THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST
Text: Revelation 20:1-10
Well, we have just finished up a millennium. We have gotten so used to all of this that it just rolls off our tongue. By now you know that a millennium is a thousand years. So why don't we just say a thousand years----it is a little easier to say and a whole lot easier to spell. Anyone want to give it a crack?
Anyone watching television on Friday (New Year's Eve) could see the world celebrating the dawn of the new millennium as it moved westward through the time zones starting in New Zealand and then Australia, Japan, Korea, China.........
What I witnessed was a gaudy display of man's love for himself and his accomplishments. It was the fulfillment of Romans 1 in which people worship creation rather than the Creator. Nearly everything I saw reflected New Age thought. China even had a "Millennium Altar" to commemorate the arrival of the new millennium. Korea had an "alien" that arrived in a mock UFO and proclaimed a message of peace to the world. I never heard the one true God mentioned. There were plenty of gods to go around but our Father was left out of the picture entirely. What a horrible tragedy, what a mockery of the one who gives us life and through whom every good and perfect gift comes (James 1:17).
Folks, there is going to be another millennium that is going to knock the socks off this one. Everything that man thinks he is going to be able to do will be accomplished quite apart from his feeble efforts. I am talking about the thousand year period of time that is mentioned in the Bible that is commonly referred to as "The Millennium". We find this in Revelation 20:1-10. Let's read that together this morning.
There are three different views concerning the millennium mentioned here in Revelation and I don't want to bore you with the details but, in a nutshell they are:
postmillennialism---According to this view the thousand years represent the triumph of the gospel in the period leading up to the second coming of Christ. The return of Christ will follow the Millennium. In a sense this is some of what I saw on the TV on Friday. January 1, 2000, was being trumped as the dawning of a new era of peace, harmony, tolerance, cooperation.....blah, blah, blah. That, my friends, is not going to happen until Jesus sets foot on earth again.
amillennialism---This view denies that there is any literal Millennium or reign of Christ on earth. The millennial reign of Christ is reduced to a spiritual reign in the hearts of believers.
premillennialism---This view interprets Revelation 20 as referring to a literal thousand-year reign of Christ following His second coming. As the Second Coming occurs before the Millennium, it is therefore premillennial.
It is the premillennial view we are going to examine today because I feel it is the only scriptural position and I am the one that is preaching! So, what can we say about "The Millennium"?
I. JESUS IS COMING!
A. He will come first for His church in and event that we call the rapture. Notice I said that we call it the rapture of the church. That word is not found anywhere in scripture but we find it described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
The key word in this description of the rapture is "in Christ". For those who know Christ as Lord and Savior at His coming in the clouds there will be a glorious reunion in the air. At this point Jesus will not set foot on earth so it is not His second coming.
When is this going to take place?---Matthew 24:36---But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
No one knows when it is going to be but I have always felt it will be in my lifetime.
B. He is coming at the end of the seven years of tribulation to set up His millennial reign on earth. It is this event that we call the second coming of Christ. This is what we see described in the text today.
II. WHEN JESUS COMES SATAN WILL BE BOUND (v. 2)
That sounds mighty good to me. Right now he is like a roaring lion, roaming about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). But for a thousand years he will be a caged animal, incarcerated in the very pit of hell and powerless to deceive the nations for 1,000 years.
He will be loosed for a little season to deceive the nations but will then be cast into the lake of fire along with death and hell.
III. WHEN JESUS COMES THERE WILL FINALLY BE PEACE ON EARTH
The garden of Eden was a peaceful place until sin came into the world. During the millennial reign of Christ we will see Eden restored. For a description of this all we need to do is look at Isaiah 11:6-9. What a marvelous time that is going to be.
IV. WHEN JESUS COMES THOSE WHO HAVE PART IN THE FIRST RESURRECTION WILL REIGN WITH HIM (v. 6)
Can you begin to imagine what it will be like to walk on this earth with Jesus, to have dominion over the earth along with Him and to move about freely without fear of what man or nature can do to you?
The mention of the first resurrection begs the question, "What is the second resurrection?" We find the answer in verse 5. The rest of the dead will not live again until the thousand years are finished. Oh, you say, that will be good. No, that will be bad because those who are raised after the thousand years are those who did not know Christ as Lord and Savior and whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life (v. 15). Their fate will be the lake of fire where they will burn for all eternity without being consumed.
V. FOLLOWING THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH WILL COME DOWN FROM GOD OUT OF HEAVEN--Revelation 21:1
When we read the description of this we know that the best is yet to come for those that are in Christ. To coin a phrase from Dickens "it is the best of times and the worst of times." For the people of God these are very exciting times indeed even though the world is going to pot.
This is not so for those who have staked their claim in this world. All of the revelry of Friday, all the euphoria, all the optimism about this old world will soon be brought to naught. You better stake you claim in the new heaven and the new earth for the old earth will pass away.
I urge you to not take another step in this earthly millenium without the One who will come and set up His millenium on earth.