HOW’S THE FUTURE LOOKING?

 

It is becoming quite obvious to almost everyone that we live in a crazy and fallen world.  Even a brief look at the events transpiring in America in the last few years should give us pause and make us ask, “What in the world is going on with this planet?  But it is actually an act of God’s grace to let us see these troubling times and to shake us out of our complacency.  Thanks to these sobering events, it seems that more people are getting interested in spiritual things, one of them being prophecy.

But not all “prophecies” circulating out there are biblical.  I’ve noticed that there seems to be an increase in prophecies, even within some Catholic circles.  Most of these Catholic prophecies are allegedly from Mary, and some from certain mystics or Catholic “saints.”  

Some of the Catholic prophecies I’ve seen deal with the end-times, although the Catholic Church, as a whole, hasn’t normally been very interested in that topic.  I recently heard a devout Catholic share some interesting thoughts on end-time events.  I was both excited, and at the same time, disappointed.  I was excited that a Catholic was interested at all in end-time events, but disappointed in the fact that his rendition of these events was a puzzling mixture of scenes from the book of Revelation and a blurring of different prophecies and events (some biblical) mixed in with some Marian concepts.  It was a distorting of the biblical message into a confusing mishmash of unscriptural ideas.  It was all very interesting, but very faulty.

You see, that’s why we need the doctrine of Sola Scriptura.  All prophecies and all teachings are to be tested against the only infallible source of God-breathed revelation available today, i.e., Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  It doesn’t matter whether these messages come from a priest, a minister, a rabbi, an imam, or an atheist – the Bible overrules them all.  That is, if their message is to be trusted, it must line up with biblical principles.  This is where God invests His authority.

Having said that, it’s not just Catholics who distort prophecy, but I also wish to address the so-called “prophecies” of many Protestants out there, as well.  Many of their predictions about modern-day events have certainly missed the mark, but a number of these “prophets” have not admitted it, and they seem unwilling to repent, but rather, try to “modify” or “adjust” their prophecies so that they appear to still be true. 

In the Old Testament, prophets were honored and feared, but if a prophet’s word did not come true, he was put to death (Deuteronomy 13:1-5).  They had to be awfully careful when bearing the title of prophet and not be so quick to blurt out what they thought might be from God.  The same principle applies today.  If you claim to be a modern-day prophet, and you don’t have a 100% accurate record, then you are a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:20-22)!  It’s a good thing we don’t stone false prophets any more, but if we did, there would be a sharp decline in these rich, loud-mouthed charlatans who love to be in front of a camera.  They certainly do true Christianity a disservice.  God is still as disgusted with such prophets today as He was back then.  So don’t think that He approves of you just because He is allowing your ministry to continue.

But my advice to Catholics, if you are interested in prophecy, is to make sure you are thoroughly familiar with Scripture first.  Then you can better discern which prophecies line up with the Bible.  Any prophecy allegedly from Mary can be dismissed outright, since we have no biblical reason to believe that she could communicate with us now, anyway.  And hopefully, after familiarizing yourself with Scripture, you will also discern that the Catholic Church is not all that it claims to be, and that you should leave it for a good biblical church.  Please feel free to search the articles in this blog to find many of the “chinks” in the Catholic Church’s “armor.”

So, what about your future?  Your eternal future is bright if you live by the guidance of God’s Word and trust only in Jesus Christ’s work on the cross in order to make it to Heaven.  All other ground is sinking sand (Matthew 7:24-27).