Yea.....
( Hey you'll ,sorry this is so long, I try to keep it short)
GoodAfternoon all & thank you !
Yea.... I guess I am still trying to figure it all out, and I truly appreciate the help. I guess one thing that sticks in my mind is Christ very first warning of how the end of this world age will be " Take heed lest any man DECEIVE you." [ Mark 13:5] And well I guess I don't need to pick away at that, it is very straight forward and to the point; right ? Dcookcan ? You asked me ... " If the antichrist doctrine falls in line with what you believe, will you follow him (thinking he is the True Messiah) ? I would have to answer like this, that is what I am trying to figure out, for I do NOT want, nor do I desire to "fall away" ( the great apostacy) to the wrong Jesus. So " IF " I understand correctly by the Scriptures that I had quoted on my 05Jul05 post, then to answer your question, NO WAY ! but rather this...
Ephesians 6:11
" Put on the WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD (that being His Word), that ye may be able to STAND AGAINST the wiles of the devil. "
Therefore " IF " what I understand is True, then I WILL have my Gospel Armour on and in place to "STAND AGAINST" the fiery darts of satan; as it is a spiritual armour right ? I mean with the breastplate, the shield, the helmet, & prayer; all that which is spoken of in Ephesians 6:10-19.
And my answer to Sputnik would be simply NO... I was not aware I was suggesting Futurism-premillennialism, or prewrath or post-trib prespectives, these I am not familiar with. So you see MAYBE I am missing something. Basically I read directly from God's Word, chapter by chapter & verse by verse. I do not physically attend any church; however, I do LOVE God the Father, and His Son, Jesus the Christ = God's Saviour = Immanel, God with us. [ Isaiah 7:14 ] Let me tell you what I do KNOW & BELEIVE, that which I firmly UNDERSTAND, that if you have seen the Son, you have seen the Father, just as Christ said. I believe that " In the begining was the Word, and the Word was with God, AND THE WORD WAS GOD " [ John 1:1] I also believe that THE WORD ( you know... the Word that was God) WAS MADE FLESH.,AND DWELT AMONG US. [As it is written in John 1:14] I have chose this forum to try and get some understanding of how the endtime will really be, I am not looking for all the answers, but rather understanding, and as for " me " to believe the prophecies of the endtime I MUST first have understanding and be careful that I'm NOT deceived. I feel that if Christ said " I have foretold you all things " [ John 13:23] ; Therefore, " IF " I allowed myself to be deceived it is not my own fault ? I do NOT want to be one of those that Christ says get out of my face, you know what I mean ?
Matthew 7:22-23
" Many will say in that Day (what day ? The Lord's Day.. right ?), Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name ? (Question ! ) And in Thy name have cast out devils ? And in Thy name done many wonderful works ? ( I mean these people are asking alot of questions, apparently they THOUGHT that they were doing right, they THOUGHT that they were following God's Word to the letter, or is it that they THOUGHT that Jesus Christ had returned for them, but instead it was the false christ, the instead of christ, satan, the devil, playing Christ and they fell away to the spurious messiah ? Is it that they were deceived that Christ is telling them to depart from him ? This is what I'm wanting to understand) AND THEN I WILL PROFESS UNTO THEM, I NEVER KNEW YOU; DEPART FROM ME, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY. "
If Christ said this to me I would be devastated, broken hearted.
Quadding101 I do agree with you in that you said to me that to understand the Bible we must take ALL the Bible says about a subject and put it together, and I thank you for the examples which you put forth for me. Yes, yes... God's Word must flow like Water from beginning to end, from Gesesis to Revelation. You have said that I can find the best description of the rapture in Matthew 24:29-31. I have liitle understanding of the "rapture".. one reasoning being is that the word 'rapture" isn't even in the bible....is it ? I mean I always thought Christ was coming HERE...... you know to earth, that He would descend just as He ascended... which was from the Mount of Olives... right ? I always thought the rapture was brought forth by Margret McDonald in 1830. I guess I am still trying to put it all together, for I am void of understanding the rapture and need help. And if people are going to be raptured away, where are they going ? Is not the Lord's Day here on earth ? And what about that which is written in the Boof of Ezekial... ?
Ezekial 13:20
" Wherefore THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD; Behold, I AM AGAINST YOUR PILLOWS ( maybe the pillows symbolizing the covering of God's Truth ?), WHEREWITH YE THERE HUNT THE SOULS TO MAKE THEM FLY, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, EVEN THE SOULS THAT YE HUNT TO MAKE THEM FLY. " ( Is this the rapture ? )
I mean when I read this it may make one think that God is against those that teach His children that they are going to " fly away ". Is God against the rapture ? I mean I thought that we were to suppose to have the Gopsel Armour on and in place to STAND AGAINST the Fiery darts of satan and not fly away before hand. ?????? See what I mean.. I NEED help with this. And you know how Christ said that there will be two and that one is taken and the other is left [Matthew 24:40-41] is it atl all possible that the one taken is taken into deception ? I mean it is written that even satan himself comes disguised as an angel of light, as well as the fallen angels that are cast down to earth with him. [ II Cor. 11:13-14 & Rev. 12:9] But then again with regards to the rapture, what about
I Thess. 4:17...
I Thessalonians 4:13
" Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. "
Now I do realize that God's Word is written in symbolism. hebraisms, metaphors, figures of speech, and customs of the times. When I take some of the words written in this Scripture back to there original language it makes me wonder about the rapture. Like for example the word "AIR" when taken back to the Greek is Aer= meaning to breath unconsciously, i.e. to inhale or exhale, which is the Hebrew word Neshamah , which means Breath of life, the breath spirit,. So this word air as it is in the king James bible actually means the "Breath of Life Body", The Spritual Body, and not the "air" like up in the sky. And also the word "CLOUD" in the Greek is Nephele, from the word Nephos, that meaning a large dense multitude, a multitude of assembled people. So this word cloud is a figure of speech fr a large group of people. It does in fact say that when Christ returns wel shall all be changed in a twinkling of an eye at the last trump [I cor. 15:51-52], changed into our spritual bodies. There are SEVEN trumps, so the last trump would be the 7th trump that we shall be changed and Christ does come at the Seventh Trump.. right ? And that the false christ comes at the sixth trump, sixth seal, and the sixth vial ? You see I am very confused about the rapture, gee.... I just don't know very much about it all, am I lacking a large piece of the puzzle with regards to the endtimes ?
Thanks so much,
Abiyah