Premillennialism Part 3

Introduction

We’re continuing today in our study of premillennialism. And asking the question, is it true? This is lesson three. I wouldn’t have a problem with premillennialism if the Bible said it. Well, that’s fine with me if there’s going to be a future literal kingdom of Christ on earth. But does the Bible actually teach that? Our attitude needs to be objective and to be willing to reject something we may have been taught our entire lives if it is not true. I think that I’m going to need two more lessons to finish this series. Originally I thought three, maybe four, but I think five might have to do it. We’ll have to see next week whether I can get all of this stuff covered in lesson four. I apologize for that if you’re tired of hearing about this subject, but I think that it is good for us to know about.

And so in that sense, I don’t apologize. Pre-millennialism. Pre-means before. And is the idea that before Christ’s second coming, he will establish a kingdom for a millennium, a thousand-year, literal reign in Jerusalem, and so on. And so we’ve been looking at each progressive element. And we started with the rapture. And uh talked about how really the Bible teaches that there’s going to be one resurrection of all who are uh who have ever lived, those who are righteous and those who are wicked. So there will not be anybody left behind, even though that sells a lot of movie tickets and sells a lot of books. We also talked about the Great Tribulation and how that comes from Matthew 24 in a context that was the destruction of Jerusalem.

1. Is Rome the Empire Going to Revive?

And the Great Tribulation was the suffering leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem, which happened in A.D. 70. It is not something that is still off in the future, but was something that would happen in the generation of those Jesus was speaking to, as verse 34 of Matthew 24 makes exceedingly clear. So now we press on to two more. I thought I might be able to get three or four aspects, but only two that we’re going to look at today. And the first is concerning the revival of Rome. Is Rome the Empire going to revive in the future, in the end times, according to dispensationalism, and that’s another big fancy word I taught you last week that is really the most popular form of premillennialism is within the system of dispensationalism.

So according to dispensationalism, the empire of Rome is going to revive in the future. And so let’s look at a few passages where they get this from and examine them. And starting in Revelation chapter 13 with this beast out of the sea. And so Revelation 13. Now we have the verses up on the screen, but if you want to turn your Bibles, I encourage you to read from your own Bibles. But if you can’t, then look on the screen if you have little ones or whatnot. Verses 1 and 2, and the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Okay, the dragon would be Satan. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. And on his horns were ten diadems, crowns.

And on his heads were blasphemous names, and the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear. I hope you’re paying attention. And his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon, being Satan, gave him his power and his throne and great authority. This is a symbol for Rome. It is a symbol for Rome. It is clear that it is a symbol for a world empire. Verse 7, for example, says it was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overpower them, which was going on in the first century by Rome to those Christians. And the readers of this instantly knew what this was about, if they were educated in the Old Testament language, especially from Daniel.

And authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. Him who? The beast, which is a symbol for Rome. Even dispensationalists agree with that, though they say it’s also a symbol for the Antichrist.

And he looks like a leopard. And he has the feet of a lion. I mean, bear, and he has a mouth of a lion. Now we see some definite connections from that and this in Daniel chapter 7. In verse 2, starting, Daniel said, I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the what? The great sea. So a picture this storm. And four great beasts were coming up from the sea, different from one another. So this isn’t one beast like we see in Revelation 13. This is four, but we still see similarity. Beast coming out of the sea. In this case, four beasts. The first was like a lion. Hmm. And had the wings of an eagle.

I kept looking until its wings were plucked. And it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man. And a human mind was also given to it. So the first beast we connect with the idea of a lion. Verse 5. And behold another beast, a second one resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth. And thus they said to it, Arise, devour much meat. So the second one resembles a bear. The first one a lion, second one a bear. Verse 6, after this I kept looking and behold, another one like a leopard. This is hundreds of years written before revelation. But we see some connections. Which had on its back four wings of a bird.

The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. Verse 7, after this, I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying, and extremely strong. You know, it’s not hard for you kids to imagine that with all your Pokemon cards or whatnot. Some big, scary, strong looking beast. It’s not described any more than that. And this, it had large iron teeth. Man, that’s terrifying. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, the other beasts, and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. Rings a bell, doesn’t it? We read about ten horns in Revelation 13. What I’m trying to tell you is that the Holy Spirit is connecting these two passages together to tell us they are related.

We do not have the right to connect passages together on our own whim. But when the Holy Spirit wants us to connect two passages and understand they are related, then we better do it. And this helps us to understand that these are kingdoms. And that Revelation 13 was talking about a kingdom. Verse 23, thus he said, the fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. So this was written in the days that the Babylonian Empire was the world empire. So that’s the first beast. The beast that looked like a lion represented Babylon. The second beast that represented a bear is Medo-Persia.

The third one that represents that looked like a leopard, Greece, and the fourth beast represented Rome. That’s what it represented. So these are kingdoms. So if nothing else, we see that whatever Revelation 13 is talking about, this beast coming out of the sea, we know that it is a kingdom, not an individual, it is a kingdom. And it was wrong. We see this connection between the two. The composite pieces of the beast in Revelation 13 is very like what we read with the first three beasts there. I think that the idea would be that, you know, this beast is embodied by Rome in Revelation 13 and had similarities of other former world empires. But there’s no doubt it is talking about Rome. Everybody really agrees with that.

If Revelation were about the future, then Rome must revive. Do you see that reasoning? Because Revelation 13, that beast there out of the sea is Rome. And that hasn’t happened yet. Therefore, what’s got to happen with Rome? It’s got to come back. You see the rationale behind that. I think it’s faulty. Because Revelation is not all about the future. In chapter 1 and verse 3, and in chapter 22 and verse 10, we see that the things are things which must shortly come to pass that are talked about in the book of Revelation. They’re the things that applied to the first century Christians. And so, yes, they knew that this is wrong. And Rome has been destroyed. That was prophesied in Revelation 19, verses 20 and 21, that the beast and the false prophet would be thrown into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.

2. Nowhere Does the Bible Teach a Revival of Rome

And history also tells us it has been destroyed and it will not revive. It has been annihilated, never to revive. So, that passage doesn’t teach a revival of Rome. What about Daniel chapter 2? Certainly that one teaches a revival of Rome. Oh, you are familiar with Daniel too, surely. If you’re not, then you’re missing out. It’s this dream that the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had. And he sees this great statue. And it has a head of gold. And it has a chest and arms of silver. And it has a belly and thighs of bronze. And it has legs of iron and feet of iron and clay mixed. And he sees this rock cut out without hands, that strikes the feet of this great big statue, and what happens to the statue, the whole thing crumbles.

And then the rock that struck the feet grows into a mountain that fills the earth. Terrifying. He didn’t know what this was about. Well, maybe not terrifying, but confusing. Daniel explained to him that these are four kingdoms. The first is Babylon. And we know in history that the next one, which was chest and arms of silver, would be Medo Persia, and the belly and thighs of brass or bronze would be Greece. And the legs of iron and the feet of iron and clay mixed would be what kingdom? Men? What kingdom? Rome. Exactly. Now, premillennialism, or dispensationalism, anyway, inserts a gap in the middle of the fourth kingdom. Because Rome’s going to revive in the future. And that kingdom that was supposed to come, the kingdom of God that was prophesied in Daniel chapter 2 and in verse 44 that in the days of those kings, that means the kings of Rome and that fourth kingdom, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom.

Well, the premillennials would say, well, no, that did not happen. That still has not happened. It won’t happen until the future when Christ establishes his kingdom on earth. So they have to insert a gap. So here we see two charts showing the statues. The one on the left, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and then look at the feet. Feet of iron and clay. Divided nations of Western Europe. And that’s what everybody’s afraid of. Oh, they’re forming right now, and that’s the next thing. That’s the revived Rome. That’s what people say. Look at the one on the right. You see that whited out area right below the knees? Look at what it says. The present dispensation of the mystery. In fact, zoom in here a little bit and look at this down here.

Revelation 13, diverse beast. Ties in with what I told you earlier. They don’t believe that’s happened yet. It’s still yet future. With Rome, the revived Rome. And the ten toes being ten kingdoms, though the Bible doesn’t give significance to the ten different toes being ten different anything. Also, looking over here, we have the beginning of sorrows and final week. You remember last week? We talked about Daniel 9 and the 70 weeks prophecy, and that that final week, they believe has been postponed. That great tribulation week is how they interpret that. And it hasn’t happened, so there’s a gap there.

In Luke 9 and verse 27, just for example, Jesus said, But I say to you, truthfully, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God. So was Jesus telling the truth or not? Did that kingdom come during that generation? It did. Amen? It came. It was prophesied hundreds of years in advance that it would come. It was prophesying of these four kingdoms. Babylon, Medo, Persia, Greece, and then Rome. And in the days of Rome, the kingdom of God will be established. And Rome, by the way, is going to be destroyed. All of that stuff happened already. Therefore, we cannot insert a gap. People cannot insert a gap between Daniel 9, 26 and 27. They cannot insert a gap in Daniel chapter 2.

But that’s what they have to do to hold their view. It is a violation of God’s holy word. That’s what it is.

Nowhere does the Bible teach a revival of Rome. Nowhere does the Bible teach a revival of Rome. It teaches the opposite. It will be destroyed, and it was.

3. Is the Antichrist a Single Individual?

Half years, and then he’s going to be causing some problems and seat himself in the temple of God, and there are going to be blasphemies in the image of the Antichrist set up there in the temple, and the Jews are going to turn against him, and that’s going to lead to the battle of the Armageddon and so on. This is the idea of the Antichrist according to dispensationalism, but is it what the Bible teaches? Or is it Christian mythology? First question we need to ask is, is the Antichrist a single individual? Do you know that the word Antichrist or Antichrists, those two combined, are found in only five verses in the Bible. In two different books.

In four different verses. And let’s just put these verses up or turn in your Bible if you want to first John 2 and verse 18. Children, it is the last hour. And just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour. When is the last hour? Now. And it was 2,000 years ago. It has been the last hour since Jesus Christ raised from the dead. This Messianic era. He could come back at any time. Many Antichrists have appeared, John says. Verse 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Chapter 4, verse 3, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.

This is the Spirit of the Antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 2 John 7, which means verse 7, because there’s only one chapter. For many deceivers have gone out into the world. Those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, this is the deceiver in the Antichrist. So here’s the point. Antichrist is defined as anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Not by Adam, but by John. It is not a specific individual, but a type of individual. Maybe you thought, I wonder if my boss is the Antichrist. You know. You could be right. Maybe you thought, you know, I’m married to the Antichrist. Well, you could be right. If anyone denies Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh.

4. Is the Sea Beast the Antichrist?

If anyone denies the Father and the Son, guess what they are? They are anti Christ. That’s what they are. It is not a specific individual. So it’s a total misnomer to talk about the Antichrist in the terms of one individual, one specific individual. It is absurdity and violation of Scripture. Speak where the Bible speaks. Be silent where the Bible is silent. Amen. Is the sea beast, the Antichrist? Well, we’ve read about the sea beast. Let’s read a little bit more in Revelation 13, starting in verse 4. They worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast. Who is the dragon? Satan. So they worshiped Satan because he gave his authority to the beast. Who is the beast? Rome. And they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast and who is able to wage war with him?

There was also given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies and authority to act for 42 months. That’s three and a half years, a broken seven. Very symbolic. For 42 months was given to him, and he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle. That is those who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him. Everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of the life of the Lamb who has been slain. It sounds like it’s talking about an individual.

Why? Because it’s talking about the symbol, which is the beast. In the symbolic language, the beast is the well, the symbol. He is an individual. But the beast represents the empire of Rome. So it was the empire of Rome that was taking this stand against God and that was blaspheming his name and that had authority over every tribe and tongue and so on. So it represents Rome. Well, as I said before, the dispensationalist agrees with that.

And I thought you might get a little chuckle out of that.

And many prominent authors, well known, and they all agree and say, well, yes, this beast out of the sea represents Rome, but it also represents the Antichrist. And they say the two are interchangeable. But can you have it both ways? And is antichrist in the context at all? Is it even in the text? Now, first of all, it doesn’t say anything about Antichrist, because where’s the only place where we find the term Antichrist? What two books? First and second John. And that’s anybody who denies the Father. And so Rome is in the context. And Antichrist is not a single individual anyway, as we already established from 1 and 2 John. So is the sea beast the Antichrist? You tell me. No. You can pretty well know my answer to all these questions, right?

5. What About the Little Horn of Daniel 7?

Alright, here’s another question you might be able to anticipate my answer. I’m sure you are thinking of this one. Well, what about the little horn of Daniel 7? Isn’t that the Antichrist? Well, let’s look. Remember that chapter? That’s where Daniel sees these four great beasts, and he saw that fourth beast, and it had ten horns. And in verse 8, while I was contemplating the horns, behold another horn. A little one came up. Now picture this. Kids, you’ll like this. Just picture this is bizarre. A little one came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it. And behold, this horn possessed eyes of a man. And a mouth. Uttering great both. So this little talking horn with eyes.

Man, that is bizarre. You look a little further, like in verse 25, he will speak out against the most high, and where do the saints of the highest one, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law, and they will be given to his hand for a time, times, and half a time. Three and a half. Oh, man. Well, this is certainly connected with Revelation 13. But you know when this was fulfilled? In the time of that fourth beast. And who was the fourth beast? Rome. And Rome is done. It is destroyed. So I’m not going to go into telling you what I think the little horn was and everything. We could have a great study on that. But whatever it was, we know that it had to do with Rome, and Rome has been destroyed.

6. Is the Man of Lawlessness the Antichrist?

Therefore, the little horn cannot be talking about anything that is yet future. It cannot be talking about the Antichrist unless we absolutely ignore the context completely and altogether. And too many people are absolutely willing to do that. Is the man of lawlessness the Antichrist? This is our last question. This is going to be shorter. The sermon, a little shorter. Is the man of lawlessness the Antichrist? Now, this is the most difficult passage on this whole thing. And one of the most difficult passages, in my opinion, in the New Testament. Do a little reading in 2 Thessalonians. You can turn along if you like. Now we request request, I’m going to try that one again. Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him that you not be quickly shaken from your composure, or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter, as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

They were worried. They thought the Lord has already returned. Let no one in any way deceive you. For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first. And now we look back through history 2,000 years later. Can we be pretty sure the apostasy has come? Just open the phone book and look in the religious section. The apostasy has come. And the man of lawlessness is revealed. The Son of Destruction. Who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship? So that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was with you, I was telling you these things? Let’s get to verse 8. Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming, that is, the one who’s coming, is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

Now, pause. Let your mind take a break. Open your eyes if you’re asleep.

First of all, to answer the question, is the man of lawlessness the antichrist? We have to realize that that question has an inherent fallacy, doesn’t it? Because the Antichrist is not one individual. Now, you could say that this man of lawlessness is an antichrist.

I would agree with that. Anyone who denies the Father and Son is the Antichrist in that sense. But now when you look at the description, it certainly sounds a lot like the Antichrist of premillennialism, doesn’t it? I mean, he’s you know, he’s got power of Satan. He’s he’s definitely in allegiance with Satan or to Satan. He uh he sits in the temple of God, in the place of God, and there’s this blasphemy and all of that. I mean, that certainly sounds a lot like the Antichrist of dispensationalism, doesn’t it? Now, that temple of God, I don’t take that as a literal in the temple, but the sanctuary of God being the idea that that’s where God dwells. He sits in the place of God, as it goes on to describe there in 2 Thessalonians 2.

But much is missing from the description to make this the Antichrist. What all is missing from this description? First of all, as we saw, the term of Antichrist. So what should we call him? How about this? The man of lawlessness. Or the son of destruction or son of perdition. Can we handle that? You know why I like that? Because that’s what the Bible calls him. World dictator. Is that anywhere in the text? Negative. Roman Empire, anywhere in the text? No. The Jews’ acceptance, then rejecting uh rejection of him in the text? Absolutely not. Great tribulation. Anywhere there? War with the saints. You see, all of these things are forced connections. It would be like taking ten different puzzles and jumbling them all up and then forcing them to fit together.

Conclusion

When the Holy Spirit wants passages to fit together, then we need to put them together, as we did with Daniel 7 and Revelation 13. We must do that. But to take passages out of context and force them together to create the Antichrist, that is not biblical integrity. In fact, it is false teaching. And it matters what people teach on every point of scripture. Don’t think, well, it doesn’t matter. It matters. And it will affect the way that you interpret the rest of the Bible. Well, we’ve looked at a lot of very powerful arguments, I think, that dismantle the idea of the revival of Rome and of the dispensational view of the Antichrist being a future dictator and all that. But let me leave you with three practical points.

And the first one is do not be an Antichrist. There’s only one way to heaven. And Jesus said in John 14, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. And Jesus also said, He who is not with me is against me. But I’m a good person. But I believe in God. That’s not enough. You must believe in Jesus, the Son of God. You must confess Him and accept Him as Christ if you want salvation. There is no other way. If you do not do that, as good a person as you might be in the way we term goodness, you are an anti-Christ. So do not be one. Accept Jesus as Lord. Confess Him. And live that confession every day of your life.

Because if you do not confess Jesus as Christ, Jesus says in Matthew chapter 10 that he will not confess you before the Father. He will deny you. Do not be an antichrist. Secondly, do not be quickly shaken. I take the language of 2 Thessalonians 2. They thought the Christ had already come. They were believing in false doctrine and they were shaken in composure. They were troubled. Do not be shaken by any false doctrine. Premillennialism, and when the Jehovah’s Witness comes to your door and hands out those things, oh, that stuff can be, well, is this true? And it can shake your faith. There’s even a view, and I might do a sermon on this some later point, I’m sure I will, that’s the total opposite of premillennialism, that it’s a lot like 2 Thessalonians 2, and what they were actually believing.

They said the Lord already came back. There are some today who said, you know what? Jesus already returned. The resurrection already happened. Symbolically and spiritually. It happened in AD 70. Totally and completely. There is no more future prophecy. That’s a preterist view. That means interpreting everything as if it already happened. Don’t be shaken by that view, by premillennialism, by any doctrine of man. Look at God’s word is the simple to the simple simplicity of what it says. Do not be quickly shaken. Thirdly and finally, do not doubt the power of God. Our God prophesied in the time of Daniel. There was at that time, it was between five and six hundred years before the coming of Christ. That there would be four kingdoms. And then in the fourth kingdom, the days of that fourth kingdom being Rome, that Christ would establish his throne.

That the kingdom of God would be established, rather, is exactly what is prophesied in Daniel 2. And you know what happened? Just what it said. And then Rome fell. Who thought Rome could fall? No nation is like Rome. And it was prophesied to be annihilated. And it was annihilated. God in his power prophesied that to be the case. Brethren, do not trust in the red, white, and blue. Trust in the blood of Jesus Christ and in the power of God. But America is the greatest nation ever. Rome is the greatest nation ever. In the end, when all nations have fallen, what kingdom will stand? God’s kingdom. And let all the congregation say. Amen. Bow your head with me in prayer. Thank you, Father, for your power.

Thank you for your word. We trust it. And we do not want to twist it and insert our emotions. Or insert our thoughts that are not well informed. Or insert our upbringing into it. Father, we insert simply our minds to understand what you have revealed without adding or taking away. Forgive us wherein we have erred. Comfort us that we not be quickly shaken. It is through your Son that we pray. Amen. If you are not a Christian, you can do that this morning. Believing in the Lord, confessing his name, repenting of your sins, and being buried in the waters of baptism. If you would do that, we would love to have you come this morning as we stand and sing the song of invitation.