Reformation Day

Reformation Day is a religious holiday celebrated on October 31 in remembrance of the Reformation, particularly by Lutheran and some Reformed church communities. It is a civic holiday in Slovenia (since the Reformation contributed to its cultural development profoundly, although Slovenians are mainly Roman Catholics) and in the German states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. It is also a national holiday in Chile since 2008.

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted a proposal at the doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to debate the doctrine and practice of indulgences. This proposal is popularly known as the 95 Theses, which he nailed to the Castle Church doors. This was not an act of defiance or provocation as is sometimes thought. Since the Castle Church faced Wittenberg's main thoroughfare, the church door functioned as a public bulletin board and was therefore the logical place for posting important notices. Also, the theses were written in Latin, the language of the church, and not in the vernacular. Nonetheless, the event created a controversy between Luther and those allied with the Pope over a variety of doctrines and practices. When Luther and his supporters were excommunicated in 1520, the Lutheran tradition was born. This in turn would later ease the creation of the Reformed and Anabaptist traditions as well.

Those who sleep in Jesus and the Harpazo

Facebook:

I was doing some study on 1 Thessalonian 4. As I was studying it. I discovered the significant point of its writing. Many of the believer in those times were being hunted down and destroyed. Many were mourning their loss of those they loved in Christ. The scripture in in 1 Thessalonians 4 was to comfort them and reassure them that they will not be forgotten. In the time of Jesus' return the dead will be the first to rise and meet Him in the air. We who are alive and remaining will follow after them. These words were to be a comfort to them in their time of sorrow.

Response:

Here is a perspective to consider...that goes along with your observation. It is possible that 2 Thessalonians 2 was actually the first letter...written quickly before Paul sailed to Athens (Acts 17:14 & 15). There is a transition between Old Testament prophecy about "the day of the Lord" and the New Testament "mystery" of "we (living and departed saints) shall be changed" before "the day of resurrection" prophecy of the O.T. after the "day of the LORD" (see Daniel 12:2). Since Paul's teaching was new revelation...it was in conflict with old revelation. Those disciples taught by the apostles were claiming to the Thessalonians "by the spirit" or by "word of knowledge" or by a forged letter in Paul's name (2 Thess 2:2) that "the day of the LORD" had come (enistemi) NASV. Paul in this short letter corrects this by saying that the "gathering together" (episunagoge) and the "departure" (apostosia) will occur "first"...starting the "time of the Lord" (Daniel's seventieth seven) with the revelation of the man of sin, who will desecrate the temple (v. 4), and be destoyed on "THE day of the Lord" at Jesus' second coming (v. 8).

When Timothy met Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:5)...he gave a report on the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 1:6). The saints were waiting in expectation for the "coming of Jesus" to rescue them from the "coming wrath" that will occur during the "time (day) of the LORD." (1:9 & 10, 2:19 & 20, 3:13). But the old revelation about "the day of resurrection" that will follow after "THE day of the LORD" persisted and some of the Thessalonians believed the living saints will be "gathered together" and "depart" like Paul said in his first letter...but...this would mean the saints who died as martyrs during their tribulation (2 Thess. 1:3-12 and 1 Thess. 1:15 & 16)...would have to wait until seven years later...then be resurrected (precede them that sleep 4:15). Paul does not want them to remain uninformed about the departed saints. They will be included in the "gathering together" and will "depart with the living saints. This "mystery" is not found in the old revelation. Paul explain how the departed will be harpazo-ed at the same time as the living saints. Paul gives this order of events...which agrees with what he taught to the Corinthians (15:50-54)...

First - vs. 13 & 14 For the departed this is a blessed hope. Though their body sleeps the sleep of death..."in Jesus"...their souls that went to heaven..will God have Jesus bring "with Him." This hope is joined to Jesus' resurrection.

Parenthetical thought- v. 15 & 16 The "coming of the Lord" to "gathering together" (episunagoge) and "depart" (apostosia) with His saints will be for the departed saints first...not for the living saints first.

Second - The Lord Jesus will descend through the third and second heaven with the souls of the departed saints.

Third- When the Lord reached earths atmosphere (the clouds of the air), He and those with Him will stop. Then Jesus will give a loud shout "Anabaino!" (Rev. 4:1) and then the bodies of those who sleep in Jesus will be "changed" (allasso) and resurrected (raised) first. The corruptible is raised incorruptible.

Fourth - Then the living saints will be "changed" (allasso) and tranlated. The mortal shall put on immortality.

Fifth- Together they are "caught up" (harpazo), "gathering together" (episunagoge) and "depart" (apostosia)..."to meet the Lord in the clouds in the atmosphere. In 1/100th of a second (twinkle of an eye) the immortal souls will be joined to their incorruptible bodies, being fully clothed (2 Corinth 5:1-10) ..and the living saints...the bride and body of Christ go to heaven to "ever be with the Lord."

The Christian saint who "sleeps" in Jesus will not sleep until Jesus' second coming. The Christian saint who sleeps in Jesus will not be left behind when the living saints are gathered together and changed from mortal to immortal...rather...this coming is unique and unlike the second coming whereby those who are resurrected receive their eternal bodies...but the living saints remain mortal...to repopulate the earth during the millennium. In this "Coming of the Lord" only those...living and departed who are His bride and body will be changed together, gathered together, caught up together, and depart together.

Girl struck, killed by TRAX test train in West Jordan | The Salt Lake Tribune

Girl struck, killed by TRAX test train in West Jordan The Salt Lake Tribune <<< Click Here for the Article.

This is a tragic story. Yet as I read it...there is a sermon in the article.

A Warning is Given:

The pair went around the arms and avoided an eastbound train, Laney said, but about five seconds later a westbound train struck (the girl).

Crossing Arms do not go across the sidewalks. It is for cars. Pedestrians are to stop when the arms go down, the red light flashes and the bell clangs. (see picture in the article). Notice that there is a flashing red light and there is a loud ringing bell to announce the approach of a train. The girl ignored this warning and went on across.

Application:

Across the path of sinners...the cross warns them of the danger of ignoring Jesus' sacrifice if they go on their way.

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:17 & 18

The blood Jesus shed shimmers on the path to stop them. But they trample on His blood and walk past the cross...ignoring the warning the approaching danger of death.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body..If we deliberately keep on sinning (apostatize) after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Jer. 31:34; Deut. 32:35; Hebrews 10:19, 20, 26-31

A Warning is Silenced:

(T)he tracks, which are in a newly approved "quiet zone" where trains are no longer required to sound horns when they approach intersections.

At Yahoo Answers a Train Engineer talks about why the train horn...annoying as it is..is important for safety:

Engineers are not fond of blowing the whistle. On many locomotives, we're sitting right under them. But ask one if he would rather kill someone or endure the whistle. To the last man, we would rather hear the horn.

It is in fact a law, as per the FRA, as well as being a part of the consolidated code of rules. If an engineer kills someone at a grade crossing and it can be proven that the horn was not sounded, the bell not ringing or the headlights or ditchlingts not turned on, then that engineer is subject to indictment on charges of manslaughter, at the worst, and criminal negligence at best.

Quiet zones are death and destruction waiting to happen. The town in which I live is trying to establish a quiet zone, and I am fighting it tooth and nail. In this instance, the area to be "silenced" has a high volume of foot traffic...It is true that in most instances motorists do have the car windows up and the stereo playing. But pedestrians need warning as well, with curved track playing a large part in the mix.

A train can be on top of you in nothing flat if not forewarned. It is time that the engine's horn buys for potential victims, and where life is on the line, time counts, even if measured in the thousandths of a second. (edited and rearranged for clarity)

Application:

People do not like Christians sharing their faith in public. They do not want to hear preachers on the street corner or of Bible Churches sending members to go door to door to warn them of their impending doom in hell. So they makes laws to curtail free speech and to make "quiet-zones" where the condemnation of God's law and the liberty of God's grace found in the gospel of Jesus Christ is silenced. Sometimes the member's of the Church silence the preaching of the law against sin from the pulpit. They do not want to be confronted by the condemnation of their sins. They silence the warning and are overtaken by death and God's judgment that follows.

Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." Acts 4:18 & 19

A Friend's Warning Unheeded:

(Witness) said she came out of her house to hear the friend who tried to cross with (her friend) screaming, "I told her not to go." The pair went around the arms and avoided an eastbound train, Laney said, but about five seconds later a westbound train struck (the girl).
"One saw it and jumped back," Laney said.

They went together as friends as the warning was given. They did not hear the danger approaching. The first friend avoided being hit by the eastbound train by jumping back. In her fright at the danger they were in. She tried to stop her friend by screaming "Don't go!" five seconds later the westbound train struck her friend.

Application:

The unsaved, when they are in the midst of danger and disaster, try to warn their friends before it is too late. They cry "Flee"...but they cannot tell their friend where they are to run to for safety. They cry "Stop"...but they cannot tell them where to go to be safe. They have ignored the warning that God gave them from His word and from the cross from which Jesus died. They silenced the Christian from telling them where they can flee for refuge and to go to the Lord to be safe from judgment. They may find the answer before it is too late...snatch others from the fire and save them..(Jude 1:23). But the destiny of their friend is sealed and their doom is sure.

Friend, if you read this article and have not accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior...then do so today.

For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2

You have an appointment with death...do not wait until this day takes you after all the warnings God has given you.

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. Hebrews 9:27

Call upon the Lord and be saved.

As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:11-13

The Billboard misapplies Matthew 24:36

After Harold Camping's date for the Rapture to occur on May 21st came and went...this billboard popped up on Facebook.



I have commented to my friends that Matthew 24:36 has been misapplied to the Rapture (New Testament truth revealed to Paul by the ascended and glorified Jesus)...and even to the Second Coming...(Old Testament prophecy, the Gospel's and Revelation of Jesus Christ). I can detect some annoyance with me for mentionings this from my friends. I am going against popular seniments and maybe I am making a mountain of a molehill. Even those who visit my blog may dismiss my posts as an overkill on this subject. Yet the issue must be understood in the light of how we correctly handle God's word, or rightly divide it (2 Timothy 2:15). If Harold Camping is open to criticism for how he handled God's word...we who are the critics need to make sure we are accurate in how we handle God's word. It is a two way street.

Those who quoted Matthew 24:36 on this billboard chose the wrong verse. Verse 42 and 44 has to do with Jesus' return.
Verse 36 has nothing to do with the Rapture...the text is for Israel and before the cross and resurrection...i.e. Old Testament. The
rapture is after the cross and resurrection, New Testament, imminent and a mystery (1 Corinthians 15:50-54).
The text has to do with Jesus' second coming...only in regards to how Israel will be a nation again after their winter of dispersion has ended. The teaching about Israel's seventy sevens and Jesus' coming...this teaching ended at verse 31...and taken up again concerning watching from verses 37 through chapter 25.
The text has everything to do with the lesson of the fig tree that starts in verse 32 (compare with Mark 13:28-32).
Jesus did not know when the nation He had judged and cursed to death after the period of grace had passed Luke 13:1-9 and Matthew 21:18-22)...would revive because there was not Old Testament prophecy He could cite, nor did the Father reveal it to Him, the angels, nor to His prophets.
We do know the day and hour of when the fig tree revived...May 1948. Israel's winter has ended, spring has arrived...and summer is near...the time of judgment.
Notice verse 42 only mentions the "hour" is not known. Daniel and Revelation reveal that the Messiah will return 3.5 years, forty-two months (30 days each) or 1,260 days from the time of the abomination that causes desolation to the end. Daniel 12:11 & 12 adds 30 days or 1,290 days...plus 45 days...1,335 days. Jesus and the believing Jews can count the days from the abmoination...but the hour of His arrival is still unknown.

Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back--whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. Mark 13:35

For the wicked, evil sevants and foolish virgins...the day and hour will be unknown to them:

But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, Matthew 24:48-50

Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. Matthew 24:11-13

Genesis 1:21: Why is it that only Whales are mentioned and no other specific animal?

Question: I have a question... just been reading Genesis Chapter One and I noticed that in verse 21 Whales are specifically mentioned and no other animal. Why is it that only Whales are mentioned and no other specific animal?

Answer:

The word is for any large sea mammel...but meaning is determined by the context...like a desert mammel (jackel, wolve, etc. Isaiah 13:22). Knowledge has increased since the KJV was trasnalted in 1611. At that time whales, sea monsters and dragons was how they understood large creatures at the time.

(T)o the citizens of Great Britain at the time that the King James Version of the Bible was being translated dragons were a serious topic! One author in doing his research located nearly 200 places in the area at which "dragon" sightings had been reported. The literature of the day contained many references to dragons and similar creatures.In the King James Version of the Bible the Hebrew words that are translated most often as dragon/dragons was "tanniym/tanniyn". [a]

The problem with Bible dictionaries is that the authors are influenced by theistic evolution, non-literal interpretation or personal bias. The other problem is that Baraminologists (creation scientists who work to identify created kinds) has only been recently developed that connects dinasours with known animal kinds. Job 40:15-41:34 says two types dinasours...land type - the behemoth..and...a auqa type - the leviathan...was made with man (40:15a), made with the ox (40:15b), beasts of the field (40:20) and the bird (41:5). Brass and iron are mentioned (40:18). [b], [c]

The Hebrew words "tanniym/tanniyn" is broad enough in scope to cover all types of wild beasts, including those that are extinct, including the plesiosaur, basking shark, giant shelled sea turtle, or oarfish, all can be classified as "tanniym/tanniyn". The author proposes that future translations would be better served by translating it as "wild beast" and not cloud the interpretation by using the name of an animal that is currently living. That the words of the Genesis passages can be interpreted to include all types of animals, known living species and extinct species! Many species have gone extinct in very recent history, many, many more than can be counted, only very rough estimates of the sea and land creatures that have gone extinct are available. [d]

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Notes:

[a] Bible Dragons!
http://www.accuracyingenesis.com/dragon.html

[b] Could Behemoth have been a dinosaur?
http://www.answersingenesis.org/tj/v15/i2/behemoth.asp

[c] Dinosaurs—Alive After Babel?
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v3/n2/dinosaurs-alive-after-babel

[d] Bible Dragons!

Why is Matthew 24:42 different than Matthew 24:36?

Facebook: "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Matthew 24:36 ----- There is no specific date nor time on the Lord's second coming but one thing I am Sure of, JESUS IS COMING SO SOON! He might come today,tonight,tomorrow OR AT THIS VERY MOMENT-- The QUESTION IS: ARE WE READY???
Response: Matthew 24:36 is taken out of context...which begins in verse 32 about the lesson of the fig tree. The verse that should be quoted is Matthew 24:42.

Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Notice that Jesus does not say "day and hour"...just "hour." The Greek is "hora"

1.a certain definite time or season fixed by natural law and returning with the revolving year

a. of the seasons of the year, spring, summer, autumn, winter

2. the daytime (bounded by the rising and setting of the sun), a day
3. a twelfth part of the day-time, an hour, (the twelve hours of the day are reckoned from the rising to the setting of the sun)
4. any definite time, point of time, moment

Why this difference between verse 36...from verse 42?

The lesson of the fig tree in Matthew 24:32-36 concerns the revival of Israel (expressed as spring) before her seventieth seven (expressed as "summer"). There was NO Old Testament prophecy that foretold when Israel would revive after her dispersion. We know the "day and hour" as May 1948 when Isreal become a nation again. We know "summer is near" because of this event.

Verse 42 concerns Jesus' return at the end of Israel's seventieth seven. Both Daniel and the Revelation tells the Jews to count 1,260 days and 1,290 days from when they see the abomination takes place in the last days Temple (see 2 Thess 2:4). Jesus does not mention "day" because it can be known from the time of the abomination (Matthew 24:15-31). He has Old Testament prophecy for knowing "the day." But "the hour" on that day is unknown. Matthew 24:38-25:30 teaches watchfulness since the hour of His coming on that day may be morning, noon, night or even midnight. It all depends on which time zone the "watcher" is in when Jesus returns.

Let us look at verse 42 in context:

37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Jesus begins a series of points concerning watchfulness for His coming.

• Days of Noah: 37-42
  


• The houseowner and the theif: 43 & 44
  


• The unfaithful steward: 45 - 51
  


• The Ten Virgins: 25:1-13
  


• The Master and the Talents: 25:14-30

In this series Jesus talks about the days of Noah, which are the seven days before the flood found in Genesis 7:1-10.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

The English word "until" is translated from the Greek "achri" and can be translated "even when"...meaning the time between when Noah entered the ark to the flood.

42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

Verse 42 is the proper ending to this section. Verses 40 and 41...as well as Matthew 28 are scribal inserts from Luke 17:20-37.

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34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. 35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Luke 17:34-36

40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Matthew 24:40 & 41

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Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.Luke 17:37

For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Matthew 24:28

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Jesus is saying that like the days of Noah...the seven days between Noah entering the ark and then the flood....will correspond to Israel's seventieth seven. Those Hebrews who enter into covenant relationship with Christ by faith will be protected from the judgment that end with Christ's return.

I hope this study has been helpful.

We Cannot Know “The Day or Hour”

Click Here --> The Hal Lindsey Report - Watchman Warning: 5-16-2011 <--to read the full article


Brother Hal does not connect the "day and hour" of Matthew 24:36 with the "lesson of the fig tree" of verse 32. Instead he says "everyone recognized that the general time of summer had arrived. Jesus then applied this to what He had predicted about the signs of His return and the end of the age."

What did Jesus say?

As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know....

During winter you do not know what day or hour the fig tree will put out its leaves in the spring. But when spring comes..and you observe that twigs get tender (Gr. apalos - of a branch of a tree that is full of sap )...you know the day and hour it will put forth its leaves. Israel's winter was her dispersion (Luke 21:24), her spring began on May 1948, and her summer...the seventieth seven (Daniel 9:27) is yet future.

The fig tree was a common fruit tree in Israel. It is mentioned many times in the Old Testament, especially as a description of the abundance of the land. Sometimes figs or fig trees are also used as symbols or pictures. In passages like Jeremiah 24:1-10 and Hosea 9:10, figs or fig trees are used as an representation of Israel. It seems that Jesus' reference here is not so much on the "figness" of the fig tree, but on the way that the fig tree follows reliable growth cycles related to the seasons. This is especially evident compared when this passage is compared with Luke 21:29-31. -- David Guzik

When the juices return from the roots into the branches, and the buds swell and burst, as if tender, and too feeble to-contain the pressing and expanding leaves. When you see that, you judge that spring and summer are near. -- Albert Barnes

What is the lesson to be learned from the parable of the fig tree? That lesson is that when a fig tree reaches a certain stage in the seasonal cycle (in this case puts on leaves) then one knows that they have reached a certain time of the year (in this case, that summer is near). A parable is a lesson of comparisons, moving from the known in order to explain the unknown. In this instance the leaves before summer would refer to the events of the tribulation as outlined by Christ in verses 4- 31. Thus, when one sees these events then they are to know that Christ' s return is near, " right at the door" (24:33). --Thomas Ice

The point of all of this is that what is unknown about the budding of the fig tree (24:36)...Israel's revival as a nation....becomes known...YOU KNOW...when "As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out.." We KNOW summer is near...Israel's seventieth seven...because Israel is back in the land (Ezekiel 38:12) then "this generation (that which has been begotten, men of the same stock--i.e. Jews born and live in Israel since 1948 until Jesus returns) will certainly not pass away until all these things (from Israel's revival in 1948 to her rescue at the end of the seventy-sevens) have happened."