PMW 2024-100 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Though we had a brief interruption in this series due to a special Christmas article, we are now back to considering the presence of postmillennialism the New Testament. We are now in the Book of Acts as we move beyond the Gospels themselves. Having shown the establishment, expectation, and exhortation to the postmillennial hope in the teachings of Jesus, we now look just briefly at the proclaiming of the kingdom by his apostles after his departure to heaven.

The Gospels fit perfectly in the coherent message of Scripture that begins in creation, develops through covenant, and is promised victory in the Psalms and Prophets. And all that we learn in the Gospels undergirds what we hear so frequently in the remainder of the New Testament: the proclamation of the “kingdom of God.” In Acts 3:15 Peter preaches Christ as the “prince of life.” In Acts 5:29 he asserts his obligation to disobey civil authority when it demands that he cease preaching Christ. His rationale is important: “He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior” (Acts 5:31). The word “prince” here may literally be translated “leader, ruler, prince.” He is exalted as prince or ruler.

That Christ has already become a king is evident in Acts 17:7. There non-believers attack the earliest Christians for proclaiming Christ as king. Just as the Jews accuse Jesus of claiming to be a king, so we read of the charge against his followers: “These all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.” Just as Jesus declares himself a king, so his followers do the same. Though their assailants distort the implications of their preaching Christ’s kingship, the fact remains: the early Christians did preach Christ as king.

THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN
by Milton S. Terry
This book is Terry’s preterist commentary on the Book of Revelation. It was originally the last half of his much larger work, Biblical Apocalyptics. It is deeply-exegetical, tightly-argued, and clearly-presented.

For more study materials: https://www.kennethgentry.com/

Paul claims of Christ that God “put all things under his feet” (Eph 1:22; 1 Cor 15:27). This includes even political rule over the nations, for God “highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth” (Phil 2:9–10).

This explains the scores of references to him as “Lord” throughout the New Testament. His full title as preached in the New Testament is: “Lord Jesus Christ.” In fact, “Christ is Lord” evidently becomes a creedal statement of sorts in the apostolic era.

Paul speaks to the Colossians about the kingdom: “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col 1:12, 13). He clearly considers this transferring of the Colossian Christians to the kingdom as a past act (nearly 2,000 years ago now), not a future prospect. Paul uses aorist (past) tense verbs when he speaks of their being “delivered” and “transferred”; he does the same in 1 Thessalonians 2:12. He also speaks of his ministry “for the kingdom of God” (Col 4:11).

John follows suit in Revelation 1:6 and 9, declaring God “has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father” and noting “I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus.” In these verses John speaks of first-century Christians (Rev 1:4, 11; 2–3) as already “made” (aorist tense) to be “a kingdom” (literally). In fact, John is already a fellow with them in the “kingdom” (Rev 1:9).

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. Strong presentation and rebuttal to the Framework Hypothesis, while demonstrating and defending the Six-day Creation interpretation.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

CONCLUSION

As I conclude this study of postmillennialism in the Gospels and Acts, we have discovered in that we continue to detect the vibrant optimism of the eschatological hope of Scripture. When Christ appears on the scene he declares: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Later in his ministry he asserts his authority, announcing: “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt 12:28). His kingdom is not to wait thousands of years; he comes as King in the first century.

Christ’s coming not only establishes the kingdom but initiates its growth to victory through time, as it dynamically grows like a mustard seed to a great plant dominating the garden (Matt 13:31–32). Its growth is secured by God’s grant of “all authority” to Christ and his commissioning of his disciples to “make disciples of all the nations” (Matt 28:20). Truly, Jesus is Lord and rules over his conquering kingdom now.