Matt. 24:5-6

Matt. 24:5 (Holman) "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am

the Messiah,' and they will deceive many."

 

Jesus the true Messiah brings truth to us. Refusing His message makes us susceptible to false messiahs. One punishment for not following Jesus' lead is; we are in danger of following the lead of quacks. Satan counterfeits every aspect of Christianity, including even the proper leadership to follow.

For love, Satan offers lust; for marriage, cohabitation; for peace, presumption; for good parental discipline, abuse or neglect. Listening to anyone other than Jesus carries within itself its own terrible penalties.

In our country, atheists, secularists, and skeptics theorized if we would cast off Judeo-Christian adherence to the Bible we would dispense with childishness and cockamamy notions. Instead, rather than being more rational and reasonable, people have become more superstitious and silly.

As our culture slips farther away from Bible values, are any of us seeing improvements in our social environments? Do we see any betterment yet in the status of marriage, or is the divorce rate still at the astronomical heights it sadly reached over the last several years? Are we seeing less mental illness, or are our counselors’ case loads still so large that they are booked up so far in advance that many who need help cannot access it?

How well are we doing in convincing our youth of the dangers of drug abuse; are we getting better or worse at this? Is the plight of single moms still abysmal and worsening? Is the role of men now better defined, or is macho still the new norm, along with absent dads? How about road rage, and anger management—are these getting better? Did forsaking the Bible help us in parenting skills, family life, manners, and kindness? I don’t think so.

Bible opponents said, "If we take Jesus out of the equation, things will get better". Well, we for sure sidelined the Bible and Christ. I submit that the result has been that our social interactions have generally grown unhealthier.

 

Matt. 24:6  You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that

you are not alarmed, because these things must take place,

but the end is not yet.

 

Obviously, since the end has not come, we are in the "not yet". We do not know how evil Earth will have to become for God to finally destroy it.

In the meantime, wars will rage nearby and faraway, a reminder the world is not going to improve. The Jimmy Carter Center for World Peace tracks all wars being fought in the world. At least 25 are being waged now.

Till Jesus comes, no groups of people will ever be exempt from war or the threat of fighting. Wars will rage for racial, ethnic, and political reasons. Nations will use war to gain revenge, more land, water, food, oil, and power.

The evils of war continue to increase in scope and intensity, and will keep doing so till Jesus returns. Technology has made humans the masters of mass destruction. Armies now number tens of millions of soldiers. We have for seventy years lived under the shadow of the Mushroom Cloud.

The Wright Brothers thought inventing a flying machine would end all wars. They lived long enough to see they were dead wrong. How ironic--what they meant for peace actually delivered the atomic bomb. Alfred Nobel invented dynamite. As it began to be used in war, his conscience so smote him that he left his estate to establish the Peace Prize named in his honor.

World War I was fought to end all wars, but instead set the stage for the worst war ever, World War II. The world more and more sounds like it is coming unglued. Jesus warned us this would happen. Sin will grind on in dissonant discord until the world’s final conclusion, whenever that happens.

But remember, even as things grow worse, we are not to be alarmed. No hysteria. Dear believer, don't get too distraught over any news we hear.

Expect ISIS and persecution of Christ-followers. Don't be caught off guard. "A very crescendo of evil must not discourage us" (Barclay).

Fix our hearts on God. Don't think for one second God has abandoned Earth. This domain has been temporarily usurped, but is still ultimately His territory. Jesus is our only hope of fixing what has gone haywire.

He is not abandoning His people or the rest of humanity. He intervenes. What He did at Bethlehem in flesh, He continues to do in spirit. Trust Him. Though all perdition break loose, trust Him.

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Murder in Water Valley MS

Today in 1826 Mississippi College, a Baptist school, was founded in Clinton MS. It was the first college in the state of MS. I have a vested interest in MS College. My Grandpa Hill's brother, Henry, graduated valedictorian from there in 1908 with a Math degree.

One year later, to the day, the President of MS College rode a train to Water Valley MS to preach Henry's funeral. He had been shot by a next door neighbor who had been drinking and mistook Henry for another neighbor he had a running feud with.

My Grandpa HIll was 13 when this happened. He never fully recovered from it. He lived till he was 90, but never could discuss this incident without tears.

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A. T. Pierson

Bob Roberts has asked me to preach for our World Missions Conference in February. One man whose messages are helping me is A. T. Pierson, who lived over 100 years ago.

I like to read dead preachers. Time has a way of removing the fluff. Sermons that long survive are wheat, not weeds.

Pierson contributed to the Scofield Bible, which most of us conservative preachers grew up with, even though we usually rejected its Dispensationalism.

This feat, though amazing, is not the main thing I admire Pierson for. To me, the biggest deal was; he served often as Spurgeon's substitute preacher. After Spurgeon died, Pierson was asked to stay on for a couple of years. He was always proud of the fact attendance increased, rather than decreased, during this time.

Pierson was serious about God, and radically earnest about Holy Writ. His zeal fires me up.

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Matthew 24:3-4

The disciples wanted to know when the end of the world would take place. We all want to know about tomorrow. Few things are more problematic than trying to predict the future, and yet, few things more intrigue us as well.

We toy with harmless things like fortune cookies and laugh (I hope) at horoscopes. Remember; efforts at actually predicting the future are wrong.

Knowing the future would help us avoid tragedies, predict the stock market, and enjoy our joys before they happened. A Babe Ruth rookie card sold at auction last week for $675,000. This caught my attention because about 20 years ago, Ruth and I saw one for sale for $15,000. Had I known then what I know now, I would have mortgaged my house to buy that card.

By the way, the Babe Ruth card we saw was stolen about a week later and, as far as we know, never recovered. If I suddenly show up at church driving a brand new Lamborghini, please don't tell the authorities this story.

Being ordinary guys, the 12 wanted to know the future. Unfortunately, their questions were based on a false assumption. They had no concept of there being a time lag between the first and second comings of Messiah.

Just prior to our text, Jesus had said a day was coming when people would say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (23:39). Immediately after this, He had said the temple would be destroyed (24:2).

The 12 assumed both events would happen concurrently. They could not conceive history continuing without the temple. To them, destruction of the temple would end our present world order, and usher in Messiah’s reign.

It is easy for us to say the 12 were overly enamored with the temple, but we must admit its destruction marked more than merely the destruction of a building. It closed an epoch era, ending many things as they had been, including ending Abraham's physical offspring having supreme prominence.

A foreshadowing of the latter happened when Jesus died on the cross. The temple veil, separating the Holy of Holies (God’s dwelling place) from human view, was torn in two. Exposing the room to sinners’ eyes rendered it common. This event for sure graphically pictured two new vital truths. One, people can now come directly into God’s presence through Jesus. Two, God’s message was now set free from ethnic, national borders; the Gospel was released. Pray churches won’t be modern “temple veils”, hindering people who may want to come to God, and hoarding the Gospel from others.

Jesus knew the Twelve were not yet prepared to distinguish between the two events they had co-mingled in their false assumption. Thus, when Jesus answered their questions, He did not try to distinguish between the two. His answers are so interwoven that it is hard for us to disentangle them.

We may be wise to view the two events as sharing common characteristics. Instead of seeing the events as two mountains side by side, move one in front of the other. What happens to one can happen to the other.

Jerusalem’s destruction was a local Day of Judgment. The end of time will be a worldwide Day of Judgment. One is past; one is future. Since both are Days of Judgment, things that happen before the first could foreshadow things that will happen before the second. Jesus used images they would see before the destruction of Jerusalem to paint pictures of His Second Coming.

The 12 correctly saw the two as closely related. They erred in thinking the correlation between the two was timing rather than repeated happenings.

Warnings that happened before Jerusalem’s destruction will happen again before the world’s destruction. In fact, many of these warnings occur at all times due to God’s never-ending, ongoing judgment against sin.

God's moral constitution has operated through the centuries. We have seen many of these warnings in our generation, and in every era of history.

Jesus’ interweaving of warning signs should keep us from dogmatic predictions. Bible predictions usually carry a hint of obscurity until fulfilled. The people who see the fulfillment often say, "So that's what that meant."

Jesus avoided a timeline. He emphasized timing less than being on the alert, and remaining faithful to the end. "What Christ said to his disciples tends more to engage their caution than to satisfy their curiosity; more to prepare them for events that should happen than to give them a distinct idea of the events themselves" (Henry).

Jesus’ obscurity makes us think it could happen in any moment. This suspense keeps our vigilance high. Knowing precisely when the Second Coming will happen would rob it of its behavioral motivations. Constantly expecting it improves our conduct.

 

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From Slave to Baptist Preacher

On this Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the story of John Barry Meachum is especially applicable. Meachum was one of the greatest men ever to live in the mid-Mississippi valley. He was a powerful Baptist preacher who captivated St. Louis for over a generation. John was born a slave in Virginia in 1789. His parents, Thomas and Patsy, were deeply religious. Thomas was a Baptist preacher. When John was 14, his family was ripped apart—Mother and children taken to Kentucky; the father forced to remain in Virginia.
Nine years later, John, who was not yet a Christ-follower, was able to buy his freedom due to working in saltpeter mines. The 23-year-old Meachum immediately returned to Virginia to purchase his father's freedom that he might be reunited with the family.
When the old preacher learned he was a free man, he began singing songs of joy. He repeatedly hugged his son, and then confronted John, saying, "You have given me a gift of freedom, now let me give you the gift of salvation." Within a month, John became a Christian.
Thomas had been separated from his wife for nine years, and John was yearning to purchase the freedom of his own wife and children. The two men returned to Kentucky, but upon arriving there, learned to their consternation that their families were gone.
The master had moved away. John tracked them to what was then the heart of the American wilderness, St. Louis. He arrived with three dollars, two of which he had to spend to cross the ferry. Nevertheless, he soon became a successful businessman and purchased the freedom of his family. Through the years he earned a fortune in St. Louis, but gave it all away purchasing freedom for his people.

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Proper Perspective

J. Vernon McGee and his wife often drove around southern California to enjoy the local beauty. After seeing one marvel after another, J. Vernon would sometimes say to his wife, "We must remember. We don't see it as it really is. All of this is under God's judgment. It will all pass away.”

Skyscrapers, money, governments, cars, houses, and all other physical things will pass away someday. If we miss this fact, we will misjudge life, thinking money will always save us, feeling material things will always be around to satisfy us, and deciding well-built homes will always shelter us.

If we deem this world to be our ultimate destination, things go awry. We begin to think our brains are smart enough to figure life out, and believe we can accomplish life’s most important activities in our own strength.

When we judge everything in light of the here and now, we miss the point of our existence. To be successful in Christian living, a believer must live pondering the there and then, and weigh every detail of life on its scales.

How can we know if we are not doing this well? Certain telltale signs betray us. If we live without seeing the spiritual as supreme, our Bibles grow dusty (We leave them at church, and don't miss them till the next Sunday.), our tithes are coveted and withheld, and our Sundays are taken up with absenteeism from church; worship of God is replaced with catering to self.

Let me give a concrete example of how it can look for us if we learn to accurately distinguish the two worldviews. Jobs can define us, and we like making money to buy what we want. Yet many of us are miserable at work.

Could our worldview be part of the problem? Would it be different if we took a spiritual look at our workplace rather than a material one? What if we first and foremost saw ourselves not as employees, but as missionaries?

What if we decided God by His own sovereign choice put us in that specific environment not for the work, but for the workers, especially those who are far from God? Learn to take the spiritual look, the everlasting look.

The ultimate issue is perspective: here-and-now versus there-and-then. We urgently need to get it right. Otherwise we invite disaster, as Israel did.

 

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Hay Who?

Twitter @john316marshall
www.facebook.com/john316marshall"Who is that masked man?" That's the question I impulsively asked myself a few months ago when I stumbled across a preacher's name I had never heard before.

Hay Aitken died about 100 years ago. He served the Church of England as a "Missioner", a traveling preacher whose sermons were focused on missions.

He had a missions fire in his bones that is re-stoking some smoldering embers in me. This book is a classic. I do not remember where I found it, but I am grateful I did.

Bob Roberts has asked me to preach for our World Missions Conference in February. I have been studying, praying, and seeking to regain some missions fervor in my deepest essence. Hay Aitken, whoever he was, is helping me on all accounts.

Thank You, Lord, for preachers who, though they be dead, yet speak.

Second Coming (MT 23:39)

Matthew 23:39 records Jesus' last public words to Israel. Appropriately, the final message to the crowd at large in His first coming was to mention His second coming, which He will discuss at length in the next two chapters.

As we enter a long time of studying the Second Coming, an overview of the topic might help. Beginning with what we know for sure about His coming will help us because speculative Bible interpretations have often made the Second Coming, which is supposed to encourage us, into a source of dread. About Jesus’ second coming, here are vital facts the Bible teaches for sure.

As we await Jesus, the world will continue to have wars and rumors of wars (MT 24:6), apostasy, promotion of false gods (2 TH 2:3-4), and persecution of believers. This world we live in is not going to get better.

The ill-fated notion that the world would be totally Christianized, and keep getting better and better, until it was good enough for Christ to return to was called postmillennialism. This error was the driving force of missions in the Nineteenth Century, known as the golden century of Christian history.

We sent out thousands of missionaries, believing we were making the world good enough for Jesus to return to. WW1 killed postmillennialism.

One misinterpretation of Scripture that helped fuel this error was based on Matthew 24:14, where our Master said, “This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.” The verse does not say everyone in all nations will be saved. It instead tells us the message will penetrate to every corner of the globe. Until Jesus comes, His work will go on, as will Satan’s. Forces of good and evil shall remain engaged against each other to the very end.

         How long will we have to wait for Jesus to return? No one knows (MT 24:36). It will happen when we don’t expect it (MT 24:44), like a thief in the night (1 TH 5:1-11), like lightning flashing across the sky (MT 24:37), and like it was in the days of Noah; people will be marrying, eating, and drinking. In other words, daily life will be going on as usual (LK 17:22-37).

         Once it starts, events will happen fast. Without prior warning, Jesus will come with a retinue of angels, Heaven’s warriors (MT 16:27).

He will return the same way He left, in clouds (AC 1:11). Clouds will be the chariots (MT 26:64) He will ride on in power and glory (MT 24:30).

         While these things unfold our direction, there will be movement their direction too. The dead will rise first (1 C 15; 1 TH 4:17); earthly bodies will be swallowed up in heavenly ones. We who are alive will be caught up in the clouds (1 TH 4:14-18); we will see Jesus, and become like Him (1 J 3:2).

         The heavens will loudly catch fire and pass away, elements will burn and dissolve, bringing a new heavens and new earth (2 P 3:10-13). All shall stand before God’s tribunal (2 C 5:10) as He judges the world (AC 17:31).

What about the Rapture, Tribulation, and Millennium? We know postmillennialism is no longer a viable option, but other than this certainty, we’re not sure about these issues (For five Second Coming views espoused by Southern Baptists: http://www.sbclife.net/Articles/2014/06/sla10).

The chief interpretations of these matters among Bible believers fall under two broad headings: Amillennialism and Premillennialism. My mom is amillennial; Dad is premillennial; I grew up confused on the issues.

Amillennialists, believing Revelation is symbolic, see the Millennium as Christ’s ministry on earth through His church from His crucifixion to His return. They see no rapture to escape a “Great Tribulation”. No one receives a free pass on persecution. Revelation seems to indicate Amillennialism.

Revelation is not chronological but repeats same info from different perspectives (e.g. seals, trumpets, bowls of wrath). At Christ’s resurrection, Satan was bound (20:1-3). God’s saints have all they need to reign (20:4-6). The first resurrection is a believer’s physical death. The second resurrection is our glorified bodily resurrection when Jesus comes. RV 20:7-10 is not in sequential order; it pictures the same struggles presented in Revelation previously. Amillennialism has been the dominant position of the majority of believers through the ages.

Premillennialists see the Millennium as a time when Christ will reign on earth with His church prior to God’s final judgment. They see a rapture of the church followed by the Great Tribulation, when a Satanic false religion will persecute believers worldwide, followed by a literal 1000 year reign by Christ. Most of the earliest church fathers affirmed premillennialism.

         Pre’s are divided over whether the Rapture is pre-, mid-, or post- Tribulation. Pre-Tribs include Dispensationalists, who believe God’s promises to Israel have not yet been fulfilled in believers as a new Israel. They believe Israel was not merely a type or symbol; the Church does not replace Israel.

         One problem with this position is; it causes some believers to say the political nation of Israel is free to do whatever it wants as a nation. We for sure support Israel—“They are beloved for the fathers’ sakes” (RM 11:28)—but we must not let any political structure have carte blanche to do anything it desires.

Of the Second Coming, this I know. We win, and not just barely, but by a landslide. Jesus and Satan will not have a wrestling match with Jesus barely winning at the last second. Good grief no. “One little word shall fell him” (Luther).

The Initial Psalms

The first 23 Psalms have to contain some of the most beautiful sentences ever written in the history of language. That's why I like to start my annual Bible reading with them.

By reading Psalm 1-23 on the first day of the year, I am deeply moved, my heart is warmed, I sense the presence of the Lord, I can relate to the pain in David's voice at times, I envy his admiration for God, and his enjoyment of the Lord's presence.

I think many of us would be content to read the Psalms every day for the rest of our lives, and read nothing else. But even as beautiful and wonderful as the Psalms are, they are not the whole counsel of God. We must systematically and repeatedly read the whole Bible.

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40th Time

Early this New Years Day morning I have begun reading the Bible for the 40th time. I started in 1976, the bicentennial year.

I wanted to do something that year that would commemorate our nation and its religious heritage. I had already been in the ministry nine years at that point, but had never read the entire Bible. I decided it was time to change that failure on my part.

When I began that year, I was Pastor of Airport Baptist Church in Grenada MS. When I finished I was at Gosnell Baptist Church near Blytheville AR.

At the time I had no idea I would be reading the entire Bible annually for four decades. I have never regretted this rigorous spiritual discipline. I heartily commend it to you.

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