School of Life2013-2014

Foundations: Exploring the Foursquare Gospel (Fall and Winter)

Christ in Culture: Connecting Jesus to Life(Spring)

Pastor James WaltonNew Life Foursquare ChurchCanby, Oregon

Breaking the Power of the Fear of Death

20 “Jesus has come and is coming back!” are the hopeful "watchwords that bookend Foursquare theology. We believe that Jesus has come to establish His Kingdom, make " "disciples and die on the cross so that the gospel could be preached to the whole world. We also believe that Jesus will come again to reward those who have ‘been about the " "Father’s business’ in the interim, and to judge those who have willfully rebelled and rejected His gospel.

In short, there is a King and we all His subjects. He has made His desires and intentions clear, and He will come again to reconcile accounts with His people. The Second Coming of Christ is the great moment of hope and joy for the disciple, not simply because we long to see the face of the King, but that we will see all the injustice and hurt done against us receive its due consequence. The scales of justice will be leveled again, and all things will be made right as we enter eternity with our Beloved King.

This is the essence of the hope we have. Yet so often our thoughts of the End Times center on questions around how we’ll endure the Great Tribulation. The fear of suffering, pain and death is real, so let’s take a moment to look at Scripture’s teaching on the subject.

Hebrews 2:10-15For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their sal-vation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those

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who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,

& “I will tell of your name to my brothers;

& in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”

And again,

& “I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

& “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself &likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. && & & &(Hebrews 2:10-15, ESV)

This passage will help orient us moving forward, but before we get into that, let’s take a brief* road trip through the wide and wonderful world of eschatological perspectives.

Road Trip!Already, we’ll be dealing with a whole set of vocabulary that needs some explanation. Here’s a handy glossary:

Eschatology: The study of last things. A particular proph-ecy or thought system could be “eschatological” [Es-CAT-a-logical] if it’s believed to refer to events yet to come.

Rapture: The “catching-up” or “snatching-up” of the living and dead saints at the return of Christ. This is spoken of in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Eschatological systems such as Pre/Mid/AMillenial all use the Rapture as a reference point.

* That’s a lie. It probably won’t be brief. Stick with me anyway.

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Thus a PreMillenial position asserts that the Rapture of the Church will occur prior to the onset of the Millennium. Which lead us to:

Millennium: Referenced only in Revelation 20:1-6, this is a period of time in which Satan is bound and Christ rules with saints upon the Earth. Pre- and Post-millennialist see this as being (a) a literal, 1,000 year period) or (b) a " "symbolic phrase that represents a ‘really long time.’ There is another option, Amillenialism,* which is the thought " "system that the reign of Christ is spiritual in nature and is already in effect through the work of the Church.

Tribulation (Great): A period of intense, unprecedented suffering and persecution upon the Church and its saints "immediately prior to the close of the Age. Certain " " "eschatological systems see this period to last for 3 1/2 years; others see if for 7 years.

For visual learners, here’s this little flowchart I made of the various branches of eschatology.

Eschatology+

Pre/millennial+

Pre/Tribula6on+

Mid/Tribula6on+

Post/Tribula6on+Post/millennial+

Amillennial+

* In this instance the prefix “a” "negates what comes after it. Thus Amillenialsm is the belief that there is no millennium in a literal sense. The word “atheist” works the same way. A “theist” is someone who believes in the existence of God. An “atheist” does not.

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And here’s one I’m stealing from the Wikipedia page on Millennial views:

Which One is Right?

Of course, the burning question is: which one is “right”? "Unfortunately, for you black-and-white folks out there, it’s not that simple. There’s no eschatological position pre-sented here we can describe as: “A heretic made that”. Here’s a note from our old friend Nathaniel VanCleave*

“The view of Aimee Semple McPherson [the founder of the Foursquare Church] was that of a pre-tribulational rapture. Some theologians prefer to believe in a post-tribulation rap-

* Of Duffield and VanCleave’s Foun-dations of Pentecostal Theology fame.

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ture and a few hold to a mid-tribulation coming. The " "majority view is that of a pre-tribulation rapture, but all three positions are tolerated.” [emphasis mine]

Like we mentioned last week, the topic of eschatology is a wide, complex and historically muddy enterprise about which much ink and some blood has been spilt. Scripture is simply not that clear* to us moderns on this issue and "therefore I believe its in the best interests of Christ that His Church approaches such things with grace, charity and decency, especially in our interactions with one another.** This is also something Foursquare itself majors on when it says in its internal Pastoral Licensing Guide:

“We want our ministers to understand that not all " "Christians have the same viewpoints concerning the exact sequence surrounding the return of our Lord and be able to give grace to those who might disagree.”

The PreTribulational Position and the Fear of Death

Let’s return to our passage in Hebrews for a moment. There, the author declares that Jesus came and suffered as our Savior, and thus we the saints and Jesus our Savior share the same Father (Hebrews 2:11-13). Jesus becomes a human being and dies in order that He might destroy death and the one who holds the power of death, the devil (v.14). Thus " "because death no longer binds us because of Jesus Christ is done, we are set free from the fear of death that has kept us in lifelong slavery (v.15).

In short, because of the Gospel, we no longer must fear death. Jesus wins! Satan loses! This is what John would write much later in life:

* This may rub you the wrong way. I’m not saying that Scripture is "contradictory or unknowable on this topic, only that it is not clear. Positions may be arrived at and held to with confidence, but I ""believe it’s wise to acknowledge that others can read Scripture and current events and arrive at " "different (and sometimes " "contradictory) opinions.

** I recall that Jesus said something along the lines of “By this all " "people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35).

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...The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. "" " " " " " (1 John 3:8a, ESV)

But if Aimee is right and Jesus is coming back to Rapture the church prior to the onset of the Great Tribulation, what real concern do I have about pain, suffering and death?

With all due respect to the founder of Foursquare, there are several concerns I see with the PreTribulational position as a point of dogma:

• From a pastoral perspective, it potentially sets believers up for disappointment and disillusionment when suffering befalls them. We won’t train from something we’re not expecting, and I don’t want “the love of many to grow cold” in the face of increasingly intense animosity towards Christianity.

• Historically, the whole notion of “Tribulation” is a relative idea. As a doctrine itself, Pre-Tribulation thinking (that the Church will be taken up prior to when it gets really bad] is less than two hundred years old, and was developed in North America. Much of what Jesus says about ‘wars, rumors of wars, famines earthquakes and pestilences’ in Matthew 24 has been the constant companion for much the world’s population for much of the world’s history. Tribulation itself presupposes a relative degree of comfort and ease that will be taken away - something that may not have made much sense to Jesus’ original audience of oppressed, occupied citizens under the heavy boot of the Romans. I don’t want to be guilty of interpreting the Bible through my 21st century, American definition of suffering; what I consider tribulation, much of the world considers normal.

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Regardless, the important thing to remember is that "however the years to come will shake out, our position is "secure: Jesus has won, the fear of death is broken, our "eternal security is kept by God, and we are free from fear, no matter what happens.

Jesus and Persecution

Jesus Himself would tell His disciples concerning " "persecution:

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be re-vealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. " " "(Matthew 10:24-33, ESV)

Several observations to help make sense of this passage:

• The larger context of Matthew 10 is the calling and sending out of the disciples. Jesus is letting them (us) know what to expect when we sign up to serve the King.

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• Jesus instructs His disciples to accept suffering as normal. Jesus was abused, mistreated, scoffed, mocked, beaten and generally disliked by some. We can expect the same treatment (Mt.10:24-25)

• Three times Jesus tells His followers to “fear not” and each time the reason given is connected to the Father’s love, care and concern for His disciples. We are promised that unjust suffering we endure will not unnoticed (Mt. 10:26); we are told that those who persecute us can’t really harm us (Mt. 10:28); we are told that we are tremendous value to Father in Heaven (Mt. 10:31).

• Once we are told whom we ought to really fear: the Heavenly Father who can destroy both body and soul in hell. That fear motivates us to not deny the Father in front of other men. (Mt. 10:28, 32-33).

Jesus expects His disciples endure suffering, faithfully fearing the One True God and never denying Him, even if it means their physical death.

The Gospel Reminder

The power to stand firm in this calling is because of the Gospel: Jesus came to die in order to defeat death; death no longer has a stranglehold on our lives because our future with the Father is assured, come what may in this life. Fear has no place anymore because of Jesus’ work. In Him, we cannot lose. So let us, in the words of Jim Elliot, give up what we cannot keep, to gain what we cannot lose.

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Key Points to Remember

• There is a [wide] variety of perspectives on the End Times. This is okay. Stay focused on love expressed through action.

• Foursquare’s official position is Pre-Tribulational, but graciously allows a multitude of perspectives.

• Jesus came to destroy the work of the Devil (sin and death) and now we are empowered to live a life of active and bold service, free from the fear of death! We win!

Reflection

• What is your attitude towards death?

• Do you expect a season of intense suffering or tribulation in your lifetime? If so, how do you think you’ll respond?

Further Reading

• Matthew 10