Postmillennialism (Part 7)

Hi there, welcome to Reformed Ex Mormon. I'm Pastor Braden and I hope you're having a wonderful and blessed day today.

Today we are on part seven of our multi -parted series on the topic of eschatology, the study of end things and end times.

And today with part seven we're going to be just scratching the surface and looking at the eschatology view that's orthodox within Christianity and that is post -millennialism.

So looking at post -millennialism today, like I said, just scratching the surface on these things there.

Post -millennialists are very, very similar in many ways to amillennialists as we did yesterday.

Post -millennialists and amillennialists are very similar in the same sense that dispensational pre -millennialists and historical pre -millennialists are very similar in the placement of the coming of Christ prior to a millennial kingdom.

Post -millennialists and amillennialists both place Christ's coming after the millennium period.

And we'll jump into a little bit more of that here in a second when we look at the main tenets, the main teachings of post -millennialism.

But just as always we have many giants of the faith on every side of this argument when we discuss these things.

Some of those that would be post -millennialists would be Jonathan Edwards, James White, Douglas Wilson, George Whitfield, Samuel Hopkins, Jeff Durbin, John Owen.

Many, many Puritans were post -millennialists, as well as L. Boettner, are just to name just a few that would be considering themselves post -millennialists.

Now, just jumping in some of the scratching -the -surface teachings of post -millennialism.

Many post -millennialists of today would consider themselves theonymists.

Now, I would encourage you to go and do some research on this topic. Theonomy is the idea that through the advancement of the gospel, that entire world systems, government systems, will be reformed and refined to the

Old Testament law. And that there'll be this kind of Christianized idea, and that much in the

Old Testament will come back in a modern government system.

Not all post -millennialists would hold to this, but a good majority of today would. A majority of post -millennialists would consider themselves predatorists, or partial predatorists within Orthodox Christianity, saying that Christ is going to come again.

They would not be hyper -predatorists. As a hyper -predatorist would say that Christ has already came, and that he's not coming again, that we're in the new heavens and the new earth today.

And that would be heretical. That's outside of the realm of Orthodox Christianity, but post -millennialists, majority of today, would be partial predatorists.

There's also many that would consider themselves or Stoicists when they come to the book of Revelation. Just many, though, that we're going to be talking about today are partial predatorists.

So, the partial predatorism is in direct contrast with many that would hold to a future literal reading of the book of Revelation.

A partial predatorist would say that the book of Revelation has been, a majority of it, has been fulfilled already in the past.

And so, they would definitely date the book of Revelation that was written by John. They would say that that was absolutely written pre -70

AD date. And there's some other dates that they throw out there, but they say it has to have been before 70 AD, because this book is prophesying about a near future event of Nero and Rome coming and destroying

Jerusalem, and namely that of the temple. And so, they would say that this has to be a written pre -70

AD. And so, they would see that majority of the prophecy that's fulfilled, or the majority of the prophecy given in the book of Revelation, has already been fulfilled in that 70

AD time period. Now, many, to be fair to the post -millennialists, many on the other eschatology views would say then that's wrong, because then why would we even have the book of Revelation?

Why would we even read the book of Revelation? Well, to a partial predatorist, namely that of a post -millennialist view, would say, well, we have a lot of Old Testament prophecy that prophesied about impending near doom events, which that's how they would read the book of Revelation.

And those things are still edifying for today. In fact, they would say that majority of the

Old Testament prophecies were always prophesying about impending dooms that then were therefore recorded, and we don't toss those books out of the

Bible as being not important. We still read those things. We still learn from those things. And so, therefore, that is the same way that we should look at the book of Revelation, that it has some principles for us, but that it has been fulfilled, and therefore, we can be edified in knowing that God has a sovereign plan and prophesied about a near impending doom for the temple.

Now, one of the reasons one of the many reasons that a post -millennialist would come to this conclusion when reading the book of Revelation would be in Revelation chapter 1 verse 3, and in here it says, blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and he the things which are written for the time is near.

And so, they would say that, look, this book was written in the thinking that this was going to take place very, very soon, as well as the

Mount of Olivet discourse with Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 24, that to a partial predatorist would say that that absolutely is speaking about the destruction of the temple in 70

AD. And so, they bring this this idea of predatorism to the book of Revelation.

Another example of a text within the book of Revelation that would teach such a thing according to a partial predatorist would be chapter 22 verse 6.

It says, and he said to me, these words are faithful and true, and the Lord the God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must shortly take place.

So, they would say that there's this this this right on the precipice, that that the axe is right at the root of the tree, that this this is something that's happening soon for John.

There's many other places that they would go to, but they, and different ideas that they would point out in throughout the chapters, but a partial predatorist does say, an orthodox predatorist would say that Christ is still coming again, that not all the book of Revelation has yet been fulfilled, that there is a future new heavens, new earth, there is a future general resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked, and that there's a future heaven and hell.

So, they would not be a hyper -predatorist or a full predatorist saying that those things have already taken place.

A partial predatorist is still within orthodox saying, Lord, come quickly. Now, I'm gonna pull up a little chart for us right here on just as we have in the past, looking at just the common view within post -millennialism, and I'm gonna continue to read some some more tenets of post -millennialism.

As mentioned before, with historical premillennialism and amillennialism, post -millennialists view the

Bible to be covenantal in structure rather than God working in dispensations, and therefore, they would see that the church started in the

Garden of Eden rather than the day of Pentecost, and that the body of Christ, the church, both

Old Testament and New Testament, those that believe in Yahweh, are a part of the true Israel.

They would say that the present age that we're in right now is the millennial period that took place after Satan was bound through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ according to scriptures, very similarly to that of an amillennialist, and they would say that Christ is coming again, and that Jesus is actually on his throne right now ruling from the heavens, ruling in his church amongst the earth.

And so they would say that that Jesus is sitting on David's throne according to Acts chapter 2 verses 29 through 33,

I believe it is. So, some some tenets of post -millennialism that we would start seeing diverge from that of an amillennialist is that the post -millennialist thinking is that when

Christ comes again, the second coming, the second advent, it will be after the gospel has increased and advanced through the world, and that this is where that theonomy type of thinking would come from, is that through the advancement of the world, that there will be this golden age where the kingdom of God has been fully established.

So, post -millennialists wouldn't necessarily say that all the world would have to become Christians, but the vast majority that Christians will be the dominant view within the world in a future date.

And so that's where we would start seeing the the difference of opinion between that of an amillennialist and a post -millennialist.

Now, it's important to note that one of the biggest differences between those two camps as well is that why an amillennialist would look at the the chapters of something along the lines of Isaiah chapter 2 verses 1 through 11 or chapter 11 verses 6 through 10 as being currently being fulfilled through the hearts of those that believe in Christ in the

Christian Church, a post -millennialist would look at those same realities and say that that that's speaking of a future reality that has to take place during the millennium, not throughout the entire millennium.

So that's what they would refer to as the golden age, is that once this gospel has gone through the world and has

Christianized the world in that way, not meaning that the entire world is Christian, but that the gospel is doing what it's meant to do.

It's starting to undo the curse that we see in the garden of Adam and therefore once it's doing that, the world will start reverting back to similarities like we see in the garden.

So we'd see a wolf laying down with a lamb. We'd see a child putting his hand into the cobra's pit. Those kind of prophecies, they would say that those are physical prophecies that have to take place in that way.

Comparing that to an idealism view similar to amillennialism that says that that's a reality today.

So they view that physicality coming about in a future golden age period that's within the millennial time.

They do not see in the book of Revelation in chapter 20 verses 1 through 6, they do not see the thousand years mentioned there as being a literal thousand years.

They would say that that is a symbolic thousand years and that it's just a term for a long period of time.

Now, post -millennialists also would say that they do not most likely see

Christ coming back tomorrow because of the fact that the world has not been

Christianized. They don't see the fruits of what the gospel is supposed to be doing in the world and therefore Christ is most likely not coming back again.

And this stems from their optimistic view of what the world will be like when Christ comes back.

And so they would say that that is probably a future reality. Maybe many, many, and when

I say many, I mean thousands of years in the future. That that is when this thing will take place.

Some post -millennialists would say that that's just a short time away. Some would say that this is a distant, distant thing for us.

That it is even possible that we are still in this early Church Father period actually and that that gospel is still going out into the whole world.

But you'll find those different nuances between one post -millennialist to another post -millennialist and their views with that thing.

But every post -millennialist says that there's going to be a future golden period where the Church will be able to partake, the world will be able to partake in those physical blessings that we see in the

Old Testament. I'm gonna read a couple different Bible verses for us now. I'll go ahead and take down this chart here and we're gonna go ahead and read

Daniel chapter 2 verse 31 through 45. We won't read this.

We'll just make mention of it here and and talk about how a post -millennialist would see this.

So once again, this is the prophecy that was given to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream and and Daniel is now telling him that dream and giving him the interpretation of it.

And we're just gonna read verses 34 through 35. It says, you continued looking until a stone was cut out of a mountain or was cut out without hands and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.

Then the iron, the clay, and the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floor and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found.

But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

So that where an amillennialist would say that the the kingdom of God is in heaven, a post -millennialist would say no, the kingdom of God is on earth.

That this is this though Christ is in heaven and there's this this heavenly kingdom in that way, that the kingdom of Christ is a reality here on the earth more so than what an amillennialist would say.

And so we would see that in there they would say that the stone that becomes a great mountain that fills the whole earth, that that is an evangelism text.

So the the rock that was cut out without hands has already come. That's Jesus Christ, the rock that was rejected by the builders.

And now it's upon the shoulders of the church in that great commission in Matthew chapter 28.

We're gonna look there here in just a second. But in Matthew chapter 28, that is now on the shoulders of the church to take this message forward and fill the whole earth so then that that rock will become a great mountain in the world.

And so they would say that that's why they see this physicality to the kingdom of God. Some other portions that they would just look at, just looking here, is that in verse 44 they would say that the kingdom which will never be destroyed and that kingdom will not be left for another people will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it itself will endure.

So that kingdom is gonna come and take over the entire world, is the idea that a post -millennialist would be pulling from from this type of a text.

And once again, the post -millennialist says that the kingdom is a current reality, that it still might be in its infant stage.

Some would say that it's a little bit more mature. But they would look and see the world today, and they would look at the statistics of numbers at how many

Christians there are in the world, and comparing that to yesterday's statistics, and comparing that to 10 -year statistics, and comparing that to a thousand years ago, that the world is becoming more and more

Christianized, is what a post -millennialist would look at. And they would see that that is the reality of the kingdom of God taking over the world through the message of the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So just to make mention of this real fast, Mark 1, 14 through 15, it says that Jesus says in verse 15, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel. So post -millennialist says that the kingdom came in the person of Jesus Christ, and that's a reality of today, thus fulfilling that kingdom prophecy in Daniel chapter 2.

And there's still this continuing fulfillment of that in that way. We're going to go to that great commission found in Matthew chapter 28, verses 17 through 20.

And we're just going to read here in verses 18 through 20, just so that we can cover this in this scratching -the -surface way that we have been.

Verse 18 through 20 says this, And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,

All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the

Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I command you.

And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. And so a post -millennialist would say, this is something that we as the

Christian church have to take forward to the world. And that is why Christ has given us this great commission, this commission that we are to go out and share the gospel.

And looking at some of the fruits of post -millennialism, especially in examples like George Whitfield and other well -known post -millennialists, is they make some of the greatest known evangelists.

And so regardless of whatever view of eschatology you have today, or whichever one you have tomorrow or in the future,

I would encourage you, whether you're a dispensational premillennialist, an amillennialist, a historical premillennialist, or even a post -millennialist, that you should be preaching the gospel like the post -millennialists do.

Because they see that that is the way that they bring about the consummation of Jesus Christ.

How is he going to roll out his red carpet here on earth? Well, he's going to do that on the back of the shoulders of the church, through the great commission.

How else is he going to do it? He's going to do it through the church. That's how he's going to come back again. And so through that, they have this eagerness to plead with people to truly turn from their sins and come to Jesus Christ, as they see that as the way that this golden age will come about, the way that Christ will come and see the earth in the future.

They would also look at Bible verses such as Psalm 110, verses 1 through 3.

And we'll just look at this really quickly here. They would say that this is the most quoted

Bible verse, Old Testament Bible verse, in the New Testament is Psalm 110, verse 1.

But let's go to Psalm 110 and read verses 1 through 3 in here. And it says in here, the

Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet.

The Lord will stretch forth the strong scepter from his eye on saying, rule in the midst of thine enemies.

Thy people will volunteer freely in the day of the power and holy array from the womb of the dawn.

Thy youth are to thee as the dew. And so they would say that this is speaking of the fact that Christ and his kingdom, that gospel message is going to subdue the entirety of the world.

And that it is through the preaching of the gospel that that curse in the Old Testament, in the garden specifically, as we see all of creation falling, they would say that that is going to be undone through the preaching of the gospel.

That it is through the preaching of what Christ has done on the cross that those things will be undone.

Now during this golden age period, this future physical blessings, a post -millennialist would still admit to the fact that there's still going to be sin that takes place.

There's still going to be death that happens.

There's going to be this tyranny that still takes place.

That these things are still realities even in the golden period. But that since Christ has bound

Satan in his death, burial, and resurrection, that as Satan is in this bottomless pit from Revelation chapter 20 verses 1 through 6, that he's just continually falling.

And that continual falling in there, to them they would say that that means that the gospel is going to continue to take root in this world until the point that we see that the majority of the world is converted in that way.

And that the devil has less and less influence. And that the evil is less and less being acted upon by the people of this world.

Now where we would, I think this is clear now that we've talked about these things, where we can see that which is different between amillennialism and post -millennialism.

But just as a reminder again, an amillennialist could be called a pessimistic post -millennialist.

While a post -millennialist might be called an optimistic amillennialist.

And as we talked of yesterday, an amillennialist could be having a optimistic view of today.

A post -millennialist would say that though it's pessimistic today, tomorrow in the future this golden age is going to have an optimistic physical reality of Old Testament blessings.

And so the amillennialist, according to a post -millennialist, would fail in regarding Old Testament prophecy as being a physical reality.

Where a post -millennialist says that is still yet a future reality for them. So and looking at these two different things just a little bit more, just again, post -millennialists see this as a physical reality in the future.

That the kingdom of God is here on the earth and that's where God is setting up his kingdom is on the earth.

An amillennialist puts his gaze into the heavenly realm and says that's where the temple of God is.

That's where the kingdom of God is. That's where our future hope is not here on the earth. A post -millennialist really, really sees the evangelism effort taking root, causing people to change, having the curse undone, physical blessings coming to a reality.

All the nations of the earth are going to be blessed in that way by the seed, by this physical kingdom that we would have here on the earth.

While an amillennialist would, most likely an idealist amillennialist would say that the gospel message is going to succeed in most likely the few and they would look at examples around them in the world today.

And so we have these two different similar views in the placement of coming of Christ.

But we have two different views of if you were in Christ's shoes coming to the world the difference between post -millennialism and amillennialism is what would you in those shoes see when you're coming to the world?

A post -millennialist would say it's going to be this Christianized place where peace reigns and rules because it's a physical kingdom.

Whereas an amillennialist would say that he is coming to a wicked and obsolete destitute people that have hated him and blasphemed him and he's pulling out the few of out of that area those that truly believed in him and are a part of his heavenly kingdom.

That still expressed physicality while on earth. An amillennialist wouldn't say that the kingdom of God is not on earth.

They would say that it's not of this world, but it's in the world. Now just as another encouragement for you the listener is once again preach the gospel like a post -millennialist.

Preach it hard. Seek to advance that kingdom of God regardless of what eschatology view you have.

As the gospel message that saves you and I that we proclaim so boldly and happily that we look unto for our salvation and that we we hold so dearly every single day.

Preach it like the post -millennialist. Look to your neighbor and say I want you to know

Jesus Christ today. I want you to know him. And through doing this regardless of however

Christ is going to come again, that will be a fruitful way of evangelizing to people as to how that kind of mental attitude towards preaching the gospel.

I hope that this video has blessed you in understanding post -millennialism a little bit more as well as all the other eschatology views where they are similar, where they differ, and where they find common ground in saying that wonderful verse that we see in Revelation chapter 22.

The Lord is coming quickly. Come Lord Jesus. Come quickly.

That is the orthodox view of all Christians is that we want Jesus Christ to come and us to be with him for eternity.

Praising his name, singing praise to our God because he is deserving of such worship.

I hope that you have a blessed day. God bless. Go in peace. Tell the world of the kingdom of God.