An Exposition

Luke 6:37-49: The Believer’s Foundation and Development

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn and you will not be condemned. Pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return. He also spoke a parable to them: ‘A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? A pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.

“And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor on the other hand a bad tree which produces good fruit. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil, for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not what I say?

“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock, and when a flood arose, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation, and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:37-49, NASB).

The Lord Jesus is in the process of teaching both His disciples and the people around Him that true devotion to God means to have an attitude of love towards their enemies and to see them as spiritually lost and destitute, in need of peace and redemption. We are to befriend them, pray for them, and see to their needs. This was a radical concept, especially since almost every Jewish citizen despised the Roman overlords and wanted them out of Judea, and some zealots wanted them dead.

As Christianity spread throughout the Empire in later years through the preaching and miracles of the apostles, the followers of Jesus demonstrated the attitude of love He had taught, and many Romans and other Gentile nations began to come to Christ as a result. Jesus continues His teaching by telling His listeners not to look down on each other and find fault with them. He tells them to examine their own hearts and lives, lest they be guilty of hypocrisy. There is a time and place for direct, honest, and rational determination of right and wrong; the LORD tells them not to come to hasty or prejudiced conclusions beforehand (vv.37-38)

In judging someone without having full knowledge about the situation, we are demonstrating the fact that save for the grace of God, we might be in a similar situation with others having an attitude of superiority of self-righteousness themselves. Jesus points out that we tend to be blind to our sins, which need to be dealt with and resolved before we take it upon ourselves to lend our help and advice to someone else who is dealing with their own faults. We need to be spiritually sound and approach the other person with the attitude of Jesus, who is our Teacher and example (vv.39-42).

Anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ should be a person who demonstrates authentic devotion to Him through not just his words, but his works as well. Works in and of themselves do not redeem us spiritually, but are the natural result of demonstrating the love, peace, and mercy that the LORD has shown us by saving us from our sins (vv.43-48). We can say that we are faithful followers of Christ all we want, but unless it is demonstrated to a watching world, we do not fully show the reality of our faith. James would speak of this in his letter to the church years later (James 2:14-26).

We need to stop and examine ourselves at times and be honest before the LORD. Have we lived a life of obedience to Him, or has it all been a game of “lip service” without any real evidence of the faith we claim to have? (v.46)

We are surrounded by a world whose advice is to be someone of “self-confidence,” and to “do it yourself” concerning pretty much everything that has to do with our daily lives, our thinking, and personal satisfaction. Unfortunately, that kind of advice is also coming from the pulpits of our churches today. As a result, we are building our houses on the foundation of self-centeredness and the belief by too many people that we do not need to rely on any kind of deity or higher power to guide or advise us. The houses that are built upon this type of foundation will always crumble into ruins at the first sign of a storm in their lives that they cannot control or avoid.

The quality of the house we occupy depends on the reputation of the contractor. Remember that our LORD made His living as a carpenter. The truth of His Word is the solid foundation on which to build the house. He also has the blueprints at hand to carefully put together the structure without mistake, waste, or hidden cost. He shows us the progression of the work and will use only the best material of the highest quality to ensure that what He has built will withstand the most devastating of storms.

We are to trust that his craftsmanship will be not just a place of comfort and use, but a shelter for others whose foundations have cracked and are falling apart. The reputation of the Carpenter’s work is so sound that we who have benefitted from His skill should always be ready to recommend Him and watch other houses be constructed and become the neighborhood that will be the permanent fixture of the new heaven and the new earth forever.

Now that is a builder in Whom I can trust. Let Him handle your construction today and for all time. He has all the proper tools. Let Him complete the job (vv.46-49).

donaldwhitchard@gmail.com

www.donaldwhitchard.com

 

A glance at the title of this article may cause you to wonder why I am writing about this matter. Isn’t this just inflaming disagreement on something that doesn’t matter? Am I not just stirring up divisions?

Before I answer these questions, let me share with you what preterists believe. Most preterists teach that the Lord has already fulfilled all of biblical prophecy; this includes all of Matthew 24 as well as the entire book of Revelation including chapters 21-22. They believe Jesus returned to earth in AD 70 when Titus and the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. Many of them believe we already live in the eternal state.

So why am I writing about preterism? It’s my passion to warn believers about false teachings related to future things, and as such, preterism requires our full attention because it distorts our Gospel hope.

And because of the widespread acceptance and popularity of preterism, it’s necessary to address key perils wrapped up in its false teaching.

Preterism Repeats the Errors of Amillennialism

Preterists start with the errant beliefs of the amillennialists and then proceed further away from the truth of God’s Word. Whereas most amillennialists stop allegorizing the book of Revelation with chapter 20, preterists regard chapters 21-22 as also symbolic of prophecies already fulfilled or of past history.

The extreme version of preterism tells us we already live in the eternal state while other milder forms of it still look forward to a second coming of Jesus and a future eternal state.

During a Sunday school class that I taught on prophecy, I encountered a preterist who objected to my teaching that Matthew 24 represented the future. He believed that since Jesus returned in 70 AD, He had fulfilled all the words of this chapter.

I can assure you that Jesus’ return to earth as set forth in Matthew 24:29-31 has not yet happened. And if His glorious second coming remains future, then of necessity all the signs Jesus gave us that point to it must also be still future (Matt. 24:3-28). Preterism errs by placing Jesus’ return to earth in the distant past.

Preterism Diminishes the Glory of Jesus

In Revelation 1:7, John describes Jesus’ glorious return as a time when “every eye will see him.” The apostle gives us a more detailed description of the dazzling power and magnificence of this event in Revelation 19:11-20:6.

To assert that an obscure vision of chariots clashing in the sky in 70 AD fulfilled the prophecies of Jesus’ breathtaking return to earth, as do the preterists, makes no sense whatsoever. How can they claim this localized vision fulfilled Jesus’ triumphant return in which every person alive on earth will see Him? Such teaching is not only false, but it demeans the picture of Jesus’ majestic future return to earth.

Preterism demeans Jesus’ glorious future in another key way. Listen to what the Father promises the Son in Psalm 2:8-9, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage; and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” It’s clear from the context that these are physical nations with governing kings. The promise of Psalm 2 as well as that of Isaiah 9:6-7 relate to a time when Jesus will physically govern the nations of the world seated upon the throne of David.

Can you even for a moment imagine the Father reneging on His promise to the Son regarding the nations? Yet this is precisely what preterists ask us to do through their denial of a future physical kingdom with Jesus ruling over the nations of the world.

Preterism Negates the Biblical Hope of Believers

Although mild preterists still believe in a future return of Jesus, most believe in the fulfillment of all biblical prophecy including the entire book of Revelation. They believe that the apocalypse consists of an historical account of the first three centuries of the church. Mild preterists maintain a belief in a future resurrection of the saints, but believe the Bible remains silent about our lives in eternity.

These beliefs contradict the clear teaching of Scripture, and in doing so, negate our biblical hope. The apostle Peter told his readers to “set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13). By proclaiming that Jesus has already fulfilled the prophecies of Scripture, preterists shift the hope of believers to the church and to this world. They negate many wonderful promises of the New Testament that exalt Jesus as our ultimate hope.

God intends our future expectation to be on Jesus’ return for His church at which time we will receive glorified bodies (Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Cor. 15:50-54), experience eternal victory over death (1 Cor. 15:54-56; 1 Thess. 1:9-10, 4:13-5:11), and be caught up to forever be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Where is our hope if the Lord has already fulfilled all these future promises? Does it feel as though we have already obtained the immortality of 1 Corinthians 15:53 as many preterists believe?

In Acts 20:29, Paul warned the Ephesian elders of “fierce wolves,” false teachers, who would come into their church “not sparing the flock.” I believe the apostle would use even stronger words of warning regarding the preterists who negate the many precious promises of Scripture regarding our hope and replace them with them with a false hope in what the church can do.

Preterism Gravely Distorts Church History

Preterists maintain that John wrote the book of Revelation in about AD 65-67. If the apostle wrote the book after AD 70, then preterism cannot be true since John would be writing about the future return of the Lord after it took place. Preterism depends entirely on an early date for the writing of Revelation.

It’s impossible, however, to maintain that John wrote the book before AD 70. Many writers in the early centuries of the church place John’s banishment to the Isle of Patmos and the writing of Revelation late in the reign of the Emperor Domitian, who ruled over Rome from AD 81-96. Irenaeus, who grew up in the church at Smyrna and later became a prominent writer in the early church, stated that John wrote Revelation during this time. Would not someone who attended the church where the book was first read surely know when it was written? He said John wrote Revelation late in the reign of Domitian.

Furthermore, if Jesus returned in AD 70 as Preterists claim, why is it that so many prominent church fathers still looked for it as a future event in the early centuries of the church? Leaders such as Papias (70-163), Irenaeus (130-202), Justyn Martyr (100-165), and Tertullian (155-240) all wrote about Jesus’ future return to rule over the world. How could the entire church have missed Jesus’ glorious Second Coming in AD 70?

The testimony of church history totally and absolutely destroys the key claim of preterism. Besides its almost unanimous witness to a later date for the writing of Revelation, all the prominent writers of the second and third centuries placed Jesus’ Second Coming in the future. How could they all have missed it?

Preterism Demeans the Gospel

Mild preterists believe in a future return of Jesus where he resurrects the bodies of dead believers. Although not as bad as those who claim we already live in the eternal state, this belief by itself does not encompass the true hope of the Gospel as Paul writes about in Phil. 3:20-21 and in Romans 8:23-25.

Extreme preterists, however, distort the Gospel with their denial of the future bodily resurrection of the saints. While I believe all the various forms of preterism represent false teaching because of their view regarding Jesus’ second coming, the denial of a future resurrection for the saints makes the Gospel message totally irrelevant. What’s the purpose of the good news if we already live in the eternal state or cannot look forward to a bodily resurrection?

The apostle wrote this in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” This is how Paul viewed our faith with no bodily resurrection.

The essence of our hope is a bodily resurrection; it’s the future tense of the Gospel. Any teaching that excludes our future hope of immortal bodies misrepresents the Gospel by denying the hope promised to us in it. The Gospel loses all relevance if we cannot trust the hope of our promised bodily resurrection.

By dismissing all prophecy as something the Lord already fulfilled, preterists cause considerable harm in the church by taking the eyes of the faithful off the wondrous joy ahead for them.

I regard preterism as a heresy because its teachings demean the message of hope contained in the Gospel and exalt the church over its head, the Lord Jesus. The more extreme versions of it represent a grave distortion of the Gospel by stripping it of all its good news for the saints.

The Gospel hope of the New Testament is Jesus’ return to take us to His Father’s house in heaven, to the place He is now preparing for us!

Don’t let anyone take your eyes off Jesus; He’s the prize and your only refuge in a troubled world. He’s coming soon!

Jonathan C. Brentner

Jonathanbrentner@yahoo.com

https://jonathanbrentner.com/