Premillennialism Part 2

Introduction

I want to continue talking to you about premillennialism. This is lesson two. And we’re asking the question, is premillennialism true? Now, if you weren’t here last week, I explained the doctrine of premillennialism to you. Pre means before. Millennial is the idea of a thousand. So the idea of premillennialism is that Christ’s return will be pre, it’ll be before he establishes a millennial reign, a thousand-year reign in Jerusalem from the throne of David, a physical kingdom. That is the concept of premillennialism. And I’m teaching this in such a way that is objective and methodical so that you can present this to your neighbors. I could stand up here and pound the pulpit, but I want you to be able to present this, the copies of this to your friends and family and neighbors.

So we’re asking the question, is this doctrine true? We also looked last week at the main text, the main proof text for premillennialism, which is Revelation 20, verses 1 through 6. And we saw that in that context, the reign of the saints with Christ was not a reign on earth. It was a heavenly reign. And John saw souls in verse 4, not bodies.

And that passage is no different. And so to take this as a literal thousand-year reign is really out of context. Even the numbers of Revelation are symbolic. The number 1,000 is a symbol for a great fullness of time. And so we came away from that saying that it appears that the correct take on that, the correct understanding of that, is that Christ is reigning right now. We know that.

We know that. And that this symbolic thousand years, this full period of time, is something that’s going on now. And that it will continue until Satan is destroyed and the world is judged. Christ is reigning with his saints. So before we dig our teeth into really more about premillennialism, I want to throw another big word at you. First of all, have you gotten good at saying premillennialism? I’ve gotten to where I can say it pretty fast. Now, then you have to learn how to spell it, because it’s harder to spell than it is to say. You might try that sometime. Here’s another big word for you, because that one’s not enough. You need another big word. Dispensationalism. Okay. Dispensationalism. Now, this is not something different. Okay.

Premillillennialism fits into dispensationalism. And often these terms are used interchangeably. Sometimes it’ll be called dispensational premillennialism. But usually it’ll just say dispensationalism. Okay? Now, there are many forms of premillennialism. Not all of them are dispensational. But the most common and popular, and the one that is, you know, uh promulgated in the left behind series is dispensationalism. Okay? And it’s the idea, and I reject dispensationalism, but it is the idea that God works in different dispensations, uh, seven different dispensations throughout history. And the one, of course, that gets the main focus is the millennium, that dispensation. And so what we’re going to do today is we’re going to focus on the return of Christ to rapture the church and the seven year tribulation. And we’re asking a question are these things true?

1. Is the Rapture True?

Is this really what the Bible teaches? I’m going to show you how they come to their conclusions, and then should we come to the same conclusion? So we begin by asking, what about the rapture? Is the rapture true? Certainly you’ve heard of the rapture. I’m going to read to you something exciting here. On a flight from Chicago to London, several passengers aboard Captain Rayford Steele’s plane suddenly and mysteriously disappear. When Steele radios to London to report the situation, he discovers that the incident on his plane is not an isolated phenomenon, but a worldwide occurrence, as Steele begins his search for answers. He learns that the Christ has come to take the faithful with him in preparation for the coming apocalyptic battle between good and evil. That is a promotional blurb for the Left Behind series, volume one.

And by the way, last week I said there were 12 books. I was wrong.

Now, by the way, they take this sort of thing literally, that that sort of scenario is literally going to happen. This is from Hal Lindsay’s late great planet Earth. There I was driving down the freeway, and all of a sudden the place went crazy. Cars going in all directions, and not one of them had a driver. I mean, it was wild. I think we’ve got an invasion from outer space. So all this confusion. What’s happening? People have just disappeared. That is a that is the popular idea of the rapture. Have you seen the bumper stickers? You know, in case of the rapture, this car will be unmanned or something like that. So it’s a very popular idea to the point that just about anybody, a large percentage anyway, of those who call themselves a believer of Jesus Christ are expected to believe this sort of thing.

But is it true? And so the theory is that when Christ comes in the air, not setting foot on earth, that those who are saved will be raptured, they will be snatched, they will be caught up with Christ in the air for a period of seven years, because they’re going to have to come back to earth for the millennium and then go back to heaven. That’s how the basic theory goes. And what it basically is it is a resurrection of the righteous. So that if you’re dead and you are saved at that time, then you’re going to be resurrected. And if you are alive at that time, then you’re going to be you’re going to be raptured. It is going to be a silent and a secret coming, according to the theory.

So that not everybody’s going to know. I mean, the wicked, a lot of them are just going to be totally confused. What just happened? An alien invasion? What happened? They’re just clothes left. What about the people that I loved in the new? So it’s going to be silent because you’re not going to see Jesus in the air and all that. Only those who are saved are going to see Jesus and know. The wicked are not going to be raised at all, according to the theory. They’re going to be left behind. And that’s where we get the title for the books and the movies. Left behind. The wicked are left here on earth. They didn’t make it to the resurrection. In fact, they’re going to be raised, but the resurrection of all the wicked is going to be after the millennium.

So that you have two resurrections. And sometimes you can divide the first one up into two parts. Most of them do that because they say, during the tribulation, after the tribulation, what about those who were saved? Well, they’re also going to be resurrected before the millennium, so it’s kind of like, you know, 1.1 and 1.2. And then we have the second. So it gets kind of confusing. Now, for starters, the word rapture is not in the Bible. Now, don’t make that point to a premillennialist expecting for that to really be an end all, do all. Do all end all. Because it’s not. I mean, that doesn’t itself disprove the theory, but it’s something you need to know. The word’s not there. But the premillennialists would say, but the concept is there.

Okay. So the idea of rapture is the idea of to seize. Okay. Now, here’s really a heavy-hitting point against against this idea of the rapture. What Jesus said in John 5, 28 and 29. Do not marvel at this. That is that all judgment is given to the Son. He said, For an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth. Those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, and those who did the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. Now, premillennialists know about this verse, but they say that it is misunderstood. If you think Jesus was talking about one resurrection at one time, you’re wrong. But Jesus said, an hour is coming. There’s going to be a short period of time here where everybody’s going to hear his voice and come forth.

But the premillennialist inserts a thousand years between the two, the righteous and the wicked. Paul said in Acts 24, 15, as he stood before Felix, he said, having a hope in God, which these men, the Jews, cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. Now I don’t know how much clearer you can get than that. But the premillennialist gets around, they know of those verses, but they know how to get a they figure out a way to sort of avoid them and to re-explain them in a way that it doesn’t have its plain meaning. But we can’t avoid that, can we? Our goal is to be objective. Whether we like what it says, whether it goes against what we’ve been taught all our lives or not.

I don’t care what the Word of God says, as long as I can know what it says. And whatever it says, I’m going to do that. That needs to be everybody’s attitude. And that will be the test if you have a good and honest heart. Well, the favorite passage for the Rapture is 1 Thessalonians 4. So you might flip over to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. And verses 13 through 18. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. Okay, when it says asleep, that means dead. So don’t be don’t be sad about those who are who are already dead. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with them, with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

Oh, so we’re talking about those who have died who are in Jesus, those who are saved. For it for this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede, we will not go before those who have fallen asleep, those who have already died. We’re not going to be resurrected first if we’re alive when Christ comes. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord.

Therefore, comfort one another with these words. Now we certainly see in this passage that those who are saved will meet the Lord in the air. They will be caught up. Well, that is the very basic idea of the rapture, isn’t it? To be caught up. So we have to at least at this point say, well, yeah, at least the concept of meeting the Lord in the air, that is certainly scriptural. But what about the doctrine of the rapture that goes along with that? What about the wicked being left behind? This passage doesn’t teach that the wicked will be left behind. In fact, it doesn’t mention the wicked at all. And the primus will say, well, because they were left behind. That’s why they’re not mentioned. But is that why it’s not mentioned?

Paul is dealing with a question. These Christians in Thessalonica, they had a question. They were worried and troubled. They expected the Lord might come while they were still alive, which, by the way, every generation needs to have that mindset. God could come back now. And so, well, if the Lord comes back while we’re alive and we and we’re in the resurrection, well, what about those who are already dead? Are they going to miss out on the resurrection? It almost sounds like a silly question. But they were troubled by this. So Paul is saying, no, no, no, no. Don’t be troubled. They’re not going to be left out. In fact, the actual order of things is they’re going to resurrect first. And this is going to be quick, but you’re also going to then rise to meet the Lord in the air.

So comfort one another with these words. Don’t be worried about those dead Christians that you know. They’re not going to be left out. Now, why didn’t Paul mention the wicked? Could you answer that for me? Sure you could. Because that’s not the question that the Thessalonians had. That’s not the point Paul is trying to get at. Now, Paul did say in Acts 24 15 that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So we know that when this resurrection happens, what happens with the wicked? They’re also resurrected for a whole different purpose. Jesus said for judgment. But Paul simply doesn’t mention that here because he’s not dealing with that. He’s only dealing with what happened to the saved. Now, not only does this passage not teach the rapture, so do you see that’s not teaching the doctrine of the rapture?

It’s not teaching the idea of left behind. Not only is it not teaching that, it is actually teaching against the doctrine of the rapture in at least two powerful ways. The first one is this is not a silent or a secret event, a silent or secret coming of Jesus. It is visible and it is audible. Verse 16 says that the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God. Sorry I had to yell there. It’s a loud verse, right? Well, does that sound like something nobody’s going to know happened? And by the way, the premillennialist does agree that those things will happen at the actual second coming of Jesus. But here, this is a silent one, they say.

That doesn’t make sense. The doctrine of premillennialism makes this very complicated. So there are multiple resurrections, and there are multiple comings of Jesus. There’s one where he comes in the air, but that’s not his actual second coming. There’s a later one where he actually comes and sets foot on earth and everything. Well, no, this coming of Jesus is the one and only coming of Jesus. And remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 23 and 24 that when Christ comes, then comes the end. When he hands over the kingdom to the Father. I mean, that’s going to be it. And one other point here. At the end of verse 17, we don’t see a seven year period, do we? It says, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

When it says, and so, that means in heaven. Not on earth. The premillennialist says, well, no, you’re only going to be in heaven for seven years. Then you’re going to come down to earth for a thousand. Then you’re going to go back to heaven. You see how complicated that gets. Do you remember in Hebrews 6 and verse 1 in the list of the elementary principles of Christ that we need to press on and grow into the meat of the word and move on from the milk of the word? Part of the milk of the word is the resurrection from the dead. Because it’s so simple. It is so basic. That Paul could even write to the Thessalonians, who had been Christians for probably only a few months and say, you know perfectly well about I don’t need to explain anything to you about the times or the epics.

2. One Will Be Taken and the Other Left

You know these things. Because it’s basic. Gospel basics. But it is made to be complicated. And that sells books. Well, what about one will be taken and the other will be left? Jesus said that in Matthew 24. Now let’s move there. We’re going to camp out here for a little while in Matthew 24. So turn your Bibles or click your Bibles over there. The day will come where you can just think the thought and your Bible just turn to Matthew 24. Jesus said in verses 40 and 41, then there will be two men in the field. One will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken, and the other one will be left. Now that certainly sounds like the rapture, doesn’t it?

You could see where somebody would take that and say, Well, see, that’s the rapture. One taken and the other left. So the premillennialist takes taken to mean raptured. And left to mean what? Left behind. That’s how the premillenists understand. But isn’t that what the verse is saying in context? Let’s back up to verse 36 and see. But of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away.

So will the coming of the Son of Man be. The taking away there in the flood, was that a good thing or a bad thing? That was a bad thing. Did you want to be taken away by the flood? No. So taken in this context is not put in a good light. Now take that same meaning which is established in the context into verse 40. Then there will be two men in the field. One will be taken. A good thing, not a good thing. Not a rapture. No, in the context, taken means destroyed. One will be taken and the other will be left. What is left mean? Spared. Those are total opposite meanings from the way the premillennialist takes it. So we cannot take things out of context.

And I refuse to do that. I don’t care what I’ve been taught my whole life. I will not violate the context. I will refuse to do that every time. And so must you. And so must we all. Now I could say a lot more on this. But I’m going to say more about Matthew 24 in a minute, and I’m just going to move on. Okay. Now, so before we move into this next question, though, is the rapture true? The passages that are supposedly supposed to teach the rapture don’t teach the rapture at all, do they? And in fact, we see several passages that teach against the rapture, like the fact that there will be one resurrection. So, no, the rapture is not true, according to the Bible.

3. What About the Great Tribulation?

It cannot be. Now, the second question is, what about the great tribulation? Don’t tell me that’s not true. I mean, that’s exciting stuff. You write novels on that. You put Nicholas Cage on a movie and stuff like that. I mean, this is exciting stuff. Don’t tell me that’s not going to be true. Then the Bible’s not as exciting anymore. The doctrine of the Great Tribulation is supposedly a seven-year period of suffering on earth following the rapture, where you have the coming of the Antichrist and the mark of the beast, and you have the Armageddon and all that stuff. We’re going to talk about later on in this series. Now, Jesus did prophesy a great tribulation. Okay, so why don’t we look? It’s right here in the same chapter of Matthew 24, verses 21 and 22.

For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. So the Bible, even Jesus prophesied of a great tribulation that will be unprecedented. And the premillennialist says, Well, see, that hasn’t happened. That is something that has not happened. That’s something yet, yet future. But what is the context of Matthew 24? The context is the destruction of Jerusalem. Now, if you back up to the first few verses of the chapter, Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when his disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to him.

And he said to them, Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone will be left upon another, which will not be torn down. So this great city that you’re all impressed with, and all these buildings here at the temple, guess what? They’re going to be utterly destroyed. As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, Tell us, when will these things happen about the destruction of Jerusalem? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And so the primary idea throughout the chapter is the destruction of Jerusalem. Now let me say this, we’re getting into a little meat here. The destruction of Jerusalem is a foreshadowing, I believe, of the second coming of Jesus.

In the sense that it is, it is it was a destruction. And the second coming of Jesus is still yet to come in the future. But Jesus did come symbolically in destruction of Jerusalem, just like we read in, for example, Isaiah 13, a day of the Lord that God would come in judgment of Babylon, and many days of the Lord in the Old Testament. Okay, but these weren’t the final day of judgment. They were days of judgment. And so this was a coming of Jesus in the destruction of Jerusalem. But it was also a foreshadowing of the ultimate second coming of Jesus that has not yet happened. But I want to look at a little bit more of the context. Go into verse 15. Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, pay attention to this verse.

I want you to remember this verse, because we’re going to kind of pull this back out of your mind drawer here in a little while. When you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, let the reader understand. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Hmm. Why? Because Jerusalem is going to be destroyed. So you better get out. Whoever is on the house top must not go down to get the things that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. Why? Because you might die if you turn around. Luke 17. Remember Lot’s wife. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days.

Why? Because it won’t be easy to travel. It won’t be easy to escape Jerusalem if you’re pregnant, if you’re nursing babies. But pray that your flight will not be in winter or on a Sabbath. Why? Winter is hard to travel in, and the Sabbath is when the gates of the city were closed. You couldn’t escape. Pray that it won’t be on the Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation and so on. And Josephus tells us about that great tribulation. When Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome and all the atrocities that were done. You should read that sometime. It is jaw-droppingly atrocious of what happened in the destruction of Jerusalem. It is terrible. It is really beyond description of how bad it really was. Well, we could go to Luke 21, like in verse 20 says that when you see the armies surrounding the city, then know that her desolation is near.

So there’s no doubt that this context is a destruction of Jerusalem. Now, the premillennialist is not stupid. They don’t go, well, I didn’t know that. You know what they’re going to say to you? Of course it’s about the destruction of Jerusalem. I knew that all along. But it’s about a later destruction of Jerusalem. Not the one that happened in AD 70. You see, they believe that during the time of the tribulation, that the temple is going to be rebuilt. That animal sacrifices are going to begin again. And then there’s going to be the Antichrist who causes a whole bunch of problems and there’s going to be a battle and all that kind of stuff. Okay? But they have to have a rebuilding of the temple in the time of the great tribulation in the future, so that they can have another destruction of the temple.

Because right now we don’t have a temple. So if we’re going to have a destruction of the temple, what do we have to have first? A rebuilding of it. So they put that future. Okay? But here’s the main verse that just makes it obvious that that cannot be the case. And that is verse 34. Verse 34, Jesus says, truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. That is very clear. Jesus is saying this destruction of Jerusalem is going to come in your lifetime. And Jesus died in AD 33, A.D. 33. And he said this shortly before his death. The destruction of Jerusalem was in what year? 70. And so that would be just 37 more years. So there would be people still alive during that generation.

And you know what? History tells us that a lot of people listened to the words of Jesus. And what did they do when they saw these signs of the destruction of Jerusalem coming? They fled. They got out of Jerusalem. Because Jesus told them to. It already occurred. Now, what does the premillennialist make of that? This generation statement. Because that is as plain as day. Doesn’t get any plainer than that. Well, let me read to you. I’ve got the book here.

And I think that marked in here. I’ve got it in my notes if I can’t find it. Okay, well, I saw it. There it was. There it was. There it was. Come on. Okay. I lost it. Okay. Well, you’d think I would have marked it, but. Anyway, this is the book, The Late Great Planet Earth. And I’m about to read to you from that book what Hal Lindsey says. He quotes that verse. Verse 34 of Matthew 20, 24. What generation? Obviously, in the context, the generation that would see the signs. Chief among them, the rebirth of Israel. A generation in the Bible is something like 40 years. If this is a correct deduction, then within 40 years or so of 1948, which is what he viewed as the rebirth of Israel, and many do, all these things could take place.

Many scholars who have studied Bible prophecy all their lives believe that this is so. That adds to what he says. See, they’ve studied it all their lives, and they agree with me. So, 40 years from 1948, do some math for me. That’d be 1988. Are we still standing here? He was a false prophet. And I take that very seriously. Now, when the 80s were drawing close, and he he started rethinking this, and he said, Well, a generation could be something like a hundred years. He’s a false prophet. Period. And there have been many false prophets to say this is the date of this and that, connected with all of this rapture stuff and premillennialism. And they’ve been wrong every time. And they will be wrong every time.

So that’s how Hal Lindsay understood this generation, not the generation of Jesus’ day, but the generation that would see the rebirth of Israel. But Jesus said, this generation. You know how premillennialists commonly understand that today, dispensationalists? They understand it to mean the generation of Jews that will be alive when these signs begin happening. And that the only point of verse 34 is that once it starts happening, it’ll happen within a generation that the destruction will come. So it’ll come pretty quickly. That’s all we get from verse 34. But Jesus said, this generation. I mean, you can’t get around it. But they do. They do try to get around that. So no. Matthew 24 is not teaching the great tribulation in the future. It is something that has already taken place.

4. The One Week of Daniel 9:27

Alright. Now I know what you’re thinking. You were just sitting there thinking, well, preacher, why don’t you cover Daniel 9 and verse 27? Weren’t you thinking that exact thought? I’m sure you were. I’m sure Mr. Harkwriter was. Is the quote one week of Daniel 9 27 a prophecy of the seven-year Great Tribulation? That is the verse that they go to to get this seven-year period of Great Tribulation. And so, let’s try to do this simply. I’ll do it as simply as I can. But I have a whole sermon that I do just on this passage that I should do some other time. Just read the verse. Verse 27, and he, now premillennialists take that to mean the Antichrist, which I utterly reject for a multitude of reasons.

But they take this to mean the Antichrist. And he will make a firm covenant with the many, the Jews. For one week, and that is commonly understood to be a week of years. But in the middle of the week, he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering. Remember, I told you last week that pre millennials believe that in the seven year period of the Great Tribulation, they’re going to like the Antichrist at first until the three and a half year mark. Where do they get that? Halfway, in the middle of the week. The three and a half year mark, that’s when he puts a stop to their offering sacrifices. Oh, well, in order to have offering sacrifices, you’ve had to have a rebuilding of the temple and a reinstituting of the worship.

You see where they get all this. Okay? They say this hasn’t happened yet. It’s all future. And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate. So you got all these abominations under the uh the time of this Antichrist doing his thing. And so, well, that’s yet future. You know another reason they have to take this future, because this is referred to in Matthew chapter 24. And uh I believe it was verse 14 that we see that verse, the verse 15. Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place. Well, that’s talking about Daniel, and they take Matthew to be future, Matthew 24.

So they have to take this as future if they’re going to be consistent in any way, shape, or form. Now, let’s just back up, take a deep breath for a minute. Guys, hang with me, okay? Just we’re we’re getting there, okay? But you’re gonna need to lend me your mind for a minute. This is a prophecy of 70 weeks. Daniel lived his entire life during the period of the captivity. Spanned the 70 years of Babylonian captivity. So by now he’s an old man. And by now, he’s reading Jeremiah. You read this in the first couple of verses of the book of Daniel chapter 9. He’s reading from Jeremiah and understands that the 70 years are over. And oh, he he prays that God would restore Israel, that there could be a return, and that the city and the temple could be rebuilt.

He was so worried about that because the temple had been destroyed during the captivity by the Babylonians. He was really worried about that. And the angel Gabriel comes to him and tells him, okay, Daniel, let me tell you what’s going to happen. The temple which has been destroyed in that city, the city is going to be rebuilt completely. And after a pretty long period of time, Messiah the Prince will come. And he will be cut off. And then after a relatively short period of time, the city is going to be destroyed yet again. That’s the basic message of the prophecy. And it is all put in a time frame of 70 weeks, or literally 77s. And people take that to be 70 groups of seven years.

So some take that figuratively. Some take that literally. I take it figuratively, but some take it literally to be 490 years. The premillennialist takes it literally. To every detail. But there’s a flaw in there that we’re going to see in a moment. So the first sixty-nine weeks of this prophecy lead to the time of the Messiah. Now, why don’t we have a look there at just look at verse 25. So you are to discern and know that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. What seven plus sixty-two? Sixty-nine. So that’s almost a whole period of time here. Until you get to Messiah the Prince. That is Jesus Christ. We all agree on that.

At least that basic idea.

Let’s just read verse 26 and 27 again. Then after the 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the what? The city and the sanctuary. Jerusalem and the temple. And its end will come with a flood. Even to the end there will be a war. Desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week. Many understand this to be Christ and his covenant first with the Jews and then to the Gentiles. But here speaking of the Jews. But in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering through the work that he did on the cross. And on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate.

Even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes desolate. Now, I believe I’ve given you the correct understanding of this passage, but I don’t have time to go and prove to you why everything I said I think is true. But what the premillennialist does is they take the last week of this 70 weeks prophecy and they say it hasn’t happened yet. So we get to the time of Jesus, 69 weeks. Then that last week of years, they say is postponed. They take that as the Antichrist coming in the period of the great tribulation. It hasn’t happened yet. So they insert a gap. I’m not kidding you. Let me show you a chart. This is a chart of dispensationalism.

See all the dispensations. Now let’s zoom in here. Now you see there the time of Daniel, and you see that statue there. Remember from Daniel chapter 2. And so you see where it says 69 weeks there? Well, the line stops. It stops at this period of grace. That’s when Christ comes. And then it recontinues in the time of the tribulation and of the Antichrist. And you see that? One week. That’s the seven years. So what they do is they insert a gap so that the prophetic time clock stopped when Jesus came. And that the 70 weeks still isn’t over yet. I told you when I started this, I try not to get upset when I preach. But this gets me upset. This is convoluted. This is twisting the word of God to one’s own destruction.

Conclusion

It is adding to and taking away from the word of God, and it is an abomination itself. When men want to insert a gap, a passage of Scripture that has already taken place. There is no right to insert a gap. This last week is connected with the idea of the destruction of Jerusalem that happened in A.D. 70. And we can look at this passage, and I tell you what we ought to do when we look at this passage. We ought to be convicted. We ought to be convicted that 600 years before Jerusalem was destroyed, in a time that it had already been destroyed, the prophecy was given to Daniel that Jerusalem is going to be rebuilt. And after a long period of time, Messiah the Prince is going to come.

And then he’s going to be cut off. And in a short time, relatively speaking, after that, Jerusalem is going to be destroyed. You know what that ought to give us? Confidence in the Word of God. It is convicting that it was fulfilled. But what the premillennialist does is they take passages that have already been fulfilled, and they say, no, they haven’t yet been fulfilled. It’s still yet future. And they do that with dozens and dozens of passages. And so this is a view that is radical. That will affect the way you view a lot of scriptures. It’s not just a different view on the end times, it is radically different. So we need to be convicted that prophecy has been fulfilled. Secondly, we need to be amazed.

We need to be amazed because Jesus said, do not marvel at this that all judgment has been given to the Son, but an hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth to a resurrection. We serve the King of Kings, King Jesus. And at His word, every soul will be reunited with their body. Every single body will be resurrected at Jesus’ word. And we’ll either go to salvation or to judgment. That is a powerful Lord who we stand before, the Son of God that came and gave his life for us. Amen. We need to be amazed. We need to tremble before him. Stand humbly before that king that we serve and realize that all authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth.

Thirdly, we need to be ready. Because the Lord could come during our lifetimes. We have forgotten to have this attitude, Lord come come quickly. We’ve forgotten to have this attitude that the Lord could come during our lives. Well, he probably won’t, we think. But he could. And even if he doesn’t, you could die at any moment. Motorcycle accidents happen fast. Illnesses come and can just take our lives so quickly. So many things could happen. And I was having this discussion with a man recently, and he said, and I mentioned a car crash that that could happen. He said, by the way, if I died in a car crash, do you think I would go to heaven? And I said, Well, all I can do is quote scripture to you.

In Acts 22, 16, after Paul had seen the Lord, after he had believed, after he had repented and prayed for three days, and Ananias was sent to him, and Ananias said to him, And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. And he said, Let’s do it right now. And we came here to the building and baptized that young man. He’s ready now. Are you ready? Because as you’ve heard me say, one second after death, and your eternal destiny is sealed forever. Now is the time to prepare. Now is the time to be ready. So that when the Lord comes, you will not have fear, but you will have hope. And it will be a joyous coming for you and not a coming of judgment for you.

Would you bow your head with me in prayer? Our Father, our God, we do tremble before you and before your Son, who is our mediator. We’re so thankful for his work that he did on the cross. We’re so thankful, Father, that he judges wickedness, but we’re thankful that he saves those who are righteous. We pray that we would be ready. Lord, come. Come quickly and bring our souls with you so that we shall always be with you in heaven. It is through your Son that we pray. Amen. Well, I think I’ve already given the invitation. If you’re not a Christian, become one. You can do it. You can live this life because it doesn’t require perfection. Because all I am is a forgiven sinner. And that’s all that any of us can be if we’re going to make it to heaven.

As Greg preached in, I think his excellent lesson earlier. That none of us are going to make it without being forgiven. So none of us are perfect. You can do this. It’s going to require a life of serving the Lord and striving to be like Jesus and God, who happened to be what? Perfect. But it doesn’t mean you have to be that to make it. You have to strive for it. And obey the words of Jesus. Why don’t you become a Christian today, believing in the Lord, repenting of your sins, confessing his name, being baptized, and then continuing to obey the gospel until the day you die. Being saved by his grace and through the Holy Spirit and by his mercy. Why don’t you come now?

As we stand and sing the song of invitation. When Jesus.