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What Every Reformed Believer Holds
Christians agree on more about the end than they think. Start with what is settled.
God hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father.
Westminster Confession of Faith 33.1
Christ will come again visibly and bodily. This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:11). He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him (Revelation 1:7).
The dead will rise together, the just and the unjust. All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth (John 5:28-29). Then comes the judgment, and after it two endings that never end, everlasting punishment for the wicked and life eternal for the righteous (Matthew 25:46). And no one knows when. Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only (Matthew 24:36).
How Prophecy Works
Much of prophecy comes in pictures. Daniel saw four great beasts come up from the sea, and he was told they are four kings (Daniel 7:3, 17). John saw Christ as a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes (Revelation 5:6). Christ is not an animal with horns, but he really was slain, and he really reigns. The picture is a sign, and what it pictures is real.
Prophecy often has a nearer and a farther fulfillment. God promised David a son who would build a house for his name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever (2 Samuel 7:13). Solomon built the temple, but he died and his kingdom split. Hebrews gives the same promise to Christ (Hebrews 1:5). The near son pointed to the far one.
Above all, let the New Testament show you how the Old is fulfilled. At Pentecost Peter said, But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel (Acts 2:16). Paul says the promises were made to Abraham and his seed, which is Christ (Galatians 3:16). So when you read a prophecy, ask first how it points to him.
How to Read Revelation
Revelation was sent and signified by an angel to John (Revelation 1:1). That means it was shown by signs. John wrote as your brother, and companion in tribulation, exiled on Patmos for the word of God (Revelation 1:9).
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Revelation 1:3 (KJV)
These are visions given to comfort a suffering church, and their message is plain even where the details are hard. The Lion of the tribe of Juda hath prevailed, and he is the Lamb that was slain (Revelation 5:5-6). Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life (Revelation 2:10).
- Read the numbers and beasts as signs. The book explains some of its own figures. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches (Revelation 1:20). Like Daniel’s beasts, its beasts picture real powers that rage against Christ. They are not riddles to solve with this year’s politicians.
- Read it with the rest of Scripture. Its pictures come from Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. Hard places are to be known by other places that speak more clearly (WCF 1.9).
- Keep the main thing main. If you finish a chapter knowing more about a beast than about the Lamb, read it again.
The Thousand Years
Revelation 20:1-6 tells of Satan bound that he should deceive the nations no more, and of souls who lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Reformed teachers who agree on everything above read this in two main ways. This page does not settle between them.
Amillennialism
Amillennialists read the thousand years as the present age, between Christ’s first coming and his second. The number is a sign of a long and complete time, not a count of years. Satan was bound when Christ came, so the gospel now goes to the nations. Jesus asked, How can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? (Matthew 12:29). The souls who reign are believers who have died and now live with Christ, waiting for the resurrection. On earth this view expects Christ to gather his people out of every nation while the age stays mixed, wheat and tares growing together until the harvest (Matthew 13:30). Geerhardus Vos and Louis Berkhof taught this view.
Postmillennialism
Postmillennialists believe the gospel will so prevail before Christ returns that the nations largely become Christian. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance (Psalm 2:8). Yea, all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him (Psalm 72:11). The kingdom grows from a mustard seed into a tree, and works like leaven till the whole was leavened (Matthew 13:31-33). The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). This comes by ordinary preaching and the Spirit’s power, and Christ returns at its close. Its teachers read the details of Revelation 20 in more than one way, but they share this hope. Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge, and B. B. Warfield held it.
Both views hold that Christ reigns now, and he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25). Both expect one return, one resurrection, and one judgment. Both pray, Thy kingdom come. They differ on how much of the earth will bow before he comes, not on whether he is King. See also The Hope for the Nations.
Premillennialism
Many evangelicals are premillennial. They believe Christ returns before the thousand years and reigns on earth for those years, with the righteous raised at the start and the rest at the end. The view is old, and godly men have held it. Most Reformed teachers have not, because Scripture speaks of one resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust (Acts 24:15), with judgment following straight on Christ’s coming (Matthew 25:31-32).
Dispensational premillennialism goes further. It treats Israel and the church as two peoples with two plans, and it teaches a secret rapture years before Christ’s visible return. The Reformed reading finds neither in Scripture. Christ hath made both one (Ephesians 2:14). And the catching up of the saints comes with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God (1 Thessalonians 4:16). That is hardly secret. Many who hold these views love the Bible and long for Christ. Love them as brothers, but do not mistake their charts for the Reformed faith. How It Ends says more.
Do Not Set Dates
Men have named the year of Christ’s return again and again, and every one has been wrong. Of that day and hour knoweth no man (Matthew 24:36). No preacher with a chart knows it either.
Beware too of newspaper exegesis, reading the Bible through this week’s headlines. It shakes believers, which Paul warned against (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2). And it pulls your eyes off Christ and onto the news. Read the news in the light of Scripture, never the reverse. A teacher who sets dates has shown you not to follow him. See How to Spot a False Teacher.
Watch and Be Ready
As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin, and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity: so will he have that day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come; and may be ever prepared to say, Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.
Westminster Confession of Faith 33.3
God hid the day to keep you awake, not to keep you guessing. Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure (1 John 3:3). His coming is good news only for those found in him. If you are not in Christ, the day you cannot know is the day to be ready for now. The gospel shows you how to come to him today.
- Read Revelation 1 to 5 and 19 to 22. Ask what each vision shows you about Christ.
- Learn Acts 1:11 by heart. Say it when the news frightens you.
- Pray Psalm 2 and Psalm 72. Ask God to give his Son the nations, whatever you think about the thousand years.
- Ask if you are ready. If Christ came tonight, is there a sin you would be ashamed to be found in? Put it away. See How to Examine Yourself.
- Turn off the prophecy charts. To go deeper, ask your elders for a sound book on the last things.
- Pray the Bible’s last prayer. Christ says, Surely I come quickly. Answer him every day, Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).