Mm. Imagine what our world will be like with no pain. No sorrow. No illness. Only a joy so deep and pure we can't imagine it.
Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah takes us on a tour of that world. Our earth as it will exist after Jesus establishes his kingdom during the millennium. Continuing the series Escape the Coming Night. Here's David with the conclusion of The Thousand Year Reign of Christ.
And thank you for joining us today. I'm so happy to have you as a part of the. Classroom as we open our Bibles to the book of Revelation again. And today we're going to finish up our discussion of the thousand-year reign of Christ. From Revelation chapter 20, we're in study guide number four, coming to the conclusion of this extended study of the last book of the Bible.
I hope you're being encouraged and that understanding is coming as you follow along each day. I want to remind you that the study materials for this whole series are available from Turning Point. Just go to DavidJeremiah.org. You'll see we have a full-length contemporary commentary on the book of Revelation called Escape the Coming Night. And there are four separate study guides that take you verse by verse.
From chapter 1, verse 1, all the way through to the end of the book. And of course, you can get all of the C D's that replicate what we've been doing on the radio as I've been teaching it. All of the audio teaching is available as well. If you're really serious about studying this and want to get into the depth of it, this is a good way to get started. It will open your eyes to a lot of truth and help you really put your arms around the book of Revelation.
We also want to remind you, if you haven't done so already, to send a gift to Turning Point during the month of July, because when you do that, you help us, you encourage us, you underwrite what we're trying to do around the world. And when you do that, we will send you a copy of the book Vanished, a brand new fiction book that just came out July 1st. Sam O'Neill, a friend and partner of mine, and I have written this book. To get your attention about end times, I think you'll enjoy reading it. It's a page turner, and I believe it will capture your thoughts and heart and bring you to a good place.
So, ask for your copy when you send your gift today. Here's part two of the thousand-year reign of Christ. The kingdom is necessary not only to Reward the people of God. The kingdom is necessary to respond to the disciples' prayer. Have you ever thought of that?
In Luke 11 and in Matthew 6, we are told that the disciples are to pray, that we have as our pattern of prayer, one of the guidelines was this: Thy kingdom come. Has the kingdom of God come? No, it has not. In our hearts is Christ the king, but that is not what the prayer is all about. The prayer is that the kingdom of God might come.
And the kingdom of God will come someday in that future period that we're talking about. And one of the reasons it must come is in order that it might be a response to every single person who even unknowingly has prayed the Lord's Prayer and in the Lord's Prayer had prayed, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. That prayer can never be answered completely until Jesus Christ begins to reign on this earth. The third reason why we must have a millennium is in order to redeem creation. In Genesis 3, God cursed nature.
Because of Adam's sin. And from that point on, man's paradise became a wilderness. The roses contain thorns. The tigers became hungry meat eaters. But during the millennium, all of this is going to change.
Paul describes the transformation In his epistle to the Romans, which I have chosen to read from the living Bible paraphrase, listen carefully. For all creation is waiting patiently and hopefully for that future day when God will resurrect his children. For on that day, thorns and thistles, sin, death, and decay, the things that overcame the world against its will at God's command will all disappear, and the world around us will share in the glorious freedom from sin which God's children enjoy. For we know that even the things of nature, like animals and plants, suffer in sickness and death as they await for this great event. All the world is groaning.
For Eden Recreated. And one of these days, the curse will be lifted, and when Christ comes to rule and reign on this earth, we will go back to life as it was before the curse in Genesis 3. Then I would like to suggest to you one Perhaps remote reason for the millennium that I thought of that perhaps will cause you to understand again the sovereign purposes of God. We need the millennium, and there will be a millennium to re-emphasize man's depravity. You say, now, wait a minute, Pastor, I thought that was a period of holiness and righteousness and purity.
But let me show you something that perhaps you haven't thought through regarding God's sovereign control over this universe and the way things are from the beginning of time.
Some of you know that there is a way of studying the scripture called dispensationalism, which looks at periods of time in the history of the Word of God. And there are seven of them. The first age was the age of innocence. And how did it end? It ended in willful disobedience.
The second dispensation was the dispensation of conscience. It ended with universal corruption. The third dispensation was human government. It ended with devil worshiping at the Tower of Babel. The next dispensation was the Age of Promise, and it ended with God's people out of the Promised Land enslaved in Egypt.
The next dispensation was the age of the law, and it ended with the creature killing the Creator, Matthew 27. The next age was the age of the church, and it will end in worldwide apostasy, 1 Timothy 4. The next age is the age of the tribulation, and it will end with the battle of Armageddon, Revelation 19. And the final age is the age of the millennium, and it will end with an attempt to destroy God Himself, according to the very chapter that we're reading. What does that say about man left to himself?
He is absolutely, totally, inwardly corrupt. There is no hope for man apart from the intervention of God. And even the millennium is an illustration of a perfect period of time for 1,000 years. And I know some of you are saying, well, if nobody goes into the millennium who's not saved, how does sin get into the millennium?
Well, these people who go in who are saved are going to have children. In fact, they're going to have a lot of children, and these children are going to grow up, and many of them are not going to embrace the faith. In this perfect age, under the rulership of a king who makes no mistakes, they will still inwardly, in their own hearts, rebel and do their own thing, and sin will enter into the millennial period, even though it will be kept under absolute control by the king. And at the end of that period, Satan will be loosed for a little season, and there will be enough ungodly people on this earth to follow him in his final revolt. What does that say to you about man?
I never read this and study it, but I'm overwhelmed at how the scripture teaches us our incapability apart from the intervention of God in our own lives. We should not be surprised at the things that happen in our world when we understand the true nature of man.
Well, I want to ask one other question very quickly, and that is: I'd like to excite you about this future time by asking the question: what are the characteristics of the millennium? What is it going to be like? And in order for us to do that, it would be necessary for us to compound hundreds of verses in the Old Testament. But let me just take about five categories and tell you what the millennium is going to be like. Here's what the scripture says about that 1,000-year period of time.
First of all, it will be a time of peace. A time of peace. In Micah, Chapter 4, verses 2 and 3. Let me read to you what the prophet Micah said. And many nations shall come and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths for the law shall go forth out of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
And he will judge among many people and rebuke strong nations afar off. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. That is a direct reference to the period of time called the millennium. It says that all the military implements are going to be retooled into agricultural implements.
There won't be any war. Nations won't even study war. There won't be any military academies. There won't be any place where you can go and learn how to fight. War will be abolished.
And the thing that people cry out for even today, as they march in the streets, Will never come to pass until Jesus Christ reigns and rules upon this earth. Secondly, the millennium will be a time of prosperity. Economic prosperity. The perfect labor situation in the kingdom age will produce economic abundance. There will be no want.
Everybody will have what they need. And it will be a time of unparalleled prosperity. If you still have your Bibles open to Isaiah, turn over to Isaiah chapter 35 and let me show you what it says. Isaiah chapter 35, and I want to read just a couple of verses in the first 10 verses. Notice what it says in verse 1.
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice, and the desert will blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. One of the reasons for this increased productivity, according to the scripture, is that there will be an increase of light on the planet. There will be an increase of solar and lunar light during that age.
And this increased light probably is one of the causes for the increased productivity of the earth. Thirdly, the millennial period will be a time of purity. The Bible says that the kingdom will be a holy kingdom, and holiness will be manifested through the king and his subjects. The land will be holy, the city will be holy, the temple will be holy, and all the subjects of the king will be holy. It will be a time of great purity and holiness upon this earth.
Isaiah 11:9 says, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And Isaiah 25, 9 says, it shall be said in that day. Listen to this. Lo, this is our God. We have waited for him, and he will save us.
This is the Lord. We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. And Isaiah 66, 23 says, And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before me, saith the Lord. People will live every day for the opportunity to come together and worship God.
They won't be able to wait from one Sabbath to the next. They'll have to have in-between Sabbath meetings to come and worship God. Can you imagine that? A preacher's paradise. People saying, when can we have another service?
The only place you see that in the world today is if you go to the mission field. People who don't have the opportunity as we do are hungry. In that day, it will be a universal hunger, and all the world in the millennial period will stand before the Lord with an intense desire to worship in holiness and in righteousness. will be a time of purity. Here's something that we will appreciate, especially as we get older.
It will be a time of perpetual health. The Bible says there will be no deaths. Did somebody say amen? What is it?
Well, she said amen. All right.
Alright, that's all right. Say amen to that. It sure beats all of the health spas and the books and everything else. God does it right. In that period of time, the Bible says there will be no death except of the wicked and the unbelieving.
Let me read to you Isaiah sixty five, verse twenty. There shall be no more thance an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days.
Now listen to this: for the child shall die a hundred years old. But the sinner being 100 years old shall be accursed. You know, you see a hundred-year-old person walking down the street, and you'll say, There goes a child. There's a child. He's just getting started.
It seems as if in the millennial period we are going to go back to the kind of age categories that were evident in the early part of the Bible when men like Methuselah lived to be 960-some years old. And when you're only 100, huh, you're not even a teenager yet. I mean, I can't imagine that, but it's perpetual health. There will be no sickness or disease. Longevity will be restored.
Reproduction by the living peoples, the living saints who go into the millennium in their natural bodies, they will beget children throughout the age. The earth's population will soar overwhelmingly so in the first few years of the millennial reign of Christ. There will be healing available for any who come into that period of time in need. There won't be any sickness. The blind will see, the deaf will hear.
Praise God. You won't have to have an interpreter to try to catch up with all the words that I say. You will be able to hear, the ears will be opened, the eyes will be cleaned out from the blindness, and there will be perfection and perpetual health. It will be a time of personal joy. The millennium is going to be a time of rejoicing.
The fullness of joy will be a distinctive mark of the age. And I want you to go with me back to the book of Isaiah again and the ninth chapter. We're going to do a very quick little run-through in the book of Isaiah just to look at a number of passages that point this out. Isaiah 9, verses 3 and 4. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy.
They joy before thee according to the joy and harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. Turn over to Isaiah chapter 12, verses 3 and following. This again Is a millennial passage. Therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
In that day you shall say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted, sing unto the Lord, for he hath done excellent things. This is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. Turn over to the fourteenth chapter, verses seven and eight. Isaiah fourteen, seven and eight.
The whole earth is at rest and is quiet. They break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller has come up against us. And I could go on, there are multiplied verses in Isaiah, at least a dozen more. before you get out of Isaiah's prophecy that talk about the key Ingredient in the millennial period is going to be joy.
And you know what strikes me about that is that's the one thing. that seems to be missing in all of the world today. The absence of true joy, even among God's people. Until we find kingdom peace in our heart, we will never know the joy God wants us to have. The Bible says we can have kingdom joy now as Christ is made the king of our life, and someday we will have it perfectly in the millennial period.
When the joy of the Lord is on the face of every one of God's people. A time of personal joy. And there are many other things I should and could say about the millennium. Let me just ask this question: who is going to reign?
Well, I found something I didn't really understand at first, but has become quite a blessing to me. I discovered that it is true that the Lord Jesus Christ will be King supreme, but there are passages which suggest that He will graciously choose to rule. through a vice regent and that vice regent will be David. David the king. Let me show you.
Jeremiah 30, verse 9: But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Jeremiah wrote these words 400 years after the death of David, so he could not have been referring to David's reign upon this earth. Listen to that verse again. They will serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Ezekiel 34:23, and I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David.
He shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. If we take these passages literally, David will once again sit upon the throne of Israel. and under the hand of King Jesus. there will be a righteous rule on planet Earth. After all the things that we have said about David.
He's going to have a place in the kingdom. With the Lord Jesus Christ. And they're going to reign and rule. Obviously, Jesus Christ is absolute king, and David is the king under him. But isn't that an interesting thought?
Now It's interesting as we peruse the kingdom truth to discover that this is what is going to happen when Jesus comes again. I want to leave us with a verse that puts the two comings of Christ together in a very interesting fashion. It's found in 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 11. It says in 1 Peter 1:11, a very interesting little phrase: searching what? Or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand, now watch this, the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow.
Those two words, those two phrases at the end of that verse, the sufferings of Christ. And the glories that shall follow. In one phrase, span the thousands of years that. go between The first coming of Christ when He came at Bethlehem, and the second coming of Christ when He comes with His saints to rule the earth. The sufferings.
His first advent, and the glories that shall follow his second advent. And it's interesting just to analyze the two comings of Christ with that in mind. Let me do that for you. The sufferings He was wrapped in swaddling clothes. The glory.
clothed in majestic purple. The sufferings he was the wearied traveller. The glory. the untiring God. The sufferings, he had nowhere to lay his head.
The glory. He will be heir to all things. The sufferings, he was rejected by tiny Israel. the glory He will be accepted by all the nations. The sufferings wicked men took up stones to throw at him the glory wicked men will cry out for the stones to fall upon them, to hide them from him.
The sufferings, a lowly Saviour acquainted with the grief, the glory, the mighty God, anointed with the oil of gladness. The sufferings, he was clothed with a scarlet robe in mockery, The glory, he will be clothed with the vesture dipped in the blood of his enemies. The sufferings, he was smitten with a reed. The glory, he will rule the nations with the rod of iron. The sufferings, wicked soldiers bowed their knee and mocked him.
The glory, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confessed that he is Lord indeed. The sufferings, he wore the crown of thorns, the glory he shall wear the crown of gold. The sufferings, his hands were pierced with nails, the glory, his hands will carry a sharp sickle. The sufferings, his feet were pierced with nails, the glory, he will be the fairest of ten thousands. The sufferings he delivered up his spirit, the glory he is alive forevermore.
the sufferings he was laid in a tomb. The glory, he shall sit upon a throne. The sufferings and the glory of Christ. That's the suffering, glory story. of our Lord.
But let me remind you of something that you might have forgotten. When a sinner repents and becomes part of the body of Christ, he too shares in this destiny. the sufferings and the glory. the sufferings and the glory. Let me share something with you.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. Romans eight eighteen. And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that you are partakers of the sufferings, so also you shall be of the consolation. 2 Corinthians 1:7. 2 Timothy 2:12.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. 1 Peter 4, 12 and 13, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. The elders which are among you, I exhort, who also am an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ. And also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. the sufferings and the glory.
Mm-hmm. He suffered that he might be glorified.
Somehow, though I don't perfectly understand it and I cannot explain it. There is something that is magnificent in the time of suffering here on this earth. That promotes an inward longing for that time of glory that is yet ahead. And only a believer can understand that. I love the passage that says, the sufferings are but for a time.
The glory is for eternity. The sufferings weigh but Just a little. And the glory is the eternal weight of glory. The sufferings are for now. The glory is forever.
So, if we are called upon by our Lord to enter into a little bit of tears and difficulty and stress. persecution. We have not been called upon to do that which our Lord has not always known and endured. And as he has been glorified, we shall be too. The Bible says if we suffer with him, we will also reign with him.
whatever you're going through. It will be made right, and it will be worth it when you see the end of it.
Well, tomorrow we're going to talk about the Great White Throne Judgment, a period of time when all unbelievers stand before God to give an account of their unbelief. And it is an awesome study. It is a marvelous presentation of how this all ends for those who reject the Lord. You don't want to miss it. And if you have friends who are not Christians, you might encourage them to listen.
It would be a good thing for them to hear. You can get all of this material from Turning Point, the study guides, the full-length contemporary commentary. All of the audio tracks are available as well. Please go there and find out more about it. Be sure to join us tomorrow when we have this opportunity to discuss a subject which is very seldom discussed.
This is David Jeremiah. Thank you for listening. See you next time. Our message today originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and Dr. David Jeremiah, the senior pastor.
If this ministry is an encouragement to you, let us know by writing to Turning Point PO Box 3838 San Diego, California 92163, visiting our website at davidjeremiah.org slash radio or calling 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David's exciting new novel, Set in the End Times. Vanished. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also download the free Turning Point mobile app to instantly access our content.
or search in your app store for the keywords Turning Point Ministries. Visit davidjeremiah.org slash radio for details. That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue the series Escape the Coming Night on Turning Point with Dr.
David Jeremiah.
