Dr Paul Allen

Kingdom Come: The Amillennial Alternative by Sam Storms - Described by Kevin De Young as "the standard bearer for Amillennialism for years to come.” Kingdom Come offers an alternative and a biblical rationale to the widely held view of Premillennialism : that Christ ’s return will be followed by 1,000 years before the final judgement . This book reveals that this is not the only option for Christians . This is a substantial work which will challenge and encourage. Storms explain the belief that the 1,000 years mentioned in the book of Revelation is symbolic, with the emphasis being the King and his Kingdom. So that even those who remain unconvinced will need to reckon with the powerful case made for Amillennialism by reading this work. Questioning Premillennialism Upon graduating from The University of Oklahoma in 1973, I began my studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. My professors were a Who's Who of dispensational premillennialism: John Walvoord (then president of DTS...

Dante And Virgil In Hell by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1850) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." ( Matthew 5:29 )   People do not like to think about hell--especially those who are headed there! But that doesn't mean it isn't real.   We need to know that the Lord Jesus Himself often warned about the reality of hell. Today's verse is in His Sermon on the Mount , a message often quoted because of its wonderful promises. Hell is also mentioned in the same sermon in Matthew 5:22 and 5:30. Jesus also stressed in that sermon that "broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat" ( Matthew 7:13 ). He later warned that we should "fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" ( Matthew 10:28 ).   The religiou...

English: Resurrection of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 24:37–51 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over the household, to give them their food at the proper time?” ( v. 45 ). The Father alone knows the time of Jesus ’ return ( Matt. 24:36 ); thus, His people must always be ready for the end. Using illustrations and parables, our Savior begins to explain how to be prepared for His coming ( 24:37–25:30 ). The first few analogies tell us the second advent of Christ could occur at any moment. Signs may indicate the nearness of Jerusalem ’s ruin ( 24:1–35 ), but there will be no way to know whether His final return is around the corner. Everyday life — eating, drinking, marrying — will go on until He comes ( 24:37–39 ). No remarkable difference in the basic, life-sustaining ways of humanity will herald His return; in fact, the lack of change will make many believe He is not coming back ( 2 Peter 3:4 ). We will be unable to discern th...

The destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 24:9–14 “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” ( v. 14 ). Jesus’ promise that God ’s wrath is coming upon all of Jerusalem ( 23:29–39 ), His declaration concerning the imminent fall of the temple ( 24:1–2 ), and a question as to the timing of these events ( v. 3 ) precede the signs described in 24:4–35 . This requires us to look for these signs within the lifetimes of those who first heard Christ , otherwise this teaching would have been irrelevant to them. Sound biblical interpretation always begins with a passage’s original context. The signs in 24:4–35 refer to the coming of Jesus in AD 70 to judge Jerusalem and those who rejected Him as the Messiah. This coming was not our Lord’s second advent as judge over the whole earth, which this view argues is yet to come. Full preterism (which denies that Chris...

Jesus Olivet, 1778 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 24:3–8 “The disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?’” ( v. 3 ). The evangelist structures his gospel around five major teaching discourses of Jesus . There is widespread agreement as to the location of the first four discourses: chapters 5–7 (the first); 10 (the second); 13 (the third); and 18 (the fourth). Scholars debate the contours of the fifth and final discourse; some want to include the woes of Matthew 23 while others believe that the fifth discourse is found only in chapters 24–25 . Either way, this fifth collection of teaching is commonly known as the Olivet Discourse because, even if Matthew 23 is included, the bulk of the discourse is delivered on the Mount of Olives . No teaching of Christ has generated as much controversy as the portion of the Olivet Discourse recorded in Matthew 24:1–35 . Many people b...

The Last Judgement. The Louvre. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) So when this corruptible has put on incorruption … then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54). In order to inherit eternal life, our bodies must be changed. Our earthly bodies, which are made of flesh and blood, are corruptible and afflicted with the eroding effects of sin . Such a body cannot inherit the kingdom of God , for corruption cannot inherit that which is incorruptible. All, therefore, who enter Christ ’s kingdom, must be changed—a fact that had been revealed to Paul by divine revelation . This is what he means when he says, “Behold, I tell you a mystery.” Mystery here means something that has been revealed, and which could not otherwise be known. God has declared that those who are alive at the second coming , as well as those who rest in the grave, will be changed instantly into glory. The final day when the church will be assembled before the ...

The Last Judgement. The Louvre. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) An issue that must be addressed before proceeding to an examination of the text of Revelation is our basic hermeneutical approach to the book. Over the course of the church's history there have been four main approaches: the futurist, historicist, preterist , and idealist approaches. i  The futurist approach understands everything from Revelation 4:1 forward to be a prophecy of things that are to occur just before the Second Coming of Christ . In other words, all of these prophesied events are still in the future from the perspective of the twenty-first century. According to proponents, this conclusion grows out of a belief that there is no correspondence between these prophesied events and anything that has yet occurred in history. ii The historicist approach understands Revelation to be a prophecy of church history from the first advent until the Second Coming of Christ. This approach appears to have had its root...

Christ Coming Up Out of the Jordan (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." ( Matthew 24:6 ) Christians are often chided because they are looking for the return of Christ rather than improving this present world. The fact is, however, that Bible-believing Christians have been largely responsible for such improvements in this world as have actually been achieved (elimination of slavery, establishment of hospitals and educational institutions, founding and development of modern science, advances in political freedoms, etc.). On the other hand, Christ predicted that wars would continue despite His own death and resurrection. In fact, the prophet Daniel had prophesied over five centuries earlier that "unto the end of the war desolations are determined" ( Daniel 9:26 ). For 2,500 years the prophecies have been fulfilled and will co...