20th May 2011 - Chapter 1 (Part 2)

The person who is the subject of prophecy
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The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. So prophecy is all about Jesus! From Genesis to Revelation, the main character is none other than Jesus.

By studying prophecy, we learn more about Jesus - we see what he has planned, we see what he will do, we see how he will deal with people.

We shared that we could learn the following things about Jesus:-

• He is sovereign - he is on control of everything and we can have peace in this.

• He is the master-planner - or he is orderly. He has planned out everything meticulously and nothing is left to chance. We can trust in him and not fear when things seem to be out of control.

• He is gracious - he is giving time for everyone to turn to him. In the same way, we should be gracious and patient to those around us and while there is time, we should seek to share the gospel with those who need it.

• He is powerful - nothing can stand in his way or against his plans! In the same way, when we have him on our side, we can achieve anything!

• He is faithful - all his promises will be fulfilled. We can trust in his word and know for sure that we shall be safe and saved in him.

• He is loving - he has a wonderful plan for all of us - we are all important to him! he loves us so much.

• He is just and fair - everyone will have to account for the sins they have committed. We should not be frustrated that evil seem to prevail today and sinful men seem to get away with their sins. They will get their just deserts!

The role of the Church
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There are 3 groups dealth with in prophecy - Israel, the Gentiles and the church.

The Church - altho seemingly absent in the future events - is still very important to God. Most of the New Testament talks about the church. The following verses tells us of what we can rejoice in as members of the church:-

• Phil 3:20 - Our citizenship is in heaven!

• Ephesians 1:3 - We have EVERY spiritual blessings!

• Ephesians 2:6 - We get to sit at God's right hand with Jesus!

• 1 Thes 4:17 - We will be with Jesus forever!!!

Yes, the church is still involved in God's plans for the end times as we will be with Christ all the time as his bride.

But for now, the role of the church:-

1. Declare the praises of God to everyone (1 Peter 2:9)
2. Do good works (Ephesians 2:10)

These two things go hand in hand - let's make this our aim and goal of our life here on earth.

15th April 2011 - Chapter 1: The Broad Outline (Part 1)

We started our discussion on prophecy by thinking about those who believe in Amillenialism and those who believe in Post-Tribulationism.

The former thinks that the Millenium period is already on-going, that the Church is experiencing the spiritual blessings of Israel. These people may tend to over-spiritualise everything when they should be intepreting the scriptures literally. And those who do that may be disappointed with how the Millenium kingdom is like - after all the wonderful things mentioned in the Bible, we see today's world as getting worse and worse.

We also noted that Post-Tribulationism seem to conflict with the Bible verses that say clearly Christians are not going to be subject to any judgment for their sins. The conflict is there as the Tribulation is meant to be a time of judgment of the people for their sins. As such, those who believe in Pre-tribulation (rapture before the Tribulation period) do so as the Christians are not supposed to go thru judgment.

How great is the love of God for us and how wonderful is Christ's work on the cross that our sins are forgiven and we have passed from judgment!

We also noted that the study of Bible prophecies will produce a life and character of purity in us.

• As we study about God's plan for the future, we will definitely realise how temporal the worldly things are and they soon lose their hold on us.

• We also begin to see what a powerful God we serve, to be able to plan out everything and make it happen. This will spur us to give our lives for him.

• And we will also see more of his love for us - as we watch the plans he has for us unfold - plans to prosper us. This will surely encourage us to live our lives for him!

8th April 2011

We watched "Left Behind". Basically, the movie took place just before and after "rapture" happened.

The rapture is when Jesus comes and takes the Church away from the earth. All true Christians, dead or alive will not be left behind.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 describes it:-

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

The rapture marks the beginning of the end. After the rapture, the "Tribulation" takes place. This will last for 7 years and Jesus will come again (the 2nd Coming) at the end of the 7 years.

This will mark the start of Jesus' reign of 1,000 years on earth. This is commonly referred to as "the Millennium". This will be a time of peace and righteousness. There will be no poverty and no sickness. Satan will be bound up and only true believers from the Tribulation (Jews and Gentiles) will be there at the start of the Millennium.

At the end of the 1,000 year reign, Satan will be released and will mount one final battle against the Lord. He will be beaten. All the dead will be raised and be judged.

Thereafter, there will be a new heaven and new earth where we will be with the Lord forever!

Here is a simple chart i found online which may be helpful.

Our church takes the view that the rapture takes place before the Tribulation - this view is known as Pre-Tribulationalism.

There are those who believe that the rapture will take place after the tribulation - this view is known as Post-Tribulationalism.

And there are those who do not believe in the literal 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth. They believe that it is happening now spiritually. This view is called Amillenialism.