Confessions of a reluctant Amillenialist

rev. 20:1-15

 

 

Sermon Introduction

 

  • Many schools and churches require Premill position!
  • We do not require this.
  • Keeping primary primary, secondary secondary and tertiary tertiary.
  • This is tertiary.
  • We do have thoughts.
  • Variable within SGM.

 

 

Text

 

Revelation 20:1-15 (ESV)

 

 

Prop: I am a reluctant amillenialist because

 

 

1.      Definition of a Reluctant amillenialist.

 

  • The millennium
  • 7 verses in all of scripture
  • Extra biblical material
  • Pre
  • Post
  • A or Intra mill.

 

Pre

Post

Intra

Papias, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, I. Newton, Darby, Scofield, Moody, Spurgeon, Boice, Ladd,

Whitby, Edwards, Carey, John Elliot, Livingston, Francke, Hodge, Boettner

Augustine, Calvin, Warfield, Vos,  Hoekema, Kline,

 

2.      Because of the centrality of the gospel.

 

  • Reluctant to put anything else as primary.
  • Primary – the gospel, authority of scripture
  • Secondary – doctrines of grace, ecclesiology
  • Tertiary – eschatology, view of family,
  • We must do the same.
  • End times about the gospel
  • About Christ
  • About His reign
  • About our blessed hope!
  • Rev 5!
  • The Lamb initiating and consummating the whole end times!

 

“The heart of the OT prophetic message is the coming of the Messiah to set up an earthly kingdom over which he would rule from the throne of David.  The only important detail which Revelation adds concerning this promised messianic kingdom is its duration – one thousand years.

Hal Lindsay, There’s a New World Coming, p. 252.

  • The heart of the OT message is Jesus!!!!

It is regrettably true that much Christian literature and preaching has lost the essential ingredient of a sound method of interpretation.  It has allowed the gospel to be demoted into something less than the preeminent and central characteristic which interprets the whole meaning of the Bible.

Graham Goldsworthy, the Goldsworthy Trilogy,. p 227

 

Story of Perfect Storm Coastguard rescue of Mistra, imagine the rescueesl wanting to know about the lighthouse details vs. the joy of being rescued.

 

3.      Because of the kingdom now and not yet

 

  • The motif of the NT.
  • The story line of the bible.
  • Premill can emphasize not yet, parenthesis.

Matthew 12:25 (ESV)
25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

 

Mark 1:15 (ESV)
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

 

Luke 17:20 (ESV)
20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed,

 

John 3:3 (ESV)
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

 

John 18:36 (ESV)
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”

 

1 Corinthians 4:20 (ESV)
20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.

 

Colossians 1:13 (ESV)
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

 

2 Timothy 4:1 (ESV)
1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

 

Hebrews 12:28 (ESV)
28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,

 

Revelation 5:10 (ESV)
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

 

 

Many Christians  still struggle with the disciple’s question in Acts 1:6: ‘Are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?’  They struggle with it because they fail to see that Jesus’ answer, by pointing to the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost, was thus pointing to the preaching of the gospel as the way the kingdom would come in the period between the ascension of Jesus and his second coming.

GG. p 260

 

  • The binding of Satan as related to the propagation of the kingdom in this age.
  • Some see kingdom as only millennium.
  • Some even see only Israel in Millennium.  Church age as parenthesis.

 

Like waiting for first wife to be dead soas  to remarry.

 

4.      Because Jesus’ return, the resurrection and judgement are always mentioned together

  • Always put all this together – never anywhere else is there a separation of 1000 yrs.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:3 (ESV)
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

 

Matthew 24:30-31 (ESV)
30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

·         No secret rapture

The whole thrust of the three-fold announcement is that God himself will proclaim the return of Jesus Christ so loudly that the whole world will hear.  Not only so, but he world will also witness the subsequent catching away of the believers….If dispensationalists are correct in saying that this coming is a secret, then only believers will hear the divine declaration.  As my colleague, Rev. Ken Jones, so aptly puts it, this turns the thrice repeated  announcement of Christ’s return in to something akin to a cosmic dog whistle.

Kim Riddlebarger, A Case for Amillenialism, p. 143

 

Matthew 25:31 (ESV)
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

 

2 Peter 3:7-10 (ESV)
7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

 

John 5:28-29 (ESV)
28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

 

Luke 21:27-28 (ESV)
27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

 

Luke 21:34-36 (ESV)
34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

 

Mark 13:24-27 (ESV)
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

 

1 Corinthians 15:22-25 (ESV)
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

 

In other words the great apocalyptic struggles involving the dragon, the beast, the false prophet and the kings of the earth against Christ and his saints, depict the coming of the day of the Lord.  The groups of vision repeat the same theme over and over again, looking now at one aspect, now at another.  I must repeat that he question about when all this comes to pass can be answered only by reference to the end.  We should always try to put ourselves in the shoes of the Jew nurture on the Old Testament when we read the apocalyptic visions.  For him the end was a single event.  All the various facets of the terrible conflict and the spectacular victory of the divine warrior belong to that day.”

Graham Goldsworthy, the Goldsworthy Trilogy p 288

 

 

Story of document with fine print at bottom – Rev. 20:1-7

 

 

5.      Because of a reasonable exegesis of Rev. 20

  • Progressive parallelism of Rev.
  • Rev 19, 16 and Rev 20 in light of Ez. 38 etc.

 

Pool rules (courtesy of Dave Harvey, Covenant Fellowship Church)

  1. Don’t look to Rev as literalistically – in the context of book and bible.
  2. Don’t approach as future only.
  3. don’t approach as only symbolic
  4. Don’t approach as detached – for them.
  5. Do as William Hendrickson – progressive parallelism. According to this view the book or rev consi of 7 secitonwhich run parr to each other eia  of with tdelic t the church from the time of chris t 1 and 2.  7 sections.

 

 

In looking for the natural divisions of Revelation, we should remember two important facts: that it is a letter, and that it is a vision. “Write what you see: (1:11)……   When we read Revelation in this way an interesting fact emerges.  On the stage of his vision innumerable actors come and go; there is constant action.  But every so often comes a point at which not only the actors change, but the scene itself changes; as though a curtain has fallen, then risen again to disclose a completely new scene, or even as though John himself has moved in order to look at different scene.  ….  It will be observed that  on this basis eight scenes result….

Wilcock, Revelation,  p 113

 

  • Revelation 19 & 20
  • Scene 8

 

Revelation 19:11-21 (ESV)
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

 

 

Ezekiel 39:1-29 (ESV)
1 “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. 4 You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the Lord. 7 “And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8 Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the Lord God. That is the day of which I have spoken……………………….                           17 “As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field, ‘Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan. 19 And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you. 20 And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,’ declares the Lord God. 21 “And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. 22 The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, from that day forward. ………….”

 

 

Revelation 20:7-10 (ESV)
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

 

 

  • Thus the end of Chapter 19 and the end of chapter 20 are the same event seen twice!
  • The millennium must happen before the return of Christ!  Before judgment, before the resurrection.
  • Thus the intramill position.
  • Numerology in Rev. – 1000 as perfect number.
  • Tale not to wag the dog!
  • Does scripture talk about this elsewhere?
  • Remember only 7 verses here!
  • Bound and cast down? 

 

John 12:31-32 (ESV)
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

 

Matthew 12:27-29 (ESV)
27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

 

 

Matthew 16:18 (ESV)
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

 

Colossians 2:15 (ESV)
15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

 

 

Hebrews 2:14-15 (ESV)
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

 

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (ESV)
1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming

 

 

 

Disposing of Sadam so as to set up democracy in Iraq – still resistance but he is bound.

 

6.      Because of its import.

 

Keeps the accent on the church age, the new heaven and new earth, Christ’s return, judgment etc.

  1. Keeps the gospel central.
  2. Keeps us laboring in great faith in the church age – with hope not as a parenthesis or doom and gloom.
  3. Keeps us understanding and accepting suffering.
  4. Keeps our hope on the blessed hope of Christ’s return.
  5. Helps us understand the importance of the church.

 

Maranatha!  Come Lord Jesus!