The Case for Prophecy

8/8/2019 The Case for Prophecy

1/13


2/13


3/13


4/13


5/13

The Case for Prophecy

upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal thebrokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those whoare oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD. Then He closed the book, and gave it back to theattendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were xed on Him. And He began to say tothem, Today this Scripture is ful lled in your hearing.

Jesus is stating in no uncertain terms that prophetic OT scripture regarding the coming Messiah is being ful lledthis day by Jesus! As a side note, please note that if you go to the scripture that Jesus read from (Isaiah 61) youwill note that He stopped mid sentence. Why? Because the part of the sentence He left off hadnt come true yet!The whole sentence in Isaiah 61:2 reads To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeanceof our God. The day of vengeance will be when He comes the SECOND time!

Later, Jesus said this:

Jhn 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.

Remember the story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus in Luke? What did the other men say after Jesus departed?

Luk 24:32 And they said to one another, Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road,and while He opened the Scriptures to us?

I think its pretty clear that Jesus used prophecy in the OT when witnessing to those men.

What about the apostles? Lets look at just a few examples.

Act 17:2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from theScriptures.

Act 18:28 for he (Paul) vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

In Acts 6 Stephen was stoned to death for delineating from prophetic scripture that Jesus was the messiah. Hescolded them for NOT KNOWING prophecy and being able to connect the dots regarding Jesus.

Remember in the book of Acts where the disciples started speaking in tongues and non believers accused thedisciples of being drunk? How did Peter refute them? By referring to prophecy. Look at Acts 2:15-16.

Act 2:15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what wasspoken by the prophet Joel:

In one of the most amazing scriptures in the Bible, Peter states that Prophecy gives us a greater assurance thatJesus is the messiah than being an eyewitness to God declaring Jesus to be His Son while Moses stood on one sideof Jesus and Elijiah on the other! Remember what happened at the mount of trans guration?

Lets look at 2Peter 1:19

By Chris Black 5


6/13


2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power andcoming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Fatherhonour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, inwhom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holymount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light thatshineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Amazing. Think about what Peter is saying here. Its VERY important for a couple of reasons.

When you rst read this passage, you think that Peter is nuts. He was an eyewitness to Jesus standing there withMoses supernaturally on one side and Elijiah on the other. Then, the voice of God Himself speaks from above anddeclares that Jesus is His son! And yet, Peter says that he has a greater assurance through prophecy that what hewitnessed is true. At rst blush this makes no sense. What could possibly be a greater con rmation that Jesus isthe Messiah than seeing that and hearing the voice of God Himself state that Jesus is His son? I pondered this fora moment when I rst read it, then the Holy Spirit revealed to me what Peter was saying. Consider this. Two of the worlds largest religions (modern Islam and Mormonism) were founded because an angel of light appeared

to Mohammed and Joseph Smith and said that they were sent from God with new revelations which contradictedthe Bible. Because the men took what they were experiencing at face value and didnt test the validity againstscripture, they were led astray from the truth and perished. The point Peter is making is that we can be fooled byour senses, emotions and experiences. That unless we con rm what we are experiencing via scripture, we cantbe sure that its true. The bible tells us that in the last days people will rise up from WITHIN the church and leadmany astray. That there will be false signs and wonders. Jesus warned us over and over again not to be deceived.

Consider this. In the book of Revelation when Satan is cast for all eternity into the pit, he is accused of only ONEthing! Of all the pain, suffering, death, destruction, sorrow, etc he could be accused of, hes only accused of ONEthing. What is it? Lets read:

Rev 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of re and brimstone where the beast and the falseprophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Deception. Its Satans number one weapon. He used it in the Garden of Eden with Eve, and hes using it today toput a chasm between the truth and man. Peter knew this. I think that that is the greater point that hes making. Hetells us that we would do well to take heed of prophecy. John MacArthur puts it this way: The prophetic wordis more complete, more permanent, and more authoritative than the experience of anyone. More speci cally, theword of God is a more reliable veri cation of the teachings about the person, atonement, and second coming of Christ than even the genuine rst hand experience of the apostles themselves.

If what we are hearing or experiencing runs counter to the prophecy or word of God, it is false and cant be trusted.Gal 1:8 springs to mind.

Gal 1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached toyou, let him be accursed.

By Chris Black 6


7/13


One night about 3 years ago, I stopped into a SuperAmerica gas station around 11pm. After paying for gas, Ihanded the clerk a million dollar bill gospel tract. He was a young guy. About 19 or so. He handed it back to meand stated that he already knows the real God. Really? I replied. Yes, he said. But if I told you about her youwould laugh and think Im nuts like everyone else. Try me I said. He then told me that when he was in highschool he was accused by friends of raping a mutual friend. Out of despair he attempted to commit suicide. Ashe was slitting his wrists, a angel appeared to him and told him to stop. You have no right to do this. You areupsetting the balance of nature!, she said. Later she revealed to him that she was the Earth Goddess. He statedthat he communicates with her frequently. I know you dont believe me, but I dont care because its the truth hesaid. Oh, I believe you I replied. Yeah, right he said. Youre just yanking my chain. No, I believe that youhad that experience I said. But let me ask you something. How do you know that the Earth Goddess was whoshe said she was, and not a demon trying to lead you astray? How do you validate that?. The young man pausedfor a moment. If it were a demon, wouldnt he want me to kill myself? Why would Satan want to keep me fromgoing to hell by killing myself?. Thats a great question!, I said. But let me ask you something. What did you

just spend the last 5 minutes doing? You just spent the last 5 minutes witnessing to a perfect stranger about anEarth Goddess. You see, if you think about it, you are more productive to Satan alive and leading people awayfrom the truth than you are dead. I then asked him to please consider what Ive told him, and that it is possible

to validate the truth and who God really is. Can he validate in no uncertain terms what he believes about life afterdeath, without relying on experiences or taking some elses word for it? Can you?

I grew up Lutheran. I was a Lutheran up until I was reborn at age 47. I was one of the head ushers at a large churchfor almost 10 years. And yet, if someone asked me to prove that what I believed about Jesus was true, and all otherreligions were false, I would not have been able to do it. I never witnessed. I never felt the urge or desire to getout of my comfort zone. I never read the bible and did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. It was aboutthe religion, not the relationship. If that Earth Goddess had appeared to me, I hazard to guess where I would betoday. Why? Because I was never taught from the pulpit or the church about Prophecy, spiritual warfare, Satanstactics of deception, or the prophecy coming true in our lives today and why the need to witness is greater now that

it has ever been. I was attending the church of Laodecia instead of Philadelphia. What a waste.

When I became born again, I experienced two emotions. One, joy! It changed EVERYTHING about my life! Inow knew the truth and was humbled by the grace of God. My eternal destiny was no longer in doubt. I was free!But then there was the second emotion. GREAT frustration and a sense of anger at Satan for having been playeda fool. Why wasnt I told before now? The more I vigorously studied the word of God, the more frustration Ifelt about the silence of the pulpits and the church. The modern Church has fallen asleep. Happy talk preacherslike Joel Osteen sell us a bill of goods about victory (in the secular sense) over health, nances, jobs, etc. Thebible NEVER says that. In fact, it says that it is HARD to be a Christian. Jesus says that we had better count thecost before following Him. If you love Me, the world will hate you Jesus warns. Robert Schuller is pushing self

esteem over putting God rst. And hes heading an ecumenical movement which is replete with false gospel. Theemergent church is leading thousands astray. Denominations are literally splitting in two because their leadersignore the very word of God. Rick Warren ignores scripture and is trying to solve the worlds problems by unitingall religions and governments with his P.E.A.C.E. plan. Funny that even though the word peace has two Es init, he doesnt use Evangelism for either acronym. In Ricks book A Purpose Driven Life (which I think is a baitand switch by Satan), Rick says that we are to ignore prophecy! Heres what Rick says:

When the disciples wanted to talk about prophecy, Jesus quickly switched the conversation to evangelism. Hewanted them to concentrate on their mission to the world. He said in essence, The details of my return are none of

By Chris Black 7


8/13


your business. What is your business is the mission I have given you. Focus on that! I have no idea what bibleRick reads, but its not the King James. He is leading people astray from the truth. Worse yet, hes taking the mostpowerful witnessing tool out of his followers hands. Prophecy! Its one thing to ignore prophecy, its even worsewhen you mock it and lie about its importance. After being born again and nding the truth, I felt betrayed bythe Church and its leaders. The great falling away which the bible spoke about relative to the end times is trulywell under way! No wonder Jesus warned so often about the importance of not being deceived. Jesus will hold usaccountable.

If you read scripture, I think that its clear that Jesus will hold us accountable (especially the church leaders) fornot knowing prophecy. Lets look at two glaring examples. First, lets look at His triumphant entry.

Luk 19:41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, If you had known, even you,especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and closeyou in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one

stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.

Jews (especially the leaders) should have known who Jesus was and the signi cance of this day and what He wasdoing. How? Via prophetic scripture. Jesus whole life was laid out in great detail. Even the fact that Jesus wasriding a donkey on this day and at this moment was foretold. Even more amazing, the angel Gabriel told Daniel theEXACT DAY that this event would occur! Read Daniel 9:20 - 25. Gabriel is giving Daniel the EXACT number of days after the decree to rebuild Jerusalem in which the Messiah would declare Himself to be king. That decree byArtaxerxes is not in question. If you count the days between that decree and Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode in onthe donkey, is matches perfectly to the number of days that Gabriel gave to Daniel. Gabriels margin of error wasZERO! For more on this amazing story, read The Coming Prince by Sir Robert Anderson. The point is that Jesus

held them accountable for not knowing. Because they didnt the city would be destroyed and many would die.

Mat 16:1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign fromheaven. He answered and said to them, When it is evening you say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red;know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterousgeneration seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. And He leftthem and departed.

Here Jesus scolds the Pharisees and Sadducees for having the intelligence to know the weather via propheticsigns, but not knowing prophetic signs of His coming.

Message for today?

If Jesus and the disciples used prophetic events happening all around them to validate Jesus and the gospel, andJesus scolded the Jewish leadership for not recognizing the signs, why then do so many Christian leaders of todaymock and ignor prophetic signs coming true all around us? Arent they doing the same thing that Jesus scolded theleadership back then for doing? Now, I know what most of you are saying. Ive heard it a million times. Peoplegoing back to Neros time thought that the AntiChrist was here and that these are the last days. People thoughtHitler was the AntiChrist. Besides, the bible says that no one knows the hour or the day. And in fact you cantknow because of the doctrine of imminence.

By Chris Black 8


9/13


Satans End times Deception

I believe that people who say these things are buying into satanic deception. Hold your horses... Im NOT a datesetter! Take a breath and consider what Im about to say. Let me take those three main objections one at a time.

1. People going back to Neros time thought that the AntiChrist was here and that these are the last days. Peoplethought Hitler was the AntiChrist.

This is a no brainer. My response is So some biblically ignorant people who didnt know or understand prophesyfalsely misunderstood the time in which they lived.... So what? Anyone who said prior to 1948 that the Antichristis here or that we are in the tribulation should read scripture instead of leading people astray with ignorantstatements. Israel is Gods timepeace. You want to know what time it is prophetically, look to Israel. MANYthings must take place BEFORE the tribulation period and the appearance of the Antichrist. Psalm 83, Isaiah17:1, Ezek 38-39, the rapture, and most important of all, Israel must miraculously become a nation again. Thatdid not happen until 1948. It happened in one day and with the Jewish people coming back in disbelief, exactly asbiblical prophecy foretold. Anyone prior to 1948 (which obviously includes Neros time and WWII) who made theprevious objection can easily be shown to be incorrect. That cannot be said of prophecy coming true today. Moreon that shortly.

2. Besides, the bible says that no one knows the hour or the day.

Well, actually, thats not true (in the way that it is implied). Lets look at what the bible says.

1Th 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.

For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say,

Peace and safety! then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And theyshall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are allsons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do,but let us watch and be sober.

A couple of observations. First, this is saying the OPPOSITE of what the objection in question implies. WeWONT be caught like a thief if we know Christ, and we stay sober and watch. Second, you have to ask yourself,Watch for WHAT?. The prophetic signs! But how can we do that if we dont know them? The scripture above isNOT talking about the rapture, but about end times events. People tend to make the classic mistake of confusingthe two. Which leads me to the third objection.

And in fact you cant know because of the doctrine of imminence.

For those of you who dont know, the doctrine of imminence simply states that the rapture could happen at anytime. There are NO precedent signs. Thats true! Therefore, if anyone says that something is a sign that the raptureis about to occur, it would contradict the doctrine of imminence. The statement No one knows the hour or theday is absolutely true when it comes to the rapture. However, since prophetic signs coming true doesnt apply to

By Chris Black 9


10/13


the rapture, but rather the end time period and Jesus second coming, the third objection is null and void. Itsamazing how even learned pastors have used that objection with me because they have wrongly applied thedoctrine of imminence with the last days / tribulation period.

Now, am I saying that we can know the hour and the day of the end time events like the Antichrists arrival, etc?Well, before the sequence of end time events laid out in great detail in the bible starts, no. But that DOESNTmean we cant know the SEASON! Why else would we be given over 2,000 prophesies regarding this period?Remember after the Olivet Discourse when the disciples asked Jesus tell us, what are the signs? How did Jesusrespond? Did He tell them (as Rick Warrens states) never mind. I dont want you to know. Just go about yourbusiness feeding the hungry and spreading the gospel. No! Jesus gave them signs to look for! The very rst of which was Do not be deceived, by the way. God never blind sides us. He always warns us before taking action.He did so with the ood. Noah witnessed and warned about Gods coming judgement for 100 years prior to the

ood taking place. Jesus said that the last days would be like the time of the ood. People drank, married, wentabout their life, totally ignoring the warnings of Noah and the signs. That is happening today. Just as the Jewishpeople should have recognized Jesus rst coming because of the 300 prophetic signs, we should recognize that Hissecond coming is quickly approaching because of the 2000 prophetic signs about that period of time.

Birthing Pangs

The bible constantly refers to the end time period signs as increasing exponentially in intensity and frequency thecloser we get to the nal event. Just like the birthing pangs of a woman. When we look around at the signs, wesee this is happening. Things are happening now at a breathtaking pace. Lets brie y look at some main propheticcategories. These are provided by David Reagan of LambLion Ministries. Ive added a few things after somecategories.

Before I do, let me make an important point. Many naysayers isolate one or two signs and say theres always

been wacky weather. Or weve always had incidents like that. While SOME of the signs might have been inplay prior to now, at no time in history have ALL of the major signs which follows been in play AT THE SAMETIME! NEVER!

Major Prophetic Categories of Signs

I. Signs of Nature (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13: 8; and Luke 21:11)FamineEarthquakesPlaguesSigns in the Heavens (Unusual weather, new discoveries in space, UFOs, etc.)

II. Signs of Society (Matthew 24:12,37-39 & 2 Timothy 3:1-4)LawlessnessViolenceImmoralityGreedSel shnessHedonismRebellionDespair

By Chris Black 10


11/13


III. Spiritual Signs

Negative:False Christs & Prophets and their cultic groups (Matthew 24:5,11,2-4; Mark 13:6,21-22; and Luke 21:8)Apostasy in the professing church (2 Thessalonians 2:3; and 2 Timothy 3:5, 4:3-4)Widespread heresy in the church (2 Timothy 4:1-4)Movement toward a one world religion (Revelation 17)Persecution of true believers (Matthew 24:9-10; Mark 13:9,11-13; and Luke 21:12-19)Outbreak of demonic and occultic activity (1 Timothy 4:1)

Positive:Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29)Revival of Davidic worship (1 Chronicles 16:1-39; Psalm 150; and Amos 9:11)Worldwide evangelism (Matthew 24:14 and Mark 13:10)Understanding of Bible prophecy (Daniel 12:4,8-9)

Note: If you look at whats popular in the media, its truely shocking. Harry Potter, New Moon, etc are embracedby Christians. They have no problem with their children viewing the movies or reading the books. Books andmovies like The DaVinci Code, The Moses Code, The Secret, The Shack, etc. are embraced. There are manyPastors and Christians that hand out books like The Shack to non believers in an attempt to witness to them. Thegod character in The Shack states that there is no need to punish people for sin. Talk about a lack of discernment.

IV. World Political Signs

Re-establishment of Israel. (Ezekiel 36:22-37:1-2; Zechariah 12:1-6; Matthew 24:32-34; Mark 13:28- 30; andLuke 21:29-31)

Arab hostility toward Israel (Ezekiel 35:1-36:7)Russia as a menacing power to Israel (Ezekiel 38:1-39:16)Asian nations capable of elding an army of 200 million (Revelation 9:15-16 and 16:12)Wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6-7; Mark 13:7-8; and Luke 21:10)Kingdom against kingdom that is, civil wars and ethnic wars (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; and Luke 21:10)Reuni cation of Europe (Daniel 2:41-44, 7:8, 24-25, and 9:26)Movement toward a one world economy (Revelation 18)

V. Technological Signs

Nuclear weapons. (Matthew 24:22; Luke 21: 25-26; and Revelation 6:8, 8:7 and 16:2)Television and satellite transmission (Revelation 11:3-12)Robotics (Revelation 13:14-15)Computer and laser technology (Revelation 13:16-18)High speed transportation (Daniel 12:4)

Note: RFID chips and supercomputers are now being integrated into the worlds economic system. Governmentsare using them to track people. World banks and the UN are seeking a cashless society as a result of the currentworld economic crisis. All of this is setting the stage for the AntiChrist to rule the world.

By Chris Black 11


12/13


VI. The Accelerator Sign

Population explosion (Revelation 9: 15-16 and 16:12)Increase in knowledge (Dan-iel 12:4)Increase in violence (Matthew 24:12)Increase in transportation (Daniel 12:4)Rapid disintegration of society (1 Timothy 3:1-4)Signs in general to be like birth pangs, that is, increasing in frequency and intensity (Matthew 24:8)

VII. Signs of Israel

Regathering of the people (Isaiah 11:10-12 and Ezekiel 37:1-12)Re-establishment of the state (Isaiah 66:7-8; Zechariah 12:1-6; and Matthew 24:32-35)Reclamation of the land (Isaiah 35:1-2,7 and Ezekiel 36:34-35)Revival of the language (Zephaniah 3:9)Resurgence of the military (Zechariah 12:6)

Refocusing of world politics (Zechariah 12:2-3)Reoccupation of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:2-6)

Note: The Sanhedrin reformed recently after being dormant for almost 1600 years! They are now pushing forthe rebuilding of the temple. In fact, the alter has already been built. Jews are being trained to conduct sacri cialrituals in the temple. The pure Red Heifer has been born. This is amazing because the bible clearly indicates thatthe temple will exist again in the tribulation. It has not existed in almost 2000 years!

The whole study of what is going on in Israel is a paper in itself. It is truly mind boggling what has gone on theresince 1948!

Final Words

So what are we to make of this information? What are we to do?

Two things. First, study what the word of God says regarding these issues. Be like the Bereans and test thisinformation against scripture to see if its true. Prove to yourself that its valid.

Second, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. We each have our own ministry. Find out what yours is and embrace it.Dont let the church tell you, let God tell you.

I believe that if you truly study scripture and current world events, you will come to the inescapable conclusionthat we are on the precipice of the last days. The Psalm 83 / Isaiah 17:1 / Ezek 38-39 sequence is about to takeplace. That sequence will forever change the world and most likely will directly lead to the tribulation period. Iwould like to note that the rapture occurs BEFORE the tribulation period. Think about it.

Time is short. As Mark Cahill says, The one thing you cant do in Heaven is witness to the lost. What we need todo is understand the times in which we live and seek to save the lost. Get our spiritual ducks in a row. Make surethat your relationship with Jesus is strong. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and discernment DAILY. Get out of

By Chris Black 12


13/13


your comfort zone. No one is guaranteed another breath, let alone another day. The ultimate statistic is that 10out of 10 of us will die (barring the rapture of course). You dont have to travel to a jungle somewhere to nd thelost. Just step out of your front door. Put on the FULL armor of God and engage in the ght. This is no time forneutrality! The time is short. The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Let me nish with scripture.

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are

written in it; for the time is near.

Rev 22:10 And he said to me, Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.

Isa 42:23 Who among you will give ear to this? [Who] will listen and hear for the time to come?

The Case for Prophecy

Documents

Transcript of The Case for Prophecy