Biblical EschatologyPresentation by: D. Paul Beck

May 4, 2016

Ground Rules: Representative of HarpazoTV.com Doctrinal Statement (What we teach) – see pages 43 & 44

o Last Things (Eschatology) My goals are:

o To equip you with a high-level understanding of Biblical Eschatology.o To generate questions and possibly conflicts in your mind.o To reinforce the joy, the comfort, and the blessings that are guaranteed to

those who study this subject area.o To leave you with a desire to investigate this area of theology further.

Do not blindly accept anything that any teacher has to say -

Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. [Act 17:11 NASB]

o The Thessalonicans were persuaded by argument. o The Bereans believed—spiritually apprehended; yet searched the Scriptures

daily.o Our reliance is on the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) in an attempt to

avoid heresy. Avoid “one-verse theology.”

o Eschatology is challenging, it is a difficult subject area, and it taxes the student’s need for understanding the totality of Scripture (the whole counsel of God).

One person cannot develop an Eschatological ‘system’ by themselves (standing on the shoulders of giants).

But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; [1Th 5:21 NASB]

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; [2Ti 3:16 NASB]

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. [Col 2:8 NASB]

Presuppositions – the only barrier to truth is the presumption that you already have it…

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o Eschatology is a theological mine-field in the 21st century. Calvinism vs. Armenianism Election vs. Free Will Continuation vs. Cessationism

o There is very little consensus among Christians in this area of study.o This area of study should not cause division within the Body.o There will be something for everyone within this presentation for me to

offend them somehow. “…they received the word with all readiness (openness) of mind…”

The Bible… …is God’s revelation to man.

o 400+ times its states “thus saith the Lord” (KJV). …is an integrated, yet distributed, messaging system of Kingdom principles.

o Integrated – 66 books, written by over 40 different authors, during the span of over 2,000 years.

o Distributed – the teachings of the Bible are ‘distributed’ throughout those 66 books by different authors.

Isaiah 28:10,13 – here a little, there a little. Show me the chapter on Baptism, Imputed Righteousness, or the

Atonement.o Messaging System – God chose a book…

Its structure and design must be understood. Every word, letter, and number has been placed in the Bible by

design. Every page of the Bible establishes the identity of Jesus Christ

(the Messiah). It is axiomatic – self-provable. Prophecy authenticates His message to

His Creation. Within the OT, there are over 330 prophecies that speak to

Christ’s First Coming. Within the entirety of the Bible, there are over 2,100 prophecies

that speak to Christ’s Second Coming.o Kingdom Principles:

You could argue that, after faith, the Kingdom is the key theme in all of Scripture.

All of Scripture moves toward the fact that God rules, that God is sovereign, and that the goal of redemptive history is an eternal Kingdom in which God reigns.

Anyone who is going to truly understand the Bible must understand the Kingdom.

The concept of the Kingdom of God, however, takes on various shades of meaning within different passages of Scripture.1) The Kingdom of God is the rule of an eternal, sovereign God over all

the universe. (Psa 103:19)

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His Kingdom is an eternal Kingdom. (Dan 4:3)2) The Kingdom of God is a spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of

those who willingly submit to God’s authority through repentance. (John 3:3) The Kingdom of God involves repentance and the new birth, as

God rules in the hearts of His children in this world in preparation for the next.

3) Within Scripture, the Kingdom of God also refers to the literal rule of Christ on Earth during the Millennium. (Rev 20:1-7) The chronology of the Book of Revelation is explicit and the

promises of the Old Testament concerning the Kingdom, the throne of David, and the city of Jerusalem are unconditional and unfulfilled. They talk about a real Kingdom. They talk about a time of refreshing, of restitution, a time when Israel is in the land and prospering and the desert blossoms like a rose, a time when the warfare and the animosity and hostility in the animal kingdom is ended, a time when people live prolonged lives and someone who dies at a hundred dies as a baby, a time with a completely renewed and regenerated world that is more like the Garden of Eden than our current world.

4) Scripture indicates that the Kingdom is eternal and 1 Cor 15:21-28 states that the resurrection is a key component to that Kingdom – we, therefore, want to understand its relationship to God’s prophetic timeline and the coming of the Kingdom.

5 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. 6 "In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness.' [Jer 23:5-6 NASB]

27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, And all the families of the nations will worship before You. 28 For the kingdom is the LORD'S And He rules over the nations. [Psa 22:27-28 NASB]

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. [Rev 12:10 NASB]

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?[1Cor 6:9a NASB]

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I believe the Bible to be the inerrant, infallible, inspired Word of the living God; that it speaks to every area of life; that it shapes one’s worldview accurately; and that it reveals to us where history is headed.

What’s in a Worldview: A Worldview is a personal philosophy; a hypothesis about ultimate reality; a set

of answers to fundamental questions; a set of lenses that you look through to determine what is true and what is not.

A Worldview attempts to answer the four great questions to life:1. Who am I?2. How did I get here?3. Why am I here?4. Where am I going when I die?

Everyone has a Worldview!

Basic Worldviews (where did everything come from?): 1. Materialism/Naturalism - matter and energy are the thing from which

everything else came. Matter is the prime reality.2. Theism - God is a person, He has intentions, He created everything, He

acts as an agent within His creation. A personal God is the prime reality.3. Deism - God creates and does nothing beyond that. A personal but

remote God is the prime reality.4. Pantheism – There is a god, but it is not personal, it is impersonal. A

mystical oneness. An impersonal god is the prime reality. More common labels for the various Worldviews include the following:

o Secular / Humanisto Eastern / Mystical / New Age or New Consciousnesso Nihilismo Existentialismo Christian / Biblical

Which worldview is correct? Your answer has eternal results…

Each attempt to answer the Worldview questions can be called a philosophy of life and the answers to those questions force a philosophy of history.

The Bible presents a philosophy of history from eternity past to eternity future:o To understand eternity past, we study the Creation account.o The Bible records selected historic events only to the end of the first

century A.D.o The Bible provides a framework by which events after the first century

can be interpreted.o To understand eternity future, we study the prophecies found within the

Bible (Eschatology).

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Eschatology, from two Greek words meaning "last" ( – eschatos - e'-ἔσχατοςskhä-tos) and "study" (- - logía), is the study of 'end things', the knowledge λογίαof last things, whether the end of an individual life, the end of the age, or the end of the world.

o A sub-division of Systematic Theology that is particularly concerned with the “last things.”

Like a Worldview, everyone has an Eschatology!

We are here to study the philosophy of history presented in the Bible. More specifically, we are here to study how God has documented how He is going to bring that history to a close.

Why Eschatology Matters: God wants us to enjoy the anticipation of the end-time events along with Him.

o He tells us about Heaven – why – so we can enjoy the anticipation of it now.

o He tells us about the future glorious return of Christ – why – so we can live in anticipation of that glorious hope now.

No less than ¼ of all Scripture is prophetic – this subject is important to God. Getting future truth right is beneficial to the Christian in multiple ways:

o Rev 1:3 – Blessed is he who reads and hears the Book of Revelation.o 1 John 3:2 – getting your eschatology right will not only bless you, but will

purify you through a purifying hope.o 1 Cor 15:51-58 – you’ll be steadfast, immovable, wanting to work for the

Lord.o 1 Thes 4:16 – We’re to be comforted with this understanding.o Acts 3:18-19 - Having your eschatology in place may lead a person to

repentance. A correct understanding of eschatology sets up priorities for the Christian’s

obedience in the Church Age. o Your view of the Kingdom determines what the mission and the priorities

are for the Church. Ideas have consequences and bad ideas have bad consequences.

You are motivated today by what you think your future is going to be like. And that’s what eschatology is; so if you have an errant eschatology then you’ve negatively influenced your hope, your vision for who you are and where you are going.

Within the Church Age, there has been a progress to the development of Doctrine throughout Scripture - “The Progress of Dogma” James Orr (1897)

Divisions of Theology: Theology proper – the study of the character of God (His attributes) Bibliology – the study of the Bible Christology – the study of the Lord Jesus Christ

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Anthropology – the study of the nature of Humanity (Man) Hamartiology – the study of Sin Pneumatology – the study of the Holy Spirit Angelology – the study of Angels, fallen and unfallen Soteriology – the study of Salvation Ecclesiology – the study of the Church Eschatology – the study of End Times (last things)

Down through history doctrine was developed by the Church in a logical,

pedagogical way. We agree that the Bible is a work of the Holy Spirit and we need to agree that

Church history is a witness to the pattern to the Holy Spirit’s teachings:1. What is the basis of authority? (2nd Century)2. Who is Jesus Christ and what is His relationship within the Trinity? (4th

Century)3. What did Jesus Christ do? (4th to 5th Century)4. What is the nature of man and sin? (Council of Orange, 529AD)5. How do I appropriate the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for me? (1100’s)6. Doctrine of Justification by Faith. (Luther and the Reformers - 1500’s)7. What is the Church (Ecclesiology)? (Post-Reformation)8. What is Jesus Christ yet to do (Eschatology)? (Developed in a consistent

way in just the last 200 years)

The Holy Spirit has taught the Church to think of doctrine in this order.o Over the centuries, the Church has been growing in the sense of

organizing the doctrinal truths of Scripture. You cannot develop eschatology until the end because all your other areas of

theology have to be developed before you can develop Eschatology. There has been a progress to the Church’s understanding, not revelation, but in

understanding doctrine as the Church Age has proceeded through history.o Over the centuries, the Church has been growing in the sense of

organizing the doctrinal truths of Scripture.o The Holy Spirit has used heretics and persecution to teach the Church and

to spurn her into action. Soteriology, pneumatology, ecclesiology, and eschatology are all under attack

today. Within this era, eschatology is at last coming into focus. o The Church never before had to deal with heretical ‘systems’ of

eschatology such as Nazism, Communism, Mormonism, secular Humanism, and Islam like it has during the end of the Church Age.

o God is sovereignly trying to make the Church aware of its destiny and the promised destiny of Israel.

Covenant Theology vs. Dispensational Theology: Using Reformed Theology and Covenant Theology interchangeably.

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Currently, these two theological persuasions dominate efforts to systematically interpret Scripture.

Covenant Theology = a system of theology which attempts to develop the Bible’s philosophy of history on the basis of two or three covenants.

o This system came out of the Reformed Churches of Switzerland and Germany, but was not developed by the prominent Reformers Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, or Melanchthon.

o This system did not begin until the 16th and 17th centuries and did not exist in the early Church.

o Covenant Theology was introduced to America primarily through the Puritans.

Covenant of Works Covenant of Grace Covenant of Redemption

Reformed Theology tends to be Amillennial or Post-Millennial with its view of the Kingdom. There are sometimes Pre-Millennialists found within, but the Pre-Millennialism found within Reformed Theology isn’t the literal kind of Pre-Millennialism - it’s the idea that Israel has no national future, but somehow the Jews will come into the Church finally and that they will be part of the end Kingdom scenario.

o The point is that there are hybrids to all of these positions.

Commendable features of Covenant Theology:o Emphasis upon the grace of God.o Emphasis upon the redemptive work of Christ.o Emphasis upon salvation by grace through faith.o Recognition of Jesus Christ as the central figure of world history.o Amazing work done in the area of the Doctrine of Election.

Issues with Covenant Theology:o Denies the existence of distinctive gospels within the Bible.o Denies the distinction between the nation of Israel and the Church.

Believes the Church existed in Old Testament times and that it consists of all the peoples throughout history who have had a covenant relationship with God.

o Uses a double hermeneutic: Historical-grammatical method for interpreting the Bible. Allegorical (spiritualizing) method for interpreting prophetic

passages.o Is overwhelmingly Amillennial in its view of the “Kingdom.”

Breeding ground for Replacement Theology. Breeding ground for Preterism. Breeding ground for Anti-Semitism.

o The Dispensational view, which states we are currently living in the “Church Age” is fiercely opposed by Amillennialists and Post-

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Millennialists who fear that it relegates the Church to a secondary role and detracts from the central purpose of the First Advent of Christ.

o Ironically, it was Reformed Theology that spawned Dispensationalism.

Dispensationalism = a system of theology which attempts to develop the Bible’s philosophy of history on the basis of the sovereign rule of God.

o It represents the whole of Scripture and history as being covered by several dispensations of God’s rule.

o A religious order or system, conceived as divinely instituted, or as a stage in a progressive revelation, expressly adapted to the needs of a particular nation or period of time.

o The term “dispensation” can be defined as a particular way of God’s administering His rule over the world as He progressively works out His purpose for world history.

KJV = 4x “dispensation” NASB = “administration” and “stewardship”

o Throughout history God has employed several dispensations but only one way of salvation.

o Dispensational Theologians normally name each new dispensation after the new ruling factor or factors:

1) Dispensation of Innocence From the creation of man to the fall of man.

2) Dispensation of Conscience From the fall of man through the Noahic Flood.

3) Dispensation of Human Government From the Noahic Flood to the call of Abraham.

4) Dispensation of Promise From God’s call of Abraham to the giving of the Mosaic Law at

Mount Sinai.5) Dispensation of The Mosaic Law

From the giving of the Mosaic Law at Mount Sinai to the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross at Mount Calvary.

6) Dispensation of Grace From Christ on the Cross to His Second Coming.

7) Dispensation of The Millennium After the Second Coming of Christ to the release of Satan from

the abyss and his final revolt.

Why is one ‘system’ better than the other:o Covenant and Dispensational Theology disagree concerning such matters

as: How God fulfills His ultimate purpose for history. How prophetic passages of the Scriptures are to be interpreted. The nature and significance of some of the Biblical covenants. God’s program for the nation Israel.

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The nature of the Kingdom of God. The beginning, nature, and distinctiveness of the Church. The means through which the Christian is to live a godly life in this

present world.o Reformed Theologians have “fossilized” theology at a roughly 1600’s level

of understanding, as if the Holy Spirit was done teaching the Church everything He had to teach the Church during the Church Age.

o One of the positions that Dispensationalism is known for is the fact that covenant language in the Scriptures (the Old Testament covenants) must be interpreted literally. That is important because covenants in Scripture are akin to contracts today. No man in his right mind signs a mortgage agreement, signs a loan or a lease agreement, or enters into any other kind of a written contract, and has the other party interpret it metaphorically.

o The Bible indicates that God’s truth has been revealed in stages at different points in history.

One of the primary distinctions within Dispensationalism is a subject known as Progressive Revelation.

Progressive Revelation: The teaching that God has revealed Himself and His will through the Scriptures

with an increasing clarity as more and more of the Scriptures were written. In other words, the later the writing the more information is given. Therefore, God reveals knowledge in a progressive and increasing manner throughout the Bible from the earliest time to later time.

o God did not give all of His revealed truth to man in one lump sum at the beginning of history.

God did not reveal that there would be a Redeemer until after the fall of man (Gen 3).

God did not reveal the practice of capital punishment until after the flood (Gen 9).

Jesus, in John 16:12-14, indicated that the Holy Spirit would reveal additional truths to the Apostles after Christ’s ascension.

Throughout the NT, the term “mystery” is used to identify something that was previously hidden, but is now being revealed.

There is a “progress’ to the revelation provided by God and one needs to have a firm handle on that progression in order to understand eschatology correctly.

What is ironic inside this debate is that Covenant Theologians recognize that there have indeed been dispensations and Dispensationalists recognize how critical the covenants documented within Scripture are.

Covenants:1) The Edenic Covenant2) The Adamic Covenant

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3) The Noahic Covenant4) The Abrahamic Covenant5) The Mosaic Covenant6) The Davidic Covenant7) The Palestinian Covenant8) The New Covenant

The promises of God that relate to Israel’s future are basically bound up in three covenants:

1) The Abrahamic Covenant2) The Davidic Covenant3) The New Covenant

Within the Old Testament, the Kingdom is promised over and over again to Israel. When you look at the texts in which God makes promises to Israel, there is also a

corresponding negative promise. o When you obey Me, when you follow Me, when you truly worship Me, I'll

bring you the Kingdom. o When you don't, I'll punish you.

Did the promises of punishment and the promises of chastening and the promises of judgment on Israel come to pass literally? Yes!

o They were all fulfilled in the actual, literal nation of Israel. Should we imagine that the promises of blessing are figurative?

o "All the curses are literal, but all the blessings are figurative” – wrong! Gen 12:1-3 – The Abrahamic Covenant – 5 times, “I Will” – unilateral,

unconditional, sovereign Covenant.o Gen 13:14 – forever!o Gen 15:7 – God says, I’m going to make a promise (a Covenant).o The Jews have never had the land, yet.o Gen 17:19 - an everlasting Covenant.o Gen 22:15-17 – a promise after the offering of Isaac.o Gen 26:24 – God reiterates His promise to the subsequent patriarch

(Isaac).o Gen 28:13-15 – then to the next patriarch (Jacob).o Notice that God kept making promises to sinful patriarchs.o A land, a seed, and a world-wide blessing is promised.o This covenant is challenged by the world today.

Exodus 19:5-6 – The Mosaic (Law) Covenanto The Mosaic Covenant is a conditional, bilateral agreement between God

and the nation Israel.o Ex 24 – a blood ceremony to affirm their commitment.

The result: they did not obey the law.o Gal 3:15 – Paul – the law does not invalidate a Covenant previously made

by God. It was made by a promise, not by their keeping it or not.

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o Rom 3:3,4a – Paul – “If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be!”

o A covenant is a covenant and it is irrevocable.o This concept is illustrated in a book like Hosea. Hosea marrying a

prostitute, she’s sold naked in the market place, and he buys her back. This is a symbol of God buying back the prostitute Israel because He made a Covenant.

o Ezekiel 16 – God’s unconditional love for Israel. See v.28-29, 53, 60o Deut 7:6 – God keeps His Covenantso Deut 9:4 – God is doing what He is doing because He promised and not

because Israel deserves it.o The Mosaic Covenant provides Israel with the conditions and regulations

necessary to maintain unbroken occupancy of the land. Ps 132:13 - The Davidic Covenant – an extension of the Abrahamic Covenant.

o 2 Sam 7:10-13 – the author is talking about the coming Messiah who would establish David’s kingdom forever. (Is 9:6-7, Lk 1:32-33)

o 2 Sam 7:16 – Out of your line is going to come a King with an everlasting Kingdom.

o 2 Sam 23:5 – God will do it! Promised = House (progeny), Seed, Kingdom

o In 1 Chron 17:11-14 the covenant is summarized.o The Davidic Covenant extends the Abrahamic Covenant.o Ps 72 – the reign of the great King, who will come and establish peace. It

describes the Kingdom. David is celebrating the wonderful promise of the King.

o Ps 89 – Psalm of the King, celebrating the Covenant made with David (v.1-4). Loving kindness will be built up forever. A Covenant has been made and He will not break it off or violate it (v.30-37).

o This covenant is unilateral, unconditional, irrevocable - it is a grant that can never be taken away.

o One could say that this covenant is challenged by the ‘Church’ today. Jer 31:31 – the Abrahamic Covenant and the Davidic Covenant depend upon one

other covenant – The New Covenant.o This is a covenant not like the Abrahamic or the Davidic covenants.

Israel broke those covenants.o The Abrahamic Covenant made promises. The Davidic Covenant made

promises. They’re unilateral, unconditional, and irrevocable. How do you get to the fulfillment of those promises?

o Recall that the Mosaic Covenant only demonstrated that Israel can’t qualify for the blessings of the Abrahamic and the Davidic covenants – because they can’t keep the Mosaic covenant. The Mosaic covenant only curses them.

o You have to come to the New Covenant. It is different from the Mosaic Covenant.

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o v.33 – Made with the house of Israel and He will put His law within them. o This is a covenant that states that one day, He will change their hearts and

write His law inside of them. And then He will be their God and they will be His people.

o It is an unconditional, unilateral, sovereign, gracious, irrevocable covenant.

o v.34 – has this happened yet?o v.35 – “If this happens, then…” – this has not happened yet!

God has not changed His mind.o v.37 – these things cannot be done.

This one verse alone refutes Replacement Theology. God is not going to cast off Israel, even for what they have done.

o The book of Jeremiah was written while Israel was under divine punishment, while their disobedience was severe.

o The New Covenant is not a reward for their faithfulness. It is given in spite of their unfaithfulness.

We, by faith, are of the promises made to Abraham. We, by faith are children of Abraham. We will take part in all of these promises also because we are grafted in. We will be in the Kingdom. (Gal 3, 4)

o We are all saved by the terms of the New Covenant.o We will also receive the blessings of the glorious reign of Christ on Earth

on David’s throne.o He has written His law on our hearts as well. (Rom 2, Heb 10:16)o God, however, is not finished with Israel. (Romans 9, 10, 11)o The Church has not replaced Israel.o Ezekiel 36:24-38 – the terms of the New Covenant are repeated.o Israel’s apostasy does not cancel the Covenant.o Zech 12:10 – New Covenant language – they will look upon me whom

they have pierced.o Zech 14:9 – the Lord will be King over all the Earth.

The Jews await a Kingdom…The Lord Jesus Christ, early in His ministry, made an offer; He made an offer to be the King. If Israel would acknowledge Him as King, it would have their much-anticipated Kingdom as promised to the Jews throughout the Old Testament.

The cross works out of the rejection and rebellion against Jesus being King. Here’s where there’s a split in theology and why people, those who tend to be in the Reformed theological camp, get very nervous when they hear somebody like me talking this way. They get nervous because in their eyes Christ came to die, period. That was His whole mission, to come and give atonement. With that we don’t quarrel. What the Dispensationalist is saying, however, is that it wasn’t a straight line to the cross. Jesus arrived at the cross as a result of cause-and-effect, cause-and-effect, cause-and-effect, and part of the cause-and-effect was that He was

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rejected by the nation of Israel, clearly taking place in Matthew 12, and it was that rejection that propelled Him to the cross.

If you stop to think about the history laid out for us within Scripture, you think of the fact that it starts with creation - God offered a sinless environment to man. What did man do with it? He trashed it. So we have the Fall. Had man not trashed the environment and had he not rebelled, would Christ have had to have died? So you see that the set up for the crucifixion works out of a genuine situation of cause-and-effect in Eden.

Then we have the Flood. You get to the Flood and Noah has an ark of a finite size. Suppose when Noah preached during the 120 years and everybody believed. Would the ark then have become necessary? Cause-and-effect.

It’s speculation, but the point we need to realize is that in every one of these historical junctures there’s a pattern that you want to see, and it’s that pattern that occurs in the Gospels. So what occurs in the Gospels isn’t new, it’s just a repeat of the same sort of pattern. God presents a positive option to the human race and the human race always rebels against it, which of course God predestined. As a result of the rebellion against His positive offer, we move to the next step in His plan. Granted, from all eternity God set this up to get to the cross; that’s a given, He did that. But it’s by means of these things, these events, this cause-and-effect, that we get to the Cross. So we want to recognize how this works out in the Gospels.

Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." [Mat 3:1-2 NASB]

Here is where the Gospels begin - they don’t begin with Jesus - all four Gospels begin with John the Baptist. Why do the Gospels begin with John the Baptist? In the Old Testament history who chose the kings? Did the kings come upon the scene and anoint themselves? No, there were king-makers. The prophets were the king-makers. Who ordained the kings? It was the prophets. How did they ordain the King? Well what did Samuel do to David? He anointed him with oil in 1 Samuel 16. That’s the anointing, that’s Mashach (to anoint) and it is the root to the Hebrew word Mashiyach, from which we get our term “Messiah.”

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What does the word Messiah mean? The word Messiah means the anointed one. Who was the anointed one? The one the prophet had chosen to be king. That’s the background.

So now comes the prophet, the king-maker, and in Matthew 3:2 what is the message of the king-maker? The message isn’t “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” for He’s going to atone for your sins – that’s not the message here at this time in history. It’s true that John the Baptist knew that the Messiah would suffer, he knew that from the Old Testament and there was some type of primitive understanding that somehow the Messiah would die, that’s true. But there’s an offer being made here to the nation of Israel. John the Baptist says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” it’s here, it’s at hand; it doesn’t mean it’s come, it means it is at the door, so to speak, it’s near here.

So the nation is called to repent because Israel was operating on its own program that involved a bunch of religious works and an apostate religious system. John the Baptist recognized all that and his message was to the house of Israel, to change their attitude and their ways and he challenged them on the basis of Scripture to prepare themselves for the promised Kingdom.

We need to recognize that here in verse 2, within the early chapters to all four Gospels really, John the Baptist never defines what the Kingdom is and that’s critical to understanding the New Testament. The New Testament never stops to define the content of the Kingdom, which means one thing. It means the Kingdom must have been known. Where did the Jews find out the content to the word “Kingdom” from?

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From the Old Testament. That’s where they got the content for what the Kingdom is.

“Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” he says in verse 2. In verse 3, we have confirmation of this train of thought. For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!’”

What was Isaiah prophesying about? The kingdom; the ideal kingdom that would surely come. So when you see the Old Testament quote in verse 3, that tells you that John the Baptist was communicating what any Jew of his day would have understood from Isaiah’s writings. What did Isaiah talk about? He talked about a regenerated cosmos, he talked about Jerusalem being the everlasting temple, he talked about making straight the crooked paths – the fact is that the Jews looked forward to a Kingdom and a rebirth of nature and all things contained within. So John the Baptist is stating, by his use of Isaiah’s writings, “this is it, the Kingdom is at hand – get ready!”

So the point is that it wasn’t necessary for John the Baptist and then Jesus to go into great detail about the nature of the Kingdom. Everybody at this time knew what the Kingdom was. John the Baptist was preaching about a major event in world history, the long anticipated culmination of Israel’s reason for existence. That’s what is meant here in the beginning of Matthew, chapter 3; “Repent, for that kingdom is at hand,” the last hour of history is near.

At the end of Matthew chapter 3, we have Jesus’ baptism. In Matthew chapter 4, we have Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the desert.

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." [Mat 4:8-9 NASB]

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." [Mat 4:17 NASB]

Notice what Jesus does. What is His first message? His message is “Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Again, the same message, the prophet and the King have the same Gospel, the same message, to the same people, over the same issue, “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Where this is even more profoundly expressed is within the Synoptic Gospel of Mark:

Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." [Mar 1:14-15 NASB]

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Mark records the preaching of this “Gospel.” Now it is at this point within this discussion that a very important factor needs to be stressed. This discussion is in no way suggesting that there are or that there were two different ways of salvation. My use of the term “Gospel” (Gr. euaggelion) simply means “good news.”

When the disciples were sent out they preached the “good news” that the Kingdom of God was at hand. That was a specific message to the nation of Israel that was understood and expected via covenant by every Jew at this point in history. We, Christians, preach the “good news,” which includes the finished work of Christ. This does not suggest that there is one Gospel for the Jews and one Gospel for Gentiles. Indeed, the nature of the good news was different when it was an offer of the Kingdom to Israel compared to when the salvific work of Christ was completed, but salvation has always been by one means - Christ’s finished work was anticipated before it was accomplished, but it is now remembered ever since it was accomplished - that being faith.

This Gospel of the Kingdom, at this point in history, is a message of urgency at the end of Israel’s history. Though as profound as it is to imagine that if the nation of Israel had accepted Jesus’ offer, history as we know it would have concluded roughly 2,000 years ago, this Gospel is not the good news that the Christian declares today:

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For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. [Rom 1:16 NASB]

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, [1 Cor 15:1-4 NASB]

The death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the Christian’s Gospel. Again, the nature of the “good news” was contextually different when it was an offer of the Kingdom to Israel, but salvation has always been by faith (Rom 4:3, Gen 15:6, Hab 2:4, Gal 3:11, Heb 11, Eph 2:8-9). People are not saved today by the preaching of a Gospel centered upon a coming Kingdom. A person is saved by their acceptance (belief) in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That said, the original Gospel, the good news, the offer that Jesus made to the nation of Israel for the fulfillment of the Old Testament covenants did not have as its content the death, burial, and resurrection of their awaited Messiah.

Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. [Mat 9:35 NASB]

Later on in Jesus’ ministry, He started to pick up heavy resistance from the “establishment” (the Pharisees, Scribes, Sadducees, and ultimately the Nation). Jesus sent out His disciples, and they ultimately confirmed that the Nation was rejecting Christ’s offer:

These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' [Mat 10:5-7 NASB]

So halfway through Jesus’ ministry He’s commissioning the disciples, and He says in verse 5 “do not go to the Gentiles, do not go to the Samaritans.” We can conclude that in addition to two contexts of “good news”, Christ gave two distinct commissions to His disciples. When He initially gave them the Gospel, He commissioned them to go to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel“ but not to the Gentiles and the Samaritans - Matthew 10:5-7. Later, in conjunction with the full Gospel, He commissioned them to preach to all creatures - Mark 16:15 - and to make disciples of all nations – Matthew 28:18-20.

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Further in Matthew’s communication of the Gospel, chapter 10, verses 9 and 10, we read that Jesus also commanded distinct preparations for the ministries of the disciples. When He commissioned them to preach the Gospel to Israel, He ordered the disciples not to take money, a bag, two tunics, sandals, or a staff. However, when it became obvious that Israel would reject Jesus and His Gospel of the Kingdom and when the Gospel was about to become complete, Jesus commanded the disciples to take a purse, a bag, and even a sword - Luke 22:35-38.

At the end of the four Gospels, when it’s all said and done, and Christ’s finished work has been realized and He’s risen from the dead, now all of a sudden the rules have changed; now we’re doing something different. What is going on in Matthew 28 is not the same as what is happening in Matthew 10. Here He says I don’t want you to go to the nations, I don’t want you to go to the Gentiles, I don’t want you to go to the Samaritans. Verse 6 of Matthew 10 basically states “I want you to concentrate your ministry efforts on the house of Israel.” So this is a Jewish topic, not a “Christian” topic at this time in history.

Matthew 10:7 captures for us the message of John the Baptist; it was the message of Jesus, and it’s the message of His disciples at this time in history. This is not a message to the Gentiles and it is not the complete Gospel that we know today. This is a Gospel that was projected during the time of Jesus’ ministry to the house of Israel exclusively. We can call it a special announcement that the kingdom was right at their door.

"Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. [Mat 11:11 NASB]

"And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. [Mat 11:14 NASB]

Here is one of the dilemmas of the Gospel. In Matthew 11:14, notice what it says, this is where John was in prison and he was kind of doubting things and Jesus said in verse 11, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist,” and then in verse 14 He says, “And if you care to accept it,” the it being italicized (you have to supply the object of the verb) and what “it” is is the Gospel message of “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” - if you will accept this Gospel, then John is Elijah and the prophecy has been fulfilled in John the Baptist.

"Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. [Mal 4:5 NASB]

What was the Old Testament prophecy? That Elijah would come and then there’d be the Kingdom. So if the Kingdom is going to come in Jesus’ day, you’ve got to have

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Elijah there? Well who’s the Elijah figure? He says if you accept it, John is the Elijah figure. But the Nation doesn’t accept it.

And He answered and said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." [Mat 17:11-12 NASB]

The idea is that Jesus is saying that Elijah is coming but he’s already come. There’s a contingency stated here. God offers the Kingdom, He offers John the Baptist, John the Baptist could have been Elijah, but the Nation, in rejection and rebellion, turns away. So we have this negative volition toward the Lord Jesus Christ that sets up the cross.

That leads to the First and Second Advent. After Christ has died and risen again, we’ve got the First Advent and the Second Advent split apart. But in splitting them apart, now we’ve got an age in-between; we have an inter-advent age that is caused by the rebellion of Israel and because it wouldn’t accept Him, the Kingdom is postponed, it’s still waiting for its fulfillment, but it hasn’t come yet.

What I have just outlined is a highly offensive representation to those who subscribe to the Reformed/Covenant Theology camp. They will ask “did Jesus come to die on the cross?” Yes, He most certainly did. The cross was not a peripheral act and if He hadn’t died on the cross we would not have salvation. Reformed Theology is correct soteriologically. When they say “you’ve got to make the cross of Christ the center of Jesus’ ministry,” they are correct. Thus, their idea of Dispensationalists is that when we argue that when Jesus was actually inviting Israel into the Kingdom prior to the cross, prior to being rejected, and then the cross comes in because of the rejection, they think that we’re saying that that is “Plan B.” They’re thinking the cross is sort of an after-effect of this rejection, that if Messiah had walked into Israel and said “accept Me as your King and you can have your Kingdom,” there would never have been a cross. In that, they are correct.

What bothers the Reformed Theologian’s mentality is the fear that God has decreed something and that it goes to waste. They demand that “Israel’s rejection of Christ marked the end of that Nation’s position in God’s plan and hence the Kingdom promises to it. That was fundamental, it was part of the decree to go to the cross, and that decree to go to the cross meant that Christ had to be rejected. If Christ had to be rejected the Nation had to be ended; that was it, it’s over, period.” The idea that Jesus made a genuine offer to bring the Kingdom to Israel prior to the Cross and that Israel rejected this offer, but will one day still receive the Kingdom, is repulsive to Reformed Theology. Proponents of this theology believe that this approach makes the Cross a mere “Plan B” in history because it results from the negative side of a choice.

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Such theology, however, forgets that very similar “offers”, “rejections”, and “Plan B’s” have occurred in past history. As I mentioned earlier, in Eden the offer to man to dominate and subdue the Earth was rejected and brought about our present fallen mortal history with the need for the Cross (the result of a negative choice). What if Adam and Eve hadn’t have disobeyed? Would Jesus have had to go to the Cross? Then didn’t Jesus go to the Cross because of a negative decision on Adam and Eve’s part? So there’s a clear-cut case, right there. Next case: In the centuries after the flood the offer to build a new civilization was rejected and resulted in the calling out of a counter-culture in Abraham (the result of a negative choice). Nimrod and all the people apostatized in Noah’s family, they destroyed civilization, they paganized it; as a result of a negative choice God had to call Abraham.

The next case: after Mt. Sinai what did God offer Israel? Entrée into the land. Did they take the entrée into the land or did they wait forty years and try it again? They waited forty years and tried it again, so there was an offer and there was a negative choice involved and it resulted in God’s plan. Immediately after Mt. Sinai the offer of Canaan to Israel was rejected and resulted in a second miraculous invasion under Joshua (the result of a negative choice). In the days of Samuel the offer of a politically simple theocracy was rejected and resulted in the rise of the monarchy and it was this monarchy that defined the role of Messiah (the result of a negative choice).

Each of these examples, and there are others, could be similarly criticized as bringing about “Plan B’s”, but that is the clear pattern of God’s working in history. Luke 18:31-33, however, clearly indicates to us that the Cross was not “Plan B” – it was prophesied in the Old Testament and it was God’s plan before the foundations of the Earth were laid. So when Dispensationalists talk about Christ offering Himself, offering the opportunity of the Nation to inherit the Kingdom, we’re doing nothing else than anybody would have done in any of the other passages within Scripture - it’s the same argument.

Jesus gave two distinct messages of good news for his disciples to preach. The content of the first Gospel was “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Paul defined the second Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. An examination of these Gospels indicates that their contents were different. This was made quite apparent within Matthew’s Gospel, as we have seen. After the disciples had been out for some time preaching the first Gospel, they returned to Christ to report on their ministry. Matthew records:

From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. [Mat 16:21 NASB]

The language indicates that although the disciples had already been preaching one message of good news up to this point, Jesus had never told them about His coming

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death, burial, and resurrection. Therefore, the first Gospel contained nothing concerning Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. Peter’s negative reaction to Jesus' new teaching emphasized the distinction between the two messages very strongly:

Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You." [Mat 16:22 NASB]

If Peter had already been preaching Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection he would not have reacted so negatively when Christ referred to these coming events. As we proceed further within the four Gospels, we see clearly the expectation that the Jews held for the coming Kingdom:

Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; [Luke 17:20 NASB]

While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. [Luke 19:11 NASB]

Luke 19:11 records that the disciples still “supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.” The destruction of the temple that Jesus spoke about within His Olivet Discourse (Mt 24:2) did not fit the eschatological scheme the disciples envisioned, so they asked the Lord for clarification. Jesus addressed their questions in reverse order, describing the prophetic sign of His coming (actually a series of signs) in Matthew 24:4-35 and then addressing their question about the timing of these events beginning in Matthew 24:36. When they asked about His coming (Gr. parousia), they did not envision a second coming in the far-off future. They were speaking of His coming in triumph as Messiah, an event which they no doubt anticipated would occur at that present time.

All of this expectation for the Kingdom led up to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The Jews thought the Kingdom was coming and they thought it was coming then and there. Post-Cross, post-resurrection, post-rejection, Acts 1 records for us that during the forty days after His resurrection, Christ spoke about a very important subject:

To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. [Act 1:3 NASB]

Verse 6 then records a very telling question that was on the minds of the disciples:

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So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" [Act 1:6 NASB]

The disciples were not asking the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ “why have you canceled the Kingdom?” The disciples had just received 40 days of instruction regarding the Kingdom of God. After 40 days, the disciples had but one question – “is the Kingdom coming now?” The question was not “why did you cancel the Kingdom?” or “why is the Kingdom now spiritual and not for Israel?” Jesus must have affirmed to the disciples during those 40 days that the Kingdom promised to Israel was indeed still coming. The only question was “when?”

Jesus’ response to His disciples is recorded in Acts 1:7 –

He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; [Act 1:7 NASB]

Jesus’ answer was that it was not for them to know the timing. Notice that Jesus did not say “where did you get such a bizarre idea about a Kingdom?” Jesus did not correct them in any way or suggest that the Kingdom was not coming. Jesus only told them that they did not need to worry about the timing. This was the perfect opportunity for Jesus to correct their theology, but that was not needed.

There is a Kingdom coming. It has been postponed during the Church Age. Israel has been set aside while Christ focuses His attention upon the building of His Church. Israel is currently apostate, has rejected their true Messiah, and is experiencing a partial hardening (blindness) until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (Rom 11:25). Israel, however, will never be forsaken by God. These and all other Biblical distinctions must not be ignored, watered-down, or explained away if an exposition of the Biblical philosophy of history and a proper understanding of Biblical Eschatology and the coming Kingdom, with Christ reigning as King, is to be appreciated correctly.

Thus far we have reviewed the emphasis that the Bible places upon the Kingdom. We have reviewed why it is that our personal eschatology matters. We have looked at the differences found between Reformed Theology and Dispensational Theology. We have looked at the covenants, the binding contracts that God made with the nation of Israel. And we have surveyed the message and the offer that our Lord Jesus Christ made to the nation of Israel during the first half of His ministry. Throughout this presentation thus far, we have emphasized a clear distinction between Israel and the Church. Unfortunately, within a growing segment of the Church today, that distinction is blurred, misrepresented, and quite often denied.The distinction between Israel and the Church must be understood if we are to get our Eschatology correct.

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Israel and the Church: One of the pillars of Dispensationalism is its recognition of the distinction

between Israel and the Church:o Different origins, missions, and destinies.

Call of Abraham (Gen 12) vs. Pentecost (Acts 2)o Israel is a nation, it has an army, it has a language, borders, and a culture.o The Church is made up of Holy Spirit indwelt members from many

nations, speaking many different languages and it crosses borders. The Church is what we can call a “voluntary association.”

Replacement Theology (also known as Supersessionism) essentially teaches that the Church has replaced Israel in God’s plan.

o Once Israel crucified their Messiah, that was it – Israel was cut off and all the promises to her went to the Church.

o Adherents of replacement theology believe the Jews are no longer God’s chosen people, and God does not have specific future plans for the nation of Israel.

o All the different views of the relationship between the Church and Israel can be divided into two camps:

1) either the Church is a continuation of Israel (Replacement/Covenant Theology), -or-

2) the Church is completely different and distinct from Israel (Dispensationalism/Pre-Millennialism).

“Replacement” views deny Israel its place in God’s programs of both history and salvation:

o This makes God a liar.o This “attitude” lays the foundation for Christian Anti-Semitism.o This belief cripples evangelistic efforts towards the Jews.

As seen within our review of the Covenants, a Kingdom has been guaranteed to Israel. It has not come yet, but it is on our near horizon.

We have a Jewish Bible, a Jewish Messiah, Jewish Apostles, and we’re awaiting a Jewish Kingdom.

If you replace the Jews with the Church, then you inevitably view the nation of Israel as just a bunch of Jews causing trouble in the Middle East and you don’t see them for what they are – prophecy being fulfilled.

If you replace the Jews with the Church, then you blur the line between the two groups and you can fall prey to the idea that the Church has kind of a political identity of some sort, that it is more like a nation than a voluntary association.

o Such a mentality has led to national churches – Lutheranism, the Church of England, the Presbyterian Church in Scotland (to a degree), the Congregational Church in New England under the Puritans, etc.

o These were more political institutions than they were churches. So the point is that this theology is not just a little nuance; this theology breeds

certain attitudes and actions.

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The massive apologetic power of the existence of Israel today, as an ethnic people, in their own land, as a pure ethnic race is unheard of in history and must be appreciated.

o The Jews being back in their land can be considered the #1 modern proof to the truthfulness of the Bible today.

o Despite the rebirth of the nation Israel and the Jews being back in the land, the Jews occupy only a fraction of what was promised to them and they continue to await their promised Kingdom.

Kingdom Views: The Return of Christ to Rule for a literal 1,000 years (Rev 20):

o 1,845 references in the Old Testament, within 17 books.o 318 references in the New Testament, within 23 books.o You can read about the Kingdom in chapters such as: 2 Samuel 7, Psalm

2, Isaiah 2, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 35, Isaiah 40 to 48, Jeremiah 23, Jeremiah 33, Ezekiel 34, Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Hosea 3, Joel 3, Zephaniah 3, Zechariah 14.

o For every one prophecy of Christ’s First Coming there are eight regarding His Second Coming.

o Remember: if the Jews were sitting there listening to the Lord Jesus Christ speak and He was talking about the Kingdom, what Kingdom do you suppose they had on their minds? A: The Kingdom that they had read about in their Bible (our Old Testament).

The New Testament calls the Kingdom: o The regeneration. (Mt 19:28)o The times of refreshing. (Acts 3:19) o The times of restitution. (Acts 3:21) o And the dispensation of the fullness of times. (Eph 1:10)

If you just read the book of Revelation, you're going to come up with what is known as a Pre-Millennial view of the Kingdom.

o Everything up to chapter 20 is Pre-Millennial. o Chapter 20 is Millennial. o Chapter 21 is Post-Millennial, the new Heaven and the new Earth, etc.o Most of what we know about the Millennium is not from Rev 20, but from

Isaiah 65 and other OT passages. Three views of the Kingdom within Christendom today:

1. Post-Millennial2. Amillennial3. Pre-Millennial

o Post-Millennialism – Christ will come after the Millennial Kingdom. Christ will return in a glorious Second Coming, not to establish His

Kingdom, but rather after His Kingdom has been established by the Church.

The Church will have an increasing influence upon the world. The Church will capture nations, leaders, religions, ideologies, etc.

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The % of unbelievers to believers will grow in the direction of there being more believers.

Once the Church has established dominance, then Christ will return. We, the church, will bring about on the world a period of

righteousness, Christ will not be here literally, only spiritually working through His church, and by His power in His church He will triumph over the world of men, He will triumph over the world of demons, and He will bring about through His church a Kingdom.

Post-Mill’s believe that things are going to get better. They believe there will not be a literal 1,000-year Kingdom – it is just

metaphoric for “a long time.” There will be no literal fulfilling of the promises made to the nation of

Israel within the Old Testament Covenants. Israel forfeited all its promises, forfeited all its privileges, forfeited all

the things that God declared in Covenant that He would give to them in the future.

Israel has, therefore, been permanently set aside. This view is based on a combination of literal and non-literal

interpretation of Scripture (hermeneutics) and it totally ignores the chronology of the Book of Revelation.

Today’s form of Post-Millennialism is found in: Kingdom Theology Liberation Theology Social Gospel movements The Seven Mountains Mandate The NAR – New Apostolic Reformation Dominionism

o Amillennialism – There will be no Millennial Kingdom. The alpha-privative in the Greek language means a negative. All “Kingdom” talk in Scripture is speaking to the eternal state or it is

identified with the Church (spiritually). Q: If identified with the Church, what happens to Israel?

Apostle John was writing about a long time in which the Church flourishes on Earth.

Referring to a “spiritual” kingdom – the rule of Christ over those who belong to Him, while on Earth.

Some believe all references are speaking to Heaven. There will be no 1,000-year reign of Christ on Earth. Everything just stays the same and then Christ comes. The kingdom is now...the kingdom is the church age. When Christ comes, everything ends immediately. No Kingdom on Earth, ruled by Christ before He gets here and no

Kingdom on Earth, ruled by Christ after He gets here. No literal fulfilling of the promises made to the nation of Israel within

the Old Testament Covenants.

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Israel forfeited all its promises, forfeited all its privileges, forfeited all the things that God declared in Covenant that He would give to them in the future, and they forfeited by their disobedience to the Mosaic Covenant, by their apostasy from true religion, and by their rejection of their Messiah.

Israel has, therefore, been permanently set aside. All the promises of a Kingdom to Israel will be fulfilled in the Church

within the Church Age right now. The Church is the Israel of God - there's no future for Israel - God will

never revive Israel - they'll never be redeemed as a nation - they'll never go back into a Kingdom - there never will be a real throne in Jerusalem - that's all figurative - everything is fulfilled in the Church.

Amillennialists take the Book of Revelation and make it describe the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. (Preterism), or they would just make it figurative, a non-literal interpretation of Kingdom passages.

Note that to place “A” in front of a word, the alpha-privative, is to tell us what you don’t believe in. It is a denial of something.

What other category of theology, except Atheism, starts with the alpha-privative and labels itself as believing in something that does not exist?

The Amillennialist has to tell us why they don’t believe the passages of Scripture that speak to the Kingdom.

Amillennialism is found in: The Catholic Church Reformed Theology Most Protestant denominations

o Pre-Millennialism – there will be a literal Millennial Kingdom. Prior to that Millennial Kingdom, Christ returns. He will return to an increasingly wicked Earth. He will come in fiery judgment. He will judge all the ungodly of all the Earth. At that time Satan is bound for a literal thousand-years. He will then establish His rule and His Kingdom forever. The Kingdom is set up on earth in the city of Jerusalem on the throne

of David. The first phase of His eternal-rule will be His reign on this Earth,

lasting 1,000 years (stated 6 times in Rev 20). All of this is based on a literal interpretation of Scripture. A literal

hermeneutic.

In summarizing these three predominant views, we ask the questions, “is the future triumphant Kingdom to be inside mortal history or is it essentially the eternal state?” After Christ came and was rejected, the controversy became more complex because of the rise of the Church and its relationship to the Kingdom and Israel. “Was the Church a ‘spiritualized’ version of Israel and the Kingdom (the

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Amillennialist view)?” Or, “was it actually a nation-like entity replacing Israel that was to conquer the world and bring into existence a physical-political kingdom to hand over to the Messiah (the Post-Millennialist view)?” Or, “was the Church a ‘new body’ distinct from Israel which somehow prepared the way for the yet-to-be-realized Kingdom (the Pre-Millennialist view)?” The debate rages on between theologians, but unfortunately, the average Christian spends little time studying this subject area and thus limits the hope and the joy promised to them within Scripture.

"Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. "Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. "Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. [Luke 12:36-38 NASB]

The Olivet Discourse:

As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" [Mt 24:3 NASB]

Four disciples ask about His Return -o Peter, James, John, and Andrew (Peter's brother). o This was a private briefing described in the Synoptic Gospels

Remember the concept of Progressive Revelation when studying the Olivet Discourse.

o Matthew 24:1 – 25:46 (most extensive within Synoptic Gospels). o Parallel passages are found in Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:5-36.o Luke 21 has pieces of the Olivet Discourse, but it is a different audience,

under different conditions. Three questions are found within v.3:

1. When will these things happen?a. The destruction of the temple – A.D. 70 – (Preterism).

2. What will be the sign of Your coming?3. What will be the sign of the end of the age?

Jesus points the four disciples to the prophet Daniel (Mt 24:15).o “Abomination of Desolation” is found in Dan 11:31 and Dan 12:11.o “Abominations” and “Desolate” are found in Dan 9:27.

Daniel’s Seventy Weeks:The Scope Dan 9:24 (490 year prophecy concerning Israel)The 69 Weeks Dan 9:25 (Contiguous)The Interval Dan 9:26 (A 2,000 year gap)The 70th Week Dan 9:27 (ToJT, The 7-year Tribulation period)

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Dan 9:24 Hebrew = shib‘iym (shiveem) shabuwa` (shavu-a)

o Shib‘iym (shiveem) is a numeral, translated as seventy.o Shabuwa` (shavu-a) represents a period of seven – either days or years.

In Gen 29:27-28 it speaks to years. “Immediate context” – Dan 9:2 = years. 70 “weeks” = 490 years “for your people and your holy city” = the Jews/ Israel, and Jerusalem

Dan 9:25 Artaxerxes Longimanus in the year 445 BC (Neh 1:3, 2:1-8) to Jesus’ Triumphal

Entry (AD28-32). The street, the plaza, and at least the footings to the wall, if not the wall itself, had

been built by the end of the first seven weeks. The city is built; it is functioning economically and militarily. A Jubilee year?

Dan 9:26 62 weeks later, Messiah is cut-off, after His Triumphal Entry. “The people of the prince who is to come”

o Traditional European Antichrist Theory–or–

o Islamic End Time Theory From “Messiah the Prince” (v.25) to “even to the end” = the 2,000 year Church

Age.

Dan 9:27 “he” = “the prince who is to come”

o The coming political leader, the Antichrist, is detailed in Daniel 8. A covenant will be established or ratified for 7 years. Middle of the week = 3.5 year mark.

o The start of “Great Tribulation” (Mt 24:21). Notice what is implied by the phrase “he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain

offering” – see Mt 24:15 and 2 Thes 2:1-4o The Temple will be rebuilt by the mid-point of Daniel’s 70th Week.

Synonymous Usages: Daniel’s 70th Week – specifically pertaining to the Jews, Israel, and Jerusalem The Time of Jacob’s Trouble - (Jer 30:7) The Birth Pangs of the Messiah (Dead Sea Scrolls) The Tribulation (God’s) Day of the Lord (Wrath) – (Is 13:9,13, 1 Thes 5:2)

The Day of the Lord:

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Strongly related to God’s rule of the earth and, therefore, to His sovereign purpose for world history and specific events within that history.

Refers to God’s special interventions into the course of world events to judge His enemies, accomplish His purpose for history, and thereby demonstrate who He is – the sovereign God of the universe.

There have been several “Days of the Lord” in history in which God demonstrated His sovereign rule by raising up several nations (human instruments often engaged in war) to execute His judgment on other nations (Amos 5:18-20, Lam 1:12, Ezek 7:19, etc.).

There are four usages of the term “the Day of the Lord” within Scripture:1. OT - God’s intervention in history through human instruments or miracles.2. Daniel’s 70th Week / the Tribulation period (Broad sense / Night).3. Christ’s Second Coming (Narrow sense – Rev 19:11-21, Joel 3, Zech 14).

o Phrased as “the great and terrible day of the Lord.”o It is the climax of the whole period known as “the day of the Lord.”

4. Christ’s literal rule for 1,000 years (Broad sense / Light). 1 Thes 5:1-11 – the Apostle Paul referred to a “Day of the Lord” that was future

beyond the time when he wrote his epistle.o It describes sudden, inescapable destruction upon the unsaved of the

world.o It is further discussed within the Apostle Paul’s second epistle to the

church at Thessalonica, chapter 2 (v.1-4).

Daniel’s 70 th Week (the Tribulation) :

"Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. [Dan 12:1 NASB]

Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. [Jer 30:7 KJV]

A seven-year period of time. It begins with a covenant being created or ratified. The Antichrist is identified at the point of this covenant being enforced. The common thread within Scripture is the “Abomination of Desolation”:

o Direct Reference: Dan 9:27, 11:31, 12:11, Mt 24:15, Mk 13:14o Implied: 2 Thes 2:3-4, Rev 13:3-8, Rev 11:1-2o At the mid-point of the Tribulation period, the Antichrist breaks the

treaty, enters the temple in Jerusalem, and declares himself to be God (Dan 9:27, 2 Thes 2:4, Rev 13).

This begins the “Great Tribulation” – Mt 24:21 3.5 years, 42 months, 1260 days

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Time, times, and half a time (Dan 7:25, 12:7; Rev 12:14) This duration of time is so specific within Scripture that the

honest student cannot allegorize it…

The 42 months refers to the reign of the Antichrist, specifically, the last half (3.5 years) of the seven-year Tribulation. At the beginning of that time period, the Antichrist will break his covenant with Israel and set up “the abomination that causes desolation” (Mk 13:14; cf. Dan 9:27) - an act that links the Antichrist to Antiochus Epiphanes, who similarly defiled the temple. The Antichrist will then turn his attention to the genocide of the Jews (Zech 13:8). During that persecution, Israel (the woman of Rev 12) will be protected by God in the wilderness (Dan 11:41). Also during that troubled time, God will send two witnesses to perform miracles and proclaim the truth of Christ in the face of the Antichrist’s lies (Rev 11:1-14).

Though Daniel’s 70th Week is a worldwide event, its focus is upon Israel (“Jacob” – Gen 35:10).

37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! 39 "For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'" [Mat 23:37-39 NASB]

The Purpose of all History How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings…

The Tragedy of all History …you were unwilling. "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!

The Triumph of all History …you will not see Me until you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!

Daniel’s 70th Week will conclude once the Jew’s acknowledge their offence and petition for the Lord’s return:

I will go away and return to My place Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me. [Hos 5:15 NASB]

Israel’s petition for the Lord’s return is found in Hosea 6:

1 "Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. 2 "He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. 3 "So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth." [Hos 6:1-3 NASB]

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Daniel’s 70th Week ends with Christ’s Second Coming:

"Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. [Dan 12:1 NASB]

o See also: Rev 19:11-19, Mt 24:36-41, Zech 14:1-9, Isa 11:11, Isa 11:1-5

The earth begins the process of being renovated during the Tribulation period. Expanding upon the Olivet Discourse, the Tribulation period is most detailed

within the Book of Revelation, chapters 6 through 18.

The Book of Revelation: Within the entirety of the New Testament, this one book poses the most serious

and difficult interpretive challenges. It is the only book within the Bible that promises a special blessing to the reader –

Rev 1:3. Four predominant interpretive approaches have been produced for interpreting

the Book of Revelation:1. Preterist – everything occurred within the 1st century AD. 2. Historicist – it is just a panoramic view of church history.3. Idealist – it is a timeless depiction of the cosmic struggle between the forces

of good and evil. A collection of stories designed to teach spiritual truth.4. Futurist – insists that the events described in chapters 6 through 22 are yet

future and that those chapters should be understood literally. Foundational to any understanding of the Kingdom is to capture the

chronological order of the Book of Revelation. It is to be taken at face-value – a literal hermeneutic.

o As soon as one says they don't have to interpret the Bible literally, then what in the Bible don't they have to interpret literally? How can one say, "Well I don't interpret prophecy literally, but I interpret everything else literally," on the basis of what? Where are we instructed to change the rules of interpretation between all of the events documented within Scripture?

o We must maintain a literal, historical, grammatical contextual hermeneutic of interpretation - that's the only way one can understand the Bible, to take it at its historical, contextual, linguistic face value.

The ‘ordoeschaton’ – the sequence of events within the Book of Revelation:

Chapter Subject1 Introduction and outline (v.19) – the things which you have seen…

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2-3 Church History – the things which are…4-5 Rapture of the Church and worship in Heaven – the things which will

take place after these things…6-18 Daniel’s 70th Week / The Time of Jacob’s Trouble / The Tribulation

19 The Second Coming and the Battle of Armageddon

20 The Millennial Kingdom, the Gog/Magog Invasion, the Great White Throne Judgment

21-22 Creation of the New Heaven, Earth, Jerusalem, and the Eternal State

Chapters 6 through 18 detail Daniel’s 70th Week. If studied properly, this one book will take you to virtually every other book

within the Bible.o The Book of Revelation is written in ‘code’ and those codes are used

consistently throughout the Bible - “Principle of Expositional Constancy.”o The Holy Spirit uses idioms consistently throughout Scripture.

The most important chapters to the 21st-century Christian are chapters 2 and 3 – Christ’s Seven Epistles – the seven letters to the seven churches.

o Roughly 20 occurrences of the term “Church” or “Churches” occur in chapters 1 through 3.

o The last word of the last verse in chapter 3 is “churches.”o Throughout chapters 4 through 18, Daniel’s 70th Week, the word

“church” is never found.o The church does not reappear within the Book of Revelation until chapter

19, Christ’s Second Coming chapter, when it is called in verse 7 the “bride” of the Lamb.

The Book of Revelation is written chronologically and should not be read allegorically.

o The chronological sequence and the structure to the Book of Revelation places the Rapture of the Church before Daniel’s 70th Week (the Tribulation period).

o The “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” found in Rev 6 correlate to the beginning verses within the Lord’s Olivet Discourse.

The argument is that the Olivet Discourse is distinctly “Jewish” and is not speaking to the Church, since the Church will be Raptured before the seals are opened at the start of Daniel’s 70th Week.

See terminology used in Mt 24:14, Mt 24:16, Mt 24:20o In analyzing the “structure” to the four Gospels, one can say that the

Gospel of John is written to the Church and we notice that it does not contain the Olivet Discourse.

The conclusion: the Church is not going to go through what is detailed within the Olivet Discourse, the Tribulation Period.

The Church will be Raptured before Daniel’s 70th Week begins.

The Rapture of the Church:

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Let’s be honest, this is one of the strangest subjects in all of Christendom (compared to a virgin birth (Mt 1), talking donkey (Num 22:28), global flood (Gen 6-8), etc.).

Dispel the myth – “the word ‘Rapture’ is not in the Bible” -

“deinde nos qui vivimus qui relinquimur simul rapiemur cum illis in nubibus obviam Domino in aera et sic semper cum Domino erimus”[1 Thes 4:17 VUL (Latin Vulgate)]

In the Greek, the term is “Harpazo”:

The Harpazo = to be forcibly caught up. The Rapture is God’s next event within His prophetic plan -

o The ‘mechanism’ that ends the Church Age so that God can then complete His plan with Israel.

o It concludes the “time of the Gentiles” – Rom 11:25.o No other event must precede the Rapture of the Church.o It is considered “imminent”:

Believers are taught to expect their Savior from heaven at any moment.

Phil 3:20, Titus 2:13, Heb 9:28, 1 Thes 1:10, 4:18, 5:6, Rev 22:20. This should result in a victorious and purified life (1 Jn 3:2-3).

o The Apostle Paul appeared to include himself among those who looked for Christ’s soon return (1 Thes 4:15, 17; 2 Thes 2:1).

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o Timothy was admonished to “keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim 6:14).

o Jewish converts to Christianity were reminded that “for yet in a very little while, he who is coming will come, and will not delay” (Heb 10:37).

o Other events prophesied within Scripture may occur before the Rapture (Is 17:1, Ps 83, etc.), but they are not prerequisites to the Rapture of the Church.

o Daniel’s 70th Week is started by a covenant being enforced by a coming world leader (the Antichrist), not by the Rapture of the Church.

o The Antichrist will not be revealed until after the Rapture of the Church (2 Thes 2:6-9).

The most popular “Rapture” views include: o Pre-Tribo Mid-Tribo Pre-Wratho Post-Trib

One question we must ask within this Eschatological debate is: “Are we looking for Christ or are we looking for the Antichrist?”

We must also ask “what is our blessed hope?”:

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,

12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,

13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, [Titus 2:11-13 NASB]

Is your “blessed hope” the Rapture or the Second Coming?

The Promise: John 14:1-3 The Process: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 The Purpose: 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 The Prophetic Profile: 2 Thessalonians 2

The Promise: I will come again and receive you to Myself… The Process: Caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the

air… The Purpose: Resurrection bodies! Flesh and blood cannot

Inherit the kingdom of God… The Prophetic Profile: See next section

Why do we need resurrection bodies?

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o In Rev 21:3, 22, 23, after the Millennial Kingdom, we learn that God Himself is going to dwell with man.

o We know from Ex 33:20, Jn 1:18, 1 Tim 6:16, 1 Jn 4:12 that no mortal man can see God and live.

o We also know from 2 Pet 3:10 and Rev 21 that the present heavens and earth are going to be destroyed and replaced.

o Only those in their resurrected/glorified bodies can endure the sight of God and the recreation of all things.

Different “Raptures” in Scripture:1) Enoch Gen 5:42; Heb 11:52) Elijah 2 Kgs 2:1, 113) Jesus Mk 16:19, Acts 1:9-11; Rev 12:5 (Harpazo)4) Philip Acts 8:39 (Harpazo)5) Paul 2 Cor 12:2-4 (Harpazo)6) Body of Christ 1 Thess 4:17 (Harpazo)Some commentators argue:7) John Rev 4:1 (“Come up here”)

The Rapture:Translation of all believersTranslated saints go to heavenEarth not judgedLeaves Creation unchangedImminent, any-moment, signlessHidden in the Old Testament?Mystery revealed in New TestamentBelievers onlyBefore the day of wrathNo reference to SatanChrist comes for His ownPrecedes Day of the LordHe comes in the airRelates to the ChurchHe claims His brideOnly His own see HimTribulation begins soon afterChurch believers only?Believers are rewardedBelievers go into the presence of Christ

The Second Coming: (Zech 14:1-4 / Rev 19)No translation at allTranslated saints return to earthEarth judged; righteousness establishedMany aspects of the curse reversed (Creation changed)Follows definite predicted signs, including TribulationPredicted often in Old TestamentDocumented extensively in Old TestamentAffects all persons on the earthConcluding the day of wrathSatan is boundChrist comes with His ownPart of the Day of the LordHe comes to the earthRelates to Israel and the worldHe comes with His brideEvery eye shall see HimMillennial Kingdom beginsOT saved raised later?Unbelievers are judgedBelievers go into an earthly Kingdom

One of the biggest debates within the Dispensational “camp” is the timing of the Rapture.

Old Testament Allusions: Enoch and the Flood of Noah Gen 5:24

1) Those that perished in the Flood2) Those preserved through the Flood3) Those removed prior to the Flood (Enoch)

Isaac’s absence after his offering Gen 22:19-24:62

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Ruth during the threshing floor scene Ruth 3:7-9 Daniel’s absence from the fiery furnace Daniel 5

Various Pre-Trib Proofs:1) Promise of; from hour of trial Rev 3:102) Not the object of God’s wrath Rev 6:16, 1 Thes 5:93) Escape (not endure) tribulation Lk 21:364) Restrainer removed before Antichrist 2 Thes 25) In the air, not on the earth 1 Thes 4:17 vs. Zech 14:46) Conflict between Dan 7:21 & Mt 16:187) The structure to the Book of Revelation

a. The Church is mentioned nowhere in chapters 6-18b. The lampstands (1:20) are before God (4:5) before the seals are openedc. The Bride returns with Christ at His Second Coming (19:11).

8) The Jewish Wedding Model9) The structure of the four gospels10)No mention of resurrection during the Second Coming

John Walvoord’s book, The Rapture Question, provides 50 reasons.

The “Saints” and Their Timing: Jude: one of four half-brothers of Christ (Mt 13:55, Mk 6:3). He distinguishes himself from the Apostles (v.17). The only NT book devoted exclusively to confronting “apostasy” (defection from

true Biblical faith). Emphasis is for Believers to contend for the faith.

14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. [Jude 1:14-15 KJV]

Enoch “walked with God” and he was taken directly to heaven without having to die (Gen 5:24, Heb 11:5).

Enoch, before the Flood, prophesied not just about wicked apostates (Jude 3-13), but also about Christ’s Second Coming in judgment (Col 3:4, 1 Thes 3:13).

o Stop and think about how someone represented in Genesis 5 prophesied not about the First Advent of Christ, but about the Second Advent of Christ.

Rev 19:14 tells us that Believers will accompany Christ at His Return. Angels are also certainly in view within this prophecy and angels are the

executioners of God at His Second Coming (Mt 13:39-41, 49-50, 24:29-31, 25:31, 2 Thes 1:7-10).

What do we know?

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o We know the Lord’s coming is sure. (Rev 19:11-14)o We know who will accompany the Lord. (the Saints, the Holy Ones)o We know the purpose of His coming. (To execute judgment)o We know the result of the Lord’s coming. (ungodly convicted of their

works of ungodliness).o We know who will be judged. (“All”)

He’s coming to judge the earth Ps 96:13 …all nations Joel 3:12, Mt 25:32 …with their cities Mt 11:22, 12:41 …every man, living or dead 2 Tim 4:1, 2 Thes 1:7-9 …fallen angels (v.6) Isa 24:21 …and demons Mt 8:29

o We must ask “who are the Saints and where do they come from?”: Believers of all the ages. (all dispensations) Order of First Resurrection:

Jesus Christ (the First Fruits – 1 Cor 15:20, 23). The Church (they that are Christ’s at His Coming – 1 Cor 15:23). Old Testament Saints (Dan 12:2, Isa 26:19). Tribulation Saints (Rev 13:7, Rev 20:4). Saints from the Millennial Kingdom (implied given the

chronology of the Book of Revelation).

The Prophetic Profile of 2 Thessalonians 2:The “Ordoeschaton” – the order of last things:

2Th 2:1 …the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,

The Rapture of the Church?

2Th 2:2 …the day of the Lord… Daniel’s 70th Week2Th 2:3 …the apostasy comes first, and

the man of lawlessness is revealed…

Some argue that “apostasy” is actually “departure”, then the Antichrist is revealed.

2Th 2:4 …he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

The Abomination of Desolation – the mid-point of the Tribulation period.

2Th 2:6 …what restrains him now… The Holy Spirit working through the Church.

2Th 2:7 …he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

The Holy Spirit is removed, but indwells the Believer = the Rapture of the Church.

2Th 2:8 Then that lawless one will be revealed…

The Antichrist is revealed after the Rapture of the Church.

Future Judgments:

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Scripture speaks to three “Judgments” being within our prophetic future:1) Bema Seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10, 1 Cor 3:11-15)

o Rewards: crowns, assignmentso Kingdom Parables: talents, virgins, uninvited…o Call of the Bride to the Marriage of the Lamb

2) Sheep and Goat Judgment (Mt 25:31-46)o Also labeled as the “judgment of the nations”o On the earth: must understand the different parties involvedo Mortals are judged on the basis of “works”

3) Great White Throne (Rev 20:11-15)o At the end of the Millennium, of the unsaved deado Resurrected to eternal damnationo Then: New Heavens, New Earth, New Jerusalem

Crowns Promised:1) Righteousness – (2 Tim 4:8) – for those who loved His appearing.2) Life – (Jms 1:12, Rev 2:10) – for those who have suffered for His sake.3) Rejoicing – (1 Thes 2:19) – for those who win souls.4) Incorruptible – (1 Cor 9:24-25) – for those who press on stead-fastly.5) Glory – (1 Pet 5:4) – for those who fed the flock.

12 “Areas of Judgment” found in Scripture:Will there be others? – I’m sure there will...

1) How we treat other believers (Heb 6:10, Mt 10:41-42).2) How we exercise our authority over others (Heb 13:17, Jms 3:13).3) How we employ our God-given abilities (1 Cor 12:4, 11, 2 Tim 1:6, 1 Pet

4:10).4) How we use our money (1 Cor 16:2, 2 Cor 9:6-7, 1 Tim 6:17-19).5) How we spend our time (Ps 90:12, Eph 5:16, Col 4:5, 1 Pet 1:17).6) How much we suffer for Jesus (Mt 5:11-12, Mk 10:29-30, Rom 8:18, 2 Cor

4:17, 1 Pet 4:12-13).7) How we run that particular race which God has chosen for us (1 Cor 9:24,

Phil 2:16, 3:13-14, Heb 12:1).8) How effectively we control the old nature (1 Cor 9:25-27).9) How many souls we witness to and win to Christ (Prov 11:30, Dan 12:3, 1

Thes 2:19-20).10)How we react to temptation (Jms 1:2-3, Rev 2:10).11)How much the doctrine of the Rapture means to us (2 Tim 4:8).12)How faithful we are to the Word of God and the flock of God (Acts 20:26-28, 2

Tim 4:1-2, 1 Pet 5:2-4).

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New Heavens, New Earth, New Jerusalem: After the Great White Throne Judgment of Rev 20.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. [Rev 21:1 NASB]

The New Jerusalem

9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. [Rev 21:9-11 NASB]

The Apostle John was told to measure the city:o 12,000 furlongs (stadia) cubed (Rev 21:16).o If taken as 606ft (measures differed in Biblical times) the city would be

about 1,400 miles cubed.o A cube? [The Holy of Holies was a cube.]o Some commentators, however, argue that the same measurements

provided can be used to create a pyramid.

Conclusion: When all of this is said and done, every person who has had a “positive volition”

towards God throughout the ages will be placed into their resurrected (glorified) bodies and will enter the eternal state where they will dwell with God Himself for all of eternity.

Those who have had a “negative volition” towards God, the unsaved, will be cast into the Lake of Fire, also in their resurrected bodies, where their torment will be eternal:

"The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. "Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. [Mat 13:41-43 NASB]

The “marching orders” for the Church are clear:

So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”[Jhn 20:21-22 NASB]

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but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." [Act 1:8 NASB]

And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. [Mar 16:15-16 NASB]

and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. [Luk 24:47 NASB]

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." [Mat 28:19-20 NASB]

Let us be obedient to His calling and labor to assist in His harvest so that as many as possible can be granted the privilege of entering the Kingdom of our Lord. Maranatha!

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Topics not elaborated upon within this Presentation: Are we living in the Last Days? The Antichrist Traditional European Antichrist Theory vs. Islamic End Time Theory The Mark of the Beast Prophetic items on our near horizon:

o Psalm 83 Waro Isaiah 17 – Destruction of Damascuso Temple rebuilt

The Gog/Magog Invasion Historic writings/positions regarding the Millennial Kingdom and the Rapture Post-Rapture events – Marriage of the Lamb, Marriage Supper of the Lamb Different “functions” for different Saints during the Millennial Kingdom:

o See Rev 7:13-17, Rev 20:4-6, Rev 1:6o See the “12 Kingdom Parables” found in Mt 13, Mt 18:23-35, Mt 20:1-16,

Mt 22:1-14, Mt 25:1-13, Mt 25:14-30

Additional Resources:

What was the Old Testament way of salvation?http://www.gotquestions.org/Old-Testament-salvation.html

You Might Be a Dispensationalist if...https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/11489

A Doctrine Left Behindhttps://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/5216

Thy Kingdom Comehttps://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/11557

How the Future Got Lost in Historyhttps://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/5231

Heaven on Earthhttps://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/7625

The Glories of the Kingdomhttps://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/8460

The End of the Storyhttps://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/11847

When Jesus Comes (Series) – Revelation 19-20http://www.gty.org/resources/sermon-series/263/when-jesus-comes

Replacement Theologyhttp://www.gotquestions.org/replacement-theology.html

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The Church has been Grafted Inhttp://www.gotquestions.org/grafted-Israel.html

www.HarpazoTV.com Eschatology 101 Daniel’s 70 Weeks – Part 1 Daniel’s 70 Weeks – Part 2 The Kingdom and the Saints Daniel’s Dream, the Antichrist, and Christ as King (Daniel 7) The Dream of Daniel 2 and the Rise of Imperial Paganism JMac - Part 1 of 4 - Eschatology and Reformed Theology JMac - Part 2 of 4 - We Must Get Israel Right JMac - Part 3 of 4 - God makes Covenants and He keeps them…! JMac - Part 4 of 4 - Was Jesus an Amillennialist?

“The Progress of Dogma”James OrrISBN 978-1-4400-8904-6

“There Really is a Difference”A Comparison of Covenant and Dispensational TheologyRenald E. ShowersISBN 0-915540-50-9

“When a Jew Rules the World”Joel RichardsonISBN 978-1-938067-71-6

“Heaven”Randy AlcornISBN 978-1-4143-0282-9

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Doctrinal Statement (What We Teach)Last Things (Eschatology)

Order of Events Scripture Reference

Physical death involves no loss of our immaterial consciousness.

Rev 6:9-11

Upon a person's death the soul of the redeemed person passes immediately into the presence of Christ .

Lk 22:43, Phil 1:23, 2 Cor 5:8

There is a separation of soul and body that occurs at the point of one’s death.

Phil 1:21-24

For the redeemed, the saved person, such separation will continue until the rapture of the Church occurs.

1 Thes 4:13-17

The rapture initiates the first resurrection, when our soul and body will be reunited, to be glorified forever with our Lord.

Rev 20:4-6Phil 3:21, 1 Cor 15:35-54

Until that time, the souls of the redeemed in Christ remain in joyful fellowship with our Lord, Jesus Christ.

2 Cor 5:8

There is a bodily resurrection of all men; the saved to eternal life, and the unsaved to judgment and everlasting punishment.

Jn 6:39, Rom 8:10-11, Rom 8:19-23, 2 Cor 4:14Dan 12:2, Jn 5:29, Rev 20:13-15

At death, the spirits and souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ to salvation pass immediately into His presence and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of their glorified body when Christ comes for His own, whereupon soul and body shall be associated with Him forever in glory.

2 Cor 5:8, Phil 1:23, Heb 9:27, Lk 23:42-43, Jn 5:28-29

The spirits and souls of the unbelieving remain after death conscious of condemnation and in misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne at the close of the Millennium, when soul and body reunited shall be cast into the Lake of Fire, not to be annihilated, but to be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.

Lk 16:19-31, 2 Thes 1:7-9, Jd 6, Jd 7, Rev 20:11-15, Jn 5:28-29

The souls of the unsaved, at death, are kept under punishment until the second resurrection, when the soul and the resurrection body will be united.

Lk 16:19-26, Rev 20:13-15Jn 5:28-29

The unsaved person shall then appear at the Great White Throne judgment and shall be cast into Hell, the Lake of Fire, cutoff from an eternity with God where there will be no sin.

Rev 20:11-15, Mt 25:41-46Dan 12:2, Mt 25:41-46,2 Thes 1:7-9

The next great event in the fulfillment of prophecy will be the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the air to receive to Himself the dead in Christ (resurrection) and the believers that are alive at His coming (translation), otherwise known as the rapture, before the seven-year tribulation period.

Jn 14:1-3, 1 Cor 15:51-53, 1 Thes 4:13-5:11Titus 2:11-14

Christ will translate (rapture) His Church from this earth, and between this event and his glorious return with His Saints at the Second Coming, He will reward believers according to their works.

1 Cor 3:11-15, 2 Cor 5:10, Rom 14:10-12, 2 Tim 4:8, Jas 1:12, 1 Pet 5:4

Immediately following the removal of the Church from the earth, the righteous judgments of God will be poured out upon the unbelieving world and these judgments will be climaxed by the return of Christ in glory to the earth.

Jn 14:1-3, 1 Thes 4:13-18Jer 30:7, Dan 9:27, Dan 12:1, 2 Thes 2:7-12, Rev 16Mt 24:27-31, Mt 25:31-46, 2 Thes 2:7-12

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This present age of grace will be followed by a period of tribulation (the Time of Jacob’s Trouble / Daniel’s 70th Week) for the world, which will be consummated by the literal, bodily Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth.

Mt 24:25, Rev 6:17, Rev 19:11-16, Joel 2:3, Zech 14, Acts 1:11Dan 9:24-27, Mt 24:15-31, Mt 25:31-46

At that time the Old Testament and Tribulation Saints will be raised and the living will be judged (Judgment of the Nations / Sheep and Goat Judgment).

Dan 12:2-3, Rev 20:4-6

After the tribulation period, Christ will come to earth to occupy the throne of David and establish his Messianic Kingdom for a thousand years on the earth.

Mk 25:31, Lk 1:31-33, Acts 1:10-11, Acts 2:29-30Rev 20:1-7

During this time, the resurrected Saints will reign with Him over Israel and all the nations of the earth.

Ez 37:21-28, Dan 7:17-22, Rev 19:11-16

This reign will be preceded by the overthrow of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, and by the removal of Satan and the world.

Dan 7:17-27, Rev 20:1-7

The kingdom itself will be the fulfillment of God's promise to Israel to restore them to the land which they forfeited through their disobedience.

Is 65:17-25, Ez 37:21-28, Zech 8:1-17, Deut 28:15-68

The result of their disobedience was that Israel was temporarily set aside, but will again be awakened through repentance, to enter into the land of blessing.

Mt 21:43, Rom 11:1-26Jer 31:31-34, Ez 36:22-32, Rom 11:25-29

This time of our Lord's reign will be characterized by harmony, justice, peace, righteousness, and long life, and will be brought to an end with the release of Satan at the end of the Millennial Kingdom.

Is 11, Is 65:17-25, Ez 36:33-38, Rev 20:7

Following the release of Satan, after the thousand-year reign of Christ, Satan will deceive the nations of the earth and will gather them to battle against the saints and the beloved city, Jerusalem.

Rev 20:7

At which time Satan and his army will be devoured by fire from Heaven.

Rev 20:9

Following this Satan will be thrown into the Lake of Fire and brimstone whereupon Christ, who is the judge of all men, will resurrect and judge the great and the small at the Great White Throne judgment.

Mt 25:41, Rev 20:10Jn 5:22Rev 20:11-15

This resurrection of the unsaved dead to judgment will be a physical resurrection, whereupon receiving their judgment, they will be committed to an eternal conscious punishment in the Lake of Fire.

Jn 5:28-29Mt 25:41, Rev 20:11-15

After the closing of the Millennium, the temporary release of Satan, and the judgment of unbelievers, the saved will enter the eternal state of glory with God, after which the elements of this earth are to be dissolved and replaced with a new earth, wherein only righteousness dwells.

2 Thes 1:9, Rev 20:7-152 Pet 3:10Eph 5:5, Rev 20:15, Rev 21:1-27, Rev 21-22

Following this, the heavenly city will come down out of Heaven and will be the dwelling place of the saints, where they will enjoy fellowship forever with God and with one another.

Rev 21:2Jn 17:3, Rev 21-22

Our Lord Jesus Christ, having fulfilled his redemptive mission, will then deliver up the Kingdom to God the Father, that in all spheres the triune God may reign forever and ever.

1 Cor 15:24-28

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