Jesus' Millennial Reign Part 3
Notes
Transcript
Handout
I have good news: Jesus is coming to reign!
In review:
There are three views on the Millennial reign of Jesus:
The first is Amillennialism, which teaches that the thousand-year reign of Christ is not to be taken literally, but it represents Jesus' reign during the Church Age, which is the time we are in right now.
The second is Post-millennialism, which teaches that the thousand-year reign of Christ is not to be taken literally, but that the Millennium began with his first coming and continues through the preaching of the gospel, which will bring in a time when peace and righteousness will gradually prevail and sin will be subdued in the whole world, thus ushering in Christ's return.
The third is Pre-millennialism, which teaches a literal thousand-year reign of Christ that starts after his Second Coming to fulfill the promises given to Israel as an ethnic people.
The plain observation of the World of the Text is that Jesus will fulfill his promises to Israel by establishing his rule and reign on this earth for a thousand years before he brings in the New Heaven and Earth of Revelation 21.
Based on a straightforward reading of the Bible, the Millennial Kingdom follows the seven-year tribulation and precedes the Great White Throne Judgement, which ushers in the New Heaven and Earth.
The first characteristic is that Satan is bound in the Abyss for a thousand years so that he cannot deceive the nations any longer.
The second characteristic is that Jesus will be reigning. Jesus, the second person of the Godhead, will be ruling from Jerusalem. It will be a theocratic government from pole to pole.
The third characteristic is that Jesus shares his reign with those who were martyred for their faith during the Great Tribulation.
We are continuing the series on Jesus’ Millennial Reign. In this sermon, we will focus on the last four characteristics of the Millennial Kingdom.
The fourth characteristic is that the Millennium is Israel-centric. The Millennial Kingdom is God fulfilling his promises to ethnic Israel, where Jesus will share his rule with Messianic Jews who died during the time of Jacob’s trouble. God’s promises are yes and amen (Genesis 15:17-21; Revelation 20:4; Romans 11; 2 Corinthians 1:20).
Church, may we not join with the rest of the world’s hatred of Israel, nor buy into all the false news out there concerning Israel.
Instead, let us practice Psalm 122:6–9 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! “May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!” For my brothers and companions’ sake, I will say, “Peace be within you!” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.” We know that this peace will only be brought about by Jesus in the Millennial Reign.
The fifth characteristic is that it will include natural people and glorified people.
Consider these passages with me: 1 Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 20:4
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
In these passages, we see the two groups of glorified individuals. We see the church in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, and we see saved ethnic Israel during the Great Tribulation in Revelation 20:4.
The text infers that there are also natural people, since they are the ones being ruled by the glorified Messianic Jews, and are experiencing the diminished effects of the curse, which brings us to the sixth characteristic.
The sixth characteristic is that the curse will be diminished.
Consider these passages with me: Isaiah 11:6-9; 35; 55:12-13; 65:20-23; Micah 4:2-3; Ezekiel 34.
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
“For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,
and their descendants with them.
It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and it shall be lifted up above the hills;
and peoples shall flow to it,
and many nations shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore;
Every day we experience the curse of sin. Who here is tired of it? I am! Who here is tempted to despair at times, feeling like it will never end?
Our lives sometimes feel like they are full of waves of woe, one coming right after another, crashing down on us, leaving us gasping for air. These passages can be our surfboard because they remind us that the curse is not forever. Jesus is coming to make all things right.
So when a wave of woe comes, fix your eyes on Jesus who is coming to reign, surfing on the wave rather than being tumbled and tossed by its riptide.
Jesus is coming to remove the curse of sin. Come, Jesus, Come!
The seventh characteristic is that the natural people will be given a choice as to whom they will serve at the end of the thousand years, since Jesus has been ruling with a rod of iron. Turn to Revelation 20:7-10.
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
I am continually surprised by how much God values the freedom of choice. He does not have to let Satan and his devils loose, but he chooses to do so. Why? To give all the natural humans the same opportunity he gave Adam and Eve. He wants humanity to freely choose him.
That very choice is given to us, just like it was given to Joshua, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” That service starts with salvation and is a daily, minute-by-minute choice. May each of us choose to serve Yahweh as we wait for his return. Come, Lord Jesus, Come!
