WHAT ARE GOD’S REQUIREMENTS FOR ANSWERED PRAYER?

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This is the answer I got from ChatGPT.

The concept of God’s requirements for answered prayer varies among different religious traditions and interpretations. While it is important to note that beliefs and teachings may differ, I can provide you with a general understanding based on common religious perspectives.

  1. Faith and Trust: Many religious traditions emphasize the importance of having faith and trust in God when praying. Believers are encouraged to approach God with sincerity, confidence, and a genuine belief that their prayers will be heard and answered.
  2. Alignment with God’s Will: It is often believed that prayers are more likely to be answered when they align with God’s will or divine plan. This means that praying for things that are in accordance with God’s teachings, values, and purposes may have a higher chance of being granted.
  3. Righteousness and Moral Living: Some religious traditions teach that living a righteous and moral life increases the likelihood of prayers being answered. It is believed that being in a state of harmony with God’s commandments and living according to ethical principles can positively influence the outcome of one’s prayers.
  4. Persistence and Patience: Persistence and patience are often regarded as virtues when it comes to prayer. It is believed that consistent and persevering prayer, coupled with patience and trust in God’s timing, can enhance the chances of prayers being answered.
  5. Forgiveness and Compassion: Many religious teachings emphasize the importance of forgiveness and compassion. It is often suggested that harboring resentment or holding grudges can hinder the effectiveness of prayer. Being forgiving, compassionate, and demonstrating love towards others is seen as favorable when approaching God in prayer.
  6. Humility: Approaching God with humility is another common requirement for answered prayer. Acknowledging one’s dependence on God, recognizing one’s limitations, and expressing gratitude can create an environment conducive to receiving answers to prayer.
  7. Relationship and Personal Connection: Building a personal relationship with the divine is often considered crucial in prayer. Nurturing an ongoing connection with God through regular communication, worship, and spiritual practices can deepen one’s relationship and potentially increase the likelihood of prayers being answered.

It’s important to note that these requirements for answered prayer may vary based on different religious beliefs and individual interpretations. Understanding the specific teachings and doctrines of your own faith tradition will provide a more precise understanding of the requirements for answered prayer within that particular context.

User

I then qualified my question as follows: I should have said the Christian’s God of the Bible. What does He require?

Answer from Chat GPT

In Christian belief, there are several principles and conditions often emphasized for effective prayer and receiving answers from God. Here are some key requirements as outlined in the Bible:

  1. Faith: Faith is a central element in Christian prayer. Jesus, in the Gospels, often emphasized the importance of faith when approaching God in prayer. For example, in Mark 11:24 (ESV), Jesus says, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
  2. Alignment with God’s Will: It’s important to pray in accordance with God’s will. This concept is stated in 1 John 5:14 (ESV): “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”
  3. Repentance and Forgiveness: Jesus taught the importance of forgiveness and repentance in prayer. In the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), Jesus includes the line “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” This implies a connection between receiving forgiveness and extending it to others.
  4. Persistence: Jesus encouraged persistence in prayer. In Luke 18:1-8, he told the parable of the persistent widow to illustrate the importance of not giving up in prayer.
  5. Righteousness and Obedience: Living a righteous and obedient life is important for effective prayer. In 1 John 3:22 (ESV), it says, “and whatever we ask we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”
  6. Asking in Jesus’ Name: Jesus taught his disciples to pray in his name. This is mentioned in passages like John 14:13-14 (ESV): “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
  7. Thanksgiving and Gratitude: Gratitude is important in Christian prayer. Philippians 4:6 (ESV) advises, “Do not be anxious about anything,
  8. Trusting in God’s Timing: Trusting that God knows the best timing for answering prayers is crucial. This is highlighted in passages like Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV), “For everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.”
  9. Love and Compassion: Demonstrating love and compassion towards others is linked to effective prayer. In Matthew 5:23-24 (ESV), Jesus instructs, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
  10. Fasting and Prayer: Fasting is sometimes recommended as a means to intensify one’s prayer life. Jesus spoke about this in Matthew 6:16-18 (ESV), though it’s important to note that it should be done with sincerity and not for show.
  11. These principles are based on Christian teachings as outlined in the Bible, but interpretations may vary among different Christian denominations and individual believers. It’s always advisable to consult with a trusted spiritual leader or source within your specific Christian tradition for personalized guidance.

I was amazed at the speed of the response and the accuracy of the information. It was immediate, as soon as I had finished submitting the question the response came.

The Book of Daniel is largely end-times prophecies, note what Daniel was told about the time of the end; “knowledge shall increase“.

“But you Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Daniel 12:4

We are living in the prophesied end times: artificial intelligence and robotics are just two of the end times signs. It is not the technology that is the problem, God provided that and our ability to use it. It is what we do with it, that is the problem. Digital currency is the next step governments will take to restrict our freedom and it is just one more step to the prophesied end times, Mark of the Beast.

“Also, it (Antichrist) causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” Revelation 13:16-17

SHARING THE TRUTH WITH A SKEPTIC

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It can be discouraging to share the truth with a skeptic only to have them ignore it. It doesn’t seem to matter how much—or how good—our evidence is. Some people just do not want to believe as they do not want to give up control of their lives. They want to be the God of their world just as Satan did. So, do they need more evidence?

No, decidedly not. You see, it’s not a matter of the evidence. It’s a spirit/heart problem. The people of Jesus’ day saw him heal people—and even raise the dead! And yet many refused to believe. When Jesus’ body disappeared from the tomb, instead of believing, the religious leaders made up a story to explain away the evidence.

Yes, it’s a spirit/heart problem!

Did you know that our spirit was originally designed to be the lamp of the Lord? It was always meant to contain the Holy Spirit so that man could commune with God as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.

“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.” Proverbs 20:27

When Adam and Eve rebelled against God the Holy Spirit departed their spirit. It was no longer the lamp of the Lord. A lamp requires oil to function and the oil (Holy Spirit) was no longer available to them.

When we repent and accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour then our Heavenly Father sends the Holy Spirit to indwell our spirit so that it can function again as the lamp of the Lord. He produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, gentleness, goodness, kindness, and self-control. He is also the one who provides the gifts of the Spirit for ministry (1 Corinthians 12).

So what’s the answer for sharing with the skeptic? Pray, keep sharing truth, and trust God to send the Holy Spirit to convict them of their sin of rebellion against God.

From a biblical perspective, all true wisdom and understanding is found in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30) as God, Creator, and Savior (John 1:1–4).

“The true light (Jesus), which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (by the Holy Spirit).” John 1:9-13

You can choose to place your trust in the changing opinions of man or believe the unchanging, infallible words of God. God’s understanding is eternal (Isaiah 40:28) and fixed (Hebrews 13:8), which is why we must let Scripture be our final authority in all matters of life. Only then does life and science make sense!

It amazes me how the atheist does not consider the invalidity of his own position. The atheist calls for real science and knowledge, but he denies the God who makes it possible to even do scientific research because He promised to maintain the universe in a uniform way (Genesis 8:22). In a world with no God where everything came about from nothing by chance, how could we observe and repeat experiments consistently from day to day?

How does knowledge, which is immaterial, exist in an atheistic, strictly material world? Love, knowledge, self-awareness, and other abstract or immaterial concepts do not make sense in an atheistic worldview where only the material exists. Besides, if God does not exist and there are no absolutes and no ultimate answers for the meaning of life, then why do science at all?

Scripture addresses man’s biggest problem, which is that he is a sinner who has rebelled against God and needs a Saviour. Check out the Bible to see that it is indeed an operation manual for our lives, starting with the need for every person to repent of their sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, His death on the Cross for our sins, and His Resurrection from the dead. This is the first step to real understanding and true knowledge (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10).

From the first two chapters in Genesis and throughout the rest of Scripture, only the Bible lays down an accurate framework for correctly understanding the origin, structure, and laws that govern the universe. The Answers in Genesis (http://www.answersingenesis.org) and Creation Ministries (http://www.creation.com) websites contain literally hundreds of articles demonstrating operational science is consistent with the Bible.

“CHRIST THE KING” PLATFORM OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

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Taylor Marshall, a traditionalist Catholic podcast host, announced his presidential campaign in a Facebook video. He is running in support of an unapologetic socially conservative agenda, which he billed as a “Christ the King” platform. 

“I think we need a candidate who comes out and says abortion should be illegal, no-fault divorce should be illegal, contraception should be illegal,” he said. “We need a Christian culture in America. We don’t need secularism. We don’t need a strict separation of church and state. We need a candidate who’s going to say that. No one on the Republican GOP ticket’s ever going to say that. So I’m going to run and I’m going to say all those things and we’ll see what happens.”

Sadly, we know that America is way past accepting Jesus as King. However, we do know that Jesus will be King of this World. Biblical prophecy gives us the end of the story for God’s world. Jesus will rule the nations of the world after He returns to earth with the glorified Saints to save Israel at the battle of Armageddon.

“The sixth angel poured out his bowl (Wrath of God) on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty... And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.” Revelation 16:12-14, 16

“And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.” Revelation 19:19-21

“Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4-6

REJOICE FOR THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB IS COMING

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All of the Jewish Feasts have end times prophetic meaning. What about the Feast of Tabernacles? Is there a connection between the 70 Week of Daniel and the Feast of Tabernacles? Nelson thinks so. Listen to this video and you will be blessed by what you learn about what God has in store for all of His children.

On timing of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb this is the response I got from ChatGPT: “In general, it is understood as a future, eschatological event, signifying the culmination of history and the eternal union of Christ with his redeemed followers. The timing of this event is not explicitly stated in the Bible, so there is no consensus on when it will occur. Some Christians believe it will happen after the Second Coming of Christ, while others may hold different views.”

Only a born again believer who understands that the Holy Spirit is his Teacher and Counsellor will correctly decipher all of the end times prophecies. I believe Nelson Walters is a believer who has been challenged by God to alert his brothers and sisters in Christ to these end times prophecies and the tribulation that God has ordained for the last seven years prior to Jesus return. Christians will not face the wrath of God which is poured out with the Trumpet and Bowl judgements but they will face persecution when God refines His church.

GOD IS AT WORK IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN THE USA

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Over 1,000 students attended the Texas A&M Corpus Christi worship event:

More than 120 people were reportedly baptized during a recent revival event on the Corpus Christi campus of Texas A&M University, a gathering that has spurred increased attendance in church young adult groups in recent weeks. 

New Life Church of Corpus Christi helped organize an on-campus worship event on Aug. 31 known as “One Night,” an annual gathering held in the area for the past eight years and on campus for the past two.

New Life Church Young Adults Pastor Tarik Whitmore, whose church has a student organization on campus known as New Life Young Adults, told The Christian Post that their ministry outreach to Texas A&M began in 2015, saying its influence on the campus has “gradually increased over time.”

Whitmore reported that while last year’s One Night event had about 600 attendees and 51 baptisms, this year, they saw more than 1,000 in attendance (out of a student enrollment of around 10,800) and 124 baptisms.

“From the very beginning of worship, it was clear that something significant was happening because it was just, it was so powerful,” White said, noting that the gathering included “faces [we’ve] never seen [in church] before” who were “lifting up the name of Jesus.”

“For young people, it’s one thing for them to do that in a comfortable, familiar context like the Sunday morning; it’s another thing for them to do that at their college outdoors in front of their peers.”

Whitmore was amazed by how much anticipation there was for One Night. In the days leading up to the event, when he and other NLYA members spread the word, they came across many students who already knew and were planning to go. God is doing something with students in certain colleges and universities in the USA.

In February, Asbury University in Kentucky garnered national headlines when students held an impromptu worship service at the campus chapel that lasted 16 days and brought in tens of thousands of visitors from across the United States.

The revival service also inspired the launching of worship events at other schools, both public and private, as well as the creation of “outpouring teams” comprised of Asbury students to share their experiences with others off-campus.

God is at work across the world, particularly in countries where Christians are being persecuted.

Also, we know the end of the story; Jesus will return first to rapture the Saints to heaven and pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant world. Then Jesus returns to Earth with the glorified Saints to rescue the nation God established for His purposes, Israel. This needs to happen so that the covenant promises God made with Abraham and David will be fulfilled. As well, the new covenant spoken by the prophet Jeremiah must be fulfilled.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:31-34

Christians, we need to show the Palestinians, better still all Muslims that this prophecy will be fulfilled. All the Biblical prophecies of Jesus’ first coming as well as many other Biblical prophecies have already been fulfilled exactly as prophesied so we can be sure the many prophecies of Jesus’ future Millennial reign from Jerusalem will be fulfilled as well.

Jesus will rule and reign on this earth for a further 1000 years before it is destroyed by fire. The rest of the dead are raised (saved and unsaved) to face Jesus at the White Throne Judgement. The unsaved are thrown into the Lake of Fire where they face punishment and a second death. The glorified Saints go to a new Earth where only the righteous dwell.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4

“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Revelation 21:22-27

Note that even on the new earth there are kings and nations. There is a hierarchy on the new Earth as there is in heaven now with the Angels. The difference with the world today is the leaders on the new Earth will be humble servants of those they are assigned to direct their activities. Yes! there will be work to do on the new Earth and new Heaven.

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HAMAS INVASION

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This invasion of Israel was not a protest march that got out of hand. It was not a complaint about living conditions. It was the latest war launched by Palestinians to demonstrate their unwillingness to share the land. And it cannot win. If the world wants peace in the Middle East, it must ensure that what Hamas has done is not rewarded in any way. Only once the failure of such violence is obvious to them and to the Palestinian people will it ever stop.

The murderous rampage of Hamas, the killing, the raping, the kidnapping, is so shocking, so sickening it seems almost frivolous to say that it was also ironic. The apologists for this action suggest that Israel’s security measures – its fence, its border posts, its searches – are so oppressive that they are part of what is to blame for what has happened. Yet these terrible acts show that the security measures were necessary. In fact, they were inadequate to prevent this slaughter.

WHERE SHOULD THE JEWS GO?

Thomas Keneally tells this story in his book Schindler’s Ark, a volume that recounts one of the Holocaust’s most extraordinary stories. But sadly there was nothing exceptional about this exchange. At the end of the war, of those Jews who survived, very few could ever go home. Certainly nobody in my family did. And it was that – the many hundreds of thousands of displaced Jews with nowhere to go – that played a big role in changing my grandfather’s mind about Zionism. That, and the reflection that the experience of Jews over the previous decade had vindicated much of the Zionist argument.

The death and displacement of millions, including so many who were close to him, made him a pragmatic supporter of a state of Israel. It seemed to him obvious that there had to be an answer to the question asked by the Brinnlitz prisoners. Where do we go now? My paternal grandfather, also not a Zionist before the war, felt the same.

So we became a Zionist family, having never been one. We did not move to Israel because (unlike many others) we had alternatives. But we supported its creation, regarding it as an obvious necessity. A century of slaughter and oppression of Jews, culminating in the Holocaust, had made the case for a safe space for Jews unanswerable. And the repeated failings of other states to open themselves to Jews, even when they knew of mass murder, meant that this safe space would have to be a Jewish state.

And the United Nations reached the same conclusion. In 1947, having toured Palestine and visited Jewish refugee camps in Europe, it proposed to divide the land between Jews and Palestinian Arabs with a state for each. The Jews accepted, the Arab states launched a war. And the Palestinians are still fighting this partition plan.

Like my grandfather in 1927, I understand why the Palestinians did not want to share the land. But like my grandfather in 1947, I cannot see any choice but sharing. And while sharing is rejected by the Palestinians I cannot see any choice but to resist – stubbornly and absolutely and, when necessary, with force, even great force. For Israel must be defended. The question of Brinnlitz remains – where else are we to go?

This then is the question to put to anyone who says they are “pro Palestine” or wish a “Free Palestine” or waves the Palestinian flag. Do you mean in a state alongside Israel, within safe borders? In which case, yes, there is much to talk about. Even though it’s difficult and both sides have debating points that are hard to get past, yes, let’s talk. Or do you mean a state instead of Israel? In which case, no, definitely and firmly not.

Forty five per cent of the world’s Jews now live in Israel. Where else are they to go?

Keneally’s argument does not address the real story of who owns the land. God owns the land and He gave it to Israel. Also, God has told us how the story ends: Jesus will rule all the nations of the Earth from Jerusalem. Israel will be the ruling nation on Earth for 1000 years (Jesus Millennial Kingdom).

DID GOD PROMISE TO PROTECT CHRISTIANS FROM PERSECUTION?

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The title is very relevant in a time like this when many Christians are lamenting and asking questions about why God allows them to go through pain, persecution, and suffering after they have given their lives to Christ.

Oscar Amaechina is the president of Afri-Mission and Evangelism Network, Abuja, Nigeria. He writes; “Many of us in Nigeria are finding it difficult to comprehend why God is not protecting Christians from terrorists. Did God really promise to always protect us from attacks? Throughout the entire New Testament, Jesus made clear assertions that Christians should be ready to endure persecutions and attacks (John 15:20, John 10:28, Revelation 2:9-10).

The confusion is that the messages that we are hearing in churches contradict the words of Christ and the reality on the ground. I have heard pastors preach that Christians are not born again to suffer again and that anyone who remains poor or sick after becoming a Christian is a disgrace to Christianity. This is the rhetoric that prompts Christians to feel that God is reneging on His promises. Is it not obvious that God allows trials, troubles, and pain so that we can be partakers of the suffering of Christ in order to be qualified to reign with Him? (2 Timothy 2:12).

A look at the foundation of Christianity will help us to understand why God is not protecting us from persecutions and trials that are faith-based. Christianity was borne on the cross where the blood of Christ was shed for the remission of the sins. The cross is the centerpiece of Christianity and anyone who becomes a Christian is automatically grafted into the cross-journey. Jesus was emphatic about this: “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me” Matthew 10:38

Paul wrote the following Scripture bound in prison knowing death was imminent.

“Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful – for he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:8-12

God is not the author of confusion. He cannot call us to partake in His suffering and arise to protect us against the same thing that He has called us into. Our inability to understand the plans and purposes of God is the root cause of our disappointments. We expect things that are simply not promised in His Word. There is no doubt that there are biblical promises of divine protection, but whether they are for persecuted Christians is what we really need to critically look at. Claiming all scriptural promises in the Old Testament and neglecting all that Christ has told us misses the broader picture. Jesus told us to be prepared because persecution is inevitable.

“Remember what I told you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also” John 15:20

Instead of asking “Why, God?” We should count it all joy that Christ has found us worthy to be partakers of His experiences.

Jesus encouraged us to brace up and endure the suffering and pains associated with the cross. Important for us who are living in the last days prior to Jesus’ return, He gave us a great deal of information about the tribulation, even the great tribulation that believers will endure during the last seven years.

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.” Matthew 24:21-22

George Bernard, the author of the hymn “The Old Rugged Cross” understood the mystery of the cross and was convinced that he would one day exchange the Cross with a crown. Jesus assured us of the safety of our salvation (John 10:28-29). He promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He also promised to finish the good work he has begun in us (Philippians 1:6). He promised to guard us against the evil one (2 Thessalonians 3:3). But never did He promise to protect us from persecution and trials.

Let us pray that God will wake us up from our complacency and give us the grace to stand firm and endure the hazards of Christianity with the understanding that He who called us is able to fulfill His promise of everlasting life.

GOD THE FATHER AND GOD THE SON’S ROLES IN ESCHATOLOGY

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Psalm 2 is just one of many End Times prophecies. It shows sinful nations in their rebellion against the Father and His Messiah (the Son). We know that God’s King is Jesus the Son since later portions of Scripture apply Psalm 2 to the Messiah and His reign (Revelation 2:26–27). Also, Psalm 2:12 speaks of the necessity of paying “homage to the Son,” an act of worship that is only true of a divine person and not a mere man. Thus the picture of Psalm 2 includes both God the Father and God the Son. The nations of the earth do not want God to rule over them (Psalm 2:1–3). But God the Father laughs and scoffs at these rebellious nations from heaven and lets them know that He will establish His “King” and His reign on the earth (Psalm 2:4–5). The realm of their rebellion will be invaded with the reign of the righteous Messiah. It is the Father’s desire to give the Son the nations as an inheritance and the Son will rule over them with authority (Psalm 2:7–9). Thus, the nations should stop their foolishness and submit to the Son because His wrath is coming (Psalm 2:10–12). Psalm 2 reveals two important things. First, God the Father intends to establish His Son as King over all the earth and the nations. And second, the Son will come with wrath and reign over the nations with authority.

“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” Psalms 2:1-12

We can know that the fulfillment of Psalm 2 is future since Jesus uses this passage as motivation for the church for faithful service now in Revelation 2:26–27:

“He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father.” Revelation 2:26-27

Psalm 110 has much in common with Psalm 2, as it also discusses the Father’s plan to establish the Son as King over the earth. It starts with David being privy to a conversation between the Father (Yahweh) and the Son (Adonai) who is also David’s Lord (“The LORD says to my Lord”). The message from the Father to the Son is that the Son, who is David’s Lord, the Messiah, is to have a session in heaven at the right of the Father. But this session is only for a limited period of time (“until”). When His session at the right hand of the Father is over, God the Father will give the Messiah (the Son) victory over His enemies from Zion in Jerusalem: The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies” (Ps. 110:2). The Son will shatter kings in the day of His wrath and will judge the nations (Ps. 110:5–6). So again, as was the case in Psalm 2, it is the Father’s plan for the Son to reign over the nations of the earth. This will occur with Jesus’ second coming to earth as described in Matthew 24–25 and Revelation 19–20.

Daniel 7:9-14 describes an important eschatological scene involving the Father and the Son. Daniel 7:9–10 describes a glorious scene of God the Father who is called “the Ancient of Days.

”We are told His vesture “was like white snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool” (9). His throne is ablaze with flames and thousands were worshiping Him. Then verses Daniel 7:13–14 describe the Son, who is referred to as a “Son of Man,” coming before the Father:

“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. Daniel 7:13-14

Here we see the Son before the Father, for the purpose of a kingdom being given to the Son. This passage has many parallels with the throne room scene of Revelation 4–5 and again emphasizes the plan of the Father to have the Son rule the earth with “an everlasting dominion.”

A New Testament passage that discusses the relationship of the Father and the Son to eschatology is 1 Corinthians 15:24–28. Here Paul discusses the Father and the Son in relation to the coming kingdom:

“Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. FOR HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.” 1 Corinthians 15:24-28

The immediate context of this passage is Paul’s discussion of the order of God’s resurrection program. After the third stage of the resurrection program at the time of “the end,” Jesus will hand the kingdom over to God the Father (24). This shows that Jesus’ messianic reign has a termination or transition point to it. When it is over He “hands over the kingdom” to the Father. But this will not occur until Jesus reigns over His enemies and abolishes death. Thus, Jesus’ kingdom ends or transitions with a crushing, dominating reign of the Son. When “all things are subjected” to the Father, “then the Son Himself also will be subjected to” the Father (“the One who subjected all things to Him”). The picture here is beautiful and presents Jesus as God’s trusted and chosen instrument to restore the fallen creation to the will of God. Verse 27a links the Son’s reign with the creation mandate given to man––“FOR HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” Jesus as the ultimate Man fulfills the creation mandate. Man was created to rule and subdue the earth (see Genesis 1:26–28), yet this mandate was scorned when Adam decided to do things his way and disobey God. Neither Adam nor any mere human being could fulfill this mandate, but the Father chose Jesus, the ultimate Man, to do this. It is as if the Father told the Son, “Bring this sinful world back into conformity with My perfect will,” and the Son does it. And not only does the Son succeed splendidly, He presents this kingdom to the Father so that the Father may have the glory.

SUMMARY: These four passages teach us that the purpose of the Father in eschatology is to make sure the rebellious creation is brought back into perfect conformity with His will. And the purpose of the Son is to make sure the Father’s desire happens. He is sent as the Father’s instrument with full authority and power to rule over and restore all of the created order. As we survey Psalm 2; Psalm 110; Dan 7:9–14; and 1 Cor. 15:24–28 we see that it is God the Father’s intent to establish a kingdom reign of the Son (Jesus) on the earth to bring this fallen planet back into conformity with the will of the Father.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4-6

IN TIMES OF TRIAL, WHAT IS YOUR FOCUS?

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The letter to the Hebrews was written to encourage Christians in times of trial. Considering the increasing persecution of Christians even in the West it is helpful to look at what it teaches.

It does so by focusing on the absolute supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ. While God spoke in the past “many times and in many ways,” he has now spoken to us “through his Son,” Jesus Christ, who is the “exact imprint” of God’s nature and who “upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:1-3). Jesus accomplished complete salvation for all who trust in him (Hebrews 1:1–10:18). We dare not “neglect such a great salvation” (Hebrews 2:3; 5:12–6:20; 10:19-39). Rather, in our faith and in our everyday living, we should imitate the example of Christ and of those on the honor roll of faith (Hebrews chapts.11–13).

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

WARNING AGAINST APOSTASY

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:14-16

The following Scripture gives us a sobering message.
​”Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” Hebrews 6:1-6

Jesus made it possible for our Heavenly Father to send the Holy Spirit to indwell the spirit of every believer to be their Counsellor, Teacher, and Comforter. The Holy Spirit enables us to live the Christian life as long as we say, as Jesus did, not my will but yours be done today and every day. We are told that we can grieve the Holy Spirit and quench His work in our lives. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, gentleness, goodness, kindness, and self-control. If these are not evident in your life then you are grieving the Holy Spirit and you need to get on your knees and repent.

We are in the prophesied last days before Jesus returns and restores righteousness on this Earth and ushers in His Millennial reign. Probably the most significant end times prophecy was Israel being re-established as a nation in 1948. The spiritual battle then escalated. Israel is surrounded by hostile nations intent on its destruction. Just look at the intensity and horrific nature of the recent attack by Hamas with over 1000 Israelis killed and 2000 injured. As well, many Israeli women and children have been taken hostage. As a result, Netanyahu has declared the nation is at war. Wars and rumours of wars are end times signs as are earthquakes.

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Matthew 24:6-8

A magnitude-6.3 earthquake and strong aftershocks have killed more than 2,000 people in western Afghanistan, according to Taliban officials. It’s one of the deadliest earthquakes to strike the country in two decades.

MOST AMAZING JORDAN PETERSON VIDEO

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Love this video. Piers Morgan is outstanding in interviewing Jordan and Mikhaila Peterson. He asks Jordan and his daughter Mikhaila penetrating questions. I have been a long-time fan of Jordan Peterson, the combination of his intellect and authenticity is irresistible.

The relationship between Jordan and his daughter is captivating – the respect and love is palpable. I had no idea how hard life had become for the Peterson family – they had so much to contend with but their unconditional love for each other got them through. It is an amazing God story as well, particularly how his wife Tammy was healed miraculously from an incurable disease.