Sam Storms said, “For those of you not familiar with the debate over biblical eschatology, this is the perspective known as Amillennialism. Contrary to the label which suggests we don’t believe in the existence or reality of a millennium (observe how the alpha privative “a” seemingly negates the word “millennial”), we most assuredly do! The “millennium” is concurrent with the church age in which we live.
…Again, contrary to the charge of “spiritualizing” the millennial kingdom, the saints truly and literally are enthroned with Christ, they are truly and literally reigning with Christ. This is not metaphor, but a concrete and living reality. The millennium, therefore, isn’t the experience of Christians in the Church on earth but that of the saints in heaven. They have been enthroned. They now rule. “
“The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:26-29).
…the reward noted here (see Revelation 2:3,9-11,13) is the authority granted to the saints when they enter into co-regency with Christ in heaven, now? A similar promise is made to the faithful in Laodicea: “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne [namely, the place of rule, government, and authority], as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne” (Revelation 3:21).
…My point is that this co-regency with Christ is fulfilled now, in heaven, that is to say, in the so-called “intermediate state” where the dead in Christ live in conscious, intimate fellowship with the Savior. This co-regency, as I have called it, is therefore the same as the coming to life and “reigning” with Christ described in Revelation 20:4 and Revelation 20:6. The “millennium” or thousand-year rule is currently in session, as Christ, together with the “overcomers” or “conquerors”, rules with authority over the nations of the earth.” (Storms)
Click here to read more from Sam Storms, provided by Tony of Anaheim.
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Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.
One issue I have with rhe Amil position is that it does not adequately deal with the position of the saints on earth. E.g.,:
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:4-7)
We are already seated with Christ in heaven by virtue of His redemptive work for us whereby we have been resurrected from the dead (spiritually).
That would be like saying that ones Calvinism doesn’t adequately deal with issues of Baptism. Your comment is confusing Eschatology and Soteriology.
Besides, we are already “glorified” to according to Romans 8:30 but that doesn’t make us Hyper-preterist!
And furthermore, if you affirm that positionally we are seated with Christ and ruling and reigning as a royal nation and a holy priesthood, and then when we die that which is primarily positional becomes more actual — then you are starting to sound Amil already. Welcome to sound, consistent theology.
How is it confusing to suggest that Ephesians 2 speaks of our present position in Christ? Christ is reigning and we are seated with Him in the heavenlies. It seems that, using the analogy of faith, this passage is just as eschatological as it is soteriological. The alternative is a kind of Scofieldian “rightly dividing” view of the Bible.
Romans 8 plainly speaks of a progression, but it is also plain that our glorification is just as certain as our calling or justification.
But that is not the language of Ephesians 2 where it directly connects (in the past) our being raised from the dead (spiritually) with our being seated in the heavenlies with Christ. “and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, …”
Further, we are already part of the royakl nation and holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:9,10), no “will become” once we are dead physically. We have come to the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22), not “will come”.
In a sense both camps, the church militant and the church trimphant, are in an intermediate state. We have a body, but still struggle with the problem of sin, while they struggle without their resurrection bodies.
Actually, I was amil for a time. Then found the postmil position more biblically consistent.