Hope of the Future

"All of what is spoken should give us hope or it is not from God. There is NO CONDEMNATION in Him."

THERE ARE TWO PARTICULAR TYPES of people in the gospel indicative of the church. Those like the Sadducees who didn’t believe in the Resurrection. There is nothing but this life and what we see, and that’s it. And those Jesus mentioned in John 4. “Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe.” There are those chasing around every strange happening (and many good ones) without making any study of the Scripture. They are in it for the drama. Paul spoke of these kind of people, calling for order in the Corinthian church. “Let all things be done decently and in order.” They were apparently talking overtop each other, and it was confusing people.

“And don’t be one who scorns prophecies, but be faithful to examine them by putting them to the test, and afterward hold tightly to what has proven to be right.” (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21)

On the other hand, Paul also spoke of the gifts to the church in Thessalonica, saying to put them to the test. And just so we’re clear, these words were spoken after Jesus had ascended to heaven to be at the Father’s right hand. There were prophecies and other spiritual gifts in operation at that time. Jesus filled all the ministry offices and operated in all the spiritual gifts, but He gave these gifts to men. They are active gifts. (See 1 Corinthians 14: 27-29)

Yet, returning to our opening thought, it would seem like one side’s opinion cancels out the other, which isn’t right either. There are gifts, and God still performs miracles. But we are told to discern words of prophecy, to know the voice of the Spirit and the heart of God, and we should mature to properly understand what is spoken by others. Here, again, we can look to the words of the apostle Paul, who warned the Galatian church of men who would mix the Old Covenant law with New Covenant principles for their own personal gain (Galatians 6:13).

How do we avoid error on either side of this issue? Revelation comes from the Spirit and not from the mind. Men must become aware of the difference between these two, recognizing what they think of their own supposition and learning from what the Spirit says to the heart. We can only tell the difference by time spent in His presence, and He pours out wisdom to those who are humble to receive it. Pride goes before a fall. I speak not of self-esteem, but arrogance. If you come to God thinking you already know it all, you will leave thinking you know it all. A humble man is one who is aware of his or her position in things of faith.

Paul knew who he was, what tribe, what education, and he called all that dung. None of it mattered, though looking at him from God’s perspective, all of it did. His education, knowing of languages and Judaism enabled him to write and speak to the churches as he did, but at no point did he use it as an inroad to uplift himself in people’s eyes, except when he said he was Roman (from Rome) to save his own skin. Does God use a man trained to fly airplanes to spread the gospel? Of course. But that man’s education serves the cause of Christ and not the man’s pride. Does He use people with knowledge of stage lighting and sound systems? All the time. Point is, they have physical learning, but have submitted it to God.

Looking at prophets from the Old Testament, we have a hodgepodge of men from different upbringings and careers, of their times. Elisha was a farmer. Elijah found him plowing the field. Samuel was a boy given to his mother, Hannah, when being barren, she prayed for child and promised to dedicate him to God. Ezekiel, well, he was weird. Just read the book. Jeremiah was filled with self-doubt, and God had to discipline him over it. Isaiah volunteered to go when asked. Then there’s Hosea who married a prostitute because God told him to. And gave his children specific prophetic names. Uhm, God?

The last Old Covenant prophet, and one Jesus called the greatest, was John, who dressed in camel’s hair and ate locust and wild honey (yum, yum) while baptizing people in the Jordan, miles from the temple. Jesus was the first and greatest prophet of the New Covenant, baptized by John and anointed with the Spirit of God without measure, and He is the Head of the church. Are you getting this? The Head of the church is a Prophet, and Apostle, an Evangelist, a Pastor, and a Teacher. The body, which is connected to the Head, operates under the ministry gifts which operate in the Head. Jesus spoke all the spiritual gifts. The body speaks all the spiritual gifts spoken by the Head. Or there is a disconnect in the power of the Spirit given to us.

Where the gifts are delineated in 1 Corinthians 12, it IS NOT to DIVIDE US but to UNITE US. We’ve spent too much time (a) deciding if they’re legit (they are), and (b) deciding which one we are given, when the Scripture says to covet (desire) the best gift and they are all given by the Spirit AS HE WILLS. All this means, He knows what is needed when and who is in the best position to speak it. They are given by Him, because of Him, for reasons He knows, so to discern what is said requires Him.

Why does He do it this way? Why does God use spoken words to tell us certain things? Well, what if He didn’t? What if there were no book of Revelation? How much debate would ensue in the church body over how things would end? Men are misled about the end-times enough as it is. Jesus came to reveal the mystery of God, to share what He was doing with God’s children. 1 Thessalonians 5 puts it like this. We are children of the light so we will know what is seen in the light, whereas those in darkness will not. And sometimes, that light is to encourage a specific person. God knows all of us individually and will speak to us through people to redirect us onto the right path, to correct our behavior, or most often, to give us hope. All of what is spoken should give us hope or it is not from God. There is NO CONDEMNATION in Him. He has not only shared the future with us by prophecy and other spiritual gifts, but He has given us the future in its entirety. Though we may not know it all now, the hope of the future is found in Him and security from whatever happens on this earth and beyond it. We can trust Him.

“But if you prophesy, preaching God’s Word, even though such preaching is mostly for believers, and an unsaved person or a new Christian comes in who does not understand about these things, all these sermons will convince him of the fact that he is a sinner, and his conscience will be pricked by everything he hears. 25 As he listens, his secret thoughts will be laid bare, and he will fall down on his knees and worship God, declaring that God is really there among you.” (1 Corinthians 14:24-25 TLB)

“If we believe God, we can be completely sure about things. We will be sure about the things that we hope for. We will be sure about things that we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1, EasyEnglish)

“Now, trust comes from our understanding with God, because he has demonstrated that he is trustworthy to fulfill what he has promised. And by trusting in him—the one who made the promises—we are confident of what we hope for, and are sure of what we do not yet see.” (Hebrews 11:1, Remedy)

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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com