The Holy Spirit: Power Presence and Purpose Part 72

The Advent Part 64

Acts 2:30-31, “Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.”

Not only does Peter call David a patriarch, he also calls him a prophet. The word prophet has many definitions, but within the context of Peter’s assertion that indeed David was a prophet he meant it as one who has foreknowledge, sees forward in time, or predicts future events. David knew that God had sworn, with an oath to him that one of his descendants would be raised up to sit on his throne, and by divine inspiration David prophesied of the Christ.

David knew what God had sworn, he knew what God had promised, and as children of God we must likewise be aware of all of God’s promises that we might rest and rejoice in hope, and receive all that God has in store for us.

Living in ignorance of God’s promises as a believer is no way to live, because if we are ignorant of His promises we limit our own experiences with Him. David knew the promise of God, and as he foresaw that which would occur many hundreds of years in the future, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ.

Although we will be covering the topic of prophecy at length once we get into the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I just wanted to point out the fact that all the prophecies concerning Christ were spoken long before His birth, long before His death, and long before His resurrection. We are not talking a couple months, or a couple years, we are talking hundreds of years between when the prophecies were uttered, and until they came to pass.

The age in which we live is fast paced to say the least. Because of the fast paced lives we’ve become accustomed to, we expect the words of knowledge and prophecies God sends through His servants to come to pass at the same pace we live our lives. If a prophecy doesn’t come to pass within a few days of when it was given, well then the man prophesied falsely, he is a deceiver, and everything that person said is summarily discounted.

We’ve blurred the line between true prophesy and gut feelings, we’ve blurred the line between true prophecy and making an educated guess, and because of this, whenever God does send a word of foreknowledge, a word concerning future events we sit there tapping our feet and looking at our watches, growing bored and becoming distracted if more than a few days pass after the prophecy was uttered and nothing happens.

There was only one word of prophecy given in the Bible that had an expiration date, the prophecy concerning Nineveh and the fact that it would be destroyed after forty days, and because they repented in sackcloth and ash, even that prophecy was delayed by over one hundred years.

A true word from God, a true word of prophecy comes far in advance of it coming to pass, in a season and at a time when the fulfillment thereof might seem improbable and even impossible. It is in seeing something that God foretold twenty and thirty years in advance come to pass, something that at the timed seemed farfetched and fanciful that strengthens our faith and renews our hope that the world is in His hands, and nothing happens without His foreknowledge. In His love, God forewarns His beloved of that which the future holds, of what the last days will look like, that we might be neither ignorant nor ill prepared to stand against the darkness.

God does not speak to us concerning future events that we might grow fearful or despondent, but rather that we prepare ourselves spiritually, and grow in Him, and cement our relationships with Him, knowing that He is able to keep us under the shadow of His wing, that He is able to protect us, and provide for our needs even when through the prism of human understanding it might seem impossible.

The season is here wherein the scoffers have surfaced, and as Peter prophesied concerning the last days there are those even within Christendom that ask, ‘where is the promise of His coming?’ all because of the impatient nature we’ve fostered in our hearts for so long.

For those willing to see them, the signs of the times are all around us, and events that God foretold of are beginning to come to pass before our very eyes. It is in this season, it is in times such as these that our hearts must be all the more tethered to the things of heaven, that our minds must all the more meditate on the things above, and that our faith be all the more steadfast in the knowledge that we serve an omnipotent God, who is a mighty fortress and strong tower for those who love Him.

I do not fear for tomorrow, for God is already there. I do not fear for next week, or next month or next year, because I know that I have been buried with Christ, and have been raised again in Him, and if I live I live for the Lord, and if I die, I die for the Lord. There is peace, and there is rest, and there is joy in the knowledge that come what may, God’s will, will be done, and all things, though they might seem burdensome for a season, work for the good of those who love Him.

2 Peter, 3:1-4, “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’”

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.