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"This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him concerning the events that will happen soon." Rev. 1:1 "For the time is near when these things will happen." Rev. 1:3b "Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him - even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the earth will weep because of him." Rev. 1:7 The Olivet Discourse, Revelation, etc. were fulfilled in AD 70 - within that first generation. There were scoffers! There were false messiahs and false prophets! 1 Peter was written prior to AD 70 - or do you accept the late dates posited upon flimsy evidence by the skeptics and higher critics of the late 19th Century? Peter was writing to admonish the readers, stay true, stay faithful - Christ will come soon. The Greek words behind our English translations such as 'mello' (I don't have Greek font) leave no room for an indefinite period of time. 'About to,' 'soon' do not mean a few millennia. Sorry.

The passage you would level at Bible-believing, Trinitarian, evangelical Christians is misplaced. I am not the one scoffing at Christ's Second Advent - it happend precisely as he said it would - judgment fell on the wicked city of Jerusalem that killed the prophets,even the Son of God. The temple, the priesthood, the animal sacrifices, the Old Covenant system were destroyed - a new, better, perfect covenant replaced it (avail yourself of the letter to the Hebrews).

I would submit if anyone is 'scoffing' it is the people who have been turned off of the good news of Jesus Christ, of salvation by grace and the blessings and benefits that believers have in Christ through the Church because they see hysterical Christians declaring for a century and a half that the 'end is near' and it never comes to pass. They see the premillennial date setters as false prophets - rightly or wrongly. For instance, Jack Van Impe (and his lovely wife Roxella) asserted that 2001 would see the ""rapture."" Glad for Jack (and his lovely wife Roxella) this isn't Old Covenant Israel, he might be dodging some stones.

Another interesting factoid - The ground zero of dispensational premillennialism in the 20th Century was, arguably, Dallas Theol. Sem. DTS has virtually abandoned every distinctive of classical dispensationalism because the system as it matured and as many of its thinkers matured and as the peculiar sytem faced decade after decade of critique acknowledged - its exegesis was faulty, its hermeneutic untenable and finally most of the Dallas types acknowledged it. They hold to radically modified 'progressive dispensationalism' which looks alot like 'historic premillennialism' which looks an awful lot like many amillennialists save for the interpretation of the single passage that speaks of a millennium in Rev. 20. This news though has not filtred out into the pews where folks still listen to Van Impe, Camping, La Haye, Ice, etc, et.al.

How can the premills here look forward to a rebuilt temple when Hebrews (apart from the rest of the New Testament and alot of prophetic hints and pointers in the OT) explicitly says that the temple and animal sacrifices are gone and worthless. There is absolutely NO ground in Scripture for offering the 'it will be a memorial' argument. There is no Scripture that suggests animal sacrifices in a rebuilt temple are warranted as a memorial for the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

As scary as it may be to read articles dealing with prophetic texts that don't fit the mold of William Miller, Scofield, Darby, etc. - I suggest taking an honest look at some of the work available at http://www.bibleprophecy.com/ and http://www.preteristarchive.com/ and http://www.preterist.org/ You will see an optimistic alternative to the doomsday scenarios offered by folks such as Lindsey who make millions off their fictional books and, because they believe the end is near, live in poverty and give their money to missions, children's hospitals, etc..... No, sorry, rather Lindsey and the other false prophets take that money and invest it in the stock market, support ex-wiveS, etc. - for Jesus I'm sure.

Might I add, fortheDeclaration is a good illustration of why amills/postmills/prets/transmills must offer a zealous defense of the truth - because they pull the same crap as Democrats when they want to shut down discussion, debate and frighten potentially open minded folks on the sideline into running from the truth. But, unlike Democrats who might scream 'racist' or 'nazi' at Republicans and Libertarians, dispies pull out the old bromide of 'heretic' or 'false prophet' the moment they feel their fragile system is threatened.

It is the preterist, the postmillennialist, the optimistic amillennialist who are preparing for the future - working, saving, investing, thinking long-term and looking to exert dominion and influence in order to transform our culture. Those in the 'culture of death' are going to die out. Those who are having large families, training their children in Biblical thinking, inculcating a full-orbed Christian worldview in them are going to transform the future for God. I am quite sure there are some premills who try, though not as successfully because of their presuppositions and eschatology, to do the same. But such activity (such as Falwell and Robertson participating in the political process and cultural debate) is as inconsistent as a Christian Scientist taking antibiotics or having double by-pass. They are, gladly, hedging their bets that their exegesis might not be spot on.

Blessings on the New Israel of God.

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts, 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 (2Pe.3:3-4) Just as the Jews gave up looking for the Messiah in the 1st Advent, so the church has given up looking for Him in the 2nd (Titus 2:13)

Many of the fulfillments you claim PresbyRev and I to be a part of, already happened and are already quoted in scripture.
1 In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
1 John 2:18-19 18 Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us.
Jude 1:4 For admission has been secretly gained by some who long ago were designated for THIS condemnation, ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ...8 Yet in like manner these men in their dreamings defile the flesh, reject authority, and revile the glorious ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you." 10 But these men revile whatever they do not understand, and by those things that they know by instinct as irrational animals do, they are destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they walk in the way of Cain, and abandon themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error, and perish in Korah's rebellion. 12 These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they boldly carouse together, looking after themselves; waterless clouds, carried along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars for whom the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved for ever. 14 It was of these also that Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with his holy myriads, 15 to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness which they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own passions, loud-mouthed boasters, flattering people to gain advantage. 17 But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 they said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions." 19 It is these who set up divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;

Funny, this is a literal and quoted fulfillment of your verse almost word for word and it was in the first century.
Peter was written before 1 John or Jude!

That does not mean we are not to fulfill our responsibility to be good citizens (vote, jury duty, military) but we know that things are going to get worse not better, espically when the church is removed from the scene.

So you would really believe Christ would have you waste your time?
The world IS NOT getting worse.
1. Do the Indians still sacrifice their children?
2. Are there more saved today that ever in history?
3. Are wars as common and as brutal or are they just more visible with the invention of media?
4. Can you prove natural disasters are more common even though weather has only about a 150 years worth of documantation over the 4-6000 year history of the world?
5. Doesn't civilization, for the majority, improve life, limit disease and starvation, and improve the prospect of peacful living?
6. Would the world BE this civilized without the gospel?

"For God SO LOVED THE WORLD that He gave His only Son, that who would believe in Him would not die, but live forever!"
Um, this, along with the promise to Noah, etc, shows Gods love for THIS world. And you think that he would destroy it?

God created a New Covenant with man New Heavens and Earth) and because of that, He will NEVER destroy this world that HE SO LOVES!!

Your doomsdayism, to anyone with common sense, shows you believe Christ gave you a worthless and futile mission. Which makes Him a fool in the eyes of the world.

But we know the truth about your teaching.