Amillennialism (Part 6)

Amillennialism and Orthodox Eschatology

Praise to the Sovereign King, hear His people sing, solely and wholly saving His own bride. There where the Lamb has died, hard died the blood of that great High Priest.

Hi there, welcome to Reformed Exmormon. I'm Pastor Brayden. I hope you're having a wonderful and blessed day today. Today we are on part six of our multi-parted series on the topic of eschatology, the study of end things and end times.

Today we are continuing on looking at different examples of orthodox eschatologies within Christianity. Today we are going to be talking of amillennialism. Similarly to how dispensational premillennialism and historical premillennialism are similar in the placement of coming of Christ prior to a millennial kingdom, amillennialism and postmillennialism share many similarities, including placing the coming of Christ after a millennial kingdom.

Now, just as with any and every eschatology view that we are discussing, there are many giants of the faith on every side of the argument that have come to strong conclusions using the exact same text that you and I are looking at today and the exact same text that every eschatology will look and pull from to build their views.

So, just to name some of those giants of the faith that we would look at, some of them, but not all of them, would be John Calvin, Augustine, Alistair Begg, Bodie Bauckham, Matt Slick, Martin Luther, Sam Storms, Tim Conway, Anthony Hokema, G .K. Beale, David Campbell, and A .W. Pink.

What Amillennialism Means and Why It Uses Idealism

Now, what does that title, amillennialism, mean? Out of all the other eschatology views, it is the worst of all the titles. Amillennialism, literally, that title would mean awe being a negation of millennium.

So, that would literally mean a no millennium, which every amillennialist believes in a literal millennium. None of them reject it. They all believe that there is a millennial reign of Christ. And so, some, most amillennialists would actually prefer a better and different title.

Many would want to be called inaugurated millennialists or something along those lines. But amillennialism still carries the weight and the idea that all amillennialists believe in. Now, most amillennialists would consider themselves as and interpret the book of Revelation specifically with the interpretive principle of idealism.

Not all amillennialists would be idealists, but a majority of them would be. Idealism is the interpretive principle that looks at things as symbols. And it's the idea that there were literal things in a day that were used to point to a spiritual, theological, future reality.

Now, there is a danger in these things, but there's also something that we all, as Christians, do in an idealistic view. The danger of idealism is over-spiritualizing everything. An example of this would be that of the Jehovah Witnesses that would look at the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a spiritual resurrection and not that of a physical one, that Jesus only appeared in a spiritual way and that Jesus' body just fizzed away in the grave, that he actually never did rise again from the grave, which that would put them into the camp of heresy, damnable heresy, that being said, in a false gospel.

So, therefore, they're not Christians. Now, idealists and amillennialists are well within the boundaries and guardrails of Scripture. Now, an idealist would look at things like Jesus is called the perfect Lamb of God.

That does not make him a literal Lamb, but that he is the sacrifice, that there is a metaphorical, symbolic, theological meaning behind certain terms. And so, when they would go to the book of Revelation, they would see many of those things in there, and we'll talk a little bit more about that.

So, there is a danger with it, but it's well within the guardrails of being Christian and Orthodox. Some tenets and common beliefs within amillennialism is, once again, they're proponents of covenantal theology, which says that the church did not start in the day of Pentecost, but that it started in the garden with Adam and Eve, and that God has been working in a covenantal structure throughout the entirety of the Bible, and that it's not through different time periods that God has revealed his will, but that it's through the covenant of works, covenant of grace, and added covenants on top of that, that we see the covenant of redemption fulfilled in Christ Jesus, upon which God is glorifying himself through the redeeming of people, in its shortest summation.

The Church as the True Israel and the Kingdom Inaugurated in Christ

And they would look at things like Galatians 3, verses 15 through 16, and verses 28 through 29, that says that the church is the true Israel, that those that are in the seed of Christ are inheriting the promise of Abraham.

So, that would include both Old Testament saints and New Testament saints, that they're all one. There's no distinction between Jew or Gentile. And some more areas I would expand upon this would be Romans chapter 2, Romans 9, Romans chapter 11.

Some other tenets about amillennialism would be that they would hold to the kingdom of God being a current reality, but that it was inaugurated in Jesus' first coming, through his life, his perfect life, his ministry, his death, burial, and resurrection, is when that kingdom first came.

And that would be found in Mark chapter 1, verses 14 through 15, where Jesus enters into the city of Galilee, telling people to repent and believe in the gospel of God, and that the kingdom of God was at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel, was Jesus' Christ's message. And so they would say that the kingdom of God is at hand for Jesus, because it was the kingdom of God, it was a current reality. And they would look at other places, such as John chapter 18, verses 36 through 37, amongst several other areas.

I would encourage you to please do a word search for the kingdom in the New Testament, and you'll see all that language that they would argue would be that the kingdom is a current reality. And we'll talk a little bit more about that as well.

But they would also hold to a two-age model, that there's this age and the age to come, that we are currently in this age, being this church age, where people are given in marriage, but in the age to come, they will not be given in marriage.

This age and the age to come, there's blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and that will not be forgiven in this age or the age to come. But the age to come would be an everlasting life. That's where we would gain that everlasting life.

You can look into karm .org for some more info on this topic. Just look up this age and the age to come. And so they would say that that's the model there, that in the other premillennialist view, there's this age, the millennial age, and then everlasting life, which doesn't fit according to the scripture, according to the amillennialist.

So they see there's this age, the age to come, and then they would say that the consummation of Jesus Christ, and I'm going to have up on the screen a little chart here that kind of shows what amillennialists would hold to.

This is by far the most simple of all the charts that we're going to look at. This is just a single line with just a couple things added there that gives some clarification. But the consummation would be the second coming of Christ, the second advent of Christ, where he comes.

And in that event, there are all things fulfilled. So that would be the general resurrection of the righteous and the wicked, the separation of the sheep and the goats, the last trumpet, the gathering of the church, all those kinds of things that take place in other eschatology views all happen simultaneously at the return of Jesus Christ.

And therefore, Christ is upon the earth with a glorified people, and there is no longer sin, death. Creation is no longer fallen. It has now been redeemed, all these kinds of things that take place. And then after that would be the eternal state, those that are with God forever, worshiping him and those that hated him, sinned against him, and weren't covered by his righteousness.

They are now in a place of eternal fire and torment and are suffering the second death, hell, everlasting fire. Some other tenants of amillennialism is that Jesus Christ is currently sitting on the throne of David that the throne of David was always looking for to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to Acts 2, 29 -33, as well as Psalm 89 that paints a picture of David's throne being that of the sun and the moon, and it points your gaze upward.

And therefore, it's pointing us to look to Jesus Christ on his throne, and that's what David's throne was pointing us to. So they would say that Jesus Christ is literally reigning right now on David's throne in the heavens, that it's not going to be a physical one here on earth, but it is in the heavens where this throne and temple and heaven, this city of God is found, is in the heavens.

Revelation 20, Satan Bound, and the First Resurrection

When looking at the book of Revelation, they would say that the whole book in of itself with this idealistic mode of interpretation, they would say that the book of Revelation was written for the entire church age, meaning yesterday, today, and tomorrow, that which was in the first century is applied to the fifth century, which is applied to the 16th century, which is applied today.

It's written for all generations to give them hope through tribulation, trials, and persecutions that there is this future hope of Christ coming again, and therefore, they would hold to the eminence of Christ, that Christ could and will come at a twinkling of an eye that it'll happen immediately, that there's not going to be X, Y, and Z things that are preceding these areas.

But they would see that because of their symbolic way of reading the text of Revelation, they would see that there's very much some importance in different numbers that repeat themselves in the book of Revelation, namely that of the number three being that of the triune God or the unholy trinity with the devil, the beast, and the false prophet.

We'd also see four being used, that of the four corners of the earth or the four winds of the earth, seven being that of the seven spirits or the seven eyes or the seven horns. There are sevens used often, and they would say that that is showing the perfection of God, and that would be from the Old Testament that there were to purify for seven times or that also in the reading of creation that God has the seven days of creation is speaking of his perfection in creation.

And so they would say that that's applied in the book of Revelation. Same as the number 10, that's just speaking more of the completion of God, and therefore we find multiplications of that. They would look at that number as being spiritual and symbolic as well, as well as the number 12 and 24, that there are 24 elders that fall down before the throne of God is speaking of that which represents both the Old Testament and the New Testament that the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 apostles is making up of the entirety of the spiritual Israel, the true Israel, that all the Old Testament saints are bowing and worshiping Christ.

All the New Testament saints are bowing down and worshiping Christ. And so therefore everyone is included in that representation of the number. Now, we're gonna read Revelation chapter 20 verses one through six, and I'm gonna break down some views that are commonly held within amillennialism to help us better understand this view.

So let's just begin in Revelation chapter 20 verses one through six. And it says, and I'll be pausing here and there to give some commentary on what an amillennialist would think. So in verse one, it says this, and I saw an angel coming down from heaven having a key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

This is where the amillennialist would say this is the most spiritual verses in the most spiritual chapters, in the most spiritual book of the entire Bible. Therefore, we need to take this in this metaphorical language and apply it that way.

And so they would say that the key of the abyss and a great chain in the hand, is this a chain that you can go and buy at Harbor Freight or Lowe's? And can you bind a spirit with said things? And the answer is no, you can't bind Satan with a physical chain.

And therefore, they would say that that obviously is starting out in this symbolic language. And verse two would then go on to say, and he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of hold, who is the devil and Satan.

And so this is more symbolic language that Satan is not literally a dragon. So are we to think that this is literal? And they would say no, that this is speaking of a spiritual reality. And bound him for a thousand years.

They would say that thousand years there is the age that we're in now from the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ until he comes again. So he inaugurated his kingdom in his first coming and he'll consummate it in his second.

But Satan is bound during that time. They wouldn't say that Satan is not able to work as we would see in 1 Peter 5, 8, that the devil is like a lion is what it's compared to in there. They would say that that absolutely is a factual thing that Satan is at work here, but he's never able to take the believer away from God, that he's never able to consume him, that he's always seeking those things, but he can never fulfill his hunger for the elect.

And so therefore here in verse three, it would say, and threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him so that he should not deceive the nations any longer. So they would say that this abyss, this bottomless pit that is spoken of in here is obviously symbolic and that what happens if somebody is in a bottomless pit, it means that they're always falling.

So Satan, while on earth, is always failing at deceiving the elect. He can never take away that which is in God's hand, that principalities, heights, depths cannot remove us from the love of God. And so then it would say that he can no longer deceive the nations.

They would say that this is the reasoning for this binding of Satan, the curtailment of Satan, the refraining of his power in the world is that at the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Satan was curtailed in this way to make it so he could not deceive the Gentile nation any longer.

And the gospel would then go around the world and therefore we can go to China and find a group of believing people. We can go to the United States and find a group of believing people. We can go to Mexico and find a group of believing people.

There are Christians all around the world and it's because Satan no longer has a influence as much as what he did in the Old Testament. Some other verses that would be used to explain this more would be John chapter 12, verses 31 through 33, as well as Matthew chapter 12, verses 28 through 29, which in Matthew chapter 12, it says that Christ has to bind the strong man in order to ransom the house.

And in the John chapter 12 verses, it says that when he be lifted up, he will cast out the ruler of this world. And this was to indicate the kind of death that he was going to die, speaking of his crucifixion.

And so they would say that at the death, burial, and resurrection, that this is a fulfillment of Genesis chapter three, that when he gives the promise that the seed of the serpent will bruise his heel, but the seed of the woman will crush his head, that that is the fulfillment of that, is that at the cross, there's significance in what happened there.

Oh, in relation to the devil and Satan. So looking now more at this, and verse, finishing out here in verse three, it says until the thousand years were completed, and these things, after these things, he must be released for a short time.

This would be where that short time understanding would be that some people would say that that could be minutes, hours, seconds, years, but that would be when this church that has risen up, false converts have been introduced into it, and that we see even to today, there's many false professing Christians, and that would be those that would then fall away from the faith in that sense, that Satan will be able to deceive them, and it's because Christ didn't purchase them.

Continuing on in verses four through six, and it says, and I saw thrones, and they sat upon 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.

So it gives a type of people that are gonna be given thrones, so they're gonna be given this position of authority, and they're gonna be vindicated in their death, that Christ is going to vindicate them in this way.

And those who had not worshiped the beast or the image, so either we're worshiping God, or we're worshiping ourselves or idols in that way. And so all millennialists would say this right there, that sentence includes all believers, that all believers will not be bowing the knee to the beast or his image, that they will be only bowing the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore, they are included in that text of being able to, and we'll look at what the result of these things here in just a second, and then it says, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand.

They would say that this is calling back to Old Testament days where they would wear these religious symbols upon their bodies, and this is speaking of sinners who openly blaspheme God and those that with their hands secretly blaspheme God.

These are ways that people are singing against God, period. So people that have not done this, so those that are elect and are Christians and are saved by faith in Jesus Christ and the grace that is given to them, it says after that, and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

So they are reigning with Christ. So they would say an all-millennialist is reigning with Christ right now. If you're alive today, you're reigning with Christ in heaven, where Christ is, and therefore, you're reigning on the earth.

And they would say, likewise, the person that died yesterday, they're reigning with Christ in heaven right now. And the believer that's converted tomorrow, they're reigning with Christ tomorrow in heaven.

And those that are alive, it is on earth then therefore too, but it is primarily in the heavenly atmosphere. But looking at this a little bit more, it says then the rest of the dead did not come to life until a thousand years were complete.

This is the first resurrection. The first resurrection an all-millennialist would say is found in John chapter 11, verse 25 through 26, that Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. And that if you believe in him, that you will surely live and not die.

And so an all-millennialist would say that this is the hope that we see all throughout the book of Revelation that is given to the Christian church. That if we are in Christ, we have no fear of anything in this world.

That though people attack us, people try to kill us, we are persecuted. It doesn't matter because we are secure in Christ and we look to the heavenly abode. So looking at this a little bit more here. So they would say that the first resurrection is being in Jesus Christ applied through the Holy Spirit that gives us that life.

So the Holy Spirit is involved with that first resurrection as well. It says over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests. So the second death is speaking of those that are cast into hell.

Both Hades and death are cast into it. This is the second death that those that have not been covered by Christ's righteousness, they will be cast into hell. So then it goes on to say, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

Now this is correlating to that of Revelation 1, 6 that he says that he has made us to be a kingdom, a priest unto God. And also into Revelation 5, 10, that we will reign on earth. We've been made priests.

And so therefore it says that we will have been made priests and come to life and live and reign with him for a thousand years. So that would be an amillennialist understanding, just a quick scratching the surface rundown of Revelation 20, 1 -6, a very common view.

Amillennialism, Postmillennialism, and the Christian’s Hope in Heaven

This is similar to the conclusions that are made here in Christ's return and his second coming are very similar to post-millennialists. But the difference really is is that a post-millennialist could be called an optimistic amillennialist where an amillennialist would be called a pessimistic post-millennialist.

And the reason that is is because the way they view, the way the earth will be when Christ comes again. A post-millennialist would say that according to Matthew 28, 17 -20, that in the great commission that we have been told to go out and baptize all the nations and teach them to observe all the commandments, that that would be on the church's shoulders to do that thing.

And therefore that's how Christ will come back again is after this golden age has been established through the preaching and advancement of the gospel. And therefore the world in that sense would be Christianized, that certain things would go back on things.

Many of them would be theonomists, not all post-millennialists would, but that's how they would view those things. But an amillennialist would say, well, according to verse 20, it says that, lo, I will be with you until the end of the age in Matthew chapter 28.

And why is it that Christ would say that? They would say that in the idea of evangelism in John chapter 15, 18, as well as John chapter 17, 13 through 21, it says in there that we are going to be persecuted like Christ was persecuted, that Christ was the first one to be rejected.

So don't expect anything better in this world. Don't expect better treatment. And an amillennialist would say that that's the whole reason that Jesus is praying for all believers in John chapter 17, that just as he was sent into the world, so he sends us.

And that's exactly what it says in John chapter 20, verse 21. And so therefore, an amillennialist does not expect the world to get better in the sense of numbers of Christians. They expect that there's to be good and evil in the world.

But since we are not of the world, we have no fear of the world, that we are able to have peace in heaven with Christ right now. A post-millennialist would also see a physical fulfillment of certain aspects, that being in Isaiah chapter 2, verses 1 through 11 and 11, 6 through 10, saying that there's still certain physical things that need to take place in this millennial period.

And they would say that that would happen through the advancement of the gospel and creating a better world, that which Christ will come back to. And an amillennialist would say, no, that according to John chapter 18, verses 36 through 37, it says that Jesus says that my kingdom is not of this world, my kingdom is not of this world, and that you have said correctly that I am a king to Pilate, is what Jesus says in there.

And so an amillennialist would look at that and also Philippians 1, 21, that Paul said for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And so for an amillennialist, they would say, look, we don't expect good things in this world.

God is good only and he's in heaven and that's where our hope is and that we are ambassadors here on the world, that we are aliens in that sense, that we are here preaching the gospel to a foreign people, trying to call out the sheep of Christ unto the shepherd.

And ultimately we'll end in Colossians chapter 3, Colossians 3, verse 1 through 3. And in here it says, it says in verses 1 through 3, if then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

And so an amillennialist though, they have a pessimistic view of what the world will look like when Christ comes, they have an optimistic view today. And especially when you see how they interpret the book of Revelation, that though today they suffer through the day, they be beheaded though the day, they bear their own cross and emulate Christ even until their death, like the apostles did.

That they have a song of praise on their tongue and their gaze is not down, but their gaze is up unto the God who has saved them, the God that they look to for their salvation, the God that they look to and say, Lord come quickly.

Encouragement to Preach the Gospel and Look to Christ

If an amillennialist is correct, they have a great hope and they've recognized that great hope of Christ ruling on the throne of David in this messianic priest-king-prophet rule in heaven right now and that he has a sovereign plan over the church and it's found in the book of Revelation.

So for encouragement for you, the listener today, look unto Christ for your salvation, preach the gospel, the death, burial and resurrection unto all people of the world. Because if that is your hope, is having salvation in Jesus Christ, that is a worthy thing to preach unto all people.

So God bless. I hope this helps you understand amillennialism better. And we'll now next be going to post-millennialism and understanding that, I hope, a little bit better as well. Go in peace and tell the world of the God that has purchased you and I.