A Credible Witness Before the End

Hi Brothers And Sisters,
I just want to say to you that God will send a credible witness to the world before the end.
What is Credible for me?
It will be a witness that has grace and holiness
It will be witness that has power and insight
It will be world wide
It will be sucessful.

It honestly worries me when Christians arent ready to accept good things.
We have to understand this scripture the way scripture understands it not the way the world understands it.
"A Voice Crying In The Wilderness"
Its a biblical term funnily enough used by the world often.
The world sees this as a person who tells the truth about a subject but is not listened too at the time of the telling and afterwards in reflection or hindsight it is decided he/she/they were right.Sometimes its about a heroic whistleblower type either.

Scripture looks at differently,The voice crying in the wilderness is total success in time of the voice not in hindsight.The couple of isntances we see of this "Voice" in the bible is success total.
Their is a Voice coming of total success which is hard for SI members to process I know but I am worried that because of your narrative you wont want accept this Voice.
I think its a time to stop using trends to make predictions and start relying on the Holy Spirit to speak accurate prophesy.These Prophesies may be in line with trends or they may not.
If all you are relying on to predict the future is trends then their will be no room for God raising up a "King That does right in the sight of the Lord"
He couldnt be from the Lord all the other kings were evil,no he has to be evil too.I say that not about an individual but about a message.Their couldnt be good coming all the trends are saying down and down and down how could we have success?
Oh yeah I hear you say but we can have a personal success,a success in the sense of sticking close to the Lord and being Holy well I am not talking about that type.
Im talking about the type that confronts the world and says this is evil this good and God is on our side,
Yours Hugh

As our brother Greg has cited, so it is.

Rev. 11:15 points to a time when it will be said, and true, that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and Christ.

It comes by force. It comes as a vanquishing force opposed to all that which has opposed Him. God vindicates Himself in Christ. No one vindicates Him.

I pray, too, that we may live peaceable, godly lives here. The window, though, is closing swiftly on the uneasy peace. We have no judge to rescue us from among men. We have no ruler, leader or king who remains to come and speak gospel from a position of earthly power. Nor do we need one. Jesus alone now must come.

We must have Him as our king and desire no other between now and His enthronement on the earth.

Rev 11:3
And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

If the Christian Church were to operate the way it should and her prophets speak what they are supposed to in the public forum we would presently be seeing a great many things that would not only please the Christian community but also bring even more of the Worlds scorn I am sure...in all likelihood The Church would do exactly like Samson's brethren did in trying to bind the very one who was bringing their deliverance from the Philistines. But there will be witnesses that God will raise up with authority even before the two in rev 11, the real question is who is willing to be that witness that God can use?

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
(Acts 2:17-21)

Hi Greg
What you have said is a given but it in no way negates what I have said.
Also the majority of that has already happened and is happening.The end to me is the 7 fat cows and the 7 skinny cows, the 7 years of plenty and the 7 years of famine
So their is room for what I am saying and what you are saying.
My complaint which is probably too strong a word is that alot of people can just see the 7 skinny cows.They cant except that before the time of lean, the time of feast comes.They pray for revival,they pray for social change,they hope that the hearts of the children will turn towards the father but leave no room for it to happen.Its straight to the skinny cows......
We have to leave room for the possiblity that God will do something amazing before the time of the Anti Christs rule,
Yours Staff

Hi Dohman
Another way of putting it as I see it is that we have these two witnesses they are definitely two actual men but perhaps they are the head of a bigger organisation we do not know for sure.They get killed in the end but while they are prophesying they are almost untouchable and certainly cant be killed.
They witness for 3 1/2 years before marthydom so the marthydom isnt the be all and end all they had an untouchable ministry before their death.A ministry that was fully successful no doubt about that,A ministry that was immune from any lasting effects of persecution until their ministry was complete.Their ministry doesnt negate Greg's Scripture does it?On the face of it it does here are two men immune fro m persecution and if any attempt is made to persecute them then it falls back on their own heads and they dont succeed in persecuting them.What I am saying is that alot of people will find it to accept this time of success because it doesnt seem to follow their timeline of everything going from bad to worse to worse .The way I see it is that it will go from bad to worse to the best time in Christian History to the worst time ever in human history,
Yours Staff

"We have to leave room for the possiblity that God will do something amazing before the time of the Anti Christs rule."

I believe He will. I know in my heart, Jesus told me, that He is coming back very, very soon. There will be a worldwide awakening before that happens, I'm sure of that.

Hi Drifter

Thats all Im saying too

"I believe He will. I know in my heart, Jesus told me, that He is coming back very, very soon. There will be a worldwide awakening before that happens, I'm sure of that."

I think the good news is that even those who are skeptical of this happening will change their minds the same way John The Baptist in Prison did
John sent his disciples to ask are you the Christ or should we look for another?(he was confused has he only understood one coming and was waiting for the "winnowing fork is in his hand " Messiah)
Then Jesus told Johns disciples to tell him that the blind see and lame can walk and the deaf can hear.
When the most sure of Christians see these things happen they will accept the Good ......
Its easy to bring to attention scriptures that only tell of the downward nature of the world but we have to temper that with good news of the coming worldwide awakening,both can happen after all the darker it gets the brighter our witness shines
Yours Staff

Absolutely Staff. Sometimes all we can see is negativity, dark days coming. Horrible darkness is surely coming, but God is reviving His people like never before. I like how Leonard Ravenhill puts it, "A super Pentecost; a Pentecost that will out-Pentecost Pentecost."

The revivalists where postmillennialists.

Those like Edwards and Finney where motivated by there postmillinnial views , It is part of what motivated them to seek revival.

Finney believed that if the church would do her duty, that the Millennium would be ushered in, he also believed that if the church turned towards premillinalism that positive course would be jepordized.

I would say some revivalists were postmillenialist. Finney was wrong on a number of things. I know Finney was greatly used of God; however, sometimes people think that because he was used by God then all of his theological views must be correct. Did you know he was a vegetarian?

Leonard Ravenhill also saw revival. He was premillenialist (and I'm pretty sure he was pre trib too!) So was Wilkerson. He also saw revival.

(And let's please not get into another boring, fruitless debate about the rapture.)

Hi Drifter
The message that will cause this revival(awakening) is simple
Its the same message that was brought before Jesus Christ came the first time.Its a message that was so powerful everyone heard ,it was a message that sent 12 people out to look for the Messiah and then they found him.
The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ).
It was message heard by everyone in Judeah and the surrounds.
The message "Jesus is coming again,His winnowing fork is really in his hands this time its Judgement in the physical sense"
Once God infuses the Church with that message then the end.
God never brought Judgement without a warning and the last time God resolved to end the world he sent "Noah".So how can we then continue to believe that he wont send a "Noah" type warning when he is going to bring even a greater distruction upon mankind this time round.
God is the same today and forever so unless God has double standards then he will send a credible witness that will say clearly and in power "Judgement is Coming and it coming soon" ,
Yours Staff

Honest questions:

What gospel message happened before Jesus Christ's birth and ministry?

How many of the 12 disciples of Jesus went looking for Him?

Is it wrong to understand the proclamation of John the Baptist that Christ's winnowing fork is in His hand as applying to the gospel preached to Israel from then until now?

Has God not already "infused the church" with the message and the warning? If not, what was Jesus' commission and what was Pentecost?

Are not the warnings of the New Testament the warnings of judgment to come? Is Scripture not sufficient in this regard? Is the proclamation of the gospel not sufficient to warn over all the centuries and even more so now with communications technology being what it is? Is the warning ineffective for lack of content or for lack of messengers or for some other reason?
Is the gospel that we have head for 2,000 years, the commission of Jesus we have had for 2,000 years and the baptism of the Holy Spirit we have had for 2,000 years and the calling of men to proclaim it --- and the fact that they have done so all over the Earth --- not the "credible witness" you describe?

My Point is that there is absolutely no continuity in Church history concerning eschatology.

Yet everyone seems very dogmatic and assured that there view is correct.

From my research, not some, but most of the great awakening preachers where postmillennialist.

The lack of continuity in eschatology in the church coincided with the growing notion that Israel as a nation had been replaced in the redemptive plan of God. By the end of the first century after Christ's death, it was not uncommon for the church to refer to itself as the 12 tribes of Israel. More and more belivers began to follow the belief propogated by Justin Martyr that the church was now Israel and the central key to understaning eschatology, the nation of Israel and events surrounding it at the end of the age, began to diminsh from the church's understanding. Therefore every form of eschatological belief became acceptable as the prophecies regarding Israel became more and more to be seen as metaphorical and allegorical. All the curses toward Israel were seen as "literal" yet the blessings to finally overtake Israel at the end of the age were and still are seen by many as allegorical and not related to Israel and the Jewish people at all. It has basically led to the absurd notion that though every part of the Bible was inspired and recorded to help us understand God and His ways and His salvation the same can't be said for eschatology. Eschatology is said to be non understandable so just be ready. That's a illogical as well as unscriptural view nowhere advocated in the Bible. If the key nation has been replaced how can the church present a credible and unified end time witness as to events that will transpire?

A credible end time witness can be presented to the world through the examination and employment of prophetic scripture already fulfilled in Israel's history and the life of Jesus. By this, past prophecies already literally fulfilled in Israel's history and in the life of Jesus, hearers can be encouraged to consider the divine inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible and a confident harbinger for the future. If this credibility can be established, then the Jewish or Gentile believer can be asked to consider those messianic prophecies already fullfilled in the history of Israel and the life of Jesus as a basis of faith unto salvation!

"Yet everyone seems very dogmatic and assured that there view is correct."

Agreed. I personally am pre trib. I really don't care about other believers opinions on this subject; it doesn't affect your standing before the throne of God. Were most of the great awakening preachers postmillenialist? Okay. The revivals they had were not because they were postmillenialist; the same with, for example, Whitefield and Wesley. One was calvinist, the other arminian. They both were powerful preachers. Look through history, and you will find powerful, effective christians in every denomination, of every eschatological persuasion. You can have a mighty outpouring of the Spirit and still be wrong in some areas.

It seems the only prophetic scripture needed is Ps 22 and perhaps Is 53. You don't need any supposed end times prophecies to reach people with the gospel. If Ps 22 does not convince them from a prophetic standpoint, I don't know what will.

/It seems the only prophetic scripture needed is Ps 22 and perhaps Is 53. You don't need any supposed end times prophecies to reach people with the gospel. If Ps 22 does not convince them from a proohetic standpoint, I don't know what will./

So why go out with a half full quiver when the Bible is overflowing with fulfilled prophecies regarding Israel and Jesus? If Psalm 22 came to be literally fulfilled as well as Isaiah 53 then why can't people be convinced that the rest of the prophecies concerning Christ will also be literally fulfilled? If the Bible's totally accurate prophetic credibility can be established then it can open doors in the hearts of people to believe in Christ for salvation. The prophetic credibility asnd proven track record of the Bible and its prophecies are an untapped gold mine in evangelism. Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 are magnificent and perhaps central to a degree but why leave out prophecies regarding Christ's second advent? It's a great effort for the church to become unified around so as to present a credible witness.