Taught by the Disciples of the Apostles

The late Dr. Chuck Missler said, “The more I know the Bible, the more literal I take it.” I’m just a guy who reads his Bible and also I have listened to some wonderful Bible teachers over the years. Anyone could have written this email.

In his book, Ancient Church Fathers what the Disciples of the Apostles Taught Dr. Ken Johnson goes through the writings of the early church fathers. Some of the information below contains quotes from that book, you can buy it on Amazon. For the first 200 years, the early leaders of the Church all agreed on the basic doctrines. But by 300 A.D. allegorizing the Bible had become widespread.

The disciples of the Apostles taught Premillennialism, which means that Jesus will return to earth in the future, and set up a Kingdom that will last for a literal 1000 years (the Millennium) as prophesied in the Scripture. Jesus will reign from the city of Jerusalem. Prior to this, there will be a seven-year period during which the Antichrist will rule the Earth. During the last days, the Jews will return and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. You can read this in Daniel 9 and Revelation 20. All of this is taught clearly in the Scripture. In the years, A.D. 200–300, a movement arose teaching that these doctrines were symbolic of historical events.

Polycarp traveled with the Apostle John for 20 years, he had a disciple named Irenaeus. Irenaeus would say I am an old man now, and can hardly remember what I had for breakfast, but I still remember when I was young, some days, if it was warm, the Apostle John would come out and sit underneath the trees with us. Irenaeus wrote Against Heresies in 178 A.D. In it he said that those Premillennial prophecies must be fulfilled. Against Heresies 5.35 …these are literal things, and Christians who allegorize them are immature.

There are teachings that some of the main line denominations hold to today that are not contained in the Scripture or taught by the early church fathers. One of those is Amillennialism. It teaches that we are in the Millennium now. Because the 1000 year Millennium period is mentioned only in the book of Revelation, the focus is on how Revelation should be properly interpreted. Most of the older denominations do not believe it should be interpreted, literal, or, at least, never talk about it. By the fourth century, Amillennialism was the standard, and the legend that the book of Revelation was never originally designed to be read, or studied by the average Christian was firmly in place.

Revelation starts with, 1:1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw--that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Revelation ends with, 22:10 And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.”

I’m a big Jesus guy, I’ll take his advice. The Son of God is calling us not to seal it up but to take Revelation to heart and by reading it, to be blessed by it.

Amos 3:7 Indeed, the Sovereign LORD never does anything until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets.

2 Peter 1:19 You must pay close attention to what they (the prophets) wrote… those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.

After his Resurrection, Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus that were downcast after the crucifixion, Luke 24. Jesus scolded them for not applying Old Testament prophecies, to understand that he fulfilled the qualifications for the Messiah. Is this an example for us today that we are going to be held accountable for including prophecy as a part of our Christian hope?

Luke 24:25 Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. 26 Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” 27 Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

 In Acts 20:27 Paul tells us that he teaches the entire word of God, “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” He doesn’t pick and choose the parts that he only feels comfortable with.

We are not supposed to set dates for Christ’s return but some do. Some people will refer to them as examples of why we should not examine prophecy, which covers over one quarter of the Bible. This is called a Straw Man argument- The impression of refuting an argument, where the subject is not addressed, only skirted around. Maybe a better fit for this example would be an Ad hominem attack- To attack the persons identity, and not address the argument.

Some will use Matthew 24:36 to discourage people from understanding the basics of Bible prophecy. In it Jesus said, “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.”

Every person in Jewish society knew this expression, it is from the Jewish wedding ceremony. The father was in charge of telling the son when he could go get his bride, only he knew when. John 14 describes some of this; the groom would go to the bride’s house to pay a dowry. Then go to his father’s house to build an addition for himself and his future bride. About one year later the father would tell the son to get his bride, usually in the middle of the night. The bride would meet him outside her house, and go to the groom’s father’s house for the ceremony.

 In John 14:1 Jesus says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” (At the Father’s House, Heaven)

-The imminent return of Christ! See: James 5:7-9, 1 Peter 4:7, Rev. 1:3, 22:7,10,12,20

Jesus himself tells us to watch and to stay alert. He has been telling his Bride, the Church, the same thing since that day to stay alert because his return for his Bride could happen at any moment. This is what is meant by the term imminent. The opposite of staying alert about his return is to scoff or to ignore it. A must here is to read 2 Peter 3:3-4, check it out.

Mark 13:32 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. 13:33 And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert! 34 “The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip…35 You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return—37 I say to you what I say to EVERYONE: Watch for him!”(The Return of Christ)

Luke 21:36 Jesus said, “Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to ESCAPE these coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man.”

Note: Pray you will escape the Tribulation, the implication is that you can.

2 Timothy 4:8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Titus 2:13… looking for the “blessed hope” and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

Rev. 3:10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you FROM the hour of trial (the Tribulation) which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Note: If someone is kept from a train wreck, it wouldn’t be through it.

Using Occam's razor – The conclusion with the least amount of assumptions, let’s stack up some other verses, that may contradict the ones I have listed above. Ones that may discourage the examination of Bible prophecy. We can see if they balance out or that one view has fewer assumptions. I can think of two other verses, besides the “day and the hour one” that we covered above.

Acts 1:6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” 7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

Technically, the disciples here are asking about the time of Jesus’ Kingdom not his return.

Daniel 12:4 But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”

This one was covered above. In the last chapter of Revelation we are told not to seal up this book of prophecy because the time is at hand.

Jesus teaches Matt. 24, 25, Mark 13, and Luke 17 and 21 answering two questions by the disciples. Matthew 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what [will be] the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Read those chapters if you want to hear how God the Son answers those questions.  

Jesus is my Lord, every word he speaks is important, including prophecy and Revelation.

Alan C