The Millennium

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April 2, 2023

Part 3 of out Bible Prophecy Series The book of Revelation chapter 20 speaks of the 1,000 year Kingdom. Which position is correct, Amillennialism, Postmillennialism, Historic Premillennialism or Premillennial Dispensationalism?

00:00: All right, let's turn to the book of Revelation chapter 20 Revelation chapter 20 and this is where we read about the millennial reign of Jesus Christ So you can see the statement here on the screen from Revelation 20 verse 4 and they lived and reigned with Christ for a
00:19: Thousand years, there's not really any question of what the Bible says it mentions a thousand years a thousand years
00:27: I think six times in this chapter it mentions a thousand years, but you know how that goes
00:33: There's always somebody who has a different take a different spin on what the Bible says so there's a lot of disagreement about this passage a lot of disagreement about this whole topic of the
00:46: Millennium and You're familiar, you know what that term means right Millennium Millay a thousand
00:53: So the Millennium is the one thousand year reign of Christ On the earth, that's what this chapter clearly says and I'll try to demonstrate that but here's the thing about the
01:05: Kingdom Age Here's the thing about the Millennium and this is key This is the time period where God fulfills his promises to Israel I would argue if the
01:17: Millennium isn't real like if this is just a spiritual thing It's an allegory like it's not actually gonna happen like some people claim that would make
01:26: God into a covenant breaker because God has made promises to Abraham and to the children of Israel and if he doesn't
01:33: Keep because not all of that has come to pass yet. If that doesn't happen in the Millennium. We have a huge Huge problem.
01:40: Do you remember that God? Promised Abraham that he would inherit the land of Canaan that happened, right?
01:47: And yet the only Piece of land that Abraham ever owned in Canaan was his burial plot so Abraham his descendants
01:59: The nation of Israel they will inherit the land God promised them to make a great nation
02:05: The Lord promised that they would have a messianic King who ruled over them has Jesus ever ruled over the nation of Israel When did that happen?
02:12: They crucified him that never happened. So if it doesn't happen here It looks like God's promises are not coming to pass which again is a huge huge problem, but I believe that will be fulfilled every promise of God is
02:29: Fulfilled and we're gonna see that here. Okay revelation chapter 20 and The key is do you take the
02:37: Bible literally or do you allegorize it and spiritualize it? Well, I know that's what it says, but that's not really what it means
02:44: We have to take the Bible at face value look at Revelation 20 verse 1
02:50: Because if the Bible doesn't mean what it says, then who knows it's up for grabs Revelation 20 verse 1
02:57: The Apostle John writing he says then I saw an angel coming down from heaven
03:03: Having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand
03:08: Okay, remember this is after the second advent. This is after Jesus Fights the
03:14: Battle of Armageddon so he laid hold verse 2 of the dragon the serpent of old who is the devil and Satan and bound him for how long a
03:27: Thousand years and he cast him into the bottomless pit and Shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nation's no more
03:37: Till the thousand years were finished, but after these things he must be released for a little while You realize there's some people who claim that this is the
03:47: Millennium. These are the all millennialists We'll talk about in a moment. They claim that this is the
03:53: Millennium. We're living in it right now Is to say is Satan deceiving the nations right now? Yeah, he is.
04:00: He's not chained in the bottomless pit. He's he's not subdued Satan has deceived the whole world
04:07: And look at verse 4 and I saw thrones and they sat on them and judgment was committed to them
04:14: Then I saw the souls of those who had been beat been beheaded for the witness to Jesus and for the
04:20: Word of God Who had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands
04:27: These are the people that were persecuted and killed during the Great Tribulation And it says and they lived and reigned with Christ for how long a
04:36: Thousand years, but the rest of the dead did not live again until The thousand years were finished.
04:44: This is the first resurrection Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection
04:51: Over such the second death has no power But they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him for how long a
05:03: Thousand years. Okay, so six times in this chapter you see that repeated 1 ,000 years and then if you look at verses 8 and 9
05:14: It says that these things are happening on the earth verse 8 says it's on the earth verse 9 says it's on the earth
05:21: So there's no question about what the Bible is teaching That Christ will rule and reign on the earth for one
05:29: Thousand Years, okay But not everybody believes that do they?
05:36: And not all churches teaches teach that so we're going to go over the four main positions regarding the
05:45: Millennium there is The ah millennial position the post millennial position and then there is the pre millennial position so sometimes the shortened version is
05:58: Ahmill Postmill and pre mill Okay, and we get these terms based on when
06:06: Jesus returns in relation to the Millennium all the chart up here so hopefully that'll
06:12: That'll help you to remember in a moment. So if Jesus comes before the
06:17: Millennium That position would be what? Pre right before you come pre
06:26: Millennial okay, so post millennialists believe that Jesus comes after the
06:32: Millennium and an ah Millennialist when you put an a in front of a word, what do you do it negates it?
06:39: So an ah millennialist says what? Yeah, there is no millennial now.
06:45: Technically they have a different definition of what the Millennium means, but That's what all millennial means.
06:51: No thousand years so There's a fifth position that some people talk about you know what the fifth position is that I don't give any credence to at all
07:02: Yeah, pan mill pan millennialism. You know what that means? These are the people who they have no idea
07:09: They just well, it's all gonna pan out in the end. So that's my that's my position No that that cannot be your position.
07:17: If you don't know the truth, we're gonna find the truth. Okay But if some people will call themselves a pan
07:25: Millennialists, okay So let's start out with a question that somebody is thinking somebody's asking, you know, who cares?
07:33: Is you don't want to admit this you wouldn't say this in front of me probably but who cares? Why does this even matter?
07:39: Why does this matter? Well, first of all everything in the Bible matters If you believe this is the
07:46: Word of God, maybe you can't figure out why I'm happy It does everything in the Bible matters Plus your view of the
07:52: Millennium is tied to other teachings So if somebody gets one thing wrong, you know
07:58: It's like the illustration of buttoning up a shirt if you get one thing wrong if you get the top button wrong
08:04: Then everything's gonna be off From there on down. So if you get This wrong you're gonna have a totally wrong view of the church versus the
08:14: Nation of Israel the differences you're gonna have a obviously a different view of the end times and you're just gonna have a different way of interpreting the
08:24: Bible because you either interpret the Bible literally or you interpret symbolically or you think that all these events have already happened in the past and Jesus already came back in 70
08:35: AD and the Tribulation was something that happened in the first century. I mean it totally affects everything
08:42: So if we don't get this right if we don't get these teachings right we're gonna be off on a whole bunch of stuff, okay so Before I get into what's the first position?
08:54: Can you read that at all? I know it's not completely clear Okay, so yeah, that's ah ah mill ah millennialism
09:08: Yeah, so they would say that the Millennium the 1 ,000 years.
09:13: It's it's symbolic. So really it's been going on ever since the cross You know, we've been living in the kingdom ever since Jesus came the first time
09:23: But it's all symbolic you see I've said this to you before if this is the kingdom of God You know, it resent it doesn't resemble like how the
09:34: Bible talks about it But if this is the Millennium, I admit I'm disappointed. Okay, because this just isn't
09:42: It's really not that great because there's all sorts of problems and death and warfare and suffering and Jesus is ruling and reigning
09:48: Does it look like Jesus is ruling and reigning on the earth? I mean, I don't even I can't even fathom how people
09:56: Believe this but some of them some of them do so they say the Millennium is symbolic
10:01: And sometime at the end of history of Jesus will come back and boom
10:07: I have the final judgment and go into the into the eternal state so I Will say this.
10:15: I mean I do feel strongly about this issue. You can probably tell But if somebody disagrees like this is considered a secondary issue
10:25: Part of me doesn't even like that term secondary issue because it it leads some people to think that it's not important but a secondary issue
10:34: What I mean by that is if you have a wrong view of the Millennium It doesn't mean that you're unsaved or you're a heretic or this guy's a false teacher
10:45: Like we're still brothers and sisters in Christ Though this is a pretty big difference
10:50: Okay, so it's not something that Christians should like really fight over or divide over So it's considered a secondary issue, but it's in the
11:02: Bible. So God has given us his truth He wants us to know his truth and it's important that we're right.
11:08: It's important that we have the correct view of Scripture So technically it's considered a secondary issue, but understand that does not mean it's it's unimportant
11:18: Okay, so let's go over the ah millennial position So the ah mill position teaches that there is no kingdom and The a in front of the word
11:31: Millennium negates it. So ah mill means no kingdom Rather they say the kingdom
11:38: It's not literal. It's just symbolic for the church. So the church is the kingdom of God Okay, so that's what they claim
11:46: This view says that we are living in the kingdom right now and that it began when
11:52: Jesus came Preaching the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven is at hand
11:59: We've been talking about that in Preaching through the gospel of Matthew right and Jesus did
12:04: John the Baptist and Jesus did preach that the kingdom was at hand, right? Well, what's the problem with that?
12:15: Yeah, the kingdom was at hand because the king was present, but they crucified their
12:20: Messiah so everything Stopped right then and there we talked about that last week in the book of Daniel and everything else
12:29: So the ah millennial position still awaits a full and final Consummation in the future, but they say the church is the kingdom the kingdom they say includes both
12:41: Jews and Gentiles and Even leaves the door open for a future dealing with ethnic
12:48: Israel by God But not as a separate program where God has one plan for the
12:53: Jews and one plan for the Gentiles It is also understood that the church will have an ongoing positive influence on culture
13:03: And will bring blessings and improvement to the human race. You know, I think there's some truth to that So, I think there's a little truth in every position
13:15: Amil theologians say that it is the supreme mission of the church to bear witness to the invisible reign of Christ It is the church's task to make the invisible kingdom
13:28: Visible. I just want to stop there it is our job to bear witness to the
13:36: Invisible reign of Christ. What does that mean that? The reign of Christ is invisible if something's invisible
13:45: You know, I mean you can have air air is invisible and it's still Here and it's still helpful.
13:52: It Causes us to stay alive and breathing. But if Jesus is ruling and reigning, but he's doing it in an invisible way
14:02: But there's still apostasy and death and warfare all over the world I mean, I would just argue is he really reigning if no one can tell you know
14:11: I don't know a king that is really in charge of his country if if the whole country is is
14:19: Divided and fighting against each other So I would just question that part the Amil position looks for a future apostasy where towards the end of time the church will become corrupt and This time of apostasy will end in great suffering where a person known as the
14:35: Antichrist takes power to persecute the Saints This time is known as the Great Tribulation where God's people endure suffering right up until the return of Jesus at Christ's return he will judge evil and Renovate his creation to usher in a new heavens and a new earth and all of this happens over Indefinite period of time not a literal 1 ,000 years now some of that is what we believe, right?
15:03: We do believe there's going to be a man known as the Antichrist. There's going to be a Great Tribulation There's going to be an apostasy
15:11: So some of that is true. It's just the timeline is all messed up so Just one last comment on this
15:20: Millennial position it says it happens. They believe that it happens over an indefinite period of time
15:26: Well, how long has it been since Christ came? 2 ,000 years, okay
15:34: John and it's Jesus in the book of Revelation telling John so Jesus and John said at 1 ,000
15:41: But it's been 2 ,000, you know, I mean what's a thousand years among friends, you know, like what? Like Yeah, and that helps how that I don't know that just confuses me more
15:57: Right, but you know, it's it's a thousand years off, but who's counting? Okay, so let's go to the next slide
16:04: So this is the amillennial positioned any questions on this mark
16:16: From what I understand a lot of Presbyterians are amillennial
16:24: Reformed Baptists tend to be amillennial the original
16:30: Amillennialism came from the Catholic Church So the Catholic Church is on because they said we were the kingdom, you know
16:38: The Pope is the king and we're the kingdom The Catholic Church in the early days thought the
16:44: Jews were just a curse they're Christ killers They're done, you know, they're damned and the
16:50: Catholic Church ruled the world and it really did look like You know to a lot of people that the Catholic Church.
16:55: Yeah, this is the kingdom of God on earth So amillennialism really came from the
17:00: Roman Catholic Church, but you know, there's the Protestant Reformation The Protestant Reformers were former
17:06: Catholics Who turned Protestant so they brought a lot of Catholic teachings with them
17:12: So I would argue even Presbyterians and Reformed Baptists are still kind of holding on to this
17:18: Catholic teaching so But there's all sorts of people. It's not just one group that believes this
17:24: This is actually the majority of professing Christians on earth are probably amillennial Okay, any other questions?
17:34: All right. Let's move on The next position is Postmillennialism.
17:43: All right, who knows a postmillennialist? I know this is stuff you talk about with your friends, right?
17:50: Discuss these topics I would but you know, that's me So the postmillennial position teaches that Jesus comes at the end of the
18:00: Kingdom Age Which has not yet begun Or some postmillennialist, you know, there's different stripes to whatever
18:08: I'm presenting as the position There's always going to be slight variations But basically the postmillennial position says that you know,
18:15: Jesus came 2 ,000 years ago at some point in history we they don't really know when but at some point the millennium will begin and It goes on maybe for a literal thousand years
18:28: Maybe for 5 ,000 years, maybe a hundred thousand years a long period of time
18:34: And it'll just go on but the church they say the church ushers in the kingdom So we that as Christians we the church
18:42: Jesus doesn't come back and establish the kingdom we do it Okay, and then at the end of the millennium, which again could last for a thousand years could last for a million years
18:52: I mean, I've heard some Some postmillennialists say, you know, it might go on tens of thousands of years
18:58: But there will be a last judgment and a time or go into the eternal state, but they don't really know when
19:05: Okay, so let me just read this The postmillennial position teaches that Jesus comes at the end of the
19:14: Kingdom Age, you know post mill Which has not begun yet to take possession of the kingdom, which the church has established
19:23: So the church establishes the kingdom Jesus comes back and sort of pats us on the back and you know, good job guys
19:30: You did it, you know, you were successful Does that look like that's happening right now? I don't know it just it's a hard sell really but they believe the
19:40: Christian Church becomes greater and greater in influence and in the end, here's the thing a
19:47: Postmillennialist believes that in the end the majority of human beings will be saved I mean, that's a that's a nice thought.
19:57: I think if I were to choose just personal preference This is the most optimistic, you know, most people being saved.
20:05: Don't you kind of want to believe that? Like I really would want to be a postmillennialist.
20:11: It's just that the Bible teaches the exact opposite So this idea this this is a big problem though This idea that they believe that the majority of people will be saved a nice thought
20:24: But it denies the teachings of Jesus, doesn't it? With the broad way versus the narrow gate
20:30: Jesus said in Matthew 7 13 and 14 enter by the narrow gate For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and there are many who go in by it
20:42: Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there be what?
20:49: Few Who find it? So great idea great. It sounds good that the majority of people will be saved
20:56: It's just not what Jesus taught which is again a huge problem So this view is optimistic in that instead of a coming apostasy the church
21:09: They say will essentially convert the nations fulfilling the
21:14: Great Commission This also denies the teachings of Jesus in Luke 18 verse 8 when he said when the
21:21: Son of Man comes Will I really find faith on the earth? What's Jesus saying that when he returns at the second advent?
21:29: He will find faith, but he isn't gonna find very much Because the Bible teaches the great apostasy at the end of the age
21:37: Okay, so the postmillennial position they teach that the church is Israel.
21:42: Do you realize you're I guess that means you're Jewish I don't know we are Israel and I know they have verses they quote from Galatians chapter 3 and whatnot, but We the church is not
21:57: Israel. Okay, the church is what? The New Testament Church Israel is different But this is known as replacement theology.
22:07: They don't like to use that term, but that's really what they are postmillennialists all millennialists
22:14: That they both have this idea of replacement theology that God is pretty much done with the
22:21: Jews Okay after the 1000 year Kingdom Age or a much longer period
22:27: Postmill theologians they differ on some of these things But they say that after the kingdom of Christ returns visibly bodily and Jesus will return visibly bodily and gloriously
22:39: At the end of history with a general resurrection a final judgment after which the eternal order is
22:46: Ushered in so they do believe Jesus is coming back, but it could it literally could be a million years away
22:51: So that's the postmillennial view All right Here's here's the interesting thing.
22:58: You say well, what groups are postmillennial? I'll just answer your question It it's hard to find any honestly
23:08: Postmillennialism was a very popular teaching it might have been the majority of teaching among Protestants before World War one and Then by the end of World War two yeah
23:19: You just couldn't find hardly any postmillennial because the handwriting is on the wall Like the earth is the world is not getting better and better and better.
23:26: It's getting more dangerous if anything But there are still some typically reformed or Presbyterians who will
23:35: Claim this Postmillennial position all right any questions on this
23:41: I think Jonathan Edwards was a postmillennialist from what I understand But today you know
23:49: Doug Wilson is probably the most well -known he's a pretty controversial Figure there's a couple of them out there, but it's pretty rare All right, no questions on this all right.
24:01: Do you see why it matters? Again I know this isn't like obviously the thing most
24:08: Christians are thinking about from week to week But I mean this is important stuff Because it affects all these other things so the next slide this chart is what pre -millennial
24:22: Dispensationalism now, what do you know about dispensationalism? Presbyterians hate dispensationalism just so if you know any
24:31: Presbyterians. They do not like dispensational These are kind of opposing systems of theology okay
24:39: In full disclosure this is in our church doctrinal statement that technically this church holds to a dispensational position so More on that in a moment, but this position arose.
24:53: This is what the critics will say This position arose late in church history although advocates of dispensationalism would argue that We are simply reclaiming the view of the early church that was more or less lost up until the 1800s
25:10: Because you know the Catholic Church for a thousand years ruled the world and they stomped out anyone who disagreed with them
25:17: So you know there's I think there's always been people who believe this they just were not the ones writing history
25:22: So that's why it seems like they didn't exist This view teaches two phases of the second coming we remember we talked about this two weeks ago
25:32: That Jesus returns first in the clouds in a pre tribulational rapture and Then again seven years later where he comes to earth at the second advent to set up the kingdom
25:46: So here's the thing about This is what I believe the only way the kingdom of God is going to be set up on earth is
25:53: If the Lord of Glory is the one to set it up because you can't do it And I can't do it and the church isn't doing it.
25:59: The only one who's capable of doing it is Christ Himself, so I'm just gonna say the correct because I don't care
26:08: What church person belongs to the correct position is pre -millennialism I'm about as certain of that as I am about anything in the
26:18: Bible so this position now whether or not it's dispensational or historic we'll get into that but This view teaches two phases of the second coming
26:29: This view says that we are currently living in what? The kingdom is this the kingdom?
26:35: No, we're currently living in what? The church age or the age of grace which represents a parentheses in between the old covenant and the future millennial kingdom
26:49: Premillennial dispensationalists teach that the kingdom is completely future. This is one of those things
26:55: I'm not quite sure I would agree with but and they say the kingdom ethic is exemplified in the
27:01: Sermon on the Mount pre -mill dispensationalism teaches two completely different programs of redemption one for Israel one for the church and That there will be a future kingdom for Israel where Jesus reigns from Jerusalem with a rebuilt temple
27:18: I think that will happen and the reinstitution of animal sacrifices
27:24: That that's controversial that's potentially problematic so You know,
27:31: I would have I would agree with much of this but I think there's some wiggle room All right, because again no matter what position a person takes there's always going to be slight variations
27:42: Like nobody agrees a hundred percent with everything that's stated. Okay? This position says that the kingdom is a
27:50: Jewish time and that the church Should not be looking forward to it because the promises to the church are heavenly while the promises to Israel are earthly.
28:01: I Don't know if I totally agree with that Jesus will reign for a thousand years
28:07: While Satan is bound at the end of the thousand years Satan is loosed To lead one final rebellion, which is crushed the heavens and the earth pass away
28:18: The great white throne judgment happens followed by a new heaven and a new earth
28:23: So I would mainly agree with a few Caveats, so you see the chart
28:30: So what happens Jesus return came first time 2 ,000 years ago At some point we don't know when right nobody knows
28:41: So if somebody sets a date, what can you determine from that? They're wrong.
28:46: If somebody sets a date you can just bank on okay, whenever Jesus is gonna come we don't know but it ain't gonna happen on that date because Nobody knows but at some point
28:56: Jesus will return at the rapture which starts the seven -year Tribulation he comes to earth at the second advent with his church.
29:05: So the rapture the church is caught up Comes back down with Christ at the second advent and when
29:13: Jesus comes back What does he do fights the Battle of Armageddon? Destroys Antichrist and his armies and that's when the
29:20: Kingdom Age is set up. And how long does the Kingdom Age last? Thousand years that see
29:26: I actually think that a thousand years is Is literal could a thousand years be symbolic, you know, it could what's the argument that some people use
29:41: They like to point. I think it's a verse in the Psalms that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills
29:47: Well, that's symbolic. So that means the right that it God owns the cattle on a thousand hills
29:53: That's sort of a symbolic type of statement Here's the thing if you use a term symbolically once does that mean every other time the rest of your life you use the term?
30:03: It's always symbolic. It's not the way it works So the fact that a thousand years is mentioned six times.
30:09: I mean that just tells me like hello Mentioned again and again. It's to be taken literally.
30:15: All right, so this is the Dispensational pre -mill position which
30:21: I agree with 60 % and it's very similar to the next position
30:28: Which is historic Premillennialism any questions on the dispensational view
30:38: No. All right So this is the final position. I know someone someone's there.
30:44: I'm glad it's almost over. Okay His historic
30:52: Premillennialism so like the dispensationalist view They believe that Jesus returns before the kingdom right pre mill and Establishes his earthly reign for 1 ,000 years.
31:05: Yep. Amen. I agree This view does not hold. However to a pre tribulational rapture those who are historic pre mill hold to what a
31:17: Post Tribulational rapture. So there's the coming of Christ at some point
31:23: You know the tribulation will start you're never really going to know when that happens Except when you see the
31:29: Antichrist sitting in the temple of God, maybe but Jesus returns at the second advent and really
31:37: This position views the rapture in the second advent as the same thing because the church is caught up to come right back down So, yeah, well,
31:45: I mean they have this they have this thing that well back then, you know the Romans When the military was coming into town the people went out to greet them
31:54: And and then the people followed the army back into town and that's symbolic of what
31:59: Jesus I mean, maybe the Romans did that but that's mentioned nowhere in the Bible so But it's what a lot of people would say
32:08: But yeah, the the church is caught Jesus comes in the air The church is caught up to meet him and they just come right back down.
32:16: So it I Don't I don't want to sound irreverent. I mean, it seems kind of pointless.
32:22: I don't think I don't believe it's true I just don't believe this is what the the Bible teaches so a
32:28: Historic pre -millennialist they believe in a post -trib rapture So think about this they believe that the church is going to the the
32:36: Bride of Christ is going to be on earth as God is pouring out his wrath upon the earth
32:44: Why I thought the scripture says that the church we are not appointed to wrath
32:51: So the idea that God is going to pour out his wrath on His church along with everybody else.
32:58: No not buying it. That's not what the Bible says Can I get an amen on that? Okay, all right
33:06: So this position teaches that the New Testament Church is the initial phase of the kingdom
33:13: But the fullness of the kingdom is not ushered in until Christ returns to earth
33:21: Those who are historic pre -mill hold to a post -tribulational rapture as I said
33:27: They believe the church will be here on the earth during the tribulation which you know the
33:32: I Could see maybe the mid -trib because you're going through war and pestilence and disease, but once God's wrath is being poured out.
33:41: I Can't envision a possibility where the church would Would suffer
33:46: God's wrath so this This time period they believe in a great apostasy.
33:53: The church will be filled with corruption and unbelief. Let's just Stop for a moment about that Is the church today and I'm not talking about Morris Corner Church, but I'm talking about the
34:05: Christian Church today Is the Christian Church today corrupt? Yep Is the church filled with unbelief
34:19: It's everywhere and it's not just Rome it's not just the Protestants. It's evangelical.
34:24: It's it's everybody. It's everybody. It's everywhere I'm not saying it's literally everybody but it's it's
34:31: It's all over. Okay, so Like I said, I believe we are probably living in the time period of the great falling away the great apostasy
34:41: But that's just my personal opinion That's certainly how it looks So they believe there will be a great apostasy the church will be filled with corruption and unbelief
34:50: This leads to the time period known as the Great Tribulation Christ returns at the end of the tribulation to defeat the armies of Antichrist Resurrect the dead and establish his kingdom on the earth in this view the rapture in the second advent
35:06: Essentially the same event they take Revelation chapters 19 through 21 literally
35:13: Amen, I believe that and it's very similar to the dispensational
35:19: Position so Let me try to wrap this up. I take a middle ground I hope that doesn't confuse anybody but these last two positions
35:29: Dispensational and historic I take sort of a middle ground so For what it's worth.
35:36: I believe in a pre -tribulation rapture instead of a post -tribulation rapture, okay,
35:41: I Believe in a difference between the church in Israel. So in that sense,
35:47: I'd be dispensational not historic Actually, I think let's turn to Acts chapter 1.
35:55: I Did not learn this teaching from anyone else
36:00: So I'm always a little hesitant if I'm the first one to come up with it. I figure like I Might be on thin ice
36:08: But I'll say it anyways as far as I can tell the Apostles of Jesus Christ were pre male dispensationalists
36:17: Look at Acts chapter 1 starting in verse 6 The Apostles what do they ask
36:23: Jesus they they ask him Lord will you at this time? restore the kingdom to Israel What do the
36:33: Apostles believe? They believe that the kingdom belonged to who? Israel So they believe that when
36:43: Jesus came He would come and usher in the kingdom
36:48: Now the thing they didn't understand was the difference between the first advent and the second advent
36:54: But they were pre millennial in that when the Messiah comes he comes and he ushers in the kingdom the kingdom comes after Messiah comes so they were pre mill and They're dispensational in the sense that they they're expecting the kingdom to be restored to Israel And notice
37:11: Jesus doesn't correct them. Does he? Acts chapter 1 verse 7 Jesus says it is not for you to know the times or seasons which the father has put in his own
37:21: Authority Jesus doesn't tell them they're wrong or sorry guys. You really missed it. It's all about the church now
37:26: We're done with Israel forget about that Jesus says well, you're not going to know so you think it's now you're hoping it's now you're not going to know the time
37:37: But Jesus lets that stand. So I would argue that the Apostles were
37:43: Obviously, they wouldn't have used this terminology, right? But I would argue they were Pre mill dispensational if that makes somebody upset you can email me your complaints, okay
37:56: So Here's with what I agree with with a historic position because I'm not a hundred percent
38:02: With everything the dispensationalists say I think the church shares in the promises
38:08: So the promises were given to Israel, but the church shares in them I believe that Christians will rule and reign here on the earth during the millennium
38:18: See a hardcore Dispensationalist says that the okay the Jews get the earth, but the Christians are up in heaven and they don't really
38:25: I Don't think so I think the Christians share in The price it will be a
38:30: Jewish time because the headquarters of the kingdom is where in Israel Jesus is ruling from Jerusalem.
38:36: So it is a Jewish time, but we share in that another thing I believe I don't think the kingdom of God is 100 % future
38:44: I think there is a sense where there is a a spiritual reality of the kingdom of God now Jesus said in Luke 17 21 the kingdom of God is what?
38:55: with within you So Jesus rules and reigns in the hearts of his people.
39:00: I think there is a spiritual kingdom, but you know, it's like I say in the Lord's Prayer We are praying for the kingdom to come to the earth right thy kingdom come thy will be done where?
39:12: On earth as it is in heaven The dispensationalist view has some potential problems depending on how you define two separate plans of redemption
39:24: I've met some dispensationalists who say that well the Jews were saved by keeping the Ten Commandments Christians are saved by believing in Jesus.
39:31: No, no, no. No, that's that's not that's not true And then the reinstitution of animal sacrifices if that does happen
39:41: It's not to take away sin because that would be going backwards You know the blood of Jesus takes away all sin
39:49: So if there is a reinstitution of animal sacrifices, it would be to kind of picture
39:56: What already happened with Christ? I don't know if I'm not sure where I stand on that I don't want to get too much in the weeds, but that's that's where I stand sort of a middle ground position but hey pre mill is the right position and You know, that's all there is to it
40:13: Okay, all right any final questions,
40:18: I guess we have a few minutes Mark Yeah, well,
40:32: I know you're saying like pastors or just church members to have been Yeah, go along with whatever right so let's say
40:56: So they you're saying a person who's been brought up with one of these other beliefs like they've always believed it
41:07: They've only believed it because that's what they've been told to believe Right. Well, I would ask them, you know
41:12: Do you believe this because it's what you've been taught or have you come to this conclusion yourself?
41:18: You know, there was a time where yeah, I believed what I believe because that's what I was taught But then you start studying the
41:24: Bible for yourself and you realize that okay There's a few things that don't aren't really lining up. I Think somebody who never changes their mind about anything is
41:36: Somebody who is Incapable of being taught I Remember as with a group of guys and I asked
41:47: Since you came to Christ some of them might have been 10 years ago or 50 years ago. What have you changed on?
41:53: What position have you changed from the moment first year you became a Christian or from childhood? What have you changed on and you know half the guys in the group and I realize not everyone can remember maybe but If somebody says
42:09: I've never changed my mind about anything, but what does that tell you? So you're the one person who has it all figured out from the start.
42:16: Sorry. I don't think so But you know people like I said I wouldn't want to make too big of an issue about this if somebody believes something different like I'm not mad at them
42:28: I'm not calling them names, but I I'm convinced. This is what the Bible teaches I would just I would tell them read read
42:36: Revelation 20 and you you explain to me what's going on I'll explain to you and you explain to me
42:43: If they're right convince me, you know, if I'm wrong, okay Convince me, but I think
42:50: I would have an open dialogue with them but here's why it matters let's say there's a church and The church has been pre -millennial for generations and then a new pastor comes in and he's a millennial let's
43:04: Happens to be a millennial and then he starts teaching people and they kind of come along. Here's why it matters doesn't mean
43:10: He's a bad guy. It doesn't mean anything like that But here's why it matters once you start taking an allegorical
43:18: Approach to Scripture that generation might stay intact because they believe before and they believe now
43:24: It's the next generation that I'm worried about Once a church takes a symbolic meaning of Scripture all of a sudden the
43:31: Bible doesn't mean what it says anymore Where does it end? Here's the thing if the Millennium is symbolic?
43:39: How do you know heaven isn't symbolic? honestly
43:45: Where does it stop you realize there's liberal mainline churches?
43:51: These are the churches in New England that have the rainbow out front Many of those churches you realize the pastor will tell you many of them.
43:58: They'll say oh we believe in the resurrection of Jesus We believe Jesus lives They don't really mean what we mean
44:06: They believe that Jesus was resurrected He lives on in the lives of his followers.
44:13: He lives on in our heart You see once you adopt this interpretation of the
44:20: Bible or everything's an allegory everything symbolic First first thing to go is the
44:25: Millennium and you say okay Big deal who cares right? Yeah The next thing is heaven where they think heaven is a state of mind if your life is good on earth
44:35: That's heaven. If you have a bad life, that's hell and then the resurrection becomes symbolic and Eventually, what does it lead to a church that is absolutely corrupt and filled with unbelief?
44:48: And I think that's what we have I would argue this is the root of it in your interpretation of the
44:56: Bible So why does it matter? I'm ill post mill pre mill. What matters is how you interpret the
45:02: Bible. Do you believe it? At face value. Do you interpret it literally?