Transcript
Thank you very much for the opportunity you’ve given us to be here. We’ve enjoyed it. We appreciate the good turnouts each night and the interest that you have in the Scriptures.
Tonight I’m going to attempt a grand expedition. By which I mean I’m going to try to walk you through the Olivet Discourse from beginning to end in about 25 minutes or 30 minutes. And then we will devote the rest of our time to questions.
But before we begin that I’m going to need five volunteer readers who are in possession of the New King James Version. This has some tangency to our discussion at noon. And I will need to call on you at the appropriate time as we move through the Olivet Discourse. But do we have five people who have the New King James that would be willing to read? Right here. Thank you, sir. Who else? Right here. Good. Good. Gary and Al. Okay. If I forget who you are I think we have Gary, this gentleman back here, this lady, young lady here, Claude, and Al. We’ll call on you at the appropriate moment.
Now once again and for the last time we want to look at the overview of the Olivet Discourse in terms of the structure of this discourse. You now have in your possession copies of the overheads which may assist you in following along. The basic thing to remember here is something we’ve been emphasizing each night. That we can divide the Olivet Discourse into two units. The subject matter of the Olivet Discourse is the end of the age. Or another term for that, the day of the Lord. And then we have a unit of exposition in which our Lord goes over the events of the day of the Lord. And then we have a unit of application where the Lord applies the truths of the Olivet Discourse to the appropriate audience.
Notice that thus far we’ve gone through the first subsection of the expository section which is an overview of the entire 70th week of Daniel. And we’ve virtually covered the second subunit as well which goes back to the midpoint of the day of the Lord and goes over the remaining three and a half years somewhat in more detail. Tonight we will also be getting obviously, if we’re going to get through the Olivet Discourse, to the application section and to the four parables by which the discourse is concluded.
Now here is our overhead of the 70th week of Daniel. And we’re going to start going through the Olivet Discourse by beginning at verse 4 of chapter 24. As we have just indicated from the structural overhead, verses 4 to 14 carry us all the way through this period. In verses 4 through 8 the Lord Jesus Christ covers the first half week which He refers to as the beginning of sorrows. The characteristics of this period as mentioned right here are that it is a period when there are wars and rumors of wars, when there are famines, pestilences, earthquakes in various places. We supplemented the knowledge that is given us by this section with the information given us also in the book of Revelation. And we have discovered that this period is a period of intense calamity in the very categories in which our Lord describes it.
Then you will notice that in verses 9 to 14 we get our first coverage of the last half of the 70th week of Daniel. And the emphasis here by Jesus is that the followers of Jesus Christ in that day will suffer persecution. That some from among His followers will fail under the pressures of that day. You remember the verse that says because iniquity will abound the love of many will wax cold. But the purpose of this period from the standpoint of the disciples is that the gospel of the kingdom should be preached to the end of the earth. So one of the ways of looking at the last three and a half years of Daniel’s 70th week is to say that it is a period of persecution for Christians. But it is also a period of worldwide evangelism. And once again we supplemented our information here from Revelation 7 where we are informed that not only are 144,000 individuals saved out of the tribes of Israel but a great multitude that was uncountable from among the Gentile nations are also saved during this period.
Now that brings us to the second subunit of Matthew 24. And this is verses 15 through 31. Notice that as we had indicated this particular unit of the Olivet Discourse now goes back to the middle of Daniel’s 70th week. And we begin with the signal that the middle has been reached in the desecration of the Jewish temple. So that we begin in Matthew 24:15, “when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it ought not to,” and so on. Then in verses 15 to 20 the essential message of these verses is that once the abomination of desolation has occurred the followers of Jesus who live in Judea and Jerusalem should flee for their lives. They should waste no time in getting away.
Then when we reach verses 21 and 22 Jesus describes the character of this period. He says, “for then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the world began, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days should be shortened there should no flesh be saved.” In other words our Lord is telling us that this is a period of intense trouble for the world. So severe that unless the days were shortened it threatens to extinguish the existence of the human race. And once again we supplemented as our background here the bowl judgments of Revelation 16. And when you really contemplate the bowl judgments which are obviously the most terrible judgments of the book of Revelation it is clear how we can describe this period as a period that does indeed threaten the extermination of humanity. God will not permit that to happen. But it is obvious from all of the information that we have seen that the population of the world will be dramatically reduced when we get to the end of this period.
Now in Matthew 24:23-28 our Lord emphasizes the fact that this is a period of great religious deception. And once again we supplemented our knowledge with background material from other sections of the Scripture. And we understand that the key figures from the satanic perspective in this period are the man of sin, the great world ruler, and his religious leader the false prophet. And under the guidance of these two men the world is called, brought up in a new religious system which is one of the greatest delusions, the greatest delusion to ever afflict the human race. So the period is not only a period of evangelization. It’s not only a period that threatens the extinction of the human race. It is also a period in which there is profound and extensive religious deception.
All of this of course leads up to the battle of Armageddon and the second coming which are now referred to, at least the second coming is referred to in verse 29 of Matthew 24.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And then He sends His angels to gather together His elect from the four corners of the earth.
Now we once again supplemented our knowledge of this by reading some of the biblical descriptions of the battle of Armageddon. Because we have seen from various passages that the battle of Armageddon is really a world war in which the world fights with Jesus Christ. And the sudden coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the end of the war because the armies that are gathered together to fight Him are disastrously defeated. The beast and the false prophet are captured and cast alive into the lake of fire. And the armies are killed.
Now this brings us to the end of the first unit of exposition, the first unit of the Olivet Discourse which is exposition. And we conclude this with a brief conclusion section in verses 32 to 35. What is stated in verses 32 to 35 is twofold basically. Number one, that the generation that sees these things beginning to happen will see the end of them. This generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled. Through the mercy of God this is not a long period. Although the rebellion of man over the centuries of human history would certainly justify God in bringing judgments over an extended period of time. As a matter of fact this is a short period of time. And one generation will see the beginning as well as the end. In other words, as we now know supplementing this from the rest of prophecy, it will be carried out in a period of seven years.
And then the Lord Jesus concludes this unit by saying in verse 35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” This is a way of saying these things are absolutely sure and certain. And they will take place. And those of you who have been with us through the various previous sessions will know that these are shocking and shattering prophecies. And it is well for us almost the foundational application that we must make of this is the things that we have looked at that are predicted by the scriptures will take place. Jesus’ words will not pass away. Jesus’ words will be fulfilled.
Now that brings us to the second major unit of the Olivet Discourse which is the application unit. And I’m going to let Gary, if he will be our first reader. Gary, would you read Matthew 24:36-42?
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
Now this is a unit that we have described as introductory to the larger unit of application. And what we do in this unit, what the Lord does in this unit, is to come back so to speak to the beginning of this period. And to raise the question when will this period of time take place. He says in verse 36, “of that day and that hour no one knows.” And then He uses the analogy of Noah which is very important in understanding the bearing of this particular text. He says that in the days of Noah people were proceeding with normal life until the day that Noah entered into the ark and the flood came and took them all away.
Now the flood, as it happens, was not a one-day experience but rather, as you know, 40 days and 40 nights of rain. But the point here is that the situation that precedes Noah’s day is going to be the situation that precedes this period. Sometimes people have misunderstood the words here as if they referred either to the middle of the 70th week or to the end of the 70th week. I hope that we can see that they certainly could not possibly by any stretch of the imagination refer to either of those points. For the simple reason that by the time we’ve reached the middle of the week or by the time that we’ve reached the end of the 70th week normal life has been so dramatically and obviously interrupted that the analogy between this period of time and the days of Noah would be meaningless.
So what we are talking about here is the advent of this entire period of time. And we are told that this period of time will come unexpectedly. It will come at a time when normal life is proceeding as usual.
Now keep your thumbs here in Matthew 24 and turn briefly to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. I’m going to read the first three verses.
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety, sudden destruction comes upon them as travail pains upon a woman with child. And they shall not escape.
The only possible place to put this in the prophetic scheme is right here. And that meshes with Matthew 24. It also meshes with what Peter says in 2 Peter 3. Remember he says that in the last days scoffers shall come walking after their own lusts and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” And then he goes on to say the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.
It is a consistent teaching of New Testament prophecy that the period of time that we have been talking about comes upon the world unexpectedly. It comes at a time when normal life is basically undisturbed. It comes at a time when people think that they have peace and safety.
So what the Lord Jesus Christ has done here in this initial unit is to go back to the beginning point up here. And then He says in verses 40 and 41, “then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.” If we are back at this period of time, at the beginning of the day of the Lord, it appears to me that what is described here is the rapture. And that we are being told that when this day comes unexpectedly you’ll have two men in the field and one of them will be taken away. You’ll have two women grinding at the mill and one of them will be taken away. As a matter of fact the Greek verb that is used here means something like to take along.
So here I think in the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ there is a reference to the rapture of the Christian church which comes at this particular period of time. Of course the rapture is also directly taught in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
The bottom line of the information that Jesus has given us in verses 36 to 42 is found in verse 42, “watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.” So He says to those who will be living prior to this period of time, keep a lookout because your Lord is coming unexpectedly.
Now it is clear, having gone this far in the Olivet Discourse, that within the framework of the Olivet Discourse Jesus is actually talking to two different groups of disciples. In the expository section where He is running through the events that will take place during the day of the Lord He is talking to His disciples who will live during that period of time. In talking about the beginning point of this period He is talking to His disciples who will live before this period of time takes place.
And in the four parables that are to follow what Jesus does is to make applications to both groups of His disciples. Let me repeat that. In the explanatory section He is addressing His disciples who will be living during the day of the Lord. In the introduction to this section He is addressing His disciples who will live before the day of the Lord. And in the parables that follow He addresses both of them. Not in the same parable but in alternate parables.
So with that in mind let’s turn to these parables. Our second reader is the gentleman over here. Your name, sir? Dick. Dick, would you read the rest of chapter 24 for us please?
But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Thank you very much, Dick. Renee, would you read Matthew 25:1-13?
Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you. But go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding. And the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Thank you very much, Renee. We’re going to stop the reading right there and look at the final overhead that we have not seen hitherto. And you will notice from this overhead that we are suggesting that the four parables that conclude the Olivet Discourse are divided into pairs or a double doublet. A doublet is two things and we have two things consisting of two things, a double doublet.
We are also suggesting here that in each of the doublets the first parable is addressed to church saints who will live preceding the day of the Lord. And the second parable is addressed to tribulation saints who will live through the day of the Lord. We’ve just read two parables. If you look at them closely they’re quite different. In parable number one we have a servant who is either potentially wise and faithful, in which case if his lord comes and finds him carrying out his duties he will be made ruler over his lord’s goods. Notice 24:47, “assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.” So here is a man who by wisdom and faithfulness can become a ruler.
However suppose he takes another tack. Suppose he becomes an evil servant. And suppose the first thing he says in his heart is, “my master delays his coming.” Please notice he believes in his master. He doesn’t say there is no coming, there is no master. He says, “my master delays his coming. Not going to be for a while.” He kind of puts it off in his mind. And notice what he then does in verse 49. He begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards. And then what’s going to happen to him? His master will come when he’s not expecting him and he will subject this man to judgment.
We’re going to talk about the judgments after we’ve gone all through the four parables. But for the moment what we have here is a man, a servant, who can go either of two ways. He can be a wise and faithful servant and become a ruler. Or he can become an evil servant who says he’s not going to come back for a while and he can be subject to his master’s judgment.
But in the parable of the virgins we have something quite different. Notice that the parable in Matthew 25:1 begins, “then,” as though it were successive to the parable preceding it, “the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who went out to meet the bridegroom.” And you will notice that the most interesting thing about this is that both the wise and foolish virgins in verse 3, verse 4, “those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.”
Now the pitfall of the servant in the first parable was he says, “my lord delays his coming.” But in this parable both the wise and the foolish virgins sleep. Not because they’ve said in their heart that their lord delays his coming but because, according to the text, the Lord delays His coming.
Now if you have the rest of the Olivet Discourse in your mind you will not be puzzled by this. You remember that when Jesus described the first half of the 70th week he says, “you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled because the end is not yet.” So those who live through the day of the Lord are not to do anything in particular during the first half week. But in the middle of the week we will have the abomination of desolation.
Now notice in verse 6, “and at midnight,” in the middle of the night, “a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming. Go out to meet him!’” And what emerges from this is now the moment of movement has come. Now these tribulation saints have reached the midpoint and they are about to head into the crisis experience of the last three and a half years. And it is very important that they have the spiritual resources to last it out for God. And as it turns out five of them do and five of them don’t.
And that also should not puzzle us if we’ve carefully attended to the Olivet Discourse thus far. Turn back if you will to Matthew 24 and verse 10.
Then many will be offended and will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
It is like a flame going out. So what is presented here in this parable is an exhortation to the saints who will live during the tribulation. They will be able to rest and relax and not be bothered during the first three and a half years. But when the abomination of desolation comes they must move. And it will be important to have prepared themselves spiritually so that they have the necessary spiritual resources to be faithful to Christ for the remaining three and a half years which are enormously difficult.
Okay, Claude, would you now read for us Matthew 25:14 to 30, if you don’t mind?
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability. And immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ Then he who had received one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. But from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Thank you very much, Claude. And we also want to read the rest of the chapter. Al, would you do that for us please?
When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food. I was thirsty and you gave Me drink. I was a stranger and you took Me in. I was naked and you clothed Me. I was sick and you visited Me. I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food. I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they will also answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Thank you very much, Al. Now we have the final two parables of the Olivet Discourse. Once again a doublet. And as we are suggesting here they can be paired off in the same way that these other two can be paired off. The initial one is addressed to church saints and the second one is addressed to tribulation saints or applies to tribulation saints.
Notice that in the first case the master is leaving and he is giving his servants responsibility. And when he comes back he calls them before him for an accounting. This should be easily recognized as the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ has left the world. He has left His servants who are in the world with responsibilities. And when He comes back we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ where He will assess the character and value of our service.
On the other hand in the second of the pair of the doublets or the second item of the doublet the king is here. “When the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory.” Now we stand at the end of Daniel’s 70th week. What happens here? Well the nations are gathered before Him and they are divided into two groups. On the one hand are the nations who are called sheep. Gentiles, of course. The word nations and Gentiles are the same. And on the other hand are the Gentiles who are called goats. And Jesus says to the sheep, “you have been good to My brethren and I want you to inherit My kingdom.” And to the goats He says, “you’ve done nothing for My brethren and I’m sending you into eternal punishment.”
Who are the brethren? Let me suggest to you that the brethren of course would be those who are in some way especially related to the King. The brethren are therefore most likely to be Jews. And most probably the Jewish evangelists of this period whose responsibility it is to carry the gospel to the nations.
Now what have we learned about this period? Well we have learned that during the period when the Jewish evangelists will be carrying the gospel all over the world that the man of sin and the false prophet set up an economic and religious system that excludes everybody who is not willing to take the mark of the beast or to accept the beast’s religion. So that means that people who don’t get into this system do not have the right to engage in commerce. They can’t buy and they can’t sell.
In addition to that, as we saw in Revelation 12, the dragon after failing to get the Christians who are fleeing from Jerusalem he turns to make war with the remnant of her seed who have the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. So these men who will be carrying the gospel throughout the nations will be severely persecuted and will be absolutely destitute unless they are assisted by somebody. So when they are sick who is going to help them? When they are hungry who is going to feed them? When they’re in prison who’s going to dare to come to them?
Well under this system, under the system that we have seen, nobody who wears the mark of the beast will do that. Right? It will have to be believers who do that. However some believers will not have the courage to do that. Some believers will fail during this period as we’ve already seen. And as indicated at that point in the Olivet Discourse those who do not endure to the end will not remain alive.
So what happens here is that when the Lord Jesus Christ comes to earth He will be able to collect of the living people on earth some of whom are saved and faithful, others of whom are unsaved. And there’s no middle ground here. There’s no such thing as a saved person who is unfaithful because those people have not survived the disasters of the tribulation period even though they are born again and will be in the kingdom.
So the two groups are absolutely separate from each other. And we may say that what happens here is not the final judgment of the goats but what we would perhaps describe in our legal system as a preliminary hearing. And they are bound over to prison. They will ultimately of course be raised up to stand before the great white throne and to have their destinies definitively judged. But there is presumptive evidence which is perfectly good in this case that they’re unsaved. In fact nobody who is saved and who fails in this way will be alive at the time that the Lord Jesus Christ appears.
Now have you noticed anything about these four parables? One of the key features of these four parables it seems to me is that in the first three parables we have the same kind of folks, I use the word folks here, we have the same kind of folks who are distinguished only by what they do or do not do. In the last parable we have different kinds of folks.
In parable number one we have a servant who can be either wise and faithful or evil. In number two we have virgins. They’re all virgins. They all believe in their master but they can be either wise or foolish. In parable number three we have servants. They’re all servants. They all stand before their master when he comes back but they can be either faithful or unfaithful.
But in parable number four we have two diverse groups: sheep, goats, saved, lost. I submit to you that the only parable in which we do in fact meet the saved and the lost is the last one.
Now you say, “What are the punishments that are mentioned here?” Without getting into too much detail here, you’re interested in more detail on some of this in my book Grace and Eclipse, we have a discussion of the outer darkness and things like that. Let me give you a very simple statement here. All three of the parables that concern the saved describe their punishment in terms of metaphor. Let me repeat that. All three of the parables that deal with the saved describe their punishment in terms of metaphor.
Let’s look at the first one. He says to the unfaithful servant his lord will come at a time he doesn’t expect and he will cut him in two. Is that literal? Even if we thought that he was not a saved man do we think that Jesus literally cut unsaved people into? Clearly metaphor. A metaphor of what? May I suggest a metaphor of the judgment seat of Christ and of the word of God. Remember the verse in Hebrews: the word of God is living, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and joints and marrow, and is a critic of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there anything hidden from His sight. For all things are open and naked before the eyes of Him to whom we must give our account.
The unfaithful servant is metaphorically speaking sliced open at the judgment seat of Christ. His hypocrisy, he professed to be a servant of Christ but while ostensibly serving Christ he was serving his own interests, eating and drinking with the drunken, beating his fellow servants, etc. When his lord comes on him unexpectedly he slices him apart with the word of God, exposes his hypocrisy, and gives him his portion with other hypocritical servants like him.
The virgins, according to ancient custom, it is my understanding that the virgins at a wedding were of course not part of the bridal party. They were not the bride. It was their responsibility to wait at the home of the bridegroom. When the bride and bridegroom were within a certain distance they were alerted to this fact. They went out to meet them with their torches. And it was their privilege to come and escort the bridegroom back into the wedding chamber. And then they performed the torch dance for the entertainment and for the pleasure of the wedding party of bride and groom and all of the guests assembled. In other words another way of saying this is they had a role inside the wedding celebration.
However because of their unpreparedness five of these virgins don’t have enough oil and are not able to meet the bridegroom. If it were not for the reference to outer darkness in the third parable we would have absolutely no problem with this parable. And we shouldn’t have any problem anyway. But the reason we do is because we make a little leap here. If we read the parable all the way down to the reference to outer darkness we would be perfectly clear what it meant.
There are three servants. Each servant is given a responsibility according to his ability. Servant number one meets his responsibility and doubles the money. Servant number two meets his responsibility and doubles the money. Both of them are therefore promoted and invited to come in and enjoy the joy of their master. The third servant is too timid and lazy. And instead of doing anything with his money he buries it so he can return the principal to his master instead of returning the principal with interest. And his master says to him, you’ll notice it at chapter 25 and verse 29, “therefore take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. But from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”
If we stopped there we would still have no problem. His opportunity for service is taken away. The talent that he had buried which he didn’t use is given to somebody else who will use it. So far no problem. But verse 30 says, “and cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And everybody jumps to the conclusion that this is a reference to literal hell.
However are there literal talents in the story? Are the talents literal gold pieces? Is that what Jesus gives to us, gold pieces? Are they not symbolic of opportunity, responsibility? Is the handkerchief literal that the unfaithful lazy servant buries his gold piece in? You all look doubtful. Is there some literal handkerchief that unfaithful Christians use to bury their responsibilities in? That’s a metaphor, isn’t it? A figure. How come suddenly the outer darkness is literal? All of a sudden we leap from parable to literal. How did we manage that?
Remember the parable in Matthew 22. The king invites people to a wedding and they all come. And there’s a man who comes into the wedding. He isn’t properly dressed. And the king comes in and looks over all the wedding guests and he sees this guy that’s not dressed properly. And so he says to his servants, tie him up hand and foot and cast him into the darkness outside. This is a parable. Does anybody think that God is going to even tie up unsaved people hand and foot? What is the picture here? Matthew 22 provides the picture. It’s a picture of a brightly lighted banqueting hall. In the ancient Middle East of course banquets were held at night. The man who comes into the banqueting hall is unprepared. And his activities are restricted. He’s tied up. That’s what that means. And then he is cast into the darkness outside. He’s on the outside.
Please notice if you read that parable there are no evil torturers on the ground who make him scream and yell bloody murder. He’s just outside. He’s just outside. I suggest to you that the brightly lighted banqueting hall is a symbol of the joy and the privilege that is given to faithful believers. And to be cast into the darkness outside means to be excluded from those privileges. It doesn’t mean that real Christians are going to be in some dark corner of heaven. Did you hear that? Because a lot of people have misinterpreted that. It doesn’t mean that they’ll be cut off from the presence of Christ. This is parable, metaphor. This is a symbol of exclusion from privilege.
So what I’m suggesting to you here is that the punishment in all cases is a loss of privilege in the kingdom. The loss of the privilege of co-reigning with Jesus Christ. After all the scripture says, “if we endure, if we endure, if we endure we shall also reign with Him.” All Christians will be in the kingdom. All Christians will be wonderfully happy in the kingdom. But faithful Christians will co-reign with Jesus Christ.
Illustration. I hope this is safe to say. I usually use this particular president to say it. I was very strongly in favor of President Reagan and I voted for him. I am not ashamed to say so. But when Reagan got into the presidency I never got a call from him. He never invited me to serve as his secretary of state or his chief of staff at the White House or even his flunky who carried out the waste cans. He didn’t call me for anything. You know what he did? He called into office the people who had worked for him, who had gone to bat for him, who had supported him visibly and publicly, who had conducted his campaign.
When the Lord Jesus Christ takes over the government of the world that’s what He’s going to do. He’s going to give the privilege of co-reigning to those who have labored for Him faithfully. And if we’ve buried our talent in the ground in order to carry on with our own personal business, forget it. You’re going to enjoy the kingdom. And don’t expect an invitation to take part in the government.
Now in the fourth parable the sheep have made it. They have endured to the end. And Jesus says to them, “come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom.” This is more than entering it. The kingdom is yours. Or in other words, share My kingdom with Me. Co-reign with Me. Because these you did, these things. And He says to these people over here, “you didn’t do any of those things.” And He could say, and may well say at that particular session, you have to leave and go into the darkness of hell.
Now the Christians who have died during the tribulation period of course will be raised again and will live with Christ. But they will not share the privileges of His kingdom.
What’s our bottom line here? Bottom line is that we basically belong to this group and this group. Although we can learn from this group and this group, can’t we? We can learn that in order to endure for God we need the spiritual resources to make that possible. Which means we need the word, we need prayer, we need the fellowship of Christians, we need all of the things that make us strong, all of the oil.
One of the songs we like to sing at Victor Street is, “give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning. Give me oil in my lamp, I pray. Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning. Keep me burning till the break of day.” That’s a good song to sing. And the principle not only applies to tribulation saints but to us. We need God’s strength and God’s provision, God’s energy to be faithful.
And over here we get an enormous boost when we realize that there will be people living through the tribulation period in the awful days that we’ve described. Those of you who have been here to understand what’s going to happen in those days, how awful it will be, what intense pressure is exerted by the unified religious, political and economic system. Isn’t it thrilling to think and know that there will be people who will be faithful to Jesus Christ during that whole period of time from beginning to end? And can’t we say to ourselves, boy, it’ll never be that hard for me. It’ll never be that hard for me. And if they can do it by the grace of God so can I.
Okay, let’s take some time for questions here. All right. Well you got me in a way and don’t got me in a way. In that if we strictly use the word Christians only of church saints then we would not use the term of tribulation saints because they are not members of the body of Christ that was created at Pentecost by the baptism of the spirit. On the other hand if a Christian is to be defined simply as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, which I’m inclined to use it that way a lot, the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. Christians was not a name given to themselves by Christians. It was a name given to them by unsaved people who identified them with Christ and therefore called them Christians.
I think if we look at it from that standpoint we can say, yeah, all believers in Jesus Christ could be called Christians. But you’re really right, Arch. Obviously you’re right that their relationship to God is a little different than ours in that they are not baptized by the Holy Spirit into this body which is called the body and bride of Christ. They have what amounts to an Old Testament type of relationship to Christ.
The basic distinction that I would draw is that the present body of Christians which are called the Christian church and which are constituted as the Christian church by the baptism of the spirit have a unique and special relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ which is like the relationship of a bride to her husband. I’ve often talked about this in public meetings, not here but at Victor Street and other places. And I say, you know, all of us have all kinds of different relationships. We have parents and we love parents and parents love children. We have brothers and sisters that we love as brothers and sisters. We have friends that we love as friends. But we only have one wife whom we love as a wife. And the husband-wife relationship is the most intimate of all earthly relationships.
And therefore what we really want to say about the Christian church is that the Christian church has the immense privilege of having a special closeness, a special intimacy with Jesus Christ. You may remember that when Moses was driven away from his own people to the back of the desert he married. When Joseph was rejected by his brothers and sold into slavery he married. When Jesus Christ was rejected here on earth by His own people, by His own nation, and had to leave, He married. And we’re part of the bride. That’s our special and distinctive relationship.
And because of that relationship, as 1 Thessalonians tells us, He has not appointed us to wrath. He has not appointed us to the day of the Lord but to obtain deliverance through our Lord Jesus Christ. That whether we wake or sleep, whether we’re watching or not watching, is what that really means. We should live together with Him. Before He sends these terrible judgments on the world He’s coming to get His wife.
Well they would for instance, we’ve already suggested that the Jews, particularly the Jewish evangelists of the tribulation period, He acknowledges them as brethren. They are His true brothers and sisters. Remember there was one point in His ministry where His family came up to Him and they wanted to see Him. And He says, “who is My father or mother? Who is My mother or My brothers or My sisters? Or not even these who hear the word of God and do it.” So that’s the kind of relationship these people have. We might say that the sheep have a relationship as friends because they have assisted His brethren. And He acknowledges that assistance as assistance given to Himself.
Well the remnant is going to be regenerated by the ministry of the two prophets. What we suggest here, I think what we almost have to conclude, remember that we placed the two witnesses or the two prophets in the first half week. One minute after the rapture of the church there is not a single believer on earth. Not even one. What will God do? Apparently He will reveal Himself to two men who become His prophets and His witnesses. Very much as He revealed Himself to the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. There’s nobody to preach the gospel to these men because all true Christians are gone. But God certainly can meet people. And that’s what He does with prophets. Then the prophets preach and they convert the remnant or the 144,000. 144,000 preach and they convert a multitude of Gentiles.
I don’t think so. One of the problems we have with this is that we’re occidentals instead of orientals. And orientals tend to be much more expressive of their grief than we are. Sometimes if you for example were an oriental and you had just lost your wife to death it would be perfectly plausible to say that you wept and gnashed your teeth, you moaned and hollered and all the rest of it. And what we have to understand is that the passages that relate to Christians weeping and gnashing their teeth certainly do not suggest that these Christians will be weeping and gnashing their teeth eternally. But that they will experience, certainly at the point at which they stand before the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ, they will experience remorse, deep remorse and regret for their failures.
One of the things that I find surprising is that we have not acknowledged the fact that when we do stand before the judgment seat of Christ we will be for the first time in our history totally sensitive to God. I mean totally sensitive to God. Remember that John says, “little children, abide in Him, that when He is manifested we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” Here we are in our mortal bodies and we are sometimes very ashamed of ourselves as Christians. But if we have really failed the Lord in our Christian living and have to stand before Him as glorified, sinless people and realize what our life has been, I am confident we will not only be deeply embarrassed but that we will weep genuinely. I think that’s all this means.
Yes, sir, right back there. What’s this now? The Olivet Discourse is not a biblical term. But because this discussion in Matthew 24 and 25 was given on the Mount of Olives, or on Olivet, that’s another word that’s used to describe the Mount of Olives. It’s called the Olivet Discourse. Means the discourse given on the Mount of Olives. That, I like questions like that.
Jack. Okay there are a couple questions there, Jack. Both of them are good questions. Let me get back to the first one. As you may recall that we’ve described the first half of the 70th week of Daniel as a time when the two witnesses are preaching. And I believe that it will be during that first three and a half years that the 144,000 are saved. No, right? The only thing that will have to be like that is the two witnesses themselves. But they will preach for three and a half years. I don’t think the 144,000 is the full extent of their converts. I think those are simply the evangelists.
So what we have is we could, multiplying by women and children, we could imagine that at the end of three and a half years of preaching by the two witnesses we could have something like 400,000 or 500,000 Jews in Israel who believe in Christ. All right. The great body of these people are going to run away from Jerusalem after the abomination of desolation. The 144,000 are going to have to run away too. But they do not do what the rest of the Jews do and go and hide out in the caves and mountains of the Judean wilderness. What they do is they continue on worldwide and they preach the gospel.
Now whether or not any of them are subject to failure in the last three and a half years I would have to say that I don’t know for sure. However there is a second passage dealing with them as you’re aware in Revelation 14 where they are described in terms that imply their full-fledged loyalty to Christ. If I were guessing I would say that all of them find grace from God to endure to the end. Some of them however may be among those who are beheaded during the tribulation period. We do have one reference in Revelation 20 to beheading of some of the saints. So of course they also, because they are martyred, co-reign with Christ. Only through the first half? What we don’t know, I really don’t know the answer to either of those questions. It is conceivable to me that the 144,000 will all of them live through the period. But it is also conceivable to me that some of them might suffer martyrs’ deaths in the second half. In the second half only. Because the way the Lord presents the first half is even though the world at large is in great turmoil His disciples are to sit still. All these things you will hear, wars and rumors of wars. See that you be not troubled. And in one place it says all things, these things would happen but the end is not yet.
So they’re like the ten virgins during the first part of the night. They’re not doing anything. They’re not supposed to do anything. Right? But when the midnight cry comes that means get up, go. So at that point the 144,000 are launched out on their mission which is to last through the last three and a half years. And whether every single individual of that group will survive physically I just do not know.
Right over here the lady behind Gary. I think that they are two men who will be alive, two Jews who will be alive at the time of the rapture and unsaved until immediately after the rapture. I do not think that they are personally Elijah or Moses or anyone like that come back to earth. You remember that when Jesus, when John the Baptist came, Jesus said to the Jews, “this, if you will receive it, this is Elijah which is for to come.” That meant John could have fulfilled the prophecy about Elijah. Now when the delegation came to John however they say, “are you Elijah?” He says, “no.” So what does that mean? That means that he was not personally Elijah. But because he went before God in the spirit and power of Elijah he could have fulfilled the Elijah prophecy.
If that was true of John the Baptist it follows that it could be true of individuals living at the time of the tribulation. And that’s what I think will happen. That we will have two prophets who will go in the spirit and power of Moses and Elijah but will not be personally Moses and Elijah.
Yes, sir. Yeah that’s very interesting. Well if it happens I’ll just say my guess was wrong.
Gary? Well it doesn’t strike me as strange. And especially since the Lord wept. So weeping is something that people who are sinless can certainly do if they have a good cause for weeping. I also think that we can say of this, you know, when we have major losses on earth like the loss of a loved one or some other deep tragedy the psychologists tell us we go through a grief period. And people who are emotionally healthy work their way through the grief period. There’s a period of grief and weeping that’s considered healthy. And the thing that’s unhealthy is if we never recover from the loss and go on.
What I’ve always said to people is that when we’re in our glorified bodies we will certainly have the capacity to feel deeply about things and to weep. But we will also have excellent recuperative powers. The person who stands before the judgment seat of Christ and sees his life go up in flames in terms of his service to Christ, I cannot believe he will not cry. But I can also believe that he will recover from his grief and go on. And that God will wipe away all tears from his eyes. So I don’t think the grief period is long. But I think it’s real.
I kind of wish that we taught this more to people. You know the judgment seat of Christ is presented in some contexts as if it was kind of like a Sunday school awards program where even the people who don’t get anything are enjoying the process. That’s not the way the Bible presents it. We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things done in the body whether good or bad. Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord we persuade others. I’m not excited by that anticipation, says Paul. But I’m deeply motivated by it.
The judgment seat of Christ is very solemn. And I think we should present it that way. It doesn’t affect our salvation. But it’s a moment of truth for all of us. A moment of assessment by the only one who can properly assess our lives. And all of us have a tendency to kind of overrate ourselves. And I expect to be brought down quite a few pegs by the Savior. And I expect all of us will. And I sincerely hope and believe that there will be things there He can approve. But it’s solemn. And it’s not a Sunday school banquet.
Yes. They’ve never been confronted with the biblical gospel before so that they were confronted with an actual choice of whether to believe or not. If you keep in mind here now for example in recent years as you know there has been a tremendous influx of Jews from the Soviet Union into Israel. And hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people have come from Eastern Europe and from the Soviet Union. Now the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc have been largely atheistic countries for a long time. It’s quite conceivable, you know, I’m sure that these people know there’s a Greek Orthodox church and there’s these statues that they have. But I think a lot of these people have undoubtedly never really heard the gospel in its purity. Never had a chance to accept or reject it on that level. I think that’s what we’re talking about basically.
Yes. It refers mostly to His coming at the beginning. If we’re talking about this period where we have the statement, you know, the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety sudden destruction comes upon them. You can’t place that anywhere in the tribulation period because from beginning to end it’s a devastation and disaster. The only place that can be put is at the beginning of that period.
So the teaching of the New Testament is basically that the period as a whole comes unexpectedly like a thief in the night. There is one verse however that we read I think last night in Revelation 16 that refers to the very end. And one of the features there is that the last day of the 70th week will be a day, as we read in Zechariah, where there’s neither light nor darkness. We lose track of the time. And then we’re talking about Him coming as a thief within hours rather than years.
Al? I don’t think so, Al. The first part of that chapter of course describes the 144,000. And the last part describes the everlasting gospel. I think that all of these are visions of course. And so the idea is that we are to associate the everlasting gospel with the 144,000. Then you remember back in chapter 12, let’s turn back to it in 12:17.
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
So this assigns the testimony of Jesus Christ to the remnant of the woman which would be Israel. So I think what we’re to understand from 14 is not that angels will preach the gospel. This is part of the apparatus of the vision. But that we’re to think of the 144,000. And then we’re to think of the proclamation of the gospel. That’s the way I would understand that.
Right down here. Yeah it has some similarities of that. But we also have to factor in the passage from Zechariah 14 that we read yesterday where the effect of the coming is the melting of the faces and bodies of the men and animals. So that sounds like something within the context of modern thought that sounds like some kind of atomic disintegration. So probably we are to think of the Lord Jesus when He comes forth in blazing splendor it’s like an atomic blast of sorts. I’m not saying that it is an atomic blast. I’m saying that it’s similar and has similar effects. And the result is the destruction of this army.
Yes it’s quick but it’s not instantaneous because their flesh melts away on them. You know this is a relatively quick death but not instant death. Oh no. Right. However we again we have to factor in Zechariah 14 because it talks about Judah fighting here. This is probably a reference to the remnant that has fled and hidden in the Judean desert during the course of three and a half years. And they come out now that the King is here. They come out and they do mop-up activities. So there’s more detail to this fighting than we might guess from just reading Revelation 19. And that’s why in prophecy this is the thing that makes prophecy a difficult study. We must work all of the prophecies in together in order to get the complete picture. But essentially what you’ve said is I think very close to the actual fact. There’s going to be a very quick battle and a decisive victory. But there will be enough stragglers left for the valiant ones of Judah to have part in the battle. That sort of thing. Then you remember it says in that passage they’re going to collect the garments and the wealth of the nations. This will be a, you know, they’ll mop up the treasures and collect them so that the nations wind up as a result of their war against Israel by enriching Israel.
Right back here. They are all of the Jewish nation. Yes. And that’s made clear in Revelation 7 where they are sealed out of the 12 tribes of Israel. 12,000 out of each of the tribes.
Seven. Right back here. Down here. No. There’s no reference to them becoming, anybody becoming a Christian before the witnesses. If we place the witnesses correctly which I think we have in the first three and a half years they are likely to be the very first born-again people of the end times. And I, as I suggested in answer to one of the questions over here, in all probability God will reveal Himself to them directly. Very much as He revealed Himself directly to the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. They won’t. The reason they won’t is because the text that we’re dealing with says for this cause God will send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie that they all might be condemned who had pleasure in unrighteousness.
So what we see here is that God will allow the deceptions of the end time to fool the people who have hitherto rejected the gospel. Not like that story I told about myself coming home to an empty house and saying, well if my parents are gone, despite the fact the Bible says that you can’t get saved, I’m going to get saved. There won’t be any thinking like that at that point because the satanic delusion will be complete.
Arch, I think we’ll turn it back to you. Thank you very much for your attendance, your attention, your very very good questions. Go ask and put these things into your life and work hard for the King.