The Chronicles of Eternity, Part 1,2: The Scattered Sheep

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The Chronicles of Eternity, Part 1: The Scattered Sheep

Witnessing Tools
Monday, November 09, 2015
Pete Garcia

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-5

On one particular night, many years ago, a divinely appointed conversation ensued. A group of men gathered in a large upstairs room of a house belonging to a man only identified as one carrying a pitcher of water. The room itself was inconsequential, but it offered the group a brief moment of respite from the thronging crowds of devotees and critics which usually pressed them at every turn. Of note, the room had already been prepared for the Passover Supper prior to the group’s arrival.

Initially, there were 13 men, but one them left abruptly and mysteriously. But at his departure, the men drew in closer around one Man in particular, who had been serving the bread and the wine. He was an average looking Man, but the men listened intently to every word as He spoke and began to grasp the gravitas in which He spoke to them. He said that the bread represented His body, which would be broken and that the wine, represented His blood, which would be shed for the forgiveness of sins.

There was something foreboding about this night, though, and the men could all sense it. They weren’t sure what would happen, but the One, Jesus, had spoken recently about how He would soon be handed over to the officials, and subsequently executed. But He seemed so serene and at peace about the whole ordeal that it was a little unsettling to the rest of them, especially Peter. And how could this be when it was only a few days prior, that all the multitude of His disciples began to throw down palm leaves before His path and singing “ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Things weren’t adding up in many of the disciple’s minds. He was supposed to be “the One”, of whom all the prophets foretold would come, and would finally set up the promised Kingdom for which they had been waiting for. How could He now allow Himself to die or be killed by the Romans, or by the Scribes and Pharisees?

What about the promised Kingdom with the Messiah at the head of Israel, who was to be the head of all nations? Knowing their concerns, Jesus spoke…

Quote :: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:1-6

A week prior, as they were departing from Herod’s temple, they made note of its beauty and grandeur as the sun hit it in the dying light of the day. It was then, that Jesus told them that it was all coming down…literally. Herod’s Temple, Jerusalem, Israel, and everything they ever knew, was about to be changed forever. This greatly troubled the men and they pressed Him as to the meaning of His comments as they climbed the Mount of Olives. It was here that He explained to them the answers to their questions of when these things would be, what would be the sign of His coming, and of the end of the age.

Quote :: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Quote :: “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Quote :: “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. Matt. 24:4-22

From the way He had put it at the Mt. of Olives, the future was dark, dangerous, and filled with peril. So how is it now, at the Passover Supper, that He was calmly telling them to not to be troubled? He promised them that a “Helper” would come, and that He would guide them into all truth, and that even though they would have tribulation in this life, that they would overcome the world, just as He has. On one hand, as they were facing the Temple and Jerusalem, Christ told them what would be coming in the future, and that would be killed and persecuted. On the other, as they sat here in this intimate setting, celebrating the Passover meal together, that He had a glorious plan to receive them unto Himself, and take them to be where He is.

Departing the house after the Passover, they gathered in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was praying, and they were scattered about attempting to pray, but mostly dozing, when they came. The Sanhedrin Guard, chief priests, elders, and supporters with club and sword, came to arrest Jesus. Half of the disciples scattered, Peter attempted to fight, but was quickly and verbally restrained by Jesus. Then He was gone, taken by them to the high priest’s courtyard to face trial in the middle of the night, in what would presumably be, a one-sided, already predetermined outcome to finally rid Jerusalem and all of Israel, of this Jesus.

It was during the trial, that anything and everything they could possibly accuse Him of, was thrown at Him. In fact, there was so much “evidence” and “eyewitness” statements, that they started conflicting with each other…so much so, that in any normal court, would have been immediately thrown out. All the while, Jesus remained silent. In fact, it wasn’t until the high priest Caiaphas adjured Him under oath and before the living God, as to whether or not He was the Christ, the Son of God that He finally spoke up.

He opened His mouth and the crowd drew back… “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The courtroom exploded into commotion, as the priest tore his robe and calls of ‘blasphemy’ rang out. The men began to beat, spit, and pull the beard from Jesus. Things were getting out of hand, but it was to this charge, that the Jews wanted Christ killed.

Since they lacked the legal means to execute Christ themselves, the Sanhedrin had to take Jesus to Pilate for sentencing. Knowing the Romans would not see ‘blasphemy’ as a serious charge, they instead brought Him there on accusation of treason. They wanted this Man dead, and would use any angle they could to ensure that that was the outcome they received. The Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, wanted nothing to do with this “Jewish drama”, and told them to take Christ to the “Jewish” king Herod. Herod sought parlor tricks from Christ, yet Christ remained silent, and thus, was sent back to Pilate for sentencing.

Again facing Pilate, Jesus spoke only briefly in response when asked if He was the King of the Jews, in which Christ responded “it is as you say”. Pilate then let the thronging crowds decide His fate. Pilate then found the most despicable and detestable Jewish prisoner he could find, who was a murderer by the name of Barabbas. Either Barabbas or Jesus. The crowd chanted “Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Let His blood be upon us and our children!”

So Jesus was charged, scourged, and crucified on the same day. His bloodied, bruised, and naked body hung on a cross between two thieves as the sky grew dark and ominous. He died in the ninth hour, and although as was the custom, did not have a single bone broken even after to confirm His death. Instead rather, a spear was thrust into His side, of which blood and water poured out. His mother, John, and Mary Magdalene remained near the cross to receive His body and to ensure that He received a proper burial before sundown.

The Shepherd was struck, and the sheep were scattered…that is what Christ said would happen, and it was so. The disciples remained hidden that day, and through the rest of the Sabbath. It was on the third day, that the women went to His tomb to dress the body, in which they made an amazing discovery…the Roman guards were gone, and stone which sealed His tomb had been rolled aside. It was Mary Magdalene who first saw the resurrected Christ. She worshipped Him and then ran back to tell the rest of the disciples. There was excitement, anxiety, and even disbelief amongst the disciples as to the veracity of Mary’s claim. True enough though upon their own inspection, that the tomb was empty and it was as she claimed.

Quote :: Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. John 20:19-20

For the next forty days, Christ remained among them, appearing and disappearing at will, eating with them, and instructing them on all that the Hebrews Scriptures foretold about Him, and all the things that are still yet to come. He instructed them to wait in Jerusalem until the received power from upon High, the promised Holy Spirit. It was on the fortieth day, that Christ gathered them and was about to ascend, when the disciples put forth one final question to Him…

Quote :: Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Quote :: Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? Thissame Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:6-11

They didn’t fully understand all that was to transpire. All through the Hebrew Scriptures, the Kingdom was to be a glorious age ushered in by the promised Messiah. Yet He was departing and not all were privy to the conversations that were had on either the Mt. of Olives, or the Upper Room so the question loomed large in their minds as to what was to come. But God, being merciful, would bring about their understanding in a most unusual way. And it was in these early days, that the Jews began persecuting the Church (or as was known then as ‘The Way’) without mercy. One of Jews most zealous enforcers of the anti-blasphemy laws, went by the name of Saul of Tarsus. So it began with Stephen, their group’s first martyr, being stoned to death after giving a most excellent testimony that…

Quote :: Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Acts 8:1-3

To be continued…

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COE Part II: A Chosen Generation
Witnessing Tools
Monday, November 23, 2015
Pete Garcia

Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time, a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Acts 8:1-3

After Christ ascended the disciples waited in Jerusalem for ten days until the Feast of Pentecost began. It was then that in a most spectacular fashion the promised Helper, the Holy Spirit descended upon the 120 disciples as a mighty rushing wind and upon each of them who believed as ‘cloven tongues of fire’. They began speaking in other languages, so much so, that it began drawing attention to the rest of the Jews there that had gathered for the Feast of Pentecost. It was then that Peter, the group’s leader stood up in the Temple area and began preaching his famous sermon, heavily pulling from the prophet Joel and began by saying…Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem…

That day, nearly 3,000 Jews came to faith in Jesus the Christ. The Jewish Sanhedrin had thought that by publicly humiliating and brutally killing their leader, Jesus of Nazareth, that it would dissuade future converts and be the death knell to their fledgling cause. But now that appears to have backfired and the Sanhedrin were getting desperate. In their desperation, they sought more drastic and violent methods to quell this growing movement. Enter Saul of Tarsus.

Saul, having proven himself worthy at the stoning death of Stephen, was on his way to Damascus to continue his work of persecuting and imprisoning these early followers of Jesus Christ. He didn’t know Jesus Christ personally but thought the audacity of a man to claim equal power with Yahweh was blasphemy worthy death.

But it was on this road that his life and that of human history would be forever changed.

Quote :: Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecutingMe?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” Acts 9:1-5

God then selected a man named Ananias to care for Saul…and for good reason, Ananias was hesitant at first.

Quote :: But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” Acts 9:15-16

And suffer he did.

From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fasting’s often, in cold and nakedness (2 Cor. 11:24-27)

Saul, who would later have his name changed to Paul, would go on to become the biggest contributor and architect of New Testament theology.

He attributed himself as the ‘least of the apostles’, and one born out of due time but would be used by God as His preeminent spokesman to the Jews and Gentiles concerning all the major doctrines we study today. Saul was in his former life, a Pharisee trained under Gamaliel, from the Tribe of Benjamin, and was presumably very well versed in the Hebrew Scriptures. But what Paul came to know and teach concerning this New Testament came directly from Christ Himself. Considering the first words that Christ ever spoke directly to him would come to shape his understanding and nature of the fledgling Church for the rest of his life. Saul wasn’t simply attacking believers of Christ, he was attacking Christ Himself.

This Church, whom Christ Himself is building through God the Holy Spirit, was not just believers waiting on a promise. These believers were and are the corporate, multi-membered body of Christ, of which, He is the head of. (Col 1:18; Eph. 5:23)

The Church then is the universal body of believers, who have been baptized into this unified body, not through water, but by the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor. 12:13-14) This diverse body of believers has been and is currently adding members to this corporate body ever since. But this filling of the Body of Christ will not go on indefinitely. There is a number and name, known by God, at which the ‘fullness of the Gentiles’ comes in.

Quote :: For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Romans 11:25

Although Paul was not the first to mention the concept of the Rapture of the Church (John 14:1-3), he was the first to systematically teach and explain this mystery.

That just as the Church had a sudden and miraculous beginning (Pentecost; Acts 2), likewise it will have a sudden and miraculous ending (the Rapture; 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15).

Connected to, but different from the fullness of the Gentiles is the Age of the Church…of which we have been in for almost 2,000 years now. It is believed by many that this was chronicled ahead of time by Christ in the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches found in Revelation 1-3. These letters can be matched to the seven churches that Paul wrote as well as the seven kingdom parables found in Matthew 13. These letters serve a four-fold purpose in their divine expository;

Historical
Admonitory for all churches
Towards individuals as well as congregations
Due to their arrangement, spell out (or outline) prophetically, the epochs’ the Church would transition through.

The Church as a body of believers is neither Jew nor Gentile, but a new group altogether. (1 Cor. 10:32) But over time, who and where the Church came out of began to become less and less Jewish, and more and more Gentile. The church began exclusively with Jewish believers centered in Jerusalem, but as Paul’s (and the other apostles) missionary journeys began to spread the Christian faith around the known world, Gentiles flocked to the light of the Gospel. (Starting in Acts 8:4-8, and 10) An unfortunate and probably unintended consequence of the Gentile converts was that they intentionally (and unintentionally) brought in customs and rituals which over time, began to change the nature and teachings of the Christian religion itself. By the 3rd century, Christians almost exclusively came out of Gentile communities.

Having been sacked in 70AD by the Roman legions, Jerusalem, and the temple lay in ruin and the Jewish people had been scattered. Their misfortune seemingly served as a powerful and tangible proof to the early Christians that the Jews must be cursed. They assumed that due to the Jew’s culpability in the crucifixion of their Messiah that they had finally fallen out of favor with God and that He was now exacting divine justice. To the burgeoning Gentile communities within Christendom this seemed as some sort of license to carry out God’s judgment on the Jews for God. This allowed for the errant teaching of Replacement Theology (RT) to flourish. RT began circulating through teachers like Origen and Augustine and taught that the Jews were no longer God’s chosen people, but that the church had replaced Israel and that the Kingdom was now.

Interwoven between the geopolitical and the prophetic we see how Christ’s knowledge of things to come is outlined fairly clearly in the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches. Twice Christ chastises those who ‘say they are Jews but lie’. But these letters in their multi-faceted fashion, prove that they were as applicable to the 1st century believer as they are today.

Ephesus: 30-100 AD Apostolic church, chastised for having lost their first love.

Smyrna: 100-300 AD, persecuted church, told to hold fast and they will receive the crown of life

Pergamum: 300-600 AD, mixed marriage, instead of the Church going out into the world, the world comes into the Church

Thyatira: 600-Present, ‘perpetual sacrifice’ would come to represent the Roman Catholic system

Sardis: 1500-Present, the dead church of orthodox Protestantism

Philadelphia: 1700-Present, the remnant church who remained faithful to true Biblical doctrines

Laodicea: 1900-Present, the ‘luke-warm’ church of whom Christ remains on the outside asking to come in.

Whether these seven churches represent actual era’s or stages within greater Christianity still has many divided. This author believes they do for the following reasons;

They are placed by Christ in the book a prophecy (Rev. 1:3)
They were to be read and understood by all the churches
They are multi-faceted in content simply by the people Christ is addressing.
The fact that Revelation is largely sequential in its outline (Rev. 1:19), thus the order and arrangement of these letters are in keeping with this pattern

If this pattern is true, and the seven letters not only speak to those specific churches in 1stcentury Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) but also to churches of all ages, then we truly are in the last days. Churches today have largely been relegated to the ‘irrelevant’ section of the goings on. Thus, in an attempt to remain relevant in a world whose moral compass is spinning wildly out of control, a majority of churches are trying their best not to offend anyone. Whether they are homosexual, Islamic, Atheistic, etc. The Apostles Paul, Peter, and John all warn of this and stated that even in their own day;

Quote :: …For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves…Acts 20:29-30

From the Apostle Peter’s vantage point, he warned of the apostate and heretics who would come;

Quote :: But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. (2 Peter 2:1-3)

From Christ’s half-brother, Jude, who later wrote that by his own day, the apostates and heretics were firmly planted;

For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:4)

And so, it has been since then, that men and women have crept into the congregations teaching doctrines of demons and adding to or subtracting from the Word of God.

But despite the warnings and the general downturn in the world’s condition that was already foretold of it is not up to man whether the Church will succeed or fail in the long run. Christ didn’t say that men would build His church but that He would. (Matt. 16:18-19) The Church was known by God before the foundation of the world was laid. (Eph. 1:4) We were to be God’s greatest demonstration of grace and mercy beginning with the sacrifice of Himself. (Romans 5: Cool

Although the world is sinking deeper and deeper into darkness, we need not worry about the outcome of our trials and tribulations. Furthermore, Peter writes…

Quote :: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10

Read Chronicles of Eternity, Part I: The Scattered Sheep

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