Heavens Sending Monumental Message

Right at the top I’ll admit that I’m overwhelmed with trying to understand the signs in the heavens that are apparently firing at this present time. Reports of things going on in the dark regions of space certainly seem to correspond to things going on down here on this planet in terms of impending Bible prophecy fulfillment scheduled as the time of Christ’s Second Coming comes into view.

The prophecy in view here, scheduled for ultimate fulfillment during the seven-year Tribulation—like all other end-times prophecies—seems to be casting a foreshadow in this present hour.

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26).

Things are moving so fast in all of this that by the time this article is posted, some dates will already be past, possibly revealing some of whatever it all means.

My hope is to try to lay before us these things that are scrolling in some sort of eschatological presentation for those who are Mark 13:37 spiritually attuned. It seems as if all is coming together at hyper-collision speed, portending a world-rending cataclysm that cannot be averted.

In order to briefly examine the things in the heavens that are moving and shaking, let’s scan through the following article excerpt.

During the next couple of months, so many amazing things are going to be happening in the heavens. For example, during the Great American Eclipse of 2024 on April 8th, the sun, the moon, and the seven other planets in our solar system will all line up in the sky. It is almost as if the entire solar system will be screaming that this is a once-in-a-lifetime event. But before we get to April 8th, there will be some other absolutely incredible things happening in the skies above our heads. On March 25th, we will witness a penumbral lunar eclipse.

The following comes from Wikipedia:

A penumbral lunar eclipse will take place on Monday, March 25, 2024. It will be visible to the naked eye as 95.57% of the moon will be immersed in Earth’s penumbral shadow.

Since so much attention has been focused on the Great American Eclipse of 2024 on April 8th, this other eclipse has kind of snuck up on us…

On top of everything else, this “blood moon” eclipse also coincides with Purim. The first day of Purim goes from sundown on March 23rd to sundown on March 24th. The second day of Purim goes from sundown on March 24th to sundown on March 25th. So this is going to be a “blood moon Purim eclipse,” and Pastor Mark Biltz believes that it is quite appropriate that the moon will be eclipsed on Purim…

The first lunar eclipse on March 25 will coincide with the Jewish holiday of Purim. Biltz noted that it was fitting that the moon should be eclipsed on Purim, as Esther literally means “hidden….”

We also know that in late March, “the Devil Comet” will be racing through the sky as this blood moon eclipse is happening. In fact, it is being reported that it is possible that this comet “could be visible to the naked eye” at that time…

So the run of “the Devil Comet” will be taking place during the “blood moon Purim eclipse” on March 25th and the total solar eclipse on April 8th. Is that just a coincidence?

And let me throw one more thing at you. NASA is telling us that at some point between right now and September, a star that is 3,000 light years away will explode. That explosion will be so bright that it will actually be visible to the naked eye in the northern hemisphere.

[Source: The “Blood Moon Purim Eclipse” Of March 25th Will Happen At About The Same Time “The Devil Comet” Becomes Visible To The Naked Eye by Michael Snyder, March 17, 2024, Rapture Ready News March 18, 2024]

The writer of the above article says that all of this activity almost certainly has significance in that all of this seems designed to be telling us something.

Another writer who has quite an interesting perspective on what the signs in the heavens mean presents in-depth details of these matters. You can look into his much-studied examination/exploration at the following website: https://youtu.be/YkA4ro5wBuA?si=rMmCdOzhPe_Pc-IX

Heaven seems to be sending a monumental message. While the signs in the heavens are blazing their forewarnings that might be flashes of impending cataclysm, the signs here on Earth continue to rage with portentous signals that the planet is on the brink of something disastrous. Nations around the globe are, to put it mildly, in disarray. There is indeed perplexity on Earth, the seas and waves of humanity roaring.

Jesus said when we see these things begin to come to pass, to look up –that our redemption –Jesus Himself—is drawing near. He is about to intervene and call believers to Himself, as Paul the apostle has foretold.

With all the signals of that sudden intervention by Christ, you must know Him in intimate terms for Salvation. That is, you must do the following in order to go to Him when He calls to all believers into the Clouds of Glory.

“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

–Terry

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A Horse With No Cart

There’s an old saying that warns of “putting the cart before the horse.” This signifies that there’s a necessary order for many things, a cause and effect. A team doesn’t celebrate winning a game when the outcome is in doubt, or they are far behind in the score, but wait until they secure a victory.

We also see this in 1 Corinthians 15. Jesus’ resurrection secured our receipt of imperishable and immortal bodies. Apart from His victory over death and the grave, our faith would be “futile” because we would still be in our sins (15:17). Paul sums up this woeful state in verse 19:

“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

Our hope of resurrected, glorified bodies rests upon Jesus’ death on the cross and the empty tomb signifying His resurrection. This came first, and it secured our hope of eternal life.

Of course, we magnify the Savior on Resurrection Sunday as a day set aside to remember His victory over death. The practice of meeting on the first day of the week began because that was the day Jesus rose from the dead.

However, pulpits far too often remain silent regarding the implications of Jesus’ resurrection for us as believers. I have heard many Gospel presentations that end with the certainty of God’s forgiveness of our sins, which is essential, but contain no reference to eternal life.

The message thus becomes one of “your best life now,” which Paul decries in 1 Corinthians 1 5:17-19. It’s similar to a horse outfitted to pull a cart, but he stands alone with no wagon.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus emphasized “eternal life” as the result of believing in Him (John 3:15-16, 5:24, 6:40, 10:28). Martha understood that Jesus’ promise included that of a resurrected body, as evidenced by her words pertaining to her brother’s death, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (John 11:24). Eternal life signifies a bodily resurrection, which Jesus secured for us on the cross, after which He became the “firstfruits” of our future restoration to life (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

After Jesus’ ascension, the Lord revealed more details of this hope to His apostles. Through the Holy Spirit, they wrote about Jesus’ appearing when He would raise the “dead in Christ” and catch us up “to meet Him in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). In Philippians 3:20-21, the apostle sums up the promise of 1 Corinthians 15:47-55 with these words:

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

Please know I love hearing sermons about Jesus’ resurrection, and as a young pastor long ago, I always looked forward to expounding on it. However, I cannot remember a time when I heard Jesus’ promise of our imperishable bodies even briefly mentioned by a pastor. Is not this a key reason for our rejoicing on Resurrection Sunday? We have hope beyond this life because we serve a risen Savior.

This leads me to a couple of questions:

1. Why do pastors refuse to mention the wonders of our “blessed hope?”

In most cases, unbiblical beliefs regarding Bible prophecy account for the silence regarding the New Testament promise of resurrected bodies for the saints. The most popular teachings regarding the end times focus our hope on the church as either the current kingdom of God or as the vehicle to bring in the millennial kingdom minus our Savior.

Some teach that the fulfillment of 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 happens at the time of our regeneration, while others point believers to an end-of-the-age wrap-up of human history with no mention of the saints receiving glorified bodies. The most popular teachings in churches today deny the Rapture and leave the saints with no expectation of their resurrection.

Other pastors claim to believe in a pre-Tribulation Rapture but refuse to mention anything that relates to it so as not to offend those with other beliefs or the unsaved.

2. Why does it matter?

The New Testament fixes our hope solely on Jesus and His imminent appearing to take us home. Such an eternal perspective is essential not only for our encouragement in these perilous times but also for our growth toward spiritual maturity. I say this because such a focus:

• Motivates us toward purity in our lives (1 John 3:1-3).
• Teaches us to value eternal realities over temporal things (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
• Calms our souls with the certainty that Jesus will intervene in our world, bringing “sudden destruction” on the wicked (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).

Jesus’ death in our place upon the cross, His burial, and His resurrection three days later are essential to the proclamation of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-11). However, the Apostle Paul does not stop there but continues to explain that our receipt of immortal resurrected bodies is a direct outcome of our faith, without which it would be useless (1 Corinthians 15:12-58).

One of Satan’s big lies is that we now enjoy all the benefits of God’s promised kingdom in our flesh and blood bodies with a raptureless future devoid of glorified bodies. Though extremely popular in churches that claim to believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, it’s most definitely not what the Bible teaches, and it contradicts most of what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15.

This is why we defend the Rapture with so much passion. Pastors that deny it or refuse to talk about it deprive those under their care of sorely needed comfort for the day in which we live.

-Jonathan