(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) So, this is the thousand year reign of Christ. After we got done last week we were talking about the battle of Armageddon and literally the next event on that timeline is the thousand year reign of Christ. Now, I kind of already covered how Satan was going to be cast into hell and how that's when the judgment seat of Christ was going to happen right before we go into the thousand year reign of Christ. We talked about that when we were talking about the resurrection, the day of the Lord and the resurrection. So, I don't want to re-go over that but basically we had the rapture that happens in the timeline that we were talking about after the tribulation before God pours out his wrath. Then we're going to come on white horses with him. We'll be in glorified bodies at that point but then we're going to have the judgment seat of Christ because judgment must begin first at the house of God and then what shall be the end of them. We're going to talk about the order of resurrections here for a little bit but I don't want to get that deep into that. I just kind of want you to see because we're talking about the first resurrection here. I guess what people usually look at here is they see, well, is it only the people that were in the tribulation and got victory over the mark of the beast that's going to be rolling the reign with them? Because if you look at verse 4, that's what it kind of seems like. It seems like, well, it's the people that got the victory or that were beheaded for the cause of Christ, basically the martyrs for Christ. I can see that at first glance but then if you look at verse 6 it's very clear it's not just them because in verse 6 it says, Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death had no power, but they who, they of the first resurrection, shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. So who's reigning with him a thousand years? All those that are in the first resurrection. So the first resurrection, what is that? Go back to 1 Corinthians 15. I'll just tell you straight up what I believe. When it says first resurrection, it wouldn't make sense to call it the first resurrection unless there was a second resurrection. Just as much as when it says Jesus was the first born son of Mary, it wouldn't make sense unless she had another son down the line. She actually had four. But 1 Corinthians 15 is known as the resurrection chapter. But what I believe is I believe there's actually three resurrections in the timeline of Christ being the first fruits. So Christ makes up the first actual resurrection although it's not the resurrection of saved people. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Then you have the first resurrection which is the believers and then you have the second resurrection which takes, basically you have believers that are going to be resurrected and then you have the lost that are resurrected into their bodies, not to life. They're dead and then they're going to be judged according to their works and cast to the lake of fire. That doesn't happen until after a thousand year reign. So I don't want to get that far ahead because we will cover that when we get into the new heaven, new earth and basically all that. But 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 20, I want you to see that there are three separate dealings when it comes to the resurrection to understand who's a part of this first resurrection. So in verse 20 of 1 Corinthians 15 it says, But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, so it's giving you an order or a sequence so to speak, Christ the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ's that is coming. So who's a part of the first resurrection? Those that are Christ's that is coming. Then cometh the end. So you see those three separate categories. Christ the first fruits, then they that are Christ's that is coming and then cometh the end. When, so it's going to tell you what that end is talking about. It's not talking about the end like we would, when we say the end of the world we're talking about the next thing on the timeline which is the anti-Christ and all that. Then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. So we see that the end is talking about after the thousand year reign. After he has reigned for a thousand years, put all enemies under his feet and the last enemy is death. So is it interesting that after the thousand year reign, what happens? Death and hell is cast into the lake of fire. There's your last enemy being destroyed before the new heavens and new earth happen. So why does he reign for a thousand years? Well that's why. He has to reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. So it's not just random, he's not just picking, I believe there's an order to this and why God would choose to do it this way, but Christ is going to rule and reign for a thousand years in order to put all enemies under his feet and then he's going to deliver the kingdom up to the Father and the Son himself is going to be subject unto the Father that God would be all in all because you have the Trinity, the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost. But the first resurrection are all the saved from the foundation of the world to the end of the world. If you look down further in the chapter there, and you can go to 1 Thessalonians and look at this too, but 1 Corinthians 15 verse 51, it says, Behold I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised and corruptible and we shall be changed. If you remember 1 Thessalonians talks about the dead in Christ shall rise first and then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with him in the clouds. So who's all the dead in Christ? From the foundation of the world, Abel is going to be in that. Adam's going to be in that. All those from Abel on and that have died, Noah, Job, Daniel, all those are going to be a part of that first resurrection. All those from the foundation of the world that have died in Christ are going to be resurrected with us that are alive and remain and I'm using that as the fact that we're going to be here. So obviously we could be the dead in Christ if this happens years later and we're already gone. And so who's a part of the first resurrection? All the saved. Now think about this as far as a harvest. Now in the Bible there's the feasts of the Lord and I don't want to get too deep with this tonight because that's not what I'm getting into. But you have the Passover and then you have the feast of first fruits and then you have the feast of weeks which is the end gathering. So the first fruits literally happened and we'll get into this when we get into Easter. The feast of first fruits happened the day Jesus rose from the dead. So obviously God had this planned out that the day he rose from the dead was the feast of first fruits. But then so many Sabbaths, seven Sabbaths, so that would be forty-nine days and then the next day would be the day of Pentecost which was the feast of weeks. So what was Christ's first fruits? Basically the first fruits of your harvest. What was the feast of weeks? The harvest. But then you also have a gleaning. So you had the gleaning of the harvest that would take place after that. If you think about this, if Christ came back in our lifetime, let's say we start into the tribulation, let's say we're in the tribulation right now and we haven't gotten into the great tribulation, Christ comes back. About six thousand years or so of time has gone by, people dying, living and dying, believing on Jesus, getting saved through that whole time. How long will Christ reign before the very end? A thousand years. So the majority, no matter how you slice it right now, the majority of the resurrection is going to happen in the first resurrection. So you can see how Christ is the first fruits and then the first resurrection is like the end gathering, the harvest which we would see throughout the Bible when you see Matthew 13, the harvest with the wheat and the tares and all that and how that represents the harvest. But then you have a thousand years of, and we saw that where, I don't know if I have it written down actually, let me go back to it, where it says the rest of the dead are not going to live again until the thousand years are expired. In verse 5 it says, but the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years were finished, this is the first resurrection. That dead is not talking about lost people because the lost will never live again. They'll never live again. When we see at the end of the chapter, who's brought up? Is it the living? Does it say that the people coming out of hell are alive? It says the dead are brought up. We talked about this, I know this is getting deep, maybe I shouldn't go so deep, but when you die, your spirit leaves you, your soul goes, if you're lost, your spirit goes to God who gave it, your soul goes to hell, your body goes to the grave. When they're resurrected, the resurrection of the unjust, their body and soul come back together but their spirit's not there, therefore they're dead. The body without the spirit is dead. Now when we die as believers, if our spirit goes to God, they gave it, well our soul's going with it. Our spirit doesn't leave our soul, so our soul never dies and we're alive forever and then when the resurrection happens, our body will be made alive with our soul and spirit. Does that make sense? I know it's getting deep with that, but we see that the dead, when it says the dead shall not live again until the thousand years have expired, it's talking about all those that are going to live and die in Christ for that thousand year period. Basically what it means is that they're not going to get a resurrected body until after that thousand year period. That at the end of the thousand years is where you get the end, where you're going to have another resurrection, but that's when Jesus said there's going to be a resurrection of the just and the unjust, that's what that's talking about. That's that resurrection. That would be called the second resurrection, so to speak. That's what I would call it because it calls this the first resurrection. So this would be the second resurrection. We actually have the saved that are going to be resurrected, but you're also going to have the unsaved, all the unsaved that are in hell or wherever they're at, wherever their bodies are at in the sea or wherever it's at, their bodies are going to come back and that's why Jesus said fear not him that is able to kill the body but fear him that is able to kill both soul and body in hell. That's talking about the lake of fire because those that are in hell right now, their bodies are in the grave or in the dust, but their bodies are going to literally be cast into the lake of fire. I told you I wasn't going to get into hell, so I'm sorry. I just wanted to explain that with the resurrection because the first resurrection, what this is saying is that everybody from when Christ comes back that's saved will be ruling and reigning with him for a thousand years. Not just those that have been beheaded for the cause of Christ. Every single person, every saved person is going to rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years and then after that every single saved person, even including those that are in the thousand year reign are going to rule and reign with Christ forever. We'll get to that when we get to Revelation 22 when we're at the very end, but we have that honor. No matter when it happens we're going to be in the first resurrection. It has to be that way because it hasn't happened yet, so we're going to be a part of that first resurrection, all those that are saved. I hope that makes sense, but I just wanted you to see that we are the ones that are going to be ruling and reigning with Christ for a thousand years. What will the thousand year reign be like? You may wonder what's going on during this time and I'm not saying I have all the answers. All we've got is what the Bible tells us. There's all kinds of questions as far as well if we're in glorified bodies aren't people going to be thinking like what's up with these guys? You've got to think after a thousand years aren't you going to be like why are these guys not dying? Why are these guys? Obviously it's going to be a whole different game or not game, but a whole different way of thinking. You've got to think about people. They're born into it. When people are born in that thousand year, that's all they know. It's interesting to think about, but I'll say this. Try to just dwell on what the Bible teaches about it. Try not to get in the mind because you can think all day about all the different avenues of what's going on, but go to Isaiah chapter 11. I want to show you some passages in the Bible because honestly in the New Testament what we read there in Revelation 20 is really the only place besides what we were talking about there in 1 Corinthians 15 where it says he's going to reign until he put all enemies under his feet. It's really the only information it gives us. It doesn't really give us a lot of information what's going on during it, but the Old Testament actually gives us some light as far as what it's going to be like during that thousand year period. Isaiah 11, and we're going to start there in verse 1. It says, So he judged the poor and reproved with equity for the meek of the earth, and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them, and 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 then. 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. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people. To it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious. So this gives us a little idea, and obviously we're talking about Jesus Christ, that branch, that root of Jesse, who's going to be rolling with the rod of his mouth, and we're going to get into that a little bit. But this chapter, what's interesting, this is talking about Jesus and how he's going to roll and reign. There's a lot of information here about the fact that the wolf's going to lie down with the lamb, and how the lion's going to eat straw like an ox. So you can see, obviously, this is something very different, and God's going to have to change the molecular anatomy of animals for them to do this, because if a lion were to try to eat like an ox, they couldn't survive. There's certain things, the way things would have to work, and so as far as snakes, I don't care if they don't bite. I don't want to play with them. I know that's what it says, but I don't want to play with a snake. If my child, am I in the thousand year right now? But it won't matter, because at that point I'll be in a glorified body. What it's basically saying is that the animals aren't going to harm you. We're not going to be in this cutthroat type of, if you think of planet earth, where the animals are eating each other and all that stuff, and they're eating the young of all the animals, and the sad, and all that other stuff. You watch that stuff. It's not going to be like that. It's going to be very peaceful. The rest shall be glorious, and so we can see that one aspect of the thousand year reign is it's going to be almost kind of like the Garden of Eden, as far as we're going back to that, and so we've kind of digressed, if you think of the flood, and we're going to get into that. This is more kind of pre-flood type of atmosphere, to a certain extent, and eventually we're going to be getting back to the Garden of Eden, where there's no death, no pain, nothing. So we've kind of digressed all the way to where we got now, and we're going to be coming back, so it's kind of a slow return, and this thousand year reign is kind of like shifting back in that direction. I wanted to touch on something. I know I like getting on tangents, so I wanted to talk about the seven spirits of God, because this chapter actually answers this question. Have you ever wondered in Revelation, when it talks about the seven spirits of God, what that's talking about? I know I did. I know I was like, what in the world is that? Is the Holy Spirit split up into seven spirits? You just think of all these different things as far as what you're dealing with, but I want to read a couple of passages in Revelation. Stay there in Isaiah 11, because I just want to show you that it talks about, in Revelation 1.4, it says, John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come, from the seven spirits which are before his throne. Revelation 3.1, and unto the angel of the church in Sardis write, these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God. There's these seven spirits of God that it's talking about. In Revelation, we're going to talk about that a little more. What is that? I believe that the seven spirits of God are attributes, basically, that are upon the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll kind of prove that later on, too. What's interesting is in verse 2, you'll see seven different spirits. If you look at verse 2, you have the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of might, the spirit of knowledge, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord. Seven spirits. I believe that's what it's talking about when it's talking about these seven spirits. I kind of want to talk about that for a second, because it is in this chapter talking about the thousand year reign. He's going to be ruling and reigning with these seven spirits, meaning these attributes that are basically things about someone that's wise and knowledgeable and mighty, and the spirits of the Lord, so to speak. I don't believe they're persons. I'm going to talk about that a little bit. I'm going to prove to you that it's not talking about a part of the Godhead. It's not like God is made up of another seven spirits. Go to Revelation chapter 4, and I kind of want to show you where it really kind of explains what these seven spirits of God are. That's why you shouldn't get too caught up on capitalizations, because they can kind of throw you off sometimes if you see a capital S for spirit. I don't believe that's something that's preserved, because if you'll find your different King James Bibles, there will be some places where they capitalize the S in spirit, and some places they don't. In the Old Testament, a lot of times, spirit is not capitalized when it is talking about the spirit of God. So don't get hung up on that type of stuff, where you'll be like, well, it's a capital S, therefore it has to be like a part of the Godhead or something. But in Revelation 4, verse 5, it says, and out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices, and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. So there are these seven burning lamps that are before the throne, and we even saw that when we were talking about it in Revelation 1, where these seven spirits of God are before the throne. Revelation 5 and verse 6, it says, and I beheld and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. So these seven spirits are seven eyes. So a lot of this stuff is very symbolistic, but notice that there are seven eyes, there are seven lamps, these are all, it's basically saying the seven lamps are seven eyes, and they are seven spirits that go throughout the whole earth. Now go to Zechariah, now we're getting deep. We're going to the cryptic book of Zechariah. Now, when you go into Zechariah, just know that it's very cryptic and you don't want to just get all your doctrine from there, but it does talk about this a little bit in Zechariah. So Zechariah chapter 4, starting there in verse 1. So this is an unprecedented, when we get into Revelation, talking about these seven spirits of God, although it doesn't call them seven spirits of God in Zechariah, that's where it starts calling them seven spirits of God. But in Zechariah chapter 4 and verse 1, it says, and the angel that talked with me came again and waked me as a man that is waking out of his sleep and said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked and behold a candlestick all of gold with a bowl upon the top of it and his seven lamps thereon and seven pipes to the seven lamps which are upon the top thereof. So notice now we're talking about a candlestick that has seven lamps on it. Go down to verse 10, for who, verse 10 in Zechariah 4, 10, for who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of the rubbable with those seven. They are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth. So if you ever look at that candlestick that's in the temple or in the tabernacle that had seven lamps on it, what did that represent? That represented the seven spirits of God or these seven lamps, these seven eyes of the Lord that go to and fro through the earth. So in Isaiah, we see what those are. We're talking about wisdom, understanding, going throughout the whole earth. You may say, well, why does it ever talk about wisdom going throughout the whole earth? Well, go to Proverbs chapter eight. And so Proverbs is very famous for being about wisdom, right? Well, in Proverbs chapter eight, it actually personifies wisdom and understanding. Now what's it mean to personify something? It basically means to take an attribute and put it as a person, as if that attribute is talking and speaking. And so this isn't really a person, okay? What we'll see here is that wisdom, it's not like when we're talking about this attribute that wisdom is God, okay, because it's actually putting it in a feminine sense. So it's not God, but it's an attribute of God. It's something that God has had from the very beginning and has been upon him from the very beginning. So this wisdom in chapter one, verse eight, and this goes over your head or this is just too deep. It's not crucially important to this sermon, but as we were going through Isaiah 11, I kind of wanted to go into this because in our Revelation study, we kind of skipped over Revelation four and five because we were kind of hitting big points. And Revelation four and five, they talk about, the Bible talks about these seven spirits of God, so I never really got to go into it. And so I kind of wanted to talk about this for a second. But in Proverbs eight and verse one, it says, doth not wisdom cry and understanding put forth her voice. So we're talking about an attribute, so to speak, personified. So this whole chapter is basically wisdom talking. It's wisdom talking and saying, you know, you want to cleave unto me. And it's interesting, if you study this out with this chapter and then parallel wisdom with a virtuous woman. And what you'll find is parallel verses to all of these. You know, get wisdom for it's far above rubies. What's also far above rubies? A virtuous woman. If you have wisdom, you've obtained favor of the Lord. He that findeth the wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favor of the Lord. And I'm not going to go through all the different parallels. Maybe that will be another sermon for another day. But go down to verse twenty-seven. So remember, those spirits go throughout all the earth. Those eyes of the Lord go throughout all the earth. And they're all upon Jesus. These spirits are upon Jesus. And verse twenty-seven says, when He appeared or when He prepared the heavens, I was there. When He set a compass upon the face of the depth, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He gave to the sea His decree that the waters should not pass His commandment, when He appointed the foundations of the earth, then I was by Him as one brought up with Him. I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth, and my delights were with the sons of men. So wisdom and understanding here is basically saying, I was with them from the beginning. I was with them when He created the foundation of the earth. It's an attribute. It's wisdom. God has wisdom. God has understanding. God has might. God has, you know, and obviously you have the Spirit of the Lord, which is an attribute as far as if you said, I have the Spirit of Elias on me, right? It's an attribute. It's basically some kind of, you know, you think of the personality of God is upon Him. And so, but we see that they, the wisdom's delight was in the habitable part of His earth and where the sons of men were at. So we see going to and fro through the earth, wisdom, understanding, all this, and God is showing that as His eyes, the seven eyes that were upon the Lamb. So obviously a lot of this is symbolistic, right? I don't believe when we see Jesus is going to have seven eyes, okay? It's seven horns coming out of His heads. This is a symbolistic for a lot of different things. Horns usually mean crowns, eyes, you know, it's talking about obviously spirits and lamps. His eyes are like lamps, but I don't believe Jesus has seven eyes. I believe He's going to look like a human being because we're made in the image of God, okay? So, you know, obviously it's trying to make a point and an attribute that He has that He has these seven spirits upon Him, which are different attributes, okay? So that's what I believe the seven spirits of God are and I believe that Isaiah 11 points out what exactly those spirits are and that they've been with them since the foundation of the world. So we know that wisdom isn't God because God's not a woman, but it's just personifying it. Just like you would personify Jerusalem as being a her, right? A lot of cities are personified as a woman. We saw the whore and we saw the bride. The church is personified as a woman. That doesn't mean that everybody in the church is a woman, right? It doesn't mean we're going to be all women when we get to heaven, okay? So obviously God uses that to show us different things. And if you're looking in Proverbs, why would wisdom be like into a woman? Because you see also the man and the virtuous woman and staying away from the strange woman, so you can see how those things parallel. Taking a hold of wisdom is like taking a hold of the wife of your youth. Taking a hold of foolishness is like taking a strange woman into your bosom, okay? So there's a lot of things that parallel with that. So go to Isaiah, go back to Isaiah 11, Isaiah 11 where we were at. So we're back off the detour. There was a detour for the spirits of God. If you have any questions on that, come and talk to me and we can obviously go through other verses too. But Isaiah 11 in verse 4 there, I think you probably caught it, but in verse 4 it says, but with righteousness shall he judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth. So this is something that comes up a lot about ruling the nations with a rod of iron, but I want you to see where this is at. Go to Psalm chapter 2. Psalm chapter 2. Psalm chapter 2 is one, I mean if you ever want to memorize a psalm, memorize, well Psalm 1 obviously is a very famous psalm. So memorize Psalm 1, it's only six verses, and memorize Psalm 2 because there is pacts with doctrine. There's so much quoted out of there. And also it just shows you so much information about Jesus, about the son, kiss the son, lest he be angry. We're going to read that. But Psalm 2 starting there in verse 6, it says, yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. So I believe that this, first of all a couple is the fact that you have the mount of Zion that's in heaven and eventually New Jerusalem isn't going to come down, but in the thousand year reign I believe Christ is going to be rolling and raining from Jerusalem, that's here on the earth, and obviously the earth is going to have to be cleaned up a bit after he just baptized it with fire, after all the wrath that he poured out, but he's going to have to do something anyway because the animals are going to start eating grass like an ox and the snakes aren't going to bite you, so something is going on there as far as refreshing. And so, as we keep reading here, I will declare the decree, the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. So we know that Jesus Christ is the first begotten of the dead, when he rose from the dead, that's when this is talking about. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance in the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. So Jesus Christ is taking possession of the earth. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. So here's where he's going to rule with the rod out of his mouth. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, ye kings, be instructed, you judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son lest he be angry, and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. I believe this is giving us a good look as far as Jesus Christ as being king for a thousand years. And obviously he's going to rule and reign forever, but I believe this is a decree based on saying kings and judges, you better fear the Lord. You better serve him with fear and rejoice with trembling. You better kiss the son lest he be angry because all the nations, there's going to be nations in this earth at that time that are going to be coming into Jerusalem and giving praise unto God. And there's a lot of avenues with this because there's going to be unsaved people and there's going to be saved people that are going to be in this thousand year reign. Because at the end of it, how is Satan going to gather up all the people against the saints of God if there's no one that's unsaved? And you may say, well, how in the world would anybody be unsaved when Jesus is ruling and reigning? Well, how were there a bunch of people unsaved when Jesus was down here the first time? So you got to think of all these miracles he was doing and they still didn't believe. Think about what just happened up to this point of like mountains coming out of the sky. Jesus coming out of the clouds, you know, or Jesus coming out of the clouds, obviously that should wake you up. But then all the wrath that's being poured out, then you have Jesus coming on a white horse and destroying all the armies of the beast, us coming down on white horses, and yet some people still won't believe. And it's crazy to imagine, but it's just like what he said to Lazarus, or to the rich man, he said, they have the law on Moses and if they don't believe him, neither would they believe if one were risen from the dead. So even though Jesus rose from the dead, the same people didn't believe. So it's interesting to me because you're thinking, how in the world? But you're thinking through a saved person's eyes. Obviously they're going to try to figure out a way to think it away or something. But in Revelation 12, go back to Revelation, Revelation 12, we see this talked about too, how he's going to rule with a rod of iron. And what I want to get across with this is that when Jesus comes to rule and reign, this isn't going to be some communist utopia where there's no law. And so that's what people think. They think Jesus is like some communist, like refugee, and like basically he's going to be coming in here like peace, peace. No, he's going to rule with a rod of iron and it's going to be the perfect law of liberty that's going to be the law of the land. And so, but Revelation 12, in verse 5, Revelation 12 verse 5 it says, and she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up unto God and to his throne. So we're talking about Jesus, he's going to rule with a rod of iron, he's going to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Go to Revelation 19, and I know we just covered this last week, just to kind of refresh your mind about it. Revelation 19 and verse 15, it says, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall roll them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. So we see all these places he's going to rule with a rod of iron, he's going to add the sharp two-edged sword that's coming out of his mouth, which is the word of God, I believe. You don't have to turn there, but in Psalm 19 and verse 7 it says, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. I believe in this thousand year reign that you're going to have the moral law and the punishments that go with that moral law in the thousand year reign, and that's why people aren't going to like it. There's going to be people that want to go off to the house of ill repute, and that's the gentleman's club, although that's an oxymoron, and they're going to want to go to the bar, they're going to want to drink, they're going to do everything because sin is still going to be pleasurable, and they're still going to want to do these things, and they're not going to like it when God comes down with the rod, and Jesus comes down with the rod, and they're just not going to like it. Just as much as they don't like it today, they're not going to like it when they say, you commit adultery, you're going to be put to death. If you curse father or mother, you're going to be put to death. By the way, Jesus said that when they were trying to make void the law, he said, whosoever cursed father or mother, let him die to death. That was out of the mouth of Jesus, and when we're talking about cursing, we're not talking about just saying a bad word. We're talking about telling your parents to go to hell or to curse you. Then there's the death penalty. There's the homosexuals. The Leviticus 2013 is going to be put back into effect. Pedophiles will be killed. Queers will be killed. Those that commit murder and all these under two or three witnesses will be put to death in the thousand year reign, and you better guarantee that some people aren't going to like it. But there will be peace, because the law of the Lord is perfect, and when you have a benevolent dictatorship under the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ, it will work. That's why, and we'll get into a point, there's not going to be war. I want to show you another passage in Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65. Isaiah actually has this pact with a lot of places about this thousand year reign, and there's also a place we'll see in Micah. What do we see so far? A thousand year reign, the animals are going to be different. You're going to be able to ride a lion. That's kind of cool. It doesn't say you're going to ride a lion, but I imagine you maybe could, right? I don't know. Maybe we'll have some dinosaurs. We'll get the dragons back. I would like to ride a triceratops, I'm just saying. I hope they're in heaven. That's just me imagining things of what may be there. Anyway, we see that obviously there's going to be a lot of differences as far as the animals go. We're not going to be worrying about a lion in the street. We're not going to be worried about a bear mauling us, because they're not going to. We're also going to see Jesus Christ is going to be rolling and reigning with a rod of iron, so there's going to be the law of the Lord, and that's going to be the law of the land. No more worrying about all these stupid ordinances, and all these things that are the law of the land, that are against the Bible, or things that are just dumb. No, Jesus is making the law, and it's the law that we've already had, and without all the stupid little things that we don't need. I don't believe we're going back to holding to the Sabbath, or sacrificing animals. Those are cardinal ordinances, and those were done away. Those are a shadow of things to come. I'm talking about moral law. That was before Moses and the law, as far as the ordinances, and diverse washings, and meats, and all that stuff. That's another issue there. Isaiah 65. Now, what's interesting about this, we're going to read in verse, starting there in verse 17. Again, when you're reading the Old Testament, the Old Testament can go thousands of years within a verse. In verse 17, it starts talking about a new heaven and a new earth, but we know the new heaven and a new earth doesn't happen until after the thousand year reign, after the great white throne, but we also know there's going to be no more death. Death is talked about after this, so he's switching back. He's talking about this new heaven and new earth, but then as he's coming back, he's stepping back to this thousand year reign. Don't let that throw you off, because what we'll see is the same kind of stuff we saw in Isaiah 11. The key to know this isn't talking about the new heaven and new earth is because we're talking about people dying. When new heaven and new earth happens, it says there's going to be no more death, no more sorrow, no more pain. There still will be death in the thousand year reign. Isaiah 65, verse 17 says, For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. But be ye glad, rejoice forever in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem, a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And so I believe we're kind of going back to Jerusalem and how it's going to be basically renewed, so to speak, after all the desolations and all this stuff. So this is before the new heaven and new earth. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying. 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 in hundred years old, but the sinner, being in hundred years old, shall be accursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat, for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain nor bring forth for trouble, for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and thus shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy, and all my holy temples saith the Lord. So there's a lot of interesting information in here. The main thing that I see that gives us a little more information about it is how long people live. So if you look, it is kind of interesting how this is phrased in verse 20. And so I'm going to try to explain it the way I see it. So in verse 20 it says there shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days. So what I believe this is talking about is the fact that I don't believe there's going to be any like miscarriages and stuff like that that's going on. And so, or basically, when it says for the child shall die and hundred years old, I basically, I believe, I think it's going to be going back to where people lived to 900. And so if you have a child, you know, if they died at 100, you'd say they weren't a young, you know what I mean? I don't believe that they're going to be a kid for a hundred years. I don't believe that's the way it works. I believe that you mature, it's not like the maturity rate's going to slow down and like you're a hundred years old and you're still a child. I believe it's basically saying that no one's going to, I believe, and what it's saying though, I think this is referred to the saved. The saved will be living really long and even at, you know, basically if you're a hundred years old, you'd be considered a child. Does that make sense? Like some people think that I'm a, like I'm a kid, okay, even though I'm 32 years old, but in their mind that's what they're thinking because I'm still pretty young compared to someone that's really old. So if someone's living to 900 years old, a hundred years is nothing, right? And so that's what I believe because then it says, it says, for as the days of a tree are the days of my people. Now trees live a very long time, okay? There's trees that they found that, you know, are thousands of years old, okay? So you could very well have people living through this whole thousand years, okay? But it does say, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. So I think that really we get into the fact of, you know, with the law of honoring thy father and thy mother and how you prolong your days upon the earth, I believe you're keeping the law. Now obviously salvation is still going to be by faith, okay? This is not like this is a new gospel, but even today if you're saved and you keep God's commandments, God can prolong your life and have you have a blessed life and prolong your days. Now that's to a certain extent, right? We're not going to live till we're 200 right now, but I do believe that promise is the first commandment with promise. And so I believe in the thousand year reign, if you're saved, then you're going to live a really long life. And so, and you won't have a case where you have a child that dies at a really young age and stuff like that. So I believe that's what this is talking about personally. And it says that my people, it says that as far as the days of a tree are the days of my people. So I don't believe every single person that's in this thousand year reign as far as people that are living are going to be children of God. I think it's going to be the same. You're still going to have that remnant, you know, that's going to get saved. And then you'll have the people that aren't saved. Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. And it kind of gives a promise here that, you know how when Adam fell, how the ground was cursed and basically you had, we had everything that were, it's like the earth is working against us. Whereas I believe in thousand year reign, it's going to be a lot easier. You know, basically you're prospering. It's going to be a time of prosperity, a time of rest, basically where you're still going to be doing stuff. You're still going to be planting. You're still going to be, you know, laboring, but none of it's going to be in vain. It's not like you're working against, you know, everything or going against the wind, so to speak. And so I believe it's going to be a very great time. Think of like Solomon's day when he was king. And Christ and Solomon are very similar. And basically Solomon's supposed to picture Christ. And I'm not going to get into all the pictures here, but if Christ is going to be like Solomon, Solomon and his reign was basically the most glorious time in Israel. When they had the most riches, when they prospered the most. I mean, their streets were pretty much made of gold. You know, like they had, you know, it talks about all these different things about how they had gold for everything, silver for everything. He made gold plated sheets, gold plated shields for his, you know, his men that were guarding him. And so they were very rich. They had a lot of luxurious things. And I believe it's going to be like that, especially for the people of God. And so it's interesting to see. And I believe that the saved will live a very long time. But I do believe that they're going to be dying because it says the rest of the dead shall not live until... And I believe there will be people that are still alive when that end comes. So, but one big thing to see here, and we're almost done, there's going to be no more war. There's no war that's going to be taking place throughout this whole thousand year reign. Until the very end when Satan comes back out of hell and gathers together all the people to fight against the saints. And, you know, that's why it's probably a little intimidating when this happens because none of them have swords. No one's like ready for battle. It's like for a thousand years they haven't been training. They haven't done anything like that. There's probably no guns, unfortunately. There's no guns. So, you know, because what's the need of them? I mean, besides just maybe having fun and shooting things. But, so I, you know, that's the one drawback is no guns. But I can deal with that, you know, if there's peace. But go to Isaiah chapter 2. And I'm going to go to two more places, Isaiah 2 and then Micah, and then we'll be done. But I want you to see this, that there's going to be no more war during this whole thousand year reign. So, it's pretty much what God intended, you know, as far as like how He wanted the children of Israel to have this prosperity. But it's actually being fulfilled in Christ. You know, all this time of how He's going to have a king like David. But they all failed. They all didn't follow Him fully. They all messed up. Well, with Christ it's not going to mess up and it's going to be perfect. And He's almost like, it's like God's proving, you know what, my law is perfect. And if He actually did it right, this is what would happen. And for a thousand years that's what's going to happen. So, Isaiah chapter 2, starting there in verse 1, it says, The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, and it shall come to pass in the last days, 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. 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 Lord God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and He will walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. So this is what's going to be going on. And obviously we see that this law is coming out of Jerusalem, coming out of Zion. This is the way it was supposed to be. And so, it's going to be a time of great justice, a time of great peace. It's going to be a time of law and order through Christ, but it's going to be a perfect law. There's going to be no one just, no one's going to be being put to death in Christ's judgment. Remember, when He has these seven spirits, it says that He's not going to judge with His eyes or His ears, but with righteousness He's going to judge. Meaning that, you remember how justice is blind, so to speak? So He's not going to be a respecter of persons. He's not going to take a gift for gain and judgment. Everything's going to be perfect because He's the Lord, God of hosts. He is the Lord of glory that's going to be rolling and raining. And so, all the swords are going to be beaten into plowshares and they're not going to learn war anymore. Go to Micah 4, and really Micah 4 is kind of reiterating what was said in Isaiah 2. And there's other passages as you go to Micah 4, and we're not going to go there, but Zechariah 14 talks about this again. Zechariah is really like, you know, we're talking about Jesus coming into the clouds, we're talking about Him coming on the horse, we're talking about this, we're talking about that. So there's a lot of stuff in Zechariah where we're dealing with things that, you know, it's not like this whole chapter's about it, but in Zechariah 14 it talks about, it says, and the Lord shall be king over all the earth, and in that day shall there be one Lord and His name won. There's a lot of different stuff in there. We're not going to get into all that tonight. So really, Micah 4 is the last thing we're going to look at here. Micah 4 and verse 1, and so it's going to be very similar to what we read in Isaiah. It says, but in the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up a sword against nations, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine, and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk, every one, in the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. So the same thing, the law coming out. What's interesting, we keep seeing this about this mountain, right? And I was just thinking about this, this is in my notes, but the mountain of the house of the Lord, we know that Mount Zion, we're talking about Mount Zion, and ultimately we have New Jerusalem, which is, I believe, a mountain. That's why the dimensions, we'll get into that later. But if you remember Daniel chapter 2, when he takes out that image, what does he take it out with? A stone that was cut without hands, what did that stone turn into? A mountain. And we see that he's going to roll and reign from a mountain, and remember that mountain became a kingdom that he was going to roll and reign from. What's the next kingdom that comes? Remember when the seventh trumpet sounds, it says, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. And we're going to see him roll and reign from this mountain, and that stone that was cut without hands, that smote that image. Remember, what did we just get done talking about in Revelation 19, where he took out the beast and the false prophet, and took out that dragon, that seven-headed dragon, once and for all, took him out, and now he's rolling and reigning, and then he's going to reign until he's put all enemies under his feet, until death is put away, then there's going to be a new heaven and new earth, he's going to bring the kingdom up to the Father, and then new Jerusalem is going to come down, and we're going to dwell with the Father. And so we'll get into that when we get into the new heaven and new earth. But that's very interesting. This is what's coming up. We're going to be a part of this. This is real. This is something that we're going to roll and reign with Christ in this thousand-year reign, and what a glorious day that will be, because you just think of all the injustice, all the stuff of people being put to death that should be put to death, people that should be put to death, that aren't put to death. We think of all the pain and suffering and the injustice in the world. Well, Christ is coming. He's going to roll and reign with us, and we're going to roll and reign with him a thousand years, and then we're going to roll and reign with him forever. And so it's almost like a thousand-year reign is just a little teaser into eternity, right? And I believe it's God basically coming down and saying, let me show you how it's done. Let me show you how it should have been from the very beginning. And don't let these dispensationalists come out and say, well, you know, in a thousand-year reign it's going to be by works and all this stuff. No. The everlasting gospel is going to be the same from the foundation of the world to the end of the world. We had that question with that older man where we're talking about salvation and how people are saved. It's always going to be by faith, my friends. It's always going to be by faith until everybody that's saved is in New Jerusalem and everybody's loss is in the lake of fire, and then you're not worried about preaching the gospel because there's no one that needs to get saved. But let's end with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for this evening. Thank you for this Christmas Eve that we could spend together and get into your word and just see all the truths of what we have to look forward to. And Lord, after all the wrath is poured out and after all the stuff that you pour out on this earth, Lord, just to think of you ruling and reigning with a rod of iron. And Lord, that your law will be the supreme law of the land and that you will be the true and just king on this earth, Lord. I just can't wait for it. I hope it comes soon. And Lord, we just pray that you'd be with us as we go home, get us safe travels. And Lord, we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.