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The Amillenial Character of the Second Advent

The Second Advent comes as a Thief in the Night

3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Christians shall be Resurrected, Raptured, and Changed

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

I Corinthians 15:51-52
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

The Wicked shall be Destroyed Suddenly, and shall not escape

1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

II Thessalonians 1:7-10
7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

The Earth and all its works will be Burnt Up

11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

The Institution of Human Marriage will Cease

34 And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:
35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

The Righteous are Rewarded, and the Wicked are Judged

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

The PreMillenial Error
You can't very well have a "future materialistic millenium" on an Earth which has been destroyed.

The Second Advent comes "as a Thief in the Night".
~~ it comes not with Signs which can be observed.
The Wicked are destroyed SUDDENLY.
~~ Therefore, they do not inherit any "millenial kingdom".
The Saints do not bear children.
~~ combined with the fact that the Wicked are destroyed suddenly, this means that there are no unbelievers in the Kingdom after the Second Advent.
The Earth and all it's works are burnt up.
~~ this means that the Kingdom will not be instituted on this Earth.

PreMillenialism can't square the circle.

Ergo, PreMillenialism is not true.

And now we get down to brass tacks.

If we are going to humbly permit the Scriptures to guide us in understanding "all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations", the we MUST humbly permit the Scriptures to guide us in understanding "they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years".

So... what say the Scriptures?

The Scriptures require us to believe that the Kingdom is in our midst RIGHT NOW:
- "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst." (Luke 17:20b-21)
The Scriptures require us to believe that Satan is under the binding of Jesus Christ RIGHT NOW:
- "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house." (Matthew 12:28-29)
The Scriptures require us to believe that the "Mystery of Lawlessness" is under Restraint RIGHT NOW:
- For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. (II Thessalonians 2:7)
The Scriptures require us to believe that we are in the Millenium of God's Patience RIGHT NOW:
- But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (II Peter 3:8-9)

ERGO, It's not good enough to say, "I don't believe that the Kingdom is present". We must believe that the Kingdom is present -- Jesus says so!!
ERGO, It's not good enough to say, "I don't believe that Satan is bound" or "I don't believe that Satan is being restrained". We must believe that Satan is "bound" and restrained -- Jesus and Paul say so. Satan is bound under precisely the binding which Christ declares -- he is being restrained while Jesus plunders the House of the Gentiles, taking therefrom whatsoever vessels He wills.
And ERGO, we must believe that we are in the Millenium of God's Patience NOW, which will be immediately followed by the Flood of Fire and the Final Judgement. Peter says so!!

We must believe that the Kingdom is already Present, that Satan is already Bound and Restrained (specifically, in regard to the House of the Gentiles), and that we are in the Millenium of God's Patience, because Scripture tells us to believe these things. And we must believe them before we get to Revelation 20 -- because all of these passages precede and pre-condition the writing of Revelation 20!!

In other words, like a First-Century Christian, we must bring these beliefs to Revelation 20. That is the ONLY honest way to treat Revelation 20!!

And if, as First-Century Christians, we bring to Revelation 20 the beliefs that The Kingdom is Present (Luke 17:20b-21), that Jesus has bound Satan while He plunders the House of the Gentiles (Matthew 12:28-29, cf. II Thessalonians 2:7), and that we are in the Millenium of God's Patience (II Peter 3:8-9), then what does Revelation chapter 20 tell us?

IT TELLS US TO BE REALIZED MILLENARIANS, THAT'S WHAT.

Any other reading does as little justice to Revelation 20, as a hyper-literalist profaning of Matthew 1:17. It does you no good.