When will be the end of the church age? Topic(s): Church Todd Clippard The reason the end of the church age is such a confusing doctrine is because it has no basis in scripture. Many preachers are talking about the last days or the end times as if there is some horrible event or series of events about to occur. Again, this doctrine is completely without the support of scripture. Pasted below is an article titled, Are the Last Days of Matthew 24 upon Us?. It is the first in a series of articles refuting the many errors of premillennialism. Are the signs of Matthew 24 upon us? With this article, we begin a series addressing many of the false doctrines currently taught concerning the second coming of Christ. First, it must be understood that there are no signs pointing to the second coming of Jesus Christ. Matthew 24 is one of the most wrongly interpreted chapters in the Bible. In truth, the signs of Matthew 24 point to the destruction of Jerusalem, and not to the second coming. In Matthew 24:1-3 the disciples were asking about Jesus statement concerning the destruction of the temple, and incorrectly linked that event to the end of the world. The disciples (incorrectly) looked for the re-establishment of the physical nation of Israel, even until the day of Jesus ascension (Acts 1:6). It is inconceivable that they could consider the existence of a Jewish state without the presence of the temple. Jesus’ answer in the remainder of chapter 24 and in chapter 25 corrects the disciples’ misunderstanding. In Matthew 24:4-35, Jesus tells the four the signs preceding Jerusalem’s destruction. In 24:36-25:46, Jesus tells of the events of His second coming and the Day of Judgment for all men that will take place at His return. The key to understanding Matthew 24 is verse 34. Two phrases of utmost importance are this generation and these things Consider the phrase this generation in v 34. Of whom would the disciples understand Jesus to be speaking? Answer: Themselves and their contemporaries. However, some premillennialists believe this generation refers to the entire Jewish race. Thus, since the Jewish race is still present in some form, the events in question (vv 4-33) are yet in the future (though many are teaching the events are unfolding before us). Billy Graham has often said Matthew 24 is knocking at the door. Others believe this generation to be those who see the signs of verses 4-33. Both views are wrong. Generation (Gr genea) appears 43 times in the New Testament and 17 of those occurrences appear as this generation. Matthew used the phrase this generation 5 times in his gospel account (11:16-19; 12:34-45; 23:33-36). Jesus was referring to then present-day Jews in all the previous accounts, particularly Matthew 23:36 which is in the immediate context of Matthew 24. So it only makes sense to believe this generation in Matthew 24:34 refers to the same people. Also of importance is the identification and record of the events known as these things. These things refer to the signs found in Matthew 24:4-12 and included: false Christs - vv 4-5; wars and rumors of wars - v 6; famines, pestilences, and earthquakes - v 7; persecution of the saints - vv 9-10; multiplied false prophets and mass apostasy - vv 11-12. Both biblical (Acts 11:28, cf v 7b) and secular (Josephus) accounts show the fulfillment of the list of these things in the years immediately preceding the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. (Flavius Josephus Wars of the Jews, Books V & VI is particularly helpful in this respect). Thus, there is no reason to believe the current state of national or world events has any bearing on the immanency of the Second Coming. Concerning the presence or nearness of the last days, the Bible teaches that we have been living in the last days for nearly 2000 years (Acts 2:16-21;Hebrews 1:1-2; 1 John 2:18). The last days refers not to a specific date and time, but rather a dispensation of time. We are now living in the last days, the days of the Christian Dispensation. First was the Patriarchal Dispensation, then the Mosaic, and now the final period of time, the Christian Dispensation
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 08:51:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015