The Foolishness of End-Times Preaching
By Mo Hafley

Just about the time you think the false teachers have exhausted the pathways of perversion, up pops another. If it is not original, it is an offshoot of one that previously existed. This statement is also true concerning the end of the world. I am certain the defenders of the faith are becoming weary from fighting the foes who come from every direction (Galatians .6: 9; Nehemiah 4:12).

Some years ago, I saw one of Walter Cronkite's documentaries concerning the running of the Olympic marathon. I recall vaguely the story of one runner who came into the stadium as he completed the 26-mile run. The huge crowd shouted encouragement as he stumbled and staggered around the track. He was so exhausted from having run such a great distance that he came to what he thought was the finish line and collapsed, thinking he had won the race. However, some 20 minutes later, another runner came jogging into the stadium and won the race.

How terrible to have run as hard as the first runner and collapse thinking he had won, only to awake to hear he had lost. He was so close, yet so far. Being close didn't count in that race; nor does it count in our spiritual race to heaven (Hebrews 12:1-2). What if I die believing I have completed the race God has appointed for us, but fail to finish my course (2 Timothy 4:7)? Will I receive the crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8; cf. Matthew 7:21-23)?

There are many teachings that convince people they have finished the race to heaven. When these people arise at judgment, they will learn they had not crossed the finish line. Others will find they had been running on the wrong track. If you think the marathon runner was disappointed when he realized he didn't receive the temporal crown, how disappointed those who find they have lost the eternal crown? The crown for which we strive is incorruptible. It will not age, tarnish, turn yellow, or fade (1 Peter 1:4). We must be absolutely certain we are running on God's appointed track and not man's.

Let us look at some of these false teachings and the tracks upon which many are running, only to hear the Lord say, "Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." (Matthew 25: 41) We will not attempt to remove all the limbs from these doctrines, for after one fells the tree, he does not have to remove its limbs to kill it.

The Universalist

Universalists believe that at the end of the world, everyone will be saved. They say God is too merciful to punish anyone. This doctrine would have us line up at the starting block of disobedience. If, because of God's goodness and mercy, all people will be saved, no matter what they do, why should I worry? Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Will those who do not please God still go to heaven? Paul said that God will take "vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Will the Lord show His vengeance by sending both believers and the disobedient to heaven? The Romans had "obeyed from the heart" the doctrine that was delivered to them (Romans 6:17). They were then free from sin and servants of righteousness (vs. 16, 18). The Universalist believes that whether one is a servant of sin or of righteousness, he is still going to heaven. The inspired apostle disagrees again. Galatians 5:19-21 tells us those who commit sins such as the ones listed cannot go to heaven (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:10-11).

The Premillenialist

The Premillenialist wants us to believe there will be a semifinal race called the rapture. Of course, he has Scripture to support this belief; he quotes l Thessalonians 4:13-17 to prove (?) there will be rapture. He describes the rapture as the time when the Lord will secretly remove all the saved from the earth for a period of seven years. This will be done, they say, because of the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:14-16). This battle will be so horrible that the Lord will have to come, with His saints, to save the earth from total destruction. Then He will set up his kingdom and reign on earth for a thousand years. Thus, we have premillenialism.

Does this teaching agree with the Bible? What we read in the Bible is clear and understandable. Here is what we know about the second coming of Christ and the end of the world. It will not be silent and secret. He will descend with a shout and with the trumpet of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16). He will come unexpectedly as a thief in the night (2 Peter 3:10-13). John narrowed it down to a single hour (John 5:28-29). In that hour, all who are in their graves--the good and the evil--will hear His voice and come forth. Here again, we see that the second coming will be obvious to all, even the dead. There will be no time for a seven-year rapture. Christ has already established His kingdom (Colossians 1:13). Paul said the Colossians had been translated into the kingdom. You can't be in something that doesn't exist. Both Jesus and John the Baptist said the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matthew 3:2; 4:17). If the kingdom has not yet been set up, then it wasn't "at hand" as Jesus and John said. I think the millenialists--not Jesus and John--have missed it.

Jehovah's Witnesses

The Jehovah's Witnesses teach that at the end of the world, "the literal heavens and earth will not be destroyed" (Let God Be True, p.56). They want us to wear weights that will beset us in our race to heaven (Hebrews 12:1). In my living room, Jehovah's Witnesses have asked me, "Don't you want to live on earth forever?" My response is always the same; the Bible says the world isn't going to be here forever (2 Peter 3:9-13). Jesus said, "heaven and earth shall pass away" (Matthew 24:35 emphasis mine - mh). Jehovah's Witnesses say, "No it won't." I prefer Scripture over the wisdom of men. In Matthew 6:19-20, Jesus said, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth... but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." Why would I want my treasures to be in heaven if I am going to live forever on earth? Was the Lord telling us to put all our hope, faith, and trust in going to heaven, while all the time knowing that we'll never get there?

Jesus also said, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you might be also." He did not say, "Where you are, there I might be also." In verse 6, Jesus continued, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me." (John 14:2-3, 6) The Father is in heaven (Matthew 9:6), and no Scripture mentions His coming to earth--only our going to heaven to be with him. Sadly, these religious folks are making the same mistake as did the religious leaders in Jesus' day-mixing the physical with the spiritual! Instead of taking the passages literally-they make them figurative.

A.D. 70 Advocate

The A.D. 70 Advocate says don't bother running the race; it's a thing of the past. Max R. King, of Warren, Ohio, is the champion of this doctrine. In 1973, he debated the proposition: "The Holy Scriptures teach that the second coming of Christ, including the end of the world, and the resurrection of the dead, occurred with the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70." Read what he says in his book The Spirit of Prophecy, page 186, under the heading "Literal or Symbolic Language:"

"We have studied five different ways the world would pass away, namely, by burning, by shaking, by waxing old and decaying, by rolling up as a scroll, and by fleeing away. It should be obvious to the thoughtful reader that these are symbols or figures of speech, all designed to show the ending of a world (the Jewish system) and the beginning of a new world (the Christian dispensation). To choose one passage and one symbolic term to the exclusion of all the rest, and insist on a literal application does great violence to the plain and ordinary meaning of the scriptures. It results in an erroneous concept that will lead us astray in the search for truth in God's scheme of redemption. It would be just as logical and right to insist that the world was going to run or flee away, or be rolled together in a little round ball, or wax old and decay, as to insist on its destruction by fire. One term of speech is no more or no less literal than the other. Fire is just as symbolic as any of the other forms or descriptions of destruction."

One must have Max King's help to learn that Scriptures such as the following don't mean what they say:

  1. "Heaven and earth shall pass away." (Matthew 24:35)
  2. "They (earth and heavens, mh) shall perish; but thou remainest; and they shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture thou shalt fold them up, and they shall be changed:" (Hebrews 1: 10-12; Psalm 102: 25-27).
  3. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of person ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" (2 Peter 3:10-12)
  4. "And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them." (Revelation 20:11)

Read and study Acts 17:11; 2 Timothy 2:15; Ephesians 3:4 and 5:17. Have we missed the meaning of these passages? Do words and phrases such as, "pass away," "perish," "melt with fervent heat," and "be dissolved" not mean what they say? I think your confidence in the clarity of scripture will be reaffirmed when you study these scriptures in the light of their context.

The angels in Acts 1:11 said, "this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." The disciples saw Him with their eyes--a visible ascent. Will it be a visible descent when He returns? Can we believe what God instructed the angels to say and what Luke recorded? The Hebrew writer recorded, "and unto them that look for Him shall He appear a second time..." (9:28). That agrees with what the angels said. Max King says it is a spiritual coming. God has appointed the day and the judge (Acts 17:31; 2 Timothy 4:8; John 12:48; James 2:12).

On that last day, all who are in their graves will come forth; the righteous, dead and living, will "meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15; 1 Thessalonians 4:17) That day has not yet occurred. Max King is the one who has missed God's teaching.

Conclusion

Have we answered every argument concerning these false teachings? No, not in this article, but it can be, and has been, done. As stated in the introduction, that was not this article's purpose. The fact that truth doesn't cause the false teacher to change is not the fault of the truth or its teacher. The problem is with the heart of the false teacher (Matthew 13:10-23). There are other false teachings concerning the end of the world. And there will be more. It appears that, as long as the world stands, there will be no end to the perversion of truth. That is why God's word warns us about false teachers. Men will continue to pervert truth about the end times simply because they are so curious about that time period. Instead of accepting what God has said, they make their own assumptions, resulting in many false theories; all are in the same category-false teaching. Please consider a few other passages about false teachers and teaching:

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them." (Matthew 7:15-20)

"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. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears." (Acts 20:29-31)

"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:6-9)

Also read 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 4:1-4; 2 Peter 2:1-3; l John 4:1; 2 John 10, 11.

"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." (John 12:48) May God give us hearts like David, His servant and friend, in our search for truth. A few verses from Psalm 119 will be sufficient:


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