10 Essentials: Eschatology, the Study of Last Things

The Scope of Eschatology in the Ten Essentials Series

Okay, with that, let's see, we're still in the Ten Essential Series, and we've gone through Bibliology, Theology Proper, Christology, Pneumatology, Angelology, Anthropology, Hermardiology, Soteriology, Ecclesiology, and Eschatology is our last topic.

And how ironic in that Eschatology is the doctrine of last things. So this is our last topic, and the topic is Eschatology, which means the teaching or the doctrine of last things, end times, if you will.

Again, we rely on MacArthur with regards to his summary of this. The term Eschatology comes from the Greek word eschatos, which means last, end, or final. In Christian doctrine, Eschatology is the study of the end times and the events associated with the return of Jesus, including the tribulation, the resurrections, judgments, and the kingdom, the kingdom now and not yet.

There are two categories of Eschatology that exist. One is called personal Eschatology. The other is cosmic Eschatology. Personal Eschatology addresses the future destiny of the individual, what happens to each of us as individuals, and deals with matters such as death, the intermediate state, which we're going to learn about in a couple minutes, the resurrection, judgment, and where a person will reside eternally.

Cosmic Eschatology has to do with all of mankind and the nature of the kingdoms. It addresses broader issues such as the biblical covenants, the tribulation period, the second coming of Jesus, the millennium, and the eternal state.

We're going to hit each of those today. Every week, not every week, the first Sunday of every month, we repeat the Apostles' Creed. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and within that creed is stuff, things that pertain to Eschatology, last things.

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. He hasn't done that yet. That's a future event. He's coming in the future to judge those who are living and those who are dead. We believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, where everyone is going to be resurrected on the last day and life everlasting.

So on that last day, Jesus is going to come. He's going to judge everybody. To those on his right, he's going to place them into the kingdom of his Father in heaven, prepare for them since the foundation of the earth.

The other people are going to be cast into the lake of fire. That's known as the second death. And again, we're going to go through each of these things. Lord willing. Okay, so the two states for humanity, the intermediate state and the eternal state.

The Intermediate State and the Eternal State

Intermediate state has to do with when someone dies, where they go now, until when Jesus comes back. The eternal state speaks of the time from his final return on. That would be for all eternity. The intermediate state, the condition or mode of being a person between the time of one's death and the time that Christ returns to give believers new resurrection bodies.

The eternal state is the final condition or the final mode of being a person, of a person after the last judgment, wherein they will either be in perfect union with God and dwell with him forever, or be eternally separated from God and experience the consequences thereof forever.

Death is the final outcome of living in a fallen world and is used by God to complete our sanctification. In the intermediate state, again, between death and the resurrection, our last resurrection, there is a separation of body and soul.

In Hebrew, death means separation. So when someone dies, it means that their body is separated from their soul. That's what it means in death. It just doesn't mean cessation of life because their soul lives on.

It's a separation of body and soul. The souls of believers go immediately into God's presence and the souls of unbelievers go immediately into eternal punishment. But the bodies of both remain on earth.

And what that means is when we die, our bodies are buried. Our souls go on. So our bodies are actually still in the earth and part of the earth. That's where we came from. From dust you came to dust you will go.

Glorification is the final step in the application of redemption or salvation. It will happen when Jesus returns and raises the dead bodies of all believers for all time who have died, reunites them with their souls, bringing brought together, reconciled, and changes the bodies of all believers who remain alive, thereby giving all believers at the same time perfect resurrection bodies like his own.

Jesus was resurrected from the dead. We're going to learn he sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty and he's in his perfect glorified body, which is what we are going to get as believers in the future.

There are two states for humanity. We have that death is the final outcome of living in a fallen world and is used by God to complete our sanctification. 1 Corinthians 15 54 through 55. 1 Corinthians 15 is the best place to take somebody with regards to the gospel.

It's the clearest laying out of the gospel in all the scriptures and the resurrection. In chapter 15 verses 54 and 55, when the perishable, our bodies, puts on the imperishable, our glorified body, and the mortal, our body, puts on immortality, the glorified body, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? So when believers are resurrected and given their glorified body, death will never be a part of the new world, of the new kingdom. 2 Corinthians 5 8 through 10.

Yes, we're of good coverage and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are home or away, we make it our aim to please him, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive our rewards done in the body.

So when we die, as a believer, you will enter into the presence of God. It's not the final presence, it's not the completed new heavens and earth, that's still future, because we will not have a body when we die.

If we were to die today, none of us would have our glorified bodies. We have to wait for the resurrection to come. Luke 16, this is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. And in this parable he says, But now be comforted here, you are in anguish.

And besides, between you, between us and you, is a great chasm that has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us. So Lazarus is saying to the rich man, there's a great chasm between us.

I can't go to you and you can't come to me. In other words, there's a gap between heaven and earth. The people who are in heaven cannot go to hell, and the people in hell cannot go to heaven. It's final.

Glorification is the final step in the application of redemption. Again, it will happen when Christ returns and raises from the dead bodies of all believers from all time who have died, reunites them with their souls, again, defeating death, which is separation, we're united, and changes the bodies of all believers who remain alive, thereby giving all believers at the same time perfect resurrection bodies like Jesus's.

Glorification, Resurrection, and the Inaugurated Kingdom

1 Corinthians 15. Now, if Christ has been proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? Now, just to let you know, we addressed this in a Wednesday night study a while ago on full preterism or hyper-preterism.

They say that there is no future resurrection of the dead. The resurrection has passed. It's no longer going to happen. So everything that the Bible speaks of happened and was completed in 70 A .D. There are no future prophecies.

There's no future resurrection. There's no future judgment for believers or unbelievers. Everything is in the past. Yes, it does put a new twist on a walking dead. Right now, there are zombies walking around.

They're alive physically, but spiritually they're dead. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet.

They believe that's happened already. We believe it's future. Orthodox Christianity, whether you're premillennial, amillennial, or postmillennial, are all looking to the future bodily coming of Jesus.

They say it's all past. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed. For when this perishable body, this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

I don't think you could be clearer than that.

That's real clear.

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?

So there will be resurrection bodies. Similar to the body that Adam had, only better. Only better. Adam could have died and did die, separated from his soul. In our glorified bodies, we will be united to our souls forever and in perfect unity with God in his presence.

So while on earth Jesus established his kingdom and inaugurated the new creation for his people to rule and reign, then he ascended into heaven where he's seated now with the right hand of God the Father to rule and reign from heaven.

He is now the King of kings and Lord of lords, just as he predicted would happen. Here are the scriptures that go with that. Matthew 12 and Luke 11. If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

When Jesus came and was walking the earth, did he cast out demons? Yes. Why? It's the new heavens. It's the new earth. He's bringing in the new creation. And demons and the devil do not belong in his creation.

So he started casting them out. And what does that mean? That the kingdom of God was now in their midst. It has begun. In Genesis 1 -1, famous line, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

John 1 -1, in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. It's a new beginning. Jesus is bringing in the new heavens and the new earth. He inaugurated the kingdom when he came.

1 Corinthians 15,. For he, Jesus, must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. He's reigning right now. 2 Corinthians 5 -17,. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Why is that important?

That's important because the new creation has begun. It's been inaugurated. At his final coming, it will be consummated. So we're living between the inauguration of the new kingdom and the consummation of the new kingdom.

The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. Revelation 1 -6,. And he made us a kingdom of priests to God his Father and Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. We are a kingdom of priests.

Revelation 5 -10,. And you have made them a kingdom of priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. Jesus is ruling and reigning from heaven. We rule and reign from here. Even though we're seated in heavenly places, we rule and reign and take dominion by proclaiming the truth, sharing the gospel, and bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth.

He then ascended into heaven. Okay, we went through this. And here are the scriptures. Hebrews 1 -3,. He's the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Where's the majesty on high?

Heaven.

He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Why is it important that he sat down? He was done. When the old covenant priest walked into the temple into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat, there was no chair for them to sit down.

Why?

Because it would have to be offered every year. It could not stop, right? Because their sin could never be atoned for by the blood of bulls and goats. But by the blood of Jesus, our sin could be atoned for.

So now he could sit down and rest. The work of atonement was completed by Jesus.

Thank God.

Hebrews 10 -12,. When Christ had offered all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. So the work of atonement is complete.

It's not ongoing. We don't have to petition God to save us from our sins. That's done. Hebrews 12 -2,. Look unto Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Getting the picture? Mark 16,. Ephesians 1 -20,. So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. Romans 8 -4,. Who is to condemn us?

The devil's prosecutorial role in making a charge against God's elect is no more a problem. Why? Because Jesus paid for all our sins. Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, and is indeed interceding for us.

If you are a Christian, your faith and trust is in Christ, you're born of God's Spirit. Jesus, our mediator, is interceding for us so that when we pray, our prayers are heard by God the Father and answered.

1 Peter 3 -22, Again, speaking of Jesus, Who has gone into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. Colossians 3 -1, If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Acts 2 -33 -35, Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. So Jesus ascended into heaven, and he poured the Holy Spirit out upon the world.

This is what John meant when he says, There's one coming, Jesus, who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Some people are going to, the Holy Spirit is going to indwell, and there's going to be a fire in them to please God.

To other people, it's going to be a fire against them. They're going to rail against the Spirit of God. Do you know which is the most quoted Old Testament verse in the New Testament? Hint. Psalm 110, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

Jesus is seated in heaven, waiting for his church to take dominion and make his enemies a footstool for his feet. In other words, bring all the inhabitants of the earth and all the sectors of the earth under his dominion.

Acts 7 .56, and he said, Behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. The right hand of God is a position of power. You've heard the term, He's my right hand man.

That's somebody who can take authority and get things done. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. He has all power and authority.

Okay.

The Return of Christ and the Judgment Seat

The return of Christ. This is part of what eschatology involves. The return of Christ after his resurrection, Jesus is ascended into heaven until his enemies are made a footstool. After this is complete, there will be a visible bodily return of Christ.

We should eagerly long for Christ's return, the time of which is unknown. Acts 1 .1, and he said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him.

He will go into heaven.

Okay?

In the same way would mean bodily. They watched him ascend into heaven right before their eyes. That's the way he's going to come back. Again, a full presence would say, well, Jesus came back spiritually in 70 AD.

And Jesus did come back in the sense that he came back in judgment upon his enemies. The temple was destroyed. Not one stone was left upon another, and that was the end of the Jewish age, the end of the old covenant.

They could no longer make sacrifices for their sins because the temple was gone. The Messiah had come. Everything that all the prophecies and everything that the nation of Israel was given was to bring forth the Messiah.

He came, and then they.

Crucified him.

Acts 2, 33, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand. Mark 16, 19, so then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

Now, I understand there's a lot of overlap here. Hebrews 9, 28, Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly awaiting for him.

This is going to be on the last day. 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 and 18, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. This is where they actually get the term rapture.

It's not even a word that's in the Scriptures, it's in Latin, rapture, so that they're going to meet him in the air. And really what the word means is when an army conquered, won a battle, and they're going back to the city, the king would come out, and the king who was with them in battle would come into the city, the people of the city would go out to meet him.

That's what it means. We're going to meet the Lord who's conquered all of our enemies and death. Mark 13, 32, but concerning that day or the hour, no one knows, not even the angel of the heaven or the sun, but only the Father.

I'm not even going to begin to try to explain that, that Jesus, who is fully God, fully man, doesn't know the day or the hour. Suffice it to say, that's what Scripture says, and I'm sticking to it. I can't explain it that quite well, but you know what I mean.

He is now seated at the right hand of God, ruling and reigning for heaven, just as he predicted would happen. 1 Timothy 6, 14, and 15, to keep the commandments unstained and free from the reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time, he who is blessed and the only sovereign, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

He's ruling right now as king. Revelation 17, they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is the Lord of lords and the King of kings, and those with him are called chosen and faithful.

So there are some people waiting for Jesus to come back to establish his kingdom, when the Scripture over and over and over says Jesus brought the kingdom to earth and is ruling and reigning right now.

Until when? Until he makes all his enemies a footstool for his feet. Revelation 19, 16, on his robe and on his thigh he has a new name, King of kings and Lord of lords. Matthew 26, 64, Jesus said to him, you have said so, but I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.

This is in Matthew, he's talking to the Pharisees and when it says you will see him coming on the clouds of heaven, this isn't a physical appearance of Jesus. Clouds throughout the whole Old Testament were a sign of judgment.

When Moses went up the mountain, it was in a cloud that signified the presence of God. Clouds are a term of judgment in the Old Testament. Jesus judged the Pharisees and the Jews for what they did to him.

They crucified the Lord of glory. They rejected their Messiah. In fact, they called curses down upon themselves and their children. Moving along, Jesus did invisibly return in judgment, i .e. on the clouds upon this generation.

He will reign from heaven until all his enemies are in subjection to him, including the last enemy, which is death. Matthew 23, 36. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

So when Jesus was speaking in Matthew 23 and 24, he was speaking to that generation, letting them know that they themselves were going to be judged. It was future to them, but it's not future to us. That was something that happened.

Now again, full preterists will interpolate this and expand it out and say everything happened at 78 day, which is not true. Matthew 24, 34 and 35. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Matthew 10, 23. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

So again, he's speaking to the disciples there. They're going to go through all the towns of Israel. That would not apply to us. Like we live on Long Island. We're not going to go through all the towns of Israel until he comes.

That happened. There's context clues that lead you to understand when these things took place. And he said to them, truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.

Now, if Jesus hasn't come back in judgment upon Jerusalem yet, there would still be some of the disciples here alive.

There.

Would be some of the disciples there who would be alive when Jesus would come on the clouds and destroy the temple. Again, this is context. This is something that happened in the past. Matthew 24, 30, then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

When the Jews would come to the temple for Passover, they would come from all the different nations. All of the tribes were present when the destruction happened because they were there for the Passover.

Same way they were in Acts chapter 2. They came from all the nations. People from every tribe of Israel was there and.

Saw.

For the Passover, and then the Holy Spirit was poured out. That's when the 3 ,000 was added to the.

Church that day.

Psalm 110. This is, again, the most quoted Old Testament verse in the New Testament. Jeff Durbin likes to say this is God's favorite verse. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool.

The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies. So if this verse is in the process of being fulfilled, Jesus is ruling and reigning right now. We're not waiting for that to happen.

It's happened. He's waiting for us to make his enemies a footstool. If the church does its job and preaches the gospel and preaches truth, we will see the Holy Spirit move. If we're faithful, God is going to continue to build.

His kingdom.

1 Corinthians 14, we've gone through this one. Then comes the end. This is the return of Christ. Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

For he himself must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. So this is the final coming of Jesus when there's a resurrection of the just and the unjust, and everybody will stand before the judgment seat of God and receive our rewards.

Those on the right are going to go into the presence of the Father. Those on the left are going to the second death. Revelation 20 and 5, the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.

This is the first resurrection. We're going to go into the thousand years very briefly. I know a lot of people question, well, what's that about? Okay, so again, this is a little bit of a repeat, but this is regarding the judgment of all believers and unbelievers.

Jesus is going to return physically to judge the living and the dead according to their deeds. Unbelievers will be cast into the lake of fire along with Satan and his angels where they will be tormented forever.

Believers will receive their rewards and be welcomed into the presence of Christ forever. Acts 10 42, and he commanded us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.

Again, this is something that we say in the Apostles' Creed. Acts 17 31, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance by raising him from the dead.

So Jesus' resurrection of the dead is proof that he's going to be the judge of all humanity, of all mankind. 2 Corinthians 5 10, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

This is a.

Judgment for rewards. You're not going to be judged whether you're going to heaven or not. That's settled by your being born of God's Spirit. You're going to be standing before God and receive your rewards for the deeds done in your body.

So don't let any Protestant tell you that your works aren't important. Your works are very important. We were saved to serve. We were saved to do good works. The problem is the modern American gospel preaches, oh, just receive Jesus as Lord and Savior and you're good.

And just go around living your life the way, you know, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. No. It's our life. We lay down our life for God's wonderful plan. Why? Because that's how we bring the kingdom of heaven to earth.

So, again, from a full Preterist standpoint, we've all stood before the judgment.

Seat of Christ. How do you feel? Are you sure, Jesus? Are you okay?

No. That's heresy. Full Preterism is heresy. Revelation 20 .10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Verse 15. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. That's heavy. Tormented forever and ever. You know, as I was going through this, I started thinking about people who have.

Rejected the Lord.

And my mind went to a place of sorrow.

And mercy. And I'm like,.

Gosh, that is horrible. We should never, ever, ever wish that on someone.

God forbid.

That's what we deserve. Everyone deserves it. We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory. And we should do whatever we can to plead with our relatives and loved ones, family, friends, whoever it is, bring them the gospel.

Revelation 14 .10 He will also drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

You're going to be in the presence of the Lamb.

With God's wrath.

Poured out on them. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. And they have no rest, day or night. These worshipers of the beast and its image and whoever receives the mark of its name.

Sobering. Sobering. If you're saved,.

Thank God,.

You've been spared this. If you're not, repent and believe the gospel. Trust in Christ. Every sin in this world will be paid for, either by you or by Him.

I encourage you,.

Turn from your sin and trust in the Savior. Revelation 20 .10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Isaiah 34 .10 Night and day it shall not be quenched. Its smoke shall go up forever from generation to generation. It shall lie waste. None shall pass through through it forever and ever. 1 Corinthians 3 .12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one's work will become manifest, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire.

And the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.