Kenneth L. Gentry Jr.'s Blog, page 91
February 17, 2017
IS GENESIS HISTORY?
[image error]PMT 2017-014 by Garrett Haley (Christian News)
A soon-to-be-released documentary-style film, featuring footage from around the U.S. and interviews with over a dozen scholars and scientists, will provide visual evidence and scientific arguments for the Bible’s accounts of Creation and the Flood.
On February 23, hundreds of movie theaters across the U.S. will participate in a one-night showing of the film “Is Genesis History?” The film, produced by Compass Cinema and structured as a documentary, features interviews with respected Christian scientists, including microbiologist Kevin Anderson, astronomer Danny Faulkner, geologist Andrew Snelling, and several others.
In addition to interviews with scholars and scientists, the film’s host, Del Tackett, guides viewers through over a dozen locations and landmarks to explore the competing views of creation and evolution. Tackett is the creator of a number of media projects, including Focus on the Family’s “The Truth Project.”
“`Is Genesis History’ is a comprehensive documentary featuring scientists and scholars looking at the world and explaining how it intersects with the history recorded in Genesis,” the film’s website states. “From rock layers to fossils to lions to stars, this fascinating film will challenge and change the way you see the world.”
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As It Is Written: The Genesis Account Literal or Literary?
Book by Ken Gentry
Presents the exegetical evidence for Six-day Creation and against the Framework Hypothesis.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
In an interview with Christian News Network, Thomas Purifoy, Jr., the film’s producer and director, said “Is Genesis History?” will be useful to people of all ages.
“My daughter was one of my main inspirations for creating the documentary,” Purifoy said. “We had a conversation concerning creation and evolution, and I realized I wasn’t doing a great job explaining things to her. I knew there were a lot of exceptional scientists who could do a much better job, so with Del Tackett, we sought them out to help explain the world in light of the history recorded in Genesis.”
The book of Genesis, although controversial, is foundational for the gospel, Purifoy stated. “Every important aspect of human culture goes back to Genesis, including marriage, sexuality, work, environmental stewardship, science, language, and much more. And all these things relate directly to the historicity of Genesis,” he said. “If you can deny Genesis as a book of history, you can deny all these things. The gospel of Jesus Christ therefore stands or falls along with the historicity of the first chapters of Genesis.”
Genesis and Creation (Set 1: Genesis 1).
An in-depth sermon series on the opening chapters of the Bible from a Six-day Creationist perspective. Offers many insights into the reason Moses wrote the Creation Account, insights little recognized by the average Christian. This is set 1, which covers Genesis 1.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
Already the film has been endorsed by Answers in Genesis and the Associates for Biblical Research. Purifoy hopes moviegoers who watch “Is Genesis History?” will be reminded of the reliability and accuracy of the Bible’s first book. Biblical authority is the primary focus of the film, he said….
To continue reading: click
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February 14, 2017
NATIONAL BORDERS BIBLICALLY WARRANTED
[image error]PMT 2017-013 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.
The refugee immigration debate is a live topic of international consequence today. Many well meaning Christians believe it is wrong to keep refugees out on a temporary basis because they believe borders are man-made constructs lacking biblical warrant. Besides the contradiction obvious in their having homes with walls and locked doors, their argument does not hold.
Established borders are biblically warranted as we see in two clear scriptural examples. Though other arguments are available, these are quite potent.
First, the garden of Eden.
The garden was distinct from the rest of the world, which meant something must have distinguished it from the broader world. God created Adam then “placed” him in (Gen. 2:8) / “took” him to (Gen. 2:15) the garden.
Then when Adam sinned, God “drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24). From this point on, Adam was not forbidden to dwell in the rest of the world, but only in the specific, guarded region of Eden. Eden had borders.
Second, the promised land.
The promised land had God-designated boundaries (Num. 34). God’s special rituals laws for “the land” (such as the Jubilee law) prevailed within this border-defined region.
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Political Christianity (book)
(by Christian Citizen)
Christian principles applied to practical political issues, including “lesser-of-evils” voting. Includes chapter on borders as a national defense mechanism.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
In his commentary on Leviticus (pp. 423, 424) Gary North writes:
The Israelites “would police the land’s boundaries, keeping stranger’s out except on God’s terms.” “To be a perfect stranger to the covenant-breaking world outside the geographical boundaries of Israel . . . “ “For as long as they dwelt within the land’s geographical boundaries under the terms of the original distribution, Israelites had to keep strangers from inheriting agricultural land.”
Nations have legitimate needs for borders, just as cities and counties do for purposes of police jurisdiction, taxation determination, judicial oversight, and so forth. No one in Greenville, SC, likes it when a policeman from Juarez, Mexico, pulls them over on I-385 for lacking a proper license tag. Nor are we pleased when a tourist from Gaborone, Botswana, votes in our Presidential election.
And in a world of sinners, those borders need to be protected — as we see in principle from Adam’s original expulsion from the borders of the garden.
Israel had God-defined borders to a particular land area that God gave them (Num. 34:2ff). The means by which God gave it was through war (Deut. 7:1–2, 16-24). God commanded that the Canaanites driven out “shall not live in your land” (Exo. 23:33). Obviously, the Canaanite response would be to try to retake their land, against which determination Israel must protect it (i.e., the land within her borders, Exo. 23:27-31; Deut. 28:7).
Israel’s borders were God-defined, she was given a particular land, and no other. Therefore, she was not to engage in foreign wars of land acquisition. But her warning from God was that if she did not obey God’s covenant: “The LORD shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth” (Deut. 28:25). These would be invading enemies, enemies from outside the land (Deut. 28:32-33, 47-50). Therefore, Israel would be in danger of being taken from her God-defined land (Deut. 28:36, 41, 63-65). Her danger of being conquered would be a danger “throughout your land” (Deut. 28:52) in “all your towns” (Deut. 28:55, 57).
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God’s Law Made Easy (by Ken Gentry)
Summary for the case for the continuing relevance of God’s Law.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
Just as Israel would have her own borders, the Bible recognizes that other nations have borders, such as the Edomites (Num. 20:23), the Amorites (Num. 21:13), and the Moabites (Num. 21:15). The Israelites recognized those borders and sought permission to “pass through your land” (Num. 21:22). She would expect the same for her borders.
And I did not even mention heaven’s “gates,” an image demonstrating God’s keeping intruders out while his people are safe within (Matt. 7:13–14; 16:18; Rev. 21:12-15; 22:14). Nor the gates of the temple walls (Eze. 10:18; 40:5-8). In a world filled with sinners, borders, walls, and gates are essential for well-being.
Click on the following images for more information on these studies:
February 10, 2017
MISSIONARY V. RUSSIAN ANTI-EVANGELISM
[image error]PMT 2017-012 by Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra (Christianity Today)
After 32 cases, lawmakers review Yarovaya restrictions on religion. Top courts could follow.
One Sunday morning in August, three policemen came to Don Ossewaarde’s home in Russia, where the Baptist missionary from Illinois was holding his weekly Bible study.
“Afterwards, they took me to the police station and charged me with conducting missionary activities in violation of a new law that took effect on July 20, 2016,” Ossewaarde wrote. “At a court hearing, I was found guilty and sentenced to pay a fine of 40,000 rubles, which is over $600.”
Ossewaarde was snagged by Russia’s new anti-terrorism law that President Vladimir Putin approved last summer. The “Yarovaya law” calls for tighter restrictions on missionaries and evangelism, and has resulted in at least 31 prosecutions since it went into effect in July.
But now that law might be getting a second look.
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Greatness of the Great Commission (by Ken Gentry)
An insightful analysis of the full implications of the great commission. Impacts postmillennialism as well as the whole Christian worldview.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
Ossewaarde appealed his case three times, and has worked his way up to Russia’s Supreme Court, which is expected to issue a ruling within the next few weeks. He also appealed to the Constitutional Court; if judges accept the case, the consequences could be immense.
“This makes Ossewaarde’s case the first under the `anti-missionary’ amendment to reach this level in the Russian courts, and the first to issue a challenge to the legislation itself,” Forum 18 reported. “The Constitutional Court, if it accepts the appeal, will examine whether the amendment contravenes the provisions of the Russian Constitution.”
It wouldn’t be the only review. Last week, a working group created by the Duma, Russia’s legislative assembly, began to review the Yarovaya law, reported the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin. Putin conceded in September during elections that the unpopular law may need to be “adjusted to not put people in a difficult position.”
Those difficult positions include:
being charged for not using a church’s full name on phone bills.
allowing children onto a playground within hearing distance of sermons.
handing out New Testaments on a train.
All are accusations that have been made against Protestants under the new law, reported Forum 18 in its analysis of all cases thus far.
Officially, the Yarovaya law requires missionaries to have permits, makes house churches illegal, and limits religious activity to registered church buildings, among other restrictions. Individuals who disobey can be fined up to $780, while organizations can be fined more than $15,000.
The law has drawn protests from the Protestant Churches of Russia, as well as the European Evangelical Alliance and USCIRF (the US Commission on International Religious Freedom).
But the application of the law has been seen as “a very huge question mark,” as Slavic Gospel Association communications manager Joel Griffith told Mission Network News after the law’s passage last summer.
Months later, there is still no clear answer.
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He Shall Have Dominion
(paperback by Kenneth Gentry)
A classic, thorough explanation and defense of postmillennialism (600+ pages). Complete with several chapters answering specific objections.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
Missionaries can only operate as formal representatives of state-recognized religious associations. But not having written proof of that has been evidence of both innocence and guilt, according to Forum 18.
“Whether such cases end in conviction or acquittal appears to rest on, firstly, the ability of police or prosecutors to link the defendant with a particular association, and secondly, whether the judge decides to uphold an individual’s constitutional right to share beliefs as a private citizen,” Victoria Arnold reported for Forum 18.
To keep reading:
February 7, 2017
REFORMED CHRISTIANITY IN INDONESIA
[image error]PMT 2017-011 by Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra
(From the Auila Report)
With more than 16,000 students, Universitas Pelita Harapan is one of the largest Reformed Christian universities in the world. Started just 22 years ago, the university offers a law school, medical school, engineering school, and teachers college—all from a distinctly Reformed worldview.
“We don’t even have that in the United States or Europe,” said Ric Cannada, chancellor emeritus for Reformed Theological Seminary. “Here it is in Indonesia. Isn’t it just like the Lord to do something like this in the least likely place—the country with the largest Muslim population in the world?”
Though Christians compose only 10 percent of Indonesia’s population, the nation is so populous that roughly 25 million Christians live there. About one-third are Catholic, while the Protestants are typically either Pentecostal or Reformed—as in, really Reformed.
“Over here in the States we talk about the Reformed world- and life-view, but they’re doing it,” Cannada said. “Doing it on steroids.”
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Christianity and the World Religions:
By Derek CooperCooper. Examines the rival worldviews found in Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism, Judaism, Islam, and irreligion. He engages these worldviews from a Christian perspective.
See more study materials: www.KennethGentry.com
Bankrolled by an enormously successful Indonesian businessman with a love for God and Reformed theology, the Pelita Harapan Foundation—where Cannada is a senior adviser—has opened 55 Christian K–12 schools in the last 25 years.
No Reformed Balance Sheets
Pelita Harapan is the mission side of businessman James Riady’s domain. But of course he also has a business side—and it’s enormous: 30 hospitals, 64 malls, 125 department stores, and the country’s largestmedia group.
Both are informed by the Reformed tradition, said Niel Nielson, the former president of Covenant College who now leads the foundation’s education wing and sits on the board of directors for its hospitals and department stores.
“[The Riady family] is passionately Reformed in their theological perspective, and they link all that together in terms of how they understand the corporation,” he said. “There is energy and focus on integration unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere in the world.”
Nielson says the “thick-walled silos” between faith and education or vocation that often exist in the United States “do not exist there, in terms of the driving mission and vision.”
“We’re passionate about business—about economic sustainability—but also about a biblically informed vision of common grace that leads to saving grace for the country,” Nielson said.
Though “there’s no such thing as a Reformed balance sheet—you either show profits or you don’t,” the board “talks a lot about the creation mandate and the fact that we’re called to steward the gifts God has given us.”
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World Religions and Cults (Bodie Hodge, ed.)
This work is helpful for understanding and combating false religions and cults. It deals with the leading false religious beliefs in the world today.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
That means building quality hospitals in low-income areas. It means Christian doctors talking with their Muslim patients not just about the health of their bodies, but also the health of their family relationships, communities, and souls.
“We tell them we believe they’ve been uniquely created in the image of God, and he has a purpose for every human being,” Nielson said.
Not Behind the Scenes
These Christian convictions don’t stay behind-the-scenes, even if they’re rarely center stage. For example, Riady’s 60 coffee shops don’t serve tracts with their beverages, but they do play Christian music, and employees go out of their way to treat people with dignity. All of his businesses aim to deliver high-quality products and to deal honestly with everyone.
Nielson said what’s going on in Indonesia is similar to what you’ll hear in the faith and work conversation in the United States. But he added that it seems easier to give the concept legs in Indonesia. That’s partially because of the high level of religiosity in the country. Most Indonesians (85 percent) identify as Muslim, and nearly everyone feels strongly about their faith, and expects to see that in others….
To continue reading:
http://theaquilareport.com/rise-reformed-christianity-worlds-largest-muslim-country/
Click on the following images for more information on these studies:
February 3, 2017
THE BIBLE’S MOST OFFENSIVE VERSE
[image error]PMT 2017-110 by Daniel J. Phillips (PJ Media)
Here are twenty-six reasons why Genesis 1:1 is the most offensive, enraging verse in the Bible to the modern mind:
1. Genesis 1:1 starts with God. It presents the specific living God of Scripture as the sole sufficient starting place for reasoning, not as a conclusion reached at the end of a syllogism or evidence chain. We don’t get to stack the deck by massaging a preselected set of facts to adorn our predetermined conclusion. (It isn’t our deck to stack.)
2. Genesis 1:1 presents God alone as sovereign and self-sufficient. We like to reserve those adjectives for ourselves.
3. It was counter-cultural when Moses wrote it, and it is counter-cultural today. Attempts to argue the contrary have been shelled to ruins.
4. It explains why actual science can even be done. Many erstwhile scientists hate this fact, twisting themselves into pretzels in an effort to erect a contrary.
5. At the same time, it explains the limits inherent in all empirical experimentation, and gives all such endeavors an interpretive framework. If our “knowers” weren’t warped beyond our ability to repair, this would be welcome news. As they are hopelessly twisted (Jeremiah 17:9), it is not (Romans 1:18-23).
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As It Is Written: The Genesis Account Literal or Literary?
Book by Ken Gentry
Presents the exegetical evidence for Six-day Creation and against the Framework Hypothesis.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
6. It packs a premise that leaves us with a binary choice. We don’t like to be cornered or to have our commitments exposed.
7. Its choice of opening word (Hebrew beres?t, in-beginning, rather than, say, on the first day) points both to a purpose and an end. We imagine that we can invent both for ourselves.
8. It shows us that matter matters, but is not absolute. Matter is created, only God is ultimate. We like to play the insane game of both asserting the ultimacy of matter, and gassing about intangibles such as meaning and right and wrong. It can’t work, it won’t work, and Genesis 1:1 points us to the truth of the.well.the matter.
9. It reveals matter as real, but not as real as God. The first part is unwelcome news to mystics of all stripes, as is the latter to all materialists, who are exposed as missing the greater while worshiping the lesser. These days, we want to pose as both.
10. It tells us that creation comes to us predefined. Our fantasy is that we are free to redefine, and that our redefinitions are equally valid with the Creator’s definitions.
11. Therefore, Genesis 1:1 exposes all attempts to ignore, reshape, violate, or rebel against created categories as suicidal fools’ errands. We prefer to see them as heroic, noble, and life-affirming.
12. It challenges our de facto assumption of our own deity. This leaves our religion in shambles.
13. It makes the universe not to be all about us. This is ruinous to our self-image.
14. It makes God literally infinitely big, and us literally infinitely smaller, anticipating God’s response to Job. We prefer the reverse and hate His response.
15. It means that, if I ever disagree with God, I am not only wrong, but foolishly wrong; and the longer I argue the contrary, the greater fool I am. This is, to us, unthinkable.
16. It dooms every attempted moral argument that starts with with “It’s my body” to ultimate failure. But we like those arguments!
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Nourishment from the Word
(by Ken Gentry)
Reformed studies covering baptism, creation, creeds, tongues, God’s law, apologetics, and Revelation
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
17. It similarly destines any attempt to ghettoize Biblical faith to defeat. “The heavens and the earth” is a merism, a figure of speech where naming two poles includes everything between them. But we want to see God-talk kept out of the public square, and believers banned from public life.
18. It assures me that God alone is ultimate, and that He doesn’t need me; whereas I am dependent, and utterly do need Him – on every level, and regardless of how I feel about it or what I prefer to think.
19. It collapses all my feelings into irrelevance in the face of God’s fact.
20. It affirms God’s priority over every individual created thing, and over all created things, combined. That would include me, and all my favorite SJW causes.
To continue reading click here: PJ Media
Click on the following images for more information on these studies:
January 31, 2017
PREDESTINATION AND GOD’S LOVE
[image error]PMT 2017-009 by Frank A. James III (published by Christianity Today)
For many, predestination is a struggle to accept; for Paul, it’s a doctrine of love.
What is it that takes Paul’s breath away? It is the incomprehensible vastness of God’s love that encompasses eternity past, present, and future. Paul pulls back the veil of the Godhead and grants a glimpse into the triune mystery of the Father’s eternal plan (vv. 3-6), the Son’s implementation of the plan (vv. 7-12), and the Spirit’s guarantee that the plan will reach completion (vv. 13-14). The redemptive panorama is so stunning that it leaves Paul breathless.
At the center of this expansive vista is predestination. Paul writes about divine predestination with an enthusiasm that might strike some contemporary Christians as peculiar at the very least. For him, predestination is a divine blessing so overwhelming that the very act of sharing it with Gentile readers takes his breath away. Rather than talk about this unfathomable mystery in sober hushed tones, Paul seems to want to shout it from the rooftops.
Berakah
In what amounts to a hymn of praise, Paul is utilizing a Jewish literary form called a berakah (blessing) which acknowledges God as the source of all blessing. If Paul’s primary goal in this berakah is to praise God, his other main purpose is to encourage the Gentile Christians by reminding them that God has “lavishly” bestowed (v. 8) his blessings, indeed, “every spiritual blessing” (v. 3), upon them too. According to God’s eternal purposes, the Gentiles were not a late inning substitution but a magnificent part of God’s plan from the beginning. Such a berakah from a former religious terrorist like Paul is nothing short of staggering.
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Predestination Made Easy
(by Ken Gentry)
A thoroughly biblical, extremely practical, and impressively clear presentation of
the doctrine of absolute predestination.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
While Paul highlights many of the blessings of God (adoption, redemption, and forgiveness of sins), this sentence is structured in such a way that it actually emphasizes divine predestination. Paul twice employs the parallel portrait of God bestowing his special affection by “choosing” a people for himself. This distinctive familial language of being “chosen” is at the very heart of Israel’s self-identity, and it is the same language that Paul uses to describe the Gentile recipients of this epistle. Indeed, Paul uses yet another corresponding term to define these Gentile converts: “adoption” (v. 5). These three words (predestination, choosing, and adoption) are mutually reinforcing concepts with which Paul reveals God’s deep affection for the Gentile readers of this letter.
Not only is the idea of predestination right there in the text, but Paul launches it at the very outset of his circular letter to these recent Gentile converts-people he had never actually met. It is mildly amusing that Paul does not even take the time to chat them up, meander a bit, or generate some “good vibes” before jumping headlong into the doctrine of predestination.
As a Jew, Paul was quite comfortable with the notion of God choosing a people for himself. After all, the constant refrain of the Old Testament is that the Jews are God’s “chosen” people. In Deuteronomy 7:6-8, we find this profoundly affectionate declaration of God’s love for Israel: “The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession . . . because the Lord loved you.”
Paul extends this previously exclusive berakah of the Jews to these Gentile followers of Jesus. It is as if a sonorous voice announced: This berakah is for you —Jews and Gentiles.
A Love Doctrine
It is well enough that Paul extends God’s blessing to the Gentiles, but why would he utilize the “dreadful” notion of predestination to do it? Surely the ideas of adoption, redemption, and forgiveness are more than adequate to describe God’s extravagant blessings upon the Gentiles.[image error]
Sovereignty of God
(7 mp3 Gentry downloadable sermons)
In these seven sermons will be found a practical demonstration of God?s absolute sovereignty.
This series serves as an excellent introduction to this difficult doctrine.
See more study materials at: KennethGentry.com
Roman orator and political theorist Marcus Tullius Cicero gives us a brutal picture of what city life was like during this period of history when he describes the populace of Rome as “miserable starving rabble.” What could the blessing of predestination mean to such ancient city dwellers? What could it mean to the 90 percent of the population in the Roman Empire who lived “a hand-to-mouth existence” and rarely lived beyond 40 years? On top of these dismal living conditions, there were social and political anxieties (injustice, oppression, abuse, and, of course, unreasonable taxes) that plagued the lives of the recipients of Paul’s letter. How might predestination bless such Gentiles faced with the relentless daily challenge of mere survival?
Paul acknowledges that those Gentile converts were suffering from “extreme poverty” (2 Cor. 8:2). He understood that it is not easy to praise God on an empty stomach. But he also knew that even hungry stomachs need hope.
The grim realities of first-century Asia Minor are impossible to fully grasp, especially for those who have been born in the relative security of the West and enjoy the many benefits of the modern world, but such living conditions were no less real. Yet, I can imagine that the recipients of the epistle might have found encouragement and comfort in Paul’s words.
For a brief moment, they were no longer looking through a glass darkly, but were able to catch sight of eternal realities.
To be told with such unabashed exuberance that God set his affection on you before the creation of the world and that you are part of God’s eternal purpose is enough to take your breath away-even in the most difficult of circumstances….
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January 30, 2017
A COURSE ON BIBLE PROPHECY
[image error]Are We Living in the Last Days? The Truth About End Times Bible Prophecy
by Brian Godawa
10-Lecture Online Course by Brian Godawa
VIDEOS WITH POWERFUL AUDIO/VISUAL
There are so many Christians teaching outrageous things about Bible Prophecy these days. It’s enough to frustrate the serious Bible student. What would you think if you found out most all of it is simply mistaken? What if you found out that the ancient mindset of the Jewish writers was influenced by the Old Testament imagery of the past, and not a crystal ball gaze into our modern future? What if you found out that everything that modern prophecy pundits are looking for, the Antichrist, The Beast, the tribulation, the rapture, was not what they thought it was, but something different?
These lectures of Bible Prophecy and the End Times deconstructs the popular “Left Behind” interpretation and reveals a redemptive historical preterist view of the Book of Revelation and the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24.
Includes lots of colorful and helpful Powerpoint visuals, charts, pictures, and film clips for a much richer presentation of the material.
Beginning of the End
Israel in Prophecy
The Last Days
The Rapture
The Great Tribulation
AntiChrist
The Beast
The Coming of Christ
The Millennium Part 1
The Millennium Part 2
For a 25% discount, use the following code: Gentry17
http://godawa-online-courses.teachable.com/p/last-days/?product_id=221894&coupon_code=GENTRY17
January 27, 2017
PRIMER ON POSTMILLENNIALISM (5)
[image error]PMT 2017-008 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.
I have been presenting the postmillennial understanding of the millennial hope in this five-part series. Hopefully this series will be useful as an introduction to postmillennialism for those unfamiliar with it or, as yet, unpersuaded by its argument.
In this article we will very briefly consider one of the key texts in Paul’s writing, from the vitally important fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians. So then, let us now consider:
Paul and the Postmillennial Hope
Several passages in Paul’s writings encourage the postmillennial outlook, including most prominently Romans 11 and 1 Corinthians 15. We will focus brief on 1 Corinthians 15:20–27 where we discover a Pauline statement that vigorously declares Christ’s kingdom victory in the present era.
1 Corinthians 15:22–24 reads: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end.” This verse contradicts premillennialism in teaching that the resurrection of believers is the finale of history, not the initiation of a new 1000 year period. The resurrection punctuates the end; no new era follows — and certainly no millennium.
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Postmillennialism Made Easy (by Ken Gentry)
Basic introduction to postmillennialism. Presents the essence of the postmillennial argument and answers the leading objections. And all in a succinct, introductory fashion.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
In 1 Corinthians 15:24 Paul makes a statement that rebuts the amillennial position: “then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.” Here he notes that when the end comes “He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father.” But he also observes that this end will not come until after he has “abolished all rule and all authority and power.”
The Greek here is important. The NASB translates the pertinent phrase as: “when he has abolished.” But the NIV and ESV offer better translations: “after he has abolished.” In the Greek text the hotan is followed by the aorist subjunctive, katargēsē. Such a construction indicates that the action of the subordinate clause precedes the action of the main clause.
Thus, the end will not come until after Christ abolishes all rule and authority. This is not only grammatically necessary, but contextually. The next verse continues: “For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet” (1 Cor 15:25). That is, he is currently reigning and must continue to reign until all of his enemies are vanquished.
Conclusion
This is the postmillennial hope. As Isaiah put it “Now it will come about that In the last days / The mountain of the house of the LORD / Will be established as the chief of the mountains, / And will be raised above the hills; / And all the nations will stream to it. / And many peoples will come and say, / ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD’” (Isa 2:2–3).
As Christ expresses it as he approaches the cross: “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (John 12:31–32).
As Paul declares: “But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet” (1 Cor 15:23–25).
Click on the following images for more information on these studies:
January 24, 2017
PRIMER ON POSTMILLENNIALISM (4)
[image error]PMT 2017-007 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.
I am continuing a study on the millennial reign of Christ. In this article I will focus on:
Christ and the Postmillennial Hope
In Christ’s earthly ministry we witness the coming of the prophesied kingdom. For instance, in Mark 1:15 we hear the Lord himself proclaim: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Thus, not only does he declare that “the” time is fulfilled (the prophetically-expected time) and that the “kingdom of God is at hand,” but he also associates it with the proclamation of the gospel. Later in Matthew 12:28 we read him state: “if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
This is why we hear of the early Christians being charged with preaching another king (Acts 17:7). This is why Paul informs the Colossians that “He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col 1:13). This is why John can say in Revelation: “He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father — to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever” (Rev 1:6).
But I want to focus on the Lord’s powerful statement in John 12:31–32: “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” This sort of statement is exactly what the postmillennialist would expect to hear from Christ.
Let’s note first:
Christ’s dethronement of Satan
As Jesus faces the cross he declares his judgment of the fallen, rebellious world system. Through the horror of the cross he sees the glory of victory. He soon will “cast out” Satan as “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31). What does this mean? Obviously it does not mean Satan is totally removed from any influence in the world, for we see later references to Satan operating in the world.
The Beast of Revelation[image error]
by Ken Gentry
A popularly written antidote to dispensational sensationalism and newspaper exegesis. Convincing biblical and historical evidence showing that the Beast was the Roman Emperor Nero Caesar, the first civil persecutor of the Church. The second half of the book shows Revelation’s date of writing, proving its composition as prior to the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. A thought-provoking treatment of a fascinating and confusing topic.
For more study materials, go to: KennethGentry.com
To understand this statement in its redemptive-historical context we must understand that before the coming and victory of Christ, all the nations of the world except for little Israel were under the dominion of Satan. In Psalm 147:19–20 we read: “He declares His words to Jacob, / His statutes and His ordinances to Israel. / He has not dealt thus with any nation; / And as for His ordinances, they have not known them.” Similarly in Amost3:2a we read: “You only have I chosen among all the families of the earth.” Therefore Satan could legitimately say to Christ when he offered him “the kingdoms of the world” (Luke 4:5b): “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish” (Luke 5:6).
But now Christ declares to his people while standing in the shadow of the cross: “now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” This dramatic reality appears frequently in the New Testament record. Consider the following four samples of Christ’s victory over Satan:
“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” (Matt 12:28–29)
“When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” (Col 2:15)
“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14)
“The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8)
This is why we notice that some New Testament passages referring to Satan show his curtailed influence in the presence of the Christian faith:
“Taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Eph 6:17)
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Rom 16:20)
“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (Jms 4:7)
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith.” (1 Pet 5:7–8a)
This can only be because of Christ’s casting out of Satan, his binding his power. And this leads to the ultimate result of Satan’s being cast out:
Christ’s enthronement over men
The Lord defeats Satan so that he is no longer able to dominate the world. The result is that Christ himself will “draw all men to Myself” (John 12:32b).
Notice that profound nature of this declaration. He states that if he is “lifted up” (on the cross, John 12:33) that he will draw “all” men to himself. Not some. Not just Jews. Surely not just a remnant. He is not plucking brands from the fire. Rather he is declaring that he will draw the great mass of men to himself.
“Reformed Interpretation of the Binding of Satan” by Ken Gentry[image error]
An 8 1/2 x 11 study paper
An exegetical study of Revelation 20:1–3. This study shows that the binding of Satan begins in the first century with the establishing of Christ’s kingdom by the Lord Jesus Christ.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
Christ’s kingdom will grow with more and more conversions. Daniel speaks of the kingdom’s coming in Christ during the Roman empire. He states that it will come as a “stone” (Dan 2:45) but that it will become “a great mountain” that fills “the whole earth” (Dan 2:35). Ezekiel sees its gracious influence trickling from the altar in God’s house (Eze 47:1). But it grows to ever greater depths (Eze 47:3-4) until “it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded.”
Jesus declares this gradualistic advance of his kingdom by comparing it to a mustard seed and to leaven. “He presented another parable to them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.’ He spoke another parable to them, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened’” (Matt 13:31–33).
Christ’s kingdom is a living principle. It carries within it a growth tendency. Indeed, it will tend to grown until it draws “all men” to Christ (John 12:32). Thus, as John puts it elsewhere: “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17).
To be continued.
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January 20, 2017
PRIMER ON POSTMILLENNIALISM (3)
[image error]PMT 2017-006 Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.
This is the third in a series of studies on the “millennium” from Rev. 20 and how postmillennialists understand it, especially over against amillennialists.
Prophecy and the Postmillennial Hope
The Old Testament is, of course, full of eschatological pronouncements. Israel was blessed with many writing prophets who have left us a record of their inspired insights into the future. I could profitably survey a number of the Messianic Psalms.
For instance, I could highlight Psalm 2, taking special note of the promise: “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, / And the very ends of the earth as Your possession” (Psa 2:8). Did Jesus ask for the nations from the father? Yes, he did as we see in his Great Commission: “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit’” (Matt 28:18–29).
Or I could focus on Psalm 22, the great psalm presenting us with the crucifixion of Christ. In that Psalm we hear the promise that results from the death of Christ: “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, / And all the families of the nations will worship before You” (Psa 22:27).
Amillennialism v. Postmillennialism Debate[image error]
(DVD by Gentry and Gaffin)
Formal, public debate between Dr. Richard Gaffin (Westminster Theological Seminary)
and Kenneth Gentry at the Van Til Conference in Maryland.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
Or I could turn to the most quoted and alluded to Old Testament verse in the New Testament. Psalm 110:1 declares: “The LORD says to my Lord: / ‘Sit at My right hand / Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’” At his ascension Jesus was seated at the right hand of God until his enemies are defeated.
But due to space constraints, I will briefly analyze one important Isaianic prophecy:
“Now it will come about that In the last days / The mountain of the house of the LORD / Will be established as the chief of the mountains, / And will be raised above the hills; / And all the nations will stream to it. / And many peoples will come and say, / ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, / To the house of the God of Jacob; / That He may teach us concerning His ways / And that we may walk in His paths. / For the law will go forth from Zion / And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. / And He will judge between the nations, / And will render decisions for many peoples; / And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. / Nation will not lift up sword against nation, / And never again will they learn war.” (Isa 2:2–4)
Isaiah’s Prophetic Time Frame
It is very important that we discern when Isaiah expects his prophecy to be fulfilled. It opens with these important words: “Now it will come about that / In the last days. . . .” But what are “the last days”? And when do they occur? We find the answer to our questions in the New Testament, the infallible interpreter of the Old Testament.
I believe that Scripture teaches that the “last days” begin in Christ’s earthly ministry in the first century and will continue until the “last day” resurrection” (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54) at the end of history (hence, it is the “last” day). We see evidence that the last days cover the full expanse of the current gospel age in several places in the New Testament. I will mention just three.
Peter explains the Pentecostal phenomena by declaring that they signal the coming of the last days: “this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: ‘and it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘that I will pour forth of my Spirit on all mankind’” (2:16–17a).
Paul looks back to Israel in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt and writes to the first-century Corinthian Christians: “these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Cor 10:11).
The writer of Hebrews follows suit when he comments on Jesus’ earthly ministry: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son” (Heb 1:1–2a). He is setting the current new covenant era over against the former days that lead up to them. And he defines the present as “the last days.”
Thus, I believe that we have been in the last days since Jesus’ first-century ministry and that we will continue living in the last days until the resurrection at “the last day” (John 6:39; 11:24). So now I would point out that Isaiah declares that his prophecy will occur “in the last days” (Isa 2:2a). That is, during the progress of the period known as “the last days.” This will not occur after the last days — in a new era millennium or the eternal state — but in the last days before they end of our current age.
Isaiah’s Prophetic Expectation
This great prophecy expects something glorious to occur during the period of the last days, in the Christian era: “Now it will come about that In the last days / The mountain of the house of the LORD / Will be established as the chief of the mountains, / And will be raised above the hills” (Isa 2:2a-b).
[image error]
Introduction to Postmillennial Eschatology (10 mp3 lectures)
Southern California Center for Christian Studies seminar.
Lecture presentations and some classroom interaction.
Very helpful definition, presentation, and defense of postmillennialism.
See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com
Before commenting on exactly what this expects, I would note up front that the prophecy is strongly emphasizing something. In the Hebrew the word for “established” here is kûn which is a strong term that indicates firmness. Syntactically it appears in the first position for emphasis. The statement effectively reads: “established firmly will be the mountain off the house of the Lord.”
Then Isaiah adds as a consequence of its firm establishment that “all the nations will stream to it. / And many peoples will come and say, / ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, / To the house of the God of Jacob; / That He may teach us concerning His ways / And that we may walk in His paths. / For the law will go forth from Zion / And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem” (Isa 2:2d–3).
But now the question arises: What will be established? To what is he referring when he mentions “the mountain of the ho use of the Lord,” “Zion,” and “Jerusalem”?
The “house of the Lord” refers to the temple of God. It is the place where Israel found the special presence of God. That which gives the “house” its significance is the indwelling presence of God’s Shekinah glory.
But when we read the New Testament (which initiates the “last days”) we discover the house of the Lord (the temple) becomes the body of Christ (the church). Because the final blood-letting is in Christ, redemptive-history no longer requires a temple for sacrifices (Heb 10:10). Thus, in Ephesians 2:21–22 we read: “in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” 1 Peter 2:5a agrees: “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house.” We see this imagery elsewhere, as well (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16).
That this exalted “house of the Lord” is the body of Christ, the church, is also confirmed in two other images Isaiah employs: Zion and Jerusalem. To the first-century Jewish Christians who are being tempted with returning to Judaism, the writer of Hebrews states: “you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb 12:22). What is more, like Isaiah’s firmly established mountain, Hebrews continues encouraging these Jewish converts: “therefore, since we receive [i.e., “are currently receiving,” paralambonontes, pres. act. ptcp.] a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude” (Heb 12:28). In other words, these central realities in the old covenant have now been transformed into spiritual realities that are accessed in Christ. And they partake of the same unshakeable quality to which Isaiah’s prophecy points.
Postmillennialism believes that Christ’s church (in all that it involves) will be exalted and become the chief influence in the world during the course of the last days.
Isaiah’s Prophetic Method
Postmillennialism also differs from premillennialism’s catastrophism in bringing in the full-blown kingdom all at once by miraculous divine intrusion (the visible return of Christ). Rather we discern in Isaiah 2 (and elsewhere) that the kingdom will ascend to dominance by evangelistic endeavor.
Isaiah relates the method of prophetic victory: “many peoples will come and say, / ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, / To the house of the God of Jacob’” (Isa 2:3b). This speaks of gospel victory among the nations, that is, of evangelistic success. Then following upon this evangelistic flow to the mountain of the Lord, we read of their being discipled: “that He may teach us concerning His ways / And that we may walk in His paths” (Isa 2:3c). All of this reflects the success of Christ’s Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matt 28:19–20a).
Isaiah’s Prophetic Result
Following upon the exaltation of the mountain of the house of the Lord (the Christian church) by the twin processes of evangelism and discipleship, we discover a glorious result:
“the law will go forth from Zion / And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. / And He will judge between the nations, / And will render decisions for many peoples; / And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. / Nation will not lift up sword against nation, / And never again will they learn war” (Isa 2:3d–4).
This is the postmillennial hope: proclamation of the gospel, conversions to its message, discipleship in its truths, and all leading to a transformed socio-political order rejoicing in international peace. And again: all of this is to transpire “in the last days.” Not after them. We are in the kingdom now. In fact, most in the audience of the Criswell Theological Review are non-Jews who have been swept into the kingdom of God by evangelistic methods. The kingdom has grown and it will continue to grow until the full, global victory is won.
In my next article I will continue this series with a study of Christ and the postmillennial hope.
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