Eschatology

21 October 2018

Dear Phyllis,

When we talk about eschatology, Daniel, Revelation, and Matthew 24 are the holy grail. When we talk about Matthew 24 the first points that are put forward are the famines, earthquakes and the anti-christ in the temple. I have heard a lot of messages on Matt. 24 and several on Matt. 25 but I have never heard anyone mention that Matt. 24 and 25 are tied together as one message. In Matt. 25 we have two major parables and one important teaching about the final judgment of separating sheep from goats. These messages are quite different from our traditional concept of eschatology. But the cap stone of every discussion of the end of the world certainly is the final judgment. In reading those familiar words of Matt. 25: 31-46 last week I was surprised at the thing Jesus pointed to as the criteria in final judgment is our relationship with the Body of Christ.

When Jesus spoke to Saul on the Damascus road, He didn't say, “Saul why are you persecuting my followers?” - which is what he was doing. Amazingly what Jesus said to Saul was, “Why are you persecuting ME?” (Act 9:4). By that statement Jesus established any dealing with His Body is directly dealing with Him. We know this and yet it really doesn't seriously register in our minds. The central teaching of Matt. 25 is that all people will be judged by their dealings with the lowest member of the Body of Christ. What the Lord said to both parties - those who are saved (the sheep) and those who are lost (the goats)- was so unusual that both the saved and unsaved didn't know what He was talking about. Jesus said nothing about Billy Graham, Joel Olsteen, Joyce Myers, John McArthur, etc. When we think of the Body of Christ our minds natural go to the most visible ones at the top, or those we know who are doing major things. We think of the folks we see at church. But the ones Jesus talked about were the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and Imprisoned. You can't get much lower than this. And yet in both cases Jesus said, “That was ME”. Really? That is as unbelievable as Saul realizing he was persecuting Jesus. If the truth of this actually seeped into our minds it should alter our view of who is the Body of Christ.

This certainly does not mean that every vagrant, homeless, destitute man on the street, or those camped in San Francisco, defecating on the side walk are Jesus. The riffraff at rescue missions are not Christ. The scum of society certainly are not the Body of Christ. Most of these are drug addicts, alcoholics, and criminals. Surely this is not he Body of Christ.

But what it does suggest is that there is a segment of the Body of Christ that is at the absolute bottom of the social ladder. These are not Christian speakers who live in multi-million dollar homes and fly around in private jets. These are genuine Christians who are homeless, utterly financially destitute, sick, or imprisoned. That is the last place you would look for Jesus. And yet in both cases Jesus said, “I WAS...” And, “You treated ME...”. If that isn't shocking I don't know what is.

Where is that Jesus? I think you would find extremely little of Him as this in America, Japan, Thailand, or most advanced countries. I believe I have had the privilege of having a little contact with Him in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and in refugee camps along the Burma border in Thailand. In some cases I was able to give believers the first Bible they ever had. John Cathcart told me of some female believers in Russia who were reluctant to get baptized. He didn't know why until he realized some of these women only had one thin dress, and no underwear. When they got baptized they looked like they were stark naked and had no change of clothes.. Those were genuinely poor people. No doubt there is some of Jesus in China, North Korea, some mountain minority groups in SEA, and parts of Africa. But what about the rest of the world. Is it impossible for us to minister to Jesus who is destitute, sick, or imprisoned? Do we have to go hunting to find Him?

If this teaching is to have any application to us I believe it is this, that the greatest segment of the Body of Christ are not the people on the top but the unnoticed believer on the bottom. I have found in several churches that if I wanted to talk with Jesus it was not the pastor but the simple old lady who sat in the back of the church. If you talk to the pastor you might get a lecture about all the amazing things he has accomplished, but if you talk to the little old lady in the back of the church you might hear a testimony how she had nothing to eat last week but the Lord miraculously provided food just in time.

I have noticed how it is strange that some of the Lord's greatest servants are hidden, and some of the most famous men are the sorryest. Hands down the greatest Bible teacher I ever met in my life was Dave Lanum. Dave was in Japan for 15 years but never made a splash. His Bible teaching was something like I have never heard anywhere else. He went back to he states and his wife left him. The last time I saw Dave he was living by himself with virtually no ministry; and the last I heard of Dave Lanum was that he was riding around America in the right seat of trucks. One of the greatest Bible teachers in America riding in the right seat of trucks. And many of the well known professors in Bible schools are nuts.

The greatest Bible smuggler I ever met was Bob Sawyer. Bob worked out of Hong Kong for 9 years and was a legend. There was no one as street-wise, courageous, and legendary in what he was able to pull off as Bob. He told me of one time he was in Tibet and passed out a tract in a market. When the people in the market saw that, they mobbed him for tracts. He said there was such a crowd he feared he would be crushed. To save himself, he threw everything he had in the air to get rid of the people. Needless to say a policeman showed up immediately. As Bob was the only foreigner standing in the market it didn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out what was unusual. The policeman confronted him and demanded his passport. The simple policeman couldn't figure out his passport or understand a word of what Bob was saying. As the policeman stood there looking at the passport Bob was demanding, “Am I arrested? Am I arrested?”. The policeman stood there with a confused look on his face; Bob reached up, grabbed the passport out of his hand, and walked away. He knew it wouldn't take long for the stunned policeman to come to his senses. As soon as he rounded the corner, he took off running with three or four policemen in hot pursuit. Dashing through the market Bob spotted a low table with a blanket over it and an old Tibetan man man sitting behind it smoking a pipe. With no introduction, Bob dove under the table. The old man never moved. Seconds later the policemen came running by. The old man sat there stoically. The cops knew they had him trapped in that market but couldn't find him. From time to time Bob looked out from under the table and saw the feet of the policemen looking for him. After half an hour the cops gave up, and Bob crawled out from under the table. He got to the bus station and back to the guest house, 20km away, where he and his partner were staying. His partner asked, “Did you have any trouble at the market this morning? About 8:00 I was praying for you and suddenly saw a black cloud over you. I prayed for you for 30 minutes”. Bob said, “Yes, that was while I was under the the table.”

Extremely few people have ever herd these stories and no one will ever read a book about Bob Sawyer. Today he lives a quiet life with his wife and daughter in Singapore. Extremely few people have ever heard of Dave Lanum, but in my book, he is the greatest Bible man I ever met. It is odd how God hides His greatest servants, and the people with whom He identifies Himself most are the ones at the bottom of the social ladder. What are we going to say to the Lord in the day of final judgment when He says to us, “I WAS.... and you,,,” All we can say is, “Lord, I'm sorry. I didn't know that that was You.”

See you next week, bill