No. It is to say that your interpretation of them (which is rooted in dispensationalism, a complex interpretive scheme invented in the 1850's that you have, perhaps unconsciously, superimposed upon Scripture) is not true.
Mr. Adams, as a partial preterist, doesn't disagree about the veracity of 1The. 4:13-16 - he just believes that it refers to the resurrection of the dead.
he just believes that it refers to the resurrection of the dead....
Which it does..but it also speaks of those who are still alive. Leaving that part out puts a whole different spin on it, don’t you agree? I am not a Bible scholar...just someone who has read the Bible and taken it at face value. I believe it is truthful , as God is a truthful being. I know nothing about the 1850’s scheme gobbledegook...
I believe that when I ask the Holy Spirit, my teacher, to help me understand what I am reading, that He doesn’t lead me down a path of deception...for the Word says He will lead me into all truth.
I have a problem with relying my biblical understanding on the understanding of other men...when the word tells me I have no need of other teachers. The Holy Spirit’s job is to teach me...and I believe He does.
It may be simplistic...but the Bible really is simplicity...God didn’t make it so it would be difficult to understand. I rely on the Holy Spirit to lead me and to help me discern the truth.
If the Bible says that there will be people still alive who will be caught up in the air with Christ...then I believe live people will be caught up in the air with Him. If it says that Jesus will reign in the New Jerusalem.....then He will reign there.
The only thing superimposed on me is what the Lord himself has revealed to me through his Word.
"At the risk of being a little tedious, I am going to give you the viewpoints of many men in the past to demonstrate that they were looking for Christ to return. They were not looking for the Great Tribulation, they were not even looking for the Millennium, but they were looking for Him to come. This expectation is the very heart of the premillennial viewpoint as we hold it today.
Barnabas, who was a co-worker with the apostle Paul, has been quoted as saying, ÃÂThe true Sabbath is the one thousand years ÃÂ when Christ comes back to reign.ÃÂ
Clement (a.d. 96), Bishop of Rome, said, ÃÂLet us every hour expect the kingdom of God ÃÂ we know not the day.ÃÂ
Polycarp (a.d. 108), Bishop of Smyrna and finally burned at the stake there, said, ÃÂHe will raise us from the dead ÃÂ we shall ÃÂ reign with Him.ÃÂ
Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who the historian Eusebius says was the apostle PeterÃÂs successor, commented, ÃÂConsider the times and expect Him.ÃÂ
Papias (a.d. 116), Bishop of Hierapolis, whoÃÂaccording to IrenaeusÃÂsaw and heard the apostle John, said, ÃÂThere will be one thousand years ÃÂ when the reign of Christ personally will be established on earth.ÃÂ
Justin Martyr (a.d. 150) said, ÃÂI and all others who are orthodox Christians, on all points, know there will be a thousand years in Jerusalem ÃÂ as Isaiah and Ezekiel declared.ÃÂ
Irenaeus (a.d. 175), Bishop of Lyons, commenting on JesusÃÂ promise to drink again of the fruit of the vine in His FatherÃÂs kingdom, argues: ÃÂThat this ÃÂ can only be fulfilled upon our LordÃÂs personal return to earth.ÃÂ
Tertullian (a.d. 200) said, ÃÂWe do indeed confess that a kingdom is promised on earth.ÃÂ
Martin Luther said, ÃÂLet us not think that the coming of Christ is far off.ÃÂ
John Calvin, in his third book of Institutes, wrote: ÃÂScripture uniformly enjoins us to look with expectation for the advent of Christ.ÃÂ
Canon A. R. Fausset said this: ÃÂThe early Christian fathers, Clement, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus, looked for the LordÃÂs speedy return as the necessary precursor of the millennial kingdom. Not until the professing Church lost her first love, and became the harlot resting on the world power, did she cease to be the Bride going forth to meet the Bridegroom, and seek to reign already on earth without waiting for His Advent.ÃÂ
Dr. Elliott wrote: ÃÂAll primitive expositors, except Origen and the few who rejected Revelation, were premillennial.ÃÂ
GusslerÃÂs work on church history says of this blessed hope that ÃÂit was so distinctly and prominently mentioned that we do not hesitate in regarding it as the general belief of that age.ÃÂ
Chillingworth declared: ÃÂIt was the doctrine believed and taught by the most eminent fathers of the age next to the apostles and by none of that age condemned.ÃÂ
McGee, J. V. (1997, c1981). Thru the Bible commentary. Based on the Thru the Bible radio program. (electronic ed.) (5:879). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.