Why study Bible prophecy, if it causes division and breeds cults? “Then the LORD said, Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” (Genesis 18:17 NET). J. Barton Payne’s Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy asserts that 27% of Scripture — one in every four verses — is predictive prophecy. Hard to ignore. We need to pay attention when God speaks this much about the future. “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7 KJV). It is the LORD’s wish to share His plans with His friends. “Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:15 KJV). Paul extensively shared about the nature of our Lord’s Second Coming in both of his epistles to the Thessalonians. “Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?” (2Thessalonians 2:5 KJV). Peter and Jude spoke at length about the nature of our Lord’s Second Coming. And, John shared the most significant capstone to the NT, when he recorded, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John” (Revelation 1:1 KJV). Let us not neglect what our Lord sees as significant! Maranatha!
Author: Ken
Not All Have Faith
“And that we may be delivered from perverse and evil people. For not all have faith” (2Thessalonians 3:2 NET). God knows not all have faith. Screenwriters need a villain to provide drama for the plot’s deliverance of its hero or heroine. God does not need to recruit sinners to provide drama for the stage of life. Already “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). But, sin is not like gravity, since not everyone has to sin. From the beginning, God has been positioning His resources and all the players in this vast drama of life for the conclusion. “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11 KJV). Let us not be like Lucifer, who allowed his self-love to overpower his love for Yahweh. Let us not even blame the Devil, our environment, or our upbringing for why-we-are-the-way-we-are. Instead, “since the day we heard it, [we] do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10 KJV). It may not always feel like it, but the Almighty wins the final victory!
Aging of America
The aging of America will become more predominant in our thoughts, as the birth rate of most nations shrinks — except India and the Third World. Who is looking after the world? Who’s going to take care of all the elderly? Whose idea was it to populate the earth? “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28 KJV). I still remember — almost a half century ago — the disdain of my state college professor towards that Scripture reference, when a vast auditorium went dark, and he displayed Genesis 1:28 to a large audience with sound, music, and an overwhelming pictorial montage of industrial pollution, overpopulation, urban sprawl, garbage, crime-ridden neighborhoods — the festering sores of humanity. Jesus answered the question of who would take care of everyone — God would. Humans must cooperate with God, but the buck stops at His desk to make everything work. “25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:25, 33-34 KJV). For our aging disciples, the LORD promises, “And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar [gray] hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you” (Isaiah 46:4 KJV). Hope lives where God reigns!
In His Steps
In His Steps (1896) is a Christian novel by Charles M. Sheldon, which dealt with the age old problem of homelessness. What would Jesus do (WWJD)? The homeless, jobless printer, who died in the presence of the pulpit and congregation of the fictional First Church of Raymond (Kansas), pathetically asked the congregants, What it would be like, if everyone would live out the meaning of the pastor’s text? “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps” (1Peter 2:21 KJV). Circumstances are different from person to person and from one generation to another generation; but, what would the Holy Spirit have you to do, in your circumstances that would be consistent with the meaning of the text? Remember, we are not attempting to please anyone else’s understanding of the text, not even the homeless printer in Raymond, but God alone. “What wilt Thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6 KJV).
Fighting Exhausted
Soldiers fighting exhausted against an unrelenting enemy. What are we to do? Quit? Many of Jesus’ disciples quit following Him because He pressed upon them the strange language of eating His flesh and drinking His blood (John 6:53) in order to have eternal life. Natural language would mean cannibalism, but supernatural language would mean receiving Jesus into ourselves, where He becomes part of us. “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?” (6:67). Peter’s reply to Jesus voices our reply as well. “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life” (6:68). In other words, How can we quit, if there is no other path to Heaven? To quit would mean to let go of eternal life. That seems to be the nature of verses like: “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13 KJV). May we continue to treat our lives as if we are living a supernatural religion — because we are — and we all shall meet one day in that happier place. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4 KJV). Amen and amen.
For the Love of God
Human freedom and independence are often advanced as the driving reason to motivate humans to achieve anything. For a disciple, love for God is the pinnacle reason to do everything. “And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2 NET). When given a choice between freedom and love for God, we know our preference. There is a story about two devout Moravian Christians, Johann Leonhard Dober and David Nitschmann, who chose to sell themselves into slavery to bring the Gospel to the African slaves of the islands of St. Thomas and St. Croix in the Danish West Indies (1732). As the ship departed from the docks to carry them to the West Indies, the missionaries called out to their loved ones on the docks, “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His Suffering!” They successfully established a mission, baptized converts, and returned — Dober remaining in Europe and Nitschmann accompanied John Wesley to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (America).
Battle Plan for Victory
If the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD was the consummation of biblical prophecies, and we are evolving towards the New Heavens and New Earth with a gospel to address societal ills, how are we doing? On the other hand, if we are waiting for the Rapture, and the world’s “going-to-hell-in-a-hand-cart,” again, how are we doing? Either way, not so good. What’s the battle plan? “And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16 KJV). The Gospel is a supernatural offering of the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Son of God for the world, as an atonement for the sins of all those who believe and are baptized (a loyalty oath). Societal ills will be affected by the holy living of disciples; otherwise, disciples have not experienced a supernatural gospel transformation. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2 KJV). Finally, Christ will not return to rapture His Church until the Father has decided that the Gospel has been fully preached in all the world. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14 KJV). Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen and amen.
Life’s Reset Button
“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29 KJV). Too much clutter. Junk that needs to be sorted through and thrown away. Organize and simplify. Then, manmade and natural disasters strike. Who has the resources to deal with it all? The more impossible things become, the more obvious it is that only the God of All Possible Universes is able to offer relief. I think it’s part of His plan to draw everyone to Himself.
Why Doesn’t Everyone Finish?
Why doesn’t everyone finish their Pilgrim’s Progress journey to the Celestial City? “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14 KJV). A common saying in the world, ‘If it were easy, everyone would do it,’ makes a lot of practical sense. How does anyone know they are His chosen few? Peter answers that question. “2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity [Greek, agapē, love]. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall” (2Peter 1:2-10 KJV). Maranatha!
An Invisible Hand
There is an Invisible Hand at work in our existence. It is the hand of the Invisible God “with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13 KJV). God has made Himself invisible to us because faith or confidence is the foundation of our relationship to Him. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (11:6). Faith is “seeing Him who is invisible” (11:27). It is a good thing the Lord can read our thoughts, when we converse with Him. We would look mighty strange to others speaking out loud to someone, who wasn’t there. But, then again, how often have you nearly run into someone speaking on their smartphone with earbuds?
We Need A Miracle 
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