Historical Premillennialism (Part 5)

Praise to the Sovereign King, hear, 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 am Pastor Braden, and I hope you're having a wonderful and blessed day today. Today we are on part five of this multi-parted series on the topic of eschatology, the study of end times and end things.

Historical Premillennialism and Its Relation to Dispensationalism

And today our topic is continuing on and examining the different views within eschatology, and today we're going to be discussing what is called historical pre-millennialism. Now we are coming from the video that we just did previously as of yesterday, and that was dispensational pre-millennialism.

So there are going to be some commonalities that are found on both comparing dispensational pre-millennialism to historical pre-millennialism, but we're going to have some stark differences that we will be able to notice when we start looking at these things.

And I hope that these videos that we're doing on the topic of eschatology truly bless you and help edify us and hopefully bring a more fruitful and loving fellowship amongst different believers, different brothers and sisters in Christ that hold different positions within eschatology.

But as I said, we are going to be doing a historical pre-millennialism, scratching the surface of these things. This is not an in-depth view, not looking at all the text, but looking at just a few different things here and there that lead someone to becoming under the influence of holding to this view of eschatology.

So just as a note, there are giants of the faith that are on every side of this conversation that have been arguing over the topic of eschatology for the last 2 ,000 years and it's going on even till today and it's going to go on until the Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

So just to name some historical pre-millennialist proponents that are well known, we would have John Gill, C .H. Spurgeon, D .A. Carson, John Piper, Carl Henry, Francis Schaeffer, Benjamin Newton. We're going to be discussing a little bit more about him here in a moment.

And then as far as early church fathers go, historical pre-millennialism gets its name historical because it's the pre-millennialist view that in the last 2 ,000 years has been well developed, has been historically seen as being what a pre-millennialist is.

This is in contrast to dispensationalism because dispensationalism comes about in the 1800s and it was never on the mind of a Christian prior to then. Not saying that that makes it right or wrong, but it's important to note that pre-millennialists never even viewed the millennial kingdom as what a dispensationalist would.

And so therefore this view is called historical pre-millennialism because of that. So the early church fathers that we would look to that would hold this view would be Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Polycarp amongst others.

There's many reformers that were historical pre-millennialists and that list is very long. It's a view that we don't see as often today, especially here in the United States, but it still has some good footing here that we'll look at here in a moment.

Shared Premillennial Beliefs About the Millennium and Christ's Return

But I think maybe to begin talking about this, we'll talk about some of the similarities that we would see between pre-millennialists on both sides of the coin, between dispensationalism and historical pre-millennialism.

Some of the very clear similarities is their view with the millennium, that Christ is going to be here on earth for a physical thousand years, that when he comes again he's going to establish a physical kingdom that is going to restore many of the promises in the Old Testament, such as land, certain rituals, even some would say a priesthood even in the historical pre-millennialist camp.

But these things are going to be a physical thousand-year millennial reign of Christ. Historical pre-millennialists would say that when they read Revelation 20 verses 1 through 6, that they would have what they would call is the natural reading of the text.

That if you were to naturally read this, this would be the conclusion that you would come to. Some of the clear differences that we would have between dispensationalism and pre-millennialism, which will come out a little bit more when we go over some of the biggest tenets of historical pre-millennialism, is I think pretty clearly seen when we start discussing two individuals that are in the 1800 -19th century period, and that is both John Nelson Darby and Benjamin Newton.

Benjamin Newton is a well-known historical pre-millennialist, and of course Darby is the first proponent and kind of the catalyst for dispensational pre-millennialists. Darby used to and originally was a historical pre-millennialist in the Plymouth area, and Newton came about underneath Darby, and Darby actually suggested Newton to take over the Plymouth Brethren congregation, is what it was in that area.

And so this Plymouth Brethren came to know Newton, and he was elected as this elder in the church, and Darby went on to become an evangelist around the Europe area, so he went out to evangelize. Newton saw Darby as a mentor of his, and Darby saw Newton as a disciple of his, that there was this camaraderie between them and friendship that was amongst them.

And over time, it seems that Darby had a change of view with how he regarded the church and Israel, and this is what started off this dispensationalist theology, that Israel and the church are separate entities, and that the millennial reign of Christ is going to be where Israel is restored, ethnic Israel is restored, and the church is a separate thing, that today this age that we're in is not the same as what we would see in the Old Testament.

And so while Newton definitely did have some dispensationalist theology as far as viewing some different time periods, he would hold that the church is not different than ethnic, or it's not different as Israel.

Time went on between these two individuals, and this topic of eschatology, this topic of dispensationalism versus the historical premillennialist covenantal view, really started to drive a wedge between their friendship, and it even came about that there was this eschatology war between the two different groups, those that would follow Darby versus those that would follow Newton, and it even ended up causing Darby to accuse Newton of dishonesty and lying, which the church elders of Newton had to look at and eventually dismiss them as not being true.

But we see some pretty important things, I think, that when we see these two individuals who were once friends and had a common faith in Jesus Christ and really had a fruitful, meaningful fellowship amongst each other, that when they started to be very firm in their eschatologies and their eschatology started to split in two different ways, it really destroyed their friendship, and we'll talk a little bit more about that later.

Covenant Theology, the Church, and the Fulfillment of Israel

But some really important tenets of historical premillennialism that we can see that's different than dispensational premillennialism is that historical premillennialists would see that the church did not start at the day of Pentecost, but rather that it was started in the garden with Adam and Eve, and thus from that view, Old Testament saints and New Testament saints are the church, true Israel or spiritual Israel.

Historical premillennialists would see the Bible is covenantal in structure, that God has been working through covenants rather than time periods. And I'll read a quick text for us on this, on their view of this.

Galatians 3 verses 28 -29 would say, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are one in Christ Jesus, and if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring according to the promise.

And there's many other places we could go, I'll just make mention real quickly here in Romans chapter 9 verses 25 -26. In here, we would see an Old Testament Bible verses being quoted, and it's being applied to the church.

In verse 25 -26 it says, as he says also in Hosea, I will call those who were not my people, my people, and her who was not beloved, beloved, and it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, you are not my people, there they shall be called the sons of the living God, which is applying to the church of Paul's day, and when this letter was written.

Whereas when Hosea spoke it, it was speaking to ethnic Israel in that day. And so they would say that the church is the fulfillment of the ethnic Israel, that which ethnic Israel was not able to do, it is fulfilled in Christ, which is the Abraham's seed, the offspring, which the church and Old Testament, the remnant of Israel, are included in that covenant that Christ fulfilled on our behalf.

Now, there's many other places that we could go to look at this, but just in this scratching the surface of this, we're going to continue on. But they would also say, comparing this differently to, especially in Amillennial, it's the physical promises that are given to Abraham and his seed, that speaking of land, prosperity, and peace, such as looking even at some rituals, even maybe a temple in the future, that is yet to be fulfilled, that those things have to take place in a physical, literal manner.

And so that therefore has to be fulfilled in a future thousand-year millennial reign of Christ. In fact, I'm going to pull a chart up here, a little graph for us to look at regarding historical premillennialists.

Tribulation, the Rapture, and the Man of Lawlessness

And if you watched that dispensational premillennialists video that we did yesterday, you would see there's many similarities between both historical and dispensational premillennialists as far as a chart goes.

But in here, you'll notice that there's similarities between their belief in a future tribulation, similarities between a future antichrist reigning, a future rapture, a future millennial period, and a future great white throne judgment that even a historical premillennialist would hold to.

But let me just read some stuff here that I've written out while this chart is on the screen for us here to help us reference. So historical premillennialists would view there being a time of tribulation where there would be an apostasy that takes place, not a complete apostasy, but that there would be a great falling away.

Some would hold to a literal seven year period. Some would say that this is just a use of the number seven being a perfect time period of tribulation where God will be pouring out wrath upon people. But the most important part that we would see here that would differentiate it from dispensationalism is that they would hold to what's called post-tribulation rapture, whereas a dispensational premillennialist would hold to a pre-tribulation rapture, namely what they would also say a secret rapture.

A historical premillennialist would say that the rapture is going to be a visible, openly seen, and it's going to come at the sound of a trumpet to have those that believe in Christ meet Jesus in the air.

And that it's going to be seen very openly and publicly, that it's not going to be in secret by any means. And this would be opposed to what Darby would believe and dispensational premillennialists would hold to.

I'm going to read real fast 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, 13 through 18 so we can understand why a historical premillennialist would hold to such a view. But 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, 13 through 18 says this, but we do not want you to be uninformed brethren about those who are asleep that you may not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so that's the gospel, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus, those who have died in Christ.

Verse 15 goes on to say this, for this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain. So they would say that we who are alive and remain is speaking of the tribulation period, that they have gone through this tribulation and therefore remain until the coming of the Lord.

So the coming of the Lord is going to be that rapture moment that we would see on this chart here. And it says they shall not precede those who have fallen asleep for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God.

So those three words that we see in there, the shout, the voice, and the trumpet, they would say that these things sound like it is going to be a visible, audible, recognizable thing that takes place, that there's no secret or hidden nature that is being spoken of in here that the dispensational premillennialists would recognize in such a text.

But it says, and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remain. Once again, that tribulation period that they would say that we would go through this seven-year tribulation.

Remain shall be caught up, that's the rapture portion, together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

And so they would say that the comfort that comes from this text is that it would mean that there is going to be a period of time where there's tribulation. That's why it's speaking of comforting one another with these words and that it is post the tribulation that a rapture would take place.

Revelation, the Antichrist, and Historicist Readings of Prophecy

So just continuing on looking at this chart and reading over some stuff, the historical premillennialists, like I made mention earlier, they would argue that according to the entirety of the book of Revelation, that the natural reading should be applied, especially coming to chapter 20 verses one through six.

And many would hold to a literal future physical antichrist that will either, depending on the historical premillennialists, will either say that it will rise in the church and that the text that says the antichrist here in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, that the antichrist will come about or the man of lawlessness will take his place in the temple, that that could either be speaking of a future Jewish temple that is built or it could be speaking of the church, a Christian church, and the Christians being the true temple of God.

Therefore it'll be a person that comes up through the ranks of the church who is not really Christian but has been deceiving people and they will establish themselves to be worshiped and that is what the great apostasy or this great falling away will have to dealing with is that many people will follow the antichrist rather than God and they were actually false Christians, false converts.

Many historical premillennialists would argue from a historicism reading of the prophecy, especially when approaching the book of Revelation, this is why many of those reformers, as I made mention of earlier, would have held to a historicism reading of the book of Revelation and would have been considered historical premillennialists and that is because they saw many things that were happening around them, namely that of the Catholic church and the Pope as being the antichrist.

Likewise the Catholic church saw, interestingly enough, the Catholic church saw the reformers as being such the antichrist and that great falling away that is spoken of as being the historical premillennialist view.

Now an example of historicism, I'm going to pull down this chart now, an example of historicism reading, not saying that all historical premillennialists hold to historicism, some might be a literal futurist and I believe that some could even be an idealist in some sense, but regardless of their view, an example of historicism applied in Old Testament texts would be in Daniel chapter 2, especially when speaking about the reformers and the application of the Pope and the Roman Catholic church as being the antichrist.

We would look into Daniel chapter 2, verses 31 -45, and we're not going to read this entire text, but this is where Daniel is giving Nebuchadnezzar the dream that he received as well as the interpretation to the dream and in there he says that there's this statue figure standing with different levels of metal, different material that's being spoken of in there and then at the feet there is this iron that is partly mixed with clay.

Iron was Rome and that the clay that is mixed is speaking of the church and that the church is going to take over Rome as Rome fell, the Roman Catholic church came about and when the Roman Catholic church came about they were the clay in that way as they followed Christ and they were considered Christians at that point.

Future years go on, they start to apostatize, bring in heretical teachings and therefore the reformation takes place and we see denominations go all over the place and these denominations are those 10 toes, those kings that are spoken of in verse 45 and so they would say that the future millennial reign of Christ that we see spoken of in the Old Testament, that we see two things that are spoken of with the Messiah is one is one of a suffering servant and they would say that was the first coming of Christ and that of a triumphal servant or a coming of a crushing king, a crushing Messiah, that which is one who's coming in judgment and so they would say that that has yet to take place and that's going to be the physical thousand-year millennial reign of Christ and since that is yet future, Christ is going to come crush all the false religions, all those that have been divided in their denominations and that Christ is going to set up his true everlasting kingdom at that point and so we can see how we are all looking at the same text, whatever view of eschatology that you find yourself with, we are all looking at the same text and as long as we are not violating and this needs to be very clear, as long as we're not violating the nature of who Christ is, that we're not denying it was God in flesh who is Jesus Christ, that he was also fully God, fully man and we're not violating his virgin birth, we're not violating that which we can clearly see in the text and when I say clearly seen in the text, I mean those essentials of Christianity that one has to hold to in order to be considered Christian and to give you an example of this is Matthew chapter 28 verses 23 through 24, in there Christ says, unless you believe I am, you shall die in your sins.

That is clear. That means that if we don't view Christ, Jesus, as the great I am, we are dead in our sins and we are unjustified. It doesn't matter if you claim to be a Christian, if you say Jesus is not the I am, you are not a Christian.

Now when we switch to eschatology, many great people that I look up to have come to different conclusions on very firmly but they all say that an essential, that is an essential Christianity is that Christ is coming again and in the same way that he ascended, he is going to descend from the heavens and collect his church and that is an essential of Christianity.

The method and the means, though they are in the Bible, every view of eschatology says those method and means are going to happen in different ways. They're not saying that those things are not going to happen.

They just say I'm placing this over here and that over here and this in this way and this is how it's going to take place. Hindsight is always 20 -20 and since we are looking ahead using prophetic word, it would be my encouragement to not be like the Benjamin and the Darby examples that we spoke of earlier.

These are things that we should be edifying each other with. These are things that we should be using to build each other up with and not like the example of two really good friends who had the same Jesus Christ, who had placed their faith in the same triune God, who had found salvation and nowhere else but the cross.

We should not be like those individuals who then divided and despised one another because of their eschatology view using the exact same scriptures. Now, this is not to say that we should accept those that are heretical, that have denied Jesus Christ and his deity.

I'm not saying to accept those people. There is guardrails within the Bible but as long as we're within those guardrails, I will take fellowship with those that disagree with even my view of eschatology.

So, it's my encouragement today for you to continue on in understanding who Christ is, continue on in understanding his second coming, continue on in understanding this millennial period that's spoken of in Revelation chapter 20 and I hope that these videos are blessing you with that and I truly hope that you would take these kind of messages and be firm in what the gospel is, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and take that message into the world telling people that great Jesus that has purchased you and I, that great I am, who has made it so we will not die in our sins.

God bless and go in peace.