PART 1
The Old Testament
Prophecies of
Christs
by Simon Medhurst
Our subject concerns
the Old Testament Prophecies of Christs
Why Study These Things?
We study these things
that we might have understanding of that which God has revealed in His Word by
His Spirit. Concerning the reason why we
ought to study this subject, I was impressed recently when reading Daniel 10: 1, In the
third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name
was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was
long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
John Gill in his commentary
said, Daniel understood the word, or words of the
prophecy, in which it was expressed; they were clear and plain, and not
obscure, dark, and doubtful; and he had a clear view of the several parts of
it, of the whole series of things, the connection of facts, and their
dependence on one another, and their certain accomplishment; he saw them in
their order, as they were presented to him in vision and prophecy; and was not
at any loss about the meaning of any part of them, or the words by which they
were signified. So Daniel
understood the vision.
In verse 11 it says, He said
unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak
unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I
stood trembling. Then in verse 14, Now I am come
to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for
yet the vision is for many days.
This then gives us the subject of this vision of chapters 10, 11 and 12, what shall befall thy people in the latter days. This vision belongs to the concluding scenes
of the history of Daniels people prior to the Lords coming and their restored
blessing.
Daniel
10: 21 gives us an important point to grasp I will shew thee that which is noted in the Scripture of
Truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your
prince. You will observe the
word noted.
At first glance we may well think of a short note on a memo pad, but the
word means marked or engraven, that is, in the eternal mind of God, and recorded in
the Scripture of Truth. What a blessed
thing it is to have the Scriptures of Truth!
It is a real blessing, for we read in Revelation
1: 3, Blessed is he that readeth, and they that
hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written
therein: for the time is at hand.
I once heard a preacher say, I do not preach
on future things because the subject is too controversial. You may have heard a similar remark. It is a very sad state for any believer to
get into. 2
Timothy 3: 16-17 reminds us that All scripture
(that
is without exception) is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that
the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Do we remove the Book of
Genesis because some people wrongfully make it a controversial issue?
Another scripture
which spoke to me is Jeremiah 36: 22-24. Now the king sat in
the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning
before him. And it came to pass, that
when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and
cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed
in the fire that was on the hearth. Yet
they were not aftaid (and these words are particularly telling), nor rent their
garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. What a vain attempt to frustrate the divine
predictions in the Scriptures, or avert the judgments threatened!
What a contrast to
Daniel, who stood trembling (Daniel 10: 11). Then in verse 12,
Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou
didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God. The literal meaning of the word chasten is to humble. So Daniel humbled himself before God. How different from the king!
Man cannot frustrate
Gods purpose by destroying, neglecting or rejecting the literal fulfilment of
the plain statements of the Word of God.
We should be afraid to neglect any part of Scripture; we should be
afraid to alter the plain meaning of the Word of God. Yet there
are men who will neglect and reject the plain statements of Holy Scripture. When you contend for the truth, problems come
your way. An old RAF saying is very true the most flak comes when you are over the target;
but nevertheless we should not be afraid to declare any part of Gods Word.
There is a hymn
written by Joseph Hart which says, -
Say, Christian, wouldst thou thrive in knowledge of thy
Lord?
Against no Scripture ever strive, but tremble at His Word.
With blind and feeble rage, a hard and haughty heart.
If aught there dark appear, bewail thy want of sight.
No imperfection can be there for all Gods words are right.
The Scriptures and the Lord bear one tremendous name;
The Written and the Incarnate Word in all things are the same.
When we ask why we
should study these things, the reply must be that it is because they are part
of the Scripture of Truth.
Where Will Christs
Millennial Kingdom Be?
This reign of a thousand years upon earth appears to us to
be indisputable. Jeremiah 23: 5-6 says, Behold,
the days come, saith the LORD, that
I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days
Regarding the
millennial reign of Christ, Charles
Hadden Spurgeon was emphatic. It was
not a topic to which he gave a great deal of attention, but when he did speak
of it, he spoke with a consistent view.
In 1865 he stated: The day will come, when the
Lord Jesus will descend from heaven with a shout, with the trump of the
archangel and the voice of God. Some
think that this descent of the Lord will be post-millennial - that is, after the
thousand years of His reign. I cannot
think so. I conceive that the advent
will be pre-millennial; that he will come first; and then will come the Millennium as the result of His personal reign upon
earth. This comment not only seems to clearly
demonstrate Spurgeons position on the subject, but makes it clear that he was
conversant with other millennial positions and their key features.
In the same sermon, Mr
Spurgeon also spake of the millennial reign in these terms: Now, while speaking of glory, I think I must divide the
glory which God gives to the justified into three parts. There is, first of all, the glory which
disembodied spirits [souls] are enjoying even now;
there is, secondly the resurrection glory, which they will enjoy when the soul
and body shall be re-united, and when, through
the Millennium, they shall be for ever with the Lord; and then there is the
eternal weight of glory, which is to be revealed both in body and soul, in the
never-ending state of bliss which God has prepared for His people. But we do not have to take a mans word, we
have the inspired Word of God.
One of the Lords main
purposes in His second coming is to show His glory, that all may know He is
God. We turn to Psalm
102:16. When
the LORD shall build up
There are so many
Psalms that speak of the Millennium. An
excellent book worth possessing is a handbook of the Psalms entitled, Dark Sayings upon the Harp (available from S. G.A.
T price £1.25 ‑ Ed.) Mr B W Newton says in this book, Some Psalms do speak of manifestations in Glory, and yet
they are being applied to things on earth, which will be true in the future.
Let us look at Psalm 47, a wonderful millennial psalm. O clap your hands, all
ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For the LORD
most high is terrible; He is a great King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us, and the
nations under our feet. He shall choose
our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom He loved. Selah.
God is gone up with a shout, the LORD
with the sound of a trumpet. Sing
praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye
praises with understanding. God reigneth
over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness. The princes of the people are gathered
together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth
belong unto God: He is greatly exalted.
Then in Psalm 72, Blessed be His
glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with His glory; Amen,
and Amen. And in Psalms 93 and 97,
The LORD
reigneth. These words always
refer to the Millennium, as Satan is at present the
god of this world [age]
In Psalm 67 there is the desire of
When we turn to other
parts of the Old Testament, we read the same truth. In Isaiah 60: 1-3,
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of
the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the
earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and
kings to the brightness of thy rising.
In Job 19: 25-27, For I know
that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the
earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall
behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
This passage comes
from one of the oldest books of the Bible.
These verses show that from the very beginning Gods people were
expecting a Saviour to deliver them in the end times. Mr
Spurgeon stated, This same Jesus literally went
up. This same Jesus will literally come
again. He will descend in clouds; and,
He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, even as beforehand. Then he made this lovely remark. Brethren, do not
let anyone spiritualise away all this from you.
What Will Christs
Millennial Kingdom Be Like?
I suggest that we look
at this under four headings: Geography, Ecology, Health, and Politics. At this point, I would like to read a quote
from Robert Browns Outlines of Prophetic Truth. He wrote, As the
Millennium, therefore, although a vast advance ... upon this present time, will not be a perfect
state to the inhabitants of the earth because they will still be in the flesh;
it will be necessary ... that there should be ... a test of their obedience ... in the
Millennium.
Geography: The second coming of
Christ, when the Lord stands upon the Mount of Olives, will be accompanied by a
great earthquake and the landscape of the
Zechariah
14:4 tells us, His feet shall stand in
that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the cast, and
the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and
toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain
shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
Ecology: Starting with the
millennium, there will be a removal of the curse upon the earth which began
with Adams fall and continues down to the present, unabated.
As the coming again of
Christ will be to save the spared remnant of Israel and to destroy their
enemies, so it will also be to deliver creation from the bondage of corruption
in which it now travails (Romans 8: 21), Because the creature [creation] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Hence we see in Isaiah
11: 9, 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. Note the earth, not heaven. The earth has never yet been full of the
knowledge of the Lord. Therefore it must
be future.
Still speaking of the
earth, Isaiah 35: 1-2 says: The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them
(
In Romans 8: 18-23 we read, I
reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
For the earnest expectation of the creature [creation] waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God. For
the creature [creation] was made subject to vanity,
not willingly, but by reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope,
because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now.
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.'
The earth,
and especially the
Animals
will once again be friendly to one another and to humans. The wolf will lie down with the lamb, and the
leopard with the baby goats. Little
children will be able to play near serpents without fear. Isaiah 11: 6-8:
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.
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 den.
Wolves and
lambs will feed together, and even the lions will eat straw like the bullock. Isaiah 65:25:
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the
lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's
meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in
all My holy mountain, saith the LORD.
Lord, how long shall this creation groan and travail sore in
pain;
Waiting for its sure salvation, when Thou shalt in glory reign;
and like
The
parched ground will become a pool. Isaiah 35: 7:
The parched ground shall become a pool, and the
thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay,
shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
The trees
shall clap their hands, and instead of thorns there will be trees. Isaiah 55: 12-13:
Ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace:
the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all
the trees of the field shall clap their hands (there will then be no more
creation-groan). Instead of the
thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the
myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD
for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
The earth
will be fruitful, and there will be no famine. Ezekiel 34: 27-29:
The tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the
earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall
know that I am the LORD, when I have broken
the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that
served themselves of them. And they
shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land
devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more
consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any
more.
Health: People
will live longer during the Millennium. A person one hundred years old will be
considered a child, since, presumably, a person could live throughout the 1000
years in the restored environment (Isaiah 65: 20-23). 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; but the sinner being an 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 labour in
vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
Sickness
will not be a problem because in
Malachi 4: 2 it says, Unto you that fear My name
shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings; and ye shall go
forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Politics: Jesus
Christ will be King of kings and Lord of lords, and of the increase of His
government there will be no end. Isaiah 9: 6-7:
Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder:
and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The
Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon
the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it
with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. This is an important scripture as here we
have the whole of history in a nutshell Christs birth, a child is born; His death, a
son is given (see John 3: 16); and
His coming again [to rule] His government and peace.
For a
thousand years the devil, the god of this age, the prince
of this world, the prince of the power of the air, will be bound that he
should deceive the nations no more.
The
Millennium will be marked by peace. Isaiah 2: 4:
He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke
many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears
into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war any more.
With Horatius Bonar we would say,
Come, and make all things new; build up this ruined earth;
Restore our faded paradise, creations second birth.
Come, and begin Thy reign of everlasting peace;
Come, take the kingdom to Thyself,
great King of righteousness.
Jerusalem
will be the capital of the world, and all nations will come to
Then in Ezekiel 5: 5: Thus saith
the Lord GOD; This is
Davids
greater Son will reign as King over
No sin or
rebellion will be allowed, because the Lord will withhold rain and send plagues
on any who would rebel. Zechariah 14: 16-19: It
shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came
against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of
tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso
will not come up of all the families of the earth unto
We do not have to
change the Scripture to fit a scheme; not at all. I quote Dean
Alford, who wrote the words of the well known hymn, Come, ye thankful people, come. He also wrote, I cannot consent to distort words from their
plain sense and chronological place in prophecy, on account of any
considerations of difficulty, or any risk of abuses which the doctrine of the
Millennium may bring with it. Those who
lived next to the Apostles, and the Church for 300 years, understood them in
the plain literal sense.
Who Will Be In This
Millennial Kingdom?
I thank God that the
name of this Testimony includes the words sovereign grace - Sovereign Grace
Advent Testimony.
Who will be in this
kingdom? It will be only those who have
been worked on by the grace and mercy of a sovereign God; those who have tasted
and seen that the Lord is good; those that have been born again by the powerful
work of the Spirit of God in regeneration.
Whether Jew or Gentile they must all come the same way, the way of the
cross. How wonderful is the sovereign
grace of God.
Psalm
40: 2 says, He brought me up also out of
an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established
my goings.
The millennial saints
will be Christians in the same way in which we are Christians. They will be reconciled through the same
atoning Blood. They will have the same
Everlasting Priest. For whom He justified, them He also glorified.
So what do we look
for? The hope of millennial
The apostle Peter
tells us to look forward to the new heavens and new earth. The prophet Isaiah bids us do the same. Isaiah 65: 17:
Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the
former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. The former heavens and earth, even though
they will have been the scene of much millennial blessedness, shall not be
remembered, nor come to mind.
If there is to be no
millennium on this earth, the Bible becomes a meaningless book. So much is written of blessing to come to
this earth as also to
Nathaniel West in his book Daniels
Great Prophecy said Thus did the Old Testament
saints look to the second coming of Christ with an intensity of faith and
ardour of expectation, that puts to shame the attitude of the Christian Church
to-day, with reference to that sublime and glorious event.
Let us not be found
guilty of closing our eyes, but let us obey the injunction, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2: 15).
One of the aims of the
Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony is to promote the searching of the Scriptures
to see if these things be so, and to foster
such study among young people. May we
adhere to the principle stated in the manifesto (first published in 1919, but
as relevant today as it was then) of receiving the Word of God, in its literal
sense, except where obviously figurative, and in so receiving prophetic truth,
rejoice in the fact that this enhances and does not diminish the enjoyments of
the Doctrine of Grace. Bishop Hooper stated where a literal interpretation will stand, the farthest from
the literal is generally the worst.
Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the
wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise
shall understand (Daniel 12: 10).
May our eyes be opened
daily to the truth of Gods Word for the wise will understand.*
* Commenting
on Pauls words on the resurrection out from
the dead (Phil. 3:
11), D. M. Panton says:-
Paul defines so exactly what he means as to place the truth,
finally, beyond all doubt. If by any means, he says, I
may attain unto the out-resurrection, that which is from among the dead:
an out-resurrection, not out of the earth (Lange),
but out from among dead ones: that is, as the context suggests, the first resurrection
(Ellicott). It was exactly this which puzzled the first
disciples when Christ foretold His rising out of (ek) the dead, for like Martha
(John 11: 24) they had never conceived of
any emergence from the grave except the general rising of the mass of mankind:-
questioning among themselves what the rising again
from the dead should mean (Mark 9: 10). The first
resurrection is of necessity a resurrection from among the dead (Govett); it is a prior emergence from
the tombs: it necessitates a later resurrection of those left; and the rest of the dead LIVED NOT until the thousand years
should be finished (Rev. 20: 5). Thus all difficulty attending Pauls
uncertainty vanished the moment we realize that the
[out-resurrection]
is one of the golden prizes for
which God summons us [Christians] to compete.
As Dr. J. Hutchisan says:- The allusion is undoubtedly not to the general resurrection
of the dead. All must attain unto
that. No striving is needed
thereto. It stands fast in the decrees
of heaven, and none can fall short of it or frustrate it. What is referred to here is that which is attained after danger and
toil, and attained as a blissful reward.
It is what is elsewhere called a better resurrection (Heb. 11: 35); the resurrection of the just (Luke 14: 14; Acts 4: 2); the first resurrection (Rev. 20: 5). It is the resurrection par eminence.
* *
* * *
* *
Part 2
The New Testament
Prophecies of
Christs
by Paul Toms
I regard it an honour
to be here today. My association with
the Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony
goes back many years. I can remember, as
a child, being taken to Alliance Hall month by month to hear godly men preach
prophetic truth, and I feel most unworthy to be here, standing in the footsteps
of such men.
It was only a few
years ago that the whole world seemed to celebrate the incoming of a new
millennium. Across the globe, in the closing stages of 1999, there were big
plans to welcome in the year 2000, the start of a new millennium, a new one
thousand year period. So we are all well
acquainted with the term millennium as
meaning a period of one thousand years.
Thus, when we speak of the millennial reign of
the Lord Jesus Christ, we are considering just that, a reign of one
thousand years of the Lord.
Many people would say
that because this period of one thousand years is mentioned in only one chapter
of the Bible, Revelation 20, it cannot be
taken in its truest sense; and as some think that the whole of the Book of the
Revelation is symbolic and figurative, they regard this period as merely
symbolic and figurative, and not a set period of time. But it is my belief that where Scripture can
be taken literally and with sense, then it must be taken literally; and where
the language and words of Scripture obviously have a symbolic and figurative
meaning then the meaning of the figure is to be sought out, prayerfully, for
the understanding thereof.
When it comes to periods of time, I have no difficulty
whatsoever in believing that God says what He means and means what He says. When the Israelites went down into
When, as recorded in Luke 1: 30-33, the angel Gabriel came to Mary to
give her a promise concerning the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, he spoke of
Him as being given the throne of His father David. This intimates that He will have an earthly
kingdom, a kingdom that will centre itself not only in the Nation of Israel,
but also in
The Teaching of the Lord
Jesus
We look first at the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ. We find
His words to His disciples in Matthew 6: 9-13.
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father Which
art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven ... Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen. The Israelites looked, and
many of them still look for the Messiah, the One Who will come and reign on
this earth. But this was not the purpose
of the first coming of the Lord. He came
in humility, but there will be a day
when He will come in power and glory, and every eye shall see Him. In the Sermon on the Mount, He said that we [i.e., His disciples. (Matt. 5: 1, 2)]
ought to pray, Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven. This prayer that the Lord taught was not only
for His early disciples but for all believers through this age to pray. It requests that Gods kingdom will come and
that His will be done in the earth as it is in the heavenly courts above. We know that God reigns as sovereign in
heaven and earth. In heaven the angels
come and go at His bidding, and His Name is praised for ever; it is a place
where sin is not known, and where all are subject to the perfect will of God.
This is not so on the
earth. As we look around we see the
practice of evil abounding on every side.
Peter, in his epistle, said that our adversary the devil goes about
seeking whom he may devour; and certainly we do not see the perfect will of God
being manifested in this present evil age.
Man has no thought of God, and tries his hardest to put Him out of his
and his fellow mens thoughts, and so the
commands of God, both in the Old and New Testaments are universally disobeyed
and disregarded. We can say of a
certainty that Gods will is not, at present, done on earth as His will is done
in heaven.
Yet the Lord teaches
us to pray that this will be done, and we have a God who loves to hear and to
answer the prayers of His saints. He has
said in Isaiah 65: 24, which is a
millennial, verse but with an application for all ages, Before they (and the context here is the blessed of the
Lord) call, I will answer.
So God has already heard the prayers of His myriads of people who have
thus prayed, for He has appointed a time when the Lord Jesus Christ shall come
in power and in great glory and He shall reign Whose right it is to reign upon
this earth. We should look forward to
that age when the Lord shall reign triumphant upon this earth, and all nations
shall be subject to Him, and His will shall be done upon the earth. Here then, the Lord Jesus Christ instructs
us, as believers, to earnestly pray for the time when His kingdom will come and
His will shall be done, not only in heaven, but also upon this earth.
I think it is quite
significant that the Lord placed this request in a prominent place, at the very
start of the prayer, and we too should give these things a similar prominence
in our prayers. At the end, the prayer
says Thine is the kingdom, and truly His is
the kingdom.
The Lord Jesus Christ
further spake in Matthew 12: 32 about the forgiveness
of sin in this world and in the world to come; and we can more correctly use
the word age in place of the word world. We know
that we live in the day of grace, a period of time when the grace of God is
extended towards sinful man and there is, for man, forgiveness of sins, by, and
only by, the grace of God. Thus
justification, and hence [eternal] salvation, is by grace alone, through
faith alone, in Christ alone. We also
know that in the eternal age, there is no forgiveness of sin, for [a new earth and a new] heaven
will be a place where sin has been dealt with and is no more. So here the Lord
Jesus Christ spoke of an age to come upon this
earth where there still shall be, by the grace of God, forgiveness of
sins. Surely this world or age to come
mentioned here by the Saviour is His own millennial reign upon earth, when the
grace of God will still be extended towards sinful man.
In Matthew 19: 27-30, we read of Peter saying to the
Lord Jesus that the disciples had
forsaken all, and he asked what their reward
would be. The Lord gave him the answer,
Ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne
of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes
of
The parallel passage
to this is Luke 18: 30 where we read of this
period as the
age to come, an age which we have already discussed as being a
period of time upon this earth and not in heaven.
In Luke 22: 29-30 the Lord spoke of similar
things. Here again, He spake of the
disciples judging
the twelve tribes of
Luke
19:11-27 records the parable of the nobleman going into
a far country to receive for himself a kingdom. In this passage the Lord taught
that it was He Who was to leave (and now has left) this world scene. But the purpose of this is that He has
returned to His Father in heaven to receive the kingdom unto Himself, for He
said in John 14: 3, that He will come again
to receive His people unto Himself. But
we read on in the parable that His command to His servants was to occupy till I come,
to use the talents that He has
bestowed to each of His people, to bring
forth fruit unto Him. Sadly, we read
that the cry of the citizens was that they did not want this man to rule over
them. How much this typifies the desires
of this current generation, and every generation since His earthly
ministry. Man does not want to submit to
King Jesus. There is that rebellious
nature in each of us that will not have this Man to rule over us. But He will, as the nobleman did in the
parable, return from whence He has gone and He will rule over the people with
justice. But He will also call to reckoning His own servants for them
to account for what they have done towards the furtherance of His kingdom
whilst He has been away. This comes
as a warning to each [regenerate]
believer, to seek to serve Him, to be a light in a
dark place, to witness for Him and to lift the Name and Person of Christ on
high that men may be drawn to Him. This
will be when the Lord will return to this earth to take the heaven-given authority,
to rule on this earth which has for the meantime been delegated to earthly
rulers; but the scene of His humiliation
and death will be the scene of His victorious triumph over the kingdoms of this
world and they all shall become the kingdoms of our God.
We next look at Matthew 23 and read at the close of this chapter
how Jesus spoke of the time of the restitution of the Nation of Israel. He quoted from Psalm
118: 26 (a millennial psalm) and said that they would not see Him again
till the time when they would say Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord. This psalm has its complete fulfilment at the
restoration of the Nation of Israel at the coming again of the Lord to reign in
In John 5: 24-29 we again see the Lord gave teaching
on the future kingdom over which He shall rule.
We see initially that He spoke in verse 24
of the gospel age, and how that those who hear the Word of God and believe on
Him shall pass from death unto life and shall not be condemned. He then went on to state that as the Father
has given to the Son life, so He has also given to Him authority to execute
judgment. But we notice from the verses
that the order of the events shows that there is belief in the Lord Jesus
Christ that exempts [obedient] believers from condemnation, then there
is the resurrection of life when the dead in Christ shall rise first; followed
by the giving of judgment to the Son of God; and finally we have the second
resurrection when those who have done evil shall rise to a resurrection of
damnation.
We then look at the
Lords words as He departed bodily from this world. His disciples asked Him the question in Acts 1: 6-8, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
So we see that in the
teaching of the Lord Jesus, He spoke of a time when He will return to this
earth, not in meekness and humility, characteristics that He had at His first
coming. He will return in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory,
and come to rule and to judge the nations.
The Teaching of the
Apostles
We then go into the
Book of Acts, and also the teaching of the apostles in the epistles. In Acts 3: 12-26
we read that Peter spoke to people in the temple, and he showed how Jesus in
His life, death, resurrection and ascension, fulfilled much of what had been
prophesied about Him. He then spake of the times of
refreshing, and the times of restitution of all things. He stated that it was Jesus, Who was preached
unto the people, that shall be sent unto them.
It is of these times God had been speaking through the mouths of His
prophets since the world began, and that Moses had said that God would raise up
a Prophet like unto him, a leader of the people to deliver them. Moses was a spiritual leader to the people of
Acts 15:
14-18 is a passage which speaks about a dissension in respect of
the Gentiles hearing and believing the gospel but not being circumcised. James said that God had visited the Gentiles
to take out a people for His Name, a people elect from the foundation of the
world. It is after these people have
been brought out (verse 16) that He will
return, and what would He do? He will
rebuild the tabernacle of David, and the residue of men will seek after the
Lord. These two ages, the present age of
the in-gathering of the elect, when the Lord will take out a people for His
Name, and the age when the residue of men will seek the Lord, are intersected
by His return, signifying there will be a time, after His return, when the
residue of men shall seek Him. This will
be the time we have already mentioned of a great spiritual awakening upon the
earth. How thankful we are that events
are in the hands of a sovereign God, Who in His purpose has known these things
since the beginning of the world.
We come now the Book
of Romans and perhaps our thoughts turn
straightaway to chapters 9-11 which speak so
much of the restoration of the Nation of Israel. But in chapter 8:
22-23 the apostle spoke of the whole of creation groaning and
travailing. Paul did not speak of a new creation, but of this current creation
being delivered from the bondage of corruption.
There will be a period of time when this earth, before it is wrapped up
like a cloth, will enjoy the glorious liberty that once it enjoyed in
So we come to those
chapters that deal with the restoration of
We turn to the letters
to the church at
Next, we look at the
epistles to the churches at
We then turn to the
pastoral letters of the apostle and in 2 Timothy 2:
11-13 we read one of those faithful sayings, If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. If
we suffer for the gospels sake, and it is true that in this world we
shall have tribulation, then we shall,
and it is a glorious fact, reign with Him as kings and priests on the earth. The millennium will truly be a glorious
period for the redeemed of the Lord. So
we are exhorted in Titus 2: 13 to be looking for that
blessed hope, and the glorious appearing [appearing of the glory Lit. Gk., & R.V] of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ.
We come to the Epistle
to the Hebrews where Paul - [or whoever the inspired
writer might have been] - quoted much from the Old Testament, and in
particular, from the Psalms. In chapter 2: 5-9 he spoke of the world [or inhabited earth] to come, and said
that God hath not put it (the world) in subjection to angels, but went on to
say that all things are put under the subjection of His feet, and here he is talking about the Son of Man Who
has been crowned by God with glory and honour. He was made for a while to be a little lower
than the angels, but God has set Him to be over all the works of His
hands. But in the final part of verse 8, Paul said that this has not yet happened.
This speaks of a future time when
all creation shall be under the rule of King Jesus, when He comes to reign over
all creation upon this earth. To
these things, we ought to give the
more earnest heed (verse 1). What greater commendation can the apostle
give to the believing church than to be those that are watching, waiting, and
looking for the appearing of the Lord Jesus?
We turn to the
writings of the other apostles, and see that Peter
in his second epistle wrote to those that
have obtained like precious faith, to believers all down the ages. In chapter 3:
8-12, we read that one day with the Lord is as
a thousand years.* He also warned that God is not slack
concerning His promises and all that He
has said, He will do. When all He
intends to save [eternally] in this age have come to repentance, the age will
end and it is then that the day of the Lord will come. How we ought to be those who, though we
cannot know the exact time or day, are watching the signs so that we are ready
for His appearing. It will be at the end
of this great day that will last for a thousand years, that the heavens will
pass away, the elements shall melt with fervent heat and the earth and all the
works that are therein shall be burned up.
Then will be the new heavens and the new earth of which John wrote in Revelation 21.
This, says the apostle, should be
a warning and encouragement to us to live in the light of
this great day, and seek to live in all godliness and holy conversation,
to look for His appearing and pray with John, Even so,
come, Lord Jesus.
The Teaching in the Book
of the Revelation
We then come to the
final book of holy writ, the Revelation, and truly this is a book of revelation
by God regarding the last times. Some
would make it a book of mystification.
Certainly there are many things which we, with our finite minds, find
difficult to understand. We ought to
seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit
in these things that He will
guide us into the ways of all truth, that He will reveal to us the deep and hidden things of God. Turn to chapter
2: 26-27, where we have that blessed promise of the One Who stood in the
midst of the candlesticks, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He said [to
the churches], that he that overcometh, and keepeth, or abides by His works to the end,
shall have power over the nations and shall rule the nations with a rod of
iron. This can only mean an earthly
kingdom, for it is a ruling over nations, and there are no nations in heaven;
and there will be no need in [a new] heaven [and a new
earth] to rule with a rod of iron for only the redeemed of the Lord shall be
there.
In chapter 3: 21 we have a distinction between the
throne of God in heaven and the throne of the Lord Jesus, which is the throne
of His father David upon this earth.
Once more, the promise was to
those that overcome, that they
shall sit with Him upon His throne, i.e.
to rule over the nations. In chapter 5: 10
we have the new song that is sung to the Lamb, that He has made us to be kings
and priests, and we shall reign on [Gk. on (? over] the earth. This is a wonderful promise of Scripture that
though we now live in days when the wicked flourish, there will be a day when
the saints will rule in majesty upon [and over] this earth.
Then we read in chapter 11: 15 those
remarkable words confirming all that the prophets, and particularly Daniel, had
spoken in centuries gone by, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of
our Lord and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. There will be a day when all earthly kingdoms
will be handed to our sovereign Lord, and He shall rule over the nations in
majesty. John, in his vision, heard that
song of Moses, and the song of the Lamb, and he recalled in chapter 15: 4 that all nations shall come and worship before Thee;
for Thy judgments are made manifest.
And so, having noticed
that earlier chapters refer to the rule of Christ on earth, we come to chapter 20, which so definitely deals with this
period of one thousand years, which is the millennial reign of Christ upon this
earth with all His saints. It is a time
when the enemy of all true believers, the devil, is bound. Yes! Satan
is to be manifestly limited by the Lord at this time, but Peter tells us of a
truth that presently he goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may
devour, and do we not witness in this age an increase in devil worship and the
occult? Oh that Gods people in this
present time were as aware of this truth; then, perhaps, there would be less
flirting with the things of this generation and more time spent in studying the
Word of God. It seems that believers are
being deceived by the devil not to look into the things concerning the Lords
coming because they seem too contentious. In that period of a thousand years he will be
more than bound, he will be thrust into the bottomless pit and this will be
sealed by the seal of God. He will not
be free to roam this earth deceiving the nations. It is in this period that the saints of God
will reign for a thousand years. But the
rest of the dead, those that died in their sin, will not rise at this time;
they will remain in the grave for the thousand years, whereas those that are
part of the first resurrection, the saints of God, those trusting alone in the
Blood of Christ, will rise and will be priests of God and of Christ, for a
thousand years. At the end of the
thousand years Satan will be released from the bottomless pit, and will go
about that which he has always been about, deceiving the nations once more into
rebellion against God and Christ. His
eventual and everlasting defeat will be when he is thrust into outer darkness,
into the lake of fire and brimstone, into [an
eternal] hell itself. It is an interesting fact, that even he shall
be tormented in that place forever.
And then we come into
that beautiful chapter 21 where John spoke
of the new heaven and the new earth and there the Lord will reign for ever, in
a place where there is no sea (verse 1). How
different from that spoken of in Psalm 72: 8
which speaks of his reigning from sea to sea!
Yes, the New Testament
Scriptures have much to say concerning that glorious kingdom to come when
Christ shall reign in peace upon this earth.
The Glorious King
Having thought much of
the kingdom, let us briefly consider the glorious King. Think of another of Pauls faithful sayings to
Timothy, which speaks of His coming to this earth the first time in meekness
and humility, to live a life of obedience to the Father, and to be the
substitute for His people upon
[* See John 15: 10,
14; Matt. 5: 19, 20, 43, 44, ect.]
-------