Turning the World Right-Side Up: The Millenium

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Learn more and sign up at harvest.org. We need God to right all wrongs and turn things right side up. When's the last time you turned on cable news and the anchor person said, Well, no problems to report today. Everything's fine. People are happy. The weather's looking good.

No, they report problems, emergencies, crises 24 hours a day. And as we've learned in our study of Revelation, things will get much worse during the Great Tribulation. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us see how the influence of heaven will eventually come down to earth. Years ago, I was walking my dog late at night. Well, I wasn't really walking him.

I just let him go and do his business. And he was a bit down the street and all of a sudden a cat appears and my dog starts chasing the cat. They go a little further down the street and suddenly I notice this cat has a white stripe down its back, which means it's not a cat at all. It is a skunk. And I hear this sound and I already could smell it.

It's unbelievable how bad that scent is. My dog starts running toward me full blast. He's terrified.

He's taken a direct hit in the face from a skunk. Now, I know what he's going to do. He's going to run to our house. So I'm running ahead of my dog, trying to get to my house.

I left the door wide open. I want to get there before he does and shut the door so he doesn't come on my house. Right as I'm getting to the front door, my dog runs right by me, runs through my house.

I open up the back window and he goes into the backyard and he's rolling around on the grass. And the scent was so awful that my wife, who's asleep upstairs behind a closed door, she does have a supersonic nose though, she wakes up, what is that smell? And it was just horrible. And my poor dog is trying to get that smell off of him.

And you know, when you're hit point blank by a skunk, you're going to know it. And this sort of reminds me of sin. It just wrecks everything. Our whole world has been infected by the stench of sin and there's no way to get rid of it. You know, you can run all that you want and try to escape it, but you can't get rid of the effects of sin any more than my dog could get rid of the effects of that direct hit in his face from a skunk. So we're looking now at the last days. And we're looking at what sin does in the lives of people. Satan is sort of having his heyday.

And he's pulling out all the stops and we're seeing the destruction and the misery that comes as a result. But why are things the way that they are at this time and in the last days? Number one, things are bad because Satan is allowed to have his way.

He's allowed. God allows evil in the world and this is one of the hardest things to explain. Because things happen that are just not right.

And sometimes we are hard pressed to come up with some kind of an explanation that will satisfy people. But I can tell you this. Satan is described in the Bible as the god of this world. And also as the prince of the power of the air. The spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience. And so he is behind the wickedness and the depravity and all the things that are wrong. But the title of this message is, turning the world right side up. For the world to be turned right side up the devil needs to be knocked off of his perch. He needs to be dethroned.

Listen. The devil may be invisible and the devil may also be insidious. But he is not invincible. He is going down and he knows it. In fact one of the reasons things are so bad in the last days is because the devil knows his days are numbered. Revelation 12 12 says, The devil has come down to you in great anger and he knows he has a little time. It's interesting this phrase. Great anger speaking of the devil speaks of a violent burst of fury.

It's not just someone who is upset. This is a violent emotional fury that the devil is unleashing. And why is Satan so filled with hate and venom? Why does Satan want our destruction? Why does Satan do all these things? Because he knows Jesus is coming. For us to know Jesus is coming is an incentive to live a godly life and reach people with the gospel.

Right? When the devil thinks of Jesus coming he wants to wreak as much havoc as he possibly can. He wants to destroy as many lives as he can.

Here is the second reason things are as bad as they are in our world today. The world is bad because God is not completely having his way yet. He's not completely having his way yet. He allows certain things to happen. He is sovereign which means ultimately in control. But he is allowing the enemy, the devil, to do what it is he wants to do. But ultimately the Lord is going to step in and change everything and bring an end to the evil reign of the devil and his demons. Only God can do this. Some people think politicians will solve our problems.

I feel sorry for you in particular. Or they think the answer is technology or psychology or ecology. But the real truth is the answer is in theology without apology. And if we don't have theology without apology we are going to have our own eulogy. We need God to step in. We need God to right all wrongs and turn things right side up. We are living in a day when basically bad is good and good is bad.

You know what I am talking about? We are living in a time where something that is virtuous and wholesome. Take the family as an example. Take marriage. Something God has ordained. That is good but it is attacked constantly in film and in media and other ways.

You take something that is good. Someone who loves Jesus and wants to help others. And they are seen as extremist and narrow minded. And someone who is filled with hate which couldn't be further from the truth.

Then you take bad. Something that is wicked and evil. And it is celebrated and even promoted.

The Bible even says in Isaiah 5-20, Woe to those who called evil good and good evil who put darkness for light and light for darkness. Hey even our expressions sort of express that. For instance there are certain expressions that have not well shall we say stood the test of time. Expressions like golly or hunky dory or holy smokes or when you slip you say whoopsie daisies. No one says that anymore unless they are probably in their 90s right. Then other expressions that were very cool in their day and the 60s groovy and far out and heavy.

All those are dated as well. But then the funny thing is there are certain slang expressions that have stood the test of time. Like the word cool. They were using the word cool back in the 50s and were still using it today. Oh that is cool.

And that is a positive thing. If we say it is cool that means it is good. It is cool. But then there is another word we use hot. Oh that is hot. And a funny thing is you can have something that is both cool and hot at the same time.

It seems contradictory. Oh that is a cool car. Oh that is a hot thing. And so we use those words interchangeably. Now if something is really good or really cool or really hot we say that is sick.

Okay now I am getting confused. Now at another popular word dope. Dope. There was a time when we would say someone who was a bit slow on the uptake would be a dope. Oh they are a dope.

Then if someone is using drugs oh they are on dope. Now it is a positive thing. Oh that is dope. So I bring this all up because one day the earth is going to be well. It is going to be cool.

It is going to be dope if you will. It is going to be healed because God is going to return our planet to an Eden-like state. And this period of time that is coming is called the millennium. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

Whenever you send us an email, text or post a comment on social media we read every word. Hi Pastor Greg, I discovered your ministry right before coronavirus hit and we went into lockdown. Your sermons have helped my walk with Christ and I have learned and grown so much as a Christian.

My marriage has been rocky over the last few years. But when my husband and I started listening to your Happily Even After series it was so beneficial to our relationship. We have a four year old daughter and your messages and of course God are what has kept us together as a family.

Thank you so much. Has Pastor Greg heard from you? How have these daily studies in God's Word encouraged you? Why not drop Pastor Greg an email and let him know? Send it to Greg at Harvest dot org. Again that's Greg at Harvest dot org. Well today, as part of our studies in Revelation, Pastor Greg is highlighting what the Bible says about the millennium. Let's continue. You know sometimes Christians will say, well one day I'm going to die and go to heaven and I'll live there forever.

That's actually not technically true. Because according to the Bible, one day heaven and earth are going to become one. God is not going to abandon his creation.

He's going to restore it. One day, years ago, my wife was driving along with our son Jonathan. He was only a little boy at this point.

He was around age three. So she was talking to three year old Jonathan about the rapture. Oh Jonathan it's going to be so exciting. Jesus is going to come for us and we'll go immediately to heaven. And the more she talked the quieter little Jonathan became. And finally he blurted out, Mom I don't want to go to heaven and leave this beautiful world that God has made. You know it's sometimes hard for a little kid to understand this because the way we frame it isn't always biblical. Well God's going to judge this world and destroy the world.

Well wait hold on. God's going to redeem the planet. The system of evil and Satan is going to be overthrown. But the planet is going to be restored. Have you ever seen a super cool restored car drive down the road. Maybe it's a 67 Mustang Shelby or a 57 Chevrolet Bel Air just restored to original condition. Like it just drove off the showroom floor. And if you're a car guy you go whoa that is so cool. Well that's because you like restored things.

Guess what? God is into restoration as well. He's going to restore lives. He's going to restore bodies. And he's even going to restore our planet. God's perfect plan according to scripture is to bring all things in heaven and earth together under Christ. Peter preached in Acts 3 21 that Christ must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything as he promised long ago through the holy prophets.

Listen to this. God is going to make earth into heaven and heaven into earth. The wall that separates the two will be removed. Okay so let's kind of get this chronologically before we read our text. At this point the antichrist is in power.

He has established himself as the head of a 10 nation confederacy and he's led them to war. They've faced off for the kings of the east and the battle of Armageddon and all kinds of destruction is unleashed. Now it's God's turn.

Now God's going to step in. Read Revelation 20 verses 1 to 4 with me right now. John writes, And then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who was the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him, so he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished. But after these things he was released for a little while, and I saw thrones in them that sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image or received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. By the way, the word millennium means one thousand.

That's why we use that word. This is the one thousand year reign of Christ. And the first thing he does is he chains up Satan for a thousand years. He is humble.

He's brought down. Notice in verse one an angel does it. We don't even read it's a mega angel like Michael the archangel or Gabriel, another high ranking angel.

It just says an angel does this. This is Satan's day of humbling. Maybe a few days earlier the anti-Christ and the devil thought they were on a roll and this whole coup was going to work out in their favor, but now the party is over. Verse one, I saw an angel come down from heaven having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. Now earlier in Revelation we read about the demons coming out of the pit. Now they're put back in the pit with the devil.

You've heard the expression you can't put the genie back in the bottle, but here the devil is put back in his pit and he's there temporarily for a thousand years until he is released for a brief time and then he is judged again. But let's talk for a moment about what our world is going to be like during the millennium. What's it going to be like? Well it's going to be amazing. It's going to be sick. It's going to be dope. It's going to be hunky dory.

It's going to be beyond your wildest dreams. Number one, when Christ comes and rules on this planet there will be world peace. World peace.

Isaiah 2, 4 says the Lord will settle international disputes and all the nations will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. All wars will stop and military training will come to an end. Number two, during the millennium there will be joy and happiness and no more disabilities.

Am I talking to somebody right now with a disability? When Christ comes and reigns there will be no more depression. No more wheelchairs. No more blindness or deafness. Isaiah 35 says when he comes he'll open the eyes of the blind.

He'll unstop the ears of the deaf and the lame will leap like a deer and those who cannot speak will shout and sing. Another feature of this time is people will live really long lives. Isaiah 65, 20 says no longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they've lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at 100.

I like the sound of that. I read about a woman who at that moment was the oldest woman on the earth. She was 117 years old.

Her name was Emma Morono. She said the reason she lived so long was because of what her diet was. Every day Emma ate two raw eggs and cookies.

What an interesting combination. Two raw eggs and cookies. She said I didn't really eat much because I didn't have any teeth.

Those are her words. Another woman made it to the ripe old age of 116. She gave credit to eating bacon every single day.

She had a steady diet of bacon and eggs. Then I read about a much younger man. He was only 110 years old. He'd never been sick for a day in his life. He said it was because he eats garlic, honey, cinnamon, and olive oil. I don't know if he ate all of those things at the same time every single day.

Incredible. His father told him never to eat red meat and especially hot dogs. Then I read about another guy who made it past 100. He said the secret to my longevity is I eat a hot dog every day.

Here's what I find interesting. In all these diets there's no mention made of tofu or kale. Hot dogs, bacon, eggs. That's going to be my new diet.

Hot dogs, bacon, and eggs every single day. During this tribulation period we'll live long lives. Also, number four, the animal kingdom will be subdued. This is where the wolf and the lamb are together with a little child reading.

We're all familiar with that, I think. Animals will be completely tame and docile. Isaiah 11, 6 says the wolf will romp with the lamb. The leopard will sleep with the kid. The calf and lion will eat from the same trough and the little child will lead them.

Can you imagine? I was watching this special on TV the other day about whales and this one was about orcas. Now we call them killer whales but they're better known as orcas and they're probably the most intelligent creature in the ocean and certainly one of the most intelligent animals that God created. They move about together in pods and they have their own languages. Orcas from some parts of the world have a different way of communicating. An orca is in another part of the world. I thought, what a magnificent creature.

I'd love to go swimming with an orca. Maybe you can do that in the millennial reign of Christ. Or you can take your cat for a walk. I will not mock someone who's walking a lion.

The cat jokes are over with if you have a lion or a Bengal tiger or something like that. But an amazing time where the animals are subdued and there will also be universal justice and righteousness. Universal justice and righteousness.

No more corrupt lawyers or corrupt judges or frivolous lawsuits. Psalm 72 2 says, He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice. He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy. And listen to this, The curse that came upon the world because the sin will be lifted completely. Romans 8 19 says, All creation is waiting for this day when God will remove the curse from the planet. This all happens in the millennium. Pastor Greg Laurie giving us an eye-opening look at what life will be like during the thousand-year reign of Christ upon the earth, the time known as the millennium. And there's more to come from this study here on The New Beginning. You know, Pastor Greg, we hear so many terms that apply to Bible prophecy. The mark of the beast, the millennium, the Great Tribulation.

And our understanding might be a little hazy about what those terms mean and in what order they come. Could you maybe give us a little flyover of God's end times plan? Yes, I'd be happy to, but I need some trumpets and echo and then I'll do it. So are you ready?

I'm ready. A flyover of the book of Revelation. Okay, so this is my understanding of how all these events fit together. The next event on the prophetic calendar is the rapture of the church. That's when the Lord comes in a moment in the twinkling of an eye and we're caught up in the air to meet him. It's also when we're reunited with loved ones who have preceded us to glory.

So we're caught up to heaven. On the heels of that, this mysterious character called the Antichrist is revealed. That inaugurates what is called the Great Tribulation period that lasts for seven years. Interestingly, the Antichrist comes initially as a good guy.

I'll put that in quotes. A peacemaker, but in reality, he's a troublemaker. He rebuilds a temple for the Jewish people, but he erects an image of himself and demands that people worship him. This marks a halfway point of the tribulation period and this event is called the abomination of desolation. So the first part of the tribulation is the peaceful reign of Antichrist. The second part of the tribulation is where he unleashes his fury against Jewish people, against Christians, and God ultimately brings his judgment upon the Antichrist. In the tribulation period, we have a group called the 144,000.

These are Jewish people who have put their faith in Jesus as their Messiah and they travel around the world proclaiming the good news. Okay, so everything culminates to what the Bible calls the Battle of Armageddon. And then Christ returns again in the second coming. This inaugurates the 1,000-year reign of Christ, which is called the millennium. Then heaven and earth becomes one. The new Jerusalem comes down from heaven to this planet, fulfilling the prayer of Jesus when he said, Thy kingdom come that will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So that's a flyover of end times events. And by the way, we've put this all on this really cool bookmark that comes with our brand new book called Revelation, a Book of Promises. And we want to put this book in your hands because I've written it to help you to understand how this great book of the Bible applies to you.

The very title says it all. Revelation means unveiling. And God's desire is not to conceal but to reveal.

He wants us to understand these things. And so I want to help you with that. So for your gift of any size, we'll send you your own copy of this brand new book from Harvest Ministries that I've written simply called Revelation, a Book of Promises.

Yeah, that's right. And we'll be glad to send a copy your way as soon as we hear from you. You can write us today at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-hour phone number, 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. And again, the title of Pastor Greg's new book, Revelation, a Book of Promises. Well, next time, Pastor Greg brings us a sobering look at the great white throne judgment of God. It's important insight. Be sure to join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins. The preceding podcast was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Learn how to become a Harvest Partner, sign up for daily devotions, and find resources to help you grow in your faith at harvest.org.