What will the Second Coming be Like?

RV232-01

The Second Coming of Christ

An Army of Saints

The Wrath of God

King of Kings and Lord of Lords

In the Greek language, this word "written" indicates that this is something which God has done in eternity past, and it continues on forever. He has always been the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Furthermore, it is in the passive voice, which indicates that this is given to the Son by the Father. He has not assumed this on His own. This has been an honor bestowed upon Him because of His willingness to bear the sins of all mankind.

The Thigh

"And when he saw that he had not prevailed against him (that is against Jacob), He touched the socket of his thigh, so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, 'Let me go,' for the dawn was breaking. But he said, 'I will not let you go unless you bless me.' So, he said to him, 'What is your name?' And he said, 'Jacob.' He said, 'Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.'

"Then Jacob asked him and said, 'Please tell me Your name.' But He said, 'Why is it that you ask My name?' And He blessed him there. So, Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, 'I have seen God face-to-face, and yet my life has been preserved.

"Now the sun rose up upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day, the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the socket of the thigh, because He touched the socket of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip."

So, the power of Jacob here was very clearly in the thigh. Once the thigh was thrown out of joint, then he was incapacitated, and his power, that had been so great up to then, suddenly was gone. Then he found how weak he was. Then he called for blessing from this person, whoever he was. But he knew he was in some relationship to God. In fact, he considered it, and rightly so, to be God Himself.

So, the loss of thigh power broke his ability to fight, and the man changed his name to Israel, which means "God fights." And there's no more conning. His name of "deceiver" has been changed, and it came about when he lost his power.

So, the power of the thigh is also conveyed by the fact that that is the place where the sword was usually worn. Therefore, it was a very critical part of the body.

In Psalm 45:3, we have this alluded to: "Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O mighty one, in Your splendor and majesty."

So, the weapon of power was upon the thigh, and that made the thigh an important part of the body – a place of strength.

Christ's name of sovereign, omnipotent power, which is embroidered over His thigh on His gown, is easily read as He rides the horse. It is a magnificent name. He is called King of all Kings, and He is called Lord of all Lords. He is the ruler above all rulers.

In Deuteronomy 10:17, Moses wrote about God: "For the Lord Your God is the God of Gods and the Lord of Lords: the Great; the Mighty; and, the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe." So, this title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords indicates the supremacy of Jesus Christ in His position as the God-man.

Pilate, when he described the crime of Jesus to put over His cross, simply call him (in Matthew 27:37) the King of the Jews. The truth is that He's more than the King of the Jews. He is the King over all Kings. He is the Lord over all Lords. Because of that, He is able to bring back into humanity what was lost in the Garden of Eden. That is one will that runs everything – the will of God. That used to be true in the Garden of Eden. Man's will and God's will were in perfect coordination. The sin in Eden broke that. Now the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is coming back soon, and in part, He's coming back to instill one will once more into all of the human race.

At the end of the tribulation, unbelievers and their kings are going to unite against Jesus Christ, only to be destroyed by Him. They will unite, thinking they can defeat Him. That's a fatal miscalculation. Christ Himself will act out His true character as God in subduing all those who are rebellious in mankind. He will do it with justice; He will do it with holiness; and, He will do with perfect righteousness.

This title, which is borne by Jesus Christ as head of a world government during the millennium, indicates that all other rulers will be subservient to Him. This is the moment of supreme victory for the warrior Jesus Christ – the victory which was anticipated back in Psalm 2:1-4: "Why are the nations in an uproar, and the peoples devising a vain thing?" This is speaking about the tribulation leaders: "The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed. Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord scoffs at them."

Please remember that we Christians are winning the battle today. Please remember that, while we take our hits, and while we take our bruises and our frustrations, and we take all that Satan throws against us in one way or another, God is in heaven laughing at the ridiculousness of what is being done. Please remember that anytime that God takes an action, it is a great victory, even if that action that He takes is a great bruising to us personally. Any action that is the will of God is an act of great victory. We Christians are in the process of being the brunt of Satan's attacks and indifference and of the contempt of our society. But the moment of supreme victory is about to arrive as our King of Kings and Lord of Lords takes over this world.

The outcome of the final world war is described in Revelation 17:14. As we have previously read: "These (the kings of the earth and the lords of the earth) will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful." Those who are with Him are those of you who are sitting here. This world is filled with people who are not called and chosen and faithful. You did not come to Christ because you decided to. You did not decide to become a Christian. You did not decide to leave the life which was going to the lake of fire, and to the one which is going to take you to glory land. It was because God decided that He wanted you there. So, He called you, and He chose you, and He made you faithful because Christ is faithful.

What a great realization that we are on the victory side entirely because of an act of God, and not because of an act of our own. The final outcome is that we are the winners.

So, it is the course of wisdom for political leaders today (if they could have any wisdom) to obey the advice of the rest of Psalm 2, in verses 10-12: "Now, therefore, O kings, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence, and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish in the way. For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all those who take refuge in Him?" How blessed indeed! Why would you take refuge in anything else? How could you take refuge in anything else? It is only the Word of God that gives you a place of true refuge.

What Will Happen at the Second Coming?

1. Fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant

   When He comes, one of the first things that he will be doing is fulfilling the Davidic Covenant. Please turn back to 2 Samuel 7:12 in your Bibles, where this covenant is recorded for us. This was a prophecy delivered to King David, about 1,000 B.C. In it, he was told of what God was going to do for David in terms of an eternal royal dynasty: "When your days are complete, and you lie down with your fathers (that is, when David dies), I will raise up your descendant after you who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom (that was Solomon). He shall build a house for my name (the temple), and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever."

   Bible does not use words loosely. It does not spiritualize words. When God says, "I'm going to establish a throne through your descendants on this earth over the people of Israel forever. That means forever. That means out into eternity. There will never be a time when there will not be a king of the Jews ruling over the people of Israel.

   Verse 14 says, "I'll be a Father to him, and he will be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and with the strokes of men. But my lovingkindness shall not depart from him as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you." God said to David, "If your son Solomon deviates from My principles (which indeed he did), I'll punish him. I'll bring grief upon him. But I will never take back the words I'm now telling you – that you are going to be the head of an eternal kingdom, and you will have an eternal dynasty to rule over that kingdom. And it's going to be right here on planet earth, headquartered in the city of Jerusalem" – not in heaven, but on this earth.

   Verse 16 says, "And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever. Your throne shall be established forever." What a thrilling prophecy that Nathan the prophet brought to David!

   As time went by, God reiterated His intentions to create a kingdom on this earth by a descendant of David forever. Psalm 89:3-4 said, "I have made a covenant with My chosen. I have sworn to David My servant, 'I will establish your seed forever, and build up your throne for all generations." And the heavens will praise Thy wonders, O Lord – Thy faithfulness in all the assembly." God said, "I made a covenant with David My chosen one. I will establish his seed forever. I'll build his throne for all generations. That's why people cannot destroy the Jewish nation. That's why every effort to wipe out the Jews is frustrated by God.

   Psalm 89:34-36: "My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My Holiness, I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever." You cannot wipe out the Jews: "And his throne as the son before me." God is going to keep His word. It's not dependent on whether the descendants behave themselves. It is only dependent upon God.

   Now, for God to do this (to create a king who would rule forever) required a qualified king. In fact, it required one who would be a Savior king. To have a Savior king required someone who is sinless – someone who could be brought into the human race and bypass the sin nature so that He could be qualified to bear the sins of all mankind. There's only one way that you could do that. God Himself, by a supernatural act, had to impregnate a chosen woman so that she did not have a normal pregnancy process. She did not have the sperm of a male which carries the sin nature. By that supernatural act, recorded for us in Isaiah 7:14, God provided another human being who was absolutely sinless and perfect, right back to where Adam started:

   "Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin will be with child, and bear a Son, and she will call his name Emmanuel" (God with us). You may compare this now to Matthew 1:22, as we approach the time in history at this point for this prophecy to be fulfilled: "Now, all this took place, what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled saying, 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel" (which translated means "God with us"). So, here in the New Testament, the birth of Christ is connected with this promise of the Old Testament, which is the way that God was going to provide someone who could be a king forever over the people of Israel.

   The only posterity of David who could be a king forever was Jesus Christ. He was born to a virgin so that He combined undiminished deity with true humanity as the God-man. He was born in the family line of David, through both Mary and his foster father Joseph. He was born in the city of Bethlehem. He conquered death by paying for sin upon the cross, and evidenced that by His resurrection.

   Now all these Scriptures relating to a king, and a kingdom, and forever, and on this earth, and Jerusalem have to do with literal fulfillment. We are not talking about events that are going to take place in heaven. The reason I tell you that is because most of Christianity follows the amillennial point of view that there is no earthly kingdom; there is no future for the Jewish people; and, Jesus Christ will never come to this earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords over an earthly political kingdom – over a world government. You must understand that that is a false position. It was a misconception of the Roman Catholic Church picked up by the Reformers, and held to this day by the majority of Protestants. You cannot treat the Bible spiritually and have it mean anything. These words are for real, and it is very clear what God intended to have happen.

   However, God did His part. Christ came. He made the offer. And on that Palm Sunday, He brought it to a climax. And all they had to do was say, "We accept You, King of the Jews," and the kingdom of the millennium would have begun. Instead, John 1:11 tells us what the Jews did: "He came to His own, and those who were his own did not receive Him." They rejected Him. For this reason, the Lord Jesus Christ grieved for the Jewish people; for the blindness of their spiritual leaders; and, for their mistake in listening to spiritual leaders that they should not have trusted.

   In Matthew 23:37-39, you have Jesus sitting, looking down upon the city of Jerusalem, and He says, "O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate. For I say to you, from now on, you shall not see Me until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'" The religious life of the Jews was left in disarray; their temple and their city were destroyed; and, the people were scattered around the world.

   Hosea 3:4 says, "For the Sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince; without sacrifice or sacred pillar; and, without ephod or household idols." And that's exactly where they are. They have no temple. They have no contact with God. They are completely out of sync with the mind of God. Israel to this day is suffering. It is in fear. It is in dispersion. It will continue to be so until they recognize Jesus Christ as their King.

   In Amos 9:11, the prophet Amos says, "In that day, I'll raise up the fallen booth of David, and wall up its breaches. I will also raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old." So, Amos says, "The time is going to come when God is going to put the Jewish kingdom back together again.

   In Jeremiah 23:5-6, Jeremiah looks forward to that day: "'Behold, the days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I shall raise up for David a righteous branch (namely, Jesus Christ), and He will reign as King, and act wisely, and do justice and righteousness in the land.'" This is geography-Promised Land: "In his days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is His name by which He will be called: 'the Lord our Righteousness.'" Until the Jew says, "We made a terrible mistake," and admits that Christ was the Messiah King, they will continue in their misery.

   Zechariah 12:10 says, "And I will pour out on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping of a firstborn. And there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo."

   Zechariah 12:13 says, "In that day, a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity." So, Zechariah says, "The time is coming when they will admit they made a mistake. They will admit that Christ was the Savior, and then they will weep and mourn as one would weep for a firstborn child that has died, and they will find that God will provide them a fountain of cleansing for their sins."

   So, why is Jesus Christ coming back as king of kings and Lord of Lords? What's going to happen? What is going to happen is that the Davidic covenant is going to be fulfilled. Everything that God intended to do for the Jewish people will be done, and this world will be restructured and reorganized on that basis with Israel as the leading nation of the world; Jerusalem as the headquarters of the world government; and, Christ Himself as the ruler.

2. Jesus Christ will be Ruler of All Nations

   So, the second thing is that Christ will establish his authority when He returns as ruler of all nations on earth in a world government. The prophet Daniel was given the insight concerning this. In Daniel 2:44, Daniel said, when he saw this image destroyed: "In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people. It will crush and put to an end all of these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever." What Daniel was referring to was that, after the four earthly kingdoms predicted are gone (and we're getting the revived Roman kingdom now – that's all coming back together), Christ destroys that kingdom and everything that went before it. Then His kingdom is established, and it will be forever. It will never be destroyed.

   Zechariah 14:9 says, "And the Lord will be king over all the earth in that day. The Lord will be the only one, and His name will be the only one." This passage refers to the tribulation era. This has never been true, where Christ has been king over all the earth. That is what is on the immediate horizon. And that is what Revelation 19:16 refers to when it calls him King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

   At that time, when He does return and establish His authority as the supreme ruler, nations will continue as national entities. Nations will not cease to exist. The people of the world will still be part of various nations. Isaiah 2:4 indicates that: "And He will judge between the nations, and He will render decisions for many people. And they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war." There will be a world government when He returns. It will be based upon the divine institution of nationalism, which means that government will do its role as government. There'll be no welfare state. There'll be no socialism. There'll be no confiscatory taxation. Government will not be allowed to do any of the things that governments are permitted to do today. They will all come under the restrictions of that splendid document that we Americans have which is known as the Constitution.

3. Regenerated Jews and Gentiles will be Raised to Life

   Third thing that will happen when he returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords is that regenerated gentiles and Jews from Adam on (who were not part of the rapture resurrection) will be raised to life. Only the Christians are raised at the rapture. Those Jews and gentiles who have died as believers, from Adam on, will remain in their graves until the end of the tribulation. But then they will be raised by Christ returning in His authority as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

   Isaiah 26:19 says, "Your dead will live. Their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your due is as the due of the dawn." This is speaking to Israel at the end of the tribulation: "And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits. Come my people. Enter into your rooms, and close your doors behind you. Hide for a little while until indignation runs its course. For behold, the Lord is about to come out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will reveal her bloodshed, and will no longer cover her slain."

   I'm trying to give you a little picture (of what will happen when Christ returns) as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Old Testament is filled with references to the fact that God has planned this kind of an earthly kingdom forever – the whole Davidic kingdom. This was no secret. The Jews understood it. Nobody had to explain to the virgin Mary what the angel meant when he told her that her Son would be the ruler over all the world, and over His father David's throne. She understood exactly what that meant because she understood these Old Testament Scriptures.

   Daniel 12:1-3 also indicate the resurrection of these saints: "Now at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people (Michael is the patron angel of the Jews) will arise, and there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time. And at that time, your people, everyone who is found written in the book will be rescued. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life; but, others to disgrace and everlasting contempt." Some will be raised to salvation. Some will be raised to condemnation. There is 1,000 years between those two resurrections. Those who are raised to eternal life resurrection – that's called the first resurrection. Those who are raised to disgrace and condemnation – that's called the second resurrection:

   "And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of the heavens; and, those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." Did you get that promise? Do you want to amount to something in eternity? Then put your life where you're leading people (young people, adults, and old people) into righteousness, and you will shine in eternity like the stars forever and ever. Do not squander your life in temporal things, and then go out there and think that you will be glad you did it.

4. The Regathering of Israel to the Promised Land

   Another thing that will happen when Christ returns as supreme ruler is that he will regather Israel into the Promised Land to enter the Millennial Kingdom as a nation. In the Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel spoke of this event in Ezekiel 37:19-22: "Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord. Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will put them with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.'" God says, "I'm going to take the two kingdoms, the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah, and I'm going to put them back together."

   "And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. And say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God. Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I'll gather them from every side and bring them into their own land.'" This will happen when He comes back at His Second Coming: "And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be king for all of them. And they will no longer be two nations, and they will no longer be divided in two kingdoms."

   You tell me when in history this has ever taken place. You can see the insanity of this resistance to the fact that God Himself is going to run this world in a world government through Christ. That is what He says He's going to do; that is what the Old Testament prophets repeatedly said He was going to do; and, it has never happened. Israel, under the hand of Jesus Christ, is going to be the leading nation of the world.

   Isaiah 2:1-3: "The word of the Lord, which Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: Now it will come about in the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains." They are using the word "mountain" as a symbol for a nation: "And He will be raised above the hills, and above all nations, and all nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord (that is, to Israel), to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us concerning His ways, and that we may walk in His paths. For the Law will go forth from Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.'"

   Ah, is that ever going to warm the cockles of the hearts of the communicators of doctrine of that day? People are going to rush to them and say, "Teach me. Teach me." The communicators today have to plead with people, "Please come out and be taught." They will realize how hopeless they are without the constant influx of doctrine into the mentality of the soul. That's what makes it. That's what makes it or breaks it for whatever stage of life you are at; for whatever crises you meet in life; and, for whatever difficulty comes your way, unless doctrine is being poured into the mentality of your soul on a regular basis, you're not going to make it. And you will be led astray, and you will waste your life.

   Israel is going to be the source of spiritual enlightenment to all the world. Don't you think the Muslims are glad to hear that? Don't you think that the Buddhists are glad to hear that? All over our city, we have these pagan religions popping up with their temples and their hoodoo voodoo stuff, and every one of them is a creation of the devil. The true people of God who will be the leaders of spiritual enlightenment are the Jews. Yes, they are out of contact with God. We Christians are the clients of God. Never forget that the United States today is His client nation, since Israel has been set aside. We are the only real source of spiritual enlightenment to the world. No other nation has the capacity; the impact; the knowledge; and, the educated spiritual leaders to sound forth the truth of the Word of God. Nobody on earth has the capacity to do that.

   Zechariah 8:20 says, "Thus says the Lord of hosts. It will y be that peoples will come, even the inhabitants of many cities. And the inhabitants of one will say to another, saying, 'Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and seek the Lord of Hosts. I will also go.' So, many peoples and mighty nations will come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of the Lord. Thus, says, the Lord of Hosts. In those days, ten men from all nations will grasp the garments of a Jew saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'"

   When was the last time some of your friends grabbed you by the garment and said, "Please, I understand that God is with you? You must tell me about Him. Right now, we're trying to grab them. What a change that will be when suddenly people will realize that what is coming out of governmental circles is not true, and that the attitude conveyed by the religious leaders of the world is not true. Suddenly, they will realize that there is a spiritual vacuum, and they will say, "What is the truth? What are the facts about God?" And they will seek out people like yourself who know it, and they will try to find it, and the Jews will be the leading exponents.

   Furthermore, we're told that when Israel is regathered to the land by Christ at the Second Coming, King David will be raised. Ezekiel 37:24-25 tell us that King David will be reigning over the people of Israel as the agent of Jesus Christ.

5. Christ will put Unbelievers to Death

   Another thing that He will do when he comes as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, is that He will gather all the Jews who are unbelievers; He will gather all the gentiles who are unbelievers; and, He will put them to death along with the antichrist and the false prophet. You may read about that in Matthew 25:31-46 and Ezekiel 20:30-38. He is going to take these unbelievers, and He will put them to death. That's why when the millennium begins, everyone is born-again.

6. Perfect Environment

   Another thing that He will do, which will warm the cockles of Al Gore's heart, is that he will restore perfect environment to the earth. The curse is going to be removed from nature. Isaiah 11:6-8 tell us what one of the effects of this will be: "And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze. Their young will lie down together. And the lion will eat straw like the ox, and the nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weened child will put his hand on the viper's den. They will not hurt or destroy all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

   Wow! That's going to be a lot of fun. Now we are a little squeamish to pet snakes, even if we know that there are some beauties like the indigo snake, and he won't really hurt you, but he looks terrible. But it will really be something to be able to handle deadly, poisonous creatures. Lions that are ferocious will no longer be that. What an improvement in the environment!

   Isaiah 65:25, says, "'The wolf and the lamb shall graze together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,' says, the Lord." Tell me: when was that ever done? When has that ever taken place? When have these Scriptures been fulfilled? Do you see how much of the Bible you have to wipe out, and say, "Well, that's some kind of poetic thought? That isn't for real." No, it is for real.

   The apostle Paul indicated that in Romans 8:21-22 when he said that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption, into the freedom of the glory of the children of men." Adam botched it all up. He had a beautiful, perfect environment, and he brought the curse of sin upon it. Now freedom, which is characteristic of those who are in the glory of God, is going to come back to creation: "For we know that the whole creation," Paul says, "groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now."

What will the World be Like?

1. Physical Needs will be Met

   It's going to mean that physical needs are going to be provided in abundance by man's own labors. There'll be a high standard of living worldwide, because there'll be no confiscatory taxation.

2. No Natural Disasters or Animal Ferocity

   Natural disasters will be terminated. There'll be no great floods and no great droughts. Animal ferocity will be removed. The earth will be enormously fertile, producing bumper crops.

3. Satan will be Imprisoned

   Another thing that will happen when He returns is that Satan will be imprisoned to terminate his evil influence during the millennium. We're told that in Revelation 20:1-3: "And I saw an angel coming down from heaven having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for 1,000 years, and threw him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over so that he should not deceive the nations any longer until the 1,000 years were completed. After these things, he must be released for a short time." So, the devil is put into a holding tank for 1,000 years. When that happens, there will be no more religion on this earth, leading men away from God. The doctrines of demons will be replaced by the doctrines of God. God's moral laws will no longer be undermined in society, and sexual perversions will not be tolerated as an alternative lifestyle.

4. Great Spirituality

   The King of Kings and Lord of Lords will also do one other thing. It will become a great era of spirituality among believers. God the Holy Spirit is going to be turned loose upon mankind as it has never been before. We Christians understand a little of that because we are endowed by the Spirit of God constantly, and when we are in sync with Him, we have great power and great ability and great capacity. But that is not true of mankind in general.

   In Joel 2:28-29, the prophet said, "And it will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind. And your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. And even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days." What a wonderful time this is going to be. What he's talking about is that there will be emotional ecstasy like you wouldn't believe. Because there'll be no old sin nature and no devil, it won't be the kind of emotional ecstasy that the charismatics try to do today, which is totally perverted, and is the devil's playhouse.

   He will empower all believers. He will remove all spiritual blindness. Positive volition believers are going to enjoy a close walk with God like we cannot begin to imagine. Can you imagine living in the United States of America at that time, with a society filled with people who are walking close to God? That's when the old song is really going to come true: Just a Closer Walk with Thee.

5. Peace and Prosperity

   There will also be universal peace and prosperity established on the earth. Ezekiel 37:26 indicates this great change: "And I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them; multiply them; and, set them in My sanctuary in their midst forever."

   Psalm 72:7:16 – all these indicate that there will be universal peace. Micah 4:13 says that: "People will not learn war anymore. Peace will be enforced by Jesus Christ. There will be prosperity because private property and free enterprise capitalism will be in force. I want to make that very clear.

   Micah 4:4: "And each of them will sit under his vine, under his fig tree, with no one to make them afraid for. For the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken this." Do you understand what it means when you sit under your own vine and your own fig tree? It means private property ownership. It means capitalism. It means no government redistribution of the wealth that you have earned. That's why there's going to be prosperity. People will be permitted to spend their own money, and a government will not try to interpose itself to do it for them.

6. Doctrine will Emanate Worldwide from Jerusalem

   There will be another thing that Christ will produce, and that is that doctrine will emanate worldwide from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3, Isaiah 11:9, Zechariah 8:20-23). These verses indicate that human viewpoint will be exposed as a fraud of the old sin nature. Divine viewpoint will be honored, and it will be followed.

7. Lifespan will be Greatly Expanded

   Another great thing that will result when he comes as King of Kings and Lord of Lords is that lifespan will be greatly expanded. We Christians will have been raised from the dead with glorified bodies free of the sin nature, and perfected once more. Those who go alive into Christ's presence at the rapture will have their bodies glorified with the sin nature removed and their bodies perfected, with all physical problems removed. Isaiah 65:20 says, "No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days. For the youth will die at the age of 100, and the one who does not reach the age of a 100 shall be thought of cursed." Isaiah said, "When Christ returns as Lord of Lords, and changes things, people are going to live long periods. You will live 500 to 1,000 years. If somebody dies, say, at the age of 100, they will consider that it's the death of a young person. And anybody who dies will be thought accursed; meaning that the only people, basically, who are going to die are those who are brought under the judgment of God, and He has imposed the penalty of death upon them. Almost everybody is going to keep living.

   Oh, boy, I hope they don't find that out in Washington. The population explosion is really going to give them a fit now. Jesus Christ makes fools of them all. He says, "I'm going to keep populating this world with people who just live for hundreds of years, and they get better and better all the time.

8. No More Murder by Abortion, and No Disabilities

   There'll be no more murder by abortion. Tolerated physical disabilities will be healed (Isaiah 34:3-6).

9. Perfect Justice

   There is one thing more about the great effects of Christ coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Perfect justice will be instituted worldwide. That is easy to say, but hard to enter into. People will be happy to see somebody caned. They will not rise up in indignation when some little, punky hood goes to another country; creates 50 acts of vandalism on other people's property; and, then is properly punished.

   I was going by looking the other day at our old bus that we had that we take parts from, and I noticed a series of four or five windows. That was done during summer camps last year, and our crew had to run out real quick. It was done to our cross-country bus. Somebody just came by and did that. Our crew had to stay up late, swapping windows out from the old bus parts to the new, just because somebody came by and smashed windows.

   The mother of that boy in Singapore is pleading for understanding. Even President Bush gets into it. You know what? That mother needs to be caned. Bush needs to caned. He's already been canned. He needs to be caned, so that he finally gets everything straight. Are we crazy, or what? Somebody can destroy (and paint) your property. And you say, "Oh, he's just a little boy, 18 years old." They even warned him, and said, "In Singapore, this is what will happen if you do it again."

   Well, isn't it going to be great to have perfect justice? Isaiah 11:3-5: "Then the shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse. A branch from the root will bear fruit, and the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding; the spirit of council; the spirit of strength; the spirit of knowledge; and, fear of the Lord. He will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what his eyes see, nor make a decision by what his ears hear. But with righteousness, He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth. He will strike the earth with the right of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will say the wicked. Also, righteousness will be the belt about His loins; and faithfulness, the belt about his waist."

   So, here these verses tell us that Jesus Christ will rod people. He won't cane them, but He will rod them with the Word of His mouth. And we will have a crime-free society because criminals in the millennium will be dealt with decisively. Jesus Christ, furthermore, will have full power to enforce His judgments against evildoers. Capital punishment will be enforced as serving both justice and a deterrent to the evildoers.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1993

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