentially shipwrecking the faith of others who may simply not know any better.

Stop this madness and turn your eyes upon Jesus.

-CryptoLutheran

Marilyn C said:

Hi,

The book of Matthew was written to the Jews concerning Christ as King. We see His genealogy, and authority from the Father, etc. Then in the Lord`s ministry to Israel, He reminds them of the promise from the God of Heaven, (Dan. 2: 44) that He would set up a kingdom rule through them under God.

All the parables relate to this kingdom/rule of heaven to Israel.

Other books tell us truths of receiving the Lord and being born again, however the full good news (gospel) was not know till the Lord gave it to the apostle Paul. And he taught the whole counsel of God, especially concerning being in the Body of Christ. This was not known previously.

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So then "I will build my church" does not refer to the gentiles?

ViaCrucis said:

If there are more people watching and reading things online about "Bible prophecy" then my heart grieves for them. I pray that the Lord will turn their hearts and attention away from such foolishness and toward the holy and precious Gospel, that they might be comforted, sustained, nourished, and brought into the household of faith.

-CryptoLutheran

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Sorry but that's just absolute nonsense. The Bible is full of things about the end of the age even in the teachings of Jesus. Granted there's a certain amount of craziness that's put out but you don't throw out the good with the bad and you don't say Jesus words aren't important.

Bobber said:

Sorry but that's just absolute nonsense. The Bible is full of things about the end of the age even in the teachings of Jesus. Granted there's a certain amount of craziness that's put out but you don't throw out the good with the bad and you don't say Jesus words aren't important.

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Jesus does talk about His coming in judgment and the end of the age, but He is very clear that there are no signs or way to know when it will happen. In the Olivet Discourse, where Jesus begins talking about His return in verse 36, He repeats this point several times, saying no one knows the day or the hour except the Father, that His coming will be like the flood in the days of Noah coming without warning, that He comes as a thief in the night when we do not expect, and that we don't know when He is returning.

Since He repeats this point several times--that we do not and cannot know when He will return--then any attempt to try and figure it out, especially by trying to read "signs" is a fool's errand.

The signs He did speak about concerned the destruction of the Temple which occurred in 70 AD, such as describing the armies of Gentiles surrounding the city.

He even goes out of His way to tell us not to think certain things are signs--wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, etc--these are only "birth pangs". We have seen these things for as long as history has been history, and will continue to see them. Wars, earthquakes, natural disasters, and the like are not signs of the end, they are facts of living in a fallen world. When people say "There He is!" we are not to believe them.

I am unaware of absolutely nothing in Scripture that would justify reading the Bible with one hand, a newspaper in the other, and then claiming some kind of prophetic timetable, or establishing of charts, diagrams, or other such things.

I don't reject prophecy in Scripture; what I take issue with is "Bible prophecy", an industry of false teaching and bad biblical exegesis built upon false theological and hermeneutical foundations.

-CryptoLutheran

ViaCrucis said:

Jesus does talk about His coming in judgment and the end of the age, but He is very clear that there are no signs or way to know when it will happen.

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36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f]but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

Here the Lord says “no one knows the day or hour”. People throw this verse around without even knowing the context, it is such a superficial way of using the Bible. Here, in the middle of a chapter in which the Lord is giving us the signs of the end of the age and of His coming, and right after He has given us all the signs that would tell us when we are right at the door of His coming He says this. Obviously the point is not that we shouldn’t be aware of the signs, or that we shouldn’t know them. It is after He tells us to read the prophets, so using this verse as an excuse to not read them “no one knows” is another example of misuse. But to make it even worse it is coupled with using Noah as an example. Did Noah know the day or the hour? No, does that mean he was oblivious to the impending judgement? No. Was he sleeping? No. Was he preparing to meet His God and warning others? Yes. Did they ignore his warnings? Yes.

In 1988 Time magazines “Person of the Year” was the endangered Earth. The reason they chose the Earth was because the evidence was overwhelming that we are in the midst of the sixth great extinction. In the article they highlighted special vaults where seeds gathered from every plant and every creature were being stored. These were appropriately called “Noah’s ark”. But no one saw the irony. Many, many in the world deny that there ever was a “Noah’s flood”. They say it was a myth. But, if it was a myth then how could it happen a second time? Do you realize how astounding this prophecy is from the Lord? If you think there never was a Noah’s flood you should think that it would be absolutely impossible for it to happen a second time (since in your opinion it didn’t happen the first time) and therefore the Lord’s prophecy should be absolutely impossible. Therefore you are without excuse. 1988 should have been a trumpet call so clear even the staunchest deniers would have to admit they were wrong and wake up. Also, when I first read this I could never have imagined that we would be watching reality TV shows about marrying and giving in marriage. That was unthinkable to me in the 70s. This Trumpet call refers to climate change, habitat loss and extinction. It has alarmed many. Time to wake up.

40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

Is that scary or what? How many Christians want to wait until the rapture to realize it is time to wake up?

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

It is very hard for me to read this and not get angry. Do you know how many times I have been rebuked, just in the last few weeks, with “you don’t know the day or the hour” as though that dismisses paying attention to these trumpet calls. This section that begins with “you don’t know the day or the hour” concludes with “therefore keep watch”! They have turned it upside down. It is because we don’t know the day or the hour that we need to keep watch, and we need to read the prophets, and we need to pay attention to current events, and we need to pay attention to what is happening in Israel.

43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Are you the owner of the house? You probably own something and the “thief is coming”. I have two dogs and they are great at keeping watch. They bark at everything. They have zero discernment, someone walks their dog, the mailman, whoever. But no one is coming through that front door without them going ballistic. Jesus has already told us “it is at the door”. Wake up! You must be ready. Is your lamp filled with oil? Are you ready for your Lord? Are you feeding and caring for His people?

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?

What! Hold it! How are we supposed to know “the proper time” if we don’t know the “day or the hour”? Do you realize now how erroneous this interpretation is of those verses? Let me give you my interpretation. I was on a football team as a kid. We were playing in the championship game and both teams were undefeated. The team we were playing had an end around play that was their ace in the hole. I was the middle linebacker on our defense so my job was to read the play before it happened, call it out to our team so everyone knew it was coming and then blitz between the center and guard and tackle them in the backfield at the handoff. So we are in the game, we are up by a touchdown and then I see them go to the formation for end around. I call out End Around and point to our defensive end to make sure he heard me and tell him it is coming your way. The quaterback is stunned, but he calls his signals “down”. I again call out. “Set”. I again call out “End around, End around”. Sadly for them he had the ball snapped on three, so I was repeatedly calling out. My dad said you could hear it at the top of the stands. This is what it means to “watch”. You know the signs, spot the formation and be ready. I didn’t know which play, I simply knew what to look for. So think about this, “give them their food at the proper time”. My job was to spot it, but then my job also was to let the other ten guys know. That is to “give them there food at the proper time”. The coach didn’t simply tell me how to spot it, he also told me what to say once I did.

46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.

It was good for us. We won that game. We were so dominant that the first string was pulled out at the end of the first quarter. Now who do you think is the better coach, that Pee Wee football coach or Jesus Christ, the glorious Lord and King?

ViaCrucis said:

Jesus does talk about His coming in judgment and the end of the age, but He is very clear that there are no signs or way to know when it will happen. In the Olivet Discourse, where Jesus begins talking about His return in verse 36, He repeats this point several times, saying no one knows the day or the hour except the Father, that His coming will be like the flood in the days of Noah coming without warning, that He comes as a thief in the night when we do not expect, and that we don't know when He is returning.

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Look I'm not a fan into trying to give exact numbers of things nor am I into the latest fad book that comes out but to suggest that those in the light don't have any indication that he's coming at a certain point I think isn't a valid argument. Paul even stated,

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition...... 2 Thess 2: 1-3

Now if there was absolutely no indicators when Jesus was coming back then why the clarification as to a certain thing you will see?

Since He repeats this point several times--that we do not and cannot know when He will return--then any attempt to try and figure it out, especially by trying to read "signs" is a fool's errand.

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Can be if people are prone to latch on to anything. I do think though there are some basic things to look for.

I don't reject prophecy in Scripture; what I take issue with is "Bible prophecy", an industry of false teaching and bad biblical exegesis built upon false theological and hermeneutical foundations.

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And I agree with you to a point. But not in totality.

Marilyn C said:

Jesus said to His disciples that He would build His `ekklesia,` meaning called out ones. The disciples knew that Israel was called the `ekklesia,` called out ones from the nations. That is all they knew. They were never told of a different `ekklesia,` called out from Israel and the nations.

It was the Apostle Paul who was given the revelation of that new `ekklesia.` Peter had great trouble understanding this and tried to get the gentile believers to act as Jews. (Gal. 2: 11 - 15)

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So then when He said He would give the "Keys of the kingdom" to Peter I was always taught that it was plural because Peter opened the door to the Jews with his gospel message in Acts and to the Gentiles when He went to Cornelius house. Are you saying that the "Keys of the kingdom" does not refer to Peter opening the door to the Gentiles?

Also, surely Matthew understood that the ekklesia was for both Jews and Gentiles when he wrote this gospel, and surely Jesus knew it would be for both. So explain again why this gospel of the kingdom in Matthew is only for Jews?