Biblestudy: Matthew (Part Thirty)

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John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)
Given 20-Oct-82; 80 minutes

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On April the 5th, 1966 I became part of a very (well, I hate to use the term) exclusive group within the church in the ministry. That was when I was ordained as a local elder. And I found out from my experience that you cannot join the true ministry of Jesus Christ. You are put into it. I did not volunteer. Nobody came and asked me if I wanted to be a minister. Nobody counseled with me. As far as I know, nobody counseled with anybody, but I am sure that the man who ordained me did counsel with some people, but he did not ask me. And there I was sitting there with my family, I believe it was the first day of Unleavened Bread 1966, and Mr. Jimmy Friddle called my name out and asked me to come up on the stage. And I was ordained then as a local elder.

Now in the light of my recent ordination to pastor, I found out that there was almost unanimous confusion, I guess is the word—maybe misunderstanding would be a better word—about that because almost every one of you expressed the feeling that you understood that I was already a pastor. Well, I was, but I was not. And so that is the reason for the Bible study. I thought that I would go through some things with you and help you to understand. Maybe, instead of clarifying, I will confuse you more, because in a way it can get quite confusing.

We are going to begin back in the book of Numbers, chapter 8 where we will use the Levite as a type.

Numbers 8:5-6 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: "Take the Levites from among the children of Israel and cleanse them ceremonially.”

What he means by this is prepare them for something. It meant they had to clean their clothing, they had to clean their bodies and so forth.

Numbers 8:7-9 “Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purification on them, and let them shave all their body, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean. Then let them take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another young bull as a sin offering. And you shall bring the Levites before the tabernacle of meeting, and you shall gather together the whole congregation of the children of Israel.”

Now, for quite a number of years, our ordinations of our ministers tended to be done in private. I do not know whose idea that was. But most of the years that we were in the church before they always did it right out in front of the congregation. They, just like it says here, bring them all before the whole assembly of Israel. And I am going to give them an office.

Numbers 8:10 “So you shall bring the Levites before the LORD, and the children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites.”

I do not know who of the children of Israel did it, whether it was certain representatives among the people; maybe the 70 elders. I do not know, maybe because there were thousands of Levites, maybe there were thousands of Israelites who laid their hands upon them.

I want you to notice that God did not ask the Levites. He simply commanded Moses and said, get them ready, set them apart. Down in verse 14:

Numbers 8:14 “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be Mine.”

This is a departure from what God had said earlier. You remember when the children of Israel left Egypt, that the firstborn of Egypt were killed. Then He made a statement that from that time on all of the firstborn were to be His; they were to be dedicated to Him.

I really did not check it out. Maybe I should have done that. But it is quite possible that He is now substituting the Levites for the firstborn. I really feel that is the way it is. He is substituting the Levites for the firstborn so the Levite, then, shall be His.

Numbers 8:18-19 “I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the children of Israel. [There it is!] And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the work for the children of Israel in the tabernacle of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel when the children of Israel come near the sanctuary."

The ministry today is set apart by God to serve Christ. That is our primary function. Now, we also serve you, but we do it because of Christ; because we have been given to Christ to carry out functions that He is not here to do. Christ is our High Priest, and even as the Levites were a gift to Aaron, so is the ministry a gift to Christ to carry out functions in behalf of you.

I think it is interesting there. It says that the work of the Levites would be that there would be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary. It became very clear that the Levites responsibility actually divided into three areas. One was the care of the Tabernacle itself—the building that includes its transportation, keeping it clean, keeping it maintained. The second function was that they were the singers in Israel, and instrumentalists and therefore they had a direct and active part in the worship services of Israel. And the third and by far most important overall function was that they taught the people; they were the teachers in Israel; they taught spiritual matters, religious matters, and the way of life. Their functions even included secular education as well.

The reason, of course, is given in a general statement that there be no plague among the children of Israel—to keep the people from sinning, because the result of sin was to be plagued. And so the Levites responsibility was to teach in order that the people had the knowledge necessary to properly conduct their lives and therefore keep from sin, and therefore keep from plague.

Now let us go back to the New Testament in Matthew 4. We will begin to see similarities in the New Testament with the Old Testament.

Matthew 4:17-22 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

There is no questioning period. He just simply said “Follow Me.” Now this does not mean that they did not know one another previously; in all likelihood they did; They were at least somewhat familiar, and they had a certain amount of confidence in Him as a result of those contacts. But up until that time, He had not told them, I am sure, of His mission.

And so this was their calling—their only choice was to refuse or to accept it. They of course accepted it. But again, they did not volunteer—a calling came. Turn to Acts 9.

Here, we have a different situation. But yet the same approach.

Acts 9:1-4 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 persecuting Me?"

Saul was an enemy. There is no evidence of previous contact at all, as there was with the earlier apostles who willingly accepted it. Saul accepted the calling. But in this case, the calling was to a person who was an enemy, but the approach was exactly the same. Paul certainly did not volunteer. He was just simply, Bang! put into it.

Acts 9:13 -15 Then Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name." 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.”

Mr. Armstrong has related many times how that he had no idea, no thought whatsoever of ever becoming a minister. His interest in religion was passing. At the very least he had quit attending church as soon as he left the house of his parents, except for going back with his wife a few times. But for about 10 or 15 years, he had had no interest at all in religion, except in a very passing way. So he was not opposed to God's work as Paul was, yet he had no interest. But God maneuvered the man into a study of His Word. And though the process was somewhat different, the approach was still the same. He seemingly randomly plucked somebody out and said, “I want you.”

Now it goes even further than that. Let us go to Philippians 2.

Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

What kind of a mind? Well, it is this kind of a mind:

Philippians 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.

This is a very poor translation. The RSV words it this way: “Jesus did not think that equality with God was a thing to be grasped at.”

And so God says, “I want you to become a man; to live a perfect life; and die for the sins of man.” You see, Christ Himself was chosen, and He did not kick against the goads. He said, “Yes sir.”

Philippians 2:7-8 But made Himself of no reputation [that is, He emptied Himself of all of His glory], taking the form of a bondservant, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Even Jesus Christ was put into the position.

In the book of Hebrews,

Hebrews 5:1-3 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins.

Verse 4 is important to us.

Hebrews 5:4-5 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You."

In other words, He was appointed.

Now we saw in Philippians 2 that He was appointed while He was God to become a man to become man's Savior. Here in Hebrews 5, after He has lived his human life, died and been resurrected, He did not volunteer to be High Priest either, He was appointed to that.

The Bible is very consistent. From the beginning to end you will find that the ministers of God, whether they be prophets or apostles or a pastor are appointed to their office. Moses did not volunteer. Isaiah did not volunteer. Anybody who understood the responsibility, tried to get out of it, and felt extremely unworthy.

Ephesians 4:8 Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive [That is you and me. We became His slaves], and gave gifts to men."

With just a couple of verses, Paul is going to explain what those gifts are:

Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.

The ministry is set apart to serve Christ for a purpose:

Ephesians 4:12-14 For the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.

So the ministry is a gift for the purpose of unity and maturity; the unity of the body, and the maturity of the body of its individual members. Therefore, we perform much the same function as the Levites did. Although our service now is strictly spiritual, whereas the Levites had many secular functions to perform, but we do not, it is strictly spiritual for the perfecting of the saints.

Now, this section is interesting in that it gives some insight into the governance, the organization, and administration of the church. Notice how they are listed. Apostles are listed first.

The word apostle means, “One sent forth.” An apostle’s authority runs throughout the entire organization. Their authority runs throughout the entire organization. They are first in rank.

Under them are prophets. We will see another section of the Bible just a little bit later where Paul listed even more clearly than they are here. But secondarily, there are prophets.

It is very clear from taking the Bible as a whole that a prophet, especially in the New Testament, operated apart from the normal course of business or administration or the work of the church. They were a group set so much apart that God occasionally used a woman as a prophet. And you can very clearly see in I Corinthians 14, where God inspired Paul to say that a woman was not to be ruling over a congregation. She was not to be preaching to a congregation. But a prophet's work in the New Testament was to bear a message to the church. And so they did not operate within the normal framework of the organization of the church.

Now, a prophet's job changed somewhat in another area as well. That in the Old Testament, a great deal of the prophet's responsibility was to foretell events, that is to tell things before they occur in the New Testament. It is less foretelling and more forth telling. Now there is a difference there. To forth-tell means to be candid, to be frank, to be right up front, to tell it as it is; especially in a very narrow area.

Again, if we wanted to study, especially I Corinthians 14, you will find that the gift of prophecy was much more widely spread throughout the church at that time than it is today. I think the reason is because of a lack of transportation and communication in those days, that communication was much slower. God got messages to His church much more rapidly by means of inspiring prophets, including women, to deliver a message to a congregation. Today, we do not need it. We have radios, telephones, the printing press, and information can be gotten out to us in a matter of hours. We even have a telephone system set up that if Mr. Armstrong wants to get a message to everybody in a very short time, he just picks up the phone and he inaugurates the whole system. And in a matter of hours, we could get a message to you by telephone. So prophets are not as needed today as they were then; that is, their function was to bear a message to a congregation.

Then the third one listed is evangelists. Evangelist means “good messenger.” And again, from the Bible, their authority tended to run throughout the church. They were generally not confined to a particular area.

Now, I say generally. How do we use evangelists today? Well, Mr. Armstrong uses it in much the same way. All you have to do is stop to think about the men who are ordained evangelist, if you know any of them, and think about the job that they are doing. Right now, I only know of three evangelists who are pastoring a church: Norman Smith, Dennis Luker, and Burk McNair. Even Burk McNair's responsibility is much broader than a church pastor normally would be.

But men like Joe Tkach, his authority actually runs throughout all the church. He is the head of the ministry; it is not confined to one area, because he is over this church in Columbia. He is over the church in New York City. He is over the church in Detroit, and all the local congregations. Leroy Neff is an evangelist. He oversees the administration of the money of the work. And so his authority runs out through the whole work over the whole world in that area. Raymond McNair. He is over Ambassador College, you see, which draws in students from all over the world. And so that is the way Mr. Armstrong has tended to use the office of the evangelists; people whose authority is not centered in one area, but rather is much, much broader than the church pastor.

The fourth one then is pastor. Now Mr. Armstrong described this very aptly in his last sermon on the Last Great Day.

He said that he (as an apostle) gave overviews. He spoke in generalities. It is the local minister’s, the pastor's responsibility to fill in the details.

Now, a pastor's responsibility is confined to usually one or two congregations, maybe three or four, but it is confined to a much smaller area.

Teachers are also listed here. And teacher is a very broad term. We are going to see it a little bit, a teacher can also pastor, although he does not necessarily have the rank, but certainly this would include men like Mr. Baity who is a local church elder. It would include the local elders who are full-time in the church's employ. It would include preaching elders as I was, and as Mr. Nieto is, whose major responsibility is to teach the flock and at the same time, also in many occasions, pastor as well.

Now let us go to I Corinthians 12. Here we see much the same list, though written a number of years earlier. And the context is broader than it is in Ephesians 4.

I Corinthians 12:28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles [He very clearly says he is designating rank—first apostle, that they are first in rank], second prophets, third teachers.

Here we have an indication that the organization of the church was not quite as refined at this time as it was by the time the book of Ephesians was written some eight or ten years later. And the teachers are all grouped under one heading; pastors and local elders are grouped under one heading teachers, those whose authority or responsibility is confined to a specific area.

Then he lists miracles and gifts of healing. As I said, the context here is much broader and it is given in the sense of gifts that are given to the church for their well-being, so that all will profit. And it seems to indicate very strongly that some of these gifts were not restricted to the ministry.

There is an example in the book of Acts of how miracles were done through the hands of a deacon.

Then he lists helps. They could have just as well translated that word servers. It would include deacons and deaconesses, but it is not restricted to them; it includes anybody within the Body who is able to help.

Then governments: we would use today administrators. These include the countless people who are behind the scenes out there at Pasadena, and other headquarters areas like in London, Johannesburg, Manila, Australia; all those people who handle the mail in mail processing; handling paychecks, working in accounting; data processing. There are over 1,000 people there at Pasadena who are employed there.

The definition of this word or the root of this word is very interesting. It is the Greek word for pilot—the person who steers the ship into a port. And so it shows what their responsibility is. They steer the church; they take care of the myriad details the ministry cannot possibly be involved in. If so, that is all we would get done.

And then he mentions diversities of tongues.

Let us add another angle to this. He mentioned pastors back there in Ephesians. Let us go to Luke 2 where we have the story of the immediate aftermath of Christ's birth.

Luke 2:8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

That word “shepherds” in verse 8 is exactly the same word that is translated “pastors” in Ephesians 4:11. Now it tells you what a pastor is: A pastor is a man who shepherds a group of people. He is responsible for leading, guiding, correcting, instructing, rebuking if necessary, anything to get the sheep well fed and [to the goal].

In verse 15, “So it was, when the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another. . .” The same word pastors said one to another. And down in verse 18, it is repeated; and again in verse 20 the shepherds: all the same words.

John 10:1-2 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the [pastor] shepherd of the sheep.”

John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd [good pastor]. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”

And it is repeated in verses 14 and 16 where the same word is used.

Jesus is a pastor. Let us go to Hebrews 3. Now this here is why it can get to be a bit confusing.

Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus.

Are you beginning to see something emerge? Jesus Christ is chief apostle and High Priest, but He is also a pastor. You see, a man can pastor at any rank, a local elder can pastor a church. It has happened on many occasions that we have had local elders pastoring churches; preaching elder, pastor, evangelist. Right now, we have got three evangelists who are pastoring churches. They have evangelist rank, but they are doing no job that is any different than what I am doing here.

Pastor is at both one and the same time an office or responsibility that can be held by any rank, but it is also designated by Paul as a rank. So it is both rank and office at one and the same time. As a rank it is below apostle and evangelist, but it is above local elder and preaching elder. So it is right in the middle there.

Now let us add some more confusion. Incidentally, Mr. Armstrong’s title is what? He is Pastor General. So what he is telling you is that his responsibility is as pastor of the entire flock worldwide; whereas my personal responsibility is to Columbia and Augusta. Whereas mine is limited here, his goes worldwide as Pastor General.

Let us go to I Timothy 3, and we will introduce a new term.

I Timothy 3:1-2 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless.

You know what a bishop is. He is a guy who wears black clothes, and has his collar turned around. No. Who are bishops? Well the Greek here is episcopas. Does that ring a bell with any of you Episcopalians? See, they named their church after an office; actually after a form of government—Episcopalian, which comes from the Greek word episcopas and is translated into the English bishop.

Now, episcopas means an overseer, a superintendent, or commissioner. That is the word that we would use today in English. We would use the term overseer, superintendent, or commissioner. At any rate by definition of the way it is used, an episcopas, that is a bishop, is a man who bears responsibility over an area, but he is also under authority. In other words, he is not the big cheese. You see, he is somebody that we would equate today with middle management. He is superintending some area, but he himself is also under authority.

Hold that definition in your mind and let us go to I Timothy 5.

I Timothy 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.

Now we have elders. Notice there that an elder rules by definition of the verse, the elders rule and they also have a work to perform.

Let us go back to Acts 14 and we will begin to tie all these pieces together. This tells some of the events in one of Paul’s journeys. Down in verse 19, they went from Antioch to Iconium; they left there and went to Derby [that is Paul and Barnabas]. Then they went to Lystra back to Iconium, and to Antioch again.

Acts 14:22-23 Strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." So when they had appointed elders in every church. . .

An elder is an ordained man in a local congregation by definition of Acts 14:23. He has a certain amount of rulership. According to I Timothy 5, he rules well and he has a work to perform.

Now we will not go into the work, but the work is the perfecting of the saints.

In Acts 15:2 we have the background and the story given for the ministerial conference that was held in Jerusalem:

Acts 15:2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.

Evidently the elders had some deal of authority that the apostles are designated with, but yet apart from the elders.

Down to verses 22-23:

Acts 15:22-23 Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas who was also named Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren. They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren [setting them all apart from one another], to the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.

This word “elders” is from the Greek presbyteros, and it is the root word of Presbyterian. Again, you see, those people name their church after a form of government; they govern, administer their church by a system of elders. The Episcopalians use bishops.

Now, this word “elder” literally means “an older man.” I should not say man; “an older one” because it is neutral, applying both to men and women. It simply means “an older one.” It is the root for the English word “alderman.” Some cities are governed by a board of aldermen, meaning older men. And the word is always used in a context implying age and/or wisdom. The supposition is that a person is old, is supposed to have wisdom.

Elders were ordained in all the congregations by Paul. What we are going to see is that elders and bishops are one and the same thing—they are identical. From here, let us go to Titus 1.

Titus 1:5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you.

To Timothy he said, “I want you to ordain bishops.” To Titus he said, “I want you to ordain elders.” He gave the same qualifications for both in Titus 1:6 and in I Timothy 3:1. He gave the same qualifications for both.

Now let us go back a few pages to Philippians 1:1.

Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.

Is Paul snubbing the elders? Of course he is not snubbing the elders. A bishop is an elder and they are included in that term.

Now for the clincher, let us go back to Acts 20, verse 17 where we see that Paul continued his journey.

Acts 20:17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.

I want you to notice that he sent for the elders of the church. Then he preached a sermon to them, exhorting them, telling them that he was not going to be back that way anymore. And he declared to them that he had not failed in his responsibility to teach them.

Acts 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you (bishops) overseers, . . .

You see, they translated it overseers. So in verse 17, he called them elders; in verse 28 he called them bishops. And so the long and the short of that is that an elder and a bishop are identical. They are one and the same thing.

I Peter 5:1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder. . .

Now, this was written by an apostle. So an apostle is an elder and he is also a bishop and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed,

I Peter 5:2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers [he is a bishop], not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly.

I Peter 5:4 And when the Chief [Pastor] Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

An apostle is a bishop is an elder. An apostle has oversight of the flock. Apostle is a pastor; an elder is a pastor; an elder is a bishop; a bishop is a pastor. They are almost all synonymous terms, except for the fact that apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor designate a rank.

Now, is that clear, or are you confused? Well, I hope you are not confused and you see any ordained man can pastor a congregation—a flock. But that man may have a different rank than the man who is in a neighboring church. You see, now I am a pastor who pastors the flock. Just a couple of weeks ago I was a preaching elder who pastored a flock. There are only five of us in the whole Southeast. There is another man who was ordained probably either the same day or a day or so later, Richard Frankel, who was a pastor in Washington, and is now a pastor rank minister; Jimmy Friddle in Nashville is also pastor rank; Ken Martin in Birmingham, Alabama is pastor; and Bob Bertuzzi in Orlando, Florida; and now me. So there are only five of us in the Southeast. There are about 55 pastor ranked ministers. Most of them are in the large northern cities. Now, the 55 (or whatever it is) includes the Canadian ministry as well. Most of them are in the large northern cities.

Incidentally, I belong to a very, very exclusive group within the church. My wife and I were trying to count them the other day, and the best we could come up with, there are only five of us in all the ministry—that includes Mr. Herbert Armstrong—who have ever been ordained to a rank this high who only attended Ambassador College at the most one year. The others are Ray Wooten, who was down there at Jekyll Island with us, Harold Rhodes, who incidentally graduated from Brooklyn Cayce High School. He spent most of his life in Savannah. But he pastors the church in Austin and Waco, Texas. He was ordained by Mr. Armstrong when Mr. Armstrong came to Big Sandy during the Feast. That is four, I cannot think of the fifth right now.

But any rate, Mr. Armstrong never attended Ambassador College at all. Well, I cannot think of who that other one is. Maybe there were only three. I think what I was thinking was we heard a rumor that there was going to be an ordination up in Dayton. And we were guessing that it might have been Bob Lee, maybe I counted him in there. And if so he also has only attended Ambassador College one year as well.

Well, for better or worse here we are. I do not know whether I have you totally confused.

But if you just remember pastor is used in the Bible to designate a responsibility, but it is also designating a rank. And so if a man is a pastor of a church, he is not necessarily pastor rank, he might be an evangelist, or he might be a preaching elder, or he might be a local elder.

Let us go back to Matthew 24. The last time that we were here, I think that I showed you something that I believe that most of you already knew. But that is that the key to understanding Matthew 24 is in comparing it with Revelation 6. Revelation 6 gives the first six of the seven seals, the first four of which are the renowned Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. And they answer to about the first eight verses of Matthew 24. The fifth seal is expounded beginning in Matthew 24, verse 9.

Matthew 24:9-10 "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.”

And he goes on to explain more and more about the tribulation. (Actually an explanation of the fifth seal and some of the details of the fifth seal run all the way up to Matthew 24:28 as He gives bits and pieces showing how difficult it is going to be; showing some of the signs that will indicate that the tribulation is very close.)

Matthew 24:15-17 "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. [He says it is so close, get out of there; do not even bother getting your possessions; just vamoose.

Matthew 24:20 “And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.”

Those things will divert your attention so much when you need to be paying all your attention to getting out of that area if you want to preserve your life. Then He goes on to show how terrible it is going to be that unless God intervened and cut short the days there would be nobody saved alive. And it is not talking about spiritual salvation. It is talking about physical lives being saved. Then He gives a promise that God will cut the day short.

Let us pick it up in verse 29. Oh, He also warns of something that there is a warning of later on in the book of Revelation. See also in II Thessalonians 2 about signs and wonders being done and people claiming that Christ has already returned, and is in a certain part of the earth; to not allow yourself to be deluded into thinking that He is on earth. And so, He tells very plainly that His coming is going to be so visible that nobody will be able to miss Him. It will be just as visible as the sunrise. So do not ever allow yourself to be deluded into thinking that Christ is already here.

Matthew 24:29-30 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Now turn back to Revelation 6, I want you to check it, and see it with your own eyes, that this dovetails perfectly with the sixth seal. The sixth seal begins in verse 12.

Revelation 6:12-13 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.

So we see then that we have a very clear order of events: The Tribulation will occur; then following the tribulation will be heavenly signs; and then following that will be the Day of the Lord. They are very clearly divided.

Hopefully, we will be in the place of safety when the Tribulation begins. This will not be of such great importance to us except to keep track of chronology. And when we get to the place that the heavenly signs occur, we will know then that we are about one year from the return of Christ.

Now we will not go to those sections, but Hosea 5 and Isaiah 48 (I believe), show very clearly that the Tribulation will last about 2.5 years. The Day of the Lord will last one year. The total for the two of them is 3.5 years, or 42 months, or 1,260 days.

So you see that the time element of Matthew 24 is continuing progressing from the opening of the first seal which actually occurred shortly after Christ's resurrection. And maybe in Acts 8 we see the events that began the opening of the first seal. The seals then continue to be opened, continuing right on down till the final one is open.

Now in Revelation 7, there is a pause in the events. Chapter 8 begins the breaking of the seventh seal.

So here is what will occur: The Tribulation will occur; then comes the heavenly signs; when the heavenly signs are finished, then God is going to hold up events for a little while. Notice chapter 8:

Revelation 8:1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

Notice chapter 7:

Revelation 7:1-3 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads."

Now, what I read chapter 8, verse 1 was to show you that every once in a while, God will stop the sequence of events for a short period.

That is what we see in chapter 7.

The Tribulation occurs; then the heavenly signs; and then for a short period, God stops things from occurring. And so he shows in chapter 7 that the angels are there; they are waiting to blow the trumpets; they are waiting to desecrate the earth with all of the plagues. But God says, “Wait a minute,” and then He holds things up and He sets apart the 144,000 and the innumerable multitude. Then once they are set apart, then He starts events rolling once again.

Back to Matthew 24.

Matthew 24:31 “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

Verse 31 actually carries us to the sounding of the seventh trump. Now the seventh trump sounds in Revelation 11:15, it is the signal for the seven last plagues to fall, and also for the resurrection of God's saints.

Now, when you put the events of Revelation 14 and 15 together, it implies very strongly that the resurrection will occur before the seven last plagues fall. Then the seven last plagues fall, and then everything comes to an end.

Those seven last plagues, by putting together Zachariah 14 with Revelation 16 and 19, show that they will fall in one day.

Let us put this time sequence all together.

The first seal was evidently opened shortly after Christ's resurrection when the false ministers began to rise, instigated by Simon Magus. Through periods of time, they have been broken and once they are broken, they continue open, but they are not always fulfilled with the same intensity. And we are going to see an increase in intensity of the fulfillment of those seals as we approach the end.

Finally, the church flees; the Tribulation begins, and continues for 2.5 years. Then the heavenly signs occur. Then there is a break in the action for a while until God seals the 144,000 and the innumerable multitude. Then the seventh seal is broken, and the seven trumpet plagues occur over the course of a year; when the seventh trumpet sounds Revelation 11:15, the resurrection occurs and Christ returns to earth; the seven plagues are poured out in the presence of God's resurrected saints and Jesus Christ—occurring in one day according to Zechariah 14 and Revelation 14, 16, and 19—occurring in one day.

That has brought us up to Matthew 24:31. From that point on, Jesus is no longer giving prophecy, but rather it is an exhortation to take advantage of the information that He has just given.

Let us go to verse 32.

Matthew 24:32-33 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!”

That is very plain. We all have indications that spring is coming, that summer is coming. There are things that are evident to us just merely from observation, from having lived the length of time that we have. Well, what He is saying there is that when we see these things occur, we ought to know that the time is getting awfully close.

Matthew 24:34 “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”

Now, the question is always, “What generation is that? Is it the generation to whom He was speaking at the time?” It could not possibly be, because all of those things did not come to pass.

Now, the verses that are critical to understanding this are verses 14, 21, and 22. Those verses could not possibly be fulfilled in the generation to which Jesus was speaking at the time. The gospel was not preached all around the world. It was preached around the Mediterranean and maybe further than that, but it was not preached all around the world.

In addition to that, if it was being preached all around the world at that time, it could not possibly be the sign of the end. All you have to do is put the chronology together and the way the verses are put together one against the other. Verse 14 occurs right near the beginning of the Tribulation, because that is the very next thing He said after the gospel shall be preached was be aware of the setting up of the abomination of desolation. If the gospel had been preached, it could not be a sign because everybody would have been familiar with it. And so it is one of the strongest warning signs to those who care to know that when the gospel is preached around the world, the end is almost upon us. Then also verses 21 and 22, which describe the intensity of the Tribulation so great that nobody could be saved unless God intervened.

Now, mankind simply did not possess the weapons needed to fulfill that verse until the atomic and hydrogen weapons, and the biological and chemical weapons that we have available today, came into being. And so even apart from the hydrogen weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, there are chemicals and biological methods by which all life could be destroyed. Now, that could not have occurred until this generation.

The question about what generation: Well, it is obviously the generation that we live in. But when did it begin? Did it begin with the birth of Mr. Armstrong? Did it begin in 1934 when Mr. Armstrong began preaching? Did it begin in 1953 when we leapt across the ocean and began preaching the gospel into Gentile areas? I do not know; I do not know the answer to that.

My gut reaction is it would be the generation beginning with 1934 when he began preaching. But I do not know exactly.

Matthew 24:36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”

It is a warning to us not to become hung up on a day, that we are not going to know the exact day or even hour, an hour would be even more specific, would it not? We will not know the hour nor the day.

So there is no use being overly burdened about it. He has given us the information that He feels is necessary for us to properly conduct our lives. But even He did not know. So He does not want us to get hung up on it.

Matthew 24:37-39 “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

This is a warning that life is seemingly going to continue right on as if people were oblivious to the times in which they were living. It is warning to us is to not get caught up in it. These people were caught up in the normal daily routines of the cares of this life and they failed to heed the warning signs that were all around them that something terrible was taking place. But instead we are to learn the lesson from Noah who, when he was warned, he got prepared and he took advantage of the calm times to get prepared for the tribulation that was going to come. And the tribulation, of course, was the Flood. And the work that he did during the periods of calm saved his life. That is the lesson.

We are going to see that in just a little wee bit. The work you do is going to save your life later on. Even as it saved Noah, his work was to build a boat; and by the building of that boat, and no doubt by the preaching that he did, he witnessed to the world.

Now, the warning is that if we are caught up in the cares of the world, the end is going to come on us with shattering suddenness.

I Thessalonians 5:1-3 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

A woman never knows when her labor is going to begin. She knows that she is getting close. There are warning signs all along. First, she does not have a period; then she begins throwing up; then her abdomen begins to swell, getting bigger and bigger. The next thing you know, the baby begins to drop, and she knows that she is getting close; she begins to dilate, but she still does not know when those first birth pangs are going to come.

God is using that as an illustration because I have given you all this information, an overview of prophecy, but you still do not know when the birth pangs are going to begin. But should not a woman get prepared for that birth? Sure she should. And so should we.

I Thessalonians 5:4-8 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober.

He is using this illustration to help us to understand something. And that is that a person who has had too much to drink is aware of what is going on, but he does not have control of the situation. For example, a person who has had too much to drink can hop in his automobile and he is going down the highway and he is aware of other cars coming toward him. He is aware of lights, he might be aware of the stop signs. He is aware of certain things that are going on around him, but he does not have the control of his vehicle that he would have if he was completely sober.

That is a beautiful description of what is going on in the world. They are aware that we are living in unique times. They are writing books about it, they are writing articles about it. They know so much that some of them are terrified, but they have no control over the situation.

Now, you see, God has given you and me control because we are aware and in control. He has given you His Spirit to give you power to direct your life.

I Thessalonians 5:8-9 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us go back to Matthew 24.

Matthew 24:40-42 “Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.”

These verses, 40 and 41, are often used by certain religious organizations, usually the Pentecostal-Evangelical types as proof of the rapture. You know, here is a person driving along in his automobile, he disappears, but he has been warned, he has a sign in the back, it says, “In case of rapture, this car will be driverless.”

But notice the context. Matthew 24 has a chronological flow to it. Now, what is the chronology? It is the second coming of Christ.

Matthew 24:42 “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.”

Now, in the scenario that the rapturers give to you, the rapture occurs (according to some), seven years before Christ returns, and according to others, 3.5 years before He returns. But the context is clearly the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead. That is what He is talking about in verses 40 and 41: the resurrection of people who are in a position where they are working out in the field at the time Christ returns.

Where could that occur? To whom could it occur? You see, the 144,000 and the innumerable multitude, God does not say that He is going to take them to a place of safety. He says He seals them in their forehead, and no doubt from that point on protects them wherever they happen to be. But there is no time between the Tribulation and the opening of the seventh seal to get those people to the place of safety, because these people are scattered all over the world. And so these are people who are scattered, but they are sealed of God. And so they might still even be working for their captor, might be in Russia, might be in China, wherever they have to have been sold as a slave.

Matthew 24:43-46 “But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.”

What is going to save you? The work that you do.

Now, the work itself is not going to save you. God's grace is going to do it, but God is going to change, He is going to save those people who are faithfully doing his work, just like Noah. Noah was saved by God's grace because he did the work of building the ship.

Matthew 24:47-51 “Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,' and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

There are three points in here that you need to get in those last six or seven verses.

1. To live without watching invites disaster. He has just given us an overview of things that we need to be aware of so that we will know the times in which we live.

2. The attitude that leads to disaster is the one that says there is plenty of time.

3. Acceptance or rejection by God is based upon the person's stewardship, that is, how he carries out his work.

Now, our work, of course, is to be faithful in preaching the gospel around the world and in overcoming and growing personally. So in those two areas, we have to be faithful to God.

JWR/rwu/drm