____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ March 31, 1996 ____________________________________________________ THE RESURRECTION: PREMILLENNIAL VIEW VERSUS THE BIBLE'S -- The Premillennial View -- THERE MIGHT BE some people that are not aware of the premillennial view of the resurrection--or, perhaps I should say ``resurrections,'' for the premillennialist believes there will be more than one, and a couple many years apart. Let us, therefore, consider what they do believe about this and judge it in the light of God's word. -- The "First Resurrection" At The "Rapture" -- To the premillennialist, the ``rapture'' is an event that will not include all people--nor even all the saved!--but only those who have become Christians during the Gospel Age. The Old Testament saints, therefore, will remain in their graves when the Christians--both the dead and the living--are ``raptured'' out of this world. This, then, is when the first resurrection for God's people will take place--at the rapture. -- The ``Second Resurrection'' At The End of the ``Great Tribulation'' -- The premillennialist tells us that following the rapture will be the beginning of the Great Tribulation. This will be a seven-year period of time in which the Anti-Christ will arrive on the scene. He will make his debut by the trickery of Satan who will give him the appearance that he had been raised from the dead--resurrected from a fatal head-wound, which will cause the people to greatly take notice of him; but he will ultimately turn out to be the worst dictator this world has ever known. Because of his charisma, his good looks, and his powerful eloquence, the Anti-Christ will easily be able to bring people under his influence. In the temple he'll reside, claiming to be God and demanding worship. The ``2nd Beast'' (or ``False Prophet'') will be instrumental in forcing people to give their full allegiance to the Anti-Christ and worship him as God or else they will not be given the ``mark of the beast''--''666''; and without this mark, they will be socially ostracized--having trouble keeping jobs; acquiring food with much difficulty; in general, finding it greatly challenging to even survive. The False Prophet will claim to be the Messiah, which many people will believe; and he will form all the world religions into one counterfeit religion. It is he who will give ``life'' to the First Beast, the Anti-Christ; but faking ``miracles'' and being a great deceiver is just part of his underlying character. During the ``Great Tribulation,'' the Anti-Christ will bring peace to the Jewish people; but this will only be temporary, for in the middle of his peaceful covenant, he will break it and later initiate ``the Battle of Armageddon''--that final conflict of the world in which men are supposedly to fight against Jesus and His army in literal warfare. Since all the Christians had previously escaped this period through the ``rapture,'' that doesn't mean to the premillennialists that there is no more opportunity for others to become Christians. Actually, to the premillennialist, the time of the Great Tribulation will manifest the greatest work of evangelism ever carried out on this planet. As Hal Lindsay, a proponent of this view, writes: ``After the Christians are gone, God is going to reveal Himself in a special way to 144,000 physical, literal Jews who are going to believe with a vengeance that Jesus is the Messiah. They are going to be 144,000 Jewish Billy Grahams turned loose on this earth--the earth will never know a period of evangelism like this period'' (The Late Great Planet Earth, page 110). Some of these who become Christians during the Great Tribulation period will be alive when Christ returns. Others, however, will have lost their lives during this difficult seven year period. According to the Premillennialist, when Christ returns to defeat the Anti-Christ in the Battle of Armageddon and set up His kingdom for a 1,000 year reign, the Old Testament Saints, as well as those Christians who died during the Great Tribulation, will be resurrected at this time. These two groups, therefore, will be raised together at this ``second resurrection'' at the end of the 7-year tribulation and beginning of the Millennium. -- What About the Wicked? When Will They Be Raised? -- So far, we haven't mentioned anything about when lost souls will be resurrected. Premillennialism teaches that this will occur for them at the end of Christ's thousand- year reign on earth. In others words, it will take place 1,007 years after the Christians are resurrected at the rapture; or 1,000 years after the Old Testament saints, along with those Christians who died during the Great Tribulation, will be raised. Let's put all this in a time-line to see more concisely and clearly: RAPTURE CHRIST'S RETURN END OF MILLENNIUM | | | |<--7-year G. Trib.-->|<--Armageddon | ----X---------------------X----------------------------X------ | Time of Anti-Christ |<--Jesus' 1,000 Yr. Reign-->| | | | Church OT Saints & Dead All the Wicked (lost Resurrected Tribulation Christians souls) Resurrected Resurrected -- What Does the Bible Say About the Resurrection? -- According to the Scriptures, there will not be various resurrections centuries or years apart. Rather, there will be ONE UNIVERSAL RESURRECTION for all people--and on not only the same day, but also in the same ``HOUR''! Consider, if you would, the following verses: John 6:39,40: ``And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing; but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.'' According to this passage, Jesus is speaking about the BELIEVERS being raised on the LAST DAY. Now think about that: if the believers are raised on the ``LAST DAY,'' there could be no more days left for others to be raised 7 years later, or 1,007 years later!!! When you come to the last day, that's the last day! But notice what else will happen on this ``last day'': John 12:48, ``He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.'' Now the Lord is focusing on those who reject Him--the LOST! And when, according to this verse, will they be judged? At the ``LAST DAY''! So from these two references, both the believer and the non-believer will be raised on the same day--the last day. Some might say, however, ``But isn't Christ talking about just the Christians in John 6:39,40? For here, He's speaking of `everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him.''' Well, in response to this: have you today actually seen the Son? No. You can only see Him with the eyes of faith. Surely, Jesus is not implying that only those true believers who were eye-witnesses of Him would be resurrected on the last day. Would that not be a very small group?--especially compared to the multitudes who have believed down through the years! We ``behold the Son'' by faith (1 Pet. 1:6-9; Jn. 20:29), and this is exactly how the Old Testament saints also had to, as they looked ahead to the Messiah who was to come. But another point, going along with this, would be: even if this verse were talking about just those who were eye-witness believers, this is not the only Scripture that speaks of who will be in the resurrection--and when. -- Let's Get Real Specific As To The Time -- Take a look at John 5:28,29: ``Do not marvel at this; for AN HOUR is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment'' (emphasis mine). Here the Lord Himself shows that there is a UNIVERSAL RESURRECTION coming in which ALL--both the saved and the lost--will be raised within THE SAME HOUR! But let us remind ourselves of the premillennial view on this: never do they speak of both the SAVED and the LOST being resurrected together--they have put at least 1,000 years between the two events (and also 1,007 years between the raptured Christians and the wicked)! The apostle Paul, though, also shows the singular nature of this great event when he speaks of it as being ``a resurrection'' in Acts 24:15. Here he states, ''...There shall be A RESURRECTION of BOTH the RIGHTEOUS AND the WICKED'' (emphasis mine)--not that there would be ``resurrections, one for the righteous and another for the wicked.'' Furthermore, Peter reveals that when Christ returns, it won't be to set up a thousand-year reign upon this earth--for when He comes and all people are gathered to Him, this earth, along with the entire universe, will be totally destroyed (2 Pet. 3:10-12). This, therefore, is the picture when Christ comes--not the premillennial view (or the Jehovah Witnesses' view and some others') of a continuing earth after the Lord's second coming. And we could also point out, along with this above view, that the premillennialist believes that the Old Testament saints will be resurrected during the millennium so that they can be a part of this time when Christ has established His kingdom on earth; but, according to 2 Samuel 7:12-16, righteous David (one of those Old Testament saints) would be in the grave when Christ would establish His kingdom and reign (see also Acts 2:29-36). Briefly, the premillennialist does not accept the truth that the kingdom has already been established, as Jesus, John the Baptist, and the apostles had proclaimed during their lifetimes as being soon to come (Matt. 4:17; 3:2; 10:7; Mark 9:1). The New Testament clearly shows the kingdom as having come into existence during the Gospel Age, and it is synonymous with the church (Col. 1:13; Heb. 12:28; Rev. 1:6,9). The kingdom was to be established during the period of the Roman Empire (Dan. 2:44)--which happened to be the time in which Jesus lived on the face of our planet and for a while thereafter--but since the Premillennialist fails to see that the kingdom has already been established, they teach that the Roman Empire must be resuscitated first, which is to occur around the time of the Great Tribulation. Obviously, they realize that the kingdom must be setup during the time of the Roman Empire; but, unfortunately, they have failed to see that this has already happened when Jesus ascended back to the ``Ancient of Days'' almost 2,000 years ago (Dan. 7:13,14; Acts 1:9-11). To accept the teachings of Premillennialism is to be in conflict with God's holy word. As we have just considered their views on the resurrection--as well as some other topics--they are seen to be teaching doctrines that are not true to the Bible. For the Bible shows that there is coming a time when there will be a universal resurrection for all--both the righteous and the unrighteous. We need to each, therefore, strive to make ourselves ready for this great event when the ``Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God''; and we shall all be taken up--both the dead and the living--to meet the Lord in the air in that final day, the ``last day'' (1 Thes. 4:16,17; Jn. 5:28,29). For then, the Christian will ''...be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed'' (1 Cor. 15:51,52). Are you ready for that day? If not, now is the time to prepare! ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 713 13th Street, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@wwd.net ________________________________________