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Okay, they provide their morning. Wow. Necessary.
And that's tobacco.
Well, good morning. Andy, will you open this up with a word of prayer?
Sure. Father, again, we're so thankful that we can come before you. Lord, we thank you for who you are and who we are. We thank you for your words, Lord. And we pray, Lord, that you'd be with us tonight.
May we hear your thoughts and your words today, working our lives to cause us to become more like you. Son of God, who so loved us that he gave himself for us. In his name. Amen.
Revelation chapter 20. Good morning. We're in Revelation chapter 20. Beginning in verse 1, it says,. And then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
And he laid hold of the dragon and the serpent of old, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he threw him into the abyss and shut it up and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were completed.
And after these things, he must be released for a short time. And then I saw thrones, and they that sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image or had received the mark on their forehead or on their hand.
And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection.
Over these, the second death has no power, but these will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. Then when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war.
And the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. They came up to the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp and the saints of the beloved city. And fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
And the devil that deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented there day and night forever and ever. And then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it, for whose presence earth and heaven fled away.
He was thrown into the lake of fire. All right. What were the premillennial positions? Historic? Distant section. Distant section. Then, what were the postmill positions? Actually, we'll make the subset of all mill in a second.
Reconstruction. And we put in here part of Christian nationalism because it does fall under that. And then we had general. And this has two parts. You have theonomic and non -theonomic. And if this primarily leads to a Presbyterian or what we would say paedo-Baptist, and this would be our Baptistic brother.
And we didn't even get to talk about the text last week because all of this is so controversial. Now you know why this chapter, all theological systems divide over it. That's why we've been doing another.
Hey, baby, I didn't see you sneak in. That's why we've spent so much time laying the groundwork because it is very divisive. And now we get to this one, and there are two positions of the Amill. And now you go, really?
Yeah, there are two. Let me put them over here so you can see. And then once we get what these positions are, we'll look at the nature of each one because they are the Amill position. You have two. You have the Roman Catholic, and you have the Reformed.
Did everybody know that, by the way, or did anybody? Anybody ever heard there was two positions of that? Oh, wow, okay.
The opposite of when you're always thinking everything's going to go bad.
Optimistic? Yeah, they call it optimistic. Yeah, and I'm going to deal with that because I think every position is optimistic, and we'll talk about all that. I think every position is optimistic. I think there's nobody in this room, whether you're premillennial, dispensational, historic, certainly if you're postmillennial, you're optimistic, or if you're Amillennial because I think everybody in this room believes that Christ will build his church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
Do we all agree with that? Okay, so then we're all optimistic that the gospel will go out. It will go out and perform on which God sent it to do, and when the gospel is preached, it's life unto life and death unto death.
Some of that preaching will harden hearts. Some of that preaching will convert melted hearts to turn to him or terrify them to wrath. One or the other, but we all agree that it's going to go forward. Now, the Roman Catholic position is the position that's basically going to build the Roman Catholic church.
Remember, the Holy Roman Empire was imperialistic. Everybody have church history? Yeah. What did they go out and do? You go out and you convert people to Roman Catholicism. That's what Europe, why do you think they broke away?
When we talk about the Reformation, it was only the Baptist brethren that wanted to see a separation of the church and state. Everybody heard of Magisterial Reformer? Everybody heard of that name? No?
Yeah? Magisterial Reformers would have been Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and you know, God and his providence. The reason why those men were not put to death, per se, is because they wanted to continue to preserve the state-church relationship.
Michael Servetus was put to death by the church and state, and Calvin is often accused of being a murderer because of that. But everybody knows, if they know anything about that whole situation, is Calvin says, look, if the state and the church, which were wedded together, says you put a heretic to death, I have to submit to the authority on which God's put over us.
So all he asked for Michael Servetus was, hey man, give the guy a merciful death, chop his head off, don't burn him at the stake. That's what he said. So when you hear that, oh, John Calvin was a murderer, they're ignorant, and I'm not using that in a condemning way, they're ignorant of actually what took place with the magisterium there.
So you had the Roman Catholic, which is to build the church, the conquest of the Holy Roman Empire, which was sacralistic in nature. Well, when our brothers broke away during the Reformation, you had what was called Reformed Amillennialism.
And the Reformed Amillennialism is that Christ is ruling and reigning today, and his believers and his followers, he is ruling and reigning in the hearts. That does get into somewhat of the nature of the millennium.
So, ah is an alpha privative. Millet, said this last week, is the Latin version for a thousand. Kili is the Greek. Ah is usually a negation. I think this is a terrible description of the millennium, because it would mean no millennium.
But there's no other way. There's nothing that we're going to say that's going to change church history over the last few hundred years, to give it a better name. I would prefer it realized millennium.
But nobody's going to do that. Because ah means, just like atheist, atheist, which means no theism or no theist. This one sounds like it's saying there's no millennium, in the sense that there's no earthly reign going to be of Christ from a Davidic throne in Jerusalem.
That's where this comes from. I do believe this is the simplest way of seeing, not because it's my position. I just think it's the simplest way. It doesn't have all of these issues that you have to go, well what about this, what about that, what about this, what about that, well what about here, what about that.
You don't have all that. You say Christ is ruling and reigning today. The conquest of the church. There's two lines. Gospel, evil. And they're on parallel lines, and they're all going to its appointed end in amillennialism.
And that is the second coming. And that is the nature of the millennium from an amill position. And we'll look at all these others in just a second. Because I think they do deserve some merit. And like I said, I think it was last week or the week before, for our post-meal brothers, we don't disagree when Christ comes.
We disagree on the nature of the millennium. Any questions? That's simplistic. Any questions before looking at anybody? Anybody?
Anybody? Yes, sir. I just wanted to make one note on your writing. Yeah. Catholic Encyclopedia of Dogma. Yes, sir. They state that Christ will not return to Catholicism as conquered. Oh, that's right.
That's a good point.
It does. And I think it's not only in their dogma, it's in their catechism as well, which has not changed for, I don't know, 600, 700 years. But it is the conquest of the church, not the conquest of the gospel of Christ.
And the reason why you know that the Crusades were this. That's why there is a brand of this, and I know this was a hot topic, and this is divisive right now. It's because there's so many different definitions for Christian nationalism right now that you have to then define it.
But if you divide it by the persons that wrote the definitive work of it right now, you only can evaluate someone by their words. And if their words say, my conclusion does not come from exegesis, that it comes from a political theory, that tells you your problem.
All of your theological systems should be developed from exegesis, not political theory. Now, not everybody that believes this believes that the Crusades, but I'm telling you there is a good group that believe that the Crusades are good, and we probably should do it again.
That's what Roman Catholicism did. It went out and forced conversions. What did the Muslim Crusades do? Same thing. It's forced conversions by the sword, and the sword doesn't mean an actual sword now.
It may be from another form of it, but the sword means. Sorry? Yeah, Islam still does. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They would try to conquest those that hold to this. This is a radical. This is not. I don't want anybody to think that everybody that holds to that, okay?
But those that do, some of them think that conversion of morality by gun, whatever, necessary, but they would rather do it by political, by laws, customs.
Isn't that coercion, not coercion, though?
Yes, but you have to be balanced in a say that you have guys that hold this position and this position that aren't saying, hey, the political environment is necessary. And we'll talk about the nature of post-millennialism because that is you have to engage, but they don't believe by the sword, some of them, or by force.
They believe by conversion and the preaching of the gospel, that's how the millennium is ushered in. Well, I'll just, here, we'll just do it. Instead of, remember, a-mill and post-mill are both post-mill positions.
Jesus will come at the end. This is 1 ,000 years. We're not even going to deal with this as literal yet. We'll deal with that in a week or so, okay? Or two, whenever we get, because the nature of this is important.
And I'll quickly go through because dispensationalism says that that 1 ,000 years is a literal reign, premillennial dispensation is a 1 ,000-year reign like Jewish in nature. We'll just, that's the easiest way to say it.
It's Jewish in nature. Jesus is going to return. He's going to sit on the throne in a rebuilt temple, up Davidic throne, and he's going to rule and reign and memorial sacrifices will be all set up, all that, okay?
It's all Jewish in nature because dispensationalism makes a sharp distinction between Israel and the church. And now that, remember, the church had been raptured out. God can now go back. He then serves his purposes to fulfill, quote, the promises to Abraham.
Jesus returns at the end of that and then sets up 1 ,000 years after the seven-year tribulation. All right. Historical premill, don't all hold it's a real 1 ,000 years. It could be figurative. But they believe that it is a real 1 ,000 years, but it's not Jewish in nature.
They do believe that Jesus is ruling and reigning in heaven. He is seated on high, and he is ruling and reigning on all the affairs of men. Just all of the earth has not yet realized that. From a historical premillennial position, this has to take place for it to be realized, his earthly rule, okay?
That's why. All, I don't care what position you are, premill, postmill, John Darby, Schofield, Ryrie, Edward Irving, Lewis Way, all of those men that contributed to the dispensation, all of them agreed that Jesus was ruling and reigning as a sovereign monarch of the universe.
Okay? Every one of them agreed. Matter of fact, most of them were Calvinistic in their view of the sovereignty of God. It wasn't until Schofield came along, and he began to get tweaked a little bit, and I think that was to influence his propagation through D .L. Moody, because D .L. Moody didn't hold any of that position.
Okay? But Darby did. Darby was very Calvinistic. So the 1 ,000 years premillennial historic has to happen so that Christ realized authority over the earth is produced into the eyes of humanity. Would you agree?
Is that accurate? Okay. That's my historical premillennial brother. Just want to make sure I'm, all right. So now, postmill. Jesus will return at the end of this. But postmill are not all agreed on when this 1 ,000 years takes place.
Okay? The amill position was from Christ. This is the cross. It's death, burial, resurrection, and exaltation. Okay? That 1 ,000 years is between his first and second advent. That takes up the whole time until you get to the end right here, right before, and you have that release of Satan.
Remember, that happens right before the return. Everybody agrees with that. But the whole 1 ,000 year is from first advent, release of Satan, to return of Christ. Postmill, some of them see a long period of time, and then you get to here.
This is just, and that 1 ,000 years may end up here. This is the scene of circumference. This would be the cross. Could be here. Because during Christ's exaltation and return, in this time here, there will be the preaching of the gospel, outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
There would be awakenings. We'll just take, for instance, like we said last week, why did Jonathan Edwards think the postmillennial hope was coming into being? Because during the first great awakening from 1730 to 1750, what was going on?
It didn't look like the whole nation was coming to Christ. So from their perspective, you can say, oh wow, well you understand. Then you had the second great awakening. There were some heresies that burst out of that, but it's the same thing.
It was like, oh wow, this is the time that's going to usher in this 1 ,000 years of Christian utopia where there will be no evil. It will be living in a Christian environment. That's the easiest way to explain it.
They're going to live in a Christian environment, and the world is Christianized. How about accurately? Okay, all right. Okay. Okay. Now, some of, like I said, you have your Presbyterian brothers, and you have your Baptist brothers, and that may be different.
The Baptist brothers see this as through engaging in culture, medicine, entertainment, all these things, education, all of these things, but not implementing laws per se to force coercion to where your Presbyterian brothers would.
Remember last week, it got a little heated because this, by trajectory and nature, if it does not have the guardrails, leads to sacralism. You know, our Baptist and Presbyterian brothers can't even agree on who you baptize, can't agree on who takes the table.
So, if you have a Baptist and a Presbyterian, and they can't agree, and somewhere along this line, and I said this, the Christian prince appears, and chapter 28 of Westminster Confession of Faith says, if you do not baptize your infants, you are in a grievous sin.
What does that do to our Baptist brothers? This guy, what's that? This guy right here is going to be Presbyterian, what's he going to do? He sees us as violating the moral law of God because we don't baptize our infants, that you then go back to the same problems you had before the Reformation.
Our Baptist brothers would put guardrails to keep someone like this coming into power and then abusing the power, okay? That's the reasoning. Now, if you do have some post-military brothers, I believe this thousand years is all along this line, and it will culminate with the Christianized world.
It doesn't literally have to be this golden age here, but Christ returns. So, you see the similarities of this. The similarities is Christ will return at the end, no matter what, okay, after the release of Satan, but here it ends in a Christianized world, and my biggest problem with every post-millennial person who says this, everyone you read, everyone, okay?
Jesus returns to a Christianized world. What happens in our text at 20? Does Jesus return to a Christianized world? No, he returns to a world that has been deceived that there are so many that they're as numerous as the sand of the seashore.
Now, I love my post-millennial brothers. I'm happy for them, but that just seems a little incongruous, doesn't it? He returns to a Christianized world, but the text here we read says it would deceive the nations again, and they will be as numerous as the sand of the seashore.
Does that seem like a non-sequitur? Yes, ma 'am. Anybody know? I'm sorry, go ahead. Yes, ma 'am. Yes, ma 'am. No, it's the world, and there are passages where I could say it would be the mustard seed.
Okay, the mustard, you put it in the ground, grows up, it becomes the biggest tree. They use that as, hey, that's a picture of the gospel going to the world, and I would agree. Listen, I agree with the expansion of the gospel going to the uttermost parts of the world.
Everybody knows that I believe that Jesus will not return until the last person that's the elect hears the gospel, repents, trusts in him, and then the last martyr is killed. Okay? That has been the picture of Revelation, and the little book from chapters 11 and 13, which I believe are three pictures or illustrations of the intertestamental, I mean the interadvent time, show that.
Look, when it says that Jesus returns, and it shows that the church is almost extinguished, who returns? He returns and lays waste. We're going to get to it. The battle of Gog and Magog is pointing back to something else from the Old Testament, but Jesus returns to fight because it said the camp of the beloved had been surrounded, and they're about to be destroyed.
When you get to chapter 11 through 13, you have where the two witnesses, which I believe are the two pictures of the church, for those of you who have been in here, that's my position, is the two witnesses are pictures of the two witnesses of the church that are going out, they're preaching the gospel, they have the power to do miracles, as it says in there.
And it says that they do that, and they're until at a point in time when God's done with them, and then what happens to them? They were killed, and they lay in the holy city for three and a half days, and it looks like they are defeated, and then what happens?
They're resurrected. They're taken up, and then what happens after that? Jesus comes to power and glory, judged, and living in the dead. Chapter 12. Chapter 12 goes all the way back to the woman, Israel, has a child.
That child comes, and it doesn't give you Jesus' life or his messianic ministry, and it says that that child is born. It doesn't talk about his death, burial, resurrection, but it says that son is taken up, and we know who that's talking about because it says it is the one who will rule the nations with a rod of iron.
Who is that? No argument of who that is. Right. And then what happens? It says the dragon then makes war with them. Makes war with them until it overcomes them. So, this here just seems incongruous as far as coming to a Christianized world.
Coming to, does Jesus return to a world where the gospel has been proclaimed to every nation, tribe, and tongue? Yes. You better believe it. You better believe it. Jesus told them in that mountain in Galilee just a few days after he had resurrected, he said, remember, the lady comes, they get to the tomb, the Marys?
He said, you go tell them to meet me in Galilee. This isn't Mount of Olives. This is the mountain in Galilee. So, these men travel all the way to the mountain in Galilee, and that's where the Great Commission is given.
Look, the Great Commission was not given on the Mount of Olives the day that Jesus ascended in Acts chapter 1. It was given at the mountain in Galilee when he says, now you go, therefore, to all the nations, making disciples, baptizing, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and along with you, all the way to the end of the age.
That's what he told them to do. So, the goal is to make disciples. My post-millennial brothers believe that making the gospel proclaimed to all the world will result in a Christianized world. I don't believe that because there's no exegetical.
There is assertions to that. I like Doug Wilson. Okay? We disagree on who's a member of the new covenant. We would disagree on who should take the table, and we would certainly disagree on who should be baptized.
Okay? But, he does have a preaching the gospel and an evangelistic idea, and that Doug, because he believes that that's how this is going to happen, and he is very evangelistic, and I think that's great.
But, you know what he says? He goes to the parable of the wheat field, and he says, hey, the owner has a field that's in, don't take my word for it, just turn over to Matthew chapter 13. My contacts are so dirty.
Yeah, it is. There it is, Matthew chapter 13. He said, let's do verse 18. We're going to read 18 through 23, okay? But then, this is where he stops. The best method to biblical interpretation, keep reading.
Keep reading. It says, hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word, the kingdom does not understand. The evil one comes, he snatches away. This is into the heart. This is the sower explained.
Okay? This is, he's already given them the soils. And he said in verse 20, then the one whom the seed was sown in rocky places, this is the heart of the, hears the word, immediately receives it with joy, yet has no firm root, but it is only temporary.
With affliction, persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. And the one whom the seed was sown in among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word. With the worry of the world, deceitfulness and wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
And the one whom the seed has fallen on good soil, this is the man whom hears the word, understands it, and indeed bears fruit and brings forth hundredfold. Now, Jesus just told his disciples, this is when you're going to go out and you're going to preach the word.
These are going to be the four responses. Okay? He's just preparing them. He's not saying every time you preach, you're going to have everybody will come running down front. Every time you preach, people are going to, these are the four responses.
And these are going to be the four responses so that you don't get discouraged. Don't be discouraged. It's not your responsibility where the soil that the seed lands on. Your responsibility is to just fling the seed and let God worry about where the sovereign seed lands on.
But then he says this. And Jesus presented him another parable. The kingdom of heaven be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. And while his men were sleeping, the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat.
And they went away. And when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the land owner came and said to him, sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?
And he said to them, has the enemy done this? And the slaves said to him, do you want us then to go and gather them up? But he said, no, for while you are gathering the tares, you will uproot the wheat with them.
Allow both of them to grow until the harvest. At the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather first the tares, bind them in bundles, to burn them up and gather the wheat into the barn. That's where he stops.
That's where he stops. Jesus is going to give us divine exposition and understanding of what he... Was he sowing in a wheat field? Doug Wilson said, yeah. That's not what Jesus said. That's why he says this is going to happen.
It's because it's all a wheat field. And eventually it's going to all be Christianized. This is not my words. This is his own. This is his own. Now, you flip over to where Jesus gives an explanation. Now Jesus is going to explain it.
He said in verse 36, then he left the crowds. And he went to his house. And his disciples came to him. And he said, explain to us the parable of the tares of the field. He says, the one who sows the good seed is the son of man.
And the field is what? The world. Explanation done. It's not a wheat field. It's the world. So, you're going to go out there. And the world is the field. You just fling that seed. Fling it. And wherever it goes, God will produce the harvest.
A hundred, thirty, twenty-fold. Whatever he does. Your job is to not worry about where it lands. Your job is to worry about getting it to proclaim it. And God will handle the rest. The world is the field, not the wheat field.
The world. Therefore, you do have tares among the wheat. Because what did Jesus say earlier in the passage? That there was tares that were sown. The enemy came in and sowed tares with the wheat. Well, if you continue to read on, who was the one that came and sowed the tares?
It was the devil. So, you're going to have this going at the same time. That's going at the same time. Now, if this is a position that you owe, that you believe that Jesus Christ is going to return to a Christianized world, I need a better explanation of the release of Satan who leads away the vast majority of the world.
Go ahead.
I would just say the world is Christianized. I understand it. I see that the gospel has gone out. The elect have been converted. And the non-elect have not. But it's gone out to the entire world. Okay.
And I would agree that that is the vast majority of the post-millennial men's positions up until about 100 years ago. It's not been really articulated into these major steps until about 100 years ago.
Do you agree? Okay. And then I would say there was such a meld together of amillennialism and post-millennialism because it had not been separated into a theological system good enough to say, okay, I agree with you.
I believe that the gospel is going to go out into the uttermost parts of the world. That's much different than Jesus returning to a Christianized world. Right.
That's much different. Yeah. I just disagree with the connotation of the world being Christianized. The gospel has been delivered and he returns.
Yeah. And then you would be more on this side.
You said that is recent in the last 100 years that men have been defining it as being Christianized. Correct. Correct.
Yes, sir. I'll get you in just a second. Go ahead. I just want to say that there is a post-mill view where Christ is not coming to a Christianized world, but that the consummation comes when the last enemy is defeated.
And like you said, I agree that the world has been proclaimed the gospel. But when he comes back, it's because the last enemy has been defeated and he is reigning right now. And I don't know how minor that view is within post-mill, and I would say that it's been probably because of the last 100 years development, because of political situations and what have you.
I would agree with that.
It has become minor. And it has become more of a Reconstruction idea. I would agree with that to a degree, yes. Okay. Look, I don't think anybody in this room would disagree that the gospel is going to go out, it's going to go to the uttermost parts of the earth, and God's going to call in his elect unto himself.
Okay? I don't think anybody in this room would disagree with that. But it just seems incongruent, whether it be Doug Wilson, James White, whether it would be Bridget Durbin, whether it would be Stephen Wolfe, Joe Webbin, any of these other guys that see this, that are going to return to a Christianized world, and I love James White.
Okay? I love James White. But his position for changing from an opulent position to a post-mill position is not exegetical. This is his own, like I said, this is his own word. Man, I just have a desire for my grandchildren to live in a Christianized world.
That's no reason to change your position. You change what you believe because this dictates it. I would love, it would be awesome if Jesus returned and everybody in the globe was saved. Is that the clear teaching of Scripture?
Not at all. Not at all.
Answer your question. No, I was just going to say that it's not God's purpose for Christ to return to a Christianized world. But I wouldn't. Not to say that, you know, God doesn't want the world, you know, Christianity isn't, like, the goal, but for Christ to return to a fully Christianized world, I mean, aside from the fact that it's not at all what you see.
And this is why, and this is no plug at the post-millennial hope, that's why I think it's a post-millennial hope. This is what we hope happens. There's no guarantee. Hey, man, I hope it don't rain today.
I'd like to go do something this afternoon. But there's no guarantee. It may rain, okay? Look, but I know this. I have the hope in Christ that his gospel's going to go out and perform that which he sent it out to do.
That hope is for sure. What does Hebrew say? Hope is the evidence of things not seen. Faith. We're having faith. Hey, and I do believe that all those godly men that hold this position, I think they do it in good conscience.
Just like I believe they baptize babies in good conscience. I think they're wrong, but I believe that they do it in good conscience. And because I am a theologian, regardless of how dumb y 'all think I am, you understand that when I make a calculation in some other system, that my mind then goes, and goes, okay, now how does that affect this?
So let me, you can't lead things up to just, oh, that's just mystery. Uh-uh. No, we have clear testimony of Scripture to say, hey, it's not a mystery. Everything can't be, ah, because that disagrees with this part of my system, this disagrees with that, and it's just mystery.
You have what's called, you have what's called a hermeneutical spiral. Here you start with the text of Scripture, and then as you work your way down, hey, and you might hit something here, here, and here.
This may be your biblical theology that then, oh, wow, I've had a shift in my biblical theology. Then that's going to change your systematic theology. And as you grow in your theology, if you're not editing your theology along the way, then you're not reading Scripture because there's going to be times you hit things and you go, oh, wow, that affects this.
Now I have to redirect my thoughts and my misunderstanding of something. Now, in my understanding of postmillennialism, which edits all of this to my conclusion, this is whatever topic you're on, it's Christian suffering.
If you're going to be this utopia for a thousand years before Christ's coming, what about Christian suffering? Is there going to be death? As Jesus said, in this life you will suffer persecution. Look all over, and you always have to look back historically, when did the church grow the most?
There you go. There it is. So you're going to say now that it's here, that nobody's going to suffer for Christ? That's not how Jesus said it would be. Now, I'm not saying that that's not a great idea.
I just don't think from the text of Scripture it deals with human suffering. We're not talking about, what about sickness? What about death? Okay, well, that's just a normal part of life, but what about Christian suffering?
It says, if they hated me, what are they going to do? They're going to hate you. Well, if the whole world's Christianized and, buddy, we're just one big happy camp? That's not the text's teaching. It is a hope.
I think it's a wonderful hope. I just disagree. I believe that those two lines are going to run together. They're going to converge at the coming of Christ at the end of the age. The gospel's going to go out to where it is.
It's going to go out. The last person's going to be saved. The last martyr's going to be killed. Jesus says, I'll take no more of it. You will not hurt my bride. Just as any man in here will not let another man continually berate and hurt his bride, Jesus will return and he says, I've had enough of it.
What does it say? I think it's in Corinthians. It says that God will punish those who hurt his bride. That's what it says. Those who hurt his bride will go punished when he returns in power and glory to judge the living and the dead.
What does Thessalonians say? He descends with his flaming fire with his angels to do what? To punish all those that didn't obey the gospel. Well, when he returns, I mean.
He gives people karma. I've seen it. He gives, God gives people karma.
Well, that would be a more of a, that would be a eastern mysticism idea. The Christian perspective is you reap what you sow. You sow corruption, you're going to reap corruption. We can talk about that.
We can talk about it. We can talk about it. So, for my post-millennial brothers, if you decide to burn me at the stake, let me at least finish today's sermon with Keith. And then you can burn me at the stake out back by that dumpster I'm getting picked up next week.
I'm just throwing my body in there. Now, wonderful thing is we all don't have to agree on this. Look, me and Andy don't agree on everything. Me and Andy don't agree on issues of sanctification. But me and Andy can serve together.
Me and Keith don't always agree on issues. Me and him sat right here and debated a very text that he had one position and I did on a Wednesday night. And you know what? We can still serve together. This is not to be divisive and for people to separate.
And the terrible thing is people divide over Revelation chapter 20. Churches have divided. Missionaries have not gotten support because they weren't pre-millennial pre-trib. This is what they look like.
Draw your own conclusion. But don't adopt some man's perspective because you like what he says or you like his idea. Let it be confirmed in your heart from Scripture. That takes time because you've got this hermeneutical spiral.
And that hermeneutical spiral, you've got this and it's going to affect this. And then when it affects this, you're going to have to change here. And that will continue to go on. If you're not constantly plugging up holes in your theology, buddy, then you're in sin.
Because God's the incomprehensible God. We can't comprehend Him. And as we come to areas where our theology's leaky, you better find something in Scripture to plug up that hole. If you're going to rightly defend your faith.
Okay. We got to go.
Brian, pray us out. Father, we thank you for this time that we have this morning to come together and just hear your Word taught. And I appreciate Brother Mike and his explanations of the views. Father, I just ask that you break our heart, Father, that you rebuild yourself into what you have in store for all of mankind.
And, Father, as we go into the main auditorium, as Master Keith brings the message, Lord, I just ask that you resonate in our hearts, Lord, and that we may go away today rejoicing in fellowship of worshiping you for these things.
I pray you. Christ Jesus, thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. I just wanted to say that. Yes, sir. Thank you. No, it's okay. We, I believe, hurt and sadly and unfortunately, I guess, the voices of this extreme position. It's the loudest. You're right.
Because I believe that the weeds and the tears are at the end also. Okay. I don't think that he's coming to a conclusion. But there is that hope.
Sure. From a human perspective. That's the clarifying point. And I think everybody should have that hope. And we want to see, we should all want to see everybody come to fact. The problem is, we know that they're not.
We know that. We know that they're not. But that shouldn't be spoken of really in one sense. Because that's where all these divisions come about.
But Jesus, before he gave that explanation of the weed field, I mean, the world as being the field, that's why he gave those four responses to the gospel. Because not everybody's going to be saved by it.
Don't be discouraged, because it's my responsibility to see to where it lands.
Matthew 13 is what took me out of pre-milk. I read it, and I was like, oh, snap, because we thought. I'm listening to you. We always thought that, you know, the church is not here. Right? The church is not here.
It's gone. And when I read that, the weeds and the tears, I don't know how many times I read it before, but that time I read it, I was like, oh, wait. We're here.
We're here. Most of your all-milk guys or post-milk guys in the 17th century, 18th century, they were basically in an all-milk position. But with the radicals of, you know, I think Rush Dudey's in charge of all that.
Rush Dudey really pushed the Reconstruction deal. No, I think he was extreme.
Yeah. That's why he and Boston kind of, you know, I don't think they clashed, but Lansing definitely was in agreement with him on those points.
