The Apostle Paul warns Timothy: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come" (2 Timothy 3:1 ). And Paul is not alone in sounding such a foreboding alarm in the Scriptures.

This is from the book Armageddon Now! It is written by premillennialist Dr Dwight Wilson and he shows the failed end times predictions of many a dispensationalist. One of the major concerns with the doomsday view of dispensationalism  is that it drives Christians to retreat from the cultural mandate. It removes the Church's responsibility to disciple the nations in the Law/Word of Christ and replaces it with an overstated individualistic slant towards evangelism only. The Bible presents teaches that Christ came to save the world (John 3 ), not just pluck souls from hell. It also teaches that all of Christ's enemies will be subdued under His feet prior His second coming (1 Corinthians 15 ). And we know that this subjection is accomplished through the work of the Spirit and the means of the living and preaching of the Gospel. Dispensationalism  shrink wraps Christianity and thwarts it through (perhaps unconsciously) dividing the body of Christ into Jews and Gentiles. The New Testament, however, seems to emphasize the opposite. From the words of Jesus, Paul and the other writers we hear that the Gentiles believers are made one with their Jewish counterparts, brought close (or into the covenant promises) to God and united in the body of Jesus. In fact the book of Acts displays how the Jewish leaders reject this notion and persecute the early Church for it including the Gentiles. There seems to be a strange similarity in theology between the old Pharisees and leaders and modern dispensationalism. The old, first century, Jewish leaders fought for the exclusivity of the Jewish race in terms of closeness to God and the covenant promises. We see the same today in the form of dispensationalism...everything is centred on ethnic Jews and the state of Israel. There seems to be a failure to recognise  that in Christ a new heaven and earth was made and the Church is the new holy land, with the children of God (from every nation) being clumps of dirt therein!  

Instead of a message of defeat, the Bible gives us Hope, both in this world and the next. The Bible gives us an eschatology of dominion, an eschatology of victory. This is not some blind, “everything-will-work-out-somehow” kind of optimism. It is a solid, confident, Bible-based assurance that, before the Second Coming of Christ, the gospel will be victorious throughout the entire world. For many, that will seem incredible. It goes against the whole spirit of the modern age; for years, Christians have been taught to expect defeat. Certainly, it’s a good idea to be careful about “new” doctrines. Everything must be checked by the Scriptures. One thing to consider, however, is that the idea of dominion is not new. In fact, until fairly recently, most Christians held an eschatology of dominion. Most Christians throughout the history of the Church regarded the eschatology of defeat as a doctrine of crackpots.

The following excerpt is from David Chilton's exposition of the book of Revelation. You can download the entire book in PDF (6mb) for free at the end of this article. The exposition is brilliant and a must read.

"Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. has done excellent work in forcing reconsideration of the date when the Book of Revelation was written." -- R. C. Sproul, Ligonier Ministries For centuries scholars have argued over when the book of Revelation was written a few years before or a quarter century after the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The most accepted but not the most compelling date is around the time of Domitian (A.D. 95-96), at the end of the first century when John would have been nearly 100 years old. A more compelling date for the writing is during the reign of Nero Caesar, just a few years before Jerusalem's destruction at the hands of the Roman commander Titus. The evidence for this conclusion is found within the pages of Scripture. The Bible itself tells us when the Book of Revelation was written. We do not have to depend on people who wrote a hundred years or more after the fact to get the accurate story. God's own Word sets the record straight. Through careful and painstaking work, Dr. Gentry deals with all the evidence. He weighs all the arguments. "Here is a book some of us have been awaiting for years! Now that it is here we can rejoice. Mr. Gentry convincingly demonstrates the fact the Book of Revelation was written, as it in so many ways declares, prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. It should receive a wide reading and ought to rattle many windows." -- Jay E. Adams, author of The Time Is At Hand

The end is here... again. At every calendar milestone, self-proclaimed modern-day prophets arise to stir up a furor rivaled only by the impending apocalypse they predict. This doom-and-gloom prognostication is not only spread by a few fanatics, but by millions of Christians, including some of the most recognized names in mainstream Christianity. In this authoritative 12-part DVD series, Gary DeMar clears the haze regarding end-times themes by explaining in clear language the interpretation of the time texts, The Olivet Discourse, Daniel’s Seventy Weeks, The Book of Revelation, and more!  Includes BONUS CD-ROM: 120-page study guide with outlines of each lecture, study questions, supplemental readings, and 15 additional articles on eschatology!   12 illustrated half hour Lectures on 6 DVDs: Why Should We Study Bible Prophecy? Crying Prophetic Wolf, Newspaper Exegesis, & the Time Texts Setting the Context for the Olivet Discourse The Olivet Discourse: This Generation The Olivet Discourse: Worldwide Preaching of the Gospel The Olivet Discourse: Sun, Moon, & Stars The Olivet Discourse: The Coming of the Son of Man The Olivet Discourse: Gathered Together The Olivet Discourse: Passing Away of Heaven and Earth The Olivet Discourse: Seventy Weeks of Daniel 9:24-27 The Olivet Discourse: The Difference that Prophecy Makes. The Book of Revelation: Who’s Really Being Literal?

2008 NiceneCouncil.com Conference on Reformed Theology Israel, the Church & Bible Prophecy Is the Dispensational hermeneutic a literal hermeneutic?  What is the supposed “law of first mention?”  Who is true Israel?  How does one become a Jew?  Was the formation of the “new” state of Israel in 1948 fulfillment of Biblical prophecy? Does the Bible teach that there is a future temple yet to be built?  Has dispensationalism broken continuity with the Word of God and Church history?  Has dispensationalism in its history taught different ways of salvation? NiceneCouncil.com’s 2008 Conference, Against Dispensationalism: Israel, the Church & Bible Prophecy, was held October 4-5 and the conference DVD features Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. (Th.D.), Kenneth G. Talbot (Ph.D.) and Jerry Johnson (M. Phil.) covering these and other topics.  This two DVD set is divided into seven segments totaling nearly seven hours in length.  The lecture titles are: Literally Abused: The Hermeneutics of Dispensationalism The Harlot Rides the Beast Not All of Israel is Israel Matthew and the Demise of Israel Against Dispensationalism Part I Against Dispensationalism Part II Roundtable Discussion (Q&A)

Christ's Kingdom on Earth

He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eshcatology "I am gratefully indebted to the exegesis of Kenneth Gentry, Jr." — Keith L. Mathison, Postmillennialism, Ligonier Ministries "This is the best work on postmillennialism that has ever been written" — Reformed Covenanter In this greatly expanded and wholly updated version of Dr. Gentry's classic study of postmillennialism, you will sense anew the powerful message of Psalm 72 that Christ "shall have dominion from sea to sea" (Psa 72:8 ). You will learn that God's word promises that "the whole earth will be filled with his glory" (72:19) so that "all nations will call him blessed" (72:17) — before Christ returns. Many evangelicals today are concerned about those being Left Behind on this Late Great Planet Earth as it collapses into absolute chaos. But the postmillennialist optimistically believes that He Shall Have Dominion throughout the earth. In this book you will find the whole biblical rationale for the postmillennial hope, from its incipient beginning in Genesis to its glorious conclusion in Revelation. Your faith will be re-invigorated as you begin to recognize that "the gospel is the power of God unto salvation" (Rom 1:16 ) and that our Lord Jesus really meant it when he commanded us to "go and make disciples of all the nations" (Matt 28:19 ). The third edition includes an enlarged appendix on the Errors of Hyper-preterism; both theological and exegetical. "THE BOOK to give to one not convinced. Exegetically based, ethically balanced." — The Christian Standard "Gentry is probably today's leading advocate of postmillennialism." — Sola Scriptura