|
The Millennial Kingdom and Beyond
THE THOUSAND YEAR REIGN OF OUR LORD
Memory Verses: Luke 22:29-30 Prayer: That God will give an understanding of the times in which we live and that God will use us in these remaining days. Key Verses: Ps. 2:6-12; 72:7-11; Dan. 7:13-14,18,22,27; Is. 2:2-4, 9:7; 11:1-10; 65:17-25; 66:20-23; Ez. 40-48; Matt. 19:28-30. Scenes of Coming Attractions 1-3. Rev. 20:1-10. The scriptures foretell a period, called “a thousand years” (Rev. 20:1-7, 6 times), when Satan shall be restrained and the saints shall reign with Christ on the earth. The expression “one thousand years” in our English AV1611 Bible is the same word for “millennium” from the Latin. And as we believe that Christ’s earthly reign has not yet begun, but will be established after the Battle of Armageddon (Rev. 19:11-21), we classify ourselves as Pre-millennialist. As we contend that the Lord’s reign is literal, universal, and physical, Christ is not now reigning upon the earth. The Post-millennialists avow that Christ is now in His Messianic reign, but since the last two world wars, such adherents have diminished in number. Christ is King over a spiritual kingdom (Matt. 28:l8-20; Jn. 18:36; Col. 1:13; Rev. 3:21), but he is not yet on the throne of David as promised (Lu. 1:32). The hope of the personal, visible and bodily return and reign of the Messiah was the expectation of the most ancient of believers from Job and Abraham to Malachi (Job 19:25,26; Isa. 9:67; Zech. 14:4; Mal. 4:2). The Jews rejected Him as king, and it remains for their nation to receive Him at His return (Matt. 23:37-39; Zech. 12:10). At His return, He will divide the nations (not individuals) according to how they have treated His brethren (Matt. 25:31-34), and those sheep nations will enter into His millennial kingdom on earth (Zech. 14:16). Scenes of Coming Attractions 4-6. The future kingdom of Christ will be upon the earth (Zech. 14:9). In our AV text, Rev. 5:10 says that “We shall reign” - future, but the corrupt Alexandrian text of Origen, Eusebius, Augustine, Roman Catholicism, American Standard Version (ASV), Amplified Version, plus others, says “they shall reign” which tries to turn the Bible around and make it fit the A-Millennial and Post-Millennial theologies of dead orthodoxy (somebody is reigning now). This is also the advent of the “day of the Lord.” It is not a twenty four hour period, but spans all the time from the rapture to Jesus’ ascending the Davidic throne and ruling over all the earth, and possibly even includes the 1000 year reign also. Christ shall in that day turn the tables on Satan, take up the throne of His father David, put down all of His enemies, rule with a rod of iron, triumph over sin, and give the world an example of righteous government during His thousand years of personal reign on earth (Rev. 19:20; 20:1-3; 20:10; Isa. 9:7; 1Cor. 15:25-27; Ps. 2:9; Rev. 12:5; 19:15; 1John 3:8; Ps. 72:1-20). During the 1000 year Messianic reign of Christ, the saints will be rewarded with positions as kings and priests of God (Rev. 20:4-6). During this time there will be no false religions, no oppressive government, no overt evil of any kind will be tolerated, but the world will see how blessedly perfect the reign of Christ is. Disease and death will be curtailed and the earth will bring forth abundantly so that there will be peace and plenty for all men. Scenes of Coming Attractions 7. But will all men love and follow Christ Jesus the Lord? By no means, for the trouble is not in outward circumstances, but in the evil heart of men, so that as soon as the Lord Jesus relaxes His rule of iron, and permits Satan to be released from the pit, he goes forth to find great multitudes of unsaved people who are sick of the perfect reign of Christ, and they will willingly follow Satan in his last mad rebellion (Rev. 20:7-10). Scenes of Coming Attractions 8. PURGATION OF THE UNIVERSE Memory Verse: 2Peter 5:15 Key Verses: 2Peter 3:10-14; Isa. 51:6; Ps. 103:26; Isa. 34:4; 65:17; 66:22; Micah 1:3,4; Since Adam’s fall and sin in the garden (Gen. 3:1-19), conditions on this earth have been growing progressively worse. Some may think that this earth is heaven, but this little garbage scow of a world filled with its filth and misery and corruption and graft and political greed, war and bloodshed, torture and poverty, strife and cancer, divorce courts, broken bones, broken homes, taxes, dictators, disease, death and graveyards - do you mean to tell me that you think that this is heaven? But God (Rev. 21:1 2Peter 3:-13) is going to cleanse this old world which has been polluted by wicked, sinful man for 6000 years, and even the 1000 year millennial reign of Christ ends in a big rebellion when the remainder of the unbelievers join Satan for that final try to dethrone God. God will fuse the elements in one giant cataclysmic explosion (atomic & hydrogen bombs) which will melt and destroy every element ever touched and tainted by man’s sin. The earth will be renovated by this fire so that the exterior surface of the earth will be completely changed. The fervent heat shall destroy all germs, briars, thistles, thorns and all else that has resulted from the curse (which probably includes mosquitoes, flies and gnats.) Then we will have a completely new (Pre-Edenic) heaven and earth cleansed by the purifying holiness of our Great God and Saviour, wherein will be the New Jerusalem that will be ours to enjoy forever (Is. 65:17; 66:22; Rev. 21:25).
THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT
Memory Verse: Heb. 9:27 Key Verses: Ps. 37:12,13; Pro. 1:26; Jn. 5:22; Matt. 7:22,23; Heb. 10:31; 2:3; 12:29; Acts The wicked dead will all go to this final last judgment, called the “Great White Throne” (Rev. 20:11-15). Every man has had his lifetime to get right with God, but those who die unrepentant and unredeemed by the blood of Christ, go to Hell, a place of suffering, awaiting this Great White Throne judgment. Those who will be judged here are the unsaved dead from Adam to the Rapture, the unsaved from the Tribulation, and the unsaved from the Millennium. In other words - ALL the unsaved from ALL the ages. Every one has to give account of the life that they have lived, so the “book of life” is opened. The Saints are with Jesus Christ, judging as part of the judicial body gathered to judge the unsaved (Dan. 7:9-10; 1Cor. 6:3; Jude 6). Scenes of Coming Attractions 9. There is nothing ascribed to this throne of judgment but greatness and whiteness, indicative of immeasurable power, and of pure, complete, unmingled, and invincible justice. There will be no probation, no further offer of mercy or threatening of coming judgment. The unsaved stand naked, stripped of all defense before an awful, mysterious, and composed presence, which will be nothing less than the one, unnamable, indescribable, eternal Godhead, the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost. I said stand, but they won’t stand long in His presence (Phil. 2:9-11). And according to Rev. 20:11, they will be standing on nothing! On this great and terrible day, the Almighty God, shall reveal men’s hearts, and shall weigh every soul only to find that they are altogether too light to enter God’s Holy presence. Judgment will not be delayed, there will not be an appeal or stay of execution. The sentence will be, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” Each lost quivering soul will be picked up bodily and cast into the lake of fire never to escape its torments. Scenes of Coming Attractions 10-11. A final thought. At the end of the millennium, after the army led by Satan is destroyed, after the Great White Throne Judgement - after all the unsaved are cast into the Lake of Fire - will there be people on earth (saved people) still in their natural human bodies, with the ability to procreate? If so, and they do have children, these children would have to be born without a sin nature! It would have to be that way for all sin will be gone. Or, will these people receive a glorified body at some point before we step out into eternity? Scenes of Coming Attractions
1. The Rapture - This could occur at any time (1Thess. 4:13-17). 2. The Tribulation - The seven year period when the Antichrist will reign (Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:21). During this time, in Heaven, there will be: · The Judgement Seat of Christ. Believers will be judged for their “works,” “the things done in his body” (2Cor 5:10). This is for all believers from Adam to the rapture (and possibly those martyred during the Tribulation). · The Marriage of the Lamb. · The Marriage supper and reception. 3. The Battle of Armageddon - at the end of the Tribulation. · Jesus Christ, along with all the saints (believers) from Adam to the rapture (and possibly those martyred during the Tribulation), will return (Rev. 19:11-21) · Christ will destroy the armies of the Antichrist (200,000,000 men - Rev. 9:16). · His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4) from whence he was taken up (Acts 1:9-12). 4. The Judgement of the Nations (Matt. 25:31-46). · Since all the saved of all nations on Earth will be caught up at the Rapture, all people of all nations on Earth will be unsaved at the beginning of the Tribulation. (I understand very little of this judgement, but here are some possibilities.) 1) The nations, not individuals, will be judged as to their treatment of Israel and the Jews (vs. 40). The nations that were kind toward Israel (and I don’t know if this means all through history or just during the Tribulation), and their citizens (saved and unsaved, I don't know), will go into the millennial Kingdom, while those nations who were unkind toward Israel (v. 45) go into everlasting punishment (This is what the text says). 2) The citizens of the nations will be divided into two groups as to saved and unsaved. This is taught by Salem Kirban and others. 3) If this judgement happens right after the Battle of Armageddon, prior to the 1000 year reign, then it would seem that the nations of the Earth are gathered before the King of Kings for judgement as to how they treated Israel. Possibly the nations who were unkind to Israel will cease to exist and the nations that were kind to Israel will continue to exist in the millenium. 4) This is another reference to the Great White Throne Judgement at the end of the millenium and not a separate and distinct judgement. · Four things are evident here: 1) Whoever is gathered here are separated into two groups, sheep and goats (v.33). 2) Individual salvation is not the subject, rather treatment of Israel (vs.35-40, 42-45). 3) The sheep on His right hand are called “blessed” and inherit the kingdom (vs. 33,34). 4) The goats on His left hand are called “cursed” and are sent into everlasting fire (vs.33,40,46). 5. The Disposition of Evil Ones · The Antichrist and the False Prophet are cast alive into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:20). · Satan is bound in the Bottomless Pit for 1000 years (Rev. 20:2,3). 6. The resurrection of Tribulation saints · Those who were saved and beheaded during the Tribulation (Rev. 20:4) resurrected (v. 5,6) before the 1000 years. 7. The Millenium - 1000 year reign of Christ · All believers of all the ages, rule with Christ. We will have positions of responsibility in the millennial kingdom based upon our service to Christ in this life (Matt. 19:28; Lu. 19:12-27). · The saved of Israel will again be in a position of prominence (Is. 49:22,23). They will be given positions of leadership (Is. 61:5,6). · Those who are saved during the Tribulation who do not die, will enter the millenium in their natural human bodies. They will procreate and have children who will be born with a sin nature and a need to be saved. They must, as everyone of all ages, personally receive Jesus as Saviour. 8. The Final Rebellion · At the end of the 1000 years, Satan will be loosed out of his prison (Rev. 20:7). · He will deceive the nations and mount a great army to attack Jerusalem. · God will send fire from Heaven and devour them (v.9). · Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire with the Beast and the False Prophet, forever. We see through all this, the total depravity of man. For 6000 years, unless God intervened in a person’s life to bring that person to Himself, man remained in rebellion to God to his dying day. During the Millennium, even with Jesus Christ here on Earth, reigning as KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS for 1000 years, without the electing grace of Almighty God and the calling of the Holy Spirit, man remains a rebel. Given the chance and left to his own choices, man in the final analysis always chooses to follow Satan. Thanks to freewill. Man loves freewill. He wants freewill. He relishes his freewill. Now it is true that God created us with freewill. To do otherwise would have made us a race of robots, unable to respond to God. Adam and Eve had freewill and by exercising it, they sinned against God. Over on the corner of Black and Ross-Hanover roads there is a building with a sign that says “Good Shepherd Freewill Baptist.” What an oxymoron! They believe you can lose your salvation! What kind of “Good Shepherd” is it that cannot keep his sheep unless they let him. Roy Mason said, “None of us who are saved would have turned to Christ, if left to ourselves, but God who elected us to salvation in eternity, brought means to bear upon us, and gave us repentance and faith, and we turned to Christ.” I tell you, I want nothing to do with freewill. I thank God that He arrested me, thwarted my freewill, and called me to Himself. From the human view point, my wife should be married to a good Catholic man, raising her Catholic children. That’s what she was raised to do. But, NO! She decided to have a career in “child care.” She decided to apply for a job at Twinbrook Hills Baptist Daycare. She just happened to apply when two elements critical to her acceptance were in place. On that day, the Pastor, I. D. Riddick, was in Florida on vacation (and he would never hire an unsaved person) and the daycare just happened to be short-handed and needed help. She worked there for almost three years - with Jeannie and Sherry Rucker and other ladies witnessing to her; telling Bible stories to the kids, teaching them Bible choruses like “Jesus loves me” and “Jesus loves the little children” - and they talked her into coming to a Squire Parsons’ concert, Tuesday night, November 30, 1982 - and while Squire Parsons sang “He Came To Me,” God came to Tina Stacey and gave unto her the new birth and saved her wretched sinful soul. So much for freewill. 9. The Great White Throne Judgement (Rev. 20:11-15) · Most Baptists believe that all the unsaved from all the ages and only them, will be judged here, and I do too. But, the questions comes up - where are Tribulation and Millennium saints judged? · Of the 3 major judgements: 1) The Judgement Seat of Christ 2) The Judgement of the Nations 3) The Great White Throne Judgement
If we were to assume that The Judgement Seat of Christ takes place at the beginning of the Tribulation, and The Judgement of the Nations takes place at the end of the Tribulation, and The Great White Throne Judgement place at the end of the Millennium - and - If we take for granted that The Judgement Seat of Christ is for the saved - and - If we take for granted that the Great White Throne Judgement is for the unsaved - then - When and where are Tribulation and Millennium saints judged? My father and I spent a great deal of time studying this years ago (which, of course, doesn’t make us right), and here in summary is what we think. See what you think of this. · Rev. 20:4 shows us that Tribulation saints who were beheaded, were resurrected (and lived) and reigned 1000 years (that has to be during the millenium). Reigning with Christ is a reward (given at a judgement). Therefore they would have to be judged prior to the Millenium. When and Where? · The text of Rev. 20:12,13 seems to indicate that only the unsaved are judged here - dead, dead, dead. (The Tribulation saints lived and the millennial saints are alive.) If this is so, when and where are the millennial saints judged? · 2Cor. 5:10 says, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ...”, speaking to and about believers or saved people. - so - Considering: · Hebrews 1:8 “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.” · 2Samuel 7:16 “And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.” · 1Chronicles 17:14 “But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.” · Psalms 45:6 “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.” Perhaps the Judgement Seat of Christ is an on-going judgement and not just a one-time event at the beginning of the Tribulation. This would explain: 1) How saints from Adam ‘til the Rapture could be judged at the first part of the Tribulation. This would also prepare the Bride of Christ which is composed of only faithful members of the Lord’s Church. Old Testament saints will not be in the Bride. Neither will any saint saved after the Rapture be in the Bride. 2) Tribulation saints could be judged during the Tribulation should they be martyred, and at the end should they remain alive until the end.. 3) Millennium saints would be judged at the end of the Millennium, prior to the Great White Throne Judgement.
This scenario, we think, would do no violence to scripture and would leave Rev. 20:11-15 intact, without any need of explanation.
10. The Earth burns up - 2Peter 3:7-10 11. The new Heavens and new Earth - Rev. 21; Isa. 66:22
|
Web Hosting and Design by OurChurch.Com | Administrator