I now realize, now that indeed nothing has happened as I expected would be the case as regarding September 23, that I have been far too generous in giving even the time of day to those fanatics for whom Acts 1:6-8 is simply not good enough.
I listened to them, carefully weighed what they had to say against scripture and of course concluded that they simply did not know what they were talking about.
But I still insisted on examining their ideas.
Some ignored verses like Acts 1:6-8, or insisted that they were not meant for the Church, or that they were only meant for the disciples at the time, or even twisted the Greek to justify this.
They are all contemptible. Even if we set aside for a moment the fact that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, they did not even have scholarly regard for a text which spoke plainly and simply.
They jumped on a bandwagon for they were so desperate to have the world end when they determined it should, and in my opinion were likely so consumed with hate for the world that they wanted to see it burn, that their burning lust overcame their sense and even their ability to read.
This is not simply a matter of sincere error.
To make predictions where the scripture forbids specific date setting is open defiance of scripture. To insist on doing so is to be deeply backslidden, powerfully estranged from the Holy Spirit who would have spoken to these persons if they were amenable to hearing His still and small voice. But they were not amenable.
They may not be lost because of getting wrong some issue of eschatology but they are in deep danger of loss if they are so estranged from the Spirit as to be backslidden - and this separate and distinct from any amount of religious activity they may engage in.
Once Saved Always Saved is a deadly heresy for it does not trust in the Love of Christ, it presumes upon it. And the difference here is crucial. Thus backsliding is real danger and those who rashly predicted, and in the name of the Lord Himself to boot, what did not occur, have themselves backslidden, for all their religious zeal.
One cannot be close to the Lord the Spirit and falsely predict anything. To be estranged from the Holy Spirit is the danger; and all who predicted what did not happen are estranged from Him
Then of course there is the reputation of the gospel among unbelievers. If one person rejects the gospel because of a failed prediction which had no shred of biblical warrant, then though the person who did this is accountable for his own disinclination to distinguish true from false prediction, yet nevertheless those who gave such the temptation to do so, namely end time fanatics with their obstinate penchant for date setting, will also be judged with ferocity. For it is written "It is inevitable that temptations come, but woe to him through whom they come." There is nothing in this passage nor the rest of scripture indicating that we the Church are exempt from this dire warning.
What hellfire preachers love to say to an unbelieving world, usually in hatred, cruelty and arrogance, must be said to the church that gave credence to the folly of Set 23 2015, May 21 2011, 2007, Y2K, 1988 and so on back over, I regret to say, centuries.
What must be said, and God discern my motive for saying it?
REPENT.
As for the title of this piece and my opening paragraph: I have been far too generous in giving the time of day to people who have so little regard for scripture as to use it as a cherry picking resource for their own fantasies, to the detriment of the faith of their weaker brethren and the reputation of the gospel itself
If I have any sense I will cease to give even this aforementioned time of day to any of them.
Their arguments are all the same, cherry picking, word twisting; and this when they know how to present a purportedly rational argument. Some were incapable of even this bare minimum and just bombarded the you tube watcher, where I found the bulk of this nonsense, with a set of images that proved nothing.
And as always we wonder why the Name of God is so hated these days, and as always we deny that our unbelief, hypocrisy and sheer dishonest scholarship have anything to do with it.
I listened to them, carefully weighed what they had to say against scripture and of course concluded that they simply did not know what they were talking about.
But I still insisted on examining their ideas.
Some ignored verses like Acts 1:6-8, or insisted that they were not meant for the Church, or that they were only meant for the disciples at the time, or even twisted the Greek to justify this.
They are all contemptible. Even if we set aside for a moment the fact that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, they did not even have scholarly regard for a text which spoke plainly and simply.
They jumped on a bandwagon for they were so desperate to have the world end when they determined it should, and in my opinion were likely so consumed with hate for the world that they wanted to see it burn, that their burning lust overcame their sense and even their ability to read.
This is not simply a matter of sincere error.
To make predictions where the scripture forbids specific date setting is open defiance of scripture. To insist on doing so is to be deeply backslidden, powerfully estranged from the Holy Spirit who would have spoken to these persons if they were amenable to hearing His still and small voice. But they were not amenable.
They may not be lost because of getting wrong some issue of eschatology but they are in deep danger of loss if they are so estranged from the Spirit as to be backslidden - and this separate and distinct from any amount of religious activity they may engage in.
Once Saved Always Saved is a deadly heresy for it does not trust in the Love of Christ, it presumes upon it. And the difference here is crucial. Thus backsliding is real danger and those who rashly predicted, and in the name of the Lord Himself to boot, what did not occur, have themselves backslidden, for all their religious zeal.
One cannot be close to the Lord the Spirit and falsely predict anything. To be estranged from the Holy Spirit is the danger; and all who predicted what did not happen are estranged from Him
Then of course there is the reputation of the gospel among unbelievers. If one person rejects the gospel because of a failed prediction which had no shred of biblical warrant, then though the person who did this is accountable for his own disinclination to distinguish true from false prediction, yet nevertheless those who gave such the temptation to do so, namely end time fanatics with their obstinate penchant for date setting, will also be judged with ferocity. For it is written "It is inevitable that temptations come, but woe to him through whom they come." There is nothing in this passage nor the rest of scripture indicating that we the Church are exempt from this dire warning.
What hellfire preachers love to say to an unbelieving world, usually in hatred, cruelty and arrogance, must be said to the church that gave credence to the folly of Set 23 2015, May 21 2011, 2007, Y2K, 1988 and so on back over, I regret to say, centuries.
What must be said, and God discern my motive for saying it?
REPENT.
As for the title of this piece and my opening paragraph: I have been far too generous in giving the time of day to people who have so little regard for scripture as to use it as a cherry picking resource for their own fantasies, to the detriment of the faith of their weaker brethren and the reputation of the gospel itself
If I have any sense I will cease to give even this aforementioned time of day to any of them.
Their arguments are all the same, cherry picking, word twisting; and this when they know how to present a purportedly rational argument. Some were incapable of even this bare minimum and just bombarded the you tube watcher, where I found the bulk of this nonsense, with a set of images that proved nothing.
And as always we wonder why the Name of God is so hated these days, and as always we deny that our unbelief, hypocrisy and sheer dishonest scholarship have anything to do with it.
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You can disagree with me, even spiritedly. But keep it civil as I am the one hurt by cruelty. I must protect myself from nastiness and will block or ban users if I must. And it would help if you offered reasons for your disagreements. If they are good I may respect you. If they are sound I may even change my mind