THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

Intro:

1. Now we come to the focal point of premillennialism - the 1000 year reign.

2. The tribulation supposedly ends in the Battle of Armageddon. After the Battle, a victorious Christ binds Satan for 1000 years and sets up His kingdom of peace.

3. We will first discuss the Battle and then the kingdom.

I. The Battle Of Armageddon.

A. The Battle is to take place at the end of Daniel's 70th week, that is at the end of the seven year tribulation.

B. According to the premillennialist, this Battle is the last great world war. This war will take place between the followers of God and the servants of Satan. They will literally fight it out on the battlefield of Armageddon.

C. The premillennialist sees modern nations involved in this Battle because of his view of Daniel 11:40-45. These nations involve:

1. The King of the North - Russian Alliance - They will fulfill the century old desire to possess the Middle East because of its oil.

2. The King of the East - Chinese Alliance- An army of 200 million will cross the Euphrates River, that an angel has dried up, to be on hand at Armageddon. (Rev. 16:12)

3. The King of the West - European Alliance (Ten Nation Confederacy) -This is the revived Roman Empire. They band together to withhold food and goods to Arabs until oil is given them at reasonable prices.

4. The King of the South - Pan-Arabic Bloc - When Israel is restored to land, it angers Arabs. The Israelites will tear down the Dome of the Rock to rebuild the temple. To lose land and holy place will be more than they can stand. So Arabs ignite the fuse of Armageddon.

D. Calling the shots in this conflict supposedly are the dragon and the beast of Revelation. The Antichrist is the big bully of the conflict.

E. What is the Bible really pointing to in Daniel 11:40-45 and Revelation 16:16?

1. The four kings of Daniel 11 refer to the remnants of Alexander the Great's kingdom, which was divided between His four generals to "the four winds of heaven" (Dan. 11:4): Selucius (East); Ptolomy (South); Lysimachus (North); and Cassander (West).

2. Over the next few centuries there was conflict between these factions of the remnants of the Greek empire, each trying to gain supremacy.

3. Daniel 11:40-45 describes the culmination of these conflicts which brought forth the fourth great empire, the Roman empire.

4. It is in this setting that salvation would come forth. (See Dan. 12:1-3) Christ indeed brought forth salvation in the days of this fourth kingdom, the Roman Empire. (See Dan. 2:44)

5. Revelation 16:16 tells of the culmination of the struggle of Christians with the Roman government. The book of Revelation chronicles that struggle. The Battle is not literal, but a place of victory of good over evil. In Old Testament times, the plains of Meggiddo (Armageddon), was a place where those who please God, such as Barak, were victorious and those who displeased God, such as Josiah, were defeated. The early Christians could recognize by the reference to Armageddon that God would settle the score eventually. If, however, one insists that Armageddon is literal, then the frogs that direct the Battle must be literal, the dragon and the beasts must be literal, etc.

6. Armageddon, then, is not a literal Battle but represents the Battle that occurs whenever good is confronted with evil, or right is confronted with wrong.

7. So the message of Revelation was one of reassurance to the early Christians that eventually Christ and his followers would be victorious.

II. The Thousand Year Reign.

A. It is taught that Christ will come and reign on earth for a literal period of one thousand years.

1. This idea is obtained from Revelation 20:1-10.

2. What does this passage really teach?

a. In the book of Revelation, three enemies of Christians of the first century are identified:

(1) The beast - the Roman emperor

(2) The false prophet - religion of emperor worship

(3) The dragon - the devil or Satan, with whom the beast and the false prophet are allied

b. The beast and the false prophet were overcome by Christ in Revelation 19:19-20. Now all that remained was for Satan to be overthrown. In Revelation 20:1-10, John now shows that Satan would be completely overthrown and sets forth the promise of Christ's ultimate and certain triumph over Satan. Those who were being persecuted would triumph with Christ. (See Ray Summers, Worthy Is The Lamb, p. 200-208)

c. The idea of the 1000 year reign or the "millennium" comes from verses 4-6. Is this a literal thousand years? No! No more than the chain in verse 1 is literal - (You can't chain a spiritual being with a literal chain.) The thousand years just refers to completeness or thoroughness. (See use of "thousand" in Psalm 50:10; 105:8.)

d. In verses 1-3, we see that Satan would be completely restrained and yielded unable to deceive the nations into emperor worship.

e. In verses 4-6, we see the complete victory of Christ and His saints. Even though the saints had given their lives for Christ, they ultimately triumphed over their persecutors. Their triumph is called "the first resurrection." They have died in Christ and now the "second death" or eternal punishment has no power over them. They have overcome completely and will be eternally rewarded.

f. In verses 7-10, we see the releasing of Satan for a little while (see verse 3 also). We are told that Satan will not give up without a struggle. He will continue to attempt to deceive the nations, but ultimately, he and his allies will be completely destroyed.

B. But what about the "kingdom of peace" prophesied about? The premillennialist tells us that the kingdom will be a thousand years of peaceful existence. The kingdom, therefore, cannot have come yet, because men have never been able to get along with each other for more than a few minutes throughout history. We have never had universal peace as prophesied in Isaiah 2:4 and Isaiah 11:6-9.

1. The church fulfills these requirements - It is a peaceful organization - peaceful in nature.

a. Its servants do not fight. (John 18:36)

b. Its weapons are not carnal. (2 Cor. 10:4)

c. It members are peaceful in nature. (Rom. 14:17-19)

2. The church is for all people, and nations have no identity in it. (Eph. 2:11-17)

3. Christ brought peace to those who enter His kingdom and among those who obey Him. (cf. Luke 2:14, NASV)

C. Therefore, there was never promised a thousand year reign of Christ on earth. Christ never promised a time when all men would physically be at peace on this earth. Christ's reign is fulfilled in the church.

Concl:

Men will continue to twist the scriptures to devise their outlandish beliefs. We must accept the Bible for what it says and accept the church as God's kingdom and enter into it.