"The Future History of the Church, Part 1"
A typological and midrashic examination of what will happen in the future of the church by seeing how the past history of the church is recapitulated eschatologically; how past events happen again in the Last Days. What to expect, and what to prepare for.
Download or email Part 1 Download or email Part 2 Download or email Part 3 Getting Rid of the World's Goods
Let's look at what happens next in Acts 27:14…
"But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon. So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive."
The church finds itself unable to control its direction and its destiny.
"And running under the shelter of an island called Clauda, we secured the skiff with difficulty. When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship; and fearing lest they should run aground on the Syrtis Sands, they struck sail and so were driven."
They give up trying to control its direction, only remaining concerned with keeping it afloat
"And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship."
The early Christians had to get rid of this world's goods. In the Last Days, if we aren't careful, the things we own will wind up owning us. The attitude we need is that everything we have belongs to Jesus; if I have a lot of money, in actuality I'm flat broke because it doesn't belong to me. I am only a steward of what belongs to Jesus. On the other hand, if I have nothing and am unemployed for four years, I am actually rich because I'm a co-heir with Christ. Any other attitude is unbiblical and unhealthy and will lead to trouble for us. They begin to jettison the cargo to save the ship. I know a place in Brazil where the Christians are very poor; the people sold their houses and cars in order to build a church. Would Christians in the West be willing to jettison their cargo like that and divest themselves of this world's goods in order to save their church? Not many.
Let's look further, beginning in verse 19…
"On the third day we threw the ship's tackle overboard with our own hands. Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up."
The sun and stars were not giving their light. Jesus told Abraham that his descendants would be like the stars of heaven. When the stars don't give their light – when Abraham's descendants hide their light – the glory of Jesus is obscured. Isaiah 13:10-11…
"For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be darkened in its going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible."
This is what happens in Acts 27. The ship gets storm-tossed; the people who know what's going on are ignored by the majority that rules, and that doesn't want to know the truth.
If you'd like to know what will happen to the Charismatic movement, look at Isaiah 24:7-8:
"The new wine fails, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of the tambourine ceases, the noise of the jubilant ends, the joy of the harp ceases."
That is how the Charismatic movement ends. There is a place for joy and a place for worship as long as it is based on the truths of God's Word. Once you begin basing your doctrine on experience, standing on something other than the Bible, you have nothing left to rejoice about. There is only your own destruction to look forward to. However, Jesus wants to preserve us.
This is Page 12 of 16 of PART 3
Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.