The Millennium

We're all familiar with the Christmas carol, Joy to the World. I think it's actually at the top 10 Christmas carols. It's about number three in popularity, and we love to sing it at Christmas. But did you know that that song originally was not written to be a Christmas carol? That song was originally written to be about the second advent of Jesus Christ and the kingdom age of the millennium, which is the topic of our message tonight.

Let me read the four stanzas of that song and see if you can notice what I'm saying. Starts in stanza one. Joy to the world, the Lord has come. Let Earth receive her King. At Christmas, the world did not receive their King. They rejected Him and did not believe He was the King. And then, it goes on to say in second stanza, joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns.

Let men their songs employ, while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains, repeat the sounding joy. Again, a description of the kingdom age of the millennium when Christ shall come. Third stanza. No more let sin or sins and sorrows grow nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found. That's a reference to the Second Advent in the kingdom age.

Stanza number four. He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and the wonders of His love. None of this will take place until Christ comes back in His second coming, and He establishes His kingdom on the Earth for 1,000 years. Our topic tonight is that 1,000-year period. We commonly called it the millennium or it's known as the kingdom age or the regeneration.

Now, it's a misunderstood subject and in spite of the fact that the Bible has more to say about the millennium than any other prophetic subject. The Bible, both Old and New Testament, has more to say about the millennial reign of Christ than the first advent or than the tribulation period or than the second coming.

All of it through the prophet spoke about this King who would come to reign, but it's often in the scriptures very controversial to some. It's interesting, it's a hundred years or a thousand years, excuse me, of peace on Earth, and yet Christians like to argue and fight about it. Isn't that interesting? Jesus is coming to bring peace, but we want to argue and debate and divide over this period of time.

Now, I want to remind you, I've already covered it on Wednesday night that there are three main views about the millennium. The first is what's called the pre-millennial view. This is the oldest view. The early believers, the early church, the early church fathers, they all held to what was called a pre-millennial return of Christ. That means the Second Coming or Second Advent takes place before the millennium when Christ will come to reign.

Then, the second view is called the post-millennial view. And that is the view that Christ will come at the end of the millennium and that He will come and bring in the millennium. Are we as the church, He will bring in through us so that the church will Christianize the world and influence the world. The world will get better and better and better until Christ comes back.

But obviously, we see that that has not been the case in history. And then, a common view today and actually it was burst in about the third century is called the A or amillennial view. The negative prefix A or A actually carries the idea that there is no millennium. When we say that what they mean is that there's no actual physical, literal, millennial thousand-year reign of Christ.

And it's interesting that it took place in about 300 A.D. in Alexandria, Egypt that the believers there, the leaders there, they wanted to accommodate the teachings of the Greek philosophers with the scriptures. And the only way they could do that was to compromise the word of God and to begin to allegorize it and spiritualize it.

And so, when it came to prophecy like other portions of scripture, they were trying to harmonize it with Plato and his writings. So, they began to spiritualize and allegorize the scriptures. And then, comes along Augustine and he came up with this idea of this amillennial view that it's spiritual and it's not a literal thousand-year reign of Christ. They actually believe that it started with Christ's first advent.

And when Jesus died on the cross, that He actually defeated Satan or "bound the Devil" and that Satan has been bound all these 2,000 years. And it's not literally a 1,000 years. How they get around that, I don't know. But now it's been 2,000 years and that the kingdom is the kingdom in the church age. And then, Christ will return and set up His kingdom or the eternal state that there's no millennium.

So, there's pre-millennialism, there's post-millennialism, and there's A or amillennialism. But the only view that allows you, and this is so important, to literally interpret scripture, which I think is the right way to interpret the Bible, that we should interpret at the plain and clear sense of scripture, that we take a literal approach.

It's interesting that even Augustine had a literal view of the second coming of Jesus Christ, but a spiritual view of the millennium. It's interesting that when it comes to soteriology and salvation and the study of the church and other things that they believe we should have a literal view of interpreting the Bible. But for some reason, we abandon that when it comes to a prophecy or future things and we adopt a figurative or spiritualizing of the text.

Now, that is very dangerous because what happens is that it takes the authority of scripture away and it puts the authority in the interpreter's lap, and it leads to many time liberalism today. So, there's a lot of modern churches today that don't believe you can take Adam and Eve literally, other things in the Bible literally. They allegorize and spiritualize away the Bible and it has lost its divine authority.

If you believe, and I do, that the Bible is the inherent, infallible inspired word of God, then you should take a literal sensible approach to interpreting scripture. I like the phrase that if the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense. And if you don't interpret scripture by the plain sense, then it becomes nonsense is what it becomes.

So, the allegorizing of scripture led to the amillennial view that the millennium wasn't real, it wasn't literal, that it was spiritual started by Christ's first advent when He came and died on the cross. But some say the word "millennium" is not in the Bible, so they kind of put down this concept of a literal thousand-year reign of Christ. So, I believe that it is in the Bible, but the word itself "millennium" isn't found, but the word "thousand years" is found.

Now, the word "millennium" is a Latin word from two words, meaning a thousand years. That's what the word "millennium" means, thousand years. But in Revelation Chapter 20, the phrase "thousand years" is found six times. And interestingly, even though the Bible is full of references to the millennium, this is the only place in the Bible, this classic passage in Revelation 20, where we actually find the duration of the millennium. And it's mentioned six times.

Now, real quick before we look at this text, I want to ask if I can have the chart up on the screen. And I want to look with you at this chart upon the screen, and from the church age, Christ died for us, rose from the dead, ascended back into heaven. Churches caught up to meet the Lord in the air in the rapture. The tribulation period, seven years.

Then, we have the kingdom age or what would be the millennium reign of Christ. And the second coming is indicated on that chart. Revelation 19, comes before the thousand years and the thousand years is that kingdom age of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. But I want to point out the references to you. Let's read the first seven verses of Revelation Chapter 20. John says, "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit."

It's in the Greek, the abusso or the abyss. "And a great chain was in his hand. And he laid hold upon the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan." The name Devil means slanderer, and Satan means adversary. "And bound him for," here's the first mention, "a thousand years. Cast him into a bottomless pit, shut him up, set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that, he must be loosed for a season."

We'll talk about that in a moment. "And I saw," verse four, "thrones, and they'd sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, which had not worshiped the beast nor his image, neither received his mark upon their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ," here it is again, "for a thousand years."

"And the rest of the dead live not again till again a thousand years," verse five, "were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessedness and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection. On the second death he has to have no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him," notice it again, "a thousand years. And when the thousand years," there it is again, "are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison."

So, it's mentioned in verse two. It's mentioned in verse three. It's mentioned in verse four, mentioned in verse five. It's mentioned in verse six and it's mentioned again in verse seven. Millennium, 1,000 years. It's interesting, the word "trinity" is not in the Bible, but we hold to the doctrine of the trinity that's in the scriptures as well. So, six times in this passage we have referenced to the thousand years when Christ will come and bring in the kingdom age.

Now, what happens when Christ returns? This is the first question I want to ask and seek to answer tonight. And again, get your pencils ready, get your paper ready and write down all these cross-references. What happens when Christ returns? Let me give you five things that happen when Christ returns. Number one, He will put an end to the Antichrist and the false prophet. And He will put an end to war.

Back up with me in your Bible to Revelation 19:17. Now, last Wednesday night, we looked at the second coming in Chapter 19 and that's from verse 11 to 16. But tonight, we pick it up in verse 17 of Revelation 19. And we see that when Christ returns in His second advent that He puts an end to the Antichrist, the so-called false prophet, and He puts an end to war.

John says, verse 17, "I saw an angel standing on the sun and he cried with a loud voice saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, 'Come and gather yourselves together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and then that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both bond and free, small and great.' And I saw the beast," this is the Antichrist, "and the kings of the earth and their armies."

So, the Antichrist has been ruling the world at this time under the confederation of these 10 European nations, Roman nations revived. And he has these armies gathered together in World War III. It's called the Battle of Armageddon. "They're gathered together to make war against Him that's sit on the horse and His army." That's a reference to Jesus Christ and the saints, the church, that return with Him. "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet."

Now, there's a lot of details because we haven't done a study of the Book of Revelation. We've been looking at this topically that we haven't filled in. But the Antichrist has a companion known as the false prophet. He's the religious leader. So, the Antichrist is the political leader and the false prophet is the religious leader that conforms miracles and commands people to worship the Antichrist.

So, the beast and the false prophet who wrought the miracles before Him, which deceived them that received the mark of the beast and then that worshiped his image. These both, that is the beast on verse 19 and the false prophet on verse 20, they both were cast alive, noticed it, into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain.

All these armies that were with him were slain with the sword of Him that sit upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth. And all the fowls were filled with their flesh. Now, I'm not here to do an exposition of all the statements and phrases in this text, but there's a general point I want to make that when Jesus Christ returns, that He destroys the Antichrist and the false prophet.

World War III is going on, and He puts an end to war. He destroys the armies of the Antichrist with the word that comes out of His mouth. The word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. And several times in the scriptures, Revelation 1, Revelation 8:19, when it refers to Christ's second advent, it describes Him of having a sword coming out of His mouth.

Again, that's a reference to the word of God that He speaks and the power of His word. So, He comes and defeats Antichrist and puts an end to war. Write down Isaiah Chapter 2:4, another reference to the millennial reign. Says, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. A nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore."

And I'm going to get to this in just a moment. But think about a world of peace and there's no more war. We don't have to spend any more money on weapons, or defense or offensive weapons, because it'll be a time of prosperity and peace. Now, another little footnote I want you to make and that is Jesus will also judge the nations of the world at this time.

Matthew, Chapter 25 is known as the sheep and goat nations. And as He returns in the second coming, the Bible actually says that He will separate the nations, sheep from the goats. And the sheep will be in his right hand and it'll say to them, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit," catch this, "the kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the world." That's the millennium.

But He says to the goats, the unbelievers, He says, "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire." So, at the end of the tribulation, the beginning of the millennium, Christ will separate the righteous from the unrighteous. Now, only the saved or the righteous, the sheep, will enter into the kingdom age. Only believers will enter into the kingdom. No unbelievers will enter into this time of the reign of Christ.

Only living saints will enter the millennium of Christ. Secondly, I want you to note that He will bind Satan for 1,000 years. What does He do when He comes? Well, He puts an end to war. Then I want you to notice Chapter 20, we already read it. Verses one to three, he binds Satan. Now, I want you to notice something. It says and. Then notice in verse two, and. Then notice in verse four, and. Then notice in verse seven, and.

Notice verse nine, and. Notice verse 10 starts with and. And then, verse 11 starts with and. And then, verse 12 starts with and. And verse 13 starts with and. And verse 14 starts with and. And verse 15 starts with and. Doesn't that just bless your heart? You say, "Well, why are and? Why are you pointing that out to me, Pastor John?" Because I want you to understand that this is a continual narrative, no breaks.

Now, John does not go into detail about the blessings and the characteristics of the millennium, but it is a sequentially in order of events list that he gives us here. So, between Chapter 19 and Chapter 20 where we now have Satan bound for how long? One thousand years, a millennium. Then it's followed by the second coming of Jesus Christ.

So, I don't know how the post-millennialists get around this and how did the amillennialists get around it when it's as clear as it can be that Christ comes back as the King and He brings the kingdom. How do you have a kingdom without the king? And that He binds Satan. Now, they'll say, "Well, Satan was bound when Christ came the first time."

Well, for the last 2,000 years, Satan is bound and he's hooked on a chain, and he's got an awful long chain because he's wrecked a lot of havoc. So, he hasn't been bound yet. Yes, he was divested of his power at the cross. And if you've been born again and regenerated, you've entered into the kingdom of God, which is a prelude to this literal kingdom.

And Satan has no power, authority of you, but it is usurped by him if we yield to him. But he's still alive and well on planet Earth. But Satan will be bound for this 1,000 years. And I don't know about you, but I am so excited to see the end of the Devil. Amen. No more Satan. Bound, he's thrown into this bottomless pit, which is this deep shaft, the abyss or the abusso, where demons are incarcerated and Satan then will join them.

But I wanted you to know that it's in sequential order. Chapter 19, second coming. Chapter 20 is the kingdom age or the millennium. Now, I want you to note the third thing that happens when Jesus Christ comes back. He will resurrect tribulation saints. Some believe that it will also be a resurrection of the Old Testament saints as well.

I want you to notice this in verse four down to verse six of Revelation 20. John says, "I saw thrones, and they had sat on them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them," notice this, "that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus Christ." Now, this is not the church. This is a reference to tribulation saints. People who missed the rapture, got saved in the tribulation. They were actually the sheep nations that enter into the kingdom age.

They were martyred, and then they'll be resurrected. So, he says, "I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, which had not worshiped the beast neither his image, neither received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead live not again till the thousand years were finished."

Now, that statement in verse five, "But the rest of the dead live not again till the thousand years were finished," that should be put in parentheses. That's a parenthetical statement. And then, he says, "This is the first resurrection." The statement, "This is the first resurrection" should come after the end of verse four, that this is a... at the end of the thousand years, they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

This verse four is the first resurrection. Blessed, verse six, and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection. And such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him for 1,000 years. Now, each one of these sections could be a whole message in itself. I'm trying to highlight the high points and put them in chronological order.

When Jesus comes back in the second coming and He brings in the kingdom age, He resurrects, first of all, the Old Testament saints, then He resurrects the tribulation saints. And they live and reign with Christ for 1,000 years. So, this is the part of what's called the first resurrection. First aspect of the first resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Second aspect or phase of it is the resurrection of the dead in Christ at the rapture. And the third phase of the first resurrection, I sure I'm probably thoroughly confusing you, is this reference here to the tribulation saints being resurrected at the beginning of the millennium and living and reigning with Christ for 1,000 years. So, what a glorious truth that will be. So, what a glorious truth that is the resurrection of the Old Testament saints.

Now, we will come back to the Earth with Christ in His second coming. But I want you to notice the fourth thing that happens when Christ at the end of the millennium now takes place. This actually shoots us forward between verse six and seven a thousand years. So, I'm going to come back to the millennium characteristics, but I want you to note that John does not describe the characteristics of the government, the aspects of the millennium here.

So, notice verse seven, when the thousand years were expired, so this is clearly the end of the millennium, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the Earth, Gog and Magog. This is not the same Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38 and 39. This is just a reference to the wicked nations. To gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Now, this is what happens. During the millennium, the thousand years, longevity will be increased. And only the sheep or the righteous from the tribulation go into the kingdom age, and they will live very long. They'll live for several hundred years perhaps. And they will marry, they will have children and they will have grandchildren and great-grandchildren for this thousand-year period. So, there will be millions of people on Earth.

The Earth will be repopulated, but many of them have not been tested or tempted by the Devil during this thousand-year reign of Christ. So, he's loose for a little short season. He goes out, grabs this number of whom is this the sand of the sea. And in verse nine, they went to the breadth of the Earth and they passed the camp of the saints about then the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

And notice verse 10, this is an amazing verse. The devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. They've been there for a thousand years and they're still there. And shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Now, again, I want to try to keep it as simple as I can and not get it complex.

At the end of the thousand years, I'm going to come back to the millennium, but at the end of the millennium, Satan will be loosed from his prison for a short season. And this has really puzzled a lot of people. And it's interesting, the Bible doesn't give us a clear explanation of why this happens. But I believe the best conclusion that makes sense to me is that God has allowed mankind to be tested under every kind of government, under every situation.

And now for 1,000 years, Christ is actually physically on Earth, reigning as king. Righteousness is covering the Earth. But in this final end of the millennium, man who has unregenerated, unsaved, unbelieving, those who choose to rebel against God shows you that man's heart is sinful and evil and wicked and bent on rebellion, and that he can't save himself.

And in spite of his environment, sometimes people will blame their problem or sinful behavior on their environment. And I know that that can have an influence, or they think that they're not responsible because this happened to them or that happened to them. Well, man's going to have no argument, no excuse, no reason, because for a thousand years, Christ was here reigning.

The world was perfect, it was righteous. There was peace on Earth. They saw Christ reigning from Jerusalem on the throne of David. And yet because man's heart is sinful, he chooses to rebel. So, what this does is vindicate God in His righteous judgments and wrath that He brings upon mankind. That under every circumstance, Adam and Eve were placed in a perfect garden and they sinned.

During the time of Noah, man had conscience and they sinned. Then God established the law, and men sinned against the law and the light. Then God send His only son Jesus, and the light of the world came, and men sinned against that light. So, under every circumstances, man is sinful. Man's nature doesn't change. So, you can't improve man by improving his environment.

Sometimes people think, "If I just move here or move there, if I had a better house or I had more money or I had a nicer clothes to wear, I could be a new man." A new suit doesn't make a new man. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Only God can change man's heart. So, what this does is justify God in that He judged man because man is still sinful and rebellious against Him.

So, Satan is loosed for a short time. Now, here's the fifth thing that happens, and it's in verse 11 to 15. At the end of the millennium, Jesus will resurrect and judge all the wicked dead or all the unsaved. It's called the great white throne judgment. Notice in verse 11 to 15, John says, "I saw a great white throne and Him that sit on it, from whose face the Earth and the heavens fled away."

"And there was found no more place in them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God." Now, the dead standing before God are only unbelievers, only unsaved, only the wicked dead. "And the books were open," verse 12, "and another book was open, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every man, according to their works. And the death and hell or Hades were cast into the lake of fire." This is what we know as eternal hell. It's Gehenna in the Greek. "This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire."

Now, we've gone to the end of the millennium where Satan is loose for a short time, leads millions of people, as many as the sand upon the seashore, to rebel against Christ and His authority. And we also see Christ sitting on a great white throne. And then, all the wicked dead of all the ages are all resurrected. Do you know the resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees not only the believer's resurrection but also the unbeliever's resurrection?

And they will stand in judgment. Our sins are forgiven by trusting Christ and we pass from death to life. We won't be judged for our sins. But if you reject Jesus Christ and don't trust Him as savior, then you'll stand before Him on the great white throne. Remember what Paul said in Philippians Chapter 2? He said, "Every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

This is a judgment of their punishment unto death, all the wicked dead, and this is called the great white throne at the end of the millennium reign of Christ. Now, the second point I want to focus on is going back and asking what is the character of the millennium. What characterizes this period of time? Now, again, this is where I get really frustrated.

And I'm pretty frustrated already because there's so much in the Bible about the millennium that you can't really do in one message. And you have to actually synchronize all the verses together and harmonize them to be able to understand it all. But let me give you some basic characteristics of the millennial period. Number one, Jesus the King will sit on the throne of David and reign over the whole Earth.

So, what the millennium is, so-called kingdom age or the restitution of all things, it's this time when Christ comes back as King. Christ will be completely vindicated. First time He came, He was rejected and crucified. Second time He comes, He will be recognized. Every eye will see Him. And He will come as King of kings and Lord of lords, and it will be a fulfillment of God's promise to David.

We looked at that, called the Davidic Covenant that the Messiah would come and sit upon His throne forever and ever. Now, there are three aspects to the kingdom. There's universal kingdom, there's the spiritual kingdom, and there's the Davidic kingdom. So, God universally is King of all the whole Earth. He is the sovereign ruler of the universe. God sits on the throne.

There is the spiritual kingdom that when you're born again, you enter into. Jesus told Nicodemus, John 3, "You have to be born of the spirit." You enter into the kingdom of God. So, if you're a Christian, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. And then, there's the Davidic kingdom. The Davidic kingdom is not fulfilled in the church spiritually.

It will be literally fulfilled. You know that all of the prophecies in the Bible that have been fulfilled have been literally fulfilled, have been literally fulfilled. Take a couple for example. The Bible says that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. He was literally actually born in Bethlehem. We don't need to spiritualize that. The Bible said he'd be born of a virgin. He was actually literally, physically born of a virgin.
The Bible prophesied in Isaiah that He would be wounded for our transgressions, He would be bruised for our iniquities. And by His stripes, we would be healed. That was literally actually fulfilled. So, what makes us think that Christ coming and sitting on the throne of David will not be literally actually fulfilled and we want to spiritualize the text?

So, all of these kingdoms come together, the universal reign of God as King, the spiritual reign, and the Davidic kingdom all come together. Remember when Jesus taught us how to pray? We have what's called the Lord's Prayer and it contains that petition, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven."

This is a fulfillment of all the prayers, all the petitions of all the saints, of all the ages, and it will be a literal fulfillment of the fulfillment promise to David that the King would sit upon His throne. In his excellent book, The End Times, Herman Hoyt says this. Listen carefully. "In this kingdom, the Father's eternal purpose in the divine Son comes to a certain and complete fulfillment."

"The dominion that was divinely bestowed on humanity was forfeited in the first Adam," and since been judicially restored in the last Adam, "will eventually be realized on Earth in the final stage of human history. In this kingdom, the throne of God and of the lamb," Revelation 22:3, "will be established as sovereign and eternal." So, what happens in the millennium is all of God's purposes, all of God's plan, all of God's anticipations and His designs will come to fruition.

And Jesus will be on the throne of David as King of kings and Lord of lords. Now, I've alluded to it several times, but remember in Acts 1 when Jesus ascended back into heaven? Before He ascended, the disciples asked Him a question. They said, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" They were looking for the millennium. They were wanting Jesus to overthrow the Romans and to sit on the throne of David and to bring in His everlasting righteousness.

"Lord, let's go for it. We've left our nets and our fishing boats, and we've forsaken all to follow You. We're all in. Let's get the kingdom rolling right now." And Jesus said, "Listen, it's not for you to know the times of the seasons which the Father put in His own power, but you'll receive power when the Spirit comes upon you and you're going to go out and be witnesses." That's during the church age. You go out and preach the gospel.

But Jesus then ascended back into heaven and it's been an interim period before He comes back. We'll have the church age. We'll have the tribulation period. We'll have the second coming and then we'll have the kingdom age when Christ will come. What they were looking for, "Lord, is this the kingdom?" will finally be realized. And it's interesting that Jesus actually told His 12 disciples, "You will sit on 12 thrones and you will be judging the 12 tribes of Israel."

We'll have Jesus reigning. We'll have actually King David coregent with him, reigning. We'll have the apostles reigning and we'll have the church reigning with Him during this time. You could take some time just looking at the government of the millennium. You talk about politics. You talk about government. Can you imagine Jesus Christ the president of the United States?

That'd be cool, wouldn't it? President of the world. The world becomes one when Christ returns. What a glorious time that will be. The second characteristic I'd like to mention is that Israel will be restored and possess the land that God promised them. Write down Jeremiah 31:31-34, Genesis 28:13-14, and the Book of Amos, the prophet Amos, Chapter 9:14-15. God promised them that they would inherit the whole land and this will happen during the millennial period.

And then, the third characteristic is a millennial temple will be rebuilt. And again, that's another whole study. There'll be a temple that will be known as the millennium temple. So, we'll be in our glorified bodies as the church. The Old Testament saints, tribulation saints, resurrected will be reigning with Christ, but there'll be a temple there built.

And the scripture indicates, and it puzzles many, that there will actually be sacrifices offered again in Jerusalem in this millennial temple. Now, we don't know exactly why, but the guess is that it will be a memorial looking back for the thousand years to remind us that Jesus died for us on the cross to redeem us and to save us from our sins. So, it's interesting that we will look back.

So, in the Old Testament, they look forward. In the gospels, they established the Lord's Supper. We'll look back at that supper and we will look back in a memorial during the kingdom age. Let me give you the fourth characteristic. The church will reign with Christ. Write down Revelation 20:4 where we have the tribulation saints reigning for a thousand years.

And then, write down 2 Timothy 2:12 where it says that if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him. This is where Jesus is going to say, "Come, you blessed by the Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you." And then, number five, Jesus, our King, will reverse the curse and restore nature and bring in physical blessings. I had to add all these elements to the point because each one of them is a whole study in themselves.

He will reverse the curse even though Satan will be loose for a short season. An unregenerate man will rebel against Christ who is reigning as King. He will actually restore nature and He will bring physical blessing. Write down Romans 8:22-23. It tells us there that all creation is groaning and travailing in pain, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. That's the kingdom age.

We return with Christ in glory. We reign with Christ in glory, and what a thing that will be. So, the old creation right now is under the curse, thorns, and thistles. And we have to dig the dirt and pull the weeds, and all the natural calamities and the diseases and the pandemics that we experience in the world right now because of men's sin. But the blessings will flow during the millennium because the curse will be reversed.

Let me mention, if you're taking notes, six blessings under this point. Number one, people will live in a blessed and enhanced environment. Write down Isaiah 35:1-2. "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad. The desert shall rejoice and blossom like a rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it. The majesty of Carmel and Sharon shall see the glory of the Lord and the majesty of our God." Isaiah 35:1-2.

The world will be restored to its glory. And then, secondly, rain and food will be plentiful. No droughts during the millennium. Isaiah 30:23-24, "And He will give rain for seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will bring rich pleasantness. In that day, your livestock will graze in their large pastures. And the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground shall eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork."

And then, thirdly, the blessings that will flow, our animals will live in harmony with each other and with humans. You're not going to be able to watch National Geographic and see a lion stalk a gazelle and jump on its back and tear it apart. It's not going to happen in the millennium. Write down Isaiah 11:6-7. "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat."

"The calf and the lion and the fatted calf together, a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their youngs shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like an ox." The whole animal kingdom is going to be tamed and get along. You can just walk out and pet a lion. When you're on an African safari, you can jump out of the jeep and jump on a lion and go riding around on it.

Animals won't eat animals anymore. The world will be restored in harmony, even in the animal kingdom. Let me give you the fourth blessing of the millennium. Christ government will be perfect and effective. Now, how many of you would say right now that human government is perfect and effective? Not too much. But when Christ reigns on Earth, it will be a perfect theocratic, theocratic meaning God's rule and reign upon the actual Earth.

It says in Isaiah 9:6-7, you know this well from your Christmas cards, "For unto us, a child is born. Unto us, a son is given." That's the first advent of Christ, Christmas. And then it says, "The government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And of the increase in the government and the peace, there will be no end."
"Upon the throne of David, over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forever. For the zeal of the Lord of Host will perform this." So, we have the righteous king reigning with a righteous government upon an Earth where righteousness covers the Earth as waters cover the sea. Here's number five. Christ government will bring lasting global peace.

Now, I've already alluded to that, but He's coming back, the Prince of Peace, and the world will be full of His peace. Write down Micah 4:3-4. "He shall judge between many peoples and shall decide for strong nations afar off. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."

"But they shall sit every man under His vine and under His fig tree. No one shall make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it." No more money spent on intercontinental ballistic missiles. No more North Korea launching atomic weapons. No more rockets. No more guns. You talk about gun control. There'll be gun control. The Prince of Peace will be on planet.

There'll be no need of those things as Christ will reign in righteousness. Christ will reign and bring in global peace. By way of other characteristics, I couldn't resist to throw in this little added bit, there'll be peace and prosperity. There'll be joy and glory. There'll be justice and holiness. And we don't even see quite often justice in our court system, the legal system.

There'll be no sickness, it will be removed. Praise God. Man's longevity will be increased. In Isaiah 65:20-22, it says that if a man dies a hundred years old, he's a baby. Can you imagine that? If you die at 100, you die at a very young infant's age. So, longevity will be increased. And here's number six characteristic. All the world's residents will worship Jesus the King.

Malachi 1:11, "'From the rising of the sun to its setting down or setting, my name will be great among the nations. And in every place incense will be offered to my name, and pure offering, for my name will be great among the nations,' says the Lord of hosts." Then there's Zephaniah 3:9. "At that time, I will change the speech of the people or the language of the people," there'll be universal language, "to pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve Him with one accord."

There's going to be universal worship of Jesus Christ. That's going to be amazing. So, the world will be restored. The animals will live together in harmony. Righteousness will cover the Earth. Christ will sit on the throne of David, and Jerusalem will be the capital of the world. And He will reign in righteousness, and everyone will flow into Jerusalem and worship Him.

Here's number seven, my last point of blessing in the millennium. God's presence will be made manifest. Remember when I talked about the Second Coming and I said God will appear? In the Second Coming, God will manifest himself in a greater way than ever before. He's not going to be incognito. He's not going to be veiled in flesh. He's going to be open and you're going to be able to see him. God will manifest Himself and His glory.

Ezekiel 37:27-28, "My dwelling place shall be with them. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel. Then my sanctuary in their midst will be forever." What a glorious truth that is. God says, "All the nations will worship me and they will know me." And God will be manifest during this time that we call the millennium of the kingdom age of Christ.

Now, again, this was kind of rapid fire. We've covered a lot of points, but there's a lot of things that we weren't able to cover. But the summary is, is that Christ reigns on Earth for 1,000 years. He will reward the righteous, judge the wicked, set up His Davidic kingdom for 1,000 years. Now, next week, we're going to continue.

The series was going to conclude tonight, but we're going to continue next Sunday night and wrap it up with what's called the New Heaven and the New Earth, and the new City of Jerusalem and the Eternal State. But what happens is the kingdom age, the Davidic kingdom, the millennial reign, it actually flows into the eternal state, when the Bible says in 1 Corinthians that Jesus turns over the kingdom to His Father and so that God might be all in all.

But we're going to talk about heaven, our eternal home, and the kingdom age flows in that eternal state. So, Christ returns to reign in a renewed Earth for 1,000 years. Someone titled this 1,000 Years: The Earth Under New Management. I like that. It's about time. Man has really screwed things up. Man has really messed things up, so this is why our hearts cry.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Next time you're driving around with your mask on and waiting in line to get into the grocery store or something, just remember there's coming a day when Christ will return and there will be peace on Earth. Righteousness will reign on Earth. Let's pray.