Month: March 2020

by Don Hooton | March 26, 2020

From recent headlines, some think the COVID-19 pandemic is leading us to the end of time. From staggering numbers of widespread disease to speculative questions about governmental workings, all it would take to push many over the edge that the Lord is coming is a plague of locusts and an earthquake.

Please, be certain. The Lord is coming. From the moment Jesus was present on the Earth, He promised, “I will come again” (John 14:3,18,28). Even the Apostles spoke regularly that the coming of the Lord was “at hand” (James 5:8) and the end of all things was “at hand” (1Peter 4:7). And nearly twenty centuries later, here we are with the same promises and the same warnings that Jesus will come again. And with every generation should we be reminded. As Paul says, He will come unannounced like a “thief in the night” (1Thessalonians 5:2). So, be certainly prepared – because soon can always be today.

Yet, my interest in this article is the rumbling of ideas that come from modern Premillennialism. Premillennialism is, in simple summary, a teaching that says Jesus will return to establish His kingdom on the earth (in Israel) where He will reign for a thousand years. While there are variations of this across denominational lines within this mind set, the premise behind the view is that what Jesus came to do was not accomplished; namely, He was not crowned King of the Kingdom God had promised Him and the Church Age has now come until the Kingdom Age begins.  As it relates to the subject at hand and the title of this article, the last days comes into play as we discuss the Premillennial timeline for a period of tribulation before (or mid, or post) the days Jesus returns to establish the Kingdom.

Yet, people who lived after the Apostles seemed to think otherwise about what Jesus did:

• In AD 90, Clement of Rome wrote, “the Books and the Apostles teach that the church is not of the present, but from the beginning. For it was spiritual, as was also our Jesus, and was made manifest at the end of the days in order to save us. (The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, Ch. XIV).
• In AD 130, Barnabus wrote, “Moreover I will tell you likewise concerning the temple, how these wretched men being led astray set their hope on the building, and not on their God that made them, as being a house of God… So, it cometh to pass; … Again, it was revealed how the city and the temple and the people of Israel should be betrayed. For the scripture saith; and it shall be in the last days, that the Lord shall deliver up the sheep of the pasture and the fold and the tower thereof to destruction. And it so happened as the Lord had spoken” (Epistle of Barnabus, 16:1ff).
• And in AD 160, Clement of Alexandria, commenting on Matthew 24:3,34, wrote: “But our Master did not prophesy after this fashion; but, as I have already said, being a prophet by an inborn and every-flowing Spirit, and knowing all things at all times, He confidently set forth, plainly as I said before, sufferings, places, appointed times, manners, limits. Accordingly, therefore, prophesying concerning the temple, He said: “See ye these buildings? Verily I say to you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another which shall not be taken away [Matt. 24:3]; and this generation shall not pass until the destruction begin” [Matt. 24:34] … And in like manner He spoke in plain words the things that were straightway to happen, which we can now see with our eyes, in order that the accomplishment might be among those to whom the word was spoken” (Clementine Homilia, 3:15. See Roberts and Donaldson, Ante-Nicene Fathers, 8:241).

On the Day of Pentecost, in the first sermon of this good news, Peter said (Acts 2):

• “For… this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh… in those days I will pour out my Spirit…’“ Men of Israel, hear these words: …this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men…  25 For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken… 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he (i.e. Jesus) has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing… Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
  • Peter said the events surrounding Israel’s rejection and Jesus’ crucifixion by “godless men” was part of the Divine plan for Jesus to receive the Crown as Messiah: “according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.”
  • Peter said the events they witnessed was what the prophet saw: “For… this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel that “‘in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh..”
  • Peter said David prophesied of these events: “Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ.”
  • And Peter said, “Therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he (i.e. Jesus) has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing… Let all… Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ.”

People closest to the Apostles – as well as Peter from the outset of the gospel – were saying clearly that the “last days” of the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom was in his generation; that the promises of those last days in Joel were being fulfilled in their hearing; that Jesus was crowned King just as David was promised; and that the promise including His resurrection from the dead (v.23). This fulfilled the promise because Jesus was seated at the right hand of God to receive from the Father every promise the Spirit had made to Messiah in ages past; And the evidence of this is this pouring out (of the Holy Spirit) that they both heard and saw.

The kingdom came indeed (Acts 2:35-36). The kingdom is present (Colossians 1:13). And today, we live with a risen Lord who is King of His Kingdom and Head of His church. Since Jesus was crowned King, the last days of the epic plan and purpose of God – the dispensation of the Messiah’s rule that will usher in God’s final judgment on all and the final glory awaiting them in the Garden of Heaven itself – was fulfilled – and we do have the last days ahead of us – we have had and continue to have the last days about which the prophets spoke.

In other New Testament passaged, this view is sustained.  of Hebrews reveals, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things… After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs” (1:1-4). Notice that “in these last days” there is a change emphasized that God has spoken to us in His Son. God’s message is now exclusively in his Son Jesus the Christ in contrast to the different ways He revealed Himself in ages past. So if we let the word of God mold our concepts and we are told that God now speaks to us through His Son, indeed we are in the last days – the Christian Age, and not just a few days before the end of time.

Peter says to his own generation that Jesus was “foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in these last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God…” (1Peter 1:20-21). According to Scripture, the end of the times is the times when Christ would be manifested to the people. And since He has been revealed in the first century to people who are now believers, these are the last times. Knowing this, Peter warns that “scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming…” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed… But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (2Peter 3:3-4). When Jesus came the first time in the last days, He established His Kingdom but when He returns again, it will not to be to establish Kingdom already established but to bring the world to judgment on “the day of the Lord…, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be burned up” (2Peter 3:10). This message of promise urges us: “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless” (3:11-14). If Peter’s readers were not living in the last days, why warn them to act in such a way – if those days were millennia away?

Paul warns, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come” (2Tim 3:1). He tells of “men [who] will be lovers of self, lovers of money… holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” If Timothy was not living in the last days, why would Paul give him this strong warning? The need for this admonition today, and the admonition of Peter, is because they both saw the need to make it to their generation – because it as for them – and it is for us – the last days. We need it today because they needed it then.

There is the Apostle John, whose Revelation is the basis for much of the language of premillennial theory. He  begins, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near” (1:1-3). Again, he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place” (22:6). And again, he wrote, “And he was saying to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near” (22:10).

Last, there is Jesus’ words on Mount Olivet. He says, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34). That generation saw the fulfillment of the things in Matthew 24 about Jerusalem (c.f. Luke 21:20-28) – not us – unless someone would propose that Jesus was wrong. He most certainly was not.

The New Testament contains these facts and warnings connected with the end of the times or the last days. Christians living in the first century understood accurately that they were living in the last days. And by extension – so are we because the last days – as described in Scripture – began when the first good news of Christ was first preached by inspired men. The teaching of premillennialism is in error – and those who purport the “last days are upon us” are being misled and misleading.  Trust your teaching – not on theories that men have created – but on the one teaching which was begun so long ago by inspired Apostles. Build your hope on those truths for that will never lead you astray.

by Don Hooton | March 15, 2020

With the COVID-19 virus now a pandemic, the elders are trying to manage our responsibility to God and our responsibility to you in this pandemic. Some believe that many are over-reacting and there are those who believe the earth is dying.  Either extreme is dangerous. And the perspective I hope you will see is that prepared security is not the same as panic.

The word “panic” is named after the Greek mythological demigod named Pan, a mischievous forest god.  Legend says that his favorite diversion was to torment Greek travelers on the byways. Lying in wait and concealed in the bushes, Pan would rustle the bushes as a traveler passed by when he would gently rustle the bushes. The traveler would be startled and pick up his pace. Pan would meet the traveler again and again making the traveler hasten to Pan’s amusement. Soon the traveler’s breathing became heavy, his heart would pound. One more rustle from Pan and the traveler would run along the dark and narrow forest path in… Panic.

In some circles, these pandemics create panic – just like that. Imaginary, illusory triggers make adrenaline-fed hyperventilation common place. But in these moments, Christians need to be reminded of the Voice of God. In every time and in every place, we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me” (Hebrews 13:6)?

Even in the last two centuries, we have learned from others when similar events created panic.

David Lipscomb (“The Cholera and the Christian Religion,” Gospel Advocate 15.28 (17 July 1873) 649-653), during a Cholera outbreak in Nashville where 1 out of 25 residents died, write: 

“Christ gave in precept for the government of his followers the rules of his own life. [As] Paul [said] to the Galatians (4:15), ‘My little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.’ To reproduce the life of Christ in our own lives is to act as Christ would act, were he in our places. We thus become Christ’s representatives to the world…  Now in view of these things and the wild panic that seized the population, what would Christ have done in the emergency?… Would he have become panic stricken with fear—fear of death, and have used his means to get himself and family, with their fashionable and luxurious appendages out of danger, to some place of fashionable resort and pleasure, and left his poor brethren and neighbors to suffer and perish from neglect and want?… The religion of our Savior was intended to make us like Christ, not only in our labor of love—of our self-sacrifice for the good of others, but also in raising us above a timid, quaking fear of death… These fatal scourges, under God, become opportunities to show the superior excellence of the Christian religion, in giving true courage, love and self-sacrifice to its votaries… Christian men and women should be prudent, and cautious in such surroundings…

C.S. Lewis, some 72 years ago about the fear of the Atomic Bomb, wrote:

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”  In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.  This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends… —not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.

So here is my exhortation to perspective.

Many respond that the greater pandemic is sin in the world to which everyone has the cure at their disposal: Jesus Christ. That is very true. Yet, that wonderful gift does not change the need to respond against infections. The promise of Messiah was given before the Law but still God commanded Moses to  quarantine those infected to protect the community (c.f. Leviticus 13). If then it was not a lack of faith on a believer’s part to keep social distance for the sake of the community’s wellness, it is not now either.  And refocusing our attention away from the danger of infection to the regular demand for sin’s healing is equally the same as telling people that God never wanted anyone quarantined – except just to trust Him.  It is not panic to pronounce procedures of prepared caution. It is panic when you do not believe God will get you through this and it is foolish to mock the efforts to keep the community well.  So, don’t yield to fear mongering but don’t be so foolish to believe that quarantine practices are not good for the community or are somehow a lack of faith – God instituted them. Keep perspective.

Lipscomb said, “Christian men and women should be prudent, and cautious in such surroundings…”

And Lewis said, “do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation” but would later go on to urge us being found “doing sensible and human things” in which his list included living – and I would add to the living – living wisely with respect to the way God asked Israel to quarantine.

Don’t panic. But keep perspective. If God knew what he was talking about, keeping social distance and eliminating opportunities for infection is always wise. But lastly, don’t be afraid to serve those who may fall prey to the virus – if there is something you could do – show them Jesus in you.

by Don Hooton | March 15, 2020

This pandemic of the COVID-19 virus has made life different and challenging. School closures, working from home and limits on public gatherings make every day a new normal. For churches, it is no different. With the current ban on gatherings of 10 or more, what are churches to do? What about Christians? And while the use of internet, email and even the telephone, makes our connections possible in this turbulent time, not every instant access will solve all the challenges. I want to address a subject I think many Christians are wrestling through: Communion in the present distress.

Communion, the Lord’s Supper, is the memorial feast instituted by Jesus Himself to bring the disciple to remembrance of the meaning of the sacrifice of His body and the covenant of His blood (c.f. Matthew 26:26-30). In Paul’s instructions to Corinth where he corrected what they were doing wrong, he wrote, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1Corinthians 11:23-26). After noting twice that he spoke of what they did “when they came together” (11:18, 20), he says of  communion, “So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another” (23).

This crisis has raised the question, ‘What should Christians do in regard to communion if they are providentially hindered from partaking “when you come together”’? As is the case where I am – and it appears that in most places around the world that the same is true – we are not “coming together” as a church at all – so what are we to do?

First, many Christians are talking about this – and that is good. Truth seeking disciples should always feel comfortable discussing Scriptural subjects without judgment, harangue and divisiveness. We should feel free to express our convictions – even when they are different – and remain united in the cause – that cause that is not ours – but the cause that is Christ’s Who saved us. I understand that not everyone will agree with my conclusion, but I trust that you will look at it from Scripture, as I am trying to do myself.

Second, Paul’s words to the Corinthian church was caused by serious spiritual problems. There was division and political maneuvering (chapter 1), there was a man who had his father’s wife (5), there were law-suits among members (6), there were prideful uses of spiritual gifts (12-14) and there were some who denied the resurrection (15). In the middle of these issues was the Lord’s Supper (11) and the discussion of marriage that Paul connects to their “present distress” (7).  Bible scholars disagree about whether this distress was from within or without. The word “is a strong word (old and common), either for external circumstances or inward sense of duty. It occurs elsewhere for the woes preceding the second coming (Luke 21:23) and for Paul‘s persecutions (1Thessalonians 3:7; 2Corinthians 6:4; 2Corinthians 12:10)” (Robertson, Word Pictures of the New Testament). What Paul is addressing is difficulty in their present to advise them to refrain from marriage (7:26). If it was from within, it may have been the general stress of their prideful divisiveness, or from without, it may have been persecution in its many forms in early Christianity. Whatever it was, Paul made it a valid reason to give a specific advice to answer those issues that would not forever be a pattern.

This, then, creates the question that in our own present distress, how is the Christian to be instructed regarding communion when they cannot come together with the church?  And even more specifically, what is one to do when the church cannot come together at all? 

Here are some Biblical instances: what did the eunuch do when he got back to Ethiopia? Did he have to wait until another was baptized and a church was formed before he could take the Lord’s Supper? What did Paul do when he arrived with his entourage of believers in a town to preach? Did they partake on a Sunday when there was no one there yet to form a church? And even more, what did Paul do as he travelled for months by boat on his way to his Roman trial before Caesar? Did he reflect on the meaning of the Communion without elements on the boat? Was that approved? What if somehow that the elements of the Communion accessible were? Would he have partaken? Or, did he sin by not partaking at all? If a leper became a Christian, still excluded from public life, would they take communion alone or not at all? What about believing soldiers of Rome, like Cornelius, who would have likely been stationed in postings or movements abroad, what did they do if no disciples were there to meet with them?

There are no clear answers to any of these questions. If someone is, as we say, “providentially hindered” (i.e. kept by circumstances outside their control) from assembling with a church to partake of the Supper, will they be in violation of Divine Law? My answer is no. It is my belief that they will be viewed in the same way from the precedent God Himself set with the Israelites regarding lepers (Leviticus 13). While not everything is parallel, leprosy was a circumstance outside of their control. With that, they were prohibited from worshipping in the assembly. So, if you cannot attend services for a circumstance outside of your control, you should not believe you have sinned by not partaking of communion.

Then, if a leper was later pronounced clean, he was granted – by God’s permission – a substitute assembly later to fulfill his worship obligations where the same sacrifices would be offered (see Leviticus 7:20-21; Deuteronomy 26:14; Numbers 5:3; 9:6-11). It was an extraordinary solution beyond the normal expectation for all worshippers that granted an alternative solution to the extraordinary circumstances.

We don’t know if the present pestilence will last weeks, or, even worse, months and how long our gathering will be hampered. But just as the instances created by extraordinary circumstances considered above, I believe that Christians then would have persevered, studied, praised and prayed as often as they could to honor the powerful gospel that had transformed their lives. They would have recalled, celebrated and shared the story of the Savior. And in that, they would have surely still reflected on the sacrifice of the Lord Himself in their extraordinary circumstances. So, I believe that God could, in consideration of our own present distress, allow Christians to reflect on the Memorial Feast, with or without the elements, when they cannot meet with the church on the Lord’s day – or even when they are are watching in a LiveStream connection.

Even before this crisis, some churches continue to meet even when, because of shortages of supplies, may not have had all the elements of communion to share. As an example, in Uganda, Christians meet even when the fruit of the vine is in short supply and continue to meet and to reflect “in their present distress.” Would God feel dishonored if they had no juice? Likewise, in hearts like theirs that are trying to honor His authority in this present distress where they cannot assemble with the saints, Christians should be able still to remember the Lord in the Communion – with or without the elements. The church does not make the elements meaningful or blessed – the Lord has.  I believe that God understands what we are going through in this present distress. And Lord willing, this present distress will pass soon.

Some will counter that ‘since you made the exception “when we are gathered together” in 1Corinthians, that must mean when all of this passes that people can feel justified to stay at home from church services or go on vacations and get communion on their own.”  Not so. Let’s get back to the text. When Paul said that “in light of the present distress” it is better not to marry, does that mean once the distress was passed that he intended to set a permanent precedent of discouraging marriage? Should weddings cease? Of course not. Contextually, his advice is based on the “present distress,” a present crisis that they knew about and around which this different admonition about marriage applied. That crisis would pass. So too when our crisis passes, you should partake of the Supper when and where Christians assemble on the first day of the week. All Christians should be encouraged to see clearly that this is what Jesus intended and that the Memorial Feast would be for every Sunday and for every believer when they assemble (Acts 20:7).

So, let us always pray as John did and “pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well” (3John 2); Pray that this crisis will pass. Or, even better still, join Paul in saying, “Maranatha!” or “Come, Lord Jesus!” (1Corintians 16:22).