So where do we start building?

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11

When my wife and I were looking to buy our first house, we found one in Tempsford, Bedfordshire, UK. We swiftly made an offer that was accepted. However, before the sale went through, a surveyor was instructed to check the structure of the house. He spotted a tiny crack in a wall and diagnosed a serious problem of subsidence. The house was built on clay soil that swelled in wet weather and contracted when it dried. It would need expensive underpinning and we were advised that it wasn’t a wise investment. The foundations weren’t firm and would subside over time.

When considering the theology of Jesus’ return, we are faced with a similar building problem. With Scriptures found throughout Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel, Nahum, the Gospels, the letters of Paul as well as Revelation, where do we begin building our theology? Where do we lay the initial boundary lines? Where do we dig the foundation so that we can be assured that our theology won’t suffer subsidence with the passage of time?

John G Lake, a renowned American evangelist to South Africa in the early twentieth century, came up with what I believe is a sensible Scriptural solution. He stated that though all Scripture has authority, the words of Jesus have supreme authority. In US society, a decision in a District Court can be appealed to the Supreme Court. The decision in the Supreme Court has decisive authority over all other courts. Likewise, when there is a lack of clarity in Scripture, we must appeal to the supreme authority of the words of Jesus. Though ‘prophecies may fail’ (1 Corinthians 13:8), Jesus promised “My words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)

Derek Prince in ‘Prophetic Guide to the EndTimes’ writes,

    Interpreting prophecy is just like putting together the pieces of a human skeleton.

    If we want to do it successfully, we have to start with the right piece—and the right piece is the spine. When we get the spine in place, we can begin to fit the other members onto it. The spine is Jesus’ discourse on the Mount of Olives, recorded in Matthew 24–25. 

     Sometimes we tend to overlook the fact that Jesus was a prophet. He was the greatest of all the great Hebrew prophets, and His greatest prophetic discourse is found in these two chapters.

We start with Jesus’ words. His teachings lay the foundation and delineate the initial blue print for building. They will provide the support for the load-bearing walls of Second Coming prophetic Scripture. His words and instructions have to carry the weight of Scripture from the Old Testament, the Epistles and Revelation because only they can! (1 Corinthians 3:11)

In Matthew 24:3 Jesus’ disciples asked, “Tell us, when shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matthew chapters 24 and 25 provide an overview of last days’ events with advice of how to prepare for them. It makes a good foundation for our study and our theology.

This teaching is known as the Olivet Discourse. There are similar accounts in the Gospels of Mark and Luke. We use Mathew for two reasons. First, it is an eye-witness account, as Matthew was present during this teaching. Second, it is the fullest version, encompassing 97 verses, compared to 37 in Mark and 31 in Luke.