First, Rick I look forward to reading your letters as I am sure others are
too...Please keep em coming!! :o)
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John,
Excellent post!! I too agree that all events that happened to the
Israelites are also lessons for us from the Lord to us in this day and age &
parallels of things to come as well...I think it's in Ecclesiastes where it
eludes to History repeating itself; or something about there is nothing new
under the sun....Ughhhhh...I wish I had a photographic memory!!!
That being said, I wonder what your thoughts are on this: The only
difference that I can see between the Israelites & the church is the
INDWELLING of the Holy Spirit...They did not have an indwelling as we have
now....That was not given to us until after Jesus...The Isrealites behaved when
the babysitter (so to speak) was around..When Moses was away the people
played....**Warning: I am a bit of a goofball at times..he he** We have a kind
of babysitter in the Holy spirit to help us stay on the straight path &
reign us back in...He is with us always convicting us as our helper,comforter
& counselor...The Israelites did not have that yet & I always thought
that was one of the main reasons God gave us the gift of indwelling so we would
not act out as the Israelites & lose out on the crossing over or Rapture in
our case....I am just wanting to hear your thoughts on this for study
reasons.....I believe once you are saved you will go to Heaven absolutley....I
do however go back & forth on Rapture being a guarantee...I still have not
seen a concrete reason on either side to be perfectly honest...There seem to be
scriptures & parallel stories to support them both....I don't worry too much
for my self though (key words too much..I do worry a bit..ha ha) because I have
a strong desire to be with the Lord & the strong desire for him to come back
to reign & rule.....So, I believe I will be raptured....I do worry for a few
family members & friends who are not watching & happily living life in
this world...I do my best to be the one on the watchtower for them but,they do
not seem to be excited or even worried that it will happen & that they may
miss the Rapture....So, I get pulled this way & that way...Please tell me
what your thoughts are about the indwelling part...Thanks so much John!!!
God bless you & LOVE LOVE LOVE to you all!!!
Bre
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Hi Bre,
Thanks for kind words. Have I said to you "welcome to the Doves"? :)
The
issue you raised is a highly emotive one. I am also struggling
with it at times. It's easier to accept the positive messages in the
Bible than the negative ones. When it comes to negative messages, we
tend to avoid and rationalize that they don't apply to us; they apply
to others. But we must not shun the whole councel of God (Acts 20:27).
In the passage where Paul wrote about the Exodus parallel , he issued
this warning, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (1
Cor 10:12) Paul saw the need to warn the carnal Corinthians
despite the indwelling Holy Spirit in the Corinthians. If warnings were
unnecessary, a large portion of the 16 chapters of 1 Corinthians would
have been redundant. The warnings in the Bible are there so that we
take heed; they are not there for us to gloss over. But Scripture
always contains promises in the midst of warnings. I will leave you
with this scripture concerning the Church and Israel. Again, it is Paul
who warns the Church in no uncertain terms; but he also tempers his
warning with positive elements, "Behold
therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell,
severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness:
otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." (Rom 11:22)
John