End times discussion

[Justmerach]

Hi everyone, we seemed to have a thread about the Rapture which was going a bit to an end times discussion and I didn't know what to do with that quite myself. I thought we could have a thread of its own on the topic, anything relating to end times. We cannot speculate as the Bible says, but Biblical discussion and general thought is though to be generally ok, but take it wherever you like of course.

Any thoughts to post in this thread and I will just post an intro.

Perhaps take a look at the video and the wonderful Plume of Spray and think of God’s spirit being poured out in the world towards the end times and the wonderful plume of spray evokes this.

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy." (Acts 2:16-21).

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The plume of spray didn't post above.

What is there to discuss? I believe we are definitely in the 'end times' - wars, rumours of wars, disease, pestilence, a turning away from the LORD, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanos, the Fabian group and their work in trying to usher in the 'one world order', the increasing worship of other gods, seeing 'self' as a god, the worship of sex and materialism, the breakdown in family, men wanting to be women, women wanting to be men, men playing god by creating life in test tubes, destroying this beautiful world God created all due to man's love of money and power ... It is pointless speculating about Christ's return, but make sure you keep short accounts, because it could be today!

That was interesting to see what you the Thegreatestoftheseislove think about may be we are and that we could be in end times.

I cannot say people what to or how to post, I know we are not meant to speculate, but sometimes we have thoughts about what is going on for us and what we are seeing. Like myself I have wondered if were in the sorrows or tribulations and couldn't confirm it myself. I am always ready though like two in a field and one will be taken I live by all the time but have no idea like none of us if this will in our life time.

We may have questions though and not understand scripture and look to understand the meaning here.

I was thinking about the rapture. I was thinking with raised up voices people they could meet Christ that way and it be a very quiet affair that could pass easily without many knowing.

Jesus said He would not return until His people recognised who He is i.e. the Messiah. Matt.23:39 "For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" This sets a decisive condition for His return.

From the Bible hub commentary on that verse:

A decisive condition is set: national acknowledgment of Jesus as Messiah must precede His return to them.

• Hosea 5:15 portrays the Lord withdrawing “until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face.”
• Zechariah 12:10 foretells a day when Israel will mourn for “the One they have pierced,” signaling repentance.
• Romans 11:25-27 confirms that a future turning of Israel to the Savior is in God’s irrevocable plan.

@Thegreatestoftheseislove What is there to discuss?

A lot! 😊

If you believe there will be a Tribulation before the return of Christ then there is a lot to look out for and events to note. For those who don't believe in that, then I guess there's only waiting and praying for Christ's return. I am of the former group who are following the prophetic timeline (as given by Daniel and Revelation, to name but two, other prophets are also highly relevant.)

@GentleSheep A lot! 😊

That made me smile. 😄. I just get brain-ache thinking about it as opinions and thoughts won't change the fact that one day, maybe even today, I will be with my Lord and Saviour. 🙏

Yes you're right of course, one day we shall be at the wedding feast of our Lord!

Hi everyone, I had great affliction last year and thought may be some of us have had afflictions and we could be in end times to somewhere. I think perhaps some people may go earlier than others and start in this.

I had a difficult event with one of my conditions used to attack me it was confirmed I had a spiritual attack two times. Tracts was removed of the abuse I had by the Holy Spirit. I had my own personal message sent to me just a few days ago to seem like I went through some affliction. Nobody knows when Christ will be returning and we are not supposed to speculate. Only God knows when his Son will be returning, but we can look for the signs.

Number one-Trump to, I don’t know what he is doing Nigeria has been difficult with religious terrorism and the government didn’t object. He started a launch attack in Nigeria. Before, it used to be about gold why some would say why some people would barter over Nigeria. I wonder his thoughts and hope they are genuine. Some evangelicals in America were said to be angered over the system in Nigeria. Perhaps he wants his country good standing for the Great Babylon. Good work in Russia though. May be he has commitment. It is worrying though with Venezuela not that it could be right, but it is just unsettling and where it might lead. We have the UN and it seems some of his orders were not passed through this directive body. One a side note I hear he had ministers in praying in tongues in his garden and it seemed old times looking to be directed in his ways in wars when Christ is last known world public revelation prophet to.

I think that people have been speculating about the end times since Jesus's own time. He talked about 'end times', and Paul thought Christ was returning soon, hence the instruction not to marry. People have been thinking about this for 2025 years, and still nothing's happened.
We'd be wiser to pay attention to what's going on in the here and now and what we can do to show God's love to people at the moment, than worry about what may or may not ever happen in our lifetimes.

Again intervening without it seems UN support I find concerning. People sometimes ask questions why doesn’t God intervene in suffering when it is clear as day now that more deaths has happened, and again people may end up holding God for account for this. I know the UN may be protracted to go through, but it gives me some reassurance in a collective vote. RIP to those who have suffered in this country and now in Iran.
This instability does momentarily make me think of end times, but hopefully it will go back to normality soon.

The UN has been weak for a long time!

There is quite a lot going on about at the monent that Trump is fighting this war for end times prophecy. This is article is linked to this.
US troops were told war on Iran was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’, watchdog alleges | US-Israel war on Iran | The Guardian

I spoke to my minister about this and we was agreement both in thinking that end times prophecy should not be used to instigate war. War should be instigated by pre-emptive reasons and the UN guidelines should be used for Jus ad Bello (the respect for human life and conduct during the war) and Jus ad Bellum (is the legality to go to war). Islam do jihad holy war that gets misunderstood and some people use this to legitimise war instead of battling to overcome difficulty in life.

@Justmerach oh dear! The headline from the link you quoted is US troops were told war on Iran was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’, watchdog alleges

I think the apt word here is “alleges”. I would not give anti-Christian alleged gossip and hearsay house room, personally.

Islam do jihad holy war that gets misunderstood I’m sure you maybe right. But I suggest it not really relevant to Christian ‘End Times’, nor for ‘the Christian Topic’ board. I know many wonderful people who, sadly, say that the Lord Jesus Christ was (‘was’, past tense, as though He is dead) nothing more than a mere human prophet. However, try telling ‘jihad gets misunderstood’ to the families of all the little girls that were murdered in the Manchester Arena bombing, or the Jewish families shot at Bondi. Tbh, I do not think it appropriate to explain or excuse Islam on this board … it is better for philosophy and religion. Islam has both added to, and taken away from the Bible … and the One True Lord God Almighty has given us fair warning about doing so.

💐

Thegreatestoftheseislove, thank you for your thoughts. I am not trying to excuse Islam. It is just that I do not want Christianity to be seen in that way as legitimising Holy war. There are a number of topics on this on Google search. I got the link from another forum I am joined to and I posted the UK version here. I went there to post about a quiet revival stats and stayed reading on and off. It was them who seemed concerned about this article, which I found a bit concerning.

Drooling Over the "End Times"

Yes unfortunately this is part of Kingdom Now (Dominionism) and NAR beliefs, where it's believed that Christians can actually bring Christ back by their actions (amongst which could be a 'holy war'), they believe it's up to us to instigate the return of Jesus. They are 'post millennials' - that is, they believe Christ will return after a long period of peace and prosperity (the Millennium) on the Earth, and He will only come after most of the world has been converted to Christianity (which I presume means wiping out other religions one way or another).

I find this way of thinking totally unbiblical and believe the world must go through a very difficult time of increased lawlessness before the Antichrist comes and then finally God's wrath is poured out before Jesus returns in glory and judgment. This view is supported by scripture - the prophets and Revelation all speak of turbulent end times for the world. Caveat: there are different interpretations of End Times eschatology!

Thank you GentleSheep, that was very interesting to read. I never knew that there was different types of end times theory.

Massively different ideas! I never knew either, until I left the CofE.