Notes from "How Can We Know If We are Living in the Last Generation," by Alan Hood
Alan Hood, who is a teacher at the Forerunner School of Ministry, part of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City and Friends of the Bridegroom, does a series that addresses three questions about the end times...
1. Can we know if we are living in the last generation?
2. Should we know if we are living in the last generation?
3. If we can and should know, how will we know?
So, here are my notes from this series...I thought it was pretty good.
1. Can we know?
There has been a mocking spirit released by satan - the spirit that 2nd Peter speaks of (scoffers). This spirit says, "He's supposedly been coming forever - He's not going to come now!" or "It's not for common people to know, only scholars can guess at these things." It's even become politically incorrect in many churches to discuss these things.
The most widely used scripture to make the claim against our ability to know is Matthew 24:36 - the Olivet Discourse. Verse 36 clearly states, "But of the exact day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father knows."
The problem with this is that the entire context is missing. If we look closer at the text, what is before and after and even in the next chapter (ten virgens), we will see that we are commanded to know of the signs and the seasons. We are commanded to watch and to be ready. We can know when we are in the time or season, we can know the order of events, we can know what is coming.
Secondly, the verse states that no one DOES know, it does not state that no one WILL know or cannot know.
Verse 37 states, "As were in the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." In the days of Noah, God warned his people, he gave Noah the word, and though Noah tried to tell others, they did not believe him. In Genesis, we can even know that God warned Noah again 7 days before the great flood that he had 7 days, God told him exactly when to get in the boat!
"For just as in those days, they were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the very day when Noah went in to the ark. And they did hot know or understand until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."
If we are to survive, we MUST know. In verse 32, Jesus warns, "From the fig tree LEARN this lesson; as soon as its young shoots become soft and tender and it puts out its leaves, you know of a surety that summer is near. So also when you see these signs, all taken together, coming to pass, you may know of a surety that He is near, at the very doors."!!!
As in the days of Noah, so also will the unfolding of revelation be for the church as revelation was unfolded to Noah.
Matthew 24:36 has been used in the wrong spirit in which Jesus teaches it - some are giving wrong council with the word of God at the wrong time. If one read it entirely, they would know this is exactly what He was warning against - to NOT know. He exhorts us in this message to seek it out, to dig for it, to ask for revelation.
I Peter 1:10 - the prophets of old inquired and searched carefully - what time and in what manner of time certain things would occur.
Yes, we CAN KNOW.
2. Should we know?
This is made pretty evident in the answer to the first question. There is a verse further down in the Olivet Discourse - Matt 24:44...here Jesus has been talking of the householder who, if he had known when the theif was coming, would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. v44 - "You must also be ready therefore, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you don't expect Him." v45 - "Who then is the faithful, thoughtful and wise servant, whom his master has put him in charge of his household to give to others the food and supplies at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom when his master comes, he will find so doing. I solemnly declare to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant is wicked and says to himself, My master is delayed and is going to be gone a long time, and begins to beat his fellow servant and to eat and drink with the drunken, the master of the servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour of which he is not aware."
WOW. The servant who is giving the food to the people at the proper time is one who recognizes the season. Blessed is he who feeds the church and gets them ready for what lies ahead. Jesus is likening NOT feeding the church in due season, not knowing these things and making the church ready for them, to beating them and eating with drunkards. When you do not share and feed the church on this word, you are setting them up for failure in the future.
Throughout redemptive history, God has raised up prophets who have warned of what is coming - look at the minor prophets and you will see this, no doubt. How much more will He warn His people when the whole earth is in the crosshairs of satan's rage and the wrath of the Lamb, dying forever or living and reigning with Him?
God demands that in the day of transition we listen to His word. Just as in the day of Noah, if you did not heed, you were dead. He releases the word to that generation.
We SHOULD know
3. How will we know if we can and should know?
There are 2 parts to Alan's answer to this question..I would have to add a little bit more. I believe there are several ways to know including asking for revelation, studying the prophesies, and just being aware of the things that have to take place before we can say for sure we are in that generation. God speaks to us, He does answer.
Alan focuses on these 2:
1. The salvation of Israel
Matthew 23:39 (this is the "woa to you, scribes and pharisees"... speech) Jesus clearly tells the people of Jerusalem, the religious leaders of that time, the nation of Israel, "for I declare to you, you will not see Me again until you say, Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord."
Meaning, the salvation of Israel must occur before Jesus returns. He is serious because He loves His people, He gives them a clear condition. Not every person who is Jew or Israelite will come to know Jesus as their Messiah, and I'm not clear on how many or what this looks like, but it does allow us to see the importance of Israel in our own future, and that their King has not given up on them.
2. Fullfillment of the Great Commission
Matt24:14 "And this good news of the kingdom (the gospel) will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then will the end come." (the scripture that every missionary knows)
This is the fullfillment of the great commission. It makes you wonder how many countries are out there who do not have even one missionary among them?
This is evidence of the compassion that Jesus has for the people of the earth...that He would wait until every tribe, tongue, nation has at least heard the gospel, has had a chance to say Yes to Him.
These are my notes...
He is a Good Father, and it is His nature to warn us. He wants us to be aware.
1. Can we know if we are living in the last generation?
2. Should we know if we are living in the last generation?
3. If we can and should know, how will we know?
So, here are my notes from this series...I thought it was pretty good.
1. Can we know?
There has been a mocking spirit released by satan - the spirit that 2nd Peter speaks of (scoffers). This spirit says, "He's supposedly been coming forever - He's not going to come now!" or "It's not for common people to know, only scholars can guess at these things." It's even become politically incorrect in many churches to discuss these things.
The most widely used scripture to make the claim against our ability to know is Matthew 24:36 - the Olivet Discourse. Verse 36 clearly states, "But of the exact day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father knows."
The problem with this is that the entire context is missing. If we look closer at the text, what is before and after and even in the next chapter (ten virgens), we will see that we are commanded to know of the signs and the seasons. We are commanded to watch and to be ready. We can know when we are in the time or season, we can know the order of events, we can know what is coming.
Secondly, the verse states that no one DOES know, it does not state that no one WILL know or cannot know.
Verse 37 states, "As were in the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." In the days of Noah, God warned his people, he gave Noah the word, and though Noah tried to tell others, they did not believe him. In Genesis, we can even know that God warned Noah again 7 days before the great flood that he had 7 days, God told him exactly when to get in the boat!
"For just as in those days, they were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, until the very day when Noah went in to the ark. And they did hot know or understand until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."
If we are to survive, we MUST know. In verse 32, Jesus warns, "From the fig tree LEARN this lesson; as soon as its young shoots become soft and tender and it puts out its leaves, you know of a surety that summer is near. So also when you see these signs, all taken together, coming to pass, you may know of a surety that He is near, at the very doors."!!!
As in the days of Noah, so also will the unfolding of revelation be for the church as revelation was unfolded to Noah.
Matthew 24:36 has been used in the wrong spirit in which Jesus teaches it - some are giving wrong council with the word of God at the wrong time. If one read it entirely, they would know this is exactly what He was warning against - to NOT know. He exhorts us in this message to seek it out, to dig for it, to ask for revelation.
I Peter 1:10 - the prophets of old inquired and searched carefully - what time and in what manner of time certain things would occur.
Yes, we CAN KNOW.
2. Should we know?
This is made pretty evident in the answer to the first question. There is a verse further down in the Olivet Discourse - Matt 24:44...here Jesus has been talking of the householder who, if he had known when the theif was coming, would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. v44 - "You must also be ready therefore, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you don't expect Him." v45 - "Who then is the faithful, thoughtful and wise servant, whom his master has put him in charge of his household to give to others the food and supplies at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom when his master comes, he will find so doing. I solemnly declare to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant is wicked and says to himself, My master is delayed and is going to be gone a long time, and begins to beat his fellow servant and to eat and drink with the drunken, the master of the servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour of which he is not aware."
WOW. The servant who is giving the food to the people at the proper time is one who recognizes the season. Blessed is he who feeds the church and gets them ready for what lies ahead. Jesus is likening NOT feeding the church in due season, not knowing these things and making the church ready for them, to beating them and eating with drunkards. When you do not share and feed the church on this word, you are setting them up for failure in the future.
Throughout redemptive history, God has raised up prophets who have warned of what is coming - look at the minor prophets and you will see this, no doubt. How much more will He warn His people when the whole earth is in the crosshairs of satan's rage and the wrath of the Lamb, dying forever or living and reigning with Him?
God demands that in the day of transition we listen to His word. Just as in the day of Noah, if you did not heed, you were dead. He releases the word to that generation.
We SHOULD know
3. How will we know if we can and should know?
There are 2 parts to Alan's answer to this question..I would have to add a little bit more. I believe there are several ways to know including asking for revelation, studying the prophesies, and just being aware of the things that have to take place before we can say for sure we are in that generation. God speaks to us, He does answer.
Alan focuses on these 2:
1. The salvation of Israel
Matthew 23:39 (this is the "woa to you, scribes and pharisees"... speech) Jesus clearly tells the people of Jerusalem, the religious leaders of that time, the nation of Israel, "for I declare to you, you will not see Me again until you say, Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord."
Meaning, the salvation of Israel must occur before Jesus returns. He is serious because He loves His people, He gives them a clear condition. Not every person who is Jew or Israelite will come to know Jesus as their Messiah, and I'm not clear on how many or what this looks like, but it does allow us to see the importance of Israel in our own future, and that their King has not given up on them.
2. Fullfillment of the Great Commission
Matt24:14 "And this good news of the kingdom (the gospel) will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then will the end come." (the scripture that every missionary knows)
This is the fullfillment of the great commission. It makes you wonder how many countries are out there who do not have even one missionary among them?
This is evidence of the compassion that Jesus has for the people of the earth...that He would wait until every tribe, tongue, nation has at least heard the gospel, has had a chance to say Yes to Him.
These are my notes...
He is a Good Father, and it is His nature to warn us. He wants us to be aware.
posted by KariBryant @ 3:42 PM
4 Comments:
At 1:19 PM,
Anonymous said…
At the risk of being in allegiance with the "mocking Spirit released by Satan," I say that any motivation, compulsion, desire, drive or passion for following, living for, dying for, obeying, worshipping or serving Jesus that is not founded or derived from the LOVE of Jesus is idolatry and a draining distraction from one's faith and places one at risk of Christian phariseeism.
If we do anything for God apart from our love for him in response to his love for us - will be nothing but a sounding gong and tinkling brass. It will be all absolutely freakin' useless.
I contend that the Chrisitan's compulsion to serve, worship and obey God should not come from where we are situated on God's own celestial calendar nor should our surrendering, sacrifice or passion be motivated by or intensified by the ticking away of some generational end-times clock.
Would someone tell me why we live for Jesus? Is it the fear of going to hell? Are we afraid that God will curse this life if we don't? Is it because the end of the world is near? I pray to God that this isn't true for anyone who reads this blog! No, we live for Christ because we were nothing but pus, and God, out of his soveriengn grace, in his beauty and love swept us up, freed us from the enemy, declared us as his own, empowered us to live and serve him and invites us to live in his kingdom!
Why, oh, why do we need any other motivation to live purely and fervently than this? If this isn't enough for us to give everything, then it really doesn't matter what generation we live in, we would be lost above all peoples.
2 Corinthians 5:13-15 (NIV)
If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
At 5:39 PM,
KariBryant said…
Yikes. Controversial topic?
I think this response deserves a completely different blog on the topic all together...The previous post is not to drive fear into people, and was definitely not written against genuinely loving God, I am not sure where that came from, but it was meant to be merely informative...
If at any time I mentioned that we are not to respond to the the Love of Jesus, or to deny that out of His sovereign grace He declared us His own, I do apologize.
I believe that the compulsion to know about the end times is driven exactly by the LOVE of Jesus. I believe that in order to fully comprehend and understand the end times, tribulation, second coming one must also understand the INTENSITY of the love that the Father and Jesus have for the people on earth who were created in His image. You may have heard the saying, "The least severe means to bring the most people to His heart." This is the purpose of the shaking. He is zealous for us, Jesus longs to bring us into the millenial reign with Him, He longs for communion that will be again like that with Adam and Eve before the fall. HIS Kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven. In response to this extra extra amazing love, this incomprehensible love, we understand His heart for people and seek to be His partner in proclaiming that love, and in loving others. Being rooted in this love is what will allow a believer to stand in a time of shaking (if you believe in post-trib rapture - a whole other topic here). During our struggles today, we cry out to Him whose grace has given us hope and life. LOVE - His love and our response to it is THE KEY to understanding the end times, and knowing the heart of Jesus, His personality, WHO HE IS, fully God, fully man, righteous, just, compassionate, allows us to see the possibility of a tribulation without being offended or afraid. There is more to the story than just going to heaven when we die. Who would our God be if He did not keep His word, if He did not defeat injustice? If He is never coming back, and we are not to ever broach this subject, why oh why is it broached over and over and over again in the Bible? Why does Jesus Himself warn over and over to be ready? Because He LOVES people, and wants them to tell other people who may have said no to His love, or may not have heard...He would prefer that we are not scared into believing, that we would know these things and know His heart and be ready if the time comes while we are here to be able to explain.
I do have to say that to consider studying what is written over and over and over in the Bible, a distraction to one's faith is maybe a little bit off base, and since I've been studying the end times, my faith has been more than it has been in the last 10 years. I have grown close to the heart of Jesus, I have allowed Him to come in to my heart, to hold me in His lap and to love me again, and I have been able to comprehend that He enjoys and desires the love that I have for Him.
Call me out of my mind. 2 Cor 5:13
At 10:29 AM,
Anonymous said…
Kari...You're out of your mind;-)
Well the sacrificial love of Jesus is the controversy of controversies...but I don't think that's what your referring to.
Kari, we are not far away from one another on this. While I'm not sure we will meet in consensus on this topic, I'm sure we can be friendly neighbors.
In my opinion, the Kingdom of God was/is the message of Jesus. I believe that Jesus taught that the Kindom of God is coming, is at hand and yet is not fulfilled (the already/not yet).
Yes, this means that there is a time coming when Jesus will come for his bride. I believe and live this as a reality. Track 5 of Apostolic Prayers 2 based on Rev 22v17 is one of the most listened songs in my times of worship. When Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5v2, "Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling..." I so relate to this "groaning" that I say OH YES! COME LORD JESUS COME! RIGHT NOW BEFORE I FINISH THIS SENTENCE!
Dang it...I'm still here...what do I do now? Well I continue to watch and pray, keep my lamp filled, live, love, give, piss off blogging friend and serve in the Kingdom at hand.
But of equal or arguably greater importance is our life in the here and now, the Kingdom of God in our very midst in this present time. In my 15 years of Christian experience I have seen this aspect Kingdom life overshadowed and often ignored as people have concentrated on and often became obsessed with all minutiae of end-times prophecy (Btw, in 2000 years of Biblical history the doctrine of pre-tribulation rapture has only been around for a little over 100 years!). So just as any teaching of the Bible that is over emphasized out of its context can create inbalance, this one can...and has perhaps like no other.
There are many, many things that I am in agreement with and that I promote that Allan Hood and other IHOP folks teach. However there are also other aspects that I disagree with, whether it be methodology of teaching to doctrinal content. Given an appropriate time, I'd love to sit down with you and have a true discussion about some of this stuff.
I agree with you that the coming Kingdom does exemplify God's love for his bride and should be a source of hope. However, in my experience, I still think the goal behind most teaching on the end-times has been to provoke people to conversion, devotion or increased service and fear is often employed as the motivating tone. I simply believe that it's the "goodness of God that leads to repentence," not his wrath.
I still contend that our affection and passion for Jesus should be rooted in who He is and not on what he's done, does or will do. Therefore, although I may have been overzealous or reactionary to your post, I think the content of my comment stands on it's own in any context.
With that said, I definitely wasn't trying to defame or somehow cast judgment upon you or your motivations nor the priority of the love of God within you. If one thing is easily seen in you, it is God's love.
At 12:39 PM,
Anonymous said…
Let's play tag instead. Tag, You're it!
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