Prophecy: Propelling Practice
“Current Events in the
Light of Bible Prophecy”
168th Semi-Annual FRATERNAL GATHERING
of the Ontario Christadelphian Ecclesias
May 3-5, 2013
Questions to Consider this Morning:
• What is the most basic and primary prophecy in
all of the scriptures?
• Why does John only make reference to “AntiChrist(s)” in his epistles (that term is not in the
gospel of John)?
• How do these questions relate current events?
• How do these questions relate to us?
Quick Review from Friday:
Prophecy must have these two components:
1. As a “Future-Teller” (foreteller – to tell before hand)
2. As a “Truth-Teller” (forth teller – to tell the truth
required)
Only God has this ability (Isa 46:9-10)
Purpose of Prophecy (minimally):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Warn the Wayward
Encourage the faithful
Vindicate God
Vindicate His messenger
Vindicate His message
Purpose of Prophecy
The purpose of future telling was not to simply
future-tell;
rather it was to be an engine for faith. Once the
event was past and fulfilled as predicted, you
could have confidence in the rest of the
prophet’s message. The hearer could change
their ways and heed the message with its moral
imperatives, which always agreed with other
utterances of God.
What is the most basic and primary prophecy in
all of the scriptures?
15 And I will put
enmity between thee
and the woman, and
between thy seed and
her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his
heel.
Conflict of the Seeds throughout time
From this point forward we have the great
controversy of the scriptures. It is the conflict of:
1. “The seed of the serpent”
2. “The seed of the woman”
2 Seeds
Isa 1:4
4 Ah sinful nation, a
people laden with
iniquity, a seed of
evildoers, children that
are corrupters: they
have forsaken the Lord,
they have provoked the
Holy One of Israel unto
anger,they are gone
away backward.
Isa 41:8-9
8 But thou, Israel, art my
servant, Jacob whom I have
chosen, the seed of
Abraham my friend. 9 Thou
whom I have taken from the
ends of the earth, and
called thee from the chief
men thereof, and said unto
thee, Thou art my servant;I
have chosen thee, and not
cast thee away.
“The Children of Promise” (seed)
“…For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither, because they are the seed of
Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall
thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the
children of the flesh, these are not the children
of God: but the children of the promise are
counted for the seed.”
Romans 9:6-8
Consistent Theme Continues:
1 John 3:9-10
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for
his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin,
because he is born of God. 10 In this the children
of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:
whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God,
neither he that loveth not his brother.
Rev 12:17
And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and
went to make war with the remnant of her seed,
which keep the commandments of God, and have
the testimony of Jesus Christ.
“Seed” of the Lord in the final promise
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they
shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a
tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall
long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They shall
not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for
they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and
their offspring with them. 24 And it shall come to
pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while
they are yet speaking, I will hear. 25 The wolf and
the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat
straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the
serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all
my holy mountain, saith the Lord.
Gen 3:15 demonstrates both
elements of Prophecy
1. Future Telling – The fact that a promised seed
would come and take away the curse
(consequence) of the serpent’s lie and their
disobedience. They failed to trust and believe
in what God had said from the beginning.
2. Truth Telling – The promise of deliverance from
death eternally. The power of the serpent
would be destroyed. The serpents words could
only bring death - not life.
Understanding John’s Gospel
Purpose verse:
John 20:31
But these are written, that ye might believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that
believing ye might have life through his name.
Focused Purpose for his writings:
John 21:25
And there are also many other things which Jesus
did, the which, if they should be written every one, I
suppose that even the world itself could not contain
the books that should be written. Amen.
Framing Johns Gospel
• Who better to right this account?
• The Gospel of John was written to for the world
at large (so anyone could read and make up
their mind) vs the epistle of John was written to
those who already had the faith of messiah.
• What is the focused parallel?
Gen. 3 is the context of
John’s entire Gospel
We see the “anti-christ(s)” consistently through this book.
Sought to kill Jesus is referenced more than 30 times!!
One example:
John 8:40-44
But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I
have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41 Ye do the deeds of your
father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have
one Father, even God. 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your
Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God;
neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand
my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his
own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Gen. 3 is the context of
John’s entire Gospel
• By my count there are more than 80 references
to the dependence and superiority of God.
Exactly what you would expect with a son
depending on a father!
• Rather than proving that Christ is God, John
goes out of his way to stress the dependence on
God.
Beginning of the High-Priestly Prayer
John 17:1-5
1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to
heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify
thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As
thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he
should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. 3 And this is life eternal, that they might
know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. 4 I have glorified thee on the
earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest
me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with
thine own self with the glory which I had with thee
before the world was.
The end of the High-Priestly Prayer
John 17:24-26
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast
given me, be with me where I am; that they may
behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for
thou lovedst me before the foundation of the
world. 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not
known thee: but I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me. 26 And I
have declared unto them thy name, and will
declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast
loved me may be in them, and I in them.
An Interesting Detail
11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre
weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down,
and looked into the sepulchre, 12 And seeth two
angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and
the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus
had lain.
Psa 85:10
Mercy and truth are met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Ex 25:22
And there I will meet with thee, and I will
commune with thee from above the mercy
seat, from between the two cherubims
which are upon the ark of the testimony, of
all things which I will give thee in
commandment
True Worshippersunto
- John the
4:23 children of Israel.
Followed by a Call to Repentance:
Christ goes out and seeks on his disciples, Peter,
who has just denied his Master.
He restores him and calls him to fulfill his purpose
of an apostle.
In Closing
1 Cor 13