The Christ in Prophecy Journal

Billy Crone on Preaching Prophecy

Billy Crone on the Signs of the Times

Why should preachers teach Bible Prophecy?

To answer this and many other questions concerning Bible prophecy, Dr. David Reagan and I invited as a special guest on our television program Christ in Prophecy Billy Crone, pastor of a Las Vegas, Nevada church and founder of Get A Life Ministries. Pastor Crone is a very knowledgeable, articulate, and passionate proclaimer of God’s Prophetic Word. He answered our questions based on his latest book The Final Countdown. This book presents a survey of the signs of the times that point to the fact that we are living in the season of the Lord’s soon return.

Preaching Prophecy

Nathan Jones: Billy, why did you feel it’s important to write The Final Countdown, and what is it all about?

Billy Crone: Part of the reason for writing the book is that as a pastor you are supposed to teach the whole counsel of God’s Word. Well, almost one-third of the Bible deals with prophecy, so at some point you have to hit on that topic.

Unfortunately, the trend in the Church today is people are ignoring prophecy. In fact, there’s a lie from the pit of Hell, and I’ll boldly say that, that claims that Bible prophecy is basically all doom and gloom. Some pastors are teaching that Bible prophecy is actually bad for the Church! And yet, the irony is if you read Revelation 1, what does it say? Prophecy stands out as not only a blessing for the Church, but it’s a triple-fold blessing to every believer in Christ. Blessed are those who read, who hear, and who take to heart the message contained within the book of Revelation.

Frankly, I think that the Church is getting robbed. The Church is being shoveled that prophecy remains all doom and gloom. It’s as if it’s something bad for you. No, it’s something good for you! Christians are getting robbed. Why? Because when you study Bible prophecy and when you teach prophecy, which is all there in the Bible, and that’s what we pastors are supposed to do, the Church does not get reminded that the Bible came from God.

Have you seen the crazy statistics in the American Church? Those professing Christians, some 50-52%, actually doubt that the Bible came from God. The audacity! These are supposed to be Christians? They claim the Bible did not come from God, or that it contains errors. How in the world could a Christian say something like that?

Well, I’ve got a theory, and it goes like this. When you don’t preach prophecy, Christians are not reminded that the Bible came from God. Old and New Testament prophecies scream that the Bible came from God Himself. The Bible stands out as the only book in the world that contains detailed, fulfilled prophecies. That means only God logically, as the Supreme Being who is above and beyond time, could possibly predict the future, and in such great detail. Only the God of both the Old Testament and New Testaments!

When you don’t teach Bible prophecy, then no wonder Christians start waffling, “Well, maybe the Bible came from God, and maybe it didn’t. Maybe it’s…” No! When you teach Bible prophecy, it ensures the Christian that the Bible is the real deal.

Again, about a third of the Bible covers prophecy. If you want to play statistics, basically about every third page contains prophecy where God is proclaiming, “This Word came from Me. This came from Me!”

Number one, when you don’t teach Bible prophecy, Christians are not reminded about how unique the Bible truly is. Study prophecy and you won’t doubt all of the Bible came from God.

And, number two, I ask pastors this all the time, “You’ve got a congregation that’s worldly, that’s lazy, and that’s apathetic? Your members don’t have a heart for evangelism? Well, then, preach Bible prophecy!”

Because, when you preach prophecy, which you’re supposed to anyway because it is in the Bible, then guess what? Well, we Christians have a tendency to get lazy. We get worldly. Preaching Bible prophecy provides a constant message, “Don’t live for this world.” What does John say? In fact, don’t just live in this world, don’t live for this world. Don’t love this world nor the things of this world. Why? Because it will seduce you away from your Creator. When you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you.

Also, when you preach Bible prophecy, and certainly about the imminent Rapture, it has way of driving home this point — I ain’t got time to goof off. I don’t have time to procrastinate. Jesus is going to come back and He is going to find me doing something. So, what exactly am I doing to further His Kingdom?

Dr. Reagan: In that regard, I often ask preachers and pastors why they don’t preach Bible prophecy. Usually they’ll reply, “Well, it’s all pie in the sky. You don’t understand, I’ve got to preach sermons that are relevant to the problems that these people are dealing with. I’ve got alcoholics. I’ve got drug addicts, and all sorts of things. Therefore, prophecy remains all just pie in the sky.”

The point I make to them is if you can ever convince your congregation of two things you’ll transform them. Number one, Jesus really is coming back. The average Christian believes it in his mind, but does not believe it in his heart. And, number two, the Rapture could occur at any moment. If you could convince them of that truth, they’ll commit their lives to holiness and to evangelism. What more could a pastor want from their congregation?

Billy Crone: That’s basic, bare-bones Christianity relevant to the here and now. Prophecy is what’s missing in the Church today, depriving Christians the message of hope.

Nobody has a brighter future than us as Christians. Hello! The last time I checked, Heaven is way better than here. We get to come back with Jesus and be a part of the Millennial Kingdom and witness God renovate the planet. How awesome and incredible! One day Christians will be ruling and reigning with Jesus Christ. That is exciting!

Nathan Jones: Jesus wins, so we as Christians win as well. We aren’t the losers in this spiritual battle, rather we’re the winners in Christ. What a message of hope!

Billy Crone: One guy once told me, “It’s not much of an advertisement for Jesus as Christians when we walk around looking like our diet consists of pickles and prunes and lemons.” Where’s our joy? No matter what I go through here on earth, nobody can take away my future with Christ. Nobody has a better, brighter future than we Christians. But, you only get that hope when you are reminded by being taught Bible prophecy.

So, basically back to my book about why I wrote it. Number one, teaching the entire Word of God is what we are supposed to do as a pastor. We are supposed to teach all of the Bible, not just some of it. And, number two, I wanted to be a benefit to the Church and to those lost seeking the Savior.

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Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

1 CommentLeave a Comment

  • Pastor Crone really brings out some important points. There is an injection of hope in prophetic preaching that goes even beyond the hope in Christ that is directed towards everyday problems of people sitting in our congregations. God is dealing with me to put stronger emphasis upon the prophetic Word and go beyond the issue of building a stronger character based in Christ to deal with the issues of life. Thank you for this post.
    Pastor Jeff (semi-retired)

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