There are three great mountain peaks of importance in Biblical history.\u00a0 First and foremost is Calvary.\u00a0 The cross is the center of all God\u2019s workings with this world.\u00a0 If the believer could say with Paul, \u201cI determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified\u201d (1 Cor. 2:2), he would know the most important fact of all history.\u00a0 A second fact of history is creation.\u00a0 It is amazing how many times God confirms His Word or His attributes with references to creation.\u00a0 He did this with Job (chapters 38 & 39); the Psalms are filled with them (e.g. 19 & 104); as are the prophets (see Isa. 40); and the New Testament continues the pattern (Acts 14:17; 17:24-34; Rom. 1:20; Col. 1:16; Rev. 4:11 and many more).\u00a0 A third fact of history is prophecy.\u00a0 And this fact is the one most neglected at this present time.<\/p>\n
Although I love to learn about creation especially with reference to evolution, and I know how important understanding creation is to a firm belief in God\u2019s Word, I also believe that a firm grasp of prophetic events is essential today especially if, as I surely believe, we are living in the last days.\u00a0 Noel Smith, one of my professors in Bible College, always challenged the freshmen students to get an early and firm grasp on Genesis chapter one because this would serve them well throughout their coming ministry.\u00a0 This advice has been substantiated throughout our lives.\u00a0 But I would also say that if a young man would fully study the Bema Seat of Christ and live in the light of what will happen there, it will serve him even better in his ministry.<\/p>\n
Within my lifetime the interest in prophecy has decreased substantially among the churches.\u00a0 The Bible conferences of the early twentieth century were primarily prophetic conferences.\u00a0 Bible Colleges, Study Bibles, prophetic books with color charts all encouraged a young generation to look for future things and evangelize in light of them.\u00a0 But we seem to have lost interest, or at least the interest has been overshadowed by other things.\u00a0 Yet this is what the Bible predicts will happen in the end times (2 Peter 3:3-4; 1 Thes. 5:3; Matt. 24:12; 1 Tim. 4:1 and 2 Tim. 3:1-5).\u00a0 Even creation, as important as it is, is the past, whereas prophecy is yet to happen.\u00a0 Creation is history to us, but prophetic things may well be contemporary to us and our children.\u00a0 There is no more profound statement in Scripture than Matt. 24:21, \u201cFor then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, nor,\u00a0 ever shall be.\u00a0 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.\u201d\u00a0 Do we really believe the Lord\u2019s statement is true?\u00a0 If so, how could anything be more urgent than understanding and preparing for that?\u00a0 The world will not be destroyed again with water, but it will be destroyed by fire (2 Pet. 3:6-7) and our generation may be the very one to suffer in that time.<\/p>\n
The following are seven reasons why we need to revive prophetic preaching in our day.<\/p>\n
Time:\u00a0 the greatest obstacle<\/span><\/p>\n One thing is certainly true about the second coming of Christ, it is nearer than it has ever been before.\u00a0 Peter explained (2 Pet. 3) that the scoffers in the last days will argue that it has been a long time since creation and all things continue as they always have been, and therefore we need not worry about the future.\u00a0 Peter answers that time is nothing with God (\u201cone day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day\u201d) and, in fact, the day of the Lord is coming as a thief in the night.<\/p>\n It is true that some of the prophetic preaching of a generation ago was too sensational and even included some date setting, predictions and so forth.\u00a0 But I can\u2019t help but think how God\u2019s people were encouraged by looking at the current world situation and realizing that the stage could be set for prophetic things to begin.\u00a0 Well if the stage was set then, how much more today?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think the good preachers of yesterday could have imagined how the world could have gotten worse, or how the world could be more ready for the coming of Christ, but it is.\u00a0 Yet, tragically, there is less preaching on the coming of Christ, not more.<\/p>\n Imminency:\u00a0 the greatest urgency<\/span><\/p>\n To pretribultionists the return of Jesus Christ in the air (the rapture) can happen at any moment.\u00a0 \u201cOther things may <\/i>happen before the imminent event, but nothing else must <\/i>take place before it happens.\u00a0 If something else must take place before an event can happen, that event is not imminent. . . By an imminent event we mean one which is certain to occur at some time, uncertain at what time.\u201d1<\/sup>\u00a0 John said, \u201cthe time is at hand\u201d (Rev. 1:3).\u00a0 Peter said, \u201cBut the end of all things is at hand\u201d (1 Pet. 4:7).\u00a0 James was most descriptive when he said, \u201cBehold, the judge standeth before the door\u201d (Jas. 5:9).\u00a0 Our Judge is at the door, we should \u201call rise\u201d at attention.<\/p>\n Since Jesus may come at any moment, the truth of tribulation passages becomes very urgent.\u00a0 No one can read Revelation chapters 4-19 and desire to be in that wrathful time nor want anyone else to be.\u00a0 When Jude tells us to look \u201cfor the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life\u201d (Jude 21), he also tells us \u201cof some have compassion, making a difference: and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire\u201d (22-23).\u00a0 This imminency demands attention to evangelism.<\/p>\n Rapture:\u00a0 the greatest cataclysm<\/span><\/p>\n The study of Biblical history, including creation, is a study of the great cataclysms that have shaken and changed the world:\u00a0 creation out of nothing; the fall into sin; the universal flood; the tower of Babel; the resurrection of Jesus Christ; and the last remaking of the universe when the elements will melt with a fervent heat and there will be a new heaven and a new earth (2 Pet. 3:12-13).\u00a0 But consider the rapture among these great events.\u00a0 For those alive when it happens, it will be the most cataclysmic event since the universal flood of Noah\u2019s day!<\/p>\n Every time I read 1 Thessalonians and come to 4:13-18, I slow down and think to myself what effect this will have upon the whole world.\u00a0 The dead in Christ stand up, then all the living saints join them in the clouds to meet the Lord there!\u00a0 We are talking millions of resurrected and millions of living saints ripped from this earth, from loved ones and from neighbors, and being totally gone.\u00a0 Do we really believe such a thing will happen and in fact might happen at any moment?<\/p>\n To the believer this is a mixed emotion.\u00a0 It is \u201cthe blessed hope\u201d (Tit. 2:13) of the church for which we are to \u201clook for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ\u201d (Phil. 3:21).\u00a0 Yet, we know it will be a cut off time for many, \u201cfor when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them\u201d (1 Thes. 5:3), \u201cthat they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness\u201d (2 Thes. 2:12).\u00a0 This is the next great cataclysm in world history.<\/p>\n Tribulation:\u00a0 the greatest judgment<\/span><\/p>\n To the question of why God doesn\u2019t seem to do anything about the violence and suffering, the hatred and war, the murder and immorality, the answer is that He is longsuffering.\u00a0 Peter tells us that this longsuffering is for the sake of those who are headed for perishing (2 Pet. 3:9).\u00a0 The coming tribulation period is a time of awful judgment for the world\u2019s sins committed throughout this age of grace.\u00a0 It is also a time of \u201cJacob\u2019s trouble\u201d (Jer. 30:7) when God will bring the last judgment upon His own people for their rejection of their Messiah Jesus Christ, and for their reception of the false Messiah, antichrist.<\/p>\n When the seals are opened, a fourth of the living are killed with sword, hunger, and death (Rev. 6:8).\u00a0 When the trumpets sound, a third of life in the sea, and \u201cmany men\u201d die (Rev. 8:9-11).\u00a0 When the vials are poured out it is for the \u201cwrath of God\u201d (Rev. 16:1) and by this \u201cwas the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone (Rev. 9:18).\u00a0 Paul says that it \u201cis a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you . . . In flaming fire taking vengeance upon them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ\u201d (2 Thes. 1:6-8).\u00a0 It will end at Armageddon when Jesus will \u201ctread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God\u201d (Rev. 19:15).<\/p>\n We must warn people of this coming tribulation as we warn people of hell itself.\u00a0 We are the watchmen on the wall who see the evil coming.\u00a0 Jesus said, \u201cthe tribes of the earth will mourn\u201d (Matt. 24:30) and John said, \u201call kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him\u201d (Rev. 1:7).<\/p>\n Armor:\u00a0 the greatest witness<\/span><\/p>\n When Peter writes of the destruction of the present earth, he says that we must therefore be a holy people \u201cin all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God\u201d (2 Pet. 3:11-12).\u00a0 Now is not the time for worldliness in our personal lives or our methodology.\u00a0 This is a time for holy armor.\u00a0\u00a0 Paul will repeat this need many times, \u201cwherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day\u201d (Eph. 6:13); \u201cThe night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light\u201d (Rom. 13:12); \u201cBehold now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation . . . By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left\u201d (2 Cor. 6:2, 7); \u201cBut let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation\u201d (1 Thes. 5:8).<\/p>\n It is because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against\u00a0 principalities and powers who are Satan\u2019s emissaries in high places (Eph. 6:12) that we must have this armor on.\u00a0 Paul reminded Timothy that, \u201cin the latter days some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils\u201d (1 Tim. 3:1).\u00a0 Satan is organized and has a doctrine that he uses against believers, especially those who have on the armor.\u00a0 When Paul was in Ephesus the demon said to the Jewish exorcist, \u201cJesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?\u201d (Acts 19:15).\u00a0 We should ask ourselves, do the demons know me?\u00a0 Am I enough of a risk to their plans that I make any difference?<\/p>\n Evangelism:\u00a0 the greatest motivation<\/span><\/p>\n I mean by this that prophecy furnishes us with the greatest motivation to evangelize, and I have already made this point in various ways.\u00a0 Consider hell itself.\u00a0 None of us can really fathom the eternal nature of a lake of fire which is real, hot, and long (see Rev. 14:10-11).\u00a0 I must say that if I understand anything about it at all, I would not wish that eternity on anyone, not even my worst enemy or the most evil person in the world: not on Adolf Hitler or Saddam Hussein.\u00a0 Paul said, \u201cFor I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh\u201d (Rom. 9:3).\u00a0 These were the people who tried to kill him, who hated him for his change of religion, who taught him that it was a service to God to kill Christians.\u00a0 It perhaps was, that when Paul was taken up to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12), he also caught a glimpse of the reality of an eternal hell, and it formulated his whole evangelistic point of view.<\/p>\n But even more than that, human beings are image-bearers of the eternal God.\u00a0 \u201cFor God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son\u201d (John 3:16).\u00a0 If God loves the vilest of sinners and was willing to die for his soul, who am I not to care about his salvation?\u00a0 Prophecy clearly informs us of the sinner\u2019s terrible destiny.\u00a0 I realize also that Satan hates the sinner and wishes his damnation.\u00a0 It is through Satan\u2019s lies that the sinner will not believe or be delivered from the wrath to come.\u00a0 \u201cIn whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not\u201d (2 Cor. 4:4); \u201cAnd that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will\u201d (2 Tim. 2:26); and perhaps worst of all, \u201cAnd for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness\u201d (2 Thes. 2:11-12).\u00a0 Could it be true, that refusing the gospel now will greatly hinder a person\u2019s reception of the gospel in that time of tribulation?<\/p>\n Hope:\u00a0 the greatest cleansing<\/span><\/p>\n The rapture is \u201cthe blessed hope\u201d (Tit. 2:13).\u00a0 Christ in us is \u201cthe hope of glory\u201d (Col. 1:27).\u00a0 \u201cWe are saved by hope\u201d (Rom. 8:24).\u00a0 The apostle John said of prophecy and hope, \u201cBeloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.\u00a0 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure\u201d (1 John 3:2-3).\u00a0 Prophetic studies and the expectancy of the return of Christ are the greatest motivators to our progressive sanctification.<\/p>\n David wrote, \u201cAs for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, in thy likeness\u201d (Psa. 17:15).\u00a0 Paul said, \u201cwe look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body\u201d (Phil. 3:21).\u00a0 \u201cAs we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly\u201d (1 Cor. 15:49).<\/p>\n Some might say that living godly because we might be caught in\u00a0 sin when Jesus appears is an improper motivation.\u00a0 But is it?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that part of the reason for the Bema Seat?\u00a0 \u201cWherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.\u00a0 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad\u201d (2 Cor. 5:9-10).\u00a0 We know that we will not be judged for the guilt of our sin.\u00a0 That judgment took place on the cross, and praise God for that!\u00a0 But the reward or loss of reward is based on how we run the race.\u00a0 Sanctification is progressive for the believer, and we should want to be progressing not digressing when He appears.<\/p>\n And So . . . .<\/b><\/p>\n I had more thoughts than these.\u00a0 The apostles constantly preached the kingdom of God as our future reward and as the culmination of God\u2019s progressive program.\u00a0 The New Jerusalem as the Father\u2019s House prepared for us outshines anything we have known on this earth.\u00a0 And perhaps greatest of all, we shall see Him face to face, Who loved us and gave Himself for us.\u00a0 Amazing love! How can it be that thou my God shouldst die for me?<\/p>\n A few days ago I heard a recorded message of old J. Vernon McGee preaching on the second coming of Christ.\u00a0 McGee died in 1988 but he, though dead, yet speaks.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t help but think how his older manner and his southern drawl probably turns off most listeners today.\u00a0 I could only wish that my own voice would have a portion of the influence that his rusty old voice still has.\u00a0 Especially twenty eight years after I\u2019m gone!\u00a0 They also said of the apostle Paul, \u201chis bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible\u201d (2 Cor. 10:10).\u00a0 We are not here to tickle the ears of our generation but to be, like Noah, preachers of righteousness in the face of coming disaster.\u00a0 May God help us to be such in these latter days.<\/p>\n Notes:<\/p>\n Renald Showers, Maranatha Our Lord Come!<\/i> (Bellmawr, NJ:\u00a0 Friends of Israel, 2013) 127.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are three great mountain peaks of importance in Biblical history.\u00a0 First and foremost is Calvary.\u00a0 The cross is the center of all God\u2019s workings with this world.\u00a0 If the believer could say with Paul, \u201cI determined not to know any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified\u201d (1 Cor. 2:2), he would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[172,183],"class_list":["post-7021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-doctrine-theology","tag-eschatology"],"yoast_head":"\n