Southern Christian University
Matthew, Mark,
Luke, & John
Class Session
10
James A.
Turner
Please turn to Matthew chapter twenty‑one. When our time was up for Class Session Nine,
we were reading from the latter part of the parable that Jesus gave the chief
priests and the elders about the wicked husbandmen. You remember that Jesus had these men to
condemn themselves when he asked them the question about their killing the
servants and finally killing the Son.
And, of course, the Son in the parable is Christ. In the parable, Jesus said they cast him
forth, the son, out of the vineyard and killed him, and that is exactly what
they were going to do. They were going to cast him outside the city and kill
him. Then he asked that question, "When
the Lord therefore of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto those
husbandmen?" Notice they answered condemning
themselves. "They
say unto him, He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will let out
the vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their
seasons. And Jesus said unto them, Did
ye never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the
same was made the head of the corner: This was from the Lord, and it is marvelous
in our eyes. Therefore I say unto you,
The kingdom
of God
shall be taken away from you, and shall be given to a nation that bringeth
forth fruits thereof. And he that
falleth on this stone." And Christ is that stone. "Shall be broken to
pieces. But on whomsoever it shall fall
it will scatter him as dust. And when
the chief priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they perceived that he
spake of them. And when they sought
to lay hold on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a
prophet." So by way of review, the householder in the
parable is God. God had given the Jewish
people wonderful opportunities. He had
given them the Old Testament law. They
were his chosen people and he did everything necessary to make the vineyard a
good vineyard. He set a hedge about it and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower so the vineyard could be
protected from theives.
The husbandmen are those chief priests and elders
that Jesus gave the parable to. He also gave the parable of the two sons prior
to this and now this parable about the wicked husbandmen. They are the wicked husbandmen, along with the scribes and Pharisees. The people of Israel down through the years
have had a history of rejecting the prophets and all that God said unto them,
even killing some of the prophets because of their trying to give God’s message
to them. And as represented in the
parable, they beat the servants. They
killed another and stoned another. He
sent other servants and they did likewise unto them. And finally he said, I will send my Son, and
surely they will reverence my Son. Mark's account says, he
had a beloved Son, and God sent him. And, of course, that Son is Christ. Jesus came to be a sin offering for man, and
he knew exactly what was going to happen to him, that those wicked men, before
the week was over, would condemn him to death.
He set him forth what they would do by quoting from Psalms 118: 22-23 about that Christ would be the rejected
stone. They are going to reject him, but
he is still going to be made the head of the corner. And he says to them, "Therefore
I say unto you, The kingdom
of God
shall be taken away from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits
thereof." Of course, that would be the Gentile
people. Although many thousands obeyed the
gospel during the early days of the church (Acts 2:41, 2:47, 4:4, 5:14, 6:1, 6:7), the Jewish people as a
people rejected the way of salvation through Christ. And so the kingdom would in process of time
be taken away from them and given to the Gentile people. Please remember that the new Israel of God is
made up of both Jews and Gentiles who obey Christ (Isaiah 11:5, 11:10, 42:1-7, 49:1-6, 49:19-21; Romans 2:28-29; Philippians 3:4).
Notice that they recognized that he was talking
about them. Verse forty‑five,
"And when the chief priests and Pharisees heard
this parable, they perceived that he spake of them." Well, if they had been humble men, they would
have been humbled by the parable of the two sons, and this parable of the
wicked husbandmen, and they would have turned from being wicked husbandmen and
would have obeyed the Lord. But instead
they sought to lay hold on him, but they were afraid to do so, because the
people had great regard for him.
I believe we said we would turn to Isaiah chapter
five and read about God's vineyard as set forth there. Isaiah chapter five beginning with verse
one. It reads, "Let
me sing of my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well beloved hath a vineyard in a very
fruitful hill. And he digged it, and
gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and
built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a winepress therein: And he looked that he should bring forth
grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and men of Judah,
judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in
it? Wherefore, when I looked that it
should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my
vineyard. I will take away the hedge
thereof, and it shall be eaten up: I will break down the wall thereof, and it
shall be trodden down: And I will lay it waste: It shall not be pruned, nor holed; and there
shall come up briars and thorns: And I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it. For the
vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah
his pleasant plant. And he looked for
judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. Woe unto them that join house to house, that
lay field to field, till there is no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the
midst of the land! In mine ears saith
Jehovah of hosts, of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great
and fair, without inhabitant. For ten
acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the homer of seed shall yield but
an ephah. Woe unto them that rise up
early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that tarry into the
night, till wine inflame them! And the
harp, and the lute, and the tabret, and the pipe, and the wine, are in their
feasts:
But they regard not the work of Jehovah, neither have they considered the
operation of his hands. Therefore my
people are gone into captivity, for lack of knowledge: And their honorable men are famished, and
their multitude are parched with thirst." So you
see what God has to say about his vineyard there in Isaiah 5:1-13.
Matthew Chapter 22
This chapter makes the third parable that Jesus gave
to these chief priests and elders that came to him in the temple and wanted to
know why he was doing the things that he was doing in the temple and by what authority
doest thou these things and who gave thee this authority, as given in Matthew
21:23-32. Of course, Jesus cleansed the temple again on
that occasion, much like he did the first time, as we've read about from the
gospel of John. He cleansed the temple
twice, once during the early part of his ministry, and then again in that last
week of his ministry, he cleansed the temple again. We are ready to read this third parable he
gave them. So we have the parable of the
two sons, the parable of the wicked husbandmen, and now the parable about
marriage feast that the king made for his son.
"And Jesus answered and spake again in parables
unto them." See, he is talking to the chief priests and
the Pharisees, the chief priests and the elders. Going back to verse forty‑five, when
the chief priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they perceived that he
spake of them. So he is still speaking
to them. "Jesus
answered and spake again in parables unto them, saying, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son. And sent forth his servants to call them that
are bidden to the marriage feast. And
they would not come. And again, he sent
forth other servants, saying, Tell them that are bidden, Behold, I made ready
my dinner: My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all
things are ready:
Come to the marriage feast. But they
made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his
merchandise: And the rest laid hold on his servants, and
treated them shamefully, and killed them.
But the king was wroth, and he sent his armies, and destroyed those
murderers, and burned their city. Then
saith he to his servants, the wedding is ready, but they that were bidden were
not worthy. Go ye therefore unto the
plains of the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage
feast. And those servants went out into
the highways and gathered together all as many as they found, both
bad and good: And the wedding was filled with guests. But when the king came in to behold the
guests, he saw there a man who had not owned a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest
thou in hither not having a wedding garment?
And he was speechless. Then the
king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into outer
darkness; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how
they might ensnare him in his talk."
I believe we will stop and discuss now the parable
of the marriage feast and the slighted invitation. The king in the parable would be God, and the
marriage feast for his Son would be that way of salvation given through
Christ. Remember the church is the bride
of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:22-32). The king sent forth his servants to call them
that were bidden, and the Jewish people
were the first ones that were bidden. It
is usually reckoned that it was about seven years after the gospel was preached
to the Jewish people on Pentecost before it was carried formally to the Gentile
people at the household of Cornelius. Announcement
about the marriage and how the feast was made,
and when the date was come he sends forth other servants to tell them everything
is ready. I have made ready my
dinner. My oxen and my fatlings are
killed and all things are ready, come to the marriage feast, but they
made light of it. And surely these men were making light of the
teachings of Christ and the way of salvation through Christ. They are determined that they are going to
kill the Son and take over the vineyard.
They had a lucrative money‑making business with the way they were
doing things in the temple, and they wanted to hold on to their gravy train! Verse
five, "They made light of it, and one went to his own
farm, and another to his merchandise." And when you
consider the economy of that day, that would pretty well get everybody. Basically, the society was an agrarian economy
with a few people involved in merchandise, making shoes or other things that
people needed. Those two occupation would
get most of the society of that day, saying one went to his own farm and
another to his merchandise. "And
the rest laid hold on his servants, and treated them shamefully and killed
them." They probably had a part in getting John the
Baptist put to death, they are going to condemn Christ to death before the week
is over. Jesus had already told his disciples that the chief priests would
condemn him and deliver him to the Gentiles to be killed and how that the
Gentiles would mock him and scourge him (Matthew 20:17-19).
Matthew 22:7, "But
the king was wroth: And he sent his armies, and destroyed those
murderers and burned their city." Would not
verse seven refer to the Roman armies destroying Jerusalem in A.D. 70 Jesus plainly taught in Matthew 24:1-21 and Mark 13:1-2, and Luke 21:5-6 that not one stone of
the temple would be left upon another.
The Lord was concerned about having guests at the wedding feast. In Revelation 19:9-10, 21:1-4, eternal judgment is
spoken of as a wedding feast. "Then
saith he to his servants, the wedding is ready, but they that were bidden were
not worthy. Go ye therefore into the
partings of the highways, and as many as ye find, bid to the marriage feast." Do you think that would represent the gospel
going to the Gentiles and how that a lot of the Gentiles would receive the
invitation! It has been that way for nearly twenty centuries. Those that are going out to invite would be
those teachers and preachers of the gospel.
Remember when Saul led that persecution against the church as given in
Acts eight, they went everywhere preaching the word (Acts 8:3-4). It was not very long after the persecution
led by Saul until the gospel was carried to the Gentile people. The book of Acts shows that after Saul’s or
Paul’s conversion that the unbelieving Jews, persecuted Paul from city to city
on that first journey and on that second journey.
It surely must have been real good news to Paul when
the Lord appeared to him in Corinth in a vision and told him not to be afraid,
that no man is going to set on thee to harm thee, for
I have much people in this city (Acts 18:9-11).
He had been driven out of one city after
another on that first and second journey.
So that must have been real good news to him. Verse ten, "Those
servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they
found, both bad and good: And the wedding was filled with guests." And you remember the parable of the net,
catching good and bad fish, and the angels then separating the bad from the
good in the day of judgment. So the wedding
is filled with guests. "But
when the king came in to behold the guests." And
that surely will come at the time of judgment.
"He saw that there was a man who had not on a
wedding garment." And what would that mean, if a
person does not have on a wedding garment? STUDENT: He didn't follow the way of righteousness.
BROTHER TURNER: Correct. He did not follow in the way of
righteousness. The garment is spoken of
in several references as righteous living.
For instance, in the first part of chapter three of the Revelation, the
church at Sardis as a whole was a dead church. The Lord said of that church, Thou
hast a name that thou livest but thou art dead. But
he goes ahead to say in verse four, "Thou hast a few names
in Sardis
that did defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: For they are worthy." White, of course, would represent the way of
righteousness and purity. And so there
were present in that church, in that dead church, the church as a whole was
dead, but there were those that were faithful that had not
defiled their garments. They had on garments of
righteousness. And then in the latter
part of chapter three, to that church at Laodicea, those that thought that
they were rich and increased with goods and had need of nothing. Let us read Revelation 3:18, "I counsel thee to buy
of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments,
that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy nakedness be not
made manifest; and eye salve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see." In the Revelation, there are seven
beatitudes. And the third beatitude in
the Revelation is given in chapter sixteen and verse fifteen, "Behold,
I come as a thief. Blessed is he that
watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." For a man to walk naked would be not to have
on ‑‑ as stated here in the parable, not have on a wedding garment,
not have on a garment of righteousness, So the king goes in to see those at the
wedding feast, and he finds one that did not have on a wedding garment. In verse twelve he saith unto him, "Friend,
how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless." What would that mean, he was speechless?
STUDENT: There's no excuse.
BROTHER TURNER: Right.
He had no excuse, and I wonder if that does not mean that in the day of
judgment, that every man who has turned his nose up at the way of the Lord,
that every one of those individuals will be speechless when they hear their doom.
STUDENT: I can certainly believe that.
BROTHER TURNER: Do you remember in Romans in the fourteenth
chapter where it talks about every knee shall bow and every tongue shall
confess. We will all stand before God,
and every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. That will be the state of those who reject the Lord, that
they will be speechless, that they will have to recognize that they just
deliberately did wrong themselves, and there will be no way they can blame it on somebody else,
because they had an opportunity like
other men had. "Then
the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him out into
the outer darkness; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of
teeth." What would the outer darkness and the weeping
and the gnashing of teeth represent?
STUDENT: It would represent that second separation
from God.
BROTHER TURNER: All right.
That terrible place called hell. It
is talking about final judgment, and, again, emphasizing the fact that there
will be the good and the bad present.
There will be some even in the church that had the appearance of being
righteous, but the final analysis, they did not have on a wedding garment.
Matthew 22:15, "Then went the
Pharisees, and took counsel how they might ensnare him in his talk." I would like to see if I can find Luke's on
this. Luke gives it a little different
way. Turn to Luke twenty and let us read
verse beginning with verse nineteen.
"And the scribes of the chief priests sought to
lay hands on him in that very hour." That very
hour that he concluded the parable.
"And they feared the people: For they perceived that he spake this parable
against them." Now, Luke gives that
statement at the end of the parable of the wicked husbandmen, but here he is
speaking of the things that we are ready to read from Matthew 22:20. "And they watched him,
and sent forth spies, who feigned themselves to be righteous." Matthew does not say that. "That they might
take hold of his speech, so as to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority
of the governor." I guess that the Herodians were reasoning why
Jesus would say that you are supposed to give all your allegiance to God, and
you are not required by God to pay taxes to this sinful government. To say the least of it, some way or other
they thought they would find an authority to have a legal case against him
according to that reading. Is that not right? "Who
feigned themselves to be righteous that they might take hold of his speech, so
as to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority of the governor." And if they were delivering him up to the
governor, they are supposed to have legal charges against him.
Matthew 22:16, "And
they asked him, saying, Teacher, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly,
and accepteth not the person of any, but of a truth teachest the way of God: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto
Caesar, or not?" They thought that either way that he answered
that question, they would have him in big trouble! "But he perceived
their craftiness, and said unto them, Show me the denarious. Whose image and superscription hath it? And they said, Caesar's. And he said unto them, Render unto them
the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." And they were not able to take hold of the
saying before the people, and they marveled at his answer, and held their
peace. We will read Matthew's now, but Luke
helps to give a real understanding of it.
So back to 22:15 in Matthew, "Then
went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might ensnare him in his
talk. And they sent to him their
disciples with the Herodians, saying." Is it not strange how people can come together when
they have a common enemy? They
ordinarily would be enemies.
STUDENT: Right.
BROTHER TURNER: But they come together because they have one
that they count as an enemy, both parties.
"And they sent to him their disciples with the
Herodians." The Herodians would uphold for Caesar's
household or for the government, the authority of the Roman government, that
the people ‑‑ the Jewish people despised to be under. "Saying, Teacher, we
know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth." Do you see what hypocrites they are, they
feigned to be righteous. "And
carest not for any one: For thou regardest not the person of
men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest
thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto
Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived
their wickedness, and said." And you join the two
accounts together, and you can see their wicked motives, and Jesus knew their
wicked motives. "Why
make ye trial of me, ye hypocrites? Show
me the tribute money. And they brought
unto him a denarious. And he saith unto
them, whose is this image and superscription?
They say unto him, Caesar's. Then
saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's';
and unto God the things that are God's.
And when they heard it they marveled, and left him, and went their way."
Now, in regard to his answer, render therefore unto
Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's,
the civil government has a right to tax the people, right? STUDENT: Yes, sir. BROTHER TURNER: And we are to pay our taxes whether we think they are fair
or not. Now, in our system of government, we can take steps to try to
get those tax laws changed, and you know how that certain income groups have been having to work four months just to
pay federal taxes, and that is a shame! Of course, some changes have been made now for the better, but whether we
think it's fair or not, the only proper thing for a Christian to do is to pay his
taxes, for that belongs to Caesar. But
if a government makes any law that is
contrary to God's law, then God's law is to be supreme. The God fearing people in America ought not to have ever stopped
praying in our schools. There would not
have been a thing that the federal court system could have done about it, if they had had enough
faith to continue on as usual, to read the Bible, and have prayer in our schools,
but so many are ready to use any little excuse to not do such things. Some of course, do not want such things
done, and according to the way some
reason, is that, “we are just not supposed to” – We are supposed to turn away
from the Christian religion, because we have some people in our society today that do not have
any regard the Christian religion. Please
remember this country was founded primarily on the basis of people searching
for religious freedom. There is no
separation of church and state in the Constitution as declared by a number of
Federal Court Decisions.
The first part of the first amendment to the
Constitution reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The first part of this clause
meant that the government could not establish a state religion like they had in
some of the states during the Colonial Period. In some of the states there were
established religions like the Anglican Church or the Dutch Reform Church, and
the people by law were taxed for the support of these churches whether they
were members of those churches or not. Federal Courts have made a number of
decisions in violation of the second part of the clause, or “prohibiting the
free exercise.” Decisions that band prayers, and the reading of the scriptures
in our schools are in violation of this clause. Congress and the Supreme Court
still begin sessions with prayer, but counted unconstitutional for prayer in
public schools! Some even want to take off of our currency, “In God We Trust!”
I reckon they would substitute, “In The Devil We Trust”! Church going people
should have never let such encroachments on the freedom of religion clause.
Where do you stand?
Matthew 22:23, On
that day came to him Sadducees, they that say that there is no resurrection:
and they asked him saying, Teacher, Moses said, If a man died, having no
children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed unto his brother. Now, the law did provide,
that is Deuteronomy 25:5, if a man died not having a child, the next
brother was to take him and raise up seed, and that first son then would be
counted as the deceased brother's son. One
of the reasons for that was that the , land of Canaan was divided up to the
tribes (Joshua 11:23, 13:32-14:5, 21:43-45) and it was not sold in
perpetuity (Leviticus 25:23-28),
therefore it was passed down from one generation to another (Numbers 36:1-11). So that would also have to do with a man
having a son, so that the land would
pass down.
We are ready to read from Deuteronomy 25:5. "If brethren dwell
together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the dead shall
not be married without unto a stranger: Her husband's brother shall go in unto her,
and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto
her. And it shall be, that the firstborn
that she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother that is dead, that
his name be not be blotted out of Israel." Under the Old Testament system, the land was
divided up to the twelve tribes, and the land was not sold in perpetuity, and
it was to go from one generation to the other.
And so this would also, I think, have to do with that. And so if a man died without having a
firstborn, then his brother was to marry.
"And if a man like not to take his brother's
wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate unto the elders and say,
my husband's brother refuses to raise up unto his brother a name in
Israel. And he will not perform the duty
of the husband's brother unto me. Then
the elders of the city shall call him and speak unto him: And if he stand, and say, I like not to take
her; then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the presence of the elders,
and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and she shall
answer and say, So shall it be done unto the man that doth not build up his
brother's house. And his name shall be
called in Israel. The house of him that hath his shoe loosed." Do you remember from the book of Ruth about Boaz,
about Naomi thinking that Boaz was first of kin, and he was not first of kin,
but he went and settled it that day. He
told the first of kin about how that the land would be his first. And if I am remembering correctly, he wanted
it until he learned that a wife would be involved, then he did not want
it. So he pulled off his shoe, did not
he? And so you see that was according to
the law.
The Sadducees thought that their story would show
that there would be no resurrection, If it was any possibility of that being
true, as one writer said, that seventh one sure was a bold man to marry a woman
that had outlived six husbands already. For
seven brothers would be fighting over the same woman. Do you think that there
is any possibility of their story being true? As on writer said, “That seventh
one sure was a bold man to marry a woman that had out lived six husbands
already.” I believe he would be wondering why all those other husbands were
dead!
STUDENT: That child had to be the son of the one
that's involved.
BROTHER TURNER: I think that is the case.
STUDENT: The King James version says no child.
BROTHER TURNER: But we have about the daughters of Zelophehad
in Numbers 36:1-11, and they were commanded to marry within the tribe. They did not
have any brothers. Well, I think they
are coming with a lie, the very idea of a woman marrying seven brothers,
outliving seven brothers, and they come with that question, trying to prove
another lie, that there would be no resurrection of the dead. It looks like to me they come with one lie
trying to prove another lie. The
Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection or angels nor spirits. Do you remember – how that Paul before the
Jewish counsel, as given in Acts twenty‑three, that he divided the
counsel by saying, touching the hope of the resurrection of
the dead, I
am called in question, and Roman soldiers were sent to take Paul away from them for his life
was in danger by the Sadducees.
And after them all the
woman died: In the resurrection therefore whose wife
shall she be of the seven? For they all had her?" So they just thought they had a question to show the
impossibility of a resurrection, seven brothers fighting over one wife. In the resurrection, therefore whose wife
shall she be for they all had her.
Please turn to Exodus chapter three, and we will get the context of this
passage, where the Lord referred to himself as the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac and the God of Jacob. When Moses was forty years of age, he had taken it upon
himself to try to lead the people of Israel, and they rejected him, and
he was not well‑prepared to lead them at that time Acts 7:27-34. He had been in the land of Midian for forty more years, getting
wilderness training that he needed, and
he led the flocks of his father-in-law to the back of the wilderness,
and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb. And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him in
a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: He looked, and, behold, the bush burned with
fire, and the bush was not consumed.
Moses said, I will turn aside now,
and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when Jehovah saw that he turned aside to
see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said to him, Moses,
Moses. And he said to him, Here
am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the
place whereon thou standest is holy ground (Ezodus 3:3-5).. And remember in Joshua5:13-15, the man that had his
sword drawn and Joshua went to him and wanted to know whether he was for them
or against them, andnd Joshua was told the same thing. So that person must be Christ on both
occasions. "And he said, draw not nigh hither: Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou
standest is holy ground. Moreover he
said, I am the God of thy Fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his
face; for he was afraid to look upon God." And I believe that
tells us that Christ was back there, and remember I Corinthians 10:4, they
drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ. "And Jehovah said, I
have surely seen the affliction of my people that are in Egypt, and have heard
their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; and I am
come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them
up out of the land into a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk
and honey." And then Moses begins to give every excuse he
can think of as to why he is not the man that God should be calling on to lead
his people out of Egyptian bondage.
Let us take time to look at the parallels in Mark
and Luke about the Sadducees. Turn to
Mark chapter twelve beginning with verse eighteen. "And there come unto him
Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him,
saying, Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, If
a man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no child, that
his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. There were seven brethren: And the first took a wife, and died and left
no seed. And the second took her, and
died, leaving no seed behind him: And the third likewise. And the seven left no seed. In the resurrection, whose wife shall she be
of them? For the seven had her to
wife. And Jesus said unto them, Is it
not for this cause that ye err, that ye not the scriptures, nor the power of
God? For when they shall rise from the
dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as angels in
heaven. But as touching the dead, that
they are raised: Have ye not read in the book of Moses, in the
place concerning the bush." And so Mark gives a
little more instruction there. How God spake unto him, saying, I am the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, so Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living. God is not the God of the dead but of the
living.
Now, turn to Luke twenty, and we will read Luke's
account beginning with verse twenty‑seven. 20:27, "And
there came unto him certain of the Sadducees, they that say there is no
resurrection; and they asked him, Saying, Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, If a
man's brother die, having a wife, and he be childless." And so it does not say male. Each one says childless. "His brother should take
the wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
There were therefore seven brethren: And the first took a wife, and died
childless. And the second and the third
took her. Likewise the seven also left
no children, and died. Afterward the
woman also died." She had outlived, according to them, seven
brothers! "In the
resurrection therefore whose wife of them shall she be? For the seven had her to wife. Jesus said unto them, The sons of this world,
marry and are given in marriage: But they that are accounted worthy to obtain
to that world." That heavenly world. "And the resurrection
from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: For they are equal unto the angels." So Luke says equal unto the angels. For one thing they are eternal beings. "For neither can they
die any more: For they are equal unto the angels; and are
sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed in the place concerning
the bush, when he called the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob." Now, he is not the God of the dead, but of
the living. "For
all live unto him. And certain of the
scribes answered and said, Teacher, thou hast well said. For that they durst not any more ask him any
questions."
Back to Matthew, and picking up with Matthew 22:34, "But
the Pharisees when they heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, gathered themselves
together. And one of them, the lawyer,
asked him a question, trying him, Teacher, which is the great commandment in
the law?" I believe I read that the Pharisees had come
with six hundred different commands that were great commandments. If that be the case, you are asking a great
question, and I guess again they thought that either way Jesus would answer the
question, they would be read to say, there is not just one great commandment. "Teacher, which is
the great commandment in the law and he said unto him, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. This is the great and first
commandment. And the second is like unto
it, is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments the whole law
hangeth and the prophets." In Romans the thirteenth
chapter, the writer ssys that love is the fulfillment of the law of Christ, and
so it holds also unto the law of Christ, that the two great commandments are to
love the Lord with all of your being and to love your neighbor as thyself. Everything else is to fall in proper place if
we live to the standards of those two.
"On these two commandments the whole law hangeth
and the prophets." Now, Luke gives the detail on
that. I am not sure I can find it. But he gives a detail that Matthew does not
give, that when Jesus the lawyer answered that ‑‑ Well, it does not give what the lawyer
answered, does it?
Let me see if I can find Luke. I think I know that I read the parallel in
Luke. STUDENT: Would it be Luke 10:25?
BROTHER TURNER: I do not think it would be that far back, but
check it.
STUDENT: "Yet certain lawyers stood up and tempted him."
STUDENT: No, that is different. He is asking him how can he inherit eternal
life.
STUDENT: Luke 10:25, "And,
behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and made trial of him, saying, Teacher, what
shall I do to inherit eternal life?" No, I
do not think this is a parallel. I think
I am thinking right. I may have Luke and
Mark mixed up where that the lawyer on this occasion, commended Jesus for his
answer. And one of them says that Jesus
saw that he answered discreetly and said, thou art not far from the kingdom of God. Maybe I will remember and find that and read
it next time rather than take time now.
But, anyway, there is a parallel to this, that a lawyer approved of what
Jesus said, that those two were the greatest.
And when Jesus saw that, he answered discreetly. Jesus said to him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. STUDENT: There's one in Mark, Mark chapter twelve.
BROTHER TURNER: I may have the two mixed up.
STUDENT: Mark 12:28.
BROTHER TURNER: Let us read it. Mark 12:28 beginning, "And
one of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together, and knowing that
he had answered them well, asked him, What commandment is the first of
all? Jesus answered, The first is, Hear,
O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. The second is this, Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself. There is none other
commandment greater than these. And the
scribe said unto him, Of the truth, Teacher, thou hast well said that he is
one; and there is none other but he. And
to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all
the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is much more important
than whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." So this lawyer has considerable
understanding, that this is more important, the animal sacrifices were
necessary, but you are saying that this is more than all whole burnt offerings
and sacrifices. "And
when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly." So I
had Mark and Luke mixed up. "He
said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom
of God. And no man after that durst ask him any
question."
Back to Matthew twenty‑two and verse forty‑one. "Now while the Pharisees were gathered
together, Jesus asked them a question.
Saying, What think ye of the Christ?
Whose son is he? They said unto
him, The Son of David. He saith unto
them, How then doth David in the spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord
said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies
underneath thy feet? If David then calleth him Lord, how is he his son? And no one was able to answer him a word,
neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions." Notice that the quotation is from Psalms 110
and verse one. And that is an important
reference about Christ, that he is to sit at the right hand of God, until all
enemies are put under his feet. And it is
quoted in Hebrews 1:13, "Which
of the angels said he at any time, Sit thy on my right hand, until I make thine
enemies the footstool of thy feet?" And
then verse fourteen, "Are not angels ministering spirits, sent
forth to them to do service for them that shall receive salvation?" That separates men from angels too.
STUDENT: Yes, it does.
BROTHER TURNER: Okay.
They were willing to admit that he was a fleshly descendant of David, but
they maybe did not recognize that he was also God in the flesh. And the reference, the Lord said unto my
Lord, the first Lord would be God, his Father, said unto David's Lord, Christ,
sit down on my right hand, until I put thine enemies underneath thy feet. So you see the question of Jesus, how then
doth David in the spirit call him Lord. Please
remember that Jesus’ earthly ministry is quickly coming to a close.
Chapter
Twenty-three
In this
chapter Jesus
pronounced woes on the scribes and the Pharisees, and there is no group of
people that the Lord pointed out more directly their sins than the scribes and
the Pharisees and the chief priests and the elders. "Then saith Jesus to the
multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on
Moses' seat: All things therefore, whatsoever they bid
you, these do and observe." In other
words, they tell you to obey the commandments of God, and then you observe them
and do them.
"But do not ye after their works: For they say, and do not." Do we have any in the church today that fit
in that category of saying and not doing?
Those people are usually ready to put heavy burdens on other
people. "Yea, they
bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born, and lay them on men's shoulders;
but they themselves will not move them with their fingers." You know there are some few in the church
today that seem to want to be in a place of great authority, and they can
figure out what everybody else is supposed to do and be doing, but sometimes
they are not doing anything themselves.
STUDENT: That parallels with Romans, doesn't it? I have forgotten what chapter that was.
BROTHER TURNER: Are you thinking about Romans
chapter two where, “not the hearers of the law shall be
justified before God, but the doers of the law.
"Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be
born, and lay them on men's shoulder; but they themselves will not move them
with their fingers. But all their works
they do to be seen of men." And there is still some
of that done. "For
they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
and they love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi." They really want to be recognized as great
leaders, and we can have that kind of spirit among us today. Sometimes brethren want to be recognized on
the basis of the degrees that they have, and some think that they stand just a
little higher because of all the degrees that they have. According to this
reference, that should not be the case! "But
be not called Rabbi: For one is your Teacher, and all ye are
brethren." So to look upon one another
in that equal category. "Call
no man your father on earth." Of course, that does not
mean your real biological father, but it is talking about in a spiritual sense,
do not call anyone your father. And
think how that when the Pope when he comes to the United States, some of the news people
will refer to him as the holy father. How ridiculous! "And
call no man your father on earth: For one is your Father, even he who is in
heaven. Neither be called ye masters: For one is your Master, even the
Christ."
So this last statement is saying that Jesus is the
Master of all Christians. "But he that is greatest
among you shall be your servant." So Jesus has taught this
over and over again that the one greatest in the kingdom of God is the one that serves God
and other people.. Going back to Matthew
twenty, remember the references. "Whosoever
shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall
be exalted." That reminds me of the words of the apostle
Peter in I Peter five, I think beginning with verse five, where Peter says, yea,
all of you gird yourselves with humility to serve one another, for God
resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble. Humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty
hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all of your care upon
him, for he careth for you." And so Peter,
I guess, had heard the Lord emphasize many times that whosoever exalteth
himself shall be humbled, and whosoever shall humble himself shall be
exalted. So, again, gird yourselves with
humility to serve one another, and he might have been remembering what Jesus
did as recorded in John thirteen as when Jesus took the towel after the supper
and girded himself and washed the disciples feet.
Matthew 23:13, "Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men:
For ye enter not in yourselves, neither
suffer ye them that are entering to enter." They
did everything that they could do to hinder the work of Christ, and to prevent people
from entering into the kingdom of God. "Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites!
For ye encompass sea and land, to make one proselyte, and when he has
become so you make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves." So when they proselyte they surely went
absolutely contrary to the way of God in their proselyting. "Woe unto you, ye blind
guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but
whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, is a debtor!" You remember that even Solomon's temple was
decked out with a lot of gold. The
timbers were overlaid with gold in the holy place and the most holy place of
the temple (I Kings 6:20-30). Then, of course, the
temple that King Herod had built had a lot of gold in it. So according to their traditions it was not
wrong to swear by the temple, but it was wrong to swear by the gold of the
temple. "Ye
fools and blind: For which is greater, the gold, or the temple
that sanctifieth the gold? And,
Whosoever shall swear by the altar." That
would be the altar of burnt offering.
"It is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the
gift that is upon it." The animal on the altar. "Is a debtor." So by their traditions it was not wrong to
swear by the altar of burnt offerings, but it was wrong to swear by the bullocks
or whatever was on that altar. "Ye
blind, for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the
gift?" They were making the animals on the altar greater than the altar of burnt
offerings that God had ordained where men could make atonement for their sins
(Deuteronomy 12:10-13; Leviticus 1:1-9, 4:1-10, 4:22-26).. In their sight, the altar did not matter, it
was the animal on the altar. "He
therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things
thereon. And he that sweareth by the
temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein." God promised Solomon that in a sense his
presence would beat the temple (I Kings 9:1-3).. "And he that sweareth by
the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth
thereon.
Matthew 23:23,
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye tithe of mint and anise and cummin,
and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and
faith: These ye ought to have done, and not to have
left the other undone." Of course, the law plainly said
that they were to give a tenth of everything Leviticus 27:30-33, but these would be little seasoning
vegetables. They would not make a meal, but used to season the meal. They were very careful to give a tenth of
those little seasoning vegetables, but Jesus said, you have overlooked those
things that are more important. You
leave undone the weighter matters of law, justice and mercy and faith, but
he did not excuse them from those little things. He said, "But these ought
ye have done and not left the other undone." But
it does teach that some things are more important than others, right?
STUDENT: True.
BROTHER TURNER: That justice and mercy and faith are more
important than the tithing of those little things, but tithing is still
important. It was a violation of the law
if they didn't give a tenth of everything.
"Ye blind guides, that strain out a gnat, and
swallow the camel." That is like Matthew chapter seven that a man
having log in his own eye and wants to pick out ‑‑ according to the
reading in one version, pick out a speck of sawdust in his brother's eye. And here he is a blind guide who wants to strain
out the gnat and swallow the camel.
Matthew 23:25, "Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees and hypocrites! For ye cleanse the outside of
the cup and the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess." And I guess they had some kind of ceremony of
making sure the outside of the cups and the platters were clean. They went through the ceremony of cleansing
them, but they did not give as much attention to the inside of the cup and platter. Suppose a man just cleansed his coffee cup
every few days on the outside and never did clean it on the inside.
STUDENT: He might come up with a stomach virus.
BROTHER TURNER: Verse twenty‑six, "Thou
blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and the platter, that the
outside thereof may become clean also.
Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which
outward appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and all
uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly
appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity." One of the parallels reads how they would
devour widows households and then make pretense of their righteousness by
praying. And so surely they were
inwardly full of hypocrisy and iniquity. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! Because ye build the sepulchers
of the prophets and garnish the tombs of the righteous, and say, If we had been
in the days of our fathers, we should have not been partakers with them in the
blood of the prophets." So one generation would look on
those former generations that had put to death God’s prophets, and say if we
had been back there, we would not have done it.
"Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye
are the sons of them that slew the prophets." "Fill ye up then the measure of your
fathers." I wonder if verse thirty‑two does not
mean, you just go ahead and do what you have decided to do. They had decided they were going to kill
Jesus, so just go ahead now and fill ye up the measure of your fathers. "Ye serpents, ye
offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell?" And when he refers to them as serpents, do you not think
that would amount to being the sons of the devil? In the Revelation, one way that Satan is
described is that old serpent (Revelation 12:9). "Ye serpents, ye
offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell? Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets,
and wise men, and scribes: And some of them shall ye kill." Think of their killing of Stephen as recorded
in Acts seven, and of the apostle James in acts twelve, and they must have
killed many others that God sent to them.
"Some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and
some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to
city." And they surely persecuted Paul from city to
city. Do you remember how that they were
making great headway at Iconium when the Jews came over from Antioch of Pisidia
and stirred up trouble against them. That
pattern just pretty well always followed, that the Jews as they moved from city
to city, they would stir up trouble against them. They were making good headway at Lystra when
unbelieving Jews from Antioch and Iconium came and stirred up trouble against
him there, and they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city for dead (Acts 14:19).. So they persecuted Paul from city to
city.
Matthew 23:35"That
upon you may come all the righteous bloodshed on the earth, from the blood of
Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom ye
slew between the sanctuary and the altar.
Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation."
Notice that Stephen concluded his speech to
the Sanhedrin in a very similar way.
Acts chapter seven verse fifty‑one, "Ye
stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy
Spirit: As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers
persecute? And they kill them that
showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become
the betrayers and murderers. Now ye who
have received the law as was ordained by angels and kept it not." Then they killed Stephen. When people just have outward form, and want
popularity, and want to be chief in everything, the Lord's wrath is against
such a people. They are hypocrites
before him! Verse thirty‑seven,
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the
prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her, how often would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her
wrings, and ye would not! Behold,
your house is left unto you desolate." It is
talking about the temple. The Lord no
longer is in that temple. It is left
desolate. "For I say
unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye say, Blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord." Think of the
simplicity of the teaching of Jesus. The
people of that day had a farming economy.
Probably about every household would have a few chickens. I can remember the day when nearly every
household in the country and some in cities had a few chickens. Surely the Jews
knew how that a hen would gather her
chickens under her wings, and how the mother hen would be clucking for the chicks
to come get under her wing, and the chicks would go running to get under the
wing of the mother hen. Let us see, I
think it is Luke. I may be mixed up
again. But I think it is Luke that gives
a little more detail about this.
STUDENT: Luke 13:34 BROTHER TURNER: You said Luke thirteen?
STUDENT: Yes. BROTHER
TURNER: And what verse?
STUDENT: Thirty‑four. BROTHER TURNER: Reading from Luke 13:34, "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent
unto her; how often would I gather thy children together, even as a hen doth
gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! And I say unto you Ye shall not see me, until
ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." That does look like it is a parallel, but I am
wanting the passage that says that he wept over Jerusalem, but let us try to find
that one and read it in our next class period.
Now, we come to Matthew chapter twenty‑four. I have handed out those papers, and I would
like for you to read them, because I went into some more details when I taught
the second lesson in the study of I Thessalonians, but I would like for you to
look and notice that Jesus answered those three questions in order. "And Jesus went out from
the temple: And was going on his way, and his disciples
came to him to show him the buildings of the temple." Now, Herod had started a rebuilding program,
and I believe it said it had taken forty‑six years. Well, that is recorded in the scriptures when
Jesus said destroy this temple, talking about his body, and they said, forty‑six
years the temple had been in the building and he will restore it one day. Verse two, "But
he answered and said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be
left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." The temple of Herod covered a number of acres
and many buildings in that big plot of land, and some of the finest buildings
of the day. It was very naturally, that the
disciples marveled at the building, and they were showing him the stones of the
temple, showing him the building of the temple.
But he said the day is coming when there will not be one stone left
upon another, that shall not be thrown down. "And he sat upon the
mount of Olives. The disciples came unto
him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming,
and of the end of the world?" Now, I
would guess that the disciples expected all three of those to take place at one
time. But the first question would be,
when will Jerusalem be destroyed?
The second one will be, what will be the sign of the coming of
Christ? And the third one, and of the
end of the world? But even though they
may have expected all three of those things to be fulfilled at the same time,
Jesus knew to the contrary, and he answered all three questions in order as
given here in Matthew chapter twenty‑four. And so we will begin with that in our next
part of this Class Session. (A brief recess was taken.)
We are ready to start reading again from Matthew
chapter twenty‑four. The disciples
asked Jesus three questions as given here by Matthew. And Jesus answered the questions in the order
that the disciples asked them. Matthew 24:4, "And
Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man lead you
astray." So beginning with verses
five through fourteen, he is talking about things that would transpire before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman
armies in 70 A.D. "For many shall come in my name, saying, I
am the Christ, and shall leave many astray.
And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: See that ye be not troubled: For these things must needs come to pass, but
the end is not yet. For nation shall
rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom: And there shall be famines, and earthquakes,
in divers places." Some of the premillennialist are ready to use this passage as though it is talking about before
the coming of Christ in the second advent.
"But all these things are the beginning of
travail. Then shall they deliver ye up
unto tribulation, and shall kill you: And ye shall be hated of all the nations for
my name's sake." So the Christians would be
hated of all nations before the
destruction of Jerusalem. "And then shall many
stumble, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise, and
should lead many astray. And because
iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that endureth to the end, the same
shall be saved. And this gospel
of the kingdom shall be preached into the whole world for a testimony
unto all the nations; and then shall the end come."
He is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem as shown very definitely then
by verses fifteen through twenty‑two.
"When therefore ye see the abomination of
desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the
holy place, (let
him that readeth, understand:)
Then let them that are in Judaea
flee unto the mountains." You see this is not eternal
judgment. This is the destruction of Jerusalem. Both Matthew and Mark say, “when
you see the abomination of desolation, which is spoken of through Daniel the
prophet, but
Luke says, “when you see Jerusalem
encompassed with armies.” So it is talking about the
destruction of Jerusalem. And when that time comes, then let them that
are in Judaea flee into the
mountains. "Let
him that is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his
house." Why? He needs to flee, to escape to the
mountains because Jerusalem is going to be
destroyed. "And
let him that is in the field not return back to take his clothes. But woe unto them that are with child, and to
them that give suck in those days!" It would be
hard for them to flee, especially with that small baby that is still
sucking. "And
pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath." In the winter, it would be more difficult to
flee from Jerusalem or Judaea, and the Jews thought that they were not to
travel but a short distance on the Sabath.
"For then shall be great tribulation, such
as not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be. And except those days had been shortened, no
flesh would have been saved." Talking about the people,
especially inside the city of Jerusalem. "But for the
elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Then if any man say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ, or here; believe
it not. For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so as to
lead astray if possible, even the elect." The
elect would be the Christian people.
Matthew 24:25, "Behold,
I told you beforehand." And so there would be
false Christ that would rise up before the destruction of Jerusalem and after the destruction
of Jerusalem. "Behold
I told you beforehand, if therefore they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in
the wilderness; go not forth: Behold, he is in the inner chambers; believe
it not. For as the lightning cometh
forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the coming
of the Son of man." A footnote in my American
Standard Version of 1901 for “coming” says that the Greek word means presence,
therefore it applies to the second advent of Christ. Revelation 1:7, "Every
eye shall see him. And they that pierced
him shall see him." Verse 28, "And
wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together."
Now, beginning with verse twenty‑nine through
thirty‑five. Some of our very best
preachers are giving what I think is absolutely a wrong interpretation of these
verses. They give it a figurative and
symbolic interpretation, and I never have read or heard any of them speaking
where they would deal with all three of the parallels. I go
into some details in the paper that I handed out, and I hope you will give careful
attention. I do not think this passage
is to have a symbolic or figurative interpretation. It is talking about the second advent of
Christ, the signs that would accompany his coming, but with those signs there is not time for people who are not prepared
to meet him to change, but the signs will accompany his coming. "But immediately
after the tribulation of those days." In the
article that I handed out, I call attention to Adam Clark’s comments about the
word immediately. He said that this passage was commonly thought of as being
the second advent of Christ. And I quote
him on page two, “commentators generally understand this and what follows of
the end of the world, Christ' coming judgment.
But the word immediately shows that our Lord is not speaking of any
distant event but of something evenly consequent on calamities already
predicted and that must be the destruction of Jerusalem.” And he quotes from Lightfoot, “the Jewish
heaven shall perish and the sun and the moon and its glory shall be darkened
and brought to nothing.” And compares it
to Isaiah 13:10 and Ezekiel 32:7‑8.
And these are the same Old Testament references that some of our brethren
use to try to get a figurative and symbolic interpretation.
Now, when you read Isaiah thirteen, it is evident
that Isaiah was not talking about end of time judgment, but in time judgment
on the nation of Babylon. There is no question about it, but why does
he use such language? The answer is
given by Jude when he says that God's destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire is a type of
eternal judgment. In other words, the
language used is figurative language that would apply to eternal judgment. And notice the reading on page two, the last
paragraph, these are the same references that are being used by some brethren
as a basis for making Matthew 24:29-35 figurative. When you read all of Isaiah thirteen, it is
very evident that Isaiah is using figurative language to describe God's in
time rather than end of time judgment on the nation of Babylon because of her terrible
wickedness. Why the use of such
figurative language? The answer is that
all such drastic in time judgments on nations like Babylon and Egypt are a type of eternal
judgment when it will be literal. Verse
seven of Jude reads, "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities
about them, having given themselves over to fornication and gone after strange
flesh are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of
eternal fire." Is Jude not saying that the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is a type of eternal
judgment?
Adam Clark also found trouble with the word immediately
and our brethren find trouble with immediately, these brethren that I am
talking about. Now they are some of the most sincere and best brothers and best
recognized as very outstanding preachers in our brotherhood, but I sincerely
think their interpretation is wrong! I
wish I had brought some paperclips where you could put one at Matthew twenty‑four
and then Mark thirteen, and then a paperclip between Mark's and Luke's that is
in chapter twenty‑one. Brother Lawrence
Barclay gave me an article that he has written, in which he emphasizes from the
Greek some of the meanings in respect to the word immediately as used in
Matthew, that it is used as a word of transition. But if you notice from Mark's account,
instead of immediately he says “after that tribulation”. Now, you need to write down your parallels to
Matthew twenty‑nine through thirty‑five. They are Mark thirteen beginning with twenty‑four
through thirty‑two, and Luke's parallel begins with Luke twenty‑one
verses twenty‑five through thirty‑three.
And so let us read those parallels together. But back to Matthew 24:29, "But
immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and
the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from the heavens,
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of
man in heaven." And some brethren would rather
talk about the “sign of the Son of man in heaven” than the coming of the Son
of man on the clouds of heaven. "And
then shall all tribes of the earth mourn."
Brother Foy Wallace Jr. many years ago led the fight against premillennialism, but
he let the pendulum swing too far in the
other direction. And on Revelation 1:7, he made the comment that
all tribes of the earth are the Jewish people.
Well, Jewish people surely do not fit all tribes of the earth. "Then shall all tribes
of the earth mourn." Why? They would not be prepared for that second
advent of Christ, and it is too late for them to do anything about it. In the destruction of Jerusalem, the desciples were told to
flee. "And they
shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory." One question that these brethren need to be
asked, Did anyone see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven in the
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D? There is no Bible account, and I do not know
of any secular history account of anyone seeing Christ coming in the
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., “coming
on the clouds of the heaven”. You remember Acts1:9-11, when Jesus ascended,
he ascended in the clouds. and the men that stood by in white apparel said, “why
stand you gazing up into heaven? This
same Jesus whom ye saw ascend into heaven, shall so come back in like manner.” I have it mixed up a little bit, but, anyway,
he ascended in a cloud, and he is coming back in a cloud. When Jesus was before the Sanhedrin Court that condemned him to
death. Matthew 26:63, "But
Jesus held his peace. And the high
priest said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us
whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God.
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said, nevertheless I say unto you,
Henceforth ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power,
coming on the clouds of heaven." So
Christ is going to come back on the clouds of heaven, as plainly taught in the
scriptures.
Matthew 24:31 "And
he shall send forth his angels with the great sound of atrumpet; and they shall
gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heaven to
the other." One of our preachers in a lecture on the
lecture program entitled, Premillennialism True or False, said concerning this
verse, and I quote, “Angel means message or messenger, and it is our studied conviction that the reference is here made
to those teachers and preachers of the
gospel who would be involved in getting the whole gospel to the whole world.” Well, remember Matthew 24:14, the gospel would be
preached in the whole world before the destruction of Jerusalem. And when Paul wrote the letter to the
Colossians in about 62 or 63 A.D., he
said that it had come to them that had come in “all the world
bearing fruit and increasing,” Colossians 1:5‑6.
In verse twenty‑three, he affirms that the gospel had been
preached in “all creation unto heaven, where I Paul have made
a minister.” But here he makes it the gospel being
preached – “the whole gospel preached to the whole world.” And we have three references which say it had
already been preached to the whole world.
He further said that the fall of Jerusalem, and the Jewish nation
would contribute mightily in the power and providence of God to spread the
gospel of Christ. Where is the Bible
reference that says that the word was preached faster after the destruction of Jerusalem than before the destruction
of Jerusalem. He also said, “The great sound of the
trumpet is the sound of the gospel of Christ, God's only saving power.”
Do you remember I Thessalonians 4:16, “For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
ark angel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise
first.” The two classes of people in those last few
verses of chapter four of Thessalonians, are the righteous living and the
righteous dead. I Corinthians 15:52 reads, "We
shall all be changed in a moment and a twinkling of an eye, at he last
trump, for the trumpet shall
sound. And we shall be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed." And
you remember the parable of the tares that we have studied, and the angels make
the separation of the net that brought in, the good and the bad, and here he is
making men angels, and the great sound of the trumpet being the sound of the
gospel. Well, I think it is dangerous
because it is violating a basic rules of, interpretation of scripture. The scripture is supposed to be left to be
literal, unless there is something in a passage that shows that it cannot be
literal. There are a lot of references
in the book of Isaiah, which shows very definitely that it is not literal but figurative language. Isaiah even has the trees clapping their
hands and a number of other like things.
Sometimes other references may show that a particular passage is
figurative and symbolic rather than literal, but there is nothing in this
passage that causes it to be figurative and symbolic, and when you read it and
give it a literal interpretation, then there is harmony of the scriptures. Another basic rule of interpretation is that
the Bible is its best interpreter. When any passage is interpreted properly it
will be in harmony with all other passages. The figurative interpretation is out
of harmony with many other passages. Our “God is not a God
of confusion, but of peace”(I Corinthians 14:33).
"Now from the fig tree
learned her parable, when her branches now become tender, and putteth forth
leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: Even so ye also, when ye see all these
things, know ye that he is nigh, even at the doors." And that Christ is nigh. "Verily I say unto you, This
generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my
words shall not pass away." Now, our
brethren also find trouble with this generation shall not pass
away. They want to make it just an
ordinary generation, but read my comments on that. Adam Clark even said in his comments that this
generation means the Jewish people, that they would not pass away until all
those things were fulfilled.
Beginning with verse thirty‑six, he details
about the second advent or the end of the world. "But of that day,
and hour knoweth no one, not even the
angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only." I remember a great brother saying that Jesus
did not know when he was coming, and how could he know the signs of his
coming. Well, how did he know it would
be like it was in the days of Noah? He
knew it would be unexpected like it was in the days of Noah. Turn to Mark 13:24 which is almost like
Matthew’s.
The parallels to Matthew24:29-35 are Mark 13:24-31 and Luke 21:25-33. "But in those days after
that tribulation." Instead of saying immediately,
Mark says after that tribulation. What
would he be referring to as that tribulation?
STUDENT: It had to be the destruction of Jerusalem.
BROTHER TURNER: All right.
That would be the destruction of Jerusalem, and it could mean immediately
from the standpoint of those things that are most important in God's plan of
things. And the second advent of Christ
would be the most important thing after the destruction of Jerusalem. "But in those days after
that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her
light. And the stars shall be fallen
from heaven and the powers that are in the heaven shall be shaken. And then they shall see the Son of man
coming in clouds with great power and glory." All three of the synoptic writers talk about
Jesus coming in the clouds with great power and glory and that he sends forth
his angels to make a separation. "And
then shall he send forth the angels and shall gather together his elect
from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part
of the heaven. Now from the fig tree
learn her parable; when her branch is now become tender and putteth forth its
leaves, ye know that summer is nigh.
Even so ye also, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that he
is nigh, even at the doors. Verily I say
unto you, this generation shall not pass away till all these things be
accomplished. Heaven and earth shall
pass away:
But my words shall not pass away: But of that day And that begins the answer to the third
question. and that hour
knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the
Father." And remember Acts 17:31 where Paul said to the
Athenians that, “God has appointed a day in which he will judge
the world by the man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto
all men in that he has raised him from the dead.” So
there is an appointed day, but only God knows that day.
Turn to Luke twenty‑one, and the parallel
begins with verse twenty‑five. I
would like to call attention to verse twenty.
Luke interprets the abomination of desolation as spoken of by Daniel the
prophet. "But when
ye see Jerusalem
compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand. Let them that are in Judaea
flee unto the mountains." Instead of saying the
abomination of desolation as spoken of by Daniel the prophet, Luke says when
you see Jerusalem compassed by armies. Of course, it was Roman armies that destroyed
Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
Picking up with verse twenty‑five, which is the parallel to
Matthew twenty‑four beginning with verse twenty‑nine. "And there shall be the
signs in sun, and moon, and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations in
perplexity; for the roaring of the sea and the billows. Men fainting for fear, of expectation of the
things which are coming on the world: For the powers of the heaven shall be shaken." Would not the shaking of the powers of the
heavens, the sun, the moon and the stars,
cause the roaring of the sea and the billows.
Do you know that earthquakes or volcanic eruptions can cause tidal waves
and bring great destruction in many parts of the world? And surely the things of heaven being shaken would
cause the roaring of the seas and the
billows. "Men
fainting for fear, for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: For the powers of heaven shall be shaken." And notice that Luke also says, and then
shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and great
glory. See, the signs just accompany the
second advent of Christ. They do not
have time to make any changes. "Then
shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things come to pass, look up,
and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." You need to ask, these brethren with the
figurative interpretation, a question on verse twenty‑eight. What redemption
is he talking about? Is he talking about
redemptions in fleeing from Jerusalem? Did not all those who had obeyed Christ
receive redemption by the blood of Christ as taught in the scriptures of
Ephesians 1:7 and Colossians 1:14 and Hebrews 9:15. Surely all of those who
had obeyed Christ had redemption in Christ already. So what would verse twenty‑eight be
talking about?
STUDENT: Salvation from Jerusalem.
BROTHER TURNER: No, it would be eternal redemption. That would not be much redemption for a woman
with a child fleeing from Jerusalem. How could that be rightly spoken of as “for
your redemption draweth nigh?”
STUDENT: They would probably starve out in the
wilderness.
BROTHER TURNER: But you see that would be eternal
redemption. Is not that right? Would not that have to be eternal redemption?
STUDENT: I agree.
BROTHER TURNER: “Lift up your head
because your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:29, "And he spake to them a
parable: Behold the fig tree, and all the trees. When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of
yourselves that the summer is now nigh.
Even so ye also, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the
kingdom
of God
is nigh." And, again,
that would be talking about the eternal kingdom. The Colossians had been “translated
out of kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son (Colossians 1:13).” On that first Pentecost after the ascension
of Christ, the kingdom of God was fully established. The apostle John, and all of the first
century brethren were “in the tribulation and kingdom and
patience
(Revelation 1:9).”And so verse thirty‑one has got to refer to that eternal
kingdom. "Know ye
that the kingdom
of God
is nigh." So
another question that those brethren need to be asked is, “Did they not have the kingdom until 70 A.D.?”
STUDENT: So it would be related to verse twenty‑eight?
BROTHER TURNER: It would be related to verse twenty‑eight,
right. And your redemption draw
nigh. And the eternal kingdom. "Verily I say unto you,
This generation shall not pass away till all these things be accomplished. Heaven and earth shall pass away: But my words shall not pass away." And then he goes ahead to show that that time
will take nearly all men as a snare. And
he said, "But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your
hearts be overcharged with suffering, and drunkenness, and cares of this life,
and that day come upon you suddenly as a snare. For so shall it come upon all them that dwell
on the face of all the earth." In
other words, the world as a whole will not be prepared for the coming of
Christ. "But
watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and stand before the Son of man." Is not that eternal judgment?
Let us turn back to Matthew 24:36, "But
of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the
Son but the Father only." And some of the premillennial
writers will talk about that this is happening and this is happening which
indicate that he will come soon, but the Bible says that no one knows when Christ
shall come, and that the angels do not know, and that Christ does not know;
that the Father only knows of that day and hour. We can be sure that he will
not come as long as these preachers are saying that he is coming soon because I
Thessalonians 5:3 says, “When they are saying, Peace and safety, then
sudden destruction cometh upon them.” Verse 37,.
"And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the
coming of the Son of man. For as in
those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, and
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the
ark. And they knew not until the flood
came, and took them all away; so shall it be the coming of the Son of
man." Again my Bible has a
footnote which says that the Greek word means presence. So like the people in
the days of Noah, were not prepared for that flood that took them away, the people
of the earth will not be prepared for that day, for the coming of the
Son of man, and there will be a separation.
"And then shall two be in the field; one is
taken, and one is left. Two women shall
be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left. Watch therefore: For ye know not what day your Lord cometh."
Surely it is talking about the second advent of
Christ. Those people who are going to
have Christ to reign on earth try to get two physical bodily resurrections, and
so this will be that time when, according to them, the righteous would be
raptured up and the wicked left. They also try to make two bodily resurrections
out of I Thessalonians 4:16 and Revelation 20:5-6. Please read the
outline, Two Great Resurrections. "But
know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief
was coming, he would have watched, and would have not suffered his house to be
broken through. Therefore be ye also
ready: For in the hour that ye think not the Son of
man cometh." And remember in I
Thessalonians chapter five, Paul talks about how that the unrighteous will not
be expecting his coming, that he will come as a thief in the night. When they are saying “peace
and safety, then sudden destruction will come upon them.” So as long as we have men setting a time when
Christ is coming, he will not come then.
Because when he does come, the devil’s camp will be saying peace and
safety. "Therefore
be ye also ready." A child of God should be ready
at all times to meet the Lord, right?
STUDENT: That's it.
BROTHER TURNER: And none of us know when that last day for us
is coming. Any of us can be in a tragic
accident, and that would be the hour when in one sense it would be our last
hour. "Therefore
be ye also ready: For the hour that ye think not the Son of man
cometh." At least a man's eternal judgment would be
decided. If he was in a tragic accident,
if he is prepared, he is prepared. If he
is not prepared, he is not prepared.
Matthew 24:45, "Who
then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath set over his
household, to give them their food in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when
he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I
say unto you, That he shall set him over all that he has. But if that evil servant shall say in his
heart, My Lord tarrieth. And shall begin to beat his fellow servants, and shall
eat and drink with the drunken; the Lord of that servant shall come in a day
when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder,
and appoint his portion with the hypocrites: There shall be the weeping and the
gnashing of teeth." Every time we read that, it is
talking about eternal punishment.
Chapter
Twenty-five
"Then shall the kingdom
of heaven be like unto ten virgins." Now,
they are virgins, and that speaks good of them, but the problem is that they
have not made proper preparations for the coming of the Lord. "Who took their lamps
and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
And five of them were foolish and five were wise." But remember all ten of them were
virgins. "For the
foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them." And that would represent that they had not
made proper preparation for the coming of the bridegroom. And the bridegroom would be what person?
STUDENT: Christ
BROTHER TURNER: Yes, Christ is the
bridegroom of the church (Ephesians 5:22-32). "But
the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all
slumbered and slept." This Parable is based on
a true‑to‑life story of that day of the bridegroom coming, and
sometimes his coming was later than the guests expected.. "But at midnight
there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come; ye forth to meet him. Then all of those virgins arose, and trimmed
their lamps. And the foolish said unto
the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, Per adventure;
there will not be enough for us and you." And
surely no person will have any righteousness to spare, right (Ezekiel 14:13-20)? When we have done
all that we are bidden us to do, we are still unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10).. "Go ye rather to them
that sell, and buy for yourselves. And
while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready Those that had extra oil. went in with him to the
marriage feast. And the door was shut." So those who had made adequate preparation
went into the marriage feast. "Afterward
came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto
you, I know ye not. Watch therefore, for
ye know not the day nor the hour." So
emphasizing again how we need to prepared at all times and we need to make
proper preparation.
Matthew 25:14, "For
it is when a man goeth into another country, and calleth his own servants, and
delivered unto them his goods. And unto
one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one; each
according to his several ability; and he went on his journey." Now, notice that the man going in the far
country gave talents to his servants according to their ability to use. One man had enough ability to use five
talents. Another one had ability to use
two and another one had ability to use one.
Now, the one‑talent man is not condemned because he had only one
talent, but because he did not use that talent.
"Straightway he that received the five
talents, went and traded with them, and made other five talents." A talent was a sum of money, worth about a
thousand dollars, but because of its use in this parable it has come to mean
our abilities and our opportunities. And
the Lord expects us to use what we have been given. "In like manner he also
that received the two, gained other two.
But he that received the one went away and digged in the earth, and hid
his Lord's money. Now after a long
time the Lord of those servants cometh, and maketh a reckoneth with
them." To the five‑talent man, the Lord said
you have done well, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a few
things, and “I will make thee ruler over many things, enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord." Likewise the
two talents, but that one‑talent man had a wrong attitude, and he hid hisLord’s
money. I guess we can count verse
fourteen as our beginning place for next time, Matthew twenty‑five and
verse fourteen.