There will be 2 comings of Jesus on the last Day. The first is FOR his saints {Matt 24:29-31} and the Last is WITH His saints just after the Marriage Feast of the Lamb as per Revelation 19:8-20.
Revelation 17:14: They will make war against the lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with Him will be His CALLED, CHOSEN and FAITHFUL followers.":applause:
John 6:44: Jesus says, No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the Last Day.":rolleyes:
The Father only Chooses those He knows will be Faithful and they will be rewarded according to what they have done.
Revelation 22:12: Jesus says, "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what He has done.":rolleyes:
2 Corinthians 5:10: "For we must all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body:rolleyes:, whether good or bad."
I do not care what Spurgeon,Calvin,Bunyon,Owens,Whitfield,
Owens,Or the host of Reformers HAD to say.
I want to hear what ABBA is doing with you.
How He is making Himself real to you.
Shalom
Mr. Meanie
James replies:
Yes, your attitude is sadly VERY common among Christians, and I hope to change your mind on this.
Paul said that we NEED the body of Christ. God has raised up men of great minds with deep scholarship to expound upon His Word, and the idea that we would ignore it, is to found in American Culture, NOT Scripture.
I think it is the same way with Arminianism. American culture is all about Freedom, and many Christians will translate that into a free will, which exists nowhere in Scripture.
I think the rugged individual crossing the plains in a covered wagon, has now been translated into a hyper-individualiistic attitude which is ALSO nowhere in Scripture.
I think that not only should you CARE What the giants of the faith have said, but I think you are RESPONSIBLE TO KNOW!
Look at it this way, God did not place you in 200AD, or 500AD or
1400AD. God decided that you would live in this late age, and you have literally 2000 years of Christian writings on every verse of Scripture.
In Proverbs it says THREE times, "There is wisdom in many counselors". Well we HAVE many counselors! And to ignore them and act like they were not as smart as we are, or don't matter, is at the VERY LEAST......unwise.
The same God also said that he is not willing that any should perish, so if any word he has spoken is true, so is this truth to all of those that believe, and any and all that ignore any scripture, they also ignore the God of the scripture.
It is certainly hard lately to find a church with people who really love and obey and are on fire for Jesus. Very often even evangelical churches teach that if you accept Jesus as your Savior you will receive a free pass to eternal life and God forbid that you should suffer financial hardship or persecution; which certainly helps church membership at the expense of the Truth. And very often churches just hold 2 services on Sunday and one on Wednesday which last an hour and people get very little practical spiritual help and can't wait to leave and come home.
The church is certainly far different from the early churches in Acts where the believers worshiped and witnessed every day and were very serious about loving Jesus and keeping all 400 of the NT commands with the hope of countless eternal rewards for faithful and loving service.
There are certainly some minimum requirements for the church you worship in. I don't see how a person filled with God's spirit which helps us to understand God's Word can stay in a Roman Catholic or Jehovah Witness church for more than a few months or in a very liberal church which does not believe in the Divinity of Jesus and His Father or that the Bible was inspired by God. It is certainly unfortunate that the body of Christ has to argue about beliefs that are not that important to your salvation and unbelievably we have over 400 Protestant denominations that will fight over every jot and tittle in their statement of faith.
Even though I believe that every day is the Lord's day and that all foods can be now be eaten in the NT; God's Word commands that I not condemn those who don't believe in eating meats or that one day is more special than another as per Romans 14:1-7. I believe that we should lovingly present our differing views on minor things to our brothers in Christ but not separate ourselves from our fellow saints because of these minor differences.:rolleyes:
I Peter 1:22: "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the Truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart." :angel:
GOD HAS PROMISED IN JEREMIAH 29:13: YOU WILL FIND ME WHEN YOU SEEK ME WITH **ALL YOUR HEART**.�
John 14:23: Jesus says, �If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching, My Father will love him, and We will make Our home with him.� Matthew 28:19.20� Jesus commands, �Go and make disciples of all nations... teaching them to *OBEY EVERYTHING I have commanded you!� {See I John 2:3-5}
So let us read God's Word daily {Acts 17:11} and then *DO WHAT IT SAYS*! {James 1:22,25}:angel:
Acts 17:11: �The Bereans were of noble character, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures *EVERY DAY*!�:rolleyes:
James 1:22,25: �Do not merely listen to the Word. *DO WHAT IT SAYS*!... and he who continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but *DOING IT*�will be blessed in what he does.:applause:
Matthew 16:27; Jesus says, �The Son of Man is going to come in **HIS FATHER'S GLORY WITH HIS ANGELS**:angel::angel::angel: {See Matt 24:30,31 & 2 Thess 1:6-10}, and *THEN* He will reward each person according to what he has done.� Revelation 22:12: Jesus says, �Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done!� {When Jesus comes in His Father's glory with His angels} 2 Corinthians 5:10: For we must all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, {When Jesus comes in His Father's glory with His angels} whether good or bad.�
Ephesians 2:8-10: It is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is NOT from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. So Salvation is the ***FREE GIFT*** of God's grace and good works can only be performed by the saved.
Daniel 12:3: �Those who impart wisdom will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever!�
Matthew 5:14,16: Jesus says, �You are the LIGHT of the world...Let your LIGHT shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
I Corinthians 3:6-9: Paul says, �The Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed. Apollos watered it, but God made it grow... The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers!�
So let our lights *SHINE* with the many gifts God has given us and we can have a REVIVAL with the hope of countless eternal rewards for faithful and loving service.
I Corinthians 1:7: For �You do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be *REVEALED*!�:applause:
James, this is an interesting post; definitely something to help us think through the "mechanics" of God's sovereignty.
While I do agree with the conclusion of Spurgeon's sermon, I disagree somewhat with his logic in arriving there.
I do believe that God is sovereign and that He absolutely could have chosen to save the fallen angels or to have vaporized the earth after The Fall. However, I do not think it is correct to liken fallen angels to fallen "children of Adam." The analogy falls short in a couple of ways:
1. We are born into a sin nature; no new angels are born; those who were created were perfect.
2. Just like the angels had a choice to rebel against God or be faithful to Him, we each individually have that choice, and it's a set choice. At the point that we die physically, we don't have any further opportunities to become saved. God's offer of grace is extended to us while we're here on this earth. Once unsaved people die they are eternally damned. The implication from Spurgeon's analogy is that God is permanently damning fallen angels while he gives humans a chance for salvation beyond the point of damnation. I'm slightly familiar with Spurgeon -- enough to know that this implication probably wasn't intentional -- however, because it is incorrect, it's certainly worth pointing out.
