Intro:

Before Christ can REIGN ON EARTH five things must take place which are yet future:

[1]. THE CHURCH must be completed - you may be used of the Lord to bring the last saved person to the Lord! (Rev. 2 & 3)
[2]. CHURCH TAKEN AWAY AT THE RAPTURE - (I Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 4:1)
[3]. THE GREAT TRIBULATION, ANTICHRIST MUST RISE AND RULE - (Rev. 4-19)
[4]. CHRIST'S GLORIOUS RETURN - (Rev. 19) SATAN BOUND, IMPRISONED - after the defeat of Antichrist, and the judgment of the living nations, Satan will be bound in the Bottomless Pit. (Rev. 20:1-3)

- if sin is to be removed from the earth, the chief agitator must be imprisoned.

- this will be temporary confinement until the Kingdom is fulfilled, after which he will be loosed for a "little season." (Rev. 20:3; 20:7-10)

Also TWO JUDGMENTS mark the opening of the KINGDOM MILLENNIUM (Seventh Dispensation).

[1]. LIVING (GENTILE) NATIONS - in regard to their fitness to enter the millennial kingdom.

-basis of judgment to be their reception of the message preached by the 144,000 during the days of the Tribulation (Matt. 25:31-46) and the treatment of the Jews.

[2]. ISRAEL (JEWS) - not every living Israelite will be allowed to enter the Kingdom, but only those judged worthy.

-Israel, "will not" be judged on the basis of acceptance or rejection of Christ, for in this matter they have been blinded, but rather on the basis of the spiritual light given to them and their reaction to God's dealings during the Tribulation. (Matt. 25:1-30; Jn. 5:22; Eze. 20:37-44)

 

I. THE THOUSAND YEARS - (Kingdom-Millennium) (Rev. 20:4-6)

This is the SEVENTH DISPENSATION. MILLENNIUM means thousand (milli) years (annum). This is the KINGDOM AGE promised in the Old Testament, longed for by the Jews, the time that Christ taught His disciples to pray for "Thy kingdom come!" The MILLENNIAL KINGDOM is the direct administration of divine government on earth for one thousand years by the Lord Jesus Christ and His saints.

This is not Heaven, but Heaven's rule on earth - consequently, called "Kingdom of Heaven."

The special purpose of the Dispensation is whether or not man will live righteously under the personal reign of the Son of God; this is a final test under the most favorable conditions and therefore places man without excuse.

IT WILL BE A THEOCRACY (God-ruled). Jesus Christ is the King (Lk. 1:30-33). The Apostles will reign over the Jews (Matt. 19:28). The Church will reign over the Gentiles (Lk. 19:11-19; Heb. 2:6,7).

THE CAPITOL CITY will be JERUSALEM (Isa. 2:1-4); and pilgrimages will be made to it (Zech. 14:16). Ezekiel tells how the land and the city will be restored and exceed all its ancient glories (48:1-35).

A. WHAT THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM OF CHRIST WILL MEAN:

[1]. A GLORIOUS TIME FOR GOD THE FATHER

(a). Publicly honoring His Son on earth where man dishonored Him (Phil. 2:10-11).
(b). Father carrying out promises to His Son (Lk. 1:32).
(c). It will be man's last trial on earth (the Seventh Dispensation).

[2]. A GLORIOUS TIME FOR GOD THE SON

(a). After long patience He receives His kingdom and reigns in righteousness (Ps. 45:6,7; Isa. 11:4: Ps. 98:9)
(b). He will share all His honors with His saints (2 Tim. 2:12; Matt. 19:28).

[3]. A TIME OF GLORY FOR ISRAEL

This is the Kingdom for which they have waited so long. God's chosen people will be back in their land; they will be converted (Zech. 12:10; Jer. 50:4,20), and will bear the name of the Lord in that day. This will be a time of incomparable blessings for the Jew; they will come to know the favor and grace of God poured out without measure (Jer. 31:31-40; Eze. 36:1-38; Isa. 61:1-11).

[4]. A GLORIOUS TIME FOR THE SAINTS, THE CHURCH

Paul says that we will reign with Him (2 Tim. 2:12; Matt. 19:28). We will be like Him (1 Jn. 3:2) in our resurrection bodies.

[5]. A GLORIOUS TIME FOR NATIONS AND PEOPLES OF THE EARTH

Christ will rule with an IRON ROD (or righteousness), and peace will be on the earth: no war (Isa. 2:4), no crime (Ps. 2:9), a knowledge of the Lord will cover the whole earth (Hab. 2:14). Swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks; every man shall sit under his own vine and fig trees.

[6]. A TIME OF GLORY FOR PHYSICAL CREATION

Physical creation will be restored as it was before the fall of Adam in Eden. What the "first" Adam lost, the "second" Adam will regain (Rom. 8:19-21; Isa. 55:13). The fertility of the earth will greatly increase. (Isa. 35:1), the desert will bloom as a rose (Isa. 67:6). Animal natures will change (Isa. 11:1-9; 65:25). The atmosphere will undergo change (Isa. 30:26); sickness and disease will be rare, even death will be rare; men will live to old ages as in the days before the Flood. The philosophy of living will change with toil of labor eased (Isa. 55:13; Joel 2:24-26). The curse on earth will be removed. (Rom. 8:20-21)

 

II. SATAN LOOSED - HIS LAST WAR (20:7-10)

Before Christ delivers the Kingdom to His Father (1 Cor. 15:24,28), Satan will be loosed for a "little season"; (there are two reasons why:)

[1]. To prove the incorrigibility of Satan himself -

the rebel of rebels. Even after the Tribulation, Armageddon, Prison (Bottomless Pit), he rebels against God.

[2]. To show the absolute justice of God in casting the unsaved into the Lake of Fire forever -

It would seem that after 1,000 years of perfect rule and peace that none would reject God; however, "unchanged hearts" will still choose Satan. This proves that unless man's heart is changed (new birth, regenerated), no external governmental or social conditions can bring permanent righteousness.

The reference to GOG AND MAGOG (Eze. 38,39) indicate that the remnant of Russia (the leader of the northern nations) will play a prominent part in this final rebellion. The atheism of Russia will still be there. God's patience is at long ended and is exhausted and fire is sent from heaven to destroy those choosing Satan; Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire. This is not sudden, or an afterthought, or even an unfortunate accident; it is part of God's plan of the ages. Those who reject God's salvation will be cast into the same Lake of Fire.

 

III. THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT (20:11-15)

This is the FINAL JUDGMENT OF GOD with Christ as Judge on the throne. This is not to be confused with the throne of chapter 4. In chapter 4 the throne is encircled with a rainbow, the sign of God's covenant of grace and mercy; but the Great White Throne has nothing but the brilliant whiteness against which the faintest gray would cast a shadow, standing for the purity of God's holiness. The unrighteous dead of all ages are raised to stand before this judgment to hear the sentences of condemnation.

The Great White Throne judgment is not what we call a "trial." No questions are asked of those standing to be judged; all facts are already in. Only one question is asked: "IS THEIR NAME IN THE BOOK OF LIFE?" It is not the absence of good works that dooms a person. It is not the fact that evil works are recorded against a man's record but: IT IS THE ABSENCE OF HIS NAME IN THE BOOK OF LIFE (salvation). All names found written in the Book that day will have been written there before; no chance then.