Unanswered Questions

We have primary doctrines, secondary doctrines and third doctrines.

Primary: We are willing to die for

Examples: Jesus was God in the Flesh

Saved by grace through faith alone

Secondary: Baptism of infants

Third: Christian brothers and sisters in the same church disagree about the interpretation of scripture.

Some of these third doctrines you might disagree with me on but we can disagree on these third doctrines and still be friends.

Somethings we do know

Let me remind you of some of these things we know from scripture that we talked about two weeks ago.

Jesus is Coming Back

Jesus’s return will be unexpected

The Bible is very clear that no one knows when Jesus is coming back.

His return will be visible

His return will be personal

Jesus’s return will be Glorious

We know that Jesus is coming back based upon scripture so we asked the question are you ready for him to return. Meaning personally is Jesus the Lord of your life?

So these are the things we know. This morning we are going to talk about some things we don’t know.

These are known as third doctrines. I know that some of you may disagree with me this morning and tell me no pastor we do know these things. I would remind you that these are third doctrines that people have talked about and they are not primary or secondary but third doctrines.

I hope I am making this clear. Again I can see clearly that one thing the Lord hates is a person who stirs up dissension among brothers and so if this drives you to dissension then you have missed the point here.

Unanswered Questions

The first one is something that we have talked about but one the biggest unanswered questions that will not be answered until Christ returns is

When is Jesus Coming back?

Mark 13:32–33 HCSB

“Now concerning that day or hour no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son —except the Father. Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming.

There are passages in scripture that talk about what signs must be fulfilled. So these passages have led pastors and theologians to take these signs and try and figure out when he is coming back.

The year 500 Hippolytus of Rome, Sextus Julius Africanus, Irenaeus

These three Christian theologians predicted Jesus would return in the year 500. One prediction was based on, get this, the dimensions of Noah’s ark.

October 19, 1533 Michael Stifel a mathematician calculated that the Judgement Day would begin at 8:00am on this day.

How would you have liked to be at breakfast with this guy on October 19th?

What do you say to him?

Some guys who have predicted and had to move their dates

Isaac Newton, Harold Camping (rapture takes place on May 21 and the end of the world was October 21) Jack Van Impe and many others have try to predict when Jesus would return and their dates have came and went.

If someone gives you a date of When Jesus is going to return, then don’t believe it because scriptures tell you that no one knows the day or hour.

Matthew 25:13 HCSB

“Therefore be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour.

The next unanswered question is

What prophecies have been fulfilled?

The preaching of the gospel to all nations.

Mark 13:9–10 HCSB

“But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to sanhedrins, and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of Me, as a witness to them. And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations.

Matthew 24:14 HCSB

This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.

So has this happened or not?

Depends on how you strive to interpret this passage of scripture and what you believe about he context of Matthew 24

Some people believe it was preached to all nations in the first century and he could come back any day.

Some people believe that the Gospel has not been preached to all nations so he couldn’t come back any day.

The great tribulation

Mark 13:7–8 HCSB

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed; these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Mark 13:19–20 HCSB

For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn’t been from the beginning of the world, which God created, until now and never will be again! Unless the Lord limited those days, no one would survive. But He limited those days because of the elect, whom He chose.

Matthew 24:15–22 HCSB

“So when you see the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand ), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains! A man on the housetop must not come down to get things out of his house. And a man in the field must not go back to get his clothes. Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days! Pray that your escape may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For at that time there will be great tribulation, the kind that hasn’t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again! Unless those days were limited, no one would survive. But those days will be limited because of the elect.

Has the great tribulation happened or are we in the tribulation. Has this prophecy been fulfilled?

False Prophets and miracle workers

Mark 13:22–23 HCSB

For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and will perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, the elect. And you must watch! I have told you everything in advance.

Matthew 24:23–24 HCSB

“If anyone tells you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Over here!’ do not believe it! False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

Have the false prophets and miracle workers come on to the scene of human history?

Is this a specific reference to false prophets and teachers or is this a general reference?

Signs in the heavens

Mark 13:24–26 HCSB

“But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will be falling from the sky, and the celestial powers will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

Matthew 24:29–30 HCSB

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the celestial powers will be shaken. “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Luke 21:25–27 HCSB

“Then there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and there will be anguish on the earth among nations bewildered by the roaring sea and waves. People will faint from fear and expectation of the things that are coming on the world, because the celestial powers will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Has this happened? Is this to be understood literally or symbolically

The coming of the antichrist

2 Thessalonians 2:1–10 HCSB

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him: We ask you, brothers, not to be easily upset in mind or troubled, either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God. Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I told you about this? And you know what currently restrains him, so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one now restraining will do so until he is out of the way, and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of His mouth and will bring him to nothing with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders, and with every unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved.

Who is this talking about? Throughout the history of the church many people have tried to identify different people as the antiChrist.

Is this a specific person or is this a system?

Anti-Christ describes something that is directly opposed to Christ.

The Spirit of Christ is on Christians as a guarantee of His future coming.

Romans 8:23 HCSB

And not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits —we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

Ephesians 1:13–14 HCSB

When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.

The Spirit of the antichrist is in the world as a guarantee of his future coming.

1 John 4:2–3 HCSB

This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. But every spirit who does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist; you have heard that he is coming, and he is already in the world now.

Christ was preceded and accompanied by a true prophet

Matthew 3:1–3 HCSB

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!” For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make His paths straight!

The antichrist will be preceded and accompanied by a false prophet.

1 John 2:18 HCSB

Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard, “Antichrist is coming,” even now many antichrists have come. We know from this that it is the last hour.

Revelation 13:11–18 HCSB

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; he had two horns like a lamb, but he sounded like a dragon. He exercises all the authority of the first beast on his behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people. He deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that he is permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who had the sword wound and yet lived. He was permitted to give a spirit to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he requires everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to be given a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of his name. Here is wisdom: The one who has understanding must calculate the number of the beast, because it is the number of a man. His number is 666.

The Christ speaks the truth

John 8:31–32 HCSB

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The antichrist spreads deception

2 John 7 HCSB

Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

Revelation 13:13–14 HCSB

He also performs great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people. He deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs that he is permitted to perform on behalf of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image of the beast who had the sword wound and yet lived.

The Christ builds the temple, the church, of which he is the cornerstone.

Ephesians 2:19–22 HCSB

So then you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone. The whole building, being put together by Him, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord. You also are being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

The antichrist stands in the temple, claiming to be its center.

2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 HCSB

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God.