John 11-
v2 When
John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his
disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect
someone else?”
You may
be a very Godly and spiritually-knowledgeable person, and yet your expectations
of the future may be incomplete. John the Baptist was a Godly and knowledgeable
man (even of Biblical prophecy i.e. He knew the Messiah was about to arrive),
and yet his view of the future was similarly flawed. He expected Christ to come
in power, in the fulfillment of promise, to bless His people, and to bring
awesome revelatory truth--which He did, but John didn't expect the suffering
that came with it. He also did not expect that much more needed to happen
before the Lord's Kingdom and rule came in its full blessing and reality (i.e.
the prophecies of the sufferings Christ would have to endure), and to set all
things aright. From prison, this even made John question if Jesus really was
who He said He was. Jesus even had to encourage John not to become offended at
him because of this incomplete view of the future:
Matthew
11-
v4 Jesus
replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive
sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy b are cleansed, the deaf hear, the
dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is
anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
John had
expected the GLORY and presence of Jesus, along with a mighty move of His
Spirit (which, in the scripture above, Jesus told him was indeed happening),
but He had not expected a STORM of suffering. A full, Biblical and Holy Spirit
led view of the future is VITAL, for it is an issue which directly relates to
our faith in Christ and our trust of Him. You may be expecting blessing, glory,
fulfillment, promises, revival, and Christ's presence and power--but while
these things are PART of the future, they are not the whole of it. These things
will come in a landscape of suffering--in the landscape of the COMING STORM.
The Bible says that in this world we will have tribulation, and the Holy Spirit
has also been revealing the tribulation which is coming soon, and what types of
tribulations we WILL and MAY (without intercession) face.
If you
don't have a Biblical and HOLY SPIRIT led view of what's coming, at the very
least you'll be extremely shocked and perplexed at what comes, and at the most
be OFFENDED at Him. This shows us just how important it is to have a
full-rounded view of the future. John, it seems, was tempted to become offended
at Christ because of the suffering he hadn't expected the future to hold--and
this was a faithful, fruitful, Biblically-knowledgeable, and Godly man! John
had expected Christ (the SAVIOUR), a great move of the Spirit, and the fulfillment
of CERTAIN blessed prophecies (i.e. the Lamb of God who would CLEANSE and
FORGIVE), but he had not expected persecution and suffering, and he had not
expected the fulfillment of the 'OTHER' harder prophecies (i.e. Old Testament
prophecies that predicted Christ's suffering). Jesus did not rebuke John was
his incomplete view (the Lord is able to make us all stand as long as we obey
Him and continue to follow Him), but he did encourage and warn him to not
become offended at Him because what was happening had not fit into his expected
picture of the future.
If we
were only expecting the future to be filled with blessings, fulfillments (the
ones we want), promises, glory, revival, the presence of Christ and His great
workings--think again. These things will come, and thank God they will! We
should eagerly expect, rejoice in, and pray for such things! But this is not
the WHOLE picture of what's coming--great trial, hardship and suffering is also
on its way. If we don't have a fully rounded view of what's coming, or don't
now accept what the Spirit is revealing, then we will need to make the
NECESSARY adjustments in our views and thinking during a time when it won't be
as easy or expedient to do so. Like John, we also may not have much time to make
the adjustments (i.e. John was killed after a short time in prison)--and this
could also be problematic to our faith in, relationship with, and service for
the Lord.
Even
without revelation, a Biblical view of the future means that we should EXPECT
tribulation (John 16v33). This is what the Bible tells us. But Jesus showed us
that revelation of the future is very important to our PRESENT faith, lives,
and fruitfulness for His Kingdom (He Himself spoke of the future). The purpose
of prophecy is not only to encourage, strengthen and comfort us, but PREPARE
us. The revelations of the future are specifically designed in order to get us
to, right now in this present time, intercede in prayer about those future
things for ourselves, friends and family, the Church and the world (that
unsaved would be saved and so also guarded by the Lord). Through this praying
the Lord also prepares our spirits--our hearts and minds--for what is to come,
and furnishes them with grace and power to be able to meet and endure whatever
we will need to. Prophecy is also specifically designed to get us to read and
learn His Word as much as we can in order to get us to mature and grow in
Christ as much as possible. It is designed to encourage us to take up the full
armour of God in the PRESENT time so that we'll be able to stand in the FUTURE
EVIL DAY (think: part of the sword of the Spirit is REVELATION/ the shield is
our FAITH):
Ephesians
6-
13Therefore
take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be
able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.
The Bible
talks about PREPARATION as being a key aspect of the Christian walk:
1 Cor 14-
8 For if the
trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?
Finally,
a fully-rounded view of the future is meant to direct and encourage us to make
sure that our lives are right with the Lord in the present, to ensure Christ's
KEEPING of us (the kind of 'keeping' He chooses for us) will be as great as
both we and He wants it to be. In light of all of this, we see that prophecy is
as much about the PRESENT as it is the future--it is certainly not meant to be
treated as something which we can just take or leave according to our whims, or
choose to pick up and make use of later if (intercessory prayer can stop events
of the future if God allows) and when the events come to pass. The Spirit's
voice is not to be taken lightly, for if God says something, we should realise
just how important it is for us to hear and respond to. In light of what God
intends to do in and through us with prophecy before such future realities come
to pass, we should recognise the fact that the prophetic has as much to do with
faith, fruitfulness and the life of Christ as anything else that is part of the
truth or spiritual.
John was
about as spiritual, knowledgeable, and Godly as any other believer in the Word,
and yet a major element of the future surprised him! Because his view of the
future was missing key prophetic elements, he was shocked and perplexed at the
suffering and persecution that ensued. It seems that even he was tempted to
become offended at Christ--the one Jesus Himself had called the Elijah who was
to come! It is safe to say that many Godly, Biblical and knowledgeable people
will be surprised at what is coming in the future. This may be for a variety of
reasons: they may not believe in prophecy, not believe what the Lord is now
revealing, believe only prophecies regarding the good things that are coming,
have a narrow Biblical view of the future, trust their own convictions or not
recognise the signs that even now are present in the world (or not believe they
are signs at all). Whatever reactions are going on, the simple fact of the
matter is that the future will prove what is or isn't true. When the Coming
Storm actually comes, it will speak for itself. But that isn't what's important
here. What is important is this: after hearing much of what the Spirit has revealed
about the coming storm (whether you believe it now or not) don't be shocked or
perplexed if, in contrary to your person opinion, you were wrong, and much
trial does in fact come upon this Earth and into your lives. And certainly
don't become offended at Christ or stop believing and trusting in Him. The
prophecies that He's given (if they don't speak to you now, certainly will
then) will testify that He is still the Christ, still good, in control, and
sovereign over everything that takes place. Those prophecies will speak as loud
and clearly to you as Christ's voice did to John:
Matthew
11-
6Blessed
is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
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