HD: What Christians Lose By Neglecting Bible Prophecy; COGwriter: And then there is what happens to those lukewarm about it

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Harbinger’s Daily posted the following:

What Christians Lose By Neglecting Bible Prophecy

December 16, 2024

With all that is taking place in the world, it is hard to imagine why so many in the church choose to distance themselves from Biblical prophecy. Numerous pulpits consider over one-third of God’s Holy Word (the amount containing prophecy) as a matter of secondary importance or even have categorized these portions as trivial points of contention for the body of Christ. …

There is a purpose God had in providing us with an understanding of the future in His Word, and a great deal is lost for Christians when they disregard or misconstrue these areas of the Bible.

The first thing sacrificed with indifference to Bible prophecy is a full grasp of God’s redemptive plan. Knowing the full picture—the beginning and the end—provides us with a complete understanding of God’s promises for the nation of Israel, the role and rewards of the church in eternity, and the gravity of our own salvation. …

The second aspect sacrificed with indifference to Bible prophecy is blessings and rewards. The Book of Revelation is the only book in the canon of Scripture that promises a blessing to those “that read, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand” (Revelation 1:3).

The Apostle Paul further reveals that a “crown of righteousness” is explicitly given to “all them that love His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). All who long for the return of our Savior, Jesus Christ, will be given this marvelous reward. Those who reject Biblical prophecy will sadly forfeit this crown.

The third loss for those indifferent to Bible prophecy is the assurance of our “Blessed Hope” and the understanding of Jesus’ resurrection. One day, the trumpet will sound. …

Scripture tells us that “Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10). How, then, can members of the body of Christ reject part of their Savior? https://harbingersdaily.com/what-christians-lose-by-neglecting-bible-prophecy/

Harbinger’s Daily is basically a website with articles by various Protestants.

Since it is, sadly, it does NOT understand prophecies related to God’s true plan of salvation. Two free online books, however, that do are Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism and Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation.

That said, yes, Harbinger’s Daily is correct that prophecy is important and that most Christians are a bit indifferent to it.

So much so, that here is some of what Jesus prophesied about the bulk of true end time Christians:

14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”‘” (Revelation 3:14-22)

Notice that Jesus is stating what He did because most end time Christians will NOT heed the end time prophecies as they should.

Here is something from the beginning of my article Why Prophecy?:

Should you pay attention to prophecy? Some wonder about that. Some consider that most prophecy is already fulfilled, which is a wrong and dangerous position to take (see The Dangerous Rise of Preterists).

Most world leaders look upon preaching the prophecies of WHAT GOD SAYS IS GOING TO HAPPEN as mere fanaticism or religious extremism.

They tend to spurn, scorn, ridicule, and scoff at the applicability of Bible prophecy (cf. 2 Peter 3:1-12).

To many people, PROPHECY seems to be a weird, fanatical sort of religious extremism having no bearing on actual fact or present-day world conditions. But biblical prophecies have come to pass and will come to pass.

Consider a prophecy about the wise:

3 Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3, NKJV throughout)

In the end-times, the wise would be the Philadelphian Christians that are holding fast and doing the work that God wants done (Revelation 3:7-13). Various of them will “instruct many” (Daniel 11:33) just prior to the start of the Great Tribulation.

Interestingly, of the end-time Christians, only the Philadelphians are promised protection “from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10; see also There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be In or Near Petra).

God is clear that He makes prophetic statements and causes them to be fulfilled:

9 Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it. (Isaiah 46:9-11)

Fulfilled prophecy is part of the proof that God exists and should be real to your life EVERYDAY! Only the true God can make predictions and ALWAYS make them come to pass!

Between 1/5th and 1/3rd of the Bible is prophetic. Since, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God'” (Luke 4:4), knowing the prophetic word is important. All scripture, including prophecy, is important:

16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

If you do not understand relevant prophecy, you cannot “be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Yet, most discount or misunderstand prophecy.

Many Misconceptions

Many people falsely ASSUME all prophecies are merely horrific foretellings of catastrophic events, of the wrathful vengeance of a harsh God who is about to descend with terrible fury upon His hapless subjects here below.

This is FAR from the truth!

Prophecies foretold the coming of Jesus as the Messiah (see also the free online book: Proof Jesus is the Messiah).

Biblical teachings about salvation are prophetic (see also the free online book: Universal OFFER of Salvation, Apokatastasis: Can God save the lost in an age to come? Hundreds of scriptures reveal God’s plan of salvation).

Furthermore, MANY of The Gospel of the Kingdom of God prophecies foretell a time of peace, of happiness, of restoration, of joy, of great prosperity and physical wealth for those who are serving God (see also Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism?).

MANY prophecies merely foretell, in advance, certain events which are to happen, the rise and fall of nations, the COURSE of world affairs! Thus, they help us understand where various events and trends in the world are leading.

Prophecy IS a chronicle of the great PLAN God is working out here below! It describes this plan in DETAIL, showing how God KNEW it would work out, according to human nature, together with other SPECIAL INTERVENTIONS of God.

The old Radio Church of God taught:

“Prophecy is HISTORY WRITTEN IN ADVANCE!” (Armstrong GT.Why Prophecy! Plain Truth, June 1960).

Yet, it should be sadly noted that, nearly all the non-Sardis COG groups have significant prophetic misunderstandings.

The Sardis group CG7-Denver, for example, is preterist and thus believes many events that are prophesied for the future are already past, hence Jesus warned them “you will not know what hour I will come upon you” (Revelation 3:3). This group has demonstrated with its loss of prophetic perspective that it has fulfilled prophecies related to Sardis.

Nearly all the rest of the COG groups are Laodicean and hold to prophetic misunderstandings, that unless they repent as Jesus tells them to (Revelation 3:14-22), they will not possibly know when the Great Tribulation will be (prophetic details are in the article The Laodicean Church Era).

And then there are a variety of wrong prophetic position of Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholics.

Since many are wrong, is paying attention to prophecy and current events important?

Certainly.

God Reveals His Secrets to His servants

Notice what God had Amos record:

7 Surely the Lord God does nothing,
Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
8 A lion has roared!
Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken!
Who can but prophesy? (Amos 3:7-8)

3 Woe to you who put far off the day of doom …
6 Who drink wine from bowls,
And anoint yourselves with the best ointments,
But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
7 Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives,
And those who recline at banquets shall be removed. (Amos 6:3, 6-7)

Prophets and prophecy are important (see also How To Determine If Someone is a True Prophet of God). Notice that those who DO NOT seem the care about what is going on in the lands of Joseph’s descendants Manasseh and Ephraim (the USA and its British-descended allies) will be taken into captivity (see also Will the Anglo-Saxon Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves?).

God uses dreams and His Spirit for prophecy:

6 “Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak to him in a dream. (Numbers 12:6)

19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:19-21)

Many in various COGs do not take prophecy seriously enough (see also Dreams, the Bible, the Radio Church of God, and the Continuing Church of God). And nearly all groups have major prophetic errors (some details are in the articles The Laodicean Church Era and The Sardis Church era).

Some fail to realize that in the first recorded sermon, the Apostle Peter tied current events in with biblical prophecy and said God would use dreams and prophets in the last days (Acts 2:14-40; see also Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18?). Partially because people were aware of the events that Peter discussed in Acts 2, many paid attention and thousands were converted (Acts 2:41).

Throughout the New Testament, Christian leaders did try to tie events to prophecy and other parts of the Bible to known events better reach their audiences (e.g. Acts 17:22-31).

The first message that it is recorded that Jesus preached (the gospel of the kingdom in Mark 1:14) and the last message Jesus gave (the Book of Revelation) were prophetic. Various messages that He gave (e.g. Matthew 24, Luke 21) were tied to upcoming world events.

Does this mean that prophecy is the most important characteristic of the true Church?

No, love is (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:1,8; see also The Philadelphia Remnant: It’s All About Love).

Yet, the pursuit of love is also tied in with prophecy in the Bible (1 Corinthians 14:1). Those who truly have the love of the truth, will be spared from some prophesied events according to 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12.

Today, massive societal changes are taking place. Many of them are prophesied in the Bible. Even though much of the Bible is prophetic, most simply do not understand that truth about various key prophecies in the Bible that Jesus urged His followers in the end to understand (e.g. Matthew 24:15).

The Bible is clear that signs and lying wonders will deceive the masses of humanity:

9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

Those who are not real Christians will be deceived. Yet the more faithful will be spiritually strong around this time and give a witness:

32 Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. 33 And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. (Daniel 11:32-33)

Those who are are subject to protection during the time of the Great Tribulation (Revelation 3:7-10) which begins a few verses later.

But not all Christians (like the Laodiceans and those who remain of Sardis) will be protected:

25 … Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time. (Daniel 7:25)

14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:14-17)

These Christian saints have the testimony of Jesus and keep God’s commandments. Yet, we see two groups of Christians: Those protected for 3 ½ years and those who will be persecuted for 3 ½ years (time, times, and half a time). As mentioned before, Jesus only promised to protect the Philadelphian Christians from that “hour of trial” (Revelation 3:10).

Why about Jesus?

The “testimony of Jesus is the spirit of PROPHECY” and true Christians have that:

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants — things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. (Revelation 1:1-3)

9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (Revelation 19:9-10)

People who discount prophecy are not understanding the Bible. Prophecy is also a key in understanding why Jesus is the Messiah (see also the free online book: Proof Jesus is the Messiah).

As far as prophecies go, notice that in the Book of Revelation, two groups of true Christians are mentioned. One gets persecuted and then protected, whereas the other gets persecuted later and is NOT promised the same protection (Revelation 12:13-17).

According to Jesus’ words in Revelation 3:10, it is only the Philadelphian Christians that receive that promise of protection.

The Philadelphian remnant believes the prophecies and responds as they should (cf. Revelation 3:7-13).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Why Prophecy? Why is so much of the Bible devoted to prophecy? Some question or downplay the role of prophecy. This article gives some of the biblical reasons why prophecy should be important to Christians. Here is a link to a related video: Christians, Why Prophecy?
How to Understand Prophecy This is the late Herbert W. Armstrong’s overview on understanding prophecy.
25 items to prophetically watch in 2025 Much is happening. Dr. Thiel points to 25 items to watch (cf. Mark 13:37) in this article.
Why is there a Philadelphian remnant of the true Christian Church of God? Did the old Worldwide Church of God essentially predict a Philadelphian remnant? Is a Philadelphian remnant needed for end-time prophecies to be fulfilled? Here is a link to a related sermon: The Philadelphia Remnant.
Why Be Concerned About False and Heretical Leaders? There have been many false leaders–here is some of why you should be concerned about them. Here is a related article in the Spanish language ¿Por qué estar preocupado acerca de falsos y heréticos líderes?
Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18? Does any church have the confirmed dream and prophetic signs of Acts 2:17-18? Should one? Here is a link in the Spanish language: ¿Tiene la CCOG confirmadas las señales de Hechos 2: 17-18? Here is a link in the French language: Est-ce que l’Église Continue de Dieu confirme les signes d’Actes 2:17-18? A related sermon in the English language is also available: 17 Last Days’ Signs of the Holy Spirit.
21st Century Church of God Prophets Are there any true prophets in the 21st century? What about false prophets? What are scriptures and fruits to identify the true from the false? You you prove all things and test the spirits?
Church of God Leaders on Prophets Have there been prophets throughout the church age? Are any supposed to be around in the last days? What have COG leaders stated or written about prophets? Here is a link to a related sermon: Church of God Leaders on Prophets.
How To Determine If Someone is a True Prophet of God There are many false prophets. How can Christians determine who is a true prophet? There is also a sermon-length video titled How to determine if someone is a true prophet of God. Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Cómo determinar si alguien es un verdadero profeta de Dios?
Philadelphian Christian Great Tribulation Protection What will the Great Tribulation be like? Does Jesus promise physical protection to some or all Christians? Where might the place of protection be? What about fleeing to the mountains? What did Ezekiel warn? Here is a link to a related sermon: Great Tribulation Protection.
There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Near Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety,’ Zephaniah 2 to ‘gather together,’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on fleeing to a place–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory. Two sermon-length videos of related interest are available Physical Protection During the Great Tribulation and Might Petra be the Place of Safety? Here are two related items in the Spanish language: Hay un lugar de seguridad para los Filadelfinos. ¿Puede ser Petra? and Existe un Lugar de Seguridad.