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What in the World is Happening
- February 2007
A series of articles by Brian Papworth,
our PWMI Representative in New Zealand.
"The days are coming" declares the Sovereign
Lord, "when I will send a famine through the land - not a famine of
food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord
[Amos 8: 11].
The more I hear from other Christians round the world. How
thankful I am for our church in Cambridge, in this land of New Zealand,
where the truth of the Scriptures is upheld as truth of God, and the
Gospel of sins forgiven and one only true Saviour is preached. We live in
a time of compromise and lack of true Biblical teaching in some of our
churches which has not been seen since the time of the Reformation when
Martin Luther literally nailed his colours to the door of the church at
Worms and declared "the just shall live by faith" [Gal3: 11].
This month we are looking at some of the modern day
heresies which are plaguing the Church mainly because of the lack of
teaching on "end time's prophecy" which although taking up a
fair bit of the Bible' is seldom taught. Into this void has come error
born of ignorance of the Scriptures and unwillingness to accept the Bible
as the inerrant Word of God and study of its content in its fullness.
Replacement Theology: One of the teachings that has
created a hot bed for Anti-Semitism is the teaching spread within the
Christian Church that Christians have replaced God's chosen earthly people
the Jews. This comes directly from ignorance of the Bible. If we study end
times teaching as revealed in such Bible books such as Zechariah, Isaiah,
Ezekiel and Daniel among many, we see God would have to negate His
promises and make this part of the Bible untrue [Zech 12 & 13]. They
must have had some trouble about this in the early Church because Paul
states "I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means…..
God did not reject His people" [Rom 11: 1-2].We cannot be
selective about the parts of the Bible we believe or don't believe as it
then looses its authority and indeed how do we know what to believe?
Preterism: There is a growing school of Biblical
interpretation called "Preterism". It contends that Christ's
Second Coming and final fulfilment of prophecy occurred around 70 AD or
135AD about the time Titus and the Roman invading armies destroyed
Jerusalem and the Temple. Thus causing the Jews to flee and eventually be
dispersed all over the world. In the light of Scripture the only way this
can be accepted is by applying symbolism to most of Biblical prophesy and
particularly the book of Revelation. They say that Nero fulfilled the
being of the Antichrist whilst at this present time we are living in the
Millennium which so far has lasted nearly 2000 years?!! We are told in the
Bible that Christ will reign from Jerusalem for 1000 years and that it
will be a vastly different world from the one we are experiencing at the
moment. Preterists apparently take Christ's reign as a spiritual
indication and that the Kingdom of God is within us only.
Most of the other prophecies we normally think of as
future the Preterists take as symbolic and teach they have already
happened. If we look at their teachings in the light of Scripture we see
that there are many items passed over or ignored, such as prophecies
regarding the Jews physically returning to the land of Israel, which has
only started to be fulfilled in our lifetime. They teach that the Emperor
Nero was the embodiment of the Antichrist; however he did not fulfil all
the prophecies and never set up a figure in the rebuilt Temple in
Jerusalem as the Temple has not been rebuilt. Preterists also teach most
of Daniel Chapter 9, 2 Thessalonians 2: 4, and Revelation Chapter 13 are
symbolic or non-literal as they also assert is the battle of Gog and Magog
and Christ's landing on the Mount of Olives during His second coming.
Christ promised through His angels He would come back in like manner as
his disciples had seen him go [Acts 1: 10-11]. Paul in his letter to the
Thessalonians had problems with people saying that Christ had already come
and had to point out that Christ would not return until after the
Tribulation period and the revealing of the Antichrist setting himself up
in the rebuilt Temple to be worshipped. Paul exhorts the Christians to
hold fast to the truth, as Satan will send all types of false teaching
upon the Church to delude those who know no better. [2 Thess 2: 1-12].
Paul also warned Timothy [2 Tim 2:17-18]. Brethren and sisters be warned
what is happening within the world Church at this present time.
Another teaching that is also becoming prevalent, not
helped by the previous beliefs, is that eventually the whole world will
become converted and Christian and be ready for the eventual return of
Christ to take over and reign. The world is not becoming completely
converted, far from it, and won't do until Christ reigns as King. If we
study the whole Bible, believing truly in its inerrancy, infallibility and
completeness and compare it with current events, we see the world
descending deeper into conflict and sin thus verifying what is stated in
the Scriptures about the state of the world at the time of Christ's
return.
"In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who
will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His
kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word be prepared in season and
out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and
careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with
sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather
around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want
to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to
myths" [2 Tim 4:1-4].
Yours in His Service
Brian D Papworth
Secretary for Prophetic Witness Movement International for New Zealand,
Australia and South Pacific.
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