THE RAPTURE AND ISRAEL
By William West
Author of
ÒUnconditional Immortality Or Resurrection Of
The DeadÓ
THE PREMILLENNIALIST VIEW OF
CHRIST
ISRAEL RESTORED
THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON
THE PREMILLENNIAL THOUSAND-YEARS
THE THRONE OF DAVID
DANIEL'S 70 WEEKS AND THE
"GAP"
THE "ANTICHRIST" AND
"MAN OF SIN"
THE FIRST RESURRECTION AND THE
SECOND DEATH
THE
THIRTEENTH TRIBE OF ISRAEL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
á Chapter 1: Premillennial
beliefs, a multitude of divisions and confusions
á Chapter 2: The nature of Christ.
o The nature of Christ before
He became flesh
¤ (1) Jesus Christ, the God
who made all things and us
á Chapter 3: Christ as reviled
in the Old Testament
á Chapter 4: Christ as reviled
in the New Testament
o Jesus in the New Testament
o Jesus as reviled in John's
gospel. The person who came from God and returned to God
o Jesus as reviled in Hebrews
á Chapter 5: Jesus Christ, the
God who became a man
o The nature of Christ while
He was flesh and dwelled among us [John 1:14]
¤ (1) Jesus Christ, the God
who became a man
¤ (2) Jesus Christ, the God
who died my death for my sin
o The nature of Christ now and
for all eternity
¤ (1) Jesus Christ, the God
who lives
¤ (2) Jesus in John's Gospel:
Came from Heaven, sent by God, will return to God
á Chapter 6: The nature of
mankind
o (1) The nature of mankind
from creation to the resurrection
¤ The nature of mankind before
the first sin
¤ The nature of mankind after
Adam's sin
¤ From birth to death
¤ From death to the
resurrection
o (2) The nature of mankind
for all eternity after the resurrection
á
Chapter 7: What body does Christ now have in Heaven?
á Chapter 8: Was the death and
resurrection of Christ foreknown by God?
á Chapter 9: Kingdom of Heaven
or kingdom of God?
á Chapter 10: Did God plan the
church or was it just an afterthought?
o If both God and Christ had
not failed
á Chapter 11: Back to the
temple made with hands
o From the blood of Christ
back to the blood of animals
o From Christ our High Priest
back to the Old Testament priesthood
o From the substance back to
the shadow
o From the better New Covenant
back to the Old Covenant
o From that which makes alive
back to that which kills
o From free back to bondage
á Chapter 12: Old Testament
passages used by Millennialist to teach Christ would set up a kingdom and rule
the world from Jerusalem
á Chapter 13: New Testament
passages used by Millennialist
o (1) Matthew 24: The
destruction of Israel, this chapter is regarded by many Millennialist as being
their strongest proof of the Millennium.
¤ Preterit Eschatology -
Realized Eschatology - The A. D. 70 Doctrine
¤ The day of the Lord
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
second coming of Christ
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
resurrection and judgment of the righteous
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
resurrection and judgment of the wicked
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
final judgment
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
total destruction of the earth and the heavens which were made from nothing and
will return to nothing
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
total destruction of the lost
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
second death
¤ On the day of the Lord -
Death will be abolished
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
saved forever with the Lord
¤ On the day of the Lord - The
kingdom will be delivered up to God
¤ On the day of the Lord - Christ
will bring the lawless one to an end by the appearance of His coming
¤ On the day of the Lord -
"Wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God"
o (2) 2 Peter 3
o (3) 1 Thessalonians 4:17:
Will the second coming of Christ be Premillennial? Will there be an invisible
return of Christ?
o (4) Revelation 20: The
Thousand years
o (5) Other New Testament
passages used by Millennialist. The first resurrection and the second death. Is
there one resurrection, or two, or more then two resurrections?
á Chapter 14: The "last
days" passages
á Chapter 15: What is the
Great Tribulation?
á Chapter 16: What is
Armageddon?
á Chapter 17: Who is John's
"Antichrist"? Who is Paul's "man of sin"?
á Chapter 18: The
Premillennial views of "Hell"
á Chapter 19: Well-known
Millennium predictions that failed
á Chapter 20: The throne of
David
o (1) The Jewish earthly
kingdom of Israel
o (2) The Millennium earthly
kingdom of Israel
á Chapter 21: Is the Gospel
"The power of God to salvation"?
á Chapter 22: Israel, is it still
God's chosen people?
o The two-fold promise
¤ The land promise
¤ The seed promise
o God's Israel of today
á Chapter 23: The Thirteenth
Tribe
Summary: God, Daniel or any
others of the Old Testament prophets did not know about The Millennium
FOREWORD
WHAT IS PREMILLENNIAL
BELIEFS?
For the most part the Premillennialist
beliefs are a revival of the beliefs of the Jews in the time of Christ. Israel
was looking for an earthly king who would drive Rome out, conquer other
nations, and restore the Kingdom as it was in the time of David. Premillennialist
say this is what Christ came to do but that God did not foresee the Jews
rejecting and killing Christ, but because they did, the restoring of the
kingdom was put off and the church age is an unforeseen substitute, which
begins at the death of Christ and will last only unto He comes back, then the
unforeseen church age (the "gap") will end, Israel and the Law of the
Old Testament will be restored. Christ, who most Millennialist believe to be a
created being and did not exist before His birth and He will literally sit on
the throne of David in Jerusalem and rule the world. Premillennialist make God
and Christ to have failed in their plan to setup the kingdom of Heaven because
of the rejection of Christ by the Jews; and His death, resurrection, or God did
not foresee the Òchurch ageÓ which they call the gap. To this basis teaching,
different Millennialist adds a seven-year rapture, some before the Millennium
and some after it, and many other contradictory variations of beliefs. In the
Millennium Satan will be bound for a thousand years, but will be loosed for a
"little season." He and his angels will make war on Christ in
Jerusalem and all but overcome Him (the battle of Armageddon), but God will
save Him. Satan, his angels, and the lost will come to their end in Gehenna just
south of Jerusalem, which will have been restored. Most believe Christ and the
saved will live forever on this earth and no person will ever go to Heaven. IN
BRIEF, THE PREMILLENNIALIST BELIEF IS A COMPLETE REWRITE OF THE BIBLE.
As David Brown puts it, "Premillennialism
is no barren speculation--useless though true, or innocuous though false. It is
a school of Scripture interpretation; it impinges upon and affects some of the
most commanding points of the Christian faith; and when suffered to work its
unimpeded way, it stops not till it has pervaded with its own genius the entire
system of one's theology, and the whole tone of spiritual character,
constructing, I had almost said, a world of its own; so that, holding the same
faith, and cherishing the same fundamental hopes as other Christen, he yet sees
things through a medium of his own, and finds everything instinct with the life
which this doctrine has generated within him" Page 8, and "That the
fleshly and sublunary state is not to terminated with the second coming of
Christ, but to be then set up in a new form; when with His glorified saints,
the Redeemer will reign in person on the throne of David at Jerusalem for a
thousand years, over a world of men yet in the flesh, eating and drinking,
planting and building, marrying and giving in marriage, under this mysterious
way." Christ's Second Coming: Will It Be Premillennial, Page 6, T. and T.
Clark, Edinburgh, 1858.
The Messiah Israel looked for was a person
who would restore Israel as a nation and make them supreme to all other nations
as it was in the time of David. In the restored nation they looked for, there
would have been birth, life and death for all just as there was in the time of
David. No one thought they would have eternal life. It was not something they
looked for. Eternal life was something new to the teaching of Christ.
Israel looked for a messiah that was just
as David was, a man that would live and die just as David did, a person that
was just a human as all other persons were. Not a Messiah that would be God.
The belief of Millennialistist is that Christ was going to set up the earthly
kingdom of Israel and that the death and resurrection of Christ were not in the
plan of God. This view is basic to all the versions of the Millennium. Without
it the Millennium would be totally destroyed. With it, salvation through the
death and resurrection of Christ is totally destroyed. There is no way both can
be true. Many versions of Premillennial doctrines destroy life after death for
all and replace it with only a lifetime on this earth with no evil, but one
that still has death at the end of this lifetime. At the end of the life of the
Messiah the Jews looked for no one would have been saved from the wages of sin,
death, for the Jews would not have crucified Christ and He would hot have shed
His blood to give us life in place of death. No one, Jew or Gentile, would ever
have eternal life without the death of Christ. There would be no life after
death [1 Corinthians 15:13-19].
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Chapter 1
Premillennial beliefs, a
multitude of divisions and confusions
After the Judgment where will we spend
eternity? When I begin to research for this book, I was surprised and shocked
to learn how many there are who say they believe the Bible but do not believe
in the deity and the preexistence of Christ, but believe that He did not
existence before His birth. Even more surprised to learn that many believe that
the sacrifice of Christ will be put aside and go back to the Old Testament
sacrifices of animal; back from the substance to the shadow [Hebrews 8:5ff;
10:1-24]; and that the New Covenant is just an afterthought. Satan is doing his
work well.
But, I have been just as surprised at how
many there are that say they are Christians, members of the church Christ give
His life for that does not know that this kind of teaching is going on in the
religious world, often even in the congregation they attend, and they do not
seem to care. When I first became a Christian in the fifty, most Christians
know the Bible and would do all they could to teach any person that was in err;
now it often does not seem to be so.
PREMILLENNIAL
DOCTRINE IS A SYSTEM (S) OF INTERPRETATION, WHICH INVOLVES MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE WHOLE BIBLE, AND DETERMINES THE PRESENT PURPOSE OF GOD. Premillennial
beliefs make God and Christ to have failed in their plan to setup the kingdom
because of the rejection of Christ by the Jews. It makes the church to be
something God set up as a substitution. It makes two resurrections, one of the
just, which is most often said to be at the second coming of Christ; and a
second resurrection of the lost a thousand years after the coming of Christ and
the first resurrection. Some versions of Premillennial doctrines make Christ be
nothing more than a glorified man. Some versions make Christ and all the saved
to live on earth for all eternity with a body much as we now have. In short, it
is a system of faith that has little in common with the New Testament. THE
PREMILLENNIAL DOCTRINE IS BASED ON THE BELIEF THAT GOD CAN AND DID FAIL TO
ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL. If both God and Christ did not fail, the Premillennial
belief is completely destroyed.
1. The Scofield Bible says God
failed.
2. Hal Lindsey in "There's
A New World Coming" says God failed.
3. Charles Ryrie in "The
Basis of the Premillennial Faith" says God and Christ failed.
4. The Premillennial doctrine
affects the interpretation of the covenant with Abraham by making it not yet be
fulfilled, but still to be fulfilled at some future time.
5. It affects the
interpretation of God's promise to David that his descendants would rule over
Israel forever. Changes Christ now ruling in His kingdom, the church, to Christ
literally ruling on this earth at some time in the future.
6. It affects the
interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies of the kingdom by making the
kingdom be a combination of church and state on this earth, the earthly kingdom
of the Old Testament.
THERE ARE MANY DIVISIONS IN PREMILLENNIAL
BELIEFS, AN ASTOUNDING LACK OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THEMSELVES. In fact, there are
so many different variations of the Millennium theories that it would be
impossible to accurately define what is meant by Premillennial. That which one
person believes and calls Premillennial will be completely alien to that which
another person believes and calls Premillennial. One book on Premillennial
beliefs will have only a few similarity and many disagreements with another
book on Premillennial beliefs.
Most PreMillennialist believe it was
prophesied that Christ was to set up an earthly kingdom on the throne of David
and reign from Jerusalem, but because the Jews rejected Him the establishment
of the kingdom was put off unto after His second coming and the church was
established instead, but only as a temporary substitution. The Jews will be
restored, and the temple rebuilt.
Some PreMillennialist tell us that God
planned for Christ to set up the kingdom of Heaven when He came, but His
rejection by the Jews was a surprise to God, therefore, He set up the church as
a substitution and at that time made plains to set up the kingdom of Heaven at
the second coming of Christ. But, other PreMillennialist give us many passages
to show that God foretold of the kingdom to be set up at the second coming of
Christ. HOW COULD GOD NOT HAVE KNOWN THAT THE KINGDOM WOULD NOT BE SET UP UNTO
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST AND AT THE SAME TIME FORETOLD IT? This
Premillennial belief makes Christ a failure. He failed to set up the kingdom He
came to set up. DO NOT BELIEVE THIS FOR CHRIST DID WHAT HE CAME TO DO. HE CAME
TO FULFILL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS, WHICH INCLUDED SETTING UP THE KINGDOM, AND
HE DID.
MOST PREMILLENNIALIST BELIEVE
CHRIST DID NOT EXIST UNTO HIS BIRTH.
APOCALYPTIC OR EARLY
MILLENNIUM BELIEFS: There were much Apocalyptic
writing in the time between the Testaments and in the first century, which was
believed by many Jews and the early Christians were influenced by it. The early
Millennium beliefs were that there was a dualistic world of both good and evil
but the good would in time overcome the evil. The Apocalyptic Premillennial
belief again became somewhat popular in the nineteenth century.
MEDIEVAL ALLEGORICAL
OR HISTORIC PREMILLENNIALIST BELIEF: Satan was
lord over the world and Christ over the Church. There was an ongoing battle
between the two, but the battle has already been won through the cross and
eventually what domain was left to Satan would be taken from him. The church
will stay on earth and go through the tribulation period. Augustine's
allegorical view was the view of many in middle ages and the reformation, and
it is still believed by some today. It was the official belief of the medieval
church. However, there were groups of Apocalyptic Millennialist after the
Medieval Age, mostly under charismatic leaders and were often associated with
radicalism and counterculture groups.
DISPENSATIONAL OR LITERAL
PREMILLENNIALIST
1. Dispensationalist believes
Christ failed to establish the kingdom He came to establish.
2. Because He failed to
establish the kingdom He set up the church, which is a ÒparentheticalÓ unto the
time that He will be able to set up the kingdom.
3. God now has two people. The
Jews are GodÕs earthly people and the church is GodÕs heavenly people. His
heavenly people will eventually be taken from the earth and the Òtimeline of
prophetic will be Òrestarted,Ó the temple rebuild and animal sacrifices will be
renewed.
á
Although there are many versions,
this is the base view and these three points are in most versions.
CLASSICAL OR
UNMODIFIED DISPENSATIONAL belief is a radical division of
the Apocalyptic PreMillennialist, which teach there are seven distinct periods
and God deals with man according to different principles in each of the
periods. This view was first taught by John Nelson Darby about 1800 to 1880 and
became well know when Scofield put most of Darby's views in the Scofield
Reference Bible. Belief of PreMillennialist goes back to about the third
century. The beliefs of Dispensationalists begin with John Darby. WHEN A
DOCTRINE IS KNOWN TO HAVE AN ORIGIN EIGHTEEN CENTURIES AFTER THE NEW TESTAMENT,
SHOULD NOT ALL KNOW IT COULD NOT BE FROM THE BIBLE? In the past, The
Dispensational doctrine was taught mostly by Pentecostal and Holiness churches
but has now become wider spread. It seems to have become the most accepted
version of Premillennial doctrines and has now spread to many churches.
Some of the basic views of
Dispensationalists
1. Mankind was innocent from
creation to the fall.
2. Mankind under conscience
from the fall to the flood. Mankind with authority over the earth from the
flood to Abraham.
3. Mankind under promise from
Abraham to the Law of Moses.
4. Mankind under the Law from
the Law of Moses to Christ
5. Mankind from the death of
Christ to His second coming.
6. Mankind from the second
coming to the end of the Millennium.
7. From the second coming to
the end of the Millennium.
Dispensationalists believes:
1. There will be a second
coming of Christ to set up His kingdom after the seven-year Tribulation.
2. There will be a resurrection
of the just before the millennium and a resurrection of the unjust after the
millennium.
3. The Jews will repent and
receive the land forever that was promised to Abraham, which they say was
unconditional and have not been fulfilled.
4. The "Kingdom of
Heaven" is the kingdom of David that was postponed when the Jews rejected
Christ and He failed to establish an earthly kingdom with Israel, which He came
to establish, but it will be restored for Israel. That the land promise was
unconditional and was unfulfilled; therefore, Israel must be restored.
5. The "Kingdom of
God" is God's universal kingdom that will be worldwide. It seems that many
Dispensationalists believe the Kingdom of Heaven will be God's kingdom on earth
of Jews, and the Kingdom of God will be God's kingdom in Heaven of Gentiles.
Instead of 144,000 Jews being the only ones in Heaven, as many PreMillennialist
believe, many Dispensationalists have no Jews and all Gentiles in Heaven; IN
OTHER WORDS, MOST DISPENSATIONALISTS BELIEVE JEWS WILL SPEND ETERNITY ON EARTH
ON THE LAND GOD PROMISED TO ABRAHAM FOREVER AND GENTILES WILL SPEND ETERNITY IN
HEAVEN [Note: This is Dispensationalism as it is set forth in the Scofield
Bible but this or no other belief seems to be universal among PreMillennialist
or Dispensationalists so do not be surprised if one says "that is not what
I believe." Many do but some do not]. Dispensationalists are divided on
where the church will be both during the rapture and during the millennium;
also where and what the church will be after the millennium. Some teach it will
be in Heaven or will dwell in the New Jerusalem hovering above the earth unto
the millennium is over, others say the church will return to earth when
seven-years are over and the millennium begins.
PROGRESS OR MODIFIED
DISPENSATIONAL PREMILLENNIALIST have called
in question and abandoned some of the teaching of classical dispensational
beliefs.
POSTMILLENNIALIST
believe the thousand years, like many things in Revelation,
is not to be taken literally, but symbolical of a long period of time. Unlike
many PreMillennialist, most post Millennialist do not believe there will be a
literally thousand years. Christ is now ruling as King and Priest [Hebrews 7]
in the church, and eventually, the whole world will become Christians, and
there will be a long period of peace. Christ will return after this time of
peace. This Postmillennial belief was the dominant view among Protestants from
the Reformation unto after the publication of the Scofield Reference Bible in
1909.
PreMillennialist or PostMillennialist
THE
RAPTURE: But which rapture?
1. "PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE" Many Dispensationalists believe this view of
the rapture. In this view the rapture will occur before the period of
persecution, before the tribulation period begin. The rapture and an invisible
second coming will take place before the seven-year tribulation. After the
seven-year rapture Jesus will return to earth. Some, who believes this view,
believe that there will be one coming of Christ, some two, and some three or
more. More PreMillennialist than may believe this view than any of the others.
The pre-tribulation rapture was not taught before about 1830 by anyone and only
became well known after the Scofield Reference Bible was published in 1909.
Dave MacPherson says, "We have seen that a young Scottish lassie named
Margaret Macdonald had a private revelation in Port Glasgow, Scotland, in the
early part of 1830 that a select group of Christians would be caught up to meet
Christ in the air before the days of Antichrist. An eye-and-ear witness, Robert
Norton M.D., preserved her handwritten account of her pre-trib rapture revelation
in two of his books, and said it was the first time anyone ever split the
second coming into two distinct parts or stages. His writings, along with much
other Catholic Apostolic Church literature, have been hidden many decades from
the mainstream of Evangelical thought and only recently surfaced. Margaret's
views were well-known to those who visited her home, among them John Darby of
the Brethren. Within a few months her distinctive prophetic outlook was
mirrored in the September, 1830 issue of The Morning Watch and the early
Brethren assembly at Plymouth, England. Early disciples of the pre-trib
interpretation often called it a new doctrine." "The Incredible
Cover-Up: The True Story of the Pre-Trib Rapture" 1975, Page 93.
2. "MID-TRIBULATION RAPTURE" This view is that the church will be
raptured away during the middle of the tribulation.
3. "POST-TRIBULATION RAPTURE" This view is that the rapture will occur
after the seven-year tribulation.
4. "PARTIAL-RAPTURE" Only certain believers will be raptured. They do
not agree with each other on whom or how they will be chosen or why only some
of the saved will be raptured. This view is somewhat like the Pre-tribulation
rapture, which believes the church is composed of true Christians and those who
only make a profession of being a Christian. The true Christians will be
raptured away and not go into the tribulation but those who only make a
profession of being a Christian will be left on earth and be in the
tribulation.
5. "PREWRATH RAPTURE" Believers will escape the wrath by being removed
from the earth before it begins.
6. "MANY MINI-RAPTURES" This view is that there will not be just one
rapture but many mini-raptures at different times. They do not agree with each
other on (1) how many there will be, (2) if any are all are passed, (3) if any
are all of the mini-raptures are yet to be.
7. "ALREADY PAST RAPTURE" Or the A. D. 70 rapture. If you are
living today, you have been "left behind." This view, like the above
views, crosses denominational lines and is found in many of them.
8. "SECRET RAPTURE" In many of their books of fictions there is a
secret rapture? Secret from whom? If it were secret where did they find
anything about it? When they tell about it in their books, how can it be
secret? If all Christians were suddenly absent from the earth, how could there
be anything "secret" about it? They are doing all the teaching they
can to make sure that it is not a secret from anyone. The resurrection is never
called a Òsecret,Ó it will come as unexpected as a thief, but it will be seen
and known about by all.
9. "FIRST AND SECOND STAGES" R. H. Boll's view is that Christ will come
in two stages. In the first stage the saints will be removed from the earth for
a time; then the "real second coming" will be when Christ returns
after the first stage.
"COVENANT
THEOLOGY" is that God covenant of grace remains
the same in all the seven dispensations throughout the Old and New Testaments
as opposed to the different purposes for each of the seven dispensations of
Dispensational beliefs. Covenant Theology especially believe Israel and the
church are under the same covenant of grace as opposed to both being under
different covenants of grace as Dispensational Premillennialists believe them
to be.
PRETERITS
(full) view is that the second coming of Christ has already taken place along
with the great tribulation, the rapture and the final judgment occurred in A.
D. 70 when Jerusalem was destroyed and no second coming of Christ, no
resurrection, no tribulation is yet to come, and the old heavens and earth
completely passed away and now we are living in the new heavens and earth; the
Great Commission has been completely fulfilled. The A. D. 70 theory called
"Realized Eschatology" seems to be a renewal of the Preterits belief
under a new name. Realized Eschatology teaches that Christ came in A. D. 70,
all prophecies were fulfilled at that time, the Old Testament saints were
resurrected, and all that are in Christ go to be with Christ (supposedly in
Heaven) at the moment of their death.
PRETERITS
(partial) view is that Christ did come in judgment on Israel in A. D. 70 and
came in judgment on others nations, but the judgment of all at the second
coming of Christ is yet to come.
AMILLENNIALIAL VIEW
believes the thousand years (ten time ten times ten, a full or complete period
of time; ten in the Bible denotes a fullness, a thousand denotes a large
indefinite number, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills Psalms 50:10) are
symbolic of a long period of time, which begin with the establishment of the
kingdom of God or Heaven (the church) in A. D. 30 and will last unto the return
of Christ when the kingdom will be delivered up to God [1 Corinthians 15:24].
Amillennialist believe the "signs of the times" (tribulation,
apostasy, the spirit of the Antichrist, etc.) to be marks of this present time,
and there will not be a "golden age" of unprecedented gospel victory
over all the earth before His return. The symbolism of the binding of Satan in
Revelation 20 refers to Satan now being limited by the victory of Christ over
death.
JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
view of the Millennium is that 144,000 will be chosen to go to Heaven and with
Christ rule over all others who will be on earth. Also, all will be given a
second chance in the Millennium.
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST
view of the Millennium is that the Millennium will be in Heaven. During the
thousand years the saints will be in Heaven, and at the end of the Millennium a
Holy City will descend from Heaven and the saved will live a wonderful life in
it forever. Their Heaven will be on this earth. The resurrection and
destruction of the wicked will be at the end of the Millennium. They believe
that at the second coming of Christ the unrighteous will be kill, the righteous
will be taken back to Heaven for a thousand years. During the thousand years
only Satan and his angels will inhabit the earth. At the end of the thousand
years Christ will return to earth with the saved and the unrighteous will be
raised for judgment. Satan gathers his angels and with the help of the
resurrected unrighteous will attempt to interfere with the judgment. They will
be destroyed. No seven-year rapture.
LATTER-DAY
SAINTS (Mormons) view of the Millennium is
that Christ will destroy the wicked at His coming and the earth will be
transformed to a terrestrial glory, as they believe it was before Adam's sin.
During the thousand years, life on earth will be about as it is now but without
sin, poverty, or crime. They will have children, build houses, and in all ways
go about life as now. With their "new revelations" they add many more
details, to many to list in the space I have. After the Millennium, they have
three degrees of glory. The highest will be the celestial glory that will be on
this earth, which will have the things the earth now has, cities, rivers,
animals, etc. The Terrestrial and Celestial glories will not be on earth, but I
have not found where they tell where these two glories will be. All that are
not Mormons will be in one of the two. Only the few who were Mormons and fell
away will be cast in outer darkness where there is no glory, but what happens
to them seems not to have been made known at this time; or just not made known
to those who are not Mormons; they keep much of their beliefs from those who
are not Mormons.
CHURCH
FATHERS: Some were influenced by the belief of
the Jews that the Christ was to restore the earthly kingdom to Israel but their
belief was noting like the Premillennialists of today. About the only thing the
two have in common was the restoring of the earthly kingdom of Israel. They did
not believe in the seven year rapture, an invisible coming of Christ, two
resurrections, God having two kingdoms, an earthly kingdom of Jews and another
heavenly church kingdom. In spite of the fact that their belief is alike in
only one point many Premillennialists claim them as early Premillennialists.
This is like the Baptist finding one point where the Catholics believe the same
and claiming them as Baptist.
THE TEN LOST TRIBES
ARE ENGLAND, WHICH IS THE REAL ISRAEL TODAY! I
found it difficult to believe, and I think many will find this just as
difficult to believe as I did, yet there is a rather large group within the
Millennium beliefs that believe that the Anglo-Saxons Race is the true Israel.
Richard Brothers was the originator, and it was later spread by Piazzi Smyth.
There are books both pro and con on this theory. Perhaps the best book in
defense of this theory is by Professor E. Odlum, "God's Covenant Man:
British Israel." Herbert W. Armstrong of the Church of God taught this.
For those who would like to know more of this theory, Foy E. Wallace, Jr. in
"God's Prophetic Word" Pages 386-450 is good. That the Anglo-Saxon
race is the ten tribes of Israel is completely contrary to the history of the
origin of that race. The Mormons make a similar claim, that the Americans
Indians are the lost ten tribes.
SOME PREMILLENNIALIST BELIEVES CHRIST WILL
GO BACK TO HEAVEN WITH THE SAVED AFTER THE THOUSAND YEARS, SOME AFTER A
THOUSAND AND SEVEN YEARS. They believe the judgment will be after the
Millennium, after the thousand years of the kingdom on earth, and the believers
will go to Heaven and the lost will go to Hell.
THERE ARE SOME PREMILLENNIALIST
THAT BELIEVES CHRIST WILL RULE FROM HEAVEN, BUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD WILL BE ON
THIS EARTH.
"THAT THE FLESHLY AND SUBLUNARY STATE
IS NOT TO TERMINATE WITH THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, BUT TO BE THEN SET UP IN
A NEW FORM; WHEN, WITH HIS GLORIFIED SAINTS, THE REDEEMER WILL REIGN IN PERSON
ON THE THRONE OF DAVID AT JERUSALEM FOR A THOUSAND YEARS, OVER A WORLD OF MEN
YET IN THE FLESH, EATING AND DRINKING, PLANTING AND BUILDING, MARRYING AND
GIVING IN MARRIAGE, UNDER THIS MYSTERIOUS SWAY. This is Premillennialism, or -
as the early fathers, and after them the reformers and our elder divines,
termed it - Chiliasm...I have said, for example, that they expect the saints,
in glorified bodies, to be associated with Christ in his Millennial reign; but
what saints, is not agreed. The early chiliasts - so far as I have been able to
gather their views - thought that those whom Christ will find alive at his
coming would be left below during the thousand years, and only such as had died
before his coming would appear with him in glory. A few in modern times are of
the same opinion, postponing the change of the living saints till the end of
the Millennium. But, the great majority of modern Premillennialists hold that
the saints of both classes - the dead by resurrection, and the living in
instantaneous transformation - will appear with Christ in glory at the
beginning of the Millennium. Again, I have said they look for a reign over a
world of men in flesh and blood; but what men, is not agreed. The moderns, for
the most part, expect the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, and their
supremacy over the nations of the earth: while the early chiliasts appear to
have agreed with their opponents, that Christianity had forever abolished
Jewish peculiarities; and though they were termed Judaizers, this was not, so
far as I can observe, because they contended for any Millennial supremacy of
Jew over Gentiles, but because their system Judaized Christianity itself. In a
word, I have said they expect a reign upon earth of Christ and his glorified
saints; but whether actually upon the earth, or only over and hovering above
it, in the air, and whether visibly or invisibly - whether the ruled will see
their rulers, and, if so, to what extent, whether fully or but partially,
whether always or only at time - is by no means agreed." David Brown,
"Christ's Second Coming: Will It Be Premillennial?" Pages 6-7, 1858.
But, other Premillennialists believes
Christ will rule from Heaven but the kingdom of God will be on this earth. Some
Premillennialists believes Christ will go back to Heaven with the saved after
the thousand years. They believe the judgment will be after the Millennium,
after the thousand years of the kingdom on earth, and the believers will go to
Heaven and the lost will either go to Hell or be totally destroyed.
Many believes there will be a
rapture in which the dead saints will be resurrected and both the living saints
and the resurrected saints will be taken from the earth to be with Christ for
seven years before the beginning of the thousand years.
MANY BELIEVES THERE WILL BE A SEVEN-YEAR
RAPTURE in which the dead saints will be resurrected and both, the living
saints, and those who would have been resurrected will be taken from the earth
to be with Christ for seven years. After reading many pages by those who
believe in the "rapture," I am thoroughly convinced that on this they
are the in the company of the most divided and confused people on earth. I
think it would be difficult to find any two that believe the same thing. Below
is a list of some of the major versions of the rapture, but within each of
these versions most have their own view that is different in one or more ways
then any of the others who say they believe the same view. The incompatibility
of the many versions of the Millennium doctrines is, to say the least, amazing.
SOME OF THE SEVEN-YEAR RAPTURE
VERSIONS
THE TRIBULATION PERIOD: Most think
it is the 70th week of Daniel's 70 weeks in Daniel 9. There is little or no
unity of teaching on what will happen in this "week." About all that
most do agree on is that it will be a bad time to be on earth. Many see the
nations that exist today, the U. S., Russia and others being in the
tribulation. For years in the recent past Russia was seen to have a large part
it in the tribulation, but now few see Russia in it. Every uprising or war and
every natural disaster is seen as a sure sign that the Millennium is near only
to be replaced by new ones when they become past history.
AFTER THE MILLENNIUM: Most, but not all,
Millennialist believes Christ will forever be on earth and will rule in the
"new Jerusalem." The earth will be restored to be as it was before
Adam sinned. It seems few Millennialist believes anyone will be in Heaven, but
at their funerals most have gone to Heaven to be with the others that have gone
before them. Others believe mankind will forever be on the earth and no person
will ever be in Heaven, but Christ will rule the earth from Heaven.
The basic views (in general) of
PreMillennialist
Premillennialism, the God who failed to be
God, the God that was defected by man.
THROUGH OUT THIS ARTICLE, WHEN I
SAY, "Millennialist believe" IT WILL BE SOMETHING THAT MANY OF THEM
DO BELIEVE, BUT ALSO SOMETHING THAT SOME OF THEM MAY NOT BELIEVE. THERE IS A
SUCH DISAGREEMENT AMONG THEM THAT THERE IS NO PART OF PREMILLENNIALISM THAT IS
BELIEVED BY ALL.
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CHAPTER 2
THE NATURE OF CHRIST
"We know that, when He appears, we
shall be like Him, because we shall see His just as He is" [1 John 3:2].
Christ now, while He is at the right hand of God in Heaven has a spiritual body
and this is how we will see Him when He returns. Not the nature He had when He
had for about 33 years when He was in the image of Adam (an earthly body as
Adam), but the nature He has now while He is at the right hand of God in
Heaven. What Christ is like now is what He will be like "when He
appears." The body He now has and will have at that time is basis to
understand what we shall be after the resurrection.
THE NATURE OF CHRIST BEFORE HE
BECAME FLESH, the God who made all things and us.
"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our
image" [Genesis 1:26].
"IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE
WORD [CHRIST], AND THE WORD [CHRIST] WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD [CHRIST] WAS
GOD. HE [CHRIST] WAS IN THE BEGINNING WITH GOD. ALL THINGS CAME INTO BEING BY
HIM [CHRIST], AND APART FROM HIM [CHRIST] NOTHING CAME INTO BEING THAT HAS COME
INTO BEING. IN HIM [CHRIST] WAS LIFE, AND THE LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF MEN...HE
[CHRIST] WAS IN THE WORLD AND THE WORLD WAS MADE THROUGH HIM [CHRIST]...AND THE
WORD [CHRIST] BECAME FLESH, AND DWELLED AMONG US" [JOHN 1:1-14].
John states three facts in such
a simple way that a child could understand them.
Then he restates it so that no
one could misunderstand what he had said.
á "For
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for
your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich"
[2 Corinthians 8:9]
His claim to being equal with God was even
acknowledged by His enemies, but they called it blasphemy [John 5:17; 5:18;
8:58-59; 10:33-36]. If, as some PreMillennialist tells us that Christ did not
exist unto His birth, it would have been blasphemy and a sin to make Himself
equal with God. Therefore, if He did not exist before His birth, He did
blaspheme and He was a sinner just as we are and His death did not save us from
our sins. But, some PreMillennialist tells us that Christ did not exist unto
His birth!!! Is there anyway God's word could say "the word"
preexisted that they would believe? "The word" existed before time
began.
1. "And now, glorify Me
together with Yourself, Father, with the glory WHICH I HAD WITH YOU BEFORE THE
WORLD WAS" [John 17:5]. Christ existed with God before the world was made,
long before He became a man.
2. And again Christ says,
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and
who is to come, THE ALMIGHTY" [Revelation 1:8]. Jesus clearly says He is
"THE ALMIGHTY."
3. "For by Him [Christ]
all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers and authorities--all thing
have been created by Him and for Him. AND HE IS BEFORE ALL THING, and in Him
all things hold together" [Colossians 1:16-17]. Jesus Christ is the
Creator of the universe. Three things are here stated.
o (1) "For in Him were
all things created"
¤ All things "in the
havens and upon the earth"
¤ "Things visible and
thing invisible"
¤ "Whether thrones or
dominions or principalities or power"
¤ "All things have been
created through Him, and for Him"
o (2) "And He is before
all things"
o (3) "And in Him all things
hold together"
4. Christ said, "I AND THE
FATHER ARE ONE. The Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered
them, 'Many good works have I showed you from the Father; for which of those
works do you stone Me'? The Jews answered him, 'For a good work we stone you
not, but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, MAKE YOURSELF
GOD'" [John 10:30-33]. If Christ is not God, He is an impostor and a liar.
The Jews did not understand Christ to be saying He was God's chosen one, as
many PreMillennialist say. Without any doubt, they understood Him to be saying
He was God.
5. "A virgin shall
conceive and bear a son and shall call his name IMMANUEL" [Isaiah 7:14].
Immanuel means "God with us." Matthew says, "Now all this is
come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through
the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel: which is, being
interpreted, God with us" [Matthew 1:22-23].
6. "Looking for the
blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of OUR GREAT GOD AND SAVIOR, CHRIST
JESUS: who gave Himself for us" [Titus 2:13-14].
7. "Of our GOD AND SAVIOR,
CHRIST JESUS" [2 Peter 1:1 New American Standard Version].
8. "But of the Son he says
'YOUR THRONE, O GOD, is forever and ever'" [Hebrews 1:8].
9. "Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday and today, yes and forever" [Hebrews 13:8; also Hebrews
1:12; Psalms 102:25-27].
10.
"Christ Jesus who, existing in the form of God, counted not the
being on AN EQUALITY WITH GOD a thing to be grasped" [Philippians 2:5-6].
11.
Also, Revelation 10:6 and 14:6-7
ONLY GOD IS TO BE WORSHIPED. NO MAN OR
ANGEL IS TO BE WORSHIPED, BUT CHRIST IS WORSHIPED [Isaiah 45:21-23; Matthew
2:1; 14:33; 28:9; 28:17; Luke 24:51-52; John 9:37-38; Acts 7:59; 1 Corinthians
16:22; Philippians 2:11-11; 1 Timothy 1:12; Revelation 1:17; 5:8-14; many
more]. IF CHRIST WERE NOT GOD, BUT ACCEPTED OR ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BE WORSHIPED,
HE WOULD BE PUTTING HIMSELF IN THE PLACE OF GOD WHEN HE WAS ONLY A MAN; IT
WOULD HAVE BEEN BLASPHEMING AS THE JEWS FREQUENTLY ACCUSED HIM OF DOING [Mark
2:6-8; John 5:18].
JESUS IS THE "I AM"
"Before Abraham was born, I
AM" [John 8:58].
"But he said unto them, I
AM, be not afraid" [John 6:20; Matthew 14:27; Mark 6:50]. "It is
I" in many English translations, but "I AM" in the Greek. See
Alfred Marshall "Parallel New Testament In Greek And English," Page
46.
Barnes Notes on the
New Testament, Colossians 1:16. "He does not declare that he created all
things in the spiritual kingdom of God, or that he arranged the events of the
gospel dispensation...but that everything was created by him...There could not
possibly be a more explicit declaration, the universe was created by Christ,
than this. As if the simple declaration in the most comprehensive terms were
not enough, the apostle goes into a specification of things existing in heaven
and earth, and so varies the statement as if to prevent the possibility of
mistake...There could not be a more positive declaration than this, that the
universe was created by Christ; and if so, he is Divine. The work of creation
is the exertion of the highest power to which we can form a conception, and is
often appealed to in the Scriptures by God to prove that he is Divine, in
contradistinction from idols...The assertion is, the 'creative' power of Christ
was exerted on 'all things.' It is not in reference to angels only, or to man,
or to Jews, or to Gentiles; it is in relation to 'everything in heaven and on
earth.'"
Adam Clarke
Commentary on Colossians 1:15-16: "Verse 15. Who is the image of the
invisible God? The counterpart of God Almighty, and if the image of the
invisible God, consequently, nothing that appeared in him could be that image;
for if it could be visible in the Son, it could also be visible in the Father;
but if the Father be invisible, consequently, his image in the Son must be
invisible also. This is that form of God of which he divested himself; the
ineffable glory in which he not only did not appear, as to its splendor and
accompaniments, but concealed also its essential nature; that inaccessible
light which no man, no created being, can possibly see. This was that Divine
nature, the fullness of the Godhead bodily, which dwelled in him. The
first-born of every creature. I suppose this phrase to mean the same as that,
Philippians 2:9: God has given him a name which is above every name; he is as
man at the head of all the creation of God; nor can he with any propriety be
considered as a creature, having himself created all things, and existed before
anything was made. If it be said that God created him first, and that he, by a
delegated power from God, created all things, this is most flatly contradicted
by the apostle's reasoning in the 16th and 17th verses. Colossians 1:16,17 As
the Jews term Jehovah becoro shel olam, the first-born of all the world, or of
all the creation, to signify his having created or produced all things; (see
Wolfius in loc.) so Christ is here termed, and the words which follow in the
16th and 17th Colossians 1:16,17 verses are the proof of this. The phraseology
is Jewish; and as they apply it to the supreme Being merely to denote his
eternal preexistence, and to point him out as the cause of all things; it is
most evident that St. Paul uses it in the same way, and illustrates his meaning
in the following words, which would be absolutely absurd if we could suppose
that by the former he intended to convey any idea of the inferiority of Jesus
Christ. Verse 16. For by him were all things created, two verses contain parts
of the same subject. I shall endeavor to distinguish the statements of the
apostle, and reason from them in such a way as the premises shall appear to
justify, without appealing to any other scripture in proof of the doctrine,
which I suppose these verses to vindicate. Four things are here asserted: 1.
That Jesus Christ is the Creator of the universe; of all things visible and
invisible; of all things that had a beginning, whether they exist in time or in
eternity. 2. That whatsoever was created was created FOR himself; that he was
the sole end of his own work. 3. That he was prior to all creation, to all
beings, whether in the visible or invisible world. 4. That he is the preserver
and governor of all things; for by him all things consist. Now, allowing St.
Paul to have understood the terms, which he used, he must have considered Jesus
Christ as being truly and properly God. I. Creation is the proper work of an
infinite, unlimited, and unoriginated Being; possessed of all perfection's in
their highest degrees; capable of knowing, willing, and working infinitely,
unlimitedly, and without control: and as creation signifies the production of
being where all was absolute nonentity, so it necessarily implies that the
Creator acted of and from himself; for as, previously to this creation, there
was no being, consequently, he could not be actuated by any motive, reason, or
impulse, without himself; which would argue there was some being to produce the
motive or impulse, or to give the reason. Creation, therefore, is the work of
him who is unoriginated, infinite, unlimited, and eternal. But, Jesus Christ is
the Creator of all things, therefore, Jesus Christ must be, according to the
plain construction of the apostle's words, truly and properly GOD. II. As,
previously to creation, there was no being but God, consequently, the great
First Cause must, in the exertion of his creative energy, have respect to
himself alone; for he could no more have respect to that which had no
existence, than he could be moved by nonexistence, to produce existence or
creation. The Creator, therefore, must make everything FOR himself. Should it
be objected that Christ created officially or by delegation, I answer: This is
impossible; for, as creation requires absolute and unlimited power, or
omnipotence, there can be but one Creator; because it is impossible that there
can be two or more Omnipotents, Infinities, or Eternals. It is therefore,
evident that creation cannot be effected officially, or by delegation, for this
would imply a Being conferring the office, and delegating such power; and that
the Being to whom it was delegated was a dependent Being; consequently, not
unoriginated and eternal; but this the nature of creation proves to be absurd.
1. The thing being impossible in itself, because no limited being could produce
a work that necessarily requires omnipotence. 2. It is impossible, because, if
omnipotence be delegated, he to whom it is delegated had it not before, and he
who delegates it ceases to have it, and consequently ceases to be GOD; and the
other to whom it was delegated becomes God, because such attributes as those
with which he is supposed to be invested are essential to the nature of God. On
this supposition God ceases to exist, though infinite and eternal, and another
not naturally infinite and eternal becomes such; and thus, an infinite and
eternal Being ceases to exist, and another infinite and eternal Being is
produced in time, and has a beginning, which is absurd. Therefore, as Christ is
the Creator, he did not create by delegation, or in any official way. Again, if
he had created by delegation or officially, it would have been for that Being
who gave him that office, and delegated to him the requisite power; but the
text says that all things were made BY him and FOR him, which is a
demonstration that the apostle understood Jesus Christ to be truly and
essentially God. III. As all creation necessarily exists in time, and had a
commencement, and there was an infinite duration in which it did not exist,
whatever was before or prior to that must be no part of creation; and the Being
who existed prior to creation, and before all things-all existence of every
kind, must be the unoriginated and eternal God: but St. Paul says, Jesus Christ
was before all things; ergo, the apostle conceived Jesus Christ to be truly and
essentially God. IV. As every effect depends upon its cause, and cannot exist
without it; so creation, which is an effect of the power and skill of the
Creator, can only exist and be preserved by a continuance of that energy that
first gave it being. Hence, God, as the Preserver, is as necessary to the
continuance of all things, as God the Creator was to their original production.
But, this preserving or continuing power is here ascribed to Christ, for the
apostle says, And by him do all things consist; for as all being was derived
from him as its cause, so all being must subsist by him, as the effect subsists
by and through its cause. This is another proof that the apostle considered
Jesus Christ to be truly and properly God, as he attributes to him the
preservation of all created things, which property of preservation belongs to
God alone; ergo, Jesus Christ is, according to the plain obvious meaning of
every expression in this text, truly, properly, independently, and essentially
God. Such are the reasonings to which the simple letter of these two verses
necessarily leads me. I own it is possible that I may have misapprehended this
awful subject, for humanum est errare et nescire; but I am not conscious of the
slightest intentional flaw in the argument. Taking, therefore, the apostle as
an uninspired man, giving his own view of the Author of the Christian religion,
it appears, beyond all controversy, that himself believed Christ Jesus to be
God; but considering him as writing under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost,
then we have, from the plain grammatical meaning of the words which he has
used, the fullest demonstration (for the Spirit of God cannot lie) that he who
died for our sins and rose again for our justification, and in whose blood we
have redemption, was GOD over all. And as God alone can give salvation to men,
and God only can remit sin; hence with the strictest propriety we are commanded
to believe on the Lord Jesus, with the assurance that we shall be saved. Glory
be to God for this unspeakable gift!"
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CHAPTER 3
CHRIST IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
Luke 24:46: "And He said unto them,
THUS, IT IS WRITTEN, THAT THE CHRIST SHOULD SUFFER AND RISE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD
THE THIRD DAY." HOW COULD THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST ON THE
THIRD DAY BE WRITTEN WHEN PREMILLENNIALIST TELL US THAT NOT EVEN GOD KNEW ABOUT
THE REJECTION AND DEATH OF CHRIST? YET, CHRIST SPEAKS OF IT REPEATEDLY AND
REPEATEDLY SAYS IT WAS WRITTEN. GOD, CHRIST AND THE PROPHETS DID KNOW, WHICH
MAKES NOT POSSIBLE THE CLAIM OF PREMILLENNIALIST THAT GOD DID INTEND TO RESTORE
THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL AT THE FIRST COMING OF CHRIST BUT AGAINST HIS WILL GOD
HAD TO PUT IT OFF BECAUSE THE JEWS REJECTED HIM AND PUT HIM TO DEATH. There are
many prophecies about Christ in the Old Testament. Prophecies about:
1. The birth of Christ. Genesis
3:15; Galatians 4:4
2. The lineage of Christ.
Genesis 49:10; Luke 3:33
3. Christ was the prophet to
come. Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Acts 3:20-22
4. The betrayal of Christ.
Psalms 41:9; Luke 22:47-48
5. Christ being sold for thirty
pieces of silver. Zechariah 11:11-12; Matthew 26:15; 27:1-10
6. The death of Christ.
Zechariah 12:10; John 10:27
7. The resurrection of Christ.
Psalms 16:10; Luke 14:7 Acts 2:25-28
8. Christ would be a priest and
king to the church, not to Israel, not the king of only one earthly nation for
only the lifetime of one person. Psalms 110:4; Hebrews 5:5-6
It is repeatedly said the prophets knew
beforehand and wrote of the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ, yet
Millennialist say not so, not God or the prophets knew. "For I delivered
unto your first of all that which also I received: THAT CHRIST DIED FOR OUR
SINS ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES; AND THAT HE WAS BURIED; AND THAT HE HAS BEEN
RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES" [1 Corinthians
15:3-4]. The scriptures Paul was speaking of was the Old Testament scriptures.
How was the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus "according to the
scriptures" if not even God foreknow about it?
Psalms 22:1; 16-18: "My God, my God,
why have You forsaken me...They pierced My hands and My feet...They divide My
garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots." Psalms 69:21:
"They also give Me gall for My food, and for My thirst they give Me
vinegar to drink."
Psalms 2: "Why do the nations rage,
and the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah, and against his
anointed, saying, let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their cords
from us. He that sits in the heavens will laugh: The Lord will have them in
derision. Then will he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore
displeasure: yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of
the decree: Jehovah said unto me, You are my son; This day have I begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will give you the nations (footnote: Gentiles) for your
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession."
1. Acts 4:24-25 quotes this
Psalm and applied it to the first coming of Christ.
2. Acts 13:33 applied it to the
resurrection of Christ, not to His second coming and the Millennium.
3. Hebrews 1:5 and [4] Hebrews
5:5 both quote Psalms 2:7 as having been fulfilled. Verse 8 shows the worldwide
nature of the Kingdom of Heaven, all who will believe.
Isaiah
7:14: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his
name IMMANUEL (God with us)." "Now all this is come to pass, that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying,
behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they
shall call his name IMMANUEL (God with us)" [Matthew 2:22-23: Luke
1:26-35].
Isaiah 9:6-7: "For unto us a child is
born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder;
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING
FATHER, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there
shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish
it, and to uphold it with righteousness from henceforth, even forever."
Isaiah 53: "Who has believed our
message? And to whom has the arm of Jehovah been revealed? For he grew up
before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form
nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire
him. He was despised, and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief: and as one from whom men hide their face he was despised; and we
esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet
we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of
our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and Jehovah has laid
on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he
opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep
that before its shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and
judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who among them
considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the
transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? And they made his grave
with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet, it pleased Jehovah to
bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for
sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of
Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and
shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant
justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because
he poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors: yet
he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
THIS CHAPTER OF ISAIAH IS A DEATH BLOW TO THE MILLENNIUM TEACHING THAT CHRIST
WAS TO RESTORE THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL, BUT BECAUSE THE JEWS REJECTED CHRIST AND
PUT HIM TO DEATH, RESTORING ISRAEL AND THE KINGDOM WAS PUT OFF UNTO THE SECOND
COMING. It is quoted and applied to Jesus as being fulfilled in Christ by six
people in the New Testament.
1. By the apostle John in John
12:38
2. By the apostle Paul in
Romans 10:16
3. By the apostle Matthew in
Matthew 8:17
4. By the apostle Peter in 1
Peter 2:22
5. By Philip in Acts 8:32-38
6. By Luke in Luke 22:37
Millennialist tell us that Christ came to
establish a temporal kingdom of Israel but did not establish it because the
Jews rejected him, but He will establish it when He comes a second time. YET,
THEY TELL US CHRIST WAS REJECTED BECAUSE HE DID NOT ESTABLISH THE TEMPORAL
KINGDOM OF ISRAEL HE CAME TO ESTABLISH, WHICH WAS THE VERY KIND OF KINGDOM THE
JEWS WERE LOOKING FOR. Which way was it? It could not be both ways. According
to Millennialist, He came to establish the kind of kingdom they were looking
for and wanted, but they rejected Him because of it. If He came to establish
the kingdom of Israel the Jews were looking for, why did they reject Him? Premillennialists
now teach the same error the Jews believed, that the Christ was to set up an
earthly kingdom of Jews. If Christ were just a man, as many Millennialist tell
us he was, would the kingdom He set up of Jews has lasted any longer then the
kingdom David set up? What would have happened to the kingdom after His death?
The Jews would have had an earthly kingdom, but what would have happened to
each Jew after his or her death? IF THE JEWS HAD NOT REJECTED CHRIST, HE WOULD
NOT HAVE BEEN PUT TO DEATH. IF CHRIST HAD NOT BEEN RESURRECTED, THERE WOULD BE
NO RESURRECTION FOR ANYONE, NO RESURRECTION FOR JEW OR GENTILE. DID SALVATION
AND ETERNAL LIFE COME BECAUSE OF SOMETHING GOD DID NOT FORESEE?
1 Corinthians 10:3-4: "And did all
eat the same spiritual food; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for
they drink of a spiritual rock that followed them: AND THE ROCK WAS
CHRIST." "The Christ" footnote in American Standard Version.
"The Anointed One" in the Christian Bible. Or as most Premillennialists
would say, "The Messiah." The point Paul was making is that the
Corinthians thought that the relationship they had with God was guaranteed
because they believed Christ and He would look out for them, but he points out
to them that the Jews had the very same privileges, that Christ was looking out for them, but many of them fell in the
wilderness for God was not pleased with them. This clearly shows the
preexistence of "the Messiah," and
that the Messiah (Christ) accompanied the Jews all through the forty years in
the wilderness. "WE MUST NOT PUT CHRIST TO THE TEST, AS SOME OF THEM DID,
and were destroyed by serpents" [1 Corinthians 10:9 New Revised
Standard Version]. "NOR LET US
TEMPT CHRIST, AS SOME OF THEM ALSO TEMPTED" [New King James Version].
Verse 9, "Neither let us tempt Christ."
Adam
Clarke: "Christ: this was the Rock that followed them, and ministered to
them; and this view of the subject is rendered more probably by what is said 1
Corinthians 10:9, that they tempted Christ, and were destroyed by
serpents...that Christ is intended by the spiritual rock that followed them:
and that it was he, not the rock, that did follow or accompany the Israelites
in the wilderness. This was the angel of God's presence who was with the Church
in the wilderness, to whom our fathers would not obey, as St. Stephen says,
Acts 7:38,39...And this affords no mean proof that the person who is called
Yehovah in the Old Testament, is called Christ in the New. By tempting Christ
is meant disbelieving the providence and goodness of God; and presuming to
prescribe to him how he should send them the necessary supplies, and of what
kind they should be." Notes on 1 Corinthians 10:1-9.
Isaiah 6:1-10; John 12:41:
"Jesus" in John 12:41 is the "Jehovah" of Isaiah 6:1-10.
Albert Barnes says, "In the prophecy, Isaiah is said expressly to have
seen JEHOVAH, Ver. 1, and in ver. 5: 'Mine eyes have seen the king, JEHOVAH of
hosts.' By his glory is meant the manifestation of him, the shechinah, or
visible cloud that was a representation to God, and that rested over the mercy-seat.
This was regarded as equivalent to seeing God; and John here expressly applies
this to the Lord Jesus Christ. For he is not affirming that the people did not believe
in God, but is assigning the reason why they believe not on Jesus Christ as the
Messiah. The whole discourse and illustration has respect to the Lord Jesus,
and the natural construction of the passage requires us to refer it to him.
John affirms that it was the glory of Messiah that Isaiah saw, and yet Isaiah
affirms that it was JEHOVAH. And from this, the inference if irresistible that
John regarded Jesus as the Jehovah, whom Isaiah saw. The name Jehovah is never
in the Scriptures applied to a man, or an angel, or to any creature. It is the
peculiar, incommunicable name of God. So great was the reverence of the Jews
for that name that they would not even pronounce it. This passage is,
therefore, conclusive proof that Christ is equal with the Father" Barnes'
Notes on John 12:41. Adam Clarke says, "It appears evident from this
passage, that the glory which the prophet saw was the glory of Jehovah; John,
therefore, saying here that it was the glory of Jesus, shows that he considered
Jesus to be Jehovah."
Isaiah 11:10: "And it shall come to
pass in that day, that the root of Jesse that stands for an ensign of the
people, UNTO HIM SHALL THE GENTILES SEEK; and his resting place shall be
glorious." Romans 15:12: "And again, Isaiah says, 'There shall be the
root of Jesse, and he that arises to rule over the Gentiles; on him shall the
Gentiles hope.'" It is now when Christ is ruling over both Jews and
Gentiles in the church that Isaiah said the Gentiles shall seek Him, therefore,
God knew long before about both the rejection of Christ and about the church.
Isaiah 40:3: "The voice of one that
cries, 'Prepare you in the wilderness the way of JEHOVAH; make level in the
desert a highway for our GOD.'" In both Matthew 3:3 and Mark 1:3, John the
Baptist says this was spoken of Jesus; therefore, JESUS is the JEHOVAH and GOD
of Isaiah 40:3.
Psalms 45:6; Psalms 102 - Hebrews 1:6-12:
"And let all the angels of God worship HIM...but of the Son he says 'Your
throne, O GOD, is forever and ever.'" Would God command the angels to
worship someone who was just a man, just a created being, when throughout the
Bible we are taught not to worship a man or any created being or thing? THE
FACT THAT GOD SAID WORSHIP HIM AND HE IS CALLED "GOD" IN BOTH THE
GREEK AND THE HEBREW (PSALMS 45:6) PROVE THAT HE IS NOT A CREATED BEING. But,
the writer of Hebrews does not stop. Speaking of Jesus he says, "You Lord,
in the beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
works of your hand: they shall perish; but you continue: and they all shall wax
old a does a garment: and as a mantle shall you roll them up, as a garment, and
they shall be changed; but you are the same, and your years shall not
fail" (A quotation from Psalms 102:25-27). A clear statement that Christ
made everything that has been made, and that He is eternal. PSALMS 102 IS A
PRAYER TO GOD, IN IT GOD IS PRAISED (see verse one). It is addressed to Jehovah,
"BUT YOU, O JEHOVAH, WILL ABIDE FOREVER; And Your memorial name to all
generations" [102:12 American Standard Version]. "For He has looked
down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did JEHOVAH behold the
earth" [102:19]. "I said, O MY GOD, take me not away in the midst of
my days: your years are throughout all generations. Of old you did lay the
foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of your hands. They shall
perish, but you shall endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as
a garment shall you change them, and they shall be changed: but you are the
same, and your years shall have no end" [Psalms 102:24-27]. The earth came
from nothing and will go back to nothing, but God remains the same. We learn
from the writer of Hebrews that this is speaking of the Lord Jesus. He is
speaking of Jesus the Son of the Father [Hebrews 1:1-14]. In Hebrews 1:10-12 he
quotes Psalms 102:25-27 and applied it to Christ. "And You, LORD, in the
beginning did lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of
your hands: they shall perish; but you continues: and they all shall wax old as
does a garment: and as a mantle shall you roll them up, as a garment, and they
shall be changed: but you are the same, and your years shall not fail"
[Hebrews 1:10-12]. The Hebrew writer takes this prayer, which is a prayer to
God and applied it to Christ. If Christ were just a created being, this would
be blasphemy.
Psalms 110 - Matthew 22:43-44: "What
think you of the Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, the son of David.
He said unto them, How then does David in the spirit call him Lord, saying,
'The Lord said unto my Lord, set you on my right hand, till I put your enemies
underneath your feet?" The question is how can the Christ be both David's
Lord and David's son. They believed the Christ would be born of the seed of David
and reign over them. How then could He be David's Lord when He would be born
long after the death of David? They could not answer Him. Those that believe
Christ did not preexist before His birth must answer the question the Pharisees
could not answer; the question that made them not dare ask Him any more
questions [Matthew 22:46]. Neither can anyone that believes Christ did not
preexist before His birth answer it.
Isaiah 40:3: "A voice is calling,
'Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a
highway for our GOD.'" Both Matthew and Mark say this was spoken about
John the Baptist who came to prepare the way for Jesus ("a highway for our
God") [Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3].
Micah 5:2: "From you One will go
forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, FROM
THE DAYS OF ETERNITY" New American Standard Bible. ["Have been from
of old, FROM EVERLASTING" King James Version]. Christ existed from
eternity, not as Millennialist say, "Only from His birth."
"THE ANGEL OF
JEHOVAH"
"THE ANGEL OF JEHOVAH" appeared
frequently in the Old Testament, and is called, "angel of Jehovah,"
"Jehovah," and "God." He possesses characteristics that can
only belong to deity, and he accepted worship, which created angels did not [Revelation
22:8-9]. He is called "God" or "Jehovah" a number of times,
see Genesis 16:7-13, 22:11-18; 31:13; 48:14; Exodus 3:2-22; [Joshua 5:13-15 and
Judges 6:13-24] Judges 2:1-3; Zechariah 3:11; [Genesis 32:30 and Hosea 12:4-5].
The
Angel of Jehovah appeared to Hagar:
The
Angel of Jehovah appeared to Abraham:
The
Angel of Jehovah appeared to Jacob:
The
Angel of Jehovah appeared to Moses:
The
Angel of Jehovah appeared to Joshua:
The
Angel of Jehovah appeared to Judah when under the leadership of Joshua:
1. "THE ANGEL OF
JEHOVAH...said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the
land which I swore unto your fathers" [Judges 2:1]. Exodus 20:2 says,
"I AM JEHOVAH YOUR GOD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt."
2. "THE ANGEL OF
JEHOVAH...said... I will never break my covenant with you." In Leviticus
26:44-45 it is JEHOVAH who said He will never break HIS covenant He made with
their ancestors.
3. THE ANGEL OF JEHOVAH said,
"I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in
your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you." But in Joshua 23:13
it was JEHOVAH that said He would not drive them out and they would be a snare
and a thorn to them. The three persons in the Godhead are one God. The
"ANGEL OF JEHOVAH" is one of the Godhead, therefore, is God.
The
Angel of Jehovah appeared to Gideon:
The
Angel of Jehovah appeared to Muons wife:
Jesus said, "Before Abraham was born,
I AM" [John 8:58]. "The origin and meaning of the name Jehovah are
especially brought out in relation to Israel. When Moses at the burning bush
says to God: 'Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say
unto them, The Elohim of your fathers has sent me unto you; and they shall say
unto me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?' And the Lord said to
Moses, 'I am that I am.' The words could be rendered, 'I will be that I will
be,' and often the word is used in that sense, 'I will be with thee.' Its
origin is exactly the same as that of Jehovah--being, existence--and certainly
denotes the One who will always be: personal, continuous, absolute existence"
Nathan J. Stone, "Names of God," page 20. In Exodus 3:13-15 "The
angel of Jehovah" says he is "I am that I am." MOST CONSERVATIVE
BIBLE SCHOLARS AGREE THAT THE ANGEL OF JEHOVAH THAT IS USED OFTEN IN THE OLD
TESTAMENT IS CHRIST.
There are other passages where the Angel
of Jehovah is found, but these are more than enough to show Christ was working
throughout the Old Testament. See Judges 13:1-22; Genesis 48:15-16; 32:28; 32:24;
Exodus 23:20-21; 32:34; Isaiah 63:8-9. The angel of Jehovah is God, but He is
distinguished from God the father, yet they are one God.
WHO IS TO BE WORSHIPPED?
THE BIBLE CLEARLY TEACHES THAT IDOLATRY IS
A SIN. IT MAY BE THE MOST CONDEMNED SIN IN THE BIBLE. The word of God is clear
that only God is to be worshiped. Not other gods, idols, nothing in His
creation, images, saints, angels, or Satan [Matthew 4:10]. Yet the Angel of
Jehovah accepted worship, which created angels did not [Revelation 22:8-9].
Christ is WORSHIPPED through out the New Testament by many with no rebuked.
"Worthy is the Lamb that has been
slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might and honor, and
glory, and blessing. And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the
earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things are in them, heard I
saying, Unto him that sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing,
and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever. And the four
living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and WORSHIPPED"
[Revelation 5:12-14].
The Bible is clear in it's
teaching that only God is to be worshipped [Exodus 34:14; Psalms 81:9; 97:7;
Isaiah 42:8; 48:11; Matthew 4:10; Luke 4:8; Revelation 19:10]. Jesus is
worshipped. If He is not deity, to worship Him would be a sin and His accepting
worship would make Him a sinner. If Millennialist were right when they teach He
is not deity, the New Testament must be thrown out for it is a fraud, and
Christ must be completely rejected. "Thus says JEHOVAH, the King of
Israel, and his Redeemer, JEHOVAH of hosts; I am the first, and the last; and
besides me there is no God." Isaiah 44:6 is quoted and applied to Christ
in Revelation 1:17.
THE
OLD AND NEW COVENANTS
"Behold, the days come, SAYS JEHOVAH,
that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of
Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day
that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt...But this
is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days,
SAYS JEHOVAH: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will
I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they
shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know Jehovah: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the
greatest of them, says Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their
sin will I remember no more"[Jeremiah 31:31-34]. It was Jehovah that said
He would take away the first. The writer of Hebrews applied this to Christ.
"Then said I. Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me)
To do your will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifices and offering and whole burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein
(the which are offered according to the law), then has HE [Christ] said, Lo, I
am come to do your will. HE [Christ] takes away the first, that HE [Christ] may
establish the second. By which will we have been sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all"[Hebrews 9:7-18]. It was
Christ that took away the first covenant. A man could not take away a covenant
made by God. "We have such a high priest, [Christ]...But now has he
[Christ] obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much as HE [Christ] is
also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted upon better
promises. For if the first covenant had been faultless, then would no place
have been sought for a second. For finding fault with them, HE [Christ] says,
behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I [Christ] will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the
covenant that I [Christ] made with their fathers in the day that I [Christ]
took them by the hand to lead them forth out of the land of Egypt; for they
continued not in my covenant, and I [Christ] regarded them not, says the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I [Christ] will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord; I [Christ] will put my laws into their mind,
and on their heart also will I [Christ] write them: and I [Christ] WILL BE TO
THEM A GOD, and they shall be to me a people" [Hebrews 8:1-13]. "For
where a testament (covenant) is, there must of necessity be the death of him
that made it" [Hebrews 9:16]. It was by His death that the Lord made the
covenant we are now under. "Lo, I [Christ] am come to do your will. HE
[Christ] takes away the first, that he [Christ] may establish the second. By
which will [covenant] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest indeed stands day by day
ministering and offering often times the same sacrifices, the which can never
take away sins; but HE [Christ], when HE [Christ] had offered one sacrifice for
sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God"[Hebrews 10:9-13]. It was
Christ (called "Jehovah" in Jeremiah 31:31-34) that took away the
first covenant and made a new covenant. No man or angel could have taken the
first covenant away, and no man of angel could make a new covenant for us.
Jesus and God is one God. "I and the Father are one" [John 10:30].
"That they may be one, even as we are...that they may all be one; even as
you, father, are in me, and I in you...that they may be one, even as we are
one" [John 17:11-22]. We may not be able to understand the mystery of how
one God is made up of three persons, but the Bible clearly teaches that the
three are one. Nor can we understand the great mystery of how a husband and
wife are one flesh [Ephesians 5:31-32].
TWO JEHOVAH'S IN ONE VERSE
"Thus says (first) JEHOVAH, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, (second) JEHOVAH of Hosts; I am the
first, and the last; AND BESIDES ME THERE IS NO GOD (first and second Jehovah together)" [Isaiah 44:6]. "And
besides me there is no God" is applied to both Jehovah's.
In the New Testament, God the Father calls
the Son "God." "But of the Son [Christ] He [God the Farther]
says, YOUR THRONE, O GOD [Christ], is forever and ever" [Hebrews 1:8;
Psalms 45:6]. In this passage, God the Father calls Christ "God."
A FEW PREMILLENNIALIST MAY
BELIEVE IN THE PREEXISTENCE AND DEITY OF CHRIST, BUT THE PREDOMINATE BELIEF AMONG
THEM IS THAT HE DID NOT EXIST BEFORE HIS BIRTH. THEY HAVE DENIED THAT CHRIST IS
NOW OR EVER HAVE BEEN EQUAL WITH GOD AND DENIED THAT CHRIST HAD ANY PART IN
MAKING THE EARTH AND MAN. With them,
Satan has won. They have denied Christ.
1. If Jesus is not God, all
that worship Him are idolaters.
2. If Jesus is God, all that
say He was just a good man, just the man that was chosen by God over all other
man, have they not denied the Christ? Is Premillennial doctrines not
Antichrist?
o Any person who worships a
man as if He were God, is an idolater and blasphemer
o Any person who denies the
Christ is Antichrist [1 John 2:22-23].
o Both are a sin that will
bring death to those who believe and teach it? Is there anyway that the one
that is such a sinner as either of the two would be to be acceptable to God?
o If one person can believe
Christ is God and another person believes Christ to be only a man, a created
being, and both are acceptable to God; is there anything that any person can
believe and not be acceptable to God; or is there anything that a person does
not believe that will make him or her not be acceptable to God?
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CHAPTER 4
CHRIST AS REVILED IN THE NEW
TESTAMENT
"Behold, the virgin shall be with
child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which
translated means, 'God with us'" [Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6].
"And Jesus seeing their
faith said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, your sins are forgiven. But there
were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why
does this man thus speak? He blasphemes: who
can forgive sins but one, even God?" [Mark 2:5-7].
"For this cause; therefore, the Jews
sought the more to kill him, because he not only brake the Sabbath, but also
called God his own father, making
Himself equal with God" [John 5:18].
"But the man from whom the demons
were gone out prayed him that he might be with him: but he sent him away,
saying, Return to your house, and declare how
great things GOD has done for you. And he went his way, publishing
throughout the whole city how great
things JESUS had done for him" [Luke 8:28-39].
"Christ
Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality
with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a
servant, being made in the likeness of man; and being found in fashion as a
man. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" [Philippians
2:5-8].
"Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God
and our Savior Jesus Christ" [Titus 2:13].
"But
of the Son he says Your throne, O God, is forever and ever" [Hebrews
1:8]
"By the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ"
[2 Peter 1:1]
Jesus said unto John, "I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that
is a thirst of the fountain of water of life freely. He that over comes shall
inherit these things: and I will be his
God, and he shall be my son" [Revelation 21:6-7].
"And He is the image of the
invisible God, the first-born of all creation. For by Him all things were
created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things have been created by
Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold
together" [Colossians 1:15-17]. This passage tells up four things about
Jesus.
1. JESUS IS ONE WITH THE
FATHER. "And He is the image of the invisible God." Also Hebrews 1:3.
2. JESUS CREATED ALL THINGS IN
THE HEAVENS AND ON EARTH. "For BY HIM ALL THINGS WERE CREATED, both in the
heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
rulers or authorities; ALL THINGS HAVE BEEN CREATED BY HIM AND FOR HIM."
"By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed BY THE WORD OF
GOD so that what is seen has not been made out of things which appear"
[Hebrews 11:3]. Also, Psalms 33:9; 148:5.
3. JESUS WAS BEFORE ALL THINGS
IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH. "And He is before all things."
4. JESUS UPHOLDS THE UNIVERSE.
"In Him all things hold together." Jesus is "upholding all
things by the word of his power" [Hebrews 1:3].
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JESUS AS REVILED IN JOHN'S
GOSPEL
THE PERSON WHO CAME FROM GOD
AND RETURNED TO GOD
The theme of John's Gospel is Jesus who is
God, was with God before the world was, came from God, made eternal life available
to man, and went back to God. One cannot believe this Gospel and believe the
view of many Millennialist that Jesus was just a man and did not exist before
His birth.
JESUS THE WORD WAS IN THE
BEGINNING WITH GOD - JESUS, THE WORD, WAS GOD- HE MADE ALL THING
EXISTED BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS BORN
EQUAL WITH GOD - ONE WITH GOD
JESUS IS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN GOD
JESUS MADE HIMSELF OUT TO BE GOD
JESUS HAS LIFE IN HIMSELF
JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE-THE
POWER TO GIVE AND SUSTAIN LIFE AND RAISE THE DEAD
JESUS WAS SENT BY GOD FROM
HEAVEN - HAS SEEN GOD
JESUS CAME DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN -
DESCENDED FROM HEAVEN
JESUS ASCENDING BACK TO HEAVEN
WHERE HE WAS BEFORE
JESUS GOING TO HEAVEN TO PREPARE
A PLACE OF US IN HEAVEN
"In My Father's house are
many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also" [John
14:2-3].
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JESUS AS REVILED IN HEBREWS
"God, after He spoke long ago to the
fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days
has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through
[through Christ] whom also He made the world. And He [Christ] is the radiance
of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things
by the word of His power...You, Lord, (Jesus) in the beginning did lay the
foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; they will
perish, but You remain; and they all will become old as a garment, and as a
mantle, You will roll them up; as a garment they will also be changed. But, You
are the same, and Your years will not come to an end" [Hebrews 1:1-12].
It is clear that the writer of
Hebrews thought Christ was more than just a man. In Hebrews Christ is:
1. Greater than the angels
[Hebrews 1:7]
2. His throne (kingdom) is forever
and ever [Hebrews 1:8]
3. Christ made the earth and
the heavens [Hebrews 1:10; Psalms 102:25-27]
4. The earth and the heavens
shall come to an end, but Christ will continue [Hebrews 1:11-12]
5. Christ upholds all things by
the power of His word [Hebrews 1:3]
6. Christ is the very image of
God's substance [Hebrews 1:3]
7. Brought the power of the
devil to nothing by His death [Hebrews 2:4]
8. Christ is over His house,
and we (the church) are His house [Hebrews 3:6]
9. He is our great high priest
who has passed through the heavens [Hebrews 4:14]
10.
He is the author of eternal salvation to all that obeys Him [Hebrews
5:9]
11.
He is a priest "after the power of an endless life" [Hebrews
7:16]
12.
He "abides forever" and is able to save them that come to Him
[Hebrews 7:25-26]
13.
He is the mediator of a better covenant [Hebrews 8:6]
14.
He is high priest of the good thing to come, a greater and more perfect
tabernacle not made with man's hands, not of this creation (not of this earth)
[Hebrews 9:11]
15.
He entered into Heaven [Hebrews 9:24]
16.
Through Christ we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken [Hebrews
12:28]
17.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever"
[Hebrews 13:8]
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CHAPTER 5
THE NATURE OF
CHRIST
WHEN HE
"BECAME FLESH, AND DWELLED AMONG US" [John 1:14]
(1) Jesus Christ, the God who
became man
(2) Jesus Christ, the God who
died my death for my sin
THE NATURE OF CHRIST NOW AND FOR
ALL ETERNITY
(1) Jesus Christ, the God who
lives
THE CHRIST JOHN SAW
In Revelation 1:12-18 John sees a vision
of Christ. John, who had been with Christ for three and a half years, saw
"The Lord of Glory." The glory, the awesomeness of the grandeur was
so overpowering that John was so awe struck by His glory that John "fell
at His feet as a dead man." John saw Christ in His glory as He is now, not
as John had seen Him when He was "like His brethren in all things"
[Hebrews 2:17].
1. John had seen Him on earth
when He was "like His brethren in all things" [Hebrews 2:17].
2. John sees a vision of Christ
in the grandeur He now has in Heaven [Revelation 1:12-18].
WHAT KIND OF BODY DOES CHRIST
NOW HAVE?
"The first man was of earth, formed
from dust, the second is from heaven" [1 Corinthians 15:47 The New
American Bible].
1. "The first man Adam
became A LIVING SOUL (psukee)" [1 Corinthians 15:45]. Nehphesh in Old
Testament, psukee in New Testament. A living breathing being of this earth.
o Adam was "that which is
natural" Verse 46.
¤ Adam was "of the earth,
earthy" Verse 47.
¤ "As we have borne the
image of the earthy" Verse 49 Which is "A natural body" Verse
44.
2. "The last Adam became A
LIFE-GIVING SPIRIT" [1 Corinthians 15:45].
o Christ is "that which
is spiritual" Verse 46.
o Christ is "of
heaven" Verse 47.
¤ "We shall also bear the
image of the heavenly" Verse 49 Which is a "spiritual body"
Verse 44.
Ephesians 1:20-23 "Which he
wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit his
right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, and
power, and dominion, and every name that is named."
A RED WARNING FLAG: In the thousands of
web pages and the many books I have read, I have found that most who use
"God's Messiah," "God's anointed one," "Yahweh,"
or some of the other names they use in the place of Christ Jesus most always
give Him a lower place than "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in he beginning with God. All
things were made through Him; and without Him was not anything made that has
been made" [John 1:1-3]. Some make Christ be not much more than a
glorified man. Many make Him be a created being, not the creator. A few teach
that Satan was at one time God's number one created being, but when he sinned
and was cast out of Heaven, Christ took his place. Most make Him be something
more than a man as he is now but less than God. THERE ARE SOME WHO USE NAMES
LIKE "GOD'S MESSIAH" TO MAKE CHRIST BE LESS THAN HE "WHO,
EXISTING IN THE FORM OF GOD, COUNTED NOT THE BEING ON AN EQUALITY WITH GOD A
THING TO BE GRASPED" [Philippians 2:6-11]. Much of the writing by PreMillennialist
writers are unclear and hard to understand, most likely because there are many
versions of the PreMillennialist doctrines, but if I understand them, many of
them do not believe Christ has always existed or that He is equal with God.
They seem to be saying that He came into being at His birth and is now only
temporary in Heaven, and that when He returns to earth, He will always be on
earth with a body of this earth.
NOTE: "Messiah" is a Biblical
name. Christ is the Greek translation of Messiah [John 1:41], but look out when
something like "God's anointed one," "Yahweh," or
"God's Messiah" is used. This writer believes the PreMillennialist
belief to be one of, if not the most Antichrist teaching in the world, but
their Antichrist teaching is being done in the name of God and in a way that
will make many believe they are hearing the truth about Christ; that He is not
God, but just a man. Satan does not care if you believe Christ is the greatest
man that ever lived and that He is the most chosen man by God, JUST AS LONG AS
YOU BELIEVE HE IS JUST A MAN FOR THEN YOU HAVE DENIED THE CHRIST, THEREFORE,
YOU BELONG TO SATAN, NOT TO GOD. Those who believe this Antichrist teaching
cannot obey the gospel; they have rejected Jesus and made Him into a man. No
man could save us from the wages of our sin, death. To deny Christ is to take
away all hope of eternal life. If you believe the view of Christ, which many
PreMillennialist have, Satan has won the victory. It does not matter that you
believe any other part of the Bible for Satan has won. You will have denied
Christ. "But there arose false prophets also among the people, AS AMONG
YOU ALSO THERE SHALL BE FALSE TEACHERS, WHO SHALL PRIVILY BRING IN DESTRUCTIVE
HERESIES, DENYING EVEN THE MASTER THAT BOUGHT THEM, BRINGING UPON THEMSELVES
SWIFT DESTRUCTION" [2 Peter 2:1]. PreMillennialist make the Christ that
bought them with His blood that they may have life to be only a man.
Paul often used "Lord"
["Kurios" in the Greek is translated from "Yahweh -
Jehovah" in the Hebrew]. In the Old Testament Yahweh - Jehovah was one who
had no beginning, one who has always existed.
"Premillennialism is no barren
speculation - useless though true, and innocuous though false. It is a school
of Scripture interpretation; in impinges upon and affects some of the most
commanding points of the Christian faith; and, when suffered to work its
unimpeded way, it stops not till it has pervaded with it own genius the entire
system of one's theology, and the whole tone of his spiritual character,
constructing, I had almost said, a world of its own...he yet sees things
through a medium of his own, and finds every thing instinct with the life which
this doctrine has generated with him" David Brown, "Christ's Second
Coming" Page 8, 1858.
PREMILLENNIAL DOCTRINES
THE PREMILLENNIAL TEACHING ABOUT
CHRIST, FROM GOD OR SATAN?
There are divisions in the Millennium
beliefs. Most PreMillennialist believe it was prophesied that Christ was to set
up an earthly kingdom on the throne of David and reign from Jerusalem, but
because the Jews rejected Him the establishment of the kingdom was put off unto
after His second coming and the church was established instead. They believe the
Jews will be restored, and the temple rebuilt and temple worship restored.
Some PreMillennialist believe
Christ did not exist unto His birth. Other PreMillennialist believe Christ
existed equal with God before His birth, but He was raised a man and He is now
a man at the right hand of God and will be a man when He returns to rule the
earth and will forever be a man.
Some PreMillennialist believe Christ, who
they do not call Christ, but "God's Messiah" will rule the earth from
Jerusalem on the throne of David, and that the body we now have will live
forever on this earth, and some that we will have the same the body that we now
have but that it will be changed in such a way that it is not really the body
we now have and the earth will not really be the earth that we now live on but
a new earth.
To many, to put this body off
and put on a new "spiritual body," and move from the earth that they
know, to a place they know nothing about what it is like is a scaring and
frightening thing. This version of PreMillennialist beliefs say no, you can
keep the body you now have but it will be greatly improved. It will not have
any of the bad things that many bodies now have, and it will live forever on
this earth that you know, but it will be a greatly improved earth. Satan says
you can have all this; all you have to do is to believe Christ is just a man,
greater than any other man, but still just a man who had no preexistence before
His birth.
YOU CANNOT BELIEVE THE VIEW OF MANY MILLENNIALIST
ON THE PREEXISTENCE AND DEITY OF CHRIST. THEY DENY THAT CHRIST IS NOW OR EVER
HAVE BEEN EQUAL WITH GOD. MANY DENY THAT CHRIST HAD ANY PART IN MAKING THE
EARTH AND MAN. Not only must the preexistence and deity of Christ be denied,
but many versions of Premillennial doctrines are also dependence of the earthly
body being raised and existing forever. "Flesh and blood" must
inherit the kingdom of God. Though some PreMillennialist changes the body and
also changes the earth; they say the earthly body that will be resurrected will
be changed to such an extent that no one now would know their own body and the
earth changed to such an extent that no one would know it to be the same earth,
yet they say this body we now have must be raised and live forever in the
kingdom of God on this earth. With some, the change of the body or the change
of the earth does not seem to be as great as it is with others, BUT IT MUST BE
THIS EARTHLY BODY OF FLESH AND BLOOD. WITHOUT IT, THE WHOLE OF PREMILLENNIAL
ORDER FALLS. What body we will have in the resurrection is discussed in
"Unconditional Immortality Or Resurrection Of The Dead" by William
Robert West, ISBN: 0-7414-4620-0.
What a person thinks about Jesus affects:
(1) Whether or not they should worship Him as God, whether they should trust
and obey Him. (2) Whether or not a person who does not believe in the divinity
of Jesus is a Christian or not a Christian. "What we think about Jesus
Christ affects not only questions surrounding the subsistence of the Godhead,
but it also delves into entirely relevant issues, such as whether or not one
should trust, obey and worship Christ as God, the nature and efficacy of His
atoning offices, as well as what constitutes a Church and what are its rites.
He who believes in the divinity Jesus Christ is Christian; he who does not,
(whatever his profession), is a mere Desist. Without the Divinity, the Bible
is, 'the drama of Hamlet, with the part of Hamlet omitted.'"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chapter 6
THE NATURE OF MAN
(1) THE NATURE OF MAN FROM
CREATION TO THE RESURRECTION
(2) THE NATURE OF MAN [THOSE WHO
ARE NOT IN CHRIST] AFTER THE JUDGMENT. This is discussed in another chapter of
this book on "The Second Death."
(3) THE NATURE OF MAN [THOSE WHO
ARE IN CHRIST] FOR ALL ETERNITY AFTER THE RESURRECTION "For our
citizenship is in heaven, from which (from Heaven) also we eagerly wait for a
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state
(This earthly body of flesh and blood, which "cannot inherit the kingdom
of God" will not be an earthly body) into conformity with the body of His
glory" (It will be transformed into conformity with the body Jesus now has
in Heaven) [Philippians 3:20-21]. Just as we now have the right bodies for this
earth, we will have the right bodies for Heaven. The bodies we now have will be
transformed to be like His glorious body now is. The resurrected body Christ
had for the forty days He was on earth after His resurrection is sometime read
into this passage, but it says nothing about Christ in the forty days before
His ascension, but Christ now in Heaven where our citizenship is, that we will
be transformed from this earthly body, "the body of our humble state into
conformity with the body of His glory," the glory Christ now has in Heaven,
the glory He had before He became a man, the glory Christ was speaking of in
John 17:5 "And now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory
which I had with you before the world was."
One of the favorite questions of those who
do not believe the saved will be in Heaven is, "An eternity in heaven
doing what?" Turn this question around and it is, "An eternity on
earth doing what?" We are not told what we will be doing in Heaven,
therefore, cannot know. The God that could make both Heaven and earth will have
something for us to do. We may ask, "What are the angles doing and what
will they be doing for all eternity?" Heaven is much greater then the
earth, therefore, there will be much more to do in Heaven than on earth. Though
it is asked often, there is no point to the question. What do they think they
are proving by it? This ("An eternity in heaven doing what?") is an
argument that is made when the person making it has no scriptural argument. It
is an argument made entirely from human wisdom, not from the Bible.
A NEW BODY, NOT THE SAME BODY THAT WAS PUT INTO THE EARTH AT DEATH, NOT A RENEWED OR RESTORED EARTHLY BODY LIKE ADAM. "But someone will say, 'How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?' You fool! That you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But, God gives it a body just as He wished...So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body" [1 Corinthians 15:35-44]. The body of Adam was a natural body from the day God made him. He had a body made from the earth and for life on earth, not a spiritual body. Now in this lifetime we are like Adam, a natural body made from this earth. We are now in the image of Adam, an earthly being, which is "a living soul." "If there is a natural body (A body of this earth in the image of Adam), there is also a spiritual body (A body not of this earth, not in the image of Adam before or after he sinned)" [1 Corinthians 15:44]. "So also it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul.'" (Adam became "a living soul" with his first breath, not after his sin. He was "a living soul" from his first breath unto his last breath. His sin did not change his being "a living soul." "So also it is written" in Genesis 2:7 where "soul" is from "nehphesh" and is used four times in chapter one where it is speaking of animals being living souls before the same word is applied to Adam.) "The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, (Adam) we shall also bear the image of the heavenly (Christ)." JUST AS WE NOW BEAR THE IMAGE OF ADAM, NOW HAVE A NATURAL BODY (A BODY OF FLESH AND BLOOD), WE SHALL BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY (CHRIST - A SPIRITUAL BODY). MOST THAT BELIEVE IN ANY OF THE MANY VARIATIONS OF PREMILLENNIAL BELIEFS IS THAT CHRIST WILL HAVE A FLESH AND BLOOD BODY AND THAT HE WILL ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON THIS EARTH AND RULE THE WORLD FROM JERUSALEM. THEY BELIEVE BOTH CHRIST AND ALL THE SAVED WILL BE ON THIS EARTH FOR ALL ETERNITY AND WILL HAVE A FLESH AND BLOOD BODY IN THE IMAGE OF ADAM, WHICH WILL BE RESTORED TO BE LIKE ADAM BEFORE HE SINNED. HOW COULD GOD HAVE SAID ANY CLEARER THAT WE WILL NOT HAVE A NATURAL (EARTHLY, FLESH AND BLOOD) BODY IN THE IMAGE OF ADAM, BUT THAT WE WILL HAVE A SPIRITUAL BODY IN THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY. IF, AS MANY PREMILLENNIALIST TEACH, CHRIST WILL HAVE THE SAME BODY ADAM HAD BEFORE HE SINNED, WHY WILL THE IMAGE OF ONE (ADAM) THAT WE NOW HAVE, BE CHANGED TO THE IMAGE OF THE OTHER (CHRIST)? HOW CAN THOSE WHO BELIEVE THE PREMILLENNIAL DOCTRINE BELIEVE THIS PASSAGE? Do they "wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction" [2 Peter 3:16]? Will Christ say to them, "But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men"? [Matthew 15:9]. "Now I say this, brethren, THAT FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD: (Adam was flesh and blood "a living soul" both before and after he sinned. If we were restored to be "a living