9 Essential Reasons for Understanding Biblical Prophecy

 9 Essential Reasons for Understanding Biblical Prophecy – JonathanBrentner - https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/https/jonathan-brentner-g8fgsquarespacecom/config The topic of Bible prophecy is more relevant to our lives now than at any other time in the history of the church. It’s never been more vital that churches teach it, and believersunderstand it. It’s not just the convergence of a host of prophetic signs that make it so, but the existential dangers to our lives and livelihood that threaten everyone. I have watchedrecordings from the World Economic Forum (WEF) meetings during which time the elite talk openly about the need to drastically reduce the world’s population. One woman causally suggested that five hundred million would be a suitable goal while a pharmaceuticalcompany president predicted a fifty percent reduction in the number of people living in America during the next year or two. It’s no secret that Bill Gates has long been an advocate of significantly reducing the earth’s population. Please know these are not idle threats, but rather the intentions of the luciferin globalists that control the UN, the WEF, and the deep state in the U.S. Don’t fall for theirbenign-sounding platitudes of wanting to save the planet, the master they serve is the very same one that Jesus identified as a “liar” and “murderer” in John 8:44. They regard the majority of people in the world as “useless eaters,” which clearly doesn’t bodewell for them. The urgency for everyone to know what Scripture says about our future comes at a time when most churches refuse to talk about what the Bible says about the day in which welive. As a result, believers who attend these places of worship remain in the dark regarding their hope in Jesus’ soon appearing as well as the grave perils they face in a world where the great majority of its leaders bow before the murderous enemy of theirsouls. There are 9 additional reasons for why understanding Bible prophecy is so vital to our lives today. 1. THE LORD COMMANDS US TO BE WATCHFUL AND READY Bible-believing churches often dedicate one Sunday a year to the Great Commission. Because the words of Matthew 28:19-20 come directly from the Lord, they tell us, we mustobey. However, many of these same places of worship ignore Jesus’ clear commands to “be ready” and watchful for His coming (Matthew 24:44, 25:13; Luke 12:40). He spent much more time talking about the signs of His return to the earth and told parables to encourageus to be ready for His sudden appearing. The New Testament saints heeded these admonitions. They eagerly awaited His appearing with the hope that they might be alive at the time He came for them (Philippians 3:20-21;1 Corinthians 1:7; Titus 2:11-14). In 2 Timothy 4:8, Paul refers to a crown for those that love Jesus’ “appearing.” How can believers receive this reward if they never hear about the Rapture as the Apostle Paul described in 1 Corinthians 15:19-54? The fact that Jesus didn’t come for His church in the first century AD doesn’t signify that these early saints erred in their anticipation of His imminent appearing, ratherit signifies their obedience to Jesus’ repeated commands for watchfulness and readiness. 2. THE BIBLE TELLS US TO ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER WITH OUR HOPE IN JESUS’ APPEARING In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, Paul provides us with many details of the event we refer to today as the Rapture. In 4:18 and 5:11, he instructs the saints in Thessalonica to “encourage one another” and “build one another up” with the hope of Jesus’ appearing. The Lord intends for the Rapture to be a tool of mutual edification during perilous times, not a taboo topic for the pulpit. If believers don’t hear about their glorious expectation of Jesus’ imminent appearing, how can they obey the Lord by encouraging their fellow saints with this joyous anticipation?Is this not something we should be doing as our future in this life grows increasingly foreboding? 3. BIBLE PROPHECY FACILITATES SPIRITUAL MATURITY Many passages in the New Testament connect Bible prophecy with spiritual growth. 1 John 3:1-3 tells us that our hope in Jesus’ appearing leads to our purity. In 2 Peter 3:10-13, the apostle explains how the Day of the Lord motivates holiness in believers. Bible prophecy enables us to view the things of this life as temporary; a mindset that engenders spiritual maturity (2 Corinthians 4:17-18; Romans 8:18; Colossians 3:1-4). The Rapture is vital to our endurance during tough times because it reminds us of the new bodies the Lord will give us when He appears (1 Corinthians 15:49-58; Philippians3:20-21). Knowing what Scripture teaches about our lives in eternity facilitates growth toward spiritual maturity because these things remind us that a much better existence awaitsus in eternity. I’m not saying that spiritual growth is impossible apart from knowing what the Bible says about our “blessed hope,” but many saints do require such an anticipation of futureglory in order to loosen their grip on temporal things, especially during times of adversity. This was true for me; I remained stunted in my spiritual growth until I learned to value eternal realities over my earthly aspirations. I share my story of how thishappened in The Triumph of the Redeemed. I needed the truths of what the Bible teaches about the Rapture and eternity to bring me out of the despair I endured for many years. 4. BIBLICAL PROPHECY IS VITAL TO OUR TESTIMONY OF HOPE In 1 Peter 3:15, we have these familiar words that I memorized as a child: But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. The spiritual growth that comes via our excited anticipation of Jesus’ appearing will cause others to ask us about our faith during our times of oppression, suffering, orloss. If our hope resides in the church or in the right candidate winning a future election, we will react to suffering and the success of wicked people in much the same way as those around us. The “no-Rapture” message that’s so popular today far too often produces believers who hold tightly to the things of this world and as a result, fail to exude Gospel hope duringtimes of adversity. 5. BIBLE PROPHECY CONFIRMS THE INTEGRITY OF SCRIPTURE No other book stakes its integrity on fulfilled prophecy. Jesus fulfilled numerous biblical prophecies regarding His lineage, birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection.Jesus chastised the Jewish religious leaders of His day for not recognizing that He was their Messiah (Matthew 16:1-3). The one hundred percent record of Scripture in precisely predicting everything related to Jesus’ first advent as well as many other future events verifies its integrity asGod’s Word. The Bible provides us with a multitude of unfulfilled prophecies regarding the Tribulation period, Jesus’ Second Coming, the Millennium, and the eternal state. And today,we see an abundance of precursors to what the Bible says about these last days, which also verify the veracity of the Bible. Why do so many spiritualize what the Bible tells us about the future and Jesus’ appearing rather than believe the words written on the pages of Scripture? How can they missthe signs that Jesus gave us so we would recognize the lateness of the day? 6. BIBLE PROPHECY DEMONSTRATES GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY In Isaiah 46:8-13, there’s a remarkable statement from the Lord concerning His love to prophesy regarding the distant future. Below are the words of verse 10, starting withthe last line of verse 9: I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.” . . . . I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. Bible prophecy proclaims God’s sovereignty. There’s nothing that can stop the fulfillment of His purposes as revealed throughout Scripture. Nothing at all. Furthermore, theLord loves to predict the distant future from “ancient times.” Why do so many believe He stopped doing this after the first advent? As we watch prophecies of the last days come to life before us, we watch God’s sovereignty at work in our world. The globalists believe they can make a name for themselvesby setting up a world empire and forever changing humanity through transhumanism. The Lord will allow them a measure of success before crushing both them and the kingdom they are now preparing for the antichrist. God is sovereign; the future for those now driven by the “spirit of the antichrist” will happen precisely as He revealed for us in Revelation 6-18. No one can thwart God’spurposes nor stop the precise fulfillment of biblical prophecy. He will pour out His wrath on this wicked world. 7. BIBLE PROPHECY HELPS US TO COPE WITH THE CHAOS OF A LAWLESS WORLD I couldn’t even begin to cope with all I see happening around me apart from what my hope in Jesus’ imminent appearing and God’s sovereignty over the future of humanity. Believers who understand what Scripture says about the last days know Jesus is coming for them in the near future and after that He will judge the rampant evil, deception,and killing of innocents in our world. We know that a far worse fate awaits the propagators of evil than spending many years in prison. The prophetic texts of the Bible bring needed relief to us because they assure us of a cheerful eternity full of many delights and pleasureful experiences that we can scarcelyimagine this side of the brighter shore. 8. A SOUND VIEW OF BIBLICAL PROPHECY EXALTS THE PERSON OF JESUS It’s not just my personal testimony that produces a passion within me for Bible prophecy, it’s also because it exalts the Name of Jesus, my Savior. The New Testament saintsglorified Him through their eager anticipation of His appearing. That kept their eyes focused on Him during times of persecution and in doing so exalted His Name. As I have written in the past, John’s account of the future magnifies the Lord from its first chapter to the last. The book of Revelation is the grand summation of the Bible;it brings all the still future prophecies in both the Old and New Testaments to a wonderful completion in Jesus; the Name above all names. Those that dismiss Jesus’ thousand-year reign (Revelation 20:1-10) by equating it with the church age or the eternal state do greatly err and reside on dangerous ground becausethose that hold to these teachings must spiritualize a great multitude of other biblical texts rather than accept the intent of the author. In doing so, they obscure how Jesus’ future reign over the nations will magnify His glory before all the nations ofthe world. 9. THE PROCLAMATION OF BIBLE PROPHECY IS A NECESSITY BECAUSE PEOPLE NEED JESUS The most pressing need for the proclamation of Bible prophecy is the urgency for people outside of Christ to come to saving faith in Him. A great many people recognize that something is seriously wrong in our world and urgently need to hear that this is what the Bible predicted for the last days. Pastors whoconnect current events to what Scripture says about the coming Tribulation are seeing significant new convert growth. The Gospel that turned the world upside down in the early church included the proclamation of Jesus’ imminent appearing, what we today refer to as the Rapture of the church. What was the testimony that spread through ancient Greece as a result of the conversion of the saints in Thessalonica? It was that they “turned to God from idols to servethe living and true God” and as result were waiting for Jesus’ appearing (1 Thessalonians 1:8-10). It’s clear from the rest of 1 Thessalonians that the believers in the city knew all about the event we call the Rapture and the future “Day of the Lord,” which includes theseven-year Tribulation. They knew many things about Bible prophecy despite the fact that Paul was only in the city for a very short time. I don’t know the timing, but the Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus is coming for His church and after that He will judge the world during the Tribulation period. The bloodof innocents and extreme wickedness in America cries out for God’s wrath. We live in borrowed time; He will surely judge the world after He takes His saints away to Heaven. It’s my conviction that these things will happen in the near future. Believers today urgently need a joyous anticipation of Jesus’ appearing rather than a sanctified version of “Your Best Life Now” that grounds them in the things of this life.Those outside of Christ need to hear the Gospel message that assures them of a joyous eternity. Pastors must lead the way by first exiting the bubble of normalcy from which they preach Sunday after Sunday. If you have not yet put your trust in Jesus, please see my post, Jesus Is the Only Path to Eternal Life. In it, I explain how you can know for sure that Jesus has forgivenall your sins and that you possess eternal life. Jesus is my risen Savior, my peace, and the sum total of my anticipation of a joyful eternity in His presence. Christ can give you bright hope for tomorrow regardless of your circumstances or the sins that weigh you down. He shed His bled on the cross for your sins and rose again provingthat He’s everything He claimed to be. He’s the Savior of the world and He will make good on His promise to give His followers immortal bodies and eternal life. Count on it! Please, please don’t delay; call upon Jesus while you may! We live in an exceedingly dangerous world; tomorrow is not guaranteed for any of us. My books: My latest one is Cancel This! WhatToday’s Church Can Learn from the Bad Guys of the Bible. The book is all about growing to maturity in Christ. The bad examples of these characters reveal the mindset weneed for living at a time when the cancel culture dominates our culture. InThe Triumph of the Redeemed-An eternal Perspective that Calms Our Fears in Perilous Times. I not only defend the pre-Tribulation Rapture, but share in great detail how thetruths of biblical prophecy brought me out of a lengthy time of despair in my life.