PREMILLENNIALISM DEFINED

 An address delivered at the Prophetic Conference
in the Centennial Baptist Church,
Brooklyn, N.Y. November 1890
http://www.baptistpillar.com/

 By Clarence Larkin (1850-1924)  

The common belief today, which is the belief of postmillennialists, is that the Gospel is to be preached to all nations, until the whole world shall be converted to Christ, and then shall follow a universal reign of righteousness and peace, called the Millennium, followed by a short season of awful wickedness and apostasy, to close which Christ shall come, and there shall be a simultaneous resurrection of the righteous and the wicked to be instantly followed by a general judgment; that the world is then to be destroyed by fire, that Christ shall then surrender up all to God, and that God shall then be all in all.  

Premillennialists, on the other hand, believe that the world, instead of growing better, will grow worse and worse, until Christ shall come and raise the righteous dead and translate the living saints, and having gathered them before his judgment seat in the air, reward them according to their works. The Jews are then to be gathered back to their land, along with the lost ten tribes, all in an uncoverted state. Antichrist then sets up his kingdom, enters into a league with restored Israel, and when he gets them in his power, acts the traitor and subjects them to such an awful persecution that it is called in Matthew's gospel and the Apocalypse, "The Great Tribulation." After a short period this persecution is ended by the revelation of Jesus Christ with His Saints, and the "Man of Sin" is destroyed by the brightness of His coming. The beast and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire, and Satan is bound and cast into the bottomless pit. The living nations on earth are then summoned to judgment. the "Goat" nations are destroyed, and the"'Sheep" nations, along with Christ's brethren, the Jews, become the nations over which Christ establishes His earthly dominion. The government is a "Theocracy," with Christ as King and His saints as coadjutors. Then follows a thousand years of Millennial glory, after which, Satan is loosed from the pit, deceives the outlying nations, Gog and Magog, gathers them to battle, and they are destroyed by fire from Heaven. Satan is then cast into the lake of fire, the earth is renovated by fire, God's people being preserved in some way during the operation, and then caused to inhabit the new earth. Then the wicked dead are raised, the fallen angels are summoned from Tartarus, the books are opened and the Judgment of "the Great White Throne" is set; ending with all those whose names are not written in the Book of Life being cast into the lake of fire. Then follow the eternal ages. From the foregoing it will be seen that premillennialists do not consider the resurrection and judgment days as days of twenty-four hours, but as periods, extending over at least a thousand years. They recognize at least two resurrections, those of the righteous and the wicked, a thousand years apart; and they expect four judgments: first, of the righteous in Christ, for their sins; second, of the righteous for their works when Christ comes and removes His Church; third, a judgment of nations; and fourth, the judgment of the wicked dead, known as the "final judgment."