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

The Baptism in The Holy Spirit

THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

This expression from scripture is listed in several places, and often with different little prepositions like in, of, or with etc. This has often caused a certain amount of confusion, not in the mind of the Holy Spirit who inspired the various authors of scripture, but in the minds of the hearers. I expect this confusion comes from not closely checking the prepositions used. And also checking out who is the person doing the baptizing, and the medium into which the candidate is being immersed. Let us consider this topic from three different passages of scripture, which I believe refer to three different baptisms.

Baptism # 1--- (1 Cor 12:13) "Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit". I believe this is Paul's description of our salvation experience, the same exactly as John explained to Nicodemus in (John 3:1-8) where he used the expression "you must be born again". No one can become a child of God without coming through Jesus (John 14:6) and being "born again" of the Spirit. This is the only way any person can begin their walk in the Spirit, and it begins when the Holy Spirit baptizes us into the Body of Christ.

Baptism # 2---(Acts 2:38-39) Peter replied, "Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God". This baptism requires "repentance" from our sins, and acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior. At that point in time our Father adopts us into His family and gives us the gift of His Holy Spirit to seal the transaction.

Baptism # 3--- (Acts 1:4-5, 7-8, 2:1-4) This is the historical record of the fulfillment of the promise given in baptism # 2, with the actual coming of the Holy Spirit to the 120 disciples waiting in the Upper Room. This briefly lists the three baptisms, now we will consider more closely each one to see who is the Baptizer in each case, and what the "medium" is into which the candidate is immersed.

In summary then, the first baptism is our "salvation" experience when we are placed into the "Body of Christ", which is another name for the "Biblical Church" that Jesus has been in the process of building for some 2000 years, and the Baptizer is clearly the Holy Spirit. Next comes our "believer's baptism", as soon after our salvation experience as possible. Here the Baptizer is any spiritual leader, who places the candidate into the body of water. The Greek word for baptism indicates a complete "immersion". And the final baptism is our "baptism in the Holy Spirit", first mentioned by John the Baptist in (Matt 3:11) and fulfilled in Acts chapters 1 and 2. And clearly The Baptizer is Jesus, and the medium is the Holy Spirit. And all of these are for everyone who knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, no matter what church they attend it is not a denominational thing. Let us be clear about that, and eliminate any confusion!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                                    22/05/13

IN CHRIST or IN THE LORD

 IN CHRIST or IN THE LORD?

The term "in Christ" is used 68 times in the NT and it is an "affirmational" truth according to Bob Mumford. While "in the Lord" is used 42 times in the NT, and is what he calls "aspirational" which requires some effort on our part, or in other words it is "behavioral" in nature. "In Christ" is a "gift" from God and is completely "by grace through faith", and not by any works of ours (Eph 2:8-10), so be well aware of this fact! While "in the Lord" can be understood from (Matt 7:21-23), where we see many people who call Jesus "Lord! Lord!" but Jesus will reply to them "I never knew you, get away from me you who break God's heart". (NLT) So I think these two scripture passages show clearly the difference between the separate meanings of these phrases. I have read the scriptures for many years, and have heard many sermons preached, but have never understood the difference between these two expressions until I saw Bob teaching this truth on You Tube yesterday. This only made me more aware of the fact that we can often think we understand what certain scripture passages mean, but miss the true meaning by a mile, so to speak. So we all need to read scripture more carefully, and listen to certain people who are proven "teachers" who have been "called" by God to that position in the "Body of Christ" like Bob Mumford has been.

 

One thing I have learned in my some 50 years of being involved in various denominational churches is how easily I can think I know the true meaning of a certain Bible truth, but have the wrong basic concept, based on incomplete teaching. I have no trouble believing that the complete Bible is God's Word from cover to cover, but I have often been led astray by believing certain church "doctrines" that I was taught as being based on Bible truth, only to find out they were based on some man's understanding of some scripture passage. This could very well have been only a theory based on his interpretation of a certain scripture passage taken out of context. This is often what happened with certain doctrines that perhaps sounded good to certain church leaders, and before long they were accepted by whole denominations. I have found this to be true in several cases, which has caused me to use extra caution about any so-called "new teaching". Several NT authors have warned us to beware of "many" false teachers that will show up in our "churches" in these later days. So I take it from that fact that we all need to be careful and know who we are listening to and following. It certainly pays to be extremely cautious!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                  27/04/03

FROM SINNER to SAINT

FROM SINNER TO SAINT

 

This is an interesting journey from being born as a "sinner" from our mother's womb, to becoming a "saint" by being "born again" by the Spirit of God. One of my favorite scripture passages that explain this process is found in the letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church he had founded in the city of Ephesus. Read (Eph 2:1-10) for the details, which in the NLT version of the Bible has the heading "made alive in Christ". Paul begins in verse one "Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins". He continues through verses two and three to explain who is the cause of us being sinners, "the devil—the commander of the powers of the unseen world. He is the spirit that is at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else".

 

Then in verse four Paul starts out with "But God is so rich in mercy, and He loves us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that we have been saved!) For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus". Paul continues in verse eight with "God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago". I consider this passage of scripture to be one of the best in the Bible to explain the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom in only 10 verses.

 

Thank God for Paul who was known as the "Apostle to the Gentiles", and for the "mysteries" of God that were revealed to him (Eph 3:1-13), and recorded for our benefit. My observations of the average church attendee would indicate that they don't know the truth of the plain simple gospel message, probably because they have listened to "another gospel" that eliminates that fact that we are all sinners (Rom 3:9-21) and have believed in a "false gospel" like the church in Corinth (2 Cor 11:1-4) and in many churches today. A so-called gospel without repentance and the truth of what Jesus did for us on the cross, He is our one and only Savior from sin!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                               08/05/13