Thread: A man says he has his dispensational charts and diagrams which prove we are living in the last generation!!
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A man says he has his dispensational charts and diagrams which prove we are living in the last generation!!
Posted : 5 Oct, 2013 05:58 PM
God is so good and His timing is always impeccable. A friend of mine just posted this up on Facebook.
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Unbelief is not necessarily simple; it can be complicated by many factors. We have our reasons, and our theologies, and our church traditions, for remaining in the sin of unbelief. But Christ told us that our job was to lead the nations to faith in Him; consequently, any theology that rejects our duty to do so is therefore on some level an unbelieving and disobedient theology.
A man says he has his dispensational charts and diagrams which prove we are living in the last generation. We say that if he would rather sit on the roof doing calculations than obey his Lord in subduing the earth to His glory, he had better hope that Christ doesn�t come back right now. Another man says that Satan is the god of this world. �The task can�t be done�Satan is too strong.� But we say that the God of the Bible is stronger than any creature, including Satan, and God is the one who has given us this task. And if God has given the task, accompanied with a promise (Matthew 28:18-20), then the task is not impossible.
Still another says that an optimistic eschatology is a point of view, certainly, but there are various schools of thought on all this. He just happens to belong to the more pessimistic school of thought. But who gave any of us permission to be an eschatological pessimist? Not Jesus Christ. He said that all authority in heaven and on earth was His, and that our job was to disciple the nations. He wasn�t giving us something to shoot for; He was giving something to do.
Yet another says there is not enough time. Christ is coming back any moment, and the task of evangelizing the world before then is hopeless. But it is not hopeless. We have enough time to do what He commanded, and He commanded us to bring the message of His salvation to the world effectually. We are to do more than tell the nations; we are to disciple them, baptizing and teaching obedience. And the job is to be done, not just attempted.
We do not have the authority to disobey Christ for the sake of an unbelieving systematic theology. Several very popular systematic theologies (dispensationalism, historical premillennialism, and amillennialism) say that effective world evangelism is impossible, while Christ says that world evangelization is our duty. The one we follow is the real authority in our lives, and in this case, we can�t follow both. It is not fashionable to speak in this way. We live in an age when it is considered rude to speak the plain truth, but the plain ungarbled word is what we need. Christ is King, not our theologies, and our task is to proclaim His advancing and invincible kingdom throughout the world.
Mark it well: the point is not that every detail of eschatological chronologies is a matter of obedience and disobedience. This is not a question of chronological detail. It is a matter of attitude and submissive obedience. The Scripture promises a glorious future for the progress of the gospel throughout the world; consequently, pessimism about the Church�s future is sin�the sin of unbelief. As a corollary, any method of interpretation that results in such pessimism is also sin. Bad trees bear bad fruit. In this case an unbelieving theology bears unbelieving fruit.
What has Christ told us to do? He has told us to make the Christian faith the faith of the entire earth. Because it is His command, this issue is one of obedience or disobedience. We have no authority to transfer the responsibility for accomplishing this back to Him. That is, we have no right to say the world will be brought to Him after the Second Coming, but not before. He tells us to refrain from adultery. Do we have the right to interpret Scripture in such as way as to make this only our responsibility after the Second Coming? Of course not. In a similar way, He has commanded us to subdue the earth through the preaching of the gospel. We do not have the authority to say the task is impossible until after He comes back. It is our assigned responsibility now.
The question is really a very simple one. We must ask ourselves this: Do we believe that the Great Commission will be fulfilled by the Church of Jesus Christ, with the nations disciple, baptized, and obedient as a result? Yes or no? If yes, then the task of world evangelism awaits us. If no, we must remember that duties do not disappear because of disobedience. Sin or no sin, the same task awaits us, but with sin we must confess first.
A man says he has his dispensational charts and diagrams which prove we are living in the last generation!!
Posted : 5 Oct, 2013 06:50 PM
I can see this now. A man is sitting on his patio on a beautiful, sunny day with his glass of iced tea, his Scofield Bible and his dispensational charts and is busy trying to work out the timing of the second coming, scratch that, I mean Rapture.
Suddenly there is a knock on the gate and he goes to the gate and opens it. A nice but somewhat normal looking man with black curly hair and a robe on is standing there. He asks if he can come in and have some tea. He ties off his big white horse and goes into the yard. When he sees the Bible and the charts he becomes curious. What are these? "Oh" says the man, "I was reading about the Second Coming of Jesus and the Rapture. I believe it could happen any time now!!" I see", says the robed man. "And how will you know when he is here?" The man takes a drink of his tea and says, "Well, He will come from heaven with lots of angels and will be on a white horse and he will have a kind of tattoo on his thigh that says 'King of Kings and Lord of Lords'! People will be terrified and run to hide from him but not me. I'll know him the minute I see him!!" The robed man looks puzzled for a moment and says, "Well, I'm on my way to Jerusalem on my white horse. If I knew you better I'd take you with me!!" As he turns to leave his robe catches the arm of the chair and the man sees a mark on his leg that says "Lords".
A man says he has his dispensational charts and diagrams which prove we are living in the last generation!!
Posted : 5 Oct, 2013 06:56 PM
On a more serious note:
2Th 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
2Th 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
2Th 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
2Th 1:10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
1Pe_4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
A man says he has his dispensational charts and diagrams which prove we are living in the last generation!!
Posted : 6 Oct, 2013 04:51 PM
It is time to evangelize the Earth. People can�t be saved once they are dead. I learnt this lesson about 15 or so years ago. We don't know who will die today. Several years ago I had a fried who asked me if he could be saved because he used to give blow jobs for cocaine. He was not gay, in fact he was one of my good friends at time boyfriend, and this was for drug use only. We prayed together for his salvation and deliverance that day and about 3-4 mo. latter he jumped to his death off a 10 story building. I didn�t know that day he would die just a little later, I don�t think he know either. But he was hurting and need Y-shua the day we talked and death comes to every one�. There is a day and time we are to die the Bible says. People are hurting now, and need the Lord now! Our silly theology, who is a Calvinist, who is an Armenian, doesn�t really matter. Was he saved? It depends on who you ask. I believe he was! Y-shua has not told me�
A man says he has his dispensational charts and diagrams which prove we are living in the last generation!!
Posted : 6 Oct, 2013 05:34 PM
M.,
I fully agree with you. To a dying world, we proclaim the Gospel of Y-shua. We need not concern a lost person who is struggling deep in sin with the distinctives of "Calvinism". However, I do believe that to believers, we are told to teach the "whole counsel of G-d". This is where the doctrines of grace (aka Calvinism) should be taught.
A man says he has his dispensational charts and diagrams which prove we are living in the last generation!!
Posted : 7 Oct, 2013 04:47 PM
Mark 9:38-50
And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.
39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.�
40 For he that is not against us is on our part.�
41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.
42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.�
Luke 9:49�And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.�
50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.
