Eschatology: A Fresh Call to Mission of the Spirit
By Ps Tan Yunyun, Zion Full Gospel Church
Our ministers came together to hear how we can play a part to fulfill God’s eschatological purpose to evangelize the world.
On February 1, AG ministers gathered to “begin with the end in mind,” where Rev Dr Chia Beng Hock exhorted ministers to understand the eschatological purposes of the Lord. The vision of MM33 to have one million churches by 2033 is possible if we obey God’s blueprint of raising “an Empowered People to fulfill His Eschatological Purposes to Evangelize the World.”
In Acts 1:6, the disciples asked the resurrected Christ if He will “at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?” Jesus’ response to the disciples’ question in Acts 1:7-8 parallels Peter’s message to the crowd on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17, 21), showing the ideas of eschatology, empowerment, and evangelism. This suggests that Luke (the author of Acts) and Peter, both understood God’s empowerment on His people is to fulfill His eschatological purposes to evangelize the world. Acts 1:8 also informs us of the two-fold purposes of the baptism of the Holy Spirit are to raise an empowered people and to evangelize the world.
| Acts 1:7-8 (ESV) | Acts 2:17, 21 (ESV) | |
| It is not for you to know times or seasons… | And in the last days it shall be, | Eschatological |
| But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, | God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh… | Empowerment |
| and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. | And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. | Evangelism |
Jesus’ answer (Acts 1:7-8) clearly demonstrated that God’s eschatological plan was not just limited to the local restoration of Israel, but God’s plan was meant for the global restoration of His Kingdom over all nations. We see God’s global plan of “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” unfolding in the book of Acts. Starting on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, we read in Acts 2 that the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and about 3000 from over 16 nations believed in Jesus and were baptized in water. Next, Acts 8 recorded how the persecution of the church advanced the spread of the gospel away from Jerusalem to “all Judea and Samaria.” Finally, in Acts 13, the Spirit-led mission of Paul and Barnabas at Antioch furthered the witness of the gospel “to the ends of the earth.”
Rev Chia went on to illustrate how this blueprint can also be observed in God’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the Azusa Street Revival in 1906, in Singapore’s revival in the 1970s, and in his personal ministry experience at Bethel Assembly in their community outreaches. Pentecost always results in missions.
With this clear blueprint in sight, Rev Terence Ong facilitated the prayer response from the ministers. In their small groups, ministers prayed for one another to lean on the Spirit’s empowerment for “this gospel of the kingdom” to be preached “in the whole world as a testimony to all nations” (Matthew 24:14). They also prayed for each other to have a renewed and deeper love for the people, communities, and nations whom they are serving and reaching out to – that people would see the love of Christ through their service.
The Fresh Fire empowerment of the Holy Spirit experienced by the disciples more than 2000 years ago is still available to us today. How timely that AG Singapore is having a Fresh Fire Conference this year, as we count down to 10 more years till 2033. We are more than able to achieve the goal of MM33 because as God’s Spirit-filled people we are empowered to fulfil God’s eschatological purpose to evangelize the world!
