Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Acts 1:7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 1:7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority. |
Bible Question: I have found that in a lot of churches today, Biblical Prophecy is never preached behind the pulpit. I would like to know why? And what scriptures can be found that supports teaching it. |
Bible Answer: gkidder - One has but to observe the mush that is coming from some contemporary pulpits to know that prophecy is by no means the only topic that is left behind to make room for the fuzzy wuzzies! And what do I mean by the fuzzy wuzzies? That unscriptural, cozy feel-good, name-it-and-claim garbage -- along with other brands of post-modern humanism -- that is being preached in lieu of the gospel of Christ. .... But of course, as BradK has appropriately pointed out, prophecy (eschatology) is but one of a host of things that God's word addresses. When the apostle Paul charged his young Christian brother, Timothy, with the responsibility to "preach the word," he did say "preach the word," but he didn't say preach only segments of it; he most emphatically did not instruct young Timothy to concentrate on prophecy, for example, to the exclusion of everything else. But at the same time, Paul's charge (found in 2 Timothy 4:1-5) clearly supports the preaching of eschatology, which is an integral part of God-breathed Scripture. So does the familiar passage of 2 Timothy 3:16,17: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (literally, God-breathed), and is profitable for doctrine (that means teaching), for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." Notice that the passage says that ALL Scripture is given so that God's people may be complete and thoroughly equipped. To zero in on any one subject -- be it eschatology, baptism, election or anything else -- and make it one's focus to the exclusion of everything else, does not make the man of God complete and thoroughly equipped; it makes him lop-sided, leading him to place a skewed emphasis upon his pet topic far beyond what the Bible places on it. This not infrequently leads him, if not to omit other vital topics entirely, to fail to give them the same emphasis which Scripture does. ..... The Bible is complete and must be read, studied and taught in its completeness. To do otherwise is to be unfaithful to the clear injunction of 2 Timothy 2:15: "Be diligent to present yourselves approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." ..... My studies of Scripture convince me that Scripture is in perfect balance, giving to each topic that it treats of its proper due, no more and no less. We err egregiously, therefore, when from this perfect book we pick but a single topic, proceed to put a saddle on it, and ride it as though it were the only pony in God's vast universe. --Hank |