A First Look at Last Things: an Introduction to Eschatology

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Perhaps no part of the Scripture is more undervalued and underrated, in terms of its benefit to the Christian life and experience, than those that are called prophesy, that concern last things. And so, it's a joy for us tonight to come to this last category of the great doctrines of the Bible. It's been a wonderful three-and-a-half-year journey now, as we've studied together, all that the Bible teaches about the sweep of God's great plan, who He is, what the Bible is, and how we're to treat it, about salvation, the church, and now, last things. I've called tonight's message A First Look at Last Things: An Introduction to Eschatology. 

Almost every time I go into a grocery store or department store, I hate to admit it to you, but when I get in the checkout line, I often find my eye wandering to the tabloids. They're a lot like a train wreck. You don't want to look, but you can't help yourself. There's always one of them there that focuses on the end of the world, or, to use a biblical term, on prophecy. And it's always, of course, outlandish, unbelievable and ridiculous. And that's why it's attractive. During the second half of the twentieth century, there was a great interest in the world at large concerning the issue of prophecy, or end times. From the man I remember seeing, the solitary man wearing a sandwich board that says, prophesying, "The end of the world is coming!", to tabloids like those in the checkout stand, to popular books, this interest was apparent everywhere while I was growing up, and to some degree it still remains. 

The modern interest in prophecy really started about 150 years ago, spawned by the writings of John Nelson Darby, who is the father of classic dispensationalism. I don't recommend his writings to you, but that was really the beginning of the modern interest in eschatology. But I think it really began, in earnest, with the declaration in 1948 establishing Israel as a nation. Once that occurred, prophecy became a major topic of Christian conversation everywhere. If you were alive then, you remember Hal Lindsey's book, The Late Great Planet Earth. Again, not a book that I would recommend, but at the time, it sold more than five million copies. Prophecy conferences became very popular. I remember, even as a kid, being fascinated by bumper stickers that said things like, "In case of rapture, this car will be unmanned." Perhaps the clearest indication of this continuing interest in eschatology in our times has been the huge success of the Left Behind series, which has sold more than sixty million copies. Sadly, much that has been preached and written, much that has been taught in prophecy conferences, written in popular books, is, frankly, from a biblical standpoint, embarrassing.

My desire over the next few weeks is to follow in the footsteps of S. Lewis Johnson, the former pastor of Believers Chapel, who entitled his series on eschatology Sanity in Prophecy. That's my desire as well, to bring some degree of sanity to an issue that, frankly, is often treated with a great deal of insanity. Over the next couple of months, we will examine, together, all the great themes of eschatology. My plan is essentially this: Starting next week, I hope to give you a sort of biblical order of the end time events based on the text of Scripture itself. And then, much as we did with soteriology, or the doctrine of salvation, we'll go back then and take each one of those issues according to the timeline in which the Bible says it occurs, and we'll look at it, then, in much more detail. 

But tonight, I want us to consider several crucial introductory matters to this great doctrine of eschatology. Let's start with the key definitions of eschatology. It's very important that you understand this, because throughout this series I'm going to use two words essentially synonymously. But these words are not, strictly speaking, synonyms. They are slightly distinct in their meaning: The words prophecy and eschatology. I want to make sure, as we begin, that we have our arms around what these key terms mean. 

Let's take, first of all, the word prophecy. Our English word prophecy is not a translation, but rather a transliteration, of the Greek word. Our English word comes from the Greek word prophetis, and that word, in turn, comes from, or is made up of, two Greek words, the one, pro, [meaning] before, and phemi, meaning to speak. So literally, it means to speak before, or perhaps more accurate for our understanding, to speak for another. That's what a prophet is. He is one

who speaks for another. 

Now I want us to turn back to the second time this word and concept occurs in Scripture, because there we get much insight on its meaning, and that is in Exodus, chapter 7. Of course, here in the original Hebrew text, the Hebrew word for prophet would have been used, but in the Septuagint, the Greek word is used; the same basic concept behind both terms. Exodus, chapter 7, and notice verse 1: "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land.'" Now, do you see here that God is identifying for us what the role of a prophet is? He says, "Alright, Moses, you're going to be like God to Pharaoh. You're going to be in My role, as it were, to Pharaoh. And your brother Aaron is going to be your prophet." 

So how does it function? What does a prophet do? Aaron's going to be a prophet to Moses, as it were. What does a prophet do? Notice verse 2: "'You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh,'" and he shall "'let the sons of Israel go out of his land.'" Essentially, here's what God is saying: "Aaron's role as a prophet to you is very simple. He's going to take the words that you give him, and he's going to speak them to Pharaoh." Now folks, that lays down a very basic definition of what a prophet is. For Aaron to be Moses' prophet, he could not speak for himself. He had only to speak on behalf of Moses, who was in the place of God to him. And that's what a prophet does. More than 3,800 times, the Old Testament writers introduced their messages with statements like these: "The Word of the Lord came to," "The mouth of the Lord has spoken," "The Lord says," "The Lord spoke," "Hear the Word of the Lord." You see, a true prophet was one who did not speak out of his own heart, but rather as an appointed speaker for a divine Superior. In short, the prophet was solely, and only, God's messenger. You remember what God told Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 1? He said, "Jeremiah, you're going to be My prophet, and I have put My words in your mouth." Or to put it another way, the prophet speaks a message from God. 

So, prophecy, then —listen carefully — prophecy, then, is revelation from God. It is not explaining existing revelation — both in Old and New Testament, this would be true — it is new truth. A prophet is one who brings new truth from God, one who gives divine revelation. Now typically, that new revelation took two distinct forms. First of all, predictive revelation, that is, predicting what had not yet happened, predicting the future. You see this both of the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament prophets. For example, you look in the writings of Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, major prophets of the Old Testament, as well as in the minor prophets, and you will find that they are often giving predictive revelation. That is, they're bringing a message from God, delivering it to the people, and it predicts something that is yet future. 

You see this in the New Testament as well. Look at Acts 11 for a moment. Acts 11, you see this of a New Testament prophet, Acts 11:27: 

Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.

Agabus was a prophet, and he was not a false prophet because what he said came true. But he was here giving new revelation from God, and in this case, it was predictive of the future. He predicted a famine. Now, the gift of prophecy, as it is here, ended with the closing of the Canon, and that's not something I intend to prove to you tonight. But I will tell you this: Paul makes it clear that the church is built on the foundation of — what? — the apostles and the prophets. You see, they were bringing forth new revelation from God. And ultimately, the apostles, under the inspiration of the Spirit, inscripturated that revelation. And we now have God's final Word, His revelation to us. But the church is built on the foundation of those people. So, when you read about that kind of prophecy in the New Testament, realize that it was confirming the work of the apostles and preparing for God's final Word, His final revelation revealed to us on the pages of Scripture. And again, that's another message, but I'll just mention that in passing. Now, Webster, then, defines prophecy as the prediction of the future under the influence of divine guidance. One distinct part of prophecy is predicting the future by revelation from God.

A second distinct form that prophecy took was moral or ethical revelation. The prophets often delivered new revelations of moral or spiritual truth. You've probably heard the common description this way: Prophets both foretell, and forth tell. They deliver new revelation from God that gives both foresight and insight. But with prophecy — listen carefully — with prophecy, the key and primary characteristic is always new revelation. Now, over the next couple of months in our study, I'm going to use the term prophecy a lot. But when I use it, I'm going to be referring almost exclusively to the predictive part of the prophet's role, that is, his predicting things under revelation that have not yet occurred.

Now, the other definition we need to get as we begin our study is eschatology. Don't let the word scare you. It's really a very easy word. It comes from two Greek words. The first one, eschatos, which simply means last, and logos, which means speech or discourse. And so, eschatology is nothing more than a speech or discourse about last things. This idea of last comes from the biblical usage, a couple of biblical expressions. For example, in Isaiah 2:2, and in Micah 4:1, we hear of the last days, the eschatos. We also hear of the eschatos time, the last time, in 1 Peter 1:5, and the last, or eschatos hour in 1 John 2:18. So, because of those biblical expressions referring to the things yet to come, theologians adopted this term to describe that branch of theology that deals with last things. Now, understand that the word eschatology includes biblical predictions about both individuals' futures, that is, death and resurrection and reward, as well as world history, that is, the great tribulation, the return of Christ, the establishment of a kingdom. So, eschatology includes all of that. But essentially, eschatology concerns everything future, everything that is yet future. When theologians use that term, that's what they're referring to. Everything the Bible references that [that] has not yet occurred, that is eschatology. That is, a speech or discourse about the last things. 

So, with those basic definitions, I want to go next, and this is a very important part of our discussion tonight, to look at the common pitfalls of eschatology. It's crucial that we avoid these pitfalls. Let me just run through them briefly and see if you are guilty of any of these, even as you come tonight. First of all, one pitfall is to be preoccupied with eschatology. Some Christians are so preoccupied with the study of last things that, frankly, they're no earthly good. You see an example of this in the early church in Thessalonica. You remember that Paul had taught them a number of things. And in 2 Thessalonians 3, we discover that there were some who had become so captivated by the return of Christ that they had stopped working, they'd quit their jobs, and they were good for nothing. And Paul admonishes them and challenges them in 2 Thessalonians 3. Now, that rarely happens today. I suppose it did around Y2K and other events like that, but rarely does it happen. Instead, there are Christians who become so preoccupied with eschatology that they don't really care for their families the way they ought. They're too busy reading about the tenth toe on the beast or something else, some little nuance of eschatology. They're too busy studying all of those things to use their giftedness in the church. And whenever they're in discussion with other people, it always somehow comes back to this issue. It is wrong to be preoccupied with eschatology to the exclusion of the rest of what Scripture teaches and the priorities that are held up for us in our Christian living.

A second pitfall is pursuing eschatology simply to satisfy our curiosity, without making personal application of the truth. Now, frankly, folks, this is the problem I have with most prophecy conferences. This is why we've not had a prophecy conference, because normally, prophecy conferences are really about satisfying the curiosity of how current events relate to the Scripture. They ignore, largely, not entirely, but they ignore the ethical ramifications. Let us remember, as we approach prophecy, that prophecy in Scripture always has a moral or ethical reason for being revealed on the pages of Scripture, even when it's predictive. And so, if prophecy doesn't affect us, and we'll talk about how it ought to affect us later this evening, then we are not approaching prophecy correctly. 

A third pitfall is being sensational. It really is amazing what some Christians say and what some teachers teach. In the first half of the twentieth century, for example, many Christians and Bible scholars said that, undoubtedly, Mussolini was the antichrist. Some of you remember that, if you're old enough to remember that. After the Six-Day War in 1967, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary got up in chapel and said that Jerusalem was no longer trodden down of the Gentiles, so they probably wouldn't even need a seminary the next year. We must avoid being sensational, that is, coming up with some wild connection between contemporary events and what the Scriptures teach.

Number four: We must avoid being overly and equally dogmatic about every detail in Scripture. Avoid being overly and equally dogmatic about every detail of eschatology. Now, it is true, and we teach and believe, that the Scripture is clear. That's the perspicuity of Scripture. That is, you can understand all of those major things that are taught in Scripture. That's true even about the major issues in eschatology. But not everything is equally clear. In fact, Peter even said this. Turn with me to 2 Peter, chapter 3. In 2 Peter chapter 3, Peter discusses the coming day of the Lord. He's talking about eschatology. And after he says all of that, notice verse 13: We're looking for a "new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells," so now he's just talked about eschatology, notice what he says in verse 14: "Therefore," as a result of all of that wonderful truth about the future, "therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless." By the way, here's the practical and ethical application of prophecy, looking far and hastening, verse 15, "and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things." He says, "Listen, Paul talks about this stuff. Paul's into eschatology." Then he says, "In which are some things hard to understand." Notice in its context here he is very specifically referring to issues relating to eschatology. And he says there are things that are "hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of Scriptures, to their own destruction…therefore, beloved…be on your guard."

What's the point here? The point is, while we can be clear, and the Scripture is clear, about the major issues relating to the end, there are a lot of other things that are hard to understand. There are a lot of other things that we should not be as dogmatic about. We can see this even with the prophecies of Christ's First Coming. Think about it for a moment. In retrospect, it looks pretty clear on the pages of the Old Testament, doesn't it? But few really got it right. You and I need to have the humility to recognize that not everything in prophecy is equally clear. In other words, we don't need to, and we should not, hold to a belief that "the ten-nation confederacy is the common market nations of Europe" with the same fervor that we hold to Christ's literal bodily return. S. Lewis Johnson called this the arrogance of dogmatism. He said, "God fulfills prophecy as written, not as we think He should." 

Another danger is setting dates. Turn to Acts, chapter 1. You know this passage, but I just want you to run your eyes over it yet again, Acts, chapter 1. We're going to come back here, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time here right now. But I just want you to notice verse 7: "He [Jesus] said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.'" In fact, Jesus himself said that He didn't know the time He would return, that that was something only the Father knew; in His earthly condescension, He didn't know that. He tells us not to set dates. 

Now sometimes, folks, this command is overtly violated. I remember back in 1988, you remember the book that circulated for a while called Eighty-eight Reasons Jesus Must Return in 1988? It's not a popular book anymore. That is a clear, overt violation of what our Lord tells us. Don't set dates. Now you say, "Well, I have never set a date for the return of Christ." Well, let me tell you that sometimes it's more subtle. You'll hear a Christian say something like this: "We're living in the last days." You say, "Well, why do you say that?" "Well, Christ must return soon, because after all, the Jews are in the land again. They're a nation again. And Jesus said that a generation wouldn't pass until Jesus, until He came back." Now, there are a lot of assumptions there, a lot of interpretations there, but let me just take it this way. Not only is that a fairly obvious violation of the command of Christ to [not] set dates, because however subtle we might be, we're still setting dates. But there's also a logical problem with it. I, too, believe that eventually the Jews will be back in their own land. But, folks, we have no way of knowing that this is the time that will bring the end. The Jews could be in that land, be pushed from that land and reoccupy it a hundred times before Christ returns. We have no way of knowing that this is the time. It could be. I hope it is. I pray that it is. But we don't know that, because the Bible doesn't tell us that. 

And so, we have to be so careful, not even subtly, to set dates, because what we do when we do that is we undermine the integrity of Scripture; we undermine our own integrity. And worst of all, perhaps we undermine the confidence of a weaker brother. We cannot set dates. If you ask me, "Are we living in the last times?" I would say, "Yes, by the biblical definition, because they began with the death of Christ." If you ask me, "Is Jesus coming back in my lifetime?" I would say, "I hope and pray that He is, but I have no way to know that. The world could continue another 10,000 years before He returns." But you and I are to live with the hope, the expectation and the anticipation of His coming. That's the biblical balance. We don't set dates. 

Another pitfall is ignoring or undervaluing prophecy. Usually, people do this because of the reputation that those who talk a lot about prophecy have. So, they say, "I don't want any of that, so I'm just leaving it alone." Now, I have to tell you, I am personally tempted here, because usually those whose lives and ministries are built on prophecy tend to be a lot like granola cereal: All that aren't nuts and fruits are flakes. And I want to have nothing to do with that. But we do not have the luxury, it's no justification, because of guilt by association, to ignore or undervalue part of God's revelation. 

A modern trend, pitfall, the last pitfall I want to identify for you is refusing to interpret prophecy, and refusing to take any sort of position, kind of the hermeneutics of humility: "Well, we just can't really know anything." This is based on some good recognitions. It's based on the recognition that eschatology isn't as crucial to the faith, say, as the doctrine of salvation. That's true. [A] person can be wrong in their eschatology and still get to heaven, but they can't be wrong in their doctrine of salvation and get to heaven. It also is based on the fact that in this area, many good men have disagreed, and that's true as well. So therefore, some just decide not to study it and not to take a position. But I have one question for you, if that's your approach: How do you tell God, when you stand before Him, that part of His revelation just wasn't important enough for you to mess with? This is not an option either. So those are some pitfalls to avoid. And, you know people, and perhaps you and I, know [we] fall into some of those pitfalls. So, let's be careful as we begin our study not to go there in any of those pitfalls. 

Alright, now with that said, let's go to the importance of eschatology. It is absolutely crucial. How do we know that? Well, let me give you several biblical reasons. First of all, the sheer percentage of revelation, that is, of the amount of volume of the revealed Word of God that has to do with prophecy. Some scholars estimate that at least 25 percent of the Bible is prophecy. Now, if God chose to reveal that much prophecy, if one in four verses are prophetic, then it must be important to us, because God doesn't waste words. But we can also see the importance of it, and the priority of the ministry of Jesus. Of course, we could talk about the Passion; we could talk about His entire ministry. There's much prophecy of the future in the ministry of Christ. Jesus, even during the Passion Week when he had limited time left to teach the masses, chose during that time to present his lengthiest message on eschatology that we have recorded in Scripture, the Olivet discourse, in Matthew 24 and 25.

But I want you to see Acts 1, maybe you're still there. Look at Acts 1 and let me just remind you of Jesus' post-resurrection ministry, verse 1: "The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and to teach," that was the Gospel of Luke, "until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen." Now watch verse 3: "To these," that is, to the apostles, "He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days." And what was he doing with the apostles during those forty days? 

Speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, 'Which,' He said, 'you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'

Now watch verse 6: "[So] when they had come together," after [those] forty days of teaching about the kingdom of God, noticed what is on their minds, "'Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?'" Now, what is the clear implication of that question? That this is part of what Jesus was teaching them during [those] forty days, that limited amount of time He had left to pour Himself into these men before He left this earth. And His response isn't "Where did you come up with that?" But His response, as we read in verse 7, is, "'It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father is fixed by His own authority.'" The Father has fixed the time and the epoch by His own authority, but it's not for you to know it. So, Jesus, not only during His earthly ministry, but even during those intensive forth days of training of the apostles, the eleven, after the resurrection, brought them to this issue. We see it in the ministry of Jesus.

We also see it in the ministry example of the apostles. Take Paul, for example. Turn to Acts 17:1. "Now when they had traveled through [Amphipolis and Apollonia], they came to Thessalonica." That's where I want you to go. This passage is about Paul's ministry in Thessalonica. Now, "there was a synagogue of the Jews. And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths," at least two weeks, maybe a little more, he "reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer." Here was his message: "Explaining and giving evidence that [the] Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, [and] saying, 'This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the [Christ].'" Now, notice the result of his ministry. Verse 4, this is in Thessalonica: "[And] some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women." So, there is the beginning of the church in Thessalonica. 

Now, Paul was there at least three weeks, and most commentators agree it could not have been more than six weeks. So, Paul was in Thessalonica for three to six weeks. And after these believers came to genuine faith, he taught them. Now, what would you teach a group of new believers if you only had three to six weeks with them? And of course, they had jobs; they weren't able to be there all day, every day. They had other occupations. So, you had a limited amount of time with these believers, with a group of new converts. What would you teach them? Would you teach them eschatology? Many of us would say, "Probably not." But that is exactly what Paul did. 

Turn to 2 Thessalonians. So, after a period of three to six weeks, Paul leaves them, and later he writes back to this church that has begun. So, here's a new church. And he says to them, in [2 Thessalonians 2:1], 

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you be not quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed [either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us], to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 

Here he's talking about the coming of Christ, the Second Coming, our gathering together. He's talking about the day of the Lord. I wonder how many of you know about the day of the Lord: "Well, I've only been a Christian ten, twenty years; I don't know that I understand the day of the Lord." He had taught them about this, verse 3: "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come until the apostasy comes [first]," the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction. And he goes on to explain who he is, verse 5: "Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?" Part of Paul's ministry to this young church was to teach them about the coming of Christ and the day of the Lord and the man of sin, the antichrist. So, it was a priority in his ministry. 

It was [a priority] to John the Apostle. The Book of Revelation ends, of course, God's New Testament revelation of His truth. This book, that is so debated but that everyone agrees was prophecy when John wrote it, was sent to seven actual churches that existed in the first century. Think about this for a minute. Even though God knew that the events recorded in Revelation would not occur for more than 2,000 years, he sent this letter to those seven churches for their spiritual benefit. That means that prophecy serves some immediate spiritual purpose, and that introduces us to the final reason we know it's important, and that's because of the purpose it serves. 

I want us to look briefly, as we close our time tonight, at the purpose of prophecy. Why is it important? Why should you be here as we go through this series together? First of all, because prophecy rebukes sin and calls for repentance. I'm not going to take the time to turn to Jeremiah 18:1-11, but more than half of the Bible's prophecy comes alongside a call for repentance. Prophecy reminds us of sin, and of judgment, and of God's final justice being meted out, and it rebukes our sin, and it calls us to repentance. Who can read 2 Peter and the destruction of this world that's coming and still be tied to the stuff that's here? It rebukes our sin and calls us to repentance. 

Secondly, it produces purity of life. You remember in 1 John, the apostle John says in 3:1 [that] we've become the children of God, and what a great advantage this is to us. Verse 2, "It has not yet appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is." So, here's the Second Coming. Here is the transformation of believers in glorification, and notice the practical ramifications of this, verse 3: "And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." Prophecy produces purity of life, properly applied and understood. 

Prophecy also provides comfort. First Thessalonians, you're of course familiar with this passage, the great passage about the rapture of the church, 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4. You remember how he describes the coming of Christ and that Christ is going to receive His own, that we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with those who have died in the clouds. To meet the Lord in the air will always be with the Lord. Verse 18: "Therefore," here's the ethical application of prophecy, "Therefore comfort one another with these words." There is, in prophecy, a great comfort. 

Prophecy creates spiritual stability. You remember 1 Corinthians, chapter 15? Paul lays out for us the wonderful reality of the resurrection that's coming, that Christ's resurrection is a promise of our own resurrection, and he describes that resurrection at great length. He ends the chapter with the practical application, again, of prophecy. Verse 58: "Therefore, my beloved brethren," as a result of what you now know about the resurrection, "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." You see, prophecy gives us a worldview that allows us to deal with life's problems because we know our future is certain, it's settled, God wins, [it] creates great spiritual stability.

Number five, prophecy stimulates a desire for service. In 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, Paul has just described, again, the reality of his own eschatology, the fact that he is going to soon die and be present with the Lord. He says we want to be "absent from the body," verse 8, 

and be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 

Paul was driven to serve because of his understanding of prophecy, because of his understanding of what was going to happen to him in the judgment seat of Christ. Paul labored because of his knowledge of that judgment.

And finally, prophecy — and this is truly amazing — prophecy, properly taught and understood by the working of the Spirit of God, produces conversion. In Acts chapter 3, we have the second sermon of the early church, Peter's sermon. And if you were to read that sermon from Acts 3:12-23, you're reminded of the reality that this sermon is largely about the second Advent, about the Second Coming. And notice, as a result of this sermon, verse 4 of chapter 4, "[But] many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of men," then in the Jerusalem church, "came to be about five thousand." So, it was a dramatic conversion. There were 3,000 before, as a result of the first sermon. And now the number of men is 5,000 as a result of a message primarily about eschatology. 

This is very personal to me, because I personally was saved through the preaching of prophecy. When I was a senior in high school, a man came to our church who was really the first decent Bible teacher I'd ever heard, or at least remember hearing. And he was simply teaching the Scripture. He was teaching Revelation 21 and 22. He was teaching about the wonderful reality of the new heavens and the new earth. And specifically, what the Lord used, was when he walked through, thinking he was talking only to Christians — it wasn't an evangelistic message — when he walked through those things that would not be in heaven, you know, there are several lists there in those last chapters about those who will not be in heaven. And as he went through that list, I, as a self-righteous kid, had grown up in the church, who had made several professions of faith, the Holy Spirit turned on the light, and I realized I was in that crowd. My name was in that list, several different places. I was characterized by those sins, and the Lord used that to bring me to faith in Himself, that night in February of 1978. So, prophecy, properly taught and properly understood, produces conversion. 

So, you see the benefits. You see what prophecy can produce? Why wouldn't we want to study prophecy? May God help us as we embark on this journey together. Let's pray.

Father, thank You for our time together tonight. I pray that You would give us a deep and abiding desire to know Your mind as much as we can know it. Lord, help us to avoid the pitfalls we've talked about tonight. But help us to benefit from, and enjoy the importance of, and the purpose of, prophecy. Father, I ask that You give us the right balance as we embark on this study. I pray that You would produce all of these effects and results in our lives. Lord, help us to stand on the shoulders of many men who've come before us, who understood these things and taught them, and help us to come to our own understanding together. We pray all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, even as we anticipate His coming. May it be tonight. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.