The Earthly Kingdom of Christ, Part 2

Over 250 years ago, it was Isaac Watts who wrote a song that we sang this evening. A song that he intended To write, to deal with the return of Jesus Christ as He sets up His kingdom on earth. We sing it at Christmastime: Joy. To the world, but in all reality, it's a song about the millennial reign of Christ. Joy to the world, the Lord has come, let earth receive her K. Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing. Joy to the world, the Saviour reigns. Let men their songs employ, While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground He comes to make his blessings flow, Far as the curse is found. He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness and wonders of his love. That all deals with the millennial reign of Jesus Christ our L. Mr. Watts knew that when the Messiah would come, a second time, peace.

Would rule. So, Revelation chapter 20, verse number 1. And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who was the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him. So that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed. After these things he must be released for a short time. And I saw thrones.

And they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus, and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image. And did not receive the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand. And 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 a part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him for a thousand years.

The earthly reign of Christ, it begins with the fact that the Son Himself will return. We looked at that in Revelation 19, verses 11 and following. The very first characteristic of the kingdom of God is that God must come to earth and rule to set up his kingdom.

We believe that. The Bible says in Matthew 24:2. That immediately after the tribulation of those days, the Son of Man will return. He arrives personally, he arrives visibly, he arrives powerfully, gloriously, and accompanied. By a multitude of angels. And when he comes, he annihilates all those who have rebelled against him. The sheep, goat, judgment, he sets up his kingdom and begins. His rulership. And we noted last time that when he comes, he enacts the judgment, not the angels. Up to this point, in the book of Revelation, all of his angels have carried out the judgments of God.

But when he returns in Revelation 19, there are no angels involved in orchestrating that judgment. He him does it with the word of his mouth. And all the Old Testament prophets looked toward the day in which the king would return. That's why we take a literal view of the word of God here at Christ Community Church. That first thing that happens is the son will return.

Number two, the serpent will be removed. The serpent will be removed, and this is where we left off last week. It says in verse number one of Revelation 20: And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss.

and a great chain in his hand, and laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who was the devil, and Satan bound him for a thousand years. The serpent will be removed. Now we have to understand. That Satan, according to Revelation 20, verse number 3, is clearly bound. He is clearly put in a specific place for a specific period of time. And we looked at the fact that six times in Revelation 20, the phrase a thousand years is given. A thousand years. So it's a specific time in which that takes place.

Satan is bound. It's the last thing that Christ has to do. He's already defeated all the people that have rebelled against him in the Battle of Armageddon. That's already taken care of. The false prophet and the Antichrist have already been thrown into the lake of fire. They are the first occupants of hell.

They are there now. There's only one more thing to do, and that's to rid the world of satanic influence. The way you do that is take Satan and bind him, put him in the abyss, the place called the bottomless pit, so he can no longer deceive the nations anymore. And that's what Christ does. In order for him to set up his kingdom where he rules without any battle from Satan himself. That's the last thing he must do. Now we understand that Satan is not bound. The all believed that Satan was bound at the cross.

The problem with that is the plethora of verses in Scripture after the cross, where Satan would fill Ananias and Sapphir's heart and cause them to lie. If Satan is bound, then how can he cause? Anani and Sapphire to lie by entering their heart. You also have to ask the question in 2 Corinthians:, that he is called the God of this world. He is the one that goes around blinding the eyes of the unbeliever. If Satan is bound, then how can he blind the eyes of the unbeliever? Peter says he goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Listen, a roaring lion isn't bound anywhere. He's on the prowl. He's seeking to devour people, to destroy people. There are three things I want you to see about the serpent being removed. Number one, the place of incarceration.

Number two, the period of incarceration. And number three, the prophecy of incarceration. Number one, the place of incarceration.

The Bible says, and I saw. That's a good phrase. Why? Go back to Revelation 19, verse 11. It says, and I saw heaven opened. Verse number 17, and I saw an angel standing in the sun. Verse number 1 of chapter 20, and I saw an angel coming down from heaven. Verse number 4, and I saw thrones. Over in verse number 11, and I saw a great white throne. Verse number 12, and I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. What is John doing? John is taking us from the return of Christ.

To the eternal state by showing us what he him saw. I saw this, I saw this. Then I saw this, then I saw this, then I saw this. All this happened in sequence. All this happened in chronological order. This happened first, then this happened, then this happened, then that happened.

And this is how it all came about. He's telling us what he saw. He says, I saw an angel coming down from heaven. Doesn't tell us who the angel is. Some speculate that it's Michael the archangel. Could very well be that. Doesn't tell us that. It's a good guess, but it's only a guess because the Bible doesn't say. But it is an angel, and it must be a strong angel to some degree because he's got to seize the serpent. The devil, the dragon. He's got to be able to take a chain and wrap him up and throw him in the abyss and bind him and shut it and seal it.

Pretty strong angel to be able to do that. So this angel comes down out of heaven, and what does he do? He has a key. Key signifies what? Authority. This angel has authority. He has the key of the abyss, the ab. It's literally the bottomless. He has the key to that. Now, this has been referenced many times in the book of Revelation, and I'm going to show it to you in a moment. But he Put Satan in a place where demons are bound. I want everybody to look up here just for a second.

Let me give you a brief study in one minute, in less than one minute, of angelolog. Okay? So you put your fist in the air and you got angels. Okay? And coming out of angels, you have unholy angels and holy angels. All right? Out of the unholy angel, you have loosed unholy angels and bound unholy angels. Or loosed demons and bound demons. And under the bound demons, you have demons that are bound temporarily and demons that are bound. Perm. You follow me? There's your lesson in angelology. Let me explain it to you another way.

The abyss is the place where angels Are incarcerated. We're demons, unholy angels that is, demons are bound. It's a temporary place. It is not a permanent place. It's a holding place. It's not forever. It's not the lake of fire. Why? Because once you go to the lake of fire, you can't come back again. You're there forever. Okay? After the end of the thousand years, the serpent's released so he can come and see the nations again. So he is put into the ab, the abyss, the bottomless Place. Second thing I want you to notice is the period of incarceration.

He takes him and throws him in the abyss. And it says, he has bound him for a thousand years. Why is that? So there will be no rivalry to the rule of Christ. Upon the earth. It's the first of six references to a thousand years.

And notice what it says about this serpent. It says he laid hold of the dragon, which refers to his. Beastliness, his cruelty, his oppressive powers. He's called the old serpent. This reveals that he was the same one who was in Eden. Paul would make reference to him in 2 Corinthians 11 when he said, But I am afraid lest as a serpent deceived Eve. By his craftiness, your mind should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. The old serpent. He's a master deceiver. He's called the devil.

In the Greek, it's the ab. He's a slanderer. He's the liar. He's also called Satan, the word that means accuser. We look at him in Revel 12, verse number 10, where Satan is the accuser of the brethren, and he is in heaven day and night accusing you before the thr of God.

But he is bound. He is bound for a thousand years. There is no satanic enterprise. There is no demonic theories. There is no satanic influence. Jesus Christ will set the agenda of the world. This angel takes him and he throws him into this abyss. Why does he throw him there? Because he doesn't willingly go there. That's why. He has to be picked up and thrown into the abyss. Where he waits his final sentence. He is put in there, it is shut, and it is sealed so the world can no longer be deceived by Satan.

Will there be sin in the kingdom? Yes, there will be. Why? Because there will be a sin nature in the kingdom. And until the perfect state, the eternal state. There will always be sin. The third thing I want you to see is the prophecy of incarceration.

The prophecy of incarceration. Way back in Isaiah 24, Isaiah saw this event. Isaiah 24, verse number 21 and 22. So it will happen in that day that the Lord will punish the hosts of heaven on high and the kings of the earth on earth. And they will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon and will be confined in prison. And after many days, they Will be punished. Isaiah understood. Isaiah saw what John would see in Revelation 20. So the Son will return. The serpent will be removed. And thirdly, the saints will reign.

The saints will reign. There's going to be a standard on earth, a moral standard that's going to be upheld in every area of life. Imagine truth in every inst. Imagine just always in every courtroom. Imagine reading a newspaper that's completely honest. Imagine a T V with no sitcoms, because everything will be truthful. Everything will be moral. Everything will be wholesome. The world's going to carry out God's agenda. The saints will be glorified. We'll be perfect. Guess what? We don't have to sit around and have any meetings to try to figure anything out.

Because we'll be glorified. We'll know everything. Can you imagine a society with no meetings? No meetings whatsoever. We just know what to do because we're carrying out the king's agenda. We know the agenda of the king. We just fulfill the agenda of the king. That's all we do. That's a society that will reign. Justice will be enacted swiftly. You can't make that equate with the current world. Also, you and me, we're going to reign. We're going to rule. Now, you see, the Al Mill has a problem with that.

Because you've got to ask him, where are you ruling? What throne are you on? Who's subject to you? Answer: nobody. But one day that will happen. How do we know? Bible tells us. Verse number four. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. Two things I want you to see about. The reign of the saints. Number one is the court of the king, and number two is the condition of the kingdom.

Number one, the court of the king. The text says John saw thrones. And he saw some on the thrones. It says they sat upon the thrones. Now the question comes: who are the they? In the context, it doesn't necessarily tell you who the they are. But if you're a good Bible student, you can understand who the they are. Turn back with me to Daniel chapter 7 for a moment, verse number 18. And we're going to ask the question: who did Christ promise to be on thrones? And then you can know who they are in Revelation chapter 20.

It says in Daniel 7, verse number 18: But the saints of the highest one will receive the kingdom. and possess the kingdom forever for all ages to come. Down to verse number twenty two. The ancient of days, that's God, came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the high one. And the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom. Verse number 2. Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the high one.

His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey him. So, what do you have? You have, first of all, the they, including Old Testament saints.

The Old Testament saints, saints are given in verse 18, verse number 22, verse number 27. They have dominion, they have rulership. They have authority. They have sovereign rule because God has given them the opportunity to reign and rule with Him. Let me ask you a question.

If we're in the kingdom, where are the Old Testament saints reigning? Can you tell me that? Do you know where they're raining? Do you see them raining? Answer: No. But there's going to be a kingdom, it's going to be forever, and Old Testament saints are going to be having dominion in that kingdom. So, where are they today if there is, or if this is all there is, if this is the kingdom? Answer hasn't happened yet. Simple as that. So, the they include the Old Testament saints, the they includes the apostles.

Who else does the they include? Well, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 says this, verse number 2. Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? I can't wait, man. We're going to judge the world. The Bible says, and if the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts?

Do you not know that we shall judge? What? Angels. Can you imagine that? Not only are you and I going to judge the world, but we're going to judge the angels. That's amazing. Somehow there's this rulership. Somehow there's this dominion. There's this authority given to the Old Testament saints, given to the 12 apostles, and given to the church of Jesus Christ. The opportunity to judge the world and to judge angels. Second Timothy 2:12 says that if we endure, we will reign with him.

One of the marks of perseverance of the believers is that they will endure through times of difficulty. And Christ says through the pen of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 2.

12, if you endure to the end, you will reign with him in the end. Peter said in 1 Peter 2:9, we are a royal priesthood. Revelation chapter 5, verse number 10. What's it say? And thou hast made us to be a kingdom and priest to our God, and we will reign where? Upon the earth, we're not going to rain in heaven. We're not going to rain in some spiritual sense. We are going to rain on a literal earth. So when someone says, well, who are the they? In Revelation chapter 20, verse number 4, the they are the Old Testament saints.

They are the twelve apostles. The they are the church of Jesus Christ because he has promised them dominion, authority, the opportunity to rule from thrones on The earth. So next time somebody comes to you and says, Well, I don believe in a literal kingdom, really? Let me ask you a question.

Where's your throne? Where do you sit? And who's subject to you? Answer: nobody. Why? Because he hasn been granted that yet. One day he will, but one day you will put it all together. Every saint of every age will reign in the kingdom to some capacity. Everyone will. We'll have varying degrees of responsibility, but all of us are members of the king's court. All of us are: Old Testament saints, the apostles, the New Testament saints, the church of Jesus Christ. You say, is that it? Nope. There's more.

Read on. It says: Judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image. And had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. So, who else is going to reign with Christ? All those tribulational martyrs, all those people that were beheaded. The word used there means to cut off with an axe.

That's probably how people will die in the tribulational period who do not take the mark of the beast. Their heads will be severed from their bodies with an axe. That's how the Antichrist will slaughter them and kill them. That's what he wants to do. So John sees all these souls with no heads. Amazing scene, isn't it? They'd all been beheaded. They'd all been beheaded. Why? Because Of the testimony of Jesus and of the Word of God. They stood firm. They didn't back down. They were the ones who persevered.

They came to life, the text says. That's a resurrection. Same word used over in John 11, verse number 25, where Christ says, I am the resurrection and the.

Life. Same word used over in Romans 14. Over in Romans 14, verse number 9, it says this. For this end, Christ died and lived again. In other words, Christ died and rose again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of The living. So these saints from the tribulation died and are now alive. They rose again. And then it says. The rest of the dead, who's that? That's the unbeliever. That's the unbeliever. That's the rest of the dead. They are described in verse number 11. It says, And I saw a great throne, and him who sat upon it.

From whose presence the earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. And the books were open, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every one of them according To their deeds.

The rest of the dead are the unbelievers. Text says, This is the first. Resurrection. This is the first resurrection.

There's a second resurrection. You don't want to be a part of the second resurrection. You want to be a part of the first resurrection.

It says, verse number 6, Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. This is the fifth beatitude in the book of Revel. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part of the first resurrection.

Over these, the second death has no power. Why are you blessed? Because the second death has no power over you.

No power over you. For what is the second death? The second death is the soul and the body. Cast into the lake of fire. Blessed is this individual. Holy is this individual. Why is this person of the first resurrection bless?

We 'll talk about that next time. Let 's pray.