Originally published in "The Lord's Coming Herald & Wesleyan Bible Prophecy Advocate," Summer Edition 1996
What Is Millennial Glory?
Here is
the promise: "And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But as
truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of he Lord" (Numbers 14:20-21). "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" (Isaiah 11:9). And again: "For the earth shall be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14)
And here is the fulfillment: "The heavens declare the glory
of God; and the firmament sheweth forth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth
speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor
language, where their voice is not heard" (Psalm 19:1 -3). "But we all, with
open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the
same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II
Corinthians 3:18).
The glory of God is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ (II
Corinthians 4:6). Christ is to be preached in all the world (Mark 16:15). He is
to be received in faith by all people (I Timothy 2:4). And the glory of full
salvation in all mankind is to be the end result (Colossians 1:27-29). God has
done all that is necessary to see this goal accomplished. As far as God is
concerned it is already done. The earth is even now filled with the knowledge of
the glory of God as the waters cover the sea--the very heavens declare it!
Sinners cannot see it, of course! They never will until they repent of sin and
believe the kingdom gospel!
Christ's return is not to impart the wrongly-conceived
"millennial glory" of Darbyite dispensational premillennialism—God has designed
a plan of full and free salvation to do that now. Believers can now rejoice with
joy unspeakable and full of glory (I Peter 1:8) for Christ shares his glory
freely with the fully sanctified in heart (John 17:22).
The antinomians of yesterday and of today do not, yea they
cannot, comprehend millennial glory. In the darkness of their carnal mind they
cannot see the reality of God's glory filling earth and sky and sea today. Thus,
it is only natural these should want to rob the present church age, in order to
pay some fictitious, post-second coming Jewish millennial era.
May God save the present Wesleyan Holiness Movement from the
postponement of the kingdom theory of modern dispensational premillennial
antinomianism! May the Spirit open our eyes to behold, in Christ Jesus our
present messianic king, the glory of the Lord revealed!
The only so-called "millennial glory" the world will ever see
this side of eternity is the reign of the Holy Ghost in the hearts of the wholly
sanctified. Christ is now objectively "Lord of all" (Acts 10:36). Nothing can be
added or subtracted to make Christ "reign" objectively any more than He does
right now. The real substantive issue is whether Christ reigns in you and in me,
and that is a matter that, because of free moral agency, you and I must
individually determine.
Christ reigns in redemption. What degree of it do you believe
in? To what degree have you personally experienced it? Are we content to settle
for less than what Calvary has provided? If we are, then we shouldn't blame God
for the lack of any millennial glory!
The Second Coming judgment is delayed precisely so that all
men everywhere may repent of sin and find on earth millennial glory (II Peter
3:9).
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Related Article Links
The Present Messianic Reign Of Christ
Romans 8:19-23 Explained