{"id":19217,"date":"2018-03-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-037\/"},"modified":"2018-03-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-03-07T06:00:00","slug":"the-coming-kingdom-037","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-037\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coming Kingdom 037"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[470],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19217","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-the-coming-kingdom","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"The Coming Kingdom 037","sermon_date":"20180307","sermon_month":"3","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":5541,"sermon_slides":5540,"sermon_mp3":5538,"sermon_id":"3718193310","series_or_event":470,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"21-22","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Coming Kingdom\n\n3-7-18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Revelation\u00a0 21-22\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 37\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to the Book of Revelation, chapter 21 and I want to thank Jim for filling last week at Wednesday night Bible study.\u00a0 I hope you all enjoyed him.\u00a0 I was able to catch a little bit of it from my hotel room in the northwest, where it was snowing, in Idaho.\u00a0 So that was a treat for me anyway.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it was a treat for the Idaho people but they\u2019re used to it.\u00a0 I was at the Steeling the Mind Conference and that went real well so I appreciate everybody\u2019s prayers on that.\u00a0 I made my way back Monday and my luggage made its way back Tuesday so one of those deals again.\u00a0 But praise the Lord, everybody, me and the luggage made it back in one piece.\u00a0 Actually not really, I had two suitcases so three pieces, we made it back in three pieces, myself and the two suitcases.\n\nAs you know, as Earl was mentioning in the prayer time Shahram is going to be here this Sunday; he\u2019s going to be speaking in our sanctuary adult Sunday School class and he\u2019s also going to be giving our message from the pulpit.\u00a0 And he was actually at this conference that I was at and he\u2019s ready to come and ready to go.\u00a0 He\u2019s only about 5\u20196\u201d, he\u2019s about the size of my wife, he comes up to about here.\u00a0 But don\u2019t let his short stature confuse you, this guy\u2019s like a stick of dynamite if you\u2019ve never heard him speak before.\u00a0 He has an ability to explain Islam without the politically correct filter like nobody I\u2019ve ever heard; as a former Muslim he can do it accurately also.\u00a0 So he\u2019s going to be dealing with Islam from a theological level and a biblical level and a prophetic level, a constitutional level.\u00a0 He actually ran for Governor of Washington State a few\u00a0 years back so this guy is really an \u201cenergizer bunny\u201d for Jesus, I guess I could put it that way.\u00a0 And he\u2019s going to bring a powerful message; you\u2019re going to hear things from\u00a0 you\u2019ve never heard from anybody in any pulpit or any news program ever, I can guarantee it.\n\nAnd since I\u2019m now the President of Chafer Seminary I was able to use my influence, what little I have over there, to get them to invite him as a speaker for the Chafer Conference, which is going to run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at West Houston Bible Church and he\u2019s going to be the keynote speaker for that as well.\u00a0 So all of that will be livestreamed.\u00a0 If you want to go to the conference it\u2019s free, just sign up ahead of time at Dean Bible Ministries.org.\u00a0 It\u2019s about twenty minutes from here.\u00a0 And meals are provided and it\u2019s just a great thing that they do over there, we do over there.\u00a0 So there\u2019s going to be live streaming, the archaizing, all that stuff. \u00a0Other topics will be dealt with as well; I think I\u2019m dealing with 2 Thessalonians 2:3, the apostas\u00eda<\/em>,<\/em><\/strong> which I actually think is the rapture.\u00a0 It\u2019s a minority view so I\u2019m going to get a chance to talk about that Wednesday morning, if I remember right.\u00a0 I think we have a schedule out there of all that stuff so if you\u2019re interested please take advantage of that.\n\nAnd don\u2019t be confused, we\u2019re still going to have Wednesday night Bible study once it\u2019s all said and done.\u00a0 So I\u2019ll be here for that.\u00a0 So it\u2019s going to be a full week, full schedule and I trust the Holy Spirit is going to be in the midst of all of it.\u00a0 We\u2019ve been praying that the Lord would use these sessions to awaken the church and our nation really, to the growing threat of Islam.\u00a0 Muslims are not the problem; the problem is Islam, the doctrine of Islam, the ideology and theology of Islam.\u00a0 Islam, as you might know, is more about politics than it is about theology.\u00a0 A small percentage of Islam deals with theology; most of it deals with worldwide submission under Sharia Law and so Shahram is going to be explaining all that to us like very few people can.\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard a lot of people talk about this, my personal view is that Shahram is the very best on this subject.\u00a0 So anyway, that\u2019s enough of an infomercial.\u00a0 Anything I\u2019m forgetting?\u00a0 I think we covered it all, didn\u2019t we.\n\nLet\u2019s open up our Bibles to the Book of Revelation, chapter 21 and we are continuing to talk about the doctrine of the kingdom and we\u2019ll be continuing this next week, next Wednesday evening as well.\u00a0 If\u00a0 you never got a copy of my book that we\u2019re using feel free to talk to me afterwards, we\u2019ll get you a free copy.\u00a0 And actually my book is not the important book, God\u2019s book is the most important Book, but my book just sort of topically organizes what the Bible teaches about the kingdom.\u00a0 So I like to say our primary source we\u2019re using in this class is the Bible and my book is sort of a supplemental resource.\n\nWe\u2019ve been talking about what does the Bible say about the kingdom and we\u2019ve covered a lot of ground.\u00a0 And we got all the way to the thousand year kingdom where Satan is finally evicted and God\u2019s thousand year kingdom is established.\u00a0 And then did your know your Bible doesn\u2019t end there?\u00a0 There\u2019s a section in your Bible some people call after the thousand years. So what happens after the thousand years?\u00a0 That\u2019s a section, Revelation 21 and 22, called the eternal state and that\u2019s where we are because the kingdom program continues right on through eternity.\u00a0 And your Bible has a lot to say about it.\n\nHere\u2019s our traditional Bible prophecy chart, if you just go to the far right you\u2019ll see the eternal state, the last stop on a long bus ride.\u00a0 So here is how we are attacking, or trying to explain the doctrine of the eternal state.\u00a0 Number 1, we saw, and we started talking about this the last week I was here, which was not last week but the prior week, that the eternal state can only come into existence after the office of Theocratic Administrator has been restored to planet earth.\u00a0 That restoration happens in the thousand year kingdom.\u00a0 And now that God has won that battle He is free to dissolve this earth and start over again with a new heavens and a new earth.\n\nAnd also the last time I was with you I tried to make the point, and there\u2019s a lot of dispute on this, there\u2019s a lot of good people that would disagree with me on this, big names like maybe you\u2019ve heard the name David Jeremiah, Randy Alcorn, a number of pretty prominent people out there are arguing that the eternal state is really not a new creation but just a renovation.\u00a0 And the last time we were together I tried to explain that I don\u2019t think that is right; I think the renovation is the thousand year kingdom but the eternal state, which follows the thousand year kingdom, is an ex nihilo<\/em> new creation; ex nihilo<\/em> means something out of nothing.\u00a0 And I think we walked through about five reasons why I think that\u2019s true.\n\nSo we come now to number 3 if our 5 part list as we\u2019re trying to unpack the eternal state.\u00a0 Number 3, one of the things that escapes people, for whatever reason, is the eternal state is very literal.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s a literal place; it\u2019s just as literal as Houston or Sugarland or Boston, Massachusetts, or whatever city you want to talk about.\u00a0 It\u2019s a real place on a real planet and a real city.\n\nAnd a lot of us have been influenced by Augustinian theology.\u00a0 Augustine was the first guy to really come up with (in church history) a formal treatment on amillennialism, which took all of these earthly promises about the thousand year kingdom and following, and he started to sort of symbolize them, allegorize them.\u00a0 And a lot of Christians today, even in the 21st<\/sup> century in which we live, are still influenced, whether they realize it or not, with Augustinian theology.\u00a0 So to them heaven or the afterlife is just kind of this nebulous idea; it\u2019s not really concrete in their minds.\u00a0 They think it\u2019s sort of like a state of mind or some people think of it as we\u2019re going to be sitting on clouds strumming harps, wearing white sheets and having halos over our heads, and we\u2019re going to be sort of bored because how many times can you sing the Hallelujah Chorus?\u00a0 You can\u2019t sing that too much without getting bored.\u00a0 So a lot of people look at the afterlife that way.\n\nAnd we think that because we\u2019re under the spell of Augustine still.\u00a0 But the authority in our minds should not be Augustine or amillennialism; it should be the Word of God.\u00a0 And when you look at the Word of God very carefully what you discover is that terms are used to describe the eternal state that you would not take any other way other than literal in any other part of the Bible.\n\nThis chart just kind of shows\u00a0 you where those terms are but in verse 2 of chapter 21 you\u2019ll see the word city.\u00a0 That\u2019s the Greek word polis<\/em>, where we get the word metropolis, the \u201cpolis<\/em>\u201d on the end is the Greek word for city and if you interpreted that word anywhere else in the Bible you would think it was literal.\u00a0 Jerusalem is another literal term that\u2019s always literal everywhere else.\u00a0 Verse 18, you\u2019ll see the words gold, jasper, glass wall.\u00a0 Verse 16 of chapter 21 you\u2019ll see the word square and miles.\u00a0 Verse 12 of chapter 21 you\u2019ll see the word high.\u00a0 Verse 17 of chapter 21, depending on what Bible translation you\u2019re using, you\u2019ll a numerical measurement of about seventy-two yards. \u00a0Verse 12 of chapter 21 you\u2019ll see the word gates.\u00a0 Chapter 21:21 you\u2019ll see the word pearls.\u00a0 And verse 12, tribes.\u00a0 Verse 14 of chapter 21, foundation, apostles.\u00a0 Chapter 21 verse 21 you\u2019ll see the word street.\u00a0 Chapter 22 verse 1, river.\u00a0 Chapter 22 verse 2, tree of life.\u00a0 And that should remind us of what?\u00a0 The Garden of Eden.\u00a0 I mean, do you believe there was a literal tree of knowledge and tree of life in Eden. \u00a0I do.\u00a0 So why would I interpret \u201ctree of life\u201d differently in the last two chapters of the Bible?\u00a0 In chapter 22 verse 2 you\u2019ll see the word \u201cfruit,\u201d \u201cmonth,\u201d \u201cnations,\u201d \u201cleaves.\u201d\n\n[Revelation 21:2, And I saw the holy city<\/u>, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.\u201d Revelation 21:12, \u201cIt had a great and high<\/u> wall, with twelve gates<\/u>, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes<\/u> of the sons of Israel.\u2019 Revelation 21:18, \u201cThe material of the wall was jasper<\/u>; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass<\/u>.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 21:16, \u201cThe city is laid out as a square<\/u>, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles<\/u>; its length and width and height are equal..\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Revelation 21:12, \u201cIt had a great and high<\/u> wall, with twelve gates<\/u>, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Revelation 21:17, \u201cAnd he measured its wall, seventy-two yards<\/u>, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.\u201d Revelation 21:21, \u201cAnd the twelve gates were twelve pearls<\/u>; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street<\/u> of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. Revelation 21:14, \u201cAnd the wall of the city had twelve foundation<\/u> stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles <\/u>of the Lamb. Revelation 21:21, \u201cAnd the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street <\/u>of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Revelation 22:1, \u201cThen he showed me a river<\/u> of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Revelation 22:2, \u201cin the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life<\/u>, bearing twelve kinds of<\/em> fruit<\/u>, yielding its fruit every month<\/u>; and the leaves<\/u> of the tree were for the healing of the nations<\/u>.]\n\nSo what is being described here for us in the Bible is an actual world, an actual planet, a new planet and new world but it\u2019s still a literal world nonetheless.\u00a0 And the new heavens and new earth that this world be in will be a literal place.\u00a0 And the city that will descend from heaven to the this world will be an actual literal city.\n\nAnd you know the Gnostics came along very early on in church history and they said the spiritual world is good, the physical world is bad.\u00a0 And that\u2019s called Gnostic dualism.\u00a0 And if you believe that it starts to wreak havoc on all kinds of doctrines.\u00a0 The doctrine of the incarnation starts to get damaged, that God became man because the Gnostics would say well if the physical world is bad Jesus didn\u2019t come in a body.\u00a0 One school of thought called the Docetists said it just seemed like He had a body.\u00a0 Docetism coming from the Greek word doke\u014d<\/em>,<\/strong> it seems like.\u00a0 And another group says well, you know, Jesus had a body but He really wasn\u2019t God, He really wasn\u2019t the Christ, the spirit of Christ descended upon Him temporarily at His baptism (they say) and left Him just prior to His crucifixion.\n\nAnd why do people say things like that?\u00a0 It\u2019s the outworking of this belief that the material world is bad.\u00a0 And amillennialism, the idea that there\u2019s not going to be a future earthly kingdom, came from Alexandria, Egypt, as we\u2019ve talked about in other studies that I\u2019ve gone here.\u00a0 And Alexandria, Egypt was a hotbed for Gnostic thought.\u00a0 So if you believe that the physical world is bad in and of itself, I mean we all understand that it\u2019s under a curse, but the physical world in and of itself by itself is not bad.\u00a0 If you believe it\u2019s bad then all kinds of doctrines get damaged, like the incarnation of Christ, and amillennialism starts to dominate.\u00a0 And a lot of us are still kind of caught in a Gnostic way of thinking because of the influence of Gnosticism and we think if it\u2019s physical it\u2019s bad.\n\nBut you remember what God did in the six days of creation?\u00a0 He created the heavens and the earth which would include what?\u00a0 Food, sunlight, it would include touch, it would include sexuality, procreation, because God in Genesis 1 tells Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply.\u00a0 [Genesis 1:28, \u201cGod blessed them; and God said to them, \u2018Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 So you have sex, you have the begetting of children, and all of these things are described in Genesis 1.\u00a0 And does anybody remember what Genesis 1:31 says, after God did all this in six days of creation?\u00a0 He said\u2026 He doesn\u2019t even say it\u2019s good, He says it\u2019s \u201cvery good.\u201d\u00a0 [Genesis 1:31, \u201cGod saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.\u201d]\n\nSo there\u2019s nothing wrong with the physical world.\u00a0 The physical world in and of itself is not bad.\u00a0 Now the physical world was put under a curse because of what man did in Genesis 3 but just because it\u2019s physical doesn\u2019t make it evil.\u00a0 Do you see that?\u00a0 I mean, my body is under a curse because it\u2019s aging and dying but that doesn\u2019t mean my physical body is somehow bad or evil.\u00a0 Do you follow that?\u00a0 So the body is like an automobile, you can use it to give someone a ride to church or you can use it to deliver groceries to someone that can\u2019t get out of their house, or you can use it to run someone down in a crosswalk.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 But the car in and of itself isn\u2019t bad; it\u2019s how it\u2019s\u00a0 used.\u00a0 Follow that?\n\nSo James 3 talks about the tongue and our use of the tongue and a lot of people think well, the tongue is evil.\u00a0 No, that\u2019s not the biblical position; the tongue can be used for evil, James 3 talks about that, but the tongue can also be a tremendous blessing.\u00a0 The tongue that\u2019s used for sarcasm and to tear down can also be used for edification and that\u2019s why the Book of Proverbs says within the tongue there is life and death.\u00a0 [Proverbs 18:21, \u201cwithin the tongue there is life and death.\u201d]\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I mean, the tongue is not the problem, the tongue is am I going to use it based on the dictates of \u00a0\u00a0my old nature or based on the dictates of my new nature as a Christian?\n\nSo the physical world, you know you shouldn\u2019t develop a view that somehow the physical world is bad.\u00a0 And I think a lot of people resist this type of teaching, the literal nature of the eternal state because in their mind somehow they\u2019re thinking that this physical world is bad.\u00a0 It\u2019s not bad, it\u2019s a beautiful thing that God created and once the curse is completely pulled out of it, which is what the new heavens and new earth will be like, it\u2019ll be just a glorious physical existence that we will experience through all eternity.\n\nSo we\u2019ve talked about number 1, when the eternal state comes into existence, after the restoration\u00a0 of the office of theocratic administrator.\u00a0 We\u2019ve learned, number 2, that this eternal state is a new creation entirely, not just a renovation of this earth.\u00a0 And then number 3, we\u2019ve learned that the eternal state is very literal in nature.\n\nAnd let me take you to a fourth thing and this has to do with the continuation of the throne of David.\u00a0 Some way, somehow, God has to allow the throne of David to continue on into eternity.\u00a0 You might remember I gave you this quote from Lewis Sperry Chafer the last time I was with you.\u00a0 And I had it as a quote and here it\u2019s maybe a little bit easier to follow because it\u2019s in numerical form.\u00a0 But he gives seven things that are going to transition, seven things that happen as we transition from the thousand year kingdom to the eternal state.\n\nAnd those are, by way of review number 1, the release of Satan from the abyss at the end of the thousand year kingdom.\u00a0 Number 2, The revolt on earth which he will lead with his armies.\u00a0 Number 3, the passing away of the old heavens and old earth, and you can just keep in mind 2 Peter 3:10 which is the description of the destruction of this world by fire.\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 Then according to Chafer\u2019s chronology you\u2019ll have The Great White Throne judgment, that\u2019s the final judgment for the unbelievers, which is a terrible judgment.\u00a0 I personally hope we\u2019re not there to watch that because as unbelievers are found guilty as their name is not in the Book of Life, in other words they\u2019ve never trusted in Christ, they are transported\u2026 first of all they\u2019re resurrected and then they\u2019re transported from Hades, where their souls currently are, into the Lake of Fire in a resurrected body.\u00a0 And you can read all about that in Revelation 20:11-15.\n\n[Revelation 20:11, \u201cThen I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. [12] And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book<\/em> of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. [13] And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them<\/em> according to their deeds. [14] Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. [15] And if anyone\u2019s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.\u201d]\n\nThen there will be\u2026 now we\u2019ll go into this probably not tonight but next week, the descent of the bridal city of God out of heaven.\u00a0 And then Chafer says, number 7, there\u2019s going to be a surrender of the mediatorial aspect of Christ\u2019s reign and adjustment to the eternal state immediately following.\u00a0 And here I\u2019m focused on number 7, the surrender of the mediatorial aspect of Christ's reign and adjustment to the Eternal State immediately following.\u00a0 <\/em>Remember that during the thousand years Christ is reigning from David\u2019s throne.\u00a0 And some way, somehow that throne is adjusted and it will continue on into the eternal state.\n\nSo just a quick review on David\u2019s throne.\u00a0 When we started this class I tried to communicate that the doctrine of the kingdom starts very early on in the Bible.\u00a0 One of the places it begins is in the Abrahamic Covenant, the covenant that God made to the descendants of Abraham who became the Jewish people.\u00a0 That\u2019s where God, in Genesis 15, promised to Abram and his descendants three things: land, seed and blessing.\u00a0 The seed is amplified in what\u2019s called the Davidic Covenant,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2 Samuel 7:12-16, about a thousand years or so after God made this promise in covenantal form to Abraham.\n\n[2 Samuel 7:12-16, \u201cWhen your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. [13] He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. [14] I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, [15] but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it<\/em> away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. [16] Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.\u201d\u2019]\n\nGod made the Jewish people another promise that through David\u2019s lineage is going to come an eternal dynasty and a forever throne. \u00a0And in 2 Samuel 7:16 it\u2019s very clear that David\u2019s throne is going to last forever.\u00a0 2 Samuel\u00a0 7:16 says, \u201cYour house\u201d God speaking to David, \u201cYour house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.\u201d\u00a0 So Jesus \u00a0is on this throne ruling and reigning the world with a rod of iron in righteousness for a thousand\u00a0 years from Jerusalem and a lot of people look at the throne of David as being fulfilled completely during that thousand year time period.\u00a0 The problem is the promise is that the throne would continue on, not just for a thousand years, which is a long time anyway, but would continue on forever.\n\nAnd I wish we had time to look at all of these verses but we don\u2019t. \u00a0But when you study all these verses that I have on the screen what you\u2019re going to see is the promise of God that the throne of David will continue forever.\u00a0 [Psalms 89: 89:3\u20134, 34\u201337; 45:6; 72:5, 17; Isaiah 9:6\u20137; Jeremiah 33:14\u201317, 20\u201321; Ezekiel 37:24\u201328; Daniel 2:44; 7:13\u201314; Luke 1:30\u201333; 1 Timothy 1:17; Revelation 11:15.]\n\nSo it\u2019s alluded to in the Psalms, Psalm 89, Psalm 45, Psalm 72, you\u2019ll find it in the Christmas passage about a forever throne, \u201cunto us a child is born,\u201d Isaiah 9:6-7, it\u2019s all over Jeremiah 33, Ezekiel 37, Daniel 2, Daniel 7, 1 Timothy chapter 1, Revelation 11:15.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find it in early Luke.\u00a0 This is what was offered to the Jewish people on a silver platter, in early Luke a kingdom and a dynasty which would last forever and sadly, as we have studied, the Jewish people turned that down.\u00a0 But that promise one day will be restored to them, as we have studied.\n\nBut over in Luke 1:3-32 it says, \u201cThe angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;\u201d and He will reign over the house of Jacob for a thousand years.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that does it?\u00a0 What does the text say, \u201cHe will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will\u201d what?\u00a0 survive until He\u2019s voted out of office?\u00a0 NO, \u201cHis kingdom will have no end.\u201d\n\nNow all of these passages that I\u2019m alluding to it talks about this forever throne.\u00a0 So somehow there\u2019s got to be an adjustment of that throne into the eternal state where the reign of Christ can continue.\u00a0 Revelation 11:15, which I think if probably the theme of the whole Book of Revelation, it says, \u201cThen the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, \u2018The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign\u201d for how long, not just forever, but \u201cforever and ever.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s the Greek word aionios,<\/em> which means forever, twice!\u00a0 So if I\u2019m understanding this correctly the Davidic Covenant can never go out of existence.\n\nRight now what\u2019s happening, there\u2019s two thrones.\u00a0 Revelation 3:21 says, \u201cHe who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.\u201d\u00a0 See what Jesus said to the church at Laodicea, way back in the first century?\u00a0 He says if you overcome, now the overcomer is a believer, you\u2019ll just have to take my word for that, if you don\u2019t want to take my word for that jot down 1 John 5:4-5 and you\u2019ll see that an overcomer is defined as a believer.\u00a0 [1 John 5:4-5, \u201cFor whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world\u2014our faith.\u00a0 [5] Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?\u201d]\n\nBut he says to the believer, \u201cI will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne.\u201d\u00a0 Now what\u2019s the verb tense there, \u201cI will grant to him\u2019\u201d future.\u00a0 In other words, the Davidic throne wasn\u2019t in existence when Jesus said that.\u00a0\u00a0 The Davidic throne with Jesus reigning on it over the earth isn\u2019t in existence now.\u00a0 You go to Jerusalem today and the throne is unoccupied.\u00a0 In fact you go over there and look, I don\u2019t even know where the throne is quite frankly, but one of these days there\u2019s going to be a throne, Jesus is going to sit on it, and He\u2019s going to rule the whole world with it for a thousand years and we\u2019re going to be right there with Him ruling and reigning.\u00a0 And He clearly puts that into the future tense and He says this WILL happen!\n\nBut then look at the rest of the verse, \u201cas I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s a totally different throne; the first throne is future and it\u2019s on this earth.\u00a0 The second throne is something that\u2019s happening right now in heaven and it\u2019s Jesus on His Father\u2019s throne, because the verb tense changes.\u00a0 He says, \u201cI will grant Him the right to sit down on My throne\u201d that\u2019s future, that\u2019s the throne in Jerusalem which hasn\u2019t materialized yet, just \u201cas I also overcame. [Revelation 3:21, \u201c'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.\u201d]\n\nSee how the verb just changed there?\u00a0 If I remember right I think that\u2019s, some of you Greek scholars can correct me on this, I think that\u2019s eros<\/em>, it\u2019s indicating something that\u2019s past and happening now.\u00a0 \u201cI also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. \u00a0So currently what is happening is we\u2019ve got two thrones, one in heaven, the Father\u2019s throne that Jesus is on, another one yet future on the earth in Jerusalem that hasn\u2019t come into existence yet in terms of the [can't understand word] of authority.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0\u00a0 And you have to watch theologians very carefully today because people are merging those two thrones and making it look like we\u2019re in the kingdom now and Jesus, after all, is reigning on David\u2019s throne.\u00a0 Jesus is NOT reigning on David\u2019s throne right now; He\u2019s on the Father\u2019s throne, not even functioning as King but as high priest after the order of Melchizedek, engaged in His present session.\u00a0 He\u2019s doing things like building the church, giving the church spiritual gifts, interceding for us, there\u2019s a lot of things He\u2019s doing yet those things are not to be confused with the future Davidic throne for the thousand year millennial kingdom where He will rule this world with a rod of righteousness.\n\nAs you look at this world does it really look like Jesus is ruling with a rod of righteousness right now?\u00a0 I mean, look at this terrorism and shootings and all the mayhem in our world, it\u2019s obvious we\u2019re not in the Davidic Kingdom. \u00a0\u00a0I mean, if this is the Davidic Kingdom I\u2019m really sad I even signed up for this deal to begin with.\u00a0 I\u2019m looking forward to a righteous reign on this earth, which is not happening now; He\u2019s on His Father\u2019s throne in heaven.\u00a0 So you see the distinction between the Father\u2019s throne and the Son\u2019s throne?\u00a0 Those are two different things.\n\nBUT, look at Revelation 22:3, once the thousand years are over and we pass into the eternal state what does it say here, very interesting, \u201cThere will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it\u2026.\u201d \u00a0Two thrones in Revelation 3:21, in the current age of the church, Jesus there speaking to the church at Laodicea, but what just happened in the final chapter of the Bible.\u00a0 What happened to those two thrones?\u00a0 They just merged together.\u00a0 Do you see that?\u00a0 And they\u2019re no longer distinct.\u00a0 They\u2019re now called the throne of God AND of the Lamb.\u00a0 And it\u2019s just a matter of comparing Revelation 3:21 with two thrones and two different verb tenses.\u00a0\u00a0 So what is happening in the eternal state where you have one throne?\u00a0\u00a0 So some way, somehow, the two thrones merge together and as that merger takes place God\u2019s kingdom program continues to extend on into the eternal state.\n\nSo you\u2019ve got a merger of the Father\u2019s throne with the Son\u2019s throne.\u00a0 See, the millennial kingdom is the Son\u2019s kingdom; the eternal state is the Father\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0 But some way somehow those two thrones merge together and as that merger is complete the authority of the Son, Jesus Christ, along with the authority of God the Father, continue on and on and on and on and on throughout eternity.\u00a0 And I think that\u2019s probably the best way I know of to understand all of these verses that I alluded to earlier that the throne of David will last forever.\u00a0 It will last forever, it\u2019s just adjusted into the eternal state as it merges with the Father\u2019s throne.\u00a0 As it merges with the Father\u2019s throne it continues on in different form.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 And so that\u2019s sort of how I understand the eternal nature of these promises concerning David\u2019s throne.\n\nNow I just want to quote a few people because a lot of you think I just get up here and make stuff up.\u00a0 And that\u2019s all right, if I was sitting where you\u2019re sitting I would probably think that too.\u00a0 But I quote people, not to elevate their words over the Bible; I quote them to show you that my interpretation is very consistent with what very fine theologians have taught in the past.\u00a0 So, as you know, one of my theological heroes is Lewis Sperry Chafer and this is what he says concerning this adjustment of the Davidic throne into the eternal state.\n\nHe says the delivery to God of a now unmarked kingdom does not imply the release of authority on the part of the Son.\u00a0 It\u2019s not like okay Jesus, You had\u00a0 Your thousand years now get off the throne.\u00a0 I mean, that\u2019s not what\u2019s happening at all.\u00a0 The distinction to be noted lies between the presentation to the Father of a restored authority and the supposed abrogation of a throne on the part of the Son.\u00a0 The latter\u201d that\u2019s the abrogation of authority by the Son allegedly in the eternal state.\u00a0 \u201cThe latter is neither required in the text nor even intimated<\/u>. The picture presented in Revelation 22:3\u201d that\u2019s the verse we were just looking at, \u201cThe picture presented in Revelation 22:3 is of the New Jerusalem in the eternal state, and it is declared that \u2018the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 [Lewis Sperry Chafer, vol. 5, Systematic Theology<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1993), 360, 373-74.]\u00a0\u00a0 So what he\u2019s saying is the authority of the Son continues, it\u2019s just in a different form as those two thrones are merged in the eternal state.\u00a0 So Jesus is continuing to reign forever, it\u2019s just in a different form.\n\nAlva J. McLain, in his book, The Greatness of the Kingdom<\/em>, says this:\u00a0 \u201cAs we passed from chapter 20\u201d Revelation \u201c into chapter 21 of the Apocalypse, therefore, we stand at the junction point between two worlds and between two kingdoms. It is the end of the \u201cfirst\u201d or \u201cnatural\u201d order of things, and the beginning of the final order of things. Here also the mediatorial kingdom of our Lord ends, not by abolition, but by its mergence into the Universal Kingdom of God<\/u>. Thus, it is perpetuated forever, no longer as a separate entity, but in indissoluble union with the original Kingdom of God from which it sprang.\u201d\u00a0 [Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom: An Inductive Study of the Kingdom of God as Set Forth in the Scriptures<\/em> (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1959), 513.]\n\nMcLain continues, and he says, \u201cWhat will happen is succinctly described in St. Paul\u2019s classic passage on the subject: \u2018Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. . . . And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.\u201d\u00a0 He just quoted a bunch of material there from 1 Corinthians 15.\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 15:24, 28]\u00a0 McLain says, This does not mean the end of our Lord\u2019s regal activity, but rather that from here onward in the unity of the Godhead He reigns with the Father as eternal Son<\/u>. There are no longer two thrones, one His Messianic Throne and the other the Father\u2019s Throne, as our Lord indicated in Revelation 3:21. In the final Kingdom there is but one throne, and it is \u2018the throne of God and of the Lamb.\u2019\u201d \u00a0[Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom: An Inductive Study of the Kingdom of God as Set Forth in the Scriptures<\/em> (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1959), 513.]\n\nMichael J. Vlach, a younger scholar, he\u2019s basically my age group, I have a high opinion of his material on eschatology, and he writes this:\u00a0 \u201cThe Father commissions Jesus to conquer and restore this fallen world on His behalf, and when Jesus accomplishes this task He then will subject Himself to the Father. Jesus\u2019 mission is accomplished and the Father is pleased with His reign. Every square inch of this universe has been restored. At this point the reign of Jesus is followed by the universal reign of God the Father. This does not mean that Jesus ceases to reign. Revelation 11:15 says Jesus \u2018will reign forever and ever.\u2019\u2026Messiah\u2019s kingdom is then blended into the Father\u2019s universal kingdom<\/u>. Jesus\u2019 prayer, \u2018Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven\u2019 (Matthew 6:10) is fully accomplished. Jesus\u2019 kingdom does not end like earthly kingdoms do by defeat, but by fulfillment.\u201d\u00a0 [Michael J. Vlach, Premillennialism: Why There Must Be a Future Earthly Kingdom of Jesus<\/em> (Los Angeles, CA: Theological Studies, 2015), 101\u20132.]\n\nSo all of these guys and myself are all basically saying the same thing; in the thousand years you\u2019ve got the Son\u2019s kingdom on earth as Jesus reigns on David\u2019s throne.\u00a0 As that time period ends there\u2019s an adjustment made as the reign of Christ continues but it continues on a merged throne in the Father\u2019s kingdom with God the Son and God the Father on that same throne reigning over the world forever and ever.\u00a0 So there\u2019s a slight adjustment but the Davidic throne in just a different form continues on and on and on and on.\n\nSo what have we seen here?\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen the eternal state only comes into existence after the Son\u2019s kingdom is established.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen that the eternal state is not a renovation but a new creation entirely.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen that the eternal state is very literal in nature.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve also seen, number 4, that God has orchestrated the eternal state in such a way that the Davidic throne continues, just in a different form, and that is going to fulfill all of the prophecies about the Davidic throne that lasts forever.\n\nSo this takes us to number five and this one is somewhat lengthy, we won\u2019t get to all of this tonight.\u00a0 But we want to talk about the description of the eternal state.\u00a0 When we talk about the eternal state what exactly are we talking about?\u00a0 We need a description of it.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve got several things to communicate here.\u00a0 As I mentioned I won\u2019t get through all of this tonight, I\u2019m going to talk another ten minutes or so and try to cover some of this ground.\n\nOne of the things to understand about the eternal state is it\u2019s very different than the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 The millennial kingdom is going to be great but the eternal state is even better.\u00a0 And a lot of people, and I\u2019m not sure why they\u2019re doing this, they merge the eternal state and the thousand year kingdom in their minds and they don\u2019t really see the distinctions that the Bible communicates.\u00a0 The millennium, which is a thousand year kingdom, is described in Revelation 20.\u00a0 The eternal state is described in Revelation 21 and 22.\u00a0 Now in the millennium sin is restrained.\u00a0 Jesus is ruling on David\u2019s throne restraining evil.\u00a0 In the eternal state there\u2019s not going to be any sin left to restrain.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 In the millennium the curse is held back, but in the eternal state the curse is removed completely.\u00a0 In the millennial kingdom you still have people that will die; now don\u2019t worry about it, you won\u2019t die because you\u2019ll be in a resurrected body at the point of the rapture ruling and reigning with Christ.\u00a0 BUT there are going to be people that get saved after the church is gone through the rapture.\u00a0 Right!\u00a0 And some, most of them are going to be martyred, some are going to make it to the end of the seven year tribulation period and are going to pass through what\u2019s called the sheep and goat judgment.\u00a0 And you can read about that in Matthew 25:31-46.\n\nThey\u2019re going to\u00a0 pass through that sheep and goat judgment in their mortal bodies and they\u2019re going to repopulate the earth.\u00a0 Their descendants have the potential of dying.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Isaiah 65, around verse 20 says that if a man during that time period dies at 100 everybody is going to say wow, what a young person to die at such a young age.\u00a0 [Isaiah 65:20, \u201cNo longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed.\u201d]\n\nSo you have death to some extent in the millennial kingdom but you don\u2019t have death at all in the eternal state; it\u2019s gone!\u00a0 In the millennial kingdom, for reasons I just tried to articulate you\u2019ve got mortals and resurrected people living together.\u00a0 Who are the resurrected people?\u00a0 That would be us in our resurrected bodies, ruling and reigning alongside Christ under His delegated authority.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why the choices we\u2019re making now as Christians has a bearing on the degrees of authority that we\u2019re going to wield in this coming thousand year kingdom.\n\nBut we\u2019re reigning over people who are survivors of the great tribulation period who entered the kingdom as believers in mortal bodies.\u00a0 So in the millennial kingdom you\u2019ve got resurrected and non-resurrected people interacting with each other.\u00a0 And\u00a0 you say this is the weirdest thing I\u2019ve ever heard, how could that be?\u00a0 Think about this: in Acts 1 there\u2019s a forty day period in between Christ\u2019s resurrection and ascension.\u00a0 Remember that in Acts 1.\u00a0 [Acts 1:3, \u201cTo these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of<\/em> forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.\u201d]\n\nHe\u2019s in a resurrected body and He\u2019s hanging out with His disciples.\u00a0 In fact, Thomas is actually touching His physical body.\u00a0 Do you recall that?\u00a0\u00a0 [John 20:27, \u201cTo these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of<\/em> forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.\u201d]\u00a0 He\u2019s teaching them about the kingdom, Acts 1:3 says, they\u2019re asking Him questions, He\u2019s giving them answers, they even have a meal together.\u00a0 So there you have a precedent and this continues until He ascends.\u00a0 So this continues for forty days.\u00a0 So you have a biblical precedent of mortals and resurrected people, in this case Jesus, interacting.\u00a0 And you have that kind of thing going on for a thousand years in the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 But that\u2019s not going to go on at all in the eternal state.\u00a0 In the eternal state\u00a0 you\u2019re only going to have resurrected people.\n\nIn the millennial kingdom you still have to evangelize people because the descendants of those\u00a0\u00a0 who were believers, who survived the tribulation period and repopulated the earth, the kingdom begins with only mortal believers but what about their kids?\u00a0 I mean, they\u2019re going to have to be evangelized, right.\u00a0 What about their grandkids?\u00a0 They\u2019re going to have to be evangelized.\u00a0\u00a0 And eventually there\u2019s going to arise a whole generation of unbelievers, at the end, that are going to rebel against Christ because Satan is released from his abyss to exploit.\n\nSo destinies are to some extent are undecided, not your destiny, you\u2019re in a resurrected body, your destiny is secure and sealed.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking about descendants of tribulation survivors.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I\u2019m talking about; they have to be evangelized.\u00a0 But in the eternal state guess what?\u00a0 Everybody\u2019s destiny is sealed.\u00a0 There\u2019s no such thing as evangelism any more.\u00a0 See, there are certain things that you can do right now that you\u2019ll never be able to do in the eternal state.\u00a0 One of those things is evangelism; evangelism is a privilege you have right now that you\u2019re not going to have forever.\n\nSomething else you\u2019re able to do right now is you\u2019re able to tell your sin nature no under the resources of the Holy Spirit and the new nature that God gives us.\u00a0 Every time you tell your sin nature no and you live according to the desires of the new nature you\u2019re exercising a privilege that will not be yours forever because in the eternal state there is not a sin nature to say no to.\u00a0 See that?\n\nThe millennial kingdom is a renovation, as I\u2019ve tried to explain.\u00a0 The eternal state is an ex nihilo<\/em>, something out of nothing, new creation.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the millennium is temporary, it only lasts a thousand years.\u00a0 The eternal state is eternal; the millennium is just transitional.\u00a0 It\u2019s transitioning humanity from the events of the tribulation period to the eternal state.\u00a0 There\u2019s a thousand year bridge there.\u00a0 The eternal state is not transitional at all, it\u2019s a permanent fixture.\n\nSo the best way I would describe it is the millennial kingdom is the front porch of the house that the front porch allows us to enter into is the eternal state. \u00a0A porch is just transitional but the house is forever.\u00a0 The millennial kingdom is transitional but the house, which in this analogy is represented by the eternal state, lasts forever.\n\nHere\u2019s another chart that shows you the difference between the eternal state\u00a0 and the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 The millennial kingdom is timed, a thousand years and it\u2019s over.\u00a0 The eternal state, there is no time duration on it, it just continues on and on and on and on and on, throughout the eons of time.\n\nIn the millennial kingdom there will be luminaries, like what?\u00a0 Like sun, moon and stars will be in the sky.\u00a0 In fact, there\u2019s a prophecy in Isaiah 30:26 about how the sun, not the s-o-n son, the s-u-n sun is going to be seven times brighter than what it is right now.\u00a0 [Isaiah 30:26, \u201cThe light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.\u201d] But in the eternal state there\u2019s not even going to be a sun, s-u-n, nor is there going to be a moon, nor are there going to be any stars.\u00a0 Why not?\u00a0 Because Jesus Christ\u2019s very presence illuminates the whole thing.\n\nIn the millennium there\u2019s going to be a temple and I got a bunch of people mad at me on You Tube because I said this so I might as well get them mad again, so here we go:\u00a0 In the millennial kingdom there\u2019s going to be a temple with animal sacrifices.\u00a0 And the question I always get is well, why does there have to be animal sacrifices?\u00a0 And I have an answered any of these questions because I don\u2019t want to answer angrily so I let my wife do it.\u00a0 [Laughter] But I was answering this is what I would say: why do I have to defend why there\u2019s going to be animal sacrifices in the millennium.\u00a0 Why is the burden of proof on me to defend that?\u00a0 The Bible says it\u2019s in there.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that enough?\n\nNow I\u2019ve got some reasons, some auxiliary reasons why I think there\u2019s animal sacrifices.\u00a0 One of the reasons is because death will be almost a thing of the past in the millennium.\u00a0 People, when they die at a hundred will be thought\u00a0 young, and if you\u2019re living in that environment it\u2019s easy to lose sight of what?\u00a0 The death of Jesus, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to lose sight of the fact that Jesus died and paid a penalty for our sins to get us into the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 So the perpetual animal sacrifices are memorial in nature, they give us a reminder of death to look backward at what Jesus has done.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Because in that new environment it\u2019s easy to lose sight of death and if you lose sight of death you lose sight of what Jesus did for us.\n\nSo I can give all of these secondary, philosophical, auxiliary type reasons as to why there\u2019s animal sacrifices in the millennial kingdom but suppose I couldn\u2019t come up with one explanation.\u00a0 Would it matter?\u00a0 I mean God says they\u2019re going to be there, isn\u2019t that enough?\u00a0 And the spirit of the question that people write in and ask, they put some kind of burden on me to give an explanation of what the Bible says I think is somewhat\u2026let me tame my tongue here, I think it\u2019s somewhat presumptive of people, I think it\u2019s somewhat arrogant.\u00a0 That kind of question is like saying in Eden there\u2019s a tree of knowledge and a tree of life.\u00a0 Now you tell me why those two trees are there?\u00a0 Well, why do I have to tell you why those two trees are there?\u00a0 The Bible says they\u2019re there, isn\u2019t that enough.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know we had some kind of magical power to wave a wand and make something disappear in the Bible just because I don\u2019t really understand why it\u2019s there.\u00a0 Folks, there are tons of things in the Bible that I don\u2019t understand but I accept them as true because they\u2019re revealed.\u00a0 And beyond that it\u2019s not the things in the Bible that I don\u2019t understand that bother me, it\u2019s the things I do understand in the Bible that bother me, thankfully.\u00a0 Okay, off the soap box on that.\n\nSo in the millennial kingdom there is a temple with millennial sacrifices.\u00a0 Now in the eternal state there is no temple; the temple is gone because who\u2019s the temple?\u00a0 Jesus Christ.\u00a0 In the millennium, as I tried to explain, there will be death to a limited degree.\u00a0 Not so in the eternal state; death is gone.\u00a0 In the millennium there\u2019s satanic activity.\u00a0 Satan is incarcerated, he\u2019s put in solitary confinement for a thousand years and all these people that think you can kind of lock people up and they\u2019re going to get changed in prison\u2026I don\u2019t think they do get changed unless they receive Christ as Savior.\u00a0 I\u00a0 don\u2019t think education changes people either because guess what happens when you educate a blue collar thief\u2026 he become a white collar thief.\n\nSo all this idea that we\u2019re going to lock people up and we\u2019re going to let them out and they\u2019re going to come out changed, I mean, unless they receive the gospel they don\u2019t come out changed at all; they just go back to the murder and things that they were doing before they got locked up.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what happens to Satan, he\u2019s locked up for a thousand years.\u00a0 That\u2019s a long time.\u00a0 And then a thousand years later he is released\u2014has he been rehabilitated at all?\u00a0 NO, he goes right back to deception, what he\u2019s always done and by this time there\u2019s a generation of unbelievers on the earth and Satan stirs them up even though they\u2019ve been living in a perfect environment for a thousand years.\n\nSee, we think that if we gave everybody a good education, everybody a good job, everybody a lifetime economic security, if we met every single need that evil would disappear and the millennial kingdom disproves that.\u00a0 Satan is just as rotten at the end of it as he was at the beginning of it and the people living on the earth who have rejected Christ are just as rotten as they\u2019ve always been.\u00a0 And the Lord allows Satan to come out of the abyss to prove this point once and for all.\u00a0 See, history is pedagogical, meaning what?\u00a0 History teaches lessons.\n\nWhat is the point that God is making here?\u00a0 He\u2019s showing us that our problem as human beings is not our environment.\u00a0 Our problem is what?\u00a0 Our nature.\u00a0 That\u2019s what has to be changed.\u00a0 You can fix someone\u2019s environment perfectly and all you\u2019re doing is slapping a coat of wet paint or fresh paint on a problem.\u00a0 It never deals with the root of the problem which is the sin nature.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why Christianity is not about social justice, at least not now at this time in history, it\u2019s about internal transformation.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 And that\u2019s the whole point of Jesus\u2019 dialogue with Nicodemus, John 3, when He says \u201cyou must be born again.\u201d\u00a0 [John 3:7, \u201cDo not be amazed that I said to you, \u2018You must be born again.\u2019\u201d]\n\nI mean, the greatest need I have is not more money, not longer life expectancy, not health care, or all of these external things, it\u2019s an internal change.\u00a0 And so to prove this point once and for all God allows wicked humanity to live in a perfect environment for a thousand years just to show them they\u2019re just as rotten at the end as they were at the beginning because their problem is their heart.\u00a0 But as Jeremiah 17:9 says, \u201cThe heart is deceitful and wicked,\u201d and that\u2019s why Jesus comes back He doesn\u2019t abolish Satan immediately.\u00a0 What you have to understand is the Lord keeps Satan around for His own purposes, the Lord\u2019s purposes.\n\nAnd God has one more purpose for Satan; He doesn\u2019t put him into the Lake of Fire where He threw the beast and the false prophet, He throws him into the abyss, a different location, because He\u2019s got one more purpose for him, to come out of the abyss, out of the thousand years to stir up a rebellion to pedagogically, because history is pedagogical, teach humanity for one last time your problem is not your environment, your problem is your nature, you need to be internally transformed.\u00a0 And only after that lessons runs its course then does the Lord take Satan and finally throw him into the lake of fire.\u00a0 And we glorify God throughout the ages for this because God is so powerful He\u2019s even using His own nemesis or his enemy for his own purposes.\n\nSo you shouldn\u2019t get this idea that Satan is just running amuck and doing whatever he wants.\u00a0\u00a0 Not at all.\u00a0 God has Satan on a very close leash and his very existence is allowed by God because He\u2019s actually using his rebellion for His own purposes, God\u2019s own purposes.\u00a0 And who could do that but God!\u00a0 And this contributes to His glory because what is the purpose of history.\u00a0 To glorify who?\u00a0 To glorify God.\u00a0 History is doxological; the point of history is glorification of God.\u00a0 This is proving all of that.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 This is proving that man does evil, not because of his external problems but because of his internal nature.\u00a0 And this is the problem with churches that stand up and preach social justice every week.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got to get cancer cured, we\u2019ve got to fix global warming, we\u2019ve got to fix the hole in the ozone layer.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got to cure poverty.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got to cure world hunger.\u00a0 There are churches like that, that\u2019s all they talk about, social justices, social justice issues.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got to get rid of the gaps between the rich and the poor.\n\nAnd what your Bible is saying is the poor you will have with you always.\u00a0 [Matthew 26:11, \u201cFor you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 What people need is they need their internal changed through the gospel.\u00a0 And Satan is allowed to exist under God\u2019s providence for one last rebellion to prove this point because history is pedagogical.\u00a0 Are you following with me on this?\n\nSo in the millennium there is satanic activity; but in the eternal state no more satanic activity.\u00a0 In the millennium there will be rebellion, there is one giant rebellion at the end, those involved in the rebellion are as the sand of the seashore.\u00a0 And you should jot down Zechariah 14:16-18 because that prophecy gives you a window into the smoldering hatred that human beings have against Jesus Christ in the millennial kingdom because even though He\u2019s given them perfect conditions a lot of them just aren\u2019t want to go to Jerusalem to worship. [Zechariah 14:16-18 \u201cThen it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. [17] And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. [18] If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall<\/em> on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.\u201d]\n\nAnd so Jesus deals directly with a rod of iron and punishes them with no moisture for their crops.\u00a0 But the anger towards Christ, even though He\u2019s given them a perfect environment is still smoldering.\u00a0 And it reaches its apex at the end of the millennium when Satan is released from the abyss.\u00a0 But in the eternal state, guess what?\u00a0 No more rebellion at all.\u00a0 So when we describe the eternal state the first thing we have to think about is how different the millennial kingdom is than the eternal state.\u00a0 I need to stop talking or I\u2019m going to start preaching here; so we\u2019ll stop at this point.","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