Consider This...
Theological Thoughts to Encourage the Heart & Stir the Mind ___________________________________________________
Volume I June 2011 Issue 24
Eschatological studies are often seen as being a subject that has little bearing on the current state of reality. Many have a minimalist grasp on their view and tend to view the End Times as a flip of the coin, could be one way or another. We just know that in the end, we win. There is a tendency to focus on the theological aspects that are most tangible in the moment. This was the way with many Reformers. While they were focused on the Salvific Theologies, they simply followed what the great Church father, St. Augustine, taught concerning Eschatology, A-millennialism. However, it must be understood that ones view of Eschatology has implications for the whole of theology as well as immediate application in practical living. It is the goal of this article, in the next few paragraphs, to look at these implications and application in light of a Pre-tribulation/ Pre-millennial position.
In light of the dispensation of Grace, the establishment of the Church is a mystery. Why God interrupted His work with Israel, allowed them to be blinded, and then used the Church to spread the message of redemption is something that will be unknown on this earth.[1] However, it is by understanding that this is true that this present Age has Eschatological purposes. The first question to ask then is what does this present Age look like?
The last days of the Church are clearly explained throughout the New Testament. Even though these references are speaking to a restricted time, it is wholly within this present Age.[2] II Timothy 3:15 gives a list of attributes that will accompany the false teachers of this age. As the passages says, there will comes times of difficulty (vs.1). This is not a single event, but a progress. I Timothy 4:1-2 speaks of how this same progress will inflict the Church with Apostasy.
It is these times that will seem to be a taste and preparation of what the Tribulation will hold. However, these two times are totally separate. The scriptural explanations of the Church’s “last days” are solely within the Church. There is not discussion of the political and national turmoil that plague the world during the Tribulation. As I Timothy 4:1-2 speaks, there will be departing from the faith. The trouble that is seen within the world is not certain evidence of its near end, but an outworking of the end. The end has been near for 2,000 years, and may continue to appear this way for another 2,000.
In light of these passages, it is clear that moral progress is not an inevitable. Those that hold to the view that the Church will herald in the millennium, see that the world should at some point begin to become Christianized. This can be seen as both an actual 1,000 years or, as the A-mill view, it is the present age allegorized.
With the description of the “Last Days,” the second question to be asked is what are we to do? It is clear in our present time that false teachers have entered the Church and have led many away from the faith. History has shown that this has been the pattern since the beginning of the Church at Pentecost. Is there something that is not being done to prevent this? Or is the Church stumbling in the dark without instructions?
The job of the Church in these “Last Days” is clearly laid out by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:19-20 which says,
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them
to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end
of this age. (ESV)
This passage is clear in its command to GO. It is the job of the Church to take the message of redemption to all people. It is the job of the Church to disciple and train them into people who will themselves go out.
At the end of this passage, comes the great surety that Christ will be with us. The Church is not fueled by human energy and man’s philosophy, but by the Word of God and Jesus Christ. His plan will be accomplished, even when it appears to be defeated. This present age is filled with destruction and perilous times, but it is still in God’s control. We need not worry about when the end will be, but understand that these are the “Last Days”.
Soli Deo Gloria
John A Frey III
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