The 4th Quarter

Jesus is coming back in the camp. Why is this world becoming so crazy, and everything seems to be becoming more and more evil? Because maybe the Lord is cleansing it before He comes back. If that's true, He has to cleanse it. This is todays study, for Days of Praise: July 31, 2014 Without the Camp “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.” (Exodus 19:17) This is the first of more than 30 references to events that took place outside the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness under Moses. In this first mention, it was “without the camp” that God first met with His people and gave them the Ten Commandments. The first temporary tabernacle was also “pitched . . . without the camp” (Exodus 33:7). However, when the regular tabernacle was established, it was placed in the midst of the camp, and the camp was considered holy before the Lord. “For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp . . . therefore shall thy camp be holy” (Deuteronomy 23:14). Accordingly, anything unclean was commanded to be banned from the camp (vv. 10-13), including even “the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp” (Hebrews 13:11). Sad to say, however, the camp and the sanctuary did not remain holy, and God, in judgment, finally had to remove it from its place. Before its final removal, however, He whose blood had been foreshadowed by all the sacrifices did come personally to His people “to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26). This sacrifice, however, could no longer be offered in the defiled sanctuary. “Wherefore Jesus also . . . suffered without the gate” (Hebrews 13:12). Now again, as in the beginning, God must meet with His loved ones personally, outside the camp. The organized “camps” of religion generally treat His disciples as misfits, and so, like outcasts, they must seek Him outside the camp. “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach” (v. 13). HMM So if Jesus is coming back, soon, then He has to cleanse His camp, and He is asking all Christians to do the same; no more compromise. No more idols. No more almost good enough. No more 99.9%. No, He is demanding all. Hot or cold, sinner or Saint. Don't get me wrong, that's what He's always called for, but now it has to happen, there's no more time left, this is the 4th quarter, the final; this, is, it. The last time He said it is finished, He had accomplished all He needed to on the Cross. Now He is going to say it is finished and the new heavens and new earth will be established. I've always heard people talk about, "What would you do if you knew this was the last day on this earth? How would you live?" Would you go out and party, or go out and save, redeem. Didn't Jesus say, "Redeem the time for the days are evil." Ephesians 5: 15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. So if this is it, if we have one last generation left before His return, how should we live? Matthew 24:33 33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. The word “recognize” used in Matthew 24:33 in the original Greek is in the imperative mode which means it is a command! We are commanded by Jesus to know when His return is near.Romans 13:11-14 11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12The night is almost gone, and the day is near Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. 1 John 2:28 28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-9 1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day We are not of night nor of darkness; 6so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ I believe Jesus is speaking of the time we are living in right now: Matthew 24:32-35 & Mark 13:28-31 (Both recorded the same) Luke 21:29-33 32(28) Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33(29) so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 34(30) Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 29 Then He told them a parable: Behold the fig tree and all the trees; 30 as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near. 31 So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. The question that arises when speaking of the fig tree is not what is the fig tree. That point is clear. Virtually every theologian will agree that in the Bible, Israel is referred to as the fig tree. (Hosea 9:10; Joel 1:6-8, 12; Luke 13:6-9; Jeremiah 24; Jeremiah 29:16-19). When Jesus is talking about the fig tree in the Olivet Discourse, he is referencing Jeremiah 24:1-10. The question that comes up is the fact that in the Gospel of Luke, it is recorded as “Behold the fig tree, and all the trees” where as in Matthew and Mark it is recorded as “Now learn a parable of the fig tree”. This too isn’t really of much debate. There is no difference between the two. The fig tree is Israel and all the trees are the men of Israel (Judges 9:8-20). Matthew and Mark were saying that Jesus said behold Israel while Luke recorded that he said Behold Israel and the men of Israel. For further clarification, the fig tree is a symbol used in Scripture which always refers to the nation of Israel. Figs were used by Jehovah Himself as a symbol for Israel in a parable recorded in Jeremiah 24:1-2. The Lord then explains that the good figs represent those of Israel whom He would return to the land of their fathers and the bad figs were those of Israel whom He would destroy (Jeremiah 24:4-10). Trees, when used as a symbol, refer to the men of Israel. The symbol of trees representing the men of Israel can be seen in a parable told by Jotham to the men of Shechem as recorded in Judges 9:7-15 of the Old Testament. The trees Jotham referred to, that had once gone forth to anoint a king over themselves were the men of Israel as recorded in Judges 8:22. (Luke 21:25-26) "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken” Chuck Smith (Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa)- "We look at the deteriorating moral values in our nation—the divorce rate, abortion, pornography, drug addiction and child abuse. We witness what has transpired in the homosexual community. We are shocked at the violent crimes, the drive-by shootings and the terrorism that plagues our world. What is the world coming to? Is the end near? What will be the signs of Jesus’ coming and the end of the world? This was the very same question Jesus’ disciples asked. Jesus’ answer to them and to us is found in Matthew 24:37-39: As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that [Noah] entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Genesis 6:5 tells us what was going on in the days of Noah. “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” As we look at our world today, we see the parallel—the movie industry corrupting our values, television defiling our homes, children’s video games teaching violence—all these are polluting people’s minds until the thoughts and the imagination of man’s heart is continually evil. We read in Genesis 6:11 that “the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Pick up the newspaper and you will see the hostility that fills the earth. Our nation’s morality has sunk to the place where Ruth Graham once said, “If God doesn’t judge America, He will need to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah!" (Thanks to http://www.arewelivinginthelastdays.com/article/generation/generation.htm for all the source material, pasted here on 7/31/14) We are living in the last days, but it is up to God to decide the day & hour, we cannot know that, only the season. Many scoffers will look at this and say something to the effect of, "Ah, "they've" been saying that for centuries, where's the promise of His return." But He's coming back still. Please, look at this as a personal warning; live your life in such a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Live by the Spirit, in the Spirit, and not in the flesh. Chose life, and live for Christ. God bless you and save you, in Jesus name, Amen. The day before I wrote this, this appeared: July 29, 2014 Two more giant holes have formed in the remote region of Siberia, which makes a total of three holes mysteriously appearing in the last few weeks. One of the new holes appeared on the route that reindeer herders are known to travel, making this a dangerous place for them and their herd. According to Yahoo Finance on July 29, locals in Siberia just happened to witness the hole opening up and while there are two conflicting stories reported, both sound rather mysterious and somewhat bizarre. One group of locals said they saw smoke coming out of the ground before the crater developed and then there was a bright flash. Another group reports a “celestial body fell, which created the crater. The first hole that was discovered last week was the biggest of all three. That one was about 100-feet across and 300-feet deep. While the other holes are close to the same depth as the first hole, the second revealed crater was about 50-feet across. The third was only 15-feet across. The Washington Post suggests that with the news filled with downed planes lately, not too many are paying attention to the craters forming in Siberia. Now that three have suddenly appeared, it may be time for attention to be drawn towards detecting just how the holes were formed. The size of the hole isn’t where the danger lies for people herding in that area, it’s the depth. It is the smallest of the three craters that lies on the route that the reindeer herders travel. The two larger holes are in the same area, which is called “the end of the world.” The area is dubbed this because it is such a remote location on the Yamal Peninsula. The third hole is on the Taymyr Peninsula, which is just as desolate a location as the location of the first two craters. A permafrost expert from Russia, Marina Leibman, believes that at least the first hole was caused by the release of methane gas under the permafrost. The permafrost consists of ice, water and soil and when the methane gas released it exploded through the surface of the ground. She said that within a few years, the craters most likely will become a lake, as that is how lakes are formed on the frozen tundra of Siberia. At the bottom of the first hole, icy water is already rising from below, so this expert may be right! (Source: http://www.examiner.com/article/siberia-craters-3-mystery-holes-open-up-locals-report-smoke-and-bright-flash?cid=sm-facebook-073014-9.00pm-SiberiaNewHoles)