Confusion ın the Church
There is much confusion and disagreement over the interpretation of prophecy. Is it possible to build a consensus on what the Bible teaches?
“I avoid prophecy, it is so confusing.” That is a common response to raising the subject of the End Times with other Christians. We as Christians are all supposed to believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, even to consider it our “blessed hope”. The Nicene Creed states, “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end”. The very familiar words of Acts 1: 11 tell us, “This same Jesus, who was taken up to heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go to heaven.” The return of Jesus is a foundational doctrine of the Christian faith and yet it is a subject which many avoid and few churches teach.
There is a great deal of confusion surrounding the interpretation of prophecy. Whose fault is that? It is not the fault of God. In the context of interpreting prophecies we read “For God is not the author of confusion.” 1 Corinthians 14: 33. The prophecies given within the church need to be tested to confirm that they are from God. The prophecies in the Bible are of a different order. The Holy Spirit has put His imprint on them. They are truth. If God has revealed the future it is because we need to know about it. We need to know for our own assurance, guidance, strengthening of resolve and protection from the deception of false prophets.
Satan is the master deceiver and author of confusion. Through confusion he destroys the confidence, which prophecy gives, that God has it all in hand. He leaves many Christians unprepared due to being denied the guidance we gain through knowing what the Bible teaches about things to come. By sowing confusion, he has weakened the church. He knows that false expectations, when they are not fulfilled, will cause many to fall away ready to be devoured (1 Peter 5: 8). Without a clear understanding of what the Bible reveals we are ill equipped to test and refute Satan’s servants, the false prophets.
We need to know
If as many believe we are approaching the end of this age it becomes more necessary to have a clear understanding of what the Bible teaches. We are warned by our Lord that at the end of the age there will be an abundance of false prophets. Their aim is to deceive the elect (Matthew 24: 24). To aid their deception there will be signs and wonders. We are called on to resist the Devil so that he flees from us (James 4:7). We resist the Devil by speaking the truth. Jesus used the Word of God to rebut Satan’s temptations.
Can teaching on the events leading up to the return of Christ be rescued from the current confusion? Is it possible even in this late hour to build a consensus with regard to the revelation of things to come? A consensus which sets out what we are agreed on and identifies those things on which we hold different views. A con-sensus on the truth will strengthen the resistance to Satan’s deceptions.
A proposal
Set out in the next columns is the Prophetical Creed of Bishop J C Ryle. This was included in the preface to his book, ‘Are You Ready for the End Times’ published in 1867. The book contains a series of sermons he gave which develop the themes set out in the creed. Being based on a straight-forward exposition of Scripture it has stood the test of time. It is a good basis on which to find agreement and build the consensus about how prophecy will be fulfilled.
“I BELIEVE that the world will never be completely converted to Christianity by any existing agency before the end comes. In spite of all that can be done by ministers, churches, schools, and missions, the wheat and tares will grow together until the harvest. And when the end comes, it will find the earth in much the same state that it was when the flood came in the days of Noah (Matthew 13:24-30; 24: 37-39).”
“I BELIEVE that the widespread unbelief, indifference, formalism and wickedness, which are to be seen throughout Christendom, are only what we ought to expect in God’s Word. Troublous times, departures from the faith, evil men waxing worse and worse, love waxing cold, are things distinctly predicted. So far from making me doubt the truth of Christianity, they help to confirm my faith. Melancholy and sorrowful as the sight is, if I did not see it I should think the Bible was not true (Matthew 24:12; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:1 – 4, 13).”
“I BELIEVE that the grand purpose of the present dispensation is to gather out of the world an elect people, and not to convert all mankind. It does not surprise me at all to hear that the heathen are not all converted when missionaries preach, and that believers are a little flock in any congregation in my own land. It is precisely the state of things, which I expect to find… This is a dispensation of election, and not of universal conversion. (Acts 15:14; Matthew 24:14).”
“I BELIEVE that the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the great event which will wind up the present dispensation, and for which we ought daily to long and pray. “Thy kingdom come,” “Come, Lord Jesus,” should be our daily prayer. We look backward, if we have faith, to Christ dying on the cross, to His resurrection from the dead, and we ought to look forward no less, if we have hope, to Christ coming again. (John 14:3; 2 Timothy 4:8; 2 Peter 3:12).”
“I BELIEVE that the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ will be a real, literal, personal, bodily coming; and that as He went away in the clouds of heaven with His body, before the eyes of men, so in like manner He will return. (Acts 1:11).”
“I BELIEVE that after our Lord Jesus Christ comes again the earth shall be renewed and the curse removed; the devil shall be bound, the godly shall be rewarded, the wicked shall be punished; and that before He comes there will be neither resurrection, judgement, or Millennium, and that not till after He comes shall the earth be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. (Acts 3:21; Isaiah 25:6-9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; Revelations 20:1, etc).”
“I BELIEVE that the Jews shall ultimately be gathered again as a separate nation, restored to their own land, and converted to the faith of Christ. (Jeremiah 30:10 – 11; 31:10; Romans 11:25, 26).”
“I BELIEVE that the literal sense of old Testament prophecies has been far too much neglected by the churches, and is far too much neglected at the present day, and that under the mistaken system of spiritualising and accommodating Bible language, Christians have too often missed its meaning. (Luke 24: 25, 26).”
“I do not believe that the preterist scheme of interpreting the Apocalypse, which regards the book as being almost entirely fulfilled or the futurist scheme, which regards it as almost entirely unfulfilled, are either of them to be implicitly followed. The truth, I expect, will be found to lie between the two.”
“I BELIEVE that the Roman Catholic Church is the great predicted apostasy from the faith, and is Babylon and Antichrist, although I think it highly probable that a more complete development of Antichrist will yet be exhibited to the world. (2 Thessalonians 2:3 – 11; 1 Timothy 4:1 – 3).”
“I BELIEVE that it is for the safety, happiness, and comfort of all true Christians to expect as little as possible from churches or Governments under the present dispensation, to hold themselves ready for tremendous convulsions and changes of all things established, and to expect their good things only from Christ’s Second Advent.”
What do WE believe … ?
Ryle recognised that many would find his views gloomy to which he answered; are they scriptural? That is the challenge which faces us. Do our views on the End Times stand up to the scrutiny of scripture? Are we prepared to allow others to scrutinise those views to ensure that we are teaching the truth and not being carried away by what others have taught?
There are many prophetic topics which Ryle wisely does not include as they sow division. Even so Ryle’s pre-millennial beliefs will separate some. A large section of the church in the UK, especially within the charismatic church, is post-millennial in its teaching. They believe that most prophecy has been fulfilled and that the church is destined to build the kingdom of God on earth ready for the return of Christ.
Our beliefs about the future have significant effects on our actions now. For instance, do we believe that we are here to save the world or save out of the world? Do we believe that we will be taken out of the world before the Antichrist is revealed or after his reign? Do we believe that Israel still has a place in God’s plan of salvation or has been rejected? Do we believe that there will be a great apostasy and rejection of the truth in the years immediately prior to our Lord’s return or revival? Do we believe in the actual physical reign of Christ on earth?
A consensus on issues such as these would strengthen the church as it faces increasingly difficult times. Perhaps this is a matter to put back to those who contribute articles to Sword. Are they ready to pick up the challenge of finding a consensus?