A SUMMARY OF POST-MILLENNIALISM

So, we have started our series on eschatology.

This is week number three, and we've been talking about the study of the end times or the study of last

things.

And so week one, we really highlighted three orthodox perspectives that have kind of

emerged out of church history.

And then last week, we talked about one of those views called pre -millennialism, meaning that Jesus

Christ comes back before his future literal thousand -year reign.

And so this evening, we're going to be talking about post -millennialism, saying that the thousand years

is kind of a symbolic time frame that we're living now, and then Jesus comes afterwards.

And then next week, we'll be getting into all millennialism, which is very similar to what we'll be discussing about tonight, but is

different in many respects.

So these are three historic orthodox perspectives on eschatology, where they

unite around the essentials of eschatology, things that we have to hold with a

closed fist, things like Jesus will come back in the future to rule in reign,

to set up his kingdom on earth.

So that's number one.

The second coming is future, and that will literally happen.

And so he will restore all things.

He will bring heaven to earth, and he will restore this sin -cursed world.

That's another essential part of our blessed hope that's been promised to us in the gospel.

And so as believers, we will also be resurrected with glorified bodies fit to rule and reign with

Christ for eternity.

And as Jesus judges the living and the dead, that means those that died in their sin, they also will be resurrected

to eternal judgment.

So those are things that are essential, that we hold onto as we begin to study the book of Daniel, the

Olivet Discourse, and the book of Revelation.

And then you have another category of non -essentials, that these three orthodox perspectives can

disagree with in love.

And I love how some people will be like, man, there's just no way that can be right.

But we can say those things as long as it's meant in good fun and love, and we understand that we're really not trying to put

down another view that's trying to make sense of hard to understand concepts.

And so a couple of those non -essential things are, how does God's promises to Israel

actually work out?

Well, there's different methodologies of that, and we can continue to sharpen one another.

And so you've heard me talk about the millennium, right?

So all three orthodox perspectives are kind of based around a particular understanding of Revelation 20.

If you were here a couple of weeks ago, we read the opening 10 verses where we read Jesus will reign for

a thousand years, for a thousand years, a thousand years.

So that's the millennium, okay?

All of these views understand Revelation 20 a little bit differently, and this is a non -essential thing.

We know that there is a rule and reign of Christ, but how that actually plays out, that's up for

discussion, okay?

And so as we begin to talk about post -millennialism, I want us to lock arms together

on the essentials,.

Okay?

And so as we do that, I'll be trying to compare and contrast post -millennialism with what we talked about last week,

pre -millennialism, okay?

So if you were here last week, we somehow made it through the entire book of Revelation.

Were you all as surprised as I was that we were able to do that?

Whew, I was sweating bullets up here.

So we're gonna do something very similar.

We're not going to tiptoe through Revelation, but the Gospel of Matthew.

So if you would, turn with me in your copy of God's Word to Matthew chapter four, okay?

And so post -millennialism, I want to kind of give you a working framework, and you may say, Jeremiah, ain't no way.

And that's fine.

I just want to inform you of this particular type of eschatology.

Post -millennialism says Christ is ruling and reigning right now.

This is the kingdom of God.

It is expanding.

That means as the Gospel goes forth in power by the preaching, fueled by the Holy

Spirit, also what goes with the Gospel is God's law, okay?

Now when we say God's law, we're talking about those things that we read in the Old Testament.

And the reason why we're talking so much about God's law is because Jesus is the king.

A king has a particular rule.

And so post -millennialism sees the whole world gradually getting better and

becoming Christianized.

So Pastor Nathan, you had that first slide.

And so to kind of just paint a picture, like I said, you have

evangelization.

Society will gradually get better, okay?

And you may think, whoa, I thought things were supposed to get worse.

Well, that's within the pre -millennial framework, that there's a bunch of evil and sin in the

world and it'll continue to grow and grow and grow until Jesus returns at the very end, okay?

And so post -millennialism says, actually, Jesus, when he first came, he brought

his kingdom with him.

And he gave marching orders, and that will go out in success, okay?

And all the nations will be evangelized and won over by the gospel and will submit to King Jesus,

okay?

So this is just a picture that I want you to have in your mind.

But let's look at Matthew 4, starting in verse 17.

Now pay attention to verse 23, please.

And when Jesus went out or throughout all of Galilee, he did these three things.

He went out teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing

every disease and every affliction among the people, okay?

So I wanted you to kind of see verse 17 talks about the kingdom of God is at hand.

In Jesus's earthly ministry, he did three major things that were leading up to the cross.

He was teaching, he was proclaiming the gospel, and he was doing many miraculous

signs of healing, casting out demons, and so forth.

And so post -millennialism, starting in verse 17, would say, Jesus is calling for repentance

because the kingdom of God is here.

When it says at hand, you can think, okay, here's my hand.

It's here.

It's right now.

And Jesus is saying, the kingdom is now on earth.

I am the king, and the whole world, all the nations will be one.

So that's kind of this mindset.

And so verse 23, I believe, is fulfilling, or at least beginning the fulfillment of

many Old Testament passages.

So Jesus is teaching.

He's discipling the 12 apostles, essentially, and they will continue to teach the world to observe all

that Christ has commanded.

And we see another reference to the kingdom.

He was proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, the good news that Jesus is king, and he's a conquering

king, and he will not fail.

And so then you have, he also healed people of their diseases, every affliction among the people.

The reason why this is so important is because this was prophesied to happen.

So if you would like, feel free to turn with me in your Bible to Isaiah chapter 42, but keep

your bookmark in Matthew because we're going to be going back to there and then basically tiptoeing all throughout that gospel.

Isaiah 42 talks about the Lord's servant, okay?

And as we read a portion of this, I want you to think about the term that we've mentioned a couple weeks ago,

theonomy, okay?

This is the study of God's law.

And you have to understand, all Christians are theonomists to a certain degree or another because

we believe that God's law is important here and now.

It's teaching us many things.

At the very least, it teaches us our need for a savior.

But a post -millennialist sees God's law as important for making the world become more

Christianized over time, right?

The gospel will be preached, right?

We see this, we have this term, theonomy.

This is the idea that the governments will be influenced by God's law.

The whole world will be Christianized through the preaching of the gospel, but it's also through families

becoming more and more like Christ, being Christianized.

And we might see glimpses of that through homeschooling, right?

It starts at the home, and then it hits the society, and then it hits the government, okay?

So it's the idea that justice will be brought out through the entire world, and the mandate was

given by King Jesus.

So, Isaiah 42, listen for the word justice, okay?

Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights.

I have put my spirit upon him, and he will bring forth justice to the nations.

Okay, so this is Yahweh, this is God the Father, saying that I will put my spirit on my

chosen servant.

So, this is obviously talking about Jesus, and this would have been the time of John the Baptist, where the Holy

Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove.

And so here's the interesting phrase, though.

He will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it heard in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break, and faintly burning wick he will not quench.

He will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth, and the

coastlands wait for his law.

Okay, so the idea is this will be important with the proclamation of the gospel for the

whole world getting better and better and better in terms of becoming more and more like Christ.

And so if you skip down to verse 7, it mentions kind of what he will also do, this chosen servant who we know as Jesus.

He is going to open the eyes of the blind.

He is going to be a light for the nations.

So, this is the paradigm of things getting better.

Christ is ruling and reigning.

He will bring all the nations to obedience by his law and his gospel.

Now, you may say, okay, well, what are some more passages that kind of speak to this paradigm?

Postmillennialism would say one of the most important verses to wrap your mind around is Psalm 110,

verse 1.

Now, this is a, all God's word is profitable and important, but this verse is quoted the most in the New

Testament, okay?

So, Psalm 110, verse 1, a Psalm of David says this.

The Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

Okay?

So, postmillennialism says, okay, Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, okay?

And he is ruling and reigning as king, and he will stay there until all of the

kingdoms, all the nations are put under his feet.

And so, this is kind of the proof text, if you will, that things have to get better.

I mean, the nations have to be subdued by God's law, and then Christ will return,

okay?

And so, the next verse, Psalm 110, verse 2, says, the Lord sends forth from Zion

your mighty scepter.

Rule in the midst of your enemies.

Okay, now, it's interesting, because this verse is quoted so many times in the New Testament, verse number 1 here.

It's quoted in Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 1, and Pastor Nathan, we just started a new

sermon series in Ephesians, so I can't wait to hear Pastor Nathan's take on this verse.

But the postmillennialist says, okay, the church is going to be so crucial in

the evangelization of the world and bringing God's law to subdue the nations, okay?

Now, I understand logistically that this would mean that the church is equipping the saints with the gospel and God's

law to infiltrate the world, that salty infiltration, if you will, as we get more into the Sermon on

the Mount here in a little bit.

And so, the church is gonna be vital in carrying this out.

And then, Paul also quotes this verse in 1 Corinthians 15.

Now, this is like the postmillennialist saying, hey, this right here, don't overlook this,

1 Corinthians 15, 25 through 27, because not only will all the nations be put

under his feet, but then Christ will return and conquer the last enemy, which is death,

okay?

So, this is, once again, kind of the framework that we're working with.

And so, postmillennialism would say, well, it actually goes much further back than that.

If you go to the book of Genesis, you had Jacob blessing his sons, right?

Right at his deathbed.

And so, we're all familiar with the tribe of Judah, right?

Jesus comes from the tribe of Judah.

Listen to this prophecy.

Judah, your brothers shall praise you, and your hands shall be on the neck of your enemies.

Your father's sons shall bow down before you.

Judah is a lion's club.

From the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He stooped down, and he crouched as a lion, as a lioness.

Who dares arouse him?

And pay careful attention to this.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, meaning his rule, his power, him being a

king of kings, nor the ruler's staff from his feet until tribute comes

to him, and to him shall the obedience of the peoples, or all the nations,

okay?

So, it seems to carry this promise that there will be a rule that will never depart

from the coming Messiah, the king of kings and the Lord of lords, and he will, and post -millennium says he won't

fail.

This will actually end in success.

And so, the last passage that I want to set us up with this mindset as we go into Matthew's gospel is what is said

in Daniel chapter seven, verses 13 and 14, okay?

This is the famous passage talking about the coming son of man.

Daniel says, and I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a

son of man, and he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him, and to him was given

dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all the peoples of the nations and languages should

serve him.

And his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom is one that

shall not be destroyed, okay?

So, post -millennialism says, this is the great commission where Jesus said,

all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me, and I'm giving you marching orders to disciple the nations, and guess

what?

You won't fail, okay?

Now, we just think, whoa, this is so different, right?

So, I want to continue to show you more how they build their argument, and it's this idea that Messiah is

a victorious king, right?

He actually conquers the nations, and the one who has control over the nations and has deceived them,

Satan, okay?

So, with that in mind, turn back with me to the Gospel of Matthew.

So, we're talking about the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, these are synonymous terms, right?

And so, look earlier in the context with me to verse eight, okay?

Now, in this context, Jesus is being tempted by Satan, and so the last temptation

here is very interesting.

Verse eight says, again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed

Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to them, all these I

give you if you fall down and worship me.

Now, that's pretty foolish, right?

Jesus said, be gone, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve,

and Satan's like, all right, I'm out, right?

But it's interesting what he said.

He just said, yeah, you've come to fulfill this divine plan, right?

You're going to subdue and conquer the nations, and yes, there's prophecy that you have to suffer, die, and be

resurrected and ascend on high, but hey, let's just take the shortcut.

You can go ahead and have all the nations, and so post -Meletism says, see, Satan is ruling the

nations now.

You've got the kingdom of darkness, and then you have the kingdom of light in Christ, who is king of kings and Lord of

lords, okay?

So, now let's tiptoe through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five.

So, the first beatitude mentions the kingdom of heaven here.

So, we see this common theme all throughout Matthew's gospel.

Jesus says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, okay?

And so, the idea is post -Meletists say, hey, we're going to inherit the earth.

This is our promise for us, those that are citizens of the kingdom, not the world, and

that's why in verse five we read, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, okay?

And then the last beatitude mentions the kingdom of heaven again.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And then, kind of the next passage talks about being salt and light, okay?

So, we're talking about the umbrella of post -Millennialism, and you've got to think, in their mind too, is yes, the

gospel's going forth.

We're called to be citizens, discipling the nations with these marching orders, but we're also going

to bring forth God's law, okay?

And so, that's why in verse 17, it's so important in the post -Millennial paradigm.

Jesus says, do not think that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I did not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a

dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

And so, this infiltration in the world will be one of salt and light.

We see the light of the gospel, but also that saltiness of

the law of God reforming society, okay?

And so, Pastor Nathan, if you would, put that second slide back up here again.

So, what's important for the evangelization over the world is this is kind of built on

tribulation, okay?

And so, we're going to get into the Olivet Discourse that talks about wars and rumors of war

and massive trial that's going on the earth.

And that should also have the book of Revelation in mind, too.

The post -Millennial says, oh, yeah, that's really referring to the first century, the generation that was

around when Jesus was actually saying these things.

But things will gradually get better as we live in this Millennial reign, okay?

So, turn with me to Matthew 6, verse 33.

We see another allusion to the kingdom here.

Jesus is saying, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will

be added to you.

So, the idea is don't be like the pagan nations that is ultimately ran by the wicked

one, but look to the kingdom of God.

Be faithful to what he has called us to do, and let that bring peace to your heart, and not be anxious.

So, now turn with me to Matthew chapter 12, because something that I've really wanted

to point out is, you've got all the kingdoms of the world, and

in this framework, they are being deceived by the wicked one, by Satan.

And so, that kind of comes from this passage.

I want to look at it.

Matthew chapter 12, starting in verse 22.

A lot of things that I want you to pay attention to.

So, then a demon -possessed man, who was blind and mute, and was brought to him and healed him

so that the man spoke and saw.

And all the people were amazed and said, Can this be the son of David?

Obviously, talking about Jesus doing miraculous signs here.

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, Only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons,

can this man cast out demons.

And so, Jesus, knowing their thoughts, he said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is laid

waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself.

How then will his kingdom stand?

So, I just want to take a brief pause.

This is kind of what we've been laying the foundation for, saying all these kingdoms, even the Pharisees are

aware, Man, Jesus is only able to do these miraculous signs by Satan, who has a kingdom

in of himself, all the kingdoms of the world.

And Jesus is just saying, that logically doesn't even make sense.

If I wasn't doing these things by the work of the Spirit, and I was doing these things by the work of the devil, then this

kingdom can't ultimately work with itself if it's at odds with one another.

So, he's just saying, number one, that doesn't work logically.

And so, look with me at verse 27.

He said, If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, how do your sons cast them out?

Therefore, they will be your judges.

And verse 28 is very key in post -millennialism.

But, if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God

has come upon you.

I just want to pause here, because within, we'll say pre -millennialism, what we talked about last time,

the idea is the kingdom is really more future, where Jesus comes to set up

his thousand -year reign, something future.

This is where post -millennialism says, no, the kingdom is here.

Jesus casted out demons.

The kingdom of God is among us.

So, there's this phrase that we have to understand, and we actually won't go super deep into it, but it's called the

already and not yet.

Every eschatology has to say, well, there's things fulfilled here and now, or even have in the past, and then it hasn't

reached its total climax yet.

That's something still, future, when Christ returns bodily.

He's going to restore all things, and he's going to judge the living and the dead.

We're going to have our resurrected bodies.

But this is where post -millennialism says the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, it was there when

Jesus came in his first advent.

He is the king that brought forth his kingdom.

And this would be one of those verses to say, it's unmistakable that it began in his first coming.

So, verse 29, please make special note of this.

Jesus says, or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his

goods until he first binds the strong man?

Then, indeed, he may plunder the house.

You may be like, what is he talking about here?

Well, context is talking about the kingdom of darkness, Satan and his rule.

That was the accusation leveled against Jesus.

You do these things by Satan.

He's like, logically, that doesn't even make sense.

But let me tell you what actually is going on.

The strong man, Satan, right?

What is his house?

Well, it would be the whole world.

It would be the nations of the world.

1 John 5, 19, I believe it is, kind of lends support to this, that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

And Jesus says, I'm stronger than the strong man, right?

I have bound the strong man because the kingdom is here.

And we're going to see that crushing blow at the resurrection is actually, in many ways, against the work of the

devil.

And he says, when I bind the strong man, then I'm here to plunder his house.

What does that mean?

I'm here to save souls, baby.

And the postmill says, and it's going to expand, and it's going to be more than the sands of the

seashore.

And actually, that would be back to the vision that was given to Abraham, that his offspring would be

as innumerable as the stars in the sky and the sands of the seashore, okay?

And I actually love that principle.

That is something that we should all rest in, that God cannot fail.

Whatever he intends to accomplish, he will do that to the fullest.

Amen?

Okay, so one last thing here.

Let's keep reading through verse 32.

So verse 30 says, Whoever is not with me, Jesus says, is against me.

And whoever does not gather with me scatters.

Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, people, but the

blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit

will not be forgiven.

And here's what I want you to make special note of, either in this age or in the age to come,

okay?

If you want to ask me later about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, we can get into that.

But I want you to understand, Matthew is making a contextual point here about this age and the age to

come.

Now, I've really looked into postmillennialism.

Not everybody agrees, right?

And so as you study eschatology and you look at commentaries and scholars, not everyone's in agreement.

But a lot said, okay, this age more than likely is referring to the Jewish age, this

covenantal age that God has with Israel, okay?

And the age to come is this millennial age that we are currently living in,

okay?

And so, because that will actually come out later in the Gospel of Matthew.

So I want you to make special note of that.

If you would, turn with me to Matthew 13, okay?

I want us to consider two parables that kind of illustrate this kingdom growth.

And remember, postmillennialism says the world is going to be Christianized.

The Gospel goes forth and God's law aids in that.

So look at verse 31.

Jesus put another parable before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of a

mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

Jesus said, It is the smallest of all seeds.

But when it has grown, it is larger than all the garden plants.

It becomes a tree, so the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.

And so Jesus is saying the kingdom of God is like a little seed, okay?

So we got a little seed and you put it in soil.

And then it just blossoms into this big, huge tree.

And he's saying that's what the kingdom growth is going to look like.

And so postmillennialism would say, think about this.

Jesus, the king of kings, at his first coming, he was one man, right?

The God man.

And he had 12 disciples.

Then Judas, you know, fell away ultimately.

And so you have this Gospel message with 11 men.

And then they go into the world and now look at it today, right?

Think about where it all started and look at the kingdom growth that we see to this day.

That kind of goes hand in hand with what Jesus is saying in this parable.

And then the very next parable, very short, but kind of illustrates the same point.

Verse 33, he told them another parable.

The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour

till it was all leaven.

So you got unleavened bread that's kind of just flat and hard, right?

But leavened bread, you have just a little bit of yeast and it rises, it grows.

And so Jesus's point is this is what the kingdom is going to look like.

The whole world will be transformed in the process.

So that being said, now let's skip over to Matthew chapter 24.

We're taking a big, big step.

Now, this chapter is one not with just a little controversy, but a

lot of controversy.

Now think about all the three orthodox views of the millennial reign

of Christ.

Kind of goes back to Revelation 20, right?

Talking about the thousand years, the thousand years.

And you got these three views that kind of look at it a little bit differently.

Now the three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they all have what's called the Olivet Discourse

here.

And so the gospel of John does not have an Olivet Discourse per se.

I really like this take on it.

But John wrote Revelation.

If John did have an Olivet Discourse, it would be the entire book of Revelation.

So what I'm getting at is how you understand the Olivet Discourse, Jesus talking about the abomination of desolation,

which is a quotation from Daniel.

He talks about the great tribulation.

However you understand the Olivet Discourse, that will necessarily affect how you interpret

the book of Revelation.

Does that make sense?

And so I want to just talk through a few key concepts here.

Because a lot of the debate comes down to understanding what Jesus is getting at.

So let's look at the opening verses of the Olivet Discourse.

Jesus left the temple and was going away when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings

of the temple.

But he answered them, You see all this, do you not?

Truly I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be

thrown down.

Jesus said, On the Mount of Olives.

And the disciples came to him privately saying, Tell us, when will these things be?

And what will be the sign of your coming in the end of the age?

So they're asking about, tell us more about the destruction of the temple.

And then tell us about the end of the age.

Tell us about the coming of the Son of Man.

Tell us about your return.

So can you see how this strongly relates to the book of Revelation?

Because this is telling us a lot about the apocalypsis, the apocalypse, the revealing of Jesus

Christ.

And so we're just going to touch on a few things.

But Jesus then goes into talking about how there's going to be wars and rumors of wars and trials.

Trials that are going to just stack on top of one another.

And then verse 21, he even mentions the great tribulation.

And this is in the context of the abomination of desolation.

And you're like, what does that mean?

Well, there's a lot of debate.

But basically what I'm saying is the Olivet Discourse necessarily reaches to the book of Daniel here.

And so I want to tell you something very interesting.

The whole debate is coming down to say how much of the Olivet Discourse was

fulfilled at 70 A .D. in that first generation.

And then how much of it is still in the future and still yet to come.

Remember, the premillennial view says basically all of what Jesus is saying here, that's talking about the

future.

And then we went through the book of Revelation chronologically.

We kind of showed how they would attempt to do that.

Now, postmillennialism is going to take what's called a partial preterist view.

Preterist comes from the Latin word praetor.

It just means past things that were fulfilled in the past.

And I want to remind Christians there's a healthy aspect of both holding on to things that are still yet future and

things that have already been fulfilled in the past.

For all Christians, we believe that Jesus came in the past at his first advent and fulfilled many prophecies.

And then what's that blessed hope?

One of those essential things that we hold on to.

Well, there are still many things yet to come.

Christ's second coming's future is going to restore the world and we're going to receive resurrected bodies.

But I want to show you why the postmillennial view sees the Olivet Discourse as primarily

in the past and not primarily in the future.

Now, all of these tribulations are happening to

this generation.

Now, verse 21 says, so then there will be great tribulation.

And so premillennialism says, okay, this is going to be seven years.

You're going to have the first three and a half years and the second three and a half years and then you've got it all mapped out.

Postmillennialism says, well, that's not really the intent.

It just means it's a great time of suffering.

Think about the persecution that everyone acknowledges that happened in the first century.

That was great tribulation.

And Christians will still be persecuted throughout history.

Okay, so that's the postmillennial take there.

And then in verse 34, this is kind of where it all boils down to.

Jesus says, truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until

all of these things take place.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

So the debate between kind of the postmill and the premill view is saying, okay, what did Jesus mean by this generation?

Is it talking about this stock of Israel that's in the future?

Or is it talking about Jesus' hearers right then and there, his disciples, those other people that would be

listening to him?

A generation was typically understood to be 40 years.

Postmillennialism and partial preterism would say, well, Matthew gives us context clues on how to

understand what Jesus meant as this generation.

If you look back at Matthew 23 in verse 36, Jesus

is giving the most scathing rebuke probably found in the entire Bible towards the Pharisees.

And then he says in verse 36, truly, I say to you, all of these judgments will

come upon this generation.

Postmillennialists will press the point of saying he's talking to the Pharisees that were accusing him of blasphemy.

And he's just saying, no, woe upon woe of what y 'all are doing, and y 'all be held accountable to the people that

y 'all are leading astray.

But you see the phrase, this generation.

And so the argument would say, okay, we have a working understanding of what this generation means.

And so the great tribulation, the destruction of the temple was going to happen in a timeframe with the

hearers, the audience of who Jesus is speaking to in the Olivet discourse.

Okay, so that would be in postmillennialism that have already occurred in the first century.

Right.

And so verse 36, really important to keep in mind, too.

Something is being contrasted with this generation and all the tribulation that comes with it and the destruction of the

temple.

Verse 36, Jesus says, but concerning that day, an hour that

no one knows about the angels in heaven or the son of man, but only the father.

For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the son of man.

So we have to understand our blessed hope is in Christ's future return to

restore all things.

And so to me, this seems like the breaking point.

The first half of the Olivet discourse was answering the first question

that the apostles were asking about the destruction of the temple.

And he's basically saying, yeah, that's going to happen to this generation.

But when you ask me about the coming of the son of man, that day is future.

And no one knows when that's going to happen.

Okay.

Now, what I presented falls within orthodoxy, because we've also been talking about the heretical view of

full preterism.

What they want to do is say real similar to the premillennial dispensationalist is this is all talking

about the same event.

But it all happened at 70 A .D. and it makes the second coming of Jesus already happen.

But the dispensational premillennialist does the exact opposite move.

It's all together just in the future.

And really, it kind of, in my opinion, comes down to how you understand what this generation is talking about.

Fair enough.

Let's continue on.

So verse 44 kind of reemphasizes that same point that no one knows the day or the hour.

Verse 44.

Therefore, you must also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.

Now, once again, full preterism.

They know the time and the hour.

They got nailed down.

They said, oh, it was all 70 A .D.

Well, that just simply goes against what Jesus was trying to teach in that moment.

No one knows.

Right.

And when it happens, the whole world will know.

Right.

That's just the absurdity of this heretical position.

And so Matthew 25 talks about the kingdom of God is like 10 virgins who took their lamps and they went to

meet the bridegroom.

And we're going to kind of just skim through this towards the very end.

Basically, Jesus' point is you don't know when this is going to happen.

Be ready.

Trim your lamps.

Don't be caught sleeping or trying to rely on other faithful Christians.

You are going to be held accountable before God.

Right.

There are going to be many people that say, Lord, Lord, open to us.

And he's going to say, depart from I never knew you.

OK, so look with me at chapter 27.

So many of you all are familiar with the proto evangelium, the proto form of the gospel

that was first articulated in Genesis 315.

OK, now that verse, like I said, kind of is the first glimpse of the gospel.

And what we're promised is the offspring of the woman.

Well, it says he shall bruise your head.

And what he's saying is the devil is going to bruise the heel of the promised offspring,

the Messiah.

But he will crush your head.

OK.

And that is fulfilled when Jesus goes to the crucifixion in Matthew chapter 27.

So, yes, he is king of kings and lord of lords, but he's accomplishing the divine plan.

And so at the crucifixion, this is fulfilling the part of Genesis 315 that says,

yes, Satan, that serpent of old, he's going to bruise your heel.

It's going to look like this promised offspring is defeated, but it's all happening according to plan.

How do we know that?

Isaiah 53 says it was the will of Yahweh, God, the father to crush the suffering

servant.

God is sovereign in that.

And so when you flip over to Matthew 28, then we begin seeing the resurrection.

This is Jesus crushing the head of Satan, binding the strong man, if you will,

saying, look, you don't have any power over me.

I am God almighty in the flesh and I conquer death.

Right.

And so that's the resurrection passage.

And and just real quick, if you want to jot this down, Romans 1620.

Remember, we're thinking post -millennial here.

We, too, will be along with Christ crushing the head of Satan.

Romans 16, verse 20 says the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

And so we've been giving marching orders by our king.

We are citizens of the kingdom.

And then we see this in the Great Commission.

Look with me at verse 18.

Jesus said to the disciples, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the

Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

And so post -millennialism says, remember Daniel seven, the son of man that goes into the presence of the age of the

days.

This is this account where he says all authority has been given to me.

And then he ascended on on high.

Right.

He is not only king, but he is the ultimate high priest and he is prophet.

He fulfilled all the Old Testament law.

And he says, since I'm king over everything, your marching orders will not fail.

You'll see this kingdom growth expand worldwide.

And so when he says to teach them, make disciples to observe all that I've commanded you, keep in

mind the law that's been given to you.

Right.

Because that is ultimately going to reform not only the family, but society and the government.

And then he says, I'm with you even to the end of the age.

Perhaps he is saying to the apostles, what is soon that's going to happen on this generation is the

destruction of the temple.

There's going to be massive persecution, but I'm going to be with you.

I'm going to ascend to the father.

But I give you the Holy Spirit.

I will not leave you as orphans.

And he even does this by extension in the age to come.

This millennial age, we to receive the Holy Spirit.

OK, I think I think that's all I got in the tank.

How'd we do on time there?

I got the thumbs up.

OK, so now Q &A.

And I wrote a few questions, too, because maybe you're just like, man, I've never heard of some of this stuff.

I don't even know where to begin.

But I have a feeling some of y 'all have some immediate questions.

And so I'm super pumped.

Any first takers, any questions on post -millennialism?

Erica.

All right.

Well, ladies first is what I heard.

That means hers is going to be a doozy.

Right.

Your

question.

So I'm going to summarize questions back for our online audience.

So your your question is, so how does post -millennialism basically see the thousand years that we read about in

Revelation 20?

This is so good because a couple of weeks ago we said that all all the Orthodox views revolve around Revelation

20 and understanding them.

Everyone has to understand it literally to some degree and symbolically.

And these positions have different degrees of that.

So the post -millennial views is very symbolic.

Their argument would be, well, when we go to the book of Revelation, we go to the Olivet discourse and it's all built

on Old Testament text.

OK, so how would the Old Testament understand the term like a thousand?

And they would point to God owns a cattle on a thousand hills where he owns all the hills.

When he makes a promise to a thousand generations, he makes a promise to all the generations.

And so the idea is this is not a literal thousand year reign.

It's a symbolic amount of time.

And I believe the post -millennial says this is the age to come.

Right.

Because they look at this age, this current age that he was talking about in the Gospels to the Jewish age.

That's about to pass away at 70 A .D. with the destruction of the temple.

OK, so we are currently living in this thousand year millennium.

Right.

This is how the post -mill looks at Revelation 20 and things get better.

There was massive persecution and tribulation, great tribulation even, but things

will gradually get better and better.

So what do you think so far, Erica?

Is there is there a second part to that?

So

and

so the question is, how does premill the premillennial view understand Revelation 20?

So not all premillennial views agree with one another.

I just want to lay that out there.

But most premillennialists believe in a future literal thousand years.

Now, you do have another view called historic premill that says, don't put a number on it, but something future is going to

happen with the church.

That's still not yet.

OK, but that's typically how the premill views Revelation 20 more literally.

And they say that's all in the future.

So what do you think, Erica?

She's good ish.

Well, I'm not there with you.

All right.

Are you next, Justin?

So what is the church's rap?

No, that's that's a good question.

So as you see on this map, a rapture doesn't happen till at the very end of the

millennium, this undefined amount of time of the world being Christianized.

And what the postman would say is when Christ returns, he's going to restore us.

That's the rapture.

So whether it's the picture of, you know, meeting Christ in the cloud or him coming down, it's just saying you're going from

mortality to immortality.

I think the postman would just say this is just telling us the truth, that we will be given resurrected bodies fit

for eternity.

Is that fair?

Which is different than premill, because premill says you got these future events and you get

the church gets raptured before the tribulation during the middle or at some time at the end.

And there's a dispute on the rapture in relation to this great future tribulation.

Any other questions?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So this goes back to a little bit of what Erica was saying.

All men on postmortem are very similar because they would go back to that passage.

We looked at about Jesus binding the strong man.

That's exactly what they think about in Revelation 20.

You had all the kingdoms of the earth being deceived by Satan.

But when the king of kings and lord of lord comes and he gives his law, it's going to actually go out and

conquer and you'll see this gradual growth.

It's the only difference between all men on postmortem.

Well, and Adam will get more into this next week, so I won't give it all away.

But it's kind of like seeing the difference between optimism and pessimism, right?

And actually defining what the kingdom of God is.

I believe all men actually sees that definition a little bit different.

It was where the postmortem says the kingdom of God is the salvific rule of the Messiah.

I've read many different views on that because you have some views that say Satan is bound not doing anything, but

his demonic hosts are.

And then you've got some saying that he's on a leash and then just a few chinks in the chain have been pulled back.

And so every time the gospel goes forth, he is rendered powerless to them.

And the idea is, think about the Old Testament.

You've just got rank paganism, haters of God.

Remember the book of Judges?

Every man was doing what was right in their own eyes.

They were not basing their law on God's revelation.

And it was chaos.

And that was kind of a good representation of all the kingdoms of the world.

And Jesus is saying, I'm putting an end to that by virtue of preaching the gospel, making

disciples, along with reforming society with the law of God.

So does that kind of help answer of how spiritual warfare works in the postmillennial view?

Don's like, yeah, okay.

All right, Mr. Bryan.

So I'm trying to

summarize the postmillennial view.

It's okay.

No, great question.

So to kind of repeat your question back a little bit.

So when we go back to the Olivet Discourse, how is the postmillennial view making sense of that in light of

this graph that says things are supposed to get better.

It seems like Jesus is saying it's supposed to get a lot worse.

And so to add what you're saying, verse 21, then there will be great tribulation.

Right?

Verse 29, immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not

give its light and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of heaven will be shaken.

Yes, verse 12.

I'll read it.

And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

So we kind of get this big picture of things seem really, really, really bad.

And that's why Jesus says great tribulation will happen.

Okay.

So this goes back into what is Jesus literally talking about and what are some of the symbols

being articulated.

And so just to kind of unpack that a little at a time, this is talking about the very, very beginning when

there was just 11 apostles in a time of uber lawlessness, okay,

to where things are going to get better from then on out, okay.

Because the tribulation is talking about this generation, this 40 years.

And then after the destruction of the temple, a judgment on this Jewish age, things are going to get way better.

It's almost like it can't help but to get better after all these things take place because it goes back

to verse 35 where it talks about this generation.

He's trying to give a time indicator of saying all the lawlessness you're talking about, first century,

right here.

And then things get a lot worse.

And so one objection a pre -Millennius will say is, well, we've not seen the sun, moon, and stars fall like

it's being depicted here.

Well, you would guess it that the post -mill says, oh, that's symbolic.

That's actually found in the Old Testament in many places.

One example is Isaiah 13 that depicts the fall and destruction of Babylon, a fall of a

nation.

It's talked about the moon going out and all these things, but it's symbolism.

And so this is talking about the fall of the Jewish nation to Rome.

Right, right.

And so the post -mill would say that's not talking about a rapture.

What's being depicted is swift judgment.

And it's going to be a time of saying run to the hills, get out of Jerusalem with everything.

And the judgment is going to be so swift from the Roman army, some people are going to be snatched away, not in salvation, but in

judgment.

But I love that you're asking that because isn't this like polar opposite takes on

eschatology?

And 12 .5, we want to talk about these things in love and charity because we're going to have people

that land in the post -millennial camp, and we're going to have pre -Millennials.

And we've got to be able to get along together, right?

And so we might talk more on the things that unite us.

And then if we can take that next half step in love, then we talk about those things that we disagree because

Brian was talking about there will be one woman left and one almost snatched away.

But the post -mill would say no, that's talking about judgment, right?

Because it would be like the days of Noah, and it's talking about the flood, and there will be swift judgment.

Any other questions?

That was a great question, Brian.

Any other questions?

Youth, what's going on over here?

Nothing so far?

Amen. Amen.

I've got some questions for you all.

Oh, go ahead.

Keith, yeah, I can't wait to hear your question.

I remember, I've got to repeat it back.

Okay.

So basically what they're saying is all this tribe that's

had so many years has not been as bad as it was back then.

Right.

So the question is the post -.

All this.

They're saying this.

Not as bad as it was.

Right.

Yeah, they would actually put the point of saying the persecution of the early church, that was the great tribulation, something that

the world has never known.

You've never had Christians the way that we look at it in history.

You don't have Christians.

People that were burned at the stake and -.

Exactly.

Yeah, then they would push that point.

How bad is that?

Well, it would be the worst the world has ever seen with Christians following the rule of the king

of kings.

And they're saying things will get better from that.

There will continue to be tribulation, but mixed with evangelism and God's rule.

But to answer your question, yes, they would just say, Oh, yeah, all that's talking about this first generation.

Well, I mean, but Jesus says it's going to be as -.

It'll never be that bad.

When this happens, it will never be that bad again.

Well, they're saying it happened back then.

Right.

But it's been worse.

Well, they would say that's subjective.

And they're not really pushing the point that it's not going to be a quantity of

lawlessness and suffering, but it's pushing the point that there was great suffering.

So when Jesus uses hyperbole, the postmill is going to say, Jesus isn't speaking in strict

literal terms.

He's just saying there's great suffering that's happening.

And here's the key, though.

Here's the key.

Even if you don't take this view, this is what the postmill kind of rests everything on, this generation.

How do you understand when he says all these things will happen to this generation in verse 34?

Because you really have two options.

It's either this generation that Jesus is talking to, or he's talking about a future generation

that's potentially years off.

It really comes down to how you understand that.

Because when you take it to be in the past, then everything gets read in light of that.

And the verses that you're going to say, is this more literal or symbolic?

It's going to be like, oh, well, Jesus is speaking in hyperbole here.

And remember, this is going to necessarily influence how you interpret the book of Revelation, because that's kind of John's

Olivet Discourse.

Well, let's interpret that.

Yeah.

So we can –.

Yeah.

So what they're saying is that all these people have

mentioned some 20 about the souls who had been big -headed for the testimony of Jesus, the word of God, those who had not

worshipped the beast or its image.

And I received this marker for example.

They came to life and what?

They're saying these people have already come to life.

So you ready?

And are currently running with Christ.

The postman would say easily, we're running with Christ now.

That's all that the book of Revelation is talking about.

It's not a literal take, chronological view, but this is a present reality.

Jesus is raised at the right hand of the Father.

He's king of kings, ruling right now, Revelation 19.

And we are more than conquerors because we're in Christ and we've been given a mandate.

So you see the move.

It's a metaphorical, symbolic view of saying, oh, yeah, of course, that's right here and now.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, it's all saying that all these are going to be interpreted with how you understand Jesus and the Olivet

Discourse and the book of Revelation.

And that makes a lot of pre -millennials mad because they've been taught in a very literal future way of

thinking and saying pre -trib, pre -trib, pre -trib.

And they're just like, whoa, this doesn't make sense anymore.

And I love it because there's a massive rub.

We are not talking about similar ideas on the essentials.

Yes.

Right.

We all believe in the kingdom of God, but in different ways within these three orthodox perspectives.

So good questions.

What's another hand?

Oh, Mr. Keith.

So question is, what about the judgments?

What about Armageddon?

Well, they're going to say this is the first century.

Now, I can't remember the specifics of because you do have differing views.

Do you have the man of lawlessness?

Do you have the Antichrist?

Some people say that that was I can't remember, but someone in the first century.

And then you have other people that just kind of say, well, it's not talking about one central figure.

It's talking about kind of the spirit of the age.

And so I'm not sure exactly how they would say what specifically was Armageddon.

My guess is that they would say that probably is depicting the Roman suppression of

Israel and the destruction of the temple.

But that's just a guess.

Sure.

Yeah, they would appeal to for one.

And everyone has to acknowledge the book of Revelation is the most highly symbolic book that there is.

And so I even tell people, you really want to build your doctrine elsewhere because I promise you will read

Revelation in light of that.

But then you got Armageddon or the Battle of Gog and Magog talked about.

I think it's in Ezekiel.

So anyway, good question.

But it will somehow fit in the first century.

Any other questions out there?

Josiah.

That a boy.

Yes, absolutely.

And all eschatologies, when you're looking at the statute in Daniel and many passages in the

book of Daniel, all eschatology will see the book of Daniel linked with the Olivet Discourse and the book of

Revelation.

So all of you say, yes, they all relate together.

And the three Orthodox perspectives disagree on how those come together.

So you're 100 percent right.

Aaron.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

So the question is when when first or second Peter talks about

a day, the Lord is like a thousand years.

I think all that is telling us is how God relates to time is differently to how we

relate to time.

God is outside of time.

So what seems like a long period of time to us is nothing to God.

However, I've heard the premillennial view actually try to say, oh, this is a reference to the thousand

year end.

And I'm saying that's that's a fine connection.

Like if someone wanted to, but I think an underlying principle that I would agree with is God relates to time

differently because he created it.

Right.

So good question.

One more question.

All right.

Who's it going to be?

I had all these awesome questions lined up, but

I

want

one more question.

OK, thank you for that opinion.

All right.

A question.

Brian, you got you got to you got to.

Great question.

No, no, no.

Great question.

That was actually one of my questions.

How can things get better when things are so bad?

Right.

No, no.

But that that's a good question that the postman has to account for.

And some of y 'all will not like the answer, I promise.

But they would say we are not necessarily living in the last days.

We're living in the very early days of church history.

So they would say, give it time, give it more time, because you've got to think about it in terms of a graph.

OK, in terms of a trend graph, you may have downward spikes, things getting bad, but give it

time.

But things will eventually get better.

And they would just say, look to those parables where you got leavened bread expanding.

Right.

They would say a little bit.

But they would say the overall trend is big when you give it enough time.

So but I do think that is something hard for people to wrap their minds around with,

because we're so in our own experience.

Right.

We only have lived.

Well, some of us have lived more than just the 21st century.

They've dipped into the 20th century.

But it's hard to think about it in those terms because there's been so much evil.

Right.

And so we're all guilty of this.

But we have to at least ask the question, what did Matthew mean when he wrote what he wrote?

What did John mean when he wrote the book of Revelation?

We don't want to be newspaper exegetes and not that we are.

And every position could get out of balance.

But what you don't want to do is say, I have an experience and I'm going to shove that into the first century.

But nonetheless, you still that's a great question, right?

Because you could ask that question in many ways.

Post -millennial view says more people will be saved than lost.

Right.

This is another question I had because they eventually say more people be in heaven than hell.

How?

Because Jesus said narrows the gay and there's few there be that find it.

And like Pastor Nathan's sermon, he says this is actually a trajectory of life.

The narrow gate is coming to Christ initially.

And the post -millennials would say, well, this is talking to a first century Jewish audience.

And in this time of great persecution, very small numbers are getting in during this time of

great tribulation.

But in the age to come, we're going to see massive growth and expanse.

Erica.

Okay, good.

Okay, good.

Yeah.

Yeah, no, that's not.

Yeah, I think that's a fair comparison.

Yeah, I had someone ask me saying, well, you can't fault the pre -tribulation.

We hope that's true.

I'm like, Nathan, we hope this is true, that it's going to get better and better and better.

Yeah, these are.

I mean, that's a good comparison because the post -mill and pre -mill are like diametrically opposed to one another.

Right.

Oh, and then there's continuity and discontinuity.

There's strong similarities and there's strong dissimilarities.

Like you're saying, one dissimilarity is the tribulation already happened.

In the pre -mill view, that's something still future, and the church may or may not be raptured before or

during the midst of it.

Did I answer?

Right.

And it's probably because it's hard to be objective in doing hermeneutics.

Because a lot of times our reading of the scripture is influenced by our experience.

It's kind of due to our human nature.

And I remember when I thought there's no logical way that post -mill could be true.

I asked someone, I was like, how are things getting better?

And he goes, toothbrushes.

And I was like, I don't get it.

Like you said, there's been advancement in technology and things like that as well.

So, all right.

That it, Pastor Nathan?

All right.

Let's pray.