Heaven on Earth - Part 3: When Politics are Perfect - Part B

Entering into the millennial kingdom, people ruling and reigning with Christ, but the rest of the dead didn't live till after the thousand years. That's when they get resurrected. Which means that the millennium begins with all believers. All those who enter into the millennium are either resurrected saints or mortals who are believers and made it through to the end of the tribulation period. No unbelievers.

The unbelievers have died and they're awaiting their judgment. Each and every year when January rolls around, people plan on how they're going to improve the world, or at least how they'll improve themselves, which might help improve the world. Of course, by February or early March, most have given up on those efforts. Well, there will come a day when the world's problems will be solved and the world will be a better place.

But it won't happen through New Year's resolutions. Skip Heitzig shares more about that today here in Connect with Skip weekend edition. But before we get started, we have a great resource for you this month from connectwithskip.com. Holidays and special days of celebration wake us up from the daily grind and provide a backdrop for creating memories. But beyond traditions, time off and intentional family time, holidays can illuminate spiritual truths as we hear from Skip Heitzig. You may not know that Valentine's Day has Christian roots, but time and secular culture have transformed what was a great celebration of those who would stay true to the Christian faith. It has turned into simply a celebration of romantic love. You can find spiritual significance with Happiness, Holiness and Holidays, a four DVD collection of celebration messages from Pastor Skip. And it's our thanks when you give $25 or more to help keep this ministry on the air.

Here's Skip with a strong thought on another holiday on our calendar. Because God is our Father, we never have to fear. Because God is our Father, I don't have to live selfish, myopic life.

Because He is our Father in heaven, there is no limit to His power from heaven toward those of us who are on the earth. It's an incredible phrase, our Father in heaven. Call now to request your copy of Happiness, Holiness and Holidays. Our thanks for your generous gift, 800-922-1888.

Or give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer. Revelation chapter 20 is where we'll spend a majority of our time today. So if you'll open your Bible, we'll join Skip Hitek as he continues with this study of Christ's millennial reign. Notice the second sentence, and I saw the souls of them who had been beheaded. So it's as if to say they're included, but they're not the only group who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God who had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands and they lived. So they died, they were martyred, but now they're resurrected.

They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. So all the tribulation believers who are martyred will also be among the they or the them. In other words, all the resurrected saints of all the ages will be ruling and reigning with Christ. Look at verse 6. We'll just sort of underscore that. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.

I'll explain in a minute. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. So all of them, Old Testament saints glorified, New Testament saints glorified, resurrected, tribulation saints martyred, glorified, resurrected, and the apostles will all share in that administrative government. Then and only then will there be justice in the courts. Then there will be law on the streets. Then there will be truth in the media.

Then book stands won't be filled with filth, but with truth and righteousness and the media will project that which is true and holy. Now some of you at this point might be thinking, man, that sounds like a lot of work. That's not my idea of heaven. You're thinking, look, I work now and I hope to retire when all the work is behind me. And maybe you have thought that heaven is like one eternal vacation where you do nothing.

So you hear all this stuff about ruling and reigning and you're thinking, I got to work? This is not my idea of heaven. Well, it might not be but it's God's idea of heaven and keep in mind you're gonna be glorified. You'll be in a resurrected body. You're gonna have the energy and the vim and youthfulness that maybe you once had and it's gonna be fun.

Here's some insight perhaps into that. Jesus said in Luke 19, I will say to them well done good and faithful servant because you've been trustworthy in a very small matter now take charge of ten cities. To another I will say well done good and faithful servant. You've been faithful in a few things now take charge of five cities. You can say look, I really don't want to rule anything. I'm not good at being in charge. Well, you think you're gonna mess up any more than what has been done already on this earth?

Number two, do you think the Apostles are like the they're not the brightest bulbs in the bunch and they're going to administrate the twelve tribes of Israel. So keep in mind again, you're gonna be in a glorified resurrected renewed state and your capacities will be very different. So in some capacity, we're gonna be ruling and reigning having administrative duties carrying out the will of the ultimate sovereign authority Jesus Christ somewhere on this earth. Let me just say now for the record I get dibs on Maui.

All right? Just want to get that out there right now or Kauai either one. I'll take either one of those two islands.

That'd be a cool place to have jurisdiction over. Look at verse five verse five. Verse five takes us to a third condition that underscores the political framework and that is what I'm calling social stability.

Now, let's look at it. But the rest of the dead did not live again or get resurrected until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power. Now who are the rest of the dead?

I mean think about it. If the Old Testament saints who are dead have been resurrected and are reigning. If the New Testament saints who have died and are resurrected and reigning. If the tribulation martyred believers are now resurrected. And the apostles who have died and are resurrected.

Who does that leave? Unbelievers. Unbelievers. The rest of the dead.

Now keep this in mind. There's not just a resurrection for believers. There is a resurrection for unbelievers as well.

So that they can eternally endure what God meets out to them in terms of judgment and condemnation. Look at verse 11. It tells us their fate. And I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead. This is the rest of the dead. Small and great standing before God and books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things that are written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it. The death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged each one according to his works. And then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.

This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So, John who writes this book, John tells us calls the believers resurrection to life the first resurrection. Which would mean the second resurrection a thousand years later for unbelievers is the second resurrection. This is consistent with all of scripture. Daniel chapter 2 or 12 verse 2 the prophet writes, many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. That's resurrection.

Some do everlasting life. The first resurrection and some to shame and everlasting contempt. That's the second resurrection.

Jesus said the same thing. John chapter 5 verse 28 for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth. That's the resurrection. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life. That's the first resurrection. And those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. That's the second resurrection.

Here's my point. Entering into the millennial kingdom, people ruling and reigning with Christ, but the rest of the dead didn't live till after the thousand years. That's when they get resurrected. Which means that the millennium begins with all believers. All those who enter into the millennium are either resurrected saints or mortals who are believers and made it through to the end of the tribulation period.

No unbelievers. The unbelievers have died and they're awaiting their judgment. You say, well, what happened to them all? Well, they were destroyed by the cataclysmic catastrophic judgments of the tribulation. And if you've ever read that book, you know that in one judgment, a third of mankind is destroyed and another, a fourth of mankind is destroyed. They either died then or they were executed at the Battle of Armageddon, Chapter 19, or they were banished in the sheep and goat judgment of the judgment of the nations outlined in Matthew 25.

So they're gone. Also, who's bound for a thousand years? Satan. So if you get all unbelievers out of the way and Satan banished for a thousand years, you now have extremely stable social conditions. Right.

Extreme social stability. And Isaiah put it this way. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as waters cover the sea. And to boot, all of the politicians are going to be resurrected saints.

You know, it's real hard to imagine. There were three guys that were having an argument. They were trying to argue about whose profession was the oldest profession. And the first one to speak was a surgeon. He said, well, mine is the oldest profession because we read in the Bible that that God carved a rib out of Adam and made a woman. So that makes my profession, that of a surgeon, the oldest on earth. Well, the second guy among the three was an engineer. He said, ah, go back further. The Bible says that in six days, God created the earth out of chaos.

That's the job of an engineer. Well, the third guy in the group was a politician who, when he heard that, smiled real big and said, ah, but who created the chaos? Well, there will be no chaos for that thousand years because it will be the resurrected believers, Apostles, Old Testament, New Testament, Martyr, Tribulation Saints, glorified, resurrected, who will monitor and help and adjudicate all of those mortals who are on the earth during that time. They're going to populate the earth and there's going to be generations born and more generations born in the thousand years of repopulating the planet. Now, those mortals, though all believers, will have children who also have a free will and grandchildren and great grandchildren who also have a free will. And they'll have the chance to receive or reject Jesus Christ, and some will receive and some will reject because we read here in our text that we don't have time to go through it today.

There will be a rebellion even at the end of the thousand years. Now, the last couple of days, I know you've been watching some of it yourselves. I've been watching the Olympics.

I love watching the Olympics and the camera angles they have today are like much cooler every time a new Olympics is on, right? Well, I read an interesting little article that said the security in Beijing is so tight. They've installed 300,000 security cameras to cover every inch of Beijing. And the software employed in these 300,000 cameras, they have face recognition software. This is the highest tech security ever. Plus, they have 30,000 police officers, an army roaming the streets, top security. The other night was the opening ceremony.

Did any of you catch that? 90,000 people, 203 nations with their flag. It was beautiful. Now, in the audience, our president, Vladimir Putin, the head of state of Japan, prime ministers from around the world, all of these different politicians who may not agree and may not get together under any circumstance, but there they are together.

It was almost as if it were a little smidgen of the millennium. I mean, I was deceiving myself maybe for a moment and I'm thinking of there's peace and there's unity and there's all these leaders. Of course, that was all shattered by reading the paper the next day when there was a murder that took place of an American by a terrorist and his tour guide was also murdered. So with all of the security personnel, all of the cameras, it didn't exist. There will be peace and security. And how it's all going to work, I don't know. You know, I've got to tell you, my mind sort of goes to a movie that was put out a few years ago, The Minority Report.

Anybody see that? Anybody's carnal as I am, sees movies. So one of the premise is that there's these precogs and they can tell if a violent crime is about to be committed.

They can see sort of the thoughts of people and even before it's committed, they stop it. I don't know what kind of capacities we're all going to have as resurrected beings during that thousand years on Earth, but it must be pretty special because we're going to rule and reign with him, the Bible says, with a rod of iron. It's an iron clad, immediate judicial reign.

Very, very cool. Well, let's look at verse six and finish this off. The fourth and final mark politically during this period is there's a spiritual invincibility. Look at verse six. Blessed and holy is he who has pardoned the first resurrection. Mentioned in verse five also. Over such the second death, that's what happens to unbelievers, has no power.

But they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. If you know Jesus Christ as your savior, you're going to face the first resurrection, the resurrection to life. You will never face ever eternal death. And this is an answer to a question I got a couple of weeks ago and somebody said, so how does it work? Like in the millennium, are we going to be able to like blow it and sin and then then we get banished? No way. You're going to have glorified, resurrected body without the capacity to sin.

Without the capacity to descend. There's no little trial period where, you know what? I gave you those five cities. You really blew it big time. You're out of here.

Not at all. At this point, you're spiritually invincible. You'll never be judged for sin.

You will always be serving him. As Paul wrote, he will save us from the wrath that is to come. So this leaves a question that I have been, well, skirting or putting off for a few weeks.

And here's the question. OK, so with all this perfection on Earth, a thousand years, peace, wow. Why verse seven? Why would God allow verse seven? And when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison. I got to tell you, I'll be honest, I don't like that verse. This is one of the imponderables of scripture.

But I love what Dr. Louis Sperry Schaeffer, who was the dean of Dallas Seminary, once said. If you tell me why God released him the first time, then I'll tell you why God releases him the second time. I think there's good wisdom in that.

It's probably for the same reasons, or at least in part. Now, I'm going to give you an answer. And I've been saying for a couple of weeks, oh, we'll look at that next week. Oh, we'll look at that next week. Well, I've run out of weeks. So I got to give you something and it probably won't be a satisfying answer.

There's a couple of things I can think of. Number one, this is going to demonstrate that even after a thousand years of incarceration, the nature of the devil has not changed. He's still a rebel. He wants to bring people down.

He wants to disgrace God and he will start a rebellion and insurrection. Number two, this is going to demonstrate that the essential nature and character of man doesn't change either. Even in the perfect environment, even in utopia, where all the weapons are banished and turned into agricultural implements, where there's peace and utopia. You know, for years, people have said, well, if you just put a person in the perfect environment, they're going to act perfect.

Well, they're going to have a perfect environment. And yet some will choose to go in this rebellion. The rest of these verses say. Jeremiah was right.

The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. So I have a suggestion. Since it says in verse six, blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Here's my suggestion. Make sure you take part in the first resurrection.

How do I do that? By today, here and now, making a choice to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. Now, there's a little formula that I've used based on this verse.

It goes like this. If you're born once, you'll die twice. If you're born twice, you'll die once.

I'll explain it very simply. If you're only born once and obviously we all have been because here we are living and breathing. But if you're only born once physically, but never reborn spiritually, John Chapter three, you must be born again. You will die twice physically and eternally. It's called the second death. But if you're born twice physically and spiritually, at best, you'll only die once physically. But never a second death, never eternally.

So my firm, strong, loving suggestion is make sure you take place in the first resurrection. So God is going to rule the universe through his son, Jesus Christ. But the Bible seems to indicate that ruling the universe is a family business. He wants to extend that to all of his children who trust in him. Are you in his family? Have you trusted Christ? That's such an important question to answer, isn't it? Have you trusted Christ?

If you can't say you have, then everything we've discussed today loses all priority to answering that question. It's only through trusting in Christ that you can see and experience and be a part of the heavenly kingdom and the thousand year reign of Christ. Now, if you aren't sure what it means to trust Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, or you aren't sure about how to begin doing so, please call us and let us help you explain what all of this means.

Just call 1-800-922-1888 or learn more when you click on the Know God link at connectwithskip.com, where you can also find out more about this month's Connect with Skip offer. What would it look like if God threw a party? Well, the Old Testament shows that the Jewish calendar is anchored with regular, mandatory holidays and celebrations. And the Book of Esther says that God wants his people to experience light and gladness, joy and honor at such times.

Sound like your family celebrations? Listen to this insight from Skip Heitzig about one of our own regular holidays, Valentine's Day. For God so loved. That's the essence of his nature. The Bible says God is love. Boy, that is so simple to say and so hard for some of us to believe. Happiness, Holiness and Holidays is a four DVD collection of celebration messages from Pastor Skip, messages that could be a game changer for your family. Take holidays from toxic stress to celebrations of light and joy.

Here's a sample. You are loved by God, not because you deserve it, but because, just because. That is his nature.

It is his decision. Imagine that foundation for the next holiday on your family calendar. This selection of some of Pastor Skip's holiday teachings is our thanks when you give $25 or more to help connect more people to God's word. Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy of Happiness, Holiness and Holidays with Skip Heitzig. And if you'd like a copy of today's teaching, Heaven on Earth When Politics are Perfect, it's available on CD for just $6 plus shipping. Or you can order the entire series From the Edge of Eternity for only $39 plus shipping. Call now, 1-800-922-1888 to order a copy for yourself or someone you know.

You can also order online at connectwithskip.com. And come back next time when we're going to learn some more surprising things about Heaven. That's next time here in Connect with Skip Weekend Edition, a presentation of Connection Communications. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection, connection. Connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.