Well, I hope you will pray regarding the testimony
next Sunday morning that Elizabeth Dole will
be bringing to our church I know of some who
will be here who would not normally be coming
to our church and who are not Christians and
I'm praying that God will use her words to to
speak to their hearts and I mean it sincerely
when I ask your prayers that God will use her
testimony and I pray that that you might be burdened
to bring someone to who doesn't know the Lord,
who perhaps would be a little reluctant to come
to our kind of a church, but who because of Mrs.
Dole's service with the government might be willing
to come and hear what she has to say. She will
have the whole sermon. I do reserve that right.
But she will be giving about a 10 -minute testimony.
And so let's ask God to really make it a very
special day. Would you open your Bible with me
please to Revelation chapter 11 as tonight we
look at the theme Jesus Christ is coming to reign
I Anticipate that next Sunday night. We will
close this series on the end of the age so it's
near the end of the series Tonight we come to
the actually to the next age more than to the
end of this one It is that next age that will
come upon the earth that we sometimes call the
millennial kingdom, the thousand year reign of
Christ. It says in Revelation 11 and verse 15,
and the seventh angel sounded, and there arose
loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdom of
the world has become the kingdom of our Lord
and of his Christ, and he will reign forever
and ever. And the twenty -four elders who sit
on their thrones before God fell on their faces
and worshiped God, saying, We give thee thanks,
O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast,
because thou hast taken thy great power and hast
begun to reign. And the nations were enraged,
and thy wrath came, and the time came for the
dead to be judged, and the time to give their
reward. to thy bond -servants, the prophets,
and to the saints, and to those who fear thy
name, the small and the great, and to destroy
those who destroy the earth. And the temple of
God which is in heaven was opened, and the ark
of his covenant appeared in his temple, and there
were flashes of lightning, and sounds, and peals
of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hail
storm. We see at the opening of this seventh
trumpet an announcement that the kingdom is about
to come. In fact, the actual statement looks
forward to the kingdom as though it had already
arrived. Chronologically, this is about in the
midpoint of the seven -year tribulation period.
And yet these voices that praise God praise Him
that the kingdom has come looking forward to
the actual arrival and execution of judgment
and then the establishment of the kingdom of
Christ. The kingdom reign of the Lord Jesus Christ
is not limited to the book of the Revelation.
The theme of the kingdom goes all the way back
into the Old Testament. For example, the kingdom
was typified by one of the feasts of the Lord
called the Feast of Tabernacles. You may recall
that in ancient Israel God arranged for seven
feasts of Jehovah throughout the calendar year
for the people of Israel. Now there were several
purposes in these feasts. One was that so that
three times a year There might be a gathering
together of all the males of Israel to Jerusalem.
It was a convocation of the people of God, a
celebration rejoicing as a nation. It was one
way in which God intended to tie them together
as a unified people. Furthermore, God wanted
to regularly remind them of how He had dealt
with them in history. The feasts looked back
to what God had done for the nation of Israel.
They were memorials praising God for his actions
on behalf of his people. But the feasts also
looked forward. They spoke of something that
God was going to do. Now, undoubtedly, the Jewish
people did not perceive all of that as they celebrated
those feasts hundreds of years ago, thousands
of years ago. But today as we look back upon
the Feasts of the Lord, we see that they outline
for us the events dealing with Israel. The last,
the seventh of the Feasts of the Lord was the
Feast of Tabernacles. It was celebrated for a
week. The people lived in booths or tabernacles
made of sheafs that were constructed. and in
which during those days they lived with great
joy and rejoicing. Typically speaking, forwardly
speaking, the Feast of Tabernacle spoke of the
coming kingdom when the people of Israel would
be gathered back to their homeland and would
dwell there safely, the Lord Himself meeting
their needs. The kingdom was further spoken of
in several of the covenants that God made with
his people. The Palestinian covenant promised
a land to the people of Israel, a land which
they have never yet historically fully possessed,
but which they will possess in the kingdom that
is to come. The Abrahamic covenant again promised
a land and a seed to Abraham. that will be fulfilled
in the coming kingdom. The Davidic covenant,
the covenant that God made with David, promised
him a seed that would reign upon a throne forever
and forever. And that Davidic covenant will be
fulfilled in the reign of Jesus Christ in the
kingdom. And so the covenants demand a future
fulfillment of the reign of Jesus Christ. And
then the kingdom is predicted by the prophets
in numerous places, some of which we will be
looking at this evening. But I would like you
to turn back to one of the key prophets, and
that is to Daniel, to the second chapter of Daniel.
We looked in Daniel 10 this morning for another
purpose, but let's look in Daniel chapter 2 for
just a moment. We have here a recitation. interpretation
of the great dream of King Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon. Daniel is given understanding by the
Lord of this dream and he repeats it to Nebuchadnezzar
and then explains it to him. Now we do not have
time to look at the whole dream but you will
recall that there was a statue made of various
kinds of material And he mentions the last part
of the statue in verses 31, 32, 33. And then
in verse 34 he says, you continued looking until
a stone was cut out without hands. And it struck
the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed
them. And now if you will just look down a few
more verses to verse 44. as he begins to give
an interpretation, or actually concludes giving
the interpretation of the dream that Nebuchadnezzar
had. And in those, and in the days of those kings,
that is the kings of the last part of the statue,
as we would say it today, in the days when that
Roman Empire will be regathered and revived in
the tribulation period. In those days of those
kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom
will not be left for another people. It will
crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but
it will itself endure forever. And as much as
you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain
without hands, and that it crushed the iron,
the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold.
The great God has made known to the king what
will take place in the future, so the dream is
true and its interpretation is trustworthy."
Now, what is this that Daniel is predicting?
Well, he is saying that there will be a flow
of Gentile world history. from Babylon to Persia
to Greece to Rome. The Roman Empire was actually
never conquered, as you probably know, but actually
collapsed out of the weight of its own decay
and immorality. The Bible indicates to us that
the essence of the ancient Roman Empire will
in the last days be congealed again. Some see
it in the common market of Europe, at least economically.
That at least is a foreshadowing of what will
come to pass in that tribulation period. So the
last part of the statue, the iron and the clay
and mixture, that which made up the feet of the
statue, will be the part of it that will be politically
active in the last days. in the dream a stone
that is cut out of a mountain without hands being
involved in it. In other words, a stone that
is supernaturally created will fall upon the
feet of the statue and will destroy it from its
feet on up. It will all be destroyed. All of
the Gentile world power will be destroyed as
that stone falls upon it. And that stone is a
picture prophetically of the coming kingdom of
Jesus Christ. When His kingdom is established,
it will be the end of Gentile world domination.
And then the Jews, or better, Jesus Christ will
reign through the Jewish nation. And the reign
will return to Jerusalem and to the son of David.
Now, there are other prophecies here in Daniel
and elsewhere we could go into, but just understand
that the kingdom, the coming kingdom, is not
some isolated part of Scripture. It is a heavy
theme throughout Scripture that there is a righteous
kingdom coming upon the earth. Now, we know that
that is going to be preceded by a terrible time
of lawlessness and judgment upon the earth. A
time of supernatural events and intervention
as God brings down these Gentile world powers.
What will the kingdom be like? What will be the
conditions upon the earth when Jesus Christ personally
reigns upon His throne of glory? Well, we want
to try to answer that question tonight, perhaps
next Sunday night as well. Would you turn with
me first to Revelation chapter 20? As we see
what appears to be one of the first things that
happens after the battle of Armageddon, after
that great war that we have looked at on previous
occasions. Revelation chapter 20 verse 1. John
writes these words, And I saw an angel coming
down from heaven, having the key of the abyss,
and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold
of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the
devil and Satan. So let there be no mistake as
to the identity of this individual. And he bound
him for a thousand years. and threw him into
the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him
so that he should not deceive the nations any
longer until the thousand years were completed.
After these things he must be released for a
short time. We'll try to talk about that briefly
perhaps next week. But for the moment notice
that at the beginning of this thousand year period,
Satan is seized, he is chained, he is thrown
into the abyss that God has prepared for him
that is sealed over him so that he is incarcerated
there for this entire one thousand year period.
Satan has not yet known any imprisonment. He
has known a fall from heaven. when he was cast
out because of sin found in him. He will know
a fall from the heavens to the earth in the tribulation
period, but never before in history will Satan
have known incarceration until that time. It
is impossible that there might be any peace upon
the earth, that there might be any restoration
of its Edenic beauty until this creature of evil.
is incarcerated so that he can no longer do his
works upon the face of the earth. Someone has
asked the question, why is he then allowed out
of this abyss for the time that is mentioned?
I have to agree with what Dr. Chaffer said, if
you will tell me why God let him loose in the
first place, I will tell you why God lets him
loose the second time. I think that we can have
some understanding of why he is loosened, but
we'll leave that for another time. But please
notice that the beginning of the millennium involves
the binding and the imprisonment of Satan, and
we assume with him those angelic powers that
are allied with him. These spirits, the rulers,
the princes that we have alluded to on Sunday
morning. the last couple of times we've been
together. Following that, it seems that God is
then going to lift the curse that He placed upon
the earth in Genesis 3, 17. Part of the fall
of man involved a curse that God placed upon
His creation. It's not that the creation itself
was guilty or responsible for man's fall. But
because man was given rule over the creation,
when man fell, God placed a curse upon the kingdom
that had been man's. We read in Romans chapter
8, and maybe you ought to turn there with me,
a word regarding the present condition of the
created world. It says in verse 18, Romans 8,
I consider that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
that is to be revealed to us. Paul is here thinking
about the Lord's coming, our being with him,
the Lord's reign. He says, for the anxious longing
of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing
of the sons of God. He says that it's as though
the creation is without stretched hands, expectantly
and patiently waiting for God's children to be
recognized and glorified because when that happens,
the creation seems to intuitively know that it
itself will be released from the curse that has
been placed upon it. He goes on to say the creation
was subjected to futility. In other words, the
full purpose of the creation has been not fulfilled.
There has not been the ability for it to be fulfilled
because of sin and its curse. And so the creation
was subjected to this sense of incompletion.
not of its own will but because of him who subjected
it in hope that the creation itself also will
be liberated, set free from its slavery to corruption
into the freedom of the glory of the children
of God. What is the apostle saying? He is saying
that the created order itself is one day going
to be liberated from the curse that has been
placed upon it because of mankind's sin. Oh,
what a day that's going to be. As the earth is
then restored to a beauty that it has not known
in these thousands of years since Adam and Eve
fell in the garden. We have in the Bible a number
of different results. of the curse being lifted.
Isaiah chapter 65 suggests several of them. Go
back there with me. This great prophet wrote
in Isaiah 65 regarding those days. And we're
going to start in verse 17. He said, Behold,
I create new heavens and a new earth. The former
things should not be remembered or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create,
and behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
and her people for gladness." He says, I will
also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people,
and there will no longer be heard in her the
voice of weeping and the sound of crying. No
longer will there be in it an infant who lives
but a few days, or an old man who does not live
out his days. For the youth will die at the age
of one hundred, and the one who does not reach
the age of one hundred shall be thought accursed.
And they shall build houses and inhabit them.
They shall also plant vineyards and eat their
fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit.
They shall not plant and another eat. For as
the lifetime of a tree so shall be the days of
my people, and my chosen ones shall wear out
the work of their hands, they shall not labor
in vain, or bear children for calamity. For they
are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord
and their descendants with them." Here we have
some things at least suggested to us regarding
the conditions after the curse is lifted. It
suggests to us in verses 21 and 22, as well as
in Amos chapter 9 verses 13 and 14, and in Isaiah
chapter 35, and I think we'll look at that in
a moment. It suggests to us that there will be,
in the kingdom time, agricultural prosperity.
One very definite aspect of the curse has been
the toil that has been necessary to bring forth
the fruit from the earth. There naturally arises
from the earth weeds and that which destroys
and corrupts the good. But in the kingdom, all
of that will not be any longer in existence.
It seems as though the earth will produce in
its bounty. And there will not be those aspects
of agriculture that make it difficult for us
to produce crops these days. The earth will in
that day produce abundantly so that there will
not have to be the kind of toil there is today,
so that there will not be a shortage of food
in any part of the earth during that kingdom
period. Turn back with me to Isaiah 35 for just
a minute. And look here at verses 1 and 2. Notice
he says, the wilderness and the desert will be
glad. The araba will rejoice and blossom. These
are deserted wilderness areas. He says that they're
going to blossom and be glad. Like the crocus,
it will blossom profusely and rejoice. with rejoicing
and shout of joy, the glory of Lebanon will be
given to it. The majesty of Carmel and Sharon,
they will see the glory of the Lord, the majesty
of our God." Turn back to chapter 30 for a minute.
We must cut into the middle of the context here,
but look at verse 26. It says, and the light
of the moon will be as the light of the sun.
And the light of the sun will be seven times
brighter like the light of seven days on the
day of the Lord. On the day, rather, the Lord
binds up the fracture of his people and heals
the bruise he has inflicted. Now there are those
who believe that this may indicate that there
will be a change in the sunlight. in the millennial
reign. Perhaps an elongated day. Perhaps God
is going to again affect the atmosphere as He
did apparently in those days before the Flood
so that there were not the extremes of weather
that we have today with polar regions and tropical
regions. But that there will be an elongation
of the day and a tempering of weather conditions
so that that will join with the curse being lifted
from the ground so that there will be an abundance
of crops produced throughout the world in the
millennial reign of Christ. That is one result
at least. There will be agricultural prosperity.
And then we notice that there is at least the
suggestion here in chapter 65 of Isaiah the 23rd
verse that The pain of childbirth will be removed
in that time. Now I can see you ladies wishing
that you might have postponed birth a little
while. No, it's good that you didn't. It's good
that you didn't. But it does seem that when birth
occurs, because you recall that childbirth is
a part of the curse. I read the pain in childbirth,
travail in childbirth is a part of the curse.
that that too will be lifted during the millennial
reign of Christ. It is interesting to notice
in verse 25, it says, The wolf and the lamb shall
graze together, and the lion shall eat straw
like the ox. And so there will be a peace in
the animal kingdom. It seems as though no longer
will animals prey upon one another. but that
there will be a peace among the animals. But
he goes on to say here, and dust shall be the
serpent's food. What is different from that today?
Absolutely nothing. You recall that when the
curse was placed upon the creation back in Genesis
3, that part of the curse was upon the serpent,
that he would crawl upon his belly and eat dust.
And it seems as though that God retains that
portion of the curse in the millennial reign
upon the serpent, because no longer is he given
legs to walk upon, but rather he must crawl upon
the earth and continue to eat dust. Well, let's
go back to Isaiah 35 for just a moment, and we'll
read on down through verses 3, 4, and 5 here.
Notice that he says, encourage the exhausted
and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with
anxious heart, take courage, fear not. Behold,
your God will come with vengeance. The recompense
of God will come, but He will save you. Then
the eyes of the blind will be opened. The ears
of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame
will leap like a deer and the tongue of the dumb
will shout for joy. For waters will break forth
in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah.
He goes on again to describe the prosperity in
nature. But notice that it seems as though in
the millennial reign of Christ, as the curse
is lifted, that there will be a correction of
those deformities that come sometimes with birth.
Congenital sorts of deformities will be corrected.
And it suggests that sickness will be removed
in that period of time. Isaiah 65 suggests to
us that life itself will be elongated, that even
when a person is 100 years old and would die,
that that would be considered an early death.
And so just as life was longer in the days of
the patriarchs, and particularly in the days
before the flood, so it seems that conditions
in the millennium will be similar to allow the
length of days, to allow long life. Now, think
with me a moment and realize that because of
agricultural prosperity, because of the correction
of deformity and the removal of disease, because
of peace among the animals and their kingdom,
because of length of life, the population of
the earth in the millennium will soar. The population
will undoubtedly be small at the beginning. That
is of those who will enter into the kingdom in
their natural bodies. Only the righteous. Those
saved in the tribulation period and who lived
through those days. Only they will enter into
the kingdom in a natural body like you and I
have. Others will have resurrection bodies. But
they will have natural bodies and length of life.
and blessing. And as a result of being in natural
bodies and marrying, beginning families, the
population of the earth will begin to grow. There
will not be war. There will not be disease. There
will not be famine. And because of that, the
population of the earth by the end of the thousand
year reign of Christ will be a population that
is unparalleled in human history. The five billion
that we have upon the earth today will be perhaps
but a drop in the bucket of the population that
will be on the earth by the end of the thousand
year reign of Christ because the curse has been
lifted. And so we see that the first thing that
happens as the millennium begins is the curse,
or rather the Satan is bound. That is quickly
followed by the lifting of the curse. Third,
there will be universal peace as the King reigns.
Quite in contrast to the wars and the rumors
of wars, which will characterize the end times,
the kingdom reign of Jesus Christ will be known
for absolute peace. And may I say a peace that
will be enforced by His righteous rule. It says
that he will rule with a rod of iron, which speaks
of his absolute sovereignty over the earth. And
because he is a righteous king, there will be
peace that will flow out of his rule. And that
peace will extend throughout the earth. He is
entitled the Prince of Peace. Isaiah chapter
9. And so we have the prophecies of the Old Testament
that say that the weapons of warfare will be
turned into instruments of agriculture. No longer
will there be a need to invest hundreds of billions
of dollars and of resources into weapons for
nations. Just think what good could be done today
if we no longer had to spend a cent on defense.
And if every nation would take every dime that
is spent on weapons and warfare and terrorism
and would turn that to some good purpose, think
of the good that could be done. Now of course
that is quite impractical in the day in which
we live. because Jesus Christ is not reigned
today. There is not a righteous rule of any person
upon the earth. Sin has afflicted every nation,
including our own. We are not righteous and just
in everything that we do in the world. Let's
not kid ourselves. And so armaments seem to be
a necessity in the day of man because of man's
sin. But in that day, none of these things will
be required. And all of the energy and all of
the resources now poured into that part of the
economy of the world can be utilized for good
and righteous purposes. And so universal peace
will not only have a very wonderful feeling to
us emotionally and to all the citizens of the
world, it will have a very practical result.
in that these vast sums can be used for good.
And as I've already suggested, the piece includes
the animal kingdom. Just one more reference regarding
that, Isaiah chapter 11, verses 6 through 9.
It says, And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard will lie down with the kid, the
goat. the calf and the young lion and the fatling
together and a little boy will lead them and
the cow and the bear will graze their young will
lie down together the lion will eat straw like
the ox and the nursing child will play by the
hole of the cobra and the wean child will put
his hand on the viper's den they will not hurt
or destroy in all my holy mountain." Now a mountain
symbolically speaks of a kingdom. And that's
what the Lord is saying here, in all of His holy
kingdom. For the earth will be full of the knowledge
of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. You
know as you read words like this your heart just
aches for the reality of these things. There's
a great deal that must come upon the earth before
this day can arrive. But beloved, let us rejoice
tonight that the King is coming. And one day
he is coming back to the earth to establish the
kingdom that we're studying about, and we'll
continue looking at some of the conditions and
the millennial reign the Lord willing next week.
But I'd like for you to open your hymnal and
sing with me a hymn by Isaac Watts. It's number
246. Isaac Watts lived in a day when the most
common understanding of prophecy, of future things,
was interpreted as post -millennial. They believed
that the world was going to get better and better,
that the Gospel was going to be preached to the
ends of the earth, that eventually society would
all be transformed. would become peaceful and
perfect throughout the earth, and then, then
the Lord would come. That is a theory regarding
prophetic things that pretty well went its way
in World War I, when the earth suddenly was no
longer getting better and better, but worse and
worse and quickly. And today we can see that
that is a theory regarding eschatology or the
study of last things that is not correct. The
earth is going to get worse and worse before
Jesus comes and makes it perfect But nonetheless
Isaac Watts writing in his day from his understanding
of things write some words that are meaningful
to us as we envision and Expect this future coming
of the Lord and his reign upon the earth So would
you stand with me and let's sing together Jesus
shall reign Jesus shall reign where the sun Does
his successive journeys run His kingdom stretch
from shore to shore Till moon shall rise To Him
shall endless prayer be made, And praises strong
to crown His head, His name like sweet perfume.
We learn in our study of Scripture that in the
millennial reign of Christ there will be sacrifices
offered in memoriam to His great sacrifice at
the cross. The Old Testament speaks of a new
temple in Jerusalem. and of sacrifices that are
offered there. And the Feast of Tabernacles,
which speaks prophetically of the Kingdom, will
be observed again in the Millennium by the Jewish
people. And so that is the meaning of that second
verse. Now let's sing that third verse. dwell
on His love with sweetest songs, and infant voices
shall proclaim their early blessings on His name.
Let every creature rise and bring Honours peculiar
to our King Angels with songs, oh, songs again
Amen. Let's have a word of prayer. Would you
join me please? And our Lord, we look forward
to this day of heaven's rule over the earth.
When the great kingdom of God will be finally
and fully established in this world and righteousness
and peace will characterize it. How we look forward
to that day. When the sun of righteousness will
rise with healing. in His wings for the nations
of the earth. We recognize that much must happen
before that day, but our Father, we do greatly
anticipate it nonetheless. And our hearts long
expectantly for the arrival of that day. And
we join as it were with nature itself. in reaching
out our hands to you in longing and praying for
the coming of the kingdom of our great God and
Savior, Jesus Christ. And even as we now are
citizens of that coming kingdom, may we so live.
May our lives be worthy even in this world, where
we are aliens, of the name of our King, and may
we represent him well. whom you have called us
to serve in this generation. In His name we pray,
Amen.