Friday 3 June 2016

THE COMING STORM PREP DOCTRINES PRT4: 'PERPLEXITY AND BLOWN EXPECTATIONS'

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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