Postmillennial Worldview

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. Continue reading →

PMW 2024-098 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

Having well-introduced the presence of the postmillennial hope in Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels, we now come to his formally commissioning his disciples for world-wide dominion. Christianity is not to end up like the Essenes in Qumran: a brief blip in religious history destined to quickly fade away. Christ is establishing his kingdom for the long run, as we can see in the Great Commission

As a king ruling over a kingdom destined to grow, the Lord directs his servants to promote that growth. And as their sovereign, he not only commands their labor but promises his presence with them to accomplish his goal. He is a king with a mission.

Christ’s post-resurrection, pre-ascension Great Commission clearly declares his enthronement and his mission to world conquest. We must hear and follow the sovereign declaration of the risen Lord.

“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, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” (Matt 28:18–20)

Continue reading →

PMW 2024-097 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

THE APPROACHING OF THE KINGDOM

In the Gospels we discover Christ being introduced to Israel and the world through the ministry of John Baptist (Luke 1:76). John himself even fulfills prophecy by being the Messiah’s forerunner (Isa 40:3; Matt 3:3). He prepares the way for Jesus by preaching: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2). And Jesus picks up on this theme as he begins his own ministry in Mark 1:14–15:

“And after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.’”

Let’s consider three crucial factors flowing out of this important pronouncement.

First, Jesus declares “the time” has arrived. What is “the time” to which he refers? It surely speaks of the prophetically-anticipated time, the time of the coming of David’s greater Son to establish his kingdom. We may surmise this in that he immediately adds: “the kingdom of God is at hand.” After all, the Father sent Christ into the world in “the fullness of time” (Gal 4:4; Eph 1:10), to initiate the “favorable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:16–21). This favorable year of the Lord is also called “the acceptable time . . . the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). It is the very day righteous men and angels in the old covenant long desired to see (Matt 13:17; Luke 2:28–30; 10:24; John 8:56; Heb 11:13, 39–40; 2 Pet 1:10–11). Continue reading →