Try The Spirits

1 John 4:1

 

James E. Farley

Dispensational Premillennialism teaches that real peace will come to this world when Christ returns and finally sits upon the throne of David in Jerusalem beginning His historic kingdom on earth for a thousand years.

This is actually what some teach. Hal Lindsey wrote, "Peace is available to the individual today as he invites Christ into his heart and allows Him to reign upon the throne of his life. But the Bible teaches that lasting peace will come to the world only after Christ returns and sits upon the throne of David in Jerusalem and establishes His historic kingdom on earth for a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4-6). (The Late Great Planet Earth, chapter 13, "The Main Event," page 159, Bantam Book, published by arrangement with Zondervan Publishing House, 1973).

Let us take a minute to carefully notice some things about Lindsey's statement. First of all, he uses the phrase "...the Bible teaches...," and, then, gives a passage at the end of his statement, "(Revelation 20:4-6)." This surely means that Lindsey wants us to turn our Bibles to that passage and read about lasting peace coming to this world. He wants us to go there and read from the Bible about Christ returning. According to Mr. Lindsey, we should be able to go to Revelation 20:4-6 and read something about Jesus sitting upon David's throne in Jerusalem. Furthermore, he wants us to believe that we can go to this place in the Bible and read about Christ's historical one thousand year reign upon the earth.

Do me a favor right now. Turn to Revelation 20:4-6 and read it. You can do that in a matter of seconds. In fact, read it two or three times. Take a few minutes to put it in context and read it, and then meditate upon it for a few more minutes. Do that before you read another word from this article.

OK, you have that done. You have now read the passage and thought about it for a few minutes. May I ask you if you read anything there about lasting peace coming to this world? Did you read about Christ coming back to the earth? Was there any mention there about David's throne? Was the city of Jerusalem even mentioned in Revelation 20:4-6? Did you read anything at all about a "historical kingdom" that literally lasts for one thousand years?

My friends, Hal Lindsey is an intelligent man. He holds college and university degrees. He preaches widely before crowds of people and has his own television program. Therefore, I know something about Mr. Lindsey. I know he can read, and read very well. Hal Lindsey knows very well what Revelation 20:4-6 says and what it does not say. With all of this in mind, do you think Mr. Lindsey made a mistake here? Or ... do you think that this is an intentional misuse of the Scripture to cause people to believe a lie?

If I told you "The Bible says that a person must repent and be baptized in order to obtain the remission of sins" and, then, listed Acts 2:38, you should be able to turn your Bible to Acts 2:38 and read about repentance, about baptism, and about the remission of sins. You can, in fact, do just that. Well, Mr. Hal Lindsey said that Revelation 20:4-6 is where you can go to learn about lasting peace coming to the world when Jesus comes back to this earth and sits on David's throne, in Jerusalem, to reign for one thousand years. You have read that passage, and you have clearly seen that no such things are even mentioned there. Mr. Hal Lindsey is a false teacher, and the truth is not in him! "Let God be true, but every man a liar." Romans 3:4. Premillennialism is a system that is based upon such lies! -P.O. Box 285, Crum, WV 25669.

 

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