A new earth and a new city!

Revelation 21

You will remember in John chapter 14 the Lord began to prepare His disciples for the time when He would leave them and return to heaven. The Lord told them that He had to go away, but that one day He would return to get them so they could be with Him again. You will also remember the famous words of the Lord where He said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for your, and if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there ye may be also.”

Many assume that Christ went to prepare a mansion or home. As we learn in this chapter, Christ did not go to prepare a mansion but a city. This chapter reveals the work of Christ, the place He promised to prepare for His bride. Imagine how wonderful this city will be. If it took the Lord six days to create the earth in which we live today, how wonderful will that city be which took 2,000 years to prepare?

A Renovation by fire

Immediately after the destruction of Satan and his armies, John writes: "I saw a Great White Throne and Him that sat on it, from whose face the Earth and Heaven fled away; and there was found no more place for them." Then John goes on to describe for us the judgment of the wicked dead. After this judgment John declares, "I saw a new Heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea."

This transformation was predicted by our Lord in Matthew 24:35 when he said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away.”

As this change comes John tells us that it is happening, but he does not tell us how it is coming to pass. But Peter does.

2 Peter 3:7-13

The fact that these two are talking about the same event is clear for Peter tells us that it occurs during the judgment and perdition of ungodly men. This no doubt is the Great White Throne judgment.

At first glance when reading these verses one would think that we are being told that the entire earth and heaven is being done away with by the fire. This is not so if you study further. The present earth and the present heaven are simply to be renovated by the fire.

The exterior surface of the earth will be completely changed and all that sin brought into the world will be done away with. When man sinned, the earth brought forth thrones, disease, gems and so on. All of this will be destroyed.

Just as the flood of water did not change the framework of the earth, the earth’s framework will not change when it is baptized with fire.

No doubt as the earth’s surface begins to burn and melt away the intense heat will cause the gases in the earth’s atmosphere to explode. This is what Peter describes when he says the earth will pass away with a “great noise.” The end result will be that all animal life will be destroyed, all vegetable life will be destroyed and the earth’s surface will be totally altered.

The Lord promised the meek would inherit the earth and that the children of Israel will dwell in the earth forever. If God's people are to dwell on the earth forever, then the earth must abide forever. God will never totally do away with the earth. He will simply purify it and make it a suitable place for His people to dwell.

“For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.”  Isaiah 66:22

On this new earth there will be no more sickness. Health will be preserved by the tree of life. The new earth will never see the heavens angry with blackness, no flashing with thunderbolts of Divine wrath. No more hail or devouring floods and tornados. Many believe that the earth will again bring forth mist to water the face of the ground as it did in Eden.

On this new earth there will be no more death. For the apostle Paul tells us in I Corinthians that death, the final enemy, will be destroyed. This will truly be a day when we can cry out “O death where is thy victory, O grave where is thy sting?”

The new earth will not have a sea. Now that does not mean there will not be any bodies of water, for we know that there will be rivers that flow from the temple, simply that there will be no great bodies of water.

Think about it, this new earth where there will be no more sin, sorrow, sickness or dying is only available to those who have trusted in the shed blood of Christ. John declared that this is only possible to those who are “over-comers”. How do we overcome?

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”   I John 5:4

The Revelation of a City

As John begins to view this city he is amazed. In these verses we see that John is amazed at the sight of the city. John describes it as being like a precious stone clear as crystal.

Then John tells us that the city had a wall all the way around the city, and on each of the four sides of the walls three gates. In Bible times walls around the city were used for protections, but there will be no protection needed in this city. This wall will no doubt be for an eternal reminder that God protected us while we were upon earth.

The cities gates were named for the twelve tribes of Israel. Angels stood at the gates to welcome all who possessed the right to enter in. Just as the walls are inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel the foundations are inscribed with the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Next John is amazed by the size of the city. As the angels measure the city John records the sizes. We learn that the city is a perfect cube for its length, width and height are equal. The city is 12,000 furlongs, which is 1,500 miles. If you were to place this city on the current United States of America it would reach from the northern most part of Maine to southern most part of Florida, and from the eastern seaboard to Colorado. The wall is 216 feet high for the measure of a cubit is the distance from a man’s elbow to the point of his finger or approximately 18 inches.

Lastly, John is amazed by the beauty of the city. First, the wall of jasper pictures Christ in His glory surrounding His saints. Next, the city of pure gold pictures the righteousness of God’s holy nature. And then the colorful precious stone pictures the attributes of Christ as well as aspects of His redemptive work.

On earth God always had a dwelling place, a temple or tabernacle where men could come and visit with Him. Such a place is no longer needed, for God is now dwelling with man.

Revelation 22

This final chapter of the book of Revelation concludes our sightseeing tour of the New Jerusalem. It also gives us one final warning that only those who are prepared may enter into this wonderful place.

We Will Have Real Bodies

These first two verses in chapter 22 establish the fact that in our new glorified bodies we will still enjoy eating. This only makes since, for the Bible teaches us that when we shall see Him, (Jesus), we will be like Him. And since Jesus ate in his glorified body so shall we.

“And he took it, and did eat before them.”   Luke 24:43

We will also drink in our new body. We will drink from the water that flows from the river that comes from the throne of God. The waters of the rivers today are certainly not crystal clear, most of the time they are muddy or contaminated. But this wonderful river we shall drink from is crystal clear.

Notice that the source of this water is not another body of water. We are told in chapter 21 that the new earth will not have any seas. This water flows from the throne of God.

The Bible teaches us that we will eat of the fruit of the tree of life. These trees will bear forth twelve different kinds of fruit, a different fruit each month. The Bible then goes on to tell us that the leaves of the trees will be for the healing of the nations.

You will remember when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, that God drove them from the garden and placed an angel guardian at the gate. The reason for the angel to guard the gate was so that Adam could not enter into the garden and eat of the tree of life, for if he did he would live in his sinful state forever. Now we are given access to the tree that Adam could not eat from.

Many misunderstand this verse where it says that the leaves are for the healing of the nation. You must remember that there will be no sickness in this new city, so these leaves are not to heal sickness. They are rather to be used to preserve the health of the nations.

We Will Realize God Like Never Before

Can you imagine a time when we will forever look upon the face of the Lord, and then to see him looking at us? Many times we feel like the apostle Paul when he said that “now we look through a glass darkly, but then face to face.” Many times we pray and read our Bible and we see the Lord, or He makes himself real to us, but there is coming a day when He will be more real to us than ever, the day when we shall see Him.

The Bible then says that we will have His name written upon our foreheads. During the tribulation hour the followers of Antichrist had the number of his name upon them, the 144,000 had the seal of God upon their heads, and now in the New Jerusalem we will have the name of our Lord forever inscribed upon our forehead.

Are You Ready?

In verse six the angel tells John that the things he has seen will come to pass “speedily.” And now in this verse Jesus proclaims that He will come “speedily.” The word used “speedily” in these verses does not speak of time, hours or minutes. It speaks of events taking place in a rapid succession once they begin.

In other words once these things come to pass, the things will fall into place so suddenly that one should make preparation before they begin. Things will come to pass so quickly that one will not have time to prepare, once the events begin to unfold. Therefore we are told, “Blessed are they which keep the commandments of this book.” Or blessed are you if you are prepared.

You will remember that when God had finished giving a revelation to Daniel He told him to seal up the book for the time was not at hand.

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”   Daniel 12:4

John however is forbidden to seal up the book for the time is at hand. The word used in this verse “time” means an opportunity, moment or season. Therefore the time for the revealing of prophetic scripture is come. It is time for people to learn what will shortly come to pass. It is time for us to get our head out of the sand.

We should learn the prophetic truths about the times of the church dispensations and know that the coming of Christ is at hand. We should also know that once the events begin they will quickly come to pass. If we know we will prepare.

Some will hear the message that the rapture of the church, the judgment of God and the Great White Throne Judgment, will soon come to pass and therefore they will prepare by asking Christ into their heart to save them. Others however will continue to harden their heart and reject Christ. What you do with Christ is totally up to you, but make no mistake about it you must decide. Many do not realize that doing nothing with Christ is the same as rejecting Christ.

God’s time clock is ticking. Things are quickly coming to pass. No doubt the next great event on God’s time clock or time line is the rapture of the church. It could be today. Are you ready?

I have said before and I will say it again, the rapture of the church is a signless, timeless event. There is nothing that needs to be fulfilled before Christ can come. It could be today. Once it happens things will begin to spin so quickly you will not know what hit you, if you are not prepared.

We read of the 10 virgins in the book of Matthew. In this story we are told how that 5 of them are prepared and had oil, but 5 were not ready. The five that were not ready frantically begged for oil, and sought to buy oil at the midnight hour when the cry came, but then it was too late. Don’t wait until it is too late. Make preparation today.

The Great White Throne Judgment

Revelation 20

Over the past several months we have been going through the book of Revelation. In past blogs we have witnessed many terrible things. We have seen demonic locust that torment men for three months. We have see blood, fire and hail come down from heaven. We have seen men and women beheaded for the cause of Christ. The verses we will discuss in this blog are more terrible than all of those.

In the latter part of Revelation 20 we read of the judgment of the wicked dead. This is commonly referred to as “The Great White Throne Judgment.” Again this portion of scriptures begins with the phrase “and I saw.” This statement was made by John 37 times in the book of Revelation. What a privilege John had to view these things. This time John will witness as the dead stand before God. This no doubt is the gloomiest hour the world has ever known.

Let me first say that this not a "general judgment." In fact there is no such thing as a "general judgment" in the scriptures. As we study these verses we will see that the church will not be found at this judgment, nor will we find Israel. This is the judgment of the wicked dead alone.

The church will be judged at the Judgment seat of Christ and Israel will be judged during the seven years of tribulation. This judgment is reserved only for the wicked dead. The judgment of the wicked dead will take place at least 1,007 years after the judgment of the church.

This also is not the judgment of the nations recorded in Matthew 25. Let us look at the differences between these two judgments.

Matthew 25                                                                Revelation 20

Judgment of nations                                                   Judgment of individuals

Takes place on this earth                                           Takes place in heaven

Judged for their treatment of Jew                               Judged for their works

No books are opened                                               Books are opened

Takes place before kingdom                                     Takes place after the kingdom

Having established that this is the judgment of the wicked dead alone, I want to talk about this judgment in two ways. I want us to see a picture of this judgment. I also want to discuss the purpose of this judgment.

A Picture of Judgment

Notice the description John gives us of this scene. In these verses we see the description of Christ and His throne as being white. White speaks of holiness, justice, purity and righteousness. White stands for all that is honorable and right. The white is even more remarkable when compared to the darkness of the sin found in those being judged.

In these verses we learn that death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire. Death is a representation of the grave, and hell of course is the underworld where the souls of the wicked remain until this time of judgment. By these two being cast into the lake of fire we realize that there will be no more death or sin for God will do away with both.

We know that this judgment will not take place on this earth for it will take place at the same time the earth is being renovated by fire. Peter tells us the earth will be burned with fire on the "day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."

“But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same world are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”   2 Peter 3:7

When the kingdom age if fulfilled, and while this judgment is taking place, God will renovate the earth with fire. While mankind stands in judgment, the earth is also being judged and restored.

Therefore we can see the scene. After the kingdom age is finished the heavens and earth will roll away. Somewhere in the middle of nothing we see a white throne. Upon this throne sits Jesus Christ. The host of heaven surrounds Him, and the wicked dead stand before Him. Angels stand guard waiting to cast all who stand before Christ into the Lake of Fire. What a terrible scene.

The Purpose of Judgment

I do not believe that the wicked will be judged in these verses to determine whether they are guilty or not, whether they are saved or not. That has already been determined. The reason that these people are standing before God is because they have not accepted Him. These will be judged to determine the degree of punishment they will endure.

This is sad for there will be some good people that stand before God on this day. People that were kind and lovable, but they never accepted Christ as their Savior. Murders, rapist, child molesters all will stand before God. There will also be children, mothers, grandmothers, community leaders who will all stand before God.

As the books are open the person’s life is brought into judgment. Every work must be accounted for. Nothing will be hid on this day. The wickedness that men have indulged in will be brought into the open for all to see. You may ask “how this is possible?” You must remember that God is an omniscient or all knowing God. He is also omnipotent, or all-powerful, and knows and sees the heart.

“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”   Matthew 15:19

“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things area naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”   Hebrews 4:13

As these books are open we are told that whoever was not found in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. This is very interesting to me. It almost reads that there is searching being done for the names of those that stand before God. God knows all that are His, for He said in John 10 “I know my sheep.” If then God knows those that are His, why would He search the books for them? Could it be possible for God to have made a mistake and not remembered one of His?

No! I believe that many will stand before God and cry out that they were in fact saved and that they accepted Christ as their Savior. As they cry forth God will show them the book of life as proof that they never were really saved. How sad it is to picture the unsaved standing before God searching frantically for their names in the book of life. Then even more terrible the moment that they realize their name is not in the book of life.

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”   Matthew 7:21-23

No doubt some will be subject to more punishment than other. I personally believe it will be those who sat on a church pew every Sunday that will suffer the most.

“But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.  For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom me have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”  Luke 12:48

All however will be punished. How sad it will be to be one of those people who are not so bad and have to spend eternity with the wicked.

What a time of judgment. All will be judged. No doubt we will see Cain, the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, Pharaoh, Jezebel & Ahab, Judas and those responsible for the crucifixion of the Lord. We will even see King Agrippa who said to Paul "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."

This will be the saddest day history will ever know. I believe it will be a terrible sight as we watch friends, coworkers, and family cast, kicking and screaming in the lake of fire. Remember friend that it is not until after the Great White Throne is completed that God wipes away all tears from our eyes.

I also believe that it will be at this time that the blood of those we came in contact with will be required at our hands.

Ezekiel 33:1-7

The fallen angels will also be judged at this judgment. Not the angels of Satan but those who today are chained in darkness according to Jude 6.

“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”    Jude 6

Once all of this is done and the earth is purged of all evil we will see a new earth in the next chapter.

The millennium

Revelation Chapter 20

The fact that there is to be a 1,000 years space of time in which Satan will be bound and Christ shall reign on this earth is plainly seen in the New Testament. This period of time is mentioned 6 times in this chapter alone.

This 1,000 year space of time is commonly referred to as the “millennium,” a word coming from the two Latin words “mile” (1,000) and “Annum” (year). The Biblical terminology for this space of time is called the “kingdom.” This is seen throughout the Old & New Testaments, in fact we remember the words of Christ as He taught His disciples to pray saying, “Thy Kingdom come.”

Just after the battle of Armageddon and just before the beginning of the Kingdom, Christ will judge the nation according to Matthew 25:31-34. At this judgment it is obvious that Jesus will separate the “sheep” nations and the “goat” nations. This separation is determined by the way that nation treated Israel. The bible does not say anything about saved or lost in Matthew 25. Salvation is not a determining factor when the nations are judged. The only determination is their treatment of Israel.

It seems that almost ¾ of the earth’s population is destroyed during the tribulation. While the majority of humanity is destroyed, some will remain alive all the way to the end of the tribulation. Some of these people will be allowed to enter into the kingdom. These people will live, bear children and even die. These people will also be given an opportunity to accept Christ as savior.

The kingdom of Christ will be a literal, visible kingdom just as other kingdoms are. Let us therefore consider a few things about this kingdom of Christ.

The Government of the Millennium

This kingdom will be a “theocracy.” A theocracy is the rule of a state by God Himself.

Luke 1:30-33

This is also very interesting. We are told in several passages that King David will be raised and placed on the throne again.

“Afterward shall the Children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the Latter Days.”  Hosea 3:5

“They shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.”   Jeremiah 30:9

“I Jehovah will be their God, and my servant David a Prince in their midst.”   Ezekiel 34:24

We learn from this that the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Jerusalem and David will serve as their “regent” or “prince”. Now some object to this visible reign of David and they also object to the visible reign of the disciples because they say it involves the intercourse between men in their natural flesh and those in resurrected bodies.

I do not understand why this would be an objection. Are we not told of Christ after His resurrection how that He ate with the disciples, walked with them, talked with them and they touched His side? We need to understand that there will be natural men, and women, as well as resurrected men and women that dwell together during these 1,000 years.

These two groups of people will dwell together, and will interact one with another. Therefore there is no reason that David could not rule of the nations, both the resurrected and those that are allowed to enter alive into the kingdom, or born into the kingdom.

The seat of government will be at Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem is to be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, then the city will be rebuilt.

The priest hood of Aaron will be reinstated and the sons of Zadok will officiate and offer sacrifices. There will be many differences between the new temple and the old. There will be no ark of the covenant, no pot of manna, no Aaron’s rod that budded, no tables of law, no cherubim, no mercy seat, no golden candlestick, no shew bread, and no altar of incense, no veil and no unapproachable Holy of Holies.

We are told that there will be a morning offering but no evening offering. The offerings will be burnt, meat, drink, sin, peace and trespass according to Ezekiel 42:13.  Two of the feasts are to be observed, the Passover (although there will be no offering of a lamb or Christ the Passover lamb was offered once for all time) and the feast of Tabernacles.

The Character of the Millennium

1) Satan will be bound. God is going to subject man to one more test so that they may be without excuse. This test will be with the most favorable circumstances. Man has always blamed his fall and his continuation of sin on Satan. People claim that if you take Satan away they could be better.

Satan will be bound and imprisoned for 1,000 years so that he can no longer deceive the nations. For 1,000 years people will live under perfect circumstances with all the blessing of the Holy Spirit and the presence of Christ himself. Man has never known a world like this and therefore cannot conceive what it will be like.

Sadly, the evil heart of man is still evident. We are told a very interesting thing in Isaiah 65.

Isaiah 65:19-25

In these verses we learn that man’s life will be extended. This we are told in verse 20. The bible says that a person who dies at 100 would be considered an infant. We are also told that a sinner at the age of 100 will be accursed. This tells us two things. One if people are dying that means they are sinning.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Romans 5:12

“For the wages of sin is death;”  Romans 6:23

This is further proven in this chapter, for after 1,000 years Satan will be loosed and will find no problem gathering together an army to war against Christ. How sad it is that men are so ungodly that they will continue to sin, even in the midst of perfect circumstances?

Some even believe that Isaiah is teaching us that God will give a man to the age of 100 to be saved. If at the age of 100 he does not accept Christ that man will be “accursed” or will die.

2) The land of Palestine will be revived. The land will be as it was in the days of Joshua, a land that flowed with milk and honey. It will be a land that will bring forth abundantly.

Today Palestine is the same fertile soil as it was in the days of Joshua, but it lacks the rain and irrigation to bring forth. In the millennium there will be plenty of rain and there will also be streams that will flow from the new river coming from the sanctuary.

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountain shall drop down new wine, and hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.”  Joel 3:18

“And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I’ll restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in the plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.”   Joel 2:24-26

I cannot imagine walking by a water fall and instead of seeing water the fall is pouring wine. Imagine streams of milk coming out of a hill. One preacher said that there would be watermelons the size of Volkswagen beetles. This will be an amazing place to live.

3) We will have immediate communion with God. Listen to this verse in Isaiah.

“And it shall come to pass, that before the call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”  Isaiah 65:24

Can you imagine praying, asking God about something, and before you finish praying you hear the Lord speaking an answer to you? God will have fellowship with His children during the millennium like no time before.

4) There will be a change in the animal kingdom.

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den.”   Isaiah 11:6-9

This was the character of the animals in Eden and also in the ark. The fierceness of the animals has been brought about by the fall of man.

5) Human life will be prolonged. I alluded to this earlier, but let me further mention these verses.

“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” Isaiah 65:20

This verse tells us that a person dying 100 years old will be considered still a child. Therefore to be a man you must live several hundred years.

“They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of the tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”  Isaiah 65:22

Men will live as long as they did before the flood. This will no doubt be due to changes in the climate and the healing and life giving qualities of the river flowing from the temple. It seems obvious that during the flood of Genesis something in the atmosphere changed. This change will be reversed and men’s lives will be prolonged.

6) The light will be increased sevenfold.

“Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.”  Isaiah 30:26

“The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon giver light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.”   Isaiah 60:19-20

We will have to get used to sleeping while in the light. Night will be just as bright as day.

The Final Battle

As the Millennial kingdom begins to come to a close the angel who imprisoned Satan will again return to the bottomless pit and open it. He will unlock the prison house and Satan will come forth no doubt furious from his 1,000-year imprisonment. It will no doubt be his determination to vent his anger upon the people of God. Satan will be the same malignant being he was 1,000 years before. His hatred however will be at an all time high.

As soon as Satan is released from his prison he begins to gather up a vast multitude ready to believe another one of his lies and follow him in rebellion against God.

The Bible tells us that he will gather people from the "four quarters of the earth," meaning people from every race and nationality upon the face of the earth. The Bible also tells us that the number of the people will be like the sands of the sea. This is unbelievable, but there will be an innumerable multitude that will follow Satan after all they have seen and experienced in the kingdom.

Satan will march his army upon the "breadth of the earth" until they once again encompass the "Camp of the Saints" and once again try to lay siege on the "Beloved City."

From these verses we see the depravity of man. Man is like gunpowder; all they need is someone to strike a match. Satan will no doubt light that match.

This war will be different from every other war in that there will be no bloodshed. The army of Satan will be consumed by fire. Imagine the look on Satan’s face when he marches his army against Christ and before the fight begins fire falls from heaven and consumes his army.

This is sad to see for once again the Millennial Dispensation will end with a failure just as the six other dispensations before it. God at this point will have tested men in every situation.

God allowed man to be placed in the dispensation of "Innocence," under "Conscience," under "Self-Government," under the "Headship of the Family," under "Law," under "Grace," and finally under the influence of the "Holy Ghost" free from any Satanic influence. In all situations man has proven that they are helpless, hopeless and incapable of doing good.

One will ask, “Why would God allow Satan to be loosed from his prison?” “Why not just keep him locked away forever?” The answer no doubt is the free will of man. God has always allowed man a choice. You must remember that there will be children born during the millennium. The children will have a choice to make, to serve Christ or Satan.

For 1,000 years man will dwell with Jesus Christ and there will be universal peace and blessings. The land will give forth abundantly, the animal kingdom will be tamed, and man’s life will be prolonged. After all these blessings and after living in the very presence of Christ, man will still rebel against their maker. Therefore what is left for God to do?

There is nothing left for God to do to the human race but destroy them. God however has already promised Noah that he would never destroy the earth again by a flood so He will purge the earth with fire.

“But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”   2 Peter 3:7

As punishment for his final rebellion Satan will once again be seized, probably by the same angel that captured him before, and cast into the Lake of Fire. When he arrives he will find waiting for him the beast and the false prophet who were cast in 1,000 years earlier.

“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”   Matthew 25:41

You can watch these lesson taught live at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thoughts-of-theology-josh-sharp

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