Edition 298: February 10^th 2016

Prophecy and the love of God

Prophecy and the love of God:

Introduction:

Before we can move on we must define what love is from God’s viewpoint, because this is where one of the huge clashes of the end-times takes place.

The love of God includes everything that is of God and excludes and rejects everything that is not. At the end of the day, only that which has gone through the purifying work of the cross constitutes enduring love, holiness and righteousness.

Holiness and righteousness are close allies with the love of God.

“But I thought love was about nice happy feelings”. “I thought love was tolerance, human rights, democracy and being political correct”. “I thought the world was on the right path because God loves it”! Come on now, the Bible says “For God so loved the world.”

               The love of God involves discipline, correction, and training in righteousness, obedience, rebuke, encouragement, yielding, forgiving, and standing your ground and many such things all righty divided and applied. Some may seem contradictory at face value, but when the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding us, the result is “all truth” correctly applied.

Love and truth are eternal bed-fellows.

It is absolutely key and vital to understand that the love of God has many different applications. There are many huge differences in application for the believer and the unbeliever.

What is Bible prophecy?

2 Peter 1:19-21 “We have the prophetic word made more sure (than seeing or hearing, revealed in the previous verse) which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts...no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation, for prophecy never came about by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

Prophecy is the “more sure thing.” It is the very word of God Himself.

Bible prophecy constitutes about 28% of the Bible.

Bible prophecy encapsulates world history from the day dot to the end. The very first prophecy was delivered in the Garden of Eden as Satan gave his great, eternally tragic epitaph – “Has God said...” And God said prophetically speaking- “I will bruise your head.” (Genesis 3:15)

Prophecy paints a picture of the future in relation to the time of the writing. All fulfilled prophecy shows perfectly that it is supernatural in origin, because not one has ever failed. Now, as we come to prophecy yet to be fulfilled, the same pattern of literal fulfilment must continue.

This all plots the fall of sin, evil and wickedness and the victory of holiness, righteousness and truth.

Bible prophecy gives you an anchor of hope. It gives stability and endurance in an ever changing world with no absolutes.

Bible prophecy brings life to dead letter. It makes the Bible real and true. It brings ancient scriptures into the current world now.

Revelation 19:10 “...For the testimony of Yeshua is the spirit of prophecy.”

Bible prophecy is not essentially words. It is spirit! Yeshua is the Spirit of prophecy. It is even more than spirit. It is in fact our Lord, alive and living.

Do you know why non-spirit filled Christians ignore Bible prophecy and in many cases hate it? It is because they don’t have the fullness of the Spirit. What they have is dead letter, which is really boring.  When your doctrine is dead letter, it’s like trying to get excited reading the phone book.

How terribly boring to pray to a God who isn’t coming soon! What rubbish to put your faith in a never, never Lord. What bull to trust in a historic God speaking dead letter!

Do you know why the world can’t see the living God – Yeshua? It is simply because they have rejected the Spirit of God...they have no spiritual eyes to see.

It is the Spirit that gives light, sight, and life! It is the fullness of the Spirit of God which leads us into all truth. Do you think that the 35,000 odd different Christian denominations are of the Spirit of truth? – Never! The Spirit of truth requires us to all be one!

If prophecy shows the way to go and the obstacles to be avoided, that has to be love in action!

The purpose of Bible prophecy:

Proverbs 13:12 “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire (of the hope) comes, it is a tree of life.”

The final and complete purpose of all Bible prophecy is to reveal the absolute, spectacular glory of the living God. It reveals the incredible depth and extent of the love of God. It is to reveal the future world and universe of holiness and glory.

In the process, prophecy reveals the enemy and his ultimate defeat with his host of demons, fallen angels and people who refuse the cross of Messiah.

When Bible prophecy is missing from a church or individual the hope contained in prophecy is missing. Have you ever wondered why people without the hope of prophecy in their lives so easily end up as a stressed out mess?

When the hope contained in prophecy is missing, you are not left in a vacuum in that area, but the hope of a continuing world comes in to replace it. A focus on the world and the things of the world becomes predominant.

People with their lives attached to the world freak out when they do hear prophecy and they see the soon coming destruction of their world!

You can be like a dumb, stupid ostrich with your head in the sand about prophecy. The incredible danger of that is that you will fall away when your world is shaken to pieces. You will not understand that the destruction of the entire world system is part of the incredible love of God leading to a world and universe of absolute perfection!

The Bible speaks of breaking down to build up! (Jeremiah 1:10)

Bible prophecy reveals the ultimate victory and love of God as all evil is destroyed forever.

The purpose of prophecy is to bring you to your knees in surrender. As you see the futility of everything that is to be shaken down, you surrender to the great Shaker of all things! Many believers discover Bible prophecy and think it’s some sort of little side-line fortune-telling game. Be careful, you are messing with something much bigger and more important than you can imagine.

Goodness and severity:

Romans 11:22-23 “Consider the goodness and severity of God; on those who fell (Jews), severity; but towards you (Gentile pro-Israel believers), goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. They also (Jews), if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”

In this very powerful passage of scripture we see what will actually take place at the culmination of history. Multitudes of prophecies throughout the Bible speak of this great end-time return of the Jews to their land and to their Lord.

Mixed in, is a dreadful warning to the church not to come against this in any way or they will be cut off just like the Jews were!

But more important is the phrase “consider the goodness and severity of God.” Bible prophecy contains this theme throughout. If God is love, as He is, then both sides of the coin are true. You can’t cut out the severe warnings, judgements, prophecies and actions of God. They are love in action, leading to the final grand conclusion of love.

Some people and churches cut out the severity side of prophecy and others ignore all prophecy.

Is being silent on Bible prophecy a problem? Does it matter? The funny (terrible) thing is that many churches who are silent on prophecy say that they believe the Bible! “You must be a Bible believer,” they loudly proclaim. How many churches do you know who go by the title, such and such “Bible church” or “Word church”? And they are silent on one third of the Bible!

They are as bad as unbelievers!

The love of the devil:

Some people think the devil is a huge evil- looking monster and they would recognise him easily if ever they saw him. Most people reject the existence of the devil and hell because that is what the devil wants.

Satan may be known by all his names, biblical phrases, titles and descriptions of him. When we look into this gloomy pot we see that he is a counterfeiter. His is the god of camouflage. He is the god of love, but humanistic love with all the severity, discipline and correction removed.

He is revealed in scripture as: ●“The spirit of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). ●“The force of darkness and wickedness.” (Ephesians 6:12). ●“The evil one”. (1 John 2:13). ●“The crafty one” (Genesis 3:1).  ●“The angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14. ●He “defies God” and “resists the truth.” (John 8:44). ●“He comes to steal, kill and destroy.” (John 10:10.) ●He rules the masses outside of God’s protection. (Ephesians 2:1-3). ●He hides and veils the truth of God. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). And many more.

Satan is the god of feel-good. He is the god of the masses. He is the god of the majority consensus. He is the god of human rights and democracy. He is the god of pride and self righteousness.

Satan is the god of “me, now”!

Of course he will appear to love you, because he wants you for his doomed kingdom. He will use all of the characteristics revealed above and more to trap you. Then he will kill you with an eternal death!

 The devils “prophecy” says this: “Come in and join us. I will give you all you want. You can do anything you want. Unbelievers are welcome. Homosexuals are welcome. Murderers, thieves, liars, and the immoral are welcome. “Christians” (without the cross) are welcome. The religious of all religions are welcome.”

The prophecy of the devil says that you will not go to hell. “You are not accountable for your actions, because the rules and laws of society are guilty.” The prophecy of the devil says that everything will continue as always, “You have no need to fear”. The prophecy of the devil says, “All this end-time stuff is rubbish”. The prophecy of the devil says, “God is a liar and you need not fear Him”. The prophecy of the devil says, “We will all have a great time in our “heaven””.

The prophecy of the devil says, “live for yourself – your life is your own, you can do what you want.”

A legitimate question:

Many people look at the severe judgments coming upon the world and say: “How can this be of a God of love.” Many people look at the verses on hell and say the same thing.

Here’s the answer, but many people won’t like it! The answer is simply because God is holy and pure and can have no part with evil or wickedness. He has tolerated it by extending His grace for 2000 years.

God has dealt with evil, wickedness and judged all sin. He removed it positionally on the cross. He has already set up a kingdom of absolute holiness and shining glory. He has done it all through the cross of Calvary.

In fact, you can accurately say that God has removed and dealt with your sin before you sin! You have been forgiven and cleansed before you sin – 2000 years ago.

Have you ever seen those stupid bumper stickers that say “I’m not perfect, I’m just forgiven”? The truth is that you are perfect and you are forgiven. You are perfect in your born-again spirit. It has gone through the purifying cleansing work of the cross. Sin does not reside in your spirit; it is in your mind and flesh, which is where the renewal takes place.

But the unsaved world has rejected the cross. This is why impending judgment awaits them. It is all part of the love of God.

Do you ever wonder why true Christians get offended at the wickedness of the world? I know I get really mad. Well, that’s the pure and holy Godness in us arising in anger.

Do you ever wonder why the unsaved world rarely gets offended at the sin and evil of the world? It’s simply because they have no re-created spirit, at one with God in them. 

God’s love involves cleansing the universes of every trace of Satan. God’s love for you and me involves setting up a pure and holy universe for all time.

The purpose of Bible prophecy:

The ultimate, overall, final purpose of all Bible prophecy is to reveal our risen Lord and Saviour in all His magnificent, pure, glory now and forever.

The purpose is also to reveal your great potential in Him and the possibility of your magnificent eternal reward, more valuable than diamonds.

This is in stark, tragic contrast to the terrible suffering and doom of the unsaved that don’t wake up in time!

The love of God causes many to run to God. The judgement of God will cause many, many more to come running at great speed to God!

John 9:39 “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secrets to His servants, the prophets. A Lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken!”

I have used this verse above in the previous two editions. Here it comes again. It is most powerful and insightful. Bible prophecy is designed to create fear! You don’t like that idea, you say. Tough, it’s the truth.

It is designed to create fear in the unbeliever and the worldly masses. And also fear for the believer who strays into the world system.

►You can’t say there’s no fear in sin. Sin has been and will be judged. For us believers, it was judged at the cross. Reject the cross and you had better start fearing fast. If you say there is no fear in sin, you are interfering with the character and nature of God and you are in a fool’s paradise.

For us believers, we have been judged in Messiah through His substitutionary payment for our sin in His body on the cross.

If you reject the full work of the cross, you had better start fearing fast – because your judgment is coming soon.

Check your heart and your faith. We are entering terrible times. We are now already in the time of a great falling away from truth and the faith.

The purpose of Bible prophecy is to reveal the fullness of our Lord in all His majesty. His character is revealed prophetically in all His names, descriptions and titles.

Here are just a few of the hundreds of names and titles for our Lord. As you read them, think of the meanings behind each name:

●He is the Passover Lamb. ●He is the Spirit of Prophecy. ●He is the High Priest. ●He is the cloud and the fire. ●He is the Captain of our salvation. ●He is the Kinsman Redeemer. ●He is the Prophet of the Lord. ●He is the reigning King. ●He is the rebuilder of the walls. ●He is our Shepherd. ●He is the suffering Servant. ●He is the wisdom of God. ●He is the Bridegroom. ●He is the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. ●He is the Burden bearer. ●He is the Mighty Saviour. ●He is the Avenger of the elect. ●He is the Son of Righteousness. ●He is the Ascended Lord. ●He is the Justifier. ●He is the soon coming King. ●He is the Blessed Hope. ●He is the Friend who sticks closer than a brother. ●He is the Great Physician. ●He is the Chief Shepherd. ●He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

I did use this before in one of the Sabbath Reports. If you have not heard it, it is so very good. Click HERE.

The ignorance of the masses:

The unsaved world has a terrible surprise coming. They think that they are not accountable for their actions! They think God loves them even though they reject His works. They think God will forgive them even though they reject the object of forgiveness – the cross.

Most unsaved people believe that they can hide their sins from God, if there is a God! They believe that God will not see them or remember their sin. Have a look at these incredible verses below:

Isaiah 29:15 “Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, and their works are in the dark; they say, “Who sees us?” and “who knows us?”

Psalm 10:11 “He has said in his heart, God has forgotten (our sin); He hides His face and will never see it.”

Psalm 94:7 “...They say, “The Lord does not see.”

Job 22:13 “You say, ‘What does God know? Can He judge through the deep darkness?’”

BUT:

Job 34:21 “His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps. There is neither darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.”

Psalm 33:13 “The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.”

Luke 12:2 “There is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.”

Finally:

Bible prophecy is a Spirit. It is the word of our Lord Himself. It is God’s word therefore it is love. It is good and severe. It encapsulates the entire journey of world history and beyond. It reveals doom and gloom for those outside of the work of the cross. It contains all the promises of God for the believer. Bible prophecy is your anchor of hope as a believer. It is the light of your path shining in a dark place.

Without Bible prophecy you are inextricably tied to the world and the things of the world. Without it you are in the forest of me now.  Without it you are in a world of variables, where all is relative and everything is relevant and there are no absolutes.

Bible prophecy for many will be their greatest regret ever and forever:

Psalm 34:16 “The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.”

I took this picture sitting at a waterhole in the amazing Etosha Game Reserve. Elephant families are very loving and playful. Right now elephants and wildlife in general is dying at an incredible rate due to drought.

Shalom and grow in grace!