{"id":19942,"date":"2014-04-25T14:09:17","date_gmt":"2014-04-25T19:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buddymartin.net\/blog\/?p=19942"},"modified":"2020-01-10T17:10:24","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T17:10:24","slug":"the-prince-of-preachers-and-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buddymartin.org\/blog\/2014\/04\/25\/the-prince-of-preachers-and-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Prince of Preachers – And Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Some think that this descent of the Lord will be post-millennial \u2014 that is, after the \"Spurgeon\"thousand years of his reign. I cannot think so.\u00a0I conceive that the advent will be PRE-millennial \u2014 that he will come first; and then will come the millennium as the result of his personal reign upon earth. But whether or no, this much is the fact, that Christ will suddenly come, come to reign, and come to judge the earth in righteousness.” [from Justification & Glory MTP Vol 11, Year 1865, pg. 249, Romans 8:30 (age 31)]\u00a0<\/span>– Charles Hadden Spurgeon<\/p>\n

J<\/span>ournal,<\/p>\n

After Jerusalem underwent a judgment in 70 a.d., and Jews found themselves under bonds of slavery and dispersed in the earth, a trend began among some to proclaim that the Church had totally replaced Israel. This teaching became more pronounced over time, and especially as the Roman Catholic system emerged as a power structure in the earth.<\/p>\n

Of course not all the early Church writers accepted that premise that the Church had totally replaced Israel. In fact, most of the earliest Christian writers fully believed that a day would come when a nation called Israel would reappear on earth.<\/p>\n

Take note of several earl Church writers _<\/p>\n

#1) Reference to Papias cited by Eusebius (Papias was a disciple<\/span>
of the Apostle John and a friend of Polycarp; 60-130 ad); “Among<\/span>
these things, Papias says that there will be a millennium after the<\/span>
resurrection from the dead, when the personal reign of Christ will be<\/span>
established on this earth.”<\/span>

#2) Justin Martyr (c. 160); “There was a certain man with us,<\/span>
whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who<\/span>
prophesied by a revelation that was made to him, that those who<\/span>
believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem.”<\/span>

#3) Hippolytus (c. 205); “The Sabbath is the type and symbol of<\/span>
the future kingdom of the saints, when they shall reign with Christ<\/span>
after He comes from heaven, as John says in his Revelation. For ‘a<\/span>
day with the Lord is as a thousand years.'”<\/span>

#4) Tertullian (c. 207); “We do confess that a kingdom is promised<\/span>
to us upon the earth, although before heaven. Only, it will be in<\/span>
another state of existence. For it will be after the resurrection for a<\/span>
thousand years in the divinely-built city of Jerusalem ‘let down from<\/span>
heaven.'”<\/span>

#5) Victorinus (c. 280); “The true Sabbath will be in the seventh<\/span>
millennium of years, when Christ will reign with His elect.”<\/span>

#6) Lactantius (c. 340); “Back then a mortal and imperfect man<\/span>
was formed from the earth, so that he might live a thousand years<\/span>
in this world. So, now, from this earthly age is formed a perfect<\/span>
man. And, being quickened by God, he will bear rule in this same<\/span>
world through a thousand years.”<\/span>

#7) Irenaeus (c. 180); “The predicted blessing, therefore, belongs<\/span>
unquestionably to the times of the kingdom, when the righteous will<\/span>
bear rule, after their rising from the dead. It is also the time when<\/span>
the creation will bear fruit with an abundance of all kinds of food,<\/span>
having been renovated and set free. … And all of the animals will<\/span>
feed on the vegetation of the earth. They will become peaceful and<\/span>
harmonious among each other, and they will be in perfect<\/span>
subjection to man. And these things are borne witness to in the<\/span>
fourth book of the writings of Papias, the hearer of John, and a<\/span>
companion of Polycarp.”<\/span>

#8) Commodianus (240); “The Amen sends flames on the nations.<\/span>
And the Medes and Persians burn for a thousand years, as the<\/span>
apocalyptic words of John declare. After a thousand years, they will<\/span>
be delivered over to Gehenna. And he whose work they were is<\/span>
burned up with them.<\/span>”\u00a0
<\/span><\/p>\n


The Message Carried On – Israel will be a nation<\/h2>\n

There have always been notable preachers who carried a prophetic insight, knowing that a nation called Israel, would reappear on the earth in order for God’s work of redemption to be fulfilled. Charles Hadden Spurgeon is one of those notable prophetic preachers.<\/p>\n

Some may wonder who this man really is. Not so with most studied preachers today. Charles Hadden Spurgeon was penned with the name, ‘the Prince of Preachers.’<\/p>\n

Not many people realize that Charles Hadden Spurgeon (1834-92) has more material currently in print that any other Christian author living or dead, and remains the single most published author in terms of volume in English history. [Eric W. Hayden. “A Collection of True and Unusual Facts About Charles Spurgeon.”]\n

It is no wonder that Spurgeon was called, ‘The Prince of Preachers.’ I became acquainted with Spurgeon’s preaching early in my calling, with just one volume of his sermons. (C. H. Spurgeon had 67 volumes of sermons published.)<\/p>\n

It is impossible to read anything of Spurgeons’, that will not deeply affect your thinking. So it was with me. One of my greatest revival messages was based on Spurgeon’s sermon, ‘Miseries, Messengers or Mercy.’ (By the way, my ministry spans close to 50 years. Age 24 to almost 74.)<\/p>\n

Of course I am not here to extol C. H. Spurgeon, but to draw attention to this man’s prophetic insight into not only the gospel, but also for his insight into God’s plan of redemption.<\/p>\n

Here are some insights to be appreciated:<\/p>\n

“We shall at once profess our attachment to the pre-millennial school interpretation, and the literal reading of those Scriptures that predict the return of the Jews to their own land.” (Jerusalem Which is Above,\u00a0Sword and Trowel<\/i>, [August 1866])<\/span><\/p>\n

And when a great many notable writers of his time were declaring that there would never again be a nation of Israel, Spurgeon had this to say –<\/p>\n

“There will be a native government again; there will again be the form of a body politic; a state shall be incorporated…” (Spurgeon, “The Restoration and Conversion of the Jews,” MTP, 10:426.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is a summary of Spurgeon’s beliefs about Israel –<\/p>\n