Signs of Judgment

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=168 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="129a11c3.png"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Welcome to the Heart4God Website!"><U><B><IMG SRC="4b55a500.png" border=0 width="90" height="80" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Writings of Joseph Herrin"><U><B>Writings by Date</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id212.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Writings of Joseph Herrin Organized "><U><B>Writings by Topic</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.heart4god.ws/Audio/index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.heart4god.ws/Audio/index.htm"><U><B>Audio Files</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id690.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Videos"><U><B>Videos</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id323.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Writings of Others"><U><B>Other Authors</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id324.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id339.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Questions and Answers"><U><B>Q&A</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id328.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Heart4God Email List"><U><B>Heart4God E-mail List</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com"><U><B>Parables Blog</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id306.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="File Downloads"><U><B><IMG SRC="2b264140.png" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <bR> <div> <B>Signs of Judgment</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="c2827160.png" border=0 width="807" height="22" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="aadf54c0.jpg" border=0 width="757" height="332" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> This teaching and the one which will follow is designed to instruct you in a matter that Yahshua the Messiah declared was very important. That is to know the day in which we live and what God is doing now, and will do in coming days. It is wisdom to understand God’s present work among mankind, and it is great folly to walk ignorantly of the same. </div> <bR> <div> Yahshua chided the people of His day for failing to recognize the hour they lived in, and what God was doing. The Jewish people to whom Christ appeared were experiencing one of the most prophesied events in all of Scripture, and one of the most critical and astounding plans of God being unfolded before them, but most of them failed to understand both the hour they lived in and what God was doing. The result was condemnation and terrible judgment, when they could have received praise and blessing.</div> <bR> <div> Luke 19:41-44</div> <div> And when [Yahshua] approached, He saw the city and wept over it,  saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."</div> <bR> <div> It is extremely important to discern the hour we live in. We must understand where we stand in God’s plan of the ages, and what is set to occur in our days if we are to be ready for those things coming upon the earth. We read in another place that Yahshua rebuked the people of His day for not discerning the day they lived in.</div> <bR> <div> Matthew 16:2-3</div> <div> He answered and said to them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, 'There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?”</div> <bR> <div> Notice that Christ said that God provides “signs of the times.” He has always done so. He certainly does so today, for we live in another period of time when tremendous numbers of prophecies are scheduled to be fulfilled. We too will receive incur condemnation, judgment and immeasurable loss if we fail to understand that which God is doing now. Yet we can receive praise and blessing from God if we rightly discern our day and respond in accordance with Yahweh’s desires.</div> <bR> <div> As we begin this multimedia presentation, I want to establish in your minds that the Scriptures declare that we live in an hour when we should be seeing signs of tremendous importance.</div> <bR> <div> God has established a timetable for all of the things that He has determined should occur. Yahweh is a God of tremendous precision, and all the things He has revealed will happen are on a strict schedule.</div> <bR> <div> We read in Genesis chapter one that God spent six days in creating this present earth. God did not need six days to do so. He could have done it in six seconds, or three minutes, or in no time at all. But He chose six days because He wanted to signify something. The six days are a parable, as is the seventh day which is Sabbath rest.</div> <bR> <div> II Peter 3:8</div> <div> But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.</div> <bR> <div> Prophetically, one day equates to one thousand years, and in Genesis chapter one we read that there are six days that precede Sabbath Rest, for Sabbath is the seventh day. The seventh day itself equates to a 1,000 year period where the earth will know rest, for the Lord will reign upon the earth during this thousand years, which we call “the millennial reign of Christ.”</div> <bR> <div> We can understand then that the earth must experience 6,000 years before the Lord returns to establish His kingdom upon the earth. Where are we now?</div> <bR> <div> It has been right at 6,000 years since Adam was created. We can calculate this from the genealogies provided in Scripture. Yahshua appeared the first time at the end of day four, or four thousand years since Adam was created. It has been another 2,000 years since Christ was on the earth.</div> <bR> <div> You have most likely heard mention of the Millennial reign of Christ, but I would like to point out one specific thing related to this period of time that is critical to understanding what is coming upon the earth. The Millennium is a time not only when Christ will reign, but a chosen people of God will reign with Him. This group of people are the first people to come to a mature reflection of Christ, having His image and likeness indelibly stamped upon their being. All Christians are called to be conformed to the image of Christ, yet few actually come to a mature reflection of His image during the period of their mortal lives. Many are called, but few are chosen. </div> <bR> <div> A majority of Christians remain immature, appearing as fleshly men and women, rather than spiritual men and women. They love the world and the things in it. They have idols in their hearts, and they serve their own desires rather than living as Christ did, to serve only the Father.</div> <bR> <div> Most Christians are living lives that are indistinguishable from the rest of the world. They are not taking up their cross and following Yahshua, but have adopted the same goals of personal fulfillment and pleasure as the world. Only a relative few are hearing God’s voice, and following Him wherever He leads, so that they might experience many trials that will lead them to conformity to Christ.</div> <bR> <div> The Scriptures reveal that there will be three separate resurrections, and each one is for a particular group of people. These three resurrections are foreshadowed in the three Feasts that God said the people were to observe every year.</div> <bR> <div> Passover - Barley</div> <div> Pentecost - Wheat</div> <div> Tabernacles (Sukkot) - Grapes</div> <bR> <div> Three times a year the people of God were commanded to appear before God in Jerusalem. This itself is a picture of resurrection, <I><B>appearing before God.</B></I></div> <bR> <div> Deuteronomy 16:16</div> <div> Three times in a year all your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths...</div> <bR> <div> Not only is appearing before God in Jerusalem a symbol of resurrection and appearing before God in the heavenly Jerusalem, but each feast occurred in conjunction with a major harvest. In Scripture these harvests are often called “ingatherings,” and ingathering is a description of resurrection where God gathers a portion of His people to Himself.</div> <bR> <div> There are vast differences between the three resurrections of men and women to stand before God. These differences are both described in Scripture and foreshadowed in the three harvests. The first resurrection is the highest and best, and the people of God are strongly urged to strive to be counted worthy to be numbered among the first resurrection.</div> <bR> <div> (Slide - Key Scripture)</div> <div> Revelation 20:6</div> <div> Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.</div> <bR> <div> Note that it is those who attain to the first resurrection that will reign with Christ during the thousand years of the Millennium. If you are not numbered among the first resurrection, you must wait until the end of this thousand year period for the next resurrection to take place.</div> <bR> <div> (Slide - Key Scripture)</div> <div> Revelation 20:5</div> <div> The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.</div> <bR> <div> As I mentioned, each resurrection corresponds to a feast and a harvest. The first feast is Passover and its harvest is barley. The first Passover occurred when Israel was in Egypt and it marked the last plague that God brought against the Egyptians. In a single night God sent His death angel throughout the land of Egypt and the firstborn male of every household, and among all cattle died on that night. Yet the Israelites were instructed to place the blood of a lamb on the lintel and doorposts of their homes, and when the death angel saw the blood he would “pass over” them and they would live.</div> <bR> <div> Those who attain to the first resurrection will also be passed over by death, for we are told.</div> <bR> <div> Revelation 20:6</div> <div> Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power...</div> <bR> <div> Revelation 20:14-15</div> <div> And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.</div> <bR> <div> Many Christians will have their names erased from the book of life, they will be disqualified due to disobedience from participation in the first resurrection, and they will have to experience the refining and purification of the lake of fire and wait for a later resurrection.</div> <bR> <div> Revelation 3:5-6</div> <div> He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.</div> <bR> <div> Continue to <A HREF="id577.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Signs of Judgment Page 2"><U>Next Page</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>