Advance Through Arrest Series

There is a difference between sin and error. It I say 2+2=5 I am in error, but I am not sinning. That

is, if my motive is to come to a right answer I am not sinning. If my human fallibility leads me to a

wrong answer it is not sin. If I say 2+2=5 in order to confuse a young person so that they will make

a mistake and get a problem wrong then it becomes a sin, for it is a deliberate attempt to deceive. It

is no longer an error but a lie, and, therefore, a sin. The motive determines the difference between a

sin and an error.

When it comes to matters of Biblical doctrine we find the same distinction. If I had believed that

Jesus was to come in 1988, I have been proven wrong. I was in error to believe that, but I was not

sinning in believing that. That was an error in calculation and interpretation. Christians have been

wrong about a good many things because they did not properly understand God's Word. This is not

sin, but the natural result of the inadequacy of human knowledge. However, if my error is the direct

result of disobeying, or of paying no heed to the clear words of Christ, then it becomes sin, for it is

error due to willful negligence. Whenever we can avoid error easily and do not do so because of

laziness and indifference, it becomes a sin to be wrong. To be in error about the obscure or

unrevealed is perfectly normal, but to be in error about the clearly revealed is to be guilty of sinful

negligence.

Jesus predicted that error would be successful, and false prophets would lead many astray just

because people will refuse to give heed to His warning. They will allow themselves to be frightened,

and led into unstable emotionalism over the very things He clearly stated were no cause for alarm.

G. Campbell Morgan wrote, "Observe...that in this prophecy we have the definite declaration that

wars and rumors of wars are not the sign of the end of the age." Yet every crisis and international

conflict will bring many false prophets out of the darkness to confuse and frighten.

Whenever you find Christians being alarmists and acting like chicken little scampering around

the barnyard screaming that the sky is falling, you know they have missed the purpose of Christ's

teaching on last things. His key word is watch. Do not be alarmed He urges. Don't go off half

cocked. Don't lose control of your emotional stability. Be steady, be alert, be watchful. A few

minutes of calm reflection upon the evidence would have saved chicken little from his emotional

blunder and premature warning that caused so much chaos. So also a few moments of calm

reflection on the clear teaching of Jesus will help us avoid confusing the end with the beginning.

Jesus said that all these things are the beginning of sufferings. Let us not be guilty of willful error by

saying these things are signs of the end.

In verse 9 Jesus goes on to tell the disciples some of the very specific forms of suffering they will

have to endure. Let us keep in mind that Jesus answered their question primarily to give them

understanding. The first application of His teaching is to the immediate future of the disciples, and

not to the 20th century, or any other century. For example, Jesus says they will be beaten in

synagogues, and taken before governors and kings. This is obviously a picture of law enforcement

and persecution which fits what the Apostles faced, but would not apply after 70 A. D. After that

the Jews no longer had the power or authority. It was not long before the picture was reversed

completely and Christians were persecuting Jews and beating them.

The point is, Jesus is not describing what is going to happen all through history, though similar

things have always happened. He is telling them what they must endure as the first proclaimers of

the Gospel. Both Jews and the Romans would arrest them because of all the trouble Christianity

would stir up. The Romans would have to intervene because of the dangerous tension between the

old Israel and new Israel. It was a civil war within Judaism that the Gospel caused, and as verse 12

shows, it was a conflict unto death. The Romans had to step in to maintain order. You will notice

that the beatings are to take place in the synagogue at the hands of the Jews, but the being brought

before the governors and kings was for the purpose of bearing testimony. Of course, no beatings

have been allowed in synagogues for many centuries, and so this passage obviously refers to the