Grace For Your Day December 26

The millennial kingdom has to be one of the most controversial subjects in the church today. More debates have broken out over it than almost any other topic in the Bible because the questions surrounding it are endless. When you read Revelation 20, it leaves you full of wonder because you have to ask:
- What is the purpose of this kingdom?
- Why does it occur at this time in history?
- Will it be physical or spiritual?
- Will it take place on the earth or somewhere else?
- Will Satan be bound?
- Will Jesus actually reign?
- Will it last for 1,000 years or is that number symbolic?

To answer those questions, there are 3 views have been offered. Since these views strongly influence the way we approach this topic, it would be good to explain them in detail. They are as follows:

1. Amillennialism. Amillennialism is the view that there will be no earthly, literal millennial kingdom following the second coming of Christ because the reign of Christ in Revelation 20 is spiritual and not physical. Proponents of this position see the millennium as a time when Christ will reign in the hearts and lives of believers but not through a political, civil government.

2. Postmillennialism. Postmillennialism also teaches that there will be no earthly, literal millennial kingdom following the second coming of Christ because Christ will return after the kingdom occurs. Proponents of this position believe that the world will progressively get better through the preaching of the Gospel at which time Jesus will return.

3. Premillennialism. Premillennialism is the view that there will be an earthly, literal millennium following the second coming of Christ and it will last for 1,000 years. This will not take place because the world will progressively get better but, instead, it will happen simply because God chooses to do it at this point in time.

As you read through that list, the question arises: Which one is correct? All of that is interesting but they cannot all be right. So which one faithfully represents what the Apostle John is trying to tell us in Revelation 20?

In the sermon this week, I will argue that the premillennial view is the correct one. While I have great respect for many amillennialists and postmillennialists that I know, I do not think their position is consistent with Scripture for several reasons:

1. The Book of Revelation does not indicate that Jesus will come back after the millennial kingdom but before.

2. The Book of Revelation does not say that the world will get better before Christ returns. On the contrary, it will get worse.

3. The Book of Revelation uses very specific language when it describes the millennial kingdom which makes it sound like Jesus will reign in more than just our hearts and lives. If John was trying to convey that idea, it seems like he would have written this passage a different way.

I do not say all of this to start a debate but simply to remind you where our hope is found and that is in the return of Christ because Jesus will come back to rule the earth in a physical way. He will judge the earth physically in Revelation 19 and He will rule it in a similar fashion in the following chapter in order to demonstrate that He is Lord over all. As Philippians 2:9-11 says, “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow” which is what we are going to talk about this week at Grace Fellowship Church.

This Sunday, we are going to talk about “The Millennial Kingdom” in order to continue our series on the Book of Revelation. We started this series in the Fall but we were not able to finish it due to the arrival of the Christmas Season so I wanted to take a few more weeks to do that because it fits in nicely with what we have talked about this Christmas. This holiday season, we have learned that Jesus is God in the Book of Colossians. Paul has told us very clearly that “He is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15) and “by Him all things were created” (Colossians 1:16). However, now the Apostle John tells us what Jesus will do as God in the future and that is to return. He created the earth but one day He will reappear to rule it. He made this planet but now He is going to come back in order to reclaim what is His and govern it for 1,000 years.

Please join us as we talk about that together over the weekend. The service will begin at 9:30 on Sunday morning and the sermon will be recorded and placed on our You Tube Channel afterwards for all those who cannot make it in person.

- Jeremy Cagle