Double Down
Someone posted an interesting video on YouTube recently. They said that God told them that President Biden would be dead and that former president Donald Trump would occupy the White House in 30 days! The appointed day came and went without political incident. Is that a problem? Maybe God is confused.
Did you know that the Lord is going to return in 1844? It seems like that date came and went also. The 1800s were a time of great “apocalyptic fever”. A great interest was brewing about the return of Jesus. People joined this movement which taught that Jesus was going to come back at that date according to some Bible passages. People quit their jobs. When the appointed day came and went without the Return of the Lord many people were greatly disappointed. Many left the new movement. Many, possibly, left the idea of Jesus ever returning altogether. Some of the leaders of this movement admitted they were mistaken. There were some, however, that insisted they were correct, even if they were wrong. They doubled down and defiantly declared that Jesus did return, it was just invisible.
Many dates have been set for Jesus' Appearing. Many were in the 1800s. Another group claimed that He would return in 1914. Others insisted on 1988, 1989 and also in very recent years.
When predictions like this and even other predictions do not come to pass at the time they were supposed to, we or the prophets have a great choice to make.
Repent
When the prophets or we listeners realize that we have been believing something false, we can say, “I was wrong”. There is nothing wrong with admitting we have been wrong or been deceived. It can be part of a learning process where we begin to be taught, by trail and success or error, what is and what is not the voice of the Lord. The church can be a safe place where we can try to hear God. We can be encouraged if we hear accurately or we can say, “I missed it”. There should be no condemnation from the Body of Christ when a member operates in humility. However, there is another option.
Double Down
There are teachers and churches which are demonstrably wrong. There are prophets which miss it and then insist they are correct. There is no shame in admitting with humility that we have “missed it”. While we do not want to be too quick in rejecting a prophecy (1 Thess 5:20), if someone is wrong 98% of the time and insists that the Lord told me, there is great danger.
The church leaders that gave the 1844 and 1914 dates did not admit they were wrong. Instead, they became louder insisting that they were correct. The “ignorant” people just did not understand that wrong was actually right. Really?
When we realize an error is in our hearts, we are at a critical point. We are at a serious fork in the road. It is much more that just being right or wrong on a particular point. We can operate with humility or in pride. Much more is at stake that being right or not. It is more than winning or losing a point in Bible Trivia.
...be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. (1 Pet 5:5)
If we repent, that is to turn away from our idea of self-sufficiency, God grants grace to us. It is His favor and enabling. He makes things work out in our lives and gives us more understanding. If we choose to double down in our error, when it comes to holding onto something that is false, we enter into the resistance of God. Further understanding is withheld from us. When we choose error in the light of truth, we enter into deception.
At first we hold onto something that is false. Then, in rejecting the light that God's word brings, we give permission for deception to further overtake us. It may be small at first. When we continue holding onto the next deception, we go further into error. If we do not admit that God is true and every man is a liar (Rom 3:4), we go into free fall. There is almost no hope. True hopelessness is when we encounter the resistance of God as Peter promises us.
We see this sometimes in churches or movements that started out well. Something came in that they were not willing to judge. Later, full grown deception came in. Some were able to get out. Some went down with the ship, so to speak.
In ordinary events we have the opportunity to agree with God or to be stubborn against His Word. If you find yourselves at a fork in the road, an important time when a decision must be made, choose to agree with God. Do not face the resistance of God. It will not go well with you.
Jan 1, 2024