The Prophesied Kingdom – Part 2

Transcript

GRM 993
12/16/2007
The Prophesied Kingdom, Part 2
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh


Jesus Christ was born to be King. The birth of Christ was announced with the statement that the One born at Bethlehem was born to be King of the Jews. But Jesus Christ is not yet reigning as King on the earth, and we have been talking in our studies together, looking into the Word of God on the subject of the kingdom of God. We noted there is a kingdom of God's which is universal. It encompasses everything and everyone, all of creation is under the sovereign rule and reign of God. He created it all, it is all under His authority and under His control. That includes the most vile, wicked person as well as those who have come to be saved by His grace. It includes the devil. There is no created thing that is not under the sovereign universal reign of God.

But we've been focusing out attention now primarily upon the kingdom that God promised to establish on the earth, over which His Son, the Messiah of Israel, would rule and reign for eternity. We talked about some of the differences of opinion on this kingdom. Important for us to understand that the Jews as well as the church for its first 300 years of existence believed that the kingdom would be established by Jesus Christ personally, bodily returning to earth to destroy His enemies and set up His throne in Jerusalem to rule and reign over the earth. I believe that is what the Bible indicates will take place in the future. We are not in the kingdom now. The kingdom that Jesus Christ is going to reign over is yet future, it cannot begin until He returns to earth. In our previous study we looked at some of the passages like Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Zechariah 14 and Revelation 19-20 which point clearly to the fact that the kingdom will be established by the bodily return of Christ. It is sudden, it is complete. And in Daniel 2 it was pictured as a stone cut without hands, smashing the kingdoms of the earth and then growing into a great, all encompassing kingdom. Daniel 7 carried us down through the timeline until we come to that seven-year period prior to the return of Christ to earth. That seven years called the 70th week of Daniel as God completes His program of the nation Israel is climaxed by the return of Christ to earth and the establishing of His kingdom.

Come back to II Samuel 7 in your Old Testament. This contains what is known as the Davidic Covenant, God's covenant that He established with David to establish the descendant of David on the throne over Israel forever. So in II Samuel 7 God is speaking to David through the prophet and He says, the last statement of verse 11, the Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you. When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you. And I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and note this, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. That means that the line of David is guaranteed to reign over Israel forever. Verse 16, your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever. Your throne shall be established forever.

Solomon is about to assume the throne of Israel. God promises in verse 14, I will be a Father to him, he will be a son to Me. When he commits iniquity I will correct him with a rod of men, the strokes of the sons of men. But My lovingkindness shall not depart from him as I took it away from Saul, who I removed from before you. Saul was the first king of Israel, his line did not continue. Here God promises to David, even if your descendants sin I will punish them, but I won't break off the line. There may be a gap in the line of kings, as what happened in 586 B.C. when the southern kingdom was carried into captivity. And now the nation Israel existed without a king. That was part of the discipline and punishment. Today the nation Israel exists without a king. They are under the discipline and punishment of God. But the promise of God to David still is true. I will establish one on your throne, one of your descendants forever.

That's the kingdom we're talking about. Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah of Israel. When He was born at Bethlehem the Jews anticipated the King of the Jews. He was announced as the King of the Jews. When Pilate was interviewing Christ on the brink of the crucifixion, he would ask Christ, are you the King of the Jews? I am the King of the Jews, but He wasn't ruling and reigning. The Old Testament, remember, saw the first coming of Christ, His birth at Bethlehem, His suffering and death as one event and His ruling and reigning in glory, and they were sandwiched together. So they couldn't understand how He could suffer and die, be rejected, Isaiah 52-53, and yet rule and reign in glory. Now we know it was God's intention that there be a span of some 2000 years so far between His first coming to suffer and die to pay the penalty for sin, and His Second Coming to establish His kingdom on the earth.

We talked about progressive revelation, God progressively reveals more of His purposes and plans. So the New Testament reveals additional information the Old Testament did not reveal. But the additional revelation does not change or alter the previous revelation. In other words, when God says in II Samuel 7:16, your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever, your throne shall be established forever, God cannot nullify that promise by later revelation. Jesus said, heaven and earth may pass away, but My word will not pass away, not the smallest little marking of God's Word will pass away unfulfilled. So we need to be careful. Some people come to the Word of God and say, well the New Testament reveals that God has changed His promises in the Old Testament, He can't do that. You say, who are you to tell God what He can't do? I am a nobody, obviously, to tell God, but God has told us what He can't do. The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, we are told. God keeps His promises, they depend upon His very character. We can say, His Word is truth.

So we talk about a coming kingdom, it will be exactly as He promised. He will sit on the throne. Turn to Psalm 110:1. There is a lot of material, I don't know how else to say it, on the kingdom in the Bible. We can only highlight certain portions. You can look in the cross references of some of the passages we go to, and you could trace those down. You read some of the material that has been written on the kingdom, and it will give you some sense of the permeating message of the kingdom. And it permeates the scripture, Old and New Testament alike. Psalm 110:1, it's a very important verse in your Bible. You know why? Well it's in the Bible, that makes it important. Right. But a second reason, this is the verse in the Old Testament that is quoted more often than any other verse in the Bible in the New Testament. Some day you have a Bible quiz and they say, what is the verse in the Old Testament most often quoted or referred to in the New Testament, it is Psalm 110:1. The Lord says to my lord, sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The Lord will stretch forth your strong scepter from Zion, And you'll note verse 4, the Lord has sworn and will not change His mind. When the Lord gives His Word, it is irrevocable, He can't change His mind, he won't change His mind. The scripture says, forever, oh Lord, your Word is settled in heaven.. We want to note here, God says to the Lord, sit at My right hand until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet. Then the Lord will send for the word, the law, He'll rule from Zion. We find a consistent emphasis that the Bible talks about the capital of the world when Christ establishes His kingdom will be in Jerusalem on Mt. Zion. We should not spiritualize that to say, well Jerusalem and Zion, that's referring to some kind of condition of our hearts or heaven. No, that's talking about the Jerusalem you read about in the news, that's Mt. Zion. That will be the capital of the world. Now you'll note here, you sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.

Come to Acts 2. We can't look at all the references, that would take all of our time. But in Acts 2 Peter is preaching on the Day of Pentecost, the day the church begins, and He refers to this passage. He refers to it, then He quotes it, Acts 2:33, as he emphasized the fact that the Old Testament promised that God would raise Christ from the dead, which He has done. Verse 32, this Jesus God raised up again to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this what you see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself said, the Lord said to my lord. In other words, God the Father said to God the Son, sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now does that mean that Christ is sitting on the throne of David today. He is not, He is enthroned at the right hand of the Father in glory, but the Davidic throne will be established on the earth at Jerusalem on Mt. Zion.

Now I want you to grasp this because many are confused because they read and say, well He is seated at the right hand, see He is seated at the throne of David in heaven. The Jews had no concept of a throne of David in heaven. You understand that Christ was enthroned in heaven before He was born in Bethlehem. Isaiah 6, Isaiah saw the preincarnate Christ, sitting enthroned in glory. The seraphim cried holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The train of His robe filled the temple, the heavenly host are worshiping the enthroned Christ. John 12:31 says Isaiah was writing about the preincarnate Christ, but that wasn't the throne of David. Christ couldn't sit on the throne of David until He was born a descendant of David. So the fact that He is seated or enthroned at the right hand of the Father doesn't mean He is on the throne of David.

Come over to Revelation 3:21, he who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. Christ is enthroned in heaven, sharing the throne of the Father now as He did before His incarnation. And He prayed to the Father in John 17, restore to Me the glory which I had with you before the world was. That's not the Davidic throne, that is the Father's throne that Christ, by virtue of being God, does share. But that's not the Davidic throne. He sat down on the Father's throne.

Turn back to Revelation 2. You'll note that Jesus had promised in Revelation 3:21, to the overcomer I grant him to sit down with me on My throne, just like I sat down with the Father on His throne. So when we are enthroned with Christ to rule and reign in the millennium, it will be His throne, the throne of David that we share in ruling. Look in Revelation 2:26, he who overcomes, the same person. The overcomer is the believer in Jesus Christ. I John 5, who is he who overcomes, but he that believes that Jesus is the Christ. To him who overcomes, and he who keeps my deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of a potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father. So you see now the Son is enthroned in glory sharing the Father's throne. Christ said there will come a time when His throne will be established and we as believers will share that throne, ruling and reigning with Him. We ought not to confuse these ideas, it will bring confusion in a whole variety of areas.

Come back to Revelation 19, this is where we left off last week and if I'm not careful it will be where we leave off this week. If you have the chart on resurrections in your Bible you might pull that out. The timeline is at the first coming of Christ to earth at Bethlehem. He was here ultimately to suffer and die on the cross. He offered the kingdom to Israel, the Israelites would not have Him as their King. He was crucified, He was raised from the dead, He ascended to heaven, is seated at the right hand of His Father, sharing the Father's throne to await the promise of Psalm 110:1, to sit there until it is time for all His enemies to be subjected under His feet. Then He will return to earth and the rule, the reign will go forth from Mt. Zion, Jerusalem. And the book of Revelation, remember, is sequential, it happens in subsequent events, one event after another. Some people make the book of Revelation a jumble, no particular order. It is unfolded in proper order. And John saw the resurrected Christ in chapter 1. Chapters 2-3 he has messages to the churches. It's a period of time in which we are now, the church age, between the cross and the first stage of the Second Coming, the rapture, which we have to consider at a future time. We live in the age of grace between the first and second coming of Christ.

Now as the book of Revelation unfolds we have the 70th week of Daniel. We have the church age, the period of time in which we live, and then we have the seven-year period that begins in Revelation 6. And we have the seven seals, followed by the seven trumpets, followed by the seven bowls. They happen each one after the other. And then we will come to Revelation 19 at the end of that seven-year period, the return of Christ to earth to establish His kingdom. And so we have chapter 19 open up, hallelujah! Salvation, glory and power belong to our God. His judgments are true and righteous. And all those in heaven are falling down and declaring God's glory and God's praise. We're ready, the marriage of the Lamb has occurred. At the rapture of the church the bride of Christ has been caught to heaven, the marriage of the Lamb has occurred in the pattern of the oriental wedding. Now we return with Christ to the earth for the wedding feast. So verse 9 says, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb, which will be that first phase of the kingdom, the millennium.

Verse 11, I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and He who sat on it Faithful and True. In righteousness He judges and wages war, His eyes are a flame of fire. On His head are many diadems and His robe is dipped in blood. He is the Word of God. The armies of heaven, verse 14, clothed in fine linen are with Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword and He strikes down the nations, rules them with a rod of iron. Remember the promise in Revelation 2, that those who overcome will rule with Him and it will be a rule of a rod of iron, smashing, crushing. That's the reign of Christ in the millennium. Kiss the Son lest He be angry and you perish from the way. Any who will not bow and honor the Son are doomed to destruction.

This is Armageddon where He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty, at the end of verse 15. If you have that chart, that's what occurs at the end of the 70th week of Daniel, that seven-year period leading up to the return of Christ to earth to establish His kingdom. He returns to earth. The armies of the world have been assembled, the mountains of Megiddo, Armageddon. And as Christ returns to earth from heaven, then He destroys His enemies. The birds of the air are invited to the feast. There will be so many bodies all over the earth, it will be a time for the birds of the air to gorge themselves on the flesh of those who are destroyed. Verse 19, I saw the beast, the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse, against His army. And He destroys them, the beast and the false prophet are cast into hell alive, and the rest were killed.

Now we have to take a break here. Come back to Matthew 25. The events of Matthew 25 are relating events that occur at the Second Coming to earth that we just read about in Revelation 19. In Matthew 24 Christ has unfolded the events of the 70th week of Daniel and He referred in that instruction time, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, then here is your action, and so on. Now in Matthew 25 we're talking about judgment that occurs at the time of Christ's Second Coming to earth. And let me just pick up on the judgment of the nations, the sheep and the goats, beginning with verse 31. but when the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. We're not in the kingdom, He's not sitting on that throne yet. When will He sit on that throne? When He comes in His glory and all the holy angels with Him. Did we read in chapter 19, He comes with the display of His glory. Heavens opened, the armies of heaven are behind Him, following Him, and He comes to earth to establish His throne. That's when He will sit enthroned, on a throne of David to rule as King of the earth.

All nations will be gathered before Him. You see the armies of the nations have been gathered in Israel to do war, and when Christ returns they turn, they've been together to do battle against one another, they turn to direct their attention to their common enemy, Christ, as He returns. Those armies are destroyed. Now all the peoples from all the nations around the world are gathered before Christ to be judged. These are all the people alive at the end of that seven-year tribulation, the 70th week of Daniel. And He separates them, the sheep from the goats—the sheep on the right hand, the goats on the left. Then the King, you see He's sitting enthroned, He's the King, He's coming to set up His kingdom. Now He is deciding who will go into His kingdom and who will be executed, not permitted to go into the kingdom. The King will say to those on His right, come, you who are blessed of My Father. Inherit the kingdom. Now we go into the kingdom, He tells them. They've not been in the kingdom, now they're going to go into it. They've been living on the earth, but the kingdom hasn't been here. The kingdom can't exist without the King.

Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. It's been prepared, but it hasn't been established on the earth, now it is. For I was hungry, you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, you gave Me something to drink. I was a stranger, you invited Me in; naked, you clothed Me. I was sick, you visited me; I was in prison, you came to Me. The righteous will answer Him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you? Thirsty, and give you something to drink, and all that. Verse 40, the King will answer and say to them, truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me. How often do you hear this passage quoted today to say why the church ought to be taking care of the poor and doing all these other social programs? This has nothing to do with us in the church age, folks. This is why once you get confused on the kingdom, you begin to get confused on the church. This is something that will happen when Christ returns to earth and sets up His throne and is judging those who have come out of the 70th week of Daniel. What is the 70th week of Daniel? It is the last seven-year period of God's 490-year program to accomplish His purposes with, not the church, the nation Israel. Daniel 9, 70 seven-year periods are determined upon your people, upon your holy city, Jerusalem, Daniel. On the Jews and Jerusalem.

So when you read here the nations, all the people alive on the face of the earth when Christ returns to earth to establish His kingdom, they are divided out. Well on the basis of how they treated these brothers of mine, verse 40. Who is He talking about? Don't spiritualize that. He's talking about Jews. What has gone on during that seven-year period? It's the tribulation, and particularly the last half there has been an all-out attempt by the devil and his followers on the earth to annihilate every last Jew. The only Gentile who will show any kindness to a Jew during that time is a Gentile who has come to believe in Christ and recognized the unique place the Jews have in the program of God. And he'll reach out to help them at the danger of his own life. Nothing to do with helping people today. I'm not saying we can't help people, I'm saying Matthew 25 is not talking about that. And we shouldn't use it for that, otherwise we misdirect the church and say, see, God's plan and intention for the church is that they have a major social program in the world today. It is not. I can give a cup of cold water and go visit somebody in prison and do all kinds of kind things, and my life is not at stake at all. In fact people think I'm a nice person for doing it. But you do that to a Jew in the 70th week of Daniel, many people will give their lives for doing that. Only true believers will manifest the change of heart they've had by the grace of God by helping the Jew during that time.

So it's important that we see the distinction and the clarity that God has unfolded His program. This passage doesn't have to do with how the church functions. Those on the left are going to be consigned to hell. What happens now, the Second Coming of Christ to earth, He sets up His throne. He will sit on His glorious throne. He is not sitting on that throne now. No question, He is enthroned in heaven, but He was enthroned in heaven in Isaiah 6 before He ever came to earth. But the glorious throne to be established on the earth is the Davidic throne, establishing the kingdom. The first things He does as King is determine who can go into His kingdom. And anyone not going into His kingdom has to be executed on the spot. It's determined by their action. Always the condition of our heart is revealed by what we do.

Okay, that's the establishing of the kingdom at the Second Coming. Come back to Revelation 20. Now remember the book of Revelation is following in order, sequentially, one even after another. So in chapter 19 we had the return of Christ, we had Armageddon, the destruction of the armies of the world. At that time we'll also have the judgment of the living at the Second Coming. Matthew 25 isn't the last judgment of scripture, the last judgment of scripture occurs at the end of the 1000 years, not the beginning. Matthew 25 is only the judgment of those who were alive. We talked about resurrections in scripture, that's what we were talking about with that chart that many of you have. So we have different orders here.

So going into this kingdom, we're going to have people who are in resurrected bodies and we're going to have people who are in physical bodies. But as we go into this kingdom, there will only be believers into the kingdom. So at the very beginning of this kingdom when Christ establishes it, He will have removed all unbelievers from the face of the earth. So only believers go into the kingdom. Two different groups—those who have been resurrected from the dead and those who go into the kingdom in their physical bodies. They came to trust Christ during that seven-year period, the 70th week of Daniel. And now they go into the kingdom in their physical bodies.

So what would you think Revelation 20 is about? The establishing of the kingdom. First thing after the judgment of the people, the unbelievers, is the confining of satan. So the angel came down from heaven, has the key to the abyss and a great chain to confine satan. He laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old who is the devil and satan and bound him for a thousand years, threw him into the abyss. That's not hell, the abyss is the holding place for demons that God does not allow to have freedom of movement. During the millennium, the thousand years, satan will not have freedom. Some people say he was bound spiritually at the cross and so he is bound today. Well the Bible tells me, Peter wrote in his letters, your adversary, the devil, goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That's not very bound. When he is bound, he will be put in the abyss. That does not mean just restricted, that means no activity on the earth at all for a thousand years.

Now let me clarify something. The thousand years is mentioned six times down through verse 7, but that's not all there is to the kingdom. Some people say, well, you say you believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible and then you say the kingdom is a thousand years. If the kingdom is an eternal kingdom, is eternity only a thousand years? No. The thousand years is not all there is to the kingdom, the thousand years is just the first mark point in an eternal kingdom, because certain things will be accomplished by God during that thousand-year period. But really we have begun the eternal kingdom, in that sense, with the establishing of the throne of Christ. But the first phase of the eternal kingdom is a thousand years in duration. We'll see why in a moment.

So satan is bound for a thousand years, he can't deceive the nations any longer, verse 3, until the thousand years are completed. Then he's going to be released for a short time. Then you see people who are resurrected, who are part of the first resurrection in verse 4. The end of verse 4, they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection, over these the second death has not power. They will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. So all those who are part of the first resurrection are going to be sharing Christ's throne. Remember Revelation 3, that the one who overcomes will sit down with Me on My throne, as I sat down with the Father on His throne. So Christ returns to earth and establishes His glorious throne and now is the time for resurrected believers to share that throne, His reign, authority in His kingdom.

When the thousand years are completed, verse 7, satan will be released from his prison. And he will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog and they are a number like the sand of the seashore, which is a way of saying you can't count them. Now what you have here is this thousand-year period. During this time, we're going to read some of its characteristics in a moment, but you have the curse lifted from the creation, you have man living in a perfect environment, there will be no wars, no conflicts, no death except in exceptional cases, no infant mortality, no crime, no satanic influence. But the people who go into the kingdom in their physical body are going to have children. Remember only believers went into the kingdom in their physical bodies. But they will have children born to them during the kingdom, and in this perfect environment we're going to have a population explosion. But you know what? Every baby born in the millennium is going to be born with a sin nature. They'll live under the authority of the King, required to submit. We're going to take a moment and read several passages if I move along quickly enough. You know what's going to happen at the end of that thousand-year reign with Christ, the perfect King, ruling over the world with only righteousness and holiness characterizing the world? There will be people who have submitted because they are afraid of the consequences of not submitting. But when satan is loosed and goes out through the world and offers himself as an alternative king to Christ, there will be a group of people that is so large you can't count them, they're like the sand of the sea. They're going to decide, I would rather have satan as my king and follow him to try to dethrone Christ. And they're going to come up to Jerusalem.

You know what the millennium does, that first thousand years? It demonstrates that the problem we have is not with our environment, it's not the way our parents raised us, it's not the social conditions, it's not the political conditions, none of these external things. The problem is the sin of the human heart. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, above all things. We have had crimes committed recently by young people, and you can't read the paper without some kind of psychological evaluation. There was a wonderful editorial in the Omaha paper by a psychiatrist as an alternative editorial about all the psycho babble going on. So there must be something, it must have been the way he was raised, if we could get in an analyze more of his childhood, more of his mental problems. We look and say, if the parents had done something differently, I'm sure their kids would have turned out differently. Doesn't mean parents don't have responsibility, but here are kids born in a perfect world with a perfect King, but an imperfect heart. And the real problem then, and that's why man has lived under the authority of conscience, under the authority of human government, under the authority of the law, under the time and authority of grace, under the time of judgment and wrath in the 70th week of Daniel, now under the time of God's glory. You know what? None of it changes the human heart. That's why you must be born again, we must be cleansed within. Hard to believe, here are kids born in the millennium, they have never known anything but this perfect world under a perfect King. Lived here for hundreds of years, but they are seething, and when they are given the choice of satan or Christ, a number like the sand of the seashore joins satan in going to Jerusalem to try to dethrone Christ. And they are destroyed. The Great White Throne will be set up, that's the last judgment of scripture and that occurs at the end of the thousand years.

So that thousand-year phase of the kingdom is to demonstrate God's final dealing with sin, to demonstrate once for all the problem with humanity and the problem humanity has is not external, it is internal. It's the condition of the heart. That's why the Old Testament people were instructed to circumcise their hearts. That's why it takes the regenerating work of the Spirit of God, that's why Christ came to suffer and die, so that we can be made new on the inside.

Come back to the Old Testament. I want to read through several passages, and I've limited it to familiar passages because we've never had time to look at many passages. I've limited it to one book, Isaiah. These are main passages that I often use, and you can follow cross references in your Bible to look at other parallel references, expansive references, and you can get an idea that we would never have time to look at all the references in one or two sermons. Isaiah 2, the word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. The kingdom centers in Israel. I don't know how many times God would have to say.............. It's Judah and Jerusalem. It will come about in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains and will be raised above the hills. In other words the reign of God will be established. The mountain in prophecy represents a kingdom. Remember Daniel 2? A stone that was cut without hands smashes the nations of the earth and grows into a large mountain. It is the kingdom over all kingdoms.

All the nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, we're going to Jerusalem, Mt. Zion, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us concerning His ways, that we may walk in His paths. The law will go forth from Zion, the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations, will render decisions for many peoples. They will hammer their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not lift up sword against nation, never again will they learn war. You know, you better not do that today. Confused people have peace movements, and some of them with an unreligious background try to quote Isaiah, and we should be hammering our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks. Do away with the weapons of war, let's not have nation lift up ........... Folks, you do that today, you're doomed to annihilation. Not the way the nations of the world function today. When Jesus Christ sits enthroned in Jerusalem, no nation will need weapons of war. There won't be any battles, there won't be any wars, there won't be any casualties of war, consequences of war. There will be no war, they won't need weapons. You'll note, Jerusalem is the capital. People will come to Jerusalem to hear from the King. That's the center of the world.

Turn over to Isaiah 9. Remember in the Old Testament they saw the first coming and the Second Coming of Christ together? Well Isaiah 9 is a good example of that because the first two verses Christ quoted referring to His ministry while He was on earth and the light He brought. Then He moves to talk about events that are associated with the establishing of the kingdom at the Second Coming. It's like we might talk about something as we've said in previous examples, that are going to happen, but we may not fill in all the details. Old Testament prophets didn't realize there were going to be at least 2000 years, at least so far, between His first coming in Galilee and the people will see a great light, verse 2, and the establishing of His kingdom. Verse 3, you shall multiply the nations, you shall increase their gladness. They will be glad in your presence with the gladness of harvest. Verse 4, you will break the yoke of their burden. Down to verse 6, a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government. You realize at His first coming Jesus said, I did not come to bring peace but a sword, I came to divide families—parents against children, children against parents. Some of you have experienced that as you've turned to Christ and found the division in your family. There will come a time when He will rule as Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, note this, on the throne of David and over His kingdom.

You ought to be offended when somebody says, Christ is on the throne of David today. He is not. Look around. I mean, go walk down the streets of Lebanon. What do you think will happen? Go to Baghdad, go to parts of the world. Have they done away with war? Well that was a spiritual idea that exists in the heart. That's no help, and no Jew thought of it that way, and don't spiritualize the throne of David. His kingdom, to establish it, to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. Isn't that exactly what God promised to David in II Samuel 7? The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

Turn over to Isaiah 11. Again you have the first coming of Christ and the Second Coming brought together. Then you see who He is. Verse 1, a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, a branch from his roots will bear fruit. You have to be in the Davidic line to fulfill the promises. The Spirit will be upon Him, He will judge the hearts of men. He won't judge by what His eyes see. Remember that when we get to Isaiah 65 in a moment. In light of the fear of the Lord He will not judge by what His eyes see nor make a decision by what His ears hear. He will judge with righteousness, He's going to judge in the heart. That will become important when we talk about His reign on earth and why there will be no overt acts of rebellion. Righteousness will be the belt about His loins, faithfulness the belt about His waist.

The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion, the fatling together. A little boy will lead them, also the cow and the bear will graze. The young will lie down together, the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra. I was watching a program this weekend on poisonous snakes in India and how many thousands of people die from snake bites. Well you don't want to put a little nursing child out there on the hole of cobra yet. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. No where in my kingdom is anybody going to be hurting or destroying anyone else.

For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Remarkable. We're not in the kingdom, folks. When we are in the kingdom, the curse will be lifted from the creation, Christ will be ruling on the earth. Righteousness will characterize the world.

Isaiah 35. I'm sure thankful we're not in the kingdom, this would really be a letdown. The wilderness and the desert will be glad, the Arabah will rejoice and blossom like the crocus. King James has like the rose, we're familiar with the statement the desert is going to blossom like the rose. The particular plant would more accurately be called the crocus here. The desert regions are going to blossom, become beautiful, filled with flowers and so on. It will blossom profusely, wilderness and desert. 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. That's not happening today.

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. That's going to happen at His Second Coming to earth, when He intervenes to rescue Israel and destroy their enemies. 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, the tongue of the mute shall shout for joy. Waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah. You'll note this is what happens. People think we're in the kingdom now and some of them say well it's already, not yet. The kingdom has already begun, but it's not yet here in its complete fulness. I read you and excerpt from a book last week and what that man is saying, since we are already in the kingdom, then we ought to be healing the eyes of the blind, we ought to be healing the ears of the deaf. We ought to be doing all these miraculous works. So you see people say it doesn't matter about the future. It does matter if you don't understand the kingdom, because if you think we're in the kingdom today, then we ought to be doing the things that are going to characterize the kingdom. And everything becomes confusing. And it's very simple, this happens when the King reigns. The desert blossoms like the rose, they will see the glory of the Lord and the majesty of our God. That's not happening yet, but when He is enthroned in Jerusalem on His throne of glory, the whole world will behold His glory. And on it goes.

One more passage in Isaiah, Isaiah 65. Some of the descriptions of the kingdom He will establish go beyond the thousand year millennium, because remember this is an eternal kingdom. Verse 17 starts out, behold I create a new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered or come to mind. That's how Revelation 21 is going to start out for us. That's characteristic of the eternal kingdom, but certain things are going to happen in that thousand-year period. I create Jerusalem for rejoicing, her people for gladness, verse 18. You think we're in the kingdom? Not the characteristic of Jerusalem today.

I will also rejoice in Jerusalem, be glad of my people. There will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping, the sound of crying. Now note this, the kingdom is going to be established here with Jerusalem as its capital. No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, an old man who does not live out his days. The youth will die at the age of 100, the one who does not reach the age of 100 will be accursed. You'll note here, remember, they will not hurt or destroy in all my kingdom, in all my holy mountain. Why not? People have a sin nature. What restrains them? I have reason to drive on 84th Street every day. You know what? You can tell the days there is a speed trap out there, nobody goes over the speed limit. I'm wondering, why am I passing everybody? Oops, I better put on the brakes. Why? Even sinners with a defiled heart can be restrained by the fear of punishment, right? If you read the paper and see there is no speed trap on 84th, then maybe you think going 50 is okay on 84th. But if you read the paper and see a speed trap is going to be set up on 84th you think 40 MPH is plenty on 84th. Why? Because your heart is restrained and those law breaking principles are restrained by fear.

You know what will restrain people in the millennium? Fear. Remember He'll judge a righteous judgment. He's going to be evaluating the heart. So you have someone in the millennium who determines they're going to kill their neighbor, the sovereign King in Jerusalem will kill them before they can do that. They won't hurt or destroy in all His holy mountain. You know what? The people in the kingdom are going to say, so-and-so died, they're cursed, they were vile unbelievers who intended to violate the rule of the King. Everybody will know it, they'll be known to be accursed. So anybody dies at 100, they die just like a kid. The indication of scripture is there will be no death in the millennium, except for the judgment of God. That's why you have this whole host of people at the end of the thousand years ready to follow satan, because their hearts have not been changed, because they have not been willing to bow in faith, trusting Christ to be their Savior and cleanse them from their sinful heart. And they're afraid to express their rebellion for fear of being punished. But when satan appears now as an alternative king, they are ready to follow him. You say, I can't people would do that after living in a perfect world. Well, look around you, how many people you talk to are ready to bow in sovereign obedient faith to Jesus Christ today? Why would they want to go to hell? Why will you perish? Turn from your sin and place your faith in Christ. And they don't. It makes no sense, the Son of God suffered and died on the cross that you might be forgiven and given life and you won't do it. You must be an idiot. There is no rational explanation. So don't be amazed that people will be born in the millennium, live under a perfect King, but they chafe because righteousness is not their desire, holiness is not their desire, obedience to Christ is not their desire. But they are restrained by His rule, because no overt rebellion will be tolerated and He will judge righteously before they can express that, so that anyone who dies in the millennium will be known to be accursed. They died under the judgment of the righteous King.

But now satan is here and I can follow the one that I would rather have. So after that perfect environment, what happens? They rebel against Christ. Why do we have a thousand year stage at the beginning of the eternal kingdom? To demonstrate the problem is not the environment, the problem is not how you were raised, the problem is not the social conditions, the problem is not (fill in the blank). The problem is inside here. Sometimes we as believers get confused and think, well if they had had a better environment, if they had had a better childhood, if they had had .............. Not saying these thing aren't advantages, aren't blessings, but they are not the problem. Because you can take a sinful person with a sinful human heart, put him in a perfect world with a perfect King and give him the choice. He'd rather have the devil as his leader than Christ. He would take the opportunity to try to dethrone Christ so that satan could reign. Remember Jesus said in John 8, you are of your father the devil, and you always want to do what he wants. You can change the externals, you don't change the human heart. We've all experienced the pain of that to one degree or another. Someone in our family has been raised to hear the gospel, be exposed to the truth and they turn away from it. I thought if they got raised by the right kind of parents or the right kind of setting, going to the right kind of church for sure they'd be saved. No. Doesn't work that way.

So we are reminded of how terrible sin is, how sinful sin is. And the only solution is the Savior who was born at Bethlehem and went to the cross. Why? There is no other solution. Even cleaning up the world and making it everything it ought to be and surrounding it and covering it like with water with the knowledge of the Lord and His righteousness and His holiness and all you have is a sinful being in a perfect environment. You need Jesus Christ. There is a song, people need the Lord, and they need the Lord, everyone of us needs the Lord. There is no other solution to our sin.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Son. Thank you that He came to this sin-cursed earth. Lord, how east it is for us to minimize sin, to think we're not so bad, people are not so bad, they are basically good. But there is none good, none righteous. At heart we are as vile, as sinful, as rebellious as we could be, and only your grace can transform us and make us new. Thank you, Lord, that we can celebrate the coming to earth of your Son, being born at Bethlehem so that as the God/Man He could be crucified at Calvary and bear our sins in His body on the tree, so that through faith in Him we might die to sin and live to righteousness. May we never forget there is no hope for the world, there is no hope for any individual in the world but Jesus Christ, the Savior, who gave His life for us. We praise you in His name, amen.