Fulfillment of Prophecy Today

by Chris Hohnbaum

You may be asking what is wrong with the world today. I mean, it’s scary. Unfortunately, we have become accustomed to violence and the standards of the world. As Christians we tend to sit back and allow ourselves to be railroaded when our faith or our God is attacked. In this world of communication and technological advances the messages of all kinds penetrate into all levels of society, reaching not just hundreds, but now millions. We have become a group of people that has gone from tolerating other views to being forced into accepting them.

The world’s view of truth has been greatly distorted; there are even those who are trying to change history. As Christians we are to contend for the faith;

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3)

We live in a time when unsound doctrine is being propagated over pulpits, airwaves, and print media and we are to correct the falsehoods being taught. Tragically, it is becoming more difficult to find churches where scripture is taught and expounded in depth. People not grounded in the Bible too often follow the spectacular, mysticism, or spiritual experiences rather than the trustworthiness of God’s established word. The apostle Paul exhorted the saints in Corinth, “Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?” (1 Cor 14:6).

Shortly following the attacks of 9-11, we began to hear the mantra, “We all believe in the same God.” This is a false statement. To Scientologists, Christ is a force; to Jehovah’s Witnesses he is Michael the Archangel. To Mormons he is a spirit brother of Lucifer; to Muslims he is a great prophet. Surely we are not all speaking of the same Jesus! Remember, faith is only as great as the object in which it is placed. There is no salvation in a false Christ. The apostle Peter warns us that there will be those who “twist” the scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16).

There are those today who outright deny the deity of Christ and yet call themselves Christians. There are others who think that the Christian doctrine of Christ as God was developed during the Council of Nicaea. That obviously is false. The Nicene Creed was established to extinguish heresies that were being introduced into the faith. The Pauline epistles clearly establish the Trinity, as does the design of God’s word and His Holy Temple in both Old and New Testaments.

As born-again Christians, our eyes have been opened and we should be seeing the world in a completely different light than those of the world. While 86% of Americans call themselves Christians, Jesus made it quite clear that the road to heaven is narrow (Matt 7:14). Remember the passage in Matt 7: 21-23,

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

These are obviously those who thought they were Christians. They spoke in the name of Christ, but never truly knew him! Jesus Christ desires an intimate relationship with you; up close and personal.

Over the past several years, attacks on Christianity have increased dramatically. The introduction of false gospels and doctrines continued to grow at an alarming rate. We are warned of this in the scriptures pertaining to the last days and that many shall depart from the faith.

Several years ago the Gospel of Judas was presented. Then came The Di Vinci Code, which was a fictional book, but many took it as truth. Then, last year the “Lost Tomb of Christ” was thought to be discovered. All of these claims have been refuted and shown to be false, but the truth gets much less notoriety than fabrications.

We’ve had our youth introduced to Harry Potter and witchcraft, and now The Golden Compass, written by an atheist, has made its way to the silver screen, enticing children to read sequels that advance atheism. It’s not that it is written by an atheist that is disturbing, but that the central theme of the book series is the destruction of God and rejection of Christianity.

We’ve seen political correctness guiding society as opposed to reason and common sense. The truth simply is the truth. In life, everything is either of God or of Satan. Think of it; does God have any gray areas, anything He isn’t really sure about? Absolutely not! So ultimately, there is either good or evil.

We have now been witnesses of the ACLU actually trying to take “Christ” out of Christmas. I am sure as Christians you have seen that the mere mention of Jesus Christ raises eyebrows these days. Not in awe, as one might expect, but in concern. Many Christians have come to the point of abandoning the great commission altogether to become “closet Christians.” Personally, I welcome the confrontation on my faith, as it allows me the opportunity to be a witness for truth.

Tragically, a great number of Christians are accepting false gospels (Galatians 1: 6-9, 2 Cor 11:4). This is what Paul spoke out against in both the letters to the Galatians and the Corinthians. He didn’t unite with them in their erroneous beliefs, but contended for the gospel vigorously. Take for example, Mitt Romney, a prominent Governor of Massachusetts who is running for President. He is a Latter Day Saint, or Mormon. While the “speak” is the same as Christian evangelicals, Mormonism is not a Christian religion. They deny the Trinity, the inerrancy of scripture, and do not hold to the Virgin birth, yet in the same voice state a belief in Christ. The Mormon Jesus is obviously a different Christ than what the Bible teaches. Interesting enough, a poll done by the Christian Coalition shows that only 25% of Christians say that Romney’s beliefs will make a difference in how they vote.

There are evangelicals who have embraced “replacement theology.” The Emergent Church is gaining ground. We have the New Age movement, Wicca and other Pagan religions, whose concepts and teachings are infiltrating the church. We are seeing a violent religion such as Islam coming to gain power in the world. A major difference between Christianity and Islam is that is as Christians we are willing to die for our faith, while in Islam, Muslims are willing to kill for theirs.

All of what we are seeing is the fulfillment of prophecies given by God to Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel, John, Amos, and Isaiah (not limited to strictly to these prophets). I could go on and on, but hopefully I have brought some of this together for you in such a way that you are asking yourself what is next. For dispensationalists such as me, the Rapture of the Church seems to be rapidly approaching.

Hopefully, as a Christian, you are preparing your family, talking about world events, preparing them for what is go come, reinforcing their faith, and teaching the basic doctrines of the Bible so they are not led away by false teachings and false leaders. You need to pray with them, read scripture with them, and above all, let them know that God is in complete control. As individuals, continue to strengthen the body of Christ with words of encouragement and the word of truth (Phil 4:13).

The world is getting smaller each day; what happens on the other side of it will affect you and your family. Remember to pray always and be watchmen on the wall. We are the children of light and need not walk in darkness.

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