Introduction to FULFILLED Bible PROPHECY

Hello, I'm William Bell with All Things Fulfill and I'm going to be sharing with you a brief introduction to the subject of Covenant Eschatology or Fulfill Prophecy. It's also known as Preterism. However, what we want to share with you are some of the basic points about Covenant Eschatology so that you have a better understanding about events that pertain to what we commonly call the Last Days. Before we get started, let me ask you just a question or two. Have you ever wondered when the Lord would return? Have you ever been confused about all of the dates that you've heard on television by the televangelists, by the prophecy pundits, or maybe in books that you read, or in some news publication that Jesus was soon to return? Are you concerned about the rapture or Armageddon, the Antichrist? Have these things been a source of trouble for you in terms of your understanding and maybe created an undue amount of fear? Well, that's what Fulfill Eschatology is all about. It's about correcting those fears, eliminating those fears to be quite frank with you, and giving you a better understanding and a better knowledge of the end time by searching more carefully the Word of God. So, let's go ahead and take a look at a few passages that will help us to understand. Now, there are four basic categories that I'd like to talk about. One of those would be the time statements. The second would be the generation or the people who lived in the days of the apostles. The third would be the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And the fourth would be the fulfillment of the prophetic scriptures. Now, let's talk about them in that order. First of all, there are the time statements. In Matthew chapter 16 verses 27 and 28, Jesus said, For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his holy angels, and then he will reward each one according to his works. He says, There are some who stand here who shall not taste death till they have seen the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. In other words, by those words, Jesus meant that some who were standing in his very presence would be alive to see his return. We cannot assume that any of those people are alive today. They all have died. And Jesus, therefore, promised that he would come before all of them died. And therefore, since these people lived in the first century, we would have to understand that the coming of the Lord occurred within the first century generation. Secondly, when we turn to the epistles, there are dozens of statements that emphasize the nearness of the Lord's return. For example, in Romans chapter 13 verses 11 and 12, the Bible says, Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent. The day has drawn near. It literally says, The hour has drawn near. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. So there is a passage where Paul is quoting from Daniel chapter 12 verses 1 and 2, which is a passage that speaks particularly of the resurrection within the last days. He says that the time had drawn near, that the night was far spent. The hour had literally come upon them. We also find another passage in Philippians chapter 4 and verse 5 that says the Lord is at hand. The word at hand means imminent or near. Then we turn to 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 7, But the end of all things is at hand. The apostles were saying that these events were at hand in their day, in their generation. Why? Because of the predictions of Christ and of those in the Old Testament. We find also in verse 17 of chapter 4, he says, The time of the judgment has come. Now if we move on to the book of James, James says, Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord, for the coming of the Lord has drawn near. They were in the last days at that time, and the coming of the Lord had in fact drawn near. Then when we turn to the book of Revelation, John says, The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show to his servants things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bore witness of the things that he saw. And he says, And blessed are those who hear and who keep the words of this prophecy and the things that are therein, for the time is near. So he tells you that those things were shortly to come to pass and that the time was near within that first century generation. The same thing is found in the end of the book, Revelation chapter 22, verses 6, 10, and 12. He said, Do not seal the book, for the time is at hand for these things to shortly be done. Jesus says, Behold, my reward is with me. I come quickly. So the time statements in the New Testament all emphasize the imminent nearness of the return of the Lord. Now that means that from the standpoint of those who were living then from what we call an audience relevance point of view, that first century audience understood and expected and were taught by both Christ and his apostles that the end of all things was at hand. That means that those events were scheduled for the first century generation and therefore should not create fear within us today, but rather they should create for us joy and rejoicing because the Lord has fulfilled his promise.