Transcription
Amen. Welcome to God's house. For everyone that's watching today on some kind of device, God bless you. We are here now after we have lifted up the Lord in praise and song. We are here to hear from the Lord so that we can live a life worthy of the calling. So, Father, I ask you now and I ask it in the name of Jesus and I ask you, Holy Spirit, to do what only you can do and that is to take scales off eyes, take blinders away, soften hearts. Lord, my heart's desire is to know something when I leave here that I did not know when I came. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
If you can stand for just a moment. I'm going to take you to a passage of scripture. And I'm sure you've asked many people about this scripture. What do you think? I would venture to say many of you have been in all kinds of commentaries about this scripture. It's in Jude beginning with verse 21. Is it on the screen? Read with me. Live in. Let me read it. I don't know what just happened there. Live in such a way that God's love can bless you as you wait for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you. Show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. There are still others to whom you need to show mercy. But be careful that you aren't contaminated by their sins. Yeah.
You may be seated. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. That's what will happen today, even right now. There's a parallel passage in the book of Zechariah when Joshua or Yeshua the priest stood in the presence of God. The Bible says the Lord said to Satan, "I the Lord reject your accusations, Satan, against him. Yes, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire."
Now, I'm going to take a sharp right turn and come to these two passages at the end of the message today. I am uh a desperate preacher. I can't figure out why all preachers aren't screaming at the top of their lungs and warning people and yes, even begging people to get right with God. I I don't understand the passivity of preachers. I I it it's beyond me that a man called of God, touched by the spirit, filled with the word, who has a sense that time is running out, would not be beside himself, calling people to repentance and taking care of the flock of God. And this is one of those reasons that I have of late talked quite a bit about last day things. We mentioned the rapture last week, the catching away of the saints, the great disappearance, a seven-year period of tribulation where the wrath of Almighty God is poured out as never before and will never ever again be poured out in that same fashion. The antichrist comes on the scene, deceives the nations. The beast and the false prophet will be uh loose and rampant also deceiving the people and having them take a mark in their hand, head. Um and once that mark is taken, you are damned for eternity. So Jesus is coming and I told you last week there are lots of things that have to happen before he comes back to this earth. But Jesus is coming back to this earth.
I am uh a little stirred this morning because I actually heard a preacher refer to this as allegory. He's he's not coming back physically or bodily. It is not literal. Jesus comes back when we get saved. He's in our heart. He reigns in our hearts as king of kings and lord of lords when we get saved. And and uh brother that is a total denial of scripture. If the second coming of Jesus is not literal neither was the first one. If the second coming of Jesus to this earth to set up a thousand-year reign is not literal, neither is Calvary or the empty tomb. We read the Bible literally. We rightly divide the scripture. We learn how to use or understand symbols with the literal interpretation of the Bible. So I stand here and tell you that just as surely as he came the first time, he's coming the second time to this earth. And he's coming for 10 centuries, for 1,000 years. God has a point in saying all of these things. He's coming back to set up a millennial kingdom.
If you read the last chapter of Daniel, Daniel chapter 12, you read some funny numbers like blessed is he who endures to the 1,290 days and then on to the one that's endures to 1,335 days. And people often wonder what is that? Well, you got to understand when Jesus come comes back to this earth, it's going to be a mess. It it will have been torn all to pieces and the nations will have been scattered and blood and bodies and well everything that earthquakes can do and when mountains are moved out of their places just on and on. Jesus, if you notice the numbers there, between 1,260 and 1335, that's 75 days. When he comes back to this earth, he's got several things to do that will take time. And one of those things is to judge the nations. I'd like to read it to you the way Jesus said it. When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence and he will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and goats at his left. Then he will say to those on the right, "Come you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Then the king will turn to those on his left and say, "Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons." And they will go away into eternal punishment. But the righteous will go into eternal life. That's the judgment of the nations. It is before Jesus sits down on his glorious throne. It is leading up to that it when he is crowned. And he will bring those nations or peoples who rejected the news, who rejected the lamb, the message, who persecuted the Jews, will be brought in front of Jesus. And he will say to them, "You're cursed because you did not do the things I told you to do." And I could go on in length, but I'm saving time this morning. And he says, "You're away with you into everlasting punishment." But to those nations on the right, those sheep nations that heard the gospel that was preached during the tribulation, that was kind to the nation of Israel, people that refused to take the mark of the beast. Yes, even people who were martyed, slain, beheaded for the gospel of Jesus Christ, he will gather in front of him and say, "This is what I died for. This is why I rose again. This is the gift my father gives me to let you come into my kingdom."
You've probably heard in the last several weeks from a particular politician about the golden age. Have you? We're entering into a golden age. This is America's golden age. Believe me, this is not the golden age that's coming up here. Jesus is going to establish the golden age. And the nations that were saved will go into the kingdom. They will be allowed to be in the presence of the Lord. Many will serve in his temple. Others will have positions in his kingdom. Keep this in mind. Everybody that goes into the millennial reign of Christ is saved. There won't be one sinner that goes into it. Everybody that helps Jesus begin his thousand-year reign will be saved. And then, of course, they're mortals. We've been over this before. I'm just I can't preach anything new, you see. But these people who go in are mortals just like you and me right now. I'm a mortal, but I'm saved. I could say I'm saved, but I'm still mortal. I have the life of God inside of me, but I'm still in an earn vessel. I'm in the flesh. I'm mortal. And I'm still capable of doing things that break the laws of God in the heart of God, even though I'm saved. And so, when the kingdom begins and all of the saved go in, it's going to be a glorious time, the golden age.
Let me tell you something that I think it bears a lot of emphasis. In Revelation chapter 20, then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, that old serpent, the devil, Satan, and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked, so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward, he would be released again for a little while. Really? Why, God? Then I saw thrones and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. I saw the souls of them who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus for proclaiming the word of God. And I saw the souls of those who had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life again and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. You see, the first resurrection is the resurrection of righteous people all the way up to the coming of the Lord. The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years. Next verse, verse seven. When the thousand years, folks, can you doubt what God means? What he says? That's six times in seven verses he's mentioned the thousand years. Satan will be led out of his prison. He will go out to deceive the nations from every corner of the earth, which are called Gog and Magog. He will gather them together for battle, a mighty host, as numberless as sand along the shore. And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God's people and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven on the attacking armies and consumed them. Then the devil who betrayed them was thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. They've been in there a thousand years. They there they will be tormented day and night forever.
This may be redundant to a lot of you, but I had someone catch me last Sunday in the aisle and ask me this question and they were sincere and I am sincerely wanting them to understand this. Why would God let Satan do that? Why would he not go ahead and throw him in the lake of fire with the beast and false prophet and be done with it? Why would he let Satan be in the bottomless pit? That's a holding cell, you see, for 1,000 years, sealed up. Why would God let 10 centuries pass and then have an angel unlock the pit where Satan is and let him out to create one more rebellion against God? Why? Because God is a merciful God. God is a just God. I've told you many times there is a world out there, an unseen, invisible world out there. Creatures are watching. The universe is watching. We are on a stage. This is a theater of salvation. And God is expressing his patience, loving kindness, and mercy to people by allowing them for 10 centuries, 1,000 years, listen to this, to live in paradise.
Now, folks, there's no way I can go into great detail about the characteristics of the millennial reign. I'll hit the highlights here. These people who go into the millennial reign are going into the equivalent of Eden. Yet they're mortal. In this millennial kingdom, there is no war. There are no weapons of war. There are no threats of war. No battleships, no tanks, no artillery, no ammo. Jesus Christ has burned it all up. That means there is peace. It's the age of peace. People don't have to worry about being attacked. Nations, the saved nations don't have to worry about somebody invading their territory and stealing their land. In the millennial kingdom, there is safety. You don't have to worry about being mugged or robbed or attacked, assaulted because there's a new sheriff in town. I shouldn't have said that because the Lord is much greater than a sheriff, but there's a new king and a new kingdom. And instead of the police, it's going to be mighty angels watching over things. There's going to be health. People aren't going to be dying with cancer. Bible talks about a river of pure water. The water is going to be pure. The environment is going to be cleaned up. Talks about trees growing on either side of the river and it bears a different fruit every month and that fruit is for the healing of the nations. Praise God. There won't be any health stores, just a lot of healthy trees. And people eat the fruit from these trees and they are kept alive. There's long life. Why? The Bible says if someone were to die at 100, they'd be considered a child. Now, there will be some people who will die. Jesus will kill them. Read it in Zechariah. When they're when rebels, oh yeah, they're coming. The rebels decide they don't want to keep the laws of God, God will send a holy executioner and kill them. But for those who love the Lord and keep his laws, they're going to live a thousand years. Perfect weather. No more tornadoes and hurricanes. No, not another earthquake. Perfect weather, clean air, a productive earth. Won't have to worry about rainfall in your country. If you come up once a year and worship the Lord, magnify the King, he will bless the land of the nations and the earth will become seven times more productive than it is now. Can you imagine that? Fruit and vegetables are bigger. There's more of it. It's everywhere. The animal kingdom will completely change. God will take bloodthirstiness away from animals. Lions will eat grass like cows do now. The lion and the lamb will lie down together. A little child can put his hand in the hole of a serpent and he won't be bitten. God's taking the violence out of the animal kingdom. Oh, brothers and sisters, I could go on and on and on, and you should. You should find a great book. One of those great books is Things to Come by Dwight Pentecost. My opinion, he wrote the greatest book on last day things that I've ever read. And he just died four years ago. You ought to buy some of these good books. Quit all this reading of these foolish little prophetic pamphlets and paperback books that some self-appointed, self-anointed, self-absorbed prophet who, you know, decided he would write. Forget all that stuff. Get something that's stable and reliable and study it like the Bible.
And I'm making this point today to show you that the kingdom of Christ, the millennial kingdom, the thousand-year kingdom of Christ, will at first be inhabited by saved people who love Jesus. They're going into a perfect environment. There is no devil. There's no influence. One translation that says the devil was locked up says he was sealed up. And it implies like when you seal uh peaches in a jar that it no air can get in or out. You can't even smell it. It's so tightly sealed. And when Satan is sealed in the bottomless pit, bound with a mighty and heavy chain for a thousand years, there won't be any demonic influence, any devilish ways. There's no devil to blame it on. And so, man begins to multiply. And since people live a long, long time, they just keep on having more and more children. And before you know it, it's up into the billions of people again. But keep in mind, they're mortal. And you, you parents might be saved, but have you noticed that doesn't mean your children are or your grandchildren? You ever had your heart torn out thinking, "We didn't raise them this way. How can that be?" Well, that's what Christ is going to experience in the millennial reign. Those that come in, the sheep nations, will all be saved, but then they'll start reproducing and covering the earth and their offspring don't necessarily like Jesus because there's something wrong with man. He wants to rule himself. Man doesn't want anybody to tell him what to do, restrain him, or restrict him. He hates laws. And so as these generations progress during the 1,000 years, more and more of these offspring are angrier and angrier about the fact that they don't get to vote that Jesus makes all the rules and enforces all the laws and we ought to have representation and they don't like him making them go to worship, offering sacrifices of praise, etc. and it just builds up. And the reason God Almighty is letting this happen is to show us and the universe that people don't need a devil to be evil. They are intrinsically evil. Humanity is not evil because the devil is present. Humanity is evil because sin is in its genes because of the decision man made in the garden.
So when it all started, Satan was in heaven, but he rebelled against God. Jesus said, "I saw him fall from heaven as lightning." And Satan ended up in the sky between earth and heaven. He's the prince of the power of the air. He's ruling over the children of disobedience. He's in charge of this wicked world by God's sovereign permission. But when you come to Revelation 12, there's war in heaven. And Michael and his angels fought against the beast, the devil and his angels and kicked them out of heaven and threw them down to earth. And that's when Satan will use the Antichrist to do all of his devious deeds. But then Satan is thrown into the bottomless pit. He's been demoted three times already. He's got one more coming. It's called the lake of fire. The point this morning is I want you to understand and God wants us to understand that we can blame our sins on the devil if we want to. But we sin because we want to. Nobody says I don't want to sin and mean it. They really do want to or they would not do it. But there's something wrong with humanity.
Listen to this verse out of Jeremiah chapter 17. The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Wow. Who really knows how bad it is? But I know, says the Lord. And I search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards according to what their actions deserve. This is not palatable in the world. We still live in a deceived society that thinks if we can educate everybody, we'll be a better society. If we can fix this racial thing, we'll all be better people. If we can get people better housing and more money, oh, things will be so much better. And I've said to you before, all of that could be fixed and man would still be bound for hell because the real sin is not what he's doing with his hands. It's who he is in his heart. And this is how our Lord Jesus said it. From within. Out of a person's heart come evil thoughts. The devil doesn't make you have evil thoughts. It's in you. Sexual immorality, theft. Why is it that children are born into the world and they have a propensity to take things that aren't theirs and say, "Mine, mine, mine." Out of the heart comes murder. It's in there, brother. Adultery, greed, that's wanting anything more than you want Jesus, wickedness, deceit, deceit. WHAT IS IT ABOUT US? We have mastered the art of deception. We know how to not say things and we know how to skirt issues and circumvent situations, do we not? Oh yeah. Even as believers, we know how to do that. Why? Because it's in here. He talked about eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. Foolishness, that's the one that foolishness. Just plain foolishness. It's in the heart. And so there you have it from Jeremiah. And there you have it from Jesus.
Paul said it like this in Romans 1. They knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. And I gave you an example last week about somebody. You remember the example? Somebody that came here was involved here, but he had a, you know, a couple of tragedies in his life. And now he's bar hopping every night. And I mean every night. Not something you do on the weekend. No, it's every single night trying to pick up a squeeze drink. What did I say? And yet I told you that he said, "I'm right with God." Where does that fit in here? They begin to think up foolish ideas of what God is like. Like God is like me. I'm not mad at me. I forgive me. I give tolerance to me cuz this is what I need. I've had a hard life. I can't overcome these things. Wow, I'm pitiful. Begin to imagine that God is like me. And the result was that their minds became dark and confused. This is how Paul said it to me and you. Throw off your old nature and your former way of life which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. You know, while I'm preaching here, my soul is happy because of the blood of Jesus. Amen. This is a bleak, ugly, negative picture right here without the blood of Jesus. And I've said it before and the audience out there is getting greater and greater and greater and more and more unbelievers are tuning in and skeptics. But I'm going to say it again. Man can change anything. Man can change everything. Except his own heart. I've said it. You can change your habits. You can quit drinking, quit smoking, quit doping. Do I need to go through the list? Quit chasing. Quit stealing, lying. You can quit all that, but that does not save your soul because you are dead in trespasses and sins. And there's no such thing as more or less dead. If you're dead, you're dead.
And here's the beautiful message. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That though you cannot change your own heart, there was a cross 2,000 years ago upon which the Son of God was nailed. Not for his sins, but for my wicked heart. His heart was pure. He walked with the father. He did everything the father told him to do. There was no deceit or guile in his mouth. He was perfectly obedient. And they took this example of pure righteousness and nailed it to a cross. And in so doing pierced his hands, his feet, his side, his blood flowed. And that blood became the difference in my heart. When I believe in that blood, that cross, that Jesus, that sacrifice, when I bring my stinking, nasty old rebellious heart and I lay it at the foot of the cross, the greatest miracle in the world takes place. This is not a light thing I'm preaching because he doesn't try to get you to stop drinking and stop smoking. He tries to raise you from the dead. You do that stuff because you're dead. But he is resurrection. He is alive. He is life. And when you believe on him, he changes your heart. He gives you a new heart. Hallelujah. Who's glad about it this morning? No, I mean, who's really glad about it this morning? Hallelujah.
This would be a great time to to stop, but I'm not finished. People say, "Oh, you've gone past your No, I haven't. I've not finished the message yet." Amen. You see folks, I sat in my I sat in my office yesterday holding the Bible in my hand and it hit me. I know the future. I'm holding the future in my hand. I know the truth. I'm holding the truth in my my hand. Most of this world has no idea what's coming next. They have no clue about the dead sinful condition they're in. But God who is rich in mercy, even when I was dead in trespasses and sins, raised me from the dead through the through faith in the blood of Jesus. I tell you, brothers and sisters, I I asked the Lord, please don't let me get used to this. Let this always amaze me. Let me be shocked by the fact that I'm saved. Don't let me forget what a nasty foulmouth lion stealing jerk I was. Sometimes, Lord, you just need to let me remember how I felt while I was doing all that stuff so I could one more time fall down at his feet and say, "But the blood of Jesus has cleansed me from all unrighteousness."
So, I want to tell anybody here or anybody there, you will never be different. You'll never be victorious until you have a crisis moment with Jesus. But I'm also in desperation trying to get your attention because time's running out. You see, you're a stick in the fire. When the when the devil came to God and said, "This prophet's worth nothing," the Lord said, "Shut your mouth. I won't listen to your accusations. He's a stick I pulled out of the fire." Oh my word. He was burning up. It was almost over. But God reached in the fire and pulled him out and made a a priest out of him. That's what I'm told to do in the book of Jude. I'm supposed to be snatching people from the flames. Some of you, listen, if you don't know Christ, you've been in the fire. The fire's eating up your life. Your hope, your chances, your future. You better listen to this gospel message today, you're in the fire. But one one mention of his name, well, one person calling on his name can cause Almighty God to reach down and pull the stick out of the fire and save you from everlasting fire. Hallelujah to God.
Stand up, please. Hallelujah. How many of you know without a doubt or if you die today, you'll see Jesus? I mean it. How many of you know that he has washed you from your sins? He picked you up and established your feet on a solid rock. He healed you. He washed you. He blessed you. He saved you. He came into you. How many of you know it without a doubt? And you'd just like to praise him for it right now. Hallelujah. So, this is what we do because time's running out. I had some preachers the other other week say, you know, I don't really give alter calls. I Okay, fine. I do because this could be the day that a stick gets pulled out of the fight. And I will tell you one more time, I don't care what you've done, how many times you've done it, with whom you did it, the blood of Jesus Christ can save you forever. Hallelujah. Sing it. Whatever you're going to sing, sing it to the highest mountain with valley to the valley of love that gives me strength. From day to day it will never never it's there is power, power, wonder working power in the blood of the lamb. There is power, power, wonder working power in the precious. You know, sing it. There is power, power, wonder working in the blood of the lamb. There is power. Oh, what you in the presence of God. I was going to let you go, but I think I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to call a prayer meeting for tomorrow night at 7:00. And I'm not sure what we'll be praying about. I just felt the urge. Prayer meeting tomorrow night at 7:00. Right in here. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen. Love you, church. Jesus is coming. All the mountains before you fear at the mention of your name, King of Majesty.