"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 The Right Voice in a Crisis
Let's continue with verse 21 in Acts 27…
"But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, 'Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss.'"
Most of the things that are going to happen to the church could, in theory, be avoided if people had the wisdom to listen to the teachers who are telling the truth, and to follow the pastors who are leading their flocks in the way of Scripture instead of following those who are tickling their ears. We see today many big Restorationists and the prosperity preachers in the United States with their big churches: do you know why their churches are big? Not because people are getting saved – those are not the churches where people get saved. People are getting saved at traditional Pentecostal churches such as David Wilkerson's and Nicky Cruz's. The reason the Restorationists and prosperity preachers have big churches is because they suck people out of other churches who want to have their ears tickled with prosperity preaching and Kingdom Now theology. Most of the destruction and judgment coming on the church could theoretically be avoided if people were willing to obey the Word of God and heed its warnings. Verse 22…
"And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood before me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.'"
I am convinced that not only will we see an increase in demonic activity before Jesus comes, but also an increase in angelic activity. Verse 25…
"Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me."
Notice Paul's confidence and his countenance. You can always tell the difference between hype and anointing if the Holy Spirit has tuned your ears. Verse 26…
"'However, we must run aground on a certain island.' Now, when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land. And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms. Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come."
The number fourteen is interesting. Jewish genealogies considered fourteen to be an important number; double seven. They would re-sculpture the pedigree tables, only naming those ancestors who were of theological importance to the argument they were trying to make. For instance, in the genealogy of Jesus, they sculptured in fourteens and only named those ancestors who were of theological importance to the theological argument that Matthew was trying to make about Jesus being the Messiah. Fourteen has something to do with being halfway to the next event. Again, a good example is in Matthew 1:17:
"So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations."
This is an example of the way the number fourteen is used frequently in Scripture. (There is more to this subject of Biblical numerics than we have time for, and a lot more than I personally have time to study.)
This is Page 13 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.