The Fulfillment Of Prophecy Is The Proof
You better have your spiritual tinfoil hat on if you hope to pass the test of time.
The Prophet proclaims:
Ezekiel 32:15b
"then you will know that I am the Lord."
Jesus said:
"I tell you this beforehand, so that when it happens you will believe that I Am the Messiah."
The Apostles testify:
John 20:31
"These things are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name."
1 John 5:13 "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life."
Some Pastors have never preached from the book of Revelation. I'll never forget my own Pastor telling me he felt fully ill-equipped to preach on that prophecy. Many are focused too much on the present to even attempt to teach on the future. And so the church is content to leave the prophetic pages hidden in mystery and misunderstanding. It's like they say to God, "zip it!"
Does that seem harsh?
It's not.
The word of God is our instruction and the foundation of our faith. And the prophets are direct messages from God. How dare we treat his word and his direct prophetic word to us as if it's a burden we are not willing to bear. God doesn't force us to love Him. But he does do everything he can to sway us in his ways. He even speaks through the prophets just in case we're confused. God knows the beginning from the end and he foretells the future with absolute accuracy. And he thinks it's so important for our future that he sends these messages to us time after time. The very word, "Revelation" means, "the unfolding of that which was previously hidden or unknown". And God unfolded it for us...why? So we can ignore it?
And what do we do with it?
Ignore it!
Treat the Pastors and prophets teaching on it as if they're crazy zealots. We do this with a smirk and knowing nod. Like we've got all that we need in our own timely relevant guidance for guru's sermons. We don't need prophecy, it's kooky, crazy, wacky stuff and the people need something substantial for the here and now. Somehow our preachers have literally determined that the prophecy's are out of date. Out of date. Imagine that. The future is out of date.
The word of God refreshes and instructs. It's our owners manual. And prophecy plays an especially important role not only in the OT, but in the New Testament as well. Prophecy proves the integrity of the scriptures. Prophecy protects us from error and false teachers. Prophecy prepares us for the last days and ensures our lamp is filled with oil, ready for the coming King. Prophecy even provides timely, practical, relevant guidance for everyday living. And prophecy provides a spiritual blessing.
If your Pastor isn't preaching and teaching from prophecy, it's time he takes a sabbatical for spiritual development and get into the prophetic teachings so that when he returns he can get back to doing his job as God intended.
We (the church) are in a battle for our spiritual lives...
Jesus said:
MARK 13:1–23
"So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time" (v. 23).
In theological circles, the study of future things prophesied in the Bible is called eschatology. Your Pastor better get prepared to teach on it.
Here in the west, Christians have a problem with prophecy or eschatology. This stems from the liberalism of the 19th century. Liberal theologians are committed to the ideals of the enlightenment—and 18th century rationalism. In the interest of “reason,” they sought to eliminate everything miraculous from the Christian religion. This was a direct Satanic attack upon God's word and guess what? It worked! Today we are seeing the fruit of that demonic influence. And ironically that was prophesied about in the word. These liberal teachers focussed on the Sermon on the Mount, isolating it from its biblical context and turning it into a set of moralistic ideals. All the miraculous and prophetic supernatural elements of the gospel were whitewashed by this moral relativism.
Fact of the matter is, Jesus’ claim was that he is the Messiah, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, his life as the actual prophetic Messiah is inseparable from His teachings and life. You can't have one without the other.
"One thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse….You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)
Jesus spoke prophetic messages, (and the crowds left).
Jesus pointed out his coming from the OT prophecy of Isaiah about the Messiah, (they chased him out of town for that one).
Jesus fulfilled prophetic messages, (and the priests saw it, recognized it, and plotted his death).
Jesus taught others about the prophetic messages and how they predicted about him, (see the disciples on road to Emmaus), and the world was transformed forever.
And now Jesus offers a special blessing for all who teach and read the Revelation prophecies.
I'd say that prophecy was pretty damn important to Jesus. And it better be pretty damn important to your church. Not to say that all these wonderful better homes and gardens sermons about living your best life now are not a valuable resource in these last days, but your life may be taken tonight (Jesus said that) so you better be ready. And there's no better way to prepare than to read/hear the prophecy and take it to heart.
Haters gonna hate, scoffers gonna scoff. The wise have spiritual eyes and ears. You better have your spiritual tinfoil hat on if you hope to pass the test of time. Get that blood boiling, get your crazy Christian on, and get into his prophetic word. Prophecy is important. It shows God’s control over history, in that when what He predicts does come to-pass. We should take care not to “throw the baby out with the bath water” when rightly rejecting the fantasies of some goofy false prophecy teachers today. The only way to be sure is to know the prophecies.
If your Pastor doesn't?
Hmmm 🤔