{"id":19214,"date":"2018-02-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-034\/"},"modified":"2018-02-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T06:00:00","slug":"the-coming-kingdom-034","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-034\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coming Kingdom 034"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[85],"series_event":[470],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19214","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-matthew","series_event-the-coming-kingdom","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"The Coming Kingdom 034","sermon_date":"20180207","sermon_month":"2","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":5413,"sermon_slides":5414,"sermon_mp3":5419,"sermon_id":"27181918332","series_or_event":470,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":85,"chapter_and_verse":"25:31","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Coming Kingdom\n\n2-7-18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Matthew 25:31\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 34\n\nLet\u2019s open up to Matthew chapter 25 and verse 31.\u00a0 If anybody needs a handout just put your hand up.\u00a0 I hope you guys are surviving all this global warming.\u00a0 As you know we are continuing to march through our study on the kingdom so we have been trying to look at what does the Bible say about the kingdom?\u00a0 It\u2019s a big subject, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 We\u2019ve traced what the Old Testament reveals about the kingdom, how the kingdom was offered to Israel and rejected by first century Israel, and not cancelled but postponed.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve talked about what God is doing today; He doesn\u2019t leave the earth without a witness of Himself so He\u2019s clearly at work even though the kingdom is not here, primarily to the church.\u00a0 And we talked about how the earthly mission of the church will end; the church will be translated in an event called the what?\u00a0 Anybody remember?\u00a0 The rapture, and then God will go right back to His program with Israel and fulfill His purposes through them\n\nSo we\u2019ve talked about Israel\u2019s discipline and restoration, how the restoration of Israel was necessary for God to bring His kingdom to the earth because to Israel is going to be reoffered the kingdom.\u00a0 Israel in the future will accept that offer, as we\u2019ve talked about.\u00a0 So basically we\u2019re in that part of the study where we\u2019re talking about how and under what conditions God brings this kingdom to the earth.\n\nNow once this kingdom comes to the earth what exactly is it going to look like?\u00a0 So to sort of help us with that we have four parts here.\u00a0 Number one, the reoffer of the kingdom, we\u2019ve talked about that already.\u00a0 The offer that was extended to first century Israel by John the Baptist, Jesus and various apostles, couched in the phrase \u201crepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0That offer, which was rejected in Matthew 12, as we\u2019ve talked about, will be re-extended to Israel in the tribulation period.\u00a0 And the nation of Israel gets things right which time,\u00a0 usually?\u00a0 The second time.\u00a0 They\u2019ll receive it this time, yet future.\n\nAnd as that offer is received what basically the Book of Revelation is describing is the transfer of authority. So this world is, in the Book of Revelation, the authority over it, it being transferred from Satan\u2019s domain back to God\u2019s domain.\u00a0 And I think the key phrase in the Book of Revelation is chapter 11, verse 15, which says, \u201cThe kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ;\u201d and that\u2019s really the process that the Book of Revelation is describing as the offer of the kingdom is being received by the Jews.\u00a0 So the whole Book of Revelation and really all of human history is moving to that part of the screen there, if you can see that, it says Kingdom, Revelation 20.\u00a0 So in order for that to happen God has to depose the devil who\u2019s been running this world since Genesis 3.\u00a0 We talked about that transfer of authority last time and as the authority of this earth is being transferred what\u2019s happening is God\u2019s kingdom is finally being established upon the earth.\n\nThat takes us to number three here, the establishment of the kingdom.\u00a0 So what is the world going to really look like when Jesus establishes His kingdom?\u00a0 In essence the original purpose that God had for the world in Genesis 1, which was lost in Genesis 3, is restored.\u00a0 So what was God\u2019s original purpose for man and woman?\u00a0 It\u2019s right there in Genesis 1:26-28, where God said to our forbearers, before sin entered the picture, \u00a0\u201c\u2018\u2026and let them\u201d now \u201cthem\u201d is Adam and Eve, \u201clet them rule\u201d see the kingdom language there, \u201clet them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 And then in verse 28 look at the kingdom language, God said \u201csubdue it,\u201d see the authority, \u201crule over\u201d it, \u201crule over the fish,\u201d rule over \u201cthe sea, rule over the birds, rule over the sky, rule over every living thing.\u201d\n\nSo, as we\u2019ve talked about God\u2019s original purpose for humanity was to govern our forbearers, Adam and Eve, and their assignment was to govern creation for God. And as we\u2019ve talked about from the very beginning this was the structure that was lost in Genesis 3.\u00a0 This is why Satan entered the picture as a talking serpent.\u00a0 He\u2019s trying to get Adam and Eve to not rule over the animals but to listen to them and then rebel against God in the process.\u00a0 So the moment that happened in Genesis 3 this structure, which is sometimes called the office of theocratic administrator, a theocratic administrator is someone who governs for God, that structure is lost.\u00a0 And who becomes the ruler of this world?\u00a0 The devil does.\n\nSo the goal of history is really how this structure is restored and it\u2019s not restored prophetically until Revelation 20:1-10, the thousand year kingdom.\u00a0 [Revelation 20:1-10, \u201cThen I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. [2] And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; [3] and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it<\/em> and sealed it<\/em> over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. [4] Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw<\/em> the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. [5] The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. [6] Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.\u00a0 [7] When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, [8] and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. [9] And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. [10] And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.\u201d]\n\nThis identical structure that God set up comes back.\u00a0 So God is, in the millennium, the thousand year reign of Christ, is not ruling over the first Adam but He\u2019s ruling over who?\u00a0 The last Adam, Jesus Christ.\u00a0 This is why God had to become a man to restore what the first Adam lost. See that?\u00a0 So the incarnation is really intricately linked to this whole kingdom program.\u00a0 So God the Father is going to rule over God the Son, the last Adam.\u00a0 That last Adam is going to govern creation for God.\u00a0 So what was lost in Eden gets restored in Revelation 20.\u00a0 So your whole understanding of the coming kingdom really starts right there in Genesis chapter 1.\n\nSo God is going to bring back everything full circle. And remember what I said a little earlier, \u201cGod said to them\u201d that would be Adam and his wife, rule and subdue, so if this structure comes back who then is the wife of the last Adam, Jesus Christ?\u00a0 The church.\u00a0 We\u2019re now His bride but when all of this is said and done we\u2019ll be His wife.\u00a0 So that is why we, as God\u2019s people, are destined for what?\u00a0 Authority!\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 So what was lost gets restored.\u00a0 \u00a0Adam and Eve governing creation for God, that was lost so what\u2019s restored is the last Adam and His bride, now His wife, the church, is governing creation for God.\u00a0 See how everything is symmetrical.\n\nAnd I like what Charles Ryrie says, I\u2019ve used this quote several times so I apologize if this is redundant but Charles Ryrie asks: \u201cWhy is an earthly kingdom necessary?\u201d\u00a0 Because there\u2019s an awful lot of people out there that will tell you that we don\u2019t need a thousand year reign of Christ.\n\nCharles Ryrie asks, \u201cWhy is an earthly kingdom necessary? Did He not receive His inheritance when He was raised and exalted in heaven? Is not His present rule His inheritance?\u201d Now if you were in a church that\u2019s what we would call amillennial, postmillennial, or is into replacement theology, they would basically tell you that don\u2019t worry about this future kingdom, we\u2019re in the kingdom now.\u00a0 So Jesus\u2019s position at the right hand of the Father is enough.\u00a0 And so Ryrie is asking isn\u2019t that enough.\u00a0 He asks, \u201cWhy does there need to be an earthly kingdom?\u201d\u00a0 Here\u2019s the answer. \u201cBecause He must be triumphant in the same arena where He was seemingly defeated.\u201d\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 \u201cHis rejection by the rulers of this world was on this earth\u201d Adam and Eve, right?\u00a0 \u201cHis exaltation must also be\u201d where?\u00a0 \u201con this earth.<\/strong> And so it shall be when He comes again to rule this world in righteousness. He has waited long for His inheritance; soon He shall receive it.\u201d [Charles Ryrie, Basic Theology, <\/em>Page 511]\n\nThere has to be an earthly kingdom because God has to restore what was lost.\u00a0 That\u2019s why this earth can\u2019t go out of existence until the thousand year kingdom runs its course.\u00a0 If this earth goes out of existence before the thousand year kingdom runs its course then you don\u2019t have a time in history where God restores what was lost.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 He was seemingly defeated on this planet in Genesis 3 so God has to win.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 So therefore He must, at some point in human history, reassert His authority over, not some other world but this world where His authority was challenged.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why there has to be a thousand year kingdom.\n\nI was listening to one guy this week on a video clip somebody sent me and he was going on and on about how there\u2019s not going to be a thousand year kingdom and don\u2019t these people that believe in a thousand year kingdom understand that when Jesus comes back this world is going to be burned up and destroyed and replaced by a new world.\u00a0 And I\u2019m sitting there screaming at the TV screen or whatever I was watching, computer screen, I was basically saying that cannot be and the reason that cannot be is God has to reassert His authority over the earth that was lost. \u00a0That\u2019s why He\u2019s got to reassert His authority over this earth.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not until the end of the thousand\u00a0 year kingdom, after that authority is restored, then He is free to destroy it by fire and replace it with a new heavens and new earth.\u00a0 2 Peter 3:10, the destruction of this earth by fire, can\u2019t\u00a0 occur until after the authority of God over this earth is reasserted\u00a0 or else you don\u2019t have the symmetry that I\u2019m trying to describe here.\u00a0 [2 Peter 3:10, \u201cBut the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.\u201d]\n\nThat\u2019s why in Revelation 20:1-10 it describes this one thousand year kingdom, once that is complete then this earth is destroyed and replaced by a new one.\u00a0\u00a0 Revelation 21:1\u2026 doesn\u2019t Revelation 21 follow Revelation 20?\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 So Revelation 20 is the thousand year kingdom.\u00a0 We\u2019ll read those verses a little bit later tonight if time permits, but only after that thousand year kingdom runs its course, then do you have Revelation 21:1 where John says, \u201cThen I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.\u201d\u00a0 And he goes on from there and starts describing the conditions of a completely new world.\n\nAnd\u00a0 notice the order here, that completely new world cannot come into existence until Revelation 20:1-10, the thousand year kingdom, is reasserted.\u00a0\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because God has to reassert His authority over this planet that we\u2019re on now, because that\u2019s where He was challenged and that\u2019s where He was seemingly defeated in Genesis 3, and if you don\u2019t have that in your theology you don\u2019t have any real satisfying capstone to human history.\u00a0 See that?\n\nWhen I was at Dallas Seminary they would, to get your PhD there they used to give you a week of written exams and then after your written exam, after this goes on for a week, then they read your exams and they call you in for your oral exam which was more intimidating because you\u2019re in this room for two hours with four professors and they can ask you whatever they want to ask you.\u00a0 And so I tried to keep my ear to the ground to hear what the rumors were, to figure out what professor asked which questions.\u00a0 Each professor gets about half an hour with you and then they leave the room and you\u2019re wondering did I pass or fail; then they talk amongst themselves and they come back in and then they say you either passed or you failed.\u00a0 So I was happier to get out of there than I was to get into the school.\n\nBut anyway\u2026. Harold Hoehner, who is now with the Lord, he had two doctorates, one from Dallas Seminary, one from Europe.\u00a0 The rumor mill was he would ask students to defend their view of a thousand year kingdom.\u00a0 And so your typical student would start with Revelation 20:1-10 and he would say this on the exam: Well can you go earlier in the Bible.\u00a0 And the student would get kind of nervous you know, and say well, okay, I think Paul talked about a kingdom.\u00a0 And Harold Hoehner would say well can you go earlier in the Bible.\u00a0 The student would get nervous and say well, I think Jesus talked about the kingdom, \u201cThy kingdom come.\u201d\u00a0 And Hoehner would say can you go earlier in the Bible.\u00a0 And the student would get nervous and sweat it out a little bit and, oh, the prophets talked about a kingdom.\u00a0 Hoehner would say can you go earlier in the Bible?\u00a0 Well, my gosh, let\u2019s go back to the Davidic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, and Hoehner would say can you go earlier in the Bible.\u00a0 And really what he was driving the students back towards was Genesis 1 because your kingdom idea is necessitated with what happens in Genesis 1.\n\nSo the whole program of a coming kingdom, yeah, it\u2019s in all those things, the prophets, the Abrahamic Covenant, teachings of Paul, teachings of Christ, teachings of the Book of Revelation, but really the reason human history is driving towards this kingdom that\u2019s coming is it\u2019s an idea that starts in Genesis 1.\u00a0 There has to be a time in history where God reasserts His authority over the earth that was lost in Genesis 3.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 That\u2019s why God made all those promises to Noah after the flood, in the Noahic Covenant.\u00a0 He said, remember Genesis 8 around verses 20-22, He said as long as there\u2019s seed time and harvest the earth will remain.\n\n[Genesis 8:20-22, \u201cThen Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. [21]The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, \u201cI will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man\u2019s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.\u00a0 [22] \u201cWhile the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.\u201d]\n\nI mean, why did God in the Noahic Covenant, to Noah, say the earth has to remain?\u00a0 The answer is very simple, God can\u2019t allow this earth to go out of existence until His authority over it is reasserted.\u00a0\u00a0 I know that ruins a lot of movies because you go to these movies and people from outer space are destroying the earth and in Star Wars worlds are blowing up and all this stuff.\u00a0 But theologically this earth can\u2019t go out of existence until God reasserts His authority over it.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why Revelation 21 follows Revelation 20.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 It\u2019s only after the authority is restored, now God is free to melt the whole thing down, which He will do by fire, 2 Peter 3:10 and replace it with what?\u00a0 A new heavens and new earth.\u00a0 [2 Peter 3:10, \u201cBut the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.\u201d]\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to have your new heavens and new earth until you have the earthly kingdom of a thousand years over this world.\n\nSo that biblically is where history is headed.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the kingdom is not that important to your average Christian, they hardly think about it.\u00a0 But it\u2019s really a big deal to God.\u00a0 If God doesn\u2019t have His authority reasserted over planet earth then He\u2019s a perpetual loser.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 And God can\u2019t allow that to happen.\n\nSo during the kingdom not only is the office of theocratic administrator restored, but Israel, the instrument that He\u2019s going to use to bring the kingdom to the earth, is not just the owner of her covenants but the what?\u00a0 The possessor.\u00a0 Remember we talked about the relationship between the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant; that\u2019s why we went into all that detail.\u00a0 Israel currently is the owner of these covenants but not yet the enjoyer or the possessor of them because she\u2019s never complied with the Mosaic Covenant.\u00a0 But when the nation of Israel is in faith she will not just be the owner but the possessor, she will be in compliance with the Mosaic Covenant and the Abrahamic Covenant and all its promises will come to the earth.\n\nGod promised the nation of Israel three things: land, seed and blessing.\u00a0 So those three things will be a total reality; everything that God said He would do for Israel on this earth will be a complete and total reality once the kingdom comes.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I had you open up to Matthew 25:31. Part of this structure, \u201cland, seed and blessing\u201d is a Davidic king from David\u2019s line who will rule from where?\u00a0 David\u2019s throne, located where?\u00a0 In Jerusalem.\u00a0 And when Jesus finally comes back at the end of the tribulation period that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s portrayed.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Matthew 25:31 says, \u201cBut when\u201d not if but \u201cwhen the Son of Man comes in His glory,\u201d now this is not the rapture, the rapture is the coming only for the church before the tribulation period, this is His physical, visible manifestation to the whole world, when He returns at the end of the seven year tribulation period.\n\n\u201cBut when the Son of Man come in His glory and all the angels with Him, then He will sit\u201d where? \u201con His glorious throne.\u201d\u00a0 Now what throne do you think that would be?\u00a0 David\u2019s throne!\u00a0 You say well why doesn\u2019t it say David\u2019s throne here?\u00a0 Well, because Matthew is the most Jewish gospel that we have.\u00a0 He\u2019s writing to a Hebrew Christian audience and to a Jewish person with a Jewish mind who understands the Old Testament you don\u2019t have to spell out the obvious.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to tell them this is the Davidic Covenant, they all understand that.\u00a0 They all know that.\u00a0 Now to a Gentile audience He might have to give greater clarification because we\u2019re not as clear on the Old Testament as an Old Testament Jew is.\u00a0 But to the crowd that Matthew is addressing he doesn\u2019t have to say oh, by the way, this is the Davidic Covenant.\u00a0 They all understand that.\n\nAnd they also understood that once Jesus sits on the Davidic Covenant the kingdom begins.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why when you drop down to verse 34 it says, \u201cthe King\u201d see he\u2019s functioning as King now, when this occurs, right now He\u2019s not functioning as King; He\u2019s functioning as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek.\u00a0 But see, this is a different role, once He comes and asserts His authority over the earth and His kingdom starts.\n\n\u201cThen the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world\u201d is now in full effect.\u00a0 [Matthew 25:34]\u00a0 So you\u2019ve got the covenants in existence, fully realized; everything that God said Israel would possesses from the Nile all the way to the Euphrates\u2026 that\u2019s a pretty big chunk of territory, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Israel today possesses a sliver of that and she\u2019s going to possess all the territory from modern day Egypt to modern day Iraq.\n\nAnd did you notice that when God made these promises to Abraham He talked about rivers that are on this earth?\u00a0 He talked about from the Nile, He doesn\u2019t use the word \u201cNile\u201d but He say \u201cthe great river of Egypt,\u201d most people believe is the Nile, and then He says it\u2019s going to go all the way to the Euphrates, that\u2019s a real river, right, on this earth.\u00a0 We can go to the River Euphrates today if we wanted to.\u00a0 So you see how all these are earthly promises involving this earth and if this earth goes out of existence before those promises come into existence then God is a perpetual liar.\u00a0 See that?\n\nAnd a lot of people say well, let\u2019s make these promises fulfilled in the new heaven and the new earth.\u00a0 Well, you have a problem with that because what does John say in Revelation 21:1, I saw no sea. \u00a0[Revelation 21:1, \u201cThen I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.\u201d]\u00a0 \u00a0The Euphrates River and the Tigris River flow out of the Persian Gulf area, so there has to be a sea for those rivers to exist.\n\nAnd by the way, Abraham was told to walk around (Genesis 13:17) the land that he and his descendants would possess.\u00a0 [Genesis 13:17, \u201cArise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.\u201d]\u00a0 See how all of these are promises involving this earth?\u00a0 So this earth has to continue until these promises are realized or else God is a what?\u00a0 It would make God a liar.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the earthly kingdom is such a big deal.\u00a0 God\u2019s very character is at stake in the things that He has promised is at stake.\n\nSo Israel will be in her full covenants, including the Davidic Covenant, with Jesus ruling and reigning on David\u2019s throne from Jerusalem, because the nation of Israel will be in compliance with the Mosaic Covenant they will not just be the owner but the possessor of her blessings.\n\nAnd something else to understand about this coming kingdom is the times of the Gentiles will be over.\u00a0 You might take a look just for a minute at Luke 21:24. Now we know what the times of the Gentiles are, right?\u00a0 It\u2019s a time period when the nation is being trampled down by various Gentile powers, during a time period when the nation has no king reigning on David\u2019s throne.\u00a0 The times of the Gentiles began with the deposing of Zedekiah in 586 B.C. and ever since that period of time Israel has had no king reigning on David\u2019s throne.\u00a0 Even right now, today they have no king reigning on David\u2019s throne.\u00a0 And that time period will continue right to the end of the tribulation period when Jesus finally, at the conclusion of the tribulation period, will finally, as I mentioned in Matthew 25, sit on David\u2019s throne.\n\nSo until that happens the times of the Gentiles continue and Israel will be bullied by various Gentile powers.\u00a0 And even today the nation of Israel is bullied by the United Nations.\u00a0 Every time the United Nations gets together it\u2019s almost like every time they meet they always rule against Israel somehow.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because the times of the Gentiles are continuing.\n\nWe\u2019ve studied the Book of Daniel on Sunday mornings so you know about the times of the Gentiles, how they continued on through Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, they are continuing on today; they\u2019ll continue on through the empire of the antichrist.\u00a0 BUT, having said that, notice what Jesus says in Luke 21:24.\u00a0 This is very important.\u00a0 He says, \u201cand they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles\u201d what\u2019s the next word, \u201cuntil\u201d see the word \u201cuntil\u201d is a big deal because it tells you that the times of the Gentiles won\u2019t last forever.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.\u201d\n\nSo you\u2019ll notice that Jesus says the current manifestation of the times of the Gentiles is a temporary reality.\u00a0 What is happening now is the Gentiles are on top and Israel is on the bottom; it is indeed a reality, it\u2019s been a reality since 586 B.C.\u00a0 But Jesus is very clear here that it is a temporary reality.\u00a0 One of these days the times of the Gentiles, once the Kingdom comes, will be over and the exact opposite will be the case.\u00a0 In this earthly kingdom Israel will be on top and the Gentiles will be what?\u00a0 Under Israel\u2019s authority!\n\nYou say well, does the Bible teach that?\u00a0 My goodness, it teaches it many, many places.\u00a0 A few places: Deuteronomy 28:13 talks about a time when Israel will be the head and not the what?\u00a0 The tail.\u00a0 [Deuteronomy 28:13, \u201cThe LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully.\u201d]\u00a0 Right now she\u2019s the tail and not the head because we\u2019re in the times of the Gentiles.\u00a0 But once the times of the Gentiles are over the opposite is happening; she\u2019s the head and not the tail.\n\nNotice Isaiah 14:1-2, it\u2019s a prophecy about the end of the times of the Gentiles.\u00a0 It says, \u201cFor the LORD will have mercy on Jacob,\u201d who\u2019s Jacob? Israel, \u201cand will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own\u201d what? \u201cland, then strangers will be joined with them and they will cling to the house of Jacob.\u201d\u00a0 Look at that.\u00a0 [2] \u201cThen peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them\u201d who\u2019s the \u201cthem\u201d?\u00a0 The Gentiles, \u201cwill possess them for servants and maids in the land of the LORD and they will take them captive whose captives they were,\u201d look at this, \u00a0\u201cand will rule over their oppressors.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s the reversal of what\u2019s happening now.\u00a0 The times of the Gentiles, once the kingdom starts will be over.\u00a0 And see, this is why Satan when he\u2019s released from the abyss at the end of the thousand years, what\u2019s the city he attacks?\u00a0 \u201cThe beloved city,\u201d a reference to Jerusalem. Why is he attacking Jerusalem?\u00a0 Because she\u2019s the headquarters of the whole millennial kingdom.\u00a0 She\u2019s the nerve center of it.\n\nNotice Isaiah 60:10, I\u2019m going through these verses slowly because these are verses hardly anybody talks about.\u00a0 What people say today is oh, I know, Israel has a<\/u> future\u2026 NO, Israel doesn\u2019t have a<\/u> future, Israel is THE future.\u00a0 She\u2019s not going to be some little country off in the side somewhere in the millenium, she\u2019s the head of the millennial kingdom.\n\nThis is why it\u2019s very difficult to be an anti-Semite and to believe the system of theology that we teach here.\u00a0 If I were anti-Semitic I would want nothing to do with this church; I would find a church that writes off Israel or marginalizes Israel.\u00a0 But the more literally you take this you learn that Israel is going to be \u201cthe cat\u2019s meow\u201d in the millennial kingdom.\n\nNotice Isaiah 60:10, \u201cThe sons of foreigners shall build up your walls and the kings shall minister to you,\u201d the \u201ckings\u201d being Gentile kings.\n\nNotice, if you will, same chapter, verse 12, \u201cFor the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish, and the nations\u201d that\u2019s the Gentiles, \u201cwill be utterly ruined.\u201d\u00a0 So if you don\u2019t give Israel her proper due in the millennial kingdom God brings immediate justice.\u00a0 Notice verse 14, \u201cThe sons of those who afflicted you\u201d look at this, \u201cshall come bowing down to you,\u201d wow!\u00a0 \u201cAnd all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet; and they will call you the city of the LORD, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.\u201d\u00a0 Look at verse 16, \u201cYou shall drink dry the milk of the Gentiles, and shall milk the breasts of kings, then you shall know that I am the Lord, I am your Savior and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.\u201d\u00a0 See how all these verses are talking about not just Israel having a place in the kingdom; she\u2019s preeminent over all the nations of the kingdom, because the times of the Gentiles are over.\n\nThe Book of Zechariah, notice that for just a moment.\u00a0 Zechariah 8:23, it says this: \u201cThus says the LORD of hosts, 'In those days ten men from every language of\u00a0 the nations\u201d that would be Gentiles, \u201cshall grasp the garment of a Jewish man,\u201d so ten Gentiles are grabbing the sleeve of a Jewish man and \u201csaying\u201d what, \u201c\u2018saying, \u2018Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.\u2019\u201d So the Gentiles, once the kingdom starts and the times of the Gentiles are over are clutching the Jews, understanding that they\u2019re wanting to be in the place of a spiritual preeminence.\u00a0 See that?\n\nAnd let me tell you, this kind of theology, which is coming right out of the Bible, is not very popular because this mindset in the church is that Israel, they\u2019re the Christ-killers.\u00a0 They rejected Christ; we Gentiles, we\u2019re the ones that accepted Christ. So therefore Israel should be permanently written off or permanently marginalized.\u00a0 And what we discover is you can\u2019t write Israel off because God has given Israel an eternal covenant.\u00a0 So at some point they have to come back into the fold; the times of the Gentiles has to end and she\u2019s going to be elevated, not to a place of equality but to a place of preeminence in the millennial kingdom.\n\nNow as a member of Christ\u2019s church someway somehow you are also ruling and reigning alongside Jesus Christ.\u00a0 So I don\u2019t mean to make it sound like we are not destined for authority either.\u00a0 But somehow this kingdom is coming together in such a way so that the church is ruling and reigning alongside Jesus Christ and yet all of these promises that God has made specifically to the Hebrew people are realized as well.\u00a0 I think they\u2019re primarily ruling over those Gentiles that survive the great tribulation and they pass through the sheep and goat judgment, Matthew 24:31-46, and they begin to repopulate the earth in their mortal bodies, and the earth is repopulated.\u00a0 I think Israel in that time period is ruling over those Gentiles and the descendants of those who survive the tribulation period and enter the millennial kingdom as believers.\n\nSo to understand the kingdom you have to understand: number 1, the office of theocratic administrator is brought back.\u00a0 Number 2, Israel\u2019s covenants are being fulfilled.\u00a0 Number 3, Israel is not just the owner but also the possessor or enjoyer of her blessings.\u00a0 And number 4, the times of the Gentiles are over; that\u2019s why Israel is elevated again to a place of preeminence.\u00a0 Number 5, all the Old Testament prophecies are being fulfilled at this time.\u00a0 Remember what Peter said about the prophets, he called their prophecies, their prophetic word, made more sure as a lamp shining in a dark place.\u00a0 [2 Peter 1:19, \u201cSo we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.\u201d]\n\nWhile the kingdom is not here and the world is under Satan\u2019s grasp and domain the prophets, and we just read a lot of them, didn\u2019t we?\u00a0 Zechariah, Isaiah, they function as a light \u201cshining in a dark place,\u201d telling us that one day things will be different, once the kingdom comes.\u00a0 And in prior sessions we\u2019ve looked in depth at what these prophets teach about the kingdom.\u00a0 So I won\u2019t rehash all of that, but just by way of summary, Jerusalem will be the center of world and spiritual and political authority.\u00a0 There\u2019ll be perfect justice on the earth.\u00a0 There\u2019s going to be world peace.\u00a0 They\u2019re going to beat their swords into plow-shares, there\u2019s even going to be peace in the animal kingdom.\u00a0 What does it say, the lion will eat straw like the ox.\u00a0 [Isaiah 65:25, \u201c\u2018The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,\u2019 says the LORD.\u201d]\n\nSo the animals are going to go back to being herbivorous; when God created the world originally the animals were not carnivorous, they were herbivorous.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because God created a world without death in it so how can there be a world without death in it with the animals devouring each other?\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 That\u2019s why when you go back to early Genesis and you look at chapter 1, verses 29-30, it says, \u201cAnd God said, \u2018I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of the earth and every tree who\u2019s fruit yields seed, to you it shall be food.\u00a0 [30] and to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is life, I have given you every green herb for food,\u201d see how herbivorous everything is.\n\nThe carnivorous tendencies in the animal kingdom didn\u2019t start, really, I don\u2019t think until Genesis 9, after the fall and after the flood, because it\u2019s not until Genesis 9:3 that God says, \u201cEvery moving thing that is alive shall be food for you\u2026. \u00a0\u00a0So now there\u2019s a change as the animals go from herbivorous to carnivorous.\u00a0 But once the kingdom comes the lion eats straw the ox, I think that\u2019s in Isaiah 65, I\u2019ve got it there on the screen, I should just go there and read it rather than mangling it every time I try to quote it.\u00a0 But you get the idea.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 [Isaiah 65:25, \u201c\u2018The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,\u2019 says the LORD.\u201d]\n\nThe animals will go back to being herbivorous and there\u2019s going to be universal spiritual know\u00adledge; the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters covers the sea.\u00a0 [Habakkuk 2:14, \u201c\u2018For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.\u201d]\u00a0 So you\u2019re going to have universal access to the Bible and spiritual knowledge.\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to have this situation where a school teacher in a public classroom mentions the Ten Commandments and they lose their job and they get sued and all this stuff.\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to have that in the kingdom; there\u2019s going to be universal\u2026 you\u2019re not going to have countries where you have the 1040 window where the missionaries haven\u2019t penetrated certain cultures; you don\u2019t have that in the kingdom.\u00a0 There\u2019s universal knowledge of the Lord.\n\nYou might remember this chart we worked through when we were talking about this.\u00a0 The Old Testament prophets speak very aggressively about the kingdom, it\u2019s going to be established by God, \u00a0[Daniel 2:44];it\u2019s going to be eternal, [Daniel\u00a0 7:27], Christ\u00a0 will be directly ruling, [Zechariah 9:9-10], \u00a0it\u2019ll be earthly, [Zechariah 14:9] Israel\u2019s land promises will be realized [Genesis 15:18-21], Israel will be preeminent again, [Isaiah 49:22-23], why is that?\u00a0 Because what will be over?\u00a0 The times of the Gentiles will be over. In fact, there\u2019s a passage in Isaiah that I didn\u2019t read, so I don\u2019t want to leave that one out, Isaiah 49:22-23, speaking of Israel\u2019s preeminence after the times of the Gentiles end.\n\nIsaiah 49, notice verses 22-23, \u201cThus says the Lord GOD, \u2018Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations and set up My standard to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.\u00a0 [23] Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers.\u201d Look at this, this is Gentiles, the kings, \u201cThey shall bow down before you with their faces to the earth;\u201d and oh my goodness, let\u2019s look at this, \u201cand they will lick the dust at your feet.\u00a0 Then you will know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed for those who wait on Me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Wait on Me to do what?\u00a0 End the times of the Gentiles; this is Israel\u2019s hope.\u00a0 The times of the Gentiles are over, Israel is preeminent, the Gentiles are subservient to Israel whereas today, going all the way back to 586 B.C. the opposite has been true.\n\nAnd in the kingdom you\u2019re going to pray and before\u00a0 you get the words out of your moth God is going to answer.\u00a0 So it\u2019s not going to be a situation like you have in the Book of James where we ask for things amiss and God doesn\u2019t answer because we ask for things based on our own lusts.\u00a0 In the kingdom the will of God is going to be so clear that before you even speak the words the prayer request is answered.\u00a0 There\u2019s going to be a millennial temple, I\u2019ll show you that, I won\u2019t show you the temple but I\u2019ll show you a picture of what we think it will be like in just a second.\n\nDo you know David is going to be resurrected and is going to be ruling in a co-regency form of government over the whole earth.\u00a0 Jesus over the earth, David governing the land of Israel.\u00a0 I have all the verses there, you can look up those on your own and many of these we\u2019ve already talked about when we were developing the concept of the kingdom in the Old Testament.\u00a0 There\u2019s going to be perfect righteousness, the curse will be dramatically rolled back.\n\nThere\u2019s going to be worldwide peace, and it\u2019s very sad today that that verse, \u201cthey\u2019ll beat their swords into plowshares\u201d the United Nations put that on their property.\u00a0 In other words, they think they\u2019re the ones that are going to bring in this peace, the United Nations in New\u00a0 York City.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is there have been more wars following the found\u00adation of the United Nations than before.\u00a0 And it shows you the mindset of people that believe in world government; they think they can do what only God can do.\u00a0 So when they put\u2026, and you can Google it, just type in The United Nations, Isaiah, beat their swords into plowshares and it\u2019ll show you exactly where that is on the United Nations property.\u00a0 By claiming that verse for themselves they\u2019re assuming a Messianic role and this is the mindset of one-worlders and globalists, they basically think they can do something only Jesus can do.\u00a0 And in the process they are claiming a Messianic role!\n\nThere\u2019s going to be complete and total agricultural prosperity over the whole world.\u00a0 We were praying today about people getting laid off and other people getting\u00a0 jobs and making ends meet financially.\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to have to deal with that issue in the kingdom; there\u2019s not going to be any such thing as the Dow dropping as it did recently, or layoffs, or unemployment.\u00a0 And there\u2019s going to be profound\u00a0 and I mean profound changes in the topography of this earth. \u00a0\u00a0One of the things that\u2019s going to happen, let me fast forward here for just a moment, is there\u2019s going to be a river that\u2019s going to come out of the temple in Jerusalem and it\u2019s going to flow into the Dead Sea and the Dead Sea is going to biologically team with life.\u00a0 You say well, is that in the Bible?\u00a0 It\u2019s in Ezekiel 47:1-12.\u00a0 You can read about it for yourself.\n\n[Ezekiel 47:1, \u201cThen he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar. [2] He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate<\/em> that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side. [3] When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching<\/em> the ankles. [4] Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching<\/em> the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water,<\/em> water reaching<\/em> the loins. [5] Again he measured a thousand; and it was<\/em> a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough<\/em> water to swim in, a river that could not be forded.\u00a0 [6] He said to me, \u201cSon of man, have you seen this?<\/em>\u201d Then he brought me back to the bank of the river. [7] Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river there were<\/em> very many trees on the one side and on the other. [8] Then he said to me, \u201cThese waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah; then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the waters of the sea<\/em> become fresh. [9] \u201cIt will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others<\/em> become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. [10] \u201cAnd it will come about that fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to Eneglaim there will be a place for the spreading of nets. Their fish will be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many. [11]\u201cBut its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. [12]\u201cBy the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of<\/em> trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.\u201d]\n\nWhy do we call the Dead Sea the Dead Sea?\u00a0 Because everything in the sea is what?\u00a0 Dead, because of its high salt content.\u00a0 That\u2019s why when you travel to Israel today you can float in the Dead Sea, and there\u2019s myself and my wife floating in the Dead Sea.\u00a0 I was convinced that the Dead Sea would buoy her up, no problem, I thought I would sink thought, but sure enough there it is holding me up.\u00a0 And why does it do that?\u00a0 Because of the high salt content that\u2019s killed everything.\n\nNow isn\u2019t it interesting that Ezekiel says that when the kingdom comes the topography of this earth is going to be so radically changed that even the sea life and the biology and all the animals and the fish will team with life in the Dead Sea.\u00a0 You read a passage like this and you have to say to yourself we\u2019re not in the kingdom now, because if we were in the kingdom now I wouldn\u2019t be floating in the Dead Sea; I might be fishing but I wouldn\u2019t be floating.\u00a0 And this is why people who believe we\u2019re in the kingdom, you see the problem they have?\u00a0 They\u2019ve got to rewrite these passages so they come up with these explanations like well brother, you\u2019re taking it too literally, when it talks about the Dead Sea coming to life it\u2019s just talking about regeneration of the soul.\u00a0 They give this real spiritual thing, sermon, and the reality is the Bible doesn\u2019t say that.\u00a0 If you take it for what it says the Dead Sea will physically, not spiritually, physically come back to life.\u00a0 So that\u2019s what I mean by topographical changes.\n\nAnd by the way, Israel\u2019s tribes, they\u2019re going to get all their land portions.\u00a0 It\u2019s something right out of the second part of Joshua.\u00a0 The first part of the Book of Joshua the nation of Israel goes into the land; the second part of the Book of Joshua the land is divided up.\u00a0 And when you study Ezekiel 47 you\u2019re given the specific details about which tribe is going to get which land.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s very, VERY detailed.\u00a0\u00a0 And this is the kind of thing Jesus was talking about because I\u2019ve got a lot of people today telling me Jesus didn\u2019t talk about an earthly kingdom.\u00a0 And I always say yes He did talk about an earthly kingdom and it\u2019s in Matthew 19:28, \u201cJesus said to them, \u2018Assuredly I say to you, in the regeneration when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory,\u201d we read about that throne earlier didn\u2019t we, \u201cyou who have followed Me will sit on twelve thrones, judging the\u201d what? \u201ctwelve tribes of Israel.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a reference to Ezekiel 47 and the tribal allotments that are going to be given to each of the twelve tribes.\u00a0 So when people say Jesus didn\u2019t mention an earthly kingdom of course He did, He mentioned it right there in Matthew 19:28.\n\nThe temple is going to be rebuilt. \u00a0The Shekinah glory of God that left the Solomonic temple before its destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, that identical Shekinah glory of God is going to go right back into Israel\u2019s temple.\u00a0 And the Shekinah glory of God, there are four temples total, on the left temple one, but Ezekiel 40-48 predicts that the Shekinah glory of God is going to go back into temple four, Israel\u2019s millennial temple.\u00a0 So a literal brick and mortar temple with literal animal sacrifices, oh my goodness, with the literal Shekinah glory of God in that temple.\n\nAnd you wouldn\u2019t believe what people do who don\u2019t believe in a literal kingdom, how they rewrite this.\u00a0 They do everything they can to make it sound like well, this is really just the temple that was rebuilt by the returnees from the exile.\u00a0 Well, there\u2019s a lot of problems with that.\u00a0 First of all the dimensions are totally different.\u00a0 Secondly I don\u2019t ever recall the Shekinah glory of God entering the temple that the exiles, returnees from the exile rebuilt.\u00a0 In fact, my Bible says that temple was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70.\n\nThis is not talking about a temple two, or a temple three, the temple that the antichrist will desecrate; this is temple four, this is the millennial temple.\u00a0 Look, you can tell I\u2019m in a lot of twitter wars with people, I\u2019m getting myself worked up.\u00a0 I have people, I mean, big names in Christianity on my twitter feed telling me all the time that I\u2019m crazy for taking the temple literally.\u00a0 Well, let me ask you a question?\u00a0 Do you think the Book of Ezekiel is symmetrically structured.\u00a0 The problem is twitter only gives you like 170 characters, I can\u2019t explain all this in a few characters.\u00a0 But Ezekiel is symmetrically structured; in the first part of the book his mouth is closed; in the last part of the book his mouth is opened.\u00a0 The first part of the book he preaches judgment; last part of the book he preaches restoration.\u00a0 The first part of the book the glory of God departs from the temple.\u00a0 The last part of the book the glory of God returns to the temple.\u00a0 The first part of the book has a temple in it; do you take that literally?\u00a0 Everybody says yes.\u00a0 Then they turn right around and take the temple at the end of the book allegorically.\u00a0 That is just an inconsistent approach to the Bible.\n\nSo there has to be a literal millennial temple; it\u2019s much bigger, as you can see from this map, than Herod\u2019s temple, the Solomonic temple, even the tabernacle.\u00a0 It\u2019s much bigger than a football field as you can see.\u00a0 And what else is going to go on during this millennial kingdom?\u00a0\u00a0 The earth is going to be released from the bondage that it is in.\u00a0 Did you all know that this world is in a state of bondage?\u00a0 It\u2019s groaning.\u00a0 You recall that passage from Romans 8 that the earth is personified as groaning, eagerly awaiting its liberation when the kingdom is established.\u00a0 [Romans 8:19, \u201cFor the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.\u201d]\n\nSo once the kingdom comes that bondage will be taken out of the earth; Satan will no longer be ruling the earth but Satan will be where?\u00a0 He\u2019ll be under the thumb of God, he\u2019ll be in a place called the abyss, which is like prison, for a thousand years.\u00a0 So what does Paul say, \u201cwe wrestle not against\u201d what? \u201cflesh and blood.\u201d\u00a0 [Ephesians 6:12, \u201cFor our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.\u201d]\n\nIn the kingdom we\u2019re not going to be wrestling against flesh and blood because Satan will be done away with and he\u2019s not released until God allows it.\u00a0 So in the kingdom God\u2019s promises are being fulfilled.\u00a0 This is why Jesus taught His disciples to pray, \u201cThy kingdom come,\u201d do you see why we\u2019re supposed to pray this?\u00a0 I mean, are you looking forward to this time in history as it\u2019s been described?\u00a0 I sure am, I can\u2019t wait.\u00a0 So we\u2019re to pray for its arrival.\u00a0 See that?\n\nAnd I\u2019m going to close with this verse here in Acts 1:6-8, this was in between Christ\u2019s resurrection and ascension.\u00a0 He was with the disciples for forty days, remember that, Acts 1 talks about it.\u00a0 And this is what it says.\u00a0 It says, \u201cSo when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, \u2018Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?\u201d\u2019 See, they didn\u2019t understand this church age real well that was coming, the day of Pentecost where the church started hadn\u2019t happened yet, they\u2019re not thinking, although He\u2019s been trying to explain this to them, this interim age, they\u2019re still thinking in Kingdom terms.\u00a0 So they want to know, Lord, are you going to restore\u2026 you know, let\u2019s get the program on, let\u2019s restore Israel and start the kingdom.\u00a0\u00a0 [7] And \u201cHe said to them, \u2018It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; [8] but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses\u201d where? \u201cboth in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.\u201d\n\nSo He\u2019s directing their attention away from the kingdom, which is what they expected to materialize, and onto the work of the church.\u00a0 Do you see that?\n\nBut I want you to, even though this is a transitionary time period where the kingdom is going to be postponed what I want you to see is that Jesus never says you guys have it wrong about the kingdom.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t say things like have I been with you so long and you still don\u2019t understand that there\u2019s not going to be a kingdom ever?\u00a0 He never rebukes them on their belief that there would be a kingdom.\u00a0 What He corrects them on is their understanding of the timing of the kingdom.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Jesus never denied the reality of a future kingdom through Israel, He never cancelled that.\u00a0 What He said was now is not the time for that; we\u2019re moving into the age of the church instead so don\u2019t be kingdom focused, be mission focused.\u00a0 But in the process of the rebuke He never corrects them for thinking that there would be a future kingdom.\u00a0 He never denies it.\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting to me that the disciples, after all of this time with Christ still believe there was a kingdom coming, which means to me that all the way through Christ\u2019s ministry He never cut the cord on the kingdom.\u00a0 He never cancelled the fact that it was going to come one day.\u00a0 The only thing He\u2019s correcting here is its timing.\n\nSo what is the kingdom?\u00a0 Theological administrators reasserted on the earth, covenants are fulfilled, Israel is the possessor and the owner, the times of the Gentiles are over, Old Testament prophecies are being fulfilled, creation is liberated, Satan is bound and every minute promise that God has ever made is going to happen.\n\nNow I know the burning question you\u2019re asking\u2014how long is the kingdom going to last?\u00a0 And if I get into that it might take me longer to answer that that tonight than the actual duration of the kingdom itself.\u00a0 So we\u2019ll talk about the thousand year\u2026 there\u2019s the answer, the thousand\u00a0 year kingdom that\u2019s coming and why we know it\u2019s a thousand years.\u00a0 So we\u2019ll get into that next time.\n\nSo, it\u2019s 8:01 and I\u2019m going to stop talking, I appreciate you all\u2019s patience and we can open it, and if people need to go and pick up their kids or just leave in general you\u2019re free to do that.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t