FOR FAIR USE EDUCATION AND DISCUSSION PURPOSES


Link of article or video : http://www.churchofgod.net/booklets-church-of-god/why-the-millenial...

Hello All!

This article is continued from Part I of this study. In the first part we covered the first 4 reasons why the Millennial doctrine is not biblical, today we look into the next 4 reasons, reasons 5-8. I hope those who are reading this are finding how valid these reasons are, and how well they are supported biblically. I, too, used to believe in this false doctrine without even thinking about it. Yet, once I did find out the truth about this, I was so shocked to realize that I had missed something so important and so crucial to spreading the Gospel.

############

Why the Millennial Doctrine Is Not Biblical

By Albert J. Kempin


Reason Number Five

It Opens the Door for the Wildest Kind of Speculation

Our generation has more than its share of prophets, but most of them are prophets of gloom. Such prophets of gloom have invented their antichrists, battle of Armageddon, tribulation, the mark of the beast, fanciful rapture, a number of future comings of Christ, at least five judgments, two physical resurrections, and the discovery of the lost tribes of Israel in England and the United States who, according to these prophets of gloom, make up the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Every event of national or international significance is seized hold of and capitalized by these prophets who fit such events into their scheme of prophecy. The sad part is that such wild speculation finds such a welcome in the hearts of a gullible public.

When the NRA was in vogue in the United States it was called the “mark of the beast” by many of these prophets. Others made the sickle and hammer of Russia the “mark of the beast”; still others said, and now say, that the swastika of Germany is that mark. The dictators of earth are feverishly used as the answer to the antichrist. I heard one man argue for almost an hour that Mussolini is the antichrist and after that lengthy effort he wound up his speech by saying, “Well, if Mussolini is not the antichrist, who is?” These prophets of gloom doubt their own message, but poor unsuspecting people who are ignorant of God’s Word accept such theories and believe them as though they were gospel truth.

This millennial doctrine has caused people to put on white garments, sell their household goods, give up their jobs, climb some high mountain, and there wait for the second coming of Christ, only to be bitterly disappointed. Even though the Lord Jesus said plainly that no one knows the day nor the hour of His coming, yet such prophets of gloom have fixed and continue to fix, dates for the end of the world and Christ’s second coming.

Zealots rush around repeating in parrot-like form, “He’s coming soon; he’s coming soon,” and after a while they die and still the Lord has not come. Some lose their faith entirely and backslide, becoming bitter in their hearts toward God because He did not allow things to happen according to their homespun ideas about the kingdom of God. Peter warned everybody that “the Lord is not slack concerning his promises, as some men count slackness…But the day of the Lord will come” (2 Peter 3:9-10).

The millennial doctrine has given rise to groups who say that Christ will setup His kingdom in Salt Lake City, Zion City, Illinois, in London, etc. No one needs to speculate, the New Testament is plain. Jesus came to tell us to “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). The Lord Jesus is not looking for any earthly city in which to set up His kingdom. He is looking for precious hearts which are hungering and thirsting after God. In such He would establish His glorious reign (See Luke 17:20-21).

Every child of God may have a share in spreading the kingdom of God by praying, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”


Reason Number Six

It Perpetuates the Old Covenant Which Was Abrogated

Teachers of the thousand-year reign theory refer to the Jews as “the covenant people of God.” One would suppose that they are still bound to the Lord by the covenant which was given to them at Sinai. Such teachers fail to see that the Hebrews broke that covenant. Since they broke it, the conditions stipulated within that covenant were rendered void. It was for this reason that God Himself removed this contract between Himself and the people of Israel according to the flesh. Let us consider some Bible proof on this point: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14). (Please see also Hebrews 10:7-10).

The Old Testament covenant was called the “first covenant,” “old,” “the first testament” which was dedicated with the blood of bulls and goats, “the ministration of condemnation,” “the ministration of death, written and engraved in stones,” “that which is done away,” and “that which is abolished.” [That which was shadowed forth in the old covenant was fulfilled in Christ.]

The Christian lives under the new covenant–one dedicated with the precious blood of Christ. This is the New Testament which brings to the believer the glorious blessing of eternal salvation.

Therefore, the only covenant people whom God recognizes today are those who are saved through faith in Jesus Christ.


Reason Number Seven

The Millennial Doctrine Holds Out False Hopes to Both Jews and Gentiles

In this day when the hopes of people are being dashed to pieces, it is a tragedy to deal with fainting hearts with anything but the truth. Everyone is aware of how the Jews have been made to suffer on the European continent. This same prejudice is reaching the shores of America. Millennial teachers are doing the Jews the greatest kind of injustice by raising their hopes through their teaching that they shall once more be the center of a universal empire–that when Christ comes again they will be the nation upon which Jesus will build His millennial kingdom. The poor Jews have suffered enough–why hold out such a bubble to them? It will only burst before their very eyes to plunge them into deeper misery.

Jesus came to destroy this race consciousness, this class rule. Jesus came to build a universal brotherhood. The Jews may find their place in this New Testament commonwealth by doing what all Christians have done: humbly confessing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God to the glory of the Father. There is salvation in no other name. They may reign with Christ right now over sin, the flesh and the devil. This is their only hope–let Christians declare it to them in meekness and with love.

This fanciful doctrine also tends to hold out false hopes to the Gentiles. Some millennial camps have “a second chance” attached to the supposed coming reign on earth. Such teachers say that if you are not saved in this life you will have another chance when Jesus comes. That is most destructive and misleading. Some mothers are consoling themselves with the thought that if their children are not saved now they will be during the tribulation, and even during the millennium. The New Testament emphatically declares that now is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation. There is no hope for either Jew or Gentile after death. “As a tree falleth, so shall it lie.” Dear reader, do not put off your salvation. Be saved today.


Reason Number Eight

It Discourages Present Victory in Salvation Work

This false doctrine is based upon the worst kind of pessimism. It discourages revival work by saying that it is impossible to have real Holy Ghost revivals because we are drawing toward the close of this age. Missionaries and evangelists are sent out to tell the people that a Savior has come and in this manner they hope to hasten the end and usher in the second coming of Christ. This doctrine rests upon the assumption that the world is getting worse and worse and that righteousness is getting weaker and weaker–that when Jesus does come He will find very few who are saved.

Such leaders fail to understand the import of our Lord’s teaching when He gave the parable of the wheat and the tares. It is true that tares will grow and keep on multiplying, but we must also remember that the wheat is growing all the time, too. In other words, as righteousness spreads, wickedness is also spreading, and vice versa. If Christ is rejected in one community, He is being accepted elsewhere. When one door closes, another opens where the gospel may be preached.

When Jesus comes, the church, will have made herself ready. This process of getting the church ready for Christ’s coming is going on all the time. While the world will be astonished at His coming, the church will rejoice.

These futurists pass over the church lightly as being of little importance and focus their attention on the coming millennial age. Such say that the church is an incident in the scheme of redemption and that the prophets looked over this parenthetical incident to the millennium. Charts by millennial teachers nearly always show the church in a valley and the millennial age on a high elevation.

But the reader must remember that the church is of such importance in the divine scheme of redemption that the prophets foretold its glory and that Jesus shed His blood to make it possible. John the Revelator describes the fortunes of the church of God in the book of Revelation and shows that at Christ’s coming it will come forth triumphant over all its foes. Through all eternity the church will be the marvel of all heaven. The saints of all ages will sing the song of deliverance through Jesus Christ.

If the church is failing in some places, it is due to the fact that some preachers and teachers are dealing with such theories and not with the gospel of salvation from sin. When Christ is made central, the church marches on to victory. Man-made doctrines and prophetic speculation obscure the church and hinder its success. Let the churches begin to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified and see how quickly the fires of evangelism will be rekindled. The church can be a success in the midst of a sinful world. It is the only agency designed for the salvation of the world. Jesus said, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” These words send a ray of hope through the gloom created by millennialism.

################################################

Reasons 9-13 next time

Thanks for reading. I would love to hear any comments on this subject, as it would be good to hear how others are viewing this doctrine, and how it has impacted their beliefs.

JESUS IS ALL AND EVERYTHING!

Patti C.

Hi Patti,

Thanks for this study...I will add it to PART I


but keep posting as you are!!!


God Bless


Steven

bumping because this is worth reading......


God Bless


Steven