Next... The Coming Glory of God

The Glory of God

Posted in: 2004
By Tom L. Ballinger
Feb 26, 2008 - 6:10:06 PM

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Wednesday, August 11, 2004

PLAINER WORDS … THE GLORY OF GOD

While the Old Testament prophets each had different messages from the LORD concerning specific things for their time and place, they all had one message in common—the future world-wide appearing of the glory of God. The Apostle Peter summed up a common theme which all of the prophets proclaimed in the following verses.

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21).

God spoke “by the mouth of all of His holy prophets, since the world began,” concerning the restoration (re-creation) of the world. Very little attention is paid to His promise that there would be a new creation to replace the one ruined by sin and death (cf. Isaiah 65 & 66). This was the constant theme of the Old Testament Prophets. It was also a constant theme of the New Testament Apostles and Prophets. Not only that, but the Apostle Paul wrote concerning it in his post-Acts epistles.

Why do most teachers of “right division” ignore the splendor of this future event? Why is it they can see no value of it in their writings or teaching? In order to avoid having to deal with the issue of the “the restitution of all things,” they ignore its relevance as it relates to Present Truth.

We purpose to show that the Hope of today’s calling is intimately linked to “the restitution (restoration) of all things.” While Present Truth was “hid in God” from ages and generations, and not made known to the sons of men until the Prisoner of the Lord received the revelation, it’s Hope was not “hid from ages and generations” (Col. 1:26).

“Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing (epiphaneia) of the GLORY OF THE GREAT GOD AND OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST” (Titus 2:13). Young’s Literal Translation of the New Testament.

The coming manifestation of the Glory of God was not a secret. All of the prophets spoke about it. His glory will be seen, comprehended, and displayed when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil. 2:10-11).

Every effort has been made to identify every passage of Scripture which relates to the glory of God being manifested. We have selected some for this article in order to give a glimpse or highlight of what we can know about the next coming attraction—the Epiphany, to wit the Epiphaneia.

Notice what the LORD told Moses;

“And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD” (Numbers 14:20-21).

This is very emphatic; “But as truly as I live” all the earth will be filled with the glory of God. From the creation of Genesis 1 until the Flood in Noah’s day, Genesis 7, the earth had been filled with God’s glory. When all things are restored again to the pre-Flood conditions, once again the earth will be filled with the “glory of the Lord.” Between the Flood and the present day the glory of the LORD has not been displayed.

Habakkuk spoke as one of the prophets concerning the “restitution of all things” when he said;

“For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).

In that day, all of mankind will know the “glory of the LORD,” even as did the ancients before the Flood.

King David was also a prophet. In one of his recorded prayers, he mentioned the coming restoration of God’s manifest glory.

“Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen, and Amen” (Psalm 72:18-19).

Psalm 97:6 speaks concerning the future display of God’s glory, saying the heavens will declare His righteousness, and all of the people shall see His glory.

In Isaiah 6:3, it is written what the serpahims response is when they are given a glimpse of the glory of God being manifested in that future day:

“And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.”

Again, Isaiah mentioned the prophetic fact that the LORD (Yahweh/Jesus) will do a work of rejuvenation in which the glory of the LORD will be revealed;

The prophet describes the revealing or appearing of the glory of God results in the earth being full of the knowledge of the LORD (Yahweh/Jesus).

“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth [i.e. the restored earth] shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).

“And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 40:5).

This truth is not connected with the Parousia [Second Coming] of Christ, nor is it connected with the millennium. The appearing (Epiphany) of the glory of God comes well in advance of both, yes, even hundreds of years.

The glory of the LORD being manifested will be associated with the “restitution of all things” in which the cosmos will be restored to its original state.

“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17).

The “new heavens and a new earth,” here, is new in respect to the current heavens and earth. This does not refer to the “new” of 2 Peter 3:13 or Revelation 21:1 (see note in The Companion Bible, page 1012). “The former” refers to the present heavens and earth.

The “appearing of the glory of God” is an integral part of the “restitution of all things” which all of the prophets spoke about as we are reminded by Simon Peter in Acts 3:19-21.

One of the most overlooked Scriptural facts is that the gospel of the glory of God was committed to the Apostle Paul.

“According to the glorious gospel [the literal translation is; the gospel of the glory] of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust” (1 Timothy 1:11).

The Apostle of the good news of the GLORY OF GOD said that we, as members of the Church over which Christ Jesus is the Head, should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world …

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing [literally, the appearing of the glory] of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

“The glorious appearing,” to a certain degree, veils the actual meaning of the phase, which is: “the appearing of the GLORY of God.”

“Young’s Literal Translation of the New Testament” shows that in the cases of
1 Timothy 1:11 and Titus 2:13, the subject is the GLORY, not the appearing.

While many truths related to the Holy Secret were “hid in God” and not made known to the sons of men as it is now revealed, the appearing of the GLORY OF GOD was not a secret. Our hope will become an actuality when the Lord Jesus Christ speaks from heaven, and all beings in the universe, both human and spirit, acknowledge that He is the Lord, and then the GLORY OF GOD blazes forth.

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing [Epiphany] and his kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:1).

The blazing forth of His glory ushers in the Day of His Exaltation—the Day of Jesus Christ. What a magnificent Day or age this will be!

“The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:11).

Tom L. Ballinger

• Click to download the attached file(s):
• Glory_of_God.doc

True Meaning of The Parousia

SEED & BREAD Number 25: NEXT
THE PAROUSIA OF THE LORD JESUS
In the pre-recorded history (prophecies) of the future benevolent services which the Lord Jesus Christ will yet perform for mankind, one of the most important is that which will be accomplished in His thousand year parousia. Having established in Issue No. 23 the meaning of the Greek wordparousia, I shall henceforth use it as an English word in the confidence that my readers will understand that by it I mean a personal presence when one is present because of who or what he is and what he does in view of this.
The great truth of the parousia of the Lord Jesus is unknown and unrecognised by most readers of the English Bible since the word is not found there. It is wrongly translated "coming" in twenty-two of its twenty-four occurrences. It is the parousia of Jesus Christ that will prepare and qualify mankind for the place he will have and the services he will perform in the new heaven and new earth. Under that new order the tabernacle of God will be with men and He will dwell with them and they will be His people and He will be their God (Rev. 21:3). Not even that long term of school in the kingdom of God will fully prepare men for this position and service. We will yet need the learning and discipline that comes from Christ being personally present because of Who He is and what He will do.
When we consider that the event which is commonly called "the rapture" is one that is related to the parousia, and which so many are saying is the next event in God's prophetic program, it causes us to realise the need for an objective study of the parousia of the Lord Jesus.
It is in Matthew 24:3 that we find the first mention of this great event. The Lord's twelve apostles came to Him privately upon the Mount of Olives and asked the question, "What will be the sign of your parousia, even the consummation of the eon?"
The eon here is the kingdom eon, that pre-advent time of divine government that prepares mankind for the parousia of Jesus Christ. The eon consummates in the parousia, and it is the consummation of that eon. In justification of the above translation I would cite the following:

• There is a rule of Greek grammar which is as follows. When two nouns in the same case are connected by the word kai (and), and the second noun lacks the definite article, then the second noun refers to the same person or thing as the first noun and is a definition of it. An example of this will be found in 1 Cor. 15:24 where Paul speaks of "God, even the Father" (Theo kai patri).

This rule applies to the two nouns found in the question asked by the apostles (parousia and sunteleia). They are asking about one thing, not two things. The parousia of the Lord Jesus Christ is the consummation of the eon -- not this present evil eon, but the glorious eon of the day of Christ, that eon of divine government which is next to come upon the earth.
I am fully convinced that the word sunteleia means a coming together of all that is necessary to produce a desired goal or end, so I have used the word consummation to translate it. The word here is not telos (the actual end) but sunteleia, the act of completing to produce a desired result.
It will help us to fix the meaning of sunteleia in our minds if we will remember that the consummation of a woman's pregnancy is the birth of a living child. A child born dead would be the end of her pregnancy but it would not be the consummation of it. The goal would not have been reached.
There is nothing in this passage about the coming of Christ. How could there be when He was then present with them? The disciples' question concerns His parousia, which they further describe as being "the consummation of the eon". As said before, the eon spoken of here is the eon of the kingdom of God. The consummation of the kingdom eon is the parousia of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, His parousia will not be ushered in without a great struggle of opposition on the part of Satan. The developments and the outcome of this struggle are set forth in the ensuing portion of Matthew 24.
In answer to their question the Lord sets forth certain significant events that will precede His parousia. They asked for the signs of it and this is what He gives to them. These are:

1. Men coming in His character claiming they are the Anointed One,
2. Battles and reports of battles,
3. Nation rising up against nation and government against government,
4. Famines,
5. Pestilences, and
6. Earthquakes.

And since these things have always been prominent in the earth from the time of the entrance of sin (they were prominent when the Lord spoke these words and have been prominent ever since) the logical mind will wonder how they can possibly be signs of the nearness of His parousia.
The answer is that they cannot be and it is illogical to cry "signs of the times" every time a famine or earthquake or pestilence occurs. However, when we understand the flow of events set forth in the time periods of the New Testament we realise that these things have ceased under God's government which precedes these events and the parousia. The rigid restraints (Isa. 30:31) and the swift punishments that will characterise the government of God will keep all such things from happening. But when these restraints are lifted and the restrainer Himself (the Holy Spirit) is removed, evil men and evil conditions will again appear and be highly significant. It should also be apparent that the great drama that is written out in detail in Matthew 24 can never be acted out until the twelve apostles have been raised from the dead and are in their positions as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel. These words and warnings were spoken to them, and not to us. Nevertheless, all readers are cautioned, "Whoso readeth, let him understand" (Matt. 24:15).
The actual period of time being dealt with here is the seventieth week, a seven year period, of Israel's seventy weeks as revealed in Daniel 9. This seven year period is divided into two parts and it is the last three and one-half years that makes up "the great tribulation". This begins the great struggle for it in the middle of the week that Satan is cast down to earth, raging with great wrath because he knows his time is short (Rev. 12:12).
It is then that all the governing people in Israel ("them which be in Judea" Matt. 24:16) must flee to the mountains. This will be an orderly migration, a work of faith, and the apostles will be in absolute charge. They are to take nothing, since the same Lord who fed and clothed their murmuring fathers in these same mountains for forty years can certainly supply the needs of this righteous band for forty-two months.
It is the presence of Satan, the great deceiver, upon the earth, that makes this to be a time of affliction such as has never been before. But they are safe in their divinely appointed place in the mountains and the forces of antichrist do not dare to go in and bring them out, so they spend their time marching up and down the streets of Jerusalem. This is the time when "Jerusalem shall be trodden of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled". See Eze. 30:2, Luke 21:24, Rev. 11:2. But it seems they begin to look foolish marching up and down the streets of Jerusalem when the ones they seek to capture and destroy are in the mountains. And it is when they assemble at Megiddo in preparation for turning into the mountains that the Lord comes and fights against them. This is the battle of Armageddon, in which not one life is lost except those who are in revolt against Israel and against God's government. Remember that the "man of sin" is destroyed by the blazing forth (epiphaneia) of His parousia (2 Thess. 2:8).
In answering their question concerning the signs of His parousia He warns them to disregard all declarations that He has returned to the earth and is in the desert or hidden away in some secret chamber in the city, thus to avoid all stratagems that would lure them out of their divinely appointed place of safety. He then states with absolute finality:

• "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall the parousia of the Son of Man be." (Matt. 24:27.)

From this we know that His parousia will be sudden, dramatic, and public. The idea of a secret parousia is unknown in the Word of God.
As the Lord continues His message He declares that it is "immediately after the tribulation of those days" that they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matt. 24: 29, 30). This is the coming that results in His parousia.
One evident fact that will be apparent to all who examine the four occurrences of the word parousia in Matthew 24, is that it is an event that comes after the great tribulation and not before. It cannot be moved around to suit the whims of faulty prophetic schemes. It is also seen to be one definite event. Any attempt to make two parousias will not stand the test of Scripture.
One of the most important references to the parousia of the Lord is found in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 where Paul prefaces his declaration by saying, "This we say unto you by the word of the Lord," which indicates a new revelation not made by anyone before. He continues by saying that those who are alive and remain unto the parousia of the Lord shall in no wise be a step ahead of those who are asleep. He declares that the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the chief messenger, and with the trump of God. This is His coming, His coming in order to be personally present. As He descends those who are then "dead in Christ", a martyred group who gave up their lives in the great tribulation, will be raised and these with the living shall be caught up with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. It is wrong to twist this into the idea that He is coming to take these people to heaven. He is coming to be personally present upon the earth and here to accomplish all the great works that His many offices indicate. He is not coming to govern. After the kingdom experience those who still need government have not acquired the maturity that is necessary for a place on earth when He is personally present in view of all that He is and all that He will do.
The words of the scoffers who ask, "Where is the promise of His parousia?" (2 Pet. 3:4) are tantamount to saying, "There is no promise of a parousia in the Bible." The amillennial school of interpretation is doing this today. They are a sign that we are in the closing days of this dispensation. Don't listen to them. NEXT

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The Appearing And Rapture Timelines Are Not The Same

In the sermon that is presented in a post I made in FaceBook, and the link is presented below,
The presenter did not see that the Appearing he talked about does does not fit in with the Parousia after the Great Tribulation. It fits, in the end of our current evil and perilous age, we now find ourselves living....
What happens NEXT ?


https://www.facebook.com/YourBrotherMark/posts/10204956762694506:1

http://freespace.virgin.net/geo.morris/sb041.htm

 *...... In the sermon tape the speaker did not recognize the time period for Christ appearing in Glory and we with Him at that moment.
SEED & BREAD Number 41: NEXT

GOD’S NEXT MOVE NO RAPTURE RIGHT NOW !

At the time this is being written, I have been a reader, student, interpreter, and teacher of the Bible for fifty-five years. This is not said in any spirit of boasting. It is simply the fact in the case, and I cite it as my right to speak concerning the subject of this study. I started out fully accepting and following the Darby-Scofield system of Biblical interpretation and came up through the dispensational-premilennial school of thought, but in time I became convinced that this method of interpretation failed to answer a multitude of questions which an ever increasing familiarity with God’s Word imposed upon me. I also became convinced that this school of thought was somewhat arbitrary in its interpretation of many passages of Scripture in order to make them fit what had become a fixed and unchangeable creedal position. Furthermore, those who made up this group were quite intolerant toward those who raised any doubts or questions concerning its favorite and widely proclaimed doctrines such as the restoration of the old Roman Empire, and especially that teaching commonly called "the rapture of the church," which was then, and still is, being set forth as God’s next move.

The term "the rapture" is nowhere found in Scripture, and it is not the proper translation of any Greek word found in it. Therefore, it cannot be considered as a word "which the Holy Spirit teacheth" (1 Cor. 2:13), but as a word which man’s wisdom has produced. The idea of "the rapture" is based upon a passage found in 1 Thess. 4:16, 17, where we read:

For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
It is my conviction that this passage describes that future moment in time when the Lord Jesus shall leave His present position at the right hand of God in heaven and descend to the earth in order to be personally present here for a thousand years (His parousia). See SEED AND BREAD, Nos. 24 and 25. I feel it is the wildest form of human imagination and false interpretation to make this event to be a partial descent from heaven in order to catch away all believers and take them back to heaven, as so many today are declaring and still more are blindly believing. This is His personal coming to earth, not an approach to it in order to remove His own from it. As a high honor and privilege a vast multitude of those who are then living upon the earth and many who have been raised from the dead will ascend into the air to meet Him and to return with Him. Let us not be afraid to think about this event.

The planet earth is a sphere, as the beautiful and impressive pictures taken by the astronauts have clearly revealed. Thus, the direction which is up at one point on its surface would in contrast be "down" at the opposite point. At the time of the Lord’s descent to the earth all of the outcalled of God will be "caught up" wherever they are, and this will be a glorious spherical grid or canopy that will enclose the earth. Through this grid the Lord will enter; and as He settles toward His appointed place upon the earth, probably the Mount of Olives, all who have gone forth to meet Him in the air will settle back to the place from whence they were caught up. And while it is true that this is only my conception of what will take place, I think all friendly readers will admit that it is a much more beautiful picture than that of all of God’s people coming together at the same point in one big ball of confusion. The God I worship is a God of order.

This conception is in complete harmony with Rev. 1:7 where it is declared that "He cometh with clouds." These are clouds of people, not clouds of moisture. See also Jude 1:14. The added declaration, "and every eye shall see Him," does not have to do with the physical eye or physical sight, but with the discernment that will be granted to every human being upon the earth. This will bring to them the full realization that the Lord Jesus has returned, that He is upon the earth — not as the emptied One in abject humiliation, but as the exalted One in all the glory of His Father with the holy angels (Mark 8:38).

If any dispensational-premillenialist who holds that the removal from earth of all believers will be God’s next public move will trace out the word parousia, even in its first four occurrences (Matt. 24:3, 27, 37, 39), he will find that it is an event that takes place after the three-and-one-half years that are called "the great tribulation." Every event listed in Matt. 24:1-32 must be fulfilled to the letter before the parousia can be a reality. Even as our Lord declared, "when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors" (Matt. 24:33). Among these things that must be realized is the appearance of "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (Matt. 24:15). This detail alone is an event that can never take place until Israel has been restored to her land by God, until the priesthood is restored and duly consecrated by Elijah, and the temple is rebuilt with its "holy place" as the center.

The "catching up" of living ones and the resurrection of dead ones set forth in 1 Thess. 4:16, 17 are events that introduce and are part and parcel of the parousia of Jesus Christ. If they are separated from it by seven years, as so many are teaching, the events become meaningless. They might well be likened to a home run in a baseball game. A batter could knock fifty balls over the fence and they would count for nothing if the game were not in orderly progress.

Those prophets of doom who try to frighten people into taking some action (so they can be displayed and counted) make much of the great tribulation, magnifying every detail into a sadistic tale of torture and horror. They also make much of "the rapture," holding it forth as a means of escape for those who will "come forward and receive Christ." Their conception of God’s next move is the removal of all believers from the earth, followed by the pouring out of indiscriminate wrath upon all who remain. However, at times seeming to recoil from their own descriptions of this terrible visitation, they attempt to alleviate it by making it one of the greatest times of salvation the world has ever known. C. I. Scofield declared "that between the coming of the Lord for His church, and His return to the earth with His saints, the overwhelming majority of living humanity will be saved." He held that this would be the outcome of "the simultaneous appearance of 144,000 Pauls," an idea which Hal Lindsey has fawningly changed to "144,000 Billy Grahams."

If the fulfillment of 1 Thess. 4:17 is God’s next move, then let all who hold this be honest with the Word of God and declare that the parousia (personal presence) is next. Note carefully that Paul said, "we which are alive and remain unto the parousia of the Lord." God has joined the "catching up" and "the parousia" together, and what God has joined together, no man should separate by a period of seven years.

It will always be a source of amazement to me that most students of prophecy can find nothing but predictions of divine wrath when they consider God’s next move. Why is it that they do not see that present conditions upon the earth, both moral and spiritual, are very much the result of God’s present silence, the lack of positive light direct from Him, and the absence of any public manifestations or evidential miracles on His part? God, being a God of justice accepts full responsibility for this. This lack of action and restraint upon His part are necessary while He works out His present purpose in grace; but the time will come when His present purpose will be accomplished and then He will act openly and manifestly as He should act in relationship to the needs of mankind upon the earth.

BINGO
This is what happens at His Appearing.... This could happen today, and will not be one of three parts of the Parousia mentioned in the tape......
God will next, ACT to intervene in the affairs of this present evil and sick world !

God will arise; He will go into action; He will plead His own cause; He will enlighten and rebuke the foolish men who now reproach Him every day; He will no longer ignore the challenge of His enemies; He will bring an end to the ever-increasing tumult that now grows continually. See Psalm 74:22, 23.

It is my firm belief and my constant proclamation that God’s next move is to assume sovereignty over this earth, all men upon it (the living), and all men in it (the dead). This will be accomplished by God speaking in heaven, by a revelation of His glory to all flesh, and by causing His judgments to be heard from heaven. Jesus Christ will blaze forth (His epiphaneia) in all His glory, and this will result in the manifest kingdom (government) of God becoming a reality upon the earth. This is what we are asking for when we pray, "Thy kingdom come."

The present-day preachers of wrath-to-come do not seem to know or care that God has declared, ‘When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him" (Isa. 59:19), and that this shall result in men fearing "the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun." They neither know nor care that at a time when darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the peoples, the LORD shall arise upon Israel, and His glory shall be seen in them (Isa. 60:2). They are ignorant of the fact that whenever God begins His great work of restoring and repatriating Israel, He will seek them out as a shepherd seeks out His flock when they are scattered (Eze. 34:11-15). Why then do they present Him as a wolf who will first tear the flock into pieces?

If there ever were a time in human history when the enemy has come in like a flood (Isa. 59:19), when there is an insurrection of the workers of iniquity (Psa. 64:2), when there are recurring periods of fierceness (2 Tim. 3:1), when evil men and seducers have waxed worse and worse (to the worst) (2 Tim. 3:13), it is this time in which we now live. The world needs divine intervention. God must assume sovereignty. He must take to Himself His great power and govern. Sin and death have reigned long enough. We need His kingdom. We want it to come. Tomorrow will not be too soon. May God speed the day.

Peace On Earth Goodwill To Men

Plainer Words Online

                                                       By

Tom L. Ballinger

December 17, 2014    

PLAINER WORDS ON … PEACE ON EARTH, GOOD WILL TOWARD MAN

    “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone  round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”(Luke 2:8-14).

   

   This passage of Scripture is largely ignored except at Christmas time. There are, however, profound truths embodied in the message delivered to the shepherds, beyond the fact that the Savior is born in the City of David.

   Encapsulated in the good tidings that were announced to the shepherds with great joy, it was “for all people,” not just for Israel. It was for every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. After the initial announcement of the Angel of the Lord concerning the birth of the Savior, suddenly, there appeared a multitude of heavenly hosts (angels) saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

    This is the first New Testament announcement of the coming Kingdom of God (i.e., the Pre-Millennial Kingdom). The Angel of the Lord and the multitude of heavenly hosts proclaimed the time in which the Lord, alone, would be exalted. The coming Day [the Day of Christ] will be when every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil.2:10-11). This refers to the time when the Kingdom of God becomes a reality in the earth.  The disciples were told to pray for this event, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt.6:10). This magnificent Day follows the present Dispensation of Grace.

    When the Kingdom comes, Christ will assume sovereignty over the earth and will begin His manifest reign over the nations, and the affairs of mankind.  His Kingdom in the earth is not, now, in place.  However, one day it will be a reality.  When His will is done on the earth, there will be “peace on earth.” 

    Isaiah speaks of this peace in Verse 4 of Chapter 2, “And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

    Micah says the same in 4:3; “And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

    When the Kingdom comes, there will be “peace on earth.” Weapon systems will be destroyed. “Defense” contractors will turn their production facilities into that of producing plows and tractors. Military academies will be closed. Nations will no longer teach how to wage war. Universal peace will be the order of the day.  For two-thousand years, God has been displaying His grace to the world. He has not been exercising His government, or His judgments in the world. He has been dispensing Grace.  Wrongs will, one day, be addressed when His Kingdom comes. During the Dispensation of the Grace of God, He is not, overtly, manifesting His “good will toward men.”

    When the Pre-Millennial Kingdom of God actually comes into being in the earth, all mankind will know, without a doubt, that He is dispensing “good will toward men.” Acts 3:19-21 says, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”       This tells us refreshing times, that is to say, exhilarating, invigorating, stimulating, and healthy times shall come from the presence or Face of the Lord, and all things shall be restored.  The world will be restored to a holy and happy state. It could be said; Paradise will be restored.

    Hunger and starvation will disappear. To this, the Prophets agree. God will cause the desert to rejoice, and “blossom like the rose” (Isa.35:1-2). Water shall break out in the wildernesses, and “streams in the desert” (Isa.35:6).  When the Lord exerts His regenerating power in the earth, the earth will yield her increase (Ezk.34:27).  Psalm 85:12 says, “Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.”

     In the astonishing passage of Amos 9:13, there is further evidence of God’s “good will toward men:” “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall over-take the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the  hills shall melt.” In plainer words, the earth will yield her increase year around. Food stuffs will abound.

    The animal kingdom will undergo a radical change as God demonstrates His “good will toward men.” Isaiah 11:6: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid [young goat]: and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.”  The lion, in the Day of Christ, shall eat straw like the ox, and poisonous snakes and reptiles will no longer be a threat (Isa.11:6-7).

    Physical handicaps, birth defects, sicknesses, diseases, and plagues will disappear from the earth. Excellent health will be the standard. The blind shall see. The deaf shall hear. The tongue of the dumb shall sing. The crippled shall leap like a deer (Isa.35:5-6). Psalm 67:2 speaks of these benefits as, “Thy saving health among all nations.”

    Sorrows and sighing “shall flee away” (Isa.35:10). “...and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard... nor the voice of crying” (Isa.65:19).

    Another benefit for mankind will be that God will instantly answer prayer, “And it shall come to pass, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isa.65:24).

     “Good will” from God “toward men” will, also, be demonstrated during the times of “restitution of all things,” by Divine guidance and direction being given to men, “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (Isa.30:21).

     Mankind’s life span shall be greatly increased, much like that of the people prior to the universal flood of Noah's time. Isa.65:20-22:  “There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old  man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed... They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands” (Isa.65:21-22).

      These are the blessings of Heaven which mankind will enjoy upon the earth, when the Lord Jesus Christ begins to “judge the quick and the dead at His Appearing and Kingdom”  (2 Tim. 4:1).

     The good news of the coming Pre-Millennial Kingdom of God is that the Lord Jesus Christ will bring all of His resources to bear for the benefit of mankind.

      The Christmas message will really be meaningful to those whose trust is in the Lord Jesus Christ, who live, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). When this happens, it will truly be peace on earth and the Lord will truly show good will toward men. Today, He shows only grace toward men. Thankfully, He is dispensing Grace, not Judgment. If it were judgment, Ephesians 2:8 would not be available to us; “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

It was one night in February 1963 that I realized my goodness wasn’t enough to meet God’s Standards for salvation—realizing this Truth I bowed down in our bathroom, believing Ephesians 2:8,9,&10, and asked to be saved for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. That was the belief the Lord gave me, and it secured my destiny and settled where I’d spend my eternity.

(This Christmas essay by Tom Ballinger was first issued on Wednesday, November 19, 2003).

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS

Tom and Gloria Ballinger

The Web site for our Bible Studies has over 375 issues:

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Tom L. Ballinger

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The Coming of The Lord

WHEN HE SHALL COME

I desire to say, and to have it on record, that I believe in the personal, visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth. I believe this because it is declared in the Word of God. I believe this as an individual and would hold it to be the truth even if I were the only one on earth who did so. There is no compulsion from any other source that requires me to believe this. It is not the creed of any group with whom I fellowship. I believe this just because it is written that, "This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). In fact, I hesitate not at all to make the boast that there is no man on earth who believes any more strongly than I do in the personal, visible return of Jesus Christ to the earth. I am a believer; believing is my business; it is my way of life; and I do not stumble at any detail, once I can settle in my mind that it is what the Word says.

Furthermore, I believe that this personal and visible return of Jesus Christ is with the purpose in view that He shall be personally present upon the earth for a thousand years. I do not agree with those who make everything of Christ’s coming and little or nothing of His personal presence. The fact of His presence is the important truth, not the journey that brings Him back.

I believe that His thousand-year personal presence will be a thousand-year parousia. A personal presence is not necessarily a parousia. Most men who have studied this word have terminated their studies prematurely, and they have finished with the erroneous conclusion that this word means naught but personal presence. While this is the basic idea in it (a parousia is not possible apart from a personal presence), yet, a personal presence may or may not be a parousia. (See Issues No. 24 and 25 for full examination of this word.)

My firm belief in the personal return and presence of Christ does not include all the ideas connected with it that have been concocted by the emotional and illogical preachers of prophecy. I have no time at all for the thousand-and-one events, past and present, that have been set forth as signs that the return of the Lord is imminent. Neither do I believe the oft-repeated idea that the Christians of the first century expected the return of Christ before death would overtake them. If this had been their expectation, they would have had to have been led to expect it by the Holy Spirit; and this theory could only point to the conclusion that He led them wrong. While many passages are cited to prove that the first followers of Christ expected His return at any moment, I believe that all such passages have been misinterpreted, misunderstood, and misapplied. Some, like 1 Cor. 1:7 which is constantly used, have been mistranslated.

The Bible does not teach the possibility of the Lord Jesus returning to the earth today, tomorrow, this week, or this year. If He did return today, it would make a shambles of God’s own revealed order of events. This order of events may not be crystal clear in all its details, but the main events are clear enough to establish the truth that many things must precede the return of Jesus Christ to the earth.

For example, Elijah must come first and restore all things (Matt. 17:11). This is not an independent event, as it follows God’s assumption of sovereignty; and the work of Elijah is all done within the time period of the kingdom of God. Furthermore, in due time, a "man of lawlessness" must be unveiled who will seat himself in "the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2 Thess. 2:4). Since this one will be destroyed by the blazing forth of His parousia, it is evident that the parousia cannot take place until the "temple of God" has been rebuilt. Israel’s great new temple will be rebuilt in the kingdom of God.

It has, for more than a half-century, been my purpose to know and to believe all that the Bible teaches concerning the return and personal presence of Jesus Christ. Most things revealed are very pleasant and easy to believe; but some things declared are not so pleasant; yet, these must also be believed. For example, it is my conviction that 2 Thess. 1:7-10 refers to His actual coming in person to be present upon the earth. Here we read:

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power; When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. 2 Thess. 1:7-10.
I have examined this passage in the original Greek, looked at it in at least twenty versions of the New Testament, and consulted many writers, wondering if someone had found a way of translating or interpreting this passage that would ameliorate this exceedingly drastic punishment that will be visited upon "them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ." The search has been in vain, for the words here are plain and highly expressive. This passage describes the fate, not just of unusually wicked men, but of ignorant men and those disobedient to the gospel, "when He shall come."

From all this, it is evident that if the second coming of Christ takes place while the world is in its present state of darkness and disobedience, then the overwhelming majority of living humanity will be exterminated. This is such a radical action, that I, for one, cannot justify it on the part of God, the One Who so loved the world that He gave His Son for its salvation.

However, let there be a long period of time when men live under the beneficent effects of divine government (Psalm 67:4), of divine enlightenment (Psa. 97:4), of the manifestation of Jesus Christ (Col. 3:4 - see note 1 below), of an unveiled Christ (1 Cor. 1:7 - see note 2 below), of a world filled with "the knowledge of God" (Isa. 11:9) — then if they shut God out of their thoughts and refuse to obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, any punishment visited upon them would be just and right.

If Jesus Christ were to come back tonight, it would completely upset the divine timetable, scramble the Word of God, and make impossible the fulfillment of at least a hundred glorious promises that God has made concerning Israel and the nations. There are today upon the earth about 13 million Jews, whose chief characteristic for 1900 years has been their rejection of every claim concerning Jesus Christ, both as to His mission and message. What would happen to them if Christ should return today? Would not Israel as a living people be destroyed? How then would God fulfill all the glorious promises He has made to them? Consider, for example, the promise made concerning them in Ezekiel 34:11-15:

For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. Eze. 34:11-15.
When this prophecy is linked up with two more of like nature in Ezekiel 20 and 28 (note 20:30, 42, 44; 28:25; 34:27), it will be seen that Israel comes to know the Lord as the result of all this beneficent activity in their behalf.

The truths declared in the prophecies of Israel’s restoration and that declared in 2 Thess. 1:7-10 are so opposed to one another that they are mutually exclusive. If Jesus Christ came back to earth today, the event described in 2 Thess. would make impossible the fulfillment of these prophecies.

The divine vengeance of 2 Thess. 1:8 is of such nature that divine justice would require that certain other things must be true before it can be righteously executed. Remember, this vengeance is not the penalty of those who have lived their lives in sin and disobedience. It is the portion of those who know not God and who obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, before this divine vengeance could be righteously executed, there would first of all need to be an unquestioned opportunity given to every living man to know God. Since this divine vengeance concerns only those who are living upon the earth "when He shall come," they should at least be treated equally with the Pharisees of whom the Lord said: "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin." "If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father" (John 15:22, 24).

Once such an opportunity is given to men to know God, then any punishment meted out to those who know not God would be fully deserved and its justice cannot he questioned. How thankful we should be that there is to be a long period of time before the second coming of Christ when the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together (Isa. 40:5). This will be in the kingdom of God, a period time that precedes His return to the earth.

NOTES

The word "appear" in the KJV is from the Ck. phaneroO and should be translated "be manifested."
The word "coming" in the KJV is from the Ck. apokalupsis, "unveiling."

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Just What Is The Parousia Part 1 and 2

THE "PAROUSIA" IN MATT. 24

(Originally published 10 Dec. 80)

It amazes me how men who profess to be students of the Word of God can treat the word parousia as if it always means "coming," acting as if this definition were a foregone conclusion, and using it as if it were the only meaning it could possibly have. Such practices reveal superficial consideration and a complete lack of objectivity. Their reason for attaching this misleading meaning to this important word is based upon the fact that the King James translators rendered it by the word coming in twenty-two of its twenty-four occurrences. They should face up to the fact that in doing this they actually erased the glorious truth of the parousia of Jesus Christ from the New Testament.

Many students have been surprised to find that the word parousia is not just another name for the glorious journey that Jesus Christ will make when He returns to earth, but that it is the Biblical term, the actual divine description for the personal presence of Jesus Christ upon the earth for a well-defined period of a thousand years. Two important studies in this truth will be found in SEED AND BREAD, Issues No. 24 and 25. These will be supplied to any reader on request.

As has already been suggested the word parousia is found twenty-four times in the Greek New Testament. It is translated "coming" in twenty-two of these and in two it is rendered "presence" (See 2 Cor. 10:10 and Phil 2:12).

It is a well known fact that when one’s creedal position becomes so fixed that it is not subject to any change, then there is no possible room for any further truth that may come forth from the careful study of the Word of God. It was this situation that caused the theologians who arose after the reformation to adopt the position that everything that was germane to God’s truth had been brought forth by the reformers and that nothing needed to be changed or additions made. So, even though the very word parousia spoke loud and clear of a time when Jesus Christ would be personally present upon the earth, they had no time or place for this in their tight theological system.

The translators of the King James Version were amillennialists, and in harmony with this view the word parousia was incorrectly translated "coming" in twenty-two of its twenty-four occurences. The plain facts in the case caused them to yield to the truth in the two occurences already mentioned. No doctrine was at stake in these two passages.

In previous studies it has been shown that according to the elements of this word, New Testament usage, Classical Greek usage, Septuagint usage, and the occurrences in the papyrus, the word parousia, when used of beings, means a personal presence when one is present because of who or what he is and what he does in view of his position. Furthermore, it must be noted that a personal presence is not necessarily a parousia if the one present is not there in relationship to his position and service.

Some years ago an incident happened that well illustrates this. I was in the hospital recovering from a major operation. A doctor came in to see me, but his presence in my room could not be described as a parousia. He was a physician, but he was not there to perform any service that a physician usually performs. He was there because he was my friend and had come to bring me a gift to help in the expenses which I faced. Soon after he left another doctor came in to see me, and his personal presence could be properly described as a parousia. He was there officially to perform the services that a doctor would be expected to do.

The Greeks had two words for personal presence. The word pareimi which meant a personal or actual presence and nothing more, and the word parousia which was a technical term and meant a personal presence when one was officially present to perform official duties.

The first four occurrences of parousia in the New Testament give us very valuable information concerning this word and the event it describes. Most of this is lost to the average reader due to misinterpretation and misapplication. These four occurrences are all in one chapter, Matthew 24. In the third verse we learn that the twelve disciples came to the Lord Jesus privately and asked the question: "Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of your parousia, even the consummation of the eon?"

In Issue No. 25, I dealt with the rule of Greek grammar that fully justifies this translation. This was further expounded in Issue No. 122, and it can be stated simply as follows: "When kai, the copulative ‘and’ connects two nouns of the same case, and if the definite article precedes the first noun and is absent from the second noun, the latter noun always refers to the same person, place, or thing that has been set forth in the first noun."

This rule applies to the two nouns found in the question asked by the apostles (parousias and sun teleias). They were asking about one thing, not two things. The first noun has the definite article, the second noun does not, even though it is found in Stephen’s text. Careful investigation has shown it to be an interpolation, and it is excised by nearly all editors.

The eon here of which they are speaking is the kingdom eon, that pre-advent time of divine government that prepares mankind for the personal presence of Jesus Christ. All the divine actions of the kingdom of God consummate in the parousia. There can really be no doubt but that the word sunteleia means a coming together of all the actions and operations that are moving toward a desired goal or end. This is why the word consummation is used to translate it. The word here is not telos, the actual end; but sunteleia, the act of completing to produce a desired goal or end.

There is nothing in the disciples question about the "coming" of Christ. How could there be when He was then present with them? Their question concerns the sign (singular) of His parousia, and this is defined by them as being ‘‘the consummation of the eon."

In answer to their question the Lord begins with a warning saying:

"Take heed lest any one mislead you" (24:4). This admonishment was given because the parousia of the Lord Jesus will not become a reality without a great struggle of deception and opposition on the part of Satan and his cohorts. He will well know that the time of his casting out is drawing near and his wrath is arising because he knows he has but a short time. See Revelation 12:12. The development and the outcome of this fierce struggle is set forth in the balance of Matthew 24.

The Lord declares to them that many shall come in His name (that is, in His character) saying, "I am the Messiah" and many shall be deceived by them. However, not one of them shall be able to produce "the sign of the Son of man in heaven" (24:30), a sign which no one now knows and will not know until it appears, but when it does appear the wise and prudent will recognize it and know and understand that the Lord Jesus has left His place in heaven and is on His way to the earth for a parousia that will last for a thousand years. Could this sign be a complete replay of the vision Ezekiel saw and recorded in chapter one of this prophecy? It could very well be. How thrilling it would be to stand with our Bibles open and see this great drama played out in the skies and every detail following the script to the very letter. I, for one, will gladly go through the great tribulation just to see this.

The Lord Jesus told them further that there would be battles and reports of battles (not wars), nations arising against nations and governments against governments, also that there would be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in diverse places. These He declares are "the beginning of sorrows,’’ a statement that has no meaning unless there has been a complete absence of all such calamities for a long period of time. All these things have been happening and been prominent upon the earth ever since the entrance of sin. They were happening when the Lord spoke these words and have been commonplace ever since. Thus, it is most illogical for men to cry "signs of the times", "the beginning of the great tribulation," "Armageddon is coming", every time a war, famine, earthquake, or pestilence occurs. Let us be done once and for all with this "Chicken Little" attitude.

When we understand the prophesied flow of events set forth in the definite time periods of the New Testament (See Issue No. 23 and Issue No. 129) we will realize that all such things as false messiahs, false apostles, hot and cold wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes have ceased under the long period of God’s benevolent government of the earth, a government of the Lord Jesus from heaven which precedes the events of Matthew 24. The rigid restraints and swift punishments that will characterize His rule (Psa. 67:4) will keep all such things from happening. But when in God’s time and purpose these restraints and the Restrainer Himself (God’s Holy Spirit) is taken Out of the way (See Issues No. 113 and 114) evil men and conditions will appear and these will be highly significant.

It is my firm conviction that the ninth verse of this portion will never be acted out until after the twelve apostles have been raised from the dead and have reigned long as judges upon the twelve thrones promised to them by the Lord (Matt. 19:28). Those who rebel against God’s government will center their hatred on these twelve men, who will find safety in taking God at His word and fleeing to the mountains when they see the supreme sinful act of the "abomination of desolation," of which Daniel speaks.

Only in their mountain refuge will they be safe. So if while there anyone comes and says "Lo, here is Christ or there" they are not to believe it. If any say He has appeared and is in the desert; they are not to believe it, if any say He has returned and is in a secret room in Jerusalem, they are not even to listen to him. Following this He says: "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the parousia of the Son of man be" (24:27).

From these words of our Lord we know of a certainty that His parousia and the coming that produces it will be sudden, dramatic, and public. The idea of a secret coming or of a secret personal presence is unknown to the Word of God. Neither can such be found in I Thess. 4: 14-17. In this passage Paul declares that those who are alive and remain unto the parousia of the Lord shall not precede those who are dead. These dead are the martyrs of the revolt against the kingdom, first seen in Matt. 24:9. He further declares: "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

There is nothing secret about this, and it is plain He is not coming to take saints to heaven. He is coming to be on earth in a one-thousand year parousia. Those who are caught up simply go forth to meet Him, and they will return with Him to be present with Him throughout His parousia. My prayer is that all who name His name shall so live that when He is made manifest we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him in His parousia.

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SEED & BREAD Number 25: NEXT

THE PAROUSIA OF THE LORD JESUS

In the pre-recorded history (prophecies) of the future benevolent services which the Lord Jesus Christ will yet perform for mankind, one of the most important is that which will be accomplished in His thousand year parousia. Having established in Issue No. 23 the meaning of the Greek word parousia, I shall henceforth use it as an English word in the confidence that my readers will understand that by it I mean a personal presence when one is present because of who or what he is and what he does in view of this.

The great truth of the parousia of the Lord Jesus is unknown and unrecognised by most readers of the English Bible since the word is not found there. It is wrongly translated "coming" in twenty-two of its twenty-four occurrences. It is the parousia of Jesus Christ that will prepare and qualify mankind for the place he will have and the services he will perform in the new heaven and new earth. Under that new order the tabernacle of God will be with men and He will dwell with them and they will be His people and He will be their God (Rev. 21:3). Not even that long term of school in the kingdom of God will fully prepare men for this position and service. We will yet need the learning and discipline that comes from Christ being personally present because of Who He is and what He will do.

When we consider that the event which is commonly called "the rapture" is one that is related to the parousia, and which so many are saying is the next event in God's prophetic program, it causes us to realise the need for an objective study of the parousia of the Lord Jesus.

It is in Matthew 24:3 that we find the first mention of this great event. The Lord's twelve apostles came to Him privately upon the Mount of Olives and asked the question, "What will be the sign of your parousia, even the consummation of the eon?"

The eon here is the kingdom eon, that pre-advent time of divine government that prepares mankind for the parousia of Jesus Christ. The eon consummates in the parousia, and it is the consummation of that eon. In justification of the above translation I would cite the following:

There is a rule of Greek grammar which is as follows. When two nouns in the same case are connected by the word kai (and), and the second noun lacks the definite article, then the second noun refers to the same person or thing as the first noun and is a definition of it. An example of this will be found in 1 Cor. 15:24 where Paul speaks of "God, even the Father" (Theo kai patri).
This rule applies to the two nouns found in the question asked by the apostles (parousia and sunteleia). They are asking about one thing, not two things. The parousia of the Lord Jesus Christ is the consummation of the eon -- not this present evil eon, but the glorious eon of the day of Christ, that eon of divine government which is next to come upon the earth.

I am fully convinced that the word sunteleia means a coming together of all that is necessary to produce a desired goal or end, so I have used the word consummation to translate it. The word here is not telos (the actual end) but sunteleia, the act of completing to produce a desired result.

It will help us to fix the meaning of sunteleia in our minds if we will remember that the consummation of a woman's pregnancy is the birth of a living child. A child born dead would be the end of her pregnancy but it would not be the consummation of it. The goal would not have been reached.

There is nothing in this passage about the coming of Christ. How could there be when He was then present with them? The disciples' question concerns His parousia, which they further describe as being "the consummation of the eon". As said before, the eon spoken of here is the eon of the kingdom of God. The consummation of the kingdom eon is the parousia of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, His parousia will not be ushered in without a great struggle of opposition on the part of Satan. The developments and the outcome of this struggle are set forth in the ensuing portion of Matthew 24.

In answer to their question the Lord sets forth certain significant events that will precede His parousia. They asked for the signs of it and this is what He gives to them. These are:

Men coming in His character claiming they are the Anointed One,
Battles and reports of battles,
Nation rising up against nation and government against government,
Famines,
Pestilences, and
Earthquakes.
And since these things have always been prominent in the earth from the time of the entrance of sin (they were prominent when the Lord spoke these words and have been prominent ever since) the logical mind will wonder how they can possibly be signs of the nearness of His parousia.

The answer is that they cannot be and it is illogical to cry "signs of the times" every time a famine or earthquake or pestilence occurs. However, when we understand the flow of events set forth in the time periods of the New Testament we realise that these things have ceased under God's government which precedes these events and the parousia. The rigid restraints (Isa. 30:31) and the swift punishments that will characterise the government of God will keep all such things from happening. But when these restraints are lifted and the restrainer Himself (the Holy Spirit) is removed, evil men and evil conditions will again appear and be highly significant. It should also be apparent that the great drama that is written out in detail in Matthew 24 can never be acted out until the twelve apostles have been raised from the dead and are in their positions as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel. These words and warnings were spoken to them, and not to us. Nevertheless, all readers are cautioned, "Whoso readeth, let him understand" (Matt. 24:15).

The actual period of time being dealt with here is the seventieth week, a seven year period, of Israel's seventy weeks as revealed in Daniel 9. This seven year period is divided into two parts and it is the last three and one-half years that makes up "the great tribulation". This begins the great struggle for it in the middle of the week that Satan is cast down to earth, raging with great wrath because he knows his time is short (Rev. 12:12).

It is then that all the governing people in Israel ("them which be in Judea" Matt. 24:16) must flee to the mountains. This will be an orderly migration, a work of faith, and the apostles will be in absolute charge. They are to take nothing, since the same Lord who fed and clothed their murmuring fathers in these same mountains for forty years can certainly supply the needs of this righteous band for forty-two months.

It is the presence of Satan, the great deceiver, upon the earth, that makes this to be a time of affliction such as has never been before. But they are safe in their divinely appointed place in the mountains and the forces of antichrist do not dare to go in and bring them out, so they spend their time marching up and down the streets of Jerusalem. This is the time when "Jerusalem shall be trodden of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled". See Eze. 30:2, Luke 21:24, Rev. 11:2. But it seems they begin to look foolish marching up and down the streets of Jerusalem when the ones they seek to capture and destroy are in the mountains. And it is when they assemble at Megiddo in preparation for turning into the mountains that the Lord comes and fights against them. This is the battle of Armageddon, in which not one life is lost except those who are in revolt against Israel and against God's government. Remember that the "man of sin" is destroyed by the blazing forth (epiphaneia) of His parousia (2 Thess. 2:8).

In answering their question concerning the signs of His parousia He warns them to disregard all declarations that He has returned to the earth and is in the desert or hidden away in some secret chamber in the city, thus to avoid all stratagems that would lure them out of their divinely appointed place of safety. He then states with absolute finality:

"For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall the parousia of the Son of Man be." (Matt. 24:27.)
From this we know that His parousia will be sudden, dramatic, and public. The idea of a secret parousia is unknown in the Word of God.

As the Lord continues His message He declares that it is "immediately after the tribulation of those days" that they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matt. 24: 29, 30). This is the coming that results in His parousia.

One evident fact that will be apparent to all who examine the four occurrences of the word parousia in Matthew 24, is that it is an event that comes after the great tribulation and not before. It cannot be moved around to suit the whims of faulty prophetic schemes. It is also seen to be one definite event. Any attempt to make two parousias will not stand the test of Scripture.

One of the most important references to the parousia of the Lord is found in 1 Thess. 4:15-17 where Paul prefaces his declaration by saying, "This we say unto you by the word of the Lord," which indicates a new revelation not made by anyone before. He continues by saying that those who are alive and remain unto the parousia of the Lord shall in no wise be a step ahead of those who are asleep. He declares that the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the chief messenger, and with the trump of God. This is His coming, His coming in order to be personally present. As He descends those who are then "dead in Christ", a martyred group who gave up their lives in the great tribulation, will be raised and these with the living shall be caught up with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. It is wrong to twist this into the idea that He is coming to take these people to heaven. He is coming to be personally present upon the earth and here to accomplish all the great works that His many offices indicate. He is not coming to govern. After the kingdom experience those who still need government have not acquired the maturity that is necessary for a place on earth when He is personally present in view of all that He is and all that He will do.

The words of the scoffers who ask, "Where is the promise of His parousia?" (2 Pet. 3:4) are tantamount to saying, "There is no promise of a parousia in the Bible." The amillennial school of interpretation is doing this today. They are a sign that we are in the closing days of this dispensation. Don't listen to them.

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Parousia... What Does it Really Mean?

THE "PAROUSIA" IN MATT. 24

(Originally published 10 Dec. 80)

It amazes me how men who profess to be students of the Word of God can treat the word parousia as if it always means "coming," acting as if this definition were a foregone conclusion, and using it as if it were the only meaning it could possibly have. Such practices reveal superficial consideration and a complete lack of objectivity. Their reason for attaching this misleading meaning to this important word is based upon the fact that the King James translators rendered it by the word coming in twenty-two of its twenty-four occurrences. They should face up to the fact that in doing this they actually erased the glorious truth of the parousia of Jesus Christ from the New Testament.

Many students have been surprised to find that the word parousia is not just another name for the glorious journey that Jesus Christ will make when He returns to earth, but that it is the Biblical term, the actual divine description for the personal presence of Jesus Christ upon the earth for a well-defined period of a thousand years. Two important studies in this truth will be found in SEED AND BREAD, Issues No. 24 and 25. These will be supplied to any reader on request.

As has already been suggested the word parousia is found twenty-four times in the Greek New Testament. It is translated "coming" in twenty-two of these and in two it is rendered "presence" (See 2 Cor. 10:10 and Phil 2:12).

It is a well known fact that when one’s creedal position becomes so fixed that it is not subject to any change, then there is no possible room for any further truth that may come forth from the careful study of the Word of God. It was this situation that caused the theologians who arose after the reformation to adopt the position that everything that was germane to God’s truth had been brought forth by the reformers and that nothing needed to be changed or additions made. So, even though the very word parousia spoke loud and clear of a time when Jesus Christ would be personally present upon the earth, they had no time or place for this in their tight theological system.

The translators of the King James Version were amillennialists, and in harmony with this view the word parousia was incorrectly translated "coming" in twenty-two of its twenty-four occurences. The plain facts in the case caused them to yield to the truth in the two occurences already mentioned. No doctrine was at stake in these two passages.

In previous studies it has been shown that according to the elements of this word, New Testament usage, Classical Greek usage, Septuagint usage, and the occurrences in the papyrus, the word parousia, when used of beings, means a personal presence when one is present because of who or what he is and what he does in view of his position. Furthermore, it must be noted that a personal presence is not necessarily a parousia if the one present is not there in relationship to his position and service.

Some years ago an incident happened that well illustrates this. I was in the hospital recovering from a major operation. A doctor came in to see me, but his presence in my room could not be described as a parousia. He was a physician, but he was not there to perform any service that a physician usually performs. He was there because he was my friend and had come to bring me a gift to help in the expenses which I faced. Soon after he left another doctor came in to see me, and his personal presence could be properly described as a parousia. He was there officially to perform the services that a doctor would be expected to do.

The Greeks had two words for personal presence. The word pareimi which meant a personal or actual presence and nothing more, and the word parousia which was a technical term and meant a personal presence when one was officially present to perform official duties.

The first four occurrences of parousia in the New Testament give us very valuable information concerning this word and the event it describes. Most of this is lost to the average reader due to misinterpretation and misapplication. These four occurrences are all in one chapter, Matthew 24. In the third verse we learn that the twelve disciples came to the Lord Jesus privately and asked the question: "Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of your parousia, even the consummation of the eon?"

In Issue No. 25, I dealt with the rule of Greek grammar that fully justifies this translation. This was further expounded in Issue No. 122, and it can be stated simply as follows: "When kai, the copulative ‘and’ connects two nouns of the same case, and if the definite article precedes the first noun and is absent from the second noun, the latter noun always refers to the same person, place, or thing that has been set forth in the first noun."

This rule applies to the two nouns found in the question asked by the apostles (parousias and sun teleias). They were asking about one thing, not two things. The first noun has the definite article, the second noun does not, even though it is found in Stephen’s text. Careful investigation has shown it to be an interpolation, and it is excised by nearly all editors.

The eon here of which they are speaking is the kingdom eon, that pre-advent time of divine government that prepares mankind for the personal presence of Jesus Christ. All the divine actions of the kingdom of God consummate in the parousia. There can really be no doubt but that the word sunteleia means a coming together of all the actions and operations that are moving toward a desired goal or end. This is why the word consummation is used to translate it. The word here is not telos, the actual end; but sunteleia, the act of completing to produce a desired goal or end.

There is nothing in the disciples question about the "coming" of Christ. How could there be when He was then present with them? Their question concerns the sign (singular) of His parousia, and this is defined by them as being ‘‘the consummation of the eon."

In answer to their question the Lord begins with a warning saying:

"Take heed lest any one mislead you" (24:4). This admonishment was given because the parousia of the Lord Jesus will not become a reality without a great struggle of deception and opposition on the part of Satan and his cohorts. He will well know that the time of his casting out is drawing near and his wrath is arising because he knows he has but a short time. See Revelation 12:12. The development and the outcome of this fierce struggle is set forth in the balance of Matthew 24.

The Lord declares to them that many shall come in His name (that is, in His character) saying, "I am the Messiah" and many shall be deceived by them. However, not one of them shall be able to produce "the sign of the Son of man in heaven" (24:30), a sign which no one now knows and will not know until it appears, but when it does appear the wise and prudent will recognize it and know and understand that the Lord Jesus has left His place in heaven and is on His way to the earth for a parousia that will last for a thousand years. Could this sign be a complete replay of the vision Ezekiel saw and recorded in chapter one of this prophecy? It could very well be. How thrilling it would be to stand with our Bibles open and see this great drama played out in the skies and every detail following the script to the very letter. I, for one, will gladly go through the great tribulation just to see this.

The Lord Jesus told them further that there would be battles and reports of battles (not wars), nations arising against nations and governments against governments, also that there would be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in diverse places. These He declares are "the beginning of sorrows,’’ a statement that has no meaning unless there has been a complete absence of all such calamities for a long period of time. All these things have been happening and been prominent upon the earth ever since the entrance of sin. They were happening when the Lord spoke these words and have been commonplace ever since. Thus, it is most illogical for men to cry "signs of the times", "the beginning of the great tribulation," "Armageddon is coming", every time a war, famine, earthquake, or pestilence occurs. Let us be done once and for all with this "Chicken Little" attitude.

When we understand the prophesied flow of events set forth in the definite time periods of the New Testament (See Issue No. 23 and Issue No. 129) we will realize that all such things as false messiahs, false apostles, hot and cold wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes have ceased under the long period of God’s benevolent government of the earth, a government of the Lord Jesus from heaven which precedes the events of Matthew 24. The rigid restraints and swift punishments that will characterize His rule (Psa. 67:4) will keep all such things from happening. But when in God’s time and purpose these restraints and the Restrainer Himself (God’s Holy Spirit) is taken Out of the way (See Issues No. 113 and 114) evil men and conditions will appear and these will be highly significant.

It is my firm conviction that the ninth verse of this portion will never be acted out until after the twelve apostles have been raised from the dead and have reigned long as judges upon the twelve thrones promised to them by the Lord (Matt. 19:28). Those who rebel against God’s government will center their hatred on these twelve men, who will find safety in taking God at His word and fleeing to the mountains when they see the supreme sinful act of the "abomination of desolation," of which Daniel speaks.

Only in their mountain refuge will they be safe. So if while there anyone comes and says "Lo, here is Christ or there" they are not to believe it. If any say He has appeared and is in the desert; they are not to believe it, if any say He has returned and is in a secret room in Jerusalem, they are not even to listen to him. Following this He says: "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the parousia of the Son of man be" (24:27).

From these words of our Lord we know of a certainty that His parousia and the coming that produces it will be sudden, dramatic, and public. The idea of a secret coming or of a secret personal presence is unknown to the Word of God. Neither can such be found in I Thess. 4: 14-17. In this passage Paul declares that those who are alive and remain unto the parousia of the Lord shall not precede those who are dead. These dead are the martyrs of the revolt against the kingdom, first seen in Matt. 24:9. He further declares: "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

There is nothing secret about this, and it is plain He is not coming to take saints to heaven. He is coming to be on earth in a one-thousand year parousia. Those who are caught up simply go forth to meet Him, and they will return with Him to be present with Him throughout His parousia. My prayer is that all who name His name shall so live that when He is made manifest we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him in His parousia.

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