All you have to do is go to www.songtime.com and follow the link, “Listen to Songtime Now”. You can now hear the entire hour-long edition of Songtime USA around the world - around the clock! For me this means we can actually disciple those in the military anywhere in the world. According to I Timothy 2:3-4 we must not separate evangelism from follow up (discipleship). To appreciate this new opportunity understand two Biblical truths:
I. What God is not doing today and what God is doing today
This is not a Matthew 24:14 era And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. However, this is an Acts 15:14 era. We do not preach the Gospel of the Kingdom today. We preach the Gospel of Grace of God. I like the way Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse described this in his commentary on Acts - Chapter 15 and verse 14:
“In verse 14 we have a tremendous illustration of the true meaning of the word “church.” The word “church” in Greek is ekklesia. We get our word “ecclesiastical” from it. And ekklesia comes from a prefix and a verb. Ek, the prefix, means “out of” and kaleo means “to call”. So, together they mean, “to call out of,” to take something out of its setting. This is what God does. He reaches down and takes out a people. God is not going to save everyone in Philadelphia, or New York, or San Francisco, or Rocktown Center, or wherever. No, God says, “I’m saving this one, and that one, and these, and those and this person and that individual.” That is what God is doing in this age of grace. We are the ekklesia, the called-out ones, who are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). In God’s own good time we are called out by the Holy Spirit from the spiritual darkness to God’s marvelous light.”
One of these days —— perhaps before you finish this article the Body of Christ (the organism) will be complete and John 14:3 will happen.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. Later, I’ll show you why Songtime.com is so significant but first note:
II. What God will be doing in the Future
Again, let me quote from Dr. Barnhouse as he relates to Acts 15:16:
“In verse 16 we get a brief lesson in prophecy. James alludes to Old Testament predictions concerning the future. He says, ‘After this’ - that is, after the church age, after God has removed His church at the rapture at the end of the age - Christ will return to earth. Within a capsule we have the whole gamut of prophecy. In just a couple of verses we have presented to us the exit of the church, the rebuilding of the temple, and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory to establish His Kingdom. This passage, by the way, is death of the amillenarian theory that there will be no kingdom age in the future and no future for the nation of Israel. For here, God says that when He’s through with taking out a people for His name [the church] He will do something once more for Israel.
Now bear in mind that what the Jews have done in Palestine in our time in making gains does not mean that God is establishing them. I have frequently pointed out that the Jews have taken the land ... But God is ultimately going to give them the land - all the land - by marriage. This is quite a different thing! The boundaries of the Holy Land which God has promised to His people are given in Genesis 15:18. The Jews have not been able to get that territory on their own, and will not. God will give it to them.”
You certainly want to be at the Songtime Annual Bible Conference (September 5-6-7) because we will relate some of this prophetic truth to the thinking of the Presidential Candidates. For example, I am certainly pro-life but there is an even more important issue, which you will discover at the conference. This issue determines the future of the USA.
APPLICATION
Read Romans 1:19 - 20:
because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
God gives to everyone a consciousness of Himself according to Romans 1:19-20. At that point mankind has a vote. If the response is, “I’m not interested,” God is no longer obligated but if the response is positive God will bring Gospel information to that person. God has to on the basis of II Peter 3:9:
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Now here is where Songtime.com enters the picture. If the vote is yes at the point of God consciousness God can arrange for that person to go to hear the Gospel at Songtime.com but we must be there in order to be the vehicle God can use. That is really the issue of Romans 10:13-14:
For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? Everything we have studied is the reason your prayers and gifts are so vital. Do you need some motivation? Then read Revelation 7. There we note a coming day of revival ( a Matthew 24:14 day). This will happen during the Great Tribulation (Rev. 7:14) and the evangelists are the converted Jews (Rev. 7:4)
Two great truths in Revelation 7 are thrilling:
1) Israel does have a future - Zechariah 12:9&10)
2) Note that there is no mention of the church (the ecclesia) in Rev. 7
Why? The church is in Heaven.
When I hear men such as Iran’s leader Ahmadinejad talk about removing Israel and the USA my reaction is 2-fold:
1) Keep looking up until ——
2) This could be the day!
For more information about on Biblical prophecy, we are offering the "Prophetic Pack", which includes John MacArthur's book on Revelation as well as "Prophetic Questions and Answers with Ron Rhoads". Be sure to request this book as a thank-you with your gift to Songtime of $25 or more.
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