Heaven On Earth – Part 2

Hey, podcast listeners! Thanks for streaming today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes.

Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory, Satan has tried to deceive the world with this thought.

Life, apart from God, is both possible and it's really preferable. But the Bible says there's coming a period in history when Satan is going to be bound for 1000 years, and this world is going to get to see what life on earth would be like if everyone submitted to the will and the word. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress.

After the battle of Armageddon, some people assume that our planet will be destroyed immediately. But the Bible describes a thousand-year period when Jesus will reign over a renovated earth. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress describes what the millennium will be like and why Christ needs to rule for a thousand years. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message. Dr. Jeffress.

Dr. Robert Jeffress Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Life is full of surprises, isn't it? In fact, it's impossible to know what the next 24 hours will look like in our lives, let alone the next 24 years. Well, gratefully, God has given us a sneak preview of the future. In fact, the Bible contains revealing information about what we often call the end times, and it's important for Christians to become students of biblical prophecy. So, to help you understand God's plan for the future, I've written a book for you.

It's called Perfect Ending, Why Your Eternal Future Matters Today. If you feel a bit lost when your pastor talks about the future events in the Bible, you're not alone. In my book, I'll help you gain a grasp on key prophecies and, equally important, how these predictions should impact your life in the here and now.

Plus, I've set aside two other resources for you. First, The End Times Illustrated. This is a substantial book containing 18 infographics that are designed to help you better understand the Bible's essential teachings on prophecy. And next, my popular Bible Prophecy Chart, which is a multi-folded brochure that you can tuck into your Bible for quick reference.

All three items, my book, Perfect Ending, The End Times Illustrated, and The Bible Prophecy Chart are yours when you give a generous gift this month to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. I'll say more about these resources later, but right now, let's pick up our study on the end times we're calling Perfect Ending. Take your Bibles and turn to Revelation chapter 20 as we look further into the subject of the millennium, a time that will truly be heaven on earth.

Why is it God doesn't create a world where peace and freedom from conflict and perfect righteousness reign? The Bible says that one day, Jesus Christ is coming back to this world and he is going to establish a new world order in which peace and justice and righteousness reign. And it's that period of time when Christ comes back and establishes that brand new world order that he promised that is the focus of our study today. It's a period of time we call in Bible prophecy the millennium. A millennium is a thousand years.

And when we come to Bible prophecy, jot down this definition, the millennium is the thousand year period of time during which Christ will reign on the earth, fulfilling God's promises to Abraham and his believing descendants. Now, some people will say that all of these prophecies made to Israel were already fulfilled. That is, when the Jews returned from Babylon in 538 BC after 70 years in exile, these promises of inheriting the land and spiritual revival, they were fulfilled at that point.

But anyone who knows history knows that wasn't true. First of all, when Israel came back to occupy the land, they didn't occupy all of the land and they didn't dwell there safely as God had promised that they would dwell safely. The Bible says that Israel has never occupied all of the land that God has promised.

In fact, in 70 AD, they were dispersed once again for 2,000 years. So that promise was not fulfilled when Israel returned back from the exile. And this idea of a worldwide revival where everybody knows the Lord, you know of a time in history when that's been true? It certainly wasn't true for the Jews.

There was a momentary revival that occurred for a little while, but just like that, the Jews slipped back into apostasy. There has never been a time when these prophecies of the Old Testament had been fulfilled. Well, other people say, well, okay, they're not going to be fulfilled here on earth, but the Amillennialists will say, well, they're going to be fulfilled in heaven. All of these Old Testament prophecies about the perfect world order, justice and righteousness and freedom from sin, that's a reference to heaven.

But that doesn't work either. If you turn over to Isaiah 65, verses 19 to 21, these words we've looked at before, they're prophecies about the kingdom of God. Isaiah 65, 19, I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people, and there will no longer be heard in her voice the weeping and sound of crying. No longer, verse 20, will there be an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days? For the youth will not die at the age of 100, and the one who does not reach the age of 100 shall be thought to be accursed.

Isaiah was looking forward to a period of time when no babies, no infants would ever die. He would also look forward to a time when people would live to be at least 100. If they didn't live to be 100, they were thought to be accursed. People will die after the age of 100.

So what period of time is he talking about? The amillennialist says, well, this refers to heaven. Well, that doesn't work because there's no death in heaven. It's not that people live to be 100 or 200 or 1,000, they live forever and ever. Revelation 21, 4, there shall no longer be any death or mourning or crying or pain, for the first things will have passed away. So if Isaiah isn't talking about a period of time in which we're living now, because we see babies dying all the time and people dying well before 100, and if he's not talking about heaven when there is no such thing as death, what period of time is he talking about?

He's talking about the millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. The coming kingdom of God was also preached throughout the New Testament as well. Remember the message of John the Baptist in Matthew 4.17?

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In Matthew 10.7, Jesus said to his disciples, as you go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. When Jesus came, to get this, when Jesus came the first time on earth, he offered to set up his kingdom on earth. Had the Jews received him and acknowledged him as Messiah, his kingdom could have begun at that time.

He said, well, now, wait a minute. If they had accepted him instead of rejected him, that would have meant no crucifixion. And if there was no crucifixion, there would have been no salvation.

Exactly. The theme of Scripture in Romans 11 is God used Israel's rejection of Messiah to bring about our salvation. They rejected the kingdom of God when Christ came the first time. They rejected the idea of having Messiah rule over us.

We will not have this man rule over us, remember? They rejected the kingdom of God, God's perfect rule over the earth. But the fact that the kingdom was rejected does not mean it has been forfeited. The kingdom of God has simply been postponed. There is a time coming when Christ is going to rule over this world. By the way, here would be a good point to clarify what we mean about the kingdom of God. What does that mean?

We talk about it all the time. What is the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven? A king's kingdom is that territory over which a king, a monarch, rules without any opposition. A king's kingdom is where what the king wants done gets done. That's a king's kingdom.

It is his real estate over which he rules. So when we talk about the kingdom of God, what are we talking about? We're talking about that area over which God's will is perfectly done, where God faces no opposition, where what God wants done gets done. So where is that? Well, we all know in one sense God is sovereign over all the universe. We understand that. But in a practical sense, there is only one small corner of this universe where God's will is not being done.

It's a little speck. It's a little dirt ball called Planet Earth. And right now, on Planet Earth, there is a opposition to God's will. We see it every day, don't we? People who are defying God. But that opposition to God's will is only temporary. One day, God is going to subjugate all of those who oppose him. And one day, God's will will be done on earth as it is now being done in heaven. And that time when God's perfect will is done is called the millennium.

Just think, just think. What would this world be like if everyone, as Jeremiah prophesied, knew the Lord? What would this world be like if everybody obeyed God's rules?

No murder, no theft, no adultery, no divorce. It would truly be heaven on earth, wouldn't it, if everyone had a knowledge of God, if everyone reverenced God. There is a time coming when that's going to happen. The kingdom of God has not been canceled.

It's only been postponed for a little while. But here's the great news. Even though the kingdom of God is still future, there is a sense in which you and I can experience the benefits of the kingdom right now. In Matthew 13, Jesus told a series of parables to illustrate how the kingdom of God is at work right now in the hearts of individual believers. Even though the world as a whole is not submitting to the will of God, the Bible says, when you and I submit to God's will, we experience the kingdom in our life. I mean, to the extent, listen to this, to the extent that you obey God, you can experience all the benefits of the kingdom. You can have peace, you can have contentment, you can have power over sin, you can have strength over addictions. All of those benefits that come to the world when they one day will obey God can be yours right now when you submit to the kingdom rule of God over your life. God's kingdom is as big as you are right now. It involves that area of your life where you submit to God, where what God wants done in your life gets done in your life.

The kingdom of God is something we can experience now, but it's something one day the entire world is going to experience as well. We have a good illustration of that over in Acts chapter 1. I want you to turn to Acts chapter 1 for a moment. Obviously, Jesus' apostles were clearly expecting a literal kingdom on earth.

Remember the study for Acts 1? They're on the Mount of Olives. Jesus has already died. He's been resurrected.

He spent 40 days on the earth. He's about to ascend into heaven. And in Acts 1, 6, the disciples say, Lord, haven't you forgotten something? Look at this, verse 6. So when they had come together, they were asking the Lord, saying, Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the what? Kingdom to Israel. Now, I want you to stop here and think for a moment how Jesus could have corrected their thinking had their understanding of the millennium been faulty.

If, in fact, there were no real millennium, no real kingdom coming, it was only a spiritual kingdom. I'll illustrate it for you this way. Let's suppose for the last three weeks I've been promising Amy that I'm going to repair a leaky faucet in the kitchen.

Again, use your imagination. I have been promising that I'm going to fix this leaky faucet. And every day, Amy asks me, now, are you going to do this? Well, yeah, I'm going to do it. I'm going to get around to it.

And so after about three weeks, one day I've got my bags. I'm getting ready to leave to go out of town. And she says, Robert, aren't you going to fix the leaky faucet? After all, you promised you would.

Imagine I said to Amy, oh, Amy, I was just speaking figuratively. I didn't mean I was actually going to repair this faucet. How do you think that would go over with her? I mean, the fact is I've been very clear that I was going to fix this faucet. And here I'm getting ready to leave town.

She has every right to ask, aren't you going to fulfill your promise to me? Now, that's exactly what the disciples were saying to Jesus. For three years, Jesus had been preaching the kingdom of God, that he was going to fix this broken world. And now here is Jesus getting ready to take the ultimate out of town trip to go back into heaven. And his disciples say to him, Lord, wait a minute.

Didn't you forget something? Aren't you going to restore the kingdom like you promised? But listen, had the disciples misunderstood the kingdom, if they had made it a physical, literal kingdom, when in fact God simply meant a spiritual kingdom, wouldn't that have been a great time for Jesus to clarify the wrong thinking?

Wouldn't that have been a great time for Jesus to say, boys, you got it all wrong. You misunderstood these last three years. I didn't mean I was going to fix this broken world. That's not what I was talking about.

I was speaking spiritually, figuratively. But he didn't do that, did he? In verse 7, he didn't correct their thinking. He simply said, it is not for you to know the time or the ethics that these things are to take place in. He said, it's not that you don't understand the nature of the kingdom.

You just don't understand the timing of it. The disciples, Jesus, taught that there was a kingdom coming. Revelation 11, verse 15.

We talked about it last week. John looked forward to that day when he said, and I heard the seventh angel sounded, and a loud voice arose, saying, the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. Now you say, well, Pastor, this is all interesting, but so what?

What difference does this make to me? What do I really need to know about the kingdom of God? In these last few minutes, I want you to write down four things that every Christian needs to understand about the millennium. Number one, only Christians will enter into the millennium. Only Christians will enter into the millennium. At the end of the tribulation, there will be many people who became Christians in the tribulation who will be martyred. Likewise, there will be many non-Christians who will be killed because of the natural disasters, but there will be both Christians and non-Christians who survive and are alive when Christ returns at the second coming. And when Christ returns at the second coming, there will be a judgment to separate the believers from the unbelievers because only believers will be invited to be a part of the millennial reign of Christ. Now I want you to turn over to Matthew 24. I'm going to show you something that's going to blow your mind because it's going to correct something that you have probably misunderstood for many years. People have challenged me. I've waited till today to answer this question.

They said, no, wait a minute. You said Jesus never mentioned the rapture. What about Matthew 24?

Two are grinding at the mill. One is taken, one's left behind, and so forth. Two in the field, one taken, one left behind. Look at Matthew chapter 24. Remember Matthew 24 and 25 outline the end times.

Jesus begins by describing the tribulation in verses 1 to 28, and then he describes his second coming in verses 29 to 31. Now look at verses 36 to 42. But of that day and of that hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor his son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.

For in those days which were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and, and underline this, took them all away. So shall the coming of the Son of Man be. Then there will be two men in the field, one will be, underline it, taken, and one will be left.

Two women will be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one will be left. Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. Now where is the one taken who is taken from the field? It's not that he's taken to heaven, he's taken into judgment. The same word, the flood came in verse 39, and took them all away, that same word is used to describe that person who is in the field who is taken away. The person grinding at the mill who is taken away is taken away into everlasting judgment. The one who is left is the one who is left to enter into the kingdom of God on earth, the millennium. You see, remember the context, the tribulation has already occurred. Christ is coming back at the second coming. These are the judgments that will occur. You know, people say, well I always thought that was about the rapture.

You know why you think that? There is a song written back in the 70s. I think it was Larry Norman, I wish we'd all been ready. Two men in the fields, one taken, one left behind, I wish we'd all been ready. Remember that?

See the guitar strumming there, and the long hair and all that singing that. That's a great song, but lousy theology. Because it's not talking about the rapture, this is talking about the second coming. When Christ returns, there's going to be a judgment, just like the flood came as a judgment. The one that is taken is swept away into judgment. The one who is left is left to enter into the kingdom of God. Matthew 25, we don't have time to look at it, verses 31 to 34, verse 41 talks about the judgment of the sheep and the goats, believers and unbelievers at the second coming. Number two, Christians will rule with Christ during the millennium.

The Bible says the 12 apostles will be delegated some authority, some will be given to Christians who were martyred during the tribulation, Revelation 24, and some authority will be given to you and to me, 2 Timothy 2.12. We'll talk about that more when we talk about the judgment seat of Christ. Number three, Jerusalem will be the center of the millennial kingdom. Over and over again, the Old Testament prophet said Jerusalem, the real city of Jerusalem will be the center from which Messiah will rule. And even though the city is going to go through some great topological changes at the second coming, it's going to enjoy enhanced fertility, it is going to be Jerusalem from where Messiah rules.

And I believe, ladies and gentlemen, that explains a lot of the conflict that is going on right now in the Middle East. Jerusalem is ground zero for the battle in the Middle East. Who's going to control Jerusalem? The Muslims want it.

They have a portion of it right now, which is really fascinating when you look at history. You know, for 3,500 years, God's people have been the ones, the Israelites, who have maintained a presence in Israel. Since 1852, Jews have been the majority of residents in Jerusalem, yet the Muslims want it. Now why I find that interesting is, did you know the Koran does not mention Jerusalem one time? There is not one mention of Jerusalem in the Koran.

And yet you find 667 mentions of Jerusalem in the Old Testament, you find 144 references to it in the New Testament, Jerusalem belongs to the Jews. And because of that, it is going to be, I believe, maybe the catalyst that sparks the great war of Armageddon, the control over Jerusalem. Number four, Satan will be temporarily bound during the millennium. He will be bound. Remember in Revelation 20 verses one through three, John says, I saw the angel coming down, having the key of the abyss and a great chain, and he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and he bound him for a thousand years and threw him into the abyss. Verse three, and he shut it and he sealed it over him so that he should not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were completed.

After these things, he must be released for a short time. Since the beginning of history, Satan has tried to deceive the world with this thought. Life apart from God is both possible and it's really preferable. And because of that, people have followed that lie and created the world in which we live today. But the Bible says there's coming a period in history when Satan will not be thrown into the lake of fire, that comes later, but he's going to be bound for a thousand years and this world is going to get to see what life on earth would be like if everyone submitted to the will and the word of God.

But then notice something interesting. Verse three, it says after that time, Satan is going to be released for a little while longer. And if you read further, you'll find that he's actually going to deceive some people into following him. Is it possible that you and I, after becoming Christians, after having made it this far, having gone through the millennium, that at the last moment we could be deceived and make an irreversible mistake and follow Satan and be lost forever? And if it's not possible that that would happen to us, who is it that is going to be deceived by Satan in these last days before the earth is destroyed?

We're going to look at that next time. It's possible you're listening to today's message thinking, Dr. Jeffress, this Bible prophecy stuff is all good and interesting, don't get me wrong. But honestly, I find all the mysterious details quite confusing. Well, that's one of the main reasons I wrote my book, Perfect Ending, Why Your Eternal Future Matters Today. This is a practical book that's written in a style that anyone can follow, with details on key events on God's timeline and a clear explanation of why these events should make a difference in your life today. My book, Perfect Ending, is yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

But time is running short. This special offer, including the other resources David will describe in a moment, concludes soon. First, let me share an encouraging word from one of your fellow listeners, because God is working through your generosity. Recently, I heard from Gregory, who listens in Arizona. He said, Pastor Jeffress, in recent years, I chose to run away from God. My niece pointed me to your Bible teaching, and I was completely convicted about the state of my relationship with God. Once again, he has reached out and touched me and set my feet on a path back home to him.

Well, we rejoice with you, Gregory. And to those of you who give to Pathway to Victory, either with your one-time gifts or your monthly giving as one of our Pathway partners, your investment in this ministry allows us to touch lives all over the world through radio and television and the many books and resources we offer. Please keep up the good work, David.

Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, or when you become a Pathway partner, you're invited to request Dr. Jeffress's best-selling book called Perfect Ending. And when you do, you'll also receive the companion book called The End Times Illustrated, a panorama of Bible prophecy from Genesis to Revelation. Here's our toll-free number, 866-999-2965, or make your donation online at ptv.org. And when you give $75 or more, you'll also receive the entire Perfect Ending teaching series on both CD and DVD.

This in-depth study includes all the messages being featured this month in their original full-length form, and it's perfect for a small group leader or for your own personal Bible study. To ask for your copy, simply call 866-999-2965, or go to our website, ptv.org. You know, you're always welcome to write to us. Here's the mailing address, P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.

Again, that's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins inviting you to join us again next time for a message titled Final Judgment. That's Thursday here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway partner, go to ptv.org slash donate, or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.