Dr Greg Bahnsen - Why I am a Postmillenialist: Earthly Expectation (Part 3)

On why I am a post millennialist, or perhaps more properly titled Christ Expectation for the earthly prospects of his kingdom. And I'd like to begin with a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the thrilling truth of your word. We thank you for the inspiration that it brings us. We do ask that tonight's lesson might not only direct our thoughts, that we be more faithful to you and the way we look upon history and what you intend to do with your kingdom. We pray also that our lesson tonight would encourage us to walk more faithfully and to be more courageous in the battle and to see the victory which you intend. We pray that you would bless our efforts to live as your servants and to advance your kingdom. And we pray this for the glory of our Savior Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Our last two lessons I have tried to cover first of all the chronology of Christ's kingdom, showing why all versions of premillennialism are not going to sit well with the teaching of Scripture. Because the Bible teaches that when Christ returns, there's going to be a general resurrection of the just and the unjust, as well as a general judgment of all mankind. And that will be the last day of human history. And the eternal state will be instituted, will be begun at that point, because all those things will take place, as it were, simultaneously or virtually simultaneously. There is no room to insert a 1000 year gap between the coming of Christ and the final judgment and the bringing in of the new heavens and the new earth. That is, there's no room for a millennial kingdom after Christ returns, and that according to the chronology of the Bible itself. Then in our second lesson, I tried to show that what Christ is expecting to take place between his death, resurrection and ascension, and the time when he returns, what is he expecting? He's expecting the subduing of all his enemies under his feet. And this was promised to him by God the Father. And Paul tells us in First Corinthians 15 in particular that it will be accomplished before the general resurrection, or in particular before the resurrection of the saints, because the last enemy to be defeated will be death, and death will be defeated. When of course we rise from the dead victorious, to live with him forever. Paul says, and this is the end that will put an end to Christ's work as our mediatorial king, and he will deliver then the kingdom consummated, completed to his Father, and the eternal state will ensue. So between the ascension of Christ and the return of Christ, we should see the subduing of all his enemies. We saw a number of texts of Scripture that would encourage us that that's precisely what Christ is doing in this day. The Great Commission tells us that Christ has all power and is with the church and calls the church to make all the nations his disciples. We read that Christ is building his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against Christ and his work, not prevail against his church and its onslaught against Satan's kingdom. Indeed, Christ has bound the strong man and is now spoiling his house. Satan is bound so he can deceive the nations no more. We saw from a number of other texts in Scripture that all the nations will turn to the Lord, that a great day of revival is coming where it will eventually be said that the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea. And again, we expect these things to take place before the last enemy is defeated. And that is to say, before the second coming of Jesus Christ. So two things have been done. Very simply, we've said that premillennialism has a chart, a time chart, as it were, a chronology that will not fit the biblical teaching. Because when Christ returns, there will not be a thousand years until the institution of the new heavens and new earth. When Christ returns, that's the end. General resurrection, general judgment, division of sheep and goats and the eternal state. And what's going to happen between the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ and his return? The Bible says victory for his kingdom, every enemy subdued, the knowledge of the Lord flooding the world, the nations made Christ's disciples, the gates of hell not prevailing. That's why I'm a post millennialist, because these passages must be fulfilled because God cannot be untrue. And they must be fulfilled before Christ returns for the reasons that we've already offered. Now, tonight, what I'd like to do is a little kind of mopping up exercise. I'm going to go back now and I'm just going to, more or less in an unsystematic way, go over some of my favorite passages that give me encouragement about the victory of Christ's kingdom on earth. And so you can see this is kind of reinforcement of the more systematic lesson that I gave you last week with a number of passages of scripture. And then toward the end of our time together, I want to take up some of the more popular objections to this line of thinking that you hear in the Christian church and try to give off the cuff, quick, quickie answers to them and so you'll have something to think about. And hopefully these tapes, which will be less than three hours in length, will be helpful to you too. And passing on to other people who want just a casual, not a lecture ish, but a casual presentation of why we believe what we do about the victory of Christ's kingdom. These tapes are available from Covenant Tape Ministry, of course, and we will have a set of them in our tape library for loaning. Okay, Let's talk about some other texts of Scripture that would encourage us about the victory of Christ's kingdom in this world before he returns. First of all, Matthew 13:31 33 I made passing reference to this last week in the Kingdom Parables Jesus teaches us, and I'll begin the reading at verse 31. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the smallest of all seeds. But when it is grown, it's greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the heaven can come and lodge and and the branches thereof. Jesus says, I'll tell you what my kingdom's like. It starts small, it ends big. I mean, it seems that image, that parable should be rather easy to understand, kind of an undeniable message. Jesus says, it may not look like much to begin with, but it's going to end up very impressive. Another parable he spake unto them. The kingdom of heaven is likened unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened. Jesus tells us that his kingdom is like leaven that's going to permeate the whole lump that's going to get through the entire batch of dough. So we should expect that God's kingdom will one, grow, if you will, quantitatively and grow secondly, qualitatively, that is, it will permeate all aspects of life. All aspects of life will not have the quality of God's kingdom come to influence them. And we'll see God's kingdom grow and grow and grow so that more people are part of it. Some people would tell you that this is a unique event and you can't draw any conclusions from it. And there's a measure of truth in that. But I don't think you can altogether dismiss the Significance of Acts 2:32, 41 what happened on the day of Pentecost, because the Bible tells us that this whole age is the age of the Spirit, the age that has been instituted, as it were, by the death and resurrection of Christ, his redemptive work, and the coming of the Spirit in power based on the accomplishment of redemption. And we see from the very start that this meant the Church would be quite successful. Acts 2. I'll begin at the 32nd. This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we are all witnesses. Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth. This which ye see and hear. For David ascended not into the heavens. But he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. Let all the house of Israel know assuredly therefore, that God hath made him, both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified. Now, when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, brethren, what shall we do? Peter said unto them, repent ye and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, unto the remission of your sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you is the promise, and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him. And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation. They then that received his word were baptized, and there were added unto them in that day about 3,000 souls. Now, is the coming of the Holy Spirit the indication of an age of weakness, an age of retreat, an indication of a time of very little power and success? Or is the coming of the Spirit the enabling of the Church, the empowering of the Church? Well, obviously on the first day, the first sermon brought about 3,000 souls to the Lord. Okay, has the Holy Spirit left the Church, That Spirit that can do that with one sermon on the very first day, as it were, of the Church's life, the very first day being marked by Pentecost, that same Spirit is with us. And so I'm encouraged that the resources are there with the church and that Jesus has taught us that his kingdom will be characterized by growth. To respond to that, just remember back what I said about that trip that Hailey had. Were ministered to 2000. Country in a communist country, 6,000. That's amazing. These sorts of things still happen, is what you're telling us. There's no reason why we shouldn't expect it. And of course, praise the Lord for it. In John 12:32, Jesus says, if he is lifted up, he will draw all men to himself. In Matthew 12:20, this is a Citation of Isaiah's prophecy that the Messiah will lead justice unto victory. He will lead righteousness, justice in the biblical sense, unto victory. It will see its day in this world. And with that in mind, that was Matthew 12:20. Turn with me back in the Old testament to Psalm 72. That again assures us that God's chosen king will lead justice unto victory in this world. The whole psalm would be good to read. Maybe I'll go ahead and do that. It's one of my favorites anyway. Psalm 72, subtitled the Reign of the Righteous King. Here's the Messiah, the anointed One of God who's going to reign. Give the King thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the King's son. He will judge thy people with righteousness and thy poor with justice. The mountains shall bring peace to the people and the hills in righteousness he will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and will break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee while the sun endureth, and so long as the moon throughout all generations he will come down like rain upon the mown grass, as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish and abundance of peace to the moon be no more. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him. For he will deliver the needy when he crieth and the poor that hath no helper, he will have pity on the poor and needy, and the souls of the needy he will save. He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence. And precious will their blood be in his sight. And they shall live and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba. And men shall pray for him continually. They shall bless him all the day long. There shall be a handful, pardon me, of grain in the earth upon the top of the mountains. But the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. His name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as long as the sun and men shall be blessed in him. All nations shall call him happy. Well, what a glorious picture of prosperity for the kingdom of God. But now ask yourself, is this a description of the eternal state? The eternal state, of course, will be golden and perfect, and in that sense may give us some foreshadow of the golden, excuse me, of the perfection of the eternal state. But notice that in the Psalm, we read of the blood of those who are oppressed being vindicated. We read of oppression and violence. We read of poverty still in the world. We read of enemies, we read of them having to lick the dust. We read of the moon continuing and so forth. This is a description of this age, my friends. It's not a description of the eternal state where there is no violence, there are no enemies needing to lick the dust, no blood of the oppressed, and no poverty. And so forth in this age. God's writing righteous king is going to lead righteousness justice unto victory. Turn in your Bibles to Revelation, the third chapter, verses seven to nine. Hey, it's interesting to me. I read just a few moments ago, someone, a pastor who wrote that we are not called to success, we're called to faithfulness. And I thought to myself, what a false dichotomy. Why are we not called to faithfulness and to success? And to say that we are not called to success. The first thing that came to my mind is the letters to the seven churches of Revelation. The one thing that each one of the churches is told is, to him who overcomes, I will do the following. That is, the call to the church is precisely the word overcome in Greek. Can, I think, better be translated to those who are victorious. Victorious, okay. And the victory, of course, takes a lot of different forms. Victory over personal sin in our lives. You know, victory and giving praise to God. Victory in terms of the life of the church and its faithfulness, victory evangelistically and so forth. So I'm not trying to just have a narrow understanding of that, but the church is called to success. We're told to overcome in the name of Christ. We're supposed to hear that. Well, here's one of those messages. Revelation 3, 7, 9. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write these things. Saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David. He that openeth and none shall shut, and that shutteth and none openeth. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee a door opened which none can shut, and thou hast little power in distress. Didst keep my word? Didst not deny my name? Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews. They are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet to know that I have loved thee, that's the kind of promise Jesus gives to the Church. He says, I've opened a door for you, and no man's going to have the power to shut it. And so much is that the case that even those Jews who refuse to follow me as the Savior are going to have to bow before you and will be subdued by you. Turn to Revelation 2, verses 25, 6 and 7. Nevertheless, that which you have, hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers, as I also have received of my Father. Jesus promises to the church influence such that the Church will be governing and ruling the nations. If the Church of course overcomes in his name and is faithful to him. That's not just a vain hope, then that's the very promise of God. Jesus says to the church, overcome. And this is what I will do do. Turn in revelation to the 19th chapter. And I'll begin reading at the 11th verse. John says, I saw the heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And he sat. He that sat there upon called faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. Now who's the one who came to establish righteousness in the earth? We've already read about him. It who will lead righteousness or justice to victory? Jesus Christ, the Messiah. He rides a white horse, which of course, in ancient symbolism everyone knew was the symbol of victory. It's the victorious general that rides the white horse. Okay, so John sees this one who is called faithful and true, who comes to make war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems as a name written which no man knows but he himself. And he is arrayed in the a garment sprinkled with blood. And his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of his mouth proceeds a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty. And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Isn't this glorious? Here's Jesus, the King over every king, the Lord of every Lord who comes forth. And he's on a white horse, and the armies of heaven are with him. And he's going to rule as the psalmist had promised. But my friends, how does he rule? Does the sword proceed from his hand hand so that he might physically slay those who oppose him? Premillennial vision of Christ's kingdom? No, it's the sword that proceeds from his mouth. And you know that image. I mean, this whole paragraph that I've read is full of biblical imagery. You know, John's picking up all sorts of things that you can read about elsewhere. And what is the sword of the spirit? The word of God? The sword from his mouth, of course, is the preached word of God. So Christ is now going forth in this age with the preaching of God's word. And what will be the outcome? And I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in midheaven, come, be gathered together unto the great supper of God, that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that set upon the flesh of all men, both free and bond and small and great. As B.B. warfield points out, this is a very gruesome picture. But we mustn't confuse the figure of speech for the reality that it's referring to. He says it's a figure of utter victory for the army that has gone out. When the birds of heaven are called to feed upon the corpses of your opposition, that means you have completely been victorious over them. But what kind of victory is it? Warfield says it's the victory of the preached word of God. The armies of Christ are going into this world following him, and the preaching of the word. And what they are destined to is complete victory. The Bible teaches us. Turn to romans this, the 11th chapter. In Romans 11, Paul, as you know, is concluding his discourse on the salvation of the Jews. And his concern for what he says in chapter nine Are his brethren after the flesh. I remind you of that because many, all millennials look at this text and want to say that the Israel that is saved just means Israel in the spiritual sense, all those who are God's elect being saved. But Paul's concern was not that the elect might be lost or cast off. His concern was that his fellow men after the flesh, the Jews might be lost. And so in Romans 11, just to shorten it, let me read it. Verse 11 to verse 15. I say, then did they stumble that they might fall. God forbid. But by their fall, salvation has come unto the Gentiles to provoke them to jealousy. We Know that Paul's speaking ethnically of Jew and Gentile. Or this verse wouldn't make any sense, would it? The Jews have stumbled, but not that they would be cast off forever. But in the process of the Jews disobeying God, salvation has come to the Gentiles. In fact, salvation will come to the Gentiles in such a way that the Jews will be provoked to jealousy by it when they see the blessing of God. Now, if their fall is the riches of the world, Paul says, this is my premise, that the fall of the Jews and rejecting the Messiah means the whole world will gain riches for it. And their loss the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness? But I speak to you that are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I glorify my ministry. If by any means I may provoke to jealousy them that are my flesh and may save some of them. Okay, Paul's talking of ethnic Israel, and he says, I'm speaking to you Gentiles. But my heart's concern is that my brethren, according to the flesh, will be provoked to jealousy. For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall be the receiving of them but life from the dead? Paul says, the day is coming where when even Israel is saved in mass, it will be as though life from the dead, it will be like a resurrection experience for the whole world. And then verses 25 and 26, the same passage. For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that is, lest you Gentiles have more pride than you deserve. I wouldn't have you ignorant of this mystery, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, and thus all Israel shall be saved. The fullness of the Gentiles, not representative samplings here and everywhere. The fullness of the Gentiles is going to be brought into the kingdom, provoking Israel to jealousy. And then Israel will turn to the Lord. And in this way, this mysterious way of God's provoking to jealousy, and thus in this way way, all Israel will be saved as well. These are powerful promises of what Christ is going to do. The sword proceeding from his mouth is going to utterly conquer all oppositions. And he will rule the nations with the preached word of God. He has promised the Church to sit with him on his throne, ruling the nations. He's told the Church, I have set a Door before you the no man can close. Even the Jews will bow before you. You see how all these texts tie together? There's so many, and I have so little time. Let's just take a few of these that I have listed here for further reinforcement of this same theme. Turn in the Old Testament to Isaiah, chapter 11, verses 1 to 10 and there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit. The spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of Jehovah and his delight shall be in the fear of Jehovah and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither decide after the hearing of his ears but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. Yes, we all should be saying, hey, I've heard that image tonight already. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins and he will lead righteousness to victory. And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion, and fatling together, and the little child shall lead them, and the cow and the bear shall feed their young ones shall lie down together the lion shall eat straw like the ox the sucking child shall play on the whole of the asp and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse that standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall the nations seek, and his resting place shall be glorious. Jeremiah 31, 3134 tells us of what will take place in the days of the new covenant. Now we know that we are living in the days of the new covenant, because Christ, when he instituted the Lord's supper, said, what? This is the cup of the new covenant. Jeremiah 31:31 but the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, 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, which my covenant they break, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah, but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith 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, no, Jehovah, for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah, for I will forgive their iniquity and their sin will I remember no more in the days of the new covenant? To put it very bluntly, evangelism is going to become obsolete. It will no longer be necessary to say to your neighbor, no, Jehovah, because they'll all know me. You're going to have a hard time finding someone to evangelize. Now, of course, it wouldn't make any sense to say that in the eternal state. Evangelism doesn't even place in the eternal state, but in the days of the new covenant, which Christ instituted, as you know, at the Lord's Supper. In the days of the new covenant. This is what we should expect the success of the gospel to bring. Turn to Amos, chapter 9, verses 11 to 13. Amos 9, 11, 13. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen, and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it, as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that are called by my name, saith Jehovah that doeth this. Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes, him that soweth seed, and the mountain shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. This is a really beautiful prophecy of the success of the gospel. That men will be reaping just as soon as the seed is thrown to the ground will actually overcome those who are sowing. I mean, we talk about evangelistic success. Jeremiah says, the day is coming. We're going to have a hard time finding someone to evangelize. Amos is going to be so successful that the minute the seed hits the ground, the reapers will be there to pick it up. They'll overcome them. Turn to Zachariah. There's quite a few nice promises here for us to meditate on. Zechariah 2, 6, 7. It doesn't look like the text they want. Does it? Do I have a typo? Well, let's skip that for the sake of time. I have three others here. Zechariah 9, verses 9 and 10. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. He is just and has salvation lowly and riding upon an ass, even upon the colt, the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. And the battle bow shall be cut off. And he shall speak peace unto the nations. And his dominion shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. Is this talking about the first or the second coming of Jesus Christ? How does it begin? He will come to you lowly riding. What? And that was fulfilled? What? On Palm Sunday. We know that with the first coming of Jesus Christ, then he is going to bring salvation and speak peace to the nations. And he will have dominion. Not just a claim, you know, like please follow me, or. Or a challenge, but he'll have dominion to the ends of the earth. Zechariah 13, verses 1 and 2. In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered. And I also will cause the prophets of and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. And the day when Jesus brings salvation, a fountain is open for uncleanness. In that day God is going to cut the idols out of the land. He is going to destroy idolatry and bring religious purity. Zechariah 14:9. And Jehovah shall be king over all the earth. In that day shall Jehovah be one, and his name one. And what will be the effect when he opens? When the King comes in humility, riding upon an ass, bringing salvation and gaining dominion to earth's remotest ends, and opening a fountain for cleansing to men. What will be the effect when he is king over all the earth? Look at the end of zechariah's prophecy, verse 20. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses holy unto Jehovah. And the pots in Jehovah's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy unto Jehovah of hosts. And all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and boil therein and and in that day there shall no more be a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah of hosts. The day is coming where even the ornamental bells on the bridles of the horses will be consecrated to God's glory, holy unto Jehovah that day where he will cut the idols out of the land, and there will be cleansing available and he truly reigns over all, and speaks peace to the nations and that day every common pot will be like a holy vessel of the Lord in the temple, so thoroughly will this world be consecrated to his service and glory. Malachi 1:11 we could keep going, but I promise to stop with this one. Malachi 111 for from the rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering for my name shall be great among the Gentiles, saith Jehovah of hosts. God's kingdom will spread so widely, and the worship will be so pure, you see that he says, from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof, the sun will never set on the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and there will be a pure offering offered, for his name will be great. That's what we expect in the days of the Messiah. Someone would say, Dr. Bronson, why can't that all refer to the eternal state? The answer I've given you, and I'll repeat again, is that because things are referred to that are inappropriate to the eternal state. In Isaiah 2, 4 we are told that war will be suppressed in the days of the Messiah. Well, there is no place for war in the eternal state. We are told in the Psalms that all nations will turn to the Lord, but there's no place for conversion and turning in the eternal state. Jeremiah speaks of evangelism becoming so successful that we no longer will have to say, know the Lord. But evangelism is not appropriate to the eternal state. The Scripture speaks of oppression and blood of the oppressed and the poor being vindicated. But there will be no oppression or the poor in the eternal state. In Isaiah 65:20 to take one really outstanding example of how this cannot refer only to the eternal state. In Isaiah 65:20 in the prophecy about the new heavens and the new earth, we read, there shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner, being a hundred years old, shall be accursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof, so forth. So blessed will be that day and longevity of life granted because of the righteousness of. Of the period that when someone dies at 100 years, they'll be considered a child. Now, the eternal state does not involve death. And so this cannot be a prophecy of the eternal state. It's a prophecy of the prosperity that will come to the earth when the knowledge of the Lord floods the world as the waters cover the sea, when the kingdom of Jesus Christ leads just unto victory, when the fullness of the Gentiles has been brought in and all Israel is saved, it will be like life from the dead for the world. The blessing will be so great. Can I keep you a few minutes more? Will anyone complain if I take five more minutes just to take some of the common objections? I didn't touch all the ones I wanted to. You can see there are plenty of passages that would give us a reason for hope. Now, I think that what I have taught you is true. I don't want to back down or show any lack of confidence about that. But one thing I want to say is, even if it should not happen to be the case, even if somehow all these passages don't hold together in this way, what does bother me is so often is people who say, well, where do you get in the Bible any hope for this world? I'm saying I don't have time in three lessons to cover all that I read in the Bible. You know, that gives us a lot of reasons to think God's going to do some good things in Christ's kingdom before he returns. You know, this is not just I hope, I hope, I hope my personality. I'll be honest with you, you want to psychologize the pastor. My personality would tend to be pessimistic. I would tend to say, oh, don't. I'm cynical. No, don't. I didn't come to these convictions because I just, you know, I'm so Pollyanna hoping that it's true. I came to these convictions because I was embarrassed when I tried to teach amillennialism to people. And they'd open the Bible and say, what about this? What about this? It just won't fit. That's my conviction, okay? Some people will tell you, though, that good and evil men must exist side by side, the wheat and the tares together. To which I say, that's no problem. I believe that throughout this age, they're going to be the Saved and the lost in this world. I don't believe the whole world, every single individual is going to be saved. But for those who are concerned about the wheat and the tares, I would remind them, as Nigel Lee once said, do remember this is a wheat field and not a tare field. It's the tares in the midst of. Of the wheat, not the wheat in the midst of the tares. I mean, you're going to draw any conclusion at all. I'm not sure the Bible intends to teach anything by that parable on this question, but I certainly believe that we're going to have wicked men. There's going to be oppression, there's going to be opposition, there's going to be unbelief that has to be evangelized, you know, to the end. But what we are told in terms of prophetic figures and speeches, that's going to be overcome. You know, we're going to see victory in these areas, but we'll never see a world in which every single individual is a believer. The wheat and tares will be together until the end. The Bible teaches in a number of passages that there will be apostasy in the church and that Christians will be persecuted in this age. My answer to that is there is apostasy in the church, and not only is God reforming the world, but he's also reformed, reforming the church. It needs to be purified, and it will be purified. Christians are persecuted in this world. Last week I already gave an answer to this when I said, we're going to suffer in the battle, but the battle is unto victory, not unto defeat. The suffering will not be for nothing. We don't labor in vain in the Lord. You know, of course, at one point Jesus in his teaching said, many are called, few are chosen. BB Warfield points out very definitively in an article entitled Are They Few that Be Saved? That when Jesus spoke those words, he was speaking to his generation. He was not offering an axiom for all of history. He was rebuking. He was giving an ethical exhortation and rebuke to his generation. Many are called, few are chosen, and the road is wide that leads to destruction and so forth. But he wasn't saying that. That means, you could conclude, you know, from this that for all history, the number that are saved is fewer than, you know, the number that are lost any more than. And he starts drawing out these things. Very humorous. He goes, well, the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins would teach us. It's going to be a 50, 50 split, right? I mean, it's going to be half the world's going to be saved. Or, you know, and other parables would give you the idea that the vast majority of people are going to be saved and only a few will be lost. He says we shouldn't use these texts to try to draw conclusions that Jesus didn't intend. Paul tells us in Second Timothy that evil men will wax worse and worse. The problem with using that text is that Paul is referring to his own day and age because he warns Timothy about these men who will wax worse and worse. And he's talking about their personal character going from bad to worse, worse progressive degeneration in them. However, verse nine of that same text tells us that their public influence will be limited and will soon pass. The reason some people have been misled, I think, to oppose any hope for the kingdom based on this text, is that Paul says in the last days the fallen will happen. But you have to remember that in the New Testament use of terminology, the last days refers to the whole interadvental age. The last days are the period between the first and second coming. They aren't just the very end of that period, because we are told that in these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son. And as I have already told you, Paul is exhorting Timothy about things that are taking place right now and he calls them in the last days. Okay, I've been trying to hit the most popular ones that another one. Doesn't the Bible teach us that Christ, Christ could come at any time? And if Christ can come at any time, then we can't really expect that these things will happen. As a matter of fact, where did that come from? I hear that a lot. Well, that Christ could come anytime. Well, prophecy doesn't make sense. Well, it doesn't make sense if there's prophecy of things that have to precede the coming of Christ because then those things have to take place. And that's why I don't believe believe that Christ can come at any time. He can only come after he's kept his word about what he's going to do. In second Thessalonians 2, Paul explicitly warns against the idea that the coming could be at any time. Isn't that interesting? Now, that's different from saying we know the times and seasons, or I can tell you the day of Christ's return. You see, no man knows that. However, Christ Himself has said certain things must take place before he returns and there will be signs of his return. And if there are signs, then obviously those signs have to be fulfilled before he comes.