Publishing Armageddon

American Vision ^ | 7/24/2006 | Gary DeMar

[Seven_0]

In all these years I never realized anyone could have another understanding of that parable except one of fortifying courage and complete reassurance in Jesus Christ.

All that Christian confidence for nothing. Who'd a thunk it?

Take the first four parables in Matthew 13, each of them shows a mixture of evil in the kingdom. In the first parable, we have four types of soil. Only one produces fruit. In the second parable we have the introduction of tares among the wheat. In the third parable, we have the birds lodging in the branches and in the fourth parable. The woman putting leaven into three measures of meal.

The first two parables are explained for us. The next two are not explained, but are left for us to discern. Notice that in the explanation of the first two parables, Christ tells us the meaning of all the symbols, and then sums them up. Can we use this method in the other two parables and in other scripture as well? You may not realize it, but you have interpreted the parable exactly this way. Where did you get the meaning of birds?

Try these verses:

Matt 13:4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Matt 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

There are other verses that will help to refine the meaning of the symbols and nature, God's other book, offers much help. The fact that birds fly, associates them with the prince of the power of the air, (Eph. 2:2)

It should not be difficult to accept that there is evil in the kingdom.

Matt 13:41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

Seven

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Of course there is evil in the world.

But the parable of the mustard seed is one of encouragement and strength.

I guess we tend to find what we're looking for.

[Seven_0]

Of course there is evil in the world.

You wrote 'world' instead of 'kingdom.' They shall gather out of his 'kingdom.' Is there evil in the kingdom of heaven?

But the parable of the mustard seed is one of encouragement and strength.

I agree, but it is much more than that.

I guess we tend to find what we're looking for.

Sometimes we find things we don't like. The word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

"Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." -- Matthew 17:15-20

Jesus is comparing a lack of faith to an impotent life.

Jesus contrasts that with the tiny mustard seed which, like true faith in the Trinitarian God of creation, will grow to become effective and fruitful.

As God wills.

I think it's fairly "perverse" to see the parable in any other light.

[Gamecock]

Has anyone here read this yet:

Description: "Jesus Christ will soon return to the earth. This book, like the rapture fiction novels it discusses, finds its hope in that statement’s truth. Nothing that this book argues should therefore be understood as in any way underplaying the significance of our Lord’s second coming, or its central importance in consistent Christian living. The New Testament documents shine with the anticipation of glory, and this book must not dull that hope.

Rapture Fiction and the Evangelical Crisis seeks to retain rapture novels’ enthusiasm for the return of Jesus Christ at the same time as it examines their presentation of the gospel. Its most basic argument is that rapture novels have emerged from an evangelicalism that shows signs of serious theological decay. In their descriptions of conversion and Christian living, rapture fiction novels demonstrate a sometimes inadequate understanding of the gospel, the church and the Christian life. These novels are some of the best-selling ‘evangelical’ titles in the world, but the faith they represent cannot be identified with the historic orthodoxy of evangelical Protestantism, the ‘faith which was once delivered unto the saints’ (Jude 3). The novels’ combination of theological inadequacy and massive popularity is evidence that evangelicalism is now in serious crisis."

Crawford Gribben is the lecturer in Renaissance literature and culture at the University of Manchester, a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and the author of The Irish Puritans: James Ussher and the Reformation of the Church (Evangelical Press). Before his current post at Manchester, he taught in the School of English at Trinity College, Dublin, and was a visiting lecturer at the University of Lausanne and a visiting scholar at Westminster College, Cambridge. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His research interests centre on three major themes: the literary culture of puritanism; relationships between literature and theology, especially in Irish and Scottish contexts; and the history of apocalyptic and millennial thought.

A sample chapter can be read here.