Millennial Views

Good evening. Tonight we're on lesson number 15. We'll be looking at millennial views. Before we get started, a couple of things. First of all, this lesson will be different. It'll be very similar to what we did when we studied ecclesiology and we looked at a survey of covenantal theologies and a survey of dispensational theologies. And what I mean by that is that this will be much more of a lecture than it will be a Bible study. Normally I have handouts prepared for you that are fill-in-the-blank, with Scripture references for each point and an application for each point. This one is just strictly notes. You can follow along, and you can use those notes to help you clarify later on and use them as a reference.

Those notes, if you did not get them, are on the back table there beside Abby, along with a section of charts that will help you visualize what we're actually reading in print. The data for the charts was chiefly borrowed from Dr. Riddlebarger. He teaches systematics at Westminster Seminary out in California. Brilliant man. However, I gave them to Caleb Fox in a very rough form, because some of them I had modified somewhat. And to be honest with you, they looked like chicken scratch. But Caleb took them, and he beautified them, simplified them, made them easy to understand, and put these together and printed them for you. So make sure you thank Caleb Fox for your leave tonight. This will be a terrific way to visualize these and to understand them as we go forward.

When we study the views of the millennium, we'll find that there is a lot of diversity of Christian thought. What I want you to focus on tonight are three main things. First of all, when we talk about something like the millennium, we often focus on the where, the how, the when, and the what. But let's not forget to focus on the who: whose millennium it is. It's Christ who reigns forever and ever, right? And so all glory be to Christ. The same when we look at the book of Revelation and when we look at anything related to eschatology: we should be exalting Christ and seeing Him as the Victor over all things.

Second thing: tonight I hope that as we study this, it will help clarify what you believe. Because a lot of us don't know what we believe, right? And we're still working it out. And it's okay to do your theology with a pencil. You may think, "Well, I think I'm this way because my favorite preacher is." But then when you look at it, it's like, "Well, no, I don't think I am that way," right? So hopefully this will help in your own journey as you're studying these things.

And then thirdly, as we study eschatology, I hope that you will not just look at the way that your view may differ from someone else's, but I hope that you'll see our commonality. Every believer in this room, if you believe in Christ, you believe that He's going to return, right? You believe that when He comes, He's going to put down the devil, right? Death will be no more. He's going to judge the wicked. He's going to reward the righteous. He's going to create a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells, and we'll be with Him forever. We all believe that, but the order and the exact way we get there, we differ on, okay? But those are small things, and those small differences should never, ever divide the church, right? We serve one Lord, and we have one baptism. We all believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We can differ on these eschatological details, and that's fine. And as we go tonight, we'll actually be looking at how each one of these is supported or held by different, very well-known authors, writers, and theologians. And you'll see that there are men that you respect who hold each one of these views, you know? So hopefully this will be edifying for you tonight as we go forward.

Let's begin with lecture point number one. This will be a little bit of review from last week for you. The second coming is the blessed hope of the church. The church eagerly awaits in anticipation Christ's triumphant return, in which He'll resurrect the dead for judgment, gather the people to Himself, or gather His people to Himself, impart His glory to them, punish the wicked, and usher in the new heavens and the new earth. Christ's return will be singular, sudden, personal, physical, visible, glorious, triumphant, consummative, resurrective, adjudicative, and restorative. We went over all that last week. So if some of those sound strange to you, just go to YouTube and look at last week's lesson.

While most believers accept the above, there are several different understandings of the millennium. Revelation 20:4 and also verse 5 describe certain believers as living and reigning with Christ for a thousand years. So this text is where we get the concept of the millennium. It's the only place in Scripture that speaks of a thousand-year reign of Christ with His saints. This is commonly called the millennium.

Just for your own information, next week we're going to be looking at hermeneutical principles for understanding the book of Revelation. And then the following week, we'll be looking at the millennium in depth, exegetically going through the whole chapter. We're not going to be doing that tonight, or we would never get through this. This is more of a survey of the major views regarding the millennium. We will survey the four most common millennial views: amillennialism, postmillennialism, historic premillennialism, and dispensational premillennialism.

It may seem like a whole lot right there. Those are some big words. It's caused many people to throw their hands up and say, "I'm a pan-millennialist," which means it'll all pan out in the end, right? "I'll just let God be God, and I won't try to figure it out." But we should try our best to understand these things, right? All four of these are attempts to explain Christ's second coming in relation to the millennium. So, in other words, all four of these views focus on Revelation 20, verses 4 and 5, and how that relates to Christ's second coming. I want to turn your attention now to how this was viewed historically before we get into these individual views. Okay?

Lecture point number two. In the early church, the apostolic fathers is the designation given to the influential writers of the first and mid-second century. So Christ was crucified, dead, buried, and resurrected about AD 30. So this would have been from that point all the way to about AD 150. Okay? So this is the first and early second century. These writers presumably had close ties to Christ's apostles or were discipled by those who knew them. There were some who kind of hung their hat on, "Well, I was discipled by John," right? And so we call them the apostolic church fathers. They weren't eyewitnesses of Christ, but they knew guys who knew Christ, or maybe they were twice removed from Christ.

The First Epistle of Clement, which most people date between AD 90 and 97, so very early. This is not a biblical book. It's an extracanonical book, but that doesn't mean that we can't learn from it. And this was a man who was a Christian. Some scholars say it's the same Clement that Paul references, who actually assisted Paul in some ministry there in the Roman church. We don't know that for certain, but that is a common view. The First Epistle of Clement speaks of Christ's second coming and the general resurrection, meaning the resurrection of both the just and the unjust, but gives no testimony to a millennial kingdom on earth. It just doesn't mention that.

The Second Epistle of Clement, which was written around AD 120 to 140, probably by someone different, but still using that name Clement, anticipates Christ's second coming in connection with the resurrection and judgment, but does not speak of any millennial kingdom on earth. So it speaks of Christ's coming, His judgment, and the resurrection, but says nothing about a millennial kingdom on earth.

Polycarp, from about AD 110, writes of the general resurrection and judgment at Christ's return, but does not speak of any millennial kingdom on earth. So this was very early. Even earlier is Ignatius. Ignatius, AD 35 to 108, speaks of living in the times, but offers no chronology of events.

What you're going to find with some of these earliest church fathers is that the eschaton, the last things, wasn't a huge thing for them. They were battling things like Gnostic heresies, trying to figure out how to explain to people that Christ was man, but He was also God. He was the God-man. Trying to explain the Trinity was something that many of the early church fathers were highly embroiled in. And so getting around to studying eschatology just wasn't on the front burner, so to speak. They were battling heresies and trying to formulate basic doctrine.

The Didache, which could have been written as early as AD 50, perhaps as late as AD 100, was a document; it's a summary, if you will, of teaching. The Didache, also known as the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, speaks much of Christ's return, accompanied by resurrection and judgment, but says nothing of an earthly millennium.

The Epistle of Barnabas, which dates from perhaps AD 70 to 135, we really don't know the exact dating, views eschatology as patterned after the week of creation from Genesis. It sometimes is cited in support of amillennialism, sometimes cited in support of postmillennialism, and sometimes cited in support of historic premillennialism. In other words, it's so general, lots of people claim it, right? It's, "Well, it doesn't say anything against my view, so it must be for my view," right?

The Epistle to Diognetus, this was AD 130 to perhaps 200, speaks only of a future heavenly kingdom of Christ. It doesn't speak of an earthly kingdom, but of a heavenly kingdom.

And the Ante-Nicene library, these would have been the church fathers who existed before the Council of Nicaea in 325. The first two volumes contain only two references to the word millennium, citing Papias and Justin Martyr. Papias, AD 65 to 140, according to Eusebius, definitely believed in an earthly millennial reign. He was adamant about it and spoke a lot about it, but we only know that through Eusebius. And just as an example of what not to do: Eusebius... We wouldn't know about Papias apart from Eusebius, but Eusebius writes that Papias must have had a low intellect to believe such a thing. So what I'm getting at is we are to be charitable, right? And not assume that because a person differs from me and views the data differently, they must be dumb as a box of rocks. That's essentially what Eusebius was saying.

Justin Martyr denies a human or earthly kingdom in one place while detailing an earthly millennial kingdom in another place. So with Justin Martyr, you really don't know what he believes. Again, they didn't write that much on the millennial kingdom.

By the way, if you want to get into this, if you're a history buff and a nerd, there's a great book written by, actually, a local professor here, Charles Hill, over at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. He kind of wrote the magnum opus on the early church fathers in relation to the millennium. It's a great book, highly footnoted and very academic, though. So if you're not into that kind of reading, you may not enjoy it, but it's called Regnum Caelorum. The Heavenly Reign is what it's called, or the kingdom of heaven.

Number three, lecture point number three. In the early church, the Ante-Nicene fathers from the late second century to the third century wrote much on apologetics and against heresies. This is what they were battling. They were battling against heretics, and they were formulating reasons to believe in the Christian faith. They were basically being missional in their theology. The Apostles' Creed originates from this era, about AD 150. That'd be the Old Roman Creed, which the Apostles' Creed is based on. It's from the period of apologetics and writing against heretics. It links Christ's return and judgment, but speaks of no millennium. It says Christ is coming, He's going to judge, but doesn't speak anything of an earthly reign.

There are, however, many individual writers in the late second century who began to speak of an earthly millennium. Shedd, who was one of the most brilliant theologians of the 19th century, referred to this as the blooming age of millenarianism. This is when it first began to be written about broadly. According to Eusebius, Irenaeus was greatly influenced by Papias. Irenaeus wrote of an earthly millennium, but exclusively for believers. In other words, it would only be for believers. There would be no other unconverted nations or anything in the millennium. The Montanists, which was kind of a sect, but they still fall within the Christian tradition, even though we would not regard them as orthodox, the Montanists also proliferated at the end of the second and the beginning of the third centuries. This sect claimed the earthly millennium was imminent: at any minute, Christ is going to set up His throne here on earth.

Now we're on lecture point number four. In the third century, there was a turn against an earthly millennium, led by Origen. Origen wrote persuasively against the idea of a future earthly millennial kingdom. As a result, Lactantius was the only notable fourth-century writer who still affirmed it. So by the time you get to the fourth century, you've only got one writer who is still really affirming this.

Athanasius, you may know him from the Athanasian Creed. We read that when we were studying the doctrine of God. Athanasius, from 354 to 430... I'm sorry, Athanasius, from 300 to 373, wrote in line with the Apostles' Creed, that Christ is coming to judge, but he spoke nothing of a millennial reign. Augustine, from 354 to 430, at first adopted premillennialism, but then wrote extensively against it. His writing was so persuasive that the concept was practically ignored for centuries. He kind of closed the book on it historically for a long period of time, until the Reformation, actually. You don't see that concept of a thousand-year reign of Christ in any of the Catholic writers or in any of the Middle Ages or anything like that.

Lecture point number five. Premillennialism would later be revived during the Reformation by the Anabaptists. What happened during the Reformation? During the Reformation, people were able to read the Scriptures in their own tongue, right? And they started studying the Bible. And the Anabaptists, we don't really want to claim them as Baptists. They had a lot of things that we would certainly object to, and there's really no continuity between them and us as Baptists, we would argue. The Reformers would stridently oppose this view. They hated all things about the Anabaptists. The Anabaptists were considered kind of a scourge by many of the Reformers.

The Augsburg Confession, this was by Luther and Melanchthon in 1530, condemned premillennialism as "Jewish opinions." So they were very strong, as Luther often was in his opinions. The English Confession of Edward VI, which is the origin of the Thirty-Nine Articles, which is the doctrinal statement of the Anglican Church, said, "Those who attempt to revive the fable of the millenarians oppose sacred Scripture and throw themselves headlong into Jewish absurdities." So they were also very strong in their language.

Calvin, in the Institutes, wrote of Satan's attempt to corrupt the doctrine of the resurrection, saying, "Not to mention that he," speaking of Satan, "began to oppose it in the days of Paul, not long after arose the millenarians, who limited the reign of Christ to a thousand years… Their fiction is too puerile to need or deserve refutation." So they were very caustic, actually, in their condemnation of it. The Second Helvetic Confession overtly rejects premillennialism as "Jewish dreams." So these are some of the major confessions and the major writers, so you kind of get the idea that the Reformation was against that.

The Belgic Confession and the Westminster Larger Catechism likewise, but not with a strident tone. They were much more gracious, as they should be, but they wrote against it in thorough doctrinal statements with scriptural proofs. If you've ever read through the Westminster Larger Catechism, guess what? It's very similar to what we're using with the kids. This is a Baptist version of it, actually. It's shorter, but a Baptist version of it. So we can see that during the Reformation, the premillennial idea was not very well accepted.

Lecture point number six. We're now going to turn our attention to each one of these millennial views, and we're going to look at what they mean, and look at the various great preachers and theologians who held each one of these, and why. So we're going to start off with amillennialism. Amillennialism means that the second coming of Christ is to be without an earthly 1,000-year reign of Christ. In other words, we're saying no, it's not limited to 1,000 years. Christ just comes, and then He reigns forever and ever in the new heavens and the new earth.

Amillennialism understands Revelation 20:4–6 as describing the intermediate state. In other words, they say that that passage in Revelation that speaks of the souls of men in heaven reigning with Christ, they interpret that as heaven, and they say these are the souls of men. So this is what we call the intermediate state. When believers die, to be absent from the body is to be what? To be present with the Lord. Exactly right. For believers, the intermediate state is a present reign of deceased believers with Christ in heaven. So they say that's what the millennium is: it's simply believers who have died and are now with Christ in heaven.

They point out, first, that souls are pictured in these verses. It says nothing about people reigning with Christ. It says souls; that's what's pictured. Secondly, they also point out that the only thrones mentioned in the book of Revelation are in heaven. Every single time you see a throne mentioned in the book of Revelation, it's a heavenly throne. The picture there does not transport you down to earth and speak of an earthly throne, in the amillennialist opinion. It doesn't say so directly in the text. They say this is a heavenly throne.

They point out Satan's binding during this period, when the saints rule with Christ in heaven, the deceased saints in the intermediate state. They say that Satan is bound, or that's what the Scripture says, that Satan is bound, "so that he should deceive the nations no more." In other words, his binding doesn't mean that he is not roaring like a lion, seeking whom he may devour. It doesn't mean that he isn't walking to and fro about the earth. It doesn't mean that he's not the tempter. But it simply means that between the first coming of Christ and the second coming of Christ, this period that's pictured in heaven of the intermediate state, Satan no longer has the power to keep the gospel from spreading to the nations. He should deceive the nations no more. So his binding is very specific, in regard to no longer having the power to deceive the nations.

This is consistent with Christ's redemptive work, in which He bound Satan, Mark 3:27, and His ministry. Remember, He talks about going in and casting out demons. He says, I came and I bound the strong man, the strong man, Satan, because I've brought the kingdom of God here. Also where He saw Satan fall, Luke 10:16, as the disciples went out and they were casting out demons, healing the sick. And He says, "I saw Satan fall." He disarmed the principalities and powers. Colossians 2:15 says that through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, He disarmed the evil spirits. Satan no longer has the power to accuse people, because their sins have been forgiven. And He destroyed the devil, as Hebrews 2:14 says, who through fear of death kept people in bondage, but that was destroyed by the cross of Christ.

They assert that the thousand-year description is symbolic for a long or complete period of time. In other words, they're saying that it's not an actual 1,000 years. It's been 2,000 years since Christ ascended, right? It's just symbolic for a complete or perfect period, or a long period of time. And we'll go into that in specifics in two weeks, when we look at the passage in Revelation. But just as a side note, they would say, for example, that that number is always used symbolically in Scripture. The Bible tells us in Psalms that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. I lived in Raleigh for a while. We had a lot of hills there. I lived in Austin, Texas, and ran my pool business there. And in that little two-mile radius, you'd have 2,000 hills. Does God only own the cattle on a thousand hills? Not the thousand and first? No, the idea behind it is that it's symbolic for a large number, right?

This period is the total period between Christ's first and second advents. Christ will return after this millennial reign. So this intermediate state that's being pictured in Revelation 20, according to the amillennialist, takes place from Christ's first coming to His second coming, and Christ will then return. So there is no earthly throne set up where Christ reigns until He returns. And when He returns, yes, He creates the whole world anew, and He sets up His throne here on earth.

Look over on your handout here. Let's take just a minute to look. And I want you to flip over to the very back. You'll see amillennialism on View 4 of 4, on the back. And you can kind of see this pictured here. That may help you see it. You have Christ's birth, His first advent, and Christ's earthly ministry in gray. Starting there, we see Satan being bound, evident by the spread of the gospel. And Satan is no longer able to deceive the nations. We see Jew and Gentile being saved in the ministry of Christ. Then we see His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. Satan is bound here by His resurrection, His completed work on the cross.

So in red here, you have the millennium, which is this present age. It is what we would call the entire age between His first and second comings. And it's depicting, again, according to the amillennialist, the intermediate state, the dead who are alive in heaven. Christ is presently reigning in heaven. The spiritual kingdom of God triumphs in the midst of rising evil opposed to Christ and His kingdom. So during this time frame, we see both good and bad taking place. Jesus gave the parable of the tares: the wheat and the tares, which are the weeds, would grow side by side until the reapers come, right? And Judgment Day happens. You see the promises made to Abraham, Israel, and David fulfilled by Christ or His church, depending on which amillennialist you listen to. Basically, they see all these old covenant promises, all the covenants from creation all the way through the Davidic covenant, as fulfilled in Christ, and in the new covenant, and also in the new creation.

Then at the very end, you'll see apostasy. Most amillennialists believe, according to what we read in Thessalonians, that there will be Satan's little season. You also see that in Revelation 20: Satan's released, and apostasy breaks out. The general resurrection takes place, and the final judgment. In other words, this final apostasy and rebellion is quickly snuffed out by Christ at His return, by the blast of the breath of His mouth, is what the Bible says. And not only that, but by the glorious appearing of His coming. Satan is wiped out. Revelation 20 says it's fire coming down from heaven, and it consumes him. And then there's the final judgment, the general resurrection, the new heavens, and the new earth.

Some of the major theologians who believe in this: Geerhardus Vos, wonderful theologian, for our Dutch sister here. You may know that name. Herman Ridderbos as well, Anthony Hoekema, Cornelis Venema, and Meredith Kline. Meredith Kline is probably the foremost expert on covenants. He has a lot of things that he writes about covenants that don't really sit with covenant theology or with dispensational theology. He's a brilliant man. Close to amillennialism, or something very close, would have been Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and John Calvin. So some pretty heavy hitters historically, rather than just modern theologians.

Quickly here, lecture point number seven. Amillennialism teaches that the kingdom of God is now present in the world through the King of kings indwelling His people. Yet we look forward to the full consummation of His kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth, where righteousness dwells. We already enjoy the blessings of the kingdom that Christ has brought. That's what we call inaugurated eschatology. We did a lesson on that a few weeks ago. But we look forward to His glorious appearing, when He will appear a second time to bring full salvation to His people, Hebrews 9:28.

Amillennialism teaches that the entire period between Christ's advents is marked by the growth of righteousness and the growth of evil. So it's neither optimistic nor pessimistic. It just says that both are going to grow during this time. When Christ returns, He will separate the tares from the wheat and the sheep from the goats.

Amillennialism teaches that the entire period between Christ's advents is marked by both the church's tribulation and triumph. In the entire period of the early church, you saw triumph, and you also saw tribulation, right? You saw the gospel spreading, but you also saw martyrs dying, and you also saw the church being persecuted. That's the way it's been all throughout history. Paradoxically, the church's triumph is achieved through the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and the laying down of their lives, Revelation 12:11. How does the church overcome but through dying like Christ did? We've seen many martyrs do that over the history of the church. The church's tribulation will likely increase before Christ returns.

Christ's return will be a single event, concurrent with the universal resurrection of all men, the universal judgment of all men, the glorification of the saints, the eternal punishment of the wicked, the renewal of the new heavens, and the beginning of the eternal state. Amillennialism interprets passages such as Isaiah 2:4, Isaiah 11:6, and Isaiah 65:25, these are verses about beating your swords into plowshares, and the wolf and the lamb, or the lion and the lamb, lying together in peace, as finding fulfillment in the new heavens and the new earth under Christ's eternal dominion. In other words, when Christ comes back, guess what? Evil ceases. The dead are raised for judgment. Death is cast into the lake of fire, and the new eternal state begins, right? And His reign is perfect, and there's peace and harmony in the new creation, right? No more curse when Christ comes.

Lecture point number eight. We're now going to turn our attention to postmillennialism. I will tell you that postmillennialism is probably the most poorly understood of all of these, and also the most maligned, and unfairly maligned, out of all of these. I'm going to explain why when we get to it. There are some postmillennial thinkers that I vehemently disagree with, but they're not all of that same ilk. There are different kinds, and there always have been different kinds.

Postmillennialism is like amillennialism in three ways. First, they do not understand the millennium as an earthly reign of Christ on an earthly throne limited to a thousand-year period. In other words, they think that the period could be much longer than a thousand years, and that it's possible we may already be in it, according to postmillennial thought. Second, they see the one-thousand-year description as symbolic for a long or complete period of time. Third, they place Christ's return after this period is complete, which is a lot like amillennialism, except amillennialism locates it pretty much in heaven, referring to that millennial period of Revelation 20 as the intermediate state, but not so with postmillennialism; it's a different way.

Unlike amillennialism, many do not understand Revelation 20:4–6 to be describing the intermediate state. Some do, but probably most don't. They understand these verses to refer to the present extension of the kingdom of God into the world through the preaching of the gospel and the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers. In other words, they say Christ came, He brought His kingdom. He says the kingdom of God is among you. And how is that kingdom spread but through the gospel, right? We went through, when we studied the kingdom of God, where Christ Himself equated the kingdom both with Himself and with the gospel, right? And so they believe that the millennial reign of Christ is simply the spread of the gospel throughout the whole world.

They understand these verses to refer to the present extension of the kingdom of God into the world through the preaching of the gospel and the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers. They don't deny the intermediate state, but they emphasize Christ's reign through His church on earth. The first resurrection is often understood by postmillennialists as the believer's regeneration. Revelation 20 speaks of the first resurrection, and they often will equate that with when a person becomes saved, right? Ephesians says, "You were dead in trespasses and sins," but God made you alive, right? So that's what they relate that to. They view the binding of Satan much like amillennialism: the binding of Satan simply means that nothing can stop the gospel from going forth to the nations.

Lecture point number nine. Postmillennialism teaches that the entire period between Christ's advents is marked by the slow and steady growth of righteousness in the world as it is converted through the gospel. So they see that it's a very slow thing, but one by one, hearts are changed. People come to know Christ, they teach it to their children, and then they teach it to their children's children, and the world eventually will become permeated with the knowledge of Christ.

To give you an example, if you look at Africa and you look at South America, and you look at the early 1900s and the number of Christians and churches there: tiny. You look at it now: it's huge. They have more conversions and more growth than we see here in America. Now, they may not be the exact kind of churches we like. There's a lot of health and wealth and name-it-claim-it and charismatic chaos that goes on there, but nonetheless, the gospel is going forth in a great way, and that's just in 100 years.

Postmillennialism, like amillennialism, doesn't draw most of its eschatology from Revelation 20. Revelation 20 isn't that big of a deal for their eschatology. Postmillennialism emphasizes the prophecy of Daniel 2:34–35, where a stone cut without hands, and if you want to know what that stone is in reference to, a stone cut without hands, it's Christ, smashes the kingdoms of this world and grows into a great mountain and fills the whole earth. A great messianic prophecy.

Postmillennialism emphasizes the parable of the mustard seed, where the kingdom starts very small but grows into a great tree, where all the birds of the air come and rest in its branches. So it's a slow growth, but it's salvific; it provides shade. Postmillennialism emphasizes the parable of the leaven, which is in Matthew 13 and also Luke 13, which speaks of the kingdom beginning small, but steadily transforming its recipients until they are all risen. Normally you think of leaven as a stand-in for sin, right? "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." Well, Christ turns that on its head and uses that for the kingdom of God, in that it's small, but it has a redemptive effect that snowballs.

Postmillennialism believes that the Great Commission will be effective and will slowly transform the whole world, until Christ's Spirit pervades and transforms all of society from within. You see, Jesus says, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples," and they believe that that means Christ is going to be with you and bless the gospel, and He's going to bless the fruits of that as well. Slowly but surely, this age will transform into a golden age of peace, the millennium, here on earth, before Christ returns. In other words, they see the gospel as having a redemptive effect: as people are converted and they become saved, they treat their neighbors better, right? No longer are they stealing; no longer are they murdering, right? And society is transformed because people are transformed.

Slowly but surely, this age will transform into a golden age of peace, the millennium, here on earth, before Christ returns. Postmillennialism often teaches that the tribulation spoken of in Matthew 24 was fulfilled in the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem. Many, not all, postmills are what we call partial preterists. They believe that what we call the Olivet Discourse was fulfilled in AD 70, and they have a lot of good reasons for that. Most everybody believes it's partially fulfilled there. They would say it's fully fulfilled there, and we're going to look at that in a few weeks. We're going to spend a whole lesson on just what we call the Olivet Discourse. Thus, they do not expect a great tribulation to precede Christ's coming, but they acknowledge that there will be a final rebellion just before Christ's second coming.

Postmillennialism, like amillennialism, teaches that Christ's return will be a single event, concurrent with the universal resurrection of all men, the universal judgment of all men, the glorification of the saints, the eternal punishment of the wicked, the renewal of the heavens and the earth, and the beginning of the eternal state. Postmillennialism interprets passages like Isaiah 2:4, Isaiah 11:6, and Isaiah 65, again, these are passages such as beating your swords into plowshares, of peace and new creation in the animal kingdom, that kind of thing, as finding their fulfillment on the earth through Christ's reign in His church before Christ returns. Basically, they say things will get better and better and better through the gospel. This was the teaching of men like Jonathan Edwards. This was the teaching of some of the great Princeton theologians.

Now, there is another type of postmillennialism that's very popular today, and it's different in that, rather than focusing on the gospel making the changes, it's what they call Christian Reconstructionism, or Theonomic Reconstructionism, where they believe we have a duty to transform culture ourselves by getting guys into office, by taking over institutions, taking over governments, voting Christianly, and then passing Christian laws based on the Old Testament. It is very much based on what we do, whereas the earlier forms of postmillennialism were basically about what God does, what the Spirit does, through the preaching of the gospel. So that's a distinction there. You'll read a lot written against theonomic postmillennialism, or Christian Reconstructionism, but don't let that dissuade you from what we call classical postmillennialism. Because I think we should... I don't know if it'll happen, but I would love to see the world transformed by the gospel. I would love to see that before Christ returns: people singing "Kumbaya" and treating one another nicely because Christ has changed their hearts. It's a very hopeful thing.

Look over on your handout, and let's look at the chart that was prepared for us by Mr. Caleb on postmillennialism. It's Millennial View 3 of 4. You see an abrupt or gradual start. It could have already started, or it could be entirely yet to come. Postmillennialists debate that. They'll say, "Well, it could have started, but it's just so slow and imperceptible, like the mustard seed or like the leaven. You're not seeing its effects now." But if you look historically, think of what the church has done. The church has started all the great charities, right? All the hospitals are because of the church. Education, public education, which is good, came from the church, right? Everything good in society has come through what we call the common grace that brought about Christ at the cross, being the Savior of men and changing men's hearts.

Possible start times are the conversion of Israel, the binding of Satan, the defeat of the Antichrist. They're all over the map, depending on which one you read. The millennium: some view it as a literal 1,000-year period. Some postmillennialists view it as just a long time period. It's a tremendous expansion of Christianity. It's increased peace and prosperity in the world, and a large number of ethnic Jews come to faith in Christ. So they would take the Romans 11 passage, dealing with "and so all Israel will be saved," as part of the gospel's going out to the nations. There'd be a short apostasy, you see that in maroon here, just before Christ's return. At Christ's return, there's a general resurrection, there's a general judgment, and there's a new heavens and a new earth.

Theologians who were prominent here: Charles Hodge. If you want a good systematic theology, he was the prince of Princeton. A wonderful systematic theology, still very readable, even though it's a couple of hundred years old. A. A. Hodge, B. B. Warfield, John Jefferson Davis. These were some of the more prominent theologians who held to this historically.

Let's look at lecture point number ten. Historic premillennialism is sharply distinguished from dispensational premillennialism and will therefore be discussed separately. Sometimes people hear premillennialism and they think, "Well, they're all the same." No, they can be very different. Historic premillennialism teaches that the second coming of Christ will be followed by a 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth. So they believe that Christ comes first, and then He establishes a 1,000-year reign here on earth. After this earthly reign of Christ, the final state will be ushered in. So both amill and postmill follow "this age" and "the age to come." Historic premillennialism has this age, then a 1,000-year reign of Christ, and then the third age, which would be the final state.

Historic premillennialism believes that the return of Christ will be preceded by several events, including the gospel going out to all the nations, a great tribulation, the final apostasy, and the coming of the Antichrist. The second coming of Christ will be a single event. So just like amillennialism and postmillennialism, they believe that the return of Christ is one single event.

When Christ returns, believers, both living and dead, will rise up to meet Christ in the air. So they believe that at His return, saints who are dead, just as it tells us in Thessalonians, are resurrected, and the living saints rise and meet Christ in the air. They will be transformed and glorified at His appearing, receiving their resurrection bodies. They understand this as the first resurrection spoken of in Revelation 20:4–5. So when it says, "This is the first resurrection," this is what they're talking about: the return of Christ. They teach that this first resurrection is of believers only, at the second coming.

After this meeting in the air, the resurrected and glorified saints will follow Christ back down as He descends to the earth. We talked about this when we discussed the idea of the rapture: the word that they will meet Him in the air is used three times in the Bible. It's used in Thessalonians, but it's also used in Acts, of someone going outside of the city to meet a dignitary and then returning with him. We kind of see that at Christ's triumphal entry, right? Everybody goes outside the city to greet the coming of Christ into the city, and they follow Him back in.

When Christ descends, He destroys the Antichrist and all the wicked. Christ now begins to reign on earth for a thousand-year period. In this millennium, Christ rules over the whole world with His church, consisting of both redeemed Jews and Gentiles, who together make up the one people of God. So Christ returns, destroys His enemies at this point, and He sets up His millennial kingdom, a literal earthly kingdom of both Jews and Gentiles who were redeemed, for a thousand years.

Lecture point number eleven. Historic premillennialism teaches that Christ and His church reign over unbelieving nations. As all the nations and peoples are already destroyed at His second coming, we find that in Revelation 19:17–21, these unbelieving nations are hard to account for in historic premillennialism. In other words, Christ has come; as He descends to the earth, He destroys all the enemies; He destroys all the wicked. Well, so in this next thousand years, where Christ is said to reign with His believers on earth and they reign over the nations, who are these nations? And historic premillennialism is divided on this. Some historic premillennialists say that they are survivors of Armageddon. I can't see that happening. Christ doesn't miss. Some historic premillennialists say that they are the children of those who are alive at Christ's second coming. Presbyterians would say they were covenant children who were elect, but their election was not yet effected, so to speak.

They are ruled by Christ with a rod of iron. Death and sin still exist in this historic premillennialist conception of Christ's 1,000-year reign. So you have glorified saints, who are transformed into the glorious image of Christ, living in a world of decay and living in a world where there is still evil, where there's death, and where there is sin. But Satan is bound during this time. This is conceived as a time of peace and prosperity encompassing all the world. Creation itself will flourish and be productive, but creation is still under the curse.

Historic premillennialism interprets passages like Isaiah 2:4, Isaiah 11:6, and Isaiah 65, again, that's beating your swords into plowshares, the lion lying down with the lamb, as finding their fulfillment on the earth through Christ's 1,000-year reign after He returns. So you're starting to see that all of these groups say that these Old Testament promises come to fruition. The amillennialist says it comes in the new heavens and the new earth. The postmillennialist says it comes right before Christ's return, as the gospel pervades all of society. And then the premillennialist says no, it comes right after He returns, in this 1,000-year period, but before the new heavens and the new earth commence.

Lecture point number twelve. Historic premillennialism teaches that after the 1,000-year reign of Christ, Satan will be loosed. Satan will go out and deceive the nations to war against Christ and His saints. Again, where these nations come from and who they are is kind of a mystery. Fire from heaven will destroy this rebel army, and Satan will be cast into the lake of fire. The wicked will be raised after the 1,000-year reign of Christ, and all will be judged. They put the judgment not at Christ's return, because at His return He starts the millennial kingdom, but 1,000 years after He returns, at the end of His millennial kingdom. The wicked dead will be thrown into the lake of fire. God will then bring about the new heavens and the new earth, where God will forever dwell with His people.

The anomalies included in historic premillennialism's understanding of Revelation 20:1–11 include, first, a 1,000-year earthly reign of Christ between this age and the age to come. I call that an anomaly because it seems to go against what Christ and Peter teach about there being two ages, this age, and then looking forward to that last day. We're in the last days, and we're looking toward the day, the day of the Lord. Second, the resurrection of the just and the unjust separated by a thousand years. That's something that's unique to this, because when you look in John chapter 5 and in other places that we've already looked at, the resurrection seems to be of both the just and the unjust on the same day, and judgment the same thing. And third, glorified saints living in a world with evil men, death, and the curse. That also seems to be kind of at odds with what we see in most of the New Testament. 1 Corinthians 15 says that "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye… we shall all be changed," right? And death will be defeated. "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" That comes at the last trumpet; that comes at Christ's return.

These are explained by historic premillennialists as progressive revelation. They'll say, "Well, Scripture is always unfolding, giving us more details, and we get to Revelation 20, and then this should be harmonized with the rest of those," basically, or should control how we interpret the earlier passages in the New Testament.

Let's look at a chart of this. If you will, please turn to Millennial View 2 of 4, Historic Premillennialism. The kingdom of God is manifest at Jesus' birth. They believe that. The kingdom remains through the Holy Spirit. Apostasy and tribulation break out. So we see that before Christ returns. Christ remains after His ascension through the Holy Spirit. We then see apostasy and tribulation preceding the return, the first resurrection, when Christ comes down to establish an earthly kingdom for a thousand-year period. During this thousand-year earthly period, Satan is bound, and the kingdom is consummated. Christ rules over all the nations, rules with a rod of iron. Again, where the people come from depends on which premillennialist you speak to.

There will be a revolt at the end of His kingdom. This revolt is when Satan is loosed. There's a massive rebellion led by Gog and Magog, references from the Old Testament that are referred to in the New Testament, and then the final judgment, the new heavens and the new earth. So that's the second resurrection, where all are raised and judged at that time.

George Eldon Ladd was a guy who could write like a poet. I'm not a historic premillennialist, but I love his stuff, and I agree with a lot of what he has to say. I highly recommend reading him. John W. Montgomery, J. Barton Payne, R. Laird Harris, Henry Alford, Theodor Zahn, and James Boice. If you ever get on YouTube, look up James Boice. What a preacher, Tenth Presbyterian. He's up in heaven with our Lord now. He was a historic premillennialist, and wonderful preaching. If you like John MacArthur, if you like R. C. Sproul, you would love James Boice.

Let's look now at lecture point number thirteen. We're going to look at the final view, which is dispensational premillennialism. It sounds like historic premillennialism, but it's different, very different. Dispensational premillennialism teaches that God's revelation is not structured through covenants, but through dispensations. We actually did a whole evening on a summary of dispensationalism when we studied ecclesiology. If you don't remember that, I encourage you to look it up. We're not going to look at it in detail here, but just to give you a quick summary: dispensationalists teach that dispensations are divided periods of time during which God administers His plan of redemption in ways different from other periods. So they say that each period has a different way of God's revelation. And as we discussed when we discussed dispensationalism, there are all different types of dispensationalism. What we'll be looking at here is more of the classic dispensationalism that you encounter in the Scofield Reference Bible, and that you're probably most familiar with.

In each of these time periods, man is tested by God with a specific revelation of God's will. When man fails his testing, there's judgment, mercy, and a new divine redemptive arrangement. In its original form, classic dispensationalists taught that there are seven dispensations. I'm not going to read them; in fact, there is a chart of these. If you will look on View 1 of 4, there's an overview of the seven dispensations. And basically, if you look in the gray there, toward the end, this is where we are, nice little pointer there: the Age of Grace. We are in this church age, okay, according to the dispensationalist. So we're preceding His second coming right now.

It teaches that the Messiah came and offered to usher in these promises, these promises where Israel would have prosperity and dominance over its enemies. They say that's what Christ came to offer Israel: the kingdom, right then and there. But it was rejected by Israel. They say that Christ was rejected; His kingdom offer was rejected. God has now turned His saving attention to the Gentiles. That's why we're in this church age, or the Age of Grace. The church now enjoys a dispensation of grace, but this age is only parenthetical. In other words, it's kind of plan B. It wasn't foreseen by the Old Testament prophets, according to the dispensationalist, and it's temporary. Jesus will return to remove the church from the earth, which is what they call the rapture, and then finish His original prophetic program with Israel. These two separate peoples, Israel and the church, are the focus of different testaments, the Old and the New, with different promises, different purposes, and different plans. So they see the church and Israel as being distinct.

Lecture point number fourteen. J. N. Darby, 1800 to 1882, is credited with systematizing the dispensational system. His system popularized two key, connected theological innovations, one focused on ecclesiology and the other on eschatology. Darby asserted that Israel and the church were distinct peoples of God and would experience distinct future blessings. So they're distinct peoples of God, that's the ecclesiological focus, two different peoples, and they have distinct destinies; that's the eschatological element behind it.

Because of this, that being their presupposition, if you're a dispensationalist, you can only be a dispensational premillennialist. You won't find yourself being amill or postmill or historic premill, because it starts with these presuppositions: that the church and Israel are separate, and they have separate destinies. Whereas if you're a covenantal theologian, you can be any of these, for the most part.

Darby also asserted that there would be a rapture of the church, sometimes referred to as a secret rapture. Darby saw a gap between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel, in Daniel 9:25–27. He called this gap the church age. And we're going to spend a whole lesson on the 70 weeks of Daniel in just a few weeks.

Lecture point number fifteen. Dispensational premillennialism asserts that the rapture will end this church age. So you see here on the chart, it's Millennial View 1 of 4, dispensationalism. The Age of Grace: the next thing on the calendar is Christ's second coming. It ends the church age. This rapture would be followed by a seven-year great tribulation. At the end of these seven years, Jesus will return in glory with His church to destroy His enemies at the battle of Armageddon. So the idea is that at the rapture, Christ removes the church from the earth during the seven-year period of tribulation. It's hell on earth. It's bad. And then at the end of the seven years, Christ comes. And when He comes, He brings the church with Him, and He destroys the enemies at Armageddon.

Those who died during the seven-year tribulation will be resurrected along with the Old Testament saints. So those during those seven years, along with Old Testament believers, will be resurrected. This is at His second coming. So their second coming is broken into two parts: the rapture, and the second coming after the tribulation. They will not enter the millennium but will join the raptured church and enter the heavenly Jerusalem. So Christ comes down with the saints and has the battle of Armageddon. He takes the resurrected Old Testament saints and those believers who died during the seven-year tribulation, combines them with the church, and He takes them back to heaven. So it may seem kind of odd, but there's a lot of going back and forth here in their system.

Next, the living Gentiles are judged for how they treated Christ's brethren during the tribulation. So they actually have four different judgments. This is one of them. The Gentiles are judged based on how they treated those who are called Christ's brethren, believers in Israel, during that seven-year tribulation. The sheep, those who pass the test, will enter the millennium, while the goats will be cast into the lake of fire. Following this judgment, Israel will be judged according to Ezekiel 20:33–38. The rebels among Israel will be put to death, while the righteous will enter the millennial kingdom.

The temple will be rebuilt, and the kingdom of Israel will be reconstituted for a thousand-year theocracy. Here, they see all the promises of Israel coming into fulfillment, not in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, which is what most of the other views see, but actually in this thousand-year theocracy. During this one-thousand-year reign, the land promises made to Abraham would be fulfilled. During this one-thousand-year reign, the nation or people promised to Abraham would be fulfilled. God promised Abraham land and promised him a people. This was partially fulfilled when Israel became a state in 1948, according to their beliefs, but it awaits its full measure in the millennial kingdom. Israel will be regathered together in the land of Israel at Christ's return. During this one-thousand-year reign, the Davidic covenant will be fulfilled, with David sitting on a physical throne in Jerusalem. That's the only way the covenant is fulfilled: if Christ occupies the literal throne of David in Jerusalem.

Lecture point number sixteen. Dispensational premillennialism teaches that during the millennium, the earth will be populated by the sealed 144,000 Jews, these are those who have the mark of God on their foreheads, and the Gentiles they converted through their preaching during the tribulation. They view these 144,000 people as witnesses, and during the seven-year tribulation, they are able to convert many Gentiles. And so these two groups end up being the ones who populate the world during the millennium. These are not glorified saints, but they will live, bear children, and eventually die.

The Old Testament temple will be rebuilt. The Levitical priesthood will resume. That kind of goes against Hebrews, right? But the Levitical priesthood will resume. The Old Testament temple, sin offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings to make atonement will resume. We find that in Ezekiel 43 and Ezekiel 45. These sacrifices are taught by dispensational premillennialism to be memorial in nature. They say, "Well, they're not really making atonement. They're looking back to what Christ did." But Ezekiel says they are for atonement, and therefore for sin.

Meanwhile, the raptured church will be living in the new, heavenly Jerusalem described in Revelation 21 and 22, but up in heaven. So you have the Jews, those who entered into the millennium, reigning with Christ on earth, while the church and the Old Testament saints are going to be up in a heavenly sphere. These will descend at times to participate with Christ in judgment. Matthew 19 says that His followers, His disciples, would judge the twelve tribes of Israel. In 1 Corinthians 6:2–3, Paul says, "Do you not know that we shall judge angels?" And so that means that the church, the raptured church up in heaven, will have to come and participate with Christ in judgment. How that works out, I don't know. It's a green card, or some type of a special dispensation, if you will.

At the end of the millennium, Satan will be loosed and will deceive the nations. Satan and the rebels will be destroyed. The final resurrection of those who died during the millennium, and judgment, will then take place. God will create a new heavens and a new earth. The heavenly Jerusalem will now descend into the new creation. So now the raptured church descends down into the new creation. Though God's people will now be one, now you have both the church and Israel on earth, there will be an internal distinction between redeemed Jews and redeemed Gentiles. So there's always going to be a distinction between the two.

Let's look at the timeline of dispensationalism to close out here. You have the Age of Grace, which is the church age. It follows Jesus' offer of a messianic kingdom to Israel. Then you have the next step, which is the rapture, the secret return of Christ. The Gentile church is removed from the earth. The Antichrist begins terror on Israel and new Christians. The tribulation includes the conversion of 144,000 Jews, who are also witnesses. The millennial kingdom is repopulated by these witnesses and the new Christians. The kingdom is fully manifested on earth, fully fulfilling all of God's promises. There's a return to Old Testament temple worship. And then the end is the eternal state, after the nations' revolt and the final judgment.

J. N. Darby was kind of the first major theologian, though there were others, but he was the main one we recall. John Walvoord, Charles Ryrie, you may know him from the Ryrie Study Bible. Dwight Pentecost, Norman Geisler, who was a very good apologist. He's dead now. Charles Feinberg. Writers and pastors include Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Those are the guys from the Left Behind series. Dave Hunt, Jack Van Impe, he used to be on TV all the time. John Hagee still is. And Hal Lindsey, of The Late Great Planet Earth.

So, what we've done tonight, I know it's a lot. It's going to be like drinking from a fire hydrant. But the main thing is, I want to point your attention to Christ's second coming here, on this last chart. Christ's second coming: if you go back and look at last week, when we discussed the nature of His second coming, and you look at the lesson from week three, when we talked about His second coming, you'll see Christ's second coming is described as a parousia, which is the first Greek word that's listed here in the middle, which simply means His coming. His apokalypsis is His revealing: we see His glory that has been hidden, and now we see it. And then His epiphaneia, His bringing blessings conferred on His saints. All those are used of Christ's second coming.

And we see that in the upper right-hand corner: Christ is glorified, or His saints are glorified with Christ, at His glorious appearing. You see that in multiple passages in the New Testament. You also see perfection, telos, 1 Corinthians 15:24: "Then comes the end," which means it's the end of that age. It's the beginning of the eternal state. We also see the resurrection of the just, in multiple passages, both Old and New, and the resurrection of the unjust. These take place, in these passages, at the same time. The final judgment of the just and the final judgment of the unjust, on the left-hand side, again taking place at the same time, at Christ's second coming. Cosmic renewal: Peter explains and directly ties Christ's second coming with the destruction of creation and the new heavens and the new earth. And then the day of the Lord, also in 2 Peter.

So what I'm getting at is, these are very clear. And whatever view you choose or investigate, see how it lines up with this. Because Scripture should always coincide with Scripture. When you take a passage that is highly disputed, like Revelation 20, where you can have brilliant men with wildly different views on it, you should interpret that by the clear passages of Scripture. It's a hermeneutical principle that you interpret the unclear in light of the clear. So I hope that you will be edified by this, and again, focus not on your differences but on our commonality. We can all believe different things, and I'm not going to love you any less. I love you because you are my brother and sister in Christ, and Christ is in you.