A Thousand Years of Peace - Part B

It's what we've been waiting for. It's what God's people have been speaking about and praying for and yearning for. It's what all the Jewish people throughout their history have been longing for. It's what Jesus said to pray for. Now think of the words of the Our Father. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That has never been answered yet like it will be when the millennial kingdom is actually here. Today on Connect with Skip Hyten, Pastor Skip concludes his message, A Thousand Years of Peace, about the time we're all waiting and praying for it, God's kingdom come.

Now here's more about this month's resource to help you gain a clear view of the current situation and the future faced by Israel. How have conflicts and wars in the Middle East set the stage for a future apocalypse? That's the question Ron Rhodes takes head on in his new book.

Listen to this. What do you see coming in the next five or six years that might do injury to the church? And without hesitation, I said I really feel like we're going to see an explosion of subjectivism, experientialism, and mysticism along with occultism and some paganism. How conflicts and wars in the Middle East have set the stage for the end times. This new book by Ron Rhodes addresses issues such as understanding Islam, rebuilding the temple, and the annihilation campaign from the Antichrist.

Here's Ron Rhodes commenting on Middle East events. Did you know that in Revelation 2 and 3 we read about the church 19 times and then in the discussion on the tribulation in chapters 4 through 18 you don't see the church a single time. It is gone. In 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 10 we are told that the church is to be delivered from the wrath to come. That word delivered literally means snatched, snatched away from.

We are to be snatched away from the wrath to come, which is a reference to the tribulation period. With your gift of $50 or more to connect with Skip Heitzig, you'll receive a copy of this new book from Ron Rhodes. Your gift will support the production and expansion of the Connect with Skip broadcast. Call 1-800-922-1888 or go online to connectwithskip.com with your donation and we'll thank you with a copy of Ron Rhodes' new book, How Conflicts and Wars in the Middle East have set the stage for the end times.

That's 1-800-922-1888 or connectwithskip.com. Okay, we're going to be in Revelation 20 as we join Skip today. When Satan fell, demons fell with him or angels fell with him, became demons. Of the total amount of the angels that existed in heaven, we don't exactly know how many that is, but when that happened, how many angels fell with Satan? One-third. Which means how many are left? Two-thirds. So Satan and his demons are outnumbered right now, two to one.

So there's really no need to go, I'm so afraid, the devil and the demons. Wait, they're outnumbered two to one. And the angels that outnumber them are there for your benefit. Did you know that? In Hebrews chapter 1, it says, are they not all ministering spirits set forth to minister to those who inherit salvation? That's all good news.

So anyway, back to the text. This angel, whomever it is, comes down from heaven having a very specific itinerary, and that is to pursue, seize, and incarcerate Satan. Notice he has the key to the bottomless pit. A key designates authority.

If you have the key, you control the door. This has got to be a great moment for the angel. If it's Michael, again, I'm thinking he's just like chomping at the bit.

Just say the word. I want to get that rascal and I want to lock him up. You know, it's like when a police officer gets to arrest a notorious criminal. It's like he gets to be or she gets to be the one to put the cuffs on the guy. So back in the 1920s, Al Capone had a group of thugs called the Untouchables because they were untouchable.

Nobody could catch them. But in 1929, they were caught and a police officer named Elliot Ness had the privilege of taking handcuffs and cuffing Al Capone. Those handcuffs have become famous.

They're on display somewhere, like in a museum. So this has got to be a really great moment. This is the day of Satan's humbling because Satan always wanted to be on the top of the heap. In Isaiah 14, Satan said, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will be like the Most High. Well, God had a word for him. God's reply is, you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest sides of the pit. This is that day. This is that day.

He is being incarcerated in the bottomless pit. So this is one of those ding-dong, the witch is dead moments. This is a hallelujah moment. So Satan is bound. Now, just a note to my amillennialist friends who say, well, the kingdom is right now. There is no literal kingdom. It's a spiritual kingdom. He is ruling and reigning right now in the church and over his people, over the hearts of his people. Well, if this is the kingdom, that means Satan is bound.

Hmm. Have you read the newspaper lately? Have you looked around at the world? Does it seem to you like Satan is bound? Because if this is bound, it's not a very good binding.

It's sort of a useless binding. If Satan is bound, then we have big problems. Well, they'll say to that, well, what we mean by that is Satan was bound at the cross.

No, he wasn't. Satan wasn't bound at the cross. He was sentenced at the cross, but he doesn't serve time till now.

The thousand-year millennial kingdom is when he serves time for a thousand years. If Satan is bound now, then why, in Acts chapter 5, does Peter say to Ananias, Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? If Satan is bound, why in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 are we told Satan has blinded the minds of those who do not believe? If Satan is bound, why does Peter in 1 Peter chapter 5 say Satan is like a roaring lion roaming around seeking whom he may devour? If Satan is bound, why does Paul in 1 Thessalonians 2 say to the Thessalonians, I wanted to come to you, but I was hindered by Satan? If Satan is bound, why in 2 Corinthians 11 does Satan transform himself into an angel of light? And if Satan is bound, why does John in 1 John chapter 5 say we are of God, little children, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one? That's bound? That's a very useless binding.

He is not bound, and he won't be bound till Revelation chapter 20 becomes a reality. So can you imagine with the devil gone, what a world it will be? That just solves a lot of problems. Not all the problems, but a lot of problems.

We'll talk more about the potential problems next time. But we have a real kingdom. We have a restrained devil, Satan, con man. Number three, I want to talk about a restored creation, restored creation. Now we're talking about a literal kingdom on the earth that part of the eternal future includes the earth. So it means if you die when you die, if you die, if the Lord comes back and you get raptured, you won't die.

But other than that, you're all going to kick the bucket along with me. When you die, you're going to go to heaven, but you have a return ticket. At some point, you're going to come back to this earth, the earth, but a very, very different kind of earth. Look at verse three for a moment. Satan was cast into the bottomless pit and shut him up, set a seal on him that he should deceive the, notice the word, nations.

These are literal peoples of geographical places on the earth. We read about them throughout the book of Revelation. And then go down to verse seven. Verse seven, when the thousand years expired, Satan will be released from his prison, will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth. This is all taking place on the earth. Now, once Satan is bound, the scriptures predict that there's going to be this renovated, restored, rejuvenated, renewed earth. And the renovation process has already begun well into and through the tribulation period.

If you know that and you remember that, during the tribulation, all sorts of cataclysmic changes take place, the skies collapse, the earth is in upheaval, the fresh water, the seas are all disturbed, things are falling out of heaven, the earth is in convulsions, it's morphing. Then Jesus returns and he returns to what mountain? The Mount of Olives. When he hits the Mount of Olives, what happens to the Mount of Olives?

It splits in two, from east to west. And the Bible says a very large valley is created. In Ezekiel 47, it says that flowing into that valley is a river from the throne of God in Jerusalem. Part of it goes down to the Mediterranean Sea, part of it goes down to the Dead Sea, and when it goes down to the Dead Sea, it doesn't stay dead. It comes alive so that it's teeming with sea life in the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea today is toxic.

It has 25% saline along with other minerals, so there's nothing really living in it. But it will be healed. So that happens when Jesus returns. So let me list to you several things that will take place that speak of a restored creation.

Again, I'm just giving you a sampling. Number one, the Holy Land will be holy. We love you to come to Israel. We already have 307 people signed up to go next year.

We'd love to take you along. But if you're looking for the Holy Land, you're going to have to wait for the millennium. You'll see the nation of Israel. You'll see it in its historic and modern context. But the Millennial Kingdom will have a Holy Land that is holy.

What do I mean? Jesus is there. He's ruling and reigning in Jerusalem. Israel will have enlarged borders. Genesis 15 promises of those borders to them.

Ezekiel 47 gives those boundaries. It will include Lebanon, Syria, parts of Jordan, Iraq, and Sinai will all be the nation of Israel. The Holy Land will be holy, number one. Number two, the Animal Kingdom will be tamed. The curse will be removed. The curse will be removed.

A creation will be freed. Isaiah chapter 11 verses 6 through 8, in that day the wolf and the lamb will live together. The leopard and the goat will be at peace. Calves and yearlings will be safe among lions, and a little child will lead them all. The cattle will graze among the bears.

Cubs and calves will lie down together, and lions will eat grass as the livestock do. Babies will crawl safely among poisonous snakes. Yes, a little child will put its hand into a nest of deadly snakes and pull it out unharmed.

That's a removed curse. Parents will be able to say to their little kids, go outside and play with the snakes. It's perfectly safe.

It wouldn't be a mean thing to say. You know, today you have to go to the zoo to enjoy wild animals. They have to be in enclosures, and we all read stories about what happens when some child or some person gets on the wrong side of that fence. I was in Kenya, in Africa, years ago, and we were in a in a vehicle, and we came up to a group of lions, and as we got up pretty close to it, I rolled my window down to take my camera out and take pictures. I was sort of leaning out, and the guide in the front heard the window go down and just said very calmly, I wouldn't roll your window down if I were you. That lion will tear your face off before you can count to five. So I quietly rolled my window back up because I realized, okay, I'm not in the millennium.

I got to remember that, but one day that'll be fine. Third, the biosphere on earth will be lush. There's going to be changes globally in the ecological system, the hydrological system. The conditions will be like Eden before the fall.

Isaiah 35 says, now this is good news, especially for us in Albuquerque, even the wilderness will rejoice in those days. The desert will blossom with flowers. The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel's pastures and the plain of Sharon. Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the desert. The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land. Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived. Can you imagine what Albuquerque will look like? It's going to look like Ireland.

The west side will look like Oregon, just lush green. Number four, people will live long. There'll be longevity. Now I'm going to throw something out at you, and it'll just sort of linger there till next week where I'll explain this, but there's going to be two types of people in the millennium. There's going to be living people who get into the millennium through the tribulation. There are going to be saved Jews and Gentiles in normal bodies, and they'll be able to reproduce, but there'll also be people like us who, when we get raptured or when we die, get glorified bodies and win that at the rapture of the church and come back to the earth with glorified bodies, intermingling with those who have normal bodies.

So just that's a thought that's really easy to explain, but I'm not going to do it till next time. I've got to give you something to look forward to. But people are going to live long. Isaiah 65 says, Never again will there be an infant who lives a few days or an old man who does not live out his years. He who dies at a hundred will be thought to be a mere youth. You may recall reading the book of Genesis that before the flood, there's these crazy numbers the Bible ascribes to people living at that time, like Jared lived 952 years, Methuselah lived 969 years, and some who study this believe scientists who are believers talk about a pre-flood antediluvian vapor canopy that probably enshrouded the earth at that time and may be instilled in the millennial kingdom. That would keep out the deadly rays of the sun that promote aging.

That's for another study. Number five, disabilities will be absent. Disabilities will be absent. Isaiah 35 verse 5 says, He will open the eyes of the blind and unstop the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer. Those who cannot speak will shout and sing.

Now, that's one of many promises like it in the Old Testament that speak of this coming age of Messiah. So, it'll be a time of perpetual health. No aches, no pains, no need for doctors or nurses, no HMOs, no PPOs, no Advil.

These are people with chronic pain. I'm among them. I can say that as well. And number six, the world will be at peace. There will be no war during the millennium. War has always been the scourge of history. If you're to look back at recorded history, it's figured that only 8%, 8% has been a time of peace in our entire world history.

That of the 3,400 years of recorded history, only 268 have been peaceful without active conflict. Remember what it says in Revelation 19. He, Christ, will rule them with a rod of iron.

It's going to be an enforced peace, enforced because of some reasons we'll talk about next time. But Isaiah chapter 2 verse 4, one of the famous passages, He will judge between the nations and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

That is one of the famous passages in the Bible. In fact, that passage is inscribed on the United Nations building in New York City as if the United Nations saying, this is our task. If that's their task, they have failed miserably in the history that they have been together.

In fact, it's an impossible task. It'll never happen until Jesus comes, Messiah reigns, and brings in the millennial king. Then there will be a time of peace. So we have six things that speak of a restored creation, but because we're talking about the millennium, I didn't want to leave it at six. You know, I wanted to have a seventh. So here's the last one. You'll be there. You'll be there.

This is probably the best, most personal part. If you're a redeemed person, a child of God, a true believer, you'll be there because in Revelation 19, the armies of heaven come with Him. And we just learned last week, you're part of those armies that will come with Christ. So you don't just have a one-way ticket to heaven.

You have a return ticket. You die today, you'll go to heaven. I hope you don't die today, but if you do, you'll go to heaven. If you're a believer, we'll do your funeral. You'll be in heaven.

You'll be happy. But then you're coming back, and for a thousand years, yes, on this earth, though it's going to look very different, it'll be a thousand-year kingdom of Christ on a literal earth. That's the golden age. It's what we've been waiting for. It's what God's people have been speaking about and praying for and yearning for. It's what all the Jewish people throughout their history have been longing for. It's what Jesus said to pray for. Now think of the words of the Our Father. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That has never been answered yet, like it will be when the millennial kingdom is actually here.

Then it will. And when it comes, you won't be crying for the big bad wolf. Nobody will be crying for the big bad wolf because there'll be no more demonic, pagan values or moral weirdness. There'll be clear-cut, this is righteous, this is not, and Jesus and His people will enforce it.

Now, I'll leave you with one thought. It's what Jesus told His disciples, and they're for us. He said, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. The coming kingdom of Christ isn't just reality, it should be a motivation.

It should be a place where we fix our eyes on the horizon, lift up our head above the muck and the mire of this age, and realize that's where the world is heading, and it's something I'm going to seek. I'm going to seek the kingdom in my life. I'm going to seek His rule and kingship over my family, in my neighborhood, in my city.

I'm not going to disengage and say the city's corrupt. I'm going to stay and implant God's righteous values while I can, while I have breath, and I'm not going to seek my kingdom but His kingdom. See, the problem I think happens when we get all squirrelly about which kingdom we're a part of. You know, we say, well, I want to make sure that I'm comfortable and it's about me and my status and my education and look at my selfies and my social media and how many followers I have. Seek first the kingdom and His righteousness, and God says, I'll give you, I'll add to you everything else you need in life. That concludes Skip Heitzig's message. From the series The End is Near, find the full message, as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Thank you for joining us today.

We share these messages to help you connect to God through His Word and grow in your relationship with Him through intentional study of scripture. And when you give to support this ministry, you keep these teachings you love available to you and so many others around the world so they too can grow and connect with God. Just call 800-922-1888 to give a gift today. That's 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate.

That's connectwithskip.com slash donate. Thank you. And be sure you listen tomorrow as Skip begins his message, The Perfect Government, and reveals that what awaits you in eternity may be very different than you think. Your future does not include you sitting on a cloud playing a harp to Gregorian chants. I hope you know God has a much cooler and multifaceted future ahead for you, but people get this weird mistaken notion that that's what heaven is going to be like.

Actually, we discover by studying the scriptures that there are several stages to your future, and one of those stages includes a thousand years on a restored, rejuvenated earth. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast all burdens on His Word. Make a connection. A connection. Connect with Skip Hyten is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.