Christendom: A "Little Flock"? No!

[JAG**]

9 minutes ago, OneLight said:

I fully understand your point, and it is to teach.  The problem with how you are going about it, in my opinion, is that you are not clear in what you are trying to say.  You just throw out number to inflate your theory, as you did in the post I responded to, and expect us to just accept it without ever asking a question, which leads me to another point - you are too angry to teach people.  One question and you fly into a defensive mode. 

Good Luck and God Bless.

I am clear as a bell in what I am saying. 

I am not throwing out numbers, instead I am making solid points

and backing them up with clear Bible verses that support my points.

I don't expect "us" to accept my points without question.

And I am not angry, not even slightly angry.  And I am not in

defensive mode either. 

And there is no such thing as luck (God is Sovereign over the affairs of men

and not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from His will. And even the hairs

on our heads are numbered.)

And God bless you too.

By the way, I am successful in what I am trying to do in this thread.

How so? Because any thinking reader who actually reads my Opening Post

and my other posts in this thread is never again going to feel comfortable 

saying that Christendom is now a little flock and few in numbers.  The Bible

will not permit the thinking reader to reach that conclusion.  Pew Research

says that there are 2,300,000,000 Christians in the world today which is 31.2%

of the world's population. Now the man whose mind is closed tight to anything

that goes against his "little flock" prejudices can sneer at those numbers and

can issue a personal proclamation that says 90% of that 2,300,000,000 are

hypocrites and not true Christians, but no serious thinking reader is going to

believe that nonsense. But even if 90% of the 2,300,000,000 are hypocrites,

that still leaves 10% of the 2,300,000,000 that are true Christian and that 10%

is NOT a little flock and not just a few either.

 

 

[BeauJangles]

10 minutes ago, Jostler said:

Beau I wanted to pick on this one part of your well written post. 

Thanks, bro. I appreciate the input and participation. 

11 minutes ago, Jostler said:

but it bears a lot of insight into this very topic.   When we realize that in the Bible's terminology  who are "called" ARE born again, this question of  overall "numbers"  is impacted......and it will be HUGE.

Amen! I'm expecting a tremendous 'family' turn-out. 

[JAG**]

1 hour ago, Pekoudah said:

 the disciples of Christ are still a tiny flock. 

 

Pekoudah, I am successful in what I am trying to do in this thread.

How so? Because any thinking reader who actually reads my Opening Post

and my other posts in this thread is never again going to feel comfortable 

saying that Christendom is now a little flock and few in numbers.  The Bible

will not permit the thinking reader to reach that conclusion.  Pew Research

says that there are 2,300,000,000 Christians in the world today which is 31.2%

of the world's population. Now the man whose mind is closed tight to anything

that goes against his "little flock" prejudices can sneer at those numbers and

can issue a personal proclamation that says 90% of that 2,300,000,000 are

hypocrites and not true Christians, but no serious thinking reader is going to

believe that nonsense. But even if 90% of the 2,300,000,000 are hypocrites,

that still leaves 10% of the 2,300,000,000 that are true Christian and that 10%

is NOT a little flock and not just a few either.

[Pekoudah]

9 minutes ago, JAG** said:

 

Pekoudah, I am successful in what I am trying to do in this thread.

How so? Because any thinking reader who actually reads my Opening Post

and my other posts in this thread is never again going to feel comfortable 

saying that Christendom is now a little flock and few in numbers.  The Bible

will not permit the thinking reader to reach that conclusion.  Pew Research

says that there are 2,300,000,000 Christians in the world today which is 31.2%

of the world's population. Now the man whose mind is closed tight to anything

that goes against his "little flock" prejudices can sneer at those numbers and

can issue a personal proclamation that says 90% of that 2,300,000,000 are

hypocrites and not true Christians, but no serious thinking reader is going to

believe that nonsense. But even if 90% of the 2,300,000,000 are hypocrites,

that still leaves 10% of the 2,300,000,000 that are true Christian and that 10%

is NOT a little flock and not just a few either.

I didn't say that righteous people are hypocrites. I was saying that the holy are few...very few. The righteous are many...like the stars in the sky...and the hypocrites are no doubt also many.

 

The righteous are saved...but the holy are more than just saved, they will rule over the righteous in the nations in the next age.

[JAG**]

4 minutes ago, Pekoudah said:

The righteous are many...like the stars in the sky...

Agreed. Your statement is the point of my Opening Post

and the point of all my other posts in this thread. So

then we agree that the Christian church is NOT now a

little flock and NOT  now just a few. How so? Because

like you just said up there, "The righteous are many … like

the stars in the sky." --- and the number of the stars in

the sky is not just a few.

[Jostler]

2 minutes ago, Pekoudah said:

I didn't say that righteous people are hypocrites. I was saying that the holy are few...very few. The righteous are many...like the stars in the sky...and the hypocrites are no doubt also many.

 

The righteous are saved...but the holy are more than just saved, they will rule over the righteous in the nations in the next age.

I fully  agree with  that.  Again the doctrine of eternal judgement is very  enlightening with  reference to your assertion.  But what does that have to  do with the very  simple premise the  OP has attempted to focus on?

If we assume "saved" means "born again" ( very LIMITING assumption ) then those you  speak of  who DO go on to transformation of the  soul, recognizing and submitting to His FULL Lordship might be much  smaller than the total number who are born again.  I'd guess  it  is from evidence we see every  day  on this forum.

But the  born again will be in heaven...a vast number.  The "chosen" and  "faithful" probably will be a much smaller subset.   Being  born again is the  BEGINNING ....the Door INTO the  much, much fuller meaning of "salvation" as the Scripture fullly defines it.

Your point is valid IMO....Scripturally  supportable....it  just doesn't modify  anything about the  OP's very specific and limited question.

[BeauJangles]

2 minutes ago, Sonshine☀️ said:

??? 

Yeah, it was a rather confusing statement of faith. I'm trying to piece it together myself, but perhaps not. 

[JAG**]

2 hours ago, PromisesPromises! said:

Whew!  I've read this entire thread, including the fine print (which was not easy).  

This we can know for sure--that since the Day of Pentecost, when the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the faithful, The Lord has been adding to His church daily.  Three thousand on that very day!  (Acts 2:40-47)  Surely, none of us would want to underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit to bring conviction to the unbeliever, to change his heart to a believing one, and to seal him for redemption.  Just this is enough for me to believe that the Lord's army is vast.  

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my thread. I apologize for the fine print, I will try to make the print larger

from now on. And thanks for the positive comment up there, much appreciated. Yes the Lord's army is vast

even now, and will as the millenniums unfold be  numerically as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains

of sand on the seashore.

[JAG**]

Here is a verse of Holy Scripture that harmonizes with the Opening Post

and with the title of this thread which is "Christendom: A Little Flock? No!"

"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD

as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14).

[JAG**]

Here is another verse from God's word the Holy Bible that raises

a question pertinent to this thread, namely will there come a time

in the future when the will of God will be done here on earth? 

"Our Father in Heaven

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as it is Heaven."___The Lord Jesus

Matthew 6:9-10

__________

 

It seems reasonable to believe that God will

answer Jesus' prayer and that there will come

a time when the will of God will be done throughout

the earth. 

The only other alternative is that God will not answer

Jesus' prayer and that would mean  there will never

come a time when the will of God will be done on earth

as it is in Heaven.

 

You have to choose between these two:

(1) There will never come a time when the will of God will

be done on earth as it is in Heaven. God does not answer Jesus' prayer.

(2) There will come a time when the will of God will be done

on earth as it is in Heaven. God does answer Jesus' prayer.

I choose to believe (2)

Which one do you choose to believe?

 

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by JAG**