Dale Partridge - Part 4： An Introduction to Partial Preterism #2

00:00:00.000 Well, what a privilege it is to continue this series on eschatology.

00:00:08.480 Now, I want to remind you, kind of like Pastor Joseph said a second ago,

00:00:12.360 that without the resurrection, the second coming of Christ is an impossible conversation.

00:00:16.020 We can't even have this discussion without the resurrection.

00:00:19.560 It was Martin Luther who said,

00:00:21.300 Without the resurrection of Christ, we have no business talking about the return of Christ. 1.00

00:00:25.700 I thought that was very good, very clear.

00:00:27.840 now my aim in this series which i expected to be six sermons but i think is going to be seven

00:00:35.460 which i guess is a better number anyways uh today is sermon number four uh in the first sermon we

00:00:41.200 explored the three orthodox views of eschatology we have the premillennial view we have the

00:00:46.220 amillennial view and we have the post-millennial view which is the view that i hold now in the

00:00:52.180 second sermon i specifically addressed the origin and the nature of the kingdom of god

00:00:57.540 I specifically addressed, you know, showing how it began at Christ's first coming and how the kingdom is progressively expanding in the earth through the proclamation of the gospel by the body of Christ, which is the church.

00:01:14.060 in that sermon i also demonstrated that i believe that there's an error in premillennialism

00:01:20.800 which views the earthly future i say the earthly kingdom is a future only event and if you remember

00:01:29.020 we looked at daniel chapter 2 we also looked at the kingdom parables in matthew 13 i also offered

00:01:35.800 eight additional scriptures that really assume the current nature of not just a reigning king

00:01:42.840 but also a real kingdom. And in the third sermon, I introduce you to an interpretive framework.

00:01:51.440 It's a doctrine called partial preterism. And partial preterism explains how the prophecies

00:02:00.780 that you see in Matthew 24 and the prophecies that you see in Revelation chapters 1 through 20

00:02:06.840 were fulfilled by the events that were leading up and including the destruction of the temple

00:02:16.460 in 70 AD. That is to say that when you read Matthew chapter 24 verses 1 through 35 or

00:02:23.640 Revelation chapter 1 through 20, which are really, remember, Revelation chapters 1 through 20,

00:02:28.800 the abridged version of it is chapter 24 in Matthew. It's the cliff notes version of Revelation.

00:02:34.400 And they are speaking really to the same event, which through a partial preterist position is the destruction of the temple, the destruction and fall of Jerusalem, and the end of the Old Covenant age, which is the apocalyptic Armageddon, all of those elements which we will talk about here today.

00:02:55.460 Now, why is partial preterism so crucial?

00:03:01.740 Now, again, last week I offered all the evidence historically,

00:03:05.360 how the vast, vast majority of the church interpreted the end times through this lens of partial preterism.

00:03:12.280 Almost all the reformers, the Puritans, the colonial American reformers that came here and founded this nation.

00:03:19.200 So I gave all the evidence for that.

00:03:21.720 But why is it important?

00:03:23.760 Why does it matter to you?

00:03:25.060 Well, because it places the great tribulation, the great apocalyptic events that premillennials expect before the return of Christ.

00:03:37.500 It places those in our past.

00:03:41.600 And why does that matter?

00:03:43.500 Because it puts Armageddon, it puts the beast, it puts the Antichrist, it puts 666.

00:03:49.280 All of that thing as historical events that have already unfolded in the destruction of Jerusalem at 70 A.D.

00:03:56.640 This is the position that R.C. Sproul held.

00:03:59.740 It's the position that Douglas Wilson holds.

00:04:03.400 It's the position that Jonathan Edwards held.

00:04:06.920 This is not a position that is just some random off-the-wall interpretation of Scripture.

00:04:12.080 Now again, why does this matter to you?

00:04:15.800 Like, how does it actually touch down in your life?

00:04:19.280 Because if those great tribulation events, if those great and scary things that we read about in Revelation and in Matthew 24, if those things have already occurred, it frees us up from the pessimistic, doom and gloom Christianity where we only anticipate the future getting worse and worse for the church.

00:04:45.980 It frees us up from that, recognizing that those realities were talking to an event that occurred in the past.

00:04:53.460 And what it does for us instead is it allows Christians to view the future with a triumphant, victorious optimism

00:05:01.140 that's focusing on the advancement of the kingdom of Christ through the proclamation of the gospel.

00:05:06.940 We don't look forward to it getting worse.

00:05:09.740 We look forward to it getting better.

00:05:12.380 Doesn't mean it's not going to be hard.

00:05:14.740 It doesn't mean that we're not going to have trial and tribulation.

00:05:17.660 It doesn't mean that we're not dealing with sin, the flesh, and the devil.

00:05:20.700 What it means is that Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth,

00:05:26.440 and the gates of hell will not prevail against the church.

00:05:29.700 It means that the gospel will continue to push forward

00:05:33.940 because the body of Christ cannot fail because it's in union with the head.

00:05:39.200 Now, to be completely transparent, my goal in this series has been to challenge the viability of the premillennial view by using Scripture.

00:05:54.780 And my hope is that you would shift your position into an amillennial or postmillennial view.

00:06:00.500 And I believe, I think I've explained over this series, that the amillennialist and postmillennialist view really have the same interpretive framework,

00:06:07.700 though they differ in the level of optimism and manifestation of how much it will manifest of God's kingdom in the earth until Christ's return.

00:06:16.360 Now, last week, we explored Matthew chapter 24, verses 1 through 8.

00:06:22.140 And we focused on Jesus' declaration that the temple would be destroyed, that he was actually going to come and destroy the temple.

00:06:29.480 In fact, that was one of the reasons that Jesus was crucified.

00:06:32.200 They said that he said that he was going to tear it down and build it back up in three days.

00:06:41.160 As we saw, the disciples asked Jesus about when and what would be the signs

00:06:49.560 that would precede his coming to destroy the temple and put an end to this old covenant era and age.

00:06:57.320 and we saw that Jesus prophesied about three general categories. Number one, that you should

00:07:05.780 anticipate or expect false messiahs. Now, these were political figures. You know, America's got

00:07:12.660 false messiahs too. I mean, a lot of people will think that Trump's here to just save the world.

00:07:17.620 Well, no. We know that Christ is king and Christ is using men like Trump to fulfill his will in the

00:07:23.060 world, but we're not putting our trust in Trump. We're putting our trust in Christ, who has all

00:07:29.700 authority in heaven and on earth and is the king of kings. He also talked about, number two, wars

00:07:35.980 and rumors of wars. And number three, natural disasters like earthquakes and famines. Now, if

00:07:43.400 you remember, I showed that each of these signs were fulfilled and recorded in extra-biblical

00:07:49.540 historical narratives from people who were not in the scriptures, demonstrating that all of these

00:07:55.840 things occurred leading up to, as Jesus said, the year 70 AD, where we saw the destruction of the

00:08:03.700 temple and the siege of Jerusalem. Additionally, we examined Josephus' eyewitness account of the

00:08:12.660 fall of Jerusalem, highlighting how his descriptions of the events that he witnessed with his own

00:08:19.520 eyes aligned not only with Jesus' words, but also with the old covenant prophecies of the

00:08:27.880 destruction of Jerusalem for the rejection of their Messiah. So today, my hope is to get through

00:08:40.040 verses 9 through 20. So looking at Matthew chapter 24, verses 9 through 20, and we're going to

00:08:48.440 continue to look at these passages, and my hope is to demonstrate that Matthew 24, verses 1 through

00:08:56.720 35, which again is the abridged version of Revelations 1 through 20, is speaking to the

00:09:04.300 events that occurred in the apostles' future, but an hour past. Again, I want to remind you of the

00:09:12.580 context of Matthew chapter 24, Jesus is responding to the question asked by the disciples in verse

00:09:20.600 three. Look at verse three. It says, tell us when will these things, well, he's talking about the

00:09:28.880 fall of Jerusalem, fall of the temple, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end

00:09:37.300 of the age? Now, I do want to clarify something because I didn't mention it last week, but when

00:09:42.180 Matthew says the sign of your coming.

00:09:44.860 What does that word, your coming, mean?

00:09:47.820 Well, he's not speaking to the final return of Christ.

00:09:50.540 He's not speaking of the final, last return of Jesus. 0.60

00:09:55.440 No, he's speaking to his coming to judge Jerusalem, to tear down that temple.

00:10:03.080 And we know that because it's confirmed in chapter 24, verses 30, where Jesus says,

00:10:09.180 they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds.

00:10:12.180 Okay, it's apocalyptic language, so you have to understand how this is being used here.

00:10:19.020 So, Jesus replied, again, with those three categories, he just responded.

00:10:24.620 False messiahs, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines, all of these things took place before 70 A.D.

00:10:33.920 And then in verse 9 through 14, which we're going to read together, 24, verses 9.

00:10:40.360 Then they will deliver you to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name.

00:10:54.720 At that time, many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 0.94

00:11:01.460 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.

00:11:05.400 Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.

00:11:10.360 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

00:11:14.440 This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.

00:11:21.000 And then the end will come.

00:11:24.120 Now, you might be going, how is that not talking about the end of the world?

00:11:28.500 You'll see.

00:11:30.460 So first, I want you to notice that Jesus continues to use the pronoun you.

00:11:36.260 which certainly we know as a grammarian as someone who has studied Greek we know is the disciples

00:11:45.000 the antecedent or the subject or the object of that pronoun is the disciples who are asking a

00:11:51.220 question to Jesus. Now the word you is grammatically used as a present tense second

00:11:56.880 person plural pronoun. It's actually y'all in English. That is, Jesus is speaking to

00:12:05.800 a present group of people right in front of him. That you is not you. And that's what

00:12:17.200 happens. Christians read themselves into the text. That you is not you. That you is 0.93

00:12:25.640 the disciples. So when it says, then they will deliver you to tribulation. That's not you.

00:12:33.280 And they will kill you. That's also not you. And you will be hated by all nations because of my 0.99

00:12:40.740 name. Again, that's not talking about you. That's talking about the disciples. Now, does that mean

00:12:47.000 that a Christian can't be hated and can't be killed and can't be hated by a nation? No. But 0.93

00:12:52.580 we're sticking with the context. We're interpreting this carefully. So the U is the disciples.

00:13:01.740 And we actually know that those disciples were hated, were killed, and were despised by all

00:13:11.560 nations. As we look to the book of Acts, Christians suffered not only Jewish persecution, but also

00:13:21.660 persecution throughout the entire Roman Empire. Under Emperor Nero, 64 to 68 AD, right before the

00:13:30.600 events of the fall of Jerusalem, it is considered the most intense persecution of Christians to

00:13:36.460 ever happen in the history of the world. Ken Gentry, he cites, quote, the pagan Roman historian

00:13:45.520 Phantacetus speaks of Christians in the era of Nero as universally hated for their crimes, end quote.

00:13:55.060 If you're not aware, Nero blamed the Christians for what was called the Great Fire of 64.

00:14:02.180 Now in 64, there was a huge fire that almost everybody agrees that Nero himself started.

00:14:08.940 It was a political play. It burned for six days, and it burned two-thirds of the city.

00:14:17.180 And Nero blamed Christians for the fire.

00:14:21.580 Now, you're talking thousands upon thousands of people losing everything. 0.81

00:14:25.900 And now, it was the Christians' fault. 0.93

00:14:29.000 It inaugurated a citywide, a cultural-wide hatred for Christians. 0.64

00:14:36.200 it was under Nero's reign that we see the tortures of what's called the Roman candles

00:14:44.840 where they would light Christians on fire to use as street lights in the gardens of Nero 0.93

00:14:51.440 it was also when they started feeding Christians to beasts 0.92

00:14:55.500 and it was also during this time that you had the martyrdom of Peter and of Paul

00:15:02.560 so in verses 10 through 12 jesus says during this time many will fall away many will fall away

00:15:13.760 and will betray one another and will hate one another many false prophets will arise

00:15:22.920 and will mislead many because lawlessness is increased most people's love will grow cold

00:15:32.260 So again, we've already looked at the fact that, yes, those disciples that Jesus is talking to on the Olivet Discourse,

00:15:40.780 many will hate you.

00:15:42.680 Many will persecute you.

00:15:44.700 And we saw that that was certainly true in the most intense persecution in the history of Christianity.

00:15:52.640 And then he says again, many are going to start falling away because of this persecution.

00:15:57.120 and will hate one another because of this persecution.

00:16:02.180 And there'll be false prophets that rise.

00:16:04.660 And because of all this lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold.

00:16:08.820 Let's talk about this for a minute.

00:16:10.960 Paul, John, and the author of Hebrews talk about this great apostasy.

00:16:14.640 You see many times in the scriptures about people falling away.

00:16:20.960 This is in 2 Timothy 1.15, 4.10, 4.16, Galatians 3.1,

00:16:25.520 2 Thessalonians 3.1

00:16:28.520 1 John 2.19

00:16:29.640 Hebrews 2.1-4

00:16:31.000 6.1-6

00:16:32.440 and 10.26-21

00:16:33.860 The clearest passage, I think the easiest passage to read

00:16:38.160 is 1 John 2.19

00:16:40.020 and it says,

00:16:41.340 They went out from us

00:16:42.500 but they were not really of us

00:16:46.140 for if they had been of us

00:16:48.380 they would have remained with us

00:16:50.760 but they went out

00:16:52.400 so that it would be shown that they are not of us

00:16:55.440 Now, Jesus is not talking about mass numbers of people losing their salvation.

00:16:59.800 That's not what's talking about.

00:17:01.460 We know that you can't lose your salvation because you're not the one who keeps yourself saved.

00:17:05.360 Who keeps you saved? Christ keeps you saved.

00:17:07.140 He's the author and finisher of your faith.

00:17:10.640 What we're talking about here, and what Jesus is talking about here,

00:17:14.380 is that mass numbers of people,

00:17:18.020 the trials and tribulation and persecution that was occurring at this time

00:17:23.540 was revealing those who were saved and those who weren't saved.

00:17:29.380 In fact, you want to see pretty quickly who's saved and who's not saved?

00:17:32.360 Just get a really intense opportunity of persecution.

00:17:37.140 You're going to see people give up pretty quick,

00:17:39.460 and you're going to see people go to the grave proclaiming Christ.

00:17:42.900 And those who proclaim Christ to the grave

00:17:45.160 are the ones who, by the power of Christ, will not falter.

00:17:49.140 that's how you see people burning alive singing hymns and the people who were not

00:17:56.960 saved falling away and giving up and betraying one another

00:18:02.200 it eliminates false converts and he's speaking that at this time this tribulation leading up

00:18:12.620 of 70 AD is a massive sifting of the church. In 64 AD, Tacitus records in his book 15, chapter 44,

00:18:23.880 he says, first, Nero had self-acknowledged Christians arrested. Then, on their information,

00:18:32.820 large numbers of others were condemned, end quote. Okay. This intense persecution brought about

00:18:41.140 a great betrayal and a great apostasy, just as Jesus warned. We're going to take you in and

00:18:49.880 you're going to give up your brothers and you're going to betray your people so that you can free

00:18:54.160 yourself, just as Jesus said. Then Jesus says in verse 11, many false prophets will arise and will

00:19:01.600 mislead many. Okay, even the book of Acts 11, sorry, the book of Acts 13 verse 6, it records, it says,

00:19:08.940 When they have gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet, whose name was Bar-Jesus, end quote.

00:19:20.480 Josephus, again, who was an Old Testament, he was around during this era, he was an early New Testament eyewitness account.

00:19:30.080 He records a significant number of false Jewish prophets who were regularly producing civil unrest.

00:19:38.940 in Jerusalem by stirring up the passion of the zealots

00:19:42.940 because they're saying that they're a prophet coming in the name of the Lord

00:19:46.260 and that they should free and vindicate themselves from Rome.

00:19:50.860 And because of this kind of high degree of confusion

00:19:54.900 and high degree of betrayal and persecution and apostasy and fighting

00:20:01.340 and the zealots rising up, Jesus says that most people,

00:20:06.340 because of the lawlessness, the chaos that was occurring between 64 and about 70 A.D.

00:20:15.320 He says, because of this, most people's love will grow cold.

00:20:21.820 Imagine being in a time of persecution and a third of our church gave up another third of our church.

00:20:30.960 And we found out that half of them weren't actually saved.

00:20:34.060 the love on this church would actually

00:20:38.220 you would see some of it grow cold

00:20:40.240 doesn't mean that you don't love

00:20:44.080 but you would be skeptical

00:20:46.000 it would change the way that we related with one another

00:20:50.260 now Jesus is not speaking

00:20:56.440 about the general population's love growing cold

00:20:58.680 that's a confusion of the text

00:21:00.780 again we talked about maundy thursday uh the latin word commandment right a new command

00:21:07.920 i give to you that you love one another uh jesus is speaking that in this season of intense

00:21:15.700 persecution the love that christians are to have for one another will grow cold it's actually one

00:21:22.320 of the signs. When you start

00:21:26.300 seeing the love of Christians grow cold, 0.99

00:21:30.200 that'll be one of the preceding signs to the fall of Jerusalem 0.70

00:21:34.500 and to the end of this old covenant era.

00:21:38.380 Then the Lord offers in verse 13

00:21:41.100 a counter signal saying, but the one who endures to the end

00:21:46.400 contrast clause, the word but, but the

00:21:50.420 One who endures to the end, he will be saved.

00:21:57.020 And then verse 14, this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world

00:22:03.100 as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

00:22:10.300 Okay, let's talk about verse 13 first.

00:22:15.240 The one who endures to the end will be saved.

00:22:18.120 This is a statement of observation.

00:22:21.220 Jesus is making a statement of observation.

00:22:25.000 The person who endures, it's basically him saying this,

00:22:27.000 the person who endures this intense apocalyptic end of the old covenant age,

00:22:31.040 of all this persecution and all this betrayal and the love growing cold,

00:22:34.280 the people who endure through that, those are the saved ones.

00:22:39.380 That's what he's saying.

00:22:41.740 You see those people over there that made it,

00:22:45.320 that didn't lose their faith, that endured to the end?

00:22:48.200 Those are the saved ones.

00:22:51.260 But then Jesus offers one final statement regarding the preliminary signs to the temple's fall.

00:22:57.860 He says, the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.

00:23:04.840 And then the end will come.

00:23:07.200 Okay.

00:23:08.660 This verse leads so many people to say, see, right there.

00:23:13.240 This must be talking about the distant future because the gospel has not been preached to the whole world and to all the nations.

00:23:20.420 It must be talking about the end of the world, right?

00:23:26.120 They might add, do you really believe, Dale,

00:23:28.840 that Jesus had the gospel go out to all the world before 70 AD?

00:23:36.300 Yes. Yes, I do.

00:23:39.140 And let me explain why.

00:23:42.000 I believe the scripture confidently allows us to say yes.

00:23:45.600 The question you need to ask yourself is, what does Jesus mean by the whole world?

00:23:54.760 Now, the word world in the Greek is oikumene.

00:24:00.100 And it's not the word cosmos, which means for the whole universe or the whole creation, all of creation.

00:24:07.280 And it's not the word ge, which is the word for earth.

00:24:10.500 And those words are used all throughout the New Testament.

00:24:13.140 This is the word oikumene.

00:24:15.600 oikumene is used 15 times in the new testament and it refers every single time to the inhabited

00:24:27.280 earth or the known world or the current age every single time so think about when you say

00:24:34.040 the ancient world okay it's talking about an era of time or the future world it's talking about an

00:24:40.940 era of time or the known world. Okay. So let me explain. I'm going to give you so many passages

00:24:47.000 of scripture that you will, you will be shifting onto my side in just a second. Okay. Luke two,

00:24:53.300 verse one uses Oikumene. It says in the days, in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus

00:25:01.060 to all the world, to all the Oikumene that they should be registered. Okay. Certainly 0.99

00:25:10.800 This wasn't speaking to the entire earth, was it? 0.88

00:25:15.520 Japan and India, the Parthian Empire, the Arab tribes,

00:25:20.160 they weren't decreed to be registered, were they?

00:25:23.560 No, it's speaking to the Roman world, to the known world.

00:25:28.180 But wait, it says, in the days of Caesar Augustus,

00:25:32.320 a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to the whole world.

00:25:35.780 Oh, no, no.

00:25:37.920 You will learn pretty quick if you study exegetical works

00:25:41.680 that when the scripture says whole world or world,

00:25:45.500 it has many definitions.

00:25:47.480 It's like using the word trunk in English.

00:25:50.660 Well, are you talking about a tree trunk?

00:25:52.040 Are you talking about the trunk at the end of your bed?

00:25:54.560 Are you talking about the trunk of your car?

00:25:56.900 Are you talking about an elephant's trunk?

00:25:59.780 What are you talking about here?

00:26:01.700 There's lots of meanings in these words.

00:26:07.120 I always say English is like watching a movie in black and white.

00:26:10.260 And Greek is like watching a movie in 4K.

00:26:14.540 Greek gives you so many more points of clarity of the intended meaning of a particular word.

00:26:20.940 It's why you have three definitions or three words for love.

00:26:24.480 We have one.

00:26:25.980 They have three.

00:26:27.800 Okay?

00:26:28.320 There's so much more clarity there.

00:26:34.560 Acts 17.6.

00:26:36.140 After Paul converts several groups by the proclamation of the gospel, certain men are dragged to the city authorities and their persecutors say, quote, Acts 17, 6, these men who have turned the world upside down.

00:26:52.940 Well, did they turn the world, the earth, upside down? 0.99

00:26:56.520 Same oikumene there. 1.00

00:26:58.660 No, no, they did turn their city or the region upside down. 1.00

00:27:04.420 Colossians 1, 23.

00:27:06.140 It says, if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast,

00:27:09.840 and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard,

00:27:12.500 which was preached to every creature under heaven.

00:27:16.420 That word heaven is oikumene. 0.70

00:27:19.100 Every creature in all creation, right? 0.75

00:27:22.220 Or every creature under heaven. 1.00

00:27:24.440 Oikumene. 1.00

00:27:26.480 So, that's a big claim.

00:27:30.220 Colossians 1.6, speaking of the gospel says,

00:27:33.460 which has come to you as it has also in all the world.

00:27:39.400 Oikimene.

00:27:42.080 Romans 16, 26.

00:27:45.580 Mind you, this is all written before 70 AD.

00:27:48.760 So he just said it was preached to every,

00:27:50.940 the gospel was preached to every creature under heaven.

00:27:55.140 It says that the gospel has also been heard in all the world.

00:28:00.060 Romans 16, 26.

00:28:01.440 Speaking of Christ and the gospel,

00:28:03.200 It says, but now is manifested by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment 0.79

00:28:07.280 of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, all the oikumene.

00:28:14.940 Romans 10, 18 says, but I say to you, surely they have heard, have they?

00:28:20.600 Indeed, they have.

00:28:22.140 Their voice has gone out into all the oikumene, all the earth, and their words to the end

00:28:28.280 of the oikumene, the world.

00:28:33.200 So, at the time of the New Testament, scripture testifies in past tense grammar that the gospel was preached to every creature under heaven, has come to all the world, has been made known to all the nations, has gone out into all the earth and to the ends of the world.

00:28:55.680 That is what the scriptures teach.

00:28:57.600 so

00:28:59.820 when Jesus says

00:29:02.360 that one of the signs before the destruction of the

00:29:04.300 temple is that the gospel will reach 0.94

00:29:06.440 the oikumene 1.00

00:29:07.380 we don't have 0.98

00:29:10.420 to say oh that's the future because it has

00:29:12.340 to reach the end of the world no we are smarter

00:29:14.080 Bible interpreters than that

00:29:15.280 okay we are willing 0.96

00:29:18.200 to say yeah you know what I'm going to look

00:29:20.140 carefully at this he's

00:29:22.120 not referring to the entire earth but

00:29:24.100 to the known world the gospel went

00:29:26.200 out to all the known world by 70 AD. Then, in verse 15, Jesus transitions from the kind of

00:29:38.800 preceding signs of the destruction of Jerusalem to the imminent signs of the destruction of

00:29:47.300 Jerusalem. He says, therefore, which again just shows a direct connection to this previous

00:29:54.460 argument, so we're still in track with all of his preceding discussion, which he's answering

00:30:01.000 that main question, when and what will be the signs of your coming in the end of the age?

00:30:07.540 He says, therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel,

00:30:14.180 the prophet, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand in parentheses,

00:30:19.940 Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

00:30:25.340 Okay, the phrase abomination of desolation has stumbled a lot of people.

00:30:32.380 Okay, some of the dispensationalists have even interpreted it as a future ruler,

00:30:37.600 and some even speculating that it might be a member of the United Nations,

00:30:41.120 and it's going to happen at a rebuilt temple.

00:30:44.000 Okay, first, like how do you even get that?

00:30:46.740 What kind of eisegesis do you need to use to get to the,

00:30:50.400 to maybe it's a ruler from the United Nations that we're talking about.

00:30:53.140 I mean, the theological and hermeneutical gymnastics are absolutely insane. 0.58

00:31:00.140 Now, remember, Jesus was addressing a Jewish audience of disciples. 0.65

00:31:04.900 He's sitting on the Mount of Olives.

00:31:06.720 He's looking across the valley over at the temple buildings.

00:31:12.500 He's having a discussion with them.

00:31:15.860 Now, if you're a Jew, you understood that the term abomination has a very clear definition. 1.00

00:31:25.580 It's an immoral, often foreign person. 1.00

00:31:30.240 That is what an abomination is. 1.00

00:31:33.540 Now, when Jesus says that it is combined with an abomination of desolation,

00:31:40.980 now you have a qualifier in that title.

00:31:45.240 which Jesus said, by the way, remember in Matthew 23, 38, the very end of that chapter,

00:31:51.760 right about to enter into chapter 24, he says, see, your house is left to you desolate. Okay.

00:31:59.720 So you got to understand the connection between the abomination of desolation and that Jesus just

00:32:05.420 prophesied a little bit ago that he's talking to the Pharisees in the temple and he's saying,

00:32:10.160 your house will be left desolate. Okay. Now you're starting to see a little bit of the connection

00:32:16.020 here. It becomes clear that Jesus is referring to some immoral foreigner military leader that 1.00

00:32:25.100 would bring destruction on the Jerusalem temple. Now you go, well, Dale, I saw that you just slipped 1.00

00:32:30.900 in the military word there. Well, that's, that's kind of extra biblical, right? Well, no, it's not

00:32:35.000 because we're going to actually turn to Luke 21, verses 20 through 21.

00:32:40.040 This is Luke's recording of the Olivet Discourse

00:32:44.000 in the exact same section of Scripture that we're talking about right now.

00:32:48.720 And Luke says,

00:32:50.020 But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies,

00:32:55.560 then know that its desolation has come near.

00:33:02.260 then let those who are in Judea

00:33:05.520 flee to the mountains again same text 0.99

00:33:07.520 right and let those 0.82

00:33:09.360 who are inside the city depart

00:33:11.080 and let those who are out in the 0.97

00:33:13.500 country not enter it

00:33:14.800 again

00:33:18.680 careful interpretation

00:33:21.260 if we're just willing to be careful 1.00

00:33:23.520 and the vast majority of Christians today 1.00

00:33:25.440 are not careful and the vast majority

00:33:27.440 of pastors are not careful

00:33:29.400 but careful

00:33:31.300 interpretation quickly reveals that this passage is about a near future and local military event,

00:33:39.340 a destruction of Jerusalem at 70 AD, and not some distant future and global end-of-the-world event

00:33:44.940 that we're all waiting for. It's very clear. Very clear. Now, the term holy place. 0.77

00:33:53.340 in verse 15 it refers to this inter sanctum inter sanctum it's really the holy of holies

00:34:02.580 the holy place now josephus records prior to the destruction of jerusalem

00:34:14.280 he says that there was a sign near the sanctuary in the temple that read quote no foreigner

00:34:23.100 should go within this sanctuary. 1.00

00:34:26.100 Okay, so the idea of an abominable foreigner, 1.00

00:34:30.200 an abominable foreigner coming in to the Holy of Holies 1.00

00:34:37.520 would have been an extremely shocking idea to a Jew. 1.00

00:34:42.460 So he's saying, watch out for the abomination of desolation 0.97

00:34:46.300 standing in the holy place.

00:34:47.580 That's an imminent sign, not a preceding sign.

00:34:51.060 that is an imminent sign. 1.00

00:34:55.620 Now, the abominable foreigner that he's talking about 1.00

00:34:58.980 who would desolate Jerusalem was actually prophesied in Daniel 9.27 and 11.31. 1.00

00:35:04.760 It's why Jesus says, let the reader understand.

00:35:07.660 Let the reader of Daniel understand, by the way.

00:35:10.740 Not the reader of Matthew.

00:35:12.460 Let the reader of Daniel understand.

00:35:16.040 Jesus is essentially making the point,

00:35:18.620 My prophecy that I'm talking about here is really just the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy.

00:35:23.280 I'm giving you more clarity about that prophecy.

00:35:27.400 Now, if you want more evidence that Jesus is speaking to a local event and not some global event that's coming in the future,

00:35:38.320 verse 16 will do it for you.

00:35:40.760 Okay, it anchors Jesus' prophecy to a specific geographic region.

00:35:46.380 Read the text.

00:35:47.060 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

00:35:52.280 Okay, if this is talking about some global future event,

00:35:55.540 what are you supposed to do in North Dakota?

00:35:57.740 There's no mountains there, man.

00:36:00.560 You're just going to stand there and flee to the plains?

00:36:03.780 What is this about?

00:36:06.740 No.

00:36:07.220 We know that this prophecy is clearly about a localized warning

00:36:16.500 about a coming event in a Judean territory.

00:36:23.760 Literally, just read the text carefully

00:36:26.080 and you will arrive there.

00:36:27.960 Then in verses 17 through 20,

00:36:29.640 Jesus offers further local instructions,

00:36:33.740 local instructions on how to avoid what?

00:36:37.900 Well, the dangers that will come

00:36:40.660 in the fall of Jerusalem under the Roman Empire.

00:36:45.180 He says in verse 17 through 20,

00:36:48.980 Who is ever on the housetop must not go down to get the things that are out in his house.

00:36:54.080 Which again, by the way, if you know anything about the history of Jerusalem

00:36:57.920 and people standing on their houses and how the houses were built, all this makes sense, okay?

00:37:02.320 18, whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak.

00:37:06.600 And again, agrarian culture. 0.98

00:37:08.360 Verse 19, but woe to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies in those days. 0.90

00:37:13.580 but pray that your flight will not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

00:37:24.680 Jesus warns about the rapid nature and the swiftness of the fall of Jerusalem.

00:37:36.080 He's given the prophecy.

00:37:38.040 He's told the preceding signs of the years before.

00:37:40.880 but now he's talking about imminent signs and he's talking about the swiftness of which the

00:37:47.640 fall of the temple will be. He tells them, don't underestimate the suddenness or the urgency

00:37:56.520 of your need to evacuate. Josephus writes, quote, the siege, though prolonged in its suffering,

00:38:07.080 was brought to an end in a surprisingly short time

00:38:11.600 due to the internal chaos

00:38:13.600 and the overwhelming force of the Romans, end quote.

00:38:17.660 Tacitus writes,

00:38:19.140 the city fell with such swiftness and ease

00:38:22.240 that many Romans were surprised.

00:38:27.600 Eusebius wrote,

00:38:28.460 the city, once a great pride,

00:38:31.920 was brought low so quickly

00:38:33.720 that not even the greatest prophets

00:38:36.820 of the Jewish faith had foreseen it would come to this so suddenly, end quote.

00:38:42.840 It's all there. 0.99

00:38:45.620 It was an immediate fall.

00:38:50.460 Verse 19 speaks to the difficulty of the evacuation to the mountains

00:38:57.300 for those who are pregnant and nursing. 0.62

00:39:01.740 Okay, just imagine, ladies, you're pregnant. 1.00

00:39:05.960 You might also have a nursing baby.

00:39:08.680 And you just got told by Jesus Christ to get ready to flee to the mountains. 1.00

00:39:13.980 Now, I know there's a couple of ladies here that are very pregnant. 1.00

00:39:16.360 That would be hard, okay? 1.00

00:39:17.920 That would be very hard.

00:39:19.180 And he says, pray that you're not going in winter.

00:39:26.020 Pray that it's not on a Sabbath.

00:39:28.500 Pray that it's not happening while you're nursing or pregnant.

00:39:32.540 Now, unfortunately, when you take this verse and this whole passage out of context

00:39:37.800 and you see it at this future event to come,

00:39:42.280 it has caused many Christian couples to fear having kids.

00:39:48.860 Many.

00:39:50.780 If you think the Great Tribulation is some near future event and not a past historical event, 0.66

00:39:56.480 then bringing children into this world, if you're always like, 0.74

00:39:59.520 oh, Jesus is coming back in the next, you know, 20 years,

00:40:02.620 Well, then I'm not going to have a baby because, you know, man, it says right there, 0.94

00:40:05.420 woe to you that are nursing and pregnant.

00:40:07.760 That'd be a hard time, man. 1.00

00:40:08.800 That'd be a hard time.

00:40:09.200 Let's just not have a baby.

00:40:11.040 You think that's like make-believe?

00:40:12.420 It's not.

00:40:14.420 There are thousands of Christian couples who have justified their vasectomies on this verse. 0.89

00:40:21.980 It's a real thing.

00:40:24.240 It's a real thing.

00:40:25.320 but again in verse 20 he anchors the context to the jerusalem mountains

00:40:34.100 and jewish culture by talking about winter and sabbath now again this isn't going to make any

00:40:43.780 sense if you live in phoenix because i'll tell you what i would much rather flee in the winter

00:40:49.000 if i lived in phoenix than in the summer okay you have me fleeing in the summer and i'm going to die

00:40:53.360 But if it's the winter, you go, okay, great, it's 65 degrees.

00:40:57.320 This is wonderful.

00:40:58.560 So again, we know that this is talking about a localized event in Matthew 24.

00:41:06.180 We're 20 verses in, and we're still talking about a local event, the fall of the temple.

00:41:13.720 Now, by God's grace, the fall of Jerusalem actually happened in the summer.

00:41:17.060 It happened in the summer, allowing people to take food and shelter,

00:41:22.780 not having to deal with snow up in the peaks of the mountains.

00:41:28.240 It also landed on August 30th, which was a Sunday,

00:41:33.460 which is the Lord's Day, which I think is quite awesome.

00:41:37.240 That Jesus came in and sieged Jerusalem, the great day.

00:41:42.520 When are you coming? On the Lord's Day. 0.97

00:41:45.540 I'll be coming.

00:41:48.800 Josephus writes in his work, The Jewish War,

00:41:52.100 Book 4, Chapter 9, Section 2.

00:41:55.140 He says, quote,

00:41:56.540 Right before the Romans breached Jerusalem,

00:42:00.640 many of the Christians, believing the warnings of Christ, 0.93

00:42:05.120 left the city and fled to a place called Pella,

00:42:09.020 located on the other side of the Jordan River, end quote.

00:42:13.040 Isn't that amazing?

00:42:15.480 That's amazing.

00:42:17.880 They had insider information.

00:42:21.060 Oh, they believed the prophecy of Jesus.

00:42:24.660 That all these things would come to pass before this generation.

00:42:30.320 It's amazing to see that.

00:42:36.640 According to Josephus, they had been forewarned of the impending destruction.

00:42:43.960 They'd been watching those signs.

00:42:47.220 Can you see how ridiculous it is for us to be sitting here watching for the signs that happened almost 2,000 years ago? 0.93

00:42:55.380 Do you see how ridiculous that is?

00:43:00.080 It's misapplying the scriptures of past events to our future. 0.96

00:43:06.000 It's a very selfish and prideful thing to do, actually.

00:43:08.680 It must be about me.

00:43:10.920 It must be about us.

00:43:13.300 Didn't you see the 10,000 birds that died on the coast of Arabia?

00:43:18.380 That's fulfilling this prophecy.

00:43:19.960 No, I mean, there's just so many things that we just can easily make everything.

00:43:25.540 It's what I call newspaper eschatology.

00:43:29.280 Where we make everything about revelation.

00:43:33.060 Because we don't know how to interpret the scriptures.

00:43:37.900 What I want you to take away as I close

00:43:39.920 is the importance of interpreting Scripture in its proper context.

00:43:47.980 Now, unfortunately, we're fallen.

00:43:52.540 And there's going to be errors even in the best theologians.

00:43:57.200 But I will say the most careful theologians throughout church history

00:44:02.080 have held this position.

00:44:03.880 It's only really been since about 1840, 1850

00:44:08.300 that you had the dispensational premillennial view

00:44:11.340 that was viewing these things

00:44:13.340 in a totally different parameter and framework.

00:44:17.820 And so this means that when you are interpreting Scripture,

00:44:22.120 you are considering the cultural, the historical,

00:44:25.980 the grammatical, the original context,

00:44:29.100 the audience, the author,

00:44:30.780 the corpus of this person's writings.

00:44:34.480 And you want to uncover the author's intended meaning.

00:44:38.300 Do you know why the word is author?

00:44:41.680 It's because they have the authority to determine the meaning of the text.

00:44:49.240 We don't have the authority to determine the meaning of the text.

00:44:54.060 We are trying to extract the author's intended meaning to the original audience.

00:45:00.340 And our job is to extract that text so that we can realize what was applied to that generation

00:45:09.040 and what are the universal principles that are applied to all generations.

00:45:15.300 And then also, in some passages of Scripture, what are those passages that are speaking to the future?

00:45:23.940 But if we're not careful, and this is again why I really believe the church needs pastors to teach,

00:45:30.340 teach. The Bible study movement of like the 1940s, by the way, like you won't find Bible

00:45:37.020 studies in the Bible. You won't find Bible studies in church history. The only types

00:45:41.680 of Bible studies you'll find in church history are the ones that are led by pastors. James

00:45:46.080 says, few of you should teach. Be careful. You will have a stricter judgment. It's good.

00:45:54.720 But it's good for the church to say, you know what, I read this and I don't understand it.

00:46:01.780 Let me ask my pastor.

00:46:04.340 Now, God willing, you have a pastor who is studied and trained and educated and called and qualified and blessed

00:46:12.000 to interpret those scriptures and to give you the most faithful answer that he can.

00:46:17.580 But we really do need, especially around apocalyptic language, need to be very, very careful.

00:46:23.520 misinterpretation leads to faulty theology and faulty theology leads to distorted worldviews

00:46:32.580 and i promise you bad theology hurts people okay i'm sure many of you can come up with some

00:46:40.360 terrible theology that you used to believe and how it actually harmed your soul well bad theology

00:46:46.760 doesn't just harm your soul it harms the church and when it harms the church it harms the church's

00:46:52.040 witness in the world. It's clear that interpreting passages like this as a future event has

00:47:04.120 significantly weakened the church. It's made us expect failure. It's instilled fear and pessimism

00:47:14.640 within the body of believers. It has led us to expect to lose rather than a victory or a progress

00:47:24.360 that's promised through the gospel. We should be a hopeful people. You know what? Your great

00:47:31.000 grandkids are going to have a more Christianized world than you. Why? Because you can look through 0.99

00:47:37.480 church history. There are more Christians than there were a hundred years ago. And there are

00:47:41.640 more Christians than there were 500 years ago.

00:47:45.880 The ratio of Christians to the population of the world has only

00:47:49.800 grown. That's just a fact. 1.00

00:47:53.880 Why would that stop after 2,000 years of

00:47:57.540 progressing forward? No. 33 to 36

00:48:01.760 percent of the world proclaims Christ today. In 500 years, I

00:48:05.700 expect it to be 55 to 60 percent of the world.

00:48:08.560 you should too there's no reason for you to think that it's going to get worse

00:48:14.060 these events are speaking about events that occurred in the early church so this perspective

00:48:22.340 fosters hope it fosters optimism it encourages us to actively participate in bringing all things

00:48:31.600 under the reign of christ through the proclamation of the gospel amen amen let's pray

00:48:37.720 Father, we thank you, Lord, for the truth,

00:48:41.660 for the way that you are working your kingdom in the world.

00:48:46.760 Lord, that you are building your kingdom in this world,

00:48:52.060 saving souls and converting enemies through the cross.

00:48:56.860 Lord, we ask that you would bless us with optimism.

00:49:01.240 not that it would be easy Lord

00:49:06.060 but that we would believe

00:49:07.800 that the church

00:49:10.060 would prevail

00:49:11.840 not in our own strength

00:49:15.060 but Father

00:49:15.600 through your strength

00:49:17.020 through the work of the Holy Spirit

00:49:18.660 through the proclamation of the gospel

00:49:19.960 we ask that you would do that work

00:49:22.000 here in this city

00:49:23.100 in these households

00:49:24.820 in this town

00:49:26.140 in Jesus name

00:49:27.600 Amen

00:49:28.440 Amen

00:49:31.240 You

Dale Partridge - April 24, 2025

Part 4： An Introduction to Partial Preterism #2

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