The Millennial Reign Of Christ Series

INTRODUCTION

Welcome back this morning as we continue our foundations for faith series we are on week 12 and studying the 14th fundamental truth of the Assemblies of God talking about the millennial reign period last week we did talk about the rapture which is our blessed hope and I think a great place to start they would be going back and reading .

Titus 2:11-14 NKJV

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men 12teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age 13looking for the BLESSED HOPE and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ 14who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

Following the rapture is the time that is most often talked of as the great tribulation but that's not today's topic. That's a topic for a different sermon.

Today's topic may be one of the most debated subjects of prophetic works in the Bible. When it comes to reading scripture we have to walk the line between literal interpretation and symbolic meaning of scriptures as well as understanding cultural Context in which the original documents were written. When it comes to understanding the truth of scripture it is important to look at many different sources within the Bible to get the best possible picture in interpreting what the Bible is teaching us. When groups stand on one scripture alone and they take it out of context that is how cults and heresy is formed. So before we get into really discussing the millennial reign I want to talk first about some of the viewpoints that don't fully line up with scripture.

BODY

During Christ’s earthly ministry many of his followers were looking forward to the time in which he would establish his Kingdom here on earth.

Acts 1:6-7 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” 7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.

The early church looked forward to Jesus’s physical returning to earth to establish the reign of the Kingdom of Israel here on earth. They believed that he would return in quote the same way he left End Quote as the angels had said to him in acts 1:11.

As time went on and believers grew cold in their walk and stopped living in the same manner as the original early church, there continued to be those in the early centuries who believed and emphasize Christ millennial reign on earth. After Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman Empire and Rome moved its capital from Rome to Constantinople this led to a political vacuum in Rome and the Bishop of Rome stepped up to take this political leadership and set himself a throne here on earth. This is the beginning of the papal rule of the holy Roman Empire. As a result , POSTMILLENNIALISM arose teaching that the millennial Kingdom was started with Christ’s resurrection and would end with the second coming and would not need a future Kingdom of God here on earth. The problem with this belief is that it left Israel without seeing the fulfillment of prophecies from the Old Testament that we'll talk about shortly.

Later a millennialism arose teaching that there would be no millennial reign on earth. This view was popular within the Protestant Reformation because they denied a future Millennium on earth they had no room for theological systems of restoration of the earthly Israel. Therefore they spiritualized the Kingdom prophecies of the Old Testament as being fulfilled through the church themselves. While there is plenty of figurative speech in the Book of Revelation such as the Antichrist being referred to as a beast but when you compare that to 2nd Thessalonians 2 it shows that he is a real person. There are also some very plain and literal statements in the Book of Revelation especially in the opening and closing chapter. The 1000 years are mentioned six times in the Book of Revelation and this kind of repetition tends to indicate a special emphasis should be taking to the millennial as a literal timeline.

WE BELIEVE in the second coming of Christ, which is our Blessed Hope, and which includes the rapture of the Church followed by the visible return of Christ with His saints to reign on the earth for one thousand years (Isaiah 11:6–9; Zechariah 14:5; Matthew 24:27, 30; Revelation 1:7; 19:11–14; 20:1–6).

One of the biggest reason why the early post millennialism cannot be biblically accurate is the existence of Satan still on the earth. Satan was not bound when Jesus died on the cross as is prophesied in revelation why don't we go ahead and read that prophecy right now. So please turn with me to revelation starting in 19