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Pastimes : Ask God -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alan Markoff who wrote (26887)	9/13/1999 8:33:00 PM
From: Barnabus	Respond to of 39621

Thanks Nancy. You are a jewel.

To: Alan Markoff who wrote (26887)	9/13/1999 9:17:00 PM
From: Jamey	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 39621

Nancy, I am not denying that Emile and I did not have differences of opinion and as far as any personal references to me, he apologized a long time ago for that. I hadn't seen either you or Alan post in some time and I remember Alan saying he was leaving this thread. I was very surprised when he responded to a post of mine to Robert. Alan immediately overacts to everything. He said terrible things about me and I have not talked with him for a long time. I do not believe that Alan can carry on any conversation unless it is totally agreeable to him else he threatens and says we are not Christians if we disagree with him. Its his way or the highway. I really don't appreciate him responding to me in this manner when my post was not even directed to him. Further proof of the Parousia............. "This event stands forth most prominently in the New Testament; to this every eye is directed, to this every inspired messenger points. It is represented as the nucleus and centre of a cluster of great events; the end of the age, or close of the Jewish economy; the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem; the judgment of the guilty nation; the resurrec-tion of the dead; the reward of the faithful; the consumma-tion of the kingdom of God. All these transactions are declared to be coincident with the Parousja. 4. It is demonstrable by the express testimony of our Lord, the uniform and concurrent teaching of His apostles, and the universal expectation of the church of the apostolic age, that the Parousia and its accompanying events were represented as nigh at hand; and not only so, but as about to happen within the limits of a given period; that is to say, in the time of the apostles and their contemporaries; so that many or most of them might expect to witness the great consummation. This is the main point of the whole question, and must be decided by the authority of the Scriptures themselves. While the proof ought to be rigorously demanded, and the evidence thoroughly sifted, it ought also to be dispassionately considered, without resorting to non-natural interpretation, un-critical and unfair evasion, or violent wresting of the plain sense of words. 5. Without going over the ground already traversed it may suffice here to appeal to three distinct and decisive declarations of our Lord respecting the time of His coming, each of them accompanied with a solemn affirmation (1) ?Verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come? (Matt. x. 23). (2) ?Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom? (Matt. xvi. 28). (3) ?Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled? (Matt. xiiv. 34). Santiago

To: Alan Markoff who wrote (26887)	9/13/1999 10:13:00 PM
From: Jamey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 39621

St. Paul gives great prominence in his epistles to this cherished hope of the Christian church. a. In the First Epistle to the Thessalonians he implies the possibility of the Lord?s coming in his and their lifetime,? ?We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord.? He also prays that ?their spirit, soul, and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.? b. In the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians (which is often erroneously understood to teach that the coming of Christ was not at hand, but which teaches precisely the contrary doctrine) he comforts the suffering believers with the promise that they would obtain rest from their present sufferings ?when the Lord Jesus was revealed from heaven,? etc. (2 Thess. 1:7). c. In the First Epistle to the Corinthians the apostle speaks of believers as ?waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.? He warns them that ?the time is short;? that ?the end of the age,? or ? ends of the ages,? are come upon them; that ?the Lord is at hand.? d. In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians St. Paul expresses his confidence that though he might die before the coming of the Lord, yet God would raise him from the dead, and present him along with those who survived to that period. e. In the Epistle to the Romans St. Paul speaks of ?the glory about to be revealed;? of the whole creation waiting for the manifestation of the Son of God; of salvation being near, ?nearer than when they first believed;? that ?it is now high time to awake out of sleep;? that ?the night is far spent, and the day at hand;? that ?God will bruise Satan under their feet shortly.? f. In the Epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians the apostle speaks of ?the day of Christ? as the period of hope, perfection, and glory to which they were looking forward, and he declares emphatically, ?The Lord is at hand.? g. In like manner, in the Epistles to Timothy and Titus the expectation of the Parousia is conspicuous. Timothy is exhorted to keep the commandment inviolate ?until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.? ?He is about to judge the living and the dead at his appearing, and his kingdom.? Christians are exhorted to be looking ?for that blessed hope, even the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.? (2) St. James represents the coming of the Lord as just at hand. ?The last days? are come. Suffering Christians are exhorted to ?be patient unto the coming of the Lord.? They are assured that ?it is drawing nigh;? that the Judge standeth before the door.? (3) St. Peter, like St. Paul, gives great prominence to the Parousia and its related events. a. On the day of Pentecost he declared that those were ?the last days? predicted by the prophet Joel, introductory to ?the great and terrible day of the Lord.? b. In his First Epistle he affirms that it was ?the last time;? that God was ?ready to judge the living and the dead;? ?that the end of all things was at hand;? that ?the time had come when judgment was to begin at the house of God.? c. In his Second Epistle he exhorts Christians to be ?looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God;? and depicts the approaching dissolution of ?heaven and earth.? (4) The Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of ?the last days? as now present; it is ?the end of the age;? the day is seen to be ?approaching;? ?Yet a little, little while, and he that is coming will come, and will not tarry.? (5) St. John confirms and completes the testimony of his fellow-apostles; it is ?the last time;? ?antichrist has come;? ?he is already in the world.? Christians are exhorted so to live that they may not be ashamed before Christ at His coming. Finally, the Apocalypse is full of the Parousia: ?Behold, he cometh with clouds;? ?The time is at hand;? ?Behold, I come quickly.? Such is a rapid sketch of the apostolic testimony to the speedy coming of the Lord. It would have been strange if, with such assurances and such exhortations, the apostolic churches had not lived in constant and eager expectation of the Parousia. That they did so we have the clearest evidence in the New Testament, and we can conceive the mighty influence which this faith and hope must have had upon Christian life and character. But, admitting, what cannot well be denied, that the apostles and early Christians did cherish these expectations, and that their belief was founded on the teaching of our Lord, the question arises, Were they not mistaken in their expectation? This is practically to ask, Were the apostles permitted to fall into error themselves, and to lead others into a like delusion, with respect to a matter of fact which they had abundant opportunities of knowing; which must frequently have been the subject of conversation and conference among themselves; which they never failed to keep before the attention of the churches, and about which they were all agreed? There are critics who do not scruple to affirm that the apostles were mistaken, and that time has proved the fallacy of their anticipations. They tell us that either they misunderstood the teaching of their Master, or that He too was under an erroneous impression. This is of course to set aside the claims of the apostles to speak authoritatively as the inspired messengers of Christ, and to undermine the very foundations of the Christian faith.