The millennial reign
Key Passage: Matthew 25:34
Date: June 7, 2024
Turn your Bible, if you would, to Matthew chapter 25.
We have been on this series about end times for weeks now. Next Sunday we’ll finish it up; we’ll talk about nearing the end—the road signs of that. We’ve hit on those throughout this, but we’ll just kind of focus on that part next Sunday. This morning, we’re going to focus on a timeframe called the millennial reign. Just a moment after we pray, real quick, we’ll pull up that chart diagram, Brother Tim, to get everybody oriented on that.
Are we good with that, Brother Tim? I haven’t had to talk to you before. Are we good on that? Good deal, perfect. We’ll pull that up and kind of show you where we’re at on the timeline. Then we’ll get into this part of the millennial reign, or the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ. We’re going to do more teaching than typical, especially at the beginning, and we’ll see how time goes. We’ll try to get to more preaching towards the end, trying to seek the Lord. Both are important, and both are needed in our day and time, for sure.
But Matthew chapter 25—don’t lose me as we’re going to cover a lot of details about this millennial reign this morning. So don’t lose me in the coverage of details of it. I know it’s hard to listen to a preacher with a pink shirt, but listen anyway. I get it. I worry about that, Brother Frank, coming from another man with a pink shirt on now. I worry about that.
Matthew 25, just one verse here, verse number 34. If you are able, would you please stand just to show the Word of God respect this morning? Matthew 25 and verse number 34 of God’s wonderful Word. The Bible there says, “Then shall the King.” I like the way the Bible words that: the King. And it’s capitalized K. That King is Jesus Christ. By the way, my friend, He’s not just king of Israel. He’s not just king of maybe Egypt. He’s not just king of the United States. He’s King of the universe. The King, amen. It’s going to be His kingdom. He’s the King. That’s what it’s talking about right here. I love it. “Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
Would you pray that the Lord would not just give us information—that’s good—but more than that, transformation? Change our lives through His Word. Would you pray that as I pray the same thing? Let’s pray together. Lord, we do come. Father, sometimes, Lord, I just get caught up in details. I can get caught up with the little picture instead of the big picture. Father, help me not do that. Lord, give us details and help us to learn Your Word, but more, Father, than just head knowledge, give us heart transformation through Your Word today. Lord, would You do so, please? Thank You for a wonderful, wonderful book. Would You open it up to us this morning? Lord, would You change our hearts to please You? Lord, if there is one here not saved, they won’t be in this kingdom. I pray that they would get saved this morning, Lord, so to be in this kingdom also. Father, thank You for what You do. Lord, just give me a little ease, if You would. Would You work as only You can? And we’ll praise You for what You do. It’s in Jesus’ name we ask, Father. So we’re asking You in faith. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
Brother Tim, if we could get that diagram up here real quick. Brother Tim, the chart diagram. That’s a chart of Revelation. We’re living right along here, right before the rapture. We don’t know the day or the hour, but that’s what we’re living in historically. And there we go. We’re right there. It’s going to be the rapture. Jesus Christ, He comes back for His own. If you are a born-again Christian, one day—we don’t know when—there’s going to be a trumpet sound. I think you’re going to literally hear a trumpet. God’s people hear that trumpet, and poof, you’re gone. You’re out of here. Can you imagine cars where the drivers are born-again Christians? No driver there. In planes and all that. Hopefully, if it were to be this morning, most of us would be raptured out of here, would be gone.
We’ll be with the Lord up here in heaven for seven years. At the beginning is what is called the Judgment Seat of Christ—the Bema Seat—is where you’ll get rewards for how you lived for the Lord Jesus Christ. Then that seven years is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It’ll be a wonderful, wonderful time. It’ll be like a feast. We’ll eat all the steak we want to eat. We’ll have pepperoni pizza. We’ll have ham and pineapple pizza. Let’s see. We’ll drink Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew, sweet tea too, amen. We’ll have black-eyed peas when you want them, fried okra anytime you want it. It’s going to be a wonderful time, praise the Lord, no calories, no heartburn at nighttime. There’ll be no nighttime, amen. That’s going to be a wonderful time. We’ll be with our groom, Jesus Christ, if you will. That’s going to be somewhat like a honeymoon; we’ll be with Jesus during that time.
Down here, it’ll be an awful time. It’ll be what’s called the seven-year Tribulation period. We’ve discussed some of this on Sunday mornings. Daniel’s 70th week. Time of Jacob’s trouble. It’s going to be an awful, awful time. The Antichrist will be the one-world leader. We talked about that last week, how we’re getting closer to that. It’s just been an awful time. It’ll be a bloody time. About half of the population—can you imagine four billion people being killed in some form or fashion? I think there’ll be so many people dead that they won’t have cemeteries. The funeral homes can’t handle it. There’ll be dead bodies all over. I think the buzzards will be fat during that time. It’ll be a time of war and no peace, people killing each other. Father turned against sons, son against the father, and on and on. It’ll just be an awful, awful time. It’ll be a time when God literally pours His wrath out. After all these years, all this injustice, God says, “All right, I’m fed up,” and He pours His wrath out on this earth. It’ll be a sad time.
At the end of this, the end of the Tribulation period, into the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, Jesus Christ comes back in His glory. He’s going to be riding a white horse. By the way, if you’re saved, you’ll be coming back with Him on a white horse. At the beginning, He comes back for His own. He comes back here with His own. That is what’s called the Battle of Armageddon. It’ll be an amazing time. We won’t do any fighting. Our Groom, the Husband, we’re His bride; He’ll do all the fighting. He’ll take care of the Antichrist, the False Prophet, just by the brightness of His coming. The Antichrist can’t take it. The sharp two-edged sword comes out of His mouth; it just annihilates them. It’ll be an awesome war or battle, the Battle of Armageddon. It’ll happen a little bit outside the main source, a little bit outside of Jerusalem, in a valley. The Bible talks about the blood coming up to the bit of the horse’s mouth. It’ll be awful. It’ll just be a terrible time. The Bible calls it like a winepress—they put grapes in there, and then they just step on it and press out the blood of the grape, the wine. That’s why He describes this battle. It’ll be an awesome time.
Now, I’m going quick, so hang with me. At the end of that, Jesus Christ comes in His glory. That is truly the Second Coming of Christ. See, because this time He really doesn’t set His feet on the ground; He just comes in the air. We’ll meet the Lord in the air—remember 1 Thessalonians 4. This time is a true Second Coming of Christ. He comes all the way down to actually where He preached the sermon over Matthew 25, the Olivet Discourse, we call it sometimes. He preached on the Mount of Olives there. He actually comes back to that place at the Battle of Armageddon. He comes back and puts His feet on the Mount of Olives. This old earth recognizes its true Creator and King, and it starts shaking and trembling. Actually, when He puts His feet on the Mount of Olives, there’s a great earthquake, by the way. They say there’s already a fault line over there going through the Mediterranean Sea. This whole earth is getting ready for it to happen. Jesus comes all the way down, puts His feet on the earth, and when He does, there’s a great earthquake. He ends up there, but then He walks over, I believe, over to Jerusalem, to the headquarters of the world. Jerusalem, the capital, not just of Israel, but of the world. He walks over, He’s put His feet down, He’s won the total victory in the battle, and He walks over to the Throne of David in Jerusalem, sits down, and says, “Hey, basically, I’m the King,” and He is. It’s going to be a wonderful time, King Jesus.
Now, that is where we’re picking up what we just read: King Jesus, after the Battle of Armageddon, is setting up His kingdom here on earth. He’s saying, “This is what it should have been like all those years ago, but it has not been. So now I’m going to show you how to have an earthly kingdom, and I’m going to be the second Adam this time. I’m going to rule and reign. I’m going to be the King this time.” And He begins or He starts the millennial reign.
Go back, if you will, there. You’re in Matthew 25, and look at verse number 31. When He sits on His throne, He does what is called the Judgment of the Nations. Because remember, it’s going to be a kingdom on the earth, and the earth has nations. So He judges the nations at the beginning here. If you want more details about that, we preached on that on 9-18 of 2022. You can go on our YouTube channel, check it out on a Sunday night. We’ve preached on that in the Judgment of the Nations, giving more details. But let’s just briefly look at it. Look in verse number 31: “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory.” By the way, the first time, the rapture, boom, twinkling of an eye. The second time, it’s going to be slow and deliberate. Every eye will behold Him; every knee will bow. I think it may take 24 hours because every eye around the whole globe will see Him, and they’ll tremble before Him. He’s coming slow, powerful, and deliberate in His glory at that moment. It’s going to be awesome for Him. We get to see it happen; we’re with Jesus. That’s what He’s talking about. “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. And before Him shall be gathered all nations” (Judgment of the Nations). “And He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left hand.”
Let me just say a word or two about this here. We’re trying to go quick on time, but there’s been somewhat of a seeming contradiction. Some will say, “Well, the Judgment of the Nations is at this time. God will judge them according to how they treated Israel.” We discussed that. If you don’t go back and look at 9-18, you can check all that out. But then He uses words over here: sheep and goats, the wicked and the righteous. Some are going to everlasting punishment, some to eternal life—the saved and the lost. You say, “Wait a second, is it according to how they treat the Jewish people in the Tribulation period, or is it according to if they’re saved or lost?” Well, really, it’s one and the same because, remember, we’re raptured out of here. So during the Tribulation period, you remember God uses those 144,000 Jewish witnesses. Remember that? Revelation 7. It’s not 144,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses, by the way. It’s very clear in the Bible: it’s 12,000 of each tribe. You don’t know how in the world they get that out of that, and I’ve told them that. You know, we’ve discussed before with them. But so you see, if you get the gospel from a Jewish person, you get saved from what they just told you, there’s a real, real good chance you’re going to be good to them. While the world is trying to kill them, you’re a real good chance you’re going to want to be trying to hide them or help them because they just gave you the gospel; you just got saved by them. So you understand, there’s no contradiction in the Bible. You understand how it fits together. Are y’all still with me this morning? Trying to get it all in there, kind of describing this millennial reign as it truly is. By the way, He said, “Well, it’s the separation of the nations.” Yeah, but it describes it as the separation of the sheep and goats. Actually, you can raise sheep and goats together, and they can get all bunched up, and so the shepherd, he would come through, and he would say, “Hey, hey, you’re a sheep over there, and you’re a goat over there,” by the individuals. Maybe two herds coming together, but He separates the sheep from the goats—the saved and the lost, wicked and the righteous, everlasting damnation, eternal life. You understand what’s going on. That’s what the King does at the beginning of His kingdom here on earth.
Now let’s go back to verse number 34. Verse number 34, if you would please. Verse number 34. He’s just got this judgment: separate the sheep from the goats. “Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Remember, He’s setting up His kingdom reign. “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
Now, every word of the Bible is important. Notice: “from the foundation of the world.” What was it like at the beginning or the foundation? We’re going back to Adam and Eve in the beginning of creation. Was there a curse on the earth at that time? No. We go back. He said, “The kingdom, like the kingdom that was prepared for you.” Satan and Adam and Eve, they messed it all up; the curse came. But we’re going to go back to that kingdom that was prepared for you; we’re going to go back to this Garden of Eden-type living where there’s no curse on the earth. I want you to see what the kingdom—what I wanted it or should have been like if Adam and Eve didn’t sin and Satan hadn’t offered to him and all that. We go back to a world like that in the beginning.
Keep your finger there, if you would please. Look over in Isaiah chapter 11. If there was one chapter in the Bible that talks more about the millennial reign than any chapter, I would say it’s Isaiah 11. We won’t look at all of it, but we’ll look up a couple of things over there in Isaiah 11. What is the kingdom or the millennial reign, the thousand-year reign, going to be like? First of all, there’s no curse on the earth. You say, “Tell me a little bit what does that mean?” Look in Isaiah 11. Would you look in verse number six? Isaiah 11 and verse number six of God’s Word. The Bible there says, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb.” Now help me out. In our day and time, can you put a wolf and a lamb together? If we had a sheep, a lamb, it would grow up to be sheep for a while. I tell you what, we had to watch some of the dogs in the neighborhood not take care of our sheep, you know. But you’re putting a wolf in with a baby lamb, sheep together—they don’t go together. But during the millennial reign, it does go together. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid.” We were visiting our grandkids and son and daughter-in-law a couple weeks ago, and we took our grandson to a safari. They had cheetahs and leopards and lions and tigers. It was awesome. We got to see a lot; the Lord was good to us that day. We could ride by, and these fences, they had these cheetahs. They had baby cheetahs and baby tigers. This was awesome. One of the cheetahs—it wasn’t a leopard, I don’t think; I think this was the cheetah cage—they had just fed them a day or two before, I don’t know. But workers were going in this fenced area, and they literally were dragging out a huge carcass. I say carcass because all that was left was bones. I say huge; I don’t know. I tend to think it was a cow. Don’t look so mean; you had hamburger last night. Because the rib cages were huge. You could see—I mean, it was just bones—and they were dragging out this rib cage and this spine with it. There was a little bit of meat left here and there. Whatever it was, it was a massive animal that they had let, probably dead before they put it in there, let these leopard/cheetahs eat. It’s amazing, man. All the cages were out, all the animals doing, “Hey, man, they’re taking our food out of there! What are you doing with that?” But the Bible here is talking about leopards and the kid, or baby sheep, just laying down together. Wow. I can’t imagine one of those animals we saw in our day and time and putting a baby sheep in there; it would be devoured.
But during this time, it’s not like that. Verse number six: “The wolf shall also dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together. And watch this: And a little child shall lead them.” Can you imagine a little child saying, “Come on, leopard. Come on, it’s time to go. Come on, lion.” A little child? When we were on the safari, there’s a certain section where you can feed them, you know, and you buy that feed. Grandparents will do anything for grandkids, so we bought the food. Our grandson, Ryan, who is almost three, was holding that food out, and those animals came from all over. There was an ostrich there. They know the game; they’re there to get that food. Ryan’s holding that food out there, and that ostrich, with that beak, man, he’s just going forth. And sure enough, he caught Ryan’s finger there; it made it bleed a little bit. You thought he was half dead! No! He just screamed. Of course, me and Tammy and Sarah, our hearts melted, you know. But he did bleed a little bit. Okay, now, he didn’t have a pink shirt on. But during the millennial reign, a little three-year-old boy or girl can lead these animals. The curse is lifted from there. Let’s get the next verse in there: “And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.” Way back in the Garden of Eden, they didn’t actually eat meat at that time. Eating meat did not happen until right after the flood, and God sanctioned it, and there’s nothing wrong with it. But at the beginning, it didn’t happen. So remember, He said, “The kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” So we go back to this kingdom where there are not animals eating each other. In other places, the Bible talks about how a little child can come along, maybe there’s a little den of rattlesnakes in there, and that child can put his hand on that hole, and they don’t bite him. The curse is lifted. We don’t have to worry about the weeds coming in, taking your garden over and plowing it all up. The curse is lifted. It is a different world; it is like the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. It’s going to be a wonderful, wonderful time. The curse is lifted from the earth.
Let me read for you while you’re there in Isaiah. Look over in Isaiah 65. There’s an interesting verse. It is also talking about the millennial reign, the kingdom that Jesus sets up here on the earth for a thousand years. Look at verse number 20. Isaiah 65, look at verse number 20 right there. I know this might sound like a movie, but it’s really going to happen one day, amen. This isn’t Hollywood; this is God. It’s His Word; it’s going to happen. Isaiah 65, look at verse number 20: “There shall be no more thence an infant of days.” Let’s just time out for it. What does it mean by that? Somebody can be 40 years old during this time and still be considered an infant during the millennial reign because people live so long. Really, this verse is centering on the length of life. Remember before the flood? How old was Methuselah when he died? 900. We’ll go back to living like that, remember, like the foundation prepared for you—the foundation. It’ll be a long life. That’s what this verse is talking about. “There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days.” In other words, he’s old, he’s decrepit, he’s 53, he’s an old man, you know, he’s getting, you know what I’m saying? We age pretty quickly nowadays. How many of you understand you have a little bit of arthritis somewhere in your body? Raise your hand. Somebody you aren’t that old. That’s what he’s talking about. Now, if that doesn’t happen, that doesn’t happen in the millennium reign. If you’re old, you’re going to be old, old, old during that time. That’s what we’re talking about. “There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: For the child shall die a hundred years old.” Wow. Somebody’s 100 years old and they’re still considered a child. The closest one I know, Brother Raymer slipped in back there, Brother Amos Raymer; he’s 98 back there. Brother Raymer, there he is back there. Look at the World War II vet guy; he’s 98. His goal is to live to 100 years old. When he does that, we’re going to have a big party here at our church for him, amen. He’s shooting for it, and he’s doing better than anybody else, 98. But during the millennium reign, someone that’s 100 years old is still a child. Wow. The curse is lifted from the earth. “For the child shall die a hundred years old, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.” There’ll be laws, and there’ll be action taken, if you will. It doesn’t matter if you’re 100 or however. That’s the millennium reign.
Number one, the millennial reign: the curse will be lifted from the earth. The kingdom will be like the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, back over to Adam and Eve. They’ll go back to that. Look over in Revelation 20, and let’s find out something else about this millennial reign. Revelation chapter 20. This is a wonderful thing about the millennium, the kingdom that God sets up. Jesus sets up, and He is actually the President, the King of the earth. I want you to see this, Revelation 20. When you’re looking at verse number one, Revelation 20, verse number one, if you’re there, would you say amen? Good deal. Verse number one, Revelation 20. The Bible says, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” The millennial reign, the thousand-year reign of Christ. “Bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed for a little season.” Number two: we said the curse is lifted from the earth. During this kingdom reign of Jesus Christ here on earth, Satan will not be around. He will not be here to tempt mankind; he’ll not be here to mess with everybody. Satan and his demons, those following him, they’re behind all the evil. Yes, man, that’s the choice of the matter, but they’re behind all the evil, all the hurt, all the pain, all the sin. They’re tempting, just like in the very beginning; they’re tempting mankind like it’s always been. But that will not be going on during the millennial reign. Satan will be bound. I think of years ago, I think he was a 27-year-old young man; he committed suicide, very sad. He took a gun and literally—and I’m not trying to be mean, but I do want you to kind of grasp it—he literally blew his head off. I preached a funeral; it was very sad. I walked with the mom up to the casket, and they opened the casket before the funeral, and really nothing was there. They had a rag kind of covering this part because it was gone. Here’s the thing: when I went in the bedroom where he lived, there were satanic symbols all over. My son was about 10 or so, and I preached at the funeral, I think, a Sunday afternoon up in Nashville, and John said, “Dad, that’s the darkest place I’ve ever been in,” because the vast majority was just gothic all over, satanic symbols all over. I’m talking about they put pretty pictures up by the casket and whatnot typically; there were satanic symbols all over the place, satanic music. There was a lady there that just looked identically what you or I typically would think of what satanic stuff looks like, all over the place. I say that to say Satan was very much behind that young man blowing his head off. He was antagonizing; he was pushing it; he was pumping it in his heart through the music, through all the rituals he had been through. He was pumping it in there. Satan loves all that. He’s here to steal, kill, and destroy; that’s what Satan does. But he won’t be here during that time. Jesus says, “In my kingdom, no, we’ll lock him up. We’ll put him in prison in the bottomless pit where he ought to be.” By the way, the first Adam was given dominion of this world; he messed it up—Adam and Eve and us also. But the second Adam, Jesus Christ, He doesn’t mess it up. He says, “I’m taking care of the smutty face.” Satan’s not around during this kingdom reign of Christ. He’s not there to tempt mankind and push mankind. It’s amazing when Satan… We’ve watched it over the years. We’ve never, ever succumbed to it, right, Miss Tammy? She’s like, “I don’t know what you’re going to say.” Big days are coming, and we’re trying to see God do something in our church. I guarantee you, the devil’s going to try to get my wife and me fighting. The devil doesn’t… Don’t look at me like that; it never happens to you. Remember, Jesus was about to do the greatest act ever happened to mankind, go to the cross, and Satan used Peter. Peter rebuked Jesus. Remember that? I think Brother Patrick covered that and preached a little forward. Peter rebuked Jesus, and what did Jesus do? Jesus said, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” He knew who was behind it. Satan’s always trying to get God’s people fighting with one another—marriages, churches. By the way, we’re about to have a building program. That’s an exciting time; it’s a little bit of a scary time because the devil—you talk to any pastor—it’s past a very long of his ball. You’re going into a building program; the devil’s going to fight your church, and he will. Now, he’s a loser, but he’s going to fight, and he’ll try to get us fighting one another, what he always tries to do. But I’m saying that to say during this kingdom reign, all this spiritual warfare battle, it will not be going on because Satan would be put in the bottomless pit. He’ll be locked up; he’d be done away with. It’d be a wonderful time.
Something else about this. Look over, back over in Isaiah, back over in Isaiah, just some verses about the millennial reign. Look in Isaiah chapter 2. We said the curse will be lifted from the earth—the lamb and the lion will be laying down together. God dies, or something happens at 100 years old, and you say, “Man, he’s just a child.” We’ll go back to the long life, 916, 900 years and all that. Somebody might beat Methuselah during that time, the thousand-year reign, you never know. All that will be going on in the millennium reign. Look at this, Isaiah 2. Would you look in verse number four there? Isaiah 2 and verse number 4: “And He,” as Jesus, “shall judge among the nations.” Remember, He’s the King of the earth, “and shall rebuke many people.” I want you to notice that very… we’ll get to the rest of this here just a second—but I want you to notice it: “many people.” Jesus will not be a king that’s just kind of like the form of a king and never does anything. He’ll be an active judge. See, wait a second, I thought the devil’s gone. Yeah, the devil is gone. But you realize those people that come in and live through the Tribulation, by the way—they live through that, they got saved, they make it through—some do happen; that does happen. What does the Bible say? “They endure to the end; they shall be saved.” They come in the Tribulation period. They won’t have their glorified body like you and I will. So they’ll still have children. And by the way, they don’t have their glorified body. So though they’re saved, they got saved during the Tribulation period, they never heard the gospel; they get saved during the Tribulation period. They still have their flesh. If you’re a born-again Christian, you still battle doing wrong in your heart; you still got that Adamic nature, sinful nature. So they’ll still be battling that during the millennium reign. They won’t have the devil bringing it out, but it’ll still be in their heart. Not only that, but the babies that are born during the millennium reign, they’ll have a choice whether to be saved or not. I doubt all of them get saved because of the end of the millennium reign; there’s actually still another rebellion against God. So you understand, there still will be—it’ll be a time of righteousness and justice and truth and faithfulness—but Jesus will be a judge. He’s not just a form figure who won’t do anything. No, no, no. He’ll rule this earth like it should be. All this injustice that goes on in our time, it won’t be going on during that time, but Jesus will see to it. I think men will keep it very hidden in their heart, but it’ll be in there. Every once in a while, it’ll come out. Boy, Jesus will nip it in the bud. That’s what it’s talking about right there. “And shall rebuke many people.” Yeah. But watch what it says there: “And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Jesus will keep it all nipped in the bud, and there’ll never be any more war. There won’t be militaries. Praise the Lord for our veterans, and we’re so thankful for you. But it won’t be needed then. There’ll be no army and Air Force, Navy and Marines. There won’t be any tanks. There won’t be any rockets. There won’t be any missiles. We won’t need all that. They will not learn war anymore. There will be no more wars. Jesus rules the nations of the world. If they need to be taken care of, boom, it’ll be done. He’ll be Johnny-on-the-spot, if you will. He’s the judge of the universe; He’ll take care of things. And there’ll be no more war. Can you imagine if you’re in Ukraine and you just saw the tanks running down the street? Or maybe you lived in an apartment complex and it was wiped out by a missile and you’re homeless. Can you imagine when they read Isaiah 2:4 and they say, “Wow, praise the Lord, there’ll be no more war. We won’t have to defend ourselves. We won’t have to gather up any kind of money and help in the world.” I mean, there’ll be no more war. Won’t need all that during the millennium reign. No more. Jesus is ruling and reigning. The devil’s taken out of the picture. There’ll be no more war during the millennium reign.
Let me give a couple of purposes. Why does God in His timeline have this millennium reign? This isn’t complete because many things in the Bible are not completed yet. Remember the Abrahamic Covenant? Remember Genesis 15 over there? God gave Abraham these sevenfold promises. One of those was that Israel would possess this large swath of land over in the Middle East. You realize Israel has never possessed all that? Even under Solomon or David, they didn’t come close to possessing all that, but they will during the millennium reign, amen. Everything God promised will be fulfilled, and Israel will possess that. The Abrahamic Covenant will be fully, completely fulfilled. Number two, so many things, but the Davidic Covenant: David, King David, where God says your heir, your grandson, will sit on your throne and rule the world—rule Israel specifically to the Davidic Covenant. Jesus will do that during the millennium reign. That covenant that God made, it will happen. You want to write down some verses? Number one, Abrahamic Covenant: Genesis 15:18. Number two, the Davidic Covenant: many places, but Ezekiel 36:28 is very, very clear on that. Number three, the nations of the world will be at peace with Jesus being the ruler of the world. That hasn’t happened yet (Daniel 7:13 and 14), but that will happen during the millennium reign. Jesus literally will be the King, the President of the earth. It will be fulfilled. All these things will be fulfilled. Number four, God’s promise to creation over Romans 8, verses 18 through 22. It talks about how creation groaneth. We talk about how bad the ozone is and how bad nature’s getting. There’s some truth to that, though it’s greatly exaggerated many times. God said, “Hey, this creation groans because of the curse, and God says, ‘One day creation, I’m going to lift that curse. You’re going to go back to the creation of what it was like during the Garden of Eden.’” That will be fulfilled during the millennium reign. So many of the promises that God made will be fulfilled during the millennium reign. Jesus will be the King of the earth. We already mentioned the Davidic Covenant: He’ll be the King of Israel. He’ll be the King of the earth. Remember when Gabriel came to Mary? He said, hey, Mary—remember when Gabriel came to Mary? It’s Luke 1:31 through 33. “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. And he shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” That’s fulfilled during the millennium reign. Remember Isaiah 9:6? “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder.” Well, that’s not been fulfilled yet. It will be during the millennium reign. So many things God will be putting together; He’ll be culminating; He’ll be making things happen during the millennium reign.
Let’s get one more truth in here about the millennium reign. Look over in Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5. Thank you for being so good, paying attention, listening. There’s a lot of teaching details here. Hang with me for just about an hour longer; we’ll be out of here. Some of you laugh, and some of you aren’t. Revelation chapter 5, look at verse number 10. Revelation 5, verse number 10: “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” That’s interesting—kings rule kingdoms, kings and priests will go to God for the people, and we shall reign on the earth. Remember when the Bible says the meek shall inherit the earth? That will be fulfilled during the millennium reign. Look in chapter 20, Revelation 20. Several verses about it, but we’re just going to go to one: verse number 6. Revelation 20 and verse number 6. You there? Amen. Good deal. Verse number six: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.” That’s to say, born-again people. On such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."
You say, “Preacher, what’s happening here?” You see, when we come back with Christ here, we’ve got our glorified body. When we see Him, we shall be like Him over here; we’ve got a brand new body (1 Corinthians 15). We’ve come back with Him; we’ve got a glorified body. He sets this kingdom here on earth for a thousand years, and you and I, if you’re a born-again Christian, if you have your glorified body, will actually rule and reign here on earth. We’ll be a little bit different than those who don’t have their glorified body, but we’ll rule and reign. We’ll be kings and priests. You may have your kingdom somewhere where God wants you to, and you’ll rule and reign underneath the King. Now, that’s very, very important: that you’ll be ruling and reigning with Christ. To me, the key of it all is with Christ. You get to go and see the King, say, “What do You want me to do over here in this kingdom?” You’re the King, and He’ll tell you. You get to be with Him. You get to rule and reign with Him. You’ll be able to work together with Him. I say this often, but you think you know somebody until you start working with them; then you really find them out. We’ll get to work with Jesus during that time. We’ll rule and reign with Him. We’ll have our glorified body. We’ll get to help the King. Remember as a little fellow when my dad and I lived in Chattanooga, my dad had to take some carpet over to North Carolina, I think it was. Me and my older brother—my younger brother wasn’t born yet—we got to go with Dad, and we sat up in the front of this big box truck. We thought we were big shots; we’re riding with Dad, little boys, you know, and we’re taking carpet, we’re driving a truck, you know. We thought we were somebody, and we’re delivering carpet. We’ll think we’re somebody when we get to work with the King. We’ll get to sit up in the front of the truck, if you will, with Jesus, and we’ll get to rule and reign in this old earth. It’d be a wonderful time that we get to work with our Daddy Jesus, our King Jesus, our Groom Jesus. It’d be a wonderful thing.
We started this morning over there in Matthew 25, verse 34, but a couple of verses before—we don’t have time to do it—but verses before that, there’s a parable, if you will. We learned in Sunday school: “Earthly Store by the Heavenly Meeting.” This man is going to a foreign kingdom, and yet he leaves resources to these people. Some man gets five talents, some two, some one. There are resources—money, if you will. Two of those men take that and use that wisely, and they gain more resources. One of them took the resources that king—when he left, that represents Jesus when He left—they don’t use it; they bury it. That man buries it in the earth. That’s very important. I want you to notice what he says. Look there in chapter 25. I think it’s around verse 22. Let’s see here. Verse 21. We’ll just look at verse number 21. Look at that. Pink shirts don’t hold up. Look at that, man. That’s pink, man. Look at that. It’s proof there, you know, it’s not right. Look at verse number 21. Matthew 25:21: These are the two guys, the five and the two talent, that used his resources, right, and he gained with that. Verse number 21: “His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Watch this: “Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee”—what’s the next word?—“ruler.” We’re going to rule and reign with Jesus. He just gave this paper right before He tells us about this millennium reign He’s bringing in. You have been faithful over the resources I’ve given you. Now I’m going to use you to rule over this earth. He’s not king; you get to be a little king underneath Him, ruling and reigning with Jesus Christ.
Here’s the key to all this. We’ve got to wind this thing down. What are you doing with the resources Jesus gave you? Every person here, every person here, every person in the universe, He has given you resources. Maybe you have some handicaps; He knows all about that. You have some good things, some bad things; you’ve had some tough situations; He knows all that stuff. But here’s what I’m asking you: Who cares about everybody else what they have? What are you doing with the resources He’s given you, amen? When it’s all said and done, that’s what’s going to matter: how you rule and reign in the millennium reign. What have you done with the resources He’s given you? If we sit and spend our time saying, “I don’t have what so-and-so has; I don’t have enough,” we are wasting the resources He’s given us, and it will not stand up when you stand before the King. It’s all about what are we doing with the resources He’s given us. By the way, the wicked and slothful servant, he buried it in the earth. Am I spending all my resources on earth and earthly things? This wicked and slothful servant, he was cast into outer darkness and in everlasting judgment. It represents—He’s given everybody two things: He’s given you life, and He’s given you faith. Romans tells us it’s given to every man, that measure of faith. Now it’s up to you where you put your faith at. You can take your faith as far as getting to heaven, and you can place that faith in what you do down here on earth—your works. You’ll never get you to heaven. You can place it in some kind of religious system or religious person or a church or all the rest of that, and that will not get you to heaven. This man took all his resources he had been given and he put it into earth. But somebody’s got to be wise enough to say, “I can never save myself. I’m going to put my faith in Jesus; He’s my Savior.” And that saves you. This man who was just too fearful, he just put all his faith in earthly things. You ever hear somebody say, “Well, I can’t believe in something I don’t see”? You’re going to bury it in the earth. You’re going to be sad, sorry for that one day. By the way, you can’t see electricity; you still trust; you turn a light switch on. Don’t bury it in the earth. If you never—and I don’t say this meanly, and I hope it’ll come across right on this—but if you’ve never put your faith in Jesus to pay for your sins and get you to heaven, please do that today. He would love to save you. He’d love to enter you into His kingdom. He wants you there. But the choice is yours. The choice is yours.
I do, just for a moment here, and we’re going to be done. I’ve got some little hymn books here, some little song books here, and we’re going to let each of these represent 100 years. That’s the millennium reign. So we’ve got 100 years, 200 years, 300 years, 400 years, 500 years, 600 years, 700 years, 800 years, 900 years, 1,000 years—that’s a millennium reign. If you’re a born-again Christian, and I hope you are, you’ll be in that thousand years. We’ve already talked about it, but there are very few people in our day and time that live to be 100. Brother Raymer is going to get it back there. We’re just going to say you live close to 100, 80 years, whatever. I’m going to let this one little booklet of time represent that. Friend, wouldn’t it be foolish for me to spend this one little booklet of time living for myself and the earth for a thousand years plus? It’s going to determine how I live. Do I get to rule and reign with Jesus or not? I’ll be honest with you. For me, it’s not about being over cities and kingdoms and all that. When you’re a pastor long enough, you don’t want to be over anything. That’s got to me. I’m being honest with you. But I want to be with Jesus. I like to sit in the truck with Jesus. I like to be beside Him. I like to go to Him and say, “Hey, Jesus, what do You want me to do over here?” “Jesus, can I do something for You today?” I want to be with my Dad and just please Him—King Jesus. What we do now will determine how we’ll spend a thousand-plus years. So, man, take your resources and use them all for Jesus. It’s not a matter how much you have; that doesn’t matter. He knows all that. It’s a matter of what you use, how you use what He’s giving you.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please?
Friend, let’s just spend our time living for Him. You say, “Preacher, God spoke to my heart. I want to spend my time living for Jesus. I don’t want to invest in the earthly things; I want to invest in the kingly things in Jesus Christ. I want to spend my lifetime down here living for Jesus.” God spoke to my heart about that this morning. If that’s you this morning, “Preacher, that’s me,” just let me know. I want to spend my lifetime just living for Jesus, spending my life using the resources He’s given me—your marriage, your family, raising your children for the Lord, all of it. I’m going to use my resources for the Lord. God bless you. God bless you. Many, many hands. God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let the Lord work in your heart. That’s wonderful. That’s wonderful. You can put your hands down.
Maybe you’re here this morning and you say, “Preacher, really, for me to be using my resources all in for the Lord, I need to make some changes. I need to make some honest changes in my life. I can’t keep doing and going, and I can’t do all that if I’m truly going to live for the Lord Jesus Christ. I need to make some changes for Him.” God spoke to my heart about that this morning. “The Lord knows my heart. By His grace and with His help, I’m going to make some changes so I can truly spend my time living for Jesus.” God spoke. I’m going to make changes for Him. Without you this morning, you say, “Preacher, I’m making changes for Him.” God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Oh, that’s good. Honest truth, all of us. I know I have to so often. Maybe there’ll be one more. Maybe there will be one more. “Preacher, I need to make some changes.” Maybe there’s one more. God has spoken to my heart. I need to make some changes. God bless you. God bless you. That’s wonderful. That’s wonderful.
Maybe you’re here this morning, and you say, “Preacher, I need to get saved. I’m not a born-again Christian. There’s never come a time in my life where I’ve taken the faith He’s given me and placed it in Jesus Christ.” It’s so easy to place it in our friends and everything else down here, but I’m saying as far as you getting into heaven, you say it won’t be what I do, my good works, and you place it all on Jesus and pray, “I need to put my faith in Jesus. I need to get saved.” I’ve had you this morning. Heads bowed and eyes closed. “Preacher, I need to get saved.” Would you lift your hand? Just lift it up. “I need to get saved. I need to trust Jesus as my Savior.” You need to get saved. Anybody like that? Anybody like that? I see one hand. Is there anybody else? Anybody else? Anybody else? I see another hand. I see another hand.
In just a moment, we’re going to stand. We’re going to have a word of prayer. As soon as I say amen, we’ll sing invitations on, and we’ll be standing at that time. If you raised your hand, would you come down and just shake—there’ll be a man standing up front here—shake his hand, or maybe grab a man beside you or a lady, the young lady, either one. Would you talk to someone? Let someone talk to you about you getting saved? We would love—and I mean that love—to be a help, man. Jesus would love to save you. Would you do that today? Would you trust Jesus as your Savior? Would you stand? We’re going to have a word of prayer. Would you come and spend some time with the Lord? Some are already here. Would you come? “Jesus, I want to live for You.” Let Him know that. By His grace, with His help, you can do that. Let’s pray. You come. Father, give us boldness to just follow the way You’re leading. Thank You for Your scripture. Thank You for Your clear leading. Would You continue, Lord, these ones who raised their hand? Father, I pray they get settled this morning, get saved, so then enter into Your kingdom. We’ll thank You, Lord, for what You do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
God spoke to your heart. Would you come? Would you come? No way from anybody else. God spoke to your heart. You want to get saved? There are some men down front here, a lady. If you’re a young lady, we’ll get a lady to help you. We’d love to be a help to you. That’s right. Don’t wait for anybody else. Would you come? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to hear Jesus say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant! Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord”? Think about that. That’s what we’re working for. Use your resources for Him. Would you do that?
Praise the Lord, it’s a couple being dealt with right now. Pray that God has worked there, some of the back and some here. Praise the Lord for that. That’s wonderful. What a time that will be, the millennium reign and His kingdom, and we get to serve King Jesus. Let’s serve Him now so that way we get to serve Him over there. Amen. Glad you’re here this morning. No choir practice this afternoon, but Adam’s out sick, so pray for him, but get a little break there. No volleyball tonight. Man, we’ve got it easy tonight. What about that? But we’ll get everything going. Praise the Lord for just a great, great weekend. So many people making it happen. Praise God, wonderful folks, and I love it. It’s just great, great people making it happen. Praise the Lord. Brother Juan Farfan, would you dismiss us in a word of prayer, please, brother.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - The Millennial Reign - Sunday AM 04232023