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For as long as I can remember, society has always seemed to have an obsession with knowing the future. From psychics to self-proclaimed prophets, just let someone claim to know what lies ahead and they’ll have a flock following them. Predicting everything from the fall of America to the actually date and time of the return of Christ, time after time their predictions are wrong. Just think about the fallacy of human beings knowing the future.
I remember when I was a child there were always commercials for the “Psychic Friends Network” on TV. For only a small fee of around $2 a minute you could call and have your future foretold by these “gifted” people. I remember hearing how it was a scam by folks when I would ask questions, which makes sense now since I don’t ever hear about their “network” anymore. Turns out, the very group of people who could supposedly see the future had to close down their business due to – you guessed it – going broke.
And then there are those who claim to know the precise date and time of Christ’s return. One such man made himself a celebrity. He predicted, based on his expert studies of Scripture, among other things, that Jesus would return in May. He even had an exact date it would happen, pinpointing 6 PM as the exact time of the event. My only question was, “Is Jesus on Central Time, like me?”
That date came and went, as did the time, and we all hung around. Maybe this man missed, in his deep studies of Scripture, Jesus himself saying He didn’t even know the day or the hour, but “only His Father in heaven” did.
Some use calculations to justify their predictions, and others simply claim a new revelation is behind theirs. Regardless of what they proclaim produces their advanced knowledge of specific future events, egg continues to show up on their faces after the fact. They silently shrink back into the crowd they’ve so boldly pushed to the front after their predictions come and go with no substantiation. It’s almost sad.
However, one set of predictions – better yet, prophecies – has yet to ever be wrong. From the first day of time as we know it, when God’s voice thunders a proclamation, it happens. Today we can open up His book, the Bible, and see what lies ahead for each of us.
Throughout the ages, Scripture hasn’t been playing catch-up. No, friend, the opposite is very true: Down through the portals of time, the knowledge of man has been catching up to the truths of Scripture. From the fact that the earth is round and not flat, all the way to the realization that the “life of the body is in the blood”, man’s science can only slowly discover what has already been established in the Word.
So when we read words about the return of Christ, we should listen up.
When we read that it can happen, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” we should make sure we’re prepared.
When we read about the glory of God being more than our minds here can even comprehend, we can live with joy in our hearts.
And when we read that anyone not trusting in Christ for salvation will live in eternal separation from Him in a place so horrendous our minds can’t wrap themselves around it, we should be sharing Him with others, and “being Jesus” as much as we can to those who are lost and bound for hell.
No human being knows every detail of the future. That knowledge is reserved for God alone. But He’s given us a book, His Word, that outlines what is to come, and all we have to do is read it. I think that’s a pretty handy deal, don’t you?
So spread the love . . . the gospel of grace that Jesus came to die for. Be Jesus to everyone you meet, even those lost causes out there, those people who seem to have no possible way of redemption.
That’s just a thought, and I welcome yours.
Until next time,
blake
Copyright © 2022 by Blake Martin @https://pastorblakeman.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/a-known-future/ No part of this article may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from Lifeword.org.