Four Ages.

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It appears to me there are four ages of man’s history. The first age, the Preliminary Age, goes from Adam to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The second age, the Church Age, goes from the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ to His next coming. The third age, the Kingdom Age, goes from the next coming of the Lord to the doing away with the present sky and earth. The fourth age, the Eternal Age, begins with the coming down to earth of the glorified church, the new Jerusalem, and shall last forever.

(6/24/2007) I think it may prove helpful to some of the believers to get these four ages firmly fixed in their minds. To not understand them is to invite confusion into one’s thinking, I believe.

The Old Testament primarily tells us what we need to know about the Preliminary Age. The important aspect of the first age is that the personages and events provide understanding to us who are living in the Church Age. I think most of us understand this, and read the Old Testament every day to glean what truths God has for us.

The purpose of the present age, the Church Age, is not always made clear. The main event seems to be the calling out from mankind of people who are to be trained to serve as rulers and priests for the benefit of the remainder of those who are saved into the Kingdom of God.

Although there are many passages that point out the precision with which God calls out people for His purposes, such as "No one comes to Me except the Father draw him," we insist on focusing on getting as many people as possible to "take the four steps of salvation. We appear to do little beyond urging those who have taken the four steps of salvation to try to get as many others as possible to take the four steps of salvation.

The purpose of taking the four steps of salvation. we assume, is so when we die we will not go to Hell but to a heavenly environment in which we do nothing of significance for eternity. If this were true we would be leaving one hell for another.

The emphasis of the New Testament, it seems to me, is that of running a race after we receive Christ as our Lord and Saviour. We are pointed toward becoming a new creation in the image of Jesus Christ, and toward seeking to attain to the resurrection. There are many passages devoted to the idea of pursuing redemption to its completion, particularly in the Book of Hebrews, and warning us of the danger of not following through with what we have started.

No writer I have read treats the text of Hebrews honestly, because the scholars are determined to make the book say that once we "accept Christ" we have nothing more to do or to be concerned about.

So we hear "go out and save the lost"; "go out and save the lost"; "go out and save the lost," over and over again. But how often do we hear what Paul taught us, in the third chapter of the Book of Philippians, about pressing toward perfection, toward the first resurrection? We hear rapture, rapture, rapture, but not about being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ that we may be His brothers.

The reason for such unscriptural emphasis is that we do not understand the purpose of the second age, the Church Age. We are seeking to save the nations instead of making cross-carrying, obedient disciples from the people of the nations. We simply do not understand the purpose of the Church Age.

The third age, the Kingdom Age, is virtually unknown to us. The fact that the Lord Jesus Christ will be sitting on His Throne on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and governing the nations of the earth with a rod of iron is unknown to us. We suppose it has something to do with the Jews, as though there are two brides of the Lamb, a Jewish Bride and a Gentile Bride. Totally unscriptural! Yet this is promulgated by those who profess to believe in the full inspiration of the Bible.

The third age is inserted between the Church Age and the Eternal Age because the Christian Church, the new Jerusalem, is not ready to come down from Heaven and be established on the earth. Therefore the third age, the Church Age, will be one of instruction. The nations have to be taught moral values. Such instruction has to be administered with iron force because the people of the nations have not been taught by most of the Christian churches, let alone the government, to love God with all their heart and their neighbour as themselves. They are going to resist fiercely their right to determine their own way of life. In fact, Isaiah tells us they will be taken on "field trips" to look on the bodies of those who have resisted God.

The church members, for the most part, will be in the spirit world, not having attained to the resurrection that will occur when the Lord returns. In numerous instances the church people are as rebellious in their hearts as are the people of the nations. No one is going to tell them they have to obey Christ. They will obey Christ whenever and however they feel like it. Until this rebellion has been removed from the Christian believers during the Kingdom Age, they never shall be a part of the glorified church. Never! Whoever, whether believer or not, does not accept and obey the absolute authority of Jesus Christ, has no part whatever in the Kingdom of God.

So much for the American love of independence, of self-determination.

Very little is said about the people on the earth during the Kingdom Age. A few passages in Isaiah. We know from the second chapter of the Book of Isaiah that the people of the nations that have survived the Battle of Armageddon are going to want to go up to Jerusalem to learn the ways of the Lord.

As far as the fourth age, the Eternal Age, we have just the last two chapters of the Book of Revelation to guide us. We are nowhere near being ready to see the Face of God. But we shall be some day if we hold fast to the end our confidence in Christ.

Meanwhile, let us keep praying to Christ that He will help us love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and our neighbours as ourselves.

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You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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