Amillennial Timeline from Puritan Reformed on Vimeo.
Original Post can be see here: http://headhearthand.posterous.com/amillennial-timeline-animation
2011-08-11
Amillennialism 101
Here is a fun video explaining the common Reformed and historical view of the Eschatology (study of last things):
Original Post can be see here: http://headhearthand.posterous.com/amillennial-timeline-animation
Original Post can be see here: http://headhearthand.posterous.com/amillennial-timeline-animation
2011-02-28
The Rise of the Sojourner
The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. (Deuteronomy 28:43)
That is the result of not following God's ways.
Deuteronomy 28:1 "And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
One might claim that this applied only to ancient Israel and that the Christian is no longer under the Law. Yet is the Christian under no obligation to live a life in obedience to God? And what of a nation that many claim as a "christian" nation, if it has left that so called identity will not wrath fall upon it? If God did not save Sodom or Gomorrah then He will not save a nation that has become corrupt either but rather let if fall to the sword. Many will raise the alarm and rise up to defend against enemies yet fail to rise up against their own iniquities. It is not those who belong to God who are judged but the hypocrites and false prophets, those that bow down before the images of this world and practice the religion of their flesh.
2Timothy 3:1-7 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying it's power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
Consider carefully what is written in 2 Timothy because it describes very well the popular culture of the country and much of this world and it is even found among the Christians. What church still speaks out against such things? Very few. Often the refrain is that we aren't under the law but under Grace, or maybe even that scholars feel the meanings of the Bible are only about Love or philosophical positions. Do Christians even examine their own lives and the lives of their fellow Christians according to these standards? Not many churches practice any form of discipline and even ignore many sins that in the past would bring excommunication. Because of these reasons many "fall asleep" while dutifully attending worship speaking His name but being far from Him.
Deuteronomy 28:15 "But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
There are warnings of foreign religions that are rising up, that will bring the sword of their own "law", and overtake and posses the land once filled with peace. Do we take up arms to defeat our enemy? Is it even our enemy? Yes, they are enemies of God by professing a strange and idolatrous religion, and their "faith" practiced out may bring about much suffering and death, but is this what God requires us to do, to fight and kill our enemies? God is Who drives out the invaders and oppressors. He raises up and brings low nations and rulers. No government comes to power except that the Lord allows it. It is not by the efforts of those who claim to follow God that victory occurs but by God's own providence. All this He does for His purposes. His purpose is not to build Heaven on Earth but to gather a peoples for Himself. Heavenly salvation awaits those that belong to Him at the End of Days. To that cause, to help gather, our efforts are to be directed and not to make a nation blest.
Romans 2:14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
Certainly there can be blessing and prosperity found where there is obedience, and many of these things come as a consequence of obeying what is right before God, even the heathen practices the Law they do not know. Where there is lawlessness there is strife and misery. With wickedness comes the fruit of sin. Because of the love God has for His creation, that which He called good when He created it, He restrains evil from destroying the world before it's time and only for the sake of His elect.
Deuteronomy 28:25 "The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
Deuteronomy 28:33-34 A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, so that you are driven mad by the sights that your eyes see.
Deuteronomy 28:43 The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower.
Deuteronomy 28:45-50 "All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young.
Deuteronomy 28:58-59 "If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God, then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting.
Time and again warnings are given about what happens if God's Law is ignored. These curses shall come upon you, the Scriptures proclaim, if you do not do as commanded. These aren't curses to just proclaimed to a people that do not know God but to a people that belong to God, they are temporal curses that affect the very life they live. What is the reaction that such warnings should result in? Repentance! Yet instead warnings result in a fear of losing current ways of life, to no longer live in a peaceful existence and enjoy the fruit of the land, to no longer have the things of this world. The fear of losing the blessings received rather than fearing their own sinfulness.
Romans 9:14-17 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
Is it right to warn a land that they will be overtaken by a violent religion, or is it better to warn them of their sins and the consequences? It is because of their sins they may be destroyed, even as Abraham pleaded with God to spare Sodom for the sake of even 10 righteous people it was lain to waste because repentance was not found. Jonah hoped for God to destroy Nineveh for it's sins but God spared it because they repented when Jonah prophesied to them. Though Jonah tried to avoid warning them and then having seen their repentance still was angry and hoped for God to bring disaster upon the land. Yet it was not the will of man but the will of God that occurred in either instance.
Luke 9:24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Is it your lifestyle you are trying to save? Then you will lose it. To gain the things of this world and to have earthly treasure is to lose an inheritance in Heaven. Seek not after gold or silver but after the very Word of God. You will either proclaim the Gospel or you will proclaim a political message that fades away. The time is short.
That is the result of not following God's ways.
Deuteronomy 28:1 "And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
One might claim that this applied only to ancient Israel and that the Christian is no longer under the Law. Yet is the Christian under no obligation to live a life in obedience to God? And what of a nation that many claim as a "christian" nation, if it has left that so called identity will not wrath fall upon it? If God did not save Sodom or Gomorrah then He will not save a nation that has become corrupt either but rather let if fall to the sword. Many will raise the alarm and rise up to defend against enemies yet fail to rise up against their own iniquities. It is not those who belong to God who are judged but the hypocrites and false prophets, those that bow down before the images of this world and practice the religion of their flesh.
2Timothy 3:1-7 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying it's power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
Consider carefully what is written in 2 Timothy because it describes very well the popular culture of the country and much of this world and it is even found among the Christians. What church still speaks out against such things? Very few. Often the refrain is that we aren't under the law but under Grace, or maybe even that scholars feel the meanings of the Bible are only about Love or philosophical positions. Do Christians even examine their own lives and the lives of their fellow Christians according to these standards? Not many churches practice any form of discipline and even ignore many sins that in the past would bring excommunication. Because of these reasons many "fall asleep" while dutifully attending worship speaking His name but being far from Him.
Deuteronomy 28:15 "But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
There are warnings of foreign religions that are rising up, that will bring the sword of their own "law", and overtake and posses the land once filled with peace. Do we take up arms to defeat our enemy? Is it even our enemy? Yes, they are enemies of God by professing a strange and idolatrous religion, and their "faith" practiced out may bring about much suffering and death, but is this what God requires us to do, to fight and kill our enemies? God is Who drives out the invaders and oppressors. He raises up and brings low nations and rulers. No government comes to power except that the Lord allows it. It is not by the efforts of those who claim to follow God that victory occurs but by God's own providence. All this He does for His purposes. His purpose is not to build Heaven on Earth but to gather a peoples for Himself. Heavenly salvation awaits those that belong to Him at the End of Days. To that cause, to help gather, our efforts are to be directed and not to make a nation blest.
Romans 2:14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
Certainly there can be blessing and prosperity found where there is obedience, and many of these things come as a consequence of obeying what is right before God, even the heathen practices the Law they do not know. Where there is lawlessness there is strife and misery. With wickedness comes the fruit of sin. Because of the love God has for His creation, that which He called good when He created it, He restrains evil from destroying the world before it's time and only for the sake of His elect.
Deuteronomy 28:25 "The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
Deuteronomy 28:33-34 A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, so that you are driven mad by the sights that your eyes see.
Deuteronomy 28:43 The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower.
Deuteronomy 28:45-50 "All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young.
Deuteronomy 28:58-59 "If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God, then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting.
Time and again warnings are given about what happens if God's Law is ignored. These curses shall come upon you, the Scriptures proclaim, if you do not do as commanded. These aren't curses to just proclaimed to a people that do not know God but to a people that belong to God, they are temporal curses that affect the very life they live. What is the reaction that such warnings should result in? Repentance! Yet instead warnings result in a fear of losing current ways of life, to no longer live in a peaceful existence and enjoy the fruit of the land, to no longer have the things of this world. The fear of losing the blessings received rather than fearing their own sinfulness.
Romans 9:14-17 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
Is it right to warn a land that they will be overtaken by a violent religion, or is it better to warn them of their sins and the consequences? It is because of their sins they may be destroyed, even as Abraham pleaded with God to spare Sodom for the sake of even 10 righteous people it was lain to waste because repentance was not found. Jonah hoped for God to destroy Nineveh for it's sins but God spared it because they repented when Jonah prophesied to them. Though Jonah tried to avoid warning them and then having seen their repentance still was angry and hoped for God to bring disaster upon the land. Yet it was not the will of man but the will of God that occurred in either instance.
Luke 9:24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Is it your lifestyle you are trying to save? Then you will lose it. To gain the things of this world and to have earthly treasure is to lose an inheritance in Heaven. Seek not after gold or silver but after the very Word of God. You will either proclaim the Gospel or you will proclaim a political message that fades away. The time is short.
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