Sunday, January 30, 2011

Present Reality or Pre-millennial Expectation?

I recently spent a year rediscovering the writings of Dr. H. C. Heffren, a longtime Canadian leader in our church life, and a prolific writer of biblical subjects, more commonly called "doctrine". One of Dr. Heffren’s favorite subjects was writing and teaching on the Kingdom of God as a present spiritual reality rather than a pre-millennial expectation.

In one of his pamphlet, I found Heffren following John’s report of Jesus that claimed Jesus is the light of the world and “he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). John goes on to report Jesus claiming “as long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5, emphasis added).

I, too, find John’s words of sufficient import to repeat John 1:7-9: “The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all Men might through him believe. He, John the Baptist, was not that Light but was sent to bear witness of the Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”

These verses suggest we see that the true Light of the world came “In that Day” which was the evening time of the Jewish dispensation, so that at evening time it was light, the true light being Jesus the Messiah. In John 12:46 John further records Jesus saying, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.”

That Christ is the Light of the world, and that He came In that Day to fulfill prophecy in the evening time of the Jewish dispensation, is attested and verified by innumerable Scriptures. It was the end of the law covenant (Old Testament) and the inauguration of the new covenant(New Testament)as seen by Hebrews 10:9,16-17.

“Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second . . . This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”

Dr. Heffren’s point is well taken as he writes his small volume on Zecharia. Contrary to the thinking of many today, the Kingdom of God came to fruition with the mission and ministry of Jesus. The Bible consistently teaches the Kingdom of God as a personal submission to the sovereignty of God, and submitting to his Lordship by the individual believer. It has little or nothing to do with any future restoration of the political aspirations of the nation of Israel or the affairs of the Middle East today.

It may well be true that we need to wait (patiently) for the “fullness” of God’s Kingdom to be realized; but, it is a Biblical fact that we do not need to await the return of Jesus (2nd Advent) to establish His Kingdom. Since He came in that first appearance, millions have become His dedicated and loyal followers, walking diligently and daily with Him, and knowing that even in our worst of times, the God of Heaven is still in ultimate control of the affairs of the universe.

From Warner’s World,
we are walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com

3 comments:

Shirley Stansbery said...

Dear Wayne,
Your Writing about " Present Reality or Pre- Millennial Expectation " hit the mark ! I am so glad to see someone knowledgeable who SEES THE WORD as it is in Greek, etc. ...And actually one does not have to see the Greek rendering to see the TRUTH. Thank you for the study and for sharing it with us. I have long believed this very strongly. Many times I am by myself in this, though.
Sincerely, Shirley Stansbery

Wayne said...

Thank you Shirley! This was nothing profound but I like to come back around to this particular subject every now and again. It is important for you to know that living in a hotbed of pentecostalism and protestant fundamentalism, you also live where the pre-mil doctrine is equally rampant. The truth is, it is NOT that rampant everywhere and Chog people need to know they REALLY DO NOT STAND ALONE ON THIS SUBJECT. Your comments are appreciated and valued.

Anonymous said...

Stamping Out Harold Camping

I don't care a fig for date-setters, especially those who predict when Christ will return. The current champion is 89-year-old, headline-grabbing Harold Camping of Family Radio fame.
Is Second Coming date-setter Harold Camping worthy of death? He already has a zero batting average after his September 1994 prediction fizzle and, according to the Bible, is a false prophet.
Nevertheless that California shaman, who should be ashamed, claims he's found out that Christ's return will be on May 21, 2011 even though Matt. 24:36 says that no one knows the "day" or "hour" of it!
A Google article ("Obama Fulfilling the Bible") points out that "Deut. 18:20-22 in the Old Testament requires the death penalty for false prophets."
The same article reveals that "Christians are commanded to ask God to send severe judgment on persons who commit and support the worst forms of evil (see I Cor. 5 and note 'taken away')."
Theologically radioactive Harold Camping and his ga-ga groupies (with their billboards featuring "May 21, 2011") should worry about being "stamped out" if many persons decide to follow the I Cor. 5 command.
The above article concludes: "False prophets in the OT were stoned to death. Today they are just stoned!"
PS - For many years Camping was not known as a pretrib rapture teacher. But now, for $ome my$teriou$ rea$on, he seeks support from those who believe in and teach an imminent, pretrib rapture which supposedly will occur SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE the traditional SECOND COMING to earth! For a behind-the-scenes, documented look at the 181-year-old pretrib rapture belief (which was never a part of any official theology or organized church before 1830!), Google "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty," "Pretrib Rapture Diehards" and "Pretrib Rapture - Hidden Facts." These are from the pen of journalist/historian Dave MacPherson a.k.a the "Pretrib Rapture Answerman" & the "Rush Limbaugh of the Rapture" - author of the bestselling book "The Rapture Plot," an "encyclopedia" of pretrib rapture history (see Armageddon Books).

[spotted above item on net. Vera]