Hi to my Forum Friend,
Earlier, I began a discussion with the question, "Does Saving Faith Include Belief In A Specific Eschatology?"
And, Red Baron answered, "No, it matters not what one believes about 'end times' as it relates to one's salvation. I am in a small minority of people who really don't concern themselves with the end. God started the world as He saw fit; He will end things as He sees fit. It is my job to live right and share the message of the Gospel when I have opportunity."
I replied:
How one believes about eschatology, as you have written, does not affect our salvation. However, it can and does affect our peace with God, our comfort of eternal security. For, if I thought for a moment that I was going to have to endure any of the seven year Tribulation -- I would most certainly not feel very secure.
And, studying and discussing eschatology does have another positive effect. It often encourages folks to get into a deeper study of Scripture and better understand the message God has for us in His Written Word.
It was just such a discussion that got me started. I was in a Bible study during the Gulf War in Kuwait, in 1991, when the leader began to talk about the Rapture, Tribulation, etc. -- and, being a relatively new Christian, I did not know what he was talking about. Yet, this inspired me to study eschatology -- and I have spent the past 20+ years studying the End Times.
This is why we discuss eschatology, baptism, etc., in forums like this, in private dialogues, and in Bible studies and Sunday Schools -- to encourage more people to be Bereans (Acts 17:11) and dig into Scripture on a daily basis.
This, too, has a positive effect on one's Christian witness. For, when one is faithfully studying Scripture daily, he/she gains a deeper knowledge of God's Word. This gives the person more confidence when he/she is witnessing to a non-believer and when sharing the Gospel. It is a win-win solution.
You tell me, "Bill, All I'm saying is I have complete confidence that He will be with me to the end, whatever form the end takes. It seems that End Times is what the majority of my church wants to study all the time. I guess I've gotten a little burned out, and the subject seems to bring up more questions and debates among the membership than any other.
I had the privilege of teaching on The Parables at my church for several Wednesday nights and that sparked my curiosity to study the life of Jesus more thoroughly than I had in the past. Hope that clarifies my previous post."
Red, I truly appreciate this exchange of thoughts between us regarding the study of the End Times. Whether it be a study of Eschatology, a study of The Parables, or any Biblical subject; whatever encourages people to get more involved in personal and corporate Bible study is good. I will admit that prior to the Gulf War which began in 1991, when I was a relatively new Christian, I was not very aware or knowledgeable of End Time prophecies.
However, that Bible study in 1991 -- when the oil fields were burning in Kuwait and our Bible study leader, Tom Fletcher, talked about the End Times prophecies -- did spark an interest in me about the End Times which has led to a 20+ year study for me. In my personal studies, I found a book published by Zondervan and titled "Expository Sermons On Revelation" by Dr. W. A. Criswell to be very helpful.
This is a book of expository sermon messages by Dr. Criswell (pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas for over 50 years) as he taught verse by verse through the book Revelation in the mid-1960s. Zondervan Publishing took the transcribed recordings of these sermons and published them in a series of books. Later, Zondervan published them all as one volume which I have in my personal library. In the Foreword of the last section of this full volume, Dr. Criswell has written:
After years and years of study, preparation, and preaching, this fifth and last volume (now part of the full volume) of Expository Sermons On Revelation is offered to the reading world. . . I have learned so much, so very much, in the preparation and delivery of these messages. . . Preaching through the Bible and finally through the Revelation has been the mountain peak of transformation in my life.
But, if I have learned much, so much, in these years of study and preaching through the Revelation, I must also confess that I have come to sense even more deeply and poignantly the multitudinous areas of God's grace and program into which I see as through a shaded glass, darkly. There is so much that I do not understand, so much that God will have to make plain by and by. We have to wait until the time of fulfillment, until we see face to face, to know the fullness of God's elective purpose for us. There are a myriad of details that the Almighty has not chosen to reveal.
On Wikepedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._A._Criswell) we are told of Dr. Criswell, who died in 2002 at the age of 92:
Criswell's theology is best described as conservative and evangelical. He believed in Biblical inerrancy, the eternal security of the believer, and Jesus Christ as the authority of spiritual truth and the sole path to salvation of sinful mankind.
Criswell's theology and ethics reflected the era in which he lived. Unlike his predecessor, George W. Truett (1876–1944), at First Baptist Church of Dallas, Criswell preached dispensational premillennialism from the pulpit. [5] Truett had reflected a postmillennial approach to eschatological questions, whereas Criswell drew upon the theology of C.I. Scofield.
A comparison of the beliefs of Truett and Criswell illustrates how American conservative Christianity changed sociologically during the 20th century. Postmillennialism, popular around the start of the 20th century, expressed an optimistic expectation for the social transformation of this world by Christ in the present day through the missionary work of His Church; but the two World Wars dealt this view a near-fatal blow.
Bill Gray note: Postmillennialism teaches that, beginning with the launch of the Christian church on the Day of Pentecost and throughout the Church Age Era, the world is becoming more and more Christian, and Christ rules and will transform the world through the Holy Spirit and through His church. But, He will not rapture the church, nor will He return to earth until after the Millennium, which He spends in heaven.
After the Millennium, when the world is mostly good, He will return for the resurrection of all dead, the final judgment of all people, believer and non-believer; and to take everyone into our eternal homes -- some to heaven and others to hell. To even consider this view, Biblical prophecies must be taken totally as symbolic and spiritualized -- for a literal interpretation of Scripture negates the whole concept of Postmillennialism.
Premillennialism offered a more pragmatic view of the limited scope of possible social reform, looking ahead to the rapture in which Christians are removed from the world before the end-time judgments of the tribulation and Armageddon, after which Christ himself returns to transform the world and establish His kingdom.
So, Red, I believe you and I are saying the same thing -- that our salvation is by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, plus nothing else. However, studies and discussions of other non-essential Biblical issues lead to a deeper understanding of God's Written Word and a fuller Christian life and Christian witness.
I appreciate this opportunity to dialogue with you regarding our mutual Christian faith. And, I pray that others among our Religion Forum Friends will have gained some "nugget of knowledge" through our discussion.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
