Posted January 10, 2005

G____ wrote:

I was browsing through your site and came across your comment:

The “imminent return of Christ,” was inward and before the millennium. The “rod of iron,” is the millennium and it and the resurrection that precedes it, are yet future. Preterists just cannot distinguish between things of the spirit and the things of this age.

While Preterism does not solve all problems for me, it DOES solve a lot of time statements which most dispensationalists put to the end of time, or our generation as most think. I’m not quite sure what it is you believe, but tell me, the following verses, do they apply to the generation in which the New Testament was written or do they apply some time in the future or do you have some other kind of scenario.:

1. Mat 10:23, Jesus said: “But whenever they persecute you in this city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you shall not finish going through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes. Remember, Jesus is speaking to His disciples. He told them THEY would not go through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man returns. Surely the early disciples expected Jesus’ return in their own lifetimes, not 2,000 years later. The question is, did He return? Many modern “traditional” teachers and preachers say Jesus didn’t return then. This has caused many people to turn away from Christianity. The famous atheist Bertrand Russell rejected Christianity partially because he felt Jesus was a false prophet because He didn’t return when He said He would according to the Scriptures. It is sad, but true, that the “traditional” teaching of the Church misled him, not the Scriptures nor Christ. Jesus DID return in the first century just like He said He would.
2. Mat 24:34, Jesus said: “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away. Remember the context. Jesus was telling them about the destruction of the temple and the tribulation which was to befall Jerusalem. Luk 11:49-51 Jesus said: “For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, in order that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.” This generation was the very generation to which Jesus was speaking, not some future generation
3. Mat 26:64, Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Who is Jesus speaking to?
4. Rom 13:12, The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Do phrases light “night is almost gone” and “at hand” sound like 2,000 years?
5. Rom 16:20, And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Again, look at who Jesus is speaking to. How long would “soon” be to a person in Jesus’ day?
6. 1Co 7:26-31, I think that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Paul wrote in the 50’s and 60’s AD. In the early 60’s Nero began his persecution of the church. That was just the beginning of the major trouble that would befall Israel. Paul knew in his spirit the terrible things that would happen in the days ahead. Therefore he advised against marriage because of the pain it would involve in the very near future such as losing your new spouse and children in the onslaught that was to shortly come.
7. 1Co 10:11 “Now these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Who is the “our” here? This is clearly speaking of Paul’s generation. And note the time: “the ENDS OF THE AGES!” The New English Bible reads “the fulfillment of the ages has come.” Please note the text does not imply a future age, but the time in which Paul was writing.
8. Tit 2:11-13 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” Again, remember, Paul was speaking to the Corinthian church. THEY were looking for the “blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.” History makes it plain they did see it. The trouble is the modern church is ignorant of first century history so they don’t know how Jesus came.
9. Heb 1:2, “In these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” Note “last days.” The writer wrote to “Hebrews.” Surely he was speaking of his own time, not 2,000 years in the future.
10. Heb 9:26, Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation, He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. The word “consummation” means “to complete entirely.” And when does this occur? “Now,” that is, 2,000 years ago.
11. Heb 10:25&37 “Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near. FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY.” Hebrew was written just a few years before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD which perfectly fits in to “a little while.” However, 2,000 years is a long delay.
12. 1Jn 12:35, “. . . For a little while longer. . .”
13. Joh 14:19, “After a little while the world will behold Me no more;” “Little while” here is micros chronos. I means a little space of time.
14. Jas 5:8-7 Be patient, therefore brethren, until the coming of the Lord. 8. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. Here James again is encouraging people alive in his time and the Judge is standing “right at the door.”
15. 1Pe 4:5, “…but they shall give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead . . . for the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead.
16. 1Pe 4:7, The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. This end of all things that is at hand is occurring as Peter speaks.
17. 1Jn 2:8, On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. We see there is a transition from the old to something new, from darkness to light. And when is this happening?
18. 1Jn 2:17-18, “And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever. Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.” If you were one of John’s converts and you read this, would you expect that these things were to happen 2,000 years down the road? All these “antichrists” were already in existence way back then. We have an audio tape entitled “AntiChrist” revealed that is very helpful.
19. Rev 1:1 “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond- servants, the things which must shortly take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond- servant John.” When were these things going to take place? Shortly.
20. Rev 1:3 “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” The Book of Revelation was addressed to 7 real churches. If you read were a disciple in one of those churches, how would you read “the time is near?”
21. Rev 3:10-11 “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole (inhabitable) world, to test those who dwell upon the earth (soil).” Who is the “you” here? An interesting comment by James Hartline here: This verse uses the Greek word, mello, which means “about to.” The words in parenthesis are added by me. They are the Greek meanings of the words which are not translated in the English versions. The word used for “world” is the Greek oikoumene which means habitable earth or the Roman Empire. The Greek word translated earth here is the word “Ge” which means “soil.” These words show that we are not talking about the whole world as the text would suggest and as many people believe and teach.
22. Rev 22:10, “And he says to me, Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book; because the time is near.” Daniel was told to seal up the words of His prophesy because the time was hundreds of years in the future. But John is told NOT to seal the words of His prophesy because “the time is near.”
23. Rev 22:6, And he said to me, These words are faithful and true and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show his bondmen the things which must come to pass soon. When? SOON!
24. Rev 22:7,12, 20, Behold, I am coming quickly. Three times in the last chapter of the Bible, Jesus says to the seven churches who are going to read an a apocalyptic prophesy addressed to them, “I am coming quickly.”
25. Joh 16:13, “He will disclose to you what is to come.”
26. Gal 1:4, “. . . that He might deliver us out of this present evil age. . .” When was this “wicked age?
27. 1Th 5:23 “. . . and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming (parousia = presence) of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 24.” . . . He will bring it to pass. . .”

Comment: Paul was praying for his then present listeners that their bodies would be preserved complete at the coming of our Lord, etc. Sounds like a soon coming event.

1. 2Th 1:6 “. . . relief to you and us . . . 7. “. . . when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed (apokalupsis: disclosure) from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire. . .”

Comment: Here Paul included himself. Relief to you and us when the Lord shall be revealed.

Something Paul was expecting to happen within the lifetime of some of those present.

1. Joh 12:31, “Now is the time for judgment on this world, now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.” 32. “But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.” (In other words, that He would die on a cross.)

Comment: The word that is translated “now” is the Greek word “nun” which means: “presently” or “immediately.” So when was the judgment to come on the world? Jesus said “NOW.” Is that what He meant? When was the prince of this world (which we all believe to be Satan) to be driven out?” Was it to be 2000 years later? That’s what the futurists say.

1. Luk 18:31, . . . will He delay long over them? Delay is the Greek word, tachos, meaning, “in a very short time,” “a brief space (of time),” “in haste,” “fleet.”
2. Mat 3:7 “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath about to come.”

Comment: What wrath was he talking about? How about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A. D. 70 which Jesus prophesied and most Christians today don’t know about?

1. Mat 12:32 “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age about to come.” (also Luk 21:7)
2. Mat 16:27 “For the Son of man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”
3. Mat 24:6 “And you are about to hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
4. Mar 13:4 “Tell us when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things should be about to be accomplished.” NIV says “about to be fulfilled.”
5. Luk 3:7 “Then He said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath about to come” (NIV footnote wrong concerning two fulfillments, this is precluded by Mat 24:21.)
6. Luk 19:11 “Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God was immediately about to be manifested.”
7. Luk 21:36 “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things which are about to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
8. Joh 14:22 ‘Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, what has occurred that to us you are about to manifest yourself and not to the world?”‘
9. Rom 5:14, “but death reigned from Adam until Moses even upon those who had not sinned in the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of the one about to (mello) come.
10. Rom 8:13, “For if according to flesh you live, you are about to (mello) die.”
11. Act 17:31 “because He has appointed a day in which He is about to judge the habitable world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
12. Act 24:25 ‘Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self- control, and the judgment about to be, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”‘
13. Act 26:22-23 “I have stood bearing witness both to small and to great, saying nothing else than what both the prophets and Moses said was to happen, whether Christ should suffer; whether first through resurrection of [ the] dead is about to announce light to the people and to the nations.”
14. Rom 4:23 & 24 “Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also on account of us to whom it is about to be imputed, who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,”
15. Rom 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory about to be revealed in us.”
16. Rom 8:38 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things about to be, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
17. 1Co 3:21 & 22 “Therefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours: 22. whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things about to come all are yours.”
18. Eph 1:20-21 “which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated at His right hand in the heavenlies 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one about to come.”
19. Col 2:17 “which were a shadow of things about to come, but the substance is Christ.”
20. 1Th 3:4 “For in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we were about to suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.”
21. 1Ti 4:6, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.”

Comment: We know that Paul was put to death shortly after this. “Already” meant what it said. So did “time of my departure.”

1. 1Ti 4:8 “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is about to come.”
2. 1Ti 6:18 & 19 “Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time about to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
3. Heb 1:14 “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those being about to inherit salvation.”
4. Heb 2:5 “For He has not put the world which is about to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels..”
5. Heb 6:5 “and have tasted the good word of God and the power of the age about to come”
6. Heb 9:11 “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things about to come.”
7. Heb 10:27 “but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation being about to consume the adversaries.”
8. Heb 13:14 “For we have no continuing city, but we seek the one about to come”
9. Jas 2:12 “So speak and do as those being about to be judged by law of liberty.”
10. 1Pe 3:22, “Christ who is at the right hand of God, having gone into the heavens after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
11. 1Pe 4:13, “but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.

Comment: This epistle (letter) was written to people alive at that time and he was specifically addressing them saying YOU may rejoice at the revelation of His glory.

1. 1Pe 4:17, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
2. 1Pe 5:1 “The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also partaker of the glory about to be revealed:”
3. Rev 1:19 “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which are about to take place after this.”
4. Rev 3:10 “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which is about to come upon the whole habitable world, to test those who dwell on the land.”

Note on the Greek word “mello”:

There are many time statements in the Bible that use the same Greek word, “mello.”

Here is the definition:

(3195) me>llw, – mel’- lo; a strengthened form of (3199) (me>lw) (through the idea of expectation); to intend, i. e. be about to be, do, or suffer something (of persons or things, especially events; in the sense of purpose, duty, necessity, probability, possibility, or hesitation):

This is the Strong’s Concordance definition, but some futurists argue that it does not always mean about to. I have searched the scriptures for other places that the word “mello” is used that do not necessarily apply to the “end times,” to understand how the word is translated. Those verses are listed below:

Some good examples of the urgency of the word “mello” are found in two chapters of the book of John and several verses in Acts and Romans. There are many other examples to be found throughout the New Testament. You will see from these verses how the word was consistently used to convey immediacy! But when our Bibles were translated, the translators chose to remove the immediacy and merely say that these things were going to happen, not that they were about to happen. Let’s first read through these examples and see if the word “mello” has a consistent meaning. After that, we will list those that apply specifically to the destruction of Jerusalem and events related to the coming of the Lord.

These are the renderings of these scriptures which use the word “mello” from the Greek text in an Interlinear Bible.

• Joh 6:6, “But this He said trying him for he knew what he was about to do.
• Joh 6:15, “Jesus therefore, knowing that they are about to come and seize him. . .
• Joh 6:71, “But he spoke of Judas Simon’s [ son] Iscariot, for he was about to deliver him up. . .
• Joh 7:35, “Is He about to go to the dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
• Act 32, “And a certain man, his being lame from his mother’s womb, was being carried, whom they placed daily at the door of the temple called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who were going into the temple, who seeing Peter and John being about to (mello) enter into the temple. . .”
• Act 5:35, “And said to them, men, Israelites, take heed to yourselves as regards these men what you are about to (mello) do, for before these days rose up Theudas, offering himself to be somebody, to whom were joined a number of men . . . who was put to death, and all . . . persuaded by him were dispersed.”
• Act 11:28, “And having risen up from among them, Agabus, by name, he signified by the Spirit, A great famine is about to (mello) be over the whole habitable earth which also came to pass under Claudius Caesar.”
• Act 13:34, “And that he raised him from among [ the] dead, no more to be about to (mello) return to corruption, thus he spoke: I will give you the faithful mercies of David.”
• Act 18:14, “But Paul, being about to (mello) open [ his] mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, If indeed therefore it was some unrighteousness or wicked criminality, O Jews, according to reason, I should have borne with you, 15 but if a question it be about a word and names and a law which [ is] among you, you will see [ to it] yourselves,” for a judge of these things I do not wish to be.”

Comment: Was Paul going to open his mouth 2000 years from then? Isn’t it silly to try to put off what was said to be about to happen, just to make your erroneous theology work out?

There were men at Ephesus who made silver shrines to the goddess Diana. As Paul was preaching the gospel there these men got upset and said in:

• Act 19:27, “Now not only is this dangerous to us [ lest] the business come into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis (KJV says “Diana”) for nothing be reckoned, and the majesty of her is about to (mello) be destroyed, whom all Asia and the habitable world worship.”
• Act 20:3, “And having continued three months, having been made against them a plot by the Jews being about to (mello) sail into Syria . . .”

Could this happen 2000 years later?

• Act 20:13, “But we having gone before to the ship sailed to Assos, being about there to (mello) take in, Paul, for so he had appointed himself being about to (mello) go on foot.

Its obvious that both of these were about to occur immediately.

• Act 21:37, “But being about to (mello) be brought into the fortress, Paul . . .”
• Act 22:16, “And now why delayest (mello) them?” (Reverse meaning).
• Act 22:29, “Immediately therefore departed from him those being about to (mello) examine him, and the chief captain also was afraid, having ascertained that a Roman he is and because he bound him.”
• Act 23:3 ‘Then Paul said to him, “God is about to smite you, whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?”‘
• Act 23:15, “Now therefore you make a representation to the chief captain with the Sanhedrin, so that tomorrow him he may bring down to you, as being about to (mello) examine more accurately the things concerning him, and we, . . .”
• Act 23:20, “And he said, the Jews agreed to request you that tomorrow into the Sanhedrin you may bring down Paul, as being about to (mello) inquire something more accurately concerning him.”
• Act 23:27, “This man, having been seized by the Jews, and being about to (mello) be put to death by them, . . .”

Comment: They couldn’t put him to death 2000 years later.

• Act 25:4, “Festus therefore answered, Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and himself was about to (mello) shortly set out.”
• Act 26:2, “Concerning all of which I am accused by Jews, king Agrippa, I esteem myself happy being about to (mello) make defense before you today. . .”

That’s pretty immediate!

• Act 26:22, “And therefore having obtained from God unto this day I have stood, bearing witness both to small and to great, nothing else saying, than what both the prophets and Moses said, was about to (mello) happen, whether Christ should suffer; . . .”
• Act 27:2, “And having gone on board a ship of Adramyttium about to (mello) navigate the places along Asia we set sail, being with us Aristarchus a Macedonian of Thessalonica.”
• Act 27:9 b, 10, “Paul exhorted them saying, men, I perceive that the voyage is about to (mello) be with disaster and much loss not only of the cargo and of the ship but also of our lives.”
• Act 27:30, “But the sailors seeking to flee out of the ship and having let down the boat into the sea, with pretext as from [ the] prow being about to (mello) cast out anchors, Paul said to the Centurion and to the soldiers. . .”

When a viper (snake) had come out of the wood that Paul had gathered to start a fire and it had latched onto his hand, the scriptures says in:

• Act 28:6, “But they were expecting him to be about to (mello) become inflamed or to fall down suddenly dead.”

Again something that was expected to happen immediately.

Do these usages of the word “mello” sound vague and distant, or something that was going to happen very soon?

Comment: The following are more time statement scriptures which use the word “mello” that have to do with what Jesus called the “end.” This word demands a more imminent rendering than what we find in our translations such as KJV, NASB, NIV, etc.

Hi G____,

It is good to hear from you again. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain why I feel that God’s word “Is, was and will be” and should be read and understood from this perspective.

You ask:

While Preterism does not solve all problems for me, it DOES solve a lot of time statements which most dispensationalists put to the end of time, or our generation as most think. I’m not quite sure what it is you believe, but tell me, the following verses, do they apply to the generation in which the New Testament was written or do they apply some time in the future or do you have some other kind of scenario?

The answer to this question is that they apply to the generation in which the New Testament was written as well as every generation since. The reason for that is that God’s word is Christ and Christ “Is, Was and Will Be.” It is neither dispensational in character, nor is it preterist. A dispensationalist, or a preterist, knows only one third of who Christ is. So neither knows the fulness of :

Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the AlmightyRev 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death..

These verses in Revelation agree with Christ’s statement that His words would never pass away.

Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

The only approach to God’s Word that does “solve all problems for me,” is the one which is demonstrated for us by the apostles themselves, when they quoted the only scriptures they had to begin with. The way they quote the Old Testament would get them stoned in any modern seminary or church. It is not to be tolerated much less studied as worthy of consideration today. To see this principle demonstrated read, How To Rightly Divide The Word, Using A Principle Only The Apostles Understoo d.

The answer to every scripture you quote above is answered by answering you last question:

Do these usages of the word “mello” sound vague and distant, or something that was going to happen very soon?

And the answer to that question is; The usage of ‘mello’ does not sound vague and distant. It does sound like something that is going to happen very soon. The only difference is what that means to us. I have no illusions of being able to convert you to my way of understanding scriptures. I do think you would be hard pressed to explain why the apostles and all the writers of the New Testament quoted the Old Testament scriptures in a way that you would call ‘out of context,’ as I simply quote them in the paper I mentioned above entitled, How To Rightly Divide The Word Using A Principle Only The Apostles Understood.

I pointed out several times in the letter you referenced that the Word of God has a character to it that is never considered by orthodoxy. That character is the “Is, was and will be,” character of Christ and His Word. This fact is repeated 11 times in the book that reveals Christ in us; the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ. The reason things are repeated in scripture is to let us know that God considers this a very important point. These eleven times in Revelation are only a fraction of the times that God  tells us that He is the beginning and the end and everything in between. “All things are of God.” And one of all of those things that are of God that is emphasized more than anything is the fact that the Word of God Is, Was, and Will Be. It isn’t simply Was or Will Be as dispensationalists and preterists all apply Gods Word. It is always to applied in it’s fulness. It will aways be Is, Was and Will Be. The reason everything is always “quickly” and “shortly” is because:

Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

Anything God does in our lives is accomplished after “dragging us to Himself.” This is seldom done in our youth, but even if it were, it would still have to be done “quickly” because our lives are but “a vapor that appears for a moment and then vanishes away.”

Christ makes this statement:

Mat 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

What defiles us is not ‘out there’ in the past or the future. It is in us now, and we need to be purged of it now. God’s Word is always for now. Preterism and dispensationalism both put the book of Revelation, and all scripture, somewhere ‘out there,’ either in the distant past around 70 AD or somewhere in the future. The scriptures are seldom “I Am,” as their “Is, Was and Will Be” character demands that they be applied. Consequently the most valuable thing in the world is passed over and given away to others in the past and future, as casually as Esau sold his birthright. It just doesn’t seem to have any present application for ‘the natural man.’ This “Is, Was and Will Be,” this “I Am” application of Gods Word is “foolishness to him.”

As I have said to you before, Mr. Knoch’s, “The words of Christ are not for us,” ‘two administrations,’ doctrine is the worst of the lot in ignoring this so oft repeated Truth. Anyone who is serious about God’s Word, should be most interested in knowing why the apostles all quoted God’s Word in the way they did. The only explanation for such “smorgasbord’ application as Peter gives God’s Word in Acts chapter one, is that Peter and all the apostles understood the “Is, Was and Will Be,” character and application of God’s spiritual words. Look at what Peter did with the scriptures. Ask yourself what principle was guiding Peter and all the apostles who do this:

Act 1:15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)Act 1:16 Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.Act 1:17 For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry.Act 1:18 Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.Act 1:19 And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.Act 1:20 For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.

Try to find verse 20  in Psalms. Your eyes might be opened to how God’s Spirit, “Teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual”. By the way the word ‘smorgasbord,’ is borrowed from one of my detractors. It is not my word to describe the fact that Christ is everything and every one in scripture. Christ is “The first [ Adam and everything in the first Adam] and the last [ Adam and everything in the last Adam]” As you know, it is He who is responsible both for “every good and perfect gift,” as well as for “creating evil.” To fail to see Christ in the offerer, as well as the priest, as well as the sacrifice and the temple and the temple implements and in the congregation with all of it’s evils is to fail to see His omniscience, His omnipotence and His omnipresence.

Christ and His word are One. We should never try to partition Him.

I am sending you a letter to a young man who has been discussing this subject with me. It touches on many of the points that you ask about. As I tell this young man, All truth is only given by divine revelation and not by me or any other man. If God opens your eyes to truth, then and only then, do you see it. It is not a matter of reading my papers or yours. It is a sovereign work of God and you and I are used by God to either reveal truth, or to hide it, depending on what God is doing with us.

I hope you will read How To Rightly Divide, and then I hope to hear from you. Here is what Paul told his readers about the words of Christ:

1Ti 6:3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;1Ti 6:4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,1Ti 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

I will close by asking you the same question you asked me:

Do these usages of the word “mello” sound vague and distant, or something that was going to happen very soon?

Of course, I am asking this same question in the only way the Holy Spirit speaks and teaches, “comparing spiritual things [ types and shadows] with spiritual [ The spiritual reality of Christ living His life in us].

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth [ context only], but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Are these words of Paul out there in the past or future, or are they for you and me? Are they dispensational only? Are they preterist only? Or are they as Christ, who Is, Was and Will Be?

Again, thank you for your question. I hope you now at least know better what it is that I believe and why I believe as I do. I also hope you will consider the scriptures I have quoted and will ask God to show you His mind in this matter.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

P. S. The letter is below:

R____ wrote:

Mike,

I’m reading through the book of Romans and am now in chapter 11 and I wanted to bounce something off you. Since Paul defined early in Romans who is a Jew, it almost seems that the spiritual overtone is that Israel in Chapter 11 represents the called (Church) and the Gentiles spiritually represent those not called in this age (the rest) and the election is the chosen. Am I off base here? In particular, I’m looking at Rom 11:5-15.

R____

Hi R____,

I’m going to try to get this to you tonight.

Here are the verses you refer to. I include verses 1-4 for the sake of making this clear. I will bracket in the words physical and spiritual where appropriate:

Rom 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his [ physical] people? God forbid. For I also am an [ physical] Israelite, of the [ physical] seed of Abraham, of the [ physical] tribe of Benjamin.Rom 11:2 God hath not cast away his [ physical] people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against [ physical] Israel, saying,Rom 11:3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they [ physical Israel] seek my life.Rom 11:4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand [ physical Israelite] men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.Rom 11:5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant [ of physical Israelites] according to the election of grace [ Which, according to Eph. 2:8 and dozens of other scriptures, is no longer concerned with physical descent].Rom 11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if [ it be] of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.Rom 11:7 What then? [ physical] Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election [ Spiritual Israel- Eph. 2:11-19] hath obtained it, and the rest [ physical Israel along with “Sodom and Samaria- Sodom as the uncalled world, and Samaria as those who claim to be worshiping God while they openly worship the ‘idols of their hearts and disdain God’s Word]] were blindedRom 11:8(According as it is written, God hath given them [ physical Israel- Mt. 13:5-16] the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.Rom 11:9 And David saith, Let [ physical Israel’s] their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:Rom 11:10 Let their [ physical Israel’s] eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway [ till Sodom and Samaria return to God-Eze.16:55].Rom 11:11 I say then, Have they [ physical Israel] stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their [ physical Israel’s] fall salvation [ Becoming “the Israel of God” -Gal 6:15-16] is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them [ physical Israel] to jealousy.Rom 11:12 Now if the fall of them [ physical Jews] be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them [ the Jews] the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?Rom 11:13 For I speak to you Gentiles [ who are now “the seed of Abraham- Gal. 3:16, and “as Isaac,”-Gal 4:28] inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles [ spiritual Israelites- Eph. 2:11-19], I magnify mine office:Rom 11:14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them [ physical Israelites] which are my flesh, and might save some of them.Rom 11:15 For if the casting away of them [ physical Israelites] be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them [ physical Israel] be, but life from the dead [ at the white throne judgment when both Sodom and Samaria, “The fulness of the Gentiles,” are redeemed]?

Now I want you to see and read with your own eyes a verse of scripture that  is not believed by anyone anywhere in orthodox Christianity. I know of no one who believes this plain statement of scripture. Yet here is the verse that explains what the phrase, ‘The fulness of the Gentiles,’ really means:

Eze 16:1 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,Eze 16:2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem [ both physical Jerusalem and ‘abomnible,’ spiritual Jerusalem’- apostate Orthodox Christians] to know her abominations,Eze 16:48 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.Eze 16:49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.Eze 16:50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw [ good].Eze 16:51 Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.Eze 16:52 Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.Eze 16:53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:Eze 16:54 That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them.Eze 16:55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate.

When will the ‘fulness of the Gentiles become in?’ “When thy sisters Sodom and Samaria” are restored to God!

These verses make two very important points: 1) All men will be saved. Even Sodomites. But the second point made here is completely unknown to this world. And that point is that physical Israel will not be prominent in this world ever again. She will be restored to God. Yes “the gifts and the callings of God are without repentance. But that verse in no way says that God’s timetable for “grafting physical Israel back into the root of the ‘Olive Tree [ Christ]’ is during the millennial kingdom as believed by all of orthodox Christianity. No that is the time when “the Israel of God,” as opposed to the “Israelites according to the flesh,” will be “ruling the nations with a rod of iron.” Physical Israel will be “restored to their former estate… WHEN Sodom and Samaria are restored to their former estate.”

I hope this clears this up for you. If it doesn’t, then let me know.

Mike

R____ responded:

Hi Mike,

What you sent me was awesome and I really appreciate it. I totally understand the breakdown between physical and spiritual Israel in these passages now. Here’s my additional question… Is physical Israel ever symbolic of Christendom or the corporate church. When I read verses like Rom 11:7-10 here, although it is obviously talking about physical Israel, it seems that sometimes what applies to physical Israel could on a spiritual level also resemble “Mystery Babylon”. I know it doesn’t parallel always but do you have any thoughts on this at all?

In Christ,

R____

Hi R____,

I can’t go into it right now, but so far as I understand the types of scripture, physical Israel does typify the Babylonish Christian system of today. Look at what Paul says right here in Rom 11:

Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell [ physical Israel], severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

The church “fell” just like Israel. As soon as Moses and Joshua died, Israel completely forgot their God and started worshiping the Gods of the nations around them. They were falling away while they were being called out of Egypt. So it is with the church that Christ founded. As soon as Christ and the apostles died, it completely fell into idols of the heart (false doctrine) worship. Look at these scriptures:

Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son o ut of Egypt.Hos 11:2 As they [ Moses and Aaron] called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

This sounds just like these verses in the New Testament:

Act 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.Act 20:30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.1Jn 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.1Jn 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would [ no doubt] have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

When you hear what Christ says to “the church in the wilderness,” of his day, just think of the church today, and it will always apply perfectly. Look at where the church that “brings forth the manchild,” in Rev 12, is located and “nourished.” Why do you suppose ‘the manchild,’ is “caught up to God and to His throne,” while the woman out of whom the ‘manchild’ comes, “flees into the wilderness?” When God reveals to you what “the wilderness,” is, you will then know what the answer to that question is. ‘The wilderness,’ is where those who are called of God to leave Egypt are. These Christians are baptized in the Red Sea and taught about a High Priest and His priesthood. Through this priesthood they learn how to approach and worship God but will never see the baptism of the Jordan, much less go on from there into Babylon and then come out of Babylon. All these things happened unto them, not for their sakes. They happened to them and they are written for our admonition.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

I Cor. 10:11 is especially true for everything that is written in the New Testament. And when Christ spoke to the church of His day He was speaking to the church of today also. The Alpha and the Omega, Is, Was, and Will Be. His Word Is Who He Is. It also Is, Was and Will Be. Christ always has been and always will be “I Am.” Not realizing this Truth of who and what Christ is, is what leads to the partial Truths of preterism and dispensationalism. Of course Christ came to the church on the day of Pentecost. Did He not come to Christians 100 years later? 200 years later? Is He not coming to us 2000 years later? Of course He is still coming to His people. Is he coming with a new or different message? No, He is not. If He were then these words would not be true:

Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

If we think that “This generation shall not pass till all these things shall come to pass,” is not for us then what we are saying is that Christ is not for us. Christ is for all men of all generations and every word He spoke is for all men of every generation because like He tells us He “Is, Was and Will be.”

Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

What is lacking in the church is understanding that Christ’s words are not to be taken literally. “They are spirit and they are life…”

So they are ‘light,’ to God’s chosen few and the very same words become ‘strong delusion,’ to the called who tell themselves:

Rev 3:17… I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.

To most Christians, who are all either preterists or dispensationalists, this and all scripture is always ‘out there’ somewhere either in the future or in the past. That is not what this very book of Revelation tells us. Eleven times in this book alone, we are told that God’s word, Christ, is the ‘Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end [ and everything ion between] which is and was and will be.’

Why does Christ repeat this so many times? Well, of course the reason is because it is just that important that we understand how His word must be understood. Every man of every generation must “keep the things which are written,” to reveal to us Jesus Christ. Of course a preterist and a dispensationalist are confused by this statement in chapter 1 verse three and its twin verse about as far from the last verse of this book as 1:3 is from the beginning. Here are both verses. As I asked in our study, What is “our part in this book?” What “things that are written in this book are we to keep?”

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [ it] by his angel unto his servant John:Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Rev 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

To a preterist or a dispensationalist Christ is either was or will be. “His words must always be ‘kept in context.’ If not then you can go anywhere with such fuzzy thinking” I am quoting a Concordant minister with whom I was discussing the fact that the scriptures quoted out of the Old Testament are often quoted ‘out of context.’ If you haven’t yet, be sure to read ‘How To Rightly Divide The Word Using A Principle Only The Apostles Understood.’

I have said it many times I will no doubt say it many times more; The apostles would not ‘rightly divide the Word one way and expect us to do so some other way. So the direct answer to your question is that; Yes, physical Israel, being the fallen church of its day is typical of the fallen Babylonian orthodox Christian church of today. Catholicism is the mother of today’s churches just as Christ’s church came out of Judaism. and just as Judaism is the fallen ‘church in the wilderness,’ Christ’s church is also fallen. Here is the decreed result of that fallen state:

Rom 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.Rom 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.Rom 11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

These verses and this next verse:

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

… are among the most despised of Christ’ written Word. They establish a two tier church, and just as Joseph who typifies the elect, this Truth secures the wrath of those spiritual Israelites who are to be ruled by the elect of Israel. Remember when Christ said “If the world hate you…” He wasn’t referring to Pilate, who called Him a “Just man.” He was referring to spiritual Jerusalem, which He tells us will always be where all prophets will always die in every generation.

Luk 13:33 Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the [ day] following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.

Unbeknownst to all of today’s context only oriented orthodox Christians we are plainly told that this is a spiritual statement:

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

‘Jerusalem,’ is a spiritual word as are all of Christ’s words:

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh [ letter- II Cor. 3:3] profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

God’s Word is not understood by using good concordances and keeping scriptures in context. If that were all there were to it, then the natural man could indeed receive the things of the spirit. But that is not so. All Truth is only by divine revelation.

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because t hey are spiritually discerned.Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood [ books written by men] hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Fathe r which is in heaven.

So the preterists and the dispensationalists have not a clue what it means to “compare spiritual with spiritual,” which is the only way the Holy Spirit teaches.

1Co 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Joh 6:63… the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

I hope this sets your mind at ease. If not, let’s talk about it.

Mike

G____ responded:

Thanks. Regarding preterism, I personally don’t have a problem seeing them fulfilled in the first century and still gaining spiritual knowledge from them. The Mosaic Tabernacle was built thousands of years ago, the old Covenant is dead, yet the tabernacle still speaks to us today. Therefore, fulfillment, yet still alive spiritually. What can’t the destruction of Jerusalem be the same way?

That is the very essence of an Alpha and Omega approach to scripture. Jerusalem, the ‘church in the wilderness,’ was destroyed and ‘broken off,’ in the ‘was,’ part of Christ. But that physical Israel is also broken off and separated from God is also true for the present and for the future. Contrary to all orthodox Christian teaching, including Mr Knoch, physical Israel will never again be prominent in the eyes of God. They will not be restored to God “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” We are not left to guess when that is: When thy sister Sodom is restored THEN you will be restored” (Ezekiel 16:50 -55). The problem with the doctrines of either preterism or dispensationalism is that the Is part of Christ and His Word is hardly,  if ever, mentioned. Emphasizing either the past or the future is to avoid and misunderstand the main thrust of  the “spirit of Jesus Christ, which is the spirit of prophecy.”

That spirit will always be emphasizing the fact that “the time is at hand, keep the things written in this book. Don’t add to it or take from it or your part in this book will be taken away.” The things we are to do in this book are so crucial to our salvation that John “wept much,” when he realized the fact that there was no way anyone “in heaven or in earth,” could possibly understand this book. As I mentioned to you before it takes nothing less than divine revelation to understand this Is, Was and Will Be Word of God. Mr. Knoch’s, brand of preterism virtually robs us of our part in this book telling us that the words of Christ are not for us. To which foolishness Paul warns us:

1Ti 6:3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;1Ti 6:4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,1Ti 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

It took me years to do so, but my understanding of God’s Word began with my separation from that insidious doctrine. I will take the advice of God’s spirit over Mr. Knoch or any man. Wholesome words are the words of Christ. They were wholesome for Paul and Timothy, they are whole for you and me and they will be wholesome for Israel and Sodom in the lake of fire. “My words shall never pass away… the time is [ always] at hand.” Anyone who fails to realize this Truth of the Word of God will always see the revealing of Christ in us as a completely sealed book:

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth [ Is, Was, and Will Be], and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.Rev 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things [ saying that this book is all past or all future], God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy [ denys that Christ and His Word are always Is, Was and Will Be], God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly [ to every generation, until the consummation]. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

For all but the elect; that is for the “many called, but not chosen,” they don’t even see why the seven seals bring John to tears:

Rev 5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.Rev 5:4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.Rev 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Again, the Words of Christ are wholesome and they are for Paul, and for Timothy, and they are for us, if The Alpha and the Omega is in us. If He is not, if we say “the Words of Christ are not for us,” then what we are saying is that Christ Himself is not for us. And it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy and this book remains completely (seven) sealed, and we have no idea how we are to do the four horse men or the fifth, sixth, and seventh seal, with its seven trumps with their seven bowls. It was either all accomplished in 70 AD or it will be accomplished in the ‘time of the end.’ Either way, this book and “my part in it,” and me “keeping the sayings of  the prophecy  of this book,” will always be ‘out there.’  This way, this preterist or dispensational way, the time for me will never “be at hand.”  The beast will continue to have his “seat,” (Greek – throne) in my body, which Paul plainly tells us is His temple.

Yes, the old covenant is “done away,” and we are “no longer under the schoolmaster.” But when you understand the Is, Was, and Will Be, nature of Christ and his word, then you will understand that the law of Moses is “Yea we establish the law,” [ of Moses as a generation by generation “schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ.” Then at that point, and only at that point in the life of all believers, we with Paul, can say “But after that faith [ that not of ourselves, but of Christ] is come, we are no longer under the schoolmaster [ of the law]. G____ , take the time to read ‘The Law of Moses Versus  The Law Of The Spirit.’ Christ submitted Himself to his parents and to the law until His baptism by John. But we are told that at that point “the heavens were opened.” That is spiritual lingo for His understanding was increased. From that moment on Christ was not a ‘practicing Jew.” He “did that which was not lawful for Him to do,” when he failed to prepare twice as much food on the sixth day, and instead went through the fields and ate the corn on the sabbath day. He “profaned the sabbath,” as the Levites do. 

Christ was not a Levite. Neither was he being pursued at this time as David was. His sole purpose in “doing that which was not lawful for him to do,” and his purpose in “profaning the sabbath as the Levites do,” was to demonstrate that He was not a ‘practicing Jew,” but was rather the “reformer,” that had been prophesied in the law and in the prophets. His sole purpose was to demonstrate that he was “Lord of the sabbath and greater than the temple.” All I have written are straight out of the mouth of “the Word.” He is the one who admits to “profaning the sabbath and doing that which it was not lawful for Him to do.” And all of this followed His litany of “You have heard [ the law] BUT I say unto you… Resist not evil… love your enemy, etc. etc. none of which is to found in the law and much of which flatly contradicts the law. 

When you teach that Christ kept the law of Moses perfectly, you are saying that He is not fit to be our spotless sacrifice, because “the law of Moses is not made for a righteous man but for the lawless…” Christ was not lawless, but the law of the Spirit, which “agrees not with the old,” is the law that qualified Christ as our Savior. It was the law He brought that teaches us to “love our enemies,” not the law of Moses that teaches us to “destroy everything that breathes,” in the cities of our enemies. Truly New Covenant wine is not to be put in the old covenant wine skins. Truly “the new agrees not with the old,” but instead makes the tear even worse. And that is exactly what is accomplished when we teach that Christ’s words are only for the Jewish, converts to his gospel. When we teach that He was a practicing Jew. Had He been so He would never have been slain and He would not have qualified as our savior.

What qualified Christ as being spotless was the law to which we are told that the law of Moses was “added.” But this parenthetical “addition,” called by Christ “the law of Moses,” was added only “until the seed should come.

Gal 3:19 Wherefore then serveth the law [ not made for a righteous man]? It was added [ to the ‘I change not,’ law of the Spirit] because of transgressions [ of that already existing law of the Spirit, to which the law of Moses was ‘added.’ But only un-], till the seed should come to whom the promise was made…

It was this ‘Law of the Spirit,’ that Christ came to reveal for the first time ever. It is this law, written on our hearts that makes us Gentiles partakers of the New Covenant.

2Co 3:2 Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:2Co 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.2Co 3:4 And such trust have we through Christ to God- ward:2Co 3:5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [ is] of God;2Co 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter [ the law of Moses] killeth, but the [ law of the] spirit giveth life.

So was Paul the minister of the New Covenant to the Gentile Corinthians? Are there two New covenants? No, there is only one ‘New Covenant,’ and it went mainly to the Gentiles, of whom these Corinthians , were but a part. Does this statement apply to the church today or it it addressed to the people of Corinth in Paul’s day only. No G____, God’s Word primarily “IS,” but it also Was, and It also Will Be.”  Christ and His Word are one. It is in Him that we have apart. It is in Him that we “keep the sayings of the words of the prophecy of this book.

Your first letter tells me that

… the following verses, do they apply to the generation in which the New Testament was written or do they apply some time in the future or do you have some other kind of scenario.

You go to great lengths to show me that they apply to that generation.

Then I point out the true nature of God’s Word: that it does indeed apply to tha t generation; the as a matter of fact “the time is at hand,” is the primary emphasis in the assertion, “I am he that IS, Was, and Will Be.” This is the way God’s elect have seen His Word down through the generations. This is the way it is to be understood.

Next you say that the Old covenant is dead, as if it were not “established.” Then you tell me that you too see a present application for the scriptures you have juster told me were for that generation. As I said before, I don’t pretend to be able to make you see what I see. God has given me the ability to see that is Word is Himself.

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The spirit of Christ’s Words is “the time is at hand,” in every generation. That is the “other scenario,” that you asked me about. You apparently didn’t see that, and now you don’t “see where I began” when I pointed out that you allowing that God’s word does have a present application is an admission to this quality of God’s Word. This is not about Mike Vinson or you.

It is about the fact that “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” If you cannot see that that is true in every generation then you will not see the dangers of emphasizing either preterism or dispensationalism. To emphasize the past, is to miss the IS. To emphasize the future is to miss the IS. All Christendom does one or the other. I hope that helps you to see “where I began.” I began where I though you had left off in seeing that all scripture Is, Was, and Will Be. I’m not really waiting for a ‘thank you.’ I just know that God’s Word does not return to Him void.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

G____ responded:

Mike wrote:

The spirit of Christ’s Words is “the time is at hand,” in every generation. That is the “other scenario,” that you asked me about. You apparently didn’t see that, and now you don’t “see where I began” when I pointed out that you allowing that God’s word does have a present application is an admission to this quality of God’s Word. This is not about Mike Vinson or you. It is about the fact that “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” If you cannot see that that is true in every generation then you will not see the dangers of emphasizing either preterism or dispensationalism. To emphasize the past, is to miss the IS.

But to emphasize the “IS” when in fact there are things that belong in the past is to miss the point also in my opinion. When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he was speaking to the Thessalonians, he was NOT necessarily speaking to us even though we may gain information, spiritual or otherwise by listening in. To say that Mat 23 and 24 were fulfilled in 70AD is NOT negating that we can learn today something about those passages today. But when He said when Jerusalem is surrounded, then flee to the mountains and we try to find literal fulfillment in that is going way too far in applying scripture to the present. The Bible DOES speak of things past and they should be treated that way. You and I do it all the time, why can’t the Biblical writers do the same thing?

Is there anyone who denies that Jerusalem was surrounded by armies in 70 AD? Is there anyone who doubts that the Christians were spared the misery of that event because they listened to the Words of Christ? But Christ tells us that His words also have a spiritual character: “The Words that I speak unto you are spirit…”

It is in His prophecy of the destruction of physical Jerusalem that Christ Himself demonstrates this, always applicable, character of His Word:

Luk 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all [ the prophecies concerning the fall of Jerusalem] be fulfilled.Luk 21:33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

So those who have been “given eyes to see and ears to hear,” see that even though Jerusalem fell in 70 A. D., “that Great city wherein our Lord was crucified” is yet to fall again:

Rev 18:16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!Rev 18:17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought.Rev 18:21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.

“That great city,” is “Babylon The Great The Mother Of Harlots  AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

There is only one  “great city ,” in “the book of this prophecy.” There are not two ‘The great cities.’ There can be but one “The great city.” What city is “that great city.” It is “The great city where also our Lord was crucified.”

Rev 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Will anyone argue that Babylon the great is not spiritually called Sodom and Egypt? This prophecy, in Rev 17 has nothing to do with the events of 70 A. D.  except for the fact that “The words that I have spoken unto you, they are spirit…” and “Heaven and earth shall pass away but MY WORDS shall never pass away.”

Of what value is the knowledge that Jerusalem was surrounded in 70 AD, if I fail to see spiritual Jerusalem surrounded by the armies of the beast within now. Of what value is it for me to see that Jerusalem may indeed be surrounded again by armies in the future, if I fail to see that  my citizenship is in heaven and that it is “Jerusalem above,” where I am admonished to “set my  affections?”

Col 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth

In other words, what profit is there in seeing the obvious physical application of scripture at the expense of it’s “Is, Was and Will Be,” spiritual quality? So we are told that for those who read and understand the words of the prophecy of this book; Those of every generation since Christ, “For the time [ primarily] IS at hand.”

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

You ask me:

The Bible DOES speak of things past and they should be treated that way. You and I do it all the time, why can’t the Biblical writers do the same thing?

You ask this as if I have been trying to convince you that scripture has no past application. The Truth is, that I have pointed out in every exchange we’ve had, that the Words of Christ have an IS, Was and Will Be character and quality to them because “they are spirit.”

What you are apparently really asking (correct me if I am wrong) is ‘Why can’t the Biblical writers be speaking only of the past?’ I glean this from the fact that I have allowed three times now that God’s Word is to be understood as being “IS, Was, and Will Be,” and you continue to ignore this fact. Let me just come out and say it: The Biblical writers DO speak of things that are past. Things that are past however are “treated that way alone, (meaning they are treated as in the past only, with no present application),” only by those who fail to see how the Old Covenant was quoted by “the Biblical writers,” you mention above. You obviously haven’t had the time to read How To Rightly Divide the Word Using A Principle Only The Apostles Understood, so I will take the time to repeat only one of the many scriptures that spoke of the past but which the New Testament writers all aver was really speaking of “the time is at hand:”

Hos 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.Hos 11:2 As they [ Moses and Aaron] called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.

Hosea wrote this long after Israel came out of Egypt. That is exactly where any self respecting preterist would apply it. But look at how the New Testament writers apply this verse  of scripture written in the past about something that far preceded the writer:

Mat 2:13 And when they [ the wise men] were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.Mat 2:14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:Mat 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

This is but one of dozens of the majority of the scriptures quoted out of the Old Testament, speaking of past events, but applied by the New testament writers as if they had a present application. There were no preterists among any of the New Testament writers. They all believed that Christ and His Word were always “Is, Was, and Will Be.”

So when I see Paul Crouch, with a snapshot of one of his satellites projected on a screen behind him, telling his worldwide TV audience that Zec 5:1-2 is a prophecy of his ministry:

Zec 5:1 Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.Zec 5:2 And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits [ the exact proportions of Paul’s satellites].

Here now is what Paul Crouch is admitting to the “whole earth” concerning His ministry:

Zec 5:3 Then said he unto me, This [ flying roll] is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth:

The Truth is that this entire chapter is a prophecy of Paul Crouch’s ministry and the ministries of all to whom Christ will say “I never knew you.” Just look at his short chapter. Notice where these “women”  with all their “wickedness” are based:

Zec 5:3… for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it [ this “curse”]; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.Zec 5:4 I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it [ this “curse”] shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it [ this curse] shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.Zec 5:5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.Zec 5:6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.Zec 5:7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman [ harlot] that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.Zec 5:8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.Zec 5:9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.Zec 5:10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?Zec 5:11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar:[ Babylon The Great] and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.

After listening to Mr Crouch repeat this claim several times over the years, I happened to read this verse and applied it to Mr Crouch and the entire orthodox Christian world:

Luk 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. 

I have used this verse as any of the apostles would have applied it if they were here today. That verse  was for me and for Paul Crouch, NOW. Yes, you do admit that some scripture has a present application. What you apparently do not see is that it all has this quality. That is your privilege. But whenever you say that “the words of Christ and His apostles are not for us today,” to quote many Concordant writers, including A. E. Knoch, and  whenever you personally say:

The Bible DOES speak of things past and they should be treated that way.

And if you refuse to learn from the examples set by all of the New Testament writers, then this scripture is also applicable to you

“Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant.”

So Christ’s words and all the blessings and rewards mentioned in the words of Christ and His apostles will have no application for you. The things written in the past about the past will have no application to you.

Tell me, does this verse have any application for the present?:

1Ti 6:3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;1Ti 6:4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife [ about preterism versus dispensationalism among others], railings, evil surmisings,1Ti 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

This verse guts the doctrine of two administrations, whether it is applied in the past, the present,  or the future. But this is seen only by those who are given “eyes to see and ears to hear…  (Mt. 13:11-16) and the rest were blinded” (Rom. 11:7).

Your brother in Christ,

Mike

Posted December 22, 2004

C____ wrote:

Dear Mike,

Since it does appear that the kingdom of God and return of Christ was “at hand” and it was “the last hour” 2000 years ago, how do we explain that other than being Preterist. To me, being Preterist is the same as saying that “the resurrection is past already” and would involve a belief in an “immortal soul” in man. Some folks (Christadelphians) think that the apostles were only “mistaken” about the “soon” return of Christ. I don’t believe either one of these. Is there an article, that you know of, on the web, that explains this? One that you agree with? If you do, that would save you the trouble of writing a long answer just for me. I’ll send an attachment of what I’m talking about, so that there is no confusion.

C____

The Imminent Return of Christ

The Scriptures are clear about the “soon” return of Christ. Read what they have to say:

When John the Baptist began to preach, he warned everybody to repent because the kingdom of heaven was near (Matt. 3:2). When the people and their leaders came out to see John, he emphatically told them that the Day of Judgment was not far away (Matt. 3:7-12; Luk 3:7-9, 16-17). After John the Baptist had been imprisoned, Jesus continued to preach repentance. The reason was the same — the time had come and the kingdom was near (Mark. 1:14-15). When Jesus sent out the Twelve to the people of Israel, they were instructed to preach that the kingdom was near. He warned them that they would be persecuted because of Him. However, Jesus assured them that they would not run out of cities to flee to before He returned (Matt. 10:5-7, 22-23). When Jesus dined with the Pharisees, He told them that it would be their generation that would be held accountable for all the righteous blood that had been shed on the earth (Luk 11:37, 50-51). Near the end of His ministry, Jesus told His disciples that if anyone from their adulterous and sinful generation were to deny Him, upon His coming in the Father’s glory with the angels, He would reward each one of them for what they had done by also denying them. Then, He flatly stated that some of the disciples to whom He was speaking would not die before they saw Him coming in His kingdom (Matt. 16:27-28; Mark. 8:38-9:1). When Jesus pronounced His seven woes upon the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, He again stated that their generation would be the one responsible for all the righteous blood that had been shed on the earth (Matt. 23:35-36). In His Olivet Discourse, Jesus explained to His disciples that their generation would not pass away before it had witnessed the Apostasy, the preaching of the Gospel throughout the world, the end of the age, the desolation of their temple, the overthrow of their nation, the coming of the Son of Man, and the Day of Judgment. He told them that they needed to watch and pray so that they could escape all the things that were about to transpire (Matt. 24-25; Mark. 13; Luk 21:5-36). At His trial, Jesus told the High Priest that he would see the day when the Son of Man would be sitting at the right hand of the Father and coming on the clouds of heaven (Matt. 26:64; Mark. 14:62).

Following His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus spoke to the apostle Peter about his own death. When Peter asked how the apostle John would die, Jesus implied that John might not die until He returned. Afterward, John wrote that some of the brothers believed Jesus had said that he would never die, but John countered by indicating that Jesus had only said that he might live until the Second Coming (John. 21:18-23). On the day of Pentecost, Peter told the people that the fulfillment of the prophet Joel’s words had come. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was an undeniable sign that they were in the last days and that the manifestation of the Day of the Lord was not far away. Peter begged the people to save themselves from their corrupt generation. Some understood the urgency of Peter’s words and in response were baptized (Act 2:1, 16-20, 40-41).

Years later when he wrote to the Thessalonians, the apostle Paul indicated that some believers would still be alive to witness the Second Coming (1 Thess. 4:15). Paul told the Corinthians that there was not much time left and that the world in its present form was currently passing away (1 Cor. 7:29, 31). He informed them that the fulfillment of the ages had arrived (1 Cor. 10:11). Later, he said that not all of them would die before the resurrection had occurred (1 Cor. 15:51). When Paul wrote to the Romans, he advised them that the hour had come for them to realize that their salvation was much sooner than originally expected (Rom. 13:11). Then, he told them that it would not be long before God crushed Satan under their feet (Rom. 16:20). James instructed the people to be patient until the coming of the Lord. Next, he stated that Jesus and the Judgment were coming soon (Jas 5:7-9). Paul informed the Philippians that the Lord’s coming was near (Php. 4:5). The author of Hebrews wrote that the Old Covenant was in the process of passing away and that it would shortly be abolished (Heb. 8:13). The regulations of the covenant were only to be applicable until the new order had arrived (Heb. 9:10). The author further informed the Hebrews that when Jesus entered into heaven it had occurred at the end of the ages (Heb. 9:26). The Hebrews were encouraged to meet with each other more often as they saw the Day of the Lord getting nearer. They were then told that the time was very short and that the coming of the Lord would occur without delay (Heb. 10:25, 37). The apostle Peter told the people that it was the last times and their salvation was ready to be revealed (1 Pet. 1:5). He also informed them that the Lord had been manifested in those same last times for their sake (1 Pet. 1:20). In addition, he said that the Lord was ready to judge the living and the dead and that the end of all things was near (1 Pet. 4:5, 7). Paul suggested that Timothy might still be alive at the Second Coming when he charged him to remain faithful until that time came (1 Tim. 6:12-14). Jude warned the people that godless men had slipped in among them. Then, he reminded them that they were in the last times and their situation was just as the Apostles had foretold would happen (Jdg 4, 18). The apostle John told the people that the darkness was passing and the true light was already shinning (1 John. 2:8). Afterward, he stated that the world and its desires were currently passing away (1 John. 2:17). He told them that many antichrists had come. He then said that their presence was a clear indication that it was the last hour (1 John. 2:18).

In the book of Revelation, the apostle John wrote that the events, which were being disclosed, were going to happen soon. He then stated that those who heard, read and took the prophecy to heart would be blessed because the time was near (Rev. 1:1, 3). When Jesus addressed the church in Ephesus, He warned them that if they did not repent He would come to them very soon and remove their church from its place (Rev. 2:5). He told the church in Pergamum that they also needed to repent. If they did not, He said that He would quickly come back and bring judgment upon them (Rev. 2:16). To the church in Thyatira, Jesus advised them to hold on to what they had until He returned (Rev. 2:25). Jesus exhorted the church in Sardis to wake up or He would come like a thief and they would not know when He was going to come to them (Rev. 3:3). The church in Philadelphia was commended for their endurance. As a consequence, Jesus told them that He would keep them from the hour of trial that was about to occur. He then declared that He was going to come back soon (Rev. 3:10-11). In his message to the church in Laodicia, Jesus stated that He was about to judge them for their lukewarmness and that they should be zealous and repent (Rev. 3:16, 19). At the end of the book, John was told that the things, which had just been revealed, would soon take place (Rev. 22:6). Following that, Jesus announced that He was coming soon and that those who kept the words of the prophecy would be blessed (Rev. 22:7). Afterward, John was instructed not to seal up the book because the time was near (Rev. 22:10). Jesus again proclaimed that He was coming soon. He then added that His reward was with Him and He would give to everybody according to what they had done (Rev. 22:12). Jesus closed by once more declaring that He would come back soon (Rev. 22:20).

Without a doubt, the smell of imminence was in the air. The Scriptures prove it. Jesus said He was going to come back soon, before His contemporaries had all died off. He did not say that He would return anytime over a period of two thousand years or more, nor only after the year A. D. 1948. He said soon! The authors of the New Testament wrote and preached the same thing. Any eschatological approach that claims otherwise, calls Jesus and the New Testament writers liars!

Hi C____,

It is good to hear from you again.

You are right in your assessment of ‘preterism’ being the false doctrine of “the resurrection is past already.” Preterists are as hung up on the letter of scripture as anyone out there! To a preterist, Christ’s statement to the “discreet scribe”:

Mar 12:34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

Apparently this meant that “the kingdom of God,” was just a block or two away. But of course this is not what Christ meant at all. What He did mean and what He went to great lengths and many parables to reveal is that from His days in the flesh until He begins “ruling with a rod of iron,” the “kingdom of God is within you.”

Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.Luk 17:22 And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.Luk 17:23 And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.Luk 17:24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.Luk 17:25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.Luk 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.Luk 17:27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.Luk 17:28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;Luk 17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

Preterists do not like the “destroyed them all,” part of verses 27 and 29. So what they do is to attempt to post pone indefinitely this period of “ruling with a rod of iron.” But it will not be postponed. It will happen right on schedule. But that schedule has a facet to it that is very little understood. That lack of understanding is the “is was and will be,” facet of the character of both Christ and His Word.

Neither The prophecies of Christ nor the book of Revelation have anything to do with end time events, in the sense that it is taught in Babylon. The ‘ends of the ages’ and “the time is at hand,” are spiritual, inward words that have to do with “the kingdom of God [ that] is within you.” Look at what the context of this scripture is:

Rev 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.Rev 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [ from] the things which are written in this book.Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.Rev 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Do you see that word ‘quickly?’ It is the same root as the word translated ‘shortly’ in Revelation1:1.

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

Now 22:10 again tells John not to seal this book, because “the time IS AT HAND.” Now this was written nearly 2000 years ago. So, “the time was at hand” then, ‘the time was at hand’ for each succeeding generation since that time, and ‘the time is at hand’ right now! The reason for this is because of the most oft repeated statement in this book. This book starts and ends with this same message, ‘I am the Lord who is, was and will be. Do what is in this book, because the time is at hand.’

Look at how often this is repeated in chapter one:

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therei n: for the time is at hand.Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Now compare this with How this book ends

Rev 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

There is no difference between, between the beginning and the end of this book. The statement that “I am the alpha and the omega, He that is was and will be” is repeated 11 times in this book. That is an incredible number of repetitions. That is because of the significance of this point. We simply must come to understand that this book is concerned more with what each of the elect of every generation since Christ, must DO, than it is concerned with when certain events will happen in only the last generation.”Keep the things that are written therein for the time [ of the “kingdom within,”] is at hand…” and do “his part…[ of ] the things which are written in this book.” That is what this book is about. Now we need to come to understand what all these symbols mean or this book will still have seven seals on it and we will be “weeping,” because no one can open this book so we can see what our part in this book is and so we can keep the things that are written therein.

Rev 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.Rev 5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book [ this book, telling us what we must “Keep,” and what “our part in this book, ], and to loose the seals thereof?Rev 5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.Rev 5:4 And I wept much [ He had just been told to “Keep the things in this book and now it appeared in the vision as if this book of instructions is sealed with seven seals] , because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.Rev 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

The only people for whom Christ opens these seven seals are those who are “in Christ,” His elect, who literally weep to know what is His will for them. For all others this book is completely (seven) sealed. For all others we are instructed:

Rev 22:11

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

The book of Revelation is not what most people think it is. It certainly has much to say about end time events, but not in the way that is normally understood. There is much to discuss on this subject. All of the symbols of Revelation are interpreted in the Old Testament. It is not a guessing game coming out of the minds of men. The ‘two olive trees’ of Rev 11 are interpreted for us in Zec 4:

Zec 4:2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all [ of] gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which [ are] upon the top thereof:Zec 4:3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right [ side] of the bowl, and the other upon the left [ side] thereof.Zec 4:4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What [ are] these, my lord?Zec 4:5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.Zec 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

The “word of the Lord” is not in most ministers. If it is in you, then you are one of Christ’s ‘two witnesses,’ and “two or three” is the number for witness in scripture. These “two olive trees” which feed the oil to the seven candlesticks are those who truly witness that Christ is in their lives. This is the significance of the “two olive trees… two witnesses of Rev 11

Rev 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.Rev 11:4 These are the two olive trees “the word of the Lord,” of Zech. 4], and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

All those who are faithful witnesses to the “word of the Lord,” no matter what the consequences, are these symbolic “two witnesses”. If we remain faithful then this includes you and me.

The “imminent return of Christ,” was inward and before the millennium. The “rod of iron,” is the millennium and it and the resurrection that precedes it, are yet future. Preterists just cannot distinguish between things of the spirit and the things of this age.

Mat 21:33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and [ That is where Christ is now in relation to those who do not have Him within. This “was is and will be,” until the “consummation.”]Mat 21:34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.Mat 21:35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.Mat 21:36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.Mat 21:37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.Mat 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.Mat 21:39 And they caught him, and cast him] out of the vineyard, and slew him.Mat 21:40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?Mat 21:41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

This parable is for us, as well as those who lived 2000 years ago! Christ and his Word “is was and will be,” until the consummation.

I hope this helps to give you a clearer understanding of what Paul calls “the things of the spirit.”

1Co 2:14 But the natural man [ preterists included] receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

A preterist cannot “spiritually discern,” the ‘is was and will be,’ Truths that the scriptures and Christ are. And remember:

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Mike