I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not

pass away until all these things have happened.

Matthew 24:34

Jesus was teaching his disciples about the end of the age when He spoke the above verse. The word "generation" in the Greek is genea, and it means race or family. Jesus is not saying all these things must take place in a certain time frame.

Matthew 24-25 is called the Olivet Discourse because Jesus' end time teaching took place on the Mount of Olives. Earlier Jesus had given a prophecy about the destruction of the temple after the disciples were admiring the building (Matt. 24:1-2), and later, when they were alone with Jesus, they asked Him when it would happen, and what the sign would be of His return and the end of the age. These are two different events in history. The temple was destroyed in AD 70 (past), and His return and the end of the age is still in the future.

After Jesus answered the disciples' question about when the temple would be destroyed, He went on to talk about the coming Tribulation. Remember, He is speaking to Israel, not the Church. Many Christians believe the Church will be raptured before the Tribulation begins. Jesus describes the things that will happen, but biblical scholars do not always agree about when Jesus says these things will begin. Some say right from the start of the Church age, while others say all of what He is saying is referring to the Tribulation, the time that will last for seven years according to Daniel 9:27.

WHAT IS CHRISTIAN ESCHATOLOGY?

Christian eschatology is the study of end times and the prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled. Western Christians typically believe the prophecies in Revelation have not yet happened. We have a futurist view. Other key passages include Daniel 9:24-27 where the angel Gabriel comes to give Daniel understanding of the vision he had in Dan.8 of the future, and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is a passage that is believed to refer to the rapture of the Church.

WHAT IS NAR ESCHATOLOGY?

The New Apostolic Reformation has their own Apostolic Council on Eschatology. Where we have a futurist view, they have a partial preterist view. Pretorism means past. NAR leaders teach that the prophecies in Revelation are either allegorical or have already been fulfilled except for Christ's physical return (Rev. 19) and the joining of heaven with earth. These two events are still in the future. There is no rapture, no resurrection of the dead, and the destruction of the temple in AD 70 is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 24-25.

One NAR teacher says your eschatology will determine how you live your life. He says it's the foundation of everything you believe. He then goes on to mock the futurist view as people who either live in fear of the tribulation or are not sincere in advancing the kingdom because they plan to be raptured. They are just biding their time. He says we are living in the kingdom age now, not the Church age, and we have a responsibility to advance the kingdom. He says 3000 people are being saved every 25 minutes, the birthrate is 1.9%, and the born-again birthrate is 8%, 4X the birthrate. He says at this rate, every person on planet earth will be a believer by 2033 (he wasn't making a prediction). He goes on to say that 1/3 of humanity currently claims that Jesus is Lord, but that we don't see it in Western culture because of all the false teaching that is still predominant (referring to futurists). This teacher is making these claims in 2013, so if he is right, we could expect that more than 1/3 of the world is now professing Jesus as Lord. In my post on NAR Influence in the World, more statistics are sited, and if correct, there are many more NAR followers in Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia than in Western countries.

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?

This leader never once explains the gospel of salvation, so it's confusing as to what he means when he makes these claims of 3000 people being saved every 25 minutes and that 1/3 of the planet claims Jesus is Lord.

But I will agree with him on one thing--your eschatology is important and will determine what you believe about the future, and also how you live your life. I would also say your eschatology is not as important as what you believe about Jesus. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Him (John 14:6). He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:12). I have yet to find any teaching on salvation in my research of NAR.

Source: Four Views of the Endtimes

#eschatology #NewApostolicReformation #NAR #futurist #pretorist