(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to
each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted.)
We do not all perceive the passage of time the same way. As we get older, we reduce time to measurable units: minutes, hours, months, years. When we are young, however, the measurement of time is less distinct.
A husband and wife thought they both looked young for their age and would tell themselves they had hardly aged a day since first laying eyes on each another in college. One day they were discussing a man who was running for public office. "He's a Vietnam Vet," the husband said. "What's that?" queried their four-year-old daughter. Trying to answer the question in terms the child could readily grasp, her father replied, "Well, Honey, that means the man fought in a war that happened when Mommy and Daddy were little." The girl regarded them both thoughtfully for a moment, then asked... "So, was he a Viking?"
We do not all perceive the passage of time the same way. It is so with the past, and it will be so with the future and The Foremost Culmination.
Some people think the Bible is full of contradictions. If you press them for examples, though, they are usually unable to cite any, or the examples they do cite are not, upon close examination, contradictions at all. One illustration might be the apparent conflict between whether we can or cannot know when Jesus will return.
- On the one hand, Jesus says we cannot know.
Matt 24:36 No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
- On the other hand, Paul says we can know.
1 Thess 5:4 ...you...are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.
The difference is not in any real inconsistency between these statements but in the relative specificity of these statements. Both Jesus and Paul are deliberate about what people can know regarding the messiah's next appearance. They are not, though, referring to people's knowledge of the same thing.
- In Matthew, Jesus is using "day" in the sense of a specific date (hence, the even narrower term, "hour"), saying that believers cannot know the precise time of the return.
- In 1 Thessalonians, Paul is using "day" in the sense of a basic period, saying that believers can know the general time of the return.
The concern for both men is that believers not be caught by surprise. Jesus is speaking narrowly in this one verse about what the disciples cannot know, but he speaks broadly in the surrounding verses about what the disciples can know. and about how they should watch for certain signs of his return, which they could not do if they were completely clueless. So Jesus also says...
Matt 24:25 ...I have told you ahead of time.... 33 ...when you see all these things [e.g., 'the abomination that causes desolation,' v. 151, you know that [my return] is near.... 42a Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.... 44b ...[but you can and must] be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour...you do not expect....
Jesus and Paul are not contradicting each other. Moreover, despite what some people think or claim, the Bible is not full of contradictions. It is, in fact, quite consistent and reliable, and we do well to pay careful attention to what it says, especially about...
* LXX The Foremost Culmination
...and of...
...and of...
- The proximity of God (1 Pet 4:7)
1 Pet 4:7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.
When Peter refers to "the end," he is expressing a particular understanding about time. There are two basic views of how time passes, and people have generally adopted one or the other.
- The one view is that time is cyclical, like being on a hamster wheel that goes around and around (a.k.a. the 'wheel of time'). Events repeat themselves without end (> vicious circle). This is the view of eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. They regard time as cyclical.
- The other view is that time is linear, like walking on a tightrope stretched between two points. Events progress from a definite beginning to a definite end. This is the view of western religions like Judaism and Christianity. They regard time as linear.
Peter mentions both views in his second letter, as individuals who hold the first view, that time is cyclical, are attempting to influence his readers who should hold the second view, that time is linear. Peter characterized the circular view as it relates to Jesus' return.
2 Pet 3:4 They...say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." [like a big merry-go-round]
Jesus warns his disciples against viewing events leading up to his return this way.
Matt 24:4 ...Watch out that no one deceives you.... 6a You will hear of wars and rumors of wars.... 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 [But these are not part of an unending cycle—quite the contrary.] All these are the beginning of birth pains [and like birth pangs, they will end].
What the people disturbing Peter's readers ignore, because it does not fit their view, is the singular events, the one-time occurrences that show time is linear, moving in a straight line: that time had a definite beginning, that there have been one-of-a-kind events subsequently, and that time will have a definite end.
2 Pet 3:5 [T]hey deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. [= the creation: a definite beginning] 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. [= the flood: a one-of-a-kind event subsequently] 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. [= the final judgment: a definite end]
Time is linear, with a definite beginning (the beginning, interestingly, these individuals recognize) and with a definite end (the end, predictively, these individuals ignore). Moreover, the end Peter mentions in his second letter is the same end he mentioned in his first letter, when God will bring history, as we know it, to a close, bringing us closer to the proximity of God, when we will spend
eternity with Him. That said...
1. Your future will be changing.
...and sooner than you might think, because "[t]he end of all things is near."1
We are not quite there yet, because certain events must still happen before "[t]he end of all things" actually arrives.2
- The revealing of the antichrist, who will lead the world astray,
- The return of the messiah, who will establish his kingdom,
- The resurrection of the saints, who will reign with him,
- The rebellion of the devil, who will suffer a final defeat,
- The retribution of the wicked, who will be consigned to the lake of fire.
Then, after all these events have taken place, God will bring history to a close and usher in eternity, which you will spend with Him.
Although "the end of all things is near," and your future will be changing, the end of all things" is not yet here, and in the interim...
...so that you can pray.32. Your focus must be unchanging.
It is noteworthy to recognize that in Peter's remark to the readers of his first epistle, he does not say,
"I am telling you the end of all things is near so you can prepare."
Rather, he says,
"I am telling you the end of all things is near so you can pray."
When others have predicted the end, and have even set a date for the end, their predictions were often so that people could make whatever final preparations they thought necessary: settling their affairs, saying goodbye to their friends, giving away their possessions, leaving food for their pets. What is different here is that Peter considers preparing to be what his readers should be doing now, so when the end comes, there will not be a mad dash to get things done. It is not that you should do all the tasks I just mentioned in case the end arrives sooner than you think, but that your priorities now, your activities now should reflect a readiness for the end that requires no last minute adjustments, either because you have settled the things that matter or because the things you leave unsettled will not matter. In this way, your focus must be unchanging.
In an earlier message, when we looked at The Foremost Computation from Matt 24, where Jesus notes the futility of trying to predict the precise date of his return, Harold Camping of Family Radio had done just that and had several billboards in this area, as well as in many others, announcing the impending event. His intention was good: trying to get people thinking about Jesus' return and about how they should change their lives in anticipation of that great event. He created quite a stir. Unfortunately, the outcome of such an attempt, when it fails, as his prediction did, and Jesus did not come, is that it caused "Great Disappointment" among some4 and confirmed cynicism among others. "Look at those foolish Christians.... Don't they realize that 'everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation' (2 Pet 3:4)?"
Still, Camping's campaign raised an important question: If Jesus had returned then, would you have been ready to go with him (not that you would have had any choice in the matter or would have wanted to stay behind)? ...Although there are certain events that must happen before he returns, and you should watch for them so as not to be surprised when he returns, are you ready, or are there things you should yet do? Remember, Peter's remark in this first epistle is not, "I'm telling you the end of all things is near so you can prepare"—but—"so you can pray." Your affairs should be in order now, and I do not mean your having prepared a last 'Will and Testament.' I mean that your relationships with God and with His people are up-to-date, that there are no lingering, unresolved issues, nothing to keep you from being "clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray."
As Peter goes on, he does not say what his readers should pray. Instead, he talks about how they should act toward one another.5
1 Pet 4:8a Above all, love [one] another deeply....
Then he explains how they should be using their spiritual gifts for one another.
1 Pet 4:10a Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve [one another]....
Peter never does say what they or you should pray.6 Apparently, what you pray will be appropriate when other things are in order, including your relationships with God and with fellow believers.
Peter's readers have encountered people who scoff at the idea that events are not simply repeating themselves but are actually going in a particular direction as well as to a particular end and, for many, to an unpleasant end. Yet that is precisely what will happen, which is why God's people must prepare for The Foremost Culmination and for the proximity of God that event portends. Are you ready? Are you "clear minded and self-controlled"? ...Are you praying?
Having considered The Foremost Culmination, when God will draw history to a close, we come also to the culmination (appropriately) of this series entitled, WHAT Is FOREMOST? Over the past three years, we have considered seventy examples in scripture of what God considers important. There are certainly more we could add. I chose the number seventy because it has some significance.7
- It was the number of men in Jacob's family who went to Egypt.
- It was the number of elders who advised Moses in the wilderness.
- It was the number of shekels many offered in the new tabernacle.
- It was the number of years God's people were captive in Babylon.
- It was the number of scholars who translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek.8
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted)
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Jim Skaggs