Tag Archives: Church

A Second Chance

Christian Life, , ,

A SECOND CHANCE

“When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound of a strong wind — gale force — no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.” Acts 2:1-4 (The Message).

Such a familiar story! We know it so well, but do we? Funny how I have always taken for granted that the event took place in the upper room! But did it? They had met in a house for the Feast of Passover, hardly big enough to accommodate a hundred and twenty people! Luke said that they spend all their time in the Temple, praising God (Luke 24:53). Perhaps this happened in the Temple where people would have gathered for the Pentecost ceremony, led by the high priest.

Pentecost was a harvest festival, celebrating and giving thanks for the full harvest that had been gathered in. It was also the last of the spring feasts which Messiah was to fulfil, according to the ancient rabbis. It was the only feast in which bread was made with yeast, symbolising God’s willingness to dwell with imperfect people.

The high priest would take a loaf of leavened bread, symbolising the harvest, pour olive oil through it and offer it up to God, saying, “Now the Feast of Pentecost has fully come.” It was celebrated fifty days after Passover. The symbolism is beautiful. Jesus was the “seed” sown into the ground at Passover and fifty days later, the “harvest” of the church began to be gathered in when the Holy Spirit was poured out on imperfect people. God had now taken up permanent residence in His “temple”, the people of God.

Pentecost took place on the same day of the year that God met with Israel on Mount Sinai and entered into a marriage covenant with them. On that occasion His appearance was accompanied by noisy and visual confirmations. There was the blowing of a trumpet, voices and fire and smoke. He offered them a marriage proposal and entered into a marriage covenant which they failed to acknowledge or honour.

The same phenomena occurred when the Holy Spirit was poured out, wind (noise), fire and smoke (visuals) and voices. At Sinai, God’s people refused to respond to His marriage proposal — they were terrified at the sound of God’s voice and pleaded with Moses, not God, to speak to them. They did not want to hear God’s voice. At Pentecost they spoke back to God, in the languages of the astonished visitors from all over the Roman Empire.

At Sinai they rejected their status as the bride — at Pentecost the church was born, which is the Bride of Christ! Subsequent to Sinai, they proved their refusal to accept God’s marriage proposal by living in perpetual spiritual adultery, consorting with the idols of the surrounding nations and dishonouring the terms of the marriage agreement until God “divorced” them by sending them back into slavery in Babylon.

At Pentecost, Jesus sent His Spirit to betroth the church to Himself once again. She responded to His proposal. Now He has a bride who is learning to submit to her lover, getting to know Him and preparing herself for the day when He returns (Revelation 19:7, 8) to take her to His Father’s house (John 14:1-4) to become one with Him forever (John 17:20, 21). Together they will celebrate the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).

Pentecost has great significance for us. It is much more than the justification for speaking in tongues or exercising spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit is the inward presence of Jesus, representing Him to us, teaching us about Him, leading us into all truth, glorifying Jesus to us and through us and preparing us for the wedding when the Bridegroom comes to take us to Himself.

Why is Current Prophecy Teaching About Antichrist Unbiblical – Part 1

Apologetics, , ,

Why is Current Prophecy Teaching About  Antichrist Unbiblical – Part 1

Before we can understand what the Bible teaches about the end times, it would be of value to look at a summary of the history of current popular interpretation so that we can understand its origin. How did this way of understanding the events surrounding the second coming of Jesus come about? Has this any bearing on the accuracy of this interpretation?

“The papacy suffered a major setback through the Reformation. The help of the monastic orders was sought, but they were so decadent that they had lost the respect of the people. The Dominicans and Franciscans, peddling relics and indulgences, had become the butt of ridicule and mockery.

At this crisis Loyola and his companions offered their services, to go wherever the pope should designate, as preachers, missionaries, teachers, counsellors, and reformers. A new order was created, authorized in 1540, which infused a new spirit and spread rapidly in Europe. Like a wounded giant, Romanism arose in desperation to recover her lost prestige and shrunken territory.” (1)

This movement grew in power and influence across Europe. Its representatives preached in streets and market places like the Protestants did and thousands flocked to hear them. They became eloquent preachers. They were among the best teachers of the land and became entrenched in the universities of Europe. Even Protestants sent their children to them “because of the scholastic progress they could make.”

There was irreconcilable conflict between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. “The two systems stood forth in absolute and irreconcilable opposition at the Council of Trent, where the council expressly condemned what the Reformation taught.” (2)

“The Council of Trent—beginning in 1545 under Paul III and ending in 1563 under Pius IV—crystallized its actions into decrees that became permanent law of the Catholic Church. Reformation truths were there rejected and stigmatized as pestilential heresy. In one sense Trent became the culmination of the Counter-Reformation. It was Rome’s definitive answer to the Reformation.” (3)

For a time after the Reformation, Catholic leadership, mindful of the Reformer’s views of the papacy as Antichrist, avoided preaching on the books of Daniel and Revelation. They were not ready to take on the Reformers damning interpretation of Antichrist which was undermining the foundation of the papacy and the Catholic Church. The Reformers, with pulpit and pen, were forcefully proclaiming that the papacy was the Antichrist of prophecy. Their influence was so great that Rome had to counter attack or lose the battle.
“From the ranks of the Jesuits two stalwarts arose, determined to lift the stigma from the Papacy by locating Antichrist at some point where he could not be applied to the Roman church. It was clearly a crisis of major proportions.” (4)

(Quotes 1-4 taken from the website http://gospel-herald.com/futurism_history.htm, (captured 01/10/2102), (LeRoy Edwin Froom, The Prophetic faith of Our Fathers, The Historical Development of Prophetic Interpretation, Vol. 2, Review and Herald, Washington, D.C., 1948, excerpted, pp. 464-532.)
To be continued…