I would like to read a Scripture verse in 2 Peter 1:16:
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
For He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there was borne such a voice to Him by the Majestic Glory,
This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased:
and this voice we ourselves heard borne out of heaven, when we were with Him in the holy mount.
Especially this phrase: “But we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”
Lord, we worship You this morning, and just agree with that hymn: “Glory, glory, hallelujah.” We praise You that You are the King of kings. We confess You as our King this morning.
Thank You that we can open up Your Word and have fellowship with You. We pray that You would break this Word and spread it out into our hearts. Make it living for us.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
If anyone does not have a handout, there are some extras on the credenza over there. Not too long ago, we talked about a principle of gift and reward—or a key. If you do not have those sheets, one of the sheets is on the back or the inside of this handout: the chart that I gave out last time. The Scriptures and tables are on there if you missed that last time, just for gift and reward.
Last time I said, “Do not look at your chart.” But this time, actually, we are going to look at the chart, so do not feel guilty.
Last time, talking about gift and reward, we said the details are discoverable. We only see a little bit of how all of this works concerning the end times, the Lord’s kingdom, and all of this. But the thought, or the principle, that there is a reward—this is pretty essential.
To know that your salvation is a free gift is really important. To know that there is a goal, there is a prize, there is something to run after, and there is more of Christ to discover—this is also important.
When we search the Scriptures, this is a key that unlocks a lot of seemingly closed doors. Even in the Christian life, it is sort of like a key that helps things not be so confusing: to rest in our salvation, rejoicing that eternity is secure, but also to know that we are in this time right now on a race, and there is a prize that we may or may not gain. We are actually after something.
This is really an important thing. This I would debate with you on. I would talk with you for hours on. But this chart, I would not do it. I will not debate with you on how it works out—how many resurrections or raptures, what happens at this time or that time, or how long this takes. It is not worth an argument.
So why do I have a chart here? Normally, we do not do charts, or we do not get too specific, because all of us are in this together, and all of us are at very different places spiritually, mentally, and in our understanding. So we want to stick together.
All of us who are in this room and are born again belong to the Lord Jesus, and whoever He receives, we receive. So whenever you see a chart, the first thing you need to do is start to be diligent. You need to diligently keep the unity of the Spirit.
As soon as a chart is brought out, somebody is going to have a different opinion, and somebody is going to be upset. Suddenly there may be an argument, and somebody may walk out of the room. But we are not arguing.
We diligently keep the unity of the Spirit, meaning we quickly stick together. We are united by the Holy Spirit. But as believers, we can search the Scriptures together, grow together, and help each other learn more and discover more of Christ.
It is a worthy and noteworthy thing—a helpful thing—to look into the upcoming events by the Scriptures. The book of Revelation says, “He that readeth is blessed.” The key to Revelation is the testimony of the Lord Jesus. The spirit of prophecy is testifying about Christ.
So when we look into these things, we are actually trying to discover Christ. We are not trying to get an opinion. I do not want everyone in the room suddenly to agree with all the details that I currently think. If you had caught me three years ago, I had some different ideas anyway. Hopefully, in three more years, I may know some more and be less fuzzy in some areas. We are all growing together.
The reason we brought out this chart this time is to give a picture. Last time was like a principle; this time, I want to give a picture. Last time it was kind of like a key; this time we want to see the revelation of the kingdom.
Now, it may help, and it may not help. Sometimes it helps to actually see something spread out—to see how it could all click together in the Scriptures. That is kind of what we want to do.
When Peter said this in 2 Peter 1, the Scripture we read, what he said was, “We are not telling you some stories. We actually saw it.” Now, what was he talking about? The Lord has not come yet. The Lord has not done all the events that are in Revelation.
But remember Matthew 17. There was the Mount of Transfiguration, where Peter, James, and John went up on the mountain with the Lord Jesus. Suddenly, He was transfigured. Bright light was shining—the radiant glory of God upon Him. His clothes were changed into white. Then Moses and Elijah appeared next to Him.
This is what Peter saw. He said, “I saw His majesty. I was an eyewitness. I saw it happen.”
With us, we may not physically see something today. We may, if the Lord returns. But we may not see something physically; the eyes of our hearts can see. We can be eyewitnesses.
Just like we say, “I have seen and heard. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. I can tell you about what I have seen and heard.” We are not saying that we have physically seen the Lord Jesus or physically heard Him, but we have spiritually seen Him. We have spiritually heard Him.
The thing that stops us from being eyewitnesses, or from seeing a vision of Christ in all His majesty, is usually our desire. We do not want to.
If you think about it, Romans 1 says that the reason man became so corrupted in his mind was because he desired other things. So God gave him up to the desires of his flesh. Mankind’s mind became darker and darker, more and more confused, until they even forgot that God was God. They started worshiping idols and worshiping creation.
The beginning point is that there was no desire for God. Lust after the world, the flesh, or other things can keep us from seeing.
Like the proverb says:
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing;
but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
God does hide things, but if you desire, you will seek them out. Even with this, there are a lot of Scriptures here, and there are many more Scriptures in the Bible. We can search out the Lord, but mainly it is this: Is our desire for the Lord to be our King?
If everything connects in your mind, and you finally understand the complete picture of the Lord’s return, the bringing in of the kingdom, the finishing of the kingdom, and the bringing in of eternity—if everything clicks and you could explain it back—but then the Lord returns, or you are in a car wreck and you are not right with the Lord, you miss the whole thing anyway.
Everything can click in our minds, but we can miss all of this. Or you can be the most confused person in this room, but Christ is your King. When it comes down to it, you are going to be the one with Him. You are going to be the one entering into the joy of the Lord.
It does not matter how much you understand. It matters: Who is your King?
Hopefully, by going through some of this, it will ignite some desire for more of Christ. This time is not as much of a warning. This time is more of an encouragement. We want to see this glorious reward in a joyful way. We want to enter into the joy of the Lord and ask, “What is this?”
That is the heart behind why we want to look at this. I have it in color on my computer. We are going to read some Scriptures and go through some of this, but this is not necessarily a Bible study. We are trying to see Christ the King. We are trying to see the picture of it. That is why I have these silly illustrations here and so on.
On the inside of the handout, at the very bottom, there is a long line with different ages: the age of death, the age of law, the age of grace, and the age of the kingdom.
Remember, this is an extremely basic chart. It is not meant to be exact in every detail. Some things on the chart are simply because I was limited by the pictures—the clip art—that I had. Like Noah’s ark: it is a little silly, but I did not have much.
Before we talk about the kingdom age, we have to understand the concept that there are ages. Another word for it is dispensations, but in my Bible they use the word age.
An age is like a time period in which God is dealing with mankind in a specific way. Most of us are pretty clear that the age we are in is different from the age before Christ came. We usually understand that the period of the law, from Moses until Christ, is different from right now.
We have the concept of time periods in our hearts, and we know that before the law came, things were different. On this chart, I have called it the age of death. That is actually not a good name. I have heard another name for this time period: the age of promise. I think that is much better.
But I was showing something from Romans 5. Paul says that from Adam until Moses, death reigned. Then from Moses until Christ, it was the law. When Christ came, grace came in and overcame the law.
In this time period, Adam and Eve had sinned, and with sin came death. Death began to work its reign upon mankind. Sin corrupted mankind through and through, but it took a long period of time.
To begin with, they died immediately. God said, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” But they died spiritually. It was the spirit of man that died. They died to God. The spiritual ability to relate to God was dead. That was instant.
But death continued to work on mankind, because Adam kept on living. He lived to be 930 years old. When death began to work, it continued upon the soul until the time of the flood, when God said man had become so corrupt—man had become flesh.
We would say that at this point the soul of man had reached its full potential of corruptness. Death had worked on the soul all the way through and through.
Death continued to reign from the flood until the law, and we see it in man’s body. Noah lived about 950 years, and people kept living so long. But gradually, gradually, up until the time of Moses, the length of life declined.
Even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived a long time. When they were one hundred years old, it was more like us being forty or fifty. The effective age was different. Their bodies were healthier.
But by the time of Moses, Moses wrote in Psalm 90 that it was hard even to make it to eighty. I am not saying it is impossible, and Moses himself lived to be 120. But he knew that once he reached eighty, he was as good as dead.
Now our lifespan is not that long. We do not see people reaching 120 or going beyond that. Death has worked its toll upon the body so that man’s physical lifespan is limited now. Sin has worked so thoroughly through and through, and we see death all upon us.
Then came the law. When God brought in the law, He was exposing sin and showing us that we need a Savior. But then Christ came to save us, and that brought in the age of grace in which we currently live.
There was the law; then Christ came; here is the age of grace. We do not know how long this age will last. It seems like it is coming to a close.
God’s dealing is different right now from what it was before. If we put one of you in another age, another time period, do you know what that experience would be like? We are so used to this time period and how God deals with us.
Suppose you were thrown in with the nation of Israel during the time of the law and were sent in to destroy a certain city in the land of Canaan. How would you feel? But that was God’s time period. That was what He was doing at that time. He sent His army, Israel, to wipe out some people.
But if we tried to do the same thing today—if I rose up this morning and said, “We are going to go and take out some city next to us. Powhatan!”—everybody would lock me up, right? That is not the age of grace. This is a different time. We are not drawing swords.
Even when the disciples had swords and the Lord Jesus spoke about a sword, they did not understand. We are not going to be physically fighting in this age. But the next age, the age of the kingdom, is another time period.
According to the Scriptures, it is one thousand years. This time period is different from our current age. Its characteristics are different.
When we talk about the reward period, it is a whole other age. The Lord Jesus used the phrases “this age” and “the age to come.” Those are phrases you find in the Bible.
What is about to happen when the Lord returns is a brand-new time period. God is going to deal with mankind differently. Right now, you are saved by faith. But at that point, everyone can see Christ. So how are you saved? Do you see what I mean? He is not unseen. Things are different.
On the other page, at the bottom where there are a bunch of clouds, the Scripture at the top is taken from Acts 1. The angels appeared next to the disciples after they saw Jesus go up into the clouds and disappear.
They kept staring at the clouds with their mouths open, probably. Then these men came up and said, in effect, “In the same way that you saw Him going up into heaven, He is going to come right back.”
This is a key Scripture to understanding the Lord’s return. In the same way that He left is the same way that He comes back.
When He left, there were two parts. From the earth to the clouds, everyone could see Him. The disciples watched Him go up. But from the clouds to the throne of God—to heaven—it was invisible.
We know it happened because the Scriptures talk about it. We know it happened because Pentecost happened. As He sat down on the throne, He was anointed, and the anointing fell upon the church.
So when He comes back, there are two parts. When we read Scriptures about the Lord’s return, part of it is invisible. When He returns like a thief in the night, that is invisible. The whole world does not see Him.
But when it speaks about Him coming in the clouds, and the sky is like a great lightning shining everywhere, and the whole earth sees Him, then that is visible. These are the two parts: His coming to the clouds and His coming from the clouds to the earth.
When He comes from the clouds to the earth, He comes with His armies behind Him. But there is also another aspect of His coming above the clouds.
At this time, enough prophecies have been fulfilled that nothing is needed before the invisible coming of the Lord. There are more prophecies that will be fulfilled when He comes or when the kingdom is set up. Some people think some may happen already because we are in a transition period, perhaps as the two ages begin to overlap.
A really important thing to know is that the rapture of the saints, when He comes as a thief, is unexpected. It could happen at any time: today, tomorrow, this week—anything.
As soon as the way is prepared, as soon as the overcomers have reached the full measure of their number, the rapture takes place.
There is a Scripture in Revelation 12 that speaks of a woman in travail with the man child. Later it describes the man child and speaks about those who overcome the accuser of the brethren, Satan.
They overcome by the blood, by the word of His testimony, and because they do not love their lives even unto death. The overcomers are Christians who are faithful to the Lord.
As soon as they are completely ready, the rapture happens. It says in Revelation 12 that the man child is taken directly to the throne of God.
We have to see this: Satan’s domain, or ruling area, is presently in the clouds, in the sky, in the air. He is called the prince of the air.
These overcomers, who have already overcome him here on earth while the testing and tempting have been happening, pierce right through the dark clouds—through his domain—and go directly to the Lord at the throne.
Then, according to Revelation 12, the Lord sends Michael and His angels down to the clouds where Satan and his angels are. A great battle takes place, and eventually Satan is cast down to the earth.
This rapture of the saints is an aspect of a reward. This is for those who are ready.
According to this chart, according to the way I see it in the Scriptures, there is another rapture that takes place. This is what we call the second rapture.
After the first rapture, according to Daniel, the Antichrist establishes a peace pact with Israel for seven years. We call this the tribulation period.
At the end of the trumpets in Revelation—the last trumpet—there is a rapture. The last trumpet begins the seven bowls of the wrath of God.
The second half of the tribulation period is called the great tribulation, or in the Old Testament, Jacob’s trouble. This is a time of open persecution. Things are very terrible for three and a half years.
At the end of this period, before the final wrath of God comes down upon the earth—when it is almost impossible to survive physically—God takes the rest of the church.
The time from the first rapture to the second rapture is God’s mercy. If you miss the rapture when He comes as a thief in the night, you have time to get ready and get right before the Lord.
You might say, “Do not tell them that, because then we lose the fear of being ready.” But technically, you have time to be ready for the one-thousand-year kingdom.
But here is the thing: Do you want to experience this extra bit of Christ? Going to the throne of God in the third heaven, and then from there to the clouds—this is a special arrangement. You have pierced through even Satan’s domain.
You meet the Lord in the third heaven, and while He goes from there to the clouds—after Satan has been cast down—He prepares to judge His church. This whole experience may be years. It is at least three and a half years before Satan is cast down.
We do not know what it would be like. There is not much description of it. We only know that they are there with the Lord. This is like an added, joyful experience of Christ. There is something special here. There is something to run for.
But if we have the attitude, “Okay, I have my second chance, so I can relax,” then remember: many of us will probably die before a rapture might happen.
I am not saying there will not be a rapture this week. But we can pass away at any time. Every time you get in a plane, in a car, or anywhere, a sudden heart attack can happen. At that point, you do not have a second chance.
If you are banking on having a second chance if you miss the first rapture, then look to the grave, because you may be going there first.
But I do not actually want to give warnings. I am hoping there will be some desire in our hearts to know the Lord more.
I am hoping we want to be doing what we are doing—sleeping in bed, working at our jobs, eating some food—and suddenly one is taken and one is left behind. Suddenly we are taken in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye.
This is a most wonderful experience, I think, of knowing the Lord.
These seats on the chart represent judgment. There are many judgments in the Bible, but these are four important ones for what we are discussing. Three are in the future; one has already happened at the cross of Calvary.
The judgment for all believers that determines whether you go to hell or heaven has already happened. We have already passed out of that judgment. That is judgment one, which happened at the cross and happens in your experience when you trust Christ.
The second judgment is the judgment seat of Christ. At the cloud, all the dead in Christ have been raised, and all the living have been raptured.
Whatever you think about how many raptures or resurrections there are, at least from Romans 14 and 2 Corinthians 5, there is the judgment seat of Christ. Those Scriptures say that we Christians will all be there. However you get there, eventually you are going to get there.
At this judgment, the Lord judges whether or not we receive the reward, whether or not we enter into the one-thousand-year reign with Christ, and whether or not we enter into the joy of the Lord. We receive the prize, the crown, the reward.
It is like some of the parables in Matthew 25. He brings His bondservants together, and according to how they used the grace of God, they receive. What do you do with what the Lord has given you? How faithful are you?
If we are faithful, some believers enter into the kingdom age. Others enter what is called outer darkness, where the Scriptures concerning judgment say there is regret, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. This is not hell, but this is where they go.
We do not know much about it. But these are believers. They have the Holy Spirit. If you are not ready for the kingdom, you are not ready for heaven. But during the one thousand years, God will make you ready. Outer darkness is God’s mercy again, making us ready.
None of us can say, “What is it going to be like when I go to the kingdom age?” We can talk about it, but we have to be like Paul the apostle, who said in Philippians 3, “Not that I have already obtained the prize; I am pursuing after it.”
We need to tremble, but at the same time there should be a deep yearning in our hearts: “I want to get there.” There is actually the call of the Lord. You belong there. He has put a call on your heart. The Holy Spirit inside is yearning for this.
Technically, we may say, “I do not know if I am going there.” But actually, in your heart you are saying, “I want to be there. I am after that. What is it going to be like? Tell me about the kingdom age.”
These are believers who receive the reward. Believers who miss it suffer loss; they miss the reward.
When the Lord comes from the clouds to the earth, I think we have not read as many Scriptures concerning this. We have read Scriptures about the rapture and the judgment seat of Christ, but I would like to read some Scriptures about His visible return.
Let us turn to Zechariah 12.
The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus saith the Lord, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him:
behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.
In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open Mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness.
And Zechariah 13:1:
In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
Returning to Zechariah 12:8-10:
In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look unto Me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
This is the day of the Lord’s return. All the nations come against Jerusalem, and the Lord says, “I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”
Then in Zechariah 14:2-5:
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.
And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west by a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
And ye shall flee by the valley of My mountains.
All of this helps make the chart not look so drastically strange.
Let us also read Revelation 19. There are many more verses, but I want to leave those for us to look at on our own. I mainly want to give a picture of how all of this could actually happen.
Notice Him as a King in His splendor.
In Revelation 19:6-8, John says:
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigneth.
Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready.
Then in Revelation 19:11-21:
And I saw the heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He that sat thereon, called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.
And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He hath a name written, which no one knoweth but He Himself.
And He is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and His name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which are in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure.
And out of His mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
And He hath on His garment and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
This is Christ. The armies in heaven follow Him upon white horses, clothed in white and pure fine linen.
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come and be gathered together unto the great supper of God;
that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great.
This is graphic, but this is real. This is what will happen.
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat upon the horse, and against His army.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone.
And the rest were killed with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of His mouth: and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
The beast in Revelation is the Antichrist. This seems to be the first mention of people going into the lake of fire. Before that, there is Hades, the resting place of the dead, where someone would go before being judged.
The dots on the chart represent the nations gathered together—the armies of the Antichrist—coming to overtake Jerusalem. This is the most desperate place Israel has ever been.
Sometimes it helps to look at things and realize that this could actually happen. One description in Isaiah of what happens to these armies is that they are standing there and their bodies burn up before them; their eyes come out of their sockets. It sounds like a nuclear bomb or something. We do not know whether it is a nuclear bomb, but it helps to see that it could happen.
With the news over the last many years, you can see how suddenly and quickly every nation could be drawn by an Antichrist whom everyone loves, to come and battle against Jerusalem.
The Mount of Olives, where Christ lands and which splits in two, has earthquake fault lines running through that area. One runs right through Israel. Someone once said there is already a crack, in a sense. But there does not need to be, because the Lord can split a mountain anyway. Still, it is neat sometimes to see that even naturally things are lining up.
The red dot on the chart represents the Antichrist, showing that he is sent into hell when the Lord comes and saves. The blue line represents Israel coming forth and being saved.
We just read, “They shall look unto Me whom they have pierced.” When the Lord Jesus comes physically, faithful Jews will see Him. Revelation mentions twelve thousand from each tribe—144,000 faithful Jews.
These are Jews who are not born again. They are blinded to grace, but they are trying to be faithful to the Word of God and to the law. They receive a mark in Revelation to protect them from Jacob’s trouble, from the great tribulation, and they are kept physically alive.
At that point everything looks lost. Suddenly there is a blast from the sky. Everyone can hear Him; everyone can see Him. He lands on the Mount of Olives in all majesty, on His battle horse, with armies following behind Him on their battle horses.
When He lands, the whole mountain splits. Israel escapes through it, and they look on Him whom they have pierced. There will be much weeping, repentance, and sorrow. Then all Israel shall be saved.
As a whole nation, this group comes to Him as their Messiah and their King. He has just saved them physically. Their salvation is by sight right there. It is not like right now.
We should not look at a Jewish person now and wonder whether they are among the 144,000, deciding not to witness to them because we think they may make the cut. We do not know. Even if they are orthodox, we do not know.
I used to have that trouble. I would walk around and think, “That guy looks pretty faithful. Is he going to be one of them?” But the Lord reminded me: you have no idea when that man will die. Preach Christ to him. That is his only hope right now.
When Christ comes in all that majesty, He slays all the nations gathered in those armies. Because they die, they go to Hades; they do not immediately go to hell. They will have the fourth judgment after the one thousand years.
The Antichrist is sent to hell. These Jews enter the kingdom as God’s people on the earth.
I know nobody wants to talk about this because it does not involve us. We only want to talk about what involves us. But we want to see Christ in all His majesty. We want to see Him as King over this whole kingdom, which is broader than us.
We should not be distracted by aspects that do not directly concern our faithfulness to the Lord. We should see Christ the King coming with His overcomers, coming with His angels, coming with His armies, and defeating the Antichrist as if it were nothing.
A word goes out of His mouth, and it is done. He speaks the word, and they are all slain. Then the Antichrist—there is not really a battle—is simply thrown in. That is glorious. That is the Warrior King.
Then He gathers the other Gentiles on the earth who did not take up arms against Israel. There are more people on the earth still. They survived the wrath of God, the seven bowls of wrath, and the tribulation period. They are still alive, but they did not join the Antichrist’s armies.
If you joined his army and went to fight against Israel, you were killed. But the rest of the nations are gathered before Him.
In Matthew 25, it says that when He sits down on the throne of His glory on earth, He gathers the nations before Him. In the Bible, “nations” means Gentiles—not the church and not Jews.
In the church there are Gentiles and Jews, but God has combined the two and said that you are a new people group. You are a whole new nation, a whole new type of people. The Scriptures distinguish Jews, the church, and Gentiles.
When the Scriptures mention the nations here, think of Gentiles. He gathers them before Him, as in Joel 3 and Matthew 25, and separates them into two groups, as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.
This is the King in all His splendor. He has come physically. Everybody has seen something happen and heard it happen. There have been blasts of noise and lightning in the sky. They have just seen the ruler of the world at that time, the Antichrist, thrown away. They have seen all his armies wiped out.
Then this glorious King, this King of kings, sits down and separates the two groups. What are they judged on? “How did you treat My brethren during the tribulation?”
They say, “We did not do anything to You.” He says, “What you did to My brethren, you did to Me.”
His brethren are the Jews and the Christians during the tribulation period who are suffering. It is somewhat like what happened in Germany with the Nazis. Think about the Gentiles who helped the Jews during that time, and the Gentiles who just ignored it. They were not killing Jews, but they did not do anything to help.
Those with a good heart, those with a soft heart, take compassion on the Lord’s brethren who are being persecuted during that time, and they help them. That is what they are judged on.
This is not a judgment for the sheep to go to heaven. This is a judgment for the sheep to enter into the kingdom age as people on the earth.
Remember how, in one parable, Jesus said that the reward was, “I will put you over five cities,” and, “You over ten cities”? Who lives in those cities? These sheep nations.
These are not Christians. These are people who enter into the one thousand years on the earth.
Now we come to the kingdom, which is what I am excited about. On the chart, there are arrows for the Jews coming in, the Gentiles coming in, and the overcomers coming into this age, this time period.
The blue dots are like cities of Gentiles. I am limited in space, so there are only five shown, but there will be many, many more. I put five because of that parable: “You are over five cities.”
Above the cities, there is a chair connected to one of the chairs next to the Lord. This represents an overcomer ruling and reigning over five cities of Gentiles.
One thing Isaiah 2 says is that they are going to beat their swords into plowshares. There will not be any more weapons. During the one thousand years, there will be absolutely no war.
Imagine what that is like. This will not be your case, because if you are born again, you cannot enter the kingdom as one of the sheep nations on earth. It is impossible. We cannot unborn you again.
Let us read Isaiah 2:2-4:
And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; 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.
On the chart, the nation of Israel is the centerpiece on earth. Jerusalem is the centerpiece. God makes Israel the nation above all nations during that age.
Every prophetic word that has been given to Israel and has not yet been fulfilled happens during this age. All the things about them blessing the whole world, and even being chief among the nations, happen right here.
The arrows coming out from Israel on the chart show that they are sending forth the Word of God. God uses them and sends them out to share His Word and preach the eternal good news.
We do not know exactly what it will be like. It will be different from us preaching the good news. There will be no convincing people that there is a God, and no debating about truth, because the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord.
It is a different type of preaching of the gospel. We have a whole different situation in this age, this time period.
Let us look briefly at Isaiah 11. This speaks of the Lord, the branch from the stock of Jesse.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of His waist, and faithfulness the girdle of His loins.
And the wolf 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 adder’s den.
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.
Just imagine this picture. Think of your little baby playing with a wolf, and it is fun. Maybe not for the wolf—the child might scratch his eyes out.
The animals will be tame on the earth. You can have a pet lion and you do not have to saw his teeth off. He eats grass. He is even cheap—no dog food.
Human beings will live on the earth. Satan is locked up. Revelation 20 says he is locked away for one thousand years, in this black abyss.
Think about this: no demons, no evil angels, no Satan tempting anyone for one thousand years.
It is true that human beings on the earth will still be in corruptible flesh. They do not have transformed bodies. They have flesh and sin inside of them. They have that problem. But they do not have the temptations going on. They do not have the world system.
We talk about worldliness trying to tempt us, but the whole system of the world will be glorifying the King. The government will not be doing anything wrong. There will be absolutely no democracy either.
But it is perfect, because Christ is the King of kings, and all the kings with Him exercise only His authority. They all live by His life. They all shine Christ. This is a glorious kingdom.
On the chart, I have sectioned off the twelve apostles because in Matthew 19, Jesus said that they have a specific responsibility to reign over the twelve tribes of Israel in the kingdom.
I do not put this in just to add a bunch of details, but to show that there are specific things happening. In the Scriptures, such as Revelation 5, one of the promises to the overcomers is that they rule and reign with Christ.
Remember, John and James got their mother to ask Jesus a favor. They wanted to sit on the right and the left of Christ. Jesus did not say that was a wrong concept. He said that was for the Father to give, and that they did not know what they were asking.
To reign with Christ is to die with Him now. It is to go the way of the cross.
The thrones next to the King of kings’ throne show the concept that there are different responsibilities. There is a lot going on. It is a glorious kingdom. This is the King of kings.
At the very end, there is another expression of His majesty. The black dots on the chart show that Satan is released for a little time.
Right at the end, he is let out of the abyss. He gathers whatever Gentiles will be deceived, even though they have had all this time of Christ’s open rule.
Still, in man’s desire and nature, if you desire your own thing, you can let the deceiver deceive you. We would think that would be impossible if the whole world saw Christ ruling and reigning, if everything was fixed, if there were no more problems or suffering, and everything was okay.
But those who do not want Christ will choose not to have Christ. Satan gathers them together, and they try to make war again on the holy city, Jerusalem. This is in Revelation 20.
God sends fire down from heaven and burns them up. Satan is thrown into the lake of fire—hell.
Then comes another judgment: the great white throne judgment. This is not for believers. It is for the dead. They are judged according to their works. The books are opened.
Even with the battles, when you consider it, it is as if they are nothing. Christ in all His majesty makes everything else look like nothing. It is simply a matter of His decision. His authority is so strong.
Remember when Peter, James, and John were on the Mount of Transfiguration. They saw Him, and then they asked, “Can we put tents for Moses and Elijah?”
The Father suddenly took away Moses and Elijah. A cloud overshadowed them. When everything stopped being fuzzy, the Father said:
This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.
Then Moses and Elijah were taken away, and it says they saw only Jesus. This is Matthew 17.
This is the experience, I think, when God shows us Christ in His majesty. All our distractions are taken away. God directly speaks to our hearts and says, “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him. Let Him be your King.”
We have been translated out of the authority of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love.
If our hearts are soft before God, it will change our lives to see Him in His majesty.
Going through some of this is interesting. It can give you a desire to search the Scriptures. But what we need to see is that it is possible for you to get there.
There is a desire in your heart. It may be deep down, it may be faint, but there is a desire that God has put in our hearts to make it.
Remember, Hebrews speaks about a cloud of witnesses from the past. Imagine all of those overcomers from the past—so many, like a big cloud—opening up and cheering you on: “You can gain it. Go after this reward.”
What is our heart for? When I see Him, I want to see Him smile at me and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into this kingdom. Enter into My joy. Gain more of Christ.”
When you see this cloud of witnesses, their testimony urges us on. If not them themselves, it is the testimony of their lives—the fact that some have gained this already.
Most will not know, but Paul was shown right before he was martyred: “You have the crown.” He said in 2 Timothy that it is for everyone who loves His appearing.
If we hate His appearing, we will miss the crown. But do you love the Lord? How much do we love the Lord? Do we carelessly love the Lord, or do we want more of the Lord?
With Scriptures such as Philippians 3, we need to have the heart of Paul the apostle, who said:
I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
When this picture of the kingdom hits our hearts, when the Lord opens it up and spiritually shows it to us, it changes everything. We are living for this. We are different. We are in His kingdom. We are part of the kingdom of heaven.
If Christ is my King today, I will be there.
If you can go through your life and touch everything, saying, “Christ is King of this. Christ is King of this. Christ is King of this,” not in a fearful way but in a joyful way—then, for the joy before us, for the joy of experiencing the majesty of Christ, can we change our lives and give up the pursuit of other things?
Otherwise, we would be like those ten virgins, where we should have more oil. We should be filled with the Holy Spirit, but instead we are full of rocks, stones, and other things gathered from this world.
I do not have a warning message. Actually, I feel that Christ is calling us with a joyful smile to come and jump into this kingdom. Come and join Him. Come and enter into the joy of the Lord.
I think the Lord is joyfully expecting to see that bride make herself ready. I believe it is in our hearts to go that way.
But the vision has to be in front of us, or else, as we get into daily life, we begin to wander around and forget what we are after. We are after this prize. This is actually what we are after.
This is the Lord’s way of bringing about His complete purpose in the ages of ages. The way He brings in the ages of ages is through this kingdom age. The way He prepares the whole church is through the overcomers who are prepared right now.
This is how He accomplishes the completeness of all that He has been after through time and everything. He wants this to be the wedding feast, the joyful time when we say, “We have done it. We have got it.”
Let us commit ourselves to the Lord and pray.
Lord, I pray that You will still our hearts right now. You know our weakness. We can already begin to think of other things going on in our lives, or what is next.
Lord, I pray that You would soften us. As we go home, search the Scriptures, seek You in prayer, and look through our lives, I pray that we would be the type of people who can be eyewitnesses of Your majesty.
I pray that we will not be left out of this vision. Lord, You say it is the glory of kings to search it out. Set us to search You out in all this. We know You want to reveal it to us.
I pray that if there is much confusion in our minds, it can be completed by the vision of Christ. Lord, we want to set You before us and not behold anything else. Even all the details, Lord, we set them down, but we want to behold You.
I pray that Your kingship would be real in our lives.
In Jesus’ name, amen.