Our Response to Judgment Day 2011
Theme: To show how important it is for us to still believe
Text:
Introduction
As you can see from the Video there is a man named Harold Camping who has an organizations called family bible radio that has unsuccessfully predicted the rapture. What you may not know is that this is not the first time he has done this. He did this in 1994, Sept. Yet it failed also. He has not been the only man to have done this. There were many who have done this throughout the years. Dating back to the Corinthians
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (1Co 15:51-58)
1Th 4:13-18 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Since then there has been hundreds documented and probably thousands more.
You may be familiar with some.
Recorded in 400AD Martin of Tours
1843 – 1844 William Miller – which was the founding of the Adventists church
Sadly good men have been duped into this: Hal Lindsey 1980’s, 2000, Pat Robertson 1982, 2000,
There is even an later date supposeably predicted by the Mayan Calendar which ends on December 21, 2012.
Problems
1. The scripture tells us plainly that no one know this date or time.
As for me, I would only like to highlight the fact that it was Jesus who said:
"Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." (Matthew 24:42)
"Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." (Matthew 24:44)
And, as if that wasn't enough, He also said, in regard to His coming:
"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." (Matthew 24:36)
2. This takes away credibility from Christ and the Church
3. This waters down the truth of the rapture
What we learned
1. Any person can get the media attention, you just need a few ads and a few followers (they only had a little over 1,000 followers)
2. It is not hard to get a following.
3. Learn the scriptures
4. The Bible is still reliable no matter how many times people try to make it say what it is not.
Our Response Should Be
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Rom 13:8-14)
Other Predictions – The hint that something was wrong
1. Followers are those who abandon the Church – Yet Jesus said upon this Rock I will build my church. - Where I do agree with him is on the fact that we are the church not this building.
1Ti 3:15 but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:19–22).
Mat 16:18-19 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (19) "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you” (Heb. 13:17).
2. Avoid the ordnances: baptism, communion, etc.
Defies the foundation of the New Testament church in Acts, plus defies the Words of Jesus Matthew 28:20
3. We can’t know who will be saved only God knows – a trick of the devil. To water down the message of the gospel. Those who are saved are those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
We cannot look into the heart of someone to determine whether or not he is saved, but there are two things we can examine: profession and actions.
First of all, the person who would confess the basic biblical doctrines of Christianity such as the Trinity, the deity of Christ, his physical resurrection, justification by grace of faith, etc., is affirming the necessary elements that must be held by faith to be Christian. But, if someone denies that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead physically, or denies justification by grace and faith in Christ alone, and other such essential Christian doctrines and refuses to affirm biblical truth even after proper teaching, then we can safely say that such a person is not saved. Take for example what Jesus said in John 8:24, "unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins." Jesus was claiming divinity, as is later evidenced by Him using the divine name of God "I AM" in John 8:58 (seeExodus 3:14). The deity of Christ (that he is God in flesh, Col. 2:9), is a necessary doctrine in the Christian faith. So, if someone were to deny openly such an essential doctrine, we could say that the person is not saved.
Second, a person’s actions need to be examined to see if they're consistent with his profession. 1 John 2:4 says, “If you say you know him and do not keep his Commandments, the truth is not in you and you are a liar.” So, if someone professes to be a Christian and yet behaves in a manner contrary to that profession, then we would naturally doubt his salvation.
So, let's say that someone is confessing Christ as Savior, but is openly and unrepentantly involved in an adulterous relationship. Such lack of conviction of sin, and lack of struggle against it, is a strong indication that the person does not have the Spirit of God within him. It would be evidence that such a person is not saved.
Finally, we must be very careful not to be too judgmental too quickly. It is a serious thing to say that someone is or is not saved. If you are unsure about the salvation of someone, then you should pray for that person, ask God to work in a person's life, and ask the Lord to give you wisdom.
