You should grab your Bible this morning and
we come to our last study in this
series in the life and times of Jesus
Christ.
Grabbing your Bible if you'll go to Isaiah
this morning chapter 56 verse 1, Isaiah 56
verse 1, while you're turning there, we have
been going through, if you're visiting for the
first time, we have been going through a
16 week series, today being the last study
of this series, and today we come to
Christ and his millennial kingdom.
I love the timing of the Lord.
We're talking about, and we shall talk about,
the millennium of the Lord.
This is not it.
What you and I went through yesterday is
not the millennium.
It just so happens we're teaching on the
millennium and it is the last teaching of
our series.
Yesterday has nothing to do with what we're
teaching on this morning other than yesterday brought
us, and today brings us one more day
closer to the return of Jesus Christ, which
is great news.
So we're glad about that.
In Isaiah chapter 56 verse 1, there Isaiah
says, the Lord speaks through him saying, thus
saith the Lord, keep justice and do righteousness
for my salvation is about to come and
my righteousness to be revealed.
What does that verse mean?
In fact, what does Isaiah in this chapter
speak about?
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Zephaniah, many of the
Old Testament prophets spoke in bulk about this
time called the millennium of God.
It's a time that speaks about Christ after
having returned in bodily form, listen, in bodily
form to the earth in the second coming,
not the rapture.
In the second coming, when Christ returns, it
will take him 45 days according to the
book of Daniel chapter 12 verses 10, 11,
and 12 to establish his throne from Jerusalem.
Now, I don't know where some of you
come from, some of your Christian or religious
background, but depending upon what denomination you have
come from, views this event in scripture as
something maybe symbolic.
That is the ruling and reigning of Jesus
Christ from Jerusalem bodily.
Some denominations teach that it's simply a symbolic
message.
That's not true.
In fact, listen very carefully.
If Jesus Christ does not come back and
establish his throne in Jerusalem for a thousand
years, then the Jesus of the Gospels, the
Jesus of prophecy, the Jesus of the Bible
that we read about is not the one
that we know of who has been born
in Bethlehem.
He is not the one who was crucified
in Jerusalem.
Jesus Christ to complete his prophetic messiahship must
sit upon the throne of David that's in
Jerusalem.
Did you know right now in heaven, he's
sitting upon his father's throne.
He is not seated, and he has not
ever been seated upon the throne of David,
which is an earthly reign that we call
the millennial reign of Christ.
It's a thousand years long, thus the word
millennium, and it is God's government on earth.
God is going to let man's attempt at
government expire.
For me, sooner the better.
I don't know who you are.
Are you a Republican or a Democrat or
an Independent or an apathetic?
I don't know what you might be, but
as a vote, a certain direction, I'll pray
first and look at the candidates or the
issues.
I'll pray and I'll vote because I'm almost,
though it's a privilege, forced to vote for
the lesser of the evils that are there
present before me.
But I am a monarchist.
I believe in a ruling reigning king, and
his name is Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus Christ.
And so we look to the Bible and
what the Bible says about that.
Of course, in your note-taking, jot it
down if you would, and that is very
important to us, the fact that the book
of Colossians, it's the last time you're going
to hear it for a while.
You've heard it for 16 weeks.
This theme verse, you've got to memorize.
You can even say it backwards, I bet
you.
But Colossians chapter 2 verse 9 says, For
in Christ all the fullness of the Godhead
dwells in bodily form.
Now that's true of Jesus's coming.
It's true of his post-resurrection appearances.
It's true now, and it will be true
when he comes for the church and the
rapture, and it will be true when he
comes at least some seven years later at
the end of the tribulation period and the
great second coming.
And it will ultimately be true as he
sits in bodily form in Jerusalem upon the
throne of David, as we'll see in scripture
this morning.
Very, very important.
You might want to jot down a few
things that someone may ask you when you
tell them what you've learned today at church,
that Jesus is coming to establish his kingdom
on earth.
You might want to ask the question, why?
Well, the first response to the question, why
is Jesus coming back to establish his kingdom,
is quite frankly very simple.
The fact is, number one, he's the owner
-builder of this universe, and the owner-builder
is coming back home to check it out.
In fact, Jesus talked about this in Luke
chapter 20 verse 9.
Jesus said, when he brought his disciples together,
he told them the parable.
And he said, A certain man planted a
vineyard and leased it to the vinedressers, and
he went into a far country for a
long time.
He went on to describe that the parable
is about himself.
He's the creator, let me use it this
way, of this earth's vineyard, this earth, this
universe.
He has gone away, and he's coming back
to take it for himself.
He is both the owner of it all,
and builder.
The Bible says, as we've gone through in
our previous studies, that he's the creator.
Well, the creator is coming back.
But why must he sit upon the throne
of David?
Why is that important?
Well, Jesus said that all scripture must be
fulfilled.
It is important to the Lord that he
complete and fulfill all scripture.
Jesus said himself, Matthew 5 verse 18, assuredly
I say to you, till heaven and earth
pass away, not one jot or one tittle,
that is of the Hebrew language, shall by
no means pass away till all the law
is fulfilled.
Jesus Christ will fulfill, as he has to
date, the written word of God.
Matthew 1 verse 1.
This is another reason why Jesus Christ must
come back to establish his earthly reign.
Matthew 1 verse 1.
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham,
according to the flesh.
This is true.
Both Joseph, his stepfather, and Mary, bloodline to
the throne, both of them, Joseph and Mary,
had rights to the throne of Israel, both
legally and through their bloodlines.
It had to be Joseph and Mary.
But if you know your message well, you
also know that according to the curse that
was placed upon Jeconiah, whose bloodline flowed through
Joseph, you know of Joseph and Mary, none
of Joseph's blood could have been in Jesus
Christ, or else he would not have been
allowed to take the throne of David.
Well, gee, Jack, when did he take the
throne of David?
Well, that's my whole point.
He hasn't taken the throne of David yet.
He has to come back to take the
throne of David, and that's in Jerusalem.
Mary's lineage was not cursed.
Joseph's was.
But one operated through the legal right to
the throne, the other through the DNA, literally,
to the throne.
Jesus is in fact the savior of the
world and legal heir to the throne that
is to be established in Jerusalem.
And so Stephen, the great early martyr of
the church, even spoke to the nation Israel.
It is this Jesus, he said, that shall
sit upon the throne and that he is
the son of David.
And that throne of David is in Jerusalem.
Jesus said this about himself in Matthew chapter
25, beginning at verse 31.
Jesus said, When the Son of Man comes
in his glory and all the holy angels
with him, then he will sit upon the
throne of his glory and all the nations
will be gathered to him, and he will
separate them as one separates the sheep from
the goats.
And so we come now to the conclusion
of our series, which is Christ and his
millennial rule.
Let me run through this very quickly.
Take notes if you can.
If not, we'll keep going without you.
Listen, God created all that there is.
Put Adam and Eve in the garden.
Adam and Eve rebelled against God and decided
to take things upon themselves.
God, through his works, attempts to redeem Israel.
Israel is formed, is brought together as a
nation under their care with Abraham, sold then
because of rebellion into bondage into Egypt.
Israel becomes a great nation, though under bondage
in Egypt, led out by the lawgiver Moses,
and then coming out with the lawgiver Moses,
led into the promised land through Joshua.
There's a period of the kings being established,
governors, so to speak, over Israel.
And Israel then, in the rejection of the
coming Messiah, 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ,
according to the prophets, if they rejected him,
they would be dispersed throughout all the nations
of the world.
That happened.
Israel became a byword, as the prophets foretold.
But in the last days, before God returns
to the earth, he said he would bring
Israel back into her own land.
Once she's back into her own land, the
rapture of the church could happen at any
moment, imminent, regarding the Gentile bride of Christ,
the church born 2,000 years ago on
the day of Pentecost.
But while Israel is a nation, the Bible
talks about a European dominant ruler arising out
of Europe, talks about Israel signing a peace
treaty, a peace agreement for seven years, and
at the close of that seven-year period
of time, when that treaty goes bad, by
the way, halfway through, three-and-a-half
-year point, the conclusion of the great seven
-year tribulation period is the battle of Armageddon.
At the battle of Armageddon, Jesus Christ, in
Revelation 19, descends out of heaven with an
angelic host and with the bride of Christ,
the church, arrayed in fine apparel, riding upon
white horses.
The Bible says that there Christ will come
and he will speak a word and the
Antichrist and the false prophet will be judged
and cast into judgment.
And then it says Michael will be dispatched.
This ought to be an exciting thing to
see.
Michael will be dispatched from heaven with a
chain and he will bind Satan up for
how long, everybody?
A thousand years.
He will be incarcerated for a thousand years
and Christ, according to Daniel chapter 12, will
judge the nations at his coming for 45
days.
At the conclusion of that time, Matthew chapter
25 is fulfilled, verse 31, where he separates
the sheep from the goats.
The millennial kingdom begins and the Bible says
that all those nations who were kind and
considerate to Israel, those who survive will be
brought into or allowed, let me put it
this way, allowed to live into the millennial
kingdom and they will begin to repopulate the
earth and Christ will restore the earth in
a very, very dramatic and dynamic way.
Having said that, let's look to our first
point this morning and that is God will,
God's will will reign on earth.
Remember when Jesus said to his disciples when
they said, Lord, teach us to pray.
Remember he gave them the model or the
structure of what prayer should be patterned after.
That's not the prayer.
It is not a prayer that you're supposed
to recite on a repetitive type way.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be
done.
That's not why he gave it.
You're supposed to pray using that as a
structure to your prayer life.
Well, one of those utterances is your will
be done, what, on earth as it is
in heaven.
God's will is not being exercised yet in
fullness on earth, not yet.
It will be when he comes, rules and
reigns.
That's yet forthcoming.
So we look to it this morning.
God's will shall reign on earth.
How so?
Number one, he will reign in righteousness.
God will reign in righteousness.
Genesis chapter 1 verse 27.
You know the story.
The Bible says there that God created man
in his own image and it says there
that in the image God created man, both
male and female.
He created them and then God blessed them
and God said to them, be fruitful and
multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.
Listen, have dominion over the fish of the
sea and the birds of the air and
everything that lives on the earth, everything that
moves, have dominion over it.
In Genesis 3 verse 8, God, I believe,
announces and shows us that he wants to
have a personal relationship with us after having
created Adam and Eve.
It says there in Genesis 3 verse 8
that Adam and Eve heard the sound of
God walking in the garden in the cool
of the day.
Can you imagine what that must have been
like?
We don't know anything more about that, that
Adam and Eve were in the garden and
they heard the sound of God walking in
the garden at evening time.
What was it like?
It doesn't say.
Did they communicate with each other?
Yes.
In fact, we know that God said after
Adam had fallen in sin, both him and
Eve, God says, Adam, where are you?
And Adam simply responds back, we're here and
immediately there goes, you know, the famous dialogue
that you've all heard about.
God says, you know, what's the deal?
Didn't I tell you to eat of, not
to eat of the fruit?
And Adam says, you know, it's this woman
you gave me.
It's all your fault, God.
You gave me a faulty woman.
A lot of men say that today.
It's not my fault, it's her fault.
God, you gave me a faulty woman.
That's wrong.
Adam was wrong then and the Adams are
wrong today.
And then God looks at Eve and says,
Eve, what's up?
You know, what are you doing?
She goes, it's the snake.
The snake did it.
He deceived me, tricked me.
God turns and He talks to the snake.
And you know the snake, he didn't have
a leg to stand on.
He had nothing to say.
He was in deep trouble.
But God has always intended a personal relationship
with His creation.
And man quickly in the garden, we don't
know the time frame, but man quickly on
through Adam and Eve, ruined or defaulted that
relationship into sin.
Now, when Jesus Christ comes back to the
earth, He will rule the earth in righteousness.
Why?
Because there will be people living in that
wonderful age, the millennium, that wonderful time, having
not been converted.
I don't know how this is even possible,
but the scripture makes it clear.
Mortals will live into the kingdom age.
They will have children, they will die, they
will give birth, they will have life, they
will work, they will live.
They will live under the political reign of
Jesus on the throne of David from Jerusalem.
Man, every government, every king, prime minister, and
ruler will have to submit to the lordship
of Jesus Christ.
If they don't, the Old Testament gives specific
examples about what will become of that nation
who does not seek to worship God.
Isn't that interesting?
The world, so you can rest at ease,
even though we're one day or two days
past the millennium, not only did the world
not come to an end, it couldn't have
come to an end, no matter how bad
the computers or bombs acted.
Okay?
There has to be a seven-year tribulation
period, there has to be a 1,000
-year reign of Jesus Christ, and then, read
the Bible carefully, He's going to end this
globe as we know it.
And bring in His eternal kingdom.
Before that can happen, God's will shall reign
upon the earth in righteousness.
The word righteousness is an interesting word.
It means to do correctly or to do
rightly.
In Hebrews chapter 1, verse 8, it says,
The word righteousness here is the word to
exercise absolute equity, both in character and in
action.
You know, that's what our court system's supposed
to do now.
Of course, that's what's supposed to mark every
true Christian who knows that we walk in
righteousness, that is, doing the right thing.
A simple way to remember the word, or
the meaning of the word righteousness is to
do the right thing.
If you do the right thing, you are
walking in righteousness.
Do the right thing.
Well, who picks and chooses what the right
thing is?
God has already revealed that in the Bible.
You do what the Bible says, you'll do
fine and you'll be blessed so much that
your friends are going to say, why are
you blessed so much?
And they're going to want to hear, as
Tom was sharing earlier about the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
Righteousness.
Micah chapter 4, verse 7, tells us that
the Lord will reign from Mount Zion, from
there forever.
Jesus Christ must reign from Jerusalem.
He must reign from Zion.
Why so?
There must be the fulfillment of Revelation, jot
it down, chapter 5, verses 1 through 5.
Jesus must fulfill this prophetic command.
Nor was anyone able to look upon it,
so I wept much because of this.
But one of the elders said to me,
verse 5, Do not weep.
Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the root of David, that is, the progeny
of David, has prevailed to open the scroll
and to loose the seven seals.
The scroll is the title deed of the
earth that Adam gave to Satan the day
that they rebelled.
Jesus not only first bought you spiritually and
redeemed you with his blood, but he will
also ultimately redeem the earth for his own
glory.
He's going to, so to speak, take it
back.
And those seven seals are seven requirements that
Christ will accomplish in the prophetic scene.
He will rule and reign in righteousness.
The second thing that we see this morning
is that he will reign in justice.
Wow.
He will be the perfect judge.
The millennium will not be heaven.
The millennium will be God's kingdom on earth.
It's not heaven.
Will there be sin during the millennium?
Yes, absolutely.
There will be sin.
There will be mortal people living during that
time.
You might say, well, forget them.
What about me?
Well, I have to...
No, you will be either...
Well, first of all, I'm assuming, I'm assuming
this morning, if all of us are born
again Christians by the Spirit of God, you
and I will have already been changed, raptured
out of this planet, taken up into heaven,
and we would have already come back with
Christ in the second coming for this time
to have happened regarding the millennium.
The millennium establishment of his kingdom.
And you could read Revelation chapters 19 on
to the close for that.
But the fact of the matter is, he
will rule and reign in justice.
Why?
Why does he have to do that?
Because there will be sinners on earth at
that time.
Just like there are sinners right now, like
us.
Will people love the Lord during that time?
Yes, there will be many people who love
the Lord at that time.
There will also be people who don't.
Isn't that weird?
Don't you think everybody would?
If they could go to Jerusalem and see
Him?
Don't you think that they would automatically believe
in Him?
Some people may be sitting here this morning.
Well, if God would just show His face,
then I would believe.
He is not going to do that.
Just show me a sign, God.
Show me a sign.
He's not going to do that.
Well, then I'm not going to believe.
You got it all wrong, friend.
Your wires are crossed.
The moment you come to believe, then you'll
see.
Well, I believe seeing is then coming to
believe.
You're never going to be converted then.
Because sight is hooked to our emotions.
And our emotions deceive us.
Even our sight can deceive us.
When you come by faith, which is the
way you must come, then God puts His
Holy Spirit in you, and then you can
see clearly.
Don't ever put religion in front of relationship.
If you do, you'll be the most religious
person in hell.
Relationship first.
God didn't create us to think.
God didn't create us to exist in the
garden for a religious experience, but for a
relationship experience.
And He will reign in justice.
He'll know exactly what every motive is in
the person's heart, why they did what they
did.
And He, with us, we with Him, will
execute justice on earth.
The Bible says that we will rule and
reign with Him for a thousand years.
Zechariah 14 verse 16 says, Then the survivors
from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem
will go up year after year to worship
the King at Jerusalem, the Lord Almighty there,
and to celebrate the Feast of the Tabernacles.
If any of the peoples of the earth
do not go up to Jerusalem to worship
the King, the Lord Almighty, they shall have
no reign.
During the millennium, if, in fact, another place
in Scripture, the book of Isaiah tells us,
if Egypt doesn't go and worship the Lord,
then God's not going to put any reign
upon Egypt.
Boy, living in Southern California, you wonder if
we're under judgment, but thank God.
Wasn't this great this last weekend?
Did you see about two or three days
ago, did you see the seven-day forecast?
You know, it used to be five-day
forecast, remember?
Now it's seven-day forecast.
Well, like, that's hard here.
It's going to be sunny.
How about it's going to be sunny for
the next several months, but oh, I love
the curveball.
You know, they told us on the seven
-day forecast, there'll be a little fog in
the morning.
And then it rains, cats and dogs.
In fact, at my house, it hailed, and
it hailed good.
None of this on the news, so I
couldn't wait to watch the news that night.
And you see the guys coming on the
news, well, listen to this, Mother Nature sure
pulled a quick one on us.
Listen, all you tree huggers out there, there
is no Mother Nature.
She doesn't exist.
She's not real.
It's God who's in control, and He just
did it.
He did that just to let Johnny Mountain
know who was really calling the shots.
I love it.
But He's going to rule and reign in
justice.
Well, I don't know if that's very fair.
If He's going to cut off their water
supply if they don't come and worship, isn't
that a little bit of a forced motive?
Listen, God will rule and reign from Jerusalem
and do as He pleases.
It will all be done in righteousness, and
sometimes we all need a little correction.
We know, even though some of us have
walked for God for years, we know that
we need a little reminder from time to
time to pray and to seek the Lord
and to lean upon Him, don't we?
I said, don't we?
Amen.
I knew you were there.
You thought you didn't need a reminder.
He will reign in righteousness.
He will reign in justice.
And we know also He will reign in
mercy.
Now, you might say, well, how do those
three come together?
Righteousness sounds kind of strong, and it is.
Justice, that sounds very, very judicial, and of
course it is.
That's where the word is rooted.
God will exercise justice from the throne of
Jerusalem.
What about mercy?
The Bible says throughout the Old Testament He
will rule and reign during this time in
mercy.
Now, listen, this is important.
Mercy, what do you mean mercy?
Well, the word mercy means special kindness.
Who in here does not want special kindness?
I mean, we all want special kindness.
It means a beauty bestowed upon, to be
given, unwarranted favor.
We might say today, teacher's pet.
God says, you know what, my kids are
all special to me.
And I grant to them mercy.
You might say, well, you know, I don't
know about that.
Well, I tell you what, put it into
modern setting.
You're driving down the street, and you see
a red light in your rearview mirror.
Now, the book of Romans chapter 13 says
that police officer has been installed to enforce
the law for righteousness.
And the righteous do not need to be
afraid of the officer who does not, listen,
bear his sword in vain.
In our context, it would be badge or
gun.
God didn't give that officer a gun in
vain.
God gave that officer a gun to use.
God gave that officer a badge to enforce
the law.
Now, we're driving down the street.
Our rearview mirror lights up red.
We pull over.
Do we, when he comes up to our
window, do we say, give me righteousness?
Oh, no, you'd be stupid.
Do we say, give me justice?
What are you, nuts?
You slither out of your car and kiss
his feet or her feet and say, officer,
mercy, mercy, officer, please.
You know, grown men have been known to
cry at those moments.
Mercy.
It implies that there's an ax ready to
lay to the back of the neck, and
God says, mercy.
Is righteousness violated when mercy is enacted?
No.
Is justice violated when mercy is enacted?
No.
Mercy is a privilege and attribute of God.
He extends mercy.
And all of us would be dead now
if it wasn't for the mercy of God.
If you've ever been sick, there's good nurses
and then there's great nurses.
And you know what makes the great nurse
better than the good nurse?
They both know the same thing.
The great nurse is the one that comes
and pets you on the head or strokes
your hand or somehow does something about your
pain.
I don't want a nurse to come up
and say, well, you know why you're in
such pain?
It's because you've got a four-foot-long,
you know, and that's why.
Well, thank you very much.
I feel better now that I know this.
No, I want a nurse to come up
and say, listen, you're going to make it,
buddy.
In fact, you know what?
And you know when you're just like a
child, those of you who have young kids,
when they stub their toe or get hurt,
at least our pediatrician told us the right
thing.
You ought to try this.
When your child is hurt, pick them up,
grab them, hold them, and take your fingernails
and just scratch their back or rub their
back or whatever it is.
Even if they've got a boo-boo on
their finger, scratch their back or rub their
other arm.
Give their senses a pleasant stimulant.
It overrides or comforts the pain that they're
focused on.
Mercy!
Give me that kind of a nurse and
I'll do better.
Give me that kind of a doctor and
I'll get better probably quicker.
God is into giving mercy.
Why would you be such a fool as
to reject God's mercy?
He will execute justice on you.
He will execute His righteousness on you.
But He extends mercy and mercy only comes
through the person of Jesus Christ.
God's mercy comes.
Secondly, this morning we see that God's creation
shall be healed.
When Jesus Christ comes and only when Jesus
Christ comes shall the creation be ultimately healed.
Now I don't want to derail you at
all, but last week we talked about the
second coming and there is a deceptive act
that Satan will do through the Antichrist and
there will be a temporary healing of nature.
Isn't that something to go figure?
By the way, on my desk right now
I've got off of Yahoo, one of the
websites, a company, ADS, Applied Digital Solutions, just
purchased the patent.
This is on the internet right now.
This is not Christian material.
ADS just on December 15th acquired the patent
rights for human implantable microchips for human tracking
and for loss of humans and for medical
records and also the implementation of electronic implantable
devices in works of art or valuable pieces
of property and animals.
This is secular news.
The Antichrist will deceive the world temporarily, but
Jesus will come and He's going to implement
a healing to the earth.
Isaiah 65 verse 17.
I know I'm going fast, but we've got
to go.
Isaiah 65 verse 17 says, Behold, I will
create a new heaven and a new earth,
for the former will not come to mind,
neither shall it be remembered.
Be glad and rejoice forever in what I
create, for I will create Jerusalem to be
a delight and its people a joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight
in her people.
The sound of weeping and crying will be
heard in her no more.
Never again will there be any infant who
lives but a few days or an old
man who does not live out his years.
And he who dies at the age of
one hundred will be thought to be a
youth.
During the millennium, Jesus is so going to
rejuvenate the environment that longevity is going to
increase in the lives of those mortals that
have lived into the kingdom.
That's pretty cool.
When somebody dies during the millennium at the
age of a hundred, people are going to
say, why did he die?
Longevity is going to increase.
You're going to say, well, I don't believe
it.
Well, you know, read your Bible.
When the environment was more pure, Noah and
Enoch and others, Methuselah lived a long time.
Scientists tell us this is true.
Scientific evidence proves that this is a fact.
You know, every seven years your body goes
through a metabolic purging and tries to rejuvenate
itself.
Did you know your heart, when examined, has
been a tool made that can beat forever?
The tools of your body have been engineered
to live forever.
Death is a mystery.
Until you read the Bible, it says death
came into the world because man sinned.
During the millennium, men will live long periods
of time before they die.
And a person who dies at the age
of a hundred will be considered a person
to be as one who dies in their
youth today.
Amazing.
God will heal the earth.
How so?
He's going to restore the physical creation.
Isaiah 55, 11, 12 and 13.
So shall my word go forth from my
mouth.
It shall not return into me void.
It shall accomplish what I please.
And it shall prosper in that thing for
which I've sent it.
For you shall go out with joy and
be led forth with peace.
The mountains and the hills shall break forth
into singing before you.
And all the trees of the field will
clap their hands.
Instead of thorns coming up, cypress trees will
arise.
And instead of briars, there shall come up
the myrtle tree.
Isn't that beautiful?
Isn't that interesting?
The millennium, when he comes, is going to
be a wonderful restoration to the creation.
Now look at this picture.
Some of you recognize this, don't you?
Mirror Lake, just north of here in Yosemite.
It's a beautiful sight.
You know what?
According to the book of Isaiah and the
book of Jeremiah, this stinks.
When the kingdom is established by Christ and
his healing goes out to the environment, this
is going to look probably like an alley.
Look at this beautiful sight and yet it's
under the bondage of sin.
Did you know that?
The Bible says it's under the bondage of
sin, creation is, nature is.
Well, consider this as well.
Look at that image and listen to this
verse, Zechariah 14, verse 8.
And in that day there shall be living
waters that flow forth from Jerusalem, half of
them toward the Mediterranean Sea, half of them
toward the Dead Sea, both in summer and
winter it will occur.
And the Lord shall be king over all
of the earth.
In that day it shall be, the Lord
is one.
His name is one.
And the land shall be turned into a
garden.
This is Wyoming.
This is the Great Falls there in the
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone National Park.
But just think about this for a moment.
When Jesus Christ comes, it says that his
feet, his foot is going to touch the
Mount of Olives and it's going to cleave
northward and southward leaving a great canyon.
And a river is going to come out
and it's going to go out to the
healing of the world.
The Dead Sea is going to be healed
which is, you know why they call it
the Dead Sea?
It's 1,300 feet below sea level.
Sometimes some of the hottest temperatures on earth
are recorded there.
Not only that, but it is the deadest
of water.
It's dead.
It's sterilized.
It's so salty.
It's the most saline body of water on
the face of the earth.
More than Salt Lake and more than Salt
and Sea.
God's going to give it life.
Jesus is going to give it life.
Zephaniah chapter 3.
There's a book you haven't heard in a
while.
Zephaniah.
You probably read that today on your devotions
on your way to church, didn't you?
Zephaniah 3.14 says, Sing, O daughter of
Zion, and shout, O Israel.
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem.
The Lord has taken away your judgments, and
He has cast out your enemy.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in
the midst of you, and you shall see
disaster no more.
This is a beautiful, beautiful shot and testimony
of God's restoration of what He's going to
do.
He's going to do it from Jerusalem.
Look with me again.
Creation will be maintained by Him personally.
Yeah, maintained.
How so?
Just simply this.
Ezekiel 47 tells us, verse 9, that swarms
of living creatures will live wherever that river
flows.
There will be large numbers of fish because
this water flows there and makes the salt
water fresh.
So where the river flows, everything will live.
That is going to be a beautiful, beautiful
time.
Look at this.
Now somebody climbed up that mountaintop to take
that shot.
Look how lush and beautiful that is.
And yet it's still under the confines and
requirements and demands of sin.
We live in a fallen world.
It's important that we understand that.
I want you to hold that because we
go to the third point, which is this,
and it's extremely important.
Creation shall be renewed spiritually.
You say, wait a minute.
What do you mean creation shall be renewed
spiritually?
Well, jot down Romans chapter 8, verse 21,
for one thing.
Romans 8, 21 tells us, because the creation
itself also will be delivered from the bondage
of sin or corruption into the glorious liberty
of the children of God, that will happen
during the millennium, for we know that the
whole creation groans and labors with birth pains
even until now.
Now, I don't want to personify creation too
much, but let me ask you something.
Let me just play with you for a
moment here.
When Jesus told the Pharisees, remember when the
Pharisees said, Jesus, shut your disciples up.
Jesus said, I tell you, if they were
to keep quiet, these very rocks and stones
would cry out.
Was Jesus exaggerating, lying, or misleading them?
No.
He can't do that.
He's God.
I only wished for a moment that Jesus
would have looked at the disciples and said,
okay, shh.
Wouldn't that have been cool?
The boulders would have went, Hosanna, praise the
Lord.
And the little pebbles would have went, Hosanna,
praise the Lord.
It would have been the ultimate, you know,
rock concert.
It would have been perfect.
When he says that in the fields the
trees will clap their hands.
Now, trees don't have hands, but trees have
leaves.
You ever been under a tree, a great
tree in a big wind?
It's awesome.
He says, man, when my son is enthroned
in Jerusalem and righteousness reigns, the trees of
the field will clap their hands.
It's going to be a great time.
There'll be a spiritual renewal.
I'm not saying that the tree is God
or even a spiritual entity.
No, I'm not saying that by any means.
I had you New Agers excited there for
a second, didn't I?
There's no life in a crystal.
There's no life as redeeming value in a
tree.
Yes, there's life in a tree, but there's
not redemptive life.
I hate to say this, but even your
little cute cat or dog has a soul.
It doesn't have a spirit.
Jesus didn't die for your cat or your
dog.
He died for humans.
He died for us.
But in an amazing way, creation is going
to be liberated from the bondage that mankind
is held to right now.
And you think about that bondage.
I was driving down out of the Arrowhead
Mountains and a squirrel, you know, big gray
squirrels, California gray squirrel.
They're huge.
He's hopping.
You know how they hop?
They do that hop thing, that big tail.
And he's hopping.
And I'm coming.
He's hopping.
I'm thinking, surely he's going to stop because
I'm not going to stop.
He's hopping and he's hopping and he crosses
the double yellow line and he keeps hopping
right into my lane.
And I'm saying, I love you.
You're cute, you know, but you stupid little
thing.
And I'm trying to avoid him.
And I got him.
I could feel it in my steering wheel.
I got him.
I looked in my rearview mirror and he
must have been going so fast because I
unplugged his tail.
And he's sitting on the side of the
road, just spinning around with his tail pulled
off.
Now, I don't know anything about squirrelology.
Will he die?
Did he die?
I don't know.
Probably.
But before he died, he was on the
side of that road holding his rear end
going, man, nature travails and groans until the
time of the sons of men are redeemed.
It hurts.
Nature groans and travails, it says, until we're
redeemed.
Could it be that the whales, you know,
they're out in the water saying, when is
this whaling thing going to stop or whatever?
I don't know.
It's just somehow nature is going to identify
with the redemption of the sons of men,
sons of mankind, the sons of God, his
children.
It's going to be an awesome day.
And thirdly, mankind shall know the Lord.
Mankind shall know the Lord.
Now listen to this carefully.
Excuse me.
Hebrews chapter 8, verse 10.
Hebrews 8, 10 begins there and it says,
For this is the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel.
After those days, saith the Lord, I will
put my laws into their mind and write
them on their hearts and I will be
their God and they will be my people.
None of them shall teach his neighbor and
none of them shall say to his neighbor,
know the Lord, for all shall know me.
That's an interesting passage.
During the millennium, the world will know of
the Lord himself.
Listen, will the world all be converted?
No, because, sad to say, at the end
of a thousand years, the Bible says that
there will be those living who will refuse
the lordship.
The kingship of Jesus Christ.
Hey, let me ask you something right now.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ exists?
Can you even say now, yeah, I believe
in God, but is he the Lord of
your life?
Do you say that Jesus is God and
that he's king, he's creator, there's nobody else
but him?
But nobody at work can tell you from
anybody else that nobody in your neighborhood can
distinguish you being different.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you
should be obnoxious, I'm saying you should be
a Christian.
Well, you know, I'm not outward about things.
Let me ask you this.
When your boss or when your co-worker
is sick, can't you say to them, I'm
going to pray for you or I've prayed
for you?
You know, maybe you couldn't remember the five
ways of leading somebody to Christ, but you
can say to them, you know, I'm a
Christian, I'm going to pray for you.
Can't you say it?
Are you embarrassed?
Remember the one who you claim to follow
was suspended on a cross, naked and died
for you.
Died for me.
I can turn to my friend at work
and say, you know what, I'll pray for
your marriage situation or I'll pray for your
sick child.
You don't have to stand in a soapbox
to do that.
You know, write them a note.
I'm praying for your family, I'm praying for
your condition.
Can the world tell the difference that we
know Him?
In that time, during the millennial age, everyone
will know the Lord.
Then why do some perish without God during
that period of time?
For the same reason why it's happening today.
People know about Jesus Christ, they don't know
Jesus Christ.
They're religious, but they don't know Him.
Man shall see his earthly rule.
The world will see it.
So much so, Zechariah 13 verse 6 tells
us that he will be questioned.
Where did you get these wounds in your
body?
Where did they come from, Jesus?
And Jesus will say to them, I received
them in the house of my friends.
Isn't that interesting?
All these wounds, these scars, they're a result
of my first coming to Jerusalem.
People didn't believe in me and rejected me
and I was taken out of the land
of the living and beaten and crucified.
Secondly, man shall enjoy his benefits if they
believe in him or not.
The blessings of God will swallow the earth.
And that's a wonderful thing.
The Bible says, you know, it's the goodness
of God that leads a man to repentance.
Read the fine print.
If the goodness of God doesn't lead you
to repent and believe in Him, He'll use
other means.
But no one perishes from this globe having
first decided to bow the knee to Jesus
or not.
I don't care who you are.
I had a friend of mine tell me
the other day that his mother, who was
a tremendously godly woman, became ill and slipped
into a coma and was in a coma
for two years.
And during that period of time, her sons
came back to know the Lord.
And the week after they came back, they're
now older in life.
She was very, very old.
The week that they came back to know
the Lord, she died.
Now, I don't know if you've ever talked
to somebody who's been in a coma, but
a lot of people who've been in a
coma have come out and said, I heard
everything.
I was very aware I was just locked
inside my body.
Could it be that someone had prayed for
you or even now is even praying for
you?
Maybe this woman was praying for her sons
in her comatose state.
When her ministry apparently seemed to be done,
her sons came back to know the Lord,
came back home, I should say, stopped being
the prodigal.
The benefits of God.
You may be an evolutionist or an atheist
right now and you're enjoying the benefits of
God.
You know, my God created the molecular structure
of the air that you're breathing right now?
Do you know that He could change that
structure right before it enters your lungs?
Or He can just, from right where you're
sitting in your vicinity, extract the three necessary
components of the air that we breathe and
you suffocate now?
Well, I don't believe it.
Well, if that's real, have them do it
to me now.
Somebody said that to Billy Graham on the
campus of Harvard.
If God is God, this young man said
to Billy Graham, I'm giving him five minutes
to strike me dead.
Billy Graham, in a moment of genius, said,
my son, do you think you can exhaust
the patience of God in five minutes?
That's not Billy Graham, that's the Holy Spirit
talking.
Well, if God is God, have him do
this, have him do this.
Just know, my friend, you know what?
If you knew who you were dealing with,
you'd be the one jumping through the hoops.
There's a day that He's going to come
and judge in righteousness.
And the beautiful thing is, you can cash
in on the deal this morning that Jesus
took all of your sins penalty, all of
your sins debt, and paid up front for
it.
You just need to come and enjoy His
wonderful benefits that He has provided.
And finally, men shall vote upon His throne.
That is, in that time, near the end
of the millennium, the scripture says that men
will change their hearts toward the Lord and
go against Him.
And the Bible says, they'll finally get their
prayer answered.
It says simply, in the book of Revelation,
that when they turn and encircle Jerusalem to
attack it, it says that fire comes down
out of the atmosphere and consumes them dead.
It's over.
That's all that's mentioned.
Well, if God is God, let Him consume
me.
Let Him eat me in His judgment and
in His fire.
Do you think you can exhaust the patience
of God?
He loves you so much that He's given
you wealth that you can't even imagine.
You're clothed this morning, you're breathing, you're here,
you're either full or hungry or whatever, all
because God has given you life.
In this series that we now complete here
and now, we ought to be able to
say, I know Jesus and His person and
His authority better.
And if you've been holding out on Him,
now's the time for you to say, all
right, all right, Lord, it's all yours.
In fact, while we're closing, the worship group
can come forward.
I want to lay out to three different
groups of people this morning this challenge.
First of all, Christians, we need, in this
brand new millennium, we need to get ready.
We need to walk ready.
We need to be ready for Him.
We need to know what the Bible says.
Stop being ignorant about the scriptures.
When somebody knocks on your door, stop drawing
your curtains shut and hiding behind the doorknob.
When those guys in the 10-speed pull
up or those other guys with the briefcases
come knocking on your door, open that door
up and say, my Jesus said you'd be
coming in the last days.
Come on in.
I've got the answers for you.
Let's turn to the Bible.
Christian, the Bible says we better be able
to give an answer to everyone who asks
of us a reason for the hope that
lies within us and to give it to
them with respect and with meekness.
Let's do it.
It's not an option.
You've got to do it.
The second group of people are those that
might in here be atheists or evolutionists.
The Bible says that the fool has said
in his heart there is no God.
Notice, the fool has said where?
In his heart.
Because he can't say it in his head.
The evidence is overwhelming.
The engineer, great designer, the creator, the master
engineer lives.
You know it in your head.
It's your heart you're trying to convince.
And you deceive your heart by saying there
is no God, there is no God, there
is no God.
And you'll crawl under every little rock trying
to find some new evidence.
And you find it and you herald it
as the new thing.
And I've got the link.
And it's all going to be.
And then as we apply scientific research, a
couple months later, it's found out to be
nothing again.
It speaks of the design creator.
And then there's those that are the most
perilous people of all.
And those are the people who are the
religionists or the moralists this morning.
Well, you know, that's really good for all
you people who need God.
I, on the other hand, I've lived a
pretty good life.
I'm a self-made man.
Done it on my own.
And I'll just continue to do it on
my own.
You're self-righteous and arrogant.
And your pride is keeping you from becoming
like a child.
Jesus says, for unless you become as a
child, you shall not see the kingdom of
God.
Which camp are you in?
Are you a Christian?
Then let's live like it.
Are you an evolutionist?
Use your head.
Are you a religionist?
Then humble yourself at the feet of the
cross this morning.
May you do it in Jesus name and
to his glory.
Before whom every knee will bow and every
tongue will confess.
In Jesus name.
Amen.
Father, we ask you to bless and to
cause, Lord, us to be people of integrity
that we would think uprightly.
Lord, if we do that, divorce ourselves from
emotion and from persuasion of what might be
politically correct or what might be socially correct,
that we might decide to be theologically correct.
And say, Lord, Jesus, have mercy on me,
a sinner.
Forgive me of my sins.
And write my name in your Lamb's book
of life.
And save me from my loss.
And make my life meaningful and purposeful to
your glory.
May this be the case in your life
today.
In Jesus name and all God's people said.
Amen.
Let's stand as we close in a song
of worship to him.
I'm amazed.
I am amazed at what your word tells
me you did.
I'm amazed.
I am amazed.
You gave it all so I might live.
I'm amazed with you.
Upon a cruel and barren hill, you willingly
laid down your will.
You took my sin and stole my sorrow
from my past and my tomorrow.
I'm amazed.
I am amazed at what your word tells
me you did.
I'm amazed.
I am amazed.
You gave it all so I might live.
I'm amazed with you.
You're the hero in disguise.
Held by human eyes.
The sacrifice of life.
The greatest gift that there ever was.
I am bound for paradise.
And it is real and it is right.
To leave your words in the blackened bed.
That you'll come back just like you said.
I'm amazed.
I am amazed.
At what your word tells me you did.
I'm amazed.
I am amazed.
You gave it all so I might live.
I'm amazed with you.
I am amazed with you.
Oh, I am amazed.
I am amazed.