Day In and Day Out! In Him, We Wait, Work, and Watch "Part II"Prophecy Chat by Sharon L. Clemens

     In Part I, the differences between Kingdom Now and Dispensationalism were compared. As a dispensational teacher of prophecy, I must give an account of the hope I have, which is also the hope of Christ's imminent return. Often, those who criticize this expectation say that waiting around for the return of the Lord means dispensationalists are not working for the cause of Christ. The world must be evangelized, they say, according to the Great Commission, before the Lord can return. I believe this is a mis-interpretation of the Great Commission. Also, a true believer filled with the Holy Spirit cannot help but work or produce fruit. Let me break down these issues:

IS THE CHURCH GOING TO EVANGELIZE THE WORLD?

     What is that about? Is the Church going to evangelize the world? Yes, we are told to witness, disciple, and work in Matthew 28. Why KN advocates believe those who study prophecy do not do that is frustrating to me. But I also understand from the Bible that it is the Holy Spirit that brings in the harvest. We are merely tools. John 15:1-11 tells us that we are to bear fruit for God's glory. In that way, whether our witness brings someone to Christ--or NOT, God is glorified. It is about the attitude of the worker toward God, not the results. All self-less work of believing Christians brings glory to God. It is up to the divine election by the Holy Spirit whether it will also result in someone being saved.

     What the Great Commission does NOT say is that the Church will be successful in global evangelisation. We are to make disciples "of" all nations; this does not mean everyone in all the nations is saved. The Bible only speaks of a remnant of believers "of" every nation, tribe and tongue.

     I see this as a key point of disagreement between the D camp and the KN camp: THE WORLD WILL NOT BE "CHRISTIAN" WHEN THE LORD RETURNS. We are already being called a post-Christian culture in this nation and things are getting worse, not better, as the Lord predicted. Just as the Jews of the Old Testament failed, for the most part, to take the truth of God to the world, so the Church will also be less than successful. Only a remnant of believers is saved in any age. This remnant is always very small in comparison with the whole. The remnant is referred to in the Bible in numerous places and is called "the few" in the New Testament:

      1. Luke 18:8--Our Lord said, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" This is a rhetorical question; the answer is "no." According to the description of the last church age in Revelation 3:14-22, the "church" will be so lukewarm and compromising when the Lord comes for His Bride, the true believers, that He will vomit it out of His mouth. The organized church will make Him sick.
      2. Matthew 7:14--"Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it.
      3. Matthew 20:16--"So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen." NKJ [This verse is omitted in some translations.]
      4. Matthew 22:14--"For many are called, but FEW are chosen." NKJ
      5. Luke 13:23--"Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved? And He said to them, 'Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able."

     How sad to believe that the world will become Christian, if "we" just work hard enough. Rather, we are saved by grace, through faith, in Jesus Christ--not of works. Salvation is the gift of God through the Holy Spirit. We are His workmanship, a precious remnant to display His grace in every age, prepared BY HIM before time began [Ephesians 2:8-10]. What pride on the part of men to think their global unification/ecumenical/common ground/easy believisim is justified if it "wins the world for Christ." Rather, it will send multitudes to Hell who believed they were saved--and they were not.

     Doctrine and truth are being compromised and even ignored as "judgmental" and "divisive" in order to get more numbers into the Kingdom--all for the righteous cause of "winning the world for Christ." Matthew 25:11--"Lord, Lord, open to us! But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'" Matthew 7:21-22--"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"

     If it is the Church that saves the world, where is the glory to God? Rather, Christ will return to take His creation back by force. He will also use Israel in the final stages of His plan of the ages, not the Church. The Church, because we are saved by the blood of the lamb, need not go through the Tribulation of His wrath [1 Thess. 5:9]. God will finish His plan by grafting Israel back into His focus [Romans 11]. Because there is now no condemnation or judgment that holds a believer in the Church accountable--not because of our merit but because of the justification we have in Christ--we will not go through the judgment of the Tribulation [Romans 8:1]. To believe we must yet suffer this time of WRATH is to say Christ did not do enough on the cross to pay our penalty for sin. It is for the sake of Christ that His bride will go home before the Tribulation, not because of any merit on our part. Praise God! And yet, how often have I been criticized for holding this hope [Titus 2:13].

HOW CAN YOU BE AGAINST GLOBAL REVIVAL?

     I am not against global revival; would that it could be so! But the Bible reveals God's plan differently than the Kingdom Now advocates espouse. The closest thing to a global revival or "world" evangelism is prophesied to occur in the Tribulation--in that book that KN advocates ignore for the most part. Revelation 14:6-7--"Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth--to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people--saying with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."

     Note that it is an angel of God who proclaims the Gospel loud and true to the whole world in the Tribulation. Before the Lord allows the world to nearly be destroyed in the Battle of Armageddon, by His grace He makes a global proclamation of His own to bring in the elect. He doesn't "need" the Church--or Israel--to do it for Him. But we are blessed when we serve as His tools. Note also that Israel is used as His tool prior to this global proclamation of truth. Revelation 7 tells us that as a result of the witness of the 144,000 chosen and sealed Jews, men of all nations too many to number come to Christ. The greatest revival the world has ever seen occurs in the Tribulation, after the Rapture of the Church. The Church has nothing to do with it. God uses new Tribulation believers to accomplish His purpose because His bride is already taken out.

SITTING AROUND, WAITING FOR THE LORD TO RETURN?

     At this point, I am sure many will rationalize their world agenda by accusing me of the same-old/same-old. "You're just waiting around for the return of the Lord and not working." I will admit I have met some Christians in classes that cling to the Rapture as an escape rather than a blessed hope. They have little fruit to show evidence of saving faith in their Christian walk. These prophecy buffs give true believers a bad name. ANY PROFESSING CHRISTIAN WHO IS NOT WORKING FOR GOD'S GLORY IS NOT A BELIEVER IN THE FIRST PLACE. The parable of the soils in Matthew 13:1-23 clearly equates true saving faith with fruitfulness. That distinction must be made when a student of prophecy is accused of "not working" just because they believe in the imminent coming of the Lord. Such a generalized accusation is tantamount to accusing me of not being a true believer in Jesus Christ.

FINALLY--TO MY POINT:


     Because I tend to be long-winded so as not to be misunderstood, it requires a lot of words to GET TO THE BOTTOM LINE, but I'm finally there.

JUST BECAUSE I STUDY BIBLE PROPHECY DOESN'T MEAN I'M NOT WORKING FOR CHRIST.
JUST BECAUSE I HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF EXPECTATION FOR THE ANY-MOMENT RETURN OF CHRIST, DOESN'T MEAN I'M COMPLACENT.
IF I'M NOT WORKING, MY FAITH IS FALSE.
IF MY WORKS AND FRUITFULNESS ARE NOT PRESENT AS EVIDENCE OF MY SALVATION, THEN I AM NOT SAVED.

Rather, the HOPE I have in Christ gives me the motivation and courage, and endurance and faith TO DO HIS WORK.
IT GIVES ME THE PEACE IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM I NEED TO CONTINUE THE RACE.

     My PROPHECY CHAT passage is Luke 12:35-59. Note that our Lord COMMANDS us to rise and be prepared to WORK at all times, as we wait for His return. And we are to continue WATCHING and WAITING for His any-moment return because He is not going to tell us exactly when it is going to be. Why? Because it is the attitude of preparedness and expectation He desires from us! That is why I close every chat with: "In Him We Wait, Work, and Watch."

     Note also that the Lord, Himself, describes believers as those who watch, but unbelievers as those "not looking for him" [Luke 12:46].

     Prophecy is also called by many DIVISIVE because there are differences in interpretation, so they refuse to teach it. Are we to avoid division over truth? NO! Our Lord did not. Luke 12:51--"Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division."

     Finally, our Lord Jesus chastised the multitudes for being able to tell the weather by the signs in the sky, but paid no attention to the signs of the times revealed in the prophets. Luke 12:56--"Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?"

     We are living in interesting times. I pray for the remnant of true believers that they would be blessed with wisdom and discernment [James 1] to understand the times in which we live [Daniel 12:10], as we wait eagerly for His return.

In Him We Wait, Work, and Watch,
[Luke 12:35-59]
Sharon

[Prophecy Chat is a weekly commentary of current events in light of Bible prophecy. Sharon L. Clemens is an evangelical, premillennial, dispensational teacher of eschatology. She can be reached for comment or questions by e-mail at farmgrove@verizon.net]