Knowing the Future

There is in mankind the need to know the future. In every endeavor of man, much time and effort is given to predicting what will happen next or at least the probability of future events. In war, generals try to anticipate what their enemies will do or how they will react. In politics many polls are taken to try and predict the mood of the electorate. In finance many different models are used to try and predict the ups and downs of the market. In the spiritual realm most of all man wants to know the future. Is there life after death? Is there a heaven or a hell? Mankind uses spells, witches, mediums, shamans, omens, signs, and prophets in an effort to find out what is next. And the devil uses this desire for knowledge of the future to trap and enslave mankind.

From the beginning, man was searching for this secret knowledge and that led to Eve's being deceived over the Tree of knowledge of good and evil. All the time knowledge was made available to man for the asking. God said to Solomon, "Wisdom and knowledge [is] granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that [have been] before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like." (2 Chronicles 1:12). Solomon could later say, "For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth [cometh] knowledge and understanding." (Proverbs 2:6) and "The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Proverbs 1:7).

God also revealed to Isaiah the secret of knowing the future - "Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. " (Isaiah 42:9). Who is the One who reveals these things? Isaiah tells us in chapter 42 -

"Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, [in whom] my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:  I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, [and] them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.  I [am] the LORD: that [is] my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. " (Isaiah 42:1-9).

The answer to the future is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul writes, "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:3).  God created us with a desire to know what is ahead and He provided the answer to the need - Jesus, the Messiah. In Him is hid the fullness of knowledge and wisdom and in Him we can know what we need to know.

The broad outlines of the future He has revealed to us in Holy Scripture by the Holy Spirit. Both the promise of blessings and of judgments are revealed, and also how to earn either of them. Since God's plan is so abundantly revealed to us all, both in written form and in the very creation itself, we will have no excuse for not availing ourselves of His blessings by obeying His word. This is true of individuals and of nations. The specific individual and incremental futures can also be known to us by an intimate walk with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. We are told by Solomon that the very beginning of such knowledge comes to us by the fear of the Lord - Proverbs 1:7.

If we truly fear the Lord, we will keep His commandments and that will draw us near to Him in whom are hidden the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I do not mean the ones that are convenient for us to keep, or the ones that we agree with, but all that we understand. Much of the  Christian church in America is like the Church of Sardis - "you have a reputation of being alive" but Jesus judged "you are dead!" Jesus is not interested in 'mega' churches or those that are growing the fastest or that have the liveliest worship or the most somber liturgies or those that have the most beautiful buildings or the most programs. He is interested in those who keep His commandments! Who among the Revelation churches were most favored? Just two - the Philadelphia Church, who had little strength but kept the Lord's word and did not deny His name, and the Smyrna Church who was suffering afflictions and poverty for the Lord's name, but to Jesus they were rich! Where do we find such churches today? Probably in China, Africa, or maybe in the Mideast. In America they may be found in small home groups or a few small fellowships, but certainly not in the organized denominations that I have seen. They are busy teaching heresies like a 'pre-trib' rapture that doesn't require suffering persecution; that Jews don't need Jesus because they have their own covenant; that Catholics shouldn't be witnessed to because they were 'born again' in infant baptism; that it is OK to get divorced and remarried; that having women pastors is OK because Paul didn't know what he was talking about; that we don't need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and manifest His giftings because that all ended with the Apostolic Age; or that we can vote for those politicians that have an anti-Christ agenda because they promise to give us government money. The many deviations from Scripture, and even heresies, would take too long to list here but they are enough keep the American Church from knowing the future will of God - and in the dark.

Some of the issues I mentioned above are controversial and hard to understand and God requires us to walk in the light we have but, if our heart honestly is seeking after the truth as God reveals it, we will come to know the truth. But not taking Scripture at face value can open the door to using our vain efforts to explain them according to our desires, and deception is the result. I admit that I do not obey all of God's commands perfectly, but when the Holy Spirit convicts me, I'm quick to repent and get my life in order! If a church had this attitude, there would be more time spent at the altars and less in the pews! There would be more time given to the Lord's Supper, where repentance is stressed than taking the offerings!

The future for individuals is crystal clear from the Scriptures: Obey God, accept the free offer of salvation through Jesus Christ, walk in His ways and heaven is your destination. If you die before Jesus comes again, you will be resurrected first when he comes and if you are alive when He comes, you will rise to meet Him in the air along with the resurrected saints. Or, refuse the free offer of salvation through Jesus Christ alone and your eternal destination will be hell, a place of unbelievable suffering. Jesus said quite clearly, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6). Contrary to popular belief today, there is no other way to heaven than Jesus Christ. Those who reject Him do so at their peril!

THE FUTURE FOR NATIONS IS ALSO CRYSTAL CLEAR FROM THE SCRIPTURE: David writes, "Blessed [is] the nation whose God [is] the LORD; [and] the people [whom] he hath chosen for his own inheritance." (Psalm 33:12). The alternative is equally clear: "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, [saying], Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." (Psalm 2:1-3). The Lord laughs at their puny rebellion and pronounces judgment on them - "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish [from] the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed [are] all they that put their trust in him." (Psalm 2:12). The future of nations rests on what they do with Jesus, the Son of God. The first time He came as a 'suffering servant' to pay the price for our sins, but the second time He will come as a roaring lion executing vengeance upon all who resist Him. Since nations are not individuals and cannot be judged at the final judgment, they will judged now. The Apostle Paul writes about this judgment in Romans One:
 

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed [it] unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.  And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." (Romans 1:18-32).

These nations who reject God and His Son refuse to obey His moral law and count the knowledge of God as folly. Our nation today falls into this category; removing His laws from public view, honoring those He calls abominable (homosexual and lesbian lifestyles), forbidding prayer in Jesus' name, even trying to outlaw prayer meetings in private homes but declaring despicable sexual activities in homes to be 'private' freedoms, honoring and giving taxpayer monies to those who kill precious innocent lives and those who openly mock Jesus Christ in the name of art, burning Bibles because they may offend heathens bound under the spirit of anti-Christ, categorizing those who believe in the 2nd coming of Jesus and end-time prophesies as possible terrorists, and much more than I can summarize here. Even our President announces to the world that we are not a Christian nation and probably never were! The future of such a nation is written in many places in the Bible. We shall go down into the ash heaps of history not to be remembered as a "Light shinning on a hill" but as a stench in the nostrils and those who cast away their God for the sake of a little deceitful riches, whose end was nothing but ash.

I wonder why our government would ban public prayer in Jesus' name or why they would burn Bibles because they offend certain people? Are they so afraid of Jesus that they can't even hear or see His name? The Pharisees in the Book of Acts took the same course of action because the truth about Jesus brought their sin into the light. Why are Muslim clerics so afraid of the Bible? Will the truth written in it expose the lie they are preaching? If they have the truth, it will stand against anything. Or perhaps they don't believe Islamic people are smart enough to judge the truth? Why is it that a pastor preaching what the Word of God says about homosexuality is called 'hate speech' in politically correct America but radical Islamic groups can march in the streets calling for the death of Americans and that is not called 'hate speech'? Why can the Obama government burn Bibles, but if the Guantanamo Bay guards merely handled the Koran wrong they were chastised and punished?

Can we recover? It depends on whether we have reached the point where "God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient", yet or not. 2 Chronicles 7:14 declares, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." Honestly looking at the American church today, do you believe it will do this?

In closing, KNOWING THE FUTURE all depends on our KNOWING GOD. If we really know God, we know that His word is going to happen just as He said it would and if we obey it to the best of our ability, we will be ready whatever happens!

Pastor Charles Cooley