THE RAPTURE AND ISRAEL
By William West
Author of
ÒUnconditional Immortality Or Resurrection Of
The DeadÓ
THE PREMILLENNIALIST VIEW OF
CHRIST
ISRAEL RESTORED
THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON
THE PREMILLENNIAL THOUSAND-YEARS
THE THRONE OF DAVID
DANIEL'S 70 WEEKS AND THE
"GAP"
THE "ANTICHRIST" AND
"MAN OF SIN"
THE FIRST RESURRECTION AND THE
SECOND DEATH
THE THIRTEENTH TRIBE OF ISRAEL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
á Chapter 1: Premillennial
beliefs, a multitude of divisions and confusions
á Chapter 2: The nature of
Christ.
o
The nature of Christ before He became flesh
¤ (1) Jesus Christ, the God
who made all things and us
á Chapter 3: Christ as reviled
in the Old Testament
á Chapter 4: Christ as reviled
in the New Testament
o
Jesus in the New Testament
o
Jesus as reviled in John's gospel. The person who came from God and
returned to God
o
Jesus as reviled in Hebrews
á Chapter 5: Jesus Christ, the
God who became a man
o
The nature of Christ while He was flesh and dwelled among us [John
1:14]
¤ (1) Jesus Christ, the God
who became a man
¤ (2) Jesus Christ, the God
who died my death for my sin
o
The nature of Christ now and for all eternity
¤ (1) Jesus Christ, the God
who lives
¤ (2) Jesus in John's Gospel:
Came from Heaven, sent by God, will return to God
á Chapter 6: The nature of
mankind
o
(1) The nature of mankind from creation to the resurrection
¤ The nature of mankind before
the first sin
¤ The nature of mankind after
Adam's sin
¤ From birth to death
¤ From death to the
resurrection
o
(2) The nature of mankind for all eternity after the resurrection
á
Chapter 7: What body does Christ now have in Heaven?
á Chapter 8: Was the death and
resurrection of Christ foreknown by God?
á Chapter 9: Kingdom of Heaven
or kingdom of God?
á Chapter 10: Did God plan the
church or was it just an afterthought?
o
If both God and Christ had not failed
á Chapter 11: Back to the
temple made with hands
o
From the blood of Christ back to the blood of animals
o
From Christ our High Priest back to the Old Testament priesthood
o
From the substance back to the shadow
o
From the better New Covenant back to the Old Covenant
o
From that which makes alive back to that which kills
o
From free back to bondage
á Chapter 12: Old Testament
passages used by Millennialists to teach Christ would set up a kingdom and rule
the world from Jerusalem
á Chapter 13: New Testament
passages used by Millennialists
o
(1) Matthew 24: The destruction of Israel, this chapter is regarded by
many Millennialists as being their strongest proof of the Millennium.
¤ Preterit Eschatology -
Realized Eschatology - The A. D. 70 Doctrine
¤ The day of the Lord
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
second coming of Christ
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
resurrection and judgment of the righteous
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
resurrection and judgment of the wicked
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
final judgment
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
total destruction of the earth and the heavens which were made from nothing and
will return to nothing
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
total destruction of the lost
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
second death
¤ On the day of the Lord -
Death will be abolished
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
saved forever with the Lord
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
kingdom will be delivered up to God
¤ On the day of the Lord -
Christ will bring the lawless one to an end by the appearance of His coming
¤ On the day of the Lord -
"Wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God"
o
(2) 2 Peter 3
o
(3) 1 Thessalonians 4:17: Will the second coming of Christ be
Premillennial? Will there be an invisible return of Christ?
o
(4) Revelation 20: The Thousand years
o
(5) Other New Testament passages used by Millennialists. The first
resurrection and the second death. Is there one resurrection, or two, or more
then two resurrections?
á Chapter 14: The "last
days" passages
á Chapter 15: What is the
Great Tribulation?
á Chapter 16: What is
Armageddon?
á Chapter 17: Who is John's
"Antichrist"? Who is Paul's "man of sin"?
á Chapter 18: The
Premillennial views of "Hell"
á Chapter 19: Well-known
Millennium predictions that failed
á Chapter 20: The throne of
David
o
(1) The Jewish earthly kingdom of Israel
o
(2) The Millennium earthly kingdom of Israel
á Chapter 21: Is the Gospel
"The power of God to salvation"?
á Chapter 22: Israel, is it
still God's chosen people?
o
The two-fold promise
¤ The land promise
¤ The seed promise
o
God's Israel of today
á Chapter 23: The Thirteenth
Tribe
Summary: God,
Daniel or any others of the Old Testament prophets did not know about The
Millennium
FOREWORD
WHAT IS
PREMILLENNIAL BELIEFS?
For the most part the Premillennialists
beliefs are a revival of the beliefs of the Jews in the time of Christ. Israel
was looking for an earthly king who would drive Rome out, conquer other
nations, and restore the Kingdom as it was in the time of David. Premillennialists
say this is what Christ came to do but that God did not foresee the Jews
rejecting and killing Christ, but because they did, the restoring of the
kingdom was put off and the church age is an unforeseen substitute, which
begins at the death of Christ and will last only unto He comes back, then the
unforeseen church age (the "gap") will end, Israel and the Law of the
Old Testament will be restored. Christ, who most Millennialists believe to be a
created being and did not exist before His birth and He will literally sit on
the throne of David in Jerusalem and rule the world. Premillennialists make God
and Christ to have failed in their plan to setup the kingdom of Heaven because
of the rejection of Christ by the Jews; and His death, resurrection, or God did
not foresee the Òchurch ageÓ which they call the gap. To this basis teaching,
different Millennialists add a seven-year rapture, some before the Millennium,
and some after it, and many other contradictory variations of beliefs. In the
Millennium Satan will be bound for a thousand years, but will be loosed for a
"little season." He and his angels will make war on Christ in
Jerusalem and all but overcome Him (the battle of Armageddon), but God will
save Him. Satan, his angels, and the lost will come to their end in Gehenna
just south of Jerusalem, which will have been restored. Most believe Christ and
the saved will live forever on this earth and no person will ever go to Heaven.
In brief, the Premillennialists belief
is a complete rewrite of the Bible.
As David Brown puts
it, "Premillennialism is no barren speculation--useless though true, or
innocuous though false. It is a school of Scripture interpretation; it impinges
upon and affects some of the most commanding points of the Christian faith; and
when suffered to work its unimpeded way, it stops not till it has pervaded with
its own genius the entire system of one's theology, and the whole tone of
spiritual character, constructing, I had almost said, a world of its own; so
that, holding the same faith, and cherishing the same fundamental hopes as
other Christen, he yet sees things through a medium of his own, and finds
everything instinct with the life which this doctrine has generated within
him" Page 8, and "That the fleshly and sublunary state is not to
terminated with the second coming of Christ, but to be then set up in a new
form; when with His glorified saints, the Redeemer will reign in person on the
throne of David at Jerusalem for a thousand years, over a world of men yet in
the flesh, eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving in
marriage, under this mysterious way." Christ's Second Coming: Will It Be
Premillennial, Page 6, T. and T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1858.
The Messiah Israel
looked for was a person who would restore Israel as a nation and make them
supreme to all other nations as it was in the time of David. In the restored
nation they looked for, there would have been birth, life and death for all
just as there was in the time of David. No one thought they would have eternal
life. It was not something they looked for. Eternal life was something new to
the teaching of Christ.
Israel looked for a
messiah that was just as David was, a man that would live and die just as David
did, a person that was just a human as all other persons were. Not a Messiah
that would be God. The belief of Millennialists is that Christ was going to set
up the earthly kingdom of Israel and that the death and resurrection of Christ
were not in the plan of God. This view is basic to all the versions of the
Millennium. Without it the Millennium would be totally destroyed. With it,
salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ is totally destroyed.
There is no way both can be true. Many versions of Premillennial doctrines destroy
life after death for all and replace it with only a lifetime on this earth with
no evil, but one that still has death at the end of this lifetime. At the end
of the life of the Messiah the Jews looked for no one would have been saved
from the wages of sin, death, for the Jews would not have crucified Christ and
He would hot have shed His blood to give us life in place of death. No one, Jew
or Gentile, would ever have eternal life without the death of Christ. There
would be no life after death [1 Corinthians 15:13-19].
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chapter 1
Premillennial
beliefs, a multitude of divisions and confusions
After the Judgment
where will we spend eternity? When I begin to research for this book, I was
surprised and shocked to learn how many there are who say they believe the
Bible but do not believe in the deity and the preexistence of Christ, but
believe that He did not existence before His birth. Even more surprised to
learn that many believe that the sacrifice of Christ will be put aside and go
back to the Old Testament sacrifices of animal; back from the substance to the
shadow [Hebrews 8:5ff; 10:1-24]; and that the New Covenant is just an
afterthought. Satan is doing his work well.
But, I have been just
as surprised at how many there are that say they are Christians, members of the
church Christ give His life for that does not know that this kind of teaching
is going on in the religious world, often even in the congregation they attend,
and they do not seem to care. When I first became a Christian in the fifty,
most Christians know the Bible and would do all they could to teach any person
that was in err; now it often does not seem to be so.
Premillennial doctrine is a system (s) of interpretation, which
involves meaning and significance of the whole Bible, and determines the
present purpose of God. Premillennial beliefs make God and Christ to have
failed in their plan to setup the kingdom because of the rejection of Christ by
the Jews. It makes the church to be something God set up as a substitution. It
makes two resurrections, one of the just, which is most often said to be at the
second coming of Christ; and a second resurrection of the lost a thousand years
after the coming of Christ and the first resurrection. Some versions of
Premillennial doctrines make Christ be nothing more than a glorified man. Some
versions make Christ and all the saved to live on earth for all eternity with a
body much as we now have. In short, it is a system of faith that has little in
common with the New Testament. The Premillennial
doctrine is based on the belief that God can and did fail to accomplish his
will. If both God and Christ did not fail, the Premillennial belief is
completely destroyed.
1. The Scofield Bible says God
failed.
2. Hal Lindsey in "There's
A New World Coming" says God failed.
3. Charles Ryrie in "The
Basis of the Premillennial Faith" says God and Christ failed.
4. The Premillennial doctrine
affects the interpretation of the covenant with Abraham by making it not yet be
fulfilled, but still to be fulfilled at some future time.
5. It affects the
interpretation of God's promise to David that his descendants would rule over
Israel forever. Changes Christ now ruling in His kingdom, the church, to Christ
literally ruling on this earth at some time in the future.
6. It affects the
interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies of the kingdom by making the
kingdom be a combination of church and state on this earth, the earthly kingdom
of the Old Testament.
There are many divisions in Premillennial beliefs, an astounding lack
of agreement between themselves. In fact, there are so many different
variations of the Millennium theories that it would be impossible to accurately
define what is meant by Premillennial. That which one person believes and calls
Premillennial will be completely alien to that which another person believes
and calls Premillennial. One book on Premillennial beliefs will have only a few
similarity and many disagreements with another book on Premillennial beliefs.
Most Premillennialists
believe it was prophesied that Christ was to set up an earthly kingdom on the
throne of David and reign from Jerusalem, but because the Jews rejected Him the
establishment of the kingdom was put off unto after His second coming and the
church was established instead, but only as a temporary substitution. The Jews
will be restored, and the temple rebuilt.
Some Premillennialists
tell us that God planned for Christ to set up the kingdom of Heaven when He
came, but His rejection by the Jews was a surprise to God, therefore, He set up
the church as a substitution and at that time made plains to set up the kingdom
of Heaven at the second coming of Christ. But, other Premillennialists give us
many passages to show that God foretold of the kingdom to be set up at the
second coming of Christ. How could god
not have known that the kingdom would not be set up unto the second coming of Christ
and at the same time foretold it? This Premillennial belief makes Christ a
failure. He failed to set up the kingdom He came to set up. Do not believe this for Christ did what he
came to do. He came to fulfill the law and the prophets, which included setting
up the kingdom, and he did.
Most Premillennialists believe Christ did not exist unto his birth.
APOCALYPTIC OR EARLY MILLENNIUM BELIEFS: There
were much Apocalyptic writing in the time between the Testaments and in the
first century, which was believed by many Jews and the early Christians were
influenced by it. The early Millennium beliefs were that there was a dualistic
world of both good and evil but the good would in time overcome the evil. The
Apocalyptic Premillennial belief again became somewhat popular in the
nineteenth century.
MEDIEVAL ALLEGORICAL OR HISTORIC PREMILLENNIALISTS BELIEF:
Satan was lord over the world and Christ over the Church. There was an ongoing
battle between the two, but the battle has already been won through the cross
and eventually what domain was left to Satan would be taken from him. The
church will stay on earth and go through the tribulation period. Augustine's
allegorical view was the view of many in middle ages and the reformation, and
it is still believed by some today. It was the official belief of the medieval
church. However, there were groups of Apocalyptic Millennialists after the
Medieval Age, mostly under charismatic leaders and were often associated with
radicalism and counterculture groups.
DISPENSATIONAL
OR LITERAL PREMILLENNIALISTS
1.
Dispensationalist believes Christ failed to establish the kingdom He came to
establish.
2. Because He
failed to establish the kingdom He set up the church, which is a
ÒparentheticalÓ unto the time that He will be able to set up the kingdom.
3. God now
has two people. The Jews are GodÕs earthly people and the church is GodÕs
heavenly people. His heavenly people will eventually be taken from the earth
and the Òtimeline of prophetic will be Òrestarted,Ó the temple rebuild and
animal sacrifices will be renewed.
á
Although there are many versions,
this is the base view and these three points are in most versions.
CLASSICAL OR UNMODIFIED DISPENSATIONAL
belief is a radical division of the Apocalyptic Premillennialists, which teach
there are seven distinct periods and God deals with man according to different
principles in each of the periods. This view was first taught by John Nelson
Darby about 1800 to 1880 and became well know when Scofield put most of Darby's
views in the Scofield Reference Bible. Belief of Premillennialists goes back to
about the third century. The beliefs of Dispensationalists begin with John
Darby. When a doctrine is known to have
an origin eighteen centuries after the New Testament, should not all know it
could not be from the Bible? In the past, The Dispensational doctrine was
taught mostly by Pentecostal and Holiness churches but has now become wider
spread. It seems to have become the most accepted version of Premillennial
doctrines and has now spread to many churches.
Some of the
basic views of Dispensationalists
1. Mankind was innocent from
creation to the fall.
2. Mankind under conscience
from the fall to the flood. Mankind with authority over the earth from the
flood to Abraham.
3. Mankind under promise from
Abraham to the Law of Moses.
4. Mankind under the Law from
the Law of Moses to Christ
5. Mankind from the death of
Christ to His second coming.
6. Mankind from the second
coming to the end of the Millennium.
7. From the second coming to
the end of the Millennium.
Dispensationalists believes:
1. There will be a second
coming of Christ to set up His kingdom after the seven-year Tribulation.
2. There will be a resurrection
of the just before the millennium and a resurrection of the unjust after the
millennium.
3. The Jews will repent and
receive the land forever that was promised to Abraham, which they say was
unconditional and have not been fulfilled.
4. The "Kingdom of
Heaven" is the kingdom of David that was postponed when the Jews rejected
Christ and He failed to establish an earthly kingdom with Israel, which He came
to establish, but it will be restored for Israel. That the land promise was
unconditional and was unfulfilled; therefore, Israel must be restored.
5. The "Kingdom of
God" is God's universal kingdom that will be worldwide. It seems that many
Dispensationalists believe the Kingdom of Heaven will be God's kingdom on earth
of Jews, and the Kingdom of God will be God's kingdom in Heaven of Gentiles.
Instead of 144,000 Jews being the only ones in Heaven, as many Premillennialists
believe, many Dispensationalists have no Jews and all Gentiles in Heaven; In other words, most dispensationalists
believe Jews will spend eternity on earth on the land God promised to Abraham
forever and Gentiles will spend eternity in Heaven [Note: This is
Dispensationalism as it is set forth in the Scofield Bible but this or no other
belief seems to be universal among Premillennialists or Dispensationalists so
do not be surprised if one says "that is not what I believe." Many do
but some do not]. Dispensationalists are divided on where the church will be
both during the rapture and during the millennium; also where and what the
church will be after the millennium. Some teach it will be in Heaven or will
dwell in the New Jerusalem hovering above the earth unto the millennium is
over, others say the church will return to earth when seven-years are over and
the millennium begins.
DISPENSATIONALISTS TODAY AND ISRAEL BELIEFS THE SAME
á
Both believe the nation of
Israel was going to be literally restored.
á
Both believe the Law is to be
restored, including the temple being rebuilt and animal sacrifices.
á
Both believe Israel is to be
superior to all other nations.
á
Both believe the Christ is to be
an earthly king of the restored nation if Israel.
á
Both believe ChristÕs kingdom is
to be an earthly kingdom.
o DispensationalistÕs
believe Christ is coming to do the very things Israel rejected Him for not
doing. If He had done what the dispensationalistÕs say He is going to do, the
Jews would never have rejected Him.
PROGRESS OR MODIFIED DISPENSATIONAL PREMILLENNIALISTS
have called in question and abandoned some of the teaching of classical
dispensational beliefs.
POSTMILLENNIALISTS believe the
thousand years, like many things in Revelation, is not to be taken literally,
but symbolical of a long period of time. Unlike many Premillennialists, most
post Millennialists do not believe there will be a literally thousand years.
Christ is now ruling as King and Priest [Hebrews 7] in the church, and
eventually, the whole world will become Christians, and there will be a long
period of peace. Christ will return after this time of peace. This
Postmillennial belief was the dominant view among Protestants from the
Reformation unto after the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909.
Premillennialists
or Postmillennialists
THE RAPTURE: But which rapture?
1. "PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE" Many Dispensationalists believe this view of
the rapture. In this view the rapture will occur before the period of
persecution, before the tribulation period begin. The rapture and an invisible second
coming will take place before the seven-year tribulation. After the seven-year
rapture Jesus will return to earth. Some, who believes this view, believe that
there will be one coming of Christ, some two, and some three or more. More Premillennialists
than may believe this view than any of the others. The pre-tribulation rapture
was not taught before about 1830 by anyone and only became well known after the
Scofield Reference Bible was published in 1909. Dave MacPherson says, "We
have seen that a young Scottish lassie named Margaret Macdonald had a private
revelation in Port Glasgow, Scotland, in the early part of 1830 that a select
group of Christians would be caught up to meet Christ in the air before the
days of Antichrist. An eye-and-ear witness, Robert Norton M.D., preserved her
handwritten account of her pre-trib rapture revelation in two of his books, and
said it was the first time anyone ever split the second coming into two
distinct parts or stages. His writings, along with much other Catholic Apostolic
Church literature, have been hidden many decades from the mainstream of
Evangelical thought and only recently surfaced. Margaret's views were
well-known to those who visited her home, among them John Darby of the
Brethren. Within a few months her distinctive prophetic outlook was mirrored in
the September, 1830 issue of The Morning Watch and the early Brethren assembly
at Plymouth, England. Early disciples of the pre-trib interpretation often
called it a new doctrine." "The Incredible Cover-Up: The True Story
of the Pre-Trib Rapture" 1975, Page 93.
2. "MID-TRIBULATION RAPTURE" This view is that the church will be raptured
away during the middle of the tribulation.
3. "POST-TRIBULATION RAPTURE" This view is that the rapture will occur
after the seven-year tribulation.
4. "PARTIAL-RAPTURE" Only certain believers will be raptured. They do
not agree with each other on whom or how they will be chosen or why only some
of the saved will be raptured. This view is somewhat like the Pre-tribulation
rapture, which believes the church is composed of true Christians and those who
only make a profession of being a Christian. The true Christians will be raptured
away and not go into the tribulation but those who only make a profession of
being a Christian will be left on earth and be in the tribulation.
5. "PREWRATH RAPTURE" Believers will escape the wrath by being removed
from the earth before it begins.
6. "MANY MINI-RAPTURES" This view is that there will not be just one
rapture but many mini-raptures at different times. They do not agree with each
other on (1) how many there will be, (2) if any are all are passed, (3) if any
are all of the mini-raptures are yet to be.
7. "ALREADY PAST RAPTURE" Or the A. D. 70 rapture. If you are
living today, you have been "left behind." This view, like the above
views, crosses denominational lines and is found in many of them.
8. "SECRET RAPTURE" In many of their books of fictions there is a secret
rapture? Secret from whom? If it were secret where did they find anything about
it? When they tell about it in their books, how can it be secret? If all
Christians were suddenly absent from the earth, how could there be anything
"secret" about it? They are doing all the teaching they can to make
sure that it is not a secret from anyone. The resurrection is never called a
Òsecret,Ó it will come as unexpected as a thief, but it will be seen and known
about by all.
9. "FIRST AND SECOND STAGES" R. H. Boll's view is that Christ will come
in two stages. In the first stage the saints will be removed from the earth for
a time; then the "real second coming" will be when Christ returns
after the first stage.
"COVENANT THEOLOGY" is that God
covenant of grace remains the same in all the seven dispensations throughout
the Old and New Testaments as opposed to the different purposes for each of the
seven dispensations of Dispensational beliefs. Covenant Theology especially
believe Israel and the church are under the same covenant of grace as opposed
to both being under different covenants of grace as Dispensational Premillennialists
believe them to be.
PRETERITS (full) view is that the second
coming of Christ has already taken place along with the great tribulation, the
rapture and the final judgment occurred in A. D. 70 when Jerusalem was
destroyed and no second coming of Christ, no resurrection, no tribulation is
yet to come, and the old heavens and earth completely passed away and now we
are living in the new heavens and earth; the Great Commission has been
completely fulfilled. The A. D. 70 theory called "Realized
Eschatology" seems to be a renewal of the Preterits belief under a new
name. Realized Eschatology teaches that Christ came in A. D. 70, all prophecies
were fulfilled at that time, the Old Testament saints were resurrected, and all
that are in Christ go to be with Christ (supposedly in Heaven) at the moment of
their death.
PRETERITS (partial) view is that Christ
did come in judgment on Israel in A. D. 70 and came in judgment on others
nations, but the judgment of all at the second coming of Christ is yet to come.
AMILLENNIALIAL VIEW believes the thousand years
(ten time ten times ten, a full or complete period of time; ten in the Bible
denotes a fullness, a thousand denotes a large indefinite number, God owns the
cattle on a thousand hills Psalm 50:10) are symbolic of a long period of time,
which begin with the establishment of the kingdom of God or Heaven (the church)
in A. D. 30 and will last unto the return of Christ when the kingdom will be
delivered up to God [1 Corinthians 15:24]. Amillennialists believe the
"signs of the times" (tribulation, apostasy, the spirit of the
Antichrist, etc.) to be marks of this present time, and there will not be a
"golden age" of unprecedented gospel victory over all the earth
before His return. The symbolism of the binding of Satan in Revelation 20
refers to Satan now being limited by the victory of Christ over death.
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES view of the Millennium is that
144,000 will be chosen to go to Heaven and with Christ rule over all others who
will be on earth. Also, all will be given a second chance in the Millennium.
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST view of the
Millennium is that the Millennium will be in Heaven. During the thousand years
the saints will be in Heaven, and at the end of the Millennium a Holy City will
descend from Heaven and the saved will live a wonderful life in it forever.
Their Heaven will be on this earth. The resurrection and destruction of the
wicked will be at the end of the Millennium. They believe that at the second
coming of Christ the unrighteous will be kill, the righteous will be taken back
to Heaven for a thousand years. During the thousand years only Satan and his
angels will inhabit the earth. At the end of the thousand years Christ will
return to earth with the saved and the unrighteous will be raised for judgment.
Satan gathers his angels and with the help of the resurrected unrighteous will
attempt to interfere with the judgment. They will be destroyed. No seven-year
rapture.
LATTER-DAY SAINTS (Mormons)
view of the Millennium is that Christ will destroy the wicked at His coming and
the earth will be transformed to a terrestrial glory, as they believe it was
before Adam's sin. During the thousand years, life on earth will be about as it
is now but without sin, poverty, or crime. They will have children, build
houses, and in all ways go about life as now. With their "new
revelations" they add many more details, to many to list in the space I
have. After the Millennium, they have three degrees of glory. The highest will
be the celestial glory that will be on this earth, which will have the things
the earth now has, cities, rivers, animals, etc. The Terrestrial and Celestial
glories will not be on earth, but I have not found where they tell where these
two glories will be. All that are not Mormons will be in one of the two. Only
the few who were Mormons and fell away will be cast in outer darkness where
there is no glory, but what happens to them seems not to have been made known
at this time; or just not made known to those who are not Mormons; they keep
much of their beliefs from those who are not Mormons.
CHURCH FATHERS: Some were
influenced by the belief of the Jews that the Christ was to restore the earthly
kingdom to Israel but their belief was noting like the Premillennialists of today.
About the only thing the two have in common was the restoring of the earthly
kingdom of Israel. They did not believe in the seven year rapture, an invisible
coming of Christ, two resurrections, God having two kingdoms, an earthly
kingdom of Jews, and another heavenly church kingdom. In spite of the fact that
their belief is alike in only one point many Premillennialists claim them as
early Premillennialists. This is like the Baptist finding one point where the
Catholics believe the same and claiming them as Baptist.
THE TEN LOST TRIBES ARE ENGLAND, WHICH IS THE REAL ISRAEL TODAY!
I found it difficult to believe, and I think many will find this just as
difficult to believe as I did, yet there is a rather large group within the
Millennium beliefs that believe that the Anglo-Saxons Race is the true Israel.
Richard Brothers was the originator, and it was later spread by Piazzi Smyth.
There are books both pro and con on this theory. Perhaps the best book in
defense of this theory is by Professor E. Odlum, "God's Covenant Man:
British Israel." Herbert W. Armstrong of the Church of God taught this.
For those who would like to know more of this theory, Foy E. Wallace, Jr. in
"God's Prophetic Word" Pages 386-450 is good. That the Anglo-Saxon
race is the ten tribes of Israel is completely contrary to the history of the
origin of that race. The Mormons make a similar claim, that the Americans
Indians are the lost ten tribes.
Some Premillennialists believes Christ will go back to Heaven with the
saved after the thousand years, some after a thousand and seven years. They
believe the judgment will be after the Millennium, after the thousand years of
the kingdom on earth, and the believers will go to Heaven and the lost will go
to Hell.
There are some Premillennialists that believe Christ will rule from Heaven,
but the kingdom of God will be on this earth.
"That the fleshly
and sublunary state is not to terminate with the second coming of Christ, but
to be then set up in a new form; when, with his glorified saints, the redeemer
will reign in person on the throne of David at Jerusalem for a thousand years,
over a world of men yet in the flesh, eating and drinking, planting and
building, marrying and giving in marriage, under this mysterious way. This is Premillennialism, or - as the
early fathers, and after them the reformers and our elder divines, termed it -
Chiliasm...I have said, for example, that they expect the saints, in glorified bodies,
to be associated with Christ in his Millennial reign; but what saints, is not
agreed. The early chiliasts - so far as I have been able to gather their views
- thought that those whom Christ will find alive at his coming would be left
below during the thousand years, and only such as had died before his coming
would appear with him in glory. A few in modern times are of the same opinion,
postponing the change of the living saints till the end of the Millennium. But,
the great majority of modern Premillennialists hold that the saints of both
classes - the dead by resurrection, and the living in instantaneous
transformation - will appear with Christ in glory at the beginning of the
Millennium. Again, I have said they look for a reign over a world of men in
flesh and blood; but what men, is not agreed. The moderns, for the most part,
expect the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, and their supremacy over the
nations of the earth: while the early chiliasts appear to have agreed with
their opponents, that Christianity had forever abolished Jewish peculiarities;
and though they were termed Judaizers, this was not, so far as I can observe,
because they contended for any Millennial supremacy of Jew over Gentiles, but
because their system Judaized Christianity itself. In a word, I have said they
expect a reign upon earth of Christ and his glorified saints; but whether
actually upon the earth, or only over and hovering above it, in the air, and
whether visibly or invisibly - whether the ruled will see their rulers, and, if
so, to what extent, whether fully or but partially, whether always or only at
time - is by no means agreed." David Brown, "Christ's Second Coming:
Will It Be Premillennial?" Pages 6-7, 1858.
But, other Premillennialists
believes Christ will rule from Heaven but the kingdom of God will be on this
earth. Some Premillennialists believes Christ will go back to Heaven with the
saved after the thousand years. They believe the judgment will be after the
Millennium, after the thousand years of the kingdom on earth, and the believers
will go to Heaven and the lost will either go to Hell or be totally destroyed.
Many believes
there will be a rapture in which the dead saints will be resurrected and both
the living saints and the resurrected saints will be taken from the earth to be
with Christ for seven years before the beginning of the thousand years.
There is a multitude of divisions in Millenialists with all the
divisions saying all the others divisions are wrong, are changing the Bible.
Many believes there will be a seven-year rapture in which the dead
saints will be resurrected and both, the living saints, and those who would
have been resurrected will be taken from the earth to be with Christ for seven
years. After reading many pages by those who believe in the
"rapture," I am thoroughly convinced that on this they are the in the
company of the most divided and confused people on earth. I think it would be
difficult to find any two that believe the same thing. Below is a list of some
of the major versions of the rapture, but within each of these versions most
have their own view that is different in one or more ways then any of the
others who say they believe the same view. The incompatibility of the many
versions of the Millennium doctrines is, to say the least, amazing.
SOME OF THE SEVEN-YEAR RAPTURE VERSIONS
THE TRIBULATION PERIOD: Most think it
is the 70th week of Daniel's 70 weeks in Daniel 9. There is little or no unity
of teaching on what will happen in this "week." About all that most
do agree on is that it will be a bad time to be on earth. Many see the nations
that exist today, the U. S., Russia and others being in the tribulation. For years
in the recent past Russia was seen to have a large part it in the tribulation,
but now few see Russia in it. Every uprising or war and every natural disaster
is seen as a sure sign that the Millennium is near only to be replaced by new
ones when they become past history.
AFTER THE MILLENNIUM: Most, but not all, Millennialists believes
Christ will forever be on earth and will rule in the "new Jerusalem."
The earth will be restored to be as it was before Adam sinned. It seems few Millennialists
believes anyone will be in Heaven, but at their funerals most have gone to
Heaven to be with the others that have gone before them. Others believe mankind
will forever be on the earth and no person will ever be in Heaven, but Christ
will rule the earth from Heaven.
The basic
views (in general) of Premillennialists
Premillennialism, the
God who failed to be God, the God that was defected by man.
Through out this article, when I say, "Millennialists
believe" it will be something that many of them do believe, but also
something that some of them may not believe. There is such a disagreement among
them that there is no part of Premillennialism that is believed by all.
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CHAPTER 2
THE NATURE OF
CHRIST
"We know that,
when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see His just as He
is" [1 John 3:2]. Christ now, while He is at the right hand of God in
Heaven has a spiritual body and this is how we will see Him when He returns.
Not the nature He had when He had for about 33 years when He was in the image
of Adam (an earthly body as Adam), but the nature He has now while He is at the
right hand of God in Heaven. What Christ is like now is what He will be like
"when He appears." The body He now has and will have at that time is
basis to understand what we shall be after the resurrection.
The nature of Christ before He became flesh,
the God who made all things and us.
"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image"
[Genesis 1:26].
"In the beginning was the word [Christ], and the word [Christ] was
with God, and the word [Christ] was God. He [Christ] was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being by Him [Christ], and apart from him [Christ] nothing
came into being that has come into being. In Him [Christ] was life, and the
life was the light of men...he [Christ] was in the world and the world was made
through Him [Christ]...and the word [Christ] became flesh, and dwelled among
us" [john 1:1-14].
John states
three facts in such a simple way that a child could understand them and could
not misunderstand that Christ is God.
Then he
restates it so that no one could misunderstand what he had said.
á "For you know the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became
poor, that you through his poverty might become rich"
[2 Corinthians 8:9]
His claim to being
equal with God was even acknowledged by His enemies, but they called it
blasphemy [John 5:17; 5:18; 8:58-59; 10:33-36]. If, as some Premillennialists
tells us that Christ did not exist unto His birth, it would have been blasphemy
and a sin to make Himself equal with God. Therefore, if He did not exist before
His birth, He did blaspheme and He was a sinner just as we are and His death
did not save us from our sins. But, some Premillennialists tell us that Christ
did not exist unto His birth!!! Is there anyway God's word could say "the
word" preexisted that they would believe? "The word" existed
before time began.
1. "And now, glorify Me together with Yourself, Father, with the
glory which I had with you before the
world was" [John 17:5]. Christ existed with God before the world was made, long
before He became a man.
2. And again Christ says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the
Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty" [Revelation 1:8]. Jesus clearly says He is
"the almighty."
3. "For by Him [Christ] all things were created, both in the heavens
and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers and
authorities--all thing have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all thing, and in Him
all things hold together" [Colossians 1:16-17]. Jesus Christ is the Creator
of the universe. Three things are here stated.
o
(1) "For in Him were all
things created"
¤ All things "in the havens and upon the earth"
¤ "Things visible and thing invisible"
¤ "Whether thrones or dominions or principalities or power"
¤ "All things have been created through Him, and for Him"
o
(2) "And He is before all
things"
o
(3) "And in Him all things
hold together"
4. Christ said, "I
and the Father are one. The Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus
answered them, 'Many good works have I showed you from the Father; for which of
those works do you stone Me'? The Jews answered him, 'For a good work we stone
you not, but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, make Yourself God'" [John
10:30-33]. If Christ is not God, He is an impostor and a liar. The Jews did not
understand Christ to be saying He was God's chosen one, as many Premillennialists
say. Without any doubt, they understood Him to be saying He was God.
5. "A virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel" [Isaiah 7:14]. Immanuel
means "God with us."
Matthew says, "Now all this is come
to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the
prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth
a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel: which is, being interpreted, God
with us" [Matthew 1:22-23].
6. "Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and savior, Christ Jesus:
who gave Himself for us" [Titus 2:13-14].
7. "Of our God and savior,
Christ Jesus" [2 Peter 1:1 New American Standard Version].
8. "But of the Son he says 'Your
throne, O God, is forever and ever'" [Hebrews 1:8].
9. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and
forever"
[Hebrews 13:8; also Hebrews 1:12; Psalm 102:25-27].
10.
"Christ Jesus who,
existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped" [Philippians 2:5-6].
11.
Also, Revelation 10:6 and 14:6-7
Only God is to be worshiped. No man or angel is to be worshiped, but Christ
is worshiped [Isaiah 45:21-23; Matthew 2:1; 14:33; 28:9; 28:17; Luke
24:51-52; John 9:37-38; Acts 7:59; 1 Corinthians 16:22; Philippians 2:11-11; 1
Timothy 1:12; Revelation 1:17; 5:8-14; many more]. If Christ were not God, but accepted or allowed Himself to be
worshiped, He would be putting Himself in the place of God when He was only a
man; it would have been blaspheming as the Jews frequently accused him of doing
[Mark 2:6-8; John 5:18].
JESUS IS THE "I AM"
"Before
Abraham was born, I AM" [John
8:58].
"But he
said unto them, I AM, be not
afraid" [John 6:20; Matthew 14:27; Mark 6:50]. "It is I" in many
English translations, but "I AM"
in the Greek. See Alfred Marshall "Parallel New Testament In Greek And
English," Page 46.
Barnes Notes on the New Testament, Colossians 1:16. "He does not
declare that he created all things in the spiritual kingdom of God, or that he
arranged the events of the gospel dispensation...but that everything was
created by him...There could not possibly be a more explicit declaration, the
universe was created by Christ, than this. As if the simple declaration in the
most comprehensive terms were not enough, the apostle goes into a specification
of things existing in heaven and earth, and so varies the statement as if to
prevent the possibility of mistake...There could not be a more positive
declaration than this, that the universe was created by Christ; and if so, he
is Divine. The work of creation is the exertion of the highest power to which
we can form a conception, and is often appealed to in the Scriptures by God to
prove that he is Divine, in contradistinction from idols...The assertion is,
the 'creative' power of Christ was exerted on 'all things.' It is not in
reference to angels only, or to man, or to Jews, or to Gentiles; it is in
relation to 'everything in heaven and on earth.'"
Adam Clarke Commentary on Colossians 1:15-16: "Verse 15. Who is the
image of the invisible God? The counterpart of God Almighty, and if the image
of the invisible God, consequently, nothing that appeared in him could be that
image; for if it could be visible in the Son, it could also be visible in the
Father; but if the Father be invisible, consequently, his image in the Son must
be invisible also. This is that form of God of which he divested himself; the
ineffable glory in which he not only did not appear, as to its splendor and
accompaniments, but concealed also its essential nature; that inaccessible
light which no man, no created being, can possibly see. This was that Divine
nature, the fullness of the Godhead bodily, which dwelled in him. The
first-born of every creature. I suppose this phrase to mean the same as that,
Philippians 2:9: God has given him a name which is above every name; he is as
man at the head of all the creation of God; nor can he with any propriety be
considered as a creature, having himself created all things, and existed before
anything was made. If it be said that God created him first, and that he, by a
delegated power from God, created all things, this is most flatly contradicted
by the apostle's reasoning in the 16th and 17th verses. Colossians 1:16,17 As
the Jews term Jehovah becoro shel olam, the first-born of all the world, or of
all the creation, to signify his having created or produced all things; (see
Wolfius in loc.) so Christ is here termed, and the words which follow in the
16th and 17th Colossians 1:16,17 verses are the proof of this. The phraseology
is Jewish; and as they apply it to the supreme Being merely to denote his
eternal preexistence, and to point him out as the cause of all things; it is
most evident that St. Paul uses it in the same way, and illustrates his meaning
in the following words, which would be absolutely absurd if we could suppose
that by the former he intended to convey any idea of the inferiority of Jesus
Christ. Verse 16. For by him were all things created, two verses contain parts
of the same subject. I shall endeavor to distinguish the statements of the
apostle, and reason from them in such a way as the premises shall appear to
justify, without appealing to any other scripture in proof of the doctrine,
which I suppose these verses to vindicate. Four things are here asserted: 1.
That Jesus Christ is the Creator of the universe; of all things visible and
invisible; of all things that had a beginning, whether they exist in time or in
eternity. 2. That whatsoever was created was created FOR himself; that he was
the sole end of his own work. 3. That he was prior to all creation, to all
beings, whether in the visible or invisible world. 4. That he is the preserver
and governor of all things; for by him all things consist. Now, allowing St.
Paul to have understood the terms, which he used, he must have considered Jesus
Christ as being truly and properly God. I. Creation is the proper work of an
infinite, unlimited, and unoriginated Being; possessed of all perfection's in
their highest degrees; capable of knowing, willing, and working infinitely,
unlimitedly, and without control: and as creation signifies the production of
being where all was absolute nonentity, so it necessarily implies that the
Creator acted of and from himself; for as, previously to this creation, there
was no being, consequently, he could not be actuated by any motive, reason, or
impulse, without himself; which would argue there was some being to produce the
motive or impulse, or to give the reason. Creation, therefore, is the work of
him who is unoriginated, infinite, unlimited, and eternal. But, Jesus Christ is
the Creator of all things, therefore, Jesus Christ must be, according to the
plain construction of the apostle's words, truly and properly GOD. II. As,
previously to creation, there was no being but God, consequently, the great
First Cause must, in the exertion of his creative energy, have respect to
himself alone; for he could no more have respect to that which had no
existence, than he could be moved by nonexistence, to produce existence or
creation. The Creator, therefore, must make everything FOR himself. Should it
be objected that Christ created officially or by delegation, I answer: This is
impossible; for, as creation requires absolute and unlimited power, or omnipotence,
there can be but one Creator; because it is impossible that there can be two or
more Omnipotents, Infinities, or Eternals. It is therefore, evident that
creation cannot be effected officially, or by delegation, for this would imply
a Being conferring the office, and delegating such power; and that the Being to
whom it was delegated was a dependent Being; consequently, not unoriginated and
eternal; but this the nature of creation proves to be absurd. 1. The thing
being impossible in itself, because no limited being could produce a work that
necessarily requires omnipotence. 2. It is impossible, because, if omnipotence
be delegated, he to whom it is delegated had it not before, and he who
delegates it ceases to have it, and consequently ceases to be GOD; and the
other to whom it was delegated becomes God, because such attributes as those
with which he is supposed to be invested are essential to the nature of God. On
this supposition God ceases to exist, though infinite and eternal, and another
not naturally infinite and eternal becomes such; and thus, an infinite and
eternal Being ceases to exist, and another infinite and eternal Being is
produced in time, and has a beginning, which is absurd. Therefore, as Christ is
the Creator, he did not create by delegation, or in any official way. Again, if
he had created by delegation or officially, it would have been for that Being
who gave him that office, and delegated to him the requisite power; but the
text says that all things were made BY him and FOR him, which is a
demonstration that the apostle understood Jesus Christ to be truly and
essentially God. III. As all creation necessarily exists in time, and had a
commencement, and there was an infinite duration in which it did not exist,
whatever was before or prior to that must be no part of creation; and the Being
who existed prior to creation, and before all things-all existence of every
kind, must be the unoriginated and eternal God: but St. Paul says, Jesus Christ
was before all things; ergo, the apostle conceived Jesus Christ to be truly and
essentially God. IV. As every effect depends upon its cause, and cannot exist
without it; so creation, which is an effect of the power and skill of the
Creator, can only exist and be preserved by a continuance of that energy that
first gave it being. Hence, God, as the Preserver, is as necessary to the
continuance of all things, as God the Creator was to their original production.
But, this preserving or continuing power is here ascribed to Christ, for the
apostle says, And by him do all things consist; for as all being was derived
from him as its cause, so all being must subsist by him, as the effect subsists
by and through its cause. This is another proof that the apostle considered
Jesus Christ to be truly and properly God, as he attributes to him the
preservation of all created things, which property of preservation belongs to
God alone; ergo, Jesus Christ is, according to the plain obvious meaning of
every expression in this text, truly, properly, independently, and essentially
God. Such are the reasonings to which the simple letter of these two verses
necessarily leads me. I own it is possible that I may have misapprehended this
awful subject, for humanum est errare et nescire; but I am not conscious of the
slightest intentional flaw in the argument. Taking, therefore, the apostle as
an uninspired man, giving his own view of the Author of the Christian religion,
it appears, beyond all controversy, that himself believed Christ Jesus to be
God; but considering him as writing under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost,
then we have, from the plain grammatical meaning of the words which he has
used, the fullest demonstration (for the Spirit of God cannot lie) that he who
died for our sins and rose again for our justification, and in whose blood we
have redemption, was GOD over all. And as God alone can give salvation to men,
and God only can remit sin; hence with the strictest propriety we are commanded
to believe on the Lord Jesus, with the assurance that we shall be saved. Glory be
to God for this unspeakable gift!"
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CHAPTER 3
CHRIST IN THE
OLD TESTAMENT
Luke 24:46: "And
He said unto them, THUS, IT IS WRITTEN, THAT THE CHRIST SHOULD SUFFER AND RISE
AGAIN FROM THE DEAD THE THIRD DAY." HOW COULD THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION
OF CHRIST ON THE THIRD DAY BE WRITTEN WHEN PREMILLENNIALISTS TELL US THAT NOT
EVEN GOD KNEW ABOUT THE REJECTION AND DEATH OF CHRIST? YET, CHRIST SPEAKS OF IT
REPEATEDLY AND REPEATEDLY SAYS IT WAS WRITTEN. GOD, CHRIST AND THE PROPHETS DID
KNOW, WHICH MAKES NOT POSSIBLE THE CLAIM OF PREMILLENNIALISTS THAT GOD DID INTEND
TO RESTORE THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL AT THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST BUT AGAINST HIS
WILL GOD HAD TO PUT IT OFF BECAUSE THE JEWS REJECTED HIM AND PUT HIM TO DEATH.
There are many prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament. Prophecies about:
1. The birth of Christ. Genesis
3:15; Galatians 4:4
2. The lineage of Christ.
Genesis 49:10; Luke 3:33
3. Christ was the prophet to
come. Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Acts 3:20-22
4. The betrayal of Christ. Psalm
41:9; Luke 22:47-48
5. Christ being sold for thirty
pieces of silver. Zechariah 11:11-12; Matthew 26:15; 27:1-10
6. The death of Christ.
Zechariah 12:10; John 10:27
7. The resurrection of Christ. Psalm
16:10; Luke 14:7 Acts 2:25-28
8. Christ would be a priest and
king to the church, not to Israel, not the king of only one earthly nation for
only the lifetime of one person. Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:5-6
It is repeatedly said
the prophets knew beforehand and wrote of the suffering, death and resurrection
of Christ, yet Millennialists say not so, not God or the prophets knew. "For I delivered unto your first of all
that which also I received: that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried; and that
He has been raised on the third day according to the scriptures"
[1 Corinthians 15:3-4]. The scriptures Paul was speaking of was the Old
Testament scriptures. How was the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus
"according to the scriptures" if not even God foreknow about it?
Psalm 22:1; 16-18: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken
me...They pierced My hands and My feet...They divide My garments among them,
and for My clothing they cast lots." Psalm 69:21: "They also give Me gall for My food, and for My thirst they give
Me vinegar to drink."
Psalm 2: "Why do the nations rage, and the
peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the
rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah, and against his anointed,
saying, let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He
that sits in the heavens will laugh: The Lord will have them in derision. Then
will he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure: yet
I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of the decree:
Jehovah said unto me, You are my son; This day have I begotten you. Ask of me,
and I will give you the nations (footnote: Gentiles) for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your
possession."
1. Acts 4:24-25 quotes this
Psalm and applied it to the first coming of Christ.
2. Acts 13:33 applied it to the
resurrection of Christ, not to His second coming and the Millennium.
3. Hebrews 1:5 and [4] Hebrews
5:5 both quote Psalm 2:7 as having been fulfilled. Verse 8 shows the worldwide
nature of the Kingdom of Heaven, all who will believe.
Isaiah 7:14: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and
bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel
(God with us)." "Now all this is come to pass, that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they
shall call his name Immanuel (God
with us)" [Matthew 2:22-23: Luke 1:26-35].
Isaiah 9:6-7: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, mighty
God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government
and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his
kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with righteousness from henceforth,
even forever."
Isaiah 53: "Who has believed our message? And to
whom has the arm of Jehovah been revealed? For he grew up before him as a
tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness;
and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was
despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and
as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our
peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have
gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and Jehovah has laid on
him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he
opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep
that before its shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and
judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them
considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the
transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? And they made his grave
with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet, it pleased Jehovah to
bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering
for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of
Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and
shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant
justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because
he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet
he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." This chapter of Isaiah is a death blow to
the Millennium teaching that Christ was to restore the kingdom to Israel, but
because the Jews rejected Christ and put Him to death, restoring Israel and the
kingdom was put off unto the second coming. It is quoted and applied to
Jesus as being fulfilled in Christ by six people in the New Testament.
1. By the apostle John in John
12:38
2. By the apostle Paul in
Romans 10:16
3. By the apostle Matthew in
Matthew 8:17
4. By the apostle Peter in 1
Peter 2:22
5. By Philip in Acts 8:32-38
6. By Luke in Luke 22:37
Millennialists tell us
that Christ came to establish a temporal kingdom of Israel but did not
establish it because the Jews rejected him, but He will establish it when He
comes a second time. YET, THEY TELL US CHRIST WAS REJECTED BECAUSE HE DID NOT
ESTABLISH THE TEMPORAL KINGDOM OF ISRAEL HE CAME TO ESTABLISH, WHICH WAS THE
VERY KIND OF KINGDOM THE JEWS WERE LOOKING FOR. Which way was it? It could not
be both ways. According to Millennialists, He came to establish the kind of
kingdom they were looking for and wanted, but they rejected Him because of it.
If He came to establish the kingdom of Israel the Jews were looking for, why
did they reject Him? Premillennialists now teach the same error the Jews
believed, that the Christ was to set up an earthly kingdom of Jews. If Christ
were just a man, as many Millennialists tell us he was, would the kingdom He
set up of Jews has lasted any longer then the kingdom David set up? What would
have happened to the kingdom after His death? The Jews would have had an
earthly kingdom, but what would have happened to each Jew after his or her
death? If the Jews had not rejected Christ,
He would not have been put to death. If Christ had not been resurrected, there
would be no resurrection for anyone, no resurrection for Jew or Gentile. Did
salvation and eternal life come because of something God did not foresee?
1 Corinthians 10:3-4: "And did all eat the same spiritual
food; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drink of a spiritual
rock that followed them: and the rock
was Christ." "The Christ" footnote in American Standard
Version. "The Anointed One"
in the Christian Bible. Or as most Premillennialists would say, "The
Messiah." The point Paul was making is that the Corinthians thought that
the relationship they had with God was guaranteed because they believed Christ
and He would look out for them, but he points out to them that the Jews had the
very same privileges, that Christ was
looking out for them, but many of them fell in the wilderness for God was
not pleased with them. This clearly shows the preexistence of "the Messiah," and that the Messiah (Christ) accompanied
the Jews all through the forty years in the wilderness. "We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were
destroyed by serpents"
[1 Corinthians 10:9 New Revised Standard Version]. "Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted" [New
King James Version]. Verse 9, "Neither let us tempt Christ."
Adam Clarke: "Christ: this was the Rock that followed them, and
ministered to them; and this view of the subject is rendered more probably by
what is said 1 Corinthians 10:9, that they tempted Christ, and were destroyed
by serpents...that Christ is intended by the spiritual rock that followed them:
and that it was he, not the rock, that did follow or accompany the Israelites
in the wilderness. This was the angel of God's presence who was with the Church
in the wilderness, to whom our fathers would not obey, as St. Stephen says,
Acts 7:38,39...And this affords no mean proof that the person who is called
Yehovah in the Old Testament, is called Christ in the New. By tempting Christ
is meant disbelieving the providence and goodness of God; and presuming to
prescribe to him how he should send them the necessary supplies, and of what
kind they should be." Notes on 1 Corinthians 10:1-9.
Isaiah 6:1-10; John
12:41: "Jesus" in John
12:41 is the "Jehovah" of
Isaiah 6:1-10. Albert
Barnes says, "In the prophecy, Isaiah is said expressly to have seen Jehovah, Ver. 1, and in ver. 5: 'Mine
eyes have seen the king, Jehovah of
hosts.' By his glory is meant the manifestation of him, the shechinah, or
visible cloud that was a representation to God, and that rested over the
mercy-seat. This was regarded as equivalent to seeing God; and John here
expressly applies this to the Lord Jesus Christ. For he is not affirming that
the people did not believe in God, but is assigning the reason why they believe
not on Jesus Christ as the Messiah. The whole discourse and illustration has
respect to the Lord Jesus, and the natural construction of the passage requires
us to refer it to him. John affirms that it was the glory of Messiah that
Isaiah saw, and yet Isaiah affirms that it was Jehovah. And from this, the inference if irresistible that John
regarded Jesus as the Jehovah, whom Isaiah saw. The name Jehovah is never in
the Scriptures applied to a man, or an angel, or to any creature. It is the
peculiar, incommunicable name of God. So great was the reverence of the Jews
for that name that they would not even pronounce it. This passage is, therefore,
conclusive proof that Christ is equal with the Father" Barnes' Notes on
John 12:41. Adam Clarke says, "It appears evident from this passage, that
the glory which the prophet saw was the glory of Jehovah; John, therefore,
saying here that it was the glory of Jesus, shows that he considered Jesus to
be Jehovah."
Isaiah 11:10: "And it shall come to pass in that
day, that the root of Jesse that stands for an ensign of the people, unto Him shall the Gentiles seek; and
his resting place shall be glorious." Romans 15:12: "And again, Isaiah says, 'There shall
be the root of Jesse, and he that arises to rule over the Gentiles; on him
shall the Gentiles hope.'" It is now when Christ is ruling over both
Jews and Gentiles in the church that Isaiah said the Gentiles shall seek Him,
therefore, God knew long before about both the rejection of Christ and about
the church.
Isaiah 40:3: "The voice of one that cries, 'Prepare
you in the wilderness the way of Jehovah;
make level in the desert a highway for our God.'"
In both Matthew 3:3 and Mark 1:3, John the Baptist says this was spoken of
Jesus; therefore, Jesus is the Jehovah and God of Isaiah 40:3.
Psalm 45:6; Psalm 102
- Hebrews 1:6-12: "And let all the
angels of God worship Him...but of
the Son he says 'Your throne, O God,
is forever and ever.'" Would God command the angels to worship someone
who was just a man, just a created being, when throughout the Bible we are
taught not to worship a man or any created being or thing? The fact that God said worship Him and He is called "God" in both the Greek and
the Hebrew (Psalm 45:6) prove that He is not a created being. But, the
writer of Hebrews does not stop. Speaking of Jesus he says, "You Lord, in the beginning did lay the
foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hand: they shall
perish; but you continue: and they all shall wax old a does a garment: and as a
mantle shall you roll them up, as a garment, and they shall be changed; but you
are the same, and your years shall not fail" (A quotation from Psalm
102:25-27). A clear statement that Christ made everything that has been made,
and that He is eternal. Psalm 102 is a
prayer to God; in it God is praised (see verse one). It is addressed to
Jehovah, "But You, O Jehovah, will abide forever; And Your memorial name to
all generations" [102:12 American Standard Version]. "For He has looked down from the height
of his sanctuary; from heaven did Jehovah
behold the earth" [102:19].
"I said, O My God, take me not away
in the midst of my days: your years are throughout all generations. Of old you
did lay the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of your
hands. They shall perish, but you shall endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old
like a garment; as a garment shall you change them, and they shall be changed:
but you are the same, and your years shall have no end" [Psalm
102:24-27]. The earth came from nothing and will go back to nothing, but God
remains the same. We learn from the writer of Hebrews that this is speaking of
the Lord Jesus. He is speaking of Jesus the Son of the Father [Hebrews 1:1-14].
In Hebrews 1:10-12 he quotes Psalm 102:25-27 and applied it to Christ.
"And You, Lord, in the
beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of
your hands: they shall perish; but you continues: and they all shall wax old as
does a garment: and as a mantle shall you roll them up, as a garment, and they
shall be changed: but you are the same, and your years shall not fail"
[Hebrews 1:10-12]. The Hebrew writer takes this prayer, which is a prayer to
God and applied it to Christ. If Christ were just a created being, this would
be blasphemy.
Psalm 110 - Matthew
22:43-44: "What think you of the
Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, the son of David. He said unto
them, How then does David in the spirit call him Lord, saying, 'The Lord said
unto my Lord, set you on my right hand, till I put your enemies underneath your
feet?" The question is how can the Christ be both David's Lord and
David's son. They believed the Christ would be born of the seed of David and
reign over them. How then could He be David's Lord when He would be born long
after the death of David? They could not answer Him. Those that believe Christ
did not preexist before His birth must answer the question the Pharisees could
not answer; the question that made them not dare ask Him any more questions
[Matthew 22:46]. Neither can anyone that believes Christ did not preexist
before His birth answer it.
Isaiah 40:3: "A voice is calling, 'Clear the way for
the Lord in the wilderness; make
smooth in the desert a highway for our God.'"
Both Matthew and Mark say this was spoken about John the Baptist who came to
prepare the way for Jesus ("a
highway for our God") [Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3].
Micah 5:2: "From you One will go forth for Me to
be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity" New American Standard Bible. ["Have been from of old, from everlasting" King James
Version]. Christ existed from eternity, not as Millennialists say, "Only
from His birth."
"THE
ANGEL OF JEHOVAH"
"The angel of Jehovah"
appeared frequently in the Old Testament, and is called, "angel of Jehovah," "Jehovah," and "God." He possesses
characteristics that can only belong to deity, and he accepted worship, which
created angels did not [Revelation 22:8-9]. He is called "God" or "Jehovah"
a number of times, see Genesis 16:7-13, 22:11-18; 31:13; 48:14; Exodus 3:2-22;
[Joshua 5:13-15 and Judges 6:13-24] Judges 2:1-3; Zechariah 3:11; [Genesis
32:30 and Hosea 12:4-5].
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Hagar:
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Abraham:
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Jacob:
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Moses:
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Joshua:
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Judah when under the
leadership of Joshua:
1.
"The angel of Jehovah...said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and
have brought you unto the land which I swore unto your fathers" [Judges 2:1]. Exodus 20:2
says, "I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt."
2. "The angel of Jehovah...said... I will never break my covenant with
you." In Leviticus 26:44-45 it is Jehovah
who said He will never break HIS covenant He made with their ancestors.
3. The angel of Jehovah said, "I
will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your
sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you." But in Joshua 23:13
it was Jehovah that said He would
not drive them out and they would be a snare and a thorn to them. The three
persons in the Godhead are one God. ÒThe angel of Jehovah" is one of the Godhead, therefore,
is God.
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Gideon:
The Angel of Jehovah appeared to Muons wife:
Jesus said, "Before Abraham was born, I AM" [John 8:58]. "The origin and meaning of the
name Jehovah are especially brought out in relation to Israel. When Moses at
the burning bush says to God: 'Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel,
and shall say unto them, The Elohim of your fathers has sent me unto you; and
they shall say unto me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?' And the
Lord said to Moses, 'I am that I am.' The words could be rendered, 'I will be
that I will be,' and often the word is used in that sense, 'I will be with
thee.' Its origin is exactly the same as that of Jehovah--being, existence--and
certainly denotes the One who will always be: personal, continuous, absolute
existence" Nathan J. Stone, "Names of God," page 20. In
Exodus 3:13-15 "The angel of
Jehovah" says he is "I am
that I am." Most conservative Bible
scholars agree that the angel of Jehovah that is used often in the Old Testament
is Christ.
There are other
passages where the Angel of Jehovah is found, but these are more than enough to
show Christ was working throughout the Old Testament. See Judges 13:1-22;
Genesis 48:15-16; 32:28; 32:24; Exodus 23:20-21; 32:34; Isaiah 63:8-9. The
angel of Jehovah is God, but He is distinguished from God the father, yet they
are one God.
WHO IS TO BE
WORSHIPPED?
The Bible clearly teaches that idolatry is a sin. It may be the most
condemned sin in the Bible. The word of God is clear that
only God is to be worshiped. Not other gods, idols, nothing in His creation,
images, saints, angels, or Satan [Matthew 4:10]. Yet the Angel of Jehovah
accepted worship, which created angels did not [Revelation 22:8-9]. Christ is worshipped through out the New
Testament by many with no rebuked.
"Worthy is the Lamb that has been slain to receive the power, and
riches, and wisdom, and might and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every
created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth,
and on the sea, and all things are in them, heard I saying, Unto him that sits
on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the
glory, and the dominion, forever and ever. And the four living creatures said,
Amen. And the elders fell down and worshipped
" [Revelation 5:12-14].
The Bible is clear in
it's teaching that only God is to be worshipped [Exodus 34:14; Psalm 81:9;
97:7; Isaiah 42:8; 48:11; Matthew 4:10; Luke 4:8; Revelation 19:10]. Jesus is
worshipped. If He is not deity, to worship Him would be a sin and His accepting
worship would make Him a sinner. If Millennialists were right when they teach
He is not deity, the New Testament must be thrown out for it is a fraud, and
Christ must be completely rejected. "Thus
says Jehovah, the King of Israel,
and his Redeemer, Jehovah of hosts;
I am the first, and the last; and besides me there is no God." Isaiah
44:6 is quoted and applied to Christ in Revelation 1:17.
THE OLD AND NEW COVENANTS
"Behold, the days come, says
Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with
the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land
of Egypt...But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after these days, says Jehovah: I
will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and
I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah: for
they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says
Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no
more"[Jeremiah 31:31-34]. It was Jehovah that said He would take away
the first. The writer of Hebrews applied this to Christ. "Then said I. Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is
written of me) To do your will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifices and offering
and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you would not, neither had
pleasure therein (the which are offered according to the law), then has He [Christ] said, Lo, I am come to do your will. He [Christ] takes away
the first, that He [Christ] may establish the second. By which will we
have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all"[Hebrews 9:7-18]. It was Christ that took away the first covenant.
A man could not take away a covenant made by God. "We have such a high priest, [Christ]...But now has he [Christ] obtained
a ministry the more excellent, by so much as He [Christ] is also the mediator of a better covenant,
which has been enacted upon better promises. For if the first covenant had been
faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second. For finding fault
with them, He [Christ] says, behold, the days come, says the Lord,
that I [Christ] will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to
the covenant that I [Christ] made
with their fathers in the day that I [Christ] took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt; for
they continued not in my covenant, and I [Christ] regarded them not, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I
[Christ] will make with the house of
Israel after those days, says the Lord; I [Christ] will put my laws into their mind, and on their heart also will I [Christ]
write them: and I [Christ] will
be to them a God, and they shall
be to me a people" [Hebrews 8:1-13].
"For where a testament (covenant) is, there must of necessity be the death
of him that made it" [Hebrews 9:16]. It was by His death that the Lord
made the covenant we are now under. "Lo,
I [Christ] am come to do your will. He
[Christ] takes away the first, that He [Christ] may establish the second. By which will [covenant] we have been sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest indeed stands day by
day ministering and offering often times the same sacrifices, the which can
never take away sins; but He
[Christ], when He [Christ] had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God" [Hebrews
10:9-13]. It was Christ (called "Jehovah"
in Jeremiah 31:31-34) that took away the first covenant and made a new
covenant. No man or angel could have taken the first covenant away, and no man
of angel could make a new covenant for us. Jesus and God is one God. "I and the Father are one"
[John 10:30]. "That they may be one,
even as we are...that they may all be one; even as you, father, are in me, and
I in you...that they may be one, even as we are one" [John 17:11-22].
We may not be able to understand the mystery of how one God is made up of three
persons, but the Bible clearly teaches that the three are one. Nor can we
understand the great mystery of how a husband and wife are one flesh [Ephesians
5:31-32].
TWO JEHOVAH'S
IN ONE VERSE
"Thus says (first) Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer,
(second) Jehovah of Hosts; I am the first, and the last; and besides me there is no God (first and second Jehovah together)"
[Isaiah 44:6]. "And besides me there
is no God" is applied to both Jehovah's.
In the New Testament,
God the Father calls the Son "God." "But of the Son [Christ] He
[God the Farther] says, Your throne, O God
[Christ], is forever and ever" [Hebrews 1:8; Psalm 45:6]. In this passage,
God the Father calls Christ "God."
A few Premillennialists may believe in the preexistence and deity of Christ,
but the predominate belief among them is that He did not exist before His
birth. They have denied that Christ is now or ever have been equal with God and
denied that Christ had any part in making the earth and man.
With them, Satan has won. They have
denied Christ.
1. If Jesus is not God, all
that worship Him are idolaters.
2. If Jesus is God, all that
say He was just a good man, just the man that was chosen by God over all other
man, have they not denied the Christ? Is Premillennial doctrines not
Antichrist?
o
Any person who worships a man as if He were God, is an idolater and
blasphemer
o
Any person who denies the Christ is Antichrist [1 John 2:22-23].
o
Both are a sin that will bring death to those who believe and teach it?
Is there anyway that the one that is such a sinner as either of the two would
be to be acceptable to God?
o
If one person can believe Christ is God and another person believes
Christ to be only a man, a created being, and both are acceptable to God; is
there anything that any person can believe and not be acceptable to God; or is
there anything that a person does not believe that will make him or her not be
acceptable to God?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CHAPTER 4
CHRIST AS
REVILED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and
they shall call His name Immanuel, which translated means, 'God with us'"
[Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6].
"And Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the
palsy, Son, your sins are forgiven. But there were certain of the scribes
sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why does this man thus speak? He
blasphemes: who can forgive sins but
one, even God?" [Mark 2:5-7].
"For this cause; therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill him,
because he not only brake the Sabbath, but also called God his own father, making Himself equal with God"
[John 5:18].
"But the man from whom the demons were gone out prayed him that he
might be with him: but he sent him away, saying, Return to your house, and
declare how great things GOD has done
for you. And he went his way, publishing throughout the whole city how great things JESUS had done for him"
[Luke 8:28-39].
"Christ Jesus: who, existing
in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be
grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in
the likeness of man; and being found in fashion as a man. And being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of
death, even death on a cross" [Philippians
2:5-8].
"Looking for the blessed hope and
appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ"
[Titus 2:13].
"But of the Son he says
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever" [Hebrews 1:8]
"By the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus
Christ" [2 Peter 1:1]
Jesus said
unto John, "I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is a thirst of the
fountain of water of life freely. He that over comes shall inherit these
things: and I will be his God, and
he shall be my son" [Revelation 21:6-7].
"And He is the image of the invisible God, the
first-born of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the
heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
rulers or authorities; all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He
is before all things, and in Him all things hold together"
[Colossians 1:15-17]. This passage tells up four things about Jesus.
1. Jesus is one with the Father. "And He
is the image of the invisible God." Also Hebrews 1:3.
2. Jesus created all things in the heavens and on earth. "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; All things have been created by Him and for Him." "By
faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God so that what is seen has not been made out of
things which appear" [Hebrews 11:3]. Also, Psalm 33:9; 148:5.
3. Jesus was before all things in Heaven and on Earth. "And He is before all things."
4. Jesus upholds the universe. "In Him
all things hold together." Jesus is "upholding all things by
the word of his power" [Hebrews 1:3].
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
JESUS AS
REVILED IN JOHN'S GOSPEL
THE PERSON WHO
CAME FROM GOD AND RETURNED TO GOD
The theme of John's
Gospel is Jesus who is God, was with God before the world was, came from God,
made eternal life available to man, and went back to God. One cannot believe
this Gospel and believe the view of many Millennialists that Jesus was just a
man and did not exist before His birth.
Jesus the word was in the beginning with God - Jesus, the word, was God-
He made all thing.
Existed before Abraham was born
Equal with God - one with God
Jesus is the only begotten God
Jesus made himself out to be God
Jesus has life in Himself
Jesus the bread of life-the power to give and sustain life
and raise the dead
Jesus was sent by God from Heaven - has seen God
Jesus came down out of Heaven - descended from Heaven
Jesus ascending back to Heaven where He was before
Jesus going to Heaven to prepare a place of us in Heaven
"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it
were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if
I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself,
that where I am, there you may be also" [John
14:2-3].
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - -
JESUS AS
REVILED IN HEBREWS
"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in
many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son,
whom He appointed heir of all things, through [through
Christ] whom also He made the world. And
He [Christ] is the radiance of His
glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the
word of His power...You, Lord, (Jesus)
in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
works of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain; and they all will become
old as a garment, and as a mantle, You will roll them up; as a garment they
will also be changed. But, You are the same, and Your years will not come to an
end" [Hebrews 1:1-12].
It is clear
that the writer of Hebrews thought Christ was more than just a man. In Hebrews
Christ is:
á
Greater than the angels [Hebrews 1:7]
á
His throne (kingdom) is forever and ever [Hebrews 1:8]
á
Christ made the earth and the heavens [Hebrews 1:10; Psalm 102:25-27]
á
The earth and the heavens shall come to an end, but Christ will
continue [Hebrews 1:11-12]
á
Christ upholds all things by the power of His word [Hebrews 1:3]
á
Christ is the very image of God's substance [Hebrews 1:3]
á
Brought the power of the devil to nothing by His death [Hebrews 2:4]
á
Christ is over His house, and we (the church) are His house [Hebrews
3:6]
á
He is our great high priest who has passed through the heavens [Hebrews
4:14]
á
He is the author of eternal salvation to all that obeys Him [Hebrews
5:9]
á
He is a priest "after the power of an endless life" [Hebrews
7:16]
á
He "abides forever"
and is able to save them that come to Him [Hebrews 7:25-26]
á
He is the mediator of a better covenant [Hebrews 8:6]
á
He is high priest of the good thing to come, a greater and more perfect
tabernacle not made with man's hands, not of this creation (not of this earth)
[Hebrews 9:11]
á
He entered into Heaven [Hebrews 9:24]
á
Through Christ we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken [Hebrews
12:28]
á
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever"
[Hebrews 13:8]
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CHAPTER 5
THE NATURE OF
CHRIST
WHEN HE
"BECAME FLESH, AND DWELLED AMONG US" [John 1:14]
(1) Jesus
Christ, the God who became man
(2) Jesus
Christ, the God who died my death for my sin
THE NATURE OF CHRIST NOW AND FOR
ALL ETERNITY
(1) Jesus
Christ, the God who lives
THE CHRIST JOHN SAW
In Revelation 1:12-18
John sees a vision of Christ. John, who had been with Christ for three and a
half years, saw "The Lord of
Glory." The glory, the awesomeness of the grandeur was so overpowering
that John was so awe struck by His glory that John "fell at His feet as a dead man." John saw Christ in His
glory as He is now, not as John had seen Him when He was "like His brethren in all things" [Hebrews 2:17].
1. John had seen Him on earth
when He was "like His brethren in
all things" [Hebrews 2:17].
2. John sees a vision of Christ
in the grandeur He now has in Heaven [Revelation 1:12-18].
WHAT KIND OF BODY DOES CHRIST
NOW HAVE?
"The first man
was of earth, formed from dust, the second is from heaven" [1 Corinthians
15:47 The New American Bible].
1. "The first man Adam became a
living soul (psukee)" [1 Corinthians 15:45]. Nehphesh in Old Testament,
psukee in New Testament. A living breathing being of this earth.
o
Adam was "that which is
natural" Verse 46.
¤ Adam was "of the earth, earthy" Verse
47.
¤ "As we have borne the image of the earthy" Verse 49 Which is "A natural body" Verse 44.
2. "The last Adam became a
life-giving spirit" [1 Corinthians 15:45].
o
Christ is "that which is
spiritual" Verse 46.
o
Christ is "of heaven" Verse
47.
¤ "We shall also bear the image of the heavenly" Verse 49 Which is a "spiritual body" Verse 44.
Ephesians
1:20-23 "Which he wrought in Christ,
when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit his right hand in the
heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion,
and every name that is named."
A red warning flag: In the thousands of web pages and the many
books I have read, I have found that most who use "God's Messiah,"
"God's anointed one," "Yahweh," or some of the other names
they use in the place of Christ Jesus most always give Him a lower place than "In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in he beginning with God.
All things were made through Him; and without Him was not anything made that
has been made" [John 1:1-3]. Some make Christ be not much more than a
glorified man. Many make Him be a created being, not the creator. A few teach
that Satan was at one time God's number one created being, but when he sinned
and was cast out of Heaven, Christ took his place. Most make Him be something
more than a man as he is now but less than God. There are some who use names like "God's Messiah" to make Christ
be less than He "who, existing in
the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be
grasped" [Philippians 2:6-11]. Much of the writing by Premillennialists
writers are unclear and hard to understand, most likely because there are many
versions of the Premillennialists doctrines, but if I understand them, many of
them do not believe Christ has always existed or that He is equal with God. They
seem to be saying that He came into being at His birth and is now only
temporary in Heaven, and that when He returns to earth, He will always be on
earth with a body of this earth.
Note: "Messiah" is a Biblical name.
Christ is the Greek translation of Messiah [John 1:41], but look out when
something like "God's anointed
one," "Yahweh," or "God's
Messiah" is used. This writer believes the Premillennialists belief to
be one of, if not the most Antichrist teaching in the world, but their
Antichrist teaching is being done in the name of God and in a way that will
make many believe they are hearing the truth about Christ; that He is not God,
but just a man. Satan does not care if you believe Christ is the greatest man
that ever lived and that He is the most chosen man by God, just as long as you believe He is just a man for then you have denied
the Christ, therefore, you belong to Satan, not to God. Those who believe
this Antichrist teaching cannot obey the gospel; they have rejected Jesus and
made Him into a man. No man could save us from the wages of our sin, death. To
deny Christ is to take away all hope of eternal life. If you believe the view
of Christ, which many Premillennialists have, Satan has won the victory. It
does not matter that you believe any other part of the Bible for Satan has won.
You will have denied Christ. "But
there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall secretly
bring in destructive heresies, denying even the master that bought them,
bringing upon themselves swift destruction" [2 Peter 2:1]. Premillennialists
make the Christ that bought them with His blood that they may have life to be
only a man.
Paul often used "Lord" ["Kurios" in
the Greek is translated from "Yahweh - Jehovah" in the Hebrew]. In
the Old Testament Yahweh - Jehovah was one who had no beginning, one who has
always existed.
"Premillennialism is no barren speculation - useless though true,
and innocuous though false. It is a school of Scripture interpretation; in
impinges upon and affects some of the most commanding points of the Christian
faith; and, when suffered to work its unimpeded way, it stops not till it has
pervaded with it own genius the entire system of one's theology, and the whole
tone of his spiritual character, constructing, I had almost said, a world of
its own...he yet sees things through a medium of his own, and finds every thing
instinct with the life which this doctrine has generated with him" David
Brown, "Christ's Second Coming" Page 8, 1858.
PREMILLENNIAL DOCTRINES
THE PREMILLENNIAL TEACHING ABOUT
CHRIST, FROM GOD OR SATAN?
There are divisions in
the Millennium beliefs. Most Premillennialists believe it was prophesied that
Christ was to set up an earthly kingdom on the throne of David and reign from
Jerusalem, but because the Jews rejected Him the establishment of the kingdom
was put off unto after His second coming and the church was established
instead. They believe the Jews will be restored, and the temple rebuilt and
temple worship restored.
Some Premillennialists
believe Christ did not exist unto His birth. Other Premillennialists believe
Christ existed equal with God before His birth, but He was raised a man and He
is now a man at the right hand of God and will be a man when He returns to rule
the earth and will forever be a man.
Some Premillennialists
believe Christ, who they do not call Christ, but "God's Messiah" will
rule the earth from Jerusalem on the throne of David, and that the body we now
have will live forever on this earth, and some that we will have the same the
body that we now have but that it will be changed in such a way that it is not
really the body we now have and the earth will not really be the earth that we
now live on but a new earth.
To many, to put this
body off and put on a new "spiritual
body," and move from the earth that they know, to a place they know
nothing about what it is like is a scaring and frightening thing. This version
of Premillennialists beliefs say no, you can keep the body you now have but it
will be greatly improved. It will not have any of the bad things that many
bodies now have, and it will live forever on this earth that you know, but it
will be a greatly improved earth. Satan says you can have all this; all you
have to do is to believe Christ is just a man, greater than any other man, but
still just a man who had no preexistence before His birth.
You cannot believe the view of many Millennialists on the preexistence
and deity of Christ. They deny that Christ is now or ever have been equal with God.
Many deny that Christ had any part in making the earth and man. Not only
must the preexistence and deity of Christ be denied, but many versions of Premillennial
doctrines are also dependence of the earthly body being raised and existing
forever. "Flesh and blood"
must inherit the kingdom of God. Though some Premillennialists changes the body
and also changes the earth; they say the earthly body that will be resurrected
will be changed to such an extent that no one now would know their own body and
the earth changed to such an extent that no one would know it to be the same
earth, yet they say this body we now have must be raised and live forever in
the kingdom of God on this earth. With some, the change of the body or the
change of the earth does not seem to be as great as it is with others, but it must be this earthly body of flesh
and blood. Without it, the whole of Premillennial order falls. What body we
will have in the resurrection is discussed in "Unconditional Immortality
Or Resurrection Of The Dead" by William Robert West, ISBN: 0-7414-4620-0.
What a person thinks
about Jesus affects: (1) Whether or not they should worship Him as God, whether
they should trust and obey Him. (2) Whether or not a person who does not
believe in the divinity of Jesus is a Christian or not a Christian. "What we think about Jesus Christ
affects not only questions surrounding the subsistence of the Godhead, but it
also delves into entirely relevant issues, such as whether or not one should
trust, obey and worship Christ as God, the nature and efficacy of His atoning
offices, as well as what constitutes a Church and what are its rites. He who
believes in the divinity Jesus Christ is Christian; he who does not, (whatever
his profession), is a mere Desist. Without the Divinity, the Bible is, 'the
drama of Hamlet, with the part of Hamlet omitted.'"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chapter 6
THE NATURE OF
MAN
(1) The nature of man from creation to the resurrection.
(2) The nature of man [those who are not in Christ] after
the judgment. This is discussed in another chapter
of this book on "The Second Death."
(3) The nature of man [those who are in Christ] for all
eternity after the resurrection. "For our citizenship is in heaven, from
which (from Heaven) also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
who will transform the body of our humble state (This earthly body of flesh
and blood, which "cannot inherit the kingdom of God" will not be an
earthly body) into conformity with the
body of His glory" (It will be transformed into conformity with the
body Jesus now has in Heaven) [Philippians 3:20-21]. Just as we now have the
right bodies for this earth, we will have the right bodies for Heaven. The
bodies we now have will be transformed to be like His glorious body now is. The
resurrected body Christ had for the forty days He was on earth after His
resurrection is sometime read into this passage, but it says nothing about
Christ in the forty days before His ascension, but Christ now in Heaven where
our citizenship is, that we will be transformed from this earthly body, "the body of our humble state into
conformity with the body of His glory," the glory Christ now has in
Heaven, the glory He had before He became a man, the glory Christ was speaking
of in John 17:5 "And now, Father,
glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the
world was."
One of the favorite
questions of those who do not believe the saved will be in Heaven is, "An
eternity in heaven doing what?" Turn this question around and it is,
"An eternity on earth doing what?" We are not told what we will be
doing in Heaven, therefore, cannot know. The God that could make both Heaven
and earth will have something for us to do. We may ask, "What are the
angles doing and what will they be doing for all eternity?" Heaven is much
greater then the earth, therefore, there will be much more to do in Heaven than
on earth. Though it is asked often, there is no point to the question. What do
they think they are proving by it? This ("An eternity in heaven doing
what?") is an argument that is made when the person making it has no
scriptural argument. It is an argument made entirely from human wisdom, not from
the Bible.
A new body, not the same body that was put into the earth at death, not
a renewed or restored earthly body like Adam. "But someone will say, 'How are the dead raised? And with what
kind of body do they come?' You fool! That you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps
of wheat or of something else. But, God gives it a body just as He wished...So
also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is
raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it
is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body" [1
Corinthians 15:35-44]. The body of Adam was a natural body from the day God
made him. He had a body made from the earth and for life on earth, not a
spiritual body. Now in this lifetime we are like Adam, a natural body made from
this earth. We are now in the image of Adam, an earthly being, which is "a living soul." "If there is
a natural body (A body of this earth in the image of Adam), there is also a spiritual body (A body
not of this earth, not in the image of Adam before or after he sinned)" [1
Corinthians 15:44]. "So also it is
written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul.'" (Adam became "a living soul" with his first
breath, not after his sin. He was "a
living soul" from his first breath unto his last breath. His sin did
not change his being "a living
soul." "So also it is
written" in Genesis 2:7 where "soul" is from
"nehphesh" and is used four times in chapter one where it is speaking
of animals being living souls before the same word is applied to Adam.) "The last Adam became a life-giving
spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the
spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from
heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the
heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And just as we have borne the
image of the earthy, (Adam) we shall
also bear the image of the heavenly (Christ)." Just as we now bear the image of Adam, now have a natural body (a body
of flesh and blood), we shall bear the image of the heavenly (Christ - a
spiritual body). Most that believe in any of the many variations of Premillennial
beliefs is that Christ will have a flesh and blood body and that he will
establish the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth and rule the world from Jerusalem.
They believe both Christ and all the saved will be on this earth for all
eternity and will have a flesh and blood body in the image of Adam, which will
be restored to be like Adam before he sinned. How could God have said any
clearer that we will not have a natural (earthly, flesh and blood) body in the
image of Adam, but that we will have a spiritual body in the image of the heavenly.
If, as many Premillennialists teach, Christ will have the same body Adam had
before he sinned, why will the image of one (Adam) that we now have, be changed
to the image of the other (Christ)? How can those who believe the Premillennial
doctrine believe this passage? Do they "wrest, as they do also the
other scriptures, unto their own destruction" [2 Peter 3:16]? Will Christ
say to them, "But in vain do they
worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men"? [Matthew
15:9]. "Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God: (Adam was flesh
and blood "a living soul" both before and after he sinned. If we were
restored to be "a living soul" like Adam before he sinned, we would
be flesh and blood and not be able to inherit the kingdom of God if it were on
this earth or if it were in Heaven) nor
does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (This earthly body is the perishable that shall not inherit the
imperishable). Behold, I tell you a mystery;
we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (The perishable image
of Adam "a living soul"
will be changed to the imperishable image of Christ, a "spiritual body") in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will
sound, and the dead be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed (not
restored). For this perishable
("a living soul") must put on
the imperishable, and this mortal (another way of saying the same thing
that this mortal "a living soul" which is the image of Adam from his
first breath to his last, from the day he was created a flesh and blood being,
from before he sinned unto his death) must put on immortality" [1
Corinthians 15:45-54]. This mortal flesh
and blood perishable "living being" that is the image of Adam must be
changed to an immortal imperishable spiritual body in the image of Christ.
How could this one passage not be a death blow to the Premillennialists
beliefs?
"HOW ARE THE DEAD RAISED?
AND WITH WHAT MANNER OF BODY DO
THEY COME?"
Six comparisons that
shows clearly and beyond any doubt that the resurrection body, the body that
will come out of the grave, will be "changed"
to a spiritual body and will not be this earthly body which we now have.
The body (in
the image of Adam) is but a bare grain of the body that shall be (the image of
the heavenly) [1 Corinthians 15:36-37].
MANY MANSIONS IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE "IN
MY FATHER'S HOUSE ("Who is
in Heaven" Matthew 5:16; 5:45; 5:48; 6:1; 6:9; 7:21; 10:32,3: and many
more) are many mansions...I go to prepare a place for you. (Where did
Christ go to prepare a place for us? In the mansions in my Father's house in
Heaven) For it was not David who ascended
into heaven, but himself says: The Lord
said to my Lord, 'sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool
for your feet'" [acts 2:34-35]. "And if I go and prepare a place for
you (a place in My Father's house in Heaven), I come again, and will receive
you unto Myself, that where I am there you may also be" (with Me in the place I go to prepare for
you in my Father's house in Heaven) [John 14:1-3]. "But now I go unto him (unto my Father who is in Heaven that
sent me") "The word (Christ
who was with the Father in the beginning and has always been like God, a
heavenly being) became flesh, and dwelled
among us" (John 1:14) [John 16:5]. He is no longer flesh, but has now
gone back to Heaven to prepare a place for the saved and will come back for
them. "He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My
throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne"[Revelation
3:21]. Christ is now on His Father's throne in Heaven where He went to prepare
a place of us in His Father's house. I was told by a Premillennialists friend,
"Jesus is now in heaven 'drawing up the plans,' to coin a phrase, of the
'new heavens and the new earth' in what has and will be called the 'kingdom of
God,' with Messiah as its King. Jesus is right now, along with God his Father,
preparing (John 14) the kingdom government complexities and jurisdictions and
so on." A person who has a friend that wants to go to school in Tampa says
to his friend, "My father has a house with many rooms; I will go and
prepare a place for you." Did he mean he as going to his father's house in
Tampa and draw up plains for a house and come back and build it for him in New
York? Of course not, everyone would understand that he was going to prepare a
place in his father's house, not to draw up plans and come back to earth to
build it. Christ went to prepare a place in
His FatherÕs house, not cut off a part of it, and bring the part back to earth.
My friend is not willing to accept a clear and plain statement for it would
make his belief not possible. It is
clear that Christ said He was going to prepare us a place in his Father's
house, not that He was going away to draw up plains for a place on earth for
us. This is a very weak try to evade this passage. Christ promises a future
life with Him in Heaven, nothing is said about an eternal kingdom on an eternal
earth.
PREMILLENNIALISTS MAKE THREE CHANGES. "In my Father's house are
many mansions" [John 14:2]. This is present tense. The mansions were in his Father's house
when Christ was speaking. Christ said in
my Father's house there are many
mansions, not there will be many
mansions on earth after Christ comes
back and makes them when He makes a kingdom of this earth.
1. Premillennialists change
from present tense to future tense.
2. Premillennialists change
from many mansions in His Father's house to an earthly kingdom on this earth.
3. Premillennialists change
from preparing a place in His father's house to drawing up plains for a house
on earth that is not yet built.
o
Their reply is that God "Calls those things which are not as
though they were? (Romans 4:17), that God calls things which are not yet in existence
as though they were already?" It is true, that God does speak of some
things as though they now exist. Eternal life is one of them. We will not have
eternal life unto after the resurrection, but it is so sure for those who are
in Christ that the Bible speaks of it as if the Christian now has eternal life
[Compare 1 John 2:25 and 1 John 511-20]. But, it is clearly evident that Christ
was not speaking of something that did not exist as though it already existed
for His FatherÕs house did exist at that time.
AN INHERITANCE...RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR US.
"Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a
living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and
undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in Heaven for you" [1
Peter 1:3-4]. It is it reserved in the place where Christ went to prepare it
for us, "in my Father's house,"
in Heaven. If it were reserved in Heaven, it would do us no good if the saved
will live forever on the earth and never get to Heaven. I think Peter knew more
about where it is at than anyone does today.
OUR TREASURES ARE IN HEAVEN. "But
lay up for yourselves treasures in
Heaven, where neither moth nor rust does consume, and where thieves do not
break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also" [Matthew 6:20-21]. Where are our treasures and heart to be? In
the same place Christ went to prepare us a place and the same place where our
inheritance is, in Heaven, not on earth. My Premillennialists friend above also
said to me, "'Our citizenship is in heaven' right now, but just because it is up in heaven right now doesn't mean
that is where we finally go to get it! It is like our retirement is in the bank, but we are not going to
retire at the bank, but the money
will come out of the bank for us to
retire (enjoy) somewhere else." Who would have thought Heaven is a bank?
Will our heart also "come out of
the bank"?
OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN "For our citizenship is in heaven, whence also we wait for a Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it
may be conformed to the body of his glory" [Philippians 3:20-21]. If
our citizenship is in Heaven, as long as we are on this earth we are aliens and
if we remained on earth we would always be aliens.
OUR HOPE IS IN HEAVEN "Of the hope laid up for you in Heaven" [Colossians 1:5 New
American Standard Version].
SEEK THE THINGS ABOVE WHERE CHRIST IS "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 earth. For you have died and you
life is hidden with Christ in God; when
Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him
in glory" [Colossians 2:1-4]. Seek the things that are where
Christ has gone to prepare a place for us. A restored earth is not the thing
above where Christ is, not the things Paul said to seek.
AN ETERNAL BUILDING IN THE HEAVENS. "For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us
more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things
which are seen are temporal; (Is not this earth seen) but the things, which are not seen, are eternal. For we know that if
the earthly house of our tabernacle (Our body) be dissolved (Not our bodies restored), we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in
the heavens" [2 Corinthians 4:17-5:2].
1. Christ went to prepare us a
place in His Fathers many mansions [John 14:1-3].
2. Our inheritance is reserved
in Heaven for us [1 Peter 1:3-4].
3. Our treasures are in Heaven
[Matthew 6:20-21].
4. Our citizenship is in Heaven
[Philippians 3:20-21].
5. Our hope in Heaven
[Colossians 1:5].
6. "We have a building from God, a house not made with hands,
eternal, in the heavens" [2 Corinthians 4:17-5:2].
7. "Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the
right hand of God" [Colossians 2:1-4].
8. Christ will deliver the
kingdom up to God [1 Corinthians 15:24-26].
Yet, I am told there
is not one passage in the Bible that says we will be in Heaven; that we live on
this earth in a body with flesh and bones!!! Did not Paul say, "Now this I say, brethren, that FLESH
AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD" [1 Corinthians 15:50-54]? "Now this I say, brethren, that
FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD; (Our bodies in the image
of Adam made for this earth is not suitable) neither do corruption inherit incorruption (Our bodies in the image
of Adam is corruptible and cannot inherit in the heavenly realm). Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall
not sleep (Shall not die), but we
shall all be changed (All that are asleep when Christ comes and all that
are alive), in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall
be raised incorruptible (In the heavenly image of Christ, not in the
corruptible image of Adam which they had when they died). For this corruptible must put on incorruption, (This earthly body
in the image of Adam must put on incorruption, a spiritual body in the image of
Christ. Adam never had a spiritual body before or after he ate.), and this mortal must put on immortality
(This mortal body which is the body we now have must be changed to an immortal
spiritual body which will not be the body of this earth which we now have). But,
when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall
have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory" [1 Corinthians 15:50-54]. "We that are alive, that are left unto
the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven (From the place where God
is), with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in
the clouds (To meet Him in the air and will have a body not of this earth) to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall
ever be with the Lord" [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17]. "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as
yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him because
we shall see His just as He is" [1 John 3:2]. We know what the image
of Adam is for we now have it. His image was flush and blood both before and
after he sins, and we know that we now have his image, a body of flesh and
blood, but we do not now know what the spiritual body in the image of Christ
will be like.
"Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" [1
Corinthians 15:50]. If, as they teach, the kingdom of God will be the earth
restored to be as it were before Adam sinned, Adam was flesh and blood before
he sinned, therefore, if he were restored to his sinless state, he would still
be flesh and blood and could not "inherit
the kingdom of God" If Israel were restored to be like it was in the
time of David, the Jews would still be "flesh and blood" and could
not inherit the "kingdom of
God." They would also still die of old age, not have eternal life, and
their Messiah would have been just as human as was David and he would have also
lied of old age even if the Jews had not put him to death.
Some have
reversed the Bible.
THE EARTH WILL PERISH "You,
Lord, in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are
the works of your hands; they will
perish, but You will remain" [Hebrews 1:10]. "Will
perish" does not mean they will be remade to be like before Adam's sin. "Will
perish" and "Will
remain" are opposite to each other, not the same. The earth will perish,
come to an end, but Christ will remain. The
question is, how could Christ forever rule the church on this earth if this
earth is going to perish, and how could Christ and the church remain after the
earth has perished?
WILL BE LIKE ANGELS "The sons of this age marry nor are
given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age
(The age to come. Not all will be worthy to attain to it) and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, not are given in
marriage; for neither can they die any more, for they are like angels and are sons of God, being sons of the
resurrection" [Luke 20:34-36]. Like the angels, they will have a body
suitable for that age. Not earthly being and will no longer have a flesh and
body in the image of Adam made for this earth, but a spiritual body in the
image of Christ. Angels have never had
an earthly body in the image of Adam. When we are like them, how could we have
earthly bodies with flesh and bones? That it is spiritual bodies that will
be like angels is shown by the fact that they neither marry nor are given in
marriage. Adam was made of the earth and had a flesh and blood body and Eve
were made from his body before their sin, they never had a spiritual body or
bodies like the angels had long before this earth was made. To have a body like
Adam before he sinned would be to have a flesh and blood body and be male and
female. It would be nothing like the Angels. Both God and angels are spirits
[John 4:24, Hebrews 1:14] and God created angels as spiritual being jest as He
is, but not equal to Himself. Christians, while living on this earth, are (1)
not immortal, (2) not deathless, (3) not spirits.
A MAN IS "FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS." "What are human beings that you are
mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower than the
angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, subjection all things under
their feet. Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside
their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them,
but we do see Jesus, who, for a little
while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor
because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste
death for everyone" [Hebrews 2:5-8 New Revised Standard Version].
Mankind is now mortal, and we do not now see our self as we will be, immortal,
but we do see Christ who was in the beginning with God [John 1:1] and was
immortal, who far a little while was made to be a man, mortal and lower than
the angels, but we now see Him immortal with the Father who is in Heaven.
The author of Hebrews
says of Christ, who was immortal from all eternity, "Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself
likewise also partook of the same, that through death He ...Therefore, He had
to be made like His brethren in all things" [Hebrews 2:14-17]. He was
lower than the angels "for a short
while," but will never be again. He will never again have the earthly
image of Adam before or after Adam's sin. We will never have Adam's image after
the resurrection.
WHERE IS GOD? AT HIS SECOND COMING CHRIST WILL DELIVER THE KINGDOM UP
TO GOD. The kingdom, the church to which God adds the saved [Acts 2:47],
The church is the body of Christ [Ephesians 1:22]. "For even as we have many members in one body...so we, who are
many, are one body in Christ" [Romans 12:4-5]. "Now you are the body of Christ, and severally members
thereof" [1 Corinthians 12:27]. The family of God in which all the
saved are a member; God the father, Christ the son, those in Christ are the
children and heirs of God, "But you
received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abbe, Father. The Spirit
himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God: and if
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." "For in Adam all die, so also in Christ
shall all be made alive. But, each
in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then they are Christ's at his coming. Then comes the end (After
His second coming) when He shall deliver up the kingdom to God (To God who is in
Heaven, not on earth)...for He (Christ) must reign (In the Kingdom where He is now reigning), till
He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be
abolished is death" (At His second coming) [1 Corinthians 15:23-26].
Note: In an attempt to prove that the kingdom will not be delivered up to God
after the Judgment, but that it will be established on the earth after the
coming of Christ some point out that the "up"
is not in some translations and not in some Greek manuscripts. Even without the
"up," there is no way to
get around the fact that this passage says the kingdom will be delivered by the
Son to God the Father, and I know of no one who does not believe the Father is
in Heaven, not on earth. Not delivered by the Son to earth from God, but
delivered (up) by the Son from earth to the Father who is in Heaven. It does
not say the kingdom will be established on the earth after the Judgment. Which
way is up? Which way is Heaven from the Earth? Up is used in this passage in
the same way as, "I give up," or "Deliver up the goods."
Not as a direction. Christ will at a time yet to come deliver the kingdom to
God who is in Heaven.
WE NOW BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE EARTHLY - WE SHALL BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE
HEAVENLY. "And just as we have
borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly" (Not the flesh and blood image of Adam before or after he
sinned, not an earthly body, not a body of dust) [1 Corinthians 15:48].
2 Corinthians
4:16-18; 5:1
"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we wait for a
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will
transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His
glory" [Philippians 3:20-21].
"For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from
God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens" [2
Corinthians 5:1 American Standard Version]. "For
we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed" [New Revised Standard Version]. Could it be
said any clearer that our earthly bodies will be dissolved just as "the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the
earth and the works that are there in shall be burned up" [2 Peter
3:10].
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CHAPTER 7
WHAT BODY DOES
CHRIST NOW HAVE IN HEAVEN?
PRE HUMAN,
BEFORE HE BECAME MAN
ÒGod is a spiritÓ [John 4:24] and Òa spirit has not flesh and bones as you see me havingÓ [Luke
24:39]. Before Christ became man He did not have flesh and bones just as God or
the Holy Spirit does not have. ÒAnd He is
the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of his natureÓ
[Hebrews 1:3; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15]. Are God, Christ and the Holy Spirit immaterial? If you mean by
immaterial that God has no substance, that He is just thin air nothing, then He
is not immaterial. What ever materials Heaven is made of we cannot at this time
know, but it is greater by far then the substance the earth is made of, just as
the spiritual bodies of all heavenly beings are greater than earthy beings.
God, angels, and heaven all has substance (materials of some kind but not
earthly substance) just as we will have when we put off the earthy bodies, and
put on the spiritual bodies will have bodies that have substance, but not
earthly substance.
HUMAN
For only about 33
years Christ had a human body like our body that He did not have before. ÒChrist Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not
regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the
form of bond-servant, and being make in the likeness of man. And being found in
appearance as a manÓ [Philippians 2:5-8]. ÒAnd the Word became flesh, and dwelt among usÓ [John 1:14]. After
His resurrection it was necessary that He be seen just He was before His death
for those who had been with Him to know that He was resurrected, even with the
nail scars in His hands; if as some teach that after His resurrection Christ
had a glorified physical body and will always have that body, then the
glorified body with have all the same imperfections for eternally that it had
before it was glorified. If He now has a physical body He could not be
omnipresent for His physical body could only be in one place. The body of
Christ not being the same earthly body He had before His death is based on His
being able to appear and entering a locked room, but before His death Christ
did the same kind of things, ÒThen took
they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the
temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed byÓ [John 8:59 King
James Version]. He walked on water and when He was received into the boat Òimmediately the boat was at the land to
which they were goingÓ [John 6:16-21]. The next day Òthey found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, ÔRabbi,
when did You get here?ÕÓ [John 6:25]. How did Philip get to Azotus? ÒThe Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip
away; and the eunuch saw him no moreÉPhilip found himself at AzotusÓ [Acts
8:30-40].
Post human, after He was received up into Heaven [Acts
1:11].
Just before His death
He prayed, ÒAnd now, Father, glorify me
with the glory which I had with you before the world wasÓ [John 17:5]. ÒGod highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him
the name which is above every nameÓ [Philippians 2:9-11].
ÒAnd by common
confession great is the mystery of godliness:
He who was revealed in the flesh,
Was vindicated in the Spirit,
Beheld by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in gloryÓ [1 Timothy 3:16]
Christ said, ÒI am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord
God who is and who was and who is to come, the AlmightyÓ [Revelation 1:8]. There is nothing in the New Testament about
Christ having a human body when He returns or about Him being forever on this
earth.
WHAT BODY WILL
THE SAVED HAVE?
ÒAnd as we have borne
the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (Christ). Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell
you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but
we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changedÉthis
mortal must put on immortalityÓ [1 Corinthians 15:49-55; 1
Thessalonians 4:16-17]. ÒBeloved, now are
we children of God, and it is not yet
made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him
even as he isÓ [1 John 3:2]. We know what our earthly bodies are like
and that Christ had the same earthly body but when He comes a second time it
has not yet been make known to us what He will be like. We know that He is a
spirit just as God and the Holy Spirit, ÒAnd as we have borne the image of the
earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of GodÓ [1
Corinthians 15:49-50]. ÒFor our citizenship is in heaven, from
which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble
state into conformity with the body of His gloryÓ
[Philippians 3:20-21]. Our earthly bodies that are now in the image of Adam that will not be
resurrected with eternal earthly bodies in the image of Adam before he sinned but our bodies will be resurrected
transformed into the heavenly image of Christ, bodies that will be suitable for
life in heaven where our citizenship is.
á
Sown a natural body - Raised a spiritual body 1 Corinthians
15:44
á
We have the image of earthly - Will have the image of the
Heavenly 1 Corinthians 15:49
á
This corruption – must put on incorruption 1 Cor.
15:42-43
á
Sown in dishonor - raised in glory 1 Corinthians 15:43
á
Sown in weakness – raised in power 1 Corinthians
15:43
á
Flesh and blood - cannot inherit the kingdom of God 1 Corinthians
15:49-50
á
This mortal – shall put on immortality 1 Corinthians
15:54
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CHAPTER 8
WAS THE DEATH
AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST FOREKNOWN BY GOD?
IS THE KINGDOM
TO BE SET UP IN THE FUTURE
OR
HAS IT EXISTED
FROM THE DAY OF PENTECOST?
Millennialists tell us that the rejection of Christ by the Jews was not
foreknown about by God, therefore was not known about by the prophets in the Old
Testament; that it was a surprise to God. That God planned to restore Israel
and Christ was to rule the world on the throne of David in Jerusalem, but
because of the unexpected rejection of Christ the church was set up as a
substitution unto the millennium. In the Premillennial theory there is nowhere
for the death and crucifixion of Christ for if the kingdom has been restored to
Israel as they say God planned it to be, there would have been no death and no
resurrection of Christ. According to them we are now in the church age or
"gap" that was unknown about by God before the death of Christ. If it
can be clearly shown that
[1] The death, the resurrection, and ascension of Christ
were repeatedly told about in the Old Testament
[2] That the New Covenant and the church were known about by
God
[3] That Christ is now king on the throne of David, then the
Premillennial doctrine is false.
MANY DETAILS
OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST FORETOLD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Isaiah 53
gives such a detailed description of the trail and death of Christ that it
could be an eyewitnessÕ account and yet many Premillennialists tell us God was
surprised by the rejection of Christ and that the Old Testament prophets did
not know it about.
Isaiah foretold the death of Christ,
which makes the millennium theory an impossibility. Their theory is that Christ
came to set up an earthly kingdom over Israel, but that God did not know Israel
would reject Christ, it came as a surprise to God but because Christ was
rejected by the Jews the church was set up only as a substitute unto Christ
comes back and sets up the kingdom. The Jews made God plan not work by
rejecting Christ and putting Him to death and God did not even know they were
going to. Therefore, according to many Premillennialists, the death of Christ
could not have been known about or told about in the Old Testament for god
would not have known Israel would reject Christ as their king and would not
have known He was going to set up the church in the place of the kingdom. The
church could not have been told about in the Old Testament because at that time
God did not know He would have to set up the church as a substitute.
1. How Christ must suffer.
2. That Christ would be
resurrected from the dead (If He had been made King as the Premillennialists
say God planned, He would not have been dead, therefore, not resurrected from
the dead).
1. "Concerning which salvation
the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace
that should come unto you: searching what time or what manner of time the
Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that
should follow them. To whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto
you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you
through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth
from heaven; which things angels desire to look into" [1 Peter 12:9-10]. It would
be strange if the prophets would have prophesied of the grace that came unto us
if they wanted to look into a time that they know nothing of, and that it was
just set up as a substitution by God because He failed to set up the kingdom
that the prophets did know of. How could they have prophesied of this grace
that the Millennialists tell us that even God did not know about it when the
prophets were prophesying?
2. The New Covenant foretold in the Old Testament. "Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will make a new
covenant with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I make
with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them forth
out of the land of Egypt; for they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded
them not, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my laws into their
mind, and on their heart also will I write them: and I will be to them a God
and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his
fellow-citizen, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord: for all shall
know me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to
their iniquities, and their sins will I remember no more" [Jeremiah
31:31-34 as quoted in Hebrews 8:8-13]. The theme of Hebrews is a comparison of
the old and new covenants showing that the new is better then the old. In
Hebrews 8:6-8, "A better covenant,"
"a second," and "a new
covenant" are used interchangeable. "But now has he obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much
as he is also the mediator of a better
covenant, which has been enacted upon better promises. For if that First Covenant had been faultless, then
would no place have been sought or a
second. For finding fault with them, he says, behold, the days come, say
the Lord, that I will make a New
Covenant with the house of Israel."
"And to Jesus the mediator of a
New Covenant" [Hebrews 12:24].
"He takes
away the first, that he may
establish the second"
[Hebrews 10:9].
"And for
this cause he is the mediator of a New
Covenant, that a death having taken place for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the First
Covenant, they that have been called may receive the promise of the eternal
inheritance" [Hebrews 9:15].
"But through his
own blood, entered in once for all into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption" [Hebrews 9:12]. "Apart from
shedding of blood there is no remission...but now once at the end of the ages has he been manifested to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself" [Hebrews 9:22-26]. There is not a Millennium
age after this age. "For this is my
blood of the covenant, which is
poured out for many unto remission of sins" [Matthew 26:28].
John the Baptist Malachi 3:1-Matthew 11:10 "This is he, of whom it is written, behold, I send my messenger
before your face, who shall prepare your way before you" Also Malachi
4:5, Matthew 11:14; 17:10-13.
REJECTION AND
DEATH OF CHRIST
WERE
DEFINITELY NOT A SURPRISE TO GOD
According to most Millennialists,
God was going to restore the throne of David and Christ was to rule on it, but
because the Jews rejected Christ, the church, which was not foreseen or planned
by God, was set up to fill in the "gap" in the 70th week. God knew
about the rejection of Christ. It was not a surprise to Him. The
"gap" theory is pure fictions. How
can anyone read Acts 2:23 and say God did not know the Jews were going to
reject Christ, and God did not know that Christ would be put to death by them?
If God had not known about the rejection and
death of Christ, God or no one could not have known about the resurrection of
Christ. David did know that Christ would be in the grave and be resurrected out
of it TO SET ON HIS THRONE AFTER THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF THE CHRIST. Acts
2:31:
Summary: The Premillennialists gospel.
"But even though we, or
an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we
have preached to you, let him be accursed"
[Galatians 1:8].
Luke 24:46: "It
is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the
third day." If God or none of the prophets knew about the death of
Christ, who wrote of it and where? Also, Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mark
9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7. Does
this sound like God was surprised by the rejection of Christ? How could His
death and resurrection have been prophesied in such detail if His rejection
were a surprise to God? If Christ had become king and sit on David's
throne, as the Premillennialists teach, the Jews would not have put Him to
death, He would not have shed His blood, Premillennialists
teaching would make salvation not possible for anyone. If Christ had not been
rejected and crucified by the Jews, but He had set up a Jewish Kingdom at that
time, as Millennialists tell us it was the plan of God to restore Israel at
that time, but the Jews overruled God in His attempt to set up an earthly
kingdom of Jews. The rejection and death of Christ were not a surprise to God;
it was something He planned before He made the earth. It was never planned for Christ
to set up an earthly kingdom of Jews without dying for the sins of the world.
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CHAPTER 9
KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN OR KINGDOM OF GOD
Dispensationalists
teach the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of Heaven are entirely different
kingdoms. They believe the Kingdom of Heaven was to be the Old Testament
kingdom of David restored, but was postponed to the Millennium after the Jews
rejected Christ as their king. That the two are synonymous is proved by the
interchangeable use in parallel passages in the Gospels.
Matthew used "kingdom of Heaven," "kingdom
of God," and "My Father's
kingdom," but Mark, Luke, John and the rest of the New Testament used "kingdom of God." Millennialists
make a distinction in the kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of God.
The Lord's Supper is
in "My Father's kingdom"
[Matthew 26:29], in "the kingdom of
God" [Mark 14:25]. In the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom the Father
granted to Christ [Luke 29-30]. It is in the church, which is His kingdom [1
Corinthians 11:21-22]. It is eaten on the first day of the week in the assembly
of the church [Acts 20:7].
The new birth puts one
in the kingdom [John 3:5]. If there is no kingdom now, there is no new birth.
If there is a new birth now, there is a kingdom now. "But when they believed Philip preaching the thing concerning the kingdom of God,
and the name of Jesus Christ, they were
baptized" [Acts 8:12]. The new birth, being born of the water and
the spirit, now puts a person in the kingdom/church.
Many Millennialists
teach that Christ first planned to set up the kingdom of God but later when He
saw He was being rejected by the Jews set up the kingdom of God as a substitute
unto He came a second time to set up the kingdom of Heaven; they overlook the
fact that Mark used "kingdom of
God" in the very beginning of his Gospel [Mark 1:14] as did Luke and
John [Luke 4:43; John 3:3]. They did not use "kingdom of God" and later change to "kingdom of Heaven" after Christ saw that He would not be
able to set up the kingdom of God.
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CHAPTER 1O
WAS THE CHURCH
PLANNED BY GOD OR JUST AN AFTERTHOUGHT?
"To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in
the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom
of God, according to the eternal purpose
which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" [Ephesians 3:10-11].
The church, which was purchased with the blood of Jesus [Acts 20:28], was in
the plan of God from the beginning. If the church were only an afterthought and
not known about in the Old Testament, how is it "according to the eternal purpose which He (God) purposed in
Christ Jesus"? Was Paul wrong? Millennialists say yes, Paul was wrong,
the church is only an afterthought and was not in the eternal purpose of God.
The Scofield Bible says,
"The Church, corporately, is not in the vision of the O. T. prophet."
Premillennialists teach that the Old Testament prophecies of the kingdom say a
literal Kingdom will someday be set up in Jerusalem, but the New Testament
applied the kingdom prophecies to the Church [Acts 15: 12-17 - Amos 9:11-12;
Ephesians 2:10-22; John 20:10-21; Mark 14:58; 2 Corinthians 6:16- Ezekiel
37:27; Matthew 16:18 - Zechariah 6:12-13; 1 Corinthians 3:11; 3:16-16;
Ephesians 2:20]. In the New Testament the terms temple, Mount Zion, the Israel
of God and the New Jerusalem are applied to the church.
When
preaching the first sermon after the resurrection of Christ, Peter says, "This is that which has been spoken
through the prophet Joel" [Acts 2:16]. "Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and them that followed
after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days" [Acts
3:24].
THE CHURCH
KNOWN ABOUT AND FORETOLD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Premillennialists tell
us that God planed to set up the kingdom when Christ was on earth, but because
of His rejection by the Jews, the kingdom was put off and the church, which was
unseen by the prophecy of the Old Testament, was a substitution unto Christ
comes a second time and sets up the kingdom. If they were right, the church was
not "in accordance with the eternal
purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord." Why did Paul say it was? "To bring to light what is the
administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who
created all things; in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made
known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ
Jesus our Lord" [Ephesians 3:9-11]. Is there anyway God could have
said any plainer that the church was not just an afterthought; that the church
was not just an accident that came about because God was unable to foresee that
the Jews were going to reject Christ?
"The Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of
God which He purchased with His own blood" [Acts 20:28]. If it had
been as the Millennialists say God planed it to be, Christ would not have been
put to death, He would not have purchased the church with His blood, He would
not have died our death, and we would still have our sins. How do they think we
could be saved if the Jews had not put Christ to death? According to Millennialists, God planned to restore the kingdom to Israel
and salvation coming to us Gentiles would not have happened. If the church were
established as a substitution unto the kingdom is restored to Israel, it could
not be according to the eternal purpose of God; in fact, according to
Millennialists the Jews prevented the eternal purpose of God.
IF BOTH GOD
AND CHRIST HAD NOT FAILED
IF ISRAEL HAD
NOT REJECTED AND KILLED CHRIST
John Darby, the
founder of the modern Premillennial doctrine says, "Supposing for a moment
that Christ has not been rejected, the kingdom would have been set upon
earth."
According to
him:
1. As taught by Millennialists,
the kingdom being restored was only for Israel, the Gentiles would never have
had the blessings that came to them through the death and resurrection of
Christ.
2. If Christ had set up the
earthly kingdom the Jews were looking for, He would never have been put to
death and whatever the Jews had would have had would have been without the
blood of Christ; it would have lasted for each Jew only for his or her lifetime.
The Jews or no one would have had no hope of eternal life or any life after
death.
3. The earthly kingdom of
Israel would not have needed the death and blood of Christ, the church, which
was only a substitute for the kingdom, would never have been bought with the
blood of Christ [Acts 20:28]; the church never would have been.
4. There would have been only
the blood of bulls and goats, which cannot save [Hebrews 10:4]. As taught by Millennialists,
the death of Christ was not planned or needed.
5. There would have been no
second coming of Christ, no resurrection, no eternal life for Jews or Gentiles,
and no Millennium.
o
The Premillennial doctrine is a denial of many of the clearest teaching
of the Bible.
If God set up the church only as an afterthought, the millennium as is
taught by Premillennialists would have been just as much an afterthought, just
as unforeseen, just as unknown about by God as they say the church was, but
they repeatedly use the Old Testament to prove the millennial theory. The Millennialists
argument that the church was only an afterthought, that it was unforeseen makes
the millennial be the same as the church, just as unforeseen, just as much only
an afterthought. If there is nothing in the Old Testament about the unforeseen
church, there could be nothing in the Old Testament about the unforeseen
millennial. If God had not foreseen the rejection of Christ as the king of the Jews,
He would not have foreseen the need to postpone setting up the kingdom unto the
second coming of Christ, which He would not have foreseen. He would have
foreseen nothing about a millennial kingdom.
Kingdom not of this would. "My kingdom is not of this world: if my
kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be
delivered to the Jews; but now is my kingdom not from hence" [John
18:36]. His throne, a part of the kingdom is not of this world, therefore, not
in Jerusalem. Christ never intended to
set up an earthly kingdom. When the Jews came to take Him by force and make
Him king, He withdrew into the mountain alone [John 6:15]. "And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God
comes, he answered them and said, the kingdom of God comes not with
observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, there! For the kingdom of God
is within you" [Luke 17:20]. An earthly kingdom of Jews was not the
kingdom Christ came into the world to set up. "For our citizenship is in
heaven" [Philippians 2:23].
HAL LINDSEY AND THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE KINGDOM AND GOD'S ALTERED
PLAIN, THE "CHURCH AGE." "There was no lack of evidence to show that Jesus was
indeed the long-awaited Messiah. Had the people received Him, He would have
fulfilled the Kingly prophecies in their day in additions to the one regarding
the suffering Messiah. But, when the Jewish nation as a whole rejected Christ,
the fulfillment of His kingship was postponed until the final culmination of
world history." Hal Lindsey, "There's A New World Coming" Page
30. If Christ had set up a world kingdom and was king of the
Jews, how could He have fulfilled "one regarding the suffering
Messiah"? Why would the Jews crucify Him if He had saved them from the
Romans and restored the kingdom of David? How could Isaiah have foretold of His
rejection and death if His rejection by the Jews was unknown about even by God?
"He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he opened not his mouth; as a
lamb that is let to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is
dumb, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who among them considered that he was cut off out of
the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke
was due: And they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his
death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his
mouth" [Isaiah 53:7-9]. How could anything that Isaiah said have come to
pass if the Jews had made Him their king and not have rejected Him? The only
answer is that nothing Isaiah foretold would have come to pass if the Jews had
not rejected Christ.
Who do you
believe?
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHURCH WAS "ACCORDING
TO THE ETERNAL PURPOSE" OF GOD. "And to make all men see what is the
dispensation of the mystery which for ages has been hid in God who created all
things; to the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the
heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of
God, according to the eternal purpose
which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" [Ephesians 3:9-11].
Before the day of Pentecost [acts 2] the kingdom is spoken of as being
in the near future. From the day of Pentecost on the kingdom was spoken of as
existing.
BEFORE
PENTECOST - KINGDOM AT HAND
AFTER
PENTECOST