What Parts of the New Testament Apply to Whom? (Part 3) (Olivet Discourse Explained)

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1. The qualifications for a pastor
2. The qualifications to hold the office of a pastor are specifically for a pastor or potential pastor (1Ti 3:1-7; Tit 1:5-9).
3. A pastor must (1Ti 3:2) meet these qualifications, but all Christians should do so since all these things are required of them to some extent elsewhere in scripture.
4. Anything contained in the pastoral epistles that is not specific to a pastor, can be applied to Christians in general.
5. There are practical things in the pastoral epistles that all Christians can make application of in their lives, such as:
6. Women must be adorned in modest apparel (1Ti 2:9).
7. Women must learn in silence and not teach in the church (1Ti 2:11-12).
8. Bodily exercise is not nearly as profitable as godliness (1Ti 4:8).
9. Drinking wine in moderation for one’s health (1Ti 5:23).
10. Being ware of the love of money (1Ti 6:5-11).
11. Fighting the good fight of faith (1Ti 6:12).
12. There are doctrinal teachings in the pastoral epistles that all Christians can learn from, such as:
13. God saves His elect by His sovereign grace (2Ti 1:9-10).
14. Our sins will be judged eventually (1Ti 5:24-25).
15. Jesus is the immortal, omnipotent God (1Ti 6:15-16).
16. We are saved by God’s mercy through the regeneration of the Holy Ghost (Tit 3:5).
17. There are some brethren who have lost their faith and yet are God’s elect (2Ti 2:18-19).
18. Paul’s instruction to the elders in Ephesus in Act 20:17-35 was to those specific elders.
19. In that it was instruction to elders (pastors), application can be made to all elders.
20. In that it was instruction given to elders, any of the parts of it that were specific to elders cannot be applied to Christians in general or the world, such as taking heed to feed the church of God, of which they were overseers (Act 20:28).
21. The parts of it that were not unique to elders can be applied to all Christians, such as:
22. Paul’s encouraging words concerning not fearing the persecution he was about to face, not counting his life dear unto himself, and finishing his course with joy (Act 20:24).
23. It’s more blessed to give than receive (Act 20:35).
24. Paul’s accounts of what it’s like to be an apostle and a minister (1Co 4:9-11; 2Co 6:3-10).
25. This information applies specifically to the apostles and ministers of God.
26. Ministers can make applications of some of these things to themselves in that they share some of the same responsibilities that the apostles had.
27. Christians in general can make applications of some of these things that apply to the Christian life in general in their own lives.

II.    Parts of the NT that apply only to Christians who lived prior to 70AD

1.      Parts of the Olivet Discourse

1. In the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, Jesus was answering two main questions: 1) when would the temple be destroyed?, and 2) when would He return and the world end? (Mat 24:3)
2. Mat 24:4-13 applies in general to both questions and therefore applies to all Christians.
3. Mat 24:14-29 and Mat 24:32-35 applies to the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, and therefore only applies to the early Christians living prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD.
4. Mat 24:30-31 and Mat 24:36-51 applies to the second coming of Christ and the end of the world, and therefore applies to all Christians.
5. For proof of these statements, see the series on the Olivet Discourse.