Why Are You Dispensational? | Abner Chou

well Dr CH thanks for sitting down and talking about some eschatology issues appreciate you oh it's always a joy to be with you all right well uh this is a pretty big question an important one I think uh you are an educated man a learned man a faithful man you're the president here at the master University in seminary uh why are you dispensational is the question I have for you and to go along kind of with uh some of the things we've talked about as far as premillennialism as well dispensationalism seems to have fallen on Hard Times by way of being made fun of a lot uh lot of caricatures about the Left Behind series um you know covenantalism seems to be in Vogue and sort of propped up as like the main position or the position that you know normal people should have and we're a little out there if we're dispensational so many characters would you just explain why a thinking man a theologian like yourself is dispensational and why that's not a position really to be made fun of it's it's something to be considered seriously yeah there's several Avenues when we want to answer such a question but they all go back to handling the word of God and we want to make sure that our Biblical theology the way we construct the plan of God goes back to scripture and I know that's true for every single believer including my covenantal brothers we all have that same desire that same aspiration and along that very line as we are inductive going through the scripture and learning about the plan of God we do understand that God has different segments of time um and different operations and purposes in every single era creation is different than the fall we can understand that we can understand that before the noic Covenant and Before the Flood happens and after well there are some differences there we can understand that Paul even categorizes when people were under the law versus when they're under grace there's some differences there absolutely God has plans and the way I sometimes Illustrated to my students is Lord of the Rings they they seem to gravitate to that and I and it's a great illustrative tool for sure and there's this one moment in the movies not just the books but in even in the movies where they say Sauron died so to speak or you know was defeated the end of one age and another age began and no one blinks twice about wait a minute are you sure you can really do that are you sure you can really have periods and epochs of time of course you can because major events that change how the circumstances are in the world can happen we have that in even US History before the Civil War after the Civil War before the Revolutionary War After the Revolutionary War before the Civil Rights mov and after the Civil Rights move we have all those kinds of things and it's no different with the scripture God has purposes now within that purpose there is absolute consistency about salvation absolute consistency about the gospel in fact it is the plan of that singular gospel that is driving God to do different things at different times to accomplish that one gospel found originally in Genesis 3:15 that is the case but for that reason then the plan has complexity for all of God's different purposes to all glorify God in his son through the gospel M we have the nation of Israel it's a real Nation it's got real promises made to it and God declares that he won't change from it Genesis 15 he walks through the pieces by himself he makes that promise linguistically the word Israel used from Old Testament to New Testament is used consistently of the ethnic people of Israel there is one disagreement that people have about Galatians 6 but even there the irony is that FF Bruce observed that that statement that Paul made was actually a rabbinic blessing so it was still actually about Israel and we can even demonstrate that grammatically and I know there's debate about this but I would say even if for the sake of argument you argued it's the exception of the rule well then there's still a rule but I would argue there's not even an exception therein Paul dealing with Jews and Gentiles essentially reminds them hey the gospel and the spirit's work in the gospel that's true for not only the church that's true even for the true Israel of God cross reference Romans 9 9- 11 The Remnant that will be saved in the end speaking of which Paul affirms that there will be a future for Israel Jesus affirms there will be a future Kingdom that is not changed from the plan that was originally articulated in the Old Testament Acts chapter 1 The Book of Revelation affirms that there will be a future for Israel it John knows how to use the word church he he in Revelation 2 and3 every preacher Joy is to talk about those churches and those passages amen and amen he knows how to use the word however 4 through 19 no mention no mention of church only mention of Israel what's going on there two observations to make one is John knew that there was a future for the nation of Israel 144,000 not from the church from what from from the tribes of Israel W and even more I love this pattern he who has a ear let him hear what God says what the spirit says to the churches it's repeated over and over and over and over and over again but in the middle of Revelation it says he who has an ear let him hear not not talking about to the churches already you start to see God knows how to talk to Israel God knows how to talk to the churches God even designs the new Heaven and new Earth around that very Paradigm and then on top of that though at the same time where'd the church go in Revelation 4 through 19 that's an inductive evidence of what we call the Rapture a pre-tribulational Rapture also me mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4 also inferred in 2 Thessalonians 2 people say why is there not a lot of attention why is there not a lot of information on it well Paul already told us he said 1 Thessalonians 4 that this is by word of the Lord this is new revelation 1 Corinthians 15 this is a mystery something that hadn't been revealed yet you can't reveal it until you get a church which is post Acts 2 and so as a result you could put it this way yes from the whole scope of Genesis through Revelation Rapture doesn't get a lot of information that's true but from a flip side wherever the Bible post Acts 2 could talk about it and had opportunity to talk about it it did and it did so consistently and so there is evidence for it in that way obviously it's outside the scope to handle every single one of those passages exegetically but let me just point out a simple simple distinction when God gathers his people in the Old Testament and that's prophesied in Deuteronomy 4 in Deuteronomy 30 in Jeremiah in Isaiah all these different passages it's always very horizontal along the ground if you're scattered to this part of the earth you'll be brought home Isaiah 64 and66 they will carry you on their shoulders I mean they're not you know jumping and flying up in the air even in Matthew 24 and 25 when Christ comes the Angels gather his elect from the four corners of the earth it's all presumed horizontal on the ground but then Paul says I'm going to tell you a mystery I'm going to tell you something new I'm going to tell you some new revelation never heard for of before we're going to meet him in the air in the air wait a minute it's like duck duck goose just over and over the same thing and all of a sudden something different we're always on the ground we're always on the ground we're always on the ground we're always on the ground and then Paul says guess what we're not well then that already shows the Rapture cannot be the same thing as the second coming of Christ right the normal Gathering of the people of Israel particularly seen in Ezekiel 37 Isaiah 60 and the like this is something different this is something that happens in the air and the question then is well when does it happen well 1 Thessalonians 4 reminds us in its conjunction with 1 Thessalonians 5 this is timed with the Advent of the day of the Lord concerning the times and seasons of the day of the Lord we have no need to tell you 1 Thessalonians 51 2 Thessalonians 2 do not let it be as if you have already been in the day of the Lord implied missing the Rapture that's what's going on I would contend in 2 Thessalonians 2 and so it takes careful exegesis and I get it there's there's debates and refining that we all need to have and this is why we have to be patient es ketology but at the same time talking about dispensationalism talking about a future for Israel talking about our approach talking about even a pre-tribulational Rapture it is present in the scripture and why is it made fun of well we haven't done ourselves too many favors sometimes we ourselves get ecstatic with newspaper theology when we shouldn't we should be anchored in the scripture that's what should H be happening and faithful to that so we set ourselves up for that sometimes and at other times we haven't written as clearly and expressed ourselves as um cogently as we should have to others and sometimes others may not listen to us even when we try to do so as well and we just need to work on our communication with each other but we're all after the same thing to build each other up to know the scriptures well to make sure we're honoring God's plan for all of his people

Channel: For the Gospel

Views: 23,081

Keywords:

Id: jiroC3VdN_k

Length: 9min 49sec (589 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 13 2024