Thy Kingdom
Come
Revelation 20
23 Jan 2011 PM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
I.
Introduction
(Luke 11:2)
A.
The Lord’s Prayer has the words,
“Thy kingdom come…”
B.
What kingdom are people
unknowingly praying to come?
C.
Well, it is NOT the kingdom of
men, or of the devil thankfully
D.
It’s GOD’S kingdom on earth
1.
After the 7 years of Tribulation
when Jesus returns, He will set up His Kingdom on Earth. It is referred to
by Jesus as “the Kingdom of heaven”
2.
The Thousand Year Reign of Christ
E.
It’s a period or time called,
“The Millennium”
F.
Well, let’s look at the 1,000
year reign of Jesus Christ that is ahead for those whose faith is in Jesus
Christ!
II.
Message
A.
Jesus Promised
Another Kingdom was Coming
(Mt 26:27-29)
1.
There are TWO kingdoms Jesus
preached about:
a.
The
b.
The
2.
The
a.
The kingdom of heaven on earth is
what EVERYONE wants to experience! That’s what every nation has fought to
obtain – total domination, world peace, unity, no more war, etc!
b.
This kingdom offered:
1)
2)
3)
Peace on earth under God’s rule
4)
All of
5)
No more diseases
6)
Everyone living hundreds of years
long
7)
A perfect world like the Garden
of Eden again
c.
Jesus and John the Baptist, and
the apostles preached this kingdom and offered it to the Jewish nation (Mt
3:2; 4:7)
d.
THAT kingdom comes only when the
Prince of peace comes to physically, literally and visibly rule and reign on
earth!
e.
Pilate worried that Jesus was
promoting a rival kingdom to HIM (John 18:33-37)
3.
The
a.
Jesus offered the kingdom of
heaven to the Jews, and they all wanted in
b.
But then He presented another
kingdom as the prerequisite to getting into the kingdom of heave… it was the
c.
THAT kingdom was a kingdom that
required:
1)
Humility
2)
Salvation from sin
3)
A life of service and giving
4)
Suffering and persecution
5)
Loving your enemy
6)
Trying to stay encouraged with
everything going wrong much of the time
d.
The catch was this: There is no
way to get into the
1)
You enter the
2)
Those that are already in the
4.
For that reason, the Jewish
nation rejected Jesus’ Gospel! Yes they all so desperately wanted the
perfect world, but they wanted it without the brokenness, the humility, the
conversion!!!
B.
Jesus was BORN
to rule
(Isaiah 9:6,7)
1.
For unto us (JEWS) a child is
born, unto us a son (God’s Son) is given:
2.
And the
government shall be upon his
shoulder:
3.
And his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.
4.
Of the increase of
his government
5.
AND peace there shall be no end
6.
upon the throne of David
7.
and upon his kingdom
8.
to order it, and to establish it
with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever.
9.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts
will perform this.
10.
Most people forget this!
11.
They tolerate a baby in a manger,
but they definitely do not want that baby to grow up and be LORD of their
lives!
C.
The First Act
of the King
(Rev 20:1-3)
1.
Binding Satan
2.
Locking him up in a bottomless
pit!
3.
Stopping him from having any
influence upon world affairs (at least for the next 1,000 years)
4.
He is locked up for 1,000 years!
5.
Then Begins the 1,000 Years of
the Millennium (Rev 20:4-7)
a.
We are told in Revelation
20:3,4,5,6,7 that this Kingdom age will last for 1,000 years on the present
Earth and then eternity will begin. It is repeated SIX times!
b.
It is a transitional time before
eternity
D.
Who Gets into
the Millennium?
1.
All of God’s people from Adam
through to Armageddon
2.
Everyone up until the Rapture get
a brand new body that will never die, just like Jesus’
a.
We will all be “changed” (1Cor
15:51)
b.
Mortal shall put on immortality
3.
BUT…
a.
Those who get saved in the
Tribulation and survive the Tribulation,
b.
Will not get a new body (at least
not yet),
c.
Butwill get to live throughout
the next 1,000 years in bodies that will live like people did before the
Flood, healthier, and longer lasting
4.
The unsaved will not get into
this kingdom (Rev 21:24-27)
E.
How will the
Earth be different during the Millennium?
1.
There will be a major restoration
of the earth, as the curse that was put on it after the fall of Adam and Eve
will be lifted for this thousand year period.
2.
There is an exhaustive
description of the Millennium in
a.
Isaiah 2:2-4
1)
“in the (very) last days”
2)
New Jerusalem - that the mountain
of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and
shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3)
Isa 2:3 And many people
shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to
the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will
walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of
the LORD from Jerusalem.
4)
(Isa 2:4) And HE shall
judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people:
5)
And they shall beat their swords
into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more!
6)
It is definitely AFTER
Armageddon!
b.
Isaiah 11:6-9
1)
The wolf also shall dwell with
the lamb
2)
The leopard shall lie down with
the kid (goat)
3)
The calf and the young lion and
the fatling together
4)
And a little child shall lead
them.
5)
The cow (grass eater) and the
bear (meat eaters) shall feed
6)
their young ones shall lie down
together
7)
and the lion shall eat straw like
the ox.
8)
the sucking child shall play on
the hole of the asp
9)
and the weaned child shall put
his hand on the cockatrice' den.
10)
They shall not hurt nor destroy
in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the
LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
c.
Isaiah 35
1)
Blossoming
2)
Health
3)
Healing
4)
Just like in Jesus’ day
5)
So, Jesus was showing the people
by His healing that He was ready to bring in the Millennial kingdom, if they
would accept Him as Saviour!
d.
Isaiah 65:17-25
1)
Isa 65:19 … and the voice
of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
2)
Isa 65:20 There shall be no
more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days:
for the child shall die an hundred years old; …
3)
Isa 65:21 And they shall
build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the
fruit of them.
4)
Isa 65:22 They shall not
build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as
the days of a tree (hundreds of years) are the days of my people, and mine
elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
5)
Isa 65:23 They shall not
labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the
blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
6)
Isa 65:24 And it shall come
to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet
speaking, I will hear.
7)
Isa 65:25 The wolf and the
lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and
dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my
holy mountain, saith the LORD.
3.
As you can see, the earth will go
through a major transformation at the end of the Tribulation in preparation
for the Kingdom Age!
F.
The Rule of
Jesus Christ
1.
People will not be able to get
away with rebellion during the Kingdom Age. Peace will prevail (Isaiah
9:6-7).
2.
Christ will rule with a "rod of
iron" over these people (Psalm 2:9, Revelation 2:27, Revelation 12:5,
Revelation 19:15). Why?
a.
Because the people who lived
through the Tribulation will have children born to them
b.
And those children will have the
very same old sinful nature that WE all have right now
1)
Funny how we don’t really have
the devil to blame for our sins
2)
Even when the devil is locked
away, people will be selfish, stubborn, hard hearted, evil, and lost!
c.
So, Even in the Millennium,
people will need to admit that they are sinners, and cry out to Jesus Christ
to forgive them and convert them!
d.
Christians now will not only lose
their old bodies, but their old sinful nature at the rapture/Resurrection.
But not the people who come out of the Great Tribulation
G.
The Role of
the Saints
1.
The resurrected Saints, from the
six millennia before, will return from Heaven after the Tribulation
(Revelation 19:7,14) and rule and reign with Christ during the earthly
Kingdom Age:
a.
Daniel 7:18
b.
Revelation 5:9-10 “And we shall
reign on the earth."
c.
Revelation 20:6 “they… shall
reign with Him a thousand years.”
2.
The following scriptures describe
the Saint's role in "ruling and reigning" during the Millennium:
a.
The Saints will co-rule as kings
(Rev 20:6) - thrones
b.
The Saints will be judges,
officers, and magistrates (Mt 19:27-29) – more about this in a moment
c.
The Saints will be teachers
d.
Our place in that kingdom will be
based on how we invested what Christ gave us (Matthew 25:14-29)
H.
What is the
purpose of the Millennium?
1.
To bless
a.
Genesis 15:18-21
b.
Ezekiel 47:13-17
c.
Ezekiel 47:18-21 – that is a lot
of land that does not belong to
2.
To bless
3.
To reward Jesus’ followers for
their troubles (Rom 8:16-18)
I.
What Happens
at the End of the Millennium (Rev 20:7-10)
1.
Satan released
2.
Satan deceives
3.
4.
Defeat of that army
5.
Satan cast into the lake of fire,
never to come out again! “And they will be tormented day and night for ever
and ever.”
6.
A Great White Throne Judgment
(Revelation 20:11-15)
a.
A great white throne, and him
that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them.
b.
And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God;
c.
and the books were opened: and
another book was opened, which is the book of life:
d.
and the dead were judged out of
those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
e.
And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it;
f.
And death and hell delivered up
the dead which were in them:
g.
And they were judged every man
according to their works.
h.
And death and hell were cast into
the lake of fire. This is the second death.
i.
And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
7.
New Everything (Rev 21:1,2)
a.
A new heaven – new universe
b.
A new earth
c.
The New Jerusalem
8.
At this point in time God will
finally live in harmony with man and eternity will begin (Rev 21:3,4)
III.
Conclusion
A.
Jesus Promised
Another Kingdom was Coming
(Mt 26:27-29) What was it?
1.
The Lord’s Prayer has the words,
“Thy kingdom come…”
2.
It’s GOD’S kingdom on earth
3.
The
4.
The Thousand Year Reign of Christ
5.
It’s a period or time called,
“The Millennium”
B.
Jesus was BORN
to rule
(Isaiah 9:6,7) Is He ruling YOUR life?
C.
What Will Be
the First Act of the King
(Rev 20:1-3)
1.
Binding Satan
2.
Then Begins the 1,000 Years of
the Millennium (Rev 20:4-7)
D.
Who Gets into
the Millennium?
Only those who have been born again! The unsaved will not get into this
kingdom (Rev 21:24-27)
E.
How will the
Earth be different during the Millennium?
1.
Perfect World
2.
Longevity
3.
No disease
4.
No war
5.
No devil
6.
Pretty good huh?
F.
What will be
the Role of the Believers?
1.
The Saints will co-rule as kings
(Rev 20:6) - thrones
2.
The Saints will be judges,
officers, and magistrates (Mt 19:27-29) – that includes judging ANGELS (1Cor
6)!!!
3.
The Saints will be teachers
4.
Our place in that kingdom will be
based on how we invested what Christ gave us (Matthew 25:14-29)
G.
What is the
purpose of the Millennium?
1.
To bless
2.
To bless
3.
To reward Jesus’ followers for
their troubles (Rom 8:16-18)
H.
What Happens
at the End of the Millennium? (Rev 20:7-10)
1.
Satan released
2.
Satan deceives
3.
4.
Defeat of that army
5.
Satan cast into the lake of fire,
never to come out again! “And they will be tormented day and night for ever
and ever.”
6.
A Great White Throne Judgment
(Revelation 20:11-15)
7.
New Everything (Rev 21:1,2)
a.
A new heaven – new universe
b.
A new earth
c.
The New Jerusalem
8.
At this point in time God will
finally live in harmony with man and eternity will begin (Rev 21:3,4)
9.
Aren’t you glad you have such
things to look forward to?