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We Invite you, our readers, to
send in your questions on bib-
1/cal/y oriented prophetic,
do c trina l , historical a nd
Christian-living topics. While
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questions wi/1 be answered in
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those that are of general inter–
est as space permits. Send
your questions to the appro–
priate address listed on the in–
slde front cover, care of The
Plaln Truth.
Q
" 1 have been reading your
booklet called 'The Book of
Revelation Unveiled at Last,' and l'm
still left confused as to where we
stand in Bible prophecy. What comes
first? The disease epidemics, or the
famines, or World War 111? Maybe 1
just don't get the full picture. What is
next in line tor the earth? Can you tell
me?"
Cari W.,
Omaha, Nebraska
A
lt is ditticult to pin down
exactly
where, at any given
moment, we stand in the devel–
opment of Bible prophecy. While
there are many very specific proph–
ecies of particular events in the
Bible, we must also realize that
prophecy
generalizes
about many
end-time conditions. The events of
the Olivet prophecy (Matt. 24, Luke
21, Mark 13) and the correlating
events of Revelation 6 show a gen–
eral picture ot what will happen
prior to the return of Jesus Christ:
False prophets, wars, disease epi–
demics, famines and other proph–
esied events actually began in the
first century of the Christian era!
34
There appears to be a certain dual–
ity or duplication of events involved.
All of the above-mentioned factors
were present to one degree or an–
other prior to the destruction of Je–
rusalem in
A.
D. 70 . However, the
prospect of the total annihilation of
human lite was not possible then–
in fact, it was not possible until re–
cently, with the ushering in of the
atomic age.
1t
is to this end-time age
that Jesus was referring when He
said: "And if those days had not
been shortened, no human being
would be saved" (Matt. 24:22, Re–
vised Standard Version).
lt appears that the same type of
events (wars, pestilence, etc.) will
be repeated, with greater intensity,
just prior to the return of Jesus
Christ. Even now we see such
events occurring throughout the
world. Such happenings will stead–
ily bui ld in intensity and culminate
in one last final war, earthquake,
famine and false prophet just before
Christ sets foot on the Mount of
Olives to take over the kingdoms of
this world . They cannot, however,
be placed in a neat package or one–
two-three order. There is a certain
amount of overlap. lt is a mistake to
attempt to be too specific in dis–
cerning the fulfillment of certain
prophetic events. The main lesson
in prophecy is that Christ ians
should
be prepared
at all times by
maintaining a close relationship
with God so that when these events
begin to happen their salvation will
be assured in Christ. (For more on
this subject, write for the free book–
lets
How to Understand Prophecy
and
The United $tates
and
British
Commonwealth in Prophecy.)
Q
" What did Christ mean when
He referred to 'salt which has
lost 1ts savor'?"
T.A.,
Portland, Oregon
A
Matthew 5:13 reads: "You
are the salt of the earth; but if
salt has lost its taste, how shall its
saltness be restored? lt is no longer
good for anything except to be
thrown out ..." (RSV). Apparently
this was a common analogy with
Jesus, as similar words are found in
Mark 9:50 and Luke 14:34.
Natural Dead Sea salt is capable
of having the actual sodium chlo–
ride (table salt) leached out, leaving
on ly a residue of magnesium salts
wh ich look like table salt but taste
bitter.
Jesus' message was that a per–
son can profess to be a Christian
but actually lack the distinguishing
characteristics of true Christianity.
Anyone having lost his essential
Christian "taste" will be rejected by
God just as one would reject bitter
salt. For further information on ba–
sic Christianity, write for our free
booklet entitled
What ls a Real
Christian?
Q
" In one of your past articles
you stated: 'Believe it or not,
Jesus Christ did not convert one
single person during His entire
earthly ministry . . .. • Perhaps this is
a misprint, but 1was taught that hun–
dreds, and perhaps even thousands,
became followers of Jesus Christ be–
fore He was crucified . To me, these
followers were converts. ' '
J.C.,
Fulton, Missouri
A
Certainly Jesus had many fol–
lowers during His earthly min–
istry. The book of Matthew states
that "great multitudes followed
him" and "great multitudes came
unto him" (Matt. 8:1; 15:30). (See
also Luke 6:17; Matthew 21:1-11;
and John 12:19 in this regard.)
However, being a follower of
Jesus Christ and being truly con–
verted are not one and the same
thing from the bíblica! point of view.
Conversion (being a real Christian)
by definition involves the receipt of
the Holy Spirit. Notice Romans 8:9:
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1977