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And pray. Mark Chapter 8
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In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him, and said to them,
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I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat.
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And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.
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And his disciples answered him, How can one feed these people with bread here, in this desolate place?
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And he asked them, How many loaves do you have? They said,
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Seven. And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people.
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And they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them.
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And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full.
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And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples, and they went to the district of Dalmanthufa.
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The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking to know, Why does this generation seek a sign?
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Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. And he left them, got into the boat, and went to the other side.
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Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying,
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Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod. And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread.
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And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread?
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Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?
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And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?
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They said to him, Twelve. And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?
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And they said to him, Seven. And he said to them, Do you not yet understand? And they came to Bethesda.
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And some people brought to him a blind man, and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village.
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And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, Do you see anything? And he looked up and said,
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I see people, but they look like trees walking. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again, and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
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And he sent him to his home, saying, Do not even enter the village. And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
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And on the way he asked his disciples, Who do people say that I am? And they told him,
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John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, and others one of the prophets. And he asked them,
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But who do you say that I am? Peter answered him, You are the Christ. And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
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And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
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And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked
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Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.
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And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.
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For whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake and the
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Gospels will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
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For what can man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the
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Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father. Our Father, we read such important words here.
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What does it profit a man to gain the whole world? Lord, in our lives we so often put the things of this world.
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Lord, our earthly God, that you would open our eyes, that you would open our hearts to receive the truth that is proclaimed here.
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Pray, Lord, that we would be encouraged by it, that we would be convicted by it.
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And above all, Lord, that we would learn something new about who you are and what you do. Lord, we thank you for this time.
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Well, let's turn in our Bibles once again to John chapter 5. As we're working through this passage, and of course, being last week, we diverted a little bit because of the nature of the subject.
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So last Lord's Day we gave attention to the event that the Lord Jesus foretold in John 5, 28 and 29.
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After declaring that he had authority to impart spiritual life to those who are spiritually dead in sin, that's of John 5, he then spoke of the time and occasion that he would raise the entire human race to be physically resurrected from death and brought before him in judgment.
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So here are his words again. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth, those to the resurrection of life, those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.
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We would argue that a simple reading of these words conveys the truth that God has appointed a day in which he will summon the entire human race to rise from the dead and then be brought before the tribunal of Jesus Christ for judgment.
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On that great day, Jesus Christ will judge all human beings as to whether their lives were characterized as doing good or doing evil.
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That's a clear statement of Jesus. Of course, Jesus was not advocating salvation by the merit of works.
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That would conflict with the teaching of scripture everywhere. But the judgment of works that our
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Lord Jesus will execute one day will both validate the claim of those who have the judgment of works, even though we're saved by God's grace.
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Our works will prove that we're true Christians or they will prove otherwise.
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And he makes it clear that the outcome of this judgment, this great judgment, will be either eternal life or eternal condemnation.
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The resurrection of life, the resurrection onto damnation.
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This is a bodily resurrection. The hour is coming when all who are in the grave spoke of a spiritual resurrection earlier, spiritual life through Jesus Christ, through the will of Jesus Christ.
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But this is speaking about a future bodily resurrection of the dead, of all the human race, and then a general judgment in which the two destinies are set forth.
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And yet, this very clear assertion of our Lord is not understood in this way by most evangelicals today.
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They have been taught for the most part that the judgment of Christians and the judgment of the unsaved takes place on a number of different occasions in the future, through intervals of time at least a thousand years, and in many cases, a thousand and seven years, separating the judgment of Christians and the judgment of non -Christians.
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We are advocating, know, that there is an hour coming, a singular last day when all who are in the grave shall hear the voice of the
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Son of God and they'll come forth into a general judgment and the damned and the saved will be separated from one another.
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And so we began to address this matter last Lord's Day and we'll continue this matter today. And I really hope that we can complete it today.
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There's certain value of being able to address the whole matter in one sitting rather than dividing it up into several.
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So, may the Lord help us to do so. Now, I know that the position that I'm espousing is a minority view in today's evangelical world, even though it has been the predominant view of Protestants in history.
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I recognize, therefore, that the burden of proof lies upon my shoulders. I recognize that.
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To set forth the case biblically and to attempt to persuade folks to accept this understanding that we are advocating.
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The burden of proof is with me. And so do not think that I would resent or hold it against anyone if after having considered the biblical evidence that we present, he continues to hold the popular views of these matters.
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I tell you what, I resisted a long time and came to the views I have today probably in about 1982 or thereabouts.
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But it was with great struggle. On the other hand, it's incumbent upon you to listen prayerfully and consider carefully what we're saying is true to the
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Holy Scriptures. And so may we be as the Bereans when they heard what they must have perceived to be strange things from the
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Apostle Paul. What was their reaction? We read of them, Now these Jews of Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica.
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They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
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They didn't run to the Bible to prove Paul's teaching was false. They doubted themselves.
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They ran to the Scriptures to see if what Paul was teaching was true. They had a teachable attitude, a good understanding about how truth, biblical truth is attained.
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And so may the Lord help all of us, each of us who are teachable, to have a healthy skepticism of our own abilities and perceptions and submit to the authority of the word of God.
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Let God be true and every man a liar. That should be our attitude.
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Last Lord's Day, we address what the word of God identifies as good works and how they're to be distinguished from evil works.
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And I read a sermon recently from an 18th century Puritan preacher, Samuel Davies.
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He died at the age of 37, but he addressed this matter of the general resurrection. And I included it here because I thought it was once again, some of you weren't here last week when we addressed what is good works or what are good works, what are evil works.
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And he set the matter forth, I think, quite well. Methinks you cannot enjoy one moment's ease or security while this is undetermined.
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Certainly. And is it an answerable inquiry? Can we now know what are the present distinguishing characters of those who shall then receive so different a doom?
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Yes, my text determines the point. Those who have done good unto the resurrection of life, those who have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.
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These are the grounds of the distinction that shall then be made in the final states of men, doing good and doing evil.
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And certainly this distinction is perceivable now. To do good and to do evil are not so much alike as that it should be impossible to distinguish between them.
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Let us then see what is implied in these characters and to which of us they respectfully belong.
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What is it to do good? This implies first an honest endeavor to keep all
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God's commandments. I say all His commandments with regard to God, our neighbor and ourselves, whether easy or difficult, whether fashionable or not, whether agreeable to our natural constitution or not, whether enjoining the performance of duty or forbidding the commission of sin, whether regarding the heart or the outward practice.
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I say uniform, impartial regard to all God's commandments, of whatever kind, in all circumstances and at all times, is implied in doing good.
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For if we do anything because God commands it, we will endeavor to do everything that He commands. Because where the reason of our conduct is the same, our conduct itself will be the same.
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I do not mean that godly men in the present state perfectly keep the commandments of God in everything or indeed in anything, but I mean that universal obedience is their honest endeavor.
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Their character is in some measure uniform and all of a piece. That is, they do not place all their religion and obedience to some commands which may be agreeable to them, as though that would make atonement for their neglect of others.
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But like David, they have a respect to all God's commandments. Psalm 119 .6
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My brethren, try yourselves by this test. Examine yourselves. Second, to do good in an acceptable manner presupposes a change of nature and a new principle.
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Our nature is so corrupted that nothing really and formally good can be performed by us until it is renewed.
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To confirm this, I shall only refer you to Ephesians 2 and Ezekiel 36 where being created in Christ Jesus unto good works and receiving a new heart of flesh are mentioned as prerequisites to our walking in God's statutes.
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As for the principle of obedience, it is the love of God. That is, we must obey God because we love
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Him. We must do good because we delight to do good. Otherwise, it is all hypocrisy, constraint, or selfishness and cannot be acceptable to God.
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Here again, my brethren, look into your hearts and examine what is the principle of your obedience and whether ever you have been made new creatures.
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And third, I must add, especially as we live under the gospel, that your dependence for life must not be based upon the good which you do, but entirely upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
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After you have done all, you must acknowledge your but unprofitable servants and renounce all your works in point of merit while you abound in them in point of practice.
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That's a good statement. This is an essential characteristic of evangelical obedience, and without it, you cannot expect to have a resurrection to eternal life and blessedness.
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I might enlarge upon this head, but time will not permit, and I hope these three characters may suffice to show you what is implied in doing good.
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Let us now proceed to the opposite character. What is it to do evil? This implies such things as these, the habitual neglect of well -doing, or the performance of duties in a languid, formal manner without a right principle, that is, love, and the willful indulgence of any one's sin.
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The secret love of sin, even though it is not allowed to break forth into outward practice.
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Here it is evident at first sight that profane sinners, drunkards, swearers, defrauders, avowed neglecters of religion have this dismal brand upon them that they are such as do evil.
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Nay, such who are in their natural state without regeneration, that is, the new birth, whatever their outside be, must be ranked in this class.
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For that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God nor be rightly subject to His law.
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A little lengthy for a quote, but I think a very succinct description of what constitutes living, doing good works, and living, doing evil works.
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Now regarding this general resurrection and general judgment of mankind, we should understand that this is a historical doctrine of Protestants, and we may show that by considering our own confession of faith, the
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Baptist Confession of 1689, which we hold as a church.
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That doesn't mean we all have to believe every statement in it, but it's a good tool by which we can assess ourselves in the light of history and find instruction and correction.
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And so the Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 has an article on the last judgment. It's quite consistent with the confessions of all the
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Protestant denominations, the Westminster Confession of the Presbyterians, the Savoy Declaration of the
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Reformed Congregationalists, really all of the older Baptist confessions were consistent with this.
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And so here's our statement from our confession, Article 32 of the Last Judgment. And I've highlighted certain statements and verse references which are particularly pertinent to our subject.
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First, God hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given by the
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Father, in which day not only the apostate angel shall be judged, but likewise all persons that have lived upon the earth and shall appear before the tribunal of Christ to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and to receive according to what they've done in the body, whether good or evil.
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We're not going to read the other two paragraphs. The first one should suffice. It teaches a general resurrection and general judgment of all mankind.
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And the verses that I emboldened testify to that as well.
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How then do dispensational premillennialists interpret John 5, 28, and 29?
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And a dispensational premillennialist is the position that most evangelicals hold today.
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They believe Jesus is coming back for his church, all believers from Pentecost to the rapture. He'll come back and catch them up to heaven, return to heaven seven years later after the tribulation, come to earth the second time, the second coming, and judge those who live through the tribulation.
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A thousand -year millennium will begin, they say, and after the end of the thousand years, then the general, not a general judgment, but the judgment of all unbelievers will take place.
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And so we explained this in some detail last Lord's Day that they have an entirely different understanding than what we are proposing and asserting.
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This position, which is popular, was new to Christendom at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century.
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Not premillennialism. The early church, first couple hundred years, they were advocates of a premillennial view of the coming of Christ, but it was a whole different brand of premillennialism than what's promoted today.
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It emerged and became the predominant position among evangelicals and remains so today.
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It does not teach a general resurrection and general judgment of the entire human race.
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Rather, this most popular position as set forth, for example, in the Left Behind series, teaches that all
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Christians of this church age will be raptured or caught up to meet Christ in the air and then returned to heaven with him.
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He doesn't come all the way to the earth. This is said to be the first stage of two stages of the second coming of Christ.
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Upon their rapture, these New Testament Christians will stand at the judgment seat and they make a distinction.
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The bema seat, which they argue is different than the judgment seat of Christ for unbelievers, the bema seat is for rewards.
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That's a wrong understanding of the Greek word bema. Pontius Pilate's judgment seat in which he condemned
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Christ was a bema seat. It's not just a bema seat for rewards. But they teach this, that they'll only be judged to receive rewards for their stewardship.
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And so the idea that there is a judgment of works for Christians is not believed with the outcome being salvation or damnation.
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Professing Christians, that's not believed in this system. And so at that time it is taught that King Jesus will then at the end of the tribulation, seven years later, come and judge all the
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Gentiles who survived the tribulation just in that seven year period. And of these living
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Gentiles, King Jesus will determine who will be allowed to enter into the thousand year earthly millennium and who will not be allowed.
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They're immediately killed in judgment by King Jesus. And so these
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Gentiles are judged. But it's also asserted, by the way, that Old Testament Jews, Old Testament believers will also be raised at this time and they will enter the thousand year millennium as well.
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And so it's taught that at the coming of Christ, King Jesus, the second coming, he'll judge the
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Gentiles who survived the tribulation and he'll judge them. The criteria of judgment at the end of the tribulation will be whether or not these
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Gentiles treated the Jews rightly during the tribulation. Those Gentiles who properly regarded the
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Jews during the tribulation will be allowed to continue into the thousand year millennium. Those who failed to do so will again die and they will await their final judgment a thousand years later.
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And so at this judgment, at the end of the tribulation, all Old Testament saints, primarily
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Jewish believers, will be resurrected, allowed to live on in the earth a thousand years. And since there will be people, they argue, that will be born and raised during the thousand year millennium, some of them will become believers, but some of them will remain unbelievers.
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And so it's also believed that when believers who died during the millennium, when they die, they'll be immediately resurrected and judged by Jesus Christ and granted rewards and they'll continue in their glorified bodies throughout the thousand year millennium.
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And so the glorified Christian in his glorified resurrected body will be standing alongside those who are immortal, who are living this earthly life and who have not yet died and been glorified.
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And so this will continue for the thousand years. And then, of course, at the end of the thousand years, it's taught that King Jesus, who's been ruling in Jerusalem on an earthly throne, the throne of David, at the end of the thousand years, after a short -term rebellion on the part of the world against King Jesus, then the great white throne judgment will take place, a judgment of only the unbelievers, unbelievers of all of history.
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They will be gathered at that great white throne judgment and then their final destiny will be determined and they will be thrown into the lake of fire, at which time
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God will create a new heavens and a new earth, beginning the onset of the eternal state. That's basically a scenario of the dispensational pre -millennialist.
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It's quite a bit more complex and involved than what we're advocating.
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Life goes on, Jesus returns, a general judgment, general resurrection, eternity, compared to all of these various intersections with the resurrection and the judgment of God.
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Well, then how did dispensationalists deal with John 5, 28, and 29? Jesus said, don't marvel at this, the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves shall hear his voice.
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They that have done good unto the resurrection of life, they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.
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How do they understand it? Well, they say that Jesus was not teaching of a single event here, a general resurrection and general judgment.
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Rather, he was speaking of the resurrection generally that would occur, of course, on many different occasions on in the future.
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And so here are the comments of John MacArthur, for example, who's a good and godly man, obviously.
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But these are his beliefs. And so his comment on John 5, 28, 29, in the light of other scripture, it's clear that Jesus speaks generally about resurrection, not about one general resurrection.
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And I would say that that is not taking the verse literally. The hour is coming in which all are in the grave, shall hear his voice and come forth.
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It seems to me to be speaking of a single event, a single future event at which the
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Lord will raise all the dead from their graves and they will come before him in judgment. Jesus said, marvel not at this, the hour is coming in which all who are in the grave shall come forth.
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And they come forth to two different destinies. But what is the biblical evidence for a future general resurrection and judgment of all mankind?
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Let's consider some scripture. First, let's consider some verses that are taught right here in John's Gospel.
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And we're going to get to them when we get into John 6. Jesus taught of the resurrection of the dead that would take place on the last day.
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And so John 6, 39 and 40, this is the will of the Father who sent me that of all he's given me
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I should lose nothing but raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of him who sent me that everyone who sees the
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Son, believes in him, may have everlasting life, I will raise him up at the last day. John 6, 44, no one can come to me unless the
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Father who sent me draws him, I will raise him up at the last day. And then a third time in John 6, verse 54, whoever eats my flesh, drinks my blood, has eternal life,
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I will raise him up at the last day. Now those three verses speak of believers, of course, being raised at the last day.
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Dispensationalists argue this will occur as a secret rapture of the church. But then we read of our
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Lord's words regarding the unsaved in John 12, 48. He who rejects me and does not receive my words as that which judges him, the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
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Are we to understand the last day of the believers in John 6 is 1 ,007 years before the last day in which
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Jesus judges the unbelievers in John 12, 48? No, we would argue that, you know, as the disciples were listening to Jesus teach them, when he was talking about the last day, they were thinking of a singular day, the day of judgment.
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And both the believers and the unbelievers are going to be judged on that day.
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No, there is not an interval of a seven -year tribulation and a thousand -year earthly millennium.
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But rather, there is one day. There's not a first last day and a last last day.
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There's one last day. And we would argue that we're taking the Bible literally as it's set forth quite clearly in John's gospel.
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Well, let's consider several other passages that are consistent with the general resurrection and judgment of all mankind at the end of the age when
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Jesus returns. Daniel 12, verses 2 and 3. The Old Testament speaks of this general resurrection.
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Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.
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Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above. He's talking about people who win others to righteousness.
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There's going to be different degrees of glory manifested in Christians in the future. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.
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God rewards faithful stewardship. But dispensationalists must insert at least a thousand years between these two events, for they reject the idea of a single bodily resurrection and general judgment.
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What about Matthew 25, 14 through 30? We read of the general resurrection and judgment of all mankind in our
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Lord's teaching respecting the parable of the talents. Matthew 25, it reads this way.
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For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
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To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his own ability, and immediately he went on a journey.
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Then he who received the five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents.
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And likewise he who would receive two gained two more also. But he who would receive one went and dug in the ground and hid his
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Lord's money. And after a long time the Lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
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So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, Lord, you delivered to me five talents.
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Look, I've gained five more talents besides them. His Lord said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant.
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You are faithful over a few things. I will make you a ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord. He also who had received two talents came and said,
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Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Look, I've gained two more talents besides them. His Lord said to him,
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Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few things. I will make you a ruler over many things.
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Enter into the joy of your Lord. And then he who received one talent came and said,
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Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you've not sown, gathering where you've not scattered seed.
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I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.
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But his Lord answered and said to him, You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I've not sown, gather where I've not scattered seed.
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So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
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So take the talent with him and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance.
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But from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away, and cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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Now this was a parable, of course, of a master going into a far country and entrusting his servants with certain amounts of money to be used, invested.
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Well, he was gone. And so the Lord, Jesus, indicated through this parable he would be like a man traveling into a far country.
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Jesus here was teaching his disciples that this age would be of some length and duration.
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The early disciples were not looking for an imminent return of the Lord. Jesus told
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Peter he was going to die before Jesus came. They were not looking for an imminent return of the Lord.
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They knew the gospel had to go out throughout the whole world before the end came.
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They were not looking for an imminent return. Jesus said here he's going like a man going into a far country.
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This kingdom age was going to be of some duration, indefinite duration, but he's going on a far journey.
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And when he returns, the reward of his servants would be great. They enter the joy of the Lord. In other words, the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ.
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They represent true Christians. But the punishment of the wicked and unfaithful servant is severe.
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He represents a nominal Christian whose life bears no fruit of true faith. He will say to that one, cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness.
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There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Clearly an emblem for hell. But there's no place in the understanding of dispensationalism for a judgment of this kind, of a judgment in which true and false
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Christians are separated from one another and their eternal destinies are pronounced. However, we would argue that this parable reflects consistently with a single end time resurrection and judgment of humanity that we are espousing.
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What about Matthew 25, 31 -46? This is even more clear.
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And the way dispensationalists interpret this parable is quite amazing. Here we have the general resurrection and judgment of all mankind in the parable of the sheep and goats.
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I emboldened and italicized those verses that are pertinent. When the
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Son of Man comes in His glory, clearly a reference to the second coming, and all the holy angels with Him, then
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He will sit on the throne of His glory. In other words, to judge them. It's not like He then becomes king, but He's mounting
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His throne of judgment. All the nations will be gathered before Him. That's all humanity.
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And He will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
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And then the king will say to those on the right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
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For I was hungry, you gave me food. I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger, you took me in.
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I was naked, you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison, you came to me.
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And then the righteous will answer Him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, feed you thirsty, give you drink?
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When did we see you a stranger, take you in naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison, come to you?
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And the king will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me.
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This tells us, by the way, that the basis of judgment, the last judgment, will be shown in how you treat and regard your
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Christian brothers and sisters. Those who know the
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Lord love others who know the Lord. The Lord Himself teaches
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Christians to love other Christians. It's one of the evidences of true salvation. If you say you love
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Jesus, but you hate your Christian brother, you've got a problem. John the Apostle says, you're just deceiving yourself.
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But then look at verse 41. Then he will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
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For I was hungry, you gave me no food. I was thirsty, you gave me no drink. I was a stranger, you did not take me in.
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Naked, you did not clothe me. Sick and in prison, you did not visit me. And then they also will answer
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Him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, did not minister to you.
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And then He will answer them saying, Assuredly, assuredly I say to you that as much as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.
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These will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Reflects a general judgment, a general resurrection, a general judgment, a separation of two destinies.
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The Lord is very clear. He said before His disciples, at His second coming, there would be a general resurrection of the dead, a general judgment of the nations, in other words, all mankind.
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The outcome of this judgment is either eternal life or eternal damnation. But this is not the understanding of dispensationalists.
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How then do they address this passage? Charles Ryrie, who is a staunch defender of dispensational premillennialism, he wrote the book on dispensationalism, a defense of dispensationalism.
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How does he deal with this? Well, he understands this judgment actually to be the judgment of Gentiles only who survived the tribulation.
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In other words, this is not a general judgment of all mankind. It's only Jesus judging Gentiles who survived the seven -year future tribulation.
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And the outcome of that judgment is whether they will be allowed to go into the thousand -year earthly millennium or they will be cut off, killed at that point.
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And so in his study of the Bible, Ryrie stated this... See, when Jesus says, you haven't treated my brethren, they don't believe that's
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Christian brethren. They say, no, Jesus was a Jew, and so he's talking about how you treat Jews during the tribulation.
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That will determine whether you get killed by King Jesus before the millennium or you're allowed to continue into the earthly millennium being subject to the
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Jews, Israel, during the earthly millennium as Gentiles. And then he says...
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Well, let me read the quote again. This is a judgment of those Gentiles who survived the tribulation whose heart relation to God is evidenced by their treatment of the
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Jews, especially during that time. Surviving Jews will also be judged at this time.
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Now, he has to pull that out from another passage of Scripture because there is, according to their interpretation, only
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Gentiles are here. There's no mention of Jews being judged and allowed to go into the millennium.
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But Ryrie says, surviving Jews will also be judged at this time, even though there's no word of that in this passage as they interpret it.
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So I wonder where he got the evidence for this last statement. It's not in the passage if we assume their interpretation.
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There's no mention of Jews if we accept their position. This only speaks of Gentiles who survived the tribulation.
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We would say Jesus was telling his disciples that the entire world, all the nations will be brought before him in this general judgment and he's going to separate them into two destinies.
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John MacArthur, God bless him, agrees with Ryrie. His note in his study Bible on Matthew 25, 31 reads this way.
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This speaks of the earthly reign of Christ described in Revelation 20. The judgment described here is different from the great white throne judgment of Revelation.
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See, it's a thousand years before. This judgment precedes Christ's millennial reign and the subjects seem to be only those who are alive at his coming.
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So it's very, very restricted. Only those Gentiles who survived the seven year tribulation.
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If what these men say is true, then these words of Jesus given to his disciples in Matthew 25 would have had no meaning or application to them.
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How would they have understood that? If these words only apply for Gentiles in a future seven year tribulation, two thousand plus years into the future, something that would take place after the rapture of the church, how would the disciples know this?
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Certainly they did not have this complex understanding of dispensationalism in their minds as they heard
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Jesus' words. No, they would have drawn conclusions only as to what he was espousing to them.
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One day Jesus is returning. He'll judge a human race and the outcome of this judgment is either eternal life or eternal damnation for everyone.
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And by the way, we might just assert as a sideline here there's no place for purgatory in this judgment either.
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There's no second chance after death. Fourthly, we'll consider Romans 2, 6 -11.
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Here we see another manifestation of this general judgment of mankind. Romans 2, 6 -11.
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Paul was writing, In accordance with your hardness and impenitent or unrepentant heart, you're treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath.
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The day of wrath. What is that? The day of judgment. And revelation of the righteous judgment of God who will render to each one according to his deeds.
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There it is. We're judged according to our works. Eternal life to those who by patient continuance and doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality.
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That's what Christians are like. Eternal life is granted to them by grace.
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They didn't earn it by doing these things, but this characterizes them. They're ones who do good. But to those who are self -seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, wrath, tribulation, anguish unto every soul of man that does evil.
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That's the same teaching as John 5, 28 and 29. Don't marvel at this.
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The hour is coming in which all who are in the grace shall hear his voice and come forth. They that have done good unto the resurrection of life.
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They that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. Paul is saying the same thing here in Romans 2.
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And so Paul speaks of this day of judgment as the day of wrath. But the dispensational premillennialists must separate this one event into two separate events.
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And again, put a thousand years, a thousand seven years in between the judgment of the righteous and the judgment of the wicked.
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We would argue that is in conflict with the plain teaching and reading of Romans 2.
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Actually, they advocate that there will be at least four future judgments, not one, which are to be distinguished from one another.
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These include first, the resurrection of the church at the rapture, the resurrection of Old Testament Jews at the end of the seven -year tribulation and the beginning of the thousand -year millennium.
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Third, the immediate resurrection of believers when they die during the thousand -year millennium.
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And then fourth, the resurrection of all unbelievers at the end of the thousand years who will then be brought before the great white throne judgment after 1 ,000 years.
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An extreme complexity to their understanding. One last passage,
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I think, that we have here is Acts 1730 -31. Paul was on Mars Hill in Athens preaching to a bunch of pagans, a bunch of idol worshippers.
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And he proclaimed the gospel to them. He declared to them respecting their idolatry.
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Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.
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And then he gives a reason. Because he, God, has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness.
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By the man whom he has ordained, he has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. Paul was not speaking of many days over the course of 1 ,007 years, but of a single day when
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Jesus Christ would judge the world. He has appointed a day, and his listeners would have understood that.
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There's a day coming in which there's a resurrection, and every one of us are going to have to stand and give an account to King Jesus.
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Now again, as we've stated many times, these views of eschatology should not be elevated to a standard in which there tests a fellowship.
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That is, we should not separate from brethren due to differences of understanding in these matters. Rather, we are to be humble, teachable, and willing to consider the possibility that we may currently understand things wrongly and that we need correction and instruction.
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May the Lord help that spirit to characterize us. Because many times, this becomes a test of fellowship.
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I cannot tell you the numerous times I personally have been marginalized and rejected as a pastor because of these views of end times.
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But now we zero in in the time we have remaining today on really the principal passage of debate on which so much of this is built.
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And this is the passage of Revelation 20 in which the millennium is set forth.
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This is the heart of the debate. I want to read the first ten verses. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, a great chain in his hand.
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He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years.
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And he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up, set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.
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But after these things, he must be released for a little while. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them.
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And then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
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But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
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Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years.
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And now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth,
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Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth, surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
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And the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
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Again, what is the definition of the millennium? It's a belief that the Bible teaches that there will be a one thousand year period of peace on earth when
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Jesus Christ will reign over the nations. Question, where else in the
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Bible is the kingdom taught as having one thousand, as being one thousand years in duration?
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And take note, although the Bible in numerous places speaks about the kingdom and the kingdom age, this is the only place in the
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Bible where the kingdom is depicted as a thousand years. Only place in the
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Bible, Revelation 20. This is not to say, again, there are not many biblical passages that various Bible interpreters assigned to a future thousand year millennium.
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There are many, but this is the only biblical passage that speaks of a period of history on earth as being a thousand years in duration.
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And I think this is an important point. What are the different views, Christian views on the millennium?
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We summarized this a little bit last week. It's important we hit it right now briefly. Premillennialism, this is the popular belief.
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This is a belief that the millennium will begin immediately after Christ's second coming. Premillennial, he's coming before premillennium.
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He'll reign over the world for a thousand years in a kingdom characterized by peace and righteousness. And a cursory reading of this chapter as it follows the description of the second coming of Christ in chapter 19 seems to lead readily to the logical conclusion that the millennium is a literal period of time and will immediately follow
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Christ's coming. And that's how it's often argued on the part of premillennialists.
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Premillennialism has existed throughout the church history. It was predominant in the first two or three centuries, and then the amillennial position with Augustine became prominent, and the other position, postmillennialism, until the end of the 19th century.
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The whole dispensational view was created or invented by Darby in the middle of the 18th century, promoted by C .I.
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Scofield in the Scofield Bible at the beginning of the 20th century. That's when it really was popularized. Postmillennialism is another view.
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This is the belief that the millennium will occur before the second coming. Jesus comes after the millennium.
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The proponents of this view teach the world will be transformed by the working of God in history, and so the gospel will
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Christianize the world, basically, and the world will be transformed, and then the second coming of Christ.
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It will be a thousand years in duration. Some say, no, that's a figurative number, and at the conclusion of this millennial age,
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Christ will return. Postmillennialism was largely the view of the Puritans. It was largely the view of Baptists throughout the 19th century.
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What brought an end to the predominance of this position was World War I, when they concluded the world's not getting better.
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The 19th century mission movement seemed to suggest that. The whole world was becoming Christianized. There was an optimism that the gospel was going to transform, the kingdom was going to be advanced.
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And then the third position is Amillennialism, and this is what I'm espousing. This position holds there is no literal 1 ,000 -year kingdom on earth taught in the scriptures.
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The thousand years of Revelation 20 is a symbolic number, signifying the duration of the kingdom of Jesus Christ during this current gospel age.
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The second coming of Christ will occur at the end of the age. The word
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Amillennial, it has that A in front of millennial, literally means no literal millennium.
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We would understand the promises of the kingdom in the Old Testament, and here are promises of the kingdom of Christ during this church age.
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Here is a description of Thomas Schreiner, who was our Bolton conference speaker last year, professor of New Testament at Southern Seminary.
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Amillennialism literally means no millennium, but such a label is not the best descriptor of the position.
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Realize millennium is better. The thousand years in this view stand for a long period of time and do not designate a literal 1 ,000 -year reign.
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Amillennialists argue that the millennium began with the resurrection of Jesus and will last until the second coming.
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The book of Revelation is apocalyptic, and numbers are symbolic many times to convey certain ideas, and to literalize them would be something that was never intended by the
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Spirit. For example, the Spirit of God is mentioned numerous times as the seven
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Spirits of God. Is the Holy Spirit seven in number? No, that was to convey completeness and fullness of the presence and power of the
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Holy Spirit. And we would argue that this 1 ,000 speaks of a kingdom of long duration, but really of indefinite duration in apocalyptic language.
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We use it in other places. The Bible speaks of the Lord owning the cattle on 1 ,000 hills.
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Doesn't he own the cattle on hill number 1 ,001? Obviously he does, but the 1 ,000 hills is a metaphor, a poetic way to express he owns everything.
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And we would argue that the 1 ,000 years here describes a prolonged kingdom that we are currently enjoying.
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There is a great, you can imagine, the fervor that occurred in A .D. 1 ,000. I mean, that's an interesting study in itself.
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But then they were disillusioned when it didn't come to pass. And I might just say here, I've got it in my notes later, but in case we don't get to it, why then did the
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Lord say 1 ,000? Because he doesn't want you and I to know when he's coming back.
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He didn't say the kingdom will last 2 ,020 years. He said it's going to be a long kingdom.
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You and I are to be ready and living in the light of the coming of Christ, the day of judgment.
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We don't know when it will be. And so that's the Amillennial view.
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Well, let's consider now, work through Revelation 20 and see how these different positions interpret these verses.
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This is one of the most difficult passages, debated passages of all Scripture, care and caution. And I would argue this passage is a problem for each of these positions in different ways.
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We don't have time to get into that. But let's consider, first of all, this binding of the devil, binding of the dragon in verses 1 through 3.
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He's bound for 1 ,000 years. How do the premillennialists understand this? Again, the belief the millennium will begin immediately after Christ's second coming, upon His return.
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Jesus Christ will reign over the world on His throne in Jerusalem for 1 ,000 years, a kingdom characterized by peace and righteousness.
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It's important to understand they view the book of Revelation as chronological. In other words, future events are in a chronological order through the book of Revelation, beginning with Revelation 4, some say
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Revelation 6. You have details of the future seven -year tribulation itself.
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Seven -year tribulation is a spurious understanding of Daniel's 70 weeks in Daniel 9, but that's another matter for another time.
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But they would argue since the second coming of Christ is described in Revelation 19, and Revelation 20 then speaks of the 1 ,000 -year millennium, and since the book of Revelation is chronological, obviously the 1 ,000 years would be read literally, and it follows the second coming of Christ.
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Well, that seems reasonable, we might conclude. They would say just take it literally, except what it says at face value.
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However, the problem is that what they see as being quite clear is not that clear on closer inspection.
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For example, if one takes a premillennial view, particularly if one is dispensational and holds to two second comings, then problems arise.
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Again, how many physical resurrections will there be in the future? Premillennials view
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Christians as being resurrected at the rapture, at the beginning of the millennium, throughout the millennium, and then the unsaved are resurrected at the end of the 1 ,000 years.
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Premillennials would argue against the amillennial position as ludicrous in the light of what verses 1 through 3 says about the binding of Satan.
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They'd argue, how could any Christian logically say in any way that Satan is not present in this age?
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Look at the world about you, open your eyes. The presence and work of Satan is everywhere.
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It says here, it will be bound. Alright, the postmillennial understanding, how do they deal with this passage?
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Well, they don't believe that Revelation 19 speaks of the second coming. They see that as further on in Revelation 20, and therefore the millennium precedes the second coming.
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What about our understanding, amillennial understanding? Amillennialists see the binding of Satan described in verses 1 through 3 to be limited in scope.
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They would say that the passage does not say that Satan's presence or power will be removed from history. Rather, it declares that during the kingdom age, in other words, this church age, there is a limitation placed upon Satan's power.
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Until the cross, Satan had blinded the nations to the message of God's salvation. The kingdom was limited to Israel.
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Salvation, the Gentiles were blinded by Satan, held in bondage by him. But because Christ conquered and subjected
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Satan to his authority through his death and resurrection, this power of Satan was broken.
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Jesus entered the world as if he were entering a strong man's house, and he bound the devil in order to spoil
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Satan's house. And so through his death on the cross and resurrection, he bound the devil in order to spoil his house, the world.
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The gospel could now go forth to the nations. And look carefully at what he says about the binding of Satan.
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What happens when he's binding? What results? So that the serpent is no longer able to deceive the nations.
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And that's why the gospel has gone out into all the world. Jesus declared, All authority has been given me in heaven and earth, therefore go and make disciples of all nations.
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The devil couldn't stop it from happening, because King Jesus deposed him. When the 70 came back,
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Jesus, even demons are subject to us by your name. Behold, I see Satan falling from heaven like lightning.
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That was a metaphor of Satan's power being deposed and broken. And so Satan now is powerless to stop the gospel from going forth into all the world and saving people from every nation, from every tribe.
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King Jesus rules. Well, what about verses 4 through 6, the thousand year reign of Christ?
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Let's read it quickly. I saw thrones, they who sat on them, judgment was committed to them.
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Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus, for the word of God, who not worshipped the beast or his image, had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.
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They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.
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This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.
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Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him for a thousand years.
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So these verses speak of ones who reigned with Christ for a thousand years. They are ones who had undergone the first resurrection, although there's no mention directly of the second resurrection.
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It's assumed this will occur at the end of the millennium. How did the premillennialists understand this?
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They would argue the text clearly states that the kingdom will be 1 ,000 years in duration. Does it not say that Christians will reign 1 ,000 years?
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How can anyone, in other words the amillennialists, dismiss this and not take it literally?
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They teach that during the thousand year millennium two kinds of people will exist on earth. Christians will have been resurrected at the second coming of Christ or the rapture.
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They will be in their glorified bodies. They will reign with Christ for a thousand years over a world filled with mortals who survived the tribulation, who continue living into the millennium in their physical bodies subject to sin and death.
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And they'll bear children by the way in the millennium who will grow up. Resurrected Christians will reign with Christ over the world that will be populated by people who are for the most part
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Christian but not all. They argue the first resurrection therefore is the physical resurrection of Christians.
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The second resurrection is the physical resurrection of unbelievers at the end of the millennium when they're brought before the great white throne judgment.
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And so here are the comments of John MacArthur who holds this position. God bless him. And this is from his study
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Bible and so in bold notes are the words out of the verse. Chapter 20, verse 5, the rest of the dead.
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The bodies of unbelievers will not be resurrected until the great white throne judgment. See, only unbelievers.
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And that's the second resurrection. The first resurrection, Scripture teaches two kinds of resurrection, the resurrection of life, the resurrection of condemnation.
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He's quoting our verse there, John 5, 29. The first kind of resurrection is described as the resurrection of the just, resurrection of those where Christ is coming, the better resurrection.
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It includes only the redeemed of the church age. Notice, doesn't include Old Testament saints. Doesn't include people during the tribulation, only
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Christians from Pentecost to the rapture is how he understands it. And then aside from them, the
01:04:50
Old Testament, in other words, believers and the tribulation believers. In other words, there are three different groups of people and they will enter in resurrection bodies along with believers who survived the tribulation.
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In other words, they're natural people still in their earthly bodies.
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The second kind of resurrection then will be the resurrection of the unconverted who receive their final body suited for torment in hell.
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And so the first resurrection, physical resurrection of Christians from the church,
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Old Testament, tribulation, and then the second resurrection, all the unbelievers at the end of the thousand years.
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Postmillennial understanding, they would argue that God limits Satan's authority through the gospel so as to secure its advancement in history.
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It's really the same view as the Amillennialists. And now the Amillennial understanding, how do we deal with this?
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How do we understand this? A thousand years here in Revelation 20 is an apocalyptic way to convey that this kingdom age, the church age, will be of long duration.
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Why then did God say a thousand years? This is because he does not want anyone to know precisely when he would return.
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Amillennialists are of two opinions regarding those who experienced the first resurrection. Some Amillennialists argue this speaks of the souls of believers who die in the church age.
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Their body goes in the grave, but their souls go up to heaven, and they reign with Christ during this church age.
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And so they argue the first resurrection is really not a physical resurrection, but it's a departing of the soul to be with Jesus to reign.
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I find that kind of strange, frankly. In my opinion, the much better understanding is that the first resurrection is regeneration or spiritual resurrection.
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We see that in John 5, 26 and 27. The hour is coming and now is when the dead, spiritually dead, will hear the voice of the
01:06:45
Son of God and they will live. Every Christian has been resurrected, as it were, spiritually.
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Ephesians 2, you were dead in trespasses and sin, and he by his grace caused you to be raised from spiritual death to spiritual life in Christ.
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The first resurrection is not a bodily resurrection, it's spiritual resurrection. And then the second resurrection, we would argue, is the resurrection of the entire human race at the end of history, the general judgment, the general resurrection and general judgment of all mankind.
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And we're closing now, we're right there. We did pretty well. I know it's a lot, but it's important,
01:07:30
I think, to deal with it in one hit. What about Satan released again at the end of the thousand years?
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Well, premillennial understanding, this is amazing when you consider it. They see a final end -time battle when
01:07:44
Satan's loosed at the end of the thousand years. There will be a worldwide rebellion. Now, this is during their understanding of the millennium.
01:07:50
Uprising against King Jesus, who's ruling on the throne of David in Jerusalem. Now, can you picture that?
01:07:58
King Jesus, sitting on the throne, ruling over the world, and there's a worldwide rebellion against him at the end of the thousand years.
01:08:07
Although they do not overtly say so, they actually advocate two battles of Armageddon. One at the end of this age, at the second coming of Christ during the
01:08:15
Tribulation, and then this other one here at the end of the thousand years. And it talks about God and made
01:08:22
God, which they argue is also in the Tribulation. Two Armageddons, in their view.
01:08:28
I never see them addressing that conflict. What about the post -millennial understanding?
01:08:35
They would see a final oppression of Christians by the Satanic world system shortly before the second coming of Christ. All millennial understanding, and people are not uniform in this.
01:08:45
This is my view. Some see this as an end of the age blinding of the Gentiles, respecting the
01:08:52
Gospel, so that the Jews in mass come to a saving knowledge of Christ at the second coming of Christ.
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Jesus asked the question, and it's a rhetorical question implying no. When the
01:09:06
Son of Man comes, will he find faith in the earth? No is what he's implying.
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I think that the time when Satan's loosed is that we'll cease seeing people widely converted to Christianity.
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A shutting down, as it were, of the true Gospel, going out into the world, setting the stage for the second coming of Christ, and I think, this is the
01:09:33
Gospel according to Lars, so take it for what that's worth, that the massive Jews are converted when they see
01:09:40
Jesus coming back a second time. As Paul reasoned in Romans 11, if the cutting off the natural branches of Jews result in life being given to the
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Gentiles, the Gospel going to the Gentiles, can you imagine what kind of blessing would result if they were brought back in and included once again into that olive tree?
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Can you imagine what that would be? Even life from the dead, is what Paul said in Romans 11.
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I think that probably is at the second coming of Christ. Consider these things.
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This is a difficult subject. Again, eschatology should not be a test of fellowship. This means we should not separate from one another.
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As long as there is belief in a literal, physical second coming of Christ, who will judge the world in righteousness, we ought to be able to abide in peace with one another.
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Amen? Let's pray. Father, give us wisdom and understanding in these matters, we pray.
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We hear so many different voices. Some from wonderful, godly, good men who are attempting to proclaim your truth.
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Give us understanding as to what you truly have revealed in your word, and help us live accordingly.
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Help us, our Lord, to live lives now as though we were to stand in your judgment tomorrow.
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Help us, our God, to do good as Christians, as you set forth in your word. We know this can only be accomplished through the
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Holy Spirit and through the grace of the new birth that you give to your people. We pray,
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Father, for any and all here that may be a stranger to this new life in Christ that you would cause that spiritual resurrection to take place.
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King Jesus, may you issue the decree to live and cause spiritual life to spring forth where there is currently spiritual death.
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Glorify yourself, Lord, in expanding the kingdom. For we pray in Jesus' name, amen.