Relevance of Biblical Prophecy 1

[00:00:00] This evening in the second letter of Peter and chapter one, two, Peter, chapter one, commencing at verse twelve, getting at the 12th verse of the first chapter of the second letter of people. [00:00:28] Wherefore I shall be ready always to put you in remembrance of these things, though ye know them and are established in the truth which is with you. [00:00:38] And I think it right as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that the putting off of my tabernacle cometh swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ signified unto me. Yea, I will give diligence that at every time ye may be able, after my decease, to call these things to remembrance. [00:01:07] For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ. But we were eyewitnesses of his Majesty, for he received from God the Father honor and glory when there was born such a voice to him by the majestic glory. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And this voice we ourselves heard born out of heaven when we were with him in the holy mount. [00:01:51] And we have the word of prophecy made more sure whereunto ye do well, that ye take heed as unto a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your heart. [00:02:10] Knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is a private interpretation, for no prophecy ever came by the will of man. But men spake from God being moved by the Holy Spirit object. This evening is this question of the relevance of biblical prophecy for today? [00:02:40] Put it into a question. Is biblical prophecy relevant today? [00:02:52] There are many dangers attached to this subject, which I think most of you well know. [00:02:58] There are those who become so fascinated with the subject of prophecy that it becomes their undoing spiritually. It is a remarkable fact that the very fascination of the subject can undo some people. [00:03:15] There are many people I know who've got the most amazing, dogmatic, rigid systems which mean that they rule everything they hear. By this system they divide from other people. I know people who've been put out of assemblies and groups simply because on some detail of prophecy they don't quite agree with the others. [00:03:40] There is, of course, a fascination to anything to do with the future. And this is the way astrology and fortune telling, crystal gazing and palm weeding and tea leaves and teacups and all the rest. How they have such a hold on people, even strangely enough, sometimes seemingly quite intelligent people. It's just this whole fascination of the future and a biblical prophecy has got a danger attached to it. [00:04:17] There are those who get absorbed on this. There are many strange groups and strange sects built on strange interpretations. [00:04:27] I don't think we need to say any more about that. But there's also another danger just as real amongst many christians, and that is cynicism. [00:04:38] There are many true believers who have become spiritual cynics. [00:04:44] They have studied the history of the church. They've understood certain things. [00:04:55] They know that in Martin Luther's day there was a great quickening. People thought that the Lord was coming. They know other periods in church history. This has happened, and they're rather cynical about the whole thing. Oh, well, people have always believed, they said even the apostle Paul thought that the Lord was coming in his day, and they become cynics. And there are those, of course, who see some of the wilder interpretations given to prophetic details, and they draw back and become spiritual cynics. Now, this is just as great a danger as the other, because then we are lulled into such a condition that we can move into the final phase when it actually happens all the time, somehow or other, feeling that it won't happen. Just that is just as great a danger. There is therefore, a vital necessity of a right understanding of biblical prophecy and its relevance for today. And especially, I think, now, in the phase in which we find ourselves, we need a right understanding of this matter. [00:06:15] So as the Lord leads, I'm going to dwell on three points this evening, and the first one is, what do we mean by the word prophecy? [00:06:25] What do we mean by the word prophecy? [00:06:31] The word prophecy simply means the mind of God. [00:06:40] The expression or the revelation of the mind of God on any given subject. [00:06:50] Prophecy is not limited to the future prophecy. Biblical prophecy is the revelation, the manifestation, the declaration of the mind of God on any given subject. Therefore, it has been quite rightly, called forth, telling more than foretelling. [00:07:18] It is the foretelling of his mind rather than the mere foretelling of the future. [00:07:28] Now this, I think, is very important that we should understand right at the beginning, prophecy is the expression, the revelation, the declaration of God's mind concerning possibly the past, possibly the present, possibly the future. [00:07:49] There are a number of people who believe that God would never cause a man to prophesy about something in the past. But if you carefully read through the Old Testament, you will find that many of the prophets were speaking about things past and they were putting their finger upon things that were past in the past history of the people and telling them where they had made a mistake. [00:08:14] It was the mind of God to the nation, explaining and defining what had gone wrong and why certain consequences therefore followed. [00:08:28] You will find also that many times the prophets were dealing with present conditions. [00:08:35] You think of Isaiah when he spoke to Hezekiah, when he was surrounded by the assyrian armies. Remember that? [00:08:44] Surrounded, besieged by the assyrian armies. Isaiah spoke to the people of Jerusalem and to King Hezekiah. It was to a present condition. You remember when Jehoshaphat was faced with that great confederation of armies that came against him? Then he cried to the Lord, and someone stood up and prophesied. [00:09:07] It wasn't just prediction. That prophet told him exactly what to do. Stand still, he said. Take your position. Stand still and see the salvation of God. It was to do with the present. [00:09:22] And many, many times the prophets are dealing with the. And then, of course, what we all know is the future. We know that it is sometimes the expression or declaration of God's mind concerning the future. And we have many, many instances in the scripture of the Lord declaring things that are going to come, revealing through his prophets certain things that will either shortly come to pass or much more latterly, would come to pass. So prophecy can be explanation, it can be correction. It can be encouragement, it can be definition, and it can be prediction. Now, once we begin to understand what the Bible means by this word prophecy, we see it has a tremendously wide. [00:10:23] It has a very wide range of meaning. Sometimes God takes a man, and through that man, he explains a situation that is prophecy. It's not teaching, it's prophecy. He explains a whole situation through the lips of that man. [00:10:44] He explains to them that perhaps behind the scene is the unseen and that there are forces at work. Is an explanation. It's prophetic. [00:10:55] Or again, it may be the explanation of why things have gone wrong. [00:11:00] Sometimes God will speak through the lips of a man, inspiring him by spirit, and will speak words of encouragement. He will comfort the people of God. He will strengthen their hand in the Lord. He will tell them, the Lord is with you in this situation. Don't put your trust in this or that or the other, for the Lord is here in your midst. Put your trust in him that is prophetic. It's not to do with the future. It's not necessary to do with the past. It is, in fact, an encouragement to do with the present. [00:11:36] Or sometimes it's correction. Many times the prophets brought a word of correction and said, if you will humble yourself before the Lord in this present situation, or if you will do so and so and so and so and so and so, then the Lord will do so and so and so and so and so, so and so on. [00:11:55] The prophet has put his finger upon some situation which needs. The Lord needs some correction, some adjustment. [00:12:08] Then again, there are times when the prophet has spoken a word of definition, how much this is needed. [00:12:18] Definition. [00:12:20] Sometimes the prophet was able to take a whole situation and define it in a few words what they were to do, what they were not to do. Now here I give you an example of this. In Jeremiah's day, he became the most unpopular man in the whole world because he said the exact opposite of his predecessor, Isaiah. Isaiah had said, you shall not make a pact with other nations, for the Lord will deliver you. Put your trust in God. He said to Hezekiah. Jeremiah said, bow down before the Babylonians for the Lord is with them and you shall bow down before them. You shall not fight them. [00:13:10] He appeared to be a traitor and a quisling in the eyes of the patriots, the nationalists at that time. Now what was Jeremiah doing? Very simply, he defined the whole situation. He was not saying you must put your trust in Babylon. He was simply saying this. God has determined judgment upon this people. And whatever you do, it will not change the determination of God to bring this about. Therefore, here is the definition. Bow down before it. [00:13:47] Otherwise we would be utterly confused. Wed say what Isaiah says. You shall not do this. You shall not put your trust in pacts or alliances or other great powers. You shall not obey them. You shall stand up and the Lord will be with you and will always deliver you. Jeremiah says the opposite, but he defines it. And if you read carefully, you will see how he divides it. He says quite clearly, the time has got. It has gone too far. The Lord has determined this thing against you. Therefore its no good fighting. You must yield yourselves to it. But it was Jeremiah who also said, in 70 years time, you shall come back. [00:14:30] He defined a situation for them. [00:14:35] And that I want to say no teacher can do. A teacher can define a principle in general. [00:14:45] He can, as it were, deal with, if I may use a word, rather poorly, static truths. [00:14:53] But the prophet is actually speaking out the mind of God in a given situation at a particular, particular time to particular people. [00:15:04] And that's the difference. [00:15:07] Or again, of course, the prophet may be predicting something. And we have of course, a large amount of material in the Bible which is prediction what will happen in the future. So much so some of it has given some rather liberal, those with liberal tendencies great headaches because they can't believe how a prophet could speak of a king 200 or more years ahead. And name him by name. [00:15:40] But as someone else pointed out, the great complaint about Elisha was that the king said, I can't whisper something in my bedchamber, but Elisha doesn't know what I have said. [00:15:56] Now, Elisha didnt have a kind of Watergate bugging system, but by the spirit of God, he knew exactly what was happening in the king's bedchamber. He knew even what was said. Somehow or other, the Holy Spirit made him aware. [00:16:19] Now, it is just this kind of thing that comes into prediction. There are times when the prophet, very much the prophets ministry, as we have it recorded in the Old Testament. The New Testament is to do with the future and the recording. Now, all this we begin to understand when we see the three words that are used in the Old Testament. For the prophet, there are three hebrew words used, two of which come from different verbs. To see. [00:16:54] Basically, it is a seeing. What the prophet does is he sees the mind of God by the spirit of God, he sees the mind of God. And in seeing the mind of God, in seeing the Lord, he speaks out of that understanding of the Lord. He speaks out of that vision of the Lord. And it can be either to do with the past, the present or the future. It can be any of these things. But it comes out of that seeing. The other word that is used word nebbi. Nebbi is the word which many don't have tried to discover the root, its root, they think it goes back to an old arcadian word which meant to be called, to be called or to call, whatever it is. [00:17:49] It means someone certainly true of the prophet. No man could be a prophet unless he was called a teacher, could be turned out by a school of the prophets. But a prophet could not be turned out by a school of the prophets. You could turn out teaching priests, you could turn out teaching levites, you could turn out teachers of the law, but you could not turn out prophets. A prophet has to be a man who is definitely personally called by the Lord. And you will find all through church history that is exactly the same. Whenever there has been a distinct prophetic gift, it has begun with a distinction, prophetic call and appointment by God himself. [00:18:35] Now, when we understand all that, it seems to me that we begin at least to understand the word prophecy. Then we come back to this word. Is biblical prophecy relevant for today? Now here comes the second point I want to make this evening and dwell a little while upon. [00:18:54] I want to speak for just a little while on the relevance for today of biblical prophecy. [00:19:02] Now, the first thing I want to say in this matter is quite simple. [00:19:08] Anything that God has said must surely be relevant. [00:19:16] I find myself entirely out of sorts with these people who say that what God said at such and such a time has no relevance for today. [00:19:28] Anything that God has said must surely have some relevance for all generations. [00:19:40] For instance, lets look at one or two scriptures that are well known to many of you. One Peter chapter 124 25 all flesh is as grass, and all the glory thereof is the flower of grass. The grass withereth, the flower falleth. But the word of the Lord abideth forever. [00:20:04] The word of the Lord abideth forever. Or again in Hebrews chapter four and verse twelve for the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit. Now thats interesting. The word of God is living and active, creative. Living and creative. Its not something dead and static. It is living and creative. It may have been given thousands and thousands of years ago, but it has today got us the same amount of life and power, creative power within it as it had when first spoken. It is the living word of the living God. [00:20:57] It never loses its power ever or again. [00:21:05] Hebrews chapter six and verse 17 wherein God, being minded to show more abundantly unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel. The immutability of his counsel. The impossibility of change his counsel immutability of his counsel. [00:21:33] Then turn back to psalm 33, verse ten and eleven. [00:21:41] Psalm 33, verse ten and eleven. [00:21:47] The Lord bringeth the counsel of the nations to naught he maketh the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. [00:22:08] The thoughts of his heart to all generations. Now, whether you like it or not, you are a generation. I suppose in this room there must be, what, two generations? Or possibly three generations? [00:22:24] And to every one of these generations, the thoughts of God's heart come with the same life and the same power and the same faithfulness inherent within them. [00:22:37] It is quite amazing when you begin to understand that. Proverbs 19 we can only take a selection of these scriptures. Proverbs 1921 there are many devices in a man's heart but the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. [00:22:58] There are many devices in a man's heart but the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. And when you think of all the ideologies the world has known, all the philosophies the world has known, all the systems that have been created by the world these are all the devices of a man's heart. They come, they go. But the counsel of the Lord that outlasts today. People are still finding the same experience through the word of God that Moses found by God speaking to him that David found through God speaking to him that Isaiah found when the Lord spoke to him. And all the way down through church history, we are still in the same thing. The 20th century has made no difference. The space age and all the rest of us made absolutely no difference at all to it. God speaks a word, and I am converted. God speaks a word, and light comes into my heart. Have you not found that? I feel sorry for any Christian who has only ever known what it is to be converted? Has God never, ever shone into your heart with some fresh light? My goodness me. A scripture you've known for years. Suddenly he shines into your heart, and in that moment, you see something, and somehow your life is molded by what you've seen. It's influenced, it's taken hold of. The word of the Lord is living and active and sharper than any church. Some spiritual surgery takes place when God's word really shines into us. Do you know that same thing has been happening all the way down to the years, Stanley? Shakespeare? It never happens with Shakespeare or with some of the other sacred scriptures of man. [00:25:01] You don't hear of people today being arrested, delivered from drunkenness or other things or joined to God by some word of Confucius. [00:25:12] I studied Confucianism, and I had the greatest regard for confucian ethics. [00:25:21] But I've never known light shining into my heart and changing me to the confucian, confucian analects or even some of the other things. But this book, this book, which, when I was young, I thought was nothing, just a myth, this book I found shine into my heart again and again and again. And this is the experience of all God's people. [00:25:50] There are many devices in a man's heart but the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. Or again. Turn to Isaiah, chapter 14. [00:26:04] Isaiah, chapter 14, verse 24 to 27. The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. And as I have purposed, so shall it stand that I will break the Assyrian in my land and upon my mountains tread him underfoot. Then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulder. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed and who shall annul it? And his hand is stretched out and who shall turn it back? [00:26:43] Anything that God has ever said is surely relevant. [00:26:51] This word was said about the Assyrians when they came into the land, and I know some believers in Israel who are still claiming it. Assyrians that came in this time, not Assyrians, but Syrians. They're descended from them. Anyway, it's still relevant today. [00:27:12] But even if we do not apply it to a particular thing like that, the fact of the matter is, doesn't it have tremendous relevance for you and me? [00:27:21] If God has said about a certain word concerning a particular situation at a particular point in history, this is the purpose that is purposed. Who shall annul it then? I can be certainly sure that if God has said anything about this generation or about his purpose concerning the building of his church or other matters, this also will come to pass. Who shall annul it? [00:27:49] It has relevance, absolute relevance. [00:27:55] But then I want you also to note something rather wonderful in revelation, in the 19th chapter of revelation, and verse ten. [00:28:08] And I fell down before his feet to worship him. And the angel saith unto me, see, thou dost not. I am a fellow servant. With thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Now this I'm sure this little phrase at the end of the Bible has never yet been fully fathomed by the people of God. But the little that I understand it to mean has filled my heart with praise, worship. I believe this testimony of Jesus is the life and presence of God in the people of God, in the church of God. It's something to do with the church of God as expressed on earth. [00:29:02] It would take too long to go into all of that. [00:29:05] But it's not the system, and it's not just the sort of methods and the functions and the pattern and all that people get all tied up with. [00:29:15] It is the fact of a union with Christ on the part of many members and the Lord himself being in the midst. You can have all the pattern, you can have the methods, you can have all the teaching. And yet, somehow or other, the candlestick, the lampstand has been removed. The thing rumbles on, but the lampstand is gone. [00:29:37] What is this lampstand? This lampstand is the testimony of Jesus. And wherever that testimony of Jesus is being held, you have the spirit of prophecy. That company becomes within itself, prophetic. [00:29:53] It becomes the revelation and the expression and the declaration of the mind. Of God, to the locality in which it lives. [00:30:00] Those who are bound together in that fellowship of love become the means by which others see something of the glory of God and the love of God, and the mercy of God and the salvation of God. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. We become the place where men meet with God and God meets with men amongst us. They understand. They get the key to human history. They get the key to what is happening in the world. [00:30:27] We become the means by which the mind of God is known to them that surely must be relevant to them. The end of the age the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And if the Holy Spirit who inspired all prophecy is really in the midst of such a company or such companies, then he himself will take this book and will make it live again and again and again. And I think we can go further than that. [00:31:04] If you turn back to Isaiah chapter 46 and verse nine, we find this amazing declaration of God. Isaiah 46 nine. Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will perform all my good pleasure. Now do notice that the Lord says, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things that are not yet done. [00:31:54] So there is then a very real predictive element in prophecy, and it must therefore be relevant for today. [00:32:05] Or again. Turn to Isaiah 45. [00:32:10] Isaiah 45 and verse 20. Assemble yourselves and come. [00:32:17] Draw near together ye that are escaped to the nations. They have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven image. And pray unto a God that cannot save. Declare ye and bring forth, yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath showed this from ancient time? Who hath declared it of old? [00:32:34] Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else besides me. A just God and a savior. There is none besides me. Look unto me, and be ye saved all the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is none else. Or one little scripture in the New Testament. John, chapter 16, often overlooked. John, chapter 16, verse 13. [00:33:05] Howbeit when he the spirit of truth is come, he shall guide you into all the truth. For he shall not speak from himself, but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak, and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come. [00:33:29] So it seems to me, I think, quite clear that biblical prophecy has a relevance for today not in just general terms, but in specific terms. [00:33:43] Turn to Peter, chapter one, two peter, chapter one, verse 19, passage that we read together. But here I feel we have the one word which is the key really, or the answer to our question. And we have the word of prophecy made more sure whereunto ye do well, that ye take heed as unto a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the daystar arise in your heart. Now will you notice that we have the word of prophecy made more sure, whereunto ye do well, that ye take heed as unto a lamp shining in a dark place until the end of the New Testament age? No, until the reformation? No, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your heart. In other words, biblical prophecy. Prophecy must be relevant for today until the day dawn and the day star arise in our hearts. Biblical prophecy is absolutely relevant for every single part of the way. Its got light to shine upon the people of God. Its got by the spirit of God. It can explain things, it can declare things, it can reveal things, it's all there. [00:35:21] This word of prophecy is relevant till the very end. [00:35:27] I must say that I think the word of prophecy is a good deal more relevant than our mass media. [00:35:33] I think of the newspapers and what they predict and what doesn't happen. [00:35:39] And when I think of what the Bible predicts and it does happen, I could give you example after example of this, of major things as well as small things in which the mass media have told us this and this and this and this and it just hasn't come to power. [00:35:55] But what the Bible says always comes to pass, always. [00:36:02] It is much more accurate and a thousand times infinitely more relevant than any newspaper or any other form of intelligent survey that men's minds produce. [00:36:22] Here we have something which is utterly relevant. [00:36:27] Most christians accept the lessons of prophecy. Listen carefully to this. Most christians accept the lessons of prophecy. We have to be very way out, christians really half baked and half dead if we don't accept the lessons of prophecy. Most real christians accept the lessons of prophecy. Now what do I mean? They will say this. Oh, of course prophecy is relevant. [00:36:58] I mean that God spoke through men in days gone by is absolutely true and he spoke about things and he predicted things and those things came to pass. [00:37:11] That's the point. And we can learn lessons from what the prophet said and how it was fulfilled. And those lessons stand us in good stead right to the end. [00:37:27] But the problem is prediction, and that is the problem they come up against. [00:37:37] You will find many, many believers who will say, yes, there are lessons, for instance, what Isaiah said about the people coming back from the north, the south and east and the west. That was fulfilled when they came back from Babylon. [00:37:49] And what Jeremiah said did in Jeremiah 31 32, that was completely fulfilled when they came back from Babylon. And they will tell you, other prophets, they will say this was fulfilled there. Now we can learn great lessons through this. Why did they go into Babylon? Because of sin, because they didnt trust in the Lord, because of compromise. From those lessons we can learn great values. And this is true, but it is only partly the truth. [00:38:21] It is therefore really the predictable element in prophecy that causes the controversy. [00:38:29] Are there still predictions to be fulfilled? [00:38:34] I must say it would surely be remarkable, quite a miracle, a divine miracle of no mean order. If God has said so much about every century of time from Abraham to Paul, and has nothing to say about the days in which we live, surely that would be a most remarkable thing, approaching a miracle of some dimension. It seems to me obvious that if God is the Lord of history, if he stands over the whole of history, it seems only, well, the spontaneous outcome that he has said something about the days in which we live. [00:39:26] Well, what we must say is this, that the word of God is dogmatically clear and strong when it comes to the future. [00:39:40] Note this clarity of the Bible concerning the return of Christ. There's no, it's not abstract, it's not vague. [00:39:51] It is dogmatic clarity, dogmatic certainty, and in some cases absolute definition, even down in some matters to details. Take again your scriptures. Just look at one or two of these things. Matthew 24, Matthew 24 30 and 33. [00:40:18] Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and with great glory. Could there be anything more clear? Verse 33. Even so ye also, when ye see all these things, know ye that he is nigh, even at the doors. [00:40:43] Or again, take revelation, chapter one and verse seven. [00:40:49] Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Or Zechariah, chapter 14, going right back to the Old Testament. Zechariah, chapter 14, verse four. [00:41:12] And his feet, speaking of the messiah, shall stand in that day upon the mount of olives, which is before Jerusalem. [00:41:20] And the mount of olives shall be cleft in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west. And there shall be a very great valley, and half of the mountain shall be removed toward the north, and half of it toward the south? Well, you couldn't be more specific than that. That's never yet happened. However much there's some may have tried to get round it. The fact is that is a prediction. It's specific. It is dogmatic. It is absolutely clear. [00:41:49] He went from the Mount of Olives. He is returning to the Mount of Olives. His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, and the Mount of Olives is going to be cleft into two. [00:41:59] It even tells you which way one lot is going to move, north and the other south. Its perfectly clear acts, chapter one, verse eleven. [00:42:17] Who also said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? Thus this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven. Could there be anything more specific? The bodily, actual, literal return of our Lord Jesus Christ. [00:42:42] Or again, take two. Peter, chapter three. [00:42:46] Two, Peter, chapter three, verse three and four. Knowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from beginning of the creation. [00:43:08] Were even told quite clearly that in the end people will actually laugh at it and say, this is nonsense. Everythings always gone on all the time. Weve always had people saying this. [00:43:20] Everythings continuing just as it always has done. [00:43:24] There are so many others who would be here all night just looking at scriptures which are specific and dogmatic about the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The very last words of revelation, chapter 22 20. He who testifieth these things saith, yea, I come quickly. Amen. And then he said, come, Lord Jesus. I think it was John who said the amen, come, Lord Jesus. Now, I must say that the Lord's quickly and my quickly are different things. [00:44:01] But taken from heaven's point of view, the Lord really in the end, when we're with the Lord, I suppose when you see the whole and we're in eternity and we have eternal dimension, then we shall understand something more of this. But isn't it amazing? Right at the end of the Bible, yea, he that testifieth these things says, yea, I come quickly, as if he's almost countered the argument, well, why doesn't he come? [00:44:31] As if he almost hears us saying, well, I don't know. You know, it's an awful long time. [00:44:36] Yea, he says, yes, I come quickly. [00:44:42] It's true. In other words, he is overcoming an argument. The argument of our, the unbelief in our hearts. Yea, I come quickly. And John beautifully is the triumph of the Lord's appeal to him. [00:44:58] Yes, he says, amen. Come, Lord Jesus. [00:45:05] Peter, we don't want that on the now lets go on a little further. [00:45:19] So relevant is biblical prophecy that some books are sealed up till the time of the end. [00:45:30] People say, is biblical prophecy relevant for today? Well, it may not be relevant for today if today is not the end. But if we are in the end time, then there are certain portions of the Bible which are sealed up till the time at the end. Daniel, chapter twelve. [00:45:54] Daniel, chapter twelve and verse four. But thou, o Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book even to the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased. A very good description of the days in which we live. But thou, o Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book even to the time of the end. That is the relevance of biblical prophecy. There are parts of the Bible that are not even going to make really till the actual time about which they are written for which they were given at that time, they will spring to life. Take revelation. Chapter 13 is another example of this. Revelation 13 and verse 18. Here is wisdom. [00:46:55] He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beasts, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six. Six, six. [00:47:09] So evidently theres going to come a time where we shall understand this, but we shall need wisdom. [00:47:15] Or again, chapter 17, verse nine. [00:47:21] Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven heads, the seven mountains on which the woman sitteth. There will come a time when that will be absolutely clear. [00:47:35] We may have our suspicions already, but there will come a time when it is absolutely clear. [00:47:45] Then again, some matters are only now explicable. [00:47:50] Now, by this I mean it's still part of a divine working of God. But they are now understood in terms, in human terms. For instance, Zechariah. Go back to Zechariah. The prophecy of Zechariah, written about 400 years before Christ. [00:48:14] Chapter 14, verse twelve. [00:48:21] This shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the peoples that have warred against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet. Their eyes shall consume away in their sockets, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. [00:48:36] And that is a perfect description of what happens in a nuclear blast. [00:48:43] Quite remarkable. [00:48:46] Until our generation, people couldn't understand such a prophecy. But we understand it. It's exactly what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. [00:48:56] Or again, take two. Peter, chapter three. Now, in the old days, some of you have no doubt been, especially some of those old continental churches where you have seen pictures of sort of everything being on fire and sort of devils running around doing various things. People understood two, Peter, chapter three, as a kind of almost fantasy. [00:49:24] But now we understand these terms of this fisherman, the apostle Peter. [00:49:30] He'd never been to any academy of science, and yet listen to what he says. Verse ten two, Peter 310. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burnt up. Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Now, again, this is no fantasy. We now understand this. [00:50:14] One nuclear explosion almost did this on a minute scale, but nevertheless it was enough to wipe out a whole city within one single minute and to burn up every single thing that was within it. [00:50:34] These things are now explicable to us. It would seem that some prophecies have more than one fulfillment. This is the problem some have got. For instance, there's no doubt that some of the prophecies of Isaiah were partially fulfilled in the return from Babylon. This is true of Isaiah, it's true of Jeremiah. It's true of a number of the other prophets. They prophesied about a return, and it was partially fulfilled in the return from Babylon. But if you look very carefully at some of those prophecies, you will see that it was only partially fulfilled. There was also much that was not fulfilled at that time. And therefore, it is perfectly right not only to get the great lessons from it, which we all understand about recovery of the church and the rebuilding of the church, but it is also perfectly true that it has an application to the jewish people and is being fulfilled in their return. Exactly what is happening scripture after scripture, detail after detail, is being fulfilled from these ancient prophecies. Now, we have three things here. First, we have a part fulfillment return from Babylon. Secondly, we had the lessons which stand us in good stead for all time and probably eternity. I mean, we shall. The lessons are there. And thirdly, we have an actual fulfillment now on a material and physical level in a certain people. [00:52:10] Now, even more interesting, if you turn to Matthew 24, you see this whole point again in Matthew 24. [00:52:22] Now the Lord was asked, when will this be? That is the destruction of the temple, and what will be the sign of thy coming and the end of the world? Thats what he was asked. Now he began off by telling them, we cant read it all in Matthew 24 what these signs would be. These were fulfilled in 70 ad in the destruction of the temple, the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the jewish people, the cessation of jewish national life, and the dispersion to the ends of the earth. [00:52:58] All that was fulfilled then. But for the careful student of the word of God, it is nonsense to say that it was completely and utterly fulfilled in 70 ad. For there are a number of things said in this prophecy of our Lord Jesus which were not fulfilled at that time. For instance? For instance, verses 21 and 22. For then shall be great tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now. No, nor ever shall be. And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. We know by comparison with Luke 21 that this was also referring to when the armies surrounded Jerusalem. So from this we know that it has an even greater fulfillment at the end of the age when those armies, according to Zechariah, again, will surround Jerusalem once more and lay siege to it. And then this scripture will have a final fulfillment again. Look at verses 912. Then shall they deliver you up unto tribulation shall kill you. Ye shall be hated of all the nations for my name's sake. Then shall many stumble and shall deliver up one another and shall hate one another. Many false prophets shall arise. This did not happen to the believers. It did not happen to the christians. In 70 ad, because of this prophecy, the whole church in Jerusalem upped in a body two, three years before the destruction of Jerusalem and went out of Jerusalem and fled across the river Jordan to a place called Pella, where they stayed and all survived. [00:54:46] If there were any believers who in unbelief stayed behind, they died. [00:54:51] But the main body got up because of the clarity of the Lord's words concerning that time. But it was not a time when the Christians were persecuted. They were the ones who were, in fact, okay at that time. [00:55:06] Now, this means, you see, that there are certain prophecies which have more than one fulfillment. And this is where we get some of our problem. [00:55:15] Take the prophecies concerning the Antichrist. [00:55:19] In Daniel 1112, we have detailed specific prophecies about a certain man who would appear. This man was called Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He said he was the manifestation of God, the outshining of God. Now this man became the arch type of the Antichrist. Now, that was not finally fulfilled there. It has yet to have its final fulfillment. At the end of the age when the Antichrist, of all the Antichrists comes, this man who will be so cultured, had such a philosophy that the whole world will go after him, who will promise peace and unity to the whole world so that the whole earth is deceived by this. This was Antiochus. Far from being a dark, evil figure, this man was a great democrat, given in one way anyway, given the freedom of the city of Athens. [00:56:19] And he wanted. He had a great. He had a marvelous plan. He wanted to unite the whole of the Mediterranean into one great common pan hellenism. He wanted them to speak Greek. He wanted to introduce greek culture as the common basis for everything. And he wanted to introduce greek religion as the unifying spiritual factor. And it worked marvelously until he came up against these obstinate, strange, weird people called Jews. [00:56:51] And they were everywhere. They dressed in a certain way, they worshiped in a certain way. They were absolutely. They would not blend. They would not compromise. And so Antiochus began his bloodbath. He said, very well, if this little minority, this unhealthy minority, will hold up progress, then we wipe them out like we wipe out vermin. [00:57:15] And so began the great bloodbath, the seven years of tribulation which the land of Israel ran with blood. [00:57:28] Now, all that was not completely fulfilled, it has yet. It was just like a prefiguring of the one whos yet to come. And when the Lord said, jacobs, trouble. There will be such a time of tribulation as has never been seen before and never will be seen after it that has yet to come. Now, this you see, when we begin to see it in this light, we have a number of detailed and specific words to us. For instance, in Matthew 24, we begin to find that there are words that are only relevant in many ways at the very end. [00:58:07] For instance, Matthew 24, verse 16, verse 15. When you see this abomination of desolation in the holy place, verse 16, then let them that are in Judea flee unto the mountains. Let him that's on the housetop, not go down to take out the things that are in his house. Let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak. Then it goes on. [00:58:29] And pray ye, verse 20, that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath. In other words, it is possible now, in the light of this, when we begin to see this build up, to pray that the Lord will time things, the thing will happen. But there can be certain adjustment made in answer to prayer. Now isn't that a marvelous thing? [00:58:50] I find that absolutely marvellous. It counters all this fatalism, this wrong kind of fatalism that the devil could foster in the people of God. That is just hopeless and we've just got to submit completely. No, we can pray that our flight be not at such a time. Now, if we can pray for it then in preceding phases we can ask the Lord. Now, Lord, see to it, please, if it could please thee that the catastrophe's coming may at least be at a suitable time. Sounds very funny to put it like that, but you know what I mean. [00:59:24] Then again you have mark 1311 which speaks quite explicitly about the great tribulation and the persecution 1311 and when they lead you to judgment and deliver you up, be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak, but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour that speak ye, for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit. What a wonderful promise. [00:59:55] There's a wonderful counter to all of us who get so neurotic about these counting. We say, oh, I'd never be able to speak, I shall fail, I shall collapse. I would never be able to say something, especially if I were subjected to torture or anything like that. But the scripture actually says, don't worry about it. Don't even give it thought beforehand so that in itself can be wrong. [01:00:17] Just commit it to the law. For in the very hour that you need, you will be given what you shall say and it won't be you that's speaking. Be the Holy Spirit. Now isn't that wonderful? [01:00:26] Is biblical prophecy relevant for today? [01:00:30] You may have got strength on that scripture for other times, but it appears applies to a particular time in history. [01:00:39] Again, look at Luke 21, Luke 20, 114 15. [01:00:55] Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or to gainsay. [01:01:06] Well, thats almost why. There it is the same thing again, even more wonderfully put. Dont even meditate on it beforehand. So for those of us whose knees are knocking already with the very thought, trying to cross the bridges before weve come to them, the Lord says, dont meditate about this. Get the big issues settled. Get the big issues settled in your heart. [01:01:27] Walk with the Lord now. Well, now there are, of course, other scriptures too, the same. Chapter 36. But watch ye at every season, making supplication that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man. [01:01:51] Now, these are actual specific commands or words of the Lord for a particular time in history. [01:02:05] That time has not yet come, whether we're beginning to enter it now, or whether it is still away in the future that we shall see. [01:02:19] But biblical prophecy is certainly relevant for today. [01:02:29] We must never be either put off or become cynical because of wild, erroneous, unbalanced interpretations of prophecy. And what has happened to this subject, like the subject of the Holy Spirit, is that people of God have given the wildest and in some cases totally erroneous interpretations of some of these details. Companies have gone off the rails. [01:03:00] Whole works have been sort of influenced and diseased by some imbalance built on some little phrase connected with prophecy. Now be careful. Just because some people die of food poisoning, we don't give up eating, or because some marriages end in the divorce court, we don't all not get married. [01:03:28] The fact of the matter is that people are sensible in these things. We know that a certain number of people die of food poisoning, but you don't think about that every time you eat. [01:03:40] You eat because you have a sensible outlook. [01:03:47] I hope in the same way, we have to face this whole matter of biblical prophecy, just because we've got things that are right off the mark, things like Mormonism or Russellism, or some of these other things built in some cases upon prophecy, or because we have got true believers who have gone off the rails to a certain extent as British Israel, or pyramidology, if you know what that is, come and ask me and I'll tell you, as long as you don't get involved in it. [01:04:27] All these things which again began with believers, and still very largely believers in it, but, and is taken them right off in a kind of spiritual cul de sac, or you've got the other kinds of things where we get all tied up on certain interpretation of details in which we get very steamed up if we find someone who differs from us. Now, because of all these rather unhappy, this unhappy stuff of the interpretation of biblical prophecy, don't let us be put off, don't let us become cynical, because there will surely come a day when these things will be completely fulfilled, and we can be certainly sure that the enemy will cause a whole number of false in order to make us almost impervious, if it is possible. [01:05:37] Well, now, I think we ought to leave it there. And if the Lord will, we will take the last point next week. What I want to really talk about is talk about the relevance for today. But what I would like to talk about, finally, is the actual relevance of biblical prophecy, which I think is a tremendous thing. And next week we'll talk a little bit about that relevance of biblical prophecy. The explanation of history. [01:06:07] If you didn't realize that prophecy is the explanation of history, one of the most thrilling things. When you begin to see it like that, then the whole panorama of God's purpose begins to unfold before you. And you begin to see this whole period of time in its context as a tremendous battle between truth and the lie, between light and darkness, between God and Satan. And when we begin to see it like that, then we begin to understand a whole lot of things. But that's what biblical prophecy really is. Relevant is. It's the explanation of his. God has not just given us a few little comforting promises, like a little promise box. That's not. That's not biblical prophecy. [01:06:56] That somehow or other the first whiff of trouble, he's going to whizz you up and get you out of the way. Maybe he will praise God for that. [01:07:07] But that's not biblical prophecy. Biblical prophecy is much bigger than that. It's because it's been reduced to that, a kind of christian escapism, that people tend to sneer at it. [01:07:21] It is the explanation of history. And when we begin to see it like that, then it's tremendous. And it also is the outline of history. And that's even more remarkable because we find that a man like Daniel, who was prime minister in one of the greatest empires the world has known, was one of these prophets and saw the whole time of the Gentiles, which began with Nebuchadnezzar and ended in 1967. [01:07:48] That man, Daniel, saw all that thousands of years ago and saw the whole thing in detail and the characteristic of each empire and how it would follow later on. John saw even more of what he saw, more of what Daniel saw as to the last phase of the last empire in which we have all found. Well, now, this is really thrilling, isn't it? When we begin to understand that, we begin to say, this is relevance of biblical prophecy. [01:08:22] It gives us a range. And then, of course, it has specific relevance. [01:08:28] Israel. Israel as a people, the jewish people are the touchstone of history and they are the evidence of God in history. [01:08:44] And that is when we look at the history of the jewish people, we see that God is behind history and theres another wonderful thing we can look at. And then lastly of course, there is the purpose of biblical prophecy, that we be ready, not that we just know a system or that we need know the outline of history, but that we be ready. And this is the point some people overlook. They get so fascinated with the systems of prophecy that they just don't get ready. [01:09:22] That's a terrible thing. [01:09:24] Well, shall we together ask the Lord to help us this evening? [01:09:33] Dear Lord, we have talked this evening about prophecy. In thy word we pray, Lord, thou to lay a foundation in our lives, Lord, that will stand us in good stead in the days to come. [01:09:51] Lord, we are meeting people all the time who just dont believe these things, especially, Lord. When we come up against those who have a more academic background, Lord, we find it very difficult sometimes when it comes to these things. But Lord, thou hast given us and we praise thee, the most wonderful foundation for our faith in thy word. And we pray Lord, that these things we've talked about this evening may be burnt into our hearts by thy Holy Spirit. Reveal to us what prophecy is, Lord. Reveal something, Lord, of its endless relevance, its relevance right up to and including our day to the very end, till the day dawn and the day star arise in our hearts. But we don't really know, Lord, what that means. The daystar arise in our hearts but we're sure, Lord, it has something about being led in the last period of gloom and darkness when the night comes and no man can work being led unfolding. [01:11:05] So Father, we praise thee and we worship thee as we give all this over to thee and ask Lord, put thy seal upon it all thy Holy spirit, we ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.