Right, well, last week we covered The 1st part of a consideration of the millennial kingdom. Now the millennium, Of course, the word means a 1000 years, and the word occurs 6 times in Revelation chapter 20. And um, We take that literally.
Some people don't take revelation 20 literally at all. And we've covered that in previous sermons, but they believe that the Christ coming and is reigning for a 1000 years with the saints and then the Satan being imprisoned for a 1000 years. Remember, at the same time, that's happening now.
That, to me, takes not only does it take you ignoring the text of scripture, but it takes a great deal of imagination. To imagine that Satan is, well, they don't imprison him. They don't go all the way.
Okay, they just say he's on a long chain. Okay? Which is the same as saying is, you know, you've got a, a mad dog, you've chained him up, but his chains a mile long, so he can go and bite anybody he wants to.
It's a ridiculous. And um, you know, to me, disbelieving approach to scripture, which is dictated more by what they want, the Bible to say than what it actually says. And you know, one of the difficult things about interpreting scripture is that it doesn't always say what we want it to say.
It just says what it says. And yes, there are figures of speech. There are many metaphors and similes and so on that are in scripture.
Of course there are. Everybody understands that. But it's whether those metaphors and those similes and those figures of speech that are used are different kinds that they're in scripture, whether they have a literal reference. Or whether they have a spiritualized reference, a reference that you would never guess at, from the words that are used.
And we here at Agape, we believe that you are to take the Bible at face value unless you can't, unless it is obviously figurative or symbolic. You see? And even the symbols, by the way, many times are to be taken, literally, in the book of Revelation chapter one.
You see Christ and Christ is seen as having 7 stars in his hand. And we think, well, what on earth are the stars for? Well, it tells you.
The stars are the angels of the 7 churches. Do you see? So many times the symbols are actually explained for you.
They're not as mysterious as they appear at first. Sometimes, as in Revelation chapter 12. You have the woman who is clothed with the sun.
You know, she has 12 stars about us. It's in Revelation chapter 12 and we think, well, who on earth is that? She has the moon at her feet.
Oh, we have to do is go to Genesis 37 where Joseph has a dream that is strikingly similar. And in that dream, The explanation is found. It's Israel.
The woman is Israel. So the Bible is not as obtuse as many people try to make it. The Bible very often just means what it says quite honestly.
And our struggle is to be patient and diligent enough to actually read it and think through it and know the Bible well enough to put those things together. So we've covered the 1st part of the Millennial Kingdom last week. We've got more to say this week.
And the 1st thing I want to call our attention to, the text is 1st Corinthians 15, if you would go there, 1st Corinthians 15. And we have to address the question, what is the millennium 4. So you can see by the chart that's been put up here.
That 1000 years here to my left. Your right. The millennial reign of Christ, 1000 years.
And you can see it becomes between the tribulation and the new heaven and new earth, and you think, well, why? What's the point? Let's just ditch the millennium and just go straight into the new heavens and new earth.
What's the point of the 1000 years? And I'm glad you asked? Because it's an important question.
You see, some people think that there's no point at all to the 1000 years. But you see, We have to We have to take seriously the doctrine of creation. The doctrine of creation.
You know, that thing that we are inescapably combined or connected with, that thing that we never think about, But it's absolutely the most central thing. It's the 1st thing that needs to be said about us, that we're created and we live in a created realm. And all of reality is composed of God.
Man and the world. Because man's been put in that position as a viceroy, as it were, over creation. So God man in the world or created the created realm, created realm that includes animals and includes the mountains and the trees and the flowers and the insects and the angelic beings and everything.
And once we get that and we understand that this creation was made for a purpose and that purpose was spoiled in chapter 3 of Genesis, We can get an idea of why God wants to do something with this planet, with this earth, before we get a new earth. This earth, remember, in chapter 3 was cursed. For Adam's sake.
Which means that weeds grow. You know, we're all familiar with that, yeah? We're all familiar with nettles.
We're all familiar with, although I don't see too many nettles in this part of the country, but when I was growing up, I men know all about nettles anyone ever fallen into a bed of nettles? Yeah, several times, yeah. Not night.
Weeds, I mean... all kinds of thorn, thistles and so on that just crop up and flourish where nothing else that is growing flourishes. I mean, that's a great sign of the curse. Insects that bite parasites.
All kinds of awful things that are upon the earth, all kinds of animal suffering. Things just not. Being good.
That's part of the curse. And that curse is not lifted in the millennium. It's not lifted in the 1000 years.
It's not until we come to the new hems and the new earth that it says there will be no more curse. Then we'll see that next week, Lord willing. So Jesus, when he comes back, he comes back to a cursed earth with a terribly scarred history.
That has been Overrun by sinners. Dictated by the Prince of Darkness, And he comes back and as if you remember in Revelation chapter 20, the 1st thing that happens, the 1st order of business is to put Satan in prison. So no more Satan during the millennial reign of Christ.
The demons are also dealt with, I believe, at that time, but, um, A world, therefore, that is changed in, I think, a way that's unimaginable, because Satan is no longer active. Now, please, please think about that because, you know, there's enough going on in the natural world. I know that it needs to be changed and if it was changed, it would really be a wonderful thing.
But just think about Satan no longer being present. That's extraordinary, the change from just getting him out of the way out of the picture for a while. That would be extraordinary.
And so that's where we're going to pick up in 1st Corinthians 15. Satan's been dealt with. And then we've got this passage in chapter 15 from verse 20.
It is a tricky passage. Of course, because it's the Apostle Paul, so nearly all of his passages are tricky, but it talks about the plan of God, the purpose of God that can be fitted into his millennial plans. It starts with this.
But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the 1st fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Falling asleep means died, yes? The bodies have died.
For since by man came death, that's Adam brought death in, by man also came the resurrection of the dead, and of course that's Christ. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ, all shall be made alive. So this is why you need to be in Christ, not in Adam.
If you're in Adam, that means you're not saved. If you're not saved, you're going to die. I mean permanently in hell.
So in Christ, you will be given life. Okay? So if you're in Christ, you have life, eternal life.
But each in his own order, Christ the 1st fruits, afterward, those who are Christ at his coming. You see the at his coming there, do you see? Yeah.
Then comes the end. Okay, so when Christ comes, comes the end. When he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
Now, obviously this rule, authority and power that he's speaking of is wicked rule. But now look at this. Look at this.
He must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. Now, what do we do with that verse? Well, well, many people are millennials who believe that we're in the millennium right now, that there's no 1000 year rain ahead, they will say that he's reigning right now from heaven and eventually, you'll put all things under his feet.
Post-millennials say the same thing. And I say as in reply to that, Well, he's not doing a very good job of it. Okay, he's not putting anybody under his feet.
The world continues. And the only reason that I think that we maybe fool ourselves sometimes that he is reigning is because we're not living in certain countries, where we see certain awful and terrible things happening to the people of God. We're too comfortable.
And we're comfortable so that we can be our millennialist or post-millennialist and say Christ is reigning because we're not enduring what other people endure. That might seem unfair to say, but I think that's part of it, actually. I think really, our millennialism and post-millennialism don't seem to work very well in places other than the West.
So what do we do with verse 25? Well, we say, because it comes after Christ has returned, you see the context, yes, that it deals with a 1000 year reign. Now, when we put the verse under the auspices of the 1000 year reign of Christ, then we understand he will reign till he puts all things under his feet.
He subdues creation in the millennium. Do you see that? Does that make sense?
And by the way, there are many scriptures in Old and New Testament that speak to that. I don't have time to take you through them. Uh, but, um, One of them is the use of Psalm 110.
In the Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand till I make your enemies. I've forgotten the text because I've got a headache, but you understand the text, and that's used in the book of Hebrews as a future prophecy of the kingdom. So verse 25 of 1st Corinthians 15 speaks about the millennial reign.
Do you see? The last enemy that will be destroyed is death, because death, as we will see, is not destroyed in the millennium. People die in the millennium.
That's how we know, it's not the new heavens and new earth. Remember that I said it, Christ rules with a rudder bion. Part of that rod of iron will, I think, be putting people to death that deserve it.
For he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is evident that he who put all things under him is accepted. Now, when all things are made subject to him, then the son himself, will also be subject to him who put all things under him that God may be all in all.
I know, I could spend the rest of the sermon dealing with this. There's a lot to be said about it, but I'm going to say 20 seconds more about it, which is basically this, which is God, Gave, and we know this from Colossians one, 16. God gave the world to his son.
All things were created through him and for him. Okay? It fell.
Man got into sin. So God, of course, he knew this before the foundation of the world, but he prepared his son to come into the world as a man and to save sinners by dying in his own creation. Rising again with new and irresistible or everlasting life in him.
At the resurrection. And Christ is coming again. He's coming to subdue the rulers and the wickedness and the world and Satan, and he's going to come to this cursed earth, this world that went wrong, and he's going to bring his powers, the prince of peace, and he is going to rule it with a rod of iron, and he is going to turn back by his own power and by his own presence.
Everything that went wrong, everything that went wicked, everything that turned ugly. He's going to come back and change it by his very presence as the king of kings and the Lord of Lords. But at the end of the 1000 years, Satan's going to be released from his prison, he's going to get an army of who?
sinners, people that rebelled against the benevolent rule of Christ on earth, who would be the children of those that went in at the end of the tribulation. They're going to come against Jerusalem. They're going to fail miserably.
And then you have the great white throne judgment, the end of Revelation 20. And then you have The disappearance, as it were, the destruction of the present heavens and earth. And then the new heavens and the new earth, the new Jerusalem that we're going to look at next week.
So that intervening 1000 year period, you see, is for the purpose of justifying God, justifying God's reign, justifying the need for the new heavens and the new earth. Jesus, to do all of this work that I've just described has had to submit himself, To God the Father. He has to have, he's in his work, he has taken a place a 2nd place to the father.
Now, In the doctrine of the Trinity, You have father, son, Holy Spirit, and the co-equal coeternal. You have to understand that. But in their works, in what they have to do it to creation, the son takes a subordinate place to the Father.
Do you see that? And the spirit takes a subordinate place to minister to God's people. This is the humility of God.
And so one Corinthians 15 tells us that Christ eventually will give the creation back to God. And God will be all in all, meaning that at the end of the millennium, that the work of Jesus as subordinate, the work of the Spirit as subordinate will be ended. And then you'd have the new heavens and the new earth and a different relationship, a different kind of existence in some ways.
Under the rule of Christ which will be the most fair and just, and joyful rule, the word joy in these prophetic passages that speak about the millennium, crop up again and again, rejoicing and people singing and so on. Even the mountains clapping their hands. A clear metaphor, yes?
But you understand what it means? Joy. And even during that reign, People will rebel.
People won't like it is astonishing, but it proves the enmity of man against God. It will prove that even though we're in almost paradisical, uh, situations here in uh, our millennial existence, that's not good enough for sinners. And that guy in Jerusalem needs to be removed.
So it justifies God. I hope you can see that. It justifies the fact that God in sending sinners to eternal damnation.
You know, they deserve it. Because they've all got this rebellion in their hearts against him. And nothing will fix it from their side.
So that's the 1st thing. That's the reason, as it were, the main reason for the rebellion. On top of that, and I know this is a long 1st point, but don't worry, I'll get through the others in a few hours, Um, But on top of that, you have the fact that God doesn't want to, uh, He doesn't want to just throw away or discard what he made.
Because God doesn't like those. He's not that kind of God. You know, when, I mean, Dory over here, she's crafty.
We all know she's crafty in a good way. She does crafts. Okay?
And, you know, so some things that she makes and some things that you guys make and so on, something goes wrong, you know? And you put a lot of work into it, a lot of planning into it, and you could discard it. You could throw it away.
But then you think, you know what, I put work into this. I value this. I put my heart into this.
I can fix this. I can do something about this. And that's what God's doing with the creation.
He's going to fix it. He's going to make something of it that glorifies himself. Do you see?
That's the purpose of the millennium and not just the justification of God with sinners, but also the fact that God does not just discard what he's made. Because it was all good and it's going to be returned to be good. The only thing at the end of the millennium that won't be changed and really can't be changed, I think, is the curse.
So remember that for next week. All right, let's turn to Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4.
The next thing I want to bring out is this issue of Christ's subduing creation. So we're going to look at a few scriptures here. We're going to look at them quickly.
So get the nimble fingers ready. Mark chapter 4. Verse 35.
Let me read. On the same day when evening had come, he said to them, let us cross over to the other side. Now, when they had left the multitude, they took him along in the boat, as he was, and the other little boats also were with him, and a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling.
But he was in the stern, asleep on a pillow, and they awoke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Then he arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace. Be still.
And the wind ceased. And there was a great calm. Verse 41, they feared exceedingly and said to one another, who can this be?
That even the wind and the sea obey him. You say, what on earth have you turned to that scripture for? What's that got to do?
With the millennial kingdom? Well, it has this to do with the millennial kingdom. This isn't a great example of the power of Christ to subdue creation to as it were push back the effects of the curse.
And when every time he healed somebody, Everybody, every time he raised somebody from the dead, every time that um, you know, he fixed somebody. Every time he did this, the miracles in nature, he showed that he is the lord of nature, the lord of creation. Now he did that in a very minimal way at his 1st coming because he didn't come to put on a big show.
Okay, he came to serve. And to give his life a ransom for many. When he comes a 2nd time, he comes as, as we've seen the Lord of creation, the Lord of Lords.
Creation itself heralds this with the clouds and the great signs that there will be at his 2nd coming. And then when he takes up his benevolent reign, On the throne of David in Jerusalem, in this world, as the prince of Shalom, the prince of peace, he will enact Shalom, in every part of the world, in the countryside, in the cities, in the, you know, the worst places in the world, will become places of peace, places of tranquility. No more earthquakes.
Why? Because the earth, um, itself, doesn't have that, uh, that, uh, turbulence underneath it to create, uh, earthquakes? No, because this Prince of Peace will be subduing, holding back.
Things like earthquakes and hurricanes and tornadoes and disease. And massive fires and so much else. He'll be holding it back, you see, by his very presence.
The curse is still there. It's still working, but in a real sense, the presence of Christ upon earth is the deliverance of creation from its groaning. All kinds of things will sprout, all kinds of things will come about as a fruit of this reign of Christ, so that you're going to see plants, you're going to see, flowers, you're going to see things in nature that couldn't be produced in nature as it is now, but when the curse is being held back, when the world is being blessed in every corner, you're going to see amazing things.
In creation. You're going to feel, well, you're going to be glorified, so you're going to feel so much better. Turn to Isaiah 65.
Isaiah 65. This is a, a, um, Again, this is a tough passage from verse 17. Because it starts with these words, Isaiah 6517.
Behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth and you think, oh, this is all about, then, the new heavens and new earth that we hear about at the end of the Bible. But actually, it's not because the way that Isaiah is using it is different than the way that John is using it. And I can prove that.
Let's read on. The former shall not be remembered nor come to mind. Now, that, I think, is talking about the New Hams and the New Earth.
But what he's going to do is also going to wrap into this the millennial rain. Okay? But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create, for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing and her people a joy.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people. The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days, for the child shall die 100 years old.
But the sinner being 100 years old shall be accursed. Okay, now if this is a reference to the new heavens and new earth, we're in trouble, aren't we? This now is a reference to the 1000 year rain.
It's not perfect. There is death. For whatever reason, But there is punishment also.
You have children here that don't die too young. They die a 100 years old. Now, is that tragic, yes.
But, you know, are they, are they good children or bad children? I think because they're being connected here with sinners, We can probably make the connection that they grow up not to be very good individuals. And so they'd grow up to be the sinners.
But you see the get the idea here. There will be death, but it'll be unusual. It won't be like today.
And it says they shall build houses and inhabit them and shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build another inhabit, they shall not plant another eat. That's the way the world is today.
For as the days of the trees, so shall the days of my people be, and it goes on that way. Now, here's the thing. Notice here, we would be doing things.
We'll be building things. Do you say? We'll be building things, building society.
Zechariah chapter 8. I'm giving you some work to do today, aren't I? Zechariah chapter 8.
We've read this before. I'm going to read the 1st 13 verses. Just sit back and let me read if you'd rather me do that.
So Zechariah 8 from verse one. Again, the word of the Lord of hosts came saying, thus says the Lord of hosts, I am zealous for Zion, thus Jerusalem, with great zeal with great fervor. I am zealous for her.
Thus, says the Lord, I will return to Zion. That's the 2nd coming, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the city truth.
Is Jerusalem the city of truth right now? Absolutely not. The mountain of the Lord's house, the holy mountain.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, old man. And old women shall, again, sit in the streets of Jerusalem. Each one with his staff in his hand because of great age.
This isn't the new heavens and the new earth. People are aging. People are getting old.
You say, is that you? You know, that'll be a letdown, won't it? You get raptured, you see heaven.
You come back to earth and you grow old again. No, it's not. Don't worry, that's not you.
These are the people that go through or the children of the people that go through into the millennial kingdom at the end of the tribulation. Okay? Those people are not glorified.
The people that go through from the judgment of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, the sheep, they're not glorified. So they grow old. The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets.
So these people will be having kids. Do you say? Some of those kids, many of those kids will grow up to be good, God fearing, Christ adoring, adults.
Some of them will turn into sinners and rebels. That's where Satan's going to get his army from when he gets released from the bottomless pit. These are pictures, do you see, of not a perfect world, but a transformed world.
A world where people can live in peace and safety. And having said that, let's turn to Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah chapter 11.
Because this needs to be underlined. Now, for some people, they believe this is all spiritualized, it's a symbolic. This is about the change that happens to you when you come to know God.
Some kind of inner transformation. Just spelled out in its poetic way. That's not true.
This is literal. This is what will happen when Christ returns. There shall come forth, a rod from the stem of Jesse.
And a branch shall grow out of his roots, the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. This is Christ, okay? Jesse's being the father of David.
The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of God, of the Lord. And he shall not judge by the sight of his eyes, nor decide by the hearing of his ears, but with righteousness, he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.
He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth. Remember the rod of iron? And with the breath of his lips, he shall slay the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, faithfulness the belt of his waist. Now we understand that the loins, the waste, this is the kind of the inner strength, the central hub of the strength of human beings. We understand that, but the literal reference is understood, yes?
Everything about this person will be righteous. Now read about what happens to creation. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb.
The leper shall lie down with a young goat. The calf and the lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze.
The young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. You say, this is poetics. Just poetry.
Just poetry. You're wrong. It's not just poetry.
This will happen because, you know, nature, red in tooth and claw, that's not good. Suffering is not good. And so God's going to put an end to it, okay?
You can't say that Christ as the Prince of Peace is reigning when everything's eating each other. Under his realm. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole.
The wean child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt, nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Do you get the idea, at least some idea?
You don't need to worry about walking through the long grass and coming out with a bunch of ticks on you. You don't have to worry about, you know, camping on a hillside somewhere and waking up with a bear. A bear cub next to you when a big bear mother, angry at you.
You don't have to worry about your kids and the, um, where they're at. Or if they're putting their hand down a hole they shouldn't do. It's going to be safe.
It's going to be a realm of peace. This is what shalom means. This is the characterization, the scripture brings up.
It's just the same thing or similar thing in Hosea chapter 2. Peace and safety, peace and safety. Imagine living in a world where it's peaceful and you're safe.
Isaiah chapter 2. This is our last text. Isaiah chapter 2.
Verses one to four. This is very similar to the text in Micah, Micah chapter 4 that we read last week, but again, look at the characterization of the kingdom here. The word that Isaiah the son of Amars saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Now it came, it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house. We just read about the mountain, okay? The mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills.
That's literal. That's literal. There's going to be all kinds of topographical changes that happen to the world, and the mountain the Lord's house will be that great high mountain.
And all nations shall flow to it. Many shall come and say, come. And let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways. We shall walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law.
This is not the, you know, the, um, The harsh as it were, or difficult to obey in mosaic law. With all of its 613 different things that you can or can't do. This is the new covenant law.
Now it will include At least 9 of the 10 commandments because they're universal. And it says, we shall walk in his paths. Out of Zion shall go in forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, he shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people.
He has to do that because, you know, there are sinful inclinations here and there. They shall beat their swords into plowshares. They shall and their spears into pruning hooks.
You don't need swords in the coming millennial kingdom, but you do need ploughshares. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore because the people in charge of the government will not be teaching them. War.
It will be a god fearing world. Do you see that? A god fearing world.
So, in conclusion here, the millennial kingdom, the 1000 year kingdom of Christ that is coming, justifies God's work among sinners, even with the most gracious and wise and benevolent ruler, upon earth, that's possible, Still, some sinners will rebel. There'll be need for certain things. There are other passages, by the way, that, that speak about, uh, a young man who prophesies.
He's starting to prophesy, and it says that his mother and father will thrust him through. You think, what on earth? how do you make sense of that?
Well, a person who's prophesying in the millennial kingdom is not prophesying because God's told him to prophesy. He's a rebel against God. You see, there's no need for prophecy.
So even though it's, yes, it's difficult to conceive of a mother and father thrusting their own child through. Justice is justice, okay? And in that realm, this person will be a wicked, a very wicked individual.
Is it perfection? Is it the perfect kingdom? No, therefore.
But it is a hugely transformed kingdom in which you and I will have roles. As the glorified children of God, you and I will have different things that we'll be doing. Some people think that this will go out to the stars and so on.
I'm not sure about that, but there'll be plenty to do here on Earth. A perfect world, no, but, I mean, you'd call it perfect, if you could see it. Some rebellion, some sin, some.
Uh, Things that are not right and won't be put right until the curse is lefted. But that is the coming millennial reign of Christ. We don't go straight into the eternal realm because Jesus needs to be shown for who he is in this world, the world that rejected him.
The world that spat on him, the world that crucified him. And it's this world that's going to also give him glory. Give him.
All that's new to him as the king of kings, the Lord of Lords, the prince of peace. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, The subject of the millennium, it It does seem a little strange in some areas, but in others, it makes perfect sense because it's this world.
This world's not a throwaway. Something's going to be made of this world by your son. And eventually, Father, he will give it back to you as something that is worthy as a present, returned from a loving son to a loving father.
And so far, we know that in all things, there's a reason, everything that you do, there is a purpose. And we're part of that purpose. Help us, Lord, to have hope, hope in the coming kingdom, hope in our roles in the coming kingdom and hope of the kingdom of justice and peace that is around the corner, in Jesus' name.
Amen.