Throughout my Christian walk there has been one area of theology that has evolved more than any other. When I was young in the faith I went from a continuationist to a cessationist. I also went from a synergist to a monergist very early in my Christian walk. This one area though, which we know as eschatology, has evolved more than once and has went from one end of the spectrum to the other. I started as a dispensational premillenialist, then went to a somewhat form of pre-wrath premillenialist, to an amillenialist, and finally settled at a postmillenialist. Now that I’m postmil I see it all over scripture and it somewhat blows my mind that I didn’t see it before. This is very similar to what happened when I became a Calvinist, I saw it everywhere. In this blog post I want to deal with a couple portions of scripture that I believe are undeniably postmillenial verses. 

First, let’s go back to the old covenant. Looking at Daniel 2 with me let’s focus our gaze onto verse 44, it states, “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” I think most commentaries agree that this prophecy, which is simply an interpretation of a dream, is speaking about the first advent of Christ and the coming of the Kingdom of Christ. These kingdoms that Daniel is speaking of are the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman kingdoms. There were four kingdoms and during the last kingdom (Roman) God established His Kingdom. This is exactly what this context is talking about, the establishment of the Kingdom of God. 

Notice what it says about God’s Kingdom though, the text says that it will break into pieces and consume the other kingdoms and it shall stand forever! I don’t know about you but if you tell me you’re going to break something into pieces and consume it I don’t think what is left will be that recognizable or may not even exist. In other words of you broke something into pieces and consumed it I would think that you dominated or had such an influence on whatever it was that it you controlled it. The Hebrew word for consume means to fulfill or to put an end it. Did this not happen in those kingdoms? Is Christianity still reigning today and these earthly kingdoms demolished? Yes, because God established His Kingdom and it consumed the other kingdoms and is still doing so today. 

I want you to notice something else about this interpretation of the dream. This portion of breaking into pieces and consuming is an interpretation of verse 35. Let’s see what verse 35 says, “Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” Notice the last phrase, “the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth!” What an awesome picture of God’s Kingdom subduing and consuming the Earth! I think obviously we know that to go from a stone to a great mountain means exponential growth! If we don’t think so let’s go throw some great mountains or maybe go try to climb a stone. The latter would be easy and the former impossible. This shows the exponential growth of the Kingdom of God. 

Our second place we’ll be looking is in the New Covenant. Let’s turn to Matthew 13. In this chapter Jesus is speaking in parables and coming to verses 31-33 we see two parables Jesus speaks that have the same meaning. The first one is the parable of the mustard seed and it goes as follows, “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” (Matt. 13:31-32) I know many people when they come to parables they try to teach all kinds of things but in parables they typically were used to teach one main truth, we are not to be hung up on every detail in them. For instance, we aren’t to be arguing the size of mustard seeds or what kinds of birds is meant but we are to see the big picture. The big picture in this parable is clearly that the Kingdom of Heaven is going to grow exponentially. From a tiny seed to, in the words of Luke, “a great tree!” (Luke 13:19) It’s very clear from the very words of Jesus that the Kingdom will grow exponentially. 

The second parable in this section clearly teaches this same truth. Jesus say’s, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.” (Matt. 13:33) Now I’m no cook by any stretch of the word and the only thing I really know about leaven is what the Bible teaches about it. The Apostle Paul say’s in another portion of scripture that, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” (Gal. 5:9) So leaven starts small and consumes or grows exponentially to where the whole lump is leaven. Once again showing growth that completely makes whatever it started as to be unrecognizable. Just as the stone that turned into a great mountain, or a mustard seed that turned into a great tree, this leaven consumes the meal! This is what the Kingdom of God is like! It had small beginnings but it has and will continue to grow exponentially! Yes there may be times that it looks like the Kingdom is failing (I.e. The dark ages) but there is always a reformation! 

Let me try to tie these prophecies together. Not only does scripture clearly teach this but as we look through history we see it being fulfilled. How is it fulfilled? The answer is none other than Jesus Christ and Him being the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant. Back in Genesis 12 God said to Abraham that through him he’d bless all the families of the Earth. Then in Genesis 13 God says to Abraham, “if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” Then in Genesis 15 God says, “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” Then in Genesis 17 God says He’s going to make him the father of many nations. Then in Genesis 18 God says, “all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.” Finally in Genesis 22 God says, “I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore.” I show all of this to take you to Galatians 3:29 where it says, “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Remember Paul was writing to Gentiles in Galatia so the fulfillment of “the promise” wasn’t only for jews but all those that are in Christ! He is the fulfillment of the seed promise! By extent all those in Him, which is an innumerable amount of saints, enjoy this blessing of the Kingdom! 

Lastly, I want to see that no other eschatology can rightfully exegete these texts. Why do I say that? Well because no other eschatology sees continual growth in the Kingdom. They see a stone turning into a small mountain then turning back into a stone! They see a mustard seed start to grow into a tree then reverse back into the mustard seed! They see the Kingdom failing in this current age even though Jesus said the gates of Hell shall not prevail against us! They see the waters flowing from the temple in Ezekiel 47 come knee high then retreat! They don’t see this Kingdom of God consuming the Earth in this present age! They don’t ultimately see victory from the church and the spread of the gospel, they see failure! 

Now for the record, I love my brethren that hold to opposing eschatology. I think I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t because I’ve been there. I also don’t think they are somehow less than me as a citizen of Heaven. As a matter of fact I think many of them do way more than me for the Kingdom even in the midst of thinking that it’s going to fail in this age. I praise God for these people and I pray they don’t stop working for the Kingdom! This was not meant to be a bash on anyone just an exalting of what I believe to be a Christ honoring doctrine. A truth that He died for and raised victorious over this world! So that when He asked of His Father for the uttermost parts of the Earth His Father will answer. 

“Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” (Psalm 2:8)

For His glory! 

I think it’s well accepted that Jesus was the greatest teacher ever within the Christian faith and often times without the Christian faith. He definitely was and is the greatest teacher that ever walked this Earth. He taught so much that John wrote, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written…” Jesus did and said so much that we have everything that pertains to life and godliness through Him. No matter how true that is there is still probably a bigger portion of Jesus’ life that we often overlook. This matter is prayer.


I want you to notice His immediate followers didn’t ask Him to teach them how to teach. They didn’t say, “Jesus I want to be a preacher like you” or “please teach me how to be a great expositor of God’s Word.” They ask Him to teach them how to pray! The One that spent many nights in prayer as His disciples slept. (Matt. 26) They knew He was a great teacher but they also knew that He prayed like none other and they wanted to learn that! The scriptures say, “be not many masters” (James 3:1) which means teachers. I have yet to find the verse that says “be not many prayers.” The scriptures never warn about praying too much! On the contrary it tells us to pray without ceasing! (1 Thes. 5:17) We should, even as teachers, spend more time in prayer than teaching.

Our greatest example of a teacher was a man of prayer. Are we known as that? Do those we know consider us a person of prayer? Is our church known as a house of prayer? If not, we have some work to do brethren. Let’s wake up and follow after our Great Teacher who was also a Great Praying Man! 

Verses to consider: Mat 14:23; Mat 26:36; Mar 1:35; Mar 6:46; Luk 5:16; Luk 6:12; Luk 9:28; Joh 12:27; Heb 5:7 

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: The pastors job of “perfecting” is similar to the fisherman’s job of mending their nets. The Greek word being the same as well. Just as a fisherman who doesn’t mend his nets will not only lose fish and eventually his net will tear worse and worse. The pastor must mend to those that God has placed in the fold or he will lose them and the congregation will grow worse and worse. For His glory!

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit—a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.“ Psalm 51:17 The heart that feels the burden of, sin, that suffers under temptation, that groans beneath Satan"s fiery assaults, that bleeds under the wounds inflicted by committed evil, is broken and contrite. This brokenness of heart and contrition of spirit is a thing which a child of God alone can feel. However hard his heart at times may seem to be, there will be seasons of spiritual reviving; however he may seem steeled against any sense of love and mercy, or even of misery and guilt, from time to time when he is least expecting and looking for it, there will be a breaking down of his soul before the Lord; there will be a bewailing of himself, a turning from the world to seek the Lord"s favor, and a casting himself as a sinner once more on undeserved mercy, tears will flow down his cheeks, sighs burst from his bosom, and he will lie humble at the Savior"s feet. If your soul has ever felt this, you have a better thing than any gift; for this brokenness of spirit is a thing that accompanies salvation, and is a sacrifice that God will not despise.

“But, O my soul, if you would view sin in darkest colors and most terrible effects, go to Bethlehem and ask, “Why did the King of heaven become an infant of days? Why was He Who fills all space, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger?” Go to Gethsemane and ask, “Why did the incarnate God agonize and sweat great drops of blood?” Go to the judgment hall and ask, “Why did the sovereign Judge of men and angels submit to be judged? Why did the innocent suffer such indignities? Why was the guiltless condemned to die?” Go to Calvary and ask, “Why did the Lord of glory hang on the accursed tree? Why did the Lord of life condescend to pour out His soul unto death?” It was to save you from your sin, to redeem you from the curse of the law by being made a curse for you, to deliver you from going down into hell by becoming your ransom. It was to merit heaven for you by His precious atonement and obedience unto death. It was to purchase for you the eternal Spirit, by Whose powerful aid you might believe and love and delight in this precious Savior, this adorable Redeemer, this almighty Deliverer, through Whom your sins are pardoned and by Whom you have access unto God as your reconciled Father. O my soul! Praise the Lord for His mercy, and never cease to speak good of His name! Sin—even your sin—nailed, pierced, and agonized the Lord of glory! O! Then hate sin and avoid it as you would tremble to plunge a spear into your Savior’s bosom, as you would shudder to trample un- der foot His sacred blood. “The wages of sin is death.” But, O!— rejoice in this gracious declaration: “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 6:23).” From Spiritual Exercises of the Heart, Reformation Heritage Books, www.heritagebooks.com

Golden chain poem

The doctrine of unconditional election, when held firmly next to the doctrine of total depravity as it should be, can do nothing but promote humility in the object of God’s election. When we see that we WERE dead in trespasses and sins and it’s simply by God’s electing grace that we are made alive, we react not like the Pharisee in Luke 18 who says, “I’m Glad I’m not like other men” but rather like the Nebuchadnezzar who said, “and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”

As I was listening to Refnet yesterday in between a couple messages that were being preached they read from a devotional that they usually do called “Valley of Visions." 

This book if you’re not familiar with it you should do a quick Google Search and you’ll find at least a few websites that have it. I called it a devotional but it’s mainly just the prayers of the puritans. However when they play this I typically try to pause whatever I’m doing, if possible, and concentrate deeply on what’s being said. I don’t do it just to pay attention but because I was to make it my prayer as I’m listening but today after I heard the first few lines my mind went somewhere else. It wasn’t just that I was daydreaming on something apart from it but because as I was making it my prayer I got scared and started to think on what it would look like if God answered this prayer in my life and that scared me. 

Here is the first part of that prayer

O FOUNTAIN OF ALL GOOD,

Destroy in me every lofty thought, 

Break pride to pieces and scatter it to the winds,

Annihilate each clinging shred of self-righteousness,

Implant in me true lowliness of spirit,

Abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence,

Open in me a fount of penitential tears,

Break me…

“Now I must say that if I didn’t believe that God is sovereign and able to do whatever He wants among the army of Heaven and the inhabitants of the Earth then this prayer wouldn’t be so scary to me. If God had to bow to the false god of me, myself, and I then asking God to break me isn’t that scary because He couldn’t. However what kind of God would this be? The weak, pansy god that we couldn’t trust when He says that, "all things work together for good to them that love God.” This false god we shouldn’t even bother to pray to for Him to save our loved ones. Fortunately for us that’s not the God we serve but we do serve One that answers prayer and can do whatever He wants, whenever He wants, and to whomever He wants. That is why I saw my life change as I was thinking on this prayer. I must say now that I should never be scared of a prayer like this. Not only because I do trust God but because I know if He breaks me He’ll heal me even better. 

That brings me to the second half of this prayer that I didn’t even hear because I was so lost in thought and terror. 

Here is the full prayer

“Destroy in me every lofty thought,      

Break pride to pieces and scatter it    to the winds,

Annihilate each clinging shred of    self-righteousness,

Implant in me true lowliness of spirit,

Abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence,

Open in me a fount of penitential tears,

Break me, then bind me up;

Thus will my heart be a prepared dwelling    for my God; 

 Then can the Father take up his abode in me,  

Then can the blessed Jesus come with healing    in his touch, 

 Then can the Holy Spirit descend in    sanctifying grace;

O Holy Trinity, three Persons and one God,  

inhabit me, a temple consecrated to thy glory.

When thou art present, evil cannot abide;

In thy fellowship is fullness of joy,

Beneath thy smile is peace of conscience,

By thy side no fears disturb,  no apprehensions banish rest of mind,

With thee my heart shall bloom with fragrance;

Make me meet, through repentance,  for thine indwelling.

Nothing exceeds thy power,

Nothing is too great for thee to do,

Nothing too good for thee to give. 

 Infinite is thy might, 

boundless thy love,  

limitless thy grace, 

glorious thy saving name.

Let angels sing for        

sinners repenting,        

prodigals restored,        

backsliders reclaimed,        

Satan’s captives released,       

 blind eyes opened,        

broken hearts bound up,        

the despondent cheered,        

the self-righteous stripped,       

 the formalist driven from a refuge of lies,       

 the ignorant enlightened,        

and saints built up in their holy faith.

I ask great things of a great God.“

(Taken from the book Valley of Vision)

"Wow!” That’s what I said! It’s not a scary prayer for a loving God to break us! What was I thinking? I know exactly what I was thinking! I was thinking about myself and my comfort! However, can we name one saint who was worth anything who remained comfortable? Do we think that Martin Luther had a comfortable life during the reformation? How about John Calvin? Maybe Charles Spurgeon had it easy? None of these? Maybe I should look at modern men of God? R.C. Sproul definitely had an easy life right? John MacArthur’s life has probably been a piece of cake! I know, I jest. Anybody worth a hill of beans in the kingdom of God has struggled but God is the God of all comforts and He comforts them in the midst of the struggle! He calms the sea when we think He doesn’t care for us! O, what a blessing it is to be broken by God! Now let’s pray this together with full confidence that God will bless us through it and He’ll be glorified because of it! Amen? 

For His Glory

This blog post isn’t one to condemn anyone else more than myself. I’m writing it because I’ve dealt with it a lot in my Christian life. I understand this from experience and unfortunately I have a lot of experience with it. 

 Over the past month, here in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, we’ve experienced some horrible weather. It started with hurricane Florence that caused my family to evacuate the state for about a week. Now we are experiencing flooding all over the area here. In this time my normal routines have ceased and unfortunately my spiritual routines have ceased, to the point of what feels line spiritual starvation. 

 What do I mean by spiritual starvation? I’ll put it like this, there is no way I could go a week without physical sustenance yet I’ve gone a week without spiritual sustenance. I’m not exactly sure how long a person can go without food but I guarantee after about two days I’d eat anything you offered to me! I do think our spiritual food works the same way. False doctrine can easily permeate the thoughts of those not well grounded in the Word or for our illustration rotten food will easily be eaten by those who are spiritually starving.

I also find that when I’m in one of those states where I feel spiritual malnourished that when I finally get into the Word I want to force feed as much as possible as quickly as possible. Now I’d never tell you that too much Word is a bad thing but “I think” our best course of action is to just get back into the routine of regular meals that we can handle. When it comes to diet and nutrition we are taught to eat around 6 to 7 smaller meals a day instead of just 1 or 2 bigger meals. The reason for this is because we can’t digest all the food we eat in big meals and it’s much easier to digest the smaller meals more often. Maybe this is how we should handle our spiritual food! 

 In closing brethren, let us strive to simply stay in the Word! The more we are in the Word the more we’ll be able to digest and the more we’ll grow! Also, God has given us everything that pertains to LIFE and GODLINESS! What else do we need? Let’s strive to see Him glorified! 

 For His Glory!