Category Archives: Eschatology

Secret Church at the MIX

Secret Church 2013

This evening, our church will be participating in the Secret Church simulcast with David Platt. This is the 13th Secret Church event, and I’ve been blessed to participate in the last seven. It’s always fantastic, and I’m sure tonight will be no different!

At each SC event, Pastor David Platt of the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, AL, teaches on a topic for about six hours, with times of musical worship and prayer for the persecuted church around the world interspersed throughout the night. This year’s prayer focus is for the Hui people, an ethnic minority in China that is predominantly Muslim.

Tonight’s topic is “Heaven, Hell, and the End of the World.” While I don’t know exactly how Platt will approach teaching about the End Times, the promo video gives a very encouraging preview:

Based on this video, and on a familiarity with Platt’s teaching style, here are some things I expect to happen tonight:

Mix of Individual and General Eschatology

Whereas most teaching events on the topic of eschatology that I’ve attended have been focused on the timing & manner of Christ’s return, I expect Platt to spend much more time teaching about the eternal fate of individual believers and nonbelievers. With this focus, a study of the doctrine of the future is one of the greatest motivators of evangelism. David Platt never opens his mouth without calling Christians to take the gospel to the lost, always stressing the extreme urgency of this mission. This is as it should be!

Focus on Unity Rather Than Division

There’s a joke that’s been around for quite some time that “the millennium is 1000 years of peace that Christians like to fight about.” Eschatology, sadly, is one of the most divisive doctrines among Christians. People tend to either be very passionate about their beliefs regarding the end of time, or to be ambivalent (which has a tendency to upset the passionate folks!), choosing to focus on other things. If anybody can teach what is sure to be a diverse group of believers in a way that unites believers around the gospel rather than dividing on millennial fault lines, it will be David Platt. Besides, whether you’re “pre-mill”, “a-mill”, or “post-mill”, you have WAY more in common with those of different eschatological persuasions than you have in difference. I expect Platt to highlight these unifying themes.

The Millennium is Now

That said, I doubt he’s going to teach for six hours without “planting a flag” somewhere. While I am sure Platt will endeavor to present other views fairly and accurately, I expect tonight’s teaching to lean slightly toward an amillennial perspective, as this seems to be the bent of his teaching in his books and sermons. This happens to be my own personal view (which has changed somewhat over the last five years after much study and prayer), but for those who hold to different views, don’t worry! I expect him to highlight the best aspects of other perspectives rather than highlighting areas of disagreement. I doubt anyone will walk away anything but encouraged and edified!

Incidentally, most of our church staff and members are Dispensationalists, and we all get along just fine! I’m thankful to serve on a staff that is united around the centrality of the Gospel rather than divided over peripheral doctrines. For a great book that models cooperation between Dispensationalists and Amillennialists, check out Understanding Dispensationlists by Amillennialist Vern Poythress (my review).

Join Us!

The simulcast at Stevens Street is being hosted by The MIX, our college ministry. However, this is NOT just for college students! All church members are invited to attend and study with us. There is no cost to attend, though if you are able to contribute, donations will be appreciated to help offset the cost to the college ministry. Study guides will be available (as long as our supply lasts!) for $5. Let me know if you want one and I’ll put your name on it.

If you’d like to come, join us in the MIX room, Building H at SSBC (this is the building on Short St. across from the youth building). If you’d like to come early, there will be a spaghetti dinner in the Fellowship Hall starting at 5:00, with proceeds benefiting the family of Roger Vinson, one of our church members recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. The cost of the dinner will be $5.

Related Resources

I’ll bring copies of all the books listed below tonight, in case anyone would like to browse or borrow any of them:

Books by David Platt:

Sermons by David Platt:

Recommended reading on personal and general eschatology:

Other:

  • An Evening of Eschatology [Video] — A roundtable discussion on the millennium moderated by John Piper
  • Endtimes Q&A — A helpful series of videos summarizing the four predominant views of eschatology
  • Why I Changed My Mind About the Millennium — Examples of how one baptist pastor and seminary professor (Sam Storms) changed his beliefs from premillennialism to amillennialism, and how another (Tom Schreiner) changed his mind in the opposite direction.

Why I Changed My Mind About the Millennium

It’s rare to hear pastors (or anyone, for that matter) admit that they’ve changed their mind on something, particularly on major doctrinal issues. When I do come across examples of godly men recounting how their doctrinal views have evolved, I always find it encouraging. Certainly my own doctrinal views are very different today from what they were ten years ago… and perhaps different in some ways from what they may be ten years from now. It’s comforting to know that I’m not the only one who hasn’t got it all figured out!

I direct your attention, then, to a blog post by Sam Storms entitled Why I Changed My Mind About the Millennium, in which this Baptist pastor describes the events that led to his abandonment of dispensationalism and eventual embracing of amillennialism. I recommend it for two reasons: First, because it’s a good example of someone who, when his convictions were challenged, turned to a long and serious study to find answers, despite the fact that it was unpopular. Second, because Dr. Storms’ experience in many ways mirrors my own.

While I am not as firmly convinced of the amillennial position as he is (I seem to vacillate between historical premillennialism and amillennialism), I have read many of the same books in my own study of eschatology. Anthony Hoekema’s The Bible and the Future has been particularly helpful.

If you’re interested in hearing more of Sam Storms’ perspective on the millennium, along with other views defended with just as much conviction, I encourage you to find the time to watch this roundtable discussion moderated by John Piper, in which Dr. Storms represented the amillennial view:

Perhaps the best short summary of the most common millennial views comes in a series of short videos by David Murray, which you can find here.

I’m also very much looking forward to the next installment of David Platt’s Secret Church, which will be on the topic “Heaven, Hell, and the End of the World”. You can learn more about the material that will be covered by following along on the Facebook Page, which will have several promo videos leading up to the simulcast on Good Friday. While I don’t know for certain whether or not this will be broadcast at Stevens Street, I suspect that it will. I hope you’ll come!

P.S. — In the interests of fairness, I should also point you to an example of someone who moved in the opposite direction. Tom Schreiner, one of my favorite professors at SBTS, changed his position from amillennial to premillennial (though decidedly NOT dispensational) while preaching through the book of Revelation four years ago. If you’re interested, feel free to peruse the many related links you’ll find here.

Seven Applications of Revelation

Why did God give us the book of Revelation?

Dr. Dennis Johnson, professor of practical theology at Westminster Seminary California, answers this question this way:

“God gave us the Apocalypse shown to John in order to bless us — to do us good, to convey His grace, to fortify our hearts.”

He then lists seven ways the book of Revelation should be applied:

  1. Revelation helps Christians see our situation in its true perspective.
  2. Revelation shows our enemies in their true colors.
  3. Revelation reveals our Champion in his true glory.
  4. Revelation enables us to see ourselves in our true beauty.
  5. Revelation summons us to endure as we suffer.
  6. Revelation calls us to stay pure when compromise invites.
  7. Revelation encourages us to bear witness as God waits.

This is a wonderful list of applications, and I encourage you to check out Johnson’s work in fleshing them out in his commentary on Revelation, Triumph of the Lamb. He provides a summary of these points in the January 2012 edition of Tabletalk magazine.

Eschatology and the Planet of the Apes

Views on the End Times are a dime a dozen, but it’s probably safe to assume you’ve never seen eschatology taught like this before! Russell Moore, Dean of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, explains why he opened this semester of his class on the Doctrine of the Last Things by showing a clip from The Planet of the Apes.

I’ve got to say that I love the idea of merging doctrinal teaching with cultural apologetics. It helps people understand that theology is absolutely relevant in our daily lives. Whether we undertake a serious study of theology or not, the fact remains that we are developing a personal set of beliefs from somewhere, whether it’s intentional or not. This is even more important on a subject like eschatology that tends to be either taught poorly or avoided altogether.

From Moore:

But eschatology and discipleship in the church is kind of like sex education in the home. Just because you don’t talk about sex with your kids doesn’t mean they will grow up ignorant of sex. It means they’ll hear about sex from somewhere else.

Just because you don’t preach and teach about the Christian vision of the future, that doesn’t mean your church is void of eschatology. It means your church is picking up an eschatology from somewhere else, sometimes from the local cineplex.

Read the rest here.

Honoring the God of Fortresses

Yesterday Tim Challies posted this very interesting infographic about U.S. military bases around the world. (You’ll have to click the graphic to open it in a larger, more readable format.)

It is astounding to me that any nation would have a military empire so widespread (over 900 bases in 130 countries), and that it is considered a patriotic heresy to suggest that this might be a leading cause of our budgetary woes (not to mention blowback from those who may not appreciate foreign troops on their soil). But it is for more than just economic/political reasons that I find these statistics startling.

The 11th chapter of Daniel describes what were then future events. The latter half of that chapter likely refers primarily to Antiochus Epiphanes (“Ephiphanes” means “God Manifest”, which is what Antiochus IV called himself), but is also thought by many scholars to foreshadow the eventual “man of lawlessness” described in 2 Thessalonians 2. Listen to this description of this leader who exalts himself above God:

He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these. A god whom his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He shall deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. Those who acknowledge him he shall load with honor. He shall make them rulers over many and shall divide the land for a price. (Daniel 11:37-39)

Please understand that I am not saying that any particular individual is “the Antichrist”, or that Daniel’s prophecy is referring to America or any other modern nation. What I am pointing out is that when this “man of lawlessness” comes, it appears that he will be noted for his worship of military power and might, and will spend exorbitant amounts of money to support this strength.

Why is this important? Because whether or not this passage is referring to events that will happen in our lifetime (or that have happened in the past), one thing we can be sure of is that these things are representative of the “spirit of antichrist” which is “now in the world already” (1 John 4:3). Many American Christians view our military expansion and intervention abroad as something which contributes to our security, and enthusiastically support candidates (both Republican and Democrat) whose aim is to maintain and grow our empire at any cost. Remarkably, many of these same Christians believe that they could never be deceived by a leader whose goals are anti-Christ.

Our hunger for the perception of honor which accompanies our many fortresses (and the ability our military power gives us to rule over many) ought to give us pause. The fact that we are willing to go so deeply into debt to fund our empire (dividing the land for a price, anyone?) ought to horrify us.

May we all look forward to the day when the LORD “shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4)

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