7 Dangers of Neglecting Biblical Prophecy in the Pulpit

Pastor Tom Hughes of the 412 Church in San Jacinto, California, wrote an article titled, “Five Reasons Pastors Don’t Teach Bible Prophecy.” ^[i] Here is the list of the main points from his article.

1. They don’t understand prophecy.
2. They fear offending members of the church.
3. They sense it will scare people.
4. They fear people will stop giving.
5. They fear looking like fringe groups who take things to an extreme.

Even though written several years ago, the list remains relevant today. Fear stands out as the key motive behind the silence. Pastors also say they do not understand prophecy, but do they take the time to learn or turn to those who do understand it?

Some might ask: “Why does that matter? Does it really make a difference if preachers keep quiet on future things as long as they proclaim the Gospel with biblical clarity?”

It not only matters a great deal, but it’s risky to ignore a topic that the Bible emphasizes over and over again. The neglect of biblical prophecy in the pulpit results in:

1. Believers Relying Upon Social Media for End-Times Theology

When pastors remain silent on biblical prophecy, believers look for information on biblical prophecy on social media and the Internet. There they find a wide array of teachings and opinions, some biblical, but most are false and misleading.

Some believers possess the needed scriptural discernment to sort through the mess of various teachings. But as the lack of biblical knowledge reaches epidemic proportions among those claiming to be Christians, most churchgoers lack the necessary discernment and fall prey to the misinformation available at their fingertips.

A couple of questions for preachers: Do you really desire for social media and the Internet to be the primary source of information regarding prophecy for those in your church? Would it not be better for you to provide the sound biblical guidance regarding our hope that they so desperately need during these perilous times?

2. The Flourishing of False Teaching

Many pastors fear causing division in their congregation and thus remain silent on matters related to the Rapture. However, they fail to realize that it’s their refusal to preach on what the Bible says on this matter that has led to the very diversity of opinions in their churches. The potential for disunity is there even if they remain quiet.

Last year, I met with a pastor who said that if he preached what I believe, half of his congregation would walk out the door. It occurred to me later that if he taught what he really believes, the other half would quickly depart. We started attending his church after seeing that its statement of faith said it was premillennial. The pastor, however, was most definitely not premillennial!!

Pastors who ignore biblical prophecy allow false teachings to flourish, or as in the case of the one I just mentioned, the church remains in the dark about what he really believes.

3. Believers Looking to This Life for Their Immediate Hope

Another consequence of silence in the pulpits regarding future things is that believers look for hope in things other than Jesus’ imminent appearing.

A popular theology today, often referred to as “dominion theology,” teaches that the church will prevail against the evils of this world and usher in a millennial reign of its own before Jesus returns to the earth. Many Christians falsely believe the church itself is their hope for the future.

Additionally, even pastors who do not adhere to “dominion theology” also make the church the object of hope for those that hear them preach. Those who allegorize the book of Revelation often, in my experience, change its message to exalt the church rather than Jesus.

Still others give the impression that things will return to normal. “The world has seen difficult times at other times in history,” they say, “and the current crises are no different.”

All these things point believers to this life as their hope rather than Jesus’ appearing.

4. Reduced Motivation for Godly Living

The Lord intended our hope in the Rapture to be a motivation for godly living. John wrote these words in 1 John 3:2-3:

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

Our hope in Jesus’ soon return has a purifying impact on our lives. Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, said the following in a recent interview:

“I don’t know why more people don’t want to talk about eschatology or end-times events because Bible prophecy is not given to scare us but to prepare us,” he said. “And not only that, but I think it motivates us.”

Laurie continued, “Talking about these things can be very motivating for Christians to keep us on our toes spiritually.

“Knowing Jesus could come back at any moment,” he said, can “be a motivator to live a godly life.” ^[ii]

Silence in the pulpits regarding our “blessed hope” leaves those in the seats assuming they have their whole lives ahead of them, although Scripture tells us this may not be the case. For many, this negates the urgency to walk closely with the Lord.

5. Believers That Are Unprepared for the Dangers that Lie Ahead for this World

The scarcity of preaching on biblical prophecy leaves believers unprepared and unaware of the dark and threatening storm clouds gathering on our horizon.

The Bible promises that Jesus may come at any time, but we may experience tough times before that happens.

The war in Ukraine has led to a humanitarian crisis not seen since WWII and will lead to critical food shortages throughout the world by the end of 2022. We live in perilous times, and they are about to get much worse.

The current silence in the pulpits not only shifts the hope of the saints to this life but leaves them ill-prepared to deal with ever-present threats of nuclear war and famine. If their focus is solely on their future in this life, these things will cause anxiety.

Today more than ever before, believers need the assurances of Scripture regarding their joyful and glorious future. Pastors who refuse to teach about Jesus’ imminent appearing from the pulpit deny their people critically needed assurance as the threats of war and famine increase with each passing day.

6. Believers Not Watching for the Lord’s Appearing as Jesus Instructed Us to Do

Referring to His return, Jesus said this in Matthew 24:44:

“Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” In the same discourse, He later said, “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (25:13).

Jesus’ instruction led to a church that eagerly anticipated His return. In Philippians 3:20–21, Paul wrote this:

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.”

The Greek word for “await” in verse 20 denotes to an “intense anticipation” or an “excited expectation” of a future event. ^[iii] In this text, Paul portrays believers as eagerly longing Jesus’ appearing with great anticipation; they expected it to happen at any moment.

When we watch for Jesus’ appearing, we copy the eager expectancy of the early church to meet Jesus in the air.

7. The Convergence of Prophetic Signs

My head is spinning from all that’s happening in our world from a prophecy perspective. A few years ago, I believed that many signs of the approaching Tribulation were converging as never before, but today this reality has grown beyond what I could have imagined back then.

As the shadow of the approaching Tribulation grows darker by the day, those aware of this convergence of prophetic signs recognize that Jesus’ appearing to take us home must be ever so close.

I never thought I would hear a president of the United States talk openly about the need for the New World Order, which during the Tribulation will morph into the kingdom of the antichrist. But yesterday, it happened as President Biden started talking about his commitment to it! I have long assumed this, but it’s another matter to hear him talk about it as something that is going to happen.

The Rapture may happen soon, and I pray that it does. But if not, we will see our world rapidly deteriorate as critical food shortages develop and as the coming New World Order continues to suppress the rights of people throughout the world.

Pastors, why not start preaching about biblical prophecy now rather than wait until people in your church demand that you teach on this subject, or the threatening conditions around you leave you with no choice but to talk about the details of our joyous and imminent hope?

In Tom Hughes’ article titled, “Five Reasons Pastors Don’t Teach Bible Prophecy,” he said this: “Let Jesus also be the example in what we teach and preach. He taught a great deal about His Second Coming and the signs surrounding it. We should, too.” ^[iv]

A realistic look at our world is indeed scary and grows more ominous with each passing day, but as we view current events through the lens of Scripture and what it promises us about our future, the Lord gives us strength and peace to face the joyous future that lies ahead for us.

Pastors, those who listen to you preach need to hear the comforting words regarding our imminent hope. Is this not the intent of Paul’s admonitions in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 and 5:11? Our “blessed hope” is meant to encourage us in times such as these.

My new book, The Triumph of the Redeemed-An eternal Perspective that Calms Our Fears in Perilous Times, is now available on Amazon.

Jonathan C. Brentner

Website: Our Journey Home

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[i] Tom Hughes, Five Reasons Pastors Don’t Teach Prophecy, https://hopeforourtimes.com/five-reasons/

[ii] Greg Laurie Explains Why Understanding Bible Prophecy Is So Essential, taken from the Harbingers Daily website, https://harbingersdaily.com/greg-laurie-explains-why-understanding-bible-prophecy-is-so-essential/

[iii] Colin Brown, ed., Dictionary of New Testament Theology Vol. 2, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1969) p. 244.

[iv] Tom Hughes

 

Transgenderism

Not too long ago, the idea of ‘transgenderism’ was a radical term relegated to the vernacular within the LGBT society. As culture grew increasingly faithless worldwide, the LGBT movement rose to prominence, and now its language has been inculcated into much of our culture.

The LGBT is a communist front group that began its agitation campaign in 1968 with the Stonewall Riots. The purpose of a communist front group is to agitate in a particular area of society, in this case, sexuality, in order to cause chaos and make that society more amenable to totalitarian control. They jumped on board with the ‘free love’ movement of the late ’60s and found great success in popular culture through the ’70s and ’80s. Not long after that, they would attach themselves to the civil rights movement and work up the nerve to call themselves the LGBT as the faith of the country found itself on life support.

Transgenderism is defined, in the Cambridge Dictionary, as “a condition of someone feeling that they are not the same gender as the one they had or were said to have had at birth.” In other words, people must be identified based on how they feel about themselves rather than on biological reality.

Following this logic, suppose someone who is 5’6″ tall wants to be identified as 6’5″ tall. Can you imagine a society in which the government demands that people perceive this person at 6’5″ tall? Suppose further that this person wants to play basketball at the professional level. Assuming he has sufficient skills to actually play the game, will the other players be required to pretend that he is 6’5″ and guard him accordingly? Will the coaches have to create a game plan that acknowledges that the player is much taller than he actually is? Will the players and coaches be disciplined if they fail to respect how that person feels about himself?

Although this scenario is ridiculous, this is what is being required of the rest of society to accommodate thinking that has no basis in reality. Demanding that society conform to each individual’s feelings has the potential to create great havoc in society. I am certain that if the purveyors of the myth of transgenderism were aware of the chaos they were creating, they would stop this insanity immediately. Otherwise, we may have to reach the conclusion that the turmoil being created in society by this mythical notion is actually on purpose.

So how did a fringe idea like ‘transgenderism’ become so prominent that the rights of these people take precedence over the rights of all other citizens?

The formula seems fairly simple. The globalists need to break down society if they are going to implement their totalitarian agenda. However, they need foot soldiers who will help them carry out their nefarious plans. They find the most awful reprobates they can find, namely evil white communists (EWC), and use their vast wealth to elevate these pawns to positions of power and prominence in society. They take over our press outlets and universities, and then they use their immense wealth to purchase our district attorneys, politicians and bureaucrats. They then patiently wait for that society’s churches to die and its people to abandon the faith so that they are easy prey.

If we took a poll, we would certainly find that the vast majority of churches no longer preach over Romans 1:18-32. If there was ever a passage that should receive special attention in this day and time, it is that scripture. This passage should be preached annually by any churches that are still fulfilling their obligation to call sinners to repent and be forgiven in the name of Jesus.

In the Romans passage, we find that the wrath of God is being revealed against those who suppress the truth in their unrighteousness. Are we seeing any evidence that wicked people in positions of power are suppressing the truth?

The evidence is overwhelming. Our social media tyrants have fallen in line with the globalists and are suppressing any information that goes against the party line. The main problem with this, other than it is government censorship by proxy, is the information being suppressed is almost always the truth. These people then employ “fact-checkers,” a laughable term applied to those whose job it is to censor the truth, to make sure nothing interferes with the false narrative of the day. They stick out their foot on the worldwide web, so truth stumbles in the street, and honesty cannot enter.

Due to the suppression of truth, we can no longer trust our governmental institutions like the Center for Disease Control (CDC). They passed out so much bad information on how to handle the ‘pandemic’ that they no longer have any credibility with thinking people. Most people would be better served by this organization if they listened to their messages and then did the opposite.

Our government put forth a cult figure, Anthony Fauci, whose job it was to pass on misinformation and create as much fear as he could under the guise that he was a medical professional. He became the ‘American Rasputin’ who believed he was a healer and had the ability to predict the future. Through the sorcery of misinformation, he led everyone to get masked up, social distance, and begin taking an experimental vaccine against their will.

He predicted dire things if his orders were not followed to the letter. Through fear, he was able to get billions of people worldwide to give up their freedom, their livelihoods and bodily autonomy to protect themselves from a pandemic that had a 98% recovery rate. After all, as he proclaimed in one of his interviews, he is ‘science,’ and those who failed to obey him were in danger of dire consequences.

This same ‘science’ has now infiltrated into the sexuality of our culture. We have been assured that people can now ‘transcend’ their gender and either switch genders at will or create many more genders. I believe we are up to about 76 genders and still counting. It is their faithlessness that caused their thinking to become futile and their foolish hearts to darken. They have been turned over to a reprobate mind, which means their thoughts are devoid of Godliness. When fools descend into this level of faithlessness, their IQ begins to drop, in conjunction with their lack of faith, and they become deluded morons with no moral fortitude.

In the field of Psychology, one area of study is called ‘gender constancy.’ Psychologists were interested in when a child begins to understand that when someone is born a certain sex, he/she remains that sex for life. Here is a brief example of that type of experiment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZb2len6f18

What psychologists found was that a four-year-old lacked the cognitive ability to understand gender constancy, but a six-year-old was more adept at this distinction. The four-year-old believed that if you put a dress on a boy doll, then it is a girl doll. However, with greater cognitive development, the child began to understand that even if you put a dress on a boy doll, it is still a boy doll.

The Word of God has again proven itself to be true. Those who have no faith in God operate, in terms of sexuality, on the cognitive level of a four-year-old. Even though they profess themselves to be wise, they have become fools.

Of course, there is no end to people who are willing to take advantage of deluded morons who serve in many areas of leadership.

Lia Thomas, who is obviously a male, feels like he is a woman, so he is able to participate in women’s sports, in this case, swimming. He is now the number one swimmer in ‘women’s’ sports. The comical thing is that the people in charge of women’s sports do not have the moral fortitude to exclude him from their sport. They stand helplessly by while he wins awards for being the fastest women’s swimmer in the nation. In some cases, they are actually cheering him on.

When a nation refuses to honor God or give thanks to Him, this is the kind of hilarity that ensues. However, it gets even worse. We have a Supreme Court nominee, Kitanji Brown Jackson, who was asked to define the term woman. Amazingly, she claimed that she did not know what a woman was. It was as if she was asked to describe a mythical being that no longer exists. To say that this nominee lacks any kind of moral fortitude is an understatement. She is unable to describe what a female is even though she is one. And very soon, because our legislators lack any kind of moral fortitude themselves, she will likely be interpreting the U.S Constitution for the entire nation.

This may lead people to wonder whatever happened to the feminist movement. The fact of the matter is that organizations like the National Organization for Women (NOW) were only communist front groups that outlived their usefulness. This is why Rush Limbaugh referred to them as ‘feminazis.’ They never had any interest in improving the lives of women. Their purpose was to cause agitation between the sexes to further break down society. They wanted to make women more like men, and since no one can define what a woman is anymore, they have finally succeeded.

This is probably why we never hear from NOW anymore. This is wonderful because men, especially Christian men, no longer have to listen to false accusations of being ‘sexists’ or misogynists. Now that there is no real distinction between men and women, the term ‘sexism’ has lost its meaning. This is good news because that is one more arrow removed from the Marxists’ quiver (although they have even more lethal arrows to replace that one). Feminists used to be on television constantly screeching about the injustices that women face at the hands of men. Most of us can no longer remember the great champions of feminism because they are no longer relevant. Now that the term ‘woman’ no longer exists, they no longer need a national organization.

It is now admitted by the deluded morons who adhere to this movement that a man can menstruate and get pregnant. We can only assume that they mean that a woman, who is pretending to be a man, is capable of these female functions. As mindless as they are, they seem to still understand that a man does not have a womb. They must be still trying to figure out how a man can get pregnant and carry a baby to term without a womb. We could study their arguments, but such research would only cause our own IQs to drop precipitously as theirs has.

It seems that God has already given these people up to dishonorable passions. Most people who engage in same-sex relationships will state that they had no choice when they became homosexuals. They are actually correct in this assessment. Due to their lack of faith, they were turned over to the latent desire for homosexual relationships that already existed in their hearts as a judgment against them. There are numerous sins that exist within the heart, and when faith is lacking, God turns these people over to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves. This is how the wrath of God is being revealed against them.

God allows us to wallow in our own filth as a means of gaining repentance. The idea is that while we are engaged in perverse activities, we are supposed to open our eyes and see how Godless and evil we have become. We are then supposed to feel remorse for violating God’s law, turn away from such behavior, and receive the free gift of faith in the Lord. Those who refuse to do this harden their hearts even further against the Lord and start proclaiming that homosexuality is moral. As they grow increasingly more evil, they even assert that their behavior is approved by God.

When people harden their hearts to this degree, God gives them up to a debased mind, and they are filled with all manner of unrighteousness and evil. The list of those qualities that reveal their spiritual depravity is long and heartbreaking. Even though they are fully aware that God’s law demands that those who do these things deserve eternal damnation, they continue to do so zealously. Worse still, these faithless people begin to show their approval when this sin infects and overwhelms the culture.

It should be clear by now that climate change, false accusations of white supremacy, and the transgender myth are all designed to break down society and bring forth a totalitarian form of government. The globalists would much prefer that we enslave ourselves to these false ideologies rather than their having to engage in the messy business of enslaving us by force. We know that in the end times, there is going to be a totalitarian government in which we will be unable to buy or sell without their permission. That government is being built today upon these false ideologies.

It is the responsibility of the church to be salt and light in an evil and Godless world. Jesus told His people to proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins in his name to the entire world. We must stand on God’s law and His Gospel in order to remain faithful. Unfortunately, most of the visible church has been silent or has even given its fanatical approval to much of the depravity that we see in society today. It is crucial that those who remain faithful in the visible church heed the following words:

“For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God [the church]; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey [preach and live by] the gospel of God? (I Peter 4:17).

In the end times, we know that the true church of Christ has but little power. However, if we want the door to remain open to us, we must keep Christ’s Word (The Gospel) and not deny his name. If we keep Christ’s word about patient endurance, he will keep us from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world.

Jesus is coming soon, so hold fast to what you have so no one can seize your crown.

gospelist.net

April 4, 2022