Seven Principles 0f Biblical Prophecy

SEVEN PRINCIPLES of BIBLICAL PROPHECY (part 1) 

This article is based on Derek Prince's book called "Prophetic Guide to the End Times", published in 2008. This is the title of chapter three that starts on page 32. We will look briefly at each of these principles, which I think are very well balanced, and based solidly on scripture.

1/ Some Prophecies Will Remain Secret--- This one is based on (Deut 29:29) "The secret things belong to the Lord our God,  but those things that are revealed belong  to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law". God has secrets that are none of our business, and we should not try to find out about them. For example the exact time of the second coming of Christ Jesus! We have to resist the temptation to try and find out these secrets, and anyone who pretends to know is a false prophet!

2/ Prophecy Is Given for A Reason---The purpose of prophecy is meant to give us things to do. Derek tells of one day in Kenya when they lived there in 1958, he had to go to another town to have his car serviced. He had a long list of things he wanted done to the car, and also a list of things he wanted to do in town. As he left the service station he says the Lord spoke to him about him needing "servicing", as well as the car. So instead of going shopping, he spent the day quietly on the beach fellowshipping with the Lord. As he opened his NT it fell open to (Matt 24:14), after spending some time meditating on this scripture that day, this book was a result many years later.

3/ Prophecy Is Given For A Specific Time And Situation---God does not always save us "from" things, or "out" of things, but "through" things. It is important to realize that, and not have unrealistic expectations.

4/ Prophecy Is Given For Guidance---If God has declared that a thing will not happen, it is a waste of time to pray that it will happen, or try to make it happen!

5/ The Spirit Of Prophecy Focuses On Jesus---(Rev 19:10) states "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Scripture here is talking about the spirit of prophecy and not the words of prophecy. Any prophecy that glorifies man, and not Jesus, is not real prophecy!

6/ Prophecy Means What It Says---Every prophecy concerning the first coming of Jesus was fulfilled literally. Although some prophecies may be allegorical, most are not, and must be understood to mean what they say. For example the church is not Israel, and Israel is not the church!

7/ God Has Total Sovereignty---He is sovereign and totally just and true. He has never said anything that is not true, and has never made a mistake!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                      revised 17/11/12

A COMMITTED FOLLOWER

A COMMITTED FOLLOWER

A few weeks ago I put together an article called "Fickle Followers" who started out to follow Jesus but had never counted the cost, and fell away when they found out what is expected of them. This article will point out what Jesus expects of a true follower of His. Bob Mumford does a good job of explaining this in his book "Mysterious Seed". On page 169 he lists 6 things that Jesus asks of His followers, 1/ to deny ones' self, 2/ to take up one's own cross, 3/ to lose one's own life, 4/ to be last and least, 5/ to drink the cup that Jesus drank, 6/ and be baptized with His baptism. (Matt 16:24-25; 20:16). There is certainly a lot more to being a committed follower of Jesus than most churches in the West prepare their members to expect. It would seem they have presented a "soft gospel" as part of their "seeker sensitive" presentation that never mentions repentance, separation from the world the flesh and the devil, or any suffering for Jesus. This is a far cry from the True Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus or the apostles like Paul or Peter preached. It is more like the "false gospel" that Paul mentions in his second letter to the church in Corinth, (2 Cor 11:1-4). And this letter was sent only a couple years after his first letter in which he explained the true gospel in (1 Cor 15:1-6), so you see clearly how fast a "false gospel" can spread through a church, in this case it was only a period of a few years.

It would appear to me that "many", not just a few, false so-called apostles and teachers have appeared in certain church circles in the past decade or two, and they have been received by some people without being first tested by scripture to see if they are authentic. Check out (1 Thess 5:12-22), and also (1 Tim 4:1-2) for some good advice from Paul. I have been very surprised at how little discernment is shown by believers, who have going faithfully to evangelistic churches for many years, when it comes to being deceived so easily by a smooth talking so-called "Evangelist" from out of town, sharing some "new revelation" that he has just received, and is eager to share it with the "Body".  

First off, there is no such thing in my mind as a "new revelation"! There can only be a further "illumination" on the original revelation given to us by our Creator God that He had recorded in His Book, that we call our Bible. So if we are called to become a follower of Jesus, let us be sure we are a "committed follower" and not a fickle one!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                     17/06/13

FICKLE FOLLOWERS

FICKLE FOLLOWERS.

We often use the term "followers of Jesus" rather the usual term "Christians", because that term means different things to different people. Jesus called His original 12 disciples to "Come, follow me and I will show you how to fish for men". NLT. I read a daily devotional today from ODB by this title where the author used the illustration of sports "fans" who follow their favorite team with a great degree of enthusiasm as  long as they are on a winning streak. But let them lose a few games in a row, and see how fast they can ditch their favorite team for another. The same thing happened to Jesus on several occasions, for example in (John 12:12-13) the adoring crowd was ready to crown Him as their King, but a few days later this crowd was most likely part of the crowd that were crying out "Crucify Him!". The reason for their complete change is seen in (verses 23-26) of this same chapter, when Jesus spelled out the cost of being a faithful follower of Him.

Human nature has not changed in 2000 years since these words were recorded, and people are quick to become enthusiastic followers of Jesus one week and seemingly lose their enthusiasm the next week or month or two. I would have to say these people are definitely not "committed followers" of Jesus, and could be referred to as "Fickle Followers" in my mind. Unfortunately there seems to be more and more people like this in the "church" today than ever before in my memory. I expect the reason for this is because there is very little preaching about repentance, and separation from the world today. And what we can refer to as a "different gospel" that the Apostle Paul refers to in (2 Cor 11:1-4) is certainly being introduced by false teachers in the past number of years in many church circles. And remember this second letter of Paul to this church was written just a year or two after the first, in which he explained in (chapter 15:1-6) the gospel, or "good news" that he had preached to them. That shows us how fast the work of a false teacher can corrupt a church congregation. So it's no wonder we are given so many warnings in many places in the NT scriptures to "be aware" that in the last days we can expect to see not just a few, but "many false prophets and teachers" show up in our churches. They are undoubtedly "planted" in our midst by the enemy of out souls. But thank God He has given His Church, the "Body of Christ", the person of the Holy Spirit to provide "discernment" to point out the "false" from the "true", which is only found in Jesus, who declared  in (John 14:6) "I am the truth" !!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                  31/05/13

The Problem With Pride

THE PROBLEM WITH PRIDE 

I think we are safe to say that "pride" is probably the greatest sin of the human race. And as near as I know, it began in the heart of one of the highest created beings in heaven. His name was Lucifer and you can read the details in (Is 14:12-21), his pride led to rebellion against his Creator resulting in his being cast out of heaven. He chose to come down to our Planet Earth and has been an enemy of God ever since, and of course all of God's children. One example of a man who started out as a "good man" is recorded in the OT book of Second Chronicles chapter 26, his name was Uzziah who became king of Judah when he was only 16 years old. He was one of the better kings of Judah and pleased the Lord by his actions in the beginning of his reign and God blessed him. However, we read "But when he become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall" (2 Chron 26:16). We read in verse 21 "So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died".

In the NT we have some good advice from the Apostle Peter in his first letter (1 Peter 5:5-9) where he says in part "God opposes the proud but favors the humble, so humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor.---Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith". NLT I'm sure we are all aware of people who have been successful in business or some other occupation that others have considered them very special "celebrities" and they start to believe their own press reports. It seems this inevitably leads them to become "proud" of their accomplishments. Someone has rightly said "It is hard to stay humble when you become famous", and I expect that is true unless you are a "committed" follower of Jesus, and realize that without Him and the help of His Holy Spirit we can accomplish nothing in our own strength. Our flesh nature is capable of many works of sin, but God has given every person who exercises faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior His Holy Spirit the moment they are "born again". At that point in time Father adopts them into His family and gives them the "gift" of the Holy Spirit as a seal of the transaction. The Holy Spirit wars against the flesh nature (Gal 5:16-26), and is always there in our spirits to defeat the flesh nature. So we have no excuse for yielding to our lower nature and committing sin as a committed follower of Jesus!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                              30/05/13