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The True People of God

Here’s my exegesis of Matthew 21:43, considering its context, language and significance:

“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.”

 

This verse is the concluding declaration of Jesus’ Parable of the Tenants (vv. 33-41), spoken directly to the chief priests and Pharisees (v. 45).

In the parable, a landowner (God) leases his vineyard (Israel; Isa. 5:1-7) to tenants (religious leaders). They reject/kill the owner’s servants (prophets) and finally his son (Jesus). Judgment falls on the tenants.

The leaders themselves pronounce judgment (v. 41): “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants”.

Jesus confirms their verdict (v. 43) and connects it to Psalm 118:22-23 (vv. 42, 44) about the rejected stone becoming the cornerstone.

Key Terms & Meaning:

 

“Therefore” (Greek: Dia touto): Links the verse directly to the leaders’ self-condemnation in the parable.

“Kingdom of God”: Refers to God’s reign/authority entrusted to Israel as His covenant people (Ex. 19:5-6; Dan. 2:44).

  • “Taken away from you”: “You” = Israel’s current leadership. They failed as stewards by rejecting God’s messengers and his Son.
  • “Given to a people” (Greek: ethnei): Ethnos typically means “nation” or “people”.
    • This people refers to a new covenant community (Jew + Gentile) under Christ (1 Pet. 2:9-10). This includes faithful Jews who accept Jesus (e.g., apostles) and Gentiles who are ‘grafted in’ to use Paul’s term (Rom. 11:17-24).

“Producing its fruits”: These include obedience, repentance, justice, and faithfulness (Matt. 3:8; 7:16-20). This contrasts with the leaders’ spiritual barrenness (Matt. 23:13-33).

 Theological Significance:

Divine Judgment: God’s kingdom is not irrevocably tied to ethnic Israel or its corrupt leaders. Stewardship requires faithfulness.

 

Inclusive Redefinition: The kingdom is transferred to a new people of God (the Church) centered on Christ (Eph. 2:11-22). This fulfils Abrahamic promises (Gal. 3:29).

Continuity & Fulfillment: Jesus is the “stone” (vv. 42, 44) establishing God’s kingdom (Dan. 2:44-45). The Church inherits Israel’s spiritual privileges (Rom. 9:6-8; Gal. 6:16).

Warning to All: Leadership in God’s kingdom demands fruitfulness, not just privilege (John 15:1-6).

 

Application:

 

To the Original Audience: A direct indictment of Israel’s leaders, warning that rejecting Jesus forfeits their role in God’s plan. Unbelieving Israel forfeits its chosen people status. Plainly, according to Jesus.

To the new People of God: This is a call to faithful stewardship, both Jew and Gentile. Privilege implies responsibility.

To Individuals: Entrance into God’s kingdom requires receiving Christ (John 1:12) and bearing spiritual fruit.

Connection to Jesus:

This verse underscores Jesus’ authority to redefine the people of God around Himself. His impending death/resurrection (which is implied in the parable) will inaugurate the new covenant community which replaces or replenishes Israel.

In Summary

Matthew 21:43 declares a monumental shift—the kingdom stewardship passes from unfaithful leaders to a new, multi-ethnic people under Christ, marked by responsive faith and spiritual fruitfulness. This is both a warning and a promise of God’s unfolding redemptive plan.

Jesus’ authority to redefine the true people of God around Himself is emphatically expressed and cannot be denied.

This redemptive plan falsifies the teaching of Dispensationalism. The nation state of Israel is not Paul’s “Israel of God.” (Gal 6:16)

Prove me wrong!

The Apostles See Jesus No More

In the opening verses of the NT Book of Acts, Luke gives us the account of Jesus’ ascension. This is not the only account we have of the ascension in the Bible. In Luke 24:50-52 there is a brief account.

But this passage contains some valuable information which the casual reader may easily miss.

Let’s look at the passage.

6.  So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”  

6. they kept asking him. Their question shows they thought just as the Jews thought –in terms of a Davidic messiah and an earthly kingdom of Israel free of Roman rule. They were still focused on Israel and its future. It was not about the kingdom of Israel. It was about the Kingdom of Heaven. This would all soon change with the inauguration of the new covenant in Jesus’ blood.

7. He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

 The Father alone sets dates, times. Jesus had already told the disciples that the timing of His coming was unknown (Mat 24:36). Only the Father determines the times and seasons.

8. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

But: Grk, G235 alla, contrariwise, emphatic—the disciples will have to think differently—to radically change their mind.

My witnesses: Very soon they will see him no longer because he is going to the Father, where they cannot come (see John 14:28-29). Instead, they are to receive power with the coming of the Holy Spirit and be his witnesses everywhere.  This would be a huge refocus. 

9. After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. 

  • taken up into a cloud. Jesus was hidden from their eyes by a cloud as he went into Heaven. Clouds denote God’s glory. These ‘clouds’ appear to shut heaven, or the sky, from human view. He was hidden from their eyes by cloud. Just as He was hidden from their eyes as He went into Heaven, so when he comes He will be hidden to human eyes by the clouds of glory (Mat 24:30).

10. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 

they strained to see him. The cloud made it very difficult to see him, then impossible to see him.

two white-robed men. One of the many references to angels in the NT suddenly appearing (cf Luke 24:4 at the empty tomb). 

11. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

Jesus has been taken. Note the past tense ‘has been taken’

taken from you. They will see him no longer.

Men of Galilee. Here is aninteresting detail: they were addressed as ‘men of Galilee’. It is they who were addressed and not us today. Context is critically important for correct interpretation.

Jesus will someday return. The two ‘men’ declared Jesus will ‘someday’ return from heaven. The disciples already knew he would soon return (Matthew 10:23, 16:27-28, 24:30), but the hour or the day was unknown (Mat 24:36). This was a confirmation for them.

In the same way. The disciples could not see him because he was hidden by the cloud of glory. In the same way when he returns he will come in clouds of glory again hidden from human eyes in his then ascended form.  

This story shows us today that the coming return of Jesus was to occur within the lifespan of those present, these “men of Galilee”. So it rationally follows that return has already occurred!

This passage and the Matthew 24:30-34 passage, teach us the same thing: Jesus returned within the lifespan of the disciples!  

The coming of Jesus that we read in both Acts 1:6-11 and in the gospels (Matthew 10:23, 16:27-28, 24:30-34) cannot possibly be a “coming” that will occur in our future, for indeed, it has already occurred in the generation of the disciples.

Go figure!

Please prove me wrong.

Rapture? Three Greek Words

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ATHEISM: TRUTH SUPRESSED   

   When the famous atheist astronomer Fred Hoyle first examined the evidence of how the universe is so finely tuned, he had to admit there had to be a super intelligence to make this happen. He said:

“A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature.”

“The likelihood of the formation of life from inanimate matter is 1 to a number with 40,000 noughts after it (1040,000)…. It is big enough to bury Darwin and the whole theory of evolution. There was no primeval soup, neither on this planet nor any other, and if the beginnings of life were not random, they must therefore have been the product of purposeful intelligence.” ~ Fred Hoyle

“The chance that higher life forms might have emerged through evolutionary processes is comparable with the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junk yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the material therein.” ~ Fred Hoyle

Many people do not want to consider such a super-intellect being. Actually many modern sceptics in their hearts do not want there to be a God. For example, see what Professor Thomas Nagel of New York University said:

“I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God and naturally hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want the universe to be like that.”

That’s worth repeating and reflecting deeply the professor’s words:

I want atheism to be true.

I don’t want there to be a God.

I don’t want the universe to be like that.

This is a profound example of someone who will not believe, despite the abundant evidence available. This is plain unbelief and exposes how people hold the truth in their unrighteousness. They suppress the truth as Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans (chapter 1):

So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.  That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. (Rom 1:24-27)

What are the results of such foolishness? They are awful. The apostle continues:

Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarrelling, deception, malicious behaviour, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.  They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. (Rom 1:28-32)

There are probably many reasons why people don’t want this God to be true.

It is plain that unbelief in God is a matter of the heart. “The heart of man is desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9). Only God can truly search and test the heart, as he alone knows the true motives and character of individuals. This profound self-deception underscores the need for divine intervention. Human effort alone cannot reform the heart. The Hebrew word translated “desperately wicked” has the idea of a terminal, incurable illness.

Thus it has nothing to do with the intellect. Only the heart.

Jeffrey Tucker writes:

This is why atheism has always struck me as little more than an intellectual pretension. It’s actually the height of arrogance: “I have considered this very carefully and concluded using my own incredibly powerful brain, packed with infinite knowledge of all things, that there is no higher power.”

A person’s private belief aside, religious tradition massively shapes society in every conceivable way. Always has and always will. Even if you don’t believe, even if this upsets you, it still bears respect and understanding.   Epoch Times, October 2025

 

How to Conquer a Death Cult

by Andrew Torba

There are moments in history when the veil is lifted, and the true nature of an ideology is laid bare for all to see. The aftermath of the cowardly assassination of Charlie Kirk was one of those moments. While patriots across America mourned the loss of a bold voice for freedom, truth, and the future of our nation, the Left erupted in celebration.

They laughed. They cheered. They shared memes. They hailed the murderer as a hero. They desecrated the memory of a man gunned down for the simple act of speaking truth.

This is not an anomaly. This is not the work of a few bad apples. This is the logical endpoint of liberalism: a death cult that worships at the altar of destruction.

At its core, this ideology venerates death. It champions the right to end innocent life in the womb, rebranding the slaughter of the unborn as “healthcare” and a sacred right. It encourages the chemical and surgical mutilation of healthy young bodies, a grotesque parody of medicine that severs the individual from their own biological reality. It pushes policies that dissolve the fundamental bonds of family and community, leaving isolated, atomized individuals adrift in a meaningless sea of consumer choices and state dependency.

Now, they celebrate political assassinations.

This is who they are. This is what they believe in. There is no life in their ideology only decay, degradation, and death. They cannot create, so they destroy. They cannot build, so they tear down. They cannot defend truth, so they silence those who speak it.

Charlie Kirk was a threat to them not because he was violent, not because he preached hatred, but because he represented something they despise: life, vitality, courage, and a future for our people. He stood for the America they are trying to erase. In their twisted world, the murder of a young man with a family, friends, and a mission is cause for joy. In their moral vacuum, the blood of the innocent is just another tool in their war against God, nature, and order.

We see you. We see your hatred. We see your emptiness. We see the hollow, lifeless eyes of a movement that has nothing left to offer but destruction, and we will not be silenced. We will mourn Charlie. We will honor his legacy. We will continue his work. And we will remember this moment, the moment the death cult showed its true face to the world.

They think this will frighten us into submission. They are wrong. It only strengthens our resolve.

For we are the builders. We are the defenders. We are the bearers of life, faith, and hope. We will never stop fighting for the future they are so desperate to destroy.

The modern liberal worldview is a hollowed-out edifice built upon a foundation of nihilism and resentment. It is not merely misguided; it is, in its essence, a metaphysical rebellion against creation itself. Its pillars are not principles of life, order, or continuity, but glorifications of decay, fragmentation, and ultimate negation.

This is not an accident. A culture that severs itself from its spiritual and biological roots—from faith, from heritage, from the natural order of the family—has nothing left to affirm. Having rejected the sacred, it can only profane. Having rejected creation, it can only dismantle.

This is the death cult. It masks its emptiness with the language of “compassion” and “progress,” but its fruits are everywhere: fatherless homes, soul-crushing addiction, mental illness on an epidemic scale, and a culture that produces young people so deracinated and hopeless that they cheer for murder.

They offer no future, only an endless, sterile present of managed decline. They cannot create beauty, so they deface monuments. They cannot produce harmony, so they amplify chaos. They cannot foster life, so they defend every manifestation of death.

Our response cannot be mere political opposition. It must be a total and profound rejection of their entire worldview. We must be the unequivocal champions of life. We must build large, faithful families. We must create beautiful and lasting things. We must reaffirm our connection to God, to our people, and to the land. We must be so generative, so life-affirming, and so filled with purpose that their culture of death simply withers in the shadow of our vitality.

They celebrate the darkness because they have forgotten what the light looks like. It is our duty to shine it so brightly that they are forced to remember, or to look away.

The spirit of the age does not knock politely at the Church’s door; it slithers in directly from the pulpit. The same death cult that celebrates murder in the streets and glorifies mutilation in the classroom has found a comfortable home within the compromised walls of modern Christianity. It has exchanged the robust, world-conquering faith of our fathers for a weak, effeminate, and apologetic social club, a chaplaincy to the very regime that seeks our destruction.

This infiltration is a betrayal of our entire history. Look to the men who built Christendom. They were not managers of decline. They were not anxious pleasers of the world. They were conquerors. They were kings, knights, saints, and martyrs who carved civilization out of wilderness and darkness with the sword of truth and the shield of faith. They understood that the Gospel was not a suggestion; it was a mandate to reclaim every inch of creation for Christ the King.

This was a masculine Christianity. It spoke of order, justice, duty, and victory. It built cathedrals that scraped the heavens, universities that pursued divine wisdom, and legal systems based on eternal law. It tamed empires and baptized cultures. It did not ask for permission from the world; it commanded the world to bend the knee.

Now, look at what we have been given. A Church that has traded its crown for a begging bowl. A faith that preaches “tolerance” instead of truth, “dialogue” instead of discipleship, and “inclusion” instead of repentance. It busies itself with ESG scores, climate change rituals, and draping rainbow flags over the cross in a pathetic attempt to gain the approval of a world that will always despise it.

This weakness is a theological and spiritual sickness. It is a failure of nerve and a failure of faith. It is the direct result of a Church that has abandoned its masculine, commanding nature and instead embraced the world’s feminine, receptive values of passivity, feel-good therapy, and endless compromise.

We see it in the pulpit, where the fire of prophecy has been replaced by the damp squib of motivational speaking. We see it in the seminary, where future shepherds are taught to be bureaucrats rather than warriors. We see it in the pews, where men are given no mission, no challenge, and no standard to strive for and so they leave.

This must end. The roots of this parasitic ideology must be ripped out, burned, and salt poured into the earth where they grew.

We must return, with unapologetic fervor, to the Christianity that built the West.

We must preach a God who is a Father, a King, and a Judge not a vague, affirming force. We must call men to be saints, not therapists; to be leaders of households and nations, not passive observers. We must reclaim the arts, the laws, the sciences, and the governance of our people as our rightful domain, given to us by God to steward for His glory.

This means cleansing our institutions. It means defunding and disempowering every committee, diocese, and seminary that trades in this death-cult poison. It means supporting only those bishops and pastors who act like fathers and generals, not like corporate spokesmen. It means building parallel networks of education, media, and community that operate wholly outside the corrupt systems of the world.

We are not called to be a quaint subculture. We are called to be a conquering army, baptizing the nations for the glory of God. The same faith that once turned the Roman world upside down is still there, waiting beneath the layers of weakness and compromise. The remnant remains intact. It is time to rediscover it. It is time to stop managing our retreat and start planning our advance.

The world offers death. We must offer life, fierce, abundant, and eternal. We must be so strong in faith, so clear in truth, and so bold in action that the world has no choice but to once again reckon with the power of the God we serve.

Do not let the fire in your belly die. The righteous anger, the profound grief, the clarity of purpose that Charlie Kirk’s martyrdom ignited within you. This is not a fleeting emotion to be forgotten with the next news cycle. This is a sacred fuel. Guard it. Nurture it. Feed it with prayer, with action, and with an unbreakable resolve to ensure his death was not in vain.

Let this flame forge you into a sharper tool for this battle, a more formidable wall against the advancing darkness. The world wants you to get tired, to get comfortable, to forget. Do not give them that satisfaction. Honor Charlie’s memory by making this fire the eternal pilot light of your spirit, guiding your every thought, word, and deed until the work is done and our people are once again free, sovereign, and thriving under God.

Andrew Torba
CEO, Gab AI Inc
Christ is King

Published in Bold Christian Writing

The End: What You Cannot Deny

This article discusses what is meant by the biblical term ‘the end’ and in its Jewish context  We will also discuss various beliefs about when, how and what the coming of the end means for believers. Many mistakes and assumptions made by modern Christians will be exposed and hopefully corrected.

We find the phrase ‘the end’ in many eschatological contexts. But, just what is it the end of?

This is the end of an age, a long period of time. It is the end of the Mosaic age, Judaism. It’s the end of the Jewish sacrificial system, of the whole of the Jerusalem Temple and priesthood mediation. 

It is a mistake to think that the end of the age means the end of the world or the end of history. For the Jews it meant the end of the ‘current’ Jewish age, the beginning of the new age of the Messiah.

Jesus charged the disciples with the Great Commission, promising He would be with them “until the end of the age”. Some people think Jesus meant that before the end comes that the gospel must be preached to all nations. The degree of completion of this task is seen by many as a significant indicator of the approaching end times. That is also a mistake.

One of the most notable references to the End is found in Matthew 24. Verse 14 says:  this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 

This convinces many readers that the end occurs after the gospel has been preached to all nations.

But in fact, the single Greek word Jesus used for the phrase ‘all the world’ meant something else to the disciples. It meant the Roman world or the known civilised world.

Jesus did not say ‘all would hear about the kingdom’. He said that the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth. This ‘world’ was all reached within the lifetime of the apostle Paul. See the evidence at for this in Romans 10:18, 15: 10, 16:18, Colossians 1:6, 1 Thessalonians 1:8). 

That, my friends, is sensational. The End has come already. That is undeniable.

Another reference to the End is found in Paul’s 1 Corinthians 15:22-25 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His comingThen the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power.  For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.  The last enemy that will be abolished is death”.

 This ‘End’ passage is centred around Paul’s teaching on the resurrection of the dead. It shows the end comes after Jesus has completed his mission and handed over the kingdom to God the Father.

Jesus was the ‘first fruits’—He was the first to rise from the dead. Others follow! Jesus has certainty completed His mission and returned to the Father long ago.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 accurately foretells that after the last trumpet has sounded, believers are consequently and quickly raised to new life after their physical death! This continues to the present day.

It is undeniable that Christians celebrate this wonderful fact at every funeral of our fellow believers!

The sound of the trumpet is a powerful biblical image associated with significant divine announcements, such as the giving of the Law at Sinai, and the call to assemble the Israelites. 

Here the “last trumpet” is the call for people of God to gather to meet the Lord also described in Matthew 24:31 and 1 Thessalonians 4:17. What could be a more significant divine announcement?

Revelation describes various events to unfold during the last days: Revelation 1:1-3; 22:6-7, 12,20.

Sure, Jesus said that no one knows the exact day or hour of His return (Matthew 24:36). But He did not say ‘years, centuries or millennia’. And He added it would be in the lifetime of many of the people He spoke with face to face. (Matthew 10:23, 16:27-28, 24:34). See, that is undeniable.

Then The End Will Come.

So when do you expect “the end’ to occur? And how do you expect Him to appear?

There is an error which the famed scholar C S Lewis made. Lewis blatantly said Jesus was mistaken! He said Jesus failed to come back in the End times as he said he would. (See his book “The World’s Last Night”). That is also the mistaken view of many liberal scholars, atheists and Islamic writers. They have assumed that since Jesus was never seen by human eyes optically, that He never appeared.

But why should any human eyes see the Lord who after His ascension and glorification dwells in unapproachable light at the Father’s right hand? No one in human flesh can see Him and live.

The first Christians expected Jesus to return within their lifetimes. Exactly how they would experience His coming they were not told. So we must be cautious in what to expect, not assuming things.

The apostles wrote 100 times in the NT letters of Jesus’ imminent coming. It is undeniable they could possibly all been mistaken.  See Romans 13:11-13; 16:20; 1 Corinthians 1:7; 4:5; 10:6; Philippians 1:6; 3:11; 1 Thessalonians 1:10-10  for undeniable evidence.  The apostles referred often to the “last days,” urging believers to be ready:  See 1 Peter 1:201 Corinthians 10:11Hebrews 1:2).

Many theologians in their blindness cannot see. So they adapted teachings to explain the apparent delay, making false assumptions. So they claim that Jesus did not mean in His current generation It must be some future generation—a nonsense assumption. Please see my article on this issue here.

Others offer the absurd explanation that the word ‘generation’ meant ‘race’ i.e., the Jewish race. We must stick to the plain words of Jesus. He consistently attacked “this evil generation” the Jews of His own generation.

It is another mistake to believe the End will be a worldwide event seen optically, quoting Matthew 24:23–30 literally. But Biblical prophesies of the collapsing of cosmic entities were a common motif in judgment prophecy, e.g. Isa 13:10, 19:1,24:18-20, 34;8-15, Ezek 32:7–8; Joel 2:28; Nah 1:3Pss 18, 104:3). This would be understood by informed Jews familiar with the prophets and as Jesus taught His disciples.

Jesus said His return will come with speed, brightness, and power, as lightning! Jesus is not seen in the sky but ‘seen’ seated in the heavenly places at the Father’s side! Stephen said to the Sanhedrin, at his trial, “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56).

It is a huge mistake to think you could see Jesus’ second coming optically.  He sits at the right hand of power. He “dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16).

The scriptures are plain. How clearer can we get?  It’s time for your denial to end, the brainwashing, the cognitive dissonance to be recognised and truth to prevail.

Truth is demanded by the Lord from us all. Jesus is the truth. He seeks those who want to worship God in spirit and in truth, not those who seek fantasies, like some imagined rapture.

Instead, as He said to the disciples before they killed Him: I do not ask {Father} to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.  John 17: 15-18

The Age to Come

As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples came along and wanted to take him on a tour of the various Temple buildings. 2 But he told them, “All these buildings will be knocked down, with not one stone left on top of another!” 3 “When will this happen?” the disciples asked him later, as he sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. “What events will signal your return and the end of the age?” 4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone fool you. 5 For many will come claiming to be the Messiah and will lead many astray. 6 When you hear of wars beginning, this does not signal my return; these must come, but the end is not yet. Matthew 24:1-6

The Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition referred to a future era of divine fulfilment, the Messianic Age. This period was envisioned as an age of universal peace, harmony, and the reign of the Messiah, where evil will be eradicated, and the knowledge of the Creator will be widespread.

That’s why Jesus and the disciples along with the Jews expected a future era which was referred to as ‘the age to come’, contrasting with their current age.

In Christian tradition, the “age to come” is similarly associated with the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  

For Jews, the idea of the Messianic Age is deeply rooted in the Hebrew Bible, particularly in the books of the prophets. Isaiah speaks of a time when “nation will not lift sword against nation” and “they will no longer study warfare. Isaiah 2 speaks of a time when the Mount of the Lord’s house will be established as the highest of the mountains, and all nations will stream to it, seeking peace and learning the ways of the Lord.

Isaiah 11 describes the Messianic Age as a time when a shoot will come forth from the stump of Jesse (David’s father), and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

This figure, the Messiah, will be filled with the Spirit of the Lord, bringing wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord.

The Messianic Age is also described in Isaiah 32, where the Spirit of the Lord will be poured out on the people, leading to a time of peace, security, and prosperity. The passage emphasizes that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

In addition, Isaiah 42 highlights the Messiah’s role in bringing justice to the nations. He will not falter or be discouraged until he establishes justice on earth, and the nations will look to him for guidance and hope.

Isaiah 65:17-19. “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.

These Old Testament passages collectively paint a picture of the Messianic Age as a time of peace, justice, and the presence of God’s Spirit, where the Messiah will reign and bring about a new era of harmony and righteousness.

Now consider these passages from the New Testament:

Now consider these passages from the New Testament:

Matthew 12:32. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Luke 18:30. . . . . . receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

 

1 Corinthians 2:6.  we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away

 

Ephesians 1:21. Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

 

Hebrews 6:5 . . .tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come

 

Revelation 21:4  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, . . . . .  nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away

Jesus would have expounded to the disciples many Old Testament scriptures that pointed to end times. Also He would have given them His own direct teachings. Matthew recorded many of these He gave them before the Olivet discourse. See Matthew 4:17, 5:17, 10:23, 16:17-18,  9:36-43, 13:47-50, 22:2-14.

It is a huge mistake to think that the End in the Bible means the end of everything. But that’s what a surprising number of Christian people believe.

              That’s an error which the famed scholar C S Lewis made. Lewis blatantly said Jesus was mistaken! He said Jesus failed to come back in the End time as he said he would. (See Lewis’ book “The World’s Last Night”).

That is also the mistaken view of many liberal scholars, atheists and Islamic writers.

So, please do not make this mistake.

Jesus was not mistaken and he cannot lie. But true to his promise, he returned as he said he would before many of his followers passed away (Matthew 10:23, 16:17-18 and 24:34.

Dispensationalism and John Nelson Darby

People who follow dispensational and ‘rapture’ teaching invariably believe the teachings of Darby.

John Nelson Darby was born in 1800 to a prominent family in London. First, he became a lawyer, then he became a priest in the Church of Ireland. However, he became concerned over the prevailing condition of the church, which he saw as deadened by formality. The style of work,” he wrote, “was not in agreement with what I read in the Bible concerning the church and Christianity; nor did it correspond with the effects of the action of the Spirit of God” (Letters of J. N. Darby, Oak Park, IL: Bible Truth Publishers, 1971, III, 297–298).

The Darby family owned the most haunted castle in the country, Leap Castle. There 150 dead bodies were found in the cellars, and where satanic masses were held. Darby used all kinds of occult terms in his religious writings. He was involved in many secret societies and occult groups.

During the time of his predecessor Jonathan Charles Darby there, séances were held in the castle by the latter’s wife Mildred Darby. She was a writer of Gothic novels, leading to publicity about the castle and its ghosts. The claims of paranormal activity include the putative existence of a Red Lady ghost, the ghosts of two girls, and an “elemental spirit” associated with Mildred Darby. The castle describes itself as “the world’s most haunted castle.” 

You can read about this at https://www.thestandingstone.ie/2009/08/leap-castle-co-offaly.html

And at https://www.ciaranmchugh.com/gallery/the-bloody-chapel-at-leap-castle/ 

Darby marked his doctrinal works with Masonic and Theosophical terms. See here

https://libertytothecaptives.net/darby_writings_occult.html.

See Darby’s Pre-Trib Rapture ‘Christ’ compared to Alice Bailey’s Theosophical/Luciferian Christ here: https:libertytothecaptives.net/darbychrist_newage.html 

His teachings

Darby taught the separate economies in God’s redemptive purpose. He separated Israel and the Church. There were two distinct groups, two distinct identities, and two distinct futures. He viewed Acts 2 in the New Testament as a pivotal moment in God’s dealings with Israel. He claimed that began a new dispensation, the ‘church’. This period would last until what he understood as the ‘rapture’.

He taught seven dispensations: Paradise, Noah, Abraham, Israel, Gentiles, the Spirit and the Millennium. He held a hermeneutic of “literal interpretation” to all areas of scripture including Old Testament prophecies.

Darby toured many times through the United States and Canada from 1859 to 1874, widely spreading his theological perspectives. His dispensational teachings were further made popular by C. I. Scofield in his notes for the highly influential Scofield Reference Bible.

The Logos.com website ‘Got Questions?’ claims that “today premillennialism and a modified form of Darby’s dispensationalism are held by the majority of evangelicals”. Some estimate half a billion evangelicals, chiefly in America. Logos appears to support this theory.

But is this teaching true? Is it Biblical?

The Bible holds to its unity, both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The Bible always stresses the unity of the people of God. The one covenant, the covenant of grace, is the overarching structure. But the dispensationalist structure cuts up the Bible into 7 parts. This is mere presupposition.

Darby proposed the ‘church age’. But as things would get worse, Christ would come back to ‘rapture his church’. Then he says we have seven years of tribulation (misquoting Revelation 16-19). Then Christ comes back as the second coming. Then finally, the thousand-year reign, the millennium.

Dispensationalists think several scriptures show the distinct roles of Israel and the Church and the progressive revelation of God’s plan. They cite Genesis 12:1-3, God’s covenant with Abraham, promising descendants, land, and blessings for all nations through his seed. Dispensationalists interpret this as a literal promise that will be fulfilled within the people of Israel. Again mere presupposition.

The New Testament absolutely explodes this theory.

Paul wrote that gentiles are “no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” Ephesians 3

Dispensationalists hold that the seed of Abraham is just the physical offspring of Abraham. But in Galatians 3:16, Paul explains that “the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring.” He then explicitly identifies the offspring (seed) as Jesus Christ. Then in verse 29: “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

Christ is a literal physical descendant of Abraham. But because believers, both Jew or gentile, are united to Christ. Thus we too are Abraham’s offspring if we belong to Christ. This is the true gospel.

Dispensationalists cite Ephesians 3:2-5 and 3 other scriptures. They claim that Paul’s term “dispensation” is used to describe God’s progressive revelation of the mystery of the Church.

But Paul says that the church is part of God’s eternal purpose. It will endure forever into the future: “so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, “ (Ephesians 3:10-11)

God will be glorified in the church for all future eternity: “to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. ” (Ephesians 3:21)

Dispensationalists believe the church is a temporary stop gap measure. They fail to comprehend that the church is the bride of Christ and that the wedding day is the second coming. “that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. ” (Ephesians 5:27)

Dispensationalists teach that the church ends at the second coming, when in fact the church continues forever as the bride of Christ. They believe the church was thought up at the last minute when the Jews rejected Jesus as their king! I kid you not! They fail to realise that our salvation is within the Body of Christ and will continue forever.  God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

Dispensationalism, the rapture and premillennialism? All heresy invented by John Darby in 1830 AD.

Conclusion

I challenge all dispensationalists: Show me what I write here is incorrect OR admit your own errors. We cannot both be right. One of us is wrong—seriously wrong. Okay?

If you hold Dispensationalism you are preaching a false gospel, according to the scriptures.

What is Dispensationalism?

Dispensationalism originated in the nineteenth century in the teaching of John Nelson Darby. It is that recent. It was popularized in the United States through Its growth was spurred on through the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible. <Scofield’s Bible (published in 1909) contributed further to the spread of dispensationalism. This ‘bible’ included study notes written from a distinctively dispensationalist perspective. 

This is a religious system which claims to be Christian while actually emptying Christianity of that which is essential to it. If dispensationalism does this, then it is a cult. It cannot be considered a section of Christianity.

It is as serious as that. It is impossible to exaggerate the gravity of the situation.

Dispensationalism can lead to a misunderstanding of key biblical teachings, such as the Sermon on the Mount, which is binding on Christians today. 

Critics of dispensationalism argue that the system misinterprets the Bible. This leads to a fragmented understanding of God’s plan for humanity.

The doctrine of salvation is indisputably and uncompromisingly essential to Christianity.

Dispensationalism has departed from the only way of salvation which is faith in Jesus. If so, then it has departed from Christianity.  It empties Christianity of its essential message.

According to the Scofield Study Bible “A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect to some specific revelation of the will of God” (Scofield note on Genesis 1:28).

2. With this definition Christians are introduced to the concept there are “seven such dispensations which are distinguished in the Scripture” (Scofield’s note on Genesis 1:28).

3. The seven dispensations are declared by Scofield to be as follows:

1. Dispensation of Innocence
2. Dispensation of Conscience
3. Dispensation of Human Government
4. Dispensation of Promise
5. Dispensation of Law
6. Dispensation of Grace
7. Dispensation of the Millennial

According to the Scofield Study Bible each dispensation has “a character exclusively its own,” being “wholly complete and sufficient in itself,” that it “is in no wise exchangeable for the others, and cannot be commingled.”

There are four passages in the Bible where the word “dispensation” occurs. Time is not a factor in these. The word means “administration” or “stewardship” and in context has reference to the Gospel being dispersed. Paul was entrusted with the Gospel in order to dispense it to the Gentiles.

Here are the four passages:1 Corinthians 9:17, Ephesians 1:10,Ephesians 3:2, Colossians 1:25. 

Next, the Bible never distinguishes between the seven dispensations suggested. The very names of the dispensations are also man-made.

In Scripture, the distinctions suggested by the system among these dispensations are not there. For example, in scripture grace is found under the Law and the Law is also found under grace.

The practical implication of Dispensational thinking also becomes alarming. The System teaches the Sermon on the Mount is not binding on Christians today.

Their System says the age of the Law lasted until the Day of Pentecost. The Bible says:

The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it. Luke 16:16

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:26). The King has come to His kingdom to tell His subjects of free grace and mercy. The spiritual nature of the Kingdom confused the Jews many long ago. It continues to confound those today who walk by sight and not by faith. Among these are today’s Zionists and their adulation of the state of Israel. Many have been deceived. Lied to.

They accuse us of “replacement theology”. We gladly accept!  The truth in the New Testament is that there is total replacement theology!

There is no such thing as the nation of Israel today. That nation was totally replaced as God’s wife by Jesus Christ. In Him, the true Vine, is the true assembly of believers, His New Bride. The only way, truth and life.

The people of God in the Old Covenant, the Jews, was replaced by the Body of Christ in a New Covenant! There is only one people of God, not two.

The Jerusalem temple and the entire Mosaic religion were replaced by the Body of Christ in AD 70!

The parables of Matthew 13 show that Jesus’ emphatically taught that there is no other kingdom but His kingdom and its spiritual nature. For example Matthew 13:47-50:

“the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind.  When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. That is the way it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Under the New Covenant everyone can come by faith to Mt. Zion, the city of the living God (The letter to the Hebrews. 12:22). Let the Dispensationalist and the Jewish Zionist be incensed. The sacred precinct of their literalism is invalided.

We can find rest in His city. There “The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto you: but the Lord shall be unto you an everlasting light, and your God your glory” (Isaiah 60:19).

Conclusion

Look, this is my charge to all you who are dispensationalists—either show me the errors in what I write here or admit your own errors. We cannot both be right. One of us is wrong—seriously wrong. Okay?

If you are wrong, you are preaching a false gospel.

Will You Be Left Behind?

People who follow dispensational and ‘rapture’ doctrine invariably follow the ‘left behind’ teaching,  popularised by authors and movie makers like Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, which fictionalises the idea of a secret rapture where Christians are suddenly removed from Earth, leaving others behind to face a period of tribulation.  They apply it to the ‘rapture’. They and others like Hal Lindsey and Jerry Falwell teach that some will be taken up to heaven (the floaters} and the rest left behind on earth.

Millions of young people in the 70s joined the ‘Jesus People‘, a wonderful movement of passionate Christians all over the world. Many of these devoured the book by Lindsey, ‘The Late Great Planet Earth‘. In his book, Lindsey warned that planet earth would cease to exist within a few years. More than 15 million copies of this book were sold, and it was named ‘the bestseller of the decade’.

Sadly, it’s actually the truth that is being left behind. The ‘rapture’ doctrine does not accord with scripture. It was not taught by Jesus or by the apostles.

The passages these teachers use for their ‘left behind’ doctrine are actually only a small part of a passage which we refer to as the Olivet Discourse.

Here, Jesus was answering the questions of His disciples. It’s about the terrible time when the Romans would besiege Jerusalem (which we now know from history took place in AD 70).

These teachers take these passages out of context. How crazy is that for good interpretation?

We will look first at Matthew 24:32-41 and then relevant verses in Luke 17:26-36.

Matthew 24:37-41—Jesus was teaching the disciples about the suddenness of His coming.

37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

Now, looking at those relevant verses in Luke 17:22-36.

Then he said to his disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.

I have seen this verse used as a proof text by dispensational teachers to prove that Jesus said the disciples would never see His coming. Talk about a text taken out of context!

 . . . . . . 25  But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

What generation is that? Of course it was the current generation of Jesus and His hearers that He said would not pass away before ‘all these things’ occur (Luke 21:32, Mat 24:34).

26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

You can see this is similar to the Matthew passage, but Luke adds this to Jesus’ reported words:

28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 

34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.” 

In both these passages, Jesus told the disciples that before his coming, people would live like they did in the days of Noah (Gen. 6-9). They conducted regular business. The flood came, and Noah and his family got into the ark. The ones who were left after the flood were Noah and his family, who survived the wrath of God, while those who were taken away went through judgment and didn’t survive for the flood waters took them away.

Similarly, that as Lot escaped with Abraham, the ones who are left behind and escape survive the fire and sulphur, while those who do not survive it are the people of Sodom. They were “taken away” in judgment.

Jesus said that people who surrender to his call to obedience will escape the dreadful final judgment, but they must get out of Jerusalem and flee to the hills without delay. Luke 21:20-24.

Note how these passages show a persistent Judean and a thoroughly 1st-century and Jewish context. That makes it impossible to interpret the event as happening in the future.

It is illogical to think these things will occur in modern times: it is those in Judea who must flee.  People will be killed by the sword or sent away as captives to all the nations of the world, and Jerusalem will be trampled down. History.

No. Jesus has already come and gone!

And no, you won’t be left behind!