A Prophecy Lesson: What Manner of Person Should You Be?

Why are you interested in prophecy? Is your goal to decipher all the obscure biblical prophecies that await fulfillment? If so, be careful-God's purpose for prophecy may be different from yours.

I once knew a person who thought he had every detail of prophecy worked out. He had a chart to show when all the end-time prophecies would be fulfilled. He even thought he knew the year and day of Christ's return.

There was one problem.

The years and days came and went and the prophecies were not fulfilled. This person was a sincere student of the Bible. He feared God and obeyed His teachings. His mistake was not in having an interest in prophecy. It was in trying to predict the timing of events that God has not yet revealed. He failed to understand how God intends prophecy to be used by His servants.

How about you? Have you done the same?

Keep it in perspective

Prophecy has always held a fascination for people. We want to understand what lies in the future. Whenever a major world event occurs, people scurry to those who profess knowledge of its prophetic significance to try to find out what it all means. Every time a crisis erupts in the Middle East, we see an increase in traffic to our  Web site and that of our sister publication,  News and Prophecy. People eagerly read and download our prophecy material.

And that's fine; we want them to. But to what end? Is it to be wiser and smarter in prophecy than someone else? Is there the hope of saving oneself through access to special "secret knowledge" of these ancient prophecies? Whatever our motivation might be, we should be sure it aligns with the purpose and plan of God.

When we study Bible prophecy, we should keep in mind one fundamental principle. God alone knows exactly when and how it will all come together. When His disciples wanted to know the timing of the restoration of the Israelite kingdom, Jesus plainly said, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority" (Acts 1:7).

God alone knows when events like Christ's return will occur. Even Jesus, while in human flesh, said He did not know the day and hour (Mark 13:32).

With God in charge of the timing of the big events, our goal should be vigilance and understanding of the times and events of the world. With faith in God that a day of judgment is coming when God's Kingdom will be restored, we have other things to do. Prophecy, world events and the signs of the end of the age should be motivation to endure to the end.

Peter's charge to Church members

Near the end of his life, the apostle Peter desired that members of the Church understand some things about prophecy. He wanted them to maintain a balanced perspective that avoided all the extremes that come with the subject.

Peter knew his life was drawing to a close. For years many in the Church looked for and expected the return of Jesus Christ. But it had not occurred. Now Peter saw the need to remind people of certain basic principles. These would serve as a source of instruction after his death (2 Peter 1:12-15).

He began by encouraging them to diligently build into their lives the qualities of faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance and godliness. Brotherly kindness and love were to be hallmarks of their lives and help them abound in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-8).

These are the basic Christian qualities that form the character of those who seek to enter the soon-coming, everlasting Kingdom of Christ (verse 11). The Kingdom had not come in Peter's lifetime, but the fact that it would come was still a certainty in his mind that framed each day of his life.

No private interpretation of prophecy

Peter and the rest of the 12 apostles had been eyewitnesses of the power and majesty of Christ's earthly works. They saw and spoke with the resurrected Christ. All those events really happened. Their lives were changed forever by them.

The apostles connected the prophecies from the Old Testament to Jesus and understood their fulfillment. To Peter and John and the others, prophecy had been fulfilled in their lifetime. They well understood fully the messianic prophecies about Christ's first coming.

Through the decades following Christ's ascension, they had come to see that the time when the Kingdom would be restored, at Jesus Christ's second coming, was beyond their time. They would not live to see it. But this did not diminish the reality of that hope. This is what Christ's apostles and teachers wanted believers to understand. It is what we clearly see 2,000 years later.

Peter said, "We have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit" (verses 19-21).

A key to understanding Bible prophecy is to let the Bible interpret itself. Don't try to read into passages meanings that aren't there. Prophecy is not to be approached like a riddle requiring great mental gymnastics to solve. God's Spirit moved men to speak certain prophetic words, and God alone can interpret their meaning for us.

Vanity and self-importance can lead us to assign meanings to passages before God is ready to reveal to His servants the true understanding, as He will at some point. Amos 3:7 states, "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets."

After a lengthy chapter in which Peter shows the folly of false teachers (2 Peter 2), he returns to the sure promises of God's revelation.

"Scoffers in the last days"

God's true teaching has always suffered attack in a world controlled by unseen evil spiritual forces. Doubt and cynicism have been directed toward the teaching of the prophets and the apostles by those pursuing their own agendas. Peter foretold that scoffers would come in the last days saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?" (2 Peter 3:3-4).

We live in an age of unbelief. We see a continual assault against faith and biblical truth. Popular books and movies call into question the divinity of Jesus. Countless theories are brought forth to discredit the accuracy of biblical stories. New discoveries of claimed "lost books" attempt to rewrite the story of the Gospels, casting doubt on revealed truth.

The ongoing debate between evolution and creationism as explanations for the origin of life keeps people arguing about a truth of fundamental importance to Christianity. Our society is designed to tear down rather than foster belief in God and the truth revealed in the gospel of the Kingdom of God. It is a reality of our daily life. Peter saw this in his day and sought to rally the faith and confidence of God's elect.

He wrote a succinct statement that summarizes the love of God for all ages: "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

Here is the real reason to study prophecy and keep abreast of today's world in anticipation of the world to come!

God's patience with this world is remarkable and encouraging. He does not want anyone to suffer for sin and unrighteousness. Those who preach the gospel of peace know they hold the message that can turn people's lives around. The news of God's love for all, expressed through the sacrifice and life of Jesus of Nazareth, can turn despair to joy and sorrow to hope.

Such news is the reason for the dedication of the saints through history. It is the reason you hold this publication in your hands today. Behind it is a group of people who want you to hear the message of the Kingdom and turn your life around in worship of the true God.

The ultimate goal of prophecy

The prophesied events of the Bible will come to pass. A time of world trouble unlike any in past history, the time of "great tribulation," lies straight ahead of us. Christ's triumphant return is sooner than many would like to consider. And all this will catch an unsuspecting world by complete surprise (2 Peter 3:10).

Peter tells us why we should watch and understand our world. It is not to gain knowledge that swells our pride and ego. Its purpose is not to focus only on saving our physical lives. The real reason we study prophecy is to learn God's way and become motivated to live it better and share the good news.

"Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:11-13).

We can help prepare for the coming of Christ by being involved in and supporting the efforts of preaching the gospel message, such as the one you are reading right now.

Here is the ultimate reason we study Bible prophecy-so that it might shape our thinking and eventually our character to become like God. Because we know this world is passing away and a new one is coming, we prepare today for a role in that coming Kingdom. It is real to us and drives each day of our lives with passion and zeal. It is the only goal worth sacrificing for.

For those who grasp that vision today and who pursue it diligently, there awaits a crown of righteousness that will not fade away.

Expand your mind and open your heart to the scriptures that reveal the reality of this present evil world and the coming events that will transform the world, ushering in the glorious Kingdom of God. Join us in this work and let your life become a living sacrifice for God!

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Russia's defacto state-religionlabels protestants heritics

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080424/32096_Russia%5C%27s_De-Facto_State_Religion_.htm

Former communist Russia now upholds freedom of religion on paper, but practices a different policy in real life.

Reports indicate that religious freedom is being squashed under President Vladimir V. Putin, whose government has in a sense tacitly endorsed the Russian Orthodox Church as the official state religion. Putin frequently appears with the Orthodox head, Patriarch Aleksei II, on television.

Other Christian denominations, however, are suppressed - proselytizing by Protestants is all but banned and harassment of Protestant worshippers is meant to discourage adherents, according to the New York Times.

Protestant groups are linked to the United States and the West, groups that both Putin and Aleksei often denounce in their effort to restore Russia's power that was lost after the dissolve of the Soviet Union.

In Moscow, the city's chief Russian Orthodox priest gave a sermon last month on local television with the theme of Protestant heretics.

"We deplore those who are led astray - those Baptists, evangelicals, Pentecostals and many others who cut Christ's robes like bandits, who are like the soldiers who crucified Christ, who ripped apart Christ's holy coat," declared the priest, the Rev. Aleksei D. Zorin, according to the New York Times.

Protestant churches are required by law to register with the government if they do anything ore than pray in an apartment. But even when the churches register, the government usually finds fault with their paperwork and reject their application to be a legal body of worshippers

"They have made us into lepers to scare people away," said the Rev. Vladimir Pak****v, minister of a Methodist Church in Russia. "There is this climate that you can feel with your every cell: ‘It's not ours, it's American, it's alien; since it's alien we cannot expect anything good from it.' It's ignorance, all around."

In some areas, officials accuse the American military intelligence of using Protestant "sects" to gain access to Russia.

Russian officials usually refer to Protestant churches using the term "sect."

While church attendance remains low, Russians are embracing Russian Orthodoxy as part of their identity. A recent poll showed 71 percent of respondents consider themselves Russian Orthodox, up from 59 percent in 2003.

There are about 2 million Protestants out of Russia's 142 million population.

The Russian Orthodox Church also has a tense relationship with the Vatican, accusing Catholics of trying to convert Russians.

Russia's population is composed of about 15 to 20 percent Russian Orthodox, 10 to 15 percent Muslim, and only about t****ercent other Christians, according to the CIA World Factbook. A large population of Russia is non-practicing believers or non-believers, a result of the atheistic decades under Soviet rule.

A major study by the German think tank Bertelsmann Foundation found that Russia is the least religious country in Europe, with only 50 percent saying they are religious and only seven percent, highly religious.

Talking about Rising Euro-Muslim Tensions

Rising Euro-Muslim Tension

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26191

Perhaps the greatest secular gift to the world by Judeo-Christian civilization is its seminal concept of the individual, which it raises above the tribe or the collective. In Genesis, we are told that man is made in the image of God. Deuteronomy tells us that "each human by his own sin is to be judged" and "do not punish children for the sins of their fathers." And of course, the biblical life and teachings of Jesus reflect the deep importance of the individual. Thus was planted in the soil of the West our uniquely heightened respect for the individual.

It is impossible to imagine Western civilization -- and particularly America -- without the existence in our culture of the instinctive respect for the individual to offset the more general human instinct to be subordinated in the tribe or the group.

Conversely, there is no more dangerous incubus inserted into a Western nation than hostility or indifference to the inherent value and rights of the individual.

But radicalized Islam places little value on the individual, while holding up for supreme value the interests of the group, particularly their view of the group called Islam. And it is this aggressive, assertive insistence by radicalized Muslims in the West to subordinate our inherent rights to their collective demands that slowly and more or less quietly is forcing Westerners to take sides in the radicals' demands. The resolution of this developing conflict -- if not managed by the elites in Western countries on behalf of indigenous Western rights -- inevitably will result in unnecessary violence.

A recent example of such intimidation was reported in The Washington Times Monday: Muneer Fareed, head of the Islamic Society of North America, is "demanding" that Sen. John McCain stop using the word "Islamic" to describe terrorists who are radical Islamists. He insists that McCain (and all others) just call Islamic terrorists "criminals." "That is more acceptable to the Muslim community," Fareed said. McCain, being as tough as nails, has said he has no intention of submitting to Fareed's demand and will continue to use "Islamic" to describe Islamic terrorists. But it will be interesting to see what the two Democratic candidates for president choose to do about this demand.

Meanwhile, in Canada, Mark Steyn awaits trial before the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal for the crime of committing hate speech by writing a book and a magazine article that warned against the dangers of Islam overwhelming Europe (No. 1 best-seller in Canada; New York Times best-seller in the United States).

These charges were precipitated by demands for Steyn's prosecution by a band of students, who publicly marched to announce their demands. They claimed that as Muslims, they should have the chance to offer a rebuttal when people like Steyn talk about issues that relate directly to Muslims. "When people feel insulted, they should have recourse," Khaled Mouammar, president of the Canadian Arab Federation, said. Amazingly, the culturally feeble, intimidated Canadian officials promptly filed the criminal charges.

Similarly, a few months ago, the increasing British Muslim demands for Shariah law were answered in the positive by the archbishop of Canterbury. If the British government ever succumbs to that outrageous demand, not only will Muslim women lose their individual rights but also, pursuant to honor killing, principals could be murdered legally by their fathers, husbands or brothers. Already, non-Muslim British are being banned from public swimming pools during time reserved for Muslims. (No other group can reserve such times.)

Forty years ago last weekend, British classicist and politician Enoch Powell warned that if immigrants bringing alien values and customs into Britain are allowed to continue their immigration, a sense of alarm and resentment would develop in the indigenous British population. He was ejected from British politics for giving that warning.

But this week, the BBC published a poll taken precisely to measure public attitudes 40 years after Powell's famous warning (and after 40 years of the British ruling class ignoring the growing danger). Seventy percent think there is high tension between the races; 63 percent expect those tensions to result in violence between the races in Britain; and 60 percent think there are too many "immigrants" in Britain.

In a similar poll taken for the Davos World Economic Forum, stunning numbers of Europeans fear a "threat" from Muslims with whom they "interact": 79 percent of Danes, 67 percent of Italians, 68 percent of Spaniards, 65 percent of Swedes and 59 percent of Belgians.

In my book "The West's Last Chance," published in 2005, I warned that the European people would not be passive in the face of their culture being undercut. Unlike others who wrote on the subject, I did not think Europeans would fail to defend their nations and their cultures. I warned that broad European street violence could be avoided only if their governments took the threat seriously.

These disturbing polls from BBC and Davos should constitute another undeniable warning to the gutless, defeatist European leaders. Take action to protect your people and their cherished Western values, or the people will take matters into their own hands. And for us in America, impending European unrest should be seen as a cautionary tale