We continue this evening our study regarding
the coming kingdom of our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Last week we began a study of what the
kingdom will be like, what the conditions will
be upon the earth in those days that are surely
coming. I'd like for you to turn first this evening
in your Bible to the prophet Micah. Would you
do that please? Micah in the Old Testament and
turn in his prophecy to the fourth chapter, the
first verse. If you see Jonah, you know you're
getting close. And it will come about in the
last days that the mountain of the house of the
Lord will be established as the chief of the
mountains. We have said before that the mountain,
prophetically speaking, anticipates a government,
a rule, an authority. And what it says here is,
that the mountain or the government or the kingdom
of the last days will be the Lord's and it will
be established as the chief of the authorities,
the governments upon the earth. It says it will
be raised above the hills and the peoples will
stream to it and many nations will come and say
come and let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord. and to the house of the God of Jacob, that
he may teach us about his ways, and that we may
walk in his paths. For from Zion will go forth
the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And he, that is the King, that is Messiah, he
will judge between many peoples and render decisions
for mighty distant nations. Then, They will hammer
their swords into plowshares, and their spears
into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword
against nation, and never again will they train
for war." We have studied previously that the
earth in the time of the kingdom will be blessed.
And the reason for that is that Satan is bound
for that thousand year period of time. He is
incarcerated in the bottomless pit. is guarded
there and kept there until the thousand -year
reign of Christ should be completed. Furthermore,
the curse that has been placed upon the earth
will be lifted in that day, resulting in great
prosperity in agriculture, in at least the diminishing,
if not the removal of disease and deformities.
Population on the earth will soar during that
thousand -year reign of Christ. This will be
accompanied by universal peace. Now is a time
of wars and rumors of wars, but not so then.
Even as we read here, instruments of war will
be turned into instruments for agriculture. Now
what is suggested to us here in these verses
and in some others we're going to look at is
accompanying these other characteristics that
we've studied and I'm speaking of world prosperity.
One reason that we touched on last week is that
the vast sums of money that now must be placed
into defense and armaments, even that alone will
allow tremendous prosperity in the world because
it will no longer be needed for those purposes
and can be channeled into good and beneficial
purposes for humanity. Turn back please to the
book of Isaiah. as we look at a couple of other
passages dealing with these last days when the
Lord will reign on the earth. I'm speaking first
of Isaiah chapter 14. And we'll begin reading
in verse 3. Now remember this is addressed to
Babylon. That is, historic Babylon, but Babylon
also has a future fulfillment, a prophetic Babylon.
Babylon is not only a king, but it is a system
of government. In the last days, in the tribulation
period, there will be a world control at the
hands of Antichrist that is addressed as Babylon,
Babylon the Great. It will be a world political,
economic, religious system all wrapped into one.
Now here, historic Babylon is being addressed
by Isaiah, but there are words that speak to
the future Babylon and to those days beyond that
Babylon after it is destroyed when Jesus will
reign. Now it says in verse 3, it will be in
the day when the Lord gives you rest from your
pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you
have been enslaved. that you will take up this
taunt against the King of Babylon and say, How
the oppressor has ceased, and how fury has ceased.
The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked,
the scepter of rulers, which used to strike the
peoples in fury with unceasing strokes, which
subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained
persecution. The whole earth is at rest and quiet.
They break forth into shouts of joy. Even the
cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars
of Lebanon sing, Since you were laid low, no
tree -cutter comes up against us. Sheol from
beneath is excited over you to meet you when
you come. It arouses for you the spirits of the
dead, all the leaders of the earth. It raises
all the kings of the nations from their thrones.
Isaiah is prophetically looking forward to that
period of time when Babylon, as it will be reconstituted,
and its king, its leader, will be destroyed and
there will be, as it says here, peace upon the
earth. Fury will have ceased. There will be rest
and quiet and shouts of joy at the defeat of
the enemies of God and the establishment of Christ's
kingdom. This is speaking about world prosperity.
Turn back a couple of pages to Isaiah 11. And
look at verse 3. And he will delight in the fear
of the Lord. He is the king, this one who is
the chute that will spring from the stem of Jesse,
upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rests, Christ.
He will delight in the fear of the Lord. And
he will not judge by what his eyes see, nor make
a decision by what his ears hear. Now, of course,
anyone who judges is left only to that. He must
judge upon what he hears with his ears and sees
with his eyes. There is no other basis for judgment.
But in the coming kingdom, our Lord as He reigns
will not judge merely on the basis of what he
hears and what he sees. Because all of us know
that that can be deceiving. It says in verse
4, but with righteousness he will judge the poor
and decide with fairness for the afflicted of
the earth. And he will strike the earth with
the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his
lips he will slay the wicked. And righteousness,
also righteousness, will be the belt about his
loins and faithfulness, the belt about his waist.
And so we see that there is one who will judge
the earth in that day, who will judge in accordance
with what he perfectly knows to be the truth.
There will be no deception, no pulling the wool
over the eyes of this judge. This King will judge
perfectly and decide with equity and with fairness.
And righteousness and faithfulness will fully
characterize Him as He reigns for a thousand
years over the earth. World prosperity because
of the reign of Jesus Christ will characterize
the Millennium. And then in addition to that,
spiritual blessings will characterize the Millennium.
Here in Isaiah 11 and verse 9 it says they will
not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain For
the earth will be full of the knowledge of the
Lord as the waters cover the sea There will be
a universal knowledge of the Lord in the millennial
reign Habakkuk joins with this in chapter 2 and
verse 14 with almost identical words He says
for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge
of of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover
the sea. There will be in the millennial reign
of Jesus Christ unparalleled spiritual blessings
on the earth. There will be nearly a universal
worship of Christ. Now I say nearly universal
because there will be those who will not worship
him in their hearts. Outwardly, certain things
will be required. But there will be some who
will not worship the Lord in their hearts. Now
who are they? Who are these that will feign worship
of Him? Well, it is those who will be born in
the millennial reign. Keep in mind that at the
initiation of the reign of Jesus Christ, There
will be a population of people who will yet be
in their natural bodies. We will not be. Nor
will those who have been resurrected from the
Old Testament period or from the tribulation
period be in natural bodies. We will be in resurrection
bodies. There will not be marrying and propagation
in that time by us. But there will be people
saved in the tribulation period who will live
through that terrible time of suffering and persecution
for the Lord's people. And they in their natural
bodies and their physical bodies will enter into
the kingdom. And they will begin to reproduce.
And among their offspring there will be some
who will not inwardly yield with the heart to
Jesus Christ. They may outwardly go through the
motions that will be required of people in that
time, but in their hearts they will not receive
Him, and we will see in a moment what happens
to them. But there will be, at least outwardly,
nearly a universal worship of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Spiritual blessings will be like the
waters in the ocean in that day, universal across
the earth. The earth will know fullness of joy,
holiness, glory, comfort, justice, and spiritual
instruction. And then another characteristic
of the Kingdom time will be political unity.
There is of course quite some disunity in the
world today. There is not a political oneness.
Each nation has its own thing, its own concerns.
But in that day, it says in Revelation 11 .15,
the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom
of our Lord and of His Christ. Zechariah echoes
with that in chapter 14 and verse 9. And the
Lord shall be king over all the earth. So there
will not be many. political entities in that
day. There will be one kingdom. Now it will be
subdivided. There will be nations in that day
and other mountains as Isaiah said in our passage
we read earlier. But the mountain of the Lord
will be the chief mountain. All of the other
governments will be subservient to his overarching
government as he reigns upon the earth. who are
believers in the promises of God will reign with
Him. Those from the Old Testament who were righteous,
who believed the promises of God will be resurrected
to share in this reign of Christ. Abraham longed
for this day. David looked forward to this day.
And they, along with the other righteous from
the Old Testament, will be resurrected at the
beginning of it. In the first resurrection. to
participate in the kingdom. They will reign with
Christ, as will the church, and as will those
who have died and been martyred in the tribulation
period. It says in Revelation chapter 20 that
they will be raised to reign with the Lord Jesus
Christ. We will be a part of that kingdom. Exactly
what part, just how we will fit into that, the
Word of God is not entirely clear. But the fact
is that if we endure, we will reign with Him,
writes Paul to Timothy. Now it is important for
us as we think about the kingdom to consider
how it will end because remember that the millennium
is a thousand years. The kingdom of our Savior
is an eternal kingdom in the sense that He will
always reign, but that eternal kingdom will be
initiated by this one thousand year period of
time and at some point that thousand years will
be over. The question is what happens next? When
this time of prosperity and peace and blessing
and unity is over, what happens then? God gives
us something of an answer to that in the 20th
chapter of the book of the revelation And I invite
you to turn there with me We've already referred
to the first three verses of this chapter where
Satan is incarcerated We have talked about the
resurrection of the righteous at the beginning
of the millennial reign of Christ. That's verses
four, five, and six. And now we come to verse
seven. It says, and when the thousand years are
completed, Satan will be released from his prison
and will come out to deceive the nations which
are in the four corners of the earth. Gog and
Magog, together them together for the war. And
the number of them, that is the people who follow
him, is like the sand of the seashore. And they
came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded
the camp of the saints and the beloved city,
and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
Someone has referred to this as the second coming
of Satan. Because after having been in prison
for the thousand years, he comes again to the
earth and begins, it would seem, to influence
the nations with deceit, with deceit. And it
says that he will gather out from the nations
A multitude like the sand of the seashore, who
are these people? These are they who over that
1 ,000 year reign of Christ were born and who
outwardly went through the motions of worshipping
Christ, but who did not give their hearts to
Him. Had they disobeyed, had they overtly rebelled
and sinned in that thousand -year reign of Christ,
the Word of God suggests that they would have
been dealt with at that point. But these people
outwardly went along with everything. And now
Satan is released that those who were not genuinely
following Jesus Christ might be ferreted out.
that they might be separated out from those who
truly do follow Jesus Christ the King. Now what
will be the deceit that Satan will cast upon
these people? The same sort of lie that he has
used from the beginning? That somehow they will
be able to overthrow the reign of God? Why are
they gathered as they seem to be? on the plain
of the earth near the camp of the saints and
the beloved city. What is that? That must surely
be identified with Jerusalem. Well, what is Jerusalem?
It is the place where our Lord will visibly rule.
And so you see here we have an army that is gathered
by Satan to march against the capital city of
the world at the end of the thousand year reign
of Christ. And there is the thought in their
minds that somehow they are going to overthrow
Jesus Christ. How ridiculous! Yes! You see, so
complete is the deceit of Satan that he thinks
he will do that in the end. And he will convince
those unbelievers in the Millennium that they
will also be able to overthrow Jesus Christ.
Now, there are those who would say, well, this
is actually but a restatement of the battle of
Armageddon. Well, if language means anything,
it seems to me that it cannot be Armageddon.
Because Armageddon is in the previous chapter,
before the thousand years. This is clearly after
the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ. Furthermore,
in the battle of Armageddon, the armies are destroyed
through the coming of Jesus Christ to the earth
on His white horse with His armies following
Him. Here they are destroyed by fire that comes
down from heaven and devours them. The battle
of Armageddon is followed by the birds of the
air coming to eat the flesh of those who are
killed in that battle. And then judgment comes
and the reign of Christ. But here, and then Satan
is incarcerated, but here we see that the devil
is finally, ultimately dealt with. So this is
not the battle of Armageddon. This is yet the
final war. This is that final expression of rebellion
on the part of Satan and mankind, sinful mankind.
And it will be dealt with by God. Following that,
the devil who deceived them was thrown into the
lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and
the false prophet are also. Notice the present
tense. That's where they are. That's where they
have been for a thousand years. For the beast,
Antichrist, and the false prophet, his chief
religious leader, are the first two inhabitants
of the eternal lake of fire. The lake of fire
is not hell. They are not identical. Gehenna
hell, as we refer to it, is that place where
people go now. But the lake of fire is that eternal,
permanent place of punishment that God has prepared
for the devil and his angels and all of those
who reject God. The beast and the false prophet
are there for a thousand years and the number
three inhabitant of the lake of fire is the devil
himself who will be cast into that lake and it
says they will be tormented day and night forever
and ever. These words are horrible beyond imagination.
It goes on to say, and I saw a great white throne
and him who sat upon it from whose Presence earth
and heaven fled away. Can you imagine the visage
of a person? the presence of an individual that
would cause the very Physical universe to quake
and to shake and to flee Such is the personage
of the one who sits on this throne the great
white throne, it is called. No place was found
for heaven and earth, and he says, I saw the
dead, the great and the small, standing before
the throne. And books were opened, and another
book was opened, which is the book of life. And
the dead were judged from the things which were
written in the books according to their deeds.
Keep in mind that these are unbelievers. No believer,
no saint of God will stand in this judgment.
These are all of those who are lost and who have
lived from the beginning up until that time and
who have rejected God. He says the sea gave up
the dead which were in it and death and Hades
gave up the dead which were in them. And they
were judged, every one of them, according to
their deeds. You see, there is a final measurement
of the wickedness of the life of every person.
All of the fallout of each wicked life is fully
known by this time. Time has ceased. The clocks
have finished. And so now there is a final accounting
for every unbeliever. before the presence of
God Himself. And it says, Death and Hades were
thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second
death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name
was not found written in the book of life, he
was thrown into the lake of fire. There is not
one of us that can read these words. with any
delight. There is no joy here. There surely is
vindication of the holiness and the righteousness
of God. But I can guarantee you there is no delight
in the heart of God in the death of the wicked.
But all of those who go into eternity without
a personal relationship to Jesus Christ will
stand in this judgment and there be fully accounted
for. His whole life will be brought before Him.
All of those deeds that were thought gone, that
were thought hidden, that perhaps were unknown
by others, everything is brought into the light.
And the degree of punishment is determined by
God. Yes, there will be degrees of punishment
in the lake of fire. And then it seems almost
as if to make a last check, the book of life
is there. And a search is made of the book of
life to see if any of these names might perchance
be there. But none can find their name in the
book of life. And it says that they are cast.
Now remember, they have been resurrected into
bodies. They are no longer spirits. They have
been resurrected into bodies that are capable
of experiencing the lake of fire. And it says
that they are cast into the lake of fire. That
is the final judgment. Every one of us will stand
at some judgment before God. And actually no
thought of judgment is pleasant. And yet to have
to fear standing at this judgment, to have to
ponder oneself being there before this great
white throne and experiencing that Awful second
death is almost an unbearable thought. My friend,
there is one eternity, but there are two destinies.
Every one of us will spend that eternity forever
and forever in blessing or in banishment. In
heaven or in hell or the lake of fire? What is
your eternal destiny? Are you sure? Are you beyond
the shadow of a doubt certain tonight that your
name is written in the Lamb's book of life? If
you are not sure of that, will you tonight trust
Jesus Christ as your Savior? Will you bow the
knee and receive Him into your life so that your
name can be inscribed by an angel indelibly in
the book of life? Following that final judgment,
there will be a turning over of the kingdom to
God the Father. We don't have time to look at
that in detail. In fact, the details are broad
strokes, not easily understood in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. Once the kingdom has been delivered
over to the Father, then there is going to be
a fiery renovation of the heavens and the earth
which have fled away from the presence of Him
who sat on the throne. Peter describes it in
the third chapter of his second epistle with
a loud hissing sound. The entire universe will
return to its basic elements and then God is
going to start over again and as it says here
in Revelation 21, there will be a new heaven
and a new earth for the first heaven and first
earth were passed away and there is no longer
any sea and I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem.
And now we enter into what is beyond all of those
things associated with time. We come into that
future state that we call eternity future. It
is a timeless state. When we will forever be
with the Lord. And notice in closing the final
words here of this description. In Revelation
21 he says, I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, made ready
as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard
a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold,
the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will
dwell among them, and they will be his people,
and God himself shall be among them." You see,
ever since the Garden of Eden, there's had to
be a separation from mankind and God. But in
that new Garden of Eden, as it were, in that
new creation, God will dwell among men. His tabernacle
will be with us. He will wipe away every tear
from their eyes. And there shall no longer be
any death. There shall no longer be any mourning
or crying or pain. The first things have passed
away. And he who sits on the throne said, Behold,
I am making all things new. In verse 6 it says,
He said to me, it is done. I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the end. I will give to the
one who thirsts from the spring of the water
of life without cost. He who overcomes, that's
the believer, shall inherit these things and
I will be his God and he will be my son. Oh,
what a future awaits the child of God. Buddy
says, the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable
and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers
and idolaters and all liars. Their part will
be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death. Let's pray. My friend,
someone has said, if you're born but once, you
must die twice. But if you're born twice, you
may die but once. The second death. As surely
as there is a heaven, there is a hell. As surely
as there is blessing for God's own, there is
punishment for those who reject Him. I wonder
with our heads bowed and our eyes closed if there's
one person here tonight, old or young, man or
woman, who would say, Pastor Call, I am not sure
of my destiny. I do not have assurance in my
heart that heaven is where I'm headed. I want
to be sure. Pray for me. Would you lift your
hand and put it down? Pray for me as we close
the service. As I read about the lake of fire,
my soul trembles within me because I fear that's
where I'm headed. May I pray for you? Is there
one? Father, it would appear that all of us tonight
have that assurance of the Spirit within our
hearts that we are the sons of God. I thank you
that it does not yet appear what we shall be
or shall enjoy, but one day we will experience
the fullness of all that you have promised in
your word. Lord, I pray that you will remind
all of us that it will be worth it all when we
see Jesus. Father, there are some of your children
here tonight who are struggling in the midst
of battles. Some are discouraged. Oh, I pray
that you will encourage them in the fight. May
they fight the good fight of faith. And I pray
that they will keep their eyes lifted up. Deliver
them, I pray, from heaviness and from mourning.
And fill them with joy even in the midst of the
battle, knowing that it will be worth it all.
that if we endure we shall also reign with Christ.
Father, I pray that even now we will live as
good citizens of the kingdom. And I pray that
as we continue our pilgrimage in this world,
headed toward those things that we have studied
in recent weeks and months about the end of the
age, that we will do so considering the manner
of people we ought to be, how holy and righteous
our lives should be upon whom these things have
come. Thank you for the destiny that by grace
you have given us in Jesus Christ. In His name
we pray, amen.