Copyright 1996 - 1999©
Calvary Chapel of Port Charlotte
as of 9-2006
1Thessalonians 5:1-11
"Differing Eschatological Views"
(Pastor Drew Worthen, Calvary Chapel Port Charlotte, Fl.)
1TH 5:1 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
This chapter comes on the heels of the encouragement Paul gave to the Thessalonian Christians concerning how their loved ones, who have died in Christ, and those O.T. saints who have died in the faith looking for the Messiah, will in fact not be left out when Jesus comes back to snatch His people away before the Great tribulation to come.
This was meant to be a comfort to the Church so that they wouldn't have to worry about their loved ones who had "fallen asleep", which is another way of saying, those who have died. Paul didn't want them to be ignorant of their future. And so he comforts them in this way. And yet it has appeared to be anything but a comfort to many today who have battled over this area of future events known as eschatology.
Eschatology comes from two Greek words eschato which means last and logi which is the study of something. And so eschatology, from a Theological standpoint, is the study of the last things concerning this world and the return of Jesus Christ who will ultimately bring it to an end.
We are going to look at various views of how Godly men, who believe the scriptures to be the inspired word of God, have arrived at completely different conclusions when it comes to the study of end time events.
But, before I do this, I would like to briefly comment of some of these verses here in chapter 5 as they relate to us today.
1TH 5:1 Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
So often we hear of different schemes or prophecies of when Jesus will rapture His church out of this world. And in every case, without exception, they have all been wrong. This has led to despair, confusion and even being disillusioned with Christianity as believers have placed their confidence in people they thought were trustworthy, handling accurately the Word of God.
But this is a danger which we can avoid simply by realizing that this event of our Lord's return to meet us in the air is not meant to be dated. Jesus makes this clear in the 24th chapter of Matthew.
MAT 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."
As we saw last week, there will be no special signs, other than the signs we see in the world which continue to demonstrate the birth pangs of the earth as it awaits redemption. Wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes in various places, famines and the like. And here in our text Paul brings this out once again to show us that trying to set dates is not to be our concern.
1TH 5:1 "Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night."
Just as a thief does not introduce himself neither will Jesus introduce Himself. It will be in secret with no special signs. But, this should not mean we shouldn't be ready for His coming, awaiting patiently and faithfully as we look to Him for all things.
1TH 5:3 While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
There may be relative peace and safety in the world and yet, like the calm before the storm, Jesus will come and will take His people to Himself. This will mark the beginning of the end, and what appeared to be peace will now give way for the anti-Christ to come in to begin his campaign of deceit and destruction.
As we look at the differences between how Christians look at this future unfolding before us we will then come back to our text to consider what all of us should be doing in the meantime. The future may not be fully understood today, but we know something about today and what God expects of us.
So without further adieu let us consider how other believers look to the future. The main reason for distinctions in the way others look at future redemptive events has to do with how each interpret different passages of scripture, especially unfulfilled prophecy. This process of interpretation of scripture is known as hermeneutics.
There are two main schools of thought when it comes to hermeneutics and eschatology. Those who are referred to as preterists, who believe that the writers of Scripture were speaking to the those they addressed and who would have understood the future events to have taken place in their lifetime; and those who are futurists who understand the bible as teaching that these events were for a time in the future, which may not have included the 1st century Christians.
However, since our world is not usually broken down into black and white, most bible believing Christians, at times, find themselves adhering to both sets of rules of hermeneutics.
For example, when one comes to God's word, there will be times when the words themselves, which are inspired by the Holy Spirit, are to be taken literally and meant for the day in which they were written.
Paul was very clear about this when he told the Thessalonians in 1TH 4:15 "According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep."
As far as Paul was concerned he expected that Jesus could come back during his lifetime. He includes himself when he says, "we who are still alive...". And yet to suggest that Jesus was not talking about a future event which could not have been fulfilled in A.D. 70, with the destruction of Jerusalem, is to read something into the passage that simply is not there.
MAT 24:21 "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened."
The Preterist would contend that many of those who read John's gospel would be alive when this would happen. The futurist would contend that it did not happen in John's day and has yet to happen. In fact, history would bear this out, because the destruction of Jerusalem which many Preterists believe fulfill this passage in John have to explain how this event could possibly be considered a "great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again."
Yes, it was a terrible time for Jews and Christians alike in those days, but one need only look to the holocaust in Nazi Germany and you can conclude quite easily that this event in Jerusalem in A.D. 70 pales in comparison. And so this is certainly a future event. There are many other passages which would bear this out.
But I think as we look at how different Christians look at eschatology we will begin to see that the differences do not have to necessarily cut us off from fellowship with each other. What unites us is what has already happened some 2,000 years ago on a cross at Calvary, not necessarily what is yet to happen in the future.
What I am not suggesting is that we must adopt views which are inconsistent with God's word, but to realize that in some areas there may be enough room to allow differences of opinion without going to war over them.
Dr. Robert Lightner in his book, "The Last Days Handbook" quotes an epithet in a Latin treatise designed to uphold Lutheranism and at the same time call for peace in that church. This treatise reportedly was published in Germany sometime between 1615 and 1630. The message of the poem is most fitting for our day as well, especially in regard to differences over God's plan for the future. When translated into English it reads: "In essentials unity. In uncertainties freedom. In all things love."
This morning I'd like to approach this sometimes volatile subject in a manner of love as we get a glimpse into some of the details of the events from God's word addressing the last things of this world, seen from the side of those who believe differently, as well as from the side Calvary Chapels hold to.
There are more than three positions of eschatology, but the following three are the most accepted. I will give you their names and then define what they mean and then give a shortened look at what they believe.
The three positions all deal with the Kingdom of God and how it will be realized at the end when Jesus comes back. The first we will look at is Amillennialism. The second is Post-millennialism, and the third, which is taught among the Calvary Chapels, is Pre-millennialism.
Millennialism has to do with how Jesus will rule and reign and the time frame
which fits into when and how Jesus will come back to set up His Kingdom. The
word millennium refers to the amount of time of one thousand years and is taken
from the book of Revelation which says in REV 20:6 "Blessed and holy are those
who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over
them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for
a thousand years.
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released
from his prison...."
With that background information lets begin with what the Amillennialists believe. Amillennialism has been with the Church since about the 3rd Century A.D. These Christians believe that the rule and reign of Jesus Christ will not be a literal thousand years on this earth, but view Rev. 20 and other similar passages as symbolic of how Christ is presently ruling and reigning. To quote William Hendrickson: "This Gospel age is the millennium on earth."
This is the reason they are called Amillennialists since the prefix "a" in Latin means "no" or "none". Therefore they believe there will be no literal thousand year reign of Christ on this earth before He comes back.
Now, Jay Adams, who is a proponent of the Amillennialist position, takes issue with this word. He says that "Amillennialism is not only a misnomer because it is negative, but the distinction which it makes is a false one. No amillennialist denies that the Bible teaches a millennium. But the word amillennialism means no millennium. The issue is not whether Revelation 20 teaches a millennium. All amillennialists believe it does. The true difference between amillennialism and the other systems involves two things: 1. The nature of the millennium. 2. The chronological position of the millennium in the economy of God."
This is the reason, by the way, that he prefers the term "realized millennialism", which is to suggest that we are presently realizing the reign of Christ today as He furthers His kingdom through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, until He returns, which is symbolically portrayed by the term millennium.
Since numbers in the Bible are often used to describe more than just an actual number, the Amillennialist would turn to such passages from the Psalms. PSA 50:10 "for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills."
The word thousand, they contend, in Revelation is certainly not limited to a literal thousand year reign upon earth anymore than God is limited to owning cattle only on a thousand hills.
The Amillennialist, also believes, (according to the Westminster Confession), that there will be a progressive culmination of the forces of Satan against God near the end of time, which they see taking place in the 13th chapter of Matthew.
Most of them believe that the saints will experience the Great tribulation at the end of the world which is accompanied by a great apostasy throughout this era which we see in 2 Thess. 2:3-4, "Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God."
They also believe that in the end times there will be a great conversion of the Jews en masse and that the gospel will be preached to all the nations. At this time the Anti-Christ will arise and will deceive the nations for a short time.
They then contend that Christ will bodily return, according to the scriptures, to conquer Satan and his anti-Christ and then resurrect all men at the same time and that the general judgment of all men will take place then.
At that point they believe that God will establish the new heaven and the new earth for all of God's people, both Jew and Gentiles, who will abide forever with the Lord.
If you'd like a detailed explanation, including all of the verses they use, I would direct you to William Hendricksen's book, "The Bible on the life Hereafter."
The second position we'll quickly look at is Post-Millennialism. Post-Millennialism is similar to the A-mil. position but differs in this respect.
While Amillennialism views the time leading up to the second coming of Christ as becoming more and more like the days of Noah where people are simply turning their backs on God, and in the process the world is becoming more and more ungodly, Post-Millennialism believes, as the time of the second coming of Christ approaches, that the preaching of the gospel will become effectual by the Holy Spirit and the world at large will eventually embrace Christ and therefore the world will become more and more Godly just before Christ's return.
The prefix "post" before the word millennium suggests that Christ will come after a Kingdom has been established. The Post-mils. believe that the Kingdom is presently in effect in a spiritual sense and therefore this time is post kingdom time. In the sense that they hold to a present spiritual millennium, they are similar to the A-mils.
They use such scriptures as EPH 1:18 "I pray also that the eyes of your heart
may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called
you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and his
incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of
his mighty strength,
20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from
the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
21 far
above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be
given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
22 And God
placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything
for the church,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills
everything in every way."
And so, in this sense, Christ is now presently ruling and reigning in heaven and the full realization of that Kingdom will happen when the gospel has accomplished all that God wants in bringing peace to this earth and Christ returns to resurrect all men both Christians and non-Christians and bring judgment to the world.
The Post mils. believe that there will be an apostasy for a short period, which is the turning from the one true God, but they differ in their own camp as to whether or not this apostasy will happen before or after the time of the spiritual millennium which they contend is not a literal thousand year time span, but that time of unparalleled prosperity and blessedness until Christ returns.
Then will come Christ's second coming, the general resurrection, general judgment of all men and then the eternal kingdom. In his book, "The Millennium", Dr. Loraine Boettner gives a detailed explanation with all appropriate verses to back this position.
The third position is known as Premillennialism. The prefix "pre", placed before the word millennium suggests that many of the prophecies relating to Christ's second return must be fulfilled before the millennium takes place, which is believed as a literal thousand year reign of Christ on earth. It also suggests that Christ will snatch away (rapture) His church before the thousand year reign, which we looked at last week in 1 Thes.4:15-17.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this study, we will only get a glimpse of these positions, because there just isn't enough time to do a detailed study.
The Premillennial position, like the others, involves many scriptures from both the old and new testament coming together to give a picture of the last time before Christ returns. Using material written by Pastor Chuck Smith I will try to give an overview of this position.
Essential to the teaching of the Premillennial position is the understanding of such old Testament prophecies as the one found in Daniel 9:24-27.
DAN 9:24 "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. 25 "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
According to this prophecy there would be 7 sevens and 62 sevens which add up to 69 sevens which are each seven year periods. If you were to multiply 7 x 69 you come up with 483 years from the time of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
In his book, "The Coming Prince", Sir Robert Anderson explains that this period would have to be predicated on the Babylonian calendar of 360 days per year. Thus 483 years would be 173,880 days. On Mar. 14, 445 B.C., King Artaxerxes of Persia gave the commandment to Nehemiah to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. 173,880 days later brings us to April 6, 32 A.D.. This was the date when Christ made His triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem.
The Messiah was cut off according to this prophecy at the end of 69 sevens. But, in Daniel 9:27 the angel speaks again about the prince, using the pronoun he. "He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
This 70th week of Daniel, according to Premillennial eschatology, is still in the future. This 70th week is that 7 year period of the Great Tribulation which is issued in with the rapture of the church in the air to be with the Lord as they escape this Great Tribulation which will entail God's wrath being poured out on the earth.
The first half of the 7 year period there is relative peace, but during the second half of this seven year period the Anti-Christ will show his true colors. After this seven year period of Great Tribulation the Lord will return to the earth for the final battle of Armegeddon and then will establish the millennial reign of peace on earth.
However, at the end of this 1,000 year reign Satan will be loosed for a short season only to be vanquished by Christ. Quoting Chuck Smith from his book, Dateline Earth, "the earth will be destroyed with fire, time is finished, eternity begun, judgment day at last with all the wicked and all evil thrown into the Lake of Fire."
There will be a new heaven and a new earth where God's people will dwell in the Lord's presence forever. For a detailed explanation of the Premillennial position I would encourage you to read Chuck Smith's books, "Dateline Earth", and the "Tribulation and the Church."
Obviously, I haven't even scratched the surface in fully explaining these three positions. You, literally need maps and charts with all of the bible verses hanging on these charts to clearly see how all of the different prophecies and Biblical events take place and lead up to the final events of Christ's Kingdom coming to fruition.
What complicates things even further is that within these 3 eschatological positions there are many divergent groups who have their own explanation as to how it all comes together.
And so it's not hard to see how it can be very confusing to the uninitiated. And in the process many arguments have arisen as one side battles for position and accuses the other side of not being biblical in their approach.
But, here's a point we must never forget, despite the fact that we may not agree fully with every position regarding the end times and future prophecy, Jesus tells us that the world will know us by our love, not by what eschatological position we hold.
And as important as the things of the future are they are not to be the measure of whether we can have fellowship with this Christian or that Christian.
The apostle John puts it this way. 1JO 1:3 "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ."
This fellowship is the result of God taking a bunch of sinners like us and uniting us under one common banner. It's a banner of love which was purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.
Paul tells us in PHI 2:1 "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."
Our fellowship is the result of Christ alone, and it's brought to fruition through the Holy Spirit. We are to be one in the Spirit with one purpose.
That purpose is first and foremost to love God above all so that we may glorify Him in all that we do and so that we may be effective servants and witnesses of that Kingdom which Christ purchased for us. That Kingdom to which we look forward will be brought in according to God's word and will.
Everyone one of the 3 positions, though they do not agree in many of the details, still agree in the essentials, which state that outside of Christ there is no remission of sins, that Christ is the Son of God who lived, died and rose bodily from the grave to pay the penalty of the sins of all who would repent of their sin and trust Him alone.
They all agree that Jesus rose bodily and ascended to the Father after His forty days of being among His people after His resurrection. They all agree that He will come back to judge the living and the dead and that He will issue in His eternal kingdom.
As Christians we have much more to agree on than we do to disagree on. We need to get on with the work of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that others may know what it is to be a child of God who will not have to spend eternity separated from his creator.
We need to encourage one another and build up one another to be equipped to do the work. And this is what Paul is writing about in the text we started with at the beginning of this study. Our Lord desires for us to walk as children of light and to demonstrate Christ's love shed abroad in our hearts as we take the gospel out in a sin-filled darkened world.
1TH 5:6 "So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."
Our encouragement comes from the truth that Jesus Christ really did come the first time just as prophesied to secure our salvation as He fulfilled all the O.T. prophets wrote of. Just as the sacrificial lamb in Israel pictured the lamb who takes away the sin of the world, we can know that Jesus is that lamb.
May we encourage each other in the truth that just as He did come the first time for us He will also fulfill the promise He made to the disciples that He will return in the same way He left this earth some 2,000 years ago.
Let's not fall into the trap Peter talks about where many unbelievers look at the present time and conclude Jesus was just blowing smoke.
2PE 3:3 "First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers
will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say,
"Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything
goes on as it has since the beginning of creation."
5 But they deliberately
forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed
out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was
deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are
reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly
men. 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day
is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is
not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with
you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
Jesus is coming back just as He promised and He desires that we be faithful in bringing His good news to the world since He does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. We play a role in accomplishing God's will in this respect.
Let me end by saying this. I hold to the Pre-millennial, Pre-tribulation position of the redemptive future. But I will say this, those of the Pan-millennial position will ultimately come out on top because it will all "pan" out in the end as God wills it.
Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!