Pentecostal and Charismatic Theology — Unit 8: Eschatology and Mission in Pentecostal Theology: The Blessed Hope

Key Verse

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain why the return of Christ is part of the Full Gospel and why it shapes Pentecostal life and mission.

2. Describe the order of end-time events as classical Pentecostals usually teach it: the catching up of the church, the tribulation, the return of Christ, the thousand-year reign, the final judgment and the new creation.

3. Explain how early Pentecostals linked the outpouring of the Spirit to the "latter rain" and to the urgent task of world evangelization.

4. Name the other main views of the millennium (amillennial, postmillennial and historic premillennial) and the main differences about the timing of the catching up of the church.

5. State the main objections to the premillennial hope and give the Pentecostal answer to each.

The Voice of This Unit

This course is written from inside classical Pentecostalism, for students who belong to it. It is conservative and Trinitarian. In this unit we teach the premillennial hope as the view of the classical Pentecostal tradition. We teach it with conviction, because we believe it follows the plain sense of Scripture. We also say plainly that faithful, Bible-believing Christians hold other views, and we describe those views fairly and briefly. On this subject the Bible itself tells us to be humble: "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority" (Acts 1:7).

Why the Coming of Christ Belongs to the Full Gospel

In Unit 3 we studied the Full Gospel: Jesus as Savior, Sanctifier, Spirit-Baptizer, Healer and Coming King. The fifth part is not an extra. A gospel without the return of Christ is not the whole gospel.

The New Testament speaks of the return of Christ again and again. Paul calls it "the blessed hope" in Titus 2:13: "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." The last prayer in the Bible is a prayer for His coming: "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20). The Lord's Supper itself looks forward, for we proclaim His death "till He comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26).

For Pentecostals, the coming of Christ is also closely joined to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the "guarantee" of our inheritance (Ephesians 1:14). The gifts of the Spirit are given to the church for the time between Christ's first coming and His second coming. Steven Land, a Pentecostal theologian, has argued that longing for the coming kingdom is one of the things that shape Pentecostal spirituality from the inside. We agree. When the Spirit fills a believer, the believer does not look backward only. He looks forward and says, "Come, Lord Jesus."

The Order of Events as Classical Pentecostals Teach It

Classical Pentecostal denominations, such as the Assemblies of God, include the blessed hope and the millennial reign of Christ in their written statements of faith. The usual order is the following.

1. The catching up of the church. Christ will come for His people. "The dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." The word "rapture" is not in our English Bibles; it comes from a Latin word for "caught up." See also 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, where Paul says that we shall all be changed "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye."

2. The tribulation. Daniel, Jesus and the book of Revelation speak of a time of great distress before the end. Jesus said, "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matthew 24:21). Most classical Pentecostals understand this to be a period of judgment on the earth in which the man of lawlessness, the antichrist, appears (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

3. The visible return of Christ. Jesus will come back to earth in glory. He will come to the earth, not only to the clouds. Acts 1:11 says the angels told the disciples that this same Jesus "will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." He will defeat His enemies and set up His kingdom.

4. The millennium. Revelation 20 speaks of a reign of one thousand years. John says that those who were faithful "lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years" (Revelation 20:4). We understand this to be a real period in which Christ reigns on the earth, Satan is bound, and the promises God made to Israel in the Old Testament are fulfilled. This is why the view is called "premillennial": Christ returns before the thousand years.

5. The final judgment. After the thousand years, Satan is released for a short time and is finally defeated. Then comes the great white throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15), where the dead are judged.

6. The new heaven and the new earth. God makes all things new (Revelation 21:1-5). We shall be with Him forever. The end of the Bible story is not an escape from the world, but the healing of creation and the dwelling of God with His people.

The place of Israel

Most classical Pentecostals believe that God has not finished with the Jewish people. Paul writes that "all Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26). Pentecostals differ on how to read this. All agree that we owe the Jewish people love and witness, never contempt.

The Latter Rain and the Urgency of Mission

Early Pentecostals read their own time in the light of the end. Joel 2:23 speaks of the former rain and the latter rain, and James 5:7 speaks of the farmer who waits for the early and latter rain. In the Holy Land, the early rain comes at planting time and the latter rain comes before harvest. Early Pentecostals reasoned that the first outpouring at Pentecost was the early rain, and that the outpouring of their own day was the latter rain, given to bring in the final harvest before the Lord returned. You can find this language in the early Pentecostal papers, including The Apostolic Faith from Azusa Street.

This conviction produced the missionary passion of the movement. Many early Pentecostals left home with little money, because they believed the time was short. Jesus gave two promises in the same breath: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). And Matthew 24:14 says: "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."

So the Pentecostal order is: Spirit, witness, harvest, King. The power of the Spirit is given for mission, and mission moves toward the return of Christ. This is why a Pentecostal church that stops reaching out has lost something of its heart. The blessed hope and Spirit baptism belong together. Both point to a church that is awake, holy and sent.

The Blessed Hope and Holy Living

The New Testament never teaches the return of Christ as a puzzle for curious minds. It joins the doctrine to a call to live well. Paul closes 1 Thessalonians 4 with the words, "Therefore comfort one another with these words." John writes that everyone who has this hope in Him "purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:3). Peter asks what kind of people we ought to be, "in holy conduct and godliness" (2 Peter 3:11).

The blessed hope therefore gives the Pentecostal three things. It gives comfort, for those who have lost loved ones in Christ will see them again. It gives holiness, for we want to be ready. And it gives courage in suffering. In many places believers face poverty, sickness and pressure for their faith, and this hope sustains them.

Other Views, Briefly

Other Christians read the same Scriptures and come to different conclusions. A Pentecostal pastor should know the main views and should speak of them with respect.

Amillennialism. This view holds that the "thousand years" in Revelation 20 is a symbol for the present age between Christ's first and second comings, in which Christ reigns from heaven. At His return come the resurrection, the judgment and the new creation. Many Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed Christians hold this view.

Postmillennialism. This view holds that the gospel will spread so successfully that a long age of peace and righteousness comes before Christ returns. It was influential in some periods of church history, especially among certain Puritan and Reformed writers.

Historic premillennialism. This view agrees that Christ returns before a literal thousand-year reign, but it usually teaches that the church goes through the tribulation. It does not sharply divide Israel and the church as dispensationalism does.

Views about the timing of the catching up. Among premillennialists, the "pre-tribulation" view says that the church is caught up before the tribulation. The "mid-tribulation" view says it is during the tribulation. The "post-tribulation" view says it is at the end of the tribulation, at the visible return of Christ. A fourth view, "pre-wrath," places it later in the tribulation, before God's final outpouring of wrath. Many classical Pentecostals hold the pre-tribulation view, but not all, and the denominations' statements usually say less than popular preachers do.

Our common ground is far larger than our differences: Christ will return personally and visibly, the dead will be raised, there will be a judgment, and God will make all things new.

Objections and Our Answers

Objection 1: Premillennialism is a modern invention from the 1800s.

Critics note that the pre-tribulation form of the teaching became widely known through John Nelson Darby and, later, through the Scofield Reference Bible (1909). They say the early church did not teach it, and that Pentecostals took it from dispensational Bible teachers.

Our answer. We admit that the pre-tribulation form became popular in the nineteenth century, and that many early Pentecostals learned it from Holiness and evangelical teachers. We do not hide this. But the heart of the teaching, that Christ will return and reign visibly on the earth, is much older. Historians record that many Christians in the second century believed in an earthly reign of Christ. More important, our case rests on Scripture. Revelation 20 speaks of a reign "for a thousand years" six times in the first seven verses, and the natural reading is that Christ's reign follows His return. A teaching is true or false by what the Bible says, not by who taught it first.

Objection 2: Revelation is symbolic, so the thousand years cannot be literal.

Amillennialists say that Revelation is full of symbols such as beasts, seals and bowls, so the number should be read as a symbol too.

Our answer. Revelation does use symbols, and we should read them carefully. But symbols in Scripture stand for real things. We also notice that the book is described as prophecy (Revelation 1:3) and that John distinguishes between what he saw and what it means. Great Old Testament promises, such as peace among the nations in Isaiah 2:4, have not yet been fulfilled as the prophets described. A future reign of Christ fits them well. We hold this view humbly, and not as a test of fellowship.

Objection 3: The catching up before the tribulation is not in Scripture.

Post-tribulationists point out that no verse says plainly that the church is removed before the tribulation. They also note that Jesus told the disciples they would have tribulation in the world (John 16:33).

Our answer. This is the most serious difference among premillennial Christians, and Pentecostals have never agreed on it. Those who hold the pre-tribulation view point to promises such as 1 Thessalonians 5:9: "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." They believe the tribulation is a time of God's wrath on a rebellious world, from which the church is spared. Those who disagree remind us that believers are always called to be ready to suffer. A wise pastor holds both: we do not know the exact time, and we must be faithful whether we are rescued from the trial or carried through it.

Objection 4: Teaching about the end leads to escapism, fear and date-setting.

This is a fair warning. Some preachers have named years for the Lord's return, and others have used fear to move people.

Our answer. Date-setting is plainly forbidden by Jesus: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only" (Matthew 24:36). Every predicted date has failed, and each failure has harmed ordinary believers. A responsible Pentecostal teacher gives no dates and does not use the doctrine to frighten. As for escapism, the history of the movement shows the opposite. Believers who looked for the Lord's return built missions, schools, clinics and churches, because the same Jesus who is coming told us to do His work until He comes (Luke 19:13).

Pastoral Application

A pastor in a small town receives a message from one of his members. A visitor to the church has been telling people that, according to his calculations, the Lord will return in a particular month. Several families are afraid, and one young man says he will leave his studies because "it does not matter now."

The pastor first speaks with the visitor, gently and in private, and asks him on what he bases his claim. Second, he teaches the whole church from Matthew 24:36 and Acts 1:7, and shows that Jesus Himself refused to give a date. Third, he does not respond with scorn for the doctrine of the blessed hope. He teaches 1 Thessalonians 4 and the call to holiness and mission, so that the church knows that being ready means living faithfully each day. Fourth, he visits the young man and encourages him to continue his studies and his work, and to serve God where he is, because Jesus said, "Occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13).

Summary

The coming of Christ is the fifth part of the Full Gospel. Classical Pentecostals usually teach a premillennial order: the catching up of the church, the tribulation, the visible return of Christ, a thousand-year reign, the final judgment and the new heaven and new earth. Early Pentecostals read the outpouring of the Spirit as the latter rain that prepared the harvest, and this belief fed their missionary urgency. Spirit baptism gives power for witness, and witness moves toward the return of the King. Other Christians hold amillennial, postmillennial or historic premillennial views, and premillennialists differ on whether the church is caught up before, during or after the tribulation. We answer objections from Scripture, we refuse to set dates, and we hold the blessed hope as a source of comfort, holiness and mission.

Further Reading

• Steven J. Land, Pentecostal Spirituality (1993).

• Wolfgang Vondey, Pentecostal Theology (2017).

• The statements of faith of the classical denominations, such as the Assemblies of God Statement of Fundamental Truths.

• Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism (2nd ed., 2014).

• The Apostolic Faith (Los Angeles, 1906-1908), a primary source for the latter rain language.

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