Introduction
This is the word of the Lord,
Matthew 21:23–27 ESV: 23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
As we’ve traversed through the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 21 has marked a stark distinction in how Jesus approaches his ministry on the earth.
He is no longer quiet about his Messianic identity. He is going all out. He has entered Jerusalem, the heart of the nation of Israel. He is marching to the cross.
He knows he will die here. His words and actions in Jerusalem will catapult the opposition into a blinded rage in an attempt to destroy this Jewish carpenter.
That is what the mind in the flesh does when it encounters the immovable and unstoppable truth of the Spirit. When you can’t argue or reason your way out, you suppress, you throw tantrums, and then you lash out.
Romans 1:18 ESV: 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
Today’s sermon is about the suppression of truth, which is the de facto position of the human flesh. And now, as Christians, before you assume that I’m talking about those who are out there in the world and of the world and now about us, let me say it as clearly as I can, I’m talking about suppression of truth in your lives.
Even though you and I are a regenerate people who have our sins crucified on Christ’s cross, who are freed from the curse of sin and death, we are still beings in the flesh and the effects of sin and temptation continue to wage war in our bodies.
Jesus said in his High Priestly prayer, in John 17:15-16
John 17:15–16 ESV: 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
He also told us that, Matthew 18:7
Matthew 18:7 ESV: 7 “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!
We are no longer under the bondage of sin but sin is still a very pressing reality in our lives. We are called to fight because we have been given the means to defeat our flesh. We are not helpless anymore for the Lord Himself is our help.
1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV: 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
So, the force of temptation, the allure of sin and selfishness, pride, and all the weaknesses of the flesh are ever before us. The question is, “How intentional are we in this war?”.
Romans 6:1–2 ESV: 1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
This is how unintentional Christians think about their salvation. Since we are no longer under the curse of sin, how bad can it be if we fall? And Paul’s basic response is that such thinking isn’t Christian thinking. The Christian response to all sin is, “How can I live in this when I have died to it? I’m dead to this!”
The Christian does not justify or make room for sin, he knows it to be wrong and deals with it accordingly, like one who is dead to that kind of life.
Unrelenting Sleuth On the Scent of Truth
The most crucial and transformative period of my life in coming to a strong and rooted faith in Christ, as I’m sure is the case for many of you, was when I resolved to pursue truth. At some point in my life, it suddenly mattered as it should for all of you, what the truth was.
And when I say truth, I mean it from top to bottom. Not just about the higher philosophical realities of existence and purpose, but also about the reality of day-to-day life and decisions. I realized that it matters that we know why we do what we do and whether we should do what we do.
Life hung in the balance for me at that point because I had to make sense of questions like,
- Why am I here?
- What must I do?
- How must I honor my Father and Mother?
- When and how do I disagree with my parents?
- When do I pursue marriage?
- What do I do with my money?
- Whom do I marry?
- Can I fall in love?
- How do I treat women?
- What are the boundaries of friendship?
- Why must I do engineering?
- Do my grades really matter?
- How high should I aim?
- Can I have ambitions?
- How do I make the right decisions about career and lifestyle choices?
- What movies can I watch?
- Do I need to be a part of the church?
- How must I steward my generosity?
- How must I steward my time?
- Do I join this college or do I accept this job offer?
Trust me, I can go on and on and on and on, and not stop. So many Christians are stuck on so many of these questions because they’ve never bothered to be intentional about their pursuit of truth (about reality, about what really matters) in the small things that suddenly they are caught off guard as though something strange were happening to them. Then, they run to their prayer closets to seek God’s magical answer to their problem while also praying that they wouldn’t catch a cold from all the dust in that unused closet.
John Piper in his poem, The Calvinist, has this phrase – unrelenting sleuth on the scent of truth. Are you unrelenting in the pursuit of truth? I was and that has always been the bottom-most foundational reality in my Christian life. Everything I pursue has to align with what I believe to be true, and what I believe to be true must be ratified by the Bible.
Romans 1 against the whole wide world
Allow me some time to take you through the nature of the flesh as it is revealed in Romans 1. Now, mind you that when a sleuth finds himself in this chapter, he may end up MIA – Missing in Action. Romans 1 is like a mirror maze. Whichever way you turn and run, you run headfirst into your exposed self and it hurts. If there was ever a chapter in the Bible that was written to send the worldliness inside of you reeling in horror and fear, it is this one.
So, have a prayer in your heart for me as I go into Romans 1 and try to navigate our way through some of this truth in under 10 mins.
Paul begins by mentioning his intention in Romans 1:15
Romans 1:15 ESV: 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
• The apostle Paul is a very logically minded guy and you have to follow his reasoning. What we find after this statement is a cascade of causes. The conjunction ‘for’ in the Bible is a word that points you to the cause. It is a word that precedes the explanation, the reason.
• He is eager to preach the gospel. Not the five ways to please your wife or the 10 ways to hold your tongue. The Bible does speak about all these things and they need to be preached, but Paul’s talking about the essence of preaching, the centrality of the message regardless of what your topic might be. Everything comes out of this most central and unavoidable message, of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Your eagerness to preach anything must be at its most fundamental level a desire to preach the Gospel.
Romans 1:16 ESV: 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
• According to Paul, the eagerness of preaching the Gospel is an unashamed love for it. This means that the hesitation to preach the Gospel may be a strong indicator that you are ashamed of the Gospel.
• Paul can’t imagine how one could be ashamed about the power of God that saves everyone who believes, whether Jew or Greek.
Romans 1:17 ESV: 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
• The Gospel is the power that saves because it is the revelation of God’s righteousness that is revealed from faith to faith.
• So you have to work your way back from these three cascading ‘for’s and see how God’s righteousness which is his just approval, moral perfection, the purest right that has no wrong; how this perfection of light with all its power is presented or revealed in the message of the Gospel which is that Jesus died and rose again so that if you believe in him you shall not perish but this pure and perfect light shall cleanse you, but if you do not believe in Christ, you will perish without any hope of a salvation.
He hashes out this judgment in the next verse,
Romans 1:18 ESV: 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
• See how the Gospel is the revelation of God’s righteousness, his salvation, and those who reject this salvation are called suppressers of the truth.
Jesus, when talking about our salvation said, in John 14:6
John 14:6 ESV: 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
This is the glory of the truth, that Jesus is the truth.
When Moses asked God for his name in Exodus 33, God responded with ‘I AM’. There is a reason that this is the highest name. When you and I use our names we are using words to represent who we are. They are identifying titles to who we are as a person. But who God is as a Being is Existence as we know it.
John 1:3 ESV: 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
No creature can claim to exist apart from God. We exist because he exists.
In much the same way, when Jesus says that he is the truth, he means to say that there is no truth if there is no Christ. He is the Truth.
Paul tells that Christ is the One,
Colossians 2:3 ESV: 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
There is no knowledge apart from knowing Christ. The one who forsakes Christ is forsaking knowledge.
Therefore, what sin does, what the flesh in unrighteousness does, is forsake Christ because you can’t argue with truth, you have to yield. But if you don’t want to yield, the only thing you can do is ‘suppress’.
And when you suppress, you forsake knowledge, wisdom, and above all, truth.
And God’s wrath is revealed against such people.
Romans 1:19–21 ESV: 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
• God has made plain to us the truth. Every act of creation, the cosmos is a constant megaphone declaring to you the truth about God. You cannot escape it. Therefore, sin is not ignorant, it is intentional. It is foolishness.
Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV: 1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
God has always been speaking, and the coming of Jesus was the loudest and clearest speech. The Gospel is the loudest statement from Heaven.
So, in summarising this cascading causes in Romans 1, God has always been revealing the truth to the world, and the Gospel is the loudest and clearest message of truth. And through the Gospel is revealed the power of God for righteousness and salvation to those who are in the unrelenting pursuit of truth, but for those who suppress the truth the Gospel is the decisive stroke of judgment.
The Centrality of Truth
When the Gospel took such root in my life, I understood that I cannot answer any of the questions in my life meaningfully without the reality of this God in my life.
I understood that the only place that I can find the answers to all the questions pertaining to my life were in the pages of the Bible.
Cornelius Van Til, a Dutch-American philosopher and theologian was famously known to have said that The Bible is authoritative on everything of which it speaks. Moreover, it speaks of everything.
And this has been the foundation stone of much of my practical Christian life and even my apologetics.
Armed with this understanding, let us look at this short passage in Matthew 21
Exegesis
Matthew 21:23 ESV: 23 And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
• Here we find Jesus back at the temple teaching the people. The Messiah had gone from cleansing the temple to healing the sick and now teaching them.
For all the parents in the room, here is a picture of how the rod of discipline should be used. Discipline is meant to drive out the evil, heal the wounded and to teach.
If you use the rod only to punish and not to heal or to teach, then you are in greater need of the rod than your children.
Be Christlike in your parenting. Let your anger heal and train, not destroy those whom God has placed under your care.
• If there was one thing that the people could not deny, it was the authority with which Jesus spoke and did what he did.
In an earlier passage we’d read,
Matthew 7:28–29 ESV: 28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
So, when Jesus chases out the money changers and traders from the temple courts and then heals the truly needy and teaches them in the place where only yesterday was buzzing with trade, the crowds are watching an authoritative man.
In fact, such was the authority with which he conducted himself that none opposed him as he disrupted trade across acres of land overturning the table of the money changers, beating and driving out birds and goats and the people.
• This again is the nature of Christ, the truth. Since God is the I AM, the only uncaused cause, the very embodiment of existence as we know it; that when he shows up, the authority of his presence will be unlike anything else that exists. When God walks into the room so-to-speak, it’ll be unlike anyone else walking into the room. His very existence is existence.
And here, standing before these Jews was the very truth incarnate, the highest truth and instead of falling flat on their face, they wanted to know his credentials.
This is what the flesh does when it encounters truth. You cannot deny it, debate it, overpower it, so you suppress, you dismiss, and what better way to do that than you try and discredit it.
• By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?
This question is two-fold. It questions Jesus’ authority and the one who gave him that authority. They cannot question the reasoning behind his cleansing of the temple, they cannot deny the reality that people are healed, and they cannot argue with his teaching. So, they ask for his qualifications.
Matthew 13:55 ESV: 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
John 1:46 ESV: 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Matthew 21:24 ESV: 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
• For those of you here who are more technically aligned, here is an example of what we call pre-suppositional apologetics. Jesus does not rush to satisfy their request to see the evidence of his qualification. Instead, he presupposes their worldview according to which it does not matter if someone is speaking the truth or doing good things, it matters that he is officially given such authority.
Matthew 21:25–26 ESV: 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
• According to their worldview, if they denied John’s authority, the crowds would turn against them because they believed he is a prophet. On the other hand, if they agreed that it was from heaven, then they are caught for not believing him. Jesus knew that the Chief priests and elders were behaving inconsistently. That they were swayed not by credentials but by the lust for power and the authority they possessed over the people. This forced them to behave inconsistently in how they dealt with John’s ministry. Though they themselves did not believe John, they did not oppose him in front of the crowd.
• Now, see how when push comes to shove, they weren’t bothered about the truth. They did not want to answer truthfully. ‘If we say this, then…’
So many of us in our flesh deal with life in this manner. These chiefs, elders of the people would not answer truthfully because it would either lose them their popularity or it would hurt their ego.
Is Truth your higher treasure? Or are you all about truth when it is most convenient for you?
• How would you deal with sin if it were pointed out to you by your children? Would you receive it or would you question the maturity of their age, their authority?
• The piety of these elders of Israel was an outer display with no inward reality. They prayed aloud so that they could be seen by others, they were generous so that people would speak highly of them.
Are you the same Christian on the inside as you have shown yourself to be on the outside?
When push comes to shove, are you as heavenly minded as you say you are? Do you desire the glory of his name, the glory of his church, and building of his kingdom above all things? Or do you desire your own welfare more?
• Doug Wilson talks about how Christians like to put sin and righteousness on the stuff rather than weigh it upon their hearts. Some like to see their righteousness in the fact that they don’t watch movies, listen to secular music or hang around with unbelievers. Yet none of these things prove any measure of your righteousness.
If you must know, your pastor watches movies, listens to secular music, and hangs around with his unbeliever friends. The measure of my righteousness is not found in me avoiding this world because I am in this world. It must be measured by how much the world has not mastered me, but how in Christ I have mastered the world.
Have you not read Paul who wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:23
1 Corinthians 10:23 ESV: 23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.
• How true is your faith? How genuine is your confession? How passionate are you to want truth to be the banner over your home?
It is easy to be a Christian on a Sunday morning and behind a pulpit. But how Christian are you at home?
Matthew 21:27 ESV: 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
• We do not know – In what they thought would be a wise response, they revealed their foolishness. These who came to question Jesus’ authority were people without knowledge. They were left empty and their response shows their lack of authority.
Christ who spoke and worked with such authority stood in stark contrast to these who could not answer his question.
So, Jesus establishes his superior authority by revealing the spiritual nakedness of the Jewish elite.
• And as John Piper pointed out, “Jesus does not deal with those who suppress the truth.”
Conclusion
Jesus who is the very embodiment of truth, does not deal with those who do not love the truth.
The spiritually mature person is one who has gone down further along the road of truth, those who are more aware of it and have aligned their lives to it.
• Anxiety – Trust
• Interests of others
• Dependence on God more than money
• Obey scripture more than culture
• Pray more
• Whose ambitions serve the Glory of God and the good of his Church
Introduction
This is the word of the Lord,
Revelation 22:10-21
Revelation 22:10–21 ESV
10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,
19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Let us pray!
In keeping with my plan, I am determined to use this second week of our study on the last things, to lay the groundwork I feel is necessary for a proper, God-glorifying approach to the study of this subject of Eschatology.
As I spent a good deal of time last week unpacking the need that Christians have to love and pursue the subject of Eschatology, I hope that we can all agree that all of Scripture is profitable and that as Christians we do not pick and choose what we find more important.
The whole of Scripture is important.
Matthew 5:18
Matthew 5:18 ESV
18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Isaiah 55:10–11 ESV
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
This is the difference between God’s word and ours.
We, humans, who are created in the image of God, have a powerful tongue.
Proverbs 18:21 ESV
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
James 3:5–6 ESV
5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.
Ephesians 4:29 ESV
29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
But the power of our tongue is limited just as we are limited. We were created in the likeness of God, and as far apart as God is from us, so also is the power of our tongue from his.
The foolishness of modern theologians who propagate this ‘name it and claim it’ doctrine is a foolishness that forgets that he is not God.
And for those who think God is in the business of giving you everything you name and claim are those who have not tasted the hot rod of righteous parent.
Modern theologians playing ‘name it and claim it’ seem to forget that God isn’t an ATM where you just punch in your desires and expect cash to come flying out!
The hypocrisy of those who hold to this doctrine is made plainly evident in the fact that they don’t believe their children can do the same to them when they visit the mall.
But God, unlike us, is not limited. The power of his tongue created the world and everything in it. Out of the infinity of His Being, comes the words he speaks. Therefore, his word shall accomplish and succeed in the thing for which it was sent.
This book that I hold in my hands is God’s word. 2 Timothy 3:16
2 Timothy 3:16 ESV
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Therefore, in our expository study of the Gospel of Matthew, having reached chapter 24, we must consider the details of this prophecy and the eschatological outcome of it with great diligence and eagerness.
Because this is the true, life-giving, certain and imperishable word of God.
So, the first principle of ‘how we study the subject of eschatology’ is to realise that this is God’s word. The nature of mystery in prophetic language does not make this a matter of human imagination.
This is the word of God, and we interpret the matters of Eschatology like we do any other passage in Scripture – by tying to get at what God intends, and not my importing in our ideas of what makes sense. No amount of mystery in Scripture gives us the excuse to eisegete or read in our opinions. We are exegetes, we let the Scripture read out to us what God intends.
Recap
Now, last week we looked at ‘Why Eschatology Matters’, this week we consider ‘How to approach the study of Eschatology’.
Let me summarise the last week in three simple statements.
1. Eschatology matters because God wrote about it in Scripture
2. Eschatology matters because the fabric of the Christian life from conversion to final glory is woven in an Eschatological pattern
2 Timothy 4:8 ESV
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
3. Eschatology matters because heaven and earth are passing away, all things are perishing. And the things that remain are given to us in the eschaton.
We are travellers passing through a world that is slowly fading away.
Special Hermeneutics
This is the word of God, and we interpret the matters of Eschatology like we do any other passage in Scripture – by tying to get at what God intends, and not my importing in our ideas of what makes sense.
Now, one of the worries I have when preaching on such a subject are the level of complexities that are involved, and the last thing I want to do is to turn this into a seminary class.
Having said that, there is a certain extent of technical detail that I believe we need to dive into if we’re to understand these matters.
One of those details has to do with what is known as Biblical Hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is just a fancy word for the study of principles and methods for interpreting and understanding a literary text.
This isn’t a strange phenomenon. We all do this. In our attempt to understand anything we read or see or hear, we involuntarily seek out the context or the situation, identify the author and the audience, and try to interpret within that grid of understanding.
Or the other way around, we try to picture the context based on what we hear or read.
We do not exercise understanding in a vacuum. Intelligibility demands a context.
If then, by practice and analysis, you wrote out the main principles for how you can best understand a text that you read, those principles form your hermeneutic grid.
So, when it comes to Biblical Hermeneutics, we are talking about literary consensus on how to interpret the Bible.
There may be many interpreters of the Bible, but there are not many valid interpretations of it. There is only one true interpretation and that is the interpretation that God intended.
Now, all orthodox Christian theologians agree on the General Hermeneutic principles of interpreting the Bible. The disagreement surrounds what is known as the Special Hermeneutics when it comes to the more prophetic or poetic parts of Scripture.
Many theologians prefer a more literal interpretation of Scripture but everyone has to deal with symbolisms. And when it comes to prophecy, allegory, parable or the kind, one cannot take a literal approach.
And the debate is really around how you categorise such texts.
For example, the Bible contains similes (the kingdom of God is like) which is an expressed comparison. This is a kind of symbolic language.
A parable is an extended form of a simile.
But the Bible also contains metaphors (I am the bread of life) where the subject and its comparison are identified as one, but clearly in a symbolic nature and not a literal nature.
An allegory is an extended form of a metaphor. Galatians 4:21-31
Galatians 4:21–31 ESV
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman.
23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise.
24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar.
25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
27 For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.
30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.”
31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.
Yet, the lines can get very blurry when distinguishing parables and allegories.
Therefore, it is important to keep in mind that your use of these hermeneutical principles will affect the outcome of your eschatological standpoint. And if applied poorly, it will have direct implications in your conviction.
Again, the idea here is not for all of you to get intellectually tongue-tied with all these details.
But rather, it is for you to see how, many of you might naturally default to see certain things as symbols while others might see them more literally.
How much of the poetic and prophetic language of Scripture is parabolic or allegorical?
In most cases, like the ones I just shared, I doubt there’d be any debate. We know that Jesus is not physical bread and the kingdom of God is not a physical fish net cast upon a literal sea.
But what do you do about the 1000 years of peace (the millennium) that Revelation 20 talks about. Is that a literal 1000 years or a figurative one?
During the millennial reign of Christ, is he physically here ruling on the earth, or is this a spiritual metaphor of the sovereign rule of Christ over all things on the earth?
In Revelation 21, the New Jerusalem is described as coming down from heaven. Should we interpret this as a literal city descending from the sky, or is it symbolic of God’s presence dwelling among His people?
The symbolism of the number “666” in Revelation 13 has been the subject of much speculation. How do we approach the interpretation of this number and its significance?
The Bible is rich from a literary standpoint. God’s word is full of a variety of literary genres ranging from songs, to poems, to letters, historical narratives, wisdom, prophecy and apocalypse.
And biblical hermeneutics provides a necessary framework in order to interpret all these books of the Bible.
The apocalyptic language found in sections of Daniel and the book of Revelation should not be dismissed lightly. Similar to a discerning artist who recognizes the worth of a masterpiece, a genuine theologian appreciates the importance of this genre and diligently seeks its riches, just as with any other portion of Scripture.
The 4 Views
Now, after wrestling with these questions theologians broadly fall under four camps when considering the subject of Eschatology.
1. Historicism – interprets the prophecies of the Bible, particularly those in the book of Revelation, as unfolding gradually throughout history from the time of the apostles to the present day and beyond. Proponents of historicism often identify key historical figures and events with the symbols and imagery found in prophetic passages, seeking to correlate biblical prophecy with specific historical periods.
2. Futurism: Futurism holds that many of the prophecies concerning the end times, particularly those found in the book of Revelation, are yet to be fulfilled in the future. Futurists anticipate a series of events that will occur preceding and following the return of Christ, including the rise of a global ruler (Antichrist), a period of tribulation, the Second Coming of Christ, and the establishment of His millennial kingdom.
3. Idealism or Symbolism: Idealism, also known as spiritual or symbolic interpretation, emphasizes the timeless and symbolic nature of the prophecies in the Bible, particularly those in the book of Revelation. Idealists view apocalyptic language as conveying spiritual truths about the ongoing struggle between good and evil, the triumph of Christ over the forces of darkness, and the ultimate victory of God’s kingdom.
4. Preterism: Preterism holds that many, if not all, of the prophecies concerning the end times, including those found in the book of Revelation, were fulfilled in the past, particularly in the events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Preterists interpret much of the apocalyptic language in the Bible symbolically or metaphorically rather than as predictions of future events.
A Christian Disagreement
As I mentioned last week, orthodox bible-believing born-again Christians can disagree in their application of these special hermeneutics when it comes to such passages.
For many people, such disagreements get in the way of their friendship. And the reason for this is immaturity. Now, I’m not talking about disagreement on primary or cardinal doctrines that define a Christian, but rather on secondary and tertiary issues.
A mature and seasoned theologian recognises the ambiguity that arises from these hermeneutic applications, and is able to make his case strongly while sympathising with the one that disagrees.
And by and large, our culture has propagated a futurist approach to eschatology that leads to what is known as a pre-millennial view of the last things.
• In Premillennialism, the second coming of Jesus (the appearing of Christ that Christians are instructed to love), is before the 1000 years of peace , the millennial rule of Christ.
They believe that the corruption of this world would lead to its constant deterioration and finally, the anti-Christ would be revealed. He would be a global, political and spiritual leader.
He will terrorise the Christians for a time known as the great tribulation. (These are the events Jesus forewarns in Matthew 24). So, the futurist sees these events as taking place in our future.
And after the period of tribulation, Jesus will come and cast the anti-Christ into hell, bind Satan and establish his millennial rule.
At the end of this rule, Satan will be released again and he will lead many astray, and this will conclude in the final battle.
Then Satan and all the wicked are cast into hell and Christians received into eternal rest at the final judgment.
Then Christ ushers in eternity in the New heavens and the New earth.
Not only is premillennialism the predominant view of our time, it is often propagated as the only possible view of the end times. Anything else can almost be a heresy in people’s minds.
• In Amillennialism, the second coming of Jesus, often referred to as the parousia, is not tied to a literal thousand-year reign on earth. Instead, amillennialists interpret the millennium symbolically as representing the present age of the church. In this view, Christ’s reign is spiritual and ongoing, extending from His ascension to His return.
Amillennialists do not anticipate a specific future period of tribulation or the reign of an earthly Antichrist. Instead, they see tribulation and persecution as ongoing realities faced by the church throughout history, as Jesus forewarned in passages like Matthew 24. These events are understood symbolically, representing the struggles and trials experienced by believers until Christ’s return.
Rather than a distinct period of tribulation followed by a literal thousand-year reign, amillennialists believe in a single, comprehensive judgment at Christ’s return. This judgment includes the defeat of Satan, the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked, and the final separation of believers and unbelievers.
After this judgment, amillennialists anticipate the establishment of the new heavens and new earth, where Christ’s eternal kingdom will be fully realized.
• In Postmillennialism, the expectation is that the second coming of Jesus, or the Parousia, occurs after a period of unprecedented spiritual and cultural renewal, often referred to as the “golden age” or the “millennium.” This view holds that through the preaching of the Gospel and the influence of Christianity, society will gradually become more aligned with God’s kingdom values, resulting in widespread peace, justice, and righteousness on earth.
Postmillennials are preterists who see the events of the great tribulation, the anti-Christ and so on as being a thing of the past – events surrounding the destruction of the Jewish temple in AD 70.
Like amillennials, postmillennials believe that we are presently living in the millennial rule of Christ, but unlike the amillennials, postmillennials do not see this rule as being only a spiritual reality having spiritual implications on the believer.
They see this as the sovereign rule of Christ having direct implications in all of creation.
They differ in their emphasis on the practical implications and extent of His rule over creation during this period.
Theologians of great learning and expertise have often oscillated between these different millennial views over time, and it is necessary for us as Christians to hold cautiously to our position although we may be entirely convinced at the moment.
Let it not be said of us that the Millennium is a thousand years of peace that Christians like to fight about.
Exegesis
Now, what are we to do as a Church? How do we navigate this subject?
Well, you must understand church that the leadership of this church is predominantly postmillennial. We’re partial preterists.
As we preach, teach and govern the growing culture within our community, we are not preparing for the imminent rapture and the great tribulation.
Quite the contrary, we have our eyes set to Christianise the world and its pagan culture under the millennial rule of Christ.
We see the great commission given to the church in Matthew 28:18-20
Matthew 28:18–20 ESV
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
as a commission the church will succeed it, namely baptising entire nations in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We have an optimistic outlook on the future, where we believe that the world will be increasingly Christianised in this millennial age.
And so, what I will be doing as we begin unpacking Matthew 24 starting next week, is unpack it from a preterist perspective. And I welcome all questions that you may have that we can discuss after the service, during our mid-week Bible study and you can send in your questions to the Google Form we have made available as was announced earlier in the service.
Eschatology is a matter to be learned, discussed, and debated among fellow Christians. Given the ambiguity and mystery that is involved, it is necessary for this theological study (more so than other matters) to be nurtured in fellowship and congregational discussion.
But before I close, I want us to look briefly at the end of the book of Revelation.
Revelation 22:10–11 ESV
10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
• Much of the book of Revelation addresses the events preceding the millennial rule of Christ, and is aimed at preparing the people for the imminent return of Christ in judgment upon the world.
• The book begins with this verse, Revelation 1:1
Revelation 1:1 ESV
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
Given the repeated language throughout the New Testament of the imminent coming of the Son of Man in judgment upon the world to usher in his millennial rule, when the book of Revelation begins with a reference to things that must ‘soon’ take place, I do not see the word soon here as a symbol.
I understand that Christians point to verses like 2 Peter 3:8
2 Peter 3:8 ESV
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
But by that kind of simplistic application where ‘soon’ means centuries, one could argue that the 1000 years of the millennium is actually just a day.
But this language is repeated throughout the New Testament and even in the book of Revelation.
Revelation 22:7 ESV
7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Revelation 22:12 ESV
12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.
Revelation 22:20 ESV
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Not only is the beginning of the book of Revelation a sign of his coming soon, but the last chapter repeatedly emphasises this as you can see.
• Even more, John, unlike Daniel is told not to seal up the words of the prophecy. Daniel 12:4
Daniel 12:4 ESV
4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
John is instructed not to seal up the words of the prophecy because of the imminent expectation of these things.
• In fact, so imminent is this return that evildoers are still evildoers, the filthy remain filthy, the righteous still do right and the holy still be holy.
So imminent is the expectation of these things that there is so little time for repentance and change. This is also an echo of the call to repentance as we see in Isaiah 55:6
Isaiah 55:6 ESV
6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
Revelation 22:12–15 ESV
12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
• This is the coming of Christ in judgment to repay each one for what he has done. Much of this language sets this coming apart from the final judgment at the end of the millennium.
• The call in light of the imminent coming of Christ is for people to wash their robes that they may have eternal life.
• The lovers of falsehood shall not enter.
Revelation 22:16 ESV
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
• Jesus has made known these eschatological truths known ‘for the churches’. It is meant for us to know these things.
• Christ is the root and descendant of David that was long prophesied about who would bring the kingdom of God upon the world and usher in the last days.
• The bright morning star is a reference to Venus that appears in the sky like a star and is the last start to disappear in the morning light given its proximity to the earth.
It serves as the morning reminder of hope that endures.
Revelation 22:17 ESV
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
• The Bride of Christ and the Holy Spirit who convicts the hearts of men say, “Come”. This is an evangelistic invitation for all who are thirsty to come and take the water of life without price.
The evangelism of the Christian is an eschatological ministry.
Revelation 22:18–19 ESV
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,
19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
• It is therefore incumbent on the Christians to realise that the study of Eschatology is not a matter of fantastical and imaginative storytelling, but of serious, solemn and yet joyful pursuit. Not to add or take away, but to receive and keep what is given.
Revelation 22:20–21 ESV
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
• From the point of view of John’s immediate readers, Christ was to come ‘soon’. If all of the references of the imminent return of Christ in the New Testament was a symbol pointing to centuries, I am afraid that it is too difficult for anyone to know what is and is not a symbol in Scripture.
At some point, it is almost a sort of trick, a clever deception to the readers which the Lord Jesus Christ will never do.
Conclusion
Here are then my summary points on how to approach the study of Eschatology
1. Recognize Eschatology as God’s Word: Understand the mystery of prophetic language and its divine origin.
2. Hermeneutical Principles Matter: Application of sound principles impacts your eschatological stance and conviction.
3. Treasure Prophetic Genre: Like a discerning artist, value the prophetic genre and diligently seek its riches.
4. Embrace Ambiguity: Acknowledge ambiguity in interpretations and respectfully engage with differing views.
5. Exercise Caution in Position Holding: Be cautious in holding to a particular millennial view, recognizing the historical oscillation of theologians.
6. Avoid Division: Eschew unnecessary conflicts over eschatological interpretations.
7. Foster Fellowship and Discussion: Encourage learning, discussion, and debate within the Christian community.
8. Approach Eschatology with Sobriety: Engage in the study of Eschatology with seriousness, solemnity, and joy, avoiding fantastical interpretations.
