I'm convinced we are in the "last days". This morning, I watched Dr. Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist on TV, and he said he thinks all the prophetic criteria of the last days have been met. I'm not so sure, but he's a lot smarter than I.
Most scholars who study this say that one sure sign will be nations ganging up on Israel. This is surely happening now, witness Iran.
What does this mean for a Christian? Excitement and urgency. Our reunion with our Savior is nigh! The everlasting defeat of Satan and sin is imminent! The time we have left to save the souls of others is rapidly filling up the bottom of the hourglass.
Each day I awake now, I sense this could be THE day. Hopefully, this means more commitment, less frivolous talk, more prayer and Bible reading. More of saying those things that need to be said to loved ones, less concern about material possessions.
Since singing ruins my voice for a few days, during worship I tend to just close my eyes while hymns are sung...and soak up the lyrics. This morning, the singing was so good at Highland Oaks that I let myself imagine the "choral anthems" ringing in my ears as all saved believers praise their King.
Bring it on.
9 comments:
I beg to ask this question: Has there been anytime in history that someone didn't want to have Israel destroyed? Israel and the Middle East will constantly be at war for the rest of our lives and the existance of mankind.
Israel has indeed had a volatile past. The experts interpret Revelation and say that an alliance of nations will go to war against Israel and will be winning the war when God supernaturally interveneds, giving Israel the victory.
I can't remember whether this is just prior to the 2nd coming or just after. I'll look it up.
But with Hamas being voted in and the loose cannon in Iran, this event probably won't be far off.
I, myself, am so ready. Before, I would hope that I would at least get to marry in this lifetime. Now that I am married, I would love for God to come again. Everyday it seems that I find out that another friend of mine is on the road to destruction. It haunts me. What can I do or say? How did they get to this place? If I have kids, will they fall away too? If God comes now, maybe I won't lose any more friends to Satan and won't have to worry about children.
Brooke: I heard a story about Bill and Gloria Gaither. In the late '60's, the Vietnam war was going on, political figures were being assassinated, and drug use was rampant. The Gaithers had 3 grown children, but were surprised by another pregnancy.
They were devastated. At this point in their lives and with all that was going on the world, they hated the idea of their child growing up in such a society. But they prayed about it.
And then Bill, inspired by the Spirit, wrote "Because He Lives".
I do think that much of the prophetic criteria for the last days have been or is being met. Two of the ones that, I think, still need to happen are:
1. I think that Isreal will rebuild the temple. Rev speaks of the stop of sacrifices and offerings and in order for this to have stopped, there must be a temple in place for them to have started at all. Also, Isreal has all the material for the temple, they just need to build it again.
2. The big one that I think still needs to happen is the coming of the anti-Christ. I know Rev can be symbolic and the end times might not look exactly like John describes it, but it seems there will definatly be a ruler who claims to be like Christ. Daniel, 2 Thess and 1 John speak of this too.
Thanks for giving me the motivation to go and finish my Rev homework tonight!
jenny
It also depends on whether or not you believe in the rapture of the church. If you believe that Christians will be raptured, the there is a lot of Rev that we won't be around on earth to see. However, if you believe that all who are alive on earth will witness the end times, then there more that still needs to happen (i.e. those pesky two witnesses)
...and people being made to take the mark of the beast
My hope is that there is a rapture. I'm very frightened for my friends. I think that maybe the only thing to wake them up from these agnostic viewpoints is the rapture. These people have a Christian background and will hopefully realize that they just screwed up and get serious about God.
I am kinda scared of heights so I hope I go up slowly and with no chance of going south.
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