Strolling Down Millennial Lane
(topical)
1. Consider the case of the Illinois man who left the snow-filled streets of Chicago for a vacation in Florida. His wife was on a business trip and was planning to meet him there the next day. When he reached his hotel, he decided to send his wife a quick e-mail.
Unable to find the scrap of paper on which he had written her e-mail address, he did his best to ?type it in from memory. ??Unfortunately, he missed one letter, and his note was directed instead to an elderly pastor’s wife, whose husband had passed away only the day before.
When the grieving widow checked her e-mail, she took one look ?at the monitor, let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a dead faint. At the sound, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen: Dearest wife, just got checked in. Everything prepared for your arrival tomorrow.? P.S. Sure is hot down here.
2. Well, most Christians are aware of heaven and hell, but many are unfamiliar with something else in the future: the Coming Kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth.
Quick overview of End Times Events
We are here somewhere!
Adam…Noah…Abraham…
Moses…David…Jesus Any time in
the near
future
CREATION UNTIL THE END TIMES
7 year TRIBULATION
The MILLENNIUM (Kingdom Age)
ETERNAL STATE
3. The curse is “undone” in several phases:
• It’s basis: the FALL of Man
• It’s reversal provided: the atonement of CHRIST
• Phases
• Our souls: when we BELIEVE and are saved
• In our lives: as we walk by the SPIRIT and at DEATH
• Our bodies; through RESURRECTION
• Nature (except man’s nature): the MILLENNIUM
Complete removal of curse: the ETERNAL STATE (Rev. 22:3)
4. Why study this? We endure trials through perseverance, and we persevere through hope; hope is based on anticipating what is to come, and part of what is to come is the Kingdom (cf. Rom. 5:1-5, I Thes. 1:3, Titus 2:13, I John 3:3).
Of course, if you think that life will never devastate you and you will not never need to subsist on hope, than this study may not be for you. But most of us need a stash of hope, and hope is nurtured when we consider what awaits in God’s plan.
E. W. Bullinger, a scholar from another century, wrote:
“If we were asked to name the subjects which are put forward to-day with the greatest frequency and urgency, we should say, they are Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. But note the place which these occupy, and the position given to them in the Epistles, which were written specially for the instruction of the Church. Baptism is mentioned only 19 times in 7 epistles (the noun 5 and the verb 14), and it is not once name in 14 out of the 21 epistles; and as for the Lord’s Supper there are not more than three or four references to it in the whole of the New Testament. In 20 (out of 21) of the Epistles it is never once alluded to! From the prominence given to it by man, one would imagine the New Testament to be filled with it. It is not a question of one subject being important, and another not; but it is a question of proportion and relation; and certainly if the Scriptures contain twenty references to the one subject of the Lord’s Coming, to one reference concerning another, we may say that God has settled for us what He deems profitable for us, and important.”
24 out of 27 New Testament books address end time events: rapture, tribulation, Kingdom Age, judgment seat, or the coming resurrection…
Main Idea: Knowing what God will do helps us tolerate an era when God’s will is typically ignored or mocked. The Bible is loaded with information about the Kingdom to come. Let’s note a few facts about what is to come.
I. The King’s INSTALLATION (Psalm 2)
Rev. 11:15 anticipates His reign:
“Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.’"
Isaiah 9:6-7
“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness, From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
He returns at the end of the Tribulation, in the midst of the Battle of Armageddon:
Zech. 14:3-4, “Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. 5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel.”
Conclusion: Jesus came the first time as the lamb of God, but the second time as a lion to conquer and rule.
Rev. 5:5 Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."
Knowing what God will do helps us tolerate an era when God’s will is typically ignored or mocked.
II. The Nature of His ADMINISTRATION (Psalm 72)
A. He will judge the people with justice
1. Mortal people will enter the kingdom and MULTIPLY
2. Sin will be addressed, but not ELIMINATED
B. He will defend the AFFLICTTED and need
C. The World’s LEADERS will pay him homage
Knowing what God will do helps us tolerate an era when God’s will is typically ignored or mocked.
III. Changes in NATURE
A. Isaiah 2:1-4 Topographical and Spiritual Changes
This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last days ?the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; ?it will be raised above the hills, ?and all nations will stream to it.
Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, ? to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." ?The law will go out from Zion, ?the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. ?They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
B. Isaiah 11:1-12 Biological and Judicial Changes
Knowing what God will do helps us tolerate an era when God’s will is typically ignored or mocked.
IV. Special Blessings for ISRAEL
A. SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS Jeremiahs 31:31-37 passim
Right now, believers in Christ are under the New Covenant, but Jeremiah predicts that all the Israelites who enter the Kingdom will experience the New Covenant:
"The time is coming," declares the LORD," when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, ?because they broke my covenant… "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. ?
I will be their God, ?and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ’Know the LORD,’ ?because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness ? and will remember their sins no more."
This is what the LORD says, ?he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night… "Only if these decrees vanish from my sight," declares the LORD, "will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me…Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done…”
B. National and INTERNATIONAL Blessings (Psalm 47)
Knowing what God will do helps us tolerate an era when God’s will is typically ignored or mocked.
CONCLUSION
1. The world at large always has rejected voluntarily submitting to God’s will.
2. Best Jesus Christ will reign while those who reject Him will be eternal losers.
3. If you are on Christ’s side, you are on the winning side.
4. Do your priorities reflect those of our Winner Savior?
Last year, Ken Griffey, Jr. chose not to attend "The Players Choice Awards" to receive the "Player of the Decade" award. Junior beat out three time MVP winner Barry Bonds and four time Cy Young Award winner, Greg Maddux for the honor.
The award is a big deal. He joins the ranks of baseball greats Wagner, Cobb, Ruth, Foxx, Williams, Mantle, Mays, Rose, and Schmidt.
Why didn’t he go? Trey, his 5-year-old son had a baseball game that night--his first, and Junior didn’t want to miss it. (Sermoncentral, James Wilson)
5. Knowing what’s coming helps us focus on what is most important: our God, our family, and the tasks God has for us.
