†Irini nem ehmot â€Â
Would it be accurate to say that the future is "changed"? God is all-knowing, I'm sure we all agree on that. And He doesn't so much forsee the future as actually "see" it happening right before His eyes. God is not bound by time so everything is layed out before Him, past, present and future. To use these words would be inaccurate when dealing with God. So, to say the future changes, to me, doesn't seem right. God takes into account people repenting because He sees them repenting. I hope that makes sense.
Prayers please.
I don't know why, but your comments remind me of Yogi Berra's statement "The future aint what it used to be." ÂÂ
Anyway, it seems that God's people, by their conduct and attitude, can affect the time of the end. St. Peter wrote:
"... The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and
hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?" ( 2 Peter 3: 10-12 New King James Version ).
The Orthodox Study Bible even says: "Christians can actually hasten
the coming of that
day ( v. 12 ). How? Through evangelism ( Matt. 24: 14; Mark 13: 10 ), prayer ( especially the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come" ), holy living ( 1 Pet. 2: 12 ), and repentance and obedience ( Acts 3: 19-21 )" ( notes to 2 Peter 3: 10-12 ).
With many Christians' life styles no better than the world's, and with more and more church leaders talking as if a person may go to heaven without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, I can't help thinking the end is nowhere near. While most so-called prophecy experts look to Israel, violence, and catastrophes as signs of the end, a better sign seems to be the spiritual condition of the Church.
In Christ,
Mathetes