John B. Symes Hi Don K. Preston. First of all, I want to say how much I enjoy your work and musings. You are a voice in the wilderness. I have been a preterist for about 13 years now, after studying prophecy from the dark side for nearly as long. Everything changed when my then 12 year-old son gave me a book for Christmas that he found at Barnes and Noble. He knew that I was studying the end times so the title attracted him, not knowing that the book contained the other (and correct) side of prophecy. The book was End Times Fiction, by Gary DeMar, with which Im sure you are very familiar. It changed EVERYTHING for me and the truth set me free from the trappings of modern dispensationalism. And...I became a zealot. Don K. Preston John B. Symes, thanks for sharing! I love the story! John B. Symes A number of years ago, while studying Matthew 24, the Lord showed me something that I had never seen written before and I now use it to lead people into the truth of preterism. Now I simply tell people who are interested in prophecy and the truth concerning the end times to read Matthew 24 over and over and over until the truth sinks in. But I also remind them to read it IN CONTEXT, as we should all Scripture, and I set the stage for them a bit by putting Christs prophetic words into context FOR them. As you and most of your readers know, Matthew 24 starts with Jesus answering the question posed to Him by 4 of His disciples...IN PRIVATE...as He leaves the Mount after giving the Pharisees the tongue lashing of their life in Matthew 23, including telling them of the destruction of their precious temple. The Disciples ask Him when this will happen and when the end (of the AGE) will come. (Again, I remind them that Jesus was not talking to me, you, or any of the false prophets of today. He was speaking to 4 of His Disciples IN PRIVATE when He spoke these words). John B. Symes What struck me was WHICH Disciples were in attendance to hear these crucial words (which included when and how Jesus would return in power and glory...within THEIR generation)? The four Disciples were the two sets of brothers - Peter, Andrew, James and JOHN. But...which of Gospel writers included this all-important conversation in their Gospel account? Matthew, Mark and Luke, none of whom were there to hear it. Only JOHN was there to hear these prophecies in person. Why did John not include these vital prophetic words of Christ in his Gospel account? Because...John wrote Revelation instead! This led me to do a parallel study of Matthew 24 and Revelation, showing the amazing similarities between the two, including the chronology of events. John simply, under the direction of Jesus, included MANY more details and much more metaphorical language (that of the Old Testament prophets) to let his readers...with ears to hear...know exactly what was going to happen between Christs resurrection and 70 AD...and beyond. As I tell my listeners, Matthew, Mark and Luke wrote the Cliffs Notes but JOHN wrote the novel. This takes away the mystery of Revelation and makes it read sooo much more easily. I hope this perspective helps some of your readers. May you continue to be richly blessed for your VERY important work! - John Don K. Preston John B. Symes, those parallels between the Olivet Discourse and Revelation are indeed astounding. They are part of what led me to where I am as well. I develop many-- though certainly not all by any means-- of those parallels in my book, Who Is This Babylon? John B. Symes Thank you for your responses! I downloaded your book via Kindle when I first discovered you on FB. Im embarrassed to say that I havent gotten all of the way through it yet but will soon. Life sorta got in the way. I alternate between studying prophecy/preterism and medicine and this has been my life for the past 15 years. Im back in preterism mode ( ) so I will definitely be getting back to your book. If youd like to check out my other God-given passion, you can find it at dogtorj. I hope it helps someone you know...two or four-legged.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 00:03:52 +0000
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