"This is that......."

[Alive]

I am placing this OP in this area of Eschatology, not because I mean it to be a discussion of eschtalogical viewpoints, but because it may lead to that—which often happens. Perhaps we can keep it to the encouraging and faith building aspect of what prophecy is to and for us.

I will try to explain what I mean and relate that this has been very helpful to me.

:-)

There are so many prophecies in the scriptural record that came true exactly as God proclaimed through the prophets, but none with the incredible exactitude as those speaking about Jesus Christ to come. Many of those prophecies were not understood at the time, but all became so clear when He was born, lived and died as He did. I can only imagine how the fulfillment of all of them before their eyes blew the minds of His disciples and the early converts that followed as the scriptures were opened up to them by the Holy Spirit.

These things were evident proofs of the veracity of scripture and of God’s reaching down from heaven into the affairs of men.

And shortly after His ascension at the great outpouring at Pentecost when Peter recounted Joel:

Acts 2:14 (KJVS)   But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: ¹⁵ For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; ¹⁷ 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: ¹⁸ And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: ¹⁹ And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: ²⁰ The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

 

I found myself focusing on the phrase (KJV-after all of these years, I still hear the KJV in my head when recalling verses)—“this is that”. And that is what got me thinking about this OP this morning.

Another example that surely gave great comfort to the believers of the day, was when in 70 AD the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples came true with perfect accuracy! I imagine them saying similarly—“this is that”. This is what Jesus said to us. And as well those that read the 3 gospel accounts. They must have marveled, but they were surely built up in the faith and encouraged.

My point this morning is that these things have been a great help and encouragement to me through the years and contributed to my ongoing faith in my Lord and in the scriptures I study.

It was during and after the coming to pass of prophecy that believers could say—“this is that”.

Regardless of our positions we can and surely will in the days ahead be able to say along with Peter and those that lived to see—“this is that”.

 

Praise the Lord! His Word endures.

Be encouraged this day.

[Keras]

It is great how we can be encouraged by the Prophesies. 

But to believe that Joel 2:28-29 were fulfilled on the day of Pentecost so long ago, is wrong.  They experienced a taste of what is yet to come.    Proved by how the cosmic events as described in Joel 2:30-31, have not yet happened. 

Very soon to happen, the Lord will send His fiery wrath to change the world, as is vividly described in over 100 Prophesies.  This sudden and shocking worldwide disaster will set the scene for the establishment of a One World Government, which we Christians will not join.    THEN; the faithful and righteous peoples from every tribe, race, nation and language, will live in  peace and prosperity. Joel 3:18, Ezekiel 34:11-16, Isaiah 35:1-10, and THEN, the Lord will pour upon them His Spirit. Ezekiel 36:24-27, Isaiah 32:15

 

 

[Alive]

“Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son’s name? Surely you know!”

(Proverbs 30:4 NAS95)

[Dennis1209]

I cannot speak for anyone else, but “this is that” excites me. In the past two millennia, no other generation has witnessed the convergence of everything prophetic; let me explain.

Luke 21:28 (KJV) And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

The super prophecy fulfilled in our generation, Israel became a nation again in a single day, May 14, 1948. I was unaware of it at the time, but most Christians were shocked.

Israel regained control of Jerusalem and the mountains of Israel during the Six Days War in 1967. Traditionally and legally, Israel expands its borders to prevent another occurrence when attacked. I was too young and unstudied to comprehend the significance of that prophecy at the time.

In our generation, we have witnessed everything in Matthew 24 aligning and shaping up. Never in history has there been cooperation, defense treaties, and alliance between the three major players in the Gog-Magog invasion (Russia, Iran, and Turkey).

With most of the remaining prophecies to be fulfilled, Israel had to be a nation once again. 

We now see the conditions and reasons Elam (1/6 of S.W. Iran where their Bushehr nuclear facilities reside) will be decimated, and the population flees (likely radiation and fallout).

The destruction of Damascus, Syria, overnight, the headquarters of Israel’s enemies, it is thought a large stockpile of biological and chemical weapons is buried in Damascus. Russia is now belligerent toward Israel, demanding they stop all sortie bombings in Syria as if they now own Syria.

Should the Lord allow me to live in this body until I’m 80? I am almost sure I will hear the trumpet and shout, Damascus a ruinous heap overnight, or Iran’s nuclear facilities decimated.

As I witness everything shaping up, I am already saying to myself, “this is that.”

Biblical prophecy is shaping up faster than it can be analyzed and reported. We live in exciting prophetic times.

 

[AdHoc]

On 8/3/2022 at 3:47 PM, Alive said:

I am placing this OP in this area of Eschatology, not because I mean it to be a discussion of eschtalogical viewpoints, but because it may lead to that—which often happens. Perhaps we can keep it to the encouraging and faith building aspect of what prophecy is to and for us.

I will try to explain what I mean and relate that this has been very helpful to me.

:-)

There are so many prophecies in the scriptural record that came true exactly as God proclaimed through the prophets, but none with the incredible exactitude as those speaking about Jesus Christ to come. Many of those prophecies were not understood at the time, but all became so clear when He was born, lived and died as He did. I can only imagine how the fulfillment of all of them before their eyes blew the minds of His disciples and the early converts that followed as the scriptures were opened up to them by the Holy Spirit.

These things were evident proofs of the veracity of scripture and of God’s reaching down from heaven into the affairs of men.

And shortly after His ascension at the great outpouring at Pentecost when Peter recounted Joel:

Acts 2:14 (KJVS)   But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: ¹⁵ For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; ¹⁷ 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: ¹⁸ And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: ¹⁹ And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: ²⁰ The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

 

I found myself focusing on the phrase (KJV-after all of these years, I still hear the KJV in my head when recalling verses)—“this is that”. And that is what got me thinking about this OP this morning.

Another example that surely gave great comfort to the believers of the day, was when in 70 AD the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples came true with perfect accuracy! I imagine them saying similarly—“this is that”. This is what Jesus said to us. And as well those that read the 3 gospel accounts. They must have marveled, but they were surely built up in the faith and encouraged.

My point this morning is that these things have been a great help and encouragement to me through the years and contributed to my ongoing faith in my Lord and in the scriptures I study.

It was during and after the coming to pass of prophecy that believers could say—“this is that”.

Regardless of our positions we can and surely will in the days ahead be able to say along with Peter and those that lived to see—“this is that”.

 

Praise the Lord! His Word endures.

Be encouraged this day.

All of us, some more than others, are excited by the prospect of a Biblical prophecy fulfilled before our eyes. I can report a dozen or so in my lifetime. I don't find 14th May, 1948, but certainly the "birth-pangs" of Matthew 24 are in sight as is the evidence of "The Days of Noah" and the "days of Lot". But when I'm honest, the most impressive and tangible prophecies that were fulfilled in my life was food in my belly and raiment on my back for over 70 years without a single failure. Just do the maths. 356 X 70 @ 3 meals a day. I've seen Matthew 5:45 fulfilled thousands of times as my neighbors who don't even believe in God grow their crops. I've given alms in secret and never missed a bill of my own - so has God fulfilled His Word. You can't outgive God. And then God predicted that He chastises those whom He loves - and more than once I've felt that "grievous" Hand from heaven. But He was always right. I needed it. And as my life draws to a close I can expect to die - for "ALL in Adam die" - and He is never wrong. But maybe - JUST MAYBE - that trumpet and shout of 1st Thessalonians 4 will sound, and after glimpsing friends and fellow Christians resurrected, I will, TOGETHER with them, be "caught away" to meet that Darling of Heaven in the clouds. What a thing to hope for!

[Alive]

I am excited to seeing the Good News continually manifested world wide and scripture translated in more and more languages. I delight in an ever growing family.

[Dennis1209]

24 minutes ago, AdHoc said:

All of us, some more than others, are excited by the prospect of a Biblical prophecy fulfilled before our eyes. I can report a dozen or so in my lifetime. I don't find 14th May, 1948, but certainly the "birth-pangs" of Matthew 24 are in sight as is the evidence of "The Days of Noah" and the "days of Lot". But when I'm honest, the most impressive and tangible prophecies that were fulfilled in my life was food in my belly and raiment on my back for over 70 years without a single failure. Just do the maths. 356 X 70 @ 3 meals a day. I've seen Matthew 5:45 fulfilled thousands of times as my neighbors who don't even believe in God grow their crops. I've given alms in secret and never missed a bill of my own - so has God fulfilled His Word. You can't outgive God. And then God predicted that He chastises those whom He loves - and more than once I've felt that "grievous" Hand from heaven. But He was always right. I needed it. And as my life draws to a close I can expect to die - for "ALL in Adam die" - and He is never wrong. But maybe - JUST MAYBE - that trumpet and shout of 1st Thessalonians 4 will sound, and after glimpsing friends and fellow Christians resurrected, I will, TOGETHER with them, be "caught away" to meet that Darling of Heaven in the clouds. What a thing to hope for!

I suppose it is natural, at 70 years old I find myself thinking about death and spiritual preparation more frequently these days. One commonality every human share is that dash between two dates on our headstone, and what we did and did not do during that dash.

I truly believe this generation is the one who will experience the Harpazo.

[Alive]

5 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

I suppose it is natural, at 70 years old I find myself thinking about death and spiritual preparation more frequently these days. One commonality every human share is that dash between two dates on our headstone, and what we did and did not do during that dash.

I truly believe this generation is the one who will experience the Harpazo.

I am not at all convinced this is ‘that’ generation….having said that, I listen for a shout!

Brother, Dennis…trust the work He has done in you and resist the temptation to compare with others.

[missmuffet]

59 minutes ago, Alive said:

I am not at all convinced this is ‘that’ generation….having said that, I listen for a shout!

Brother, Dennis…trust the work He has done in you and resist the temptation to compare with others.

Well, since you are preterist I imagine you do not think this is the generation. I believe that Jesus Christ could come at any moment to take all those who are born again Christians to heaven. I hope everyone who does not want to go into the 7 year tribulation is ready. 

[AdHoc]

1 hour ago, Dennis1209 said:

I suppose it is natural, at 70 years old I find myself thinking about death and spiritual preparation more frequently these days. One commonality every human share is that dash between two dates on our headstone, and what we did and did not do during that dash.

I truly believe this generation is the one who will experience the Harpazo.

Paul, servant of the Lord in all adversity, having lost everything for Jesus, had the same dilemma. less than four years before his martyrdom, he writes in Philippians 3

 11 If by any means I might attain unto the (OUT)-resurrection of the dead. 12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the UPWARD call of God in Christ Jesus.

The "OUT-resurrection", used only this once in scripture, corresponds with the "First-resurrection" of Revelation 20. And it is not for free. One must ATTAIN it. And the UPWARD call of the firstfruits rapture is a PRIZE. It to is not for free. Paul knew this, and Paul was not sure. Salvation from the Lake of Fire and eternal life are not themes for Paul. They are guaranteed by the works of Christ. But REWARD for our service must be EARNED.

But @Alive is also correct. Years earlier, Paul had known these facts of Christian life and committed His walk to God. He reports in 2nd Timothy 1:12;

12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

We must strive to be good stewards, but all the while knowing we are weak.