The End Times, How will the World End?

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How will the World End, or Will it end?

-- David Ortiz (cyberpunk1986@hotmail.com), August 05, 2003

Answers

The world WON'T end!

-- Ansel Garret Ford (Parallax281457689@Yahoo.com), August 05, 2003.

This is how the world will end:

"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. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." (2 Peter 3:10).

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:31-46).

-- Kevin Walker (kevinlwalker572@cs.com), August 05, 2003.


Satan is a fallen angel, who wants to be higher than God. There will come a time when true believers (as Jesus said, we are the Salt of the earth, Salt back then preserved meat) will be raptured and God will let Satan try to prove that he can returned this sinful world back to like the Garden of Eden. There will be a time of peace (3 & 1/2 years) and the other half of the tribulation (3 & 1/2 years) before the Second Coming of the Lord. After that, the 1000 year reigh of Christ begins.

-- David Ortiz (cyberpunk1986@hotmail.com), August 07, 2003.

David,

There is no 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth.

-- Kevin Walker (kevinlwalker572@cs.com), August 07, 2003.


Yep, Kevin's right!

Gail

-- Gail (rothfarms@socket.net), August 07, 2003.



Wrong again!! You guys should look up The Book of Revelations and read the whole thing for yourselves.

-- Ansel Garret Ford (Parallax281457689@Yahoo.com), December 22, 2003.

Ok Ford, how will the World end?

-- David Ortiz (cyberpunk1986@hotmail.com), December 22, 2003.

Entropy. Watch for the Great Light in the Cosmos that everyone shall see at the same time. The world as we know it will cease to be. That kind of reminds me of Chicken Little and "The Sky Is Falling" story. Maybe, the comet guy on the other thread knows something we don't.

.........................................

-- rod (elreyrod@yahoo.com), December 23, 2003.


Yes, I major problem with "Sola Scriptura" is "parallax".

I don't mean the person; I mean the phenomena.

......................................

-- rod (elreyrod@yahoo.com), December 23, 2003.


rod......
!

What does Sola Scriptura have to do with this?

-- David Ortiz (cyberpunk1986@hotmail.com), December 23, 2003.



Well i think that you guys should really get a life.. since the world isnt supose to end for a couple MILLION or BILLION years!!!! : D

-- Marie Liss (liss26marie@netscape.net), August 11, 2004.

And you know this how, Maria? for all you knwo the sun wil become unstable and then explode in a week... it CAN happen, and HAS happened before in the cosmos...

D not be so arrogant as to tell others what to do or beleive.

-- ZAROVE (ZAROFF3@JUNO.COM), August 11, 2004.


These two events describe different things........

"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. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). (the rapture)

**********************

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up." (2 Peter 3:10). (the end of the earth as we know it)

And this is the judgement seat:"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' "Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (Matthew 25:31-46).

-- ("faith01@myway.com"), August 11, 2004.


Keep reading 1 Thessalonians Faith

(the rapture) "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. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air... (you ended here, but.....) Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Thief in the night. This phrase really does destroy pre-trib doctrine. 1 Thessalonians and 2 Peter and Matthew 24 and Revelation 16 all describe the exact same event.

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), October 25, 2004.


But I'm beginning to agree with Ansel Ford. The world won't end, not in the way that we think, that is.

Look at 2 Peter 3 again. Peter is writing about Noah and the flood.

v6 "By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed."

Was the Earth really destroyed? No, it really wasn't. Every living creature upon it perished, but you can see that Peter is using hyperbole here. But to Noah and his family, they experienced a new heaven and a new earth when the flood waters receeded.

By no investigation of my own (it was pointed out to me) I realized that Peter is not speaking of any new revelation.

v2 "I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. "

First, the words were spoken by prophets. Then Jesus foretold the end, instructed the Apostle's who then went into the world with His message. Peter himself is offering no new revelation here when he says

v7 "7By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men."

and then in v10 "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare."

then lastly in vs12-13 "That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness."

I believe Paul is using the hyperbole again. The present heaven and earth will be destroyed by fire in the same way that the old heaven and earth was destroyed by water. Then the destroyed shall be remembered no more.

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), October 25, 2004.



And the Day of the Lord, referred to in this passage, is the 2nd Coming of Christ!

If you have a topical Bible like a Thompson Chain Reference, you can look up Day of the Lord and find all kinds of passages that correlate to this Thessalonians passage.

The parousia will happen simultaneously with the "Day of the Lord" according to this passage in Thessalonians.

Luke, as we approach the Day of the Lord, the world will wax worse and worse, people will run "to and fro," and the "love of many will grow cold." As persecution mounts in other parts of the world and will arrive on our shores at some point, what will be the fate of those who have been waiting to be rescued from persecution, who have been waiting "for their ride to come"? This frightens me and GRIEVES MY SOUL!

My sister-in-law is a "Left Behind" fanatic, as are so many others, and you cannot tell her anything different ... Left Behind IS the Bible to her! It is an American phenomenon!

Gail

-- Gail (Rothfarms@socket.net), October 25, 2004.


This site was pointed out to me by a friend:

The Last Trumpet

This page addresses the passage from 2nd Peter directly. Some points from this I already mentioned in my previous post, but here are a couple interesting things:

The term "new heavens and new earth used by Peter are found in Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22. The site posts the entire passage, but emphasizes the key terms. What is facinating about these passages is that it clearly shows people living on earth AFTER Jesus returns with flames and fire and judgement.

It also points out David's words in Psalm 104 in that the foundations of the earth shall last forever.

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), October 25, 2004.


It's almost funny (almost) how people believe that the church really will not have to suffer the tribulation because we aren't "appointed to wrath." Paul wrote these words to a church that would soon become martyrs of the faith, persecuted by Jews and Gentiles alike. These people suffered tribulation and persecution daily. Did God lie???

I'm afraid our American perception of tribulation is when our car runs out of gas 12 miles from the nearest station. How sad.

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), October 25, 2004.


This is very interesting:

"Paul wrote these words to a church that would soon become martyrs of the faith, persecuted by Jews and Gentiles alike. "

Is there a church, today, that fits into St. Paul's description?

...a church that is the target of persecution?

...........................

-- rod (elreyrod@yahoo.com), October 26, 2004.


Hi Rod,

You asked,

Is there a church, today, that fits into St. Paul's description?

...a church that is the target of persecution?

It depends on where. Christians, Hindus, Muslims (Sunni and Shiite), Jews, Buddhists, etc. are all persecuted somewhere. From my view, Christians (and Catholics in particular) are being persecuted in greater numbers (except in the West, India, and maybe Latin America) by national governments. Shades of Revelation? Maybe.

The Sudan (run by Sunni Muslims), China (run by atheistic communists), North Korea (cult of personality), Vietnam (communist), Saudi Arabia (Wahabbi Muslims), Iran (radical Shiite clerics), etc. all come to mind.

I say Catholics in particular, because that's my personal bias when I hear the news. There is, or was a series on EWTN called the "Suffering Church" which really opened my eyes to how lucky we have it in the West. The biggest persecuter of Catholics and Christians in general, is probably communist China which hates the Catholic Church hierarchy. They've even gone so far as to create a state sanctioned church that mimics the Catholic Church. As if going through the same liturgical motions will feed their souls. It brings out the atheistic theory that religion is the "opium of the people." Bishops and priests in union with Rome are hunted down, imprisoned, and "disappear." This is not widely reported in the secular press though. Similar things happened behind the Iron Curtain. I would imagine that for Chinese Catholics, the Book of Revelation really strikes home. They have to choose between worshipping in the state sanctioned false religion, or following the Catholic Church. I think John wrote Revelation to strengthen Christians especially in this situation.

However, I don't mean to make light of the fact that all Christians are being persecuted enmasse. Jews are also persecuted outside the West and Israel. There is also a rise in anti-Semitism in Europe. As I said before, just about every religion in the world is being persecuted someplace or another.

-- Andy S ("ask3332004@yahoo.com"), October 26, 2004.


Rod,

I went off the handle without really answering your question. You asked:

persecuted by Jews and Gentiles alike.

What I talked about were persecutions that didn't include persecutions by Jews. The only place where Jews hold power (outside the conspiracy theories) is Israel. And I don't think that Christians are persecuted there. One can make the case that Israel persecutes Palestinian Christians outside of Israel due to their "security procedures" that make life difficult. But in this case they are being persecuted for their nationality, rather than their faith. And Palestinian Muslims fit this bill too.

I've basically said a lot without answering your question. Sorry.

-- Andy S ("ask3332004@yahoo.com"), October 26, 2004.


Jews dotn hold power, but they can be prejudiced. This by no meansis indicativ of all Jews, but some do Hate Chrisyains, use Jesus's name as a swear word, and degrad Chrisyainity withthe same zeal as "Freethinkers" and the ocmmon liberal...

I even saw a few Jewish websites that where nothign but hateful rhetoric agaisnt Christainity.

Jews are, thus, capable of personal or collective persecution of Christains, they just lac the pwor to make life really hard.

That siad, most Jews int he USA and europe ar eindifferent to Christainity...

-- ZAROVE (ZAROFF3@JUNO.COM), October 27, 2004.


The Woman Who Laughed At God by Johnathan Kirshan reveals much about the Judaic Religion and the splintered Jewish faith. But, the most interesting entry in his book, from a Christian's perspective, is the account of Jesus as just another prophet who, incidently, muddled up the waters of Judaism during that critical time of Judaic transformation.

..................

-- rod (elreyrod@yahoo.com), October 27, 2004.


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