In yesterday’s post, I mentioned Otis Q. Sellers’s discovery of the Premillennial Kingdom:
Otis Q. Sellers (1901-1992) … was testing his discovery of the premillennial Kingdom of God. He announced this in The Word of Truth, Volumes XI, 1949-1950 under the series entitled “The Order of Things to Come.” He’d develop this idea during the 1950s, but [after working on the idea for five years, that is, since 1945] he was ready to present it publicly in that volume’s fifth issue, dated January 1950 and therefore written probably during its last weeks of 1949.
Here is his summary of the multipart series, with key sentences emboldened:
The Premillennial Kingdom of Heaven
The title of this study will seem to be discordant to many. We have been so prone to think of the millennium as being the kingdom of heaven that the thought of a premillennial kingdom will seem like a contradiction in terms. Nevertheless, this title has been chosen with great care as it expresses accurately the truth I desire to declare that there will be an aspect or phase of the kingdom of heaven that will precede the millennial form of the kingdom.
This may not appear to be a new idea to some, since many dispensational fundamentalists hold that there is in existence today “the kingdom of heaven in its mystery form” and that this is “Christendom.” I do not agree with this, for it is impossible for me to believe that there is anything on earth today that can honestly be called the kingdom of the heavens. To say that “Christendom” is the kingdom of the heavens, as many do, is to call evil good, to put darkness for light, to put bitter for sweet (Isaiah 5:20).
It is my conviction that God for 1,900 years has been engaged in a great demonstration of grace, and that during this time He has dispensed nothing but grace. His purpose in this is to demonstrate and establish the graciousness of His character. I believe that when this purpose is completed to His satisfaction, great and marvelous changes will take place, and men will be living under vastly different conditions than what they are today. The following is to be expected when God’s present purpose is complete.
(1) The salvation of God returns to Israel, thus reversing the declaration of Acts 28:28;
(2) Israel is received by God as a nation, and they become Ammi or “My People” once again;
(3) this brings about such a radical change in the world (the order or system in which and under which men live) that it is described as “life from the dead” (Rom. 11:15);
(4) God ceases His policy of dispensing nothing but grace and begins a work wherein light is predominantly dispensed to mankind;
(5) mankind is enlightened concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment, and each man will be responsible and accountable under this light (John 16:7-11);
(6) this, in time, will result in the earth being purged of disobedient men and the sons of the kingdom being established in the earth. The details concerning this will be found in the study that follows.
Ever since I was led to dedicate my meager talents to the work of perpetual and progressive Bible study, I have labored unceasingly to uncover, recover, or discover the truth that God has placed within His Word.
I consider this truth of the premillennial kingdom of the heavens to be the most transcendent that it has been my privilege to uncover and declare. It is a truth that is needed for the times in which we live.
It is a message of joy and hope in a time of almost universal sorrow, discouragement, and despair. To my great God, I offer humble praise for the grace that has made possible the uncovering of this glorious truth.
The conclusions set forth in this study have been developed over a period of five years. My studies in this subject are by no means complete, and the presentation here is partial. The things set forth here will be enlarged and clarified in future studies.
If anything in this study contradicts or clashes with anything I have said before, then this must be considered as my latest light.
Otis Q. Sellers, The Word of Truth, Vol. 11, No. 5, January 1950, 97-98.
PDFs of the text of every issue are available for free download on the website of the Word of Truth Ministry.