TEXTBOOK: (1) Thiessen, Henry (Revised by Doerksen), LECTURES IN SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY – Grand Rapids – William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1989, (2) Ryrie, Charles C., BASIC THEOLOGY – Victor Books, 1986

COURSE OBJECTIVE: This course is a systematic study of end time events which are revealed in Scripture. It includes things such as the second coming of Christ, the rapture of the church, the millennial kingdom of Christ, the resurrections, judgments, and final state of Satan.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

(1) Read chapters 39-47 of Thiessen’s book for understanding. Mark listings, Scriptures, and information you might wish to quickly locate for completing the following requirements for this course.

(2) Select another conservative theology book and read what the author teaches about the subjects shown above under “Course Objective.” Document what you read on the “Required Supplemental Reading Report.

(3) Prepare a detailed outline (at least three or four full pages for each chapter of Thiessen) in such a way that it can be used for teaching a series of lessons about these theological subjects to your college class, church congregation, staff members, or a Sunday school class.

(4) From each of the above chapters, prepare and show the answers to at least eight (8) questions (true or false, fill in the blank, multiple choice or listings of important facts) which you feel could be an appropriate final exam if you were actually developing this course for a college or Christian school. Indicate the page number where you found each question and its answer, and place these questions and answers after your reading report.

FORWARD ALL CORRESPONDENCE TO

Louisiana Baptist University

6301 Westport Ave.

Shreveport, LA 71129

Supplemental Reading Report - Eschatology

The selected conservative theology books listed below were read and considered in light of what Thiessen covered on the course objectives (1. The second coming of Christ, 2. The rapture of the church, 3. The millennial kingdom of Christ, 4. The resurrections, 5. The judgments, and 6. The final state of Satan.)

Cambron, Mark G., “Bible Doctrines, Beliefs That Matter”, 1954, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Erickson, Millard J., “Christian Theology”, 1985, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI

Ryrie, Charles C., “Basic Theology”, 1981, Victor Books, Wheaton, Illinois

Schofield, C. I., “Prophecy Made Plain”, Photolithoprinted by Grand Rapids Book Manufacturers, Grand Rapids, MI, 1967

Strong, August Hopkins, D. D., LL. D., “:Systematic Theology (Volume III)”, by Philadelphia: The Judson Press, 1907

Specific differences from Thiessen's work are analyzed according to the Objectives below:

Objective 1. The second coming of Christ; Objective 2. The rapture of the church; Objective 3. The millennial kingdom of Christ; Objective 4. The resurrections; Objective 5. The judgments; Objective 6. The final state of Satan.;

The following sections were read and used to investigate Thiessen's claims on this objective.

Strong pgs 1003 – 1056 Eschatology

Strong's eschatology is not so brazen nor defined as Thiessen's. Although Augustus H. Strong was clearly a reformed Baptist, holding loyalty to the concept that God choose and created most souls for their eternal destruction in hell fire, he did not court the notion of the Reformed Theologians that there was no literal millennial reign of Christ. Instead Strong blandly lays out the facts that Christ's First Advent was literally fulfilled and so Christ's Second Advent will be just as literally fulfilled, exactly as it is spelled out. He initiates the study with the analogy “While Scripture represents great events in history ... they also declare that these partial and typical comings shall be concluded by a final, triumphant return of Christ, to punish the wicked and to complete the salvation of his people. “ pg 1004 Vol III

While Thiessen is breaking out of the heart of Reformed Augustinian Theology, and must needs untangle himself from all the ugly tentacles of their Millennial denying replacement theology, Augustus is not so encumbered and simply states the facts. The Baptist backgrounds of Strong, absent from Thiessen, cause him to acknowledge that “The fact that every age since Christ ascended has had its Chiliasts and Second Adventists ...” Whereas Thiessen spends much blinded effort to devise that it as a doctrine was lost for 1300 years. In the area of Eschatology Strong has written more of a Bible Doctrine coverage than he did a Systematic Theology which undertakes to develop and defend a system of theology. Bravo Augustus Strong. While Thiessen's perspective is less of a Bible Doctrine treatment, it is tearing from an aged Systematic Theology with a new reliance on the literalness of the Revelation of God. There is room for both of these books on my theology book shelf.

The following sections were read and used to investigate Thiessen's claims on this objective.

Cambron pgs 250-288 Eschatology

The following outline of Cambron's consideration of this subject is repeated here for completeness.

Physical Death
1. Death Is Not a Cesation of Being
2. . Death Is Not Soul Sleep
3. Death Means Separation.
The Bodily Resurrection
1. The Fact of Resurrection.
2. The Nature of the Resurrection.
3. The Time of Resurrection.
The Intermediate State.
1. Before the Cross.
2. At the Time of the Cross.
3. After the Cross.
The Second Coming of Christ.
1. The Importance of the Doctrine
2. The meaning of the Second Coming.
3. The Events of the Second Coming.
The Antichrist.
1. His Person
2. His Titles.
3. His Forerunners.
4. His Work.
5. His Career.
6. His Time/
7. His Appearance.
8. His End.
The Tribulation.
1. The Tribulation of the Body of Christ.
2. The Tribulation of Israel.
3. The Great Tribulation
The Battle of Armageddon.
1. What it is not.
2. What it is.
The Millennium
1. The Fact of the Millennium
2. The Description of the Millennium.
3. The Types of the Millennium.
4. The Conditions During the Millennium.
The Judgments
1. Judgment of the Christians.
2. Judgment of the Nations.
3. Judgment at the Great White Throne.
After The Millennium
1. Satan Loosed.
2. Nations Gathered.
3. Army Destroyed.
4. Satan Doomed.
The Future of the Wicked.
1. The Scriptural Teaching.
2. The Terms Used.
3. The Theories Proposed.
Heaven
1. First Heaven.
2. Second Heaven.
3. Third Heaven.

As can be seen from this outline Cambron just spells out here what is the literal Scriptural interpretation of eschatology. While Cambron holds an exceptional understanding and belief of dispensational theology and literal renderings of the inerrant infallible Scriptures, , Thiessen, coming from the non-dispensational Reformed Augustinian standpoint, has many struggles with the literal interpretation with which he must work through. Cambron also consistently uses the inerrant infallible Scripture as his primary source, while Thiessen rarely does, preferring the old philosophical sources and the Catholic Church Fathers for his initial basis. So Thiessen's eschatology makes for a much more diversified study, but Cambron is still the rock on which to build ones eschatology.

The following sections were read and used to investigate Thiessen's claims on this objective.

Erickson pgs 1149-1241 The Last Things.

Erickson presents a systematic approach to eschatology which ends up quite apathetic towards Scripture, either literal or allegorical! “It will be helpful to note a system which is used to classify the various interpretations of prophetic or apocalyptic material in Scripture. While it is most often utilized as a means of classifying interpretations of the Book of Revelation or, more generally , all such prophetic literature, the system can also be applied to distinguish views of eschatology:...” I can't believe I paid money for this thick paltering book. While Thiessen shows great grit in tearing from the tentacles of Reformed Augustinian Eschatology, Erickson tiptoes through the subject trying to present all sides without evidencing one of his own. He tries to distinguish between individual eschatology and cosmic eschatology, he tries not to offend Roman Catholic Doctrine and even soft shoes their teaching about purgatory (pg 1178). Thiessen is much preferred to this kind of treatment. Treatment which brings to mind an infamous clause for Erickson's work ... “Don't waste your time not reading this work.”

Part VIII ESCHATOLOGY Question and Answer Section

Q&A - Chapter XXXIX The Second Coming of Christ: Importance Of The Doctrine And Nature Of His Coming –441 – 450 (10pgs)

Fill-In and Short Answer Test: Please put short answers in complete sentences. pg 275-282 (r 199-205)

1. How does Thiessen deny and even oppose the perpetuity of Baptist Doctrine in this chapter?

Ans pg441, In his introduction Thiessen infers this doctrine was “set aside” from the 3^rd century to the 20^th! Thiessen denies, even opposes, the perpetuity of Baptist Doctrine with this statement “”It is only during the last sixty-five years that this doctrine has been restored to the Church, although there is still much indifference and opposition to it.” According to Roy Mason, and John T. Christian there has been a perpetuity of sound Bible doctrine throughout the Roman Catholic dark ages and the Protestant Reformers enlightening. Baptist's never set aside this “blessed hope.” What Thiessen likely meant to say was that Protestant's have just opened their eyes to the doctrine in the last sixty-five years! Baptists are not protestants and never set aside this important doctrine.

2. What does Thiessen list as reason why he and other protestants have been reluctant to recognize this clear Bible doctrine?

Ans pg 441 Thiessen lists causes of indifference and considerable opposition of this Doctrine as !) The setting of dates brings the whole doctrine into disrepute, 2) Fanciful and UnScriptural doctrines give a bad reputation (doctrines such as Second probationism, the annihilation of the finally impenitent, the restitution of all things, other heresies about the tribulation, the destruction of the temple, etc.) 3) Preconceived notions and prejudices (notions like Spiritualizing Prophecies by so many for so long, Traditional teachings, symbols, literature, Grammatico-historical (literal) renderings to often unbelievable ) 4) The unregenerate heart, and scoffers

3. What are five reasons given for the importance of this doctrine?

Ans pg 442-444 Five reasons for the importance of the doctrine of the second coming of Christ are A. The Prominence in the Scripture, B. It is a Key to the Scriptures, C. It is the Hope of the Church, D. It is the Incentive to Biblical Christianity, E. It has a Marked Effect on Our Service

4. How is the doctrine of the second coming of Christ a key to the Scriptures which Catholics and Protestants discarded?

Ans pg 442 Three reasons that the doctrine of the second coming of Christ is key to understanding all Scripture is this doctrine is, 1) Key to key doctrines 2) Key to key promises of Scripture and 3.The ordinances loose their full meaning without the 2nd advent.

5. What president was set by the Catholic purging of this doctrine?

Ans pg 441 What Thiessen calls 'spiritual interpretation of these prophecies' was in actuality the allegorical methods used by the Roman Catholic Church to dismiss all types of Biblical doctrine, and the Reformers readily included this arsenal of error in their reformed theology, still relying on it heavily today.

6. What seven doctrines are most effected by denial of this one doctrine?

Ans pg 443 Seven key doctrines effected by the Catholic and Protestant denial of the doctrine of the second coming of Christ are: a) The Doctrine that Christ is Prophet, Priest and King, b) Salvation is past present and future., c) The doctrine of two resurrections (John's Teaching, as Thiessen calls it.), d) The Davidic Covenant remains inexplicable without the Second coming., e) The prophecy of the restoration of nature and the animal world requires it., f) The bruising of Satan's head requires it., g) Many types in Scripture loose their power with out the 2nd advent

7. What are 5 'types' that loose their typology with the denial of the second coming of Christ?

Ans pg Typologies loose their meaning when the literal second coming of Christ is denied by Catholics and reformation theologians. Typologies such as (1) Noah and Lot become just history if not typologies (2) Great events in Abraham's life do the same, where as He Issac and Rebecca so strongly typify Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (3) So so for Joseph, Asenath, and Joseph's two different relationships to his brethren (4) So so for Moses, Zipporah, and his tow contacts with his brethren. (5) We may mention also the Sabbath, which loses its main typical significance unless we recognize the fact that it points forward to a “Sabbath-keeping” during Millennium.

8. What key promises are effected by the denial of the literal second coming of Christ?

Ans pg 444 The key promises effected by the Catholic and Protestant reformers denial of the literal second coming of Christ are: a) Key to promises of Psalms 2, 22, 24, 45, 72, 89, 110, b) Peter (i.e. GOD!!!) declares all the holy prophets speak of “times of restitution” Acts 3:19-24, c) We are Warned to be ready , d) We are comforted by the fact, e) We are admonished to console the bereaved by the truth, f) We are asked to bear oppression because of His return, g) We are exhorted to retain our confidence because SHORTLY he will return, h) We are assured his return will bring blessings and rewards, i) We loose these precious incentives to godliness if we reject the truth of the Lord's return.

9. What dozen teachings of Scripture outline the nature of His Coming?

Ans pg446 1.Jesus declared that he would return personally John 14:3, 21:20-23; 2. He would return suddenly Matt 24:25-28; 3. He would return in the glory of His Father with His angels Matt 16:27, 19:28, 25:31-46; 4. He would return triumphantly Luke 19:11-27; 5.The “men in white” (angels at his ascension) said he would come back; ( a) personally Acts 1:11; b) bodily; c) visibly; d) suddenly) 6.Peter testifies He will come ( a)Personally Acts 3:19-21, 2Pet 3:3-4; b)Unexpectedly 2Pet 3:8-10); 7.Paul testifies that He will come: ( a) Personally 1Thes 4:16-17; b) suddenly 1COr 15:51,52; c) In glory and accompanied by the angels Tit 2:13, 2Thes 1:7-10); 8.The Epistle to the Hebrews testifies that He will come: ( a)personally 9:28; b)speedily 10:37; 9.James testifies he will come back personally 5:7-8); 10.John testifies that He will come ( a)Personally 1John 2:28, 3:2,3, b)Suddenly Rev 22:12 ; c)Publicly Rev 1:7); 11.Jude cites Enoch that He will come back publicly 1:14-15; 12. The Scriptural evidence is overwhelmingly clear!

10. List five Erroneous Interpretations concerning his second coming.

Ans pg 446-447 Five Erroneous Interpretations concerning His second coming are: 1. The balderdash that His coming was just the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, 2. The balderdash that his coming was just at the conversion of Saul, 3. The balderdash that his coming was at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, 4. The balderdash that His coming only speaks of believers death (Matthew Henry), 5. The balderdash that His coming is when we pray Thy Kingdom Come, and call for a Conversion of the World!

Q&A - Chapter XL – The Second Coming of Christ: The Purpose Of His Coming Into The Air –451 – 459 (9pgs)

Fill-In and Short Answer Test: Please put short answers in complete sentences. pg 275-282 (r 199-205)

1. What are the three purposes for Christ's coming into the air?

Ans pg Three purposes for Christ's coming into the air are: 1) To Receive His Own 2) To Judge and Reward , and 3) To Remove the Hinderer

2. What are five Scripture references expressing that Christ would receive his own?

Ans pg Five Scripture references expressing that Christ would receive his own are: 1) John 14:3, “Where I am, there ye may be also”; 2) currently absent from his presence while in this body, 2Cor 5:6; 3) at resurrection we shall “ever be with the Lord” 1Thes 4:17; 4) flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. 1Cor 15:50; 5) Changes must take place before he can receive us 1Cor 15:53-54

3. List the Prerequisites for Christ Coming into the air.

Ans pg 452 The Prerequisites for Christ Coming in the air are: 1) Our Current Situation is unacceptable because we are a) Present with Him in spirit, b) Present with Him In conscience, c) OR at home in the body 2Co 5:8 , d) Goal of redemption is a redeemed body and soul, e) Conformed to His body Phil 3:20 ; 2) The dead in Christ must be raised, and 3) The ones Living and Believing in Christ must be changed.

4. What are Scripture references for three goals of resurrection?

Ans pg 453 Scripture references for three goals of resurrection are: (1) Ro 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (2) Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (3) Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

5. Give four Scriptures developing that the dead in Christ must be raised.

Ans pg 452 Four Scriptures developing that the dead in Christ must be raised are: 1) the dead in Christ shall be raised, 1Thes 4:16; 2) The Resurrection and the Life will resurrect John 11:25-26; 3) The corruptible will put on incorruption, 1Cor 15:53; 4) There is NO GENERAL RESURRECTION! ..John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation., ...Dan 12:2 refers to 2 resurrections Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.... Dead in Christ of 1Thes 4:16 includes all the saints that have ever lived. … but cannot include those NOT in Christ.

6. Give two OT illustrations of the resurrection:

Ans Pg 454 Two OT illustrations of the resurrection are: 1) Illustrated in Enoch Ge 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. And 2) Illustrated in Elijah: 2Ki 2:11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

7. Will all the saved be raptured? Thiessen somewhat mucks up the answer with his ill conceived idea of a Universal Catholic Church, but gives what three points in support?

Ans pg 455 Thiessen mucks up the proof that all the saved will be raptured with his ill conceived idea of a Universal Catholic Church but gives these three points: 1) The Universal Church is a Temple, would part of the Temple be left behind? 1Co 3:16, 2Co 6:16, Eph 2:20, 1Pe 2:5; 2) The Universal Church is a Bride, would part of the Bride be left behind? 2Co 11:2, Eph 5:24, Re 19:6; 3) The Universal Church is Christ's Body, would part of His Body be left behind? 1Co 12:12, Eph 1:22-23, Eph 4:12, Eph 5:29, Col 1:18, Col 1:24, Col 2:19 Note that we must repeat the lesson from TH503 here: The word ecclesia is used in 4 ways, #1 a local assembly, “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth ...”; #2 local assemblies, “unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and peace ...”; #3 the body of living believers unnumbered “beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it ...”; and #4 the complete body of Christ, “Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it ...”; but NEVER as a catholic body assembled and organized to be head over any other part of the body!

8. What simple clarification about a bride clears up much of Thiessen's miss-argument, and the Baptist Briders missed logic?

Ans pg 455-456 A simple clarification that clears up much of Thiessen's miss-argument, and the Baptist Briders missed logic, is that a bride is only a bride on one day, the day she is united with the groom, prior she is the pure chaste virgin, after she is the wife.

9. What two judgments are associated with the rapture?

Ans pg 456-457 The two judgments associated with the rapture are: The Believer's Judgment, and The Believers' Reward pg457

10. What will be rewarded?

Ans Pg 457 The Believers' Reward will be a reward , 1) as a steward of the mysteries 1Cor 4:1-5 2) reward to the faithful 1COr 4:2, 3) reward for used talents, pounds and opportunities Matt 25, 20, Luke 19 4) As trustees of material possessions 5) Matt 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, … 6) Sowing and Reaping Gal 6:7, 7) As one responsible for the souls of others, 8) As those who care for needy, 9) As sufferers in an evil world, and 10) rewarded for endurance

Q&A - Chapter XLI – The Second Coming of Christ: The Purpose Of His Coming To Earth And The Period Between The Rapture And The Revelation –460 – 468 (9pgs)

Fill-In and Short Answer Test: Please put short answers in complete sentences. pg 275-282 (r 199-205)

1. What are the purposes of his coming to earth in the second phase of his second coming.

Ans pg 461 The purposes of his coming to earth in the second phase of his second coming is .A. To Reveal Himself and His Own; B. To Judge the Beast, the False Prophet, and Their Armies; C. To Bind Satan; D. To Save Israel; E. To Judge the Nations; F. To deliver and Bless Creation;

2. What dozen Scripture verses are given to shew his coming to earth will reveal Christ and his own?

Ans pg 462 The dozen Scripture verses given to shew his coming to earth will reveal Christ and his own are: 1. Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

2. Zech 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

3. Zec 14:5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

4. Joe 3:11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.

5. Mt 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

6. Mt 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

7. Mt 25:31 ¶ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

8. Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

9. 1Th 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

10. Jude 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

11. 1Jo 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

12. Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

3. For a Reformed Theologian to reject his 'replacement theology' and put in print that God will have a new covenant with Israel is astounding. Give the 7 Scripture references that prompted Thiessen to do this astounding act.

Ans pg 462 When a Reformed Theologian rejects his 'replacement theology' and puts in print that God will have a new covenant with Israel, he could use these 7 Scripture references to bolster this astounding act.: a) Zech 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness

b) Zech 13:2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. ...6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

c) Isa 66:8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.

d) Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

e) Heb 8:8-12 8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

(These promises cannot mean that Israel will gradually be gathered into the Church as the Roman Catholics believe, thinking that They the true Church are the new Israel.)

f) Thiessen still thinks that the fullness of the Gentiles (Rom 11:25) is “i.e. until the Church is completed.” rather than the 'heathening of the Gentiles'.

g) Every Israelite will not be saved, but Israel will be saved, i.e. Those Israelites left after the purging, Ezek 20:37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: 38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

4. For the Period Between the Rapture and the Revelation, what is the Duration of the Period and how is Thiessen timid about it?

Ans pg 462 The period between the rapture and the revelation is the 70th week of Daniel ergo 7 years. Thiessen will not commit here, Catholics and ergo protestants teach we are presently in the tribulation period, and the destruction of the temple in 70 AD having something to do with these things. Thiessen states it “To many expositors it seems perfectly clear that the seventieth week is still future and that it is the Tribulation Period.” ,... evidently not so for Thiessen! However, clearly, the 7 year Tribulation is divided in half, with “a time, times and a half a time”, “42 months” , and 1260 days (Dan 7:25; 12:7; Rev 12:14, … Rev 11:2; 13:5, … Rev 11:3, 12:6, Dan 12:11, 12) It is surely 7 years long and does not start until after the rapture.

5. What are 4 political aspects of this 7 year tribulation period?

Ans Pg 465 Four political aspects of this 7 year tribulation period are 1) It is the Times of the Gentiles, Dan 2:31-43. :Rev 21:24 2) There are Ten cooperating kings, 3) It has Four Beasts Dan 7 and 4) it is Dominated by the woman on the beast

6. What are two 'Israelitish' aspects to this period?

Ans pg 466 Two 'Israelitish' aspects to this period are 1) God has not cast His people away, there is a remnant and 2) In unbelief Israel will return to the Promised Land (which Thiessen called “Palestine” a Muslim concept, for shame.)

7. What three considerations does Thiessen give to what he calls 'the Chief Actor' of this Period?

Ans pg 468 The three considerations Thiessen gives to what he calls 'the Chief Actor' of this Period are A. Consider the Person and Work of Satan … again B. There is a Revival of the Roman Empire , and C. Satan gives his Power, throne and great authority to the beast Rev 13:2- 4.

8. Although Thiessen considers the Chief Actor of this period he misses opportunity to address the chief actors called out in Scripture, who are they.

Ans pg 468 Not, Although Thiessen considers the Chief Actor of this period he misses opportunity to address the chief actors called out in Scripture. First there is a verse given in this context that reveals much about Satan Revelation 20:2 says “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, sets up , who are they.” Second he does not expose the false mimicking trinity set up by Satan, his vicar trinity, as it were, with the false spirit that drives them as presented clearly in Revelation 16:13 “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.” Thirdly Thiessen never addresses the personages and chief actors revealed by God himself in Revelation chapter 12 and the war fought in heaven in the dead center middle of the tribulation, given, coincidentally?, in the dead center middle of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, in the 202^nd verse of the 404^th total.

Q&A - Chapter XLII – The Time Of His Coming: Premillennial –469 – 474 (6pgs)

Fill-In and Short Answer Test: Please put short answers in complete sentences. pg 275-282 (r 199-205)

1. When a Reformed Theologian brings themselves to even address the questions Thiessen addresses in this chapter it is a wonder; how does he word these questions and why is it a wonder?

Ans pg 469 It is a wonder when a Reformed Theologian, such as Thiessen, asks the questions “Will He come before the Millennium?” and “Will He come before the Tribulation?” because just acknowledging that there is a Millennial Reign of Christ, and that there is a Seven Year Period of Tribulation is a massive jump from their eschatology's allegorical hermeneutic to a literal one; such a jump is rare and could be so systematic that one could eventually even get his soteriology that enlightened by Scripture!

2. What three Scriptures validate that the rapture will occur at an unknown time?

Ans pg 470 Three specific Scriptures that indicate that the timing of the rapture is unknown are: A. Mark 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father., B. Acts 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. C. Matt 16:3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

3. What Scriptures indicate that believers should know the times, general, not particular?

Ans pg 471 The Scriptures that indicate that believers should know the times, general but not particular are A. Matt 24:32 ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. B. 1Chron 12:32 And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment. C. 1Thes 5:1-5 ¶ But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

4. What are five references which show the rapture to be imminent?

Ans pg 472 Five Scripture references that show the rapture to be imminent are: A. Mt 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. B. Mt 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. C. Mr 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. D. Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; E. 1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

5. Given that His second coming is divided into two phases, how are the signs of his coming more germane to the second phase?

Ans pg 473 Given that His second coming is divided into two phases, the signs of his coming more germane to the second phase because : A. Latin mille and annus meaning 1,000 years

B. Augustin's spiritualizing it away cannot work, Count them 6 times in Rev 20:2-7 C. The fact of Christ reign on earth is rampant in the OT, the duration in the NT D. The emphasis on the OBVIOUS premillennial return of Christ BEFORE he sits on the Throne of David is important because ( Catholics taught Protestants that their Vicar of Christ was setting there and this is tribulation period and the millennial reign we are presently living in. AND Protestants consider the Rapture and 2 phased coming of Christ only a contrived doctrine of recent times.)

6. Give three notable considerations of the early Church which demonstrate that they believed what the apostles taught about the 2^nd coming and the premillennial return of Christ.

Ans pg 472 Three notable considerations of the early Church which demonstrate that they believed what the apostles taught about the 2nd coming and the pre-millennial return of Christ are: . A. Papias who died 165 AD “There will be a millennium after the resurrection of the dead, when the personal reign of Christ will be established on this earth.” B. Polycarp spoke of our prospect of reigning with Christ and of the fact that the saints will judge the world C. Fisher's History of the Christian Church pp 84f admits that during the period 100-313AD, “The belief in a millennial kingdom on earth, to follow the second advent of Christ, was widely diffused, … This millennial or shiliastic (Greek) belief is found in Justin, Irenaeus, and Tertullian. The Alexandrians opposed it. They contributed to the overthrow of the tenet, which was also hastened by the unpopularity of Montanism, in which it was prominent article of belief. (Note that the Alexandrians gave Thiessen the Bible that he prefers over the KJV)

7. Give six considerable confusions of the 'Catholic Church Fathers' about the millennial reign and more particularly about the rapture of the Church.

Ans pg 472 Six considerable confusions of the 'Catholic Church Fathers' about the millennial reign and more particularly about the rapture of the Church are: A. It was the Allegorizing of Origen and his followers that made it possible to “condemn Chiliasm (Greek, Latin Millennialism) without disputing the inspiration of the Revelation.” says Horatius Bonar quoted by Silver Thiessen's pg 470 (.Origen was followed by Jerome, who gave the Latin Vulgate AND .Origen was followed by Augustine, who gave us Catholicism, ) B. In the days of Irenaeus “The expectations … generally prevailed of the personal reign of our Lord on earth for a thousand years.” C. The doubts concerning the Revelation “seem to have arisen entirely from unwillingness to accept the doctrine of a future reign of our Lord on this earth.” D. Dionysius of Alexandria seems to be the first to deny the Apostolic authorship of Revelation because of his opposition to the doctrine of the Millennium, though he claims some before him had rejected it. (Silver, Op cit. , Ibid p.231, ?? J.F. Silver, The Lord's Return, New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1914) (Thiessen pp 470) E. Silver quotes Taylor “The Council of Rome under Pope Damasus, in 373, formally denounced Chiliasm (Millennial Reign of Christ) Op cit. Pg 85 F .“Baronius, a Roman Catholic historian of the 16th century, says that after Rome's formal denunciation of Chiliasm the doctrine was derided with 'hisses and laughter,' and being 'under the ban' was entirely extirpated.” Ibid, pp 85,91

8 During the reformation belief in the rapture and the millennial reign of Christ was found exclusively in the Baptist predecessors (called Ana-baptist, Waldensians Montanists, Paulicians etc.), what did reformers do?

Ans pg 475 During the reformation belief in the rapture and the millennial reign of Christ was found exclusively in the Baptist predecessors (called Ana-baptist, Waldensians Montanists, Paulicians etc.); the reformers were new with the ideas in that : A. Except among the Waldensiannn, Henricians, Cathari, and some other small bodiestheir light (Millennial Reign of Christ) was then extinguished. Ibid,p. 92 B. Among Reformers … Haldeman quotes Luther, Melanchthon, Calvin, and Knoz as believing in the speedy return of Christ. I.M. Haldeman, History of the Doctrine of Our Lord's Return (Philadelphia: Philadelphia School of the Bible, n.d.) pp. 23F C. In the last of the 17th and first part of the 18th centuries Daniel Whitby, and Arian called the father of modern post-millennialism, restored the methods of Origen, but called it a “new hypothesis”. He taught that all the promises of the kingdom should be taken in a spiritual and allegorical sense. Ibid p. 26 D. “Vitringa, Faber, and Brown are the ablest followers of Whitby.” Silver, Op. Cit., p. 39 E. The return to the early Church position (from Catholicism to Biblicalism) marked by “Charles Wesley, Issac Watts, Bengel, Lange, Godet, Ellicott, Trench, Alford, and The Bonar Brothers, and most of the outstanding evangelists of the past and present generations. F. During the last 60 years there has been a renewed emphasis upon this “blessed hope.”

9. What are some proofs of the doctrine of the rapture and the two phases of his coming.

Ans pg Some proofs of the doctrine of the rapture and the two phases of his coming are: A. The Manner and Time of the Setting up of the Kingdom B. The Blessings That are Associated with This Future Kingdom C. The Distinction Between Receiving the Kingdom and Inaugurating it... Christ had to return to heaven to receive the kingdom from the Father Dan 7

D. The Promise to the Apostles of Rulership over the Twelve Tribes of Israel E. The Promise to Believers That They Shall Reign With Christ ( 1.It is impossible to show that saints 'reign with Christ' in any practical sense today 2.The reigning with Christ is to last 1000 year!) F. The Conditions That are Predicted as Existing Just Prior to His Return (1. Scriptures show the exact opposite of Catholicism's idea that the world will be converted prior to His return. 2. Latter times, Faith on the Earth?, seducing spirits etc.) G. The Order of Events Rev 19 in perfect harmony with Psalms 2

10 What are the events that require the two phases of the second coming of Christ.

Ans pg The list events that require the two phases of the second coming of Christ are; 1 .Coming FOR his Saints 2. Coming WITH his Saints 3. Battle of Armageddon 4. Binding of Satan 5. Loosing of Satan afterward

Q&A - Chapter XLIII – The Time Of His Coming: Pr-Tribulational –475 – 486 (12pgs)

Fill-In and Short Answer Test: Please put short answers in complete sentences. pg 275-282 (r 199-205)

1. Although the Bible is clear that the Church will pass through NO PART of the period of tribulation what are some ill-conceived notions of those who do not read their Bible literally?

Ans pg 475 Although the Bible is clear that the Church will pass through NO PART of the period of tribulation, some ill-conceived notions of those who do not read their Bible literally are: A. The Church will pass through the period of tribulation B. The Church will pass through the first half of the period of tribulation C. The UNSPIRITUAL part of the Church will pass through the tribulation and the MATURE and SPIRITFILLED part will be caught up before the period of tribulation

2. Thiessen's sources make a Bible believer nervous, what is his primary source listed for this argument.

Ans That Thiessen (if this is his work) would introduce this subject with an unBiblical primary source is somehow not surprising. But REALLY the Shepherd of Hermas??¹ see note below!

3. Thiessen's sources make a Bible believer nervous, what is his secondary source listed for this argument.

Ans pg A.Thiessen's secondary source is Irenaeus1 wherein

1.“He seems to hold that the Church will be caught up during the Tribulation “ is read into his quote

2.Irenaeus's quote is “And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this earth, it is said, 'There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.' For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome, they are crowned with in-corruption. (against Heresies Book V, ch zziz, p. 558)

3.Irenaeus is herein twisted to say something he does not say, We know of Irenaeus that he believed in the Scriptures and their claim to inerrancy and infallibility, Such should be Thiessen's primary source on this subject.

4.Thiessen projects on Irenaeus “But in another place he teaches that the resurrection will take place after the coming of the Antichrist. Ibid” The implication that Irenaeus believed other than what the Bible says is preposterous. There will indeed be a resurrection after the revelation of the Antichrist but this has nothing to do with the rapture of the Church before the tribulation period.

4. List four general conclusions that Thiessen draws with his Bible closed away in a locked drawer.

Ans pg 480 Four general conclusions that Thiessen draws with out so much a opening his Bible are: 1.“We shall not attempt any further investigation of this literature”,... Excellent, Finally!

2.“In the testimony of the early Fathers there is an almost complete silence on the subject” … why start here then?

3.“Though on the whole the testimony of the Fathers is somewhat inconsistent, we seem to have in Hermass” … Seem to have vs Seem to have from unBiblical sources is of little value in developing a true Biblical Systematic Theology!

4.“It is clear, however, that the Fathers held not only the pre-millennial view of Christ's coming, but also regarded that coming as imminent.” … This is NOT clear from the literature that such 'Church Fathers' wrote down, (I object to this classification of these men) BUT because they believed the Scriptures that Thiessen SHOULD BE USING for his Primary Source in the first place!

5. List four more general conclusions Thiessen draws without use of his Bible.

Ans pg 481 Four more general conclusions Thiessen draws without us of his Bible are: 1.“The Lord had taught them to expect His return at any moment” … How had he taught them that?? VIA SCRIPTURE that Thiessen should be using as his primary source to begin with!

2.“They also taught Hie personal return as being immediately” … again this is only conjectured because they taught the SCRIPTURES, not because of their 'literature.'

3.“With the exception of the Alexandrian Fathers, who also rejected other fundamental doctrines.” … Ironic (if not so sad) that Thiessen's favorite Bible translation (ASV) is sourced to these unbelievers through the godless efforts of Westcott and Hort.

4.“To argue from the silence of these writers, in the light of the quotation from Hermas, is, after all, a wrong procedure.” … Why are we then here? and why in the lead paragraph of such a vital doctrine, make this your primary and secondary source?

6. With the rise of Constantine and the State Church what happened to the doctrine of the second coming?

Ans pg 478 With the rise of Constantine and the State Church the doctrine of the second coming was lost as: 1. The (Apostate Roman) Church turned to an allegorizing of the Scriptures concerning the Lord's return. 2. The truth was not entirely extirpated during the Middle ages ( a) it was held by smaller bodies who kept themselves aloof from the Catholic Church b) with the denial of the true doctrine of the Millennium the Apostate Roman Catholic Church must also remove the teaching concerning the Tribulation.) 3.“The Reformers returned to the doctrine of the coming of Christ, but because of the need of emphasizing the truth of justification by faith, they did not give themselves to the development of the teaching concerning the Lord's return. Consequently they have not left us any considerable literature on the subject. True believers need scarcely be reminded that Christian doctrine is established on the basis of Scripture, and not on the beliefs or non-beliefs of past generation,. With due respect for all that the Church has inherited from the godly men of the past, we must yet remember that the Bible is our sole authority in matters of doctrine.” Thiessen, Op. cit., pp 13-17 (pg 478) (Op. cit., “Will the Church Pass Through the Tribulation?” New York: Loizeaux Bros., 1941) AWESOME CHANGE FOR THIESSEN!

7. Give Thiessen's 9 Scriptural reasons for hold to a pretribulational return of the Christ.

Ans Thiessen's 9 Scriptural reasons for holding to a pretribulational return of the Christ are

A. The promise to the Church in Philadelphia

B. The Nature of the Seventieth Week of Daniel

C. The Nature and Purpose of the Tribulation

D. The Twenty-Four Elders in Relation to the Tribulation

E. The Mission of the Holy Spirit as a Restrainer

F. The Necessity for an Interval Between the Rapture and the Revelation

G. The Exhortation to Constant Expectation of the Lord's Return

H. The erroneous interpretations make the last trumpet (1Cor 15:12) of 1Thes 4 the same as the trumpet of Rev 11:15

I. There is indeed a pre-Tribulation Rapture and resurrection of saints.

8. How and why did the promise to the Church in Philadelphia imply a pretribulational return of Christ?

Ans pg The promise to the Church in Philadelphia implied a pretribulational return of Christ because: 1.The Word 'Hour' Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 2. The Extent of the Trial 3. The Purpose of This Hour of Trial wherein a) Alford contends that “The expositors have in many cases gone away form this broad and obvious meaning here, and have sought to identify the hora peirasmou with various periods of trial and persecution of the Church: a line of interpretation carrying its own refutation with it in the very terms used in the text. b) R.H. Charles likewise says “IT will be observed that the demonic trial spoken of, while world-wide, was to affect only 'those that dwell upon the earth', i.e., the non-Christians.” c) The Bible does not so allow “Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” and d) The Bible does not so allow; 2Pet 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: 4. Who Will be Kept From the Hour of Trial wherein a) Moffat contends that the Greek allows this verb to mean successful endurance and safe emergence OR kept from and escape from it entirely. b) The Bible does not so allow “Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” and c) The Bible does not so allow; 2Pet 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

9. What are Thiessen's ten facts about the 24 Elders that contribute to the understanding of this doctrine.

Ans pg Thiessen's ten facts about the Twenty-Four Elders which contribute to the understanding that Christ will return prior to the tribulation are:

1. After the letters to the Churches, Rev 1-3, after John told 'come up hither', Rev 4:1, when a 'throne was set in heaven' 4:2 because In the Greek imperfect tense the throne 'was being set' , Not the eternal throne upon which God sits and God the Father set on this throne And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

2.It is CLEAR that they are on these 'seats' before the first seal is broken, i.e. before the first Tribulation judgment.

3.Angels DO NOT sit on thrones nor have crowns of gold

4.Angels are great in number, these are but 12

5.Crowns are not bestowed until the Lord comes again

6.These have resurrected incorruptible bodies to be robed, crowned and enthroned, i.e. they are not disembodied spirits, note that a) these are different than the souls seen under the altar at the 5th seal Rev 6:9 b) these 'souls' are resurrected and in receipt of incorruptible bodies at the end of the Tribulation period 6:11, 20:4-5 AND c) These 'souls' are part of the 'first resurrection', clarifying that that resurrection began prior i.e. at the Rapture

7.These 24 are representatives of many others such as a) In 1 Chron 23:3-4 24,000 Levites were set forward b) In ch 24 they were set into 24 orderings c) In ch 25 the 24 orderings are set with 12 each sons and brethren for 12x24 = 288; 25:7 “So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight.” AND d) These are thus representatives of the saints set in order OT saints set under 12 tribal leaders, NT saints set under 12 apostles, NOT THE Church, (as in Catholic Error) but the united royal priesthood of all the 1st resurrection saints

8.These are 'elders' matured leaders of Israel, and matured leaders of the Church.

9.These 24 elders are the direct outcome of the Rapture of OT and NT saints

10.In Rev 19 the four and twenty elders worship the coming King of kings and Lord of lords!

10. What erroneous interpretations make the last trumpet (1Cor 15:12) of 1Thes 4 the same as the trumpet of Rev 11:15?

Ans pg The erroneous interpretations which make the last trumpet (1Cor 15:12) of 1Thes 4 the same as the trumpet of Rev 11:15 are: 1. The Thes trumpet is a singular one, the Rev trumpet is one of seven. 2. The Revelation trumpets are visions of Revelation, Thes trumpet not so much 3. When Moses was called to Mt Sinai (Exod 19) there was a long trumpet blast called for, but there were in actuality two, one two summon the people to the mount, the other to summon Moses into the mount as a) There is no warning that there would be two separate blasts and b) 1Thes 4:16 awakens the dead in Christ, the last one in 1Cor 15:52 summon the resurrected into Christ's presence. Ingenious suggestion! And 4. In any event the trumpet of 1Cor 15 cannot be the same as the 7th visionary trumpet of the Revelation's Tribulation period.

Q&A - Chapter XLIV – The Resurrections –487 – 495 (9pgs)

Fill-In and Short Answer Test: Please put short answers in complete sentences. pg 275-282 (r 199-205)

1. What Scriptures show the existence of Resurrection deniers in Bible Times?

Ans pg 487 Scriptures that show resurrection deniers of Bible times are: Mt 22:23 ¶ The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, , Ac 23:8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. , 1Co 15:12 ¶ Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

2. Name 5 other leading religion that hold to a life after death.

Ans pg 487 Brahmanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Mohammedanism. - all hold that man continues to exist after death.

3. How does Origen, Alexandrian philosopher, Catholic Church Father, instructor to Jerome's Latin Vulgate translation and mentor of Saint Augustine perverse doctrine, pervert the idea of resurrection?

Ans pg 489 Origen, Alexandrian philosopher, Catholic Church Father, instructor to Jerome's Latin Vulgate translation and mentor of Saint Augustine perverse doctrine, perverts the idea of resurrection via Thiessen's comment “Origen thinks that the pious dead were transferred to Paradise, which he makes to be, not a part of Hades, but yet distinct from Heaven. To Paradise believers, as he though, go at their death. This was contrary to the usual view that they, like the righteous of the Old Testament days, wait in Hades, in a state of happiness not yet perfected, for the general resurrection. It was believed that only martyrs attained at once to the blessed vision of God in Heaven. History of the Christian Church pg 85” Origen has here in embryo the Catholic teaching of a Purgatory which is passed on to Jerome to translate into his Latin Vulgate, and to Saint Augustine to intertwine into Catholic Doctrine.

4. What does the Bible say became of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, in Num 16:33 and what does Thiessen say of it?

Ans pg 488 The Bible says of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, in Num 16:33 “33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit (Hbrw shehole), and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.” Although shehole is translated thrice to English word pit (here, vr 30 and Job 17:16) Thiessen is more comfortable with this being transliterated to Shehole as done in all modernist Bibles, and he does not distinguish it here.

5. Thiessen, with his preference for modernist Bibles, implies that nowhere is the OT word Shehole to be translated but only transliterated; what is the error in this?

Ans pg 489 1.Thiessen adds that Thayer says, that in the Septuagint the Hebrew sheol “Is almost always rendered by this word,” i.e. hades. He notes one exception in 2Sam 22:6, where it is rendered death. The two words are by common consent held to be exact equivalents. I would add that the proper English equivalent is 'hell' and their repeated transliteration of each is the modernist's and Satan's attempt to soften the issue and reality of a place called in the English tongue HELL. Their transliteration and the NIV absolute butchering of the word further produces inconsistency in the use and study of the Biblical hell. Since Thiessen brought it up, the OT usages of hell i.e. sheol (hell 31 times, grave 31 times and pit 3 times are as follows:

De 32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell (ASV-Sheol, NAS-Sheol, NIV- realm of death), and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
2Sa 22:6 The sorrows of hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;
Job 11:8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave); what canst thou know?
Job 26:6 Hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- death) is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
Ps 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave), and all the nations that forget God.
Ps 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave); neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Ps 18:5 The sorrows of hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
Ps 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave): for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
Ps 86:13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave).
Ps 116:3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
Ps 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- depths), behold, thou art there.
Pr 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave).
Pr 7:27 Her house is the way to hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave), going down to the chambers of death.
Pr 9:18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave).
Pr 15:11 Hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- death) and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?
Pr 15:24 The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) beneath.
Pr 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- death).
Pr 27:20 Hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- death) and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Isa 5:14 Therefore hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
Isa 14:9 Hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave), to the sides of the pit.
Isa 28:15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
Isa 28:18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
Isa 57:9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave).
Eze 31:16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
Eze 31:17 They also went down into hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
Eze 32:21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
Eze 32:27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
Am 9:2 Though they dig into hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave), thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
Jon 2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
Hab 2:5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave), and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:

6. The NT includes the raising of what 5 persons from the dead?

Ans pg The NT includes the raising of a) Jairus' daughter Matt :24,25 b) The young man of Nain Luke 7:14-15 c) Lazarus John 11 d) Dorcas Acts 9:40-41 e) Eutychus Acts 20:9-12

f)In addition Mat 27:52-53 tells of the raising of many saints after the resurrection of Christ.

7. How could Reformed Theology muck up aspects of the bodily resurrection?

Ans pg When Reformed Augustinian Theology follows the philosophy of man rather than the inerrancy of Scripture they consider man as only material and immaterial and not Body, Soul and Spirit as the Scriptures contend Thus a) Reformed Theology is herein mucked up because they do not believe the Bible's accounting of Body Soul and Spirit b) Reformed Theology via Goodwin herein states the absurdity “The spiritual body is body, and not spirit, and therefore must come under the definition of body. If it were to be mere spirit, then every man in the future state would have two spirits the spirit that he has here and another spirit received at the resurrection. AND c) Reformed Theology rejects Bible for philosophy and end up in a quagmire of illogical and verbose argument which they often excuse as 'systematic theology.'

8. Why is it necessitated that Thiessen carefully clarify the timing of the resurrections.

Ans pg 493 Thiessen is taking baby steps away from Reformed Theology and Reformed Augustinian Theologians have used their allegorical methods to muck up both the understanding of and the timing of the resurrections. It is herein clarified that: A. Various things have already been said disproving the 'general resurrection' of all. B. There is a 'first resurrection' for all believers OT, and NT and even Tribulation saints taking part after the rapture of 1Thes 4 C. Reformed Theologians foster much confusion about the resurrections because of the use of the phrase “in the last day” thinking it must be only the last day which to their allegorical fanciful interpretations is sometimes called a thousand years and is yet the very last of all the days.

Q&A - Chapter XLV – The Judgments –496 – 505 (10pgs)

Fill-In and Short Answer Test: Please put short answers in complete sentences. pg 275-282 (r 199-205)

1. What does Strong quote from a statesman about judgment?

Ans pg 496 Thiessen gives Strong's quote of a statesman who would greater fear no judgment coming rather than fear the coming of a judgment. Indeed judgment is expected, deserved, and sure.

2. Give a dozen Scriptures that assure the coming judgment.

Ans pg 497 A dozen Scripture that assure the coming judgment are:

Gen 18:25b Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
1Chron 16:33 Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD, because he cometh to judge the earth.
Ps 96:13 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth. 98:9 Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
Ps 9 7 But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment. 8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
Joel 3:12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
Isa 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Mat 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Acts 24:25 And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.
Rom 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
2Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

3. Name six objectives of the judgment.

Ans pg 498 Six objectives of judgment listed by Thiessen are A. :Strong well says “The object of the final judgment is not the ascertainment abut the manifestation, of character, and the assignment of outward conditions corresponding to it.

The revelation of the righteous judgment of God
Memory, conscience, and character “are evidences and preparations for this final disclosure.” Ibid
The judgments will take place in order to show God's righteousness in treating men as He treats them.
To the purpose that “Every mouth shall be stopped.”

4. What two verses clearly indicate who the Judge is to be?

Ans pg 498 Two verses that clearly indicate who the judge is to be are: Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and John 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

5. List 7 things that Christ will judge.

Ans Christ will judge the following:

The living and the dead Acts 10:42
The believers for their works 2Cor 5:10
The Beast and the False Prophet, and their armies Rev 19
The nations gathered before Him Mat 25
Satan Rev 20:1-3
The nations of the Millennial earth Isa 2:4
The impenitent dead (Thiessen's Catholic word, not a Bible word) Rev 20:11-15 (11 ¶ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.)

6 List 7 various judgments called out in Scripture.

Ans pg Seven various judgments called out in Scripture are:

The Judgment of the Believers
The Judgment of Israel
The Judgment of Babylon
The Judgment of the Beast, The False Prophet, and Their Armies
The Judgment of the Nations
The Judgment of Satan and His Angels
The Judgment of the Unsaved Dead Rev 20:11-15, 21:8

7. List the Bible references that deal with the judgment of believers.

Ans pg 499 Scripture references which deal with the judgment of believers are: Rom 14:10, 2Cor 5:10, 1Cor 4:5, 3:11-15, Matt 25:14-30, Luke 19:11-27

8. List the Bible references that deal with the judgment of Israel.

Ans pg 499 Scripture references which deal with the judgment of Israel are:Jer 30:7, Rev 12:6, 13-17, 7:1-8, Ezek 20:33-34, Mal 3:2-5

9. List the Bible references that deal with the judgment of the Beast, False Prophet and their Armies..

Ans pg 500 Scripture references which deal with the judgment of the Beast, False Prophet and their Armies are:2Thes 2:8, Rev 19:19-21, Rev 16:12-16, Zech 12:1-9, 13:8-14:2, 2Thes 1:7-10, Rev 19:21

10. List the Bible references that deal with the judgment of the nations.

Ans pg 501 Scripture references which deal with the judgment of Nations are:2Thes 1:7-10, Matt 25:31-46, Joel 3:11-17, Acts 17:31

Q&A - Chapter XLVI – The Millennium –506 – 513 (8pgs)

Fill-In and Short Answer Test: Please put short answers in complete sentences. pg 275-282 (r 199-205)

1. Rather than start out with Scripture as his primary source for the millennial reign of Christ what two sources does Thiessen lead with?

Ans pg 506-507 Rather than lead out with Scripture as his primary source for the millennial reign of Christ, Thiessen leads with :”The Human Expectation” for a millennial reign, and “The Belief of the Early Church.” This is more troublesome giving that Thiessen is stepping out of a whole line of skeptics in this area.

2. Thiessen denies the perpetuity of the doctrine of the second coming of Christ but quotes Silver who provides what evidence for it.

Ans pg 507 Although Thiessen denies the perpetuity of the doctrine of the second coming and millennial reign of Christ, he quotes Silver as saying “Silver claims that the Waldensiann, Paulicians, Cathari, Savonarola, the harbingers of the reformation and the early Reformers held that judgment introduces the Millennium.”

3. Where did the opposition of the literal millennial reign of Christ originate?

Ans pg 507 Interestingly the opposition to the literal millennial reign of Christ originated in the same place all modernist bibles get their accepted text, in the Alexandrian philosophers like Origen.

4. List 8 verses that speak of the Day of the Lord more literally than the allegorical teachings of the Reformed Augustinian Theologian dares to quote.

Ans pg 508 Eight verses that speak of the Day of the Lord more literally than the allegorical teachings of the Reformed Augustinian Theologian dares to quote are:

Joe 2:11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Am 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
Zep 1:14 ¶ The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zep 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Zep 2:2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger come upon you.
Zep 3:8 ¶ Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

5. What progression of a day does Thiessen present concerning The Day of The Lord?

Ans pg 508 A unique presentation of the progression of The Day of The Lord is Thiessen's coverage of Christ's first Advent was the day spring or Sunrise Luke 1:78 ...Now the Church is the light of the world, and He is the Light of the World Joh 9:5 even as “Ye are the light of the world.” We are Reflecting the Invisible sun 2Cor 4:6 and further ...Already the Day (actually night) is far spent, and the day is at hand when ... The morning star will herald the breaking of a new day Rev 2:28 And I will give him the morning star. ...2Pe 1:19 as ...The Sun of Righteousness will fully usher it in shortly thereafter Mal 4:2

6. When Thiessen talks of The Church being the Light of the World, why are we justifiably nervous?

Ans pg 508 Whenever Thiessen talks of The Church, herein, it being the light of the world, one would be wise to use caution because of his over development of The Holy Catholic Church and complete underdevelopment of the Local New Testament Church.

7. What Scripture verses define that the God of Heaven will set up a Kingdom that will never be destroyed?

Ans pg 508 The Scriptures given that establish that the God of Heaven will set up a Kingdom that will never be destroyed are:

Da 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Da 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Da 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Da 7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
Da 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
Re 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

7. Strong states the position of the loudest naysayers to the Millennial Reign of Christ; what is that position?

Ans pg 509 Strong States the Post millennial position thus: Through the preaching the Gospel in all the world, the kingdom of Christ is steadily to enlarge its boundaries, until Jews and Gentiles alike become possessed of its blessings, and a millennial period is introduced in which Christianity generally prevails throughout the earth. He gives the following verses to prove this (# Da 2:44,45 # Mt 13:31,32 24:14 # Ro 11:25,26 # Re 20:4,5,6 # Col 1:23)

8. What are Snow den's four presuppositions to his post millennial view?

Ans pg 510 Snowden strongly advocates the post millennial view in The Coming of the Lord, But he has these four presuppositions: (1) The belief of the post-apostolic church is truth (2) a superstitious regard for modern “scholarship”, (3) An allegorical interpretation of predictive prophecy (4) and a pious devotion to the evolutionary hypothesis. Snowden states it “Daniel and Revelation both unroll panoramic visions which portray catastrophic calamities and judgments which could not be taken literally and yet conveyed great practical lessons.”

9. What profound statement does Thiessen make to point out the speck in Snowden's eye?

Ans pg 510 A Profound statement wherein Thiessen sees the spec in Dr. Snowden's eye but not the beam in his own “Needless to say that when a man has more regard for the speculations of science falsely so called, than for the teaching of the Word of God, he is not to be taken seriously by those who accept the Bible as the infallible revelation of God.” (Thiessen pg 510) (and doubtless observed when Thiessen had a gray head.)

10. The Character of the Millennium is given in seven regards, what are they?

Ans pg 510-513 The seven regards given to the Character of the Millennium are:

A. As Regards Christ, He will reign over all the earth

B. As regards the Church, the Church will reign with Christ over the Gentile world.

C. As Regards to Israel – Regathered, In Promised Land

D. As Regards to Nations Sheep will enter into Kingdom

E. As Regards Satan to Be Bound

F. As Regards Nature the regeneration with lion and lamb, child and adder, life span, fertility and farming,

G. As Regards Conditions in General – Joy and Happiness

Q&A - Chapter XLVII – The Final State –514 – 518 (5pgs)

Fill-In and Short Answer Test: Please put short answers in complete sentences. pg 275-282 (r 199-205)

1. What is the final state of Satan?

Ans pg 514 The final state of Satan comes when He will be loosed from His Prison Rev 20 and .He will be finally judged and sentenced Rev 20.

2. What are four characteristics of the final judgment?

Ans pg 515 Four characteristics of the Final Judgment are: Great White Throne Judgment, . For those in 2nd Resurrection, The Books are open, Those whose names are NOT written in the Lambs Book of Life

3. Thiessen lists two characteristics of the Final Kingdom; what are they?

Ans pg 515 Two characteristics of the Final Kingdom are A. Death the final enemy will be abolished 1Cor 15:24 and B. All things subject unto Christ 1Cor 15:28

4. Give three 'News' of the New Creation?

Ans pg 516 Three 'News” of the New Creation are A New Heaven and a New Earth, and The New Jerusalem.

5. Give four Scripture references that address the New Heaven and the New Earth.

Ans pg 517 Scriptures that reference the New Heaven and the New Earth are 1. Rev 21:1,2 2. Isa 65:17 3. Isa 66:22 4. 2Pet 3:10-13

6. What Scripture evidences the New Jerusalem?

Ans pg 517 The New Jerusalem is described in Rev 21:2-22:5

7. What three characteristics of the New Jerusalem?

Ans pg 517 The Scriptures point out three interesting things about the New Jerusalem, 1. Its Character Cube,... no Pyramid 2. Its Inhabitants 21:22 and 3. Its Blessedness 21:24

8. What verse best characterizes the close of this chapter?

Ans pg 518 The verse which best characterizes the close of this chapter is “Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

Detailed Chapter Outlines – TH505 Systematic Theology V ESCHATOLOGY

Part VIII ESCHATOLOGY

Chapter XXXIX The Second Coming of Christ: Importance Of The Doctrine And Nature Of His Coming –441 – 450 (10pgs)

Chapter XL – The Second Coming of Christ: The Purpose Of His Coming Into The Air –451 – 459 (9pgs)

Chapter XLI – The Second Coming of Christ: The Purpose Of His Coming To Earth And The Period Between The Rapture And The Revelation –460 – 468 (9pgs)

Chapter XLII – The Time Of His Coming: Premillennial –469 – 474 (6pgs)

Chapter XLIII – The Time Of His Coming: Pre-Tribulational –475 – 486 (12pgs)

Chapter XLIV – The Resurrections –487 – 495 (9pgs)

Chapter XLV – The Judgments –496 – 505 (10pgs)

Chapter XLVI – The Millennium –506 – 513 (8pgs)

Chapter XLVII – The Final State –514 – 518 (5pgs)

Outline of Chapter XXXIX The Second Coming of Christ: Importance Of The Doctrine And Nature Of His Coming –441 – 450 (10pgs)

TNTRODUCTORY The Doctrine “set aside” from the 3^rd century to the 20^th?

Thiessen denies, even opposes, the perpetuity of Baptist Doctrine with this statement “”It is only during the last sixty-five years that this doctrine has been restored to the Church, although there is still much indifference and opposition to it.” According to Roy Mason, and John T. Christian there has been a perpetuity of sound Bible doctrine throughout the Roman Catholic dark ages and the Protestant Reformers enlightening. Baptist's never set aside this “blessed hope.” What Thiessen likely meant to say was that Protestant's have just opened their eyes to the doctrine in the last sixty-five years! Baptists are not protestants and never set aside this important doctrine.

INCTODUCTORY Causes of Indifference and considerable Opposition of this Doctrine
1. The setting of dates brings the whole doctrine into disrepute
2. Fanciful and UnScriptural doctrines give a bad reputation
  1. Second probationism
  2. the annihilation of the finally impenitent
  3. the restitution of all things
  4. other heresies about the tribulation, the destruction of the temple, etc.
3. Preconceived notions and prejudices
  1. Spiritualizing Prophecies by so many for so long
  2. Traditional teachings, symbols, literature
  3. Grammatico-historical (literal) renderings to often unbelievable
4. The unregenerate heart, and scoffers
  1. “And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” 2Pet 3:4
  2. Regenerate Believers Hear “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.” And they alone respond “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

CHAPTER OUTLINE

The Importance of the Doctrine
1. The Prominence in the Scripture
  1. OT Scriptures Job 19:25-26, Dab 7:13, 14, Zech 14:4, Mal 3:1,2
  2. NT Scripture Matt 24, 25, Mark 12, Luke 21, cf ICor 15, 1Thes, 2Thes
2. It is a Key to the Scriptures
  1. It is key to key doctrines
    1. The Doctrine that Christ is Prophet, Priest and King
    2. Salvation is past present and future.
    3. The doctrine of two resurrections (John's Teaching, as Thiessen calls it.)
    4. The Davidic Covenant remains inexplicable without the Second coming.
    5. The prophecy of the restoration of nature and the animal world requires it.
      1. Could Thiessen bring this up and NOT bring up the Restoration of Israel????
      2. Could Thiessen avoid the Restoration of Israel in the typology of Joseph, …. who saved the world then RESTORED ISRAEL????
    6. The bruising of Satan's head requires it.
    7. Many types in Scripture loose their power with out the 2^nd advent
      1. Noah and Lot become just history if not typologies
      2. Great events in Abraham's life do the same, where as He Issac and Rebecca so strongly typify Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
      3. So so for Joseph, Asenath, and Joseph's two different relationships to his brethren
      4. So so for Moses, Zipporah, and his tow contacts with his brethren.
      5. We may mention also the Sabbath, which loses its main typical significance unless we recognize the fact that it points forward to a “Sabbath-keeping” during Millennium.
  2. It is key to key promises of Scripture
    1. Key to promises of Psalms 2, 22, 24, 45, 72, 89, 110
    2. Peter (i.e. GOD!!!) declares all the holy prophets speak of “times of restitution” Acts 3:19-24
    3. We are Warned to be ready (in the NT Matt 16:27, John 14:3, 1Thes 4:13-18, Jas 5:8, Heb 10:37, Rev 1:7, 22:12, 20)
    4. We are comforted by the fact
    5. We are admonished to console the bereaved by the truth
    6. We are asked to bear oppression because of His return
    7. We are exhorted to retain our confidence because SHORTLY he will return
    8. We are assured his return will bring blessings and rewards
    9. We loose these precious incentives to godliness if we reject the truth of the Lord's return.
  3. The ordinances loose their full meaning without the 2^nd advent
    1. Already mentioned, but sourced to the Epistle of Barnabas !!! (pg 443) where we have the suggestion that the Sabbath represents the thousand years of rest. OH MY SOUL! Thiessen is using this as a SOURCE???
    2. Baptism implies resurrection with Christ to newness of life (Col 3:1-3)
    3. In the Lords Supper “Ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”
    4. Matt 26:29 “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
3. It is the Hope of the Church
  1. Neither death, nor the conversion of the world are the “hope” of believers
    1. Finally Thiessen uses Scriptures as his primary source!
    2. Acts 23:6 Paul says “of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.”
  2. Titus 2:13 “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;”
  3. 1Pet 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, “
  4. 1John 3:2-3 “2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
4. It is the Incentive to Biblical Christianity
  1. Believers have never denied the deity of Christ
  2. Believers have never disputed the infallibility of the Bible (BUT Thiessen is this day brought into question on this regard!)
  3. Believers have never declined from the faith but “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” (Jude1:3)
  4. Belief induces “Self-purificaiton” 1John 3:3, 2Pet 3:11, Matt 25:6,7
  5. Inspires watchfulness and constancy Matt 24:44, 1Thes 5:6, Mark 13:36, 1John 2:28
  6. Challenges the backslider to return Rom 13:11,12
  7. Constitutes a warning to the ungodly 2Thes 1:7-10
  8. A stay in adversity and bereavement Jas 5:6, Heb 10:35-37, 11:26, 2TIm 2:12 1Thes 4:16-18
  9. It is the incentive to apostolic (& Biblical) Christianity against allurements of this world.
  10. We long for His coming, live for his coming seek to lead others to Him and to this hope.
  11. Acceptance of the doctrine of the second coming of Christ, has transformed lives.
5. It has a Marked Effect on Our Service
  1. It has affected ones personal service
  2. It has affected ones money sacrifice
  3. It has affected ones mission zeal
  4. It has affected ones intelligent counsel
  5. It has affected ones tireless work more than any other doctrine of Christianity!
  6. Thiessen quotes Riley, I C.I. Schofield, the study of Biblical prophecy is “ennobling” to any Christian.
The Nature of Christ's Coming
1. The Scriptural Teaching
  1. Jesus declared that he would return personally John 14:3, 21:20-23
  2. He would return suddenly Matt 24:25-28
  3. He would return in the glory of His Father with His angels Matt 16:27, 19:28, 25:31-46
  4. He would return triumphantly Luke 19:11-27
  5. The “men in white” (angels at his ascension) said he would come back
    1. personally Acts 1:11
    2. bodily
    3. visibly
    4. suddenly
  6. Peter testifies He will come
    1. Personally Acts 3:19-21, 2Pet 3:3-4
    2. Unexpectedly 2Pet 3:8-10
  7. Paul testifies that He will come:
    1. Personally 1Thes 4:16-17
    2. suddenly 1COr 15:51,52
    3. In glory and accompanied by the angels Tit 2:13, 2Thes 1:7-10
  8. The Epistle to the Hebrews testifies that He will come:
    1. personally 9:28
    2. speedily 10:37
  9. James testifies he will come back personally 5:7-8
  10. John testifies that He will come
    1. Personally 1John 2:28, 3:2,3
    2. Suddenly Rev 22:12
    3. Publicly Rev 1:7
  11. Jude cites Enoch that He will come back publicly 1:14-15
  12. The Scriptural evidence is overwhelmingly clear!
2. Some Erroneous Interpretations
  1. The balderdash that His coming was just the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
  2. The balderdash that his coming was just at the conversion of Saul
  3. The balderdash that his coming was at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD
  4. The balderdash that His coming only speaks of believers death (Matthew Henry)
  5. The balderdash that His coming is when we pray Thy Kingdom Come, and call for a Conversion of the World!
3. The Phases of Christ's Coming
  1. His Coming Into the Air
    1. 1Thes 4:16-17,
    2. our gathering to Him 2Thes 2:1,
    3. I will receive you John 14:3
    4. Matt 25:6 the virgins “go forth to meet him”
    5. Luke 19:15 the Nobleman first called for His servants, then dealt with His adversaries, then set up His kingdom
    6. Luke 17:34-36
  2. His Coming to Earth
    1. Zech 14:4,5 “His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east”
    2. Acts 1:11 “In like manner as” he left visibly from Mt. Olivet
    3. Matt 19:28
      1. His sitting upon the throne of His glory
      2. in the regeneration
      3. Twelve disciples sitting on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel
    4. Matt 24:29-31 Coming down to Earth
    5. Matt 25:31-46 Coming down to Earth
    6. Zech 12:10-13 the see him whom they have pierced
    7. Rev 1:7 Behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him that they pierced
    8. He will come with his own Joel 3:11, 1Thes 3:13, Jude 1:14
      1. His own are caught up
      2. His own return with Him
  3. Interesting (may seem far fetched ) analogies of his 2 phased coming (not proofs but possible illustrations)
    1. David's return form the other side of Jordan after Absolom's defeat 2Sam19
    2. The private revelation of Joash and then his public revelation tot he people a little later 2Kings 11
    3. Jesus waling on the water, Peters coming to him and their return together to the ship Matt14:22-34
    4. Paul's approach to Rome the coming of the brethren from Rom to meet him and their return together to the capital city Acts 28:15-16

Outline of Chapter XL – The Second Coming of Christ: The Purpose Of His Coming Into The Air –451 – 459 (9pgs)

To Receive His Own

The Prerequisites
1. The Current Situation
  1. Present with Him in spirit
    1. Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
    2. 2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
    3. Php 1:23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
    4. Re 6:9 ¶ And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
  2. Present with Him In conscience
    1. Luke 16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
    2. Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
  3. OR at home in the body 2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
  4. Goal of redemption is a redeemed body and soul
    1. Ro 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
    2. Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
    3. Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
  5. Conformed to His body Phil 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
2. The dead in Christ must be raised
  1. the dead in Christ shall be raised, 1Thes 4:16
  2. The Resurrection and the Life will resurrect John 11:25-26
  3. The corruptible will put on incorruption, 1Cor 15:53
  4. There is NO GENERAL RESURRECTION!
    1. John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
      1. J.H.Snowden insists this is one general resurrection
      2. the hour in question does not need to be one time and one resurrection, so far the hour has lasted 2000 years! (1John 2:18)
    2. Dan 12:2 refers to 2 resurrections Dan 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
      1. Sleepers in the dust is two general to be limited to deceased Israelites
      2. some “Sleepers in the dust” go to everlasting contempt
      3. verse 3 “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. ” makes this speak of resurrection, not of restored Israel or a general resurrection.
      4. In Re 20:5 “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” there are 2 resurrections.
        
        At the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver Israel the first resurrection is complete
        
        Christ, the first fruit, Rapture 2^nd fruit, tribulation saints, 3^rd fruit, but ONE Resurrection.
      5. Dead in Christ of 1Thes 4:16 includes all the saints that have ever lived. … but cannot include those NOT in Christ.
      6. In Rev 20:4 one resurrection cannot be spirtualized away as a “spiritual rising” and the other left literal as a rising from the grave. That is absurd!
      7. Paul sought to obtain the first resurrection Phil 3:11 “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” NOT a general resurrection of all!
3. The ones Living and Believing in Christ must be changed
  1. 1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
  2. 1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
  3. 1Co 15:51 ¶ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
  4. PERHAPS Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
  5. Illustrated in Enoch
    1. Ge 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
    2. Heb 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
  6. Illustrated in Elijah: 2Ki 2:11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
  7. Will all the saved be taken at the Rapture?
    1. Thiessen mucks up this answer with his ill conceived idea of a Universal Catholic Church
      1. The Universal Church is a Temple, would part of the Temple be left behind?
        
        1Co 3:16 ¶ Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. (Here the individual is the temple not the Catholic Church of Thiessen)

2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Here the individual is the temple not the Catholic Church of Thiessen)

Eph 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: (Here the Local Church is the temple not the Catholic Church of Thiessen)

1Pe 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (Here the Local Church is the temple not the Catholic Church of Thiessen)

The Universal Church is a Bride, would part of the Bride be left behind?
- 2Co 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (A Bride is actually only a Bride for 1 wedding day, here and now believers, and Local Churches are a Chaste Virgin, with no Catholic implications)
- Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. ...32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
- Re 19:6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
The Universal Church is Christ's Body, would part of His Body be left behind?
- 1Co 12:12 ¶ For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
- Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
- Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
- Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church::30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
- Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
- Col 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
- Col 2:19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
We must repeat the lesson from TH503 here: The word ecclesia is used in 4 ways, #1 a local assembly, “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth ...”; #2 local assemblies, “unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and peace ...”; #3 the body of living believers unnumbered “beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it ...”; and #4 the complete body of Christ, “Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it ...”; but NEVER as a catholic body assembled and organized to be head over any other part of the body!

Some consider that in Phil 3:11 Paul taught a partial resurrection:
1. 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
2. Lightfoot says “The Apostle states not a positive assurance but a modest hope.”
3. Vincent “Not an expression of doubt, but of humility.”
4. Paul already enumerated the resurrections in 1Cor 15:23 and Scripture does not contradict Scripture! “ But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.”
5. “they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1Cor 15:23) shows no division among they that are Christ's!

The Manner pg454 Receiving the Church as His Bride.
1. Now in the position of espousal 2Cor 11:12
2. To be received as glorious without spot or wrinkle Eph 5:27
3. As Abraham's servant presented Rebekah to Isaac
4. Or as Joseph, Moses, Boaz took unto them a Gentile bride, so too Christ
5. Revelation 19 is the depiction of the marriage
6. What of the GUESTS at the wedding?
  1. John 3:29 John the Baptist refers to himself as not the bridegroom, but the friend of the Bridegroom
  2. Matt 22:1-14 those obviously bid to the wedding, likely representing Gentiles, are all called 'guests.'
  3. In Luke 14:15-24 those gathered from the highways and hedges are called neither the Church not the bride.
  4. It seems there are guests at the wedding,
    1. These guests are not part of the Church, and likely Old Testament Saints
    2. As was John the Baptist was an Old Testament Saint, not pardoned by the Blood, and was called the friend of the Bridegroom.
    3. Psalms 45:14 “She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.”
    4. Rev 19:9 speaks of those that are bidden
    5. Schofield says
      1. Rev 19:7 is the “bride” (Rev 22:9)
      2. The Church identified with the “Heavenly Jerusalem” Heb 12:22-23
      3. to be distinguished from Israel, the adulterous and repudiated “wife” of Jehovah, yet to be restored (Isa 54:1-10, Hos 2:1-17)
        
        She is identified with the Earth Hos 2:23
        
        She could not be called a virgin 2Cor 11:2-3 or a bride.
    6. Gaebelein says:
      1. Israel was the wife of Jehovah (Isa 54) who became divorced
      2. She will be taken back in the day of her national repentance when the Lord comes
      3. The 24 Elders are typical of all the redeemed , the saints of both Testaments.
      4. In Rev 19 there is a division
        
        as the Bride, the Church, takes her exalted position alongside of Himself
        
        The Old Testament Saints are there as the friends of the Bridegroom
    7. BAPTIST BRIDERS Be warned: “You read too much into your position!”

To Judge and Reward
1. The Believer's Judgment
  1. Believers NOT judged with regard to his sins John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
    1. These were judged already “5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. {wounded: or, tormented} {stripes: Heb. Bruise} 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. {laid…: Heb. made the iniquity of us all to meet on him} … 10 ¶ Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.”
    2. We have His Righteousness 2Cor 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
    3. In this life true sons of God see chastening for sin, but not condemnation
      1. 1Cor 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
      2. 1Cor 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
      3. Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
      4. 2Sam 7:14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: 15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
      5. 2Sam 12:13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
  2. Believer WILL be judged as to:
    1. his use of the 'talents he has' Matt 25:14-30
    2. the pounds in his charge Luke 19:11-27
    3. the opportunities he has Matt 20:1-16 (penny a day)
  3. Salvation is a free gift and NOT a reward for labor or effort
    1. Rom 6:23, John 4:10, 10:28
    2. Originates in Grace Eph 2:8, Rom 3:24, 4:16
      1. James says we are saved by works meaning faith that produces works
      2. Paul indicates that while we are saved by grace we are saved UNTO good works
      3. No contradiction here, just two different meanings of 'justified' (not a use of 'saved' but f 'justified'!)
  4. We have opportunity to lay up treasures in heaven, now that we are saved. Matt 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
  5. 2Pet 1:11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
  6. 2Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
  7. Rom 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
  8. 1Cor 3:11 ¶ For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
  9. 1Thes 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? 20 For ye are our glory and joy.
  10. 1John 2:28 ¶ And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
2. The Believers' Reward pg457
  1. What will lead to a reward
    1. as a steward of the mysteries 1Cor 4:1-5
      1. reward to the faithful 1COr 4:2
      2. reward for used talents, pounds and opportunities Matt 25, 20, Luke 19
    2. As trustees of material possessions
      1. Matt 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, …
      2. Sowing and Reaping
        
        Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
        
        2Cor 9:6 ¶ But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
        
        2Cor 8:12 For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
      3. As one responsible for the souls of others
        
        Dan 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
        
        1Thes 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? 20 For ye are our glory and joy.
      4. As those who care for needy
        
        Gal 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
        
        Matt 10:40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. 41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
        
        Matt 10:42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
        
        Care for the sick and persecuted Matt 25:34-40
      5. As sufferers in an evil world, rewarded for endurance
        
        Reviled and persecuted, … great is your reward Matt 5:11,12, Luke 6:22,23
        
        2Tim 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
        
        James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
    3. The Time of the Reward … When He Comes
      1. Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
      2. Matt 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
      3. Rev 11:17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. 18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
      4. 2Tim 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
    4. The nature of the reward
      1. The Figure of the Crown
        
        1Co 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
        
        Don't loose your crown Re 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
        
        Souls won are crowns 1Th 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
        
        2Ti 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
        
        Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Re 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
        
        1Pe 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
      2. A Place with Christ
        
        Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
        
        2Tim 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
        
        Luke 19:12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. … -28
To Remove the Hinderer
1. 2Thes 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2. Thiessen develops the aged Catholic theory that this 'hinderer' is Law and Order
  1. Geo. Milligan of 1908 says so.
  2. Jas. Denny Agrees in The Expositors Bible
  3. Not referenced by Thiessen, Charles Hodge Puts it (Vol 3 Systematic Theology pg 756, 6.AntiChrist 3. Is AntiChrist Eccliastical or Civil? 8.) The fact however is that they did know, and, therefore, it is probable that knowledge was communicated to others, and was not likely to be soon forgotten. This consideration gives the more weight to the almost unanimous judgment of the early fathers that the obstacle to the development of Antichrist was the Roman empire. While that continued in its vigour it was impossible that an ecclesiastic should become the virtual sovereign of the world. It is a historical fact that the conflict between the Emperors and the Popes for the ascendancy, was continued for ages, and that as the power of the former decreased that of the latter increased.
  4. Not Referenced by Thiessen John Calvin states it so:

   6. And now what withholdeth To katechon means here properly an
   impediment or occasion of delay. Chrysostom, who thinks that this can
   only be understood as referring to the Spirit, or to the Roman Empire,
   prefers to lean to the latter opinion. He assigns a plausible reason --
   because Paul would not have spoken of the Spirit in enigmatical terms,
   [655] but in speaking of the Roman Empire wished to avoid exciting
   unpleasant feeling. He states also the reason why the state of the
   Roman Empire retards the revelation of Antichrist -- that, as the
   monarchy of Babylon was overthrown by the Persians and Medes, and the
   Macedonians, having conquered the Persians, again took possession of
   the monarchy, and the Macedonians were at last subdued by the Romans,
   so Antichrist seized hold for himself of the vacant supremacy of the
   Roman Empire. There is not one of these things that was not afterward
   confirmed by actual occurrence. Chrysostom, therefore, speaks truly in
   so far as concerns history. I am of opinion, however, that Paul's
   intention was different from this -- that the doctrine of the gospel
   would require to be spread hither and thither, until nearly the whole
   world were convicted of obstinacy and deliberate malice. For there can
   be no doubt that the Thessalonians had heard from Paul's mouth as to
   this impediment, of whatever sort it was, for he recalls to their
   remembrance what he had previously taught in their presence.

   Let my readers now consider which of the two is the more probable --
   either that Paul declared that the light of the gospel must be diffused
   through all parts of the earth before God would thus give loose reins
   to Satan, or that the power of the Roman Empire stood in the way of the
   rise of Antichrist, inasmuch as he could only break through into a
   vacant possession. I seem at least to hear Paul discoursing as to the
   universal call of the Gentiles -- that the grace of God must be offered
   to all -- that Christ must enlighten the whole world by his gospel, in
   order that the impiety of men might be the more fully attested and
   demonstrated. This, therefore, was the delay, until the career of the
   gospel should be completed, because a gracious invitation to salvation
   was first in order. [656] Hence he adds, in his time, because vengeance
   was ripe after grace had been rejected. [657]

Thiessen Sources what Reformed Theologians believe about the 'restrainer' theologians verses in Catholic doctrine rejecting the Rapture of the Church, and he sources them equally with the Scripture.
The 'Hinderer' is “He that withholdeth” iniquity, it is the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit which indwells

Outline of Chapter XLI – The Second Coming of Christ: The Purpose Of His Coming To Earth And The Period Between The Rapture And The Revelation –460 – 468 (9pgs)

The Purpose of His Coming to Earth
1. To Reveal Himself and His Own
  1. Rev 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
  2. Zech 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
  3. Zec 14:5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
  4. Joe 3:11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
  5. Mt 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
  6. Mt 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
  7. Mt 25:31 ¶ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
  8. Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
  9. 1Th 3:13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
  10. Jude 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
  11. 1Jo 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
  12. Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
2. To Judge the Beast, the False Prophet, and Their Armies
  1. Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
  2. 2Thes 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
  3. This Judgment comes at the end of the 7 year tribulation period.
3. To Bind Satan
  1. Rev 20:1 ¶ And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
  2. 20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
  3. Thiessen's non-dispensational theology shows when he considers with Henry's Commentary that the binding of Satan signifies “a considerable time of peace and prosperity” for the Church pg 461
  4. Snowden regards Rev 20:1-3 as denoting long ages in which evil “may slumber, and then blow up in a cataclysmic explosion” (Not a clue about end times!)
  5. Thiessen sites Silver as showing Augustine himself taught that the binding of Satan takes place when a sinner accepts the Savior!. (J.F. Silver, “The Lord's Return” , New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1914, pp87f.)
  6. These all reject the Millennial Kingdom age of Christ and spiritualize it away or for Thiessen do not differentiate it from the Church age..
4. To Save Israel
  1. This is foreign doctrine to Catholicism and ergo Protestants.
  2. Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
  3. God will regather all Israel and reunite Judah and Israel as one
    1. Jer 31:36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
    2. Jer 33:14 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness. 17 ¶ For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
    3. Isa 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. 14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
    4. Ezek 37:14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
  4. He will save them and make a new covenant with them
    1. Zech 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness
    2. Zech 13:2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. ...6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
    3. Isa 66:8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
    4. Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
    5. Heb 8:8-12 8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
    6. These promises cannot mean that Israel will gradually be gathered into the Church as the Roman Catholics believe, thinking that They the true Church are the new Israel.
    7. Thiessen still thinks that the fullness of the Gentiles (Rom 11:25) is “i.e. until the Church is completed.” rather than the 'heathening of the Gentiles'.
    8. Every Israelite will not be saved, but Israel will be saved, i.e. Those Israelites left after the purging, Ezek 20:37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: 38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
5. To Judge the Nations
  1. 2Th 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 2Th 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 2Th 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; 2Th 1:10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
  2. Mt 25:31 ¶ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:Mt 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:Mt 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Mt 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: Mt 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Mt 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Mt 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? Mt 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Mt 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? Mt 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Mt 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: Mt 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: Mt 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Mt 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Mt 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. Mt 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
  3. Joe 3:11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Joe 3:12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Joe 3:13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Joe 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. Joe 3:15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. Joe 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. Joe 3:17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
  4. Ac 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
  5. This is a judgment of nations not like the Rev 20 Judgment of souls Here sits on a throne, there a Great White Throne
  6. Nation judgment is one earth, Rev 20 in the skies when heaven and earth flee away
  7. Nation judgment is before the Millennium Rev 20 after
  8. Nation judgment no mention of resurrection, Rev 20 has a resurrection
  9. Nation judgment two classes are mentioned Rev 20 only one class
  10. Nation judgment no books are mentioned, Rev 20 the books are opened
  11. Nation judgment of treatment of the Lord's brethren, sheep enter the kingdom, goats eternal punishment, Rev 20 all resurrected go to eternal punishment
  12. Protestants, because of Catholic error, forever mix up these two judgments
6. To deliver and Bless Creation
  1. Isa 11:1 ¶ And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: … 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
  2. 5 ¶ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. 7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. 8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. 9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there: 10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
  3. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
7. To Set up His Kingdom
  1. 12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
  2. 2Sam 7:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
  3. Psa 89:3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, 4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
  4. Jer 33:20 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; 21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. 22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
  5. Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
  6. Isa 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
  7. Micah 4:1 ¶ But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
  8. Zech 14:16 ¶ And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
  9. No league of nations will ever be able to accomplish what is definitely the work of the Prince of Peace
The Period Between the Rapture and the Revelation
1. The Duration of the Period
  1. It is the 70^th week of Daniel ergo 7 years
  2. Thiessen will not commit here, Catholics and ergo protestants teach we are presently in the tribulation period, and the destruction of the temple in 70 AD having something to do with things.
  3. “To many expositors it seems perfectly clear that the seventieth week is still future and that it is the Tribulation Period.” ,... evidently not so for Thiessen!
  4. The 7 year Tribulation is divided in half, with “a time, times and a half a time”, “42 months” , and 1260 days (Dan 7:25; 12:7; Rev 12:14, … Rev 11:2; 13:5, … Rev 11:3, 12:6, Dan 12:11, 12)
2. The Nature of the Period
  1. Political Aspects
    1. Times of the Gentiles, Dan 2:31-43. :Rev 21:24
    2. Ten cooperating kings
    3. Four Beasts Dan 7
    4. Dominated by the woman on the beast
3. The Chief Actor of the Period = Anti Christ, Another Christ, False Christ
  1. Joh 5:43 I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
  2. Da 11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Da 11:37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
  3. Da 11:38 But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Da 11:39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain.
  4. 2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
  5. Re 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. Re 2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Re 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. Re 2:23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
  6. Re 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
  7. Re 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
4. The Israelitish Apect
  1. God has not cast His people away, there is a remnant
  2. In unbelief Israel will return to the Promised Land (which Thiessen called “Palestine” for shame.
5. The Economic Aspects
The Chief Actor of the Period
1. Consider the Person and Work of Satan … again
2. There is a Revival of the Roman Empire
  1. Great Sea of Humanity Stirred :Dan 7:2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
  2. Rev 13:1 ¶ And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. (Striving to banish faith from the earth)
3. Satan gives his Power, throne and great authority to the beast Rev 13:2-4
  1. Satan energized, Satan empowered, No man is able to resist
  2. Begins directing these affairs from but is cast down
  3. When cast down he knows his time is short and hats and persecutes Israel Rev 12:13-
  4. Satan uses deception with Sings, lying wonders, fire from heaven. 2Thes 2, Rev 13
  5. He will institute devil and demon worship, idolatry, and incite the kings of the whole earth to gather for Armageddon
  6. Truly the hour and power of darkness

Outline of Chapter XLII – The Time Of His Coming: Premillennial –469 – 474 (6pgs)

Introduction:

At an Unknown Time
1. Mark 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
2. Acts 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
3. Matt 16:3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
Believers should know the times, general , not particular
1. Matt 24:32 ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
2. 32 And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.
Imminent
1. Mt 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
2. Mt 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
3. Mr 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
4. Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
5. 1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The SIGNS of his coming are more germane to the second phase of his coming than the first phase
The Meaning of the Term
1. Latin mille and annus meaning 1,000 years
2. Augustin's spiritualizing it away cannot work, Count them 6 times in Rev 20:2-7
  1. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
  2. 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
  3. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
  4. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
  5. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
  6. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
3. The fact of Christ reign on earth is rampant in the OT, the duration in the NT
4. The emphasis on the OBVIOUS premillennial return of Christ BEFORE he sits on the Throne of David is important because
  1. Catholics taught Protestants that their Vicar of Christ was setting there and this is tribulation period and the millennial reign we are presently living in.
  2. Protestants consider the Rapture and 2 phased coming of Christ only a contrived doctrine of recent times.
The Position of the Early Church
1. Papias who died 165 AD “There will be a millennium after the resurrection of the dead, when the personal reign of Christ will be established on this earth.”
2. Polycarp spoke of our prospect of reigning with Christ and of the fact that the saints will judge the world
3. Fisher's History of the Christian Church pp 84f admits that during the period 100-313AD, “The belief in a millennial kingdom on earth, to follow the second advent of Christ, was widely diffused, … This millennial or shiliastic (Greek) belief is found in Justin, Irenaeus, and Tertullian. The Alexandrians opposed it. They contributed to the overthrow of the tenet, which was also hastened by the unpopularity of Montanism, in which it was prominent article of belief. (Note that the Alexandrians gave Thiessen the Bible that he prefers over the KJV)
4. It was the Allegorizing of Origen and his followers that made it possible to “condemn Chiliasm (Greek, Latin Millennialism) without disputing the inspiration of the Revelation.” says Horatius Bonar quoted by Silver Thiessen's pg 470
  1. Origen was followed by Jerome, who gave the Latin Vulgate
  2. Origen was followed by Augustine, who gave us Catholicism,
5. In the days of Irenaeus “The expectations … generally prevailed of the personal reign of our Lord on earth for a thousand years.”
6. The doubts concerning the Revelation “seem to have arisen entirely from unwillingness to accept the doctrine of a future reign of our Lord on this earth.”
7. Dionysius of Alexandria seems to be the first to deny the Apostolic authorship of Revelation because of his opposition to the doctrine of the Millennium, though he claims some before him had rejected it. (Silver, Op cit. , Ibid p.231, ?? J.F. Silver, The Lord's Return, New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1914) (Thiessen pp 470)
8. Silver quotes Taylor “The Council of Rome under Pope Damasus, in 373, formally denounced Chiliasm (Millennial Reign of Christ) Op cit. Pg 85
9. “Baronius, a Roman Catholic historian of the 16^th century, says that after Rome's formal denunciation of Chiliasm the doctrine was derided with 'hisses and laughter,' and being 'under the ban' was entirely extirpated.” Ibid, pp 85,91
10. Except among the Waldensiannn, Henricians, Cathari, and some other small bodiestheie light (Millennial Reign of Christ) was then extinguished. Ibid,p. 92
11. Among Reformers … Haldeman quotes Luther, Melanchthon, Calvin, and Knoz as believing in the speedy return of Christ. I.M. Haldeman, History of the Doctrine of Our Lord's Return (Philadelphia: Philadelphia School of the Bible, n.d.) pp. 23F
12. In the last of the 17^th and first part of the 18^th centuries Daniel Whitby, and Arian called the father of modern post-millenialism, restored the methods of Origen, but called it a “new hypothesis”. He taught that all the promises of the kingdom should be taken in a spiritual and allegorical sense. Ibid p. 26
13. “Vitringa, Faber, and Brown are the ablest followers of Whitby.” Silver, Op. Cit., p. 39
14. The return to the early Church position (from Catholicism to Biblicalism) marked by “Charles Wesley, Issac Watts, Bengel, Lange, Godet, Ellicott, Trench, Alford, and The Bonar Brothers, and most of the outstanding evangelists of the past and present generations.
15. During the last 60 years there has been a renewed emphasis upon this “blessed hope.”
The Proof of the Doctrine
1. The Manner and Time of the Setting up of the Kingdom
2. The Blessings That are Associated with This Future Kingdom
3. The Distinction Between Receiving the Kingdom and Inaugurating it... Christ had to return to heaven to receive the kingdom from the Father Dan 7
4. The Promise to the Apostles of Rulership over the Twelve Tribes of Israel
5. The Promise to Believers That They Shall Reign With Christ
  1. It is impossible to show that saints 'reign with Christ' in any practical sense today
  2. The reigning with Christ is to last 1000 year!
6. The Conditions That are Predicted as Existing Just Prior to His Return
  1. Scriptures show the exact opposite of Catholicism's idea that the world will be converted prior to His return.
  2. Latter times, Faith on the Earth?, seducing spirits etc.
7. The Order of Events Rev 19 in perfect harmony with Psalms 2
  1. Coming FOR his Saints
  2. Coming WITH his Saints
  3. Battle of Armageddon
  4. Binding of Satan
  5. Loosing of Satan afterward

Outline of Chapter XLIII – The Time Of His Coming: Pre-Tribulational –475 – 486 (12pgs)

Introduction: Some say that:
1. The Church will pass through the period of tribulation
2. The Church will pass through the first half of the period of tribulation
3. The UNSPIRITUAL part of the Church will pass through the tribulation and the MATURE and SPIRITFILLED part will be caught up before the period of tribulation
4. The Bible is clear that the Church will pass through NO PART of the period of tribulation
Early Christian Teaching (The editor's note indicates this is not part of Thiessen's lectures but drawn from his Bibliotheca Sacra articles and his book Will the Church pass through the tribulation?)
1. That Thiessen (if this is his work) would introduce this subject with an unBiblical primary source is somehow not surprising. But REALLY the Shepherd of Hermes??²
2. Thiessen's secondary source is Irenaeus³ wherein
  1. “He seems to hold that the Church will be caught up during the Tribulation “ is read into his quote
  2. Irenaeus's quote is “And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this earth, it is said, 'There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.' For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome, they are crowned with incorruption. (against Heresies Book V, ch zziz, p. 558)
  3. Irenaeus is herein twisted to say something he does not say, We know of Irenaeus that he believed in the Scriptures and their claim to inerrancy and infallibility, Such should be Thiessen's primary source on this subject.
  4. Thiessen projects on Irenaeus “But in another place he teaches that the resurrection will take place after the coming of the Antichrist. Ibid” The implication that Irenaeus believed other than what the Bible says is preposterous. There will indeed be a resurrection after the revelation of the Antichrist but this has nothing to do with the rapture of the Church before the tribulation period.
3. General Conclusions
  1. “We shall not attempt any further investigation of this literature”,... Excellent, Finally!
  2. “In the testimony of the early Fathers there is an almost complete silence on the subject” … why start here then?
  3. “Though on the whole the testimony of the Fathers is somewhat inconsistent, we seem to have in Hermass” … Seem to have vs Seem to have from unBiblical sources is of little value in developing a true Biblical Systematic Theology!
  4. “It is clear, however, that the Fathers held not only the pre-millennial view of Christ's coming, but also regarded that coming as imminent.” … This is NOT clear from the literature that such 'Church Fathers' wrote down, (I object to this classification of these men) BUT because they believed the Scriptures that Thiessen SHOULD BE USING for his Primary Source in the first place!
  5. “The Lord had taught them to expect His return at any moment” … How had he taught them that?? VIA SCRIPTURE that Thiessen should be using as his primary source to begin with!
  6. “They also taught Hie personal return as being immediately” … again this is only conjectured because they taught the SCRIPTURES, not because of their 'literature.'
  7. “With the exception of the Alexandrian Fathers, who also rejected other fundamental doctrines.” … Ironic (if not so sad) that Thiessen's favorite Bible translation (ASV) is sourced to these unbelievers through the godless efforts of Westcott and Hort.
  8. “To argue from the silence of these writers, in the light of the quotation from Hermas, is, after all, a wrong procedure.” … Why are we then here? and why in the lead paragraph of such a vital doctrine, make this your primary and secondary source?
4. With the rise of Constantine and the State Church pg 478
  1. The (Apostate Roman) Church turned to an allegorizing of the Scriptures concerning the Lord's return.
  2. The truth was not entirely extirpated during the Middle ages
    1. it was held by smaller bodies who kept themselves aloof from the Catholic Church
    2. with the denial of the true doctrine of the Millennium the Apostate Roman Catholic Church must also remove the teaching concerning the Tribulation.
  3. “The Reformers returned to the doctrine of the coming of Christ, but because of the need of emphasizing the truth of justification by faith, they did not give themselves to the development of the teaching concerning the Lord's return. Consequently they have not left us any considerable literature on the subject. True believers need scarcely be reminded that Christian doctrine is established on the basis of Scripture, and not on the beliefs or non-beliefs of past generation,. With due respect for all that the Church has inherited from the godly men of the past, we must yet remember that the Bible is our sole authority in matters of doctrine.” Thiesssen, Op. cit., pp 13-17 (pg 478) (Op. cit., “Will the Church Pass Through the Tribulation?” New York: Loizeaux Bros., 1941) AWESOME CHANGE FOR THIESSEN!
Scriptural Teaching
1. The promise to the Church in Philadelphia
  1. The Word 'Hour' Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
  2. The Extent of the Trial
  3. The Purpose of This Hour of Trial
    1. Alford contends that “The expositors have in many cases gone away form this broad and obvious meaning here, and have sought to identify the hora peirasmou with various periods of trial and persecution of the Church: a line of interpretation carrying its own refutation with it in the very terms used in the text.
    2. R.H. Charles likewise says “IT will be observed that the demonic trial spoken of, while world-wide, was to affect only 'those that dwell upon the earth', i.e., the non-Christians.”
    3. The Bible does not so allow “Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”
    4. The Bible does not so allow; 2Pet 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
  4. Who Will be Kept From the Hour of Trial
    1. Moffat contends that the Greek allows this verb to mean successful endurance and safe emergence OR kept from and escape from it entirely.
    2. The Bible does not so allow “Rev 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”
    3. The Bible does not so allow; 2Pet 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
2. The Nature of the Seventieth Week of Daniel
3. The Nature and Purpose of the Tribulation
4. The Twenty-Four Elders in Relation to the Tribulation
  1. After the letters to the Churches, Rev 1-3, after John told 'come up hither', Rev 4:1, when a 'throne was set in heaven' 4:2
    1. In the Greek imperfect tense the throne 'was being set'
    2. Not the eternal throne upon which God sits
    3. God the Father set on this throne
    4. 4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
  2. It is CLEAR that they are on these 'seats' before the first seal is broken, i.e. before the first Tribulation judgment
  3. Angels DO NOT sit on thrones nor have crowns of gold
  4. Angels are great in number, these are but 12
  5. Crowns are not bestowed until the Lord comes again
  6. These have resurrected incorruptible bodies to be robed, crowned and enthroned, i.e. they are not disembodied spirits
    1. these are different than the souls seen under the altar at the 5^th seal Rev 6:9
    2. these 'souls' are resurrected and in receipt of incorruptible bodies at the end of the Tribulation period 6:11, 20:4-5
    3. These 'souls' are part of the 'first resurrection', clarifying that that resurrection began prior i.e. at the Rapture
  7. These 24 are representatives of many others
    1. In 1 Chron 23:3-4 24,000 Levites were set forward
    2. In ch 24 they were set into 24 orderings
    3. In ch 25 the 24 orderings are set with 12 each sons and brethren for 12x24 = 288; 25:7 “So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight.”
    4. These are thus representatives of the saints set in order
      1. OT saints set under 12 tribal leaders
      2. NT saints set under 12 apostles
      3. NOT THE Church, (as in Catholic Error) but the united royal priesthood of all the 1^st resurrection saints
  8. These are 'elders' matured leaders of Israel, and matured leaders of the Church.
  9. These 24 elders are the direct outcome of the Rapture of OT and NT saints
  10. In Rev 19 the four and twenty elders worship the coming King of kings and Lord of lords!
5. The Mission of the Holy Spirit as a Restrainer
6. The Necessity for an Interval Between the Rapture and the Revelation
7. The Exhortation to Constant Expectation of the Lord's Return
8. The erroneous interpretations make the last trumpet (1Cor 15:12) of 1Thes 4 the same as the trumpet of Rev 11:15
  1. The Thes trumpet is a singular one, the Rev trumpet is one of seven.
  2. The Revelation trumpets are visions of Revelation, Thes trumpet not so much
  3. When Moses was called to Mt Sinai (Exod 19) there was a long trumpet blast called for, but there were in actuality two, one two summon the people to the mount, the other to summon Moses into the mount
    1. There is no warning that there would be two separate blasts
    2. 1Thes 4:16 awakens the dead in Christ, the last one in 1Cor 15:52 summon the resurrected into Christ's presence. Ingenious suggestion!
  4. In any event the trumpet of 1Cor 15 cannot be the same as the 7^th visionary trumpet of the Revelation's Tribulation period.
9. There is indeed a per-Tribulation Rapture and resurrection of saints.

Outline of Chapter XLIV – The Resurrections –487 – 495 (9pgs)

The Certainty of the Resurrection “If a man die, shall he live again?” Job 14:14
1. The Fact and Character of the Intermediate State
  1. There have always been denier of the resurrection (Matt 22:23, Acts 23:8, 1Cor 15:12)
  2. Man has 'generally' know there is a life after death
  3. Brahmanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Mohammedanism. - all hold that man continues to exist after death
  4. The OT evidences a conscious existence after death
  5. The NT obviates a conscious existence after death
  6. AGAIN Origen is called out for his obscure philosophy on this subject:
    1. “Origen thinks that the pious dead were transferred to Paradise, which he makes to be, not a part of Hades, but yet distinct from Heaven. To Paradise believers, as he though, go at their death. This was contrary to the usual view that they, like the righteous of the Old Testament days, wait in Hades, in a state of happiness not yet perfected, for the general resurrection. It was believed that only martyrs attained at once to the blessed vision of God in Heaven. History of the Christian Church pg 85”
    2. Origen has here in embryo the Catholic teaching of a Purgatory which is passed on to Jerome to translate into his Latin Vulgate, and to Saint Augustine to intertwine into Catholic Doctrine.
2. The Old Testament Teaching as to a Bodily Resurrections
  1. OT represents all men as going down to Sheol (the Hades of the NT)
  2. The wicked of course go there (Ps 9:17; 31:17; 49:14; Isa 5:14)
  3. Kotah, Dathan, and Abiram are said to have gone down alive into Sheol (Num 16:33)
  4. But the Righteous also go there Job 3:11-19; 14:13; 17:16 Ps 6:5; 16:10; 88:3)
  5. Jacob looked forward to going to his son Joseph to Sheol (Gen 37:35)
  6. Hezekiah looked “into the gates of Sheol” Isa 38:10
  7. “He was gathered to his people” implies Sheol Gen 25:8; 17; 35:29 etc Num, Neut, Jude)
3. The New Testament Teaching as to a Bodily Resurrection.
  1. The rich man of Luke 16 ('Dives' as Thiessen calls him, as if he knew him by his first name? pg 488) went to Hades, (quite properly in English in the Holy Bible called Hell), and he and Lazarus were within speaking distance of each other in that region.
  2. Jesus went down to 'Hades' (quite properly in English in the Holy Bible called Hell) (Acts 2:27, 31)
    1. 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,(ASV Hades, NASV HADES, NISV Grave!) neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
    2. 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell (ASV Hades, NASV HADES, NISV Grave!), neither his flesh did see corruption
  3. The Greek word Hades occurs 'but' (Thiessen's word) ten times in the NT; Modernist Bibles refuse to acknowledge 'Hell' and almost always call Hell Hades or the grave Where hell is present 54 times, 31 in the OT 23 in the NT , Greek geenna English hell 12 times, vs Greek ades 11 times, (English- 'hell' 10 time and 'grave' 1 time in 1Cor 15:55)
    1. Mt 11:23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell <86>(ASV-Hades, NASV-Hades, NIV-the depths): for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
    2. Mt 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell <86>(ASV-Hades, NASV-Hades, NIV-Hades) shall not prevail against it.
    3. Lu 10:15 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell <86>(ASV-Hades, NASV-Hades, NIV-the depths).
    4. Lu 16:23 And in hell <86> (ASV-Hades, NASV-Hades, NIV-hell)he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
    5. Ac 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell <86>(ASV-Hades, NASV-HADES, NIV-the grave), neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
    6. Ac 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell <86>(ASV-Hades, NASV-HADES, NIV-the grave), neither his flesh did see corruption.
    7. 1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave <86>(ASV-death, NASV-DEATH, NIV-death), where is thy victory?
    8. Re 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell <86>(ASV-Hades, NASV-Hades, NIV-Hades) and of death.
    9. Re 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell <86>(ASV-Hades, NASV-Hades, NIV-Hades) followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
    10. Re 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell <86>(ASV-Hades, NASV-Hades, NIV-Hades) delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
    11. Re 20:14 And death and hell <86>(ASV-Hades, NASV-Hades, NIV-Hades) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
  4. Thiessen adds that Thayer says, that in the Septuagint the Hebrew sheol “Is almost always rendered by this word,” i.e. hades. He notes one exception in 2Sam 22:6, where it is rendered death. The two words are by common consent held to be exact equivalents. I would add that the proper English equivalent is 'hell' and their repeated transliteration of each is the modernist's and Satan's attempt to soften the issue and reality of a place called in the English tongue HELL. Their transliteration and the NIV absolute butchering of the word further produces inconsistency in the use and study of the Biblical hell. Since Thiessen brought it up, the OT usages of hell i.e. sheol (hell 31 times, grave 31 times and pit 3 times are as follows:
    1. De 32:22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell (ASV-Sheol, NAS-Sheol, NIV- realm of death), and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.
    2. 2Sa 22:6 The sorrows of hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;
    3. Job 11:8 It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave); what canst thou know?
    4. Job 26:6 Hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- death) is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
    5. Ps 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave), and all the nations that forget God.
    6. Ps 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave); neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
    7. Ps 18:5 The sorrows of hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
    8. Ps 55:15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave): for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
    9. Ps 86:13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave).
    10. Ps 116:3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
    11. Ps 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- depths), behold, thou art there.
    12. Pr 5:5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave).
    13. Pr 7:27 Her house is the way to hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave), going down to the chambers of death.
    14. Pr 9:18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave).
    15. Pr 15:11 Hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- death) and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?
    16. Pr 15:24 The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) beneath.
    17. Pr 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- death).
    18. Pr 27:20 Hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- death) and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
    19. Isa 5:14 Therefore hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
    20. Isa 14:9 Hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
    21. Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave), to the sides of the pit.
    22. Isa 28:15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
    23. Isa 28:18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
    24. Isa 57:9 And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave).
    25. Eze 31:16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
    26. Eze 31:17 They also went down into hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
    27. Eze 32:21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) with them that help him: they are gone down, they lie uncircumcised, slain by the sword.
    28. Eze 32:27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
    29. Am 9:2 Though they dig into hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave), thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
    30. Jon 2:2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave) cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
    31. Hab 2:5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell (ASV- Sheol, NAS- Sheol, NIV- grave), and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:
  5. The NT records the raising of 5 persons;
    1. Jairus' daughter Matt :24,25
    2. The young man of Nain Luke 7:14-15
    3. Lazarus John 11
    4. Dorcas Acts 9:40-41
    5. Eutychus Acts 20:9-12
    6. In addition Mat 27:52-53 tells of the raising of many saints after the resurrection of Christ.
  6. Christ taught of a future resurrection.
The Nature of the Resurrection.
1. The Fact of a Bodily Resurrection
  1. In Clear Statements to that effect
    1. Reformed Theology is herein mucked up because they do not believe the Bible's accounting of Body Soul and Spirit
    2. Reformed Theology via Goodwin herein states the absurdity “The spiritual body is body, and not spirit, and therefore must come under the definition of body. If it were to be mere spirit, then every man in the future state would have two spirits the spirit that he has here and another spirit received at the resurrection.
    3. Reformed Theology rejects Bible for philosophy and end up in a quagmire of illogical and verbose argument which they often excuse as 'systematic theology.'
  2. In the declaration that the body is included in our redemption
2. The Nature of the Resurrection Body
  1. The Bodies of Believers We will be like Christ's glorified body.
    1. We read that it will not be composed of flesh and blood
    2. It will be incorruptible
    3. It will be a glorious body
    4. It will be powerful I.e not become weary
    5. It will be a spiritual body
    6. It will be a heavenly body
  2. The bodies of Unbelievers
    1. Resurrection unto judgment vs resurrection of life (Jhn 5:28,29)
    2. Fear Him who can destroy body and soul in hell Matt 10:28
    3. Resurrection of the just and the unjust Acts 24:15
The Time of the Resurrections
1. Various things have already been said disproving the 'general resurrection' of all.
2. There is a 'first resurrection' for all believers OT, and NT and even Tribulation saints taking part after the rapture of 1Thes 4
3. Reformed Theologians foster much confusion about the resurrections because of the use of the phrase “in the last day” thinking it must be only the last day which to their allegorical fanciful interpretations is sometimes called a thousand years and is yet the very last of all the days.

Outline of Chapter XLV – The Judgments –496 – 505 (10pgs)

The Certainty of the Judgments
1. Solomon to the natural man, knowing God will bring them into judgment
2. Man has a natural, built in fear of judgment, it is naturally expected
3. Strong quotes the statesman who fears not so much coming judgment as much as no judgment, … there is an expected, deserved and surety of judgment
4. The Scripture assures us that there is a coming judgment.
  1. Gen 18:25b Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
  2. 1Chron 16:33 Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD, because he cometh to judge the earth.
  3. Ps 96:13 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth. 98:9 Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
  4. Ps 9 7 But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment. 8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
  5. Joel 3:12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
  6. Isa 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
  7. Mat 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
  8. Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
  9. Acts 24:25 And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.
  10. Rom 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
  11. 2Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
  12. Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
The Object of Judgments
1. Strong well says “The object of the final judgment is not the ascertainment of but the manifestation, of character, and the assignment of outward conditions corresponding to it.
2. The revelation of the righteous judgment of God
3. Memory, conscience, and character “are evidences and preparations for this final disclosure.” Ibid
4. The judgments will take place in order to show God's righteousness in treating men as He treats them.
5. To the purpose that “Every mouth shall be stopped.”
The Judge
1. Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
2. John 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
3. Christ will judge
  1. The living and the dead Acts 10:42
  2. The believers for their works 2Cor 5:10
  3. The Beast and the False Prophet, and their armies Rev 19
  4. The nations gathered before Him Mat 25
  5. Satan Rev 20:1-3
  6. The nations of the Millennial earth Isa 2:4
  7. The impenitent dead (Thiessen's Catholic word, not a Bible word) Rev 20:11-15 (11 ¶ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.)
The Various Judgments pg 498
1. The Judgment of the Believers
  1. Rom 14:10, 2Cor 5:10, 1Cor 4:5, 3:11-15
  2. Matt 25:14-30, Luke 19:11-27
2. The Judgment of Israel
  1. Jer 30:7
  2. Rev 12:6, 13-17, 7:1-8
  3. Ezek 20:33-34
  4. Mal 3:2-5
3. The Judgment of Babylon
  1. Rev 17:1-
  2. Rev 19:1-5
4. The Judgment of the Beast, The False Prophet, and Their Armies
  1. 2Thes 2:8
  2. Rev 19:19-21
  3. Rev 16:12-16
  4. Zech 12:1-9, 13:8-14:2
  5. 2Thes 1:7-10, Rev 19:21
5. The Judgment of the Nations
  1. 2Thes 1:7-10
  2. Matt 25:31-46
  3. Joel 3:11-17
  4. Acts 17:31
6. The Judgment of Satan and His Angels
  1. Rev 12:7-9, 13-17
  2. Rev 20:1-3
  3. Jud 1:6
  4. 2Pet 2:4
7. The Judgment of the Unsaved Dead Rev 20:11-15, 21:8
  1. The Basis of This Judgment
    1. Out of the things written in the books
    2. According to their works
  2. The Duration of the Punishment = Eternal Fire
    1. Naysayers
      1. Justin Martyr says no
      2. Origen says no
      3. Schleiermacher says no
      4. Dorner says no
    2. The Bible says it is eternal
  3. Objections to this doctrine
    1. Naysayers say the wicked are to be destroyed
    2. Naysayers say The wicked are to perish
    3. Naysayers say that God will for the wicked “leave them neither root or branch” Mal 4:1
    4. Naysayers say the wicked will “die in their sins”, “Cast off from the earth”
    5. Naysayers say That ALL things are to be restored
    6. Naysayers say a God of love just could not do that.
    7. The Bible Says FOREVER and ETERNAL who you going to believe?

Outline of Chapter XLVI – The Millennium –506 – 513 (8pgs)

The Fact of the Millennium
1. Human Expectation Humans have an expectation of a golden age upon earth.
2. The Belief of the Early Church
  1. Found in Justin, Irenaeus, and Tertullian
  2. Opposed by Alexandrians, Origen and other philosophers who authored all the deletions of the Westcott and Hort bible used by modernists
  3. A.A. Hodge admits (against his own belief system) that the doctrine of the millennial reign of Christ “prevailed generally throughout the Church from A.D. 150-250.” pg 507
  4. “When Constantine came to the throne, the Church soon settled in the belief that the Millennial reign, formely expected to begin with the return of Christ, was really begun with the first coming of Christ, and was especially a realized fact in the triumph of the Church over the pagan state. For a thousand years that doctrine remained, with unessential modifications, the faith of the Church, during which time Premillennialism can hardly be said to have existed. With the Reformation the ancient chiliastic (Millennial) hopes shortly reappeared.” Thiessen pg 507
  5. Silver claims that the Waldensian, Paulicians, Cathari, Savonarola, the harbingers of the reformation and the early Reformers held that judgment introduces the Millennium. Thiessen Pg 507
3. The Teaching of Scripture (That which in good theology and proper hermeneutics should be FIRST is herein regarded thirdly , … AGAIN!)
  1. The Day of the Lord, and a day is as a thousand years
    1. This is the day referred to 2Thes 2:2 “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.”
      1. Joe 2:11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
      2. Am 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
      3. Zep 1:14 ¶ The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
      4. Zep 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
      5. Zep 1:16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
      6. Zep 2:2 Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger come upon you.
      7. Zep 3:8 ¶ Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
      8. Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
    2. Christ's first Advent was the day spring or Sunrise Luke 1:78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
    3. Now the Church is the light of the world
      1. He is the Light of the World Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Joh 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
      2. Mt 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Php 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
      3. Reflecting the Invisible sun 2Cor 4:6 2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
      4. Already the Day is far spent, and the day is at hand Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
      5. The morning star will herald the breaking of a new day Rev 2:28 And I will give him the morning star. ...2Pe 1:19 ¶ We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
      6. The Sun of Righteousness will fully usher it in shortly thereafter Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
  2. The Promised Kingdom
    1. The God of Heaven will set up a kingdom that is never to be destroyed
      1. Da 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
      2. Da 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
      3. Da 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
      4. Da 7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
      5. Da 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
      6. Re 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
    2. This is not the present spiritual kingdom as Reformed Theology holds, for it ill be set up only after the ten kingdom empire has come and passed out of existence
    3. It is evident that this kingdom will not interpenetrate the kingdoms of this world, but replace them, not convert them but demolish them, Reformed Theology be gone!
    4. It is in order to keep his covenant with David 2Sa 7:11 And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. 12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. :13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: :15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. 16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
    5. It is sealed with an oath! Ps 89:3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, :4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah. ...Ps 89:20 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: Ps 89:37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.
    6. Reaffirmed in Promise Jer 33:19 And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, Jer 33:20 Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Jer 33:21 Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. Jer 33:22 As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
    7. Declared to Mary by Gabriel Lu 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. Lu 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: Lu 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
  3. The Revealed Purpose of Christ.
    1. Mt 25:31 ¶ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
    2. Lu 19:12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. Lu 19:15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Re 19:11 ¶ And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. - Re 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
    3. Currently seated with His Father in His Throne, but He will sit upon his own, Re 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. Mt 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Mt 25:31 ¶ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: throne
    4. Jesus refused to reveal when but assured soon Ac 1:6 ¶ When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Ac 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
    5. Sons of Zebedee knew he would soon be on His throne and wanted to sit on his right and left, these places would be assigned later Matt 20:20-24
    6. Peter referred to a day of restitution Ac 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Ac 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
    7. Paul assured Thessalonica that the the reign was more than spiritual Ac 17:7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
    8. And the Revelation of Jesus Christ so declares it.
  4. NAYSAYERS
    1. Strong States the Postmillennial position thus: Through the preaching the Gospel in all the world, the kingdom of Christ is steadily to enlarge its boundaries, until Jews and Gentiles alike become possessed of its blessings, and a millennial period is introduced in which Christianity generally prevails throughout the earth. He gives the following verses to prove this (# Da 2:44,45 # Mt 13:31,32 24:14 # Ro 11:25,26 # Re 20:4,5,6 # Col 1:23)
      1. Da 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Da 2:45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
      2. Mt 13:31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Mt 13:32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
      3. Mt 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
      4. Ro 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. Ro 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
      5. Re 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Re 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Re 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
      6. Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
      7. BUT Dan 2 refers to an earthly kingdom, Matt 13 does not teach world conversion, Rev 20 does not predict a spiritual resurrection but a physical one! and Col 1 does not mean conversion of all under heaven!
    2. Reformed Theologians do not regard 1000 years as 1000 years.
    3. Snowden strongly advocates the post millennial view in The Coming of the Lord, But he has these four presuppositions:
      1. The belief of the post-apostolic church is truth
      2. a superstitiouss regardfor modernn scholarshipp”
      3. An allegorical interpretation of predictive prophecy
      4. and a pious devotion to the evolutionary hypothesis
      5. Snowden states it “Daniel and Revelation both unroll panoramic visions which portray catastrophic calamities and judgments which could not be taken literally and yet conveyed great practical lessons.”
    4. A Profound statement wherein Thiessen sees the spec in Dr. Snowden's eye but not the beam in his own “Needless to say that when a man has more regard for the speculations of science falsely so called, than for the teaching of the Word of God, he is not to be taken seriously by those who accept the Bible as the infallible revelation of God.” (Thiessen pg 510) (and doubtless observed when Thiessen had a gray head.)
The Character of the Millennium
1. As Regards Christ, He will reign over all the earth
2. As regards the Church, the Church will reign with Christ over the Gentile world.
3. As Regards to Israel – Regathered, In Promised Land
4. As Regards to Nations Sheep will enter into Kingdom
5. As Regards Satan to Be Bound
6. As Regards Nature the regeneration with lion and lamb, child and adder, life span, fertility and farming,
7. As Regards Conditions in General – Joy and Happiness

Outline of Chapter XLVII – The Final State –514 – 518 (5pgs)

The Final State of Satan
1. He will be loosed from His Prison Rev 20
2. He will be finally judged and sentenced Rev 20
The Final Judgment
1. Great White Throne Judgment
2. For those in 2^nd Resurrection
3. The Books are open
4. Those whose names are NOT written in the Lambs Book of Life
The Final Kingdom
1. Death the final enemy will be abolished 1Cor 15:24
2. All things subject unto Christ 1Cor 15:28
The New Creation
1. New Heaven and New Earth
  1. Rev 21:1,2
  2. Isa 65:17
  3. Isa 66:22
  4. 2Pet 3:10-13
2. The New Jerusalem Rev 21:2-22:5
  1. Its Character Cube,... no Pyramid
  2. Its Inhabitants 21:22
  3. Its Blessedness 21:24
  4. “Rom 11:33 ¶ O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”

APPENDIX

John Calvin The Theologian

by Benjamin B. Warfield (1851-1921)

This essay appeared in a booklet published by the Presbyterian Board of Education in 1909. The electronic edition of this article was scanned and edited by Shane Rosenthal for Reformation Ink. It is in the public domain and may be freely copied and distributed.

The subject of this address is "John Calvin the Theologian," and I take it that what will be expected of me is to convey some idea of what manner of theologian John Calvin was, and of his quality as a theological thinker.

I am afraid I shall have to ask you at the outset to disabuse your minds of a very common impression, namely, that Calvin's chief characteristics as a theologian were on the one hand, audacity--perhaps I might even say effrontery--of speculation; and on the other hand, pitilessness of logical development, cold and heartless scholasticism. We have been told, for example, that he reasons on the attributes of God precisely as he would reason on the properties of a triangle. No misconception could be more gross. The speculative theologian of the Reformation was Zwingli, not Calvin. The scholastic theologian among the early Reformers was Peter Martyr, not Calvin. This was thoroughly understood by their contemporaries. "The two most excellent theologians of our times." remarks Joseph Scaliger, "are John Calvin and Peter Martyr, the former of whom has dealt with the Holy Scriptures as they ought to be dealt with--with sincerity, I mean, and purity and simplicity, without any scholastic subtleties....Peter Martyr, because it seemed to fall to him to engage the Sophists, has overcome them sophistically, and struck them down with their own weapons."

It is not to be denied, of course, that Calvin was a speculative genius of the first order, and in the cogency of his logical analysis he possessed a weapon which made him terrible to his adversaries. But it was not on these gifts that he depended in forming and developing his theological ideas. His theological method was persistently, rigorously, some may even say exaggeratedly, a posteriori. All a priori reasoning here he not only eschewed but vigorously repelled. His instrument of research was not logical amplification, but exegetical investigation. In one word, he was distinctly a Biblical theologian, or, let us say it frankly, by way of eminence "the Biblical theologian of his age." Whither the Bible took him, thither he went:where scriptural declarations failed him, there he stopped short. It is this which imparts to Calvin's theological teaching the quality which is its prime characteristic and its real offense in the eyes of his critics--I mean its positiveness. There is no mistaking the note of confidence in his teaching, and it is perhaps not surprising that this note of confidence irritates his critics. They resent the air of finality he gives to his declarations, not staying to consider that he gives them this air of finality because he presents them, not as his teachings, but as the teachings of the Holy Spirit in His inspired Word. Calvin's positiveness of tone is thus the mark not of extravagance but of sobriety and restraint. He even speaks with impatience of speculative, and what we may call inferential theology, and he is accordingly himself spoken of with impatience by modern historians of thought as a "merely Biblical theologian," who is, therefore, without any real doctrine of God, such as Zwingli has. The reproach, if it be a reproach, is just. Calvin refused to go beyond "what is written"--written plainly in the book of nature or in the book of revelation. He insisted that we can know nothing of God, for example, except what He has chosen to make known to us in His works and Word; all beyond this is but empty fancy, which merely "flutters" in the brain. And it was just because he refused to go one step beyond what is written that he felt so sure of his steps. He could not present the dictates of the Holy Ghost as a series of debatable propositions.

Such an attitude towards the Scriptures might conceivably consist with a thoroughgoing intellectualism, and Calvin certainly is very widely thought of as an intellectualist a outrance. But this again is an entire misapprehension. The positiveness of Calvin's teaching has a far deeper root than merely the conviction of his understanding. When Ernest Renan characterized him as the most Christian man of his generation he did not mean it for very high praise, but he made a truer and much more profound remark than he intended. The fundamental trait of Calvin's nature was precisely--religion. It is not merely that all his thinking is colored by a deep religious sentiment; it is that the whole substance of his thinking is determined by the religious motive. Thus his theology, if ever there was a theology of the heart, was distinctively a theology of the heart, and in him the maxim that "It is the heart that makes the theologian" finds perhaps its most eminent illustration.

His active and powerful intelligence, of course, penetrated to the depths of every subject which he touched, but he was incapable of dealing with any religious subject after a fashion which would minister only to what would seem to him the idle curiosity of the mind. It was not that he restrained himself from such merely intellectual exercises upon the themes of religion, the force of his religious interest itself instinctively inhibited them.

Calvin marked an epoch in the history of the doctrine of the Trinity, but of all great theologians who have occupied themselves with this soaring topic, none have been more determined than he not to lose themselves in the intellectual subtleties to which it invites the inquiring mind; and he marked an epoch in the development of the doctrine precisely because his interest in it was vital and not merely or mainly speculative. Or take the great doctrine of predestination which has become identified with his name, and with respect to which he is perhaps, most commonly of all things, supposed to have given the reins to speculative construction and to have pushed logical development to unwarrantable extremes. Calvin, of course, in the lucid clearness and incorruptible honesty of his thought and in the faithfulness of his reflection of the Biblical teaching, fully grasped and strongly held the doctrine of the will of God as the prima causa rerum, and this too was a religious conception with him and was constantly affirmed just because it was a religious conception--yes, in a high and true sense, the most fundamental of all religious conceptions. But even so, it was not to this cosmical predestination that Calvin's thought most persistently turned, but rather to that soterlological predestination on which, as a helpless sinner needing salvation from the free grace of God, he must rest. And therefore Ebrard is so far quite right when he says that predestination appears in Calvin's system not as the decretum Dei but as the electio Dei.

It is not merely controversial skill which leads Calvin to pass predestination by when he is speaking of the doctrine of God and providence, and to reserve it for the point where he is speaking of salvation. This is where his deepest interest lay. What was suffusing his heart and flowing in full flood into all the chambers of his soul was a profound sense of his indebtedness as a lost sinner to the free grace of God his Saviour. His zeal in asserting the doctrine of two-fold predestination is grounded in the clearness with which he perceived--as was indeed perceived with him by all the Reformers--that only so can the evil leaven of "synergism" be eliminated and the free grace of God be preserved in its purity in the saving process. The roots of his zeal are planted, in a word, in his consciousness of absolute dependence as a sinner on the free mercy of a saving God. The sovereignty of God in grace was an essential constituent of his deepest religious consciousness. Like his great master, Augustine--like Luther, Zwingli and Butzer (Bucer), and all the rest of those high spirits who brought about that great revival of religion which we call the Reformation--he could not endure that the grace of God should not receive all the glory of the rescue of sinners from the destruction in which they are involved, and from which, just because they are involved in it, they are unable to do anything towards their own recovery.

The fundamental interest of Calvin as a theologian lay, it is clear, in the region broadly designated soteriological. Perhaps we may go further and add that, within this broad field, his interest was most intense in the application to the sinful soul of the salvation wrought out by Christ,--in a word in what is technically known as the ordo salutis. This has even been made his reproach in some quarters, and we have been told that the main fault of the Institutes as a treatise in theological science, lies in its too subjective character. Its effect, at all events, has been to constitute Calvin pre-eminently the theologian of the Holy Spirit.

Calvin has made contributions of the first importance to other departments of theological thought. It has already been observed that he marks an epoch in the history of the doctrine of the Trinity. He also marks an epoch in the mode of presenting the work of Christ. The presentation of Christ's work under the rubrics of the three-fold office of Prophet, Priest and King was introduced by him; and from him it was taken over by the entirety of Christendom, not always, it is true, in his spirit or with his completeness of development, but yet with large advantage. In Christian ethics, too, his impulse proved epoch-making, and this great science was for a generation cultivated only by his followers.

It is probable however that Calvin's greatest contribution to theological science lies in the rich development which he gives--and which he was the first to give--to the doctrine of the work of the Holy Spirit. No doubt, from the origin of Christianity, everyone who has been even slightly imbued with the Christian spirit has believed in the Holy Spirit as the author and giver of life, and has attributed all that is good in the world, and particularly in himself, to His holy offices. And, of course, in treating of grace, Augustine worked out the doctrine of salvation as a subjective experience with great vividness and in great detail, and the whole course of this salvation was fully understood, no doubt, to be the work of the Holy Spirit. But in the same sense in which we may say that the doctrine of sin and grace dates from Augustine, the doctrine of satisfaction from Anselm, the doctrine of justification by faith from Luther,--we must say that the doctrine of the work of the Holy Spirit is a gift from Calvin to the Church. It was he who first related the whole experience of salvation specifically to the working of the Holy Spirit, worked it out into its details, and contemplated its several steps and stages in orderly progress as the product of the Holy Spirit's specific work in applying salvation to the soul. Thus he gave systematic and adequate expression to the whole doctrine of the Holy Spirit and made it the assured possession of the Church of God.

It has been common to say that Calvin's entire theological work may be summed up in this--that he emancipated the soul from the tyranny of human authority and delivered it from the uncertainties of human intermediation in religious things: that he brought the soul into the immediate presence of God and cast it for its spiritual health upon the free grace of God alone. Where the Romanist placed the Church, it is said, Calvin set the Deity. The saying is true, and perhaps, when rightly understood and filled with its appropriate content, it may sufficiently characterize the effect of his theological teaching. But it is expressed too generally to be adequate. What Calvin did was, specifically, to replace the doctrine of the Church as sole source of assured knowledge of God and sole institute of salvation, by the Holy Spirit. Previously, men had looked to the Church for all the trustworthy knowledge of God obtainable, and as well for all the communications of grace accessible. Calvin taught them that neither function has been committed to the Church, but God the Holy Spirit has retained both in His own hands and confers both knowledge of God and communion with God on whom He will.

The Institutes is, accordingly, just a treatise on the work of God the Holy Spirit in making God savingly known to sinful man, and bringing sinful man into holy communion with God. Therefore it opens with the great doctrine of the testimonium Spiritus Sancti--another of the fruitful doctrines which the Church owes to Calvin--in which he teaches that the only vital and vitalizing knowledge of God which a sinner can attain, is communicated to him through the inner working of the Spirit of God in his heart, without which there is spread in vain before his eyes the revelation of God's glory in the heavens, and the revelation of His grace in the perspicuous pages of the Word. And therefore, it centers in the great doctrine of Regeneration,--the term is broad enough in Calvin to cover the whole process of the subjective recovery of man to God--in which he teaches that the only power which can ever awake in a sinful heart the motions of a living faith, is the power of this same Spirit of God moving with a truly creative operation on the deadened soul. When these great ideas are developed in their full expression--with explication of all their presuppositions in the love of God and the redemption of Christ, and of all their relations and consequent--we have Calvin's theology.

Now of course, a theology which commits everything to the operations of that Spirit of God who "worketh when and where and how He pleases," hangs everything on the sovereign good--pleasure of God. Calvin's theology is therefore, predestination to the core, and he does not fail, in faithfulness to the teachings of Scripture and with clear-eyed systematizing genius, to develop its predestinarianism with fulness and with emphasis; to see in all that comes to pass the will of God fulfilling itself, and to vindicate to God the glory that is His due as the Lord and disposer of all things. But this is not the peculiarity of his theology. Augustine had taught all this a thousand years before him. Luther and Zwingli and Martin Butzer, his own teacher in these high mysteries, were teaching it all while he was learning it. The whole body of the leaders of the Reformation movement were teaching it along with him. What is special to himself is the clearness and emphasis of his reference of all that God brings to pass, especially in the processes of the new creation, to God the Holy Spirit, and the development from this point of view of a rich and full doctrine of the work of the Holy Spirit.

Here then is probably Calvin's greatest contribution to theological development. In his hands, for the first time in the history of the Church, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit comes to its rights. Into the heart of none more than into his did the vision of the glory of God shine, and no one has been more determined than he not to give the glory of God to another. Who has been more devoted than he to the Saviour, by whose blood he has been bought? But, above everything else, it is the sense of the sovereign working of salvation by the almighty power of the Holy Spirit which characterizes all Calvin's thought of God. And above everything else he deserves, therefore, the great name of the theologian of the Holy Spirit.

A Remembrance of Warfield

When I returned from Germany in 1906, I entered, as instructor in the New Testament department, into the teaching staff of Princeton Theological Seminary....Warfield was Professor of Systematic Theology (or "Professor of Didactic and Polemic Theology," as the chair was then more sonorously and vigorously called). And what a wonderful man he was! His learning was prodigious. No adequate notion of its breadth can be obtained even from his voluminous collected works. Consult him on the most out-of-the-way subjects, and you would find him with the "literature" of each subject at his tongue's end and able to give you just the guidance of which you had need. Now and then, in wonderfully generous fashion, he would go out of his way to give a word of encouragement to a younger man. The old Princeton was an environment in which a man felt encouraged to do his very best.

J. Gresham Machen

This article was made available on the internet via REFORMATION INK (www.markers.com/ink). Refer any correspondence to Shane Rosenthal: ReformationInk at mac.com (connect and write as @mac.com -- when I connect them I get a lot of junk mail). ÿÿÿ

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Holy Bible

Cambron, Mark G., (Professor, Tennessee Temple Bible School, 1954) Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan Publishing House, 1954

Evens, William, (1870-1950), The Great Doctrines of the Bible, Chicago, Mood Press, 1912, The Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/details/thegreatdoctrine06038gut

Hodge, Charles, Systematic Theology: Volume I, Grand Rapids, Mich., Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1940 , The Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/details/systematictheolo01hodg

Miley, John, (1813-1895, Methodist Theologian), Systematic Theology, Vol 1 & 2, The Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/details/systematictheolo01mile

Schofield, C. I., “Prophecy Made Plain”, Photolithoprinted by Grand Rapids Book Manufacturers, Grand Rapids, MI, 1967

Shedd, William G. T., Dogmatic Theology, General Books, 1888, The Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/details/dogmatictheology01sheduoft

Strong, Augustus H., Systematic Theology:Three Volumes in 1, Philadelphia, Valley Forge PA, The Judson Press, 1907, 35^th printing 1993

The American Heritage Dictionary, 3rd Edition, 1994, Softkey International Inc.

Thiessen, Henry Clarence, Lectures in Systematic Theology, Grand Rapids, Mich., William B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 1949

, Lectures in Systematic Theology – Revised by Vernon D. Doerksen, Grand Rapids, Mich., William B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 2006

http://www.theopedia.com/Neo-evangelicalism Accessed Feb 2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master%27s_College Accessed Feb 2011

1 Graydon F. Snyder writes (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, v. 3, p. 148): The early Christian document Hermas, or Shepherd of Hermas, was known to the early Church Fathers. The Muratorian canon, a list of canonical books from about the 3d century, says Hermas was written by the brother of Pius, Bishop of Rome, about 140-154. Despite much speculation, the author remains unknown. It was written in Rome and involves the Roman church. The document was composed over a longer period of time. Visions I-IV were composed during a threatened persecution, probably under Trajan (the Clement of 8:3 could be Clement of Rome). Vision V - Similitude VIII and Similitude X were written perhaps by the same author to describe repentance to Christians who were wavering. Similitude IX was written to unify the entire work and to threaten those who had been disloyal. This last phase must have occurred before Irenaeus (ca. 175). A preferred date would be 140. On the basis of this internal analysis multiple authorship seems necessary (Giet 1963), though the work could have been composed by one person over a long period of time (July 1958). from http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/shepherd.html

2 Graydon F. Snyder writes (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, v. 3, p. 148): The early Christian document Hermas, or Shepherd of Hermas, was known to the early Church Fathers. The Muratorian canon, a list of canonical books from about the 3d century, says Hermas was written by the brother of Pius, Bishop of Rome, about 140-154. Despite much speculation, the author remains unknown. It was written in Rome and involves the Roman church. The document was composed over a longer period of time. Visions I-IV were composeed during a threatened persecution, probably under Trajan (the Clement of 8:3 could be Clement of Rome). Vision V - Similitude VIII and Similitude X were written perhaps by the same author to describe repentance to Christians who were wavering. Similitude IX was written to unify the entire work and to threaten those who had been disloyal. This last phase must have occurred before Irenaeus (ca. 175). A preferred date would be 140. On the basis of this internal analysis multiple authorship seems necessary (Giet 1963), though the work could have been composed by one person over a long period of time (July 1958). from http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/shepherd.html

3 Irenaeus of Lyons wrote his Against Heresies c. 175-185 CE. His work is invaluable to modern scholarship in the attempt to recover the content of Gnostic teachings in the second century. Irenaeus also provides the first explicit witness to a four-fold gospel canon. … Mary Ann Donovan writes (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, v. 3, p. 457): Irenaeus' major extant writing is the Adversus Haereses (the full title of which is the Refutation and Overthrow of Knowledge falsely so-called). Its composition is dated ca. 180 from the succession lists in which the author names Eleutherus (ca. 174 - ca. 189) as current bishop of Rome (Haer. 3.3.3), although it seems from remarks Irenaeus makes in the prefaces to Haer. 3 and 4 that he followed the practice of sending on the separate books of the work as they were completed. The other complete extant work is the Demonstration [or Proof] of the Apostolic Preaching. It was written after at least the earlier books of Adversus Haereses, to which reference is made in chap. 99. An Armenian version of this long-lost work was discovered in 1904, and Smith (1952: 4-11) discusses its textual history. Eusebius (ca. 263-ca. 339) is the principal source for our knowledge of the lost works of Irenaeus. These include at least the treatises "On the Ogdoad" and "Concerning Knowledge" and letters "On Schism" and "On the Monarchy [of God]" (Eus. Hist. Eccl. 5.20.1), as well as the full text of the letter to Victor already mentioned [c. 188 to c. 198]. … Some of the fragments presented by Roberts-Donaldson are suspect. Johannes Quasten writes, "The fragments which Ch. M. Pfaff published in 1715, allegedly from manuscripts in Turin, were proved to be forgeries by A. Harnack (TU 20,3. Leipzig, 1900)." (Patrology, v. 1, p. 293) I present my own collection of quotes from Eusebius, with the original Greek and the English translation in the Loeb Classical Library, as a reliable source for the fragments of Irenaeus. There is also a fragment of a letter sent by Irenaeus to Pope Victor preserved in Syriac that is generally accepted as authentic.