Why does your understanding of prophecy matter to God—and to you?

Why does your understanding of prophecy matter to God—and to you?

Dr. Earl Radmacher: You know, we talk a lot about different viewpoints in prophecy, and sometimes people take a kind of lackadaisical attitude toward those things. They say, “Well, some believe this and some believe that and really it doesn’t make that much difference because, after all, if the Lord is going to come prior to the Tribulation for the Church, well, He will do that; and if He isn’t, He will come during it and He will preserve us” and all of that kind of thing. And so people kind of take a stand-offish attitude.

Well, I want to ask you: “Does it really make any difference whether I believe right or not?” Ah, yes, it does. That’s a part of the reward that I will have at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Do you know what? As a believer, I am a steward, Paul says, “of the mysteries of God.” In 1 Corinthians Chapter 4 the Apostle Paul says, “Let a man so consider us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” Now, what’s required of a steward? Here it is. “Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” Now, from that the apostle goes on, “Therefore, judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart and then each one’s praise will come from God.” Ah. So I will be rewarded or suffer loss of reward in keeping with how faithful I have been to “the mysteries of God.”

How can a believer lose reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ? By being an unfaithful steward of the mysteries of God. What is one of the specific mysteries of the New Testament? It’s the doctrine of the Rapture. It’s the translation of the Church. So it behooves you and me to think right about these things.