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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19,20).
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November 3, 2013
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Contents:
1) A.D. 70 Doctrine #2 (J.T. Smith)
2) From Perceiving Dimly to Seeing Clearly (Tom Edwards)
3) News & Notes
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-1-
A.D. 70 Doctrine #2
by J.T. Smith
As we observed last month (October 10) the A.D. 70 doctrine is a new
doctrine. It is listed with several designations -- A.D. 70
doctrine, Realized Eschatology, and the Max King Theory (so named
because Max King of Warren, Ohio is the father of it). The
doctrine, "in a nutshell," is that when the destruction of Jerusalem
took place in A.D. 70, all Bible prophecy was fulfilled including:
1) the kingdom of Christ not being fully set up until A.D. 70; 2)
the second coming of Christ; 3) the resurrection of the dead; 4) the
judgment day; 5) and the end of the world! If this theory
doesn't make sense to you, it is because these common biblical terms
have been redefined by King as he presents his theory.
Of the five things listed above, we dealt with the first three in
our last article. In this article we want to deal with numbers
four and five.
The Judgment Day
The word "judgment" is used 186 times in the Bible. God
brought "judgment" on His people throughout both Old and New
Testaments. The first time the word was used was in Exodus
12:12: "For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and
will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and
beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute
judgment: I am the LORD." This is not, however, the
first time God had executed judgment. The first time was in
the Garden of Eden when He brought judgment on Adam and Eve when
they sinned. Because of their sins they were cast out of the
Garden (Genesis 3). Then of course we remember the judgment
that was brought upon the world by God during the days of Noah in
Genesis 6.
In Isaiah and Jeremiah, God spoke of judgment that was to come upon
His people because of their disobedience. In 722 B.C. God
brought judgment upon His people. They were taken into
Assyrian captivity. Again in 606 B.C. God brought judgment on
His people when they were taken into Babylonian captivity.
And, it is true that again God's judgment against His people was
promised because of their disobedience. Jesus foretold the
destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 24. But was this simply another
of God's judgments against a disobedient people or the judgment
day? That's the question that must be settled. If the
Scriptures teach that it was the judgment day then Max King's theory
may be correct. From the Old Testament we read about
"judgment" that will come. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14: "Let us hear
the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His
commandments, For this is man's all. For God will bring every
work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or
evil." So, God is going to bring even "secret things" into
this judgment. Also from the New Testament, "But I say to you
that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it
in the day of judgment" (Matthew 12:36). "Finally, there is
laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but
also to all who have loved His appearing" (II Timothy 4:8).
The Lord, the righteous judge, will reward Paul and all those who
have loved His appearing. II Corinthians 5:10, "For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may
receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done,
whether good or bad."
Who Will Be In The Judgment?
Those who reject the Lord's Word. "He who rejects Me, and does
not receive My words, has that which judges him -- the word that I
have spoken will judge him in the last day" (John 12:48). In a
context where Jesus was speaking of judgment He said, "Do not marvel
at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves
will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to
the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the
resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28-29). Is this what
happened in A.D. 70? Did all those in the graves hear His
voice and come forth? God has already warned us about those
who would teach that the resurrection has already passed. II
Timothy 2:16-18: "But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will
increase unto more ungodliness. 17 And their word will eat as doth a
canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 18 Who concerning the
truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and
overthrow the faith of some."
All Nations. "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all
the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His
glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He
will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep
from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand,
but the goats on the left" (Matthew 25:31-33). Now if the
final judgment was in A.D. 70, isn't it a fact that the above
passages and many more that could be cited are made to be
nonsense? Only the Jews were involved in God's judgment when
the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem -- NOT ALL NATIONS. How can
Max King's theory be true? And, if that is true, why would
Paul say, ". . . For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ" (Romans 14:10). (bold type mine for emphasis, jts).
You see, the farther we go, the more ridiculous this theory becomes.
What About A.D. 70 And The End Of The World?
Yes, what about it indeed? Obviously those who believe this
Realized Eschatology theory make Peter's statement null and
void. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and
the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the
works that are in it will be burned up" (II Peter 3:10). Thus
if the judgment on Jerusalem in A.D. 70 represented "the day of the
Lord" in this passage, we are no longer here. Everything that
our eyes look upon is just a figment of our imagination. I am
not here, you are not here. Isn't that brilliant? Also
consider, "And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God,
and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is
the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their
works, by the things which were written in the books" (Revelation
20:12). I ask you, can anyone be serious in believing that
this took place in A.D. 70? So, what has happened to all the
people who have lived since A.D. 70? Well, they are not quite
sure. Perhaps we are in the first phase of eternal life.
Perhaps the Lord has left us here to cleanse the earth and make it a
better place to live. Well, then, what will happen to those
who have died since A.D. 70? They have probably gone into the
second phase of eternity! Brilliant! In the fifty-nine
years I have been preaching the gospel, I have heard lots of false
theories set forth. However, I believe this one is the most
far-fetched I have ever heard. As I said last month, when I
first heard this theory a number of years ago I wondered if anyone
in his right mind would believe it. Never having personally
spoken to anyone who believes it, I am not in a position to
say. However, I still have my doubts.
-- Via Gospel Truths, November 2010, Volume 1, Number 11
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-2-
From Perceiving Dimly to Seeing Clearly
by Tom Edwards
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know
in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully
known" (1 Cor. 13:12).
In this passage, the KJV uses the word "glass" instead of mirror;
but rather than clear glass, it is better understood as a "looking
glass" of that day. And a looking glass or mirror at that time
was not as ours today. For when Paul said this, mirrors were
then made out of polished metal.
Thayer defines the Greek word (esoptron) as "1) a mirror"; and he
goes on to point out that "the mirrors of the ancients were made,
not of glass, but steel."
To see an example of this, even prior to that time, consider from
what the laver for the tent of meeting had been made: "Moreover, he
made the laver of bronze with its base of bronze, from the mirrors
of the serving women who served at the doorway of the tent of
meeting" (Exod. 38:8). In addition, the "molten mirror" (NASB)
in Job 37:18 is also rendered in some other Bible versions as "a
polished looking-glass" (BBE), "molten brass" (1899 Douay-Rheims),
"a cast metal mirror" (NKJV, ESV), "a polished metal" (GNB), "a
mirror made of metal" (GW), and "a mirror of cast bronze" (NIV).
So while looking into a mirror of our time can be as clear as seeing
face to face, that was not the case of these mirrors of long
ago. For their images would be dim and obscure.
The "now" (1 Cor. 13:12) pertains to the time prior to the complete
revelation of God's word. It was the period in which the Lord
was revealing His message in portions by the Holy Spirit to gifted
men in the early church. As Paul states, "For we know in part
and we prophesy in part" (v. 9).
But there was also coming a time when the entirety of that message
would be delivered, or, as Paul refers to it, "when the perfect
comes..." (v. 10). James also speaks of the gospel in this way
by calling it "the perfect law, the law of liberty" (Jam.
1:25).
Through that perfect law, man can become "perfect," in the sense of
obtaining to spiritual maturity and which includes the ability to
discern between good and evil (cf. Heb. 5:14). Paul also
speaks of the "perfection" or spiritual maturity in man that the
complete revelation of God's word can provide in Ephesians
4:11-16. He says: "And He gave some as apostles, and some as
prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the
building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity
of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature
man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of
Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed
here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine,
by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but
speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into
Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being
fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to
the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the
body for the building up of itself in love."
Though some folks view this "unity of the faith" as being possible
only in heaven, the passage clearly shows that it is all pertaining
to that which is to take place on earth. And though we do not
have the apostles and prophets in the flesh among us today, nor the
other men who had miraculous gifts in the early church, we do have
that "faith" that God revealed to them, that gospel message now in
its completeness that we are to learn and apply. Jude refers
to the gospel as being "the faith" in Jude 1:3 and exhorts every
Christian to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all
handed down to the saints." Compare also Acts 6:7.
The "then" (1 Cor. 13:12) is the time when man would have the
completed New Testament, which now provides us with a clear and
perfect view, as if seeing "face to face."
May we each, therefore, take the time to look into this marvelous
word that has come to us from out of this world. For it has
been handed down from heaven by God Himself through the Holy Spirit
(cf. 2 Tim. 3:16,17; 2 Pet. 1:20,21; Acts 1:16; 4:25), so that we
can now fully know all that God wants us to know concerning
spiritual things. No other message can change our lives -- and
for the better -- as much as God's word can. And it is
profitable not only for our life on earth, but especially for that
eternal life in glory, to which the Lord clearly leads through the
completed revelation of His word.
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News & Notes
Let those of us who are Christians be remembering the following
people in prayer:
Julia Lefort, who is just 15 years old, has undergone some
tests to determine why she recently passed out while at
school. Her blood-work checked out fine. On November 7,
she will be having an ultrasound to see if her fainting was
heart-related.
Virginia Fontenot now has just two more cancer treatments to
undergo and will afterwards be receiving a 30-minute infusion every
two weeks for the rest of her life. Her cancer markers, at
2.5, are now at a normal level.
Terry MacDonald has been having some difficulty recently.
Let us also continue to remember in prayer Jean Calloway,
Shirley Young, Cheryl Crews, and Pam MacDonald.
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel, for that is how faith comes (Rom.
10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the deity of Christ (John 8:24; John
3:18).
3) Repent of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10; Acts
8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water for the remission of sins
(Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet.
3:21).
6) Continue in the faith; for, if not, salvation can
be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:20-22).
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Park Forest
CHURCH OF CHRIST
9923 Sunny Cline Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70817
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM & 6 PM (worship)
Tuesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go
(Gospel Observer website)
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html
(audio sermons)