When The Whole World Heard The Gospel: Matthew 24 Fulfilled.

In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24, known as the Olivet Discourse, the disciples have asked Jesus when the temple would be destroyed. Jesus said the destruction of the temple, and Jerusalem, would come when the gospel of the kingdom had been preached to all the world.
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matthew 24:14
Has this prophesy been fulfilled? Was the gospel of the kingdom preached "in all the world" before the destruction of Jerusalem?
I’ve checked the Olivet Discourse in all three gospels, and the disciples never ask about when Jesus is going to establish His kingdom. They ask about when the temple will be destroyed, and in Matthew’s gospel, additionally, about the end of the age, which was in the process of passing away (Heb. 1:1-2; 9:26-27; 1 Cor. 10:11).
Hebrews 1:1-2  "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;"
Hebrews 9:26-27 "For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" This is the end of the world as the Jews knew. The end of the age - the end of the old covenant and the beginning of the new covenant.
1 Corinthians 10:11 "Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." The ends of the "world," or the age, was coming on those who were the recipients of Paul's letter. "The ends of the world are come," not "will come." It was a present and looming event. (Emphasis mine.)
The word translated "world" in Matthew 24:14 is oikoumenē not kosmos. The same word is used in Luke 2:1, where it says, "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed." Comparing the scriptures, it is clear that the understanding of the word "world" does not mean the world as we know it, but rather, the known world of Jesus' time.
"The ecumene (US) or oecumene (UK; Greek: οἰκουμένη, oikouménē, lit. "inhabited") was an ancient Greek term for the known world, the inhabited world, or the habitable world. Under the Roman Empire, it came to refer to civilization and the secular and religious imperial administration." Ecumene - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecumene
So we must ask, was the gospel of the kingdom preached in all the world?
We know from the epistles that this prediction had been fulfilled before the destruction of Jerusalem that took place in AD 70 (Rom. 1:8; Rom. 16:25–26; Col. 1:6, 23; 1 Tim. 3:16).
Romans 1:8 "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world." When Paul wrote to the Romans, he commended them that their faith was known and spoken of "throughout the whole world." Does this mean that the Chinese and the natives of the Americas had heard of the faith of the Romans? No. It spoke of the known world, the same one Jesus spoke of. This is the only way the first century disciples could have understood these words.
Romans 16:25-26 "Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:"  Again, Paul says that the gospel was made known to all nations. Not "will be," but "now is made manifest." It was finished then, not in the future.
Colossians 1:6 "Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:" Again, as it is in all the world. It was a present and known thing, not a future event.
1 Timothy 3:16 "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." Christ had been preached unto the Gentiles and believed on "in the world," not in part of the world. Certainly, not the world as we know it today, but the world as known to those who received Paul's letter. The world as known to Jesus' audience.
Luke’s version does mention the kingdom. But notice the audience reference: “So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” (Luke 21:31). The kingdom of God was near to them: “when YOU see these things.” Jesus said that those very disciples hearing his words would see these things that were leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. He did NOT say, "when THEY see these things."
John the Baptist had proclaimed, as the forerunner to Jesus’ ministry, “And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2). We know that the word “near” means “near,” not some distant time in the future. In fact, the context of Luke 21 confirms this.
Luke 21:30 "When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand." Jesus wasn't saying that when the leaves appeared on the fig tree that summer is at some undisclosed, far future time. He said it was coming then.
Jesus follows this promise with the following: “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.” Luke 21:32. "This generation" is always a reference to the generation to whom Jesus was speaking.
It is certainly a sad tragedy that hysterical speculators on Bible prophecy would take those signs of Matthew 24, that have to do solely with the destruction of ancient Jerusalem, and attempt to give them a modern application in the context of a world war!
Jesus was addressing the people of his time. The end of the age was when the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D 70. This was a pivotal time in age of the Sadducees , the Pharisees and fledgling Christianity. The Sadducees eventually faded out, the Pharisees morphed in Rabbinical Judaism and dispersed. Christianity ceased to be seen as a sect of Judaism, but as a distinct religious system.
Jesus' words were true and came to pass as he prophesied.

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All scriptures from the KJV

Are We To Interpret The Bible Literally?

Are We To Interpret The Bible Literally?

When it comes to studying and interpreting the Bible, it is often said, "everyone has their own interpretation," or when critical of someone's understanding, "that's just your interpretation." It does seem that there are different interpretations of much of the Bible that supports its primary doctrines.
When it comes to the Bible, diverse interpretations aren’t the fault of the text or even the entire Bible; they’re due to different methods of approach, to the dissimilar lenses we each look through, for we all have our individual biases due to a variety of backgrounds.

There are currently two primary methods of biblical interpretation:
The Contemporary—Literal Approach
The Historical—Grammatical Approach.

The Contemporary—Literal Approach 
In criticism of the Contemporary-Literal Approach, D. R. Dungan said in his book Hermeneutics:
 "that it’s most commonly employed by dogmatists in order to maintain a view that cannot be supported in any other way. It makes [practically] all the language of the Bible literal. It treats the Word of God as if it were an essay on chemistry or mechanics (p. 79).
If these literalists would read Oriental writings on any other subject, they would be convinced that much of it is highly figurative; but, coming to the Bible, it must be made to bow to a gross materialism [i.e. literalism] and take a yoke upon its neck that will make it the merest slave of the merciless taskmaster who allots the tale [i.e. a specific number] of bricks, and will be satisfied with nothing else. 
These exegetes don’t pretend that [according to Psalm 22] David’s heart melted within him like wax; that all his bones were out of joint and staring him in the face; that he was a worm and no man; for they have no theory dependent on the literal use of these figures.
But let their theory be involved for a moment, and then, if the literal meaning will avail them anything, they will use it and deny that any other is possible (p. 80). The query should be, What does the writer mean? Not what can we make him mean? (p. 81).
Much of the Bible is written in language highly figurative. And not to recognize this fact and  treat the language according to the figures employed is to fail entirely in the exegesis. This, of course, doesn’t imply that God has said one thing while He meant another, but simply that He has spoken in the language of men and in the style of those to whom the revelations were made. No one reading the Prophecies or the Psalms without recognizing this fact will be able to arrive at any reliable conclusions whatever as to their meaning (p. 82)."

According to Cooper’s Golden Rule of Interpretation: "When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths clearly indicate otherwise."

A shortened and often used form of this very beneficial rule is this: If the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense, lest it result in nonsense. This sound-bite actually destroys the rule and makes for very bad hermeneutics. It leaves off the critical exception to his rule; and, unfortunately, this condensed form is all that most interpreters seem to adhere to.

There is also the idea that “literal” is used to emphasize the thought that every word must first be taken literally, expressing the exact thought of the author when it was used.

However, the word “literal” itself: it comes from the same root as “literature” and “literary,” implying that to take any word, clause, or sentence truly literally would be to interpret it according to its literary context, meaning in harmony with the type of literature it is with regard to its time and place, which leads to the next interpretive approach.

The Historical—Grammatical Approach
In his renowned and most highly respected 19th century treatise on Biblical Hermeneutics, Milton S. Terry said "that this approach, (the Historical-Grammatical Approach),  is the one which most fully commends itself to the judgment and conscience of Christian scholars. Its fundamental principle is to gather from the Scriptures themselves the precise meaning which the writers intended to convey. The interpreter will inquire into the circumstances under which [the author] wrote, the manners and customs of his age, and the purpose or object which he had in view (p. 173)."

Not only does this approach take the first part of Cooper’s rule to heart (when the plain sense makes common sense, seek no other sense), just as importantly, it gives full emphasis on the second part, (it gathers and studies all related evidence from the entirety of God’s revelation before making a hard and fast ruling on any given passage).

As Terry appropriately wrote, "The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are a world by themselves. Although written at various times and devoted to many different themes, taken together they constitute a self-interpreting book."

The position that “Scripture must be interpreted by Scripture” is a most important principle in Biblical hermeneutics. Thus, the writer of the Book of Hebrews alludes to the Old Testament 50 times and quotes from it 30 times .

To correctly ascertain the usus loquendi  (the usage of a word or phrase in the author’s time) requires an extensive and careful comparison of similar or parallel passages of Scripture. When a writer has addressed a  given subject in different parts of his writings, or when different writers have addressed the  same subject, it is important to collect and  compare all that’s written, to get correct interpretation.

The whole Bible is a divinely constructed unity, and there is danger that, in studying one part to the comparative neglect of the other, we may fall into one-sided and erroneous methods of exposition.
Compare Mat. 22:23-33 with Luke 20:27-38. Two tellings of the same account, but Luke goes into more detail. By comparing the two, a better understanding of the entire event is made possible.

Besides using the Bible to explain the Bible whenever possible the interpreter needs to consider the historical position of the author, and what the writer was trying to convey in the context of his historical and cultural views. We must also consider the situation and condition of the churches and persons addressed and how they would understand the writings.

This becomes especially true in understanding New Testament prophecy. We must understand the first century Jew would understand phrases in the same way they were used in the Old Testament.
John Wycliffe wrote, "It will greatly help us to understand Scripture if we take notice of not only what is spoken or written, but also of whom and to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, in what circumstances, considering what goes before and what follows after."

We simply must remember that all the Bible is FOR us, but it was not written TO us, making it crucial that we not only put ourselves in the places of its authors, but also in the  places of its recipients, noting especially such things as their culture and meanings of any and all of their unique idiomatic expressions (for example, the usage of heavens and earth in Isa. 13:13, 51:16, 65:17, & 66:22 with their respective contexts).

A Bible verse can never mean what it never meant. If the writer wrote a verse with the intent of communicating one specific thought, and the original readers would have understood it to have meant that one thing, we cannot apply any other meaning to it. This is one of the greatest dangers of proof-texting. It has also resulted in a plethora of bad preaching, when preachers look up a host verses using a particular word and try to blend them all together to create a message. A message that was never intended by the Biblical writers.

The meaning of words change over time. Even as far back as 1 Samuel 9:9 it was recognized that languages change: "Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of God, thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the seer: for he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer." Thus, when interpreting a word or phrase, we must find the meaning and understanding of that word at the time it was written.

Conclusion:
Whereas the contemporary-literal approach is subjective and therefore relative in nature, the historical-grammatical approach is objective and not relative in nature. In other words, the first is through the eyes of the interpreter while the latter is through the eyes of the writer.

The context and content of Scripture is unchanging. This makes the literalistic position sounds very conservative and superior. It even creates an arrogance when the position of the interpreter is that of, "I take the scripture literally. I believe what it says." Unfortunately, this  often creates modernistic and unscriptural interpretations of Scripture.

Our goal should be to find the actual meaning of what is written, not the literal meaning.  This sounds odd, I am sure, but think of it this way:

Let's imagine you are reading a book about the theater. In this book, one character tells another, who is about to go on stage to "break a leg." The literal interpretation makes this sound very mean-spirited. Indeed, anyone not familiar with this expression would come to a wrong conclusion as to what was being communicated. The literal interpretation would actually be the opposite of what was being said.

On the other hand, once you understand the culture and context of the expression, you see it is just a way actors and performers wish each other luck. In the old vaudeville days, not every act would get on stage. If they didn't get on stage, they didn't get paid. To "break a leg" meant to get on stage, your leg broke past the curtain.

We cannot understand "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John" (Revelation 1:1) unless we interpret the language in light of the Old Testament usage of symbols and words. We cannot appreciate the warnings given to the seven churches without digging into the history of those churches and what was happening at the time the book was written.

This book was not written to 21st century Christians. It was written by and for 1st century Christians and must be interpreted in that light. This alone would eliminate most of the arguments and false theories about the end times.

In the same way, every book, every verse, every word of the Bible must be interpreted in the same way. We have a responsibility to properly interpret the scriptures. To do otherwise can lead to our own destruction.

2 Peter 3:15-16   "And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."

Dennis Regling www.bibledefender.com

Read Your Bible Like A Novel.

The Bible is not a novel. It is history, prophecy, poetry, and so very much more.
It is the true Word of God.

BUT, I say read it like a novel. When we read a novel, we pay attention to people, places and things. Sometimes we see a character introduced briefly, but we know he will show up later. We are watching for him.

When reading our Bible, we need to take note of names and places and symbols. We need to watch for them later.

In Genesis 6, we are introduced to the "sons of God." They show up later in Job. They even show up in Peter, in Tarterus. They show up many other places, too.

By reading with anticipation, like we read a novel, we will see many pieces fall into place. Our understanding will be increased and the Bible becomes more exciting to read.

www.bibledefender.com

What Is Truth? Sermon preached by Dennis Regling at Manchester Baptist F...

Dennis Regling preaching at Manchester Baptist Fellowship.
Find Dennis at http://www.bibledefender.com

Dennis Regling Teaches On Raising Godly Children

Dennis Regling Teaches On Raising Godly Children

A short message as part of the "Big Day" at Bethel Baptist Church.

Preaching on Psalm 25 5; Dennis Regling

Find Dennis at www.bibledefender.com

Vacation Bible School for 2016 / Children's Evangelist Dennis Regling's New Program

Invite the Regling Family to your church this summer. A week of fun with puppets, stories, games, amazing object lessons, (some say they look like magic tricks), songs & music, and as always, preaching, as we seek the Kingdom of God.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

Hospitality: Breaking Bread From House To House (Acts 2:41-47)

Hospitality: Breaking Bread From House To House

 (Acts 2:41-47)

 

A most important sermon. Christians need to hear this. 

Darrell Hershberger, June 7, 2015
 

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Acts 2:41-47

41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.