Revelation 20:1-10 (The Millennium,, Jeff Kliewer)

bless the Lord oh my soul oh my soul worship his holy name sing like never before oh my soul

I'll worship your holy name the

Sun comes up it's a new day dawning it's time to sing your song again whatever may pass and whatever lies before bless the

Lord oh my soul oh my soul worship his holy name sing like never before oh my soul

I'll worship your holy name you're rich in love and you're slow to anger your name is great and your heart is kind for all your goodness

I will keep on singing 10 ,000 reasons for my heart to find bless the

Lord oh my soul oh my soul worship his holy name sing like never before oh my soul

I'll worship your holy name dawn that day when my strength is failing the end draws near and my time has come still my soul will sing your praise unending 10 ,000 years and then forever more bless the

Lord oh my soul oh my soul worship his holy name sing like never before oh my soul

I'll worship your holy name oh

I will worship your holy name oh

I will worship your holy name you may be seated live in person and those of you who are watching our live stream good morning

I have a couple announcements for us first off a praise this past Friday we had a one -day

VBS we had about 32 kids that were able to come and it was a fantastic time we went with an

Olympics theme so we had Bible story we had crafts we had games and I was just so great to see so many kids be able to come out and participate to hear about Jesus and I just wanted to give a big thanks and shout out to all of those that were a part of that behind the scenes praying for us for those that came out and ran one of the stations or game areas for those that were in the planning process for those who donated anything so thank you so much for that it's always a great opportunity for us to be able to share the love of Jesus with children and we can't do that without your help so thank you very much for that we have a win oh the other thing is we're all indoors today so I you got to give

God a shout out we had 14 amazing weeks of being able to be outside before he decided you know what

God decided no Sunday we need some rain and it's okay to be inside today so we just want to give

God thanks and praise for all those amazing weeks we've had out there and hopefully we're gonna get some more hopefully we'll be able to be out there again next week we have a women's

Bible study that's going to be going on tonight from 630 to 730 here there's also a zoom link available for that for the women that are attending that Bible study there's going to be a youth concert this

Friday right the 28th 28th okay featuring Romans Road so all teens are invited to bring their friends out to that we have an upcoming study of the book of Isaiah that pastor

John and pastor Jeff are going to be teaching that'll be happening noon here at the church but those will also be recorded and placed up on YouTube so if you can't attend at the noontime hour you can watch those we're also going to be having a starting point class begin that's a three -week class and that will be beginning in September as well so you can see pastor

Jeff or pastor John about information for that and it'll be in the evening here at the church and then finally

I believe we have a Red Cross Drive coming up on August 29th so April is here she's our point person again correct okay

I made that announcement the first service so I was hoping I was right so if you've given in the past you probably have already received an email about that but it's a great way to serve the community and it your donations of blood helped save lives so you can speak to April about that so would you pray with me let's bow our heads dear

Lord we're so thankful that we could be here this morning to worship you to sing praises to hear

Jeff preach the word we asked you be with him during the service that you would guide his his mind and his heart and his words as he preaches from the book of Revelation Lord we thank you again for these 14 amazing weeks we've been able to be outside thank you for your goodness and Lord as we have heard over and over again we're living in bizarre times strange times

Lord we know that you're in control and we're thankful for that Lord we just ask that you would give us the believers patience and wisdom as we are interacting with people that are scared and afraid that we would be able to share the love of Christ with them that we'd be able to share about the peace that we have because we believe in you and Lord as we draw near to the beginning of the school year

I can think of so many parents and students and teachers all across New Jersey and the world or our country that are wrestling with what to do how we're gonna do school so I just ask that you would be with us that we would be able to pray for these teachers and kids parents that may be homeschooling for the first time that you would just guide us through this upcoming

September and we just ask for your hand of Providence during that time we thank you for your son

Jesus and we ask this in your son's name amen before Jeff comes opens

God's Word to us we're gonna sing a few songs together so you can get those ready seeing two songs our

God and what can I do so you're ready for those if you would stand with me water you turned into wine open the eyes of the blind there's no one like you not like you beaten and tortured to die hung on a cross crucified there's no one like you not like you our

God is greater our God is stronger God you are higher than any other our

God is healer awesome and power our God our

God power that conquered the grave paid all my sin and my shame there's no one like you not like you risen from death and alive reigning in heaven on high there's no one like you not like you our

God is greater our God is stronger God you are higher than any other our

God is healer awesome and power our God our

God and if our God is for us then who could ever stop us and if our

God is with us then what could stand against and if our God is for us then who could ever stop us and if our

God is with us then what could stand again what could stand our

God is greater our God is stronger God you are higher than any other our

God is healer awesome and power our God our

God our God is greater our God is stronger

God you are higher than any other our God is healer awesome and power our

God our God Lord we come before you a redeemed people not by anything that we've done but of your sacrifice leaving heaven coming to this earth to live allowing us to benefit from you dying on the cross we are so thankful Lord that we can be saved from the hell and destruction that's coming

Lord there's nothing that we can do to say thank you but Lord we pray that that our lives will be a testimony to your love and grace in our lives and we sing praises to your name thanking you for who you are and what you've done for us when

I see the beauty of a sunsets glory amazing artistry across the evening sky when

I feel the mystery of a distant galaxy it all's and humbles me to be loved by a

God so high what can I do but thank you what can

I do but give my life to you hallelujah hallelujah what can

I do but praise you every day make everything

I do hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah that's your prayer when

I hear the story of a God of mercy who shared humanity and suffered by our side of the cross they nailed you to that could not hold you now you're making all things new by the power of your risen life what can

I do but thank you and I do but give my life to you hallelujah hallelujah what can

I do but praise you every day make everything

I do hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah what can

I do but thank you what can I do but give my life to you hallelujah hallelujah what can

I do but praise you every day make everything

I do hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah okay

Revelation chapter 20 verses 1 to 10 so Revelation 20 verses 1 to 10 then

I saw an angel coming down from heaven holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain and he seized the dragon that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years and threw him into the pit and shut it and sealed it over him so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended after that he must be released for a little while and then

I saw thrones and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed also

I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the

Word of God and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended this is the first resurrection blessed and holy is the one who shares in in the first resurrection over such the second death has no power but they will be priests of God and of Christ and they will reign with him for a thousand years and when the thousand years are ended

Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth

Gog and Magog to gather them for battle their numbers like the sand of the sea and they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city but fire came down from heaven and consumed them and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were and they will be tormented day and night forever thanks

Ben let's pray God thank you for this opportunity to open your word and hear your voice we pray that as we read your scriptures and study and think upon these precepts

Lord that you would help us to cut ties with this world Lord God that you would do a surgery on our heart to throw out the idols that we would be less self -centered and more centered on you that we would look to Christ and so we pray come

Lord Jesus we are looking for you to come in your kingdom to reign in your glory we don't want to put confidence in the flesh to put confidence in the things of this earth to put confidence in ourselves we pray that as we hear the word this morning our hope would be in you

Jesus you are the hope of glory in your name we pray amen you guys are all familiar with Karl Marx if I say the name

Karl Marx I see some eyebrows going up oh yeah rolling the eyes yes Karl Marx was a villain of history and a couple centuries ago he began his political philosophy in Germany and then moving to France and Belgium and England he created a society of the just it was an underground society that sought justice on earth and their supposition upon which they built this claim was that the whole world could be described as a class struggle you have those who have and those who have not so the bourgeoisie are oppressing the proletariat and what needs to happen is a revolution that's going to make everything right so he called eventually with his communist manifesto around the midpoint of the 1800s he called for revolution the communist manifesto called for the underclass to rise up and overthrow the bourgeoisie and his hope was that this would bring in a reign of peace and justice on earth and there would be a utopia everybody would live as things were meant to be of course the results of this political philosophy was what happened in Russia when comes

Lenin and Stalin and the Russians and the USSR experiment ended up killing multiple millions of people and then

Mao Zedong in China with the great leap forward did the same thing and tens of millions died because of it and you've heard of Che Guevara and Pol Pot in Cambodia and what's happening now in Venezuela and even in our current country you have

Marxists who are trying to overthrow the system because their worldview is one of oppression and their hope is that by overthrowing government there can be a utopia on earth this is the great hope of the

Marxist but it's the opposite of hope it ends in destruction because it's built on a faulty worldview

Marxism sees the world as a class struggle and defines the problems societally as if the reason that there's suffering and death and pain in the world is because society is wrong and the structure is wrong and if we could only turn things equal then everybody would be happy and healthy and live good wonderful lives the scriptures teach us the depths of human depravity and the scriptures define the problem as being sin something deep -seated within each of us fallen sons and daughters of Adam and so a

Marxist utopia can never be established and in fact they seek it by unbiblical unjust methods but the problem is not what they suppose the problem is human sin there's coming a day when things will be made right on earth it won't happen by societal change it won't even happen by the church ushering in the kingdom the only hope of the world the only hope that things will get better and better and eventually lead to an era of peace and prosperity and love and joy and unity the only hope of this is the return of Jesus Christ he alone can solve the injustices of this world he alone is the one to whom we should look even the church itself cannot do that we're going to get into that today in Revelation 20 as we look at the

Millennium the Millennium will be a 1 ,000 year demonstration of what this world is like with Christ reigning in his kingdom over against the thousands of years preceding where Satan has had some freedom to reign so let's look at Revelation 21 to 3 and the first question we have to look at is what is this

Millennium and I'll give you a quick preview here there's three different schools as to what the

Millennium is the amillennial the postmillennial and the premillennial we're the third one here at Cornerstone premillennial

I'm going to define those terms but recognize three different ways of interpreting this passage

Revelation 20 verses 1 to 3 then I saw an angel coming down from heaven holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain and he sees the dragon that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years mark that a thousand years is going to be repeated six times so I think we can safely conclude this is a literal 1 ,000 years it's not just an age it's repeated six times in this passage so we can recognize

God is trying to communicate that it's a thousand years period verse 3 and he threw him into the pit and shut it and sealed it over him so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended after that he must be released for a little while so the

Millennium is a 1 ,000 year period where there's peace on earth things are great because Satan is now bound now before I get into the three schools of thought on this

I just want you to notice something from verse 1 that I find interesting that I really enjoy notice which angel threw

Satan into the bottomless pit was it Michael was it

Gabriel look in the text or was it simply an angel just an angel and the point is some no -name angel is sent by God to throw

Satan into the pit which means this struggle between good and evil were never equal and opposite forces

God has always reigned as sovereignty with absolute power he could have crushed

Satan under his foot at any second he has absolute power but he's allowing

Satan a certain reign of freedom for his own purposes for God's own purposes but when the time came to bind him he sent a no -name angel to do it so for a thousand years

Satan will be bound now the question is when does this happen the ah millennial school says that this is the church age ah negates so ah millennial means there is no millennium there's no literal thousand year reign of Christ rather the church age is the reign of Christ and Satan is bound right now

I see some eyebrows raised again Satan isn't bound right now first Peter 5 8 he's like a roaring lion roaming the earth seeking someone to devour

John 8 verse 44 the father of lies deceives the nation's if I look out at the nation's

I see deception throughout the nation's so clearly the ah millennial school is not consistent with this text because Satan is not bound now in fact the ah millennial school was not introduced until the late 300s

Tyconius was the first one to preach it and then Augustine picked up on it the Roman Catholic Church picked up on it and even many of the

Reformers held that ah millennial view the problem is the Bible clearly teaches here that Satan will be bound completely held under a bottomless shut in sealed over him in a pit no longer exerting his influence the second school is post -millennial post -millennial holds that the church will usher in a thousand year reign of Christ as the church continues to be salt and light things will get better and better but that again is not consistent with the teaching of Scripture we're told before the coming of Christ there will be a great falling away a great apostasy ah in 2nd

Thessalonians so the teaching of Scripture is not that the church will make things better and better but will hang on to Christ as we look for his return in fact also just as a quick postscript to that look at Revelation 19 verses 11 to 16 you'll recall

Christ himself comes on a white horse with the sword coming from his mouth he returns in chapter 19 and then we get to chapter 20 so just think just taking things chronologically post -mill doesn't work thirdly the pre -millennial school what does that mean well pre -millennium we are currently before the millennium we're still looking forward to the coming of this reign and that's how

I want you to think about the thousand years there is coming a 1 ,000 year reign of Christ on this earth and the point of it is to show what this world would be with Christ as the king it's like the

Garden of Eden for a thousand years because Satan is bound so let's move on to the second question verse 4 to 6 what is this millennium going to be like what's it gonna be like here on earth for a thousand years first of all we'll see who is populating the earth at that time verses 4 to 6 then

I saw thrones and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed well we need some biblical context here earlier in the book of Revelation thrones were set up and there were 24 elders seated on the throne some interpreters have said that the 12 thrones represent the

Old Testament patriarchs and the 12 thrones on the other side represent the

Apostles and from that interpretation you can say Old Testament and New Testament Saints are represented in these thrones these are ones who are given to reign but I could take it a step farther and point you to 2nd

Timothy chapter 2 verses 11 to 13 we're told there this is a trustworthy saying so you can trust what

I'm about to tell you if we died with him we will also live with him if we endure we will also reign with him you see the language of reigning in verse 4 seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed this is the church now and Old Testament Saints reigning with Christ now there's a second class there's the word also which means there's a distinction here to the second class of people who are there also

I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the

Word of God and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands they came to life and reign with Christ for a thousand years this clearly speaks to the

Tribulation Saints those who miss the rapture when we were caught up to meet

Christ in the air and not proceeding those who had died before us who were also caught up to meet

Christ in the air now you have a second class the also says it's another group who lived through the

Tribulation and died in the Tribulation because when they refused to take the mark of the beast the

Antichrist had them beheaded they counted Christ more worthy than their very lives they were willing to die rather than to bend the knee to the

Antichrist Christ was so valuable to them that they were willing to suffer with him not taking the mark which meant they couldn't eat or drink or buy or sell anything without the mark so many of them starved to death and others were beheaded for their testimony of Jesus they died during the

Tribulation but here this is the first resurrection they get their body back the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended this is the first resurrection blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection over such the second death has no power but they will be mark this word priests of God and of Christ and they will reign with him for a thousand years so the big question in this section is what's this millennium going to be like it's going to be a period of peace where we and Tribulation Saints and Old Testament Saints are reigning with Christ on earth it's this world and we are here we've already been resurrected so we have glorified bodies and we serve as priests which means we proclaim the glory of Christ to the ends of the earth but what is the nature of the world in which we live during this time so we're already resurrected we're not sinning any longer were glorified where are we and what are we doing and what's the world like the

Bible here does not give us that answer but the scripture does harmonize to give us a picture of the millennium there are promises in the

Old Testament for Israel that were never fulfilled but God is not a liar every promise he's ever made will be fulfilled and so we harmonize those texts to see what this world will be like so you can go to places like Jeremiah 23

Isaiah chapter 2 verses 2 to 5 speaks of in a period of time the mountain of the

Lord Zion Jerusalem will be elevated as chief among the mountains and the nations will flow to it interesting in Revelation 16 the mountains were leveled and the islands fled which means the natural barriers of mountains and seas were eliminated

I think what happens there in Revelation 16 is that Pangea is reestablished the world was split up into seven continents at the flood because of sin but God will bring them back together lowering mountains so that the high point on this landmass is

Jerusalem with the king reigning in glory he returns and sets his foot on the

Mount of Olives and it creates a river that flows from one sea to the other this beautiful place called

Zion this is where our king will reign and we are spread out across the earth

I get this especially from Isaiah 11 let's go there for just a few minutes Isaiah 11 you might be familiar with the text where a shoot comes up from the stump of Jesse a branch from his root bears fruit and the

Spirit of the Lord is on him the Spirit of wisdom and understanding counsel and the fear of the Lord this is a picture of Christ and the

Holy Spirit and we're told in 11 1 to 6 that when he comes with the breath of his lips he slays the wicked when does

Christ slay the wicked with the breath of his lips at his second coming at his second coming we saw that at the end of Revelation 19 he slays the wicked with the breath of his lips so now look with me

Isaiah 11 6 and following once he has come at his second coming what is the world like I tell you this is a picture of the

Millennium Isaiah 11 6 through 9 the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together and a little child shall lead them the cow and the bear shall graze their young shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like an ox the nursing child shall play over the whole of the

Cobra and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adders den they shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the

Lord as the waters cover the sea that's a picture of the

Millennium for 1 ,000 years the earth is like the Garden of Eden before Satan came as a tempter now

Satan is held in a pit and the world is restored can you imagine how the world will flourish the vegetation springing up the beauty of the earth but also it doesn't seem that people are dying the

Cobra that would bite the child no longer does there's no death what are we doing we are priests spread out over the face of the earth indwelt by the

Holy Spirit so we're in communion with our Lord and yet serving as priests why to make known who

Christ is to plead with the people of earth who are not yet in their glorified body to repent and believe the good news we're serving as priests making known the knowledge of the

Lord for a thousand years so if anybody here loves to be an evangelist and you're thinking man

I wish this would go on even after the rapture good news for a thousand years you'll be out there preaching to the world and I can imagine the population explosion who's gonna populate the earth during that time that question we're gonna answer in just a minute but notice during the millennial reign everything is peaceful this is the world as it would be if Christ was reigning rather than the nation's and the political systems that we have with Christ in Jerusalem all things are made right

I don't want you to think of this as like some ethereal like floating on a cloud with a harp kind of world this is just as real as the world in which we live only without the deadly stuff

I think about a story when I was living in Dallas my buddy went to the same seminary and one day we went biking so out in the in the mountains we were just kind of going through the hills and stuff and he drove this car called the thing you may know what a thing is it was like an old military vehicle and it had no no roof and no side so we just throw the the bikes in the back so as we were driving back from biking he said hey let's go through the carwash

I thought about it wait a minute I'm gonna go through the carwash in this and so he pulled into the carwash and right before it started

I thought I said Tom it's gonna be scalding water we're gonna get scalded to death he's like oh you'll be fine so we go in and this thing is just slapping you remember those things that spin around we're getting slapped by those soap everywhere the whole place is like a giant sud we're getting beat up then the water comes and it's just cold water so he starts yelling

I'm melting I'm being scalded he's mocking me we go through this thing and we survive and you know what

I look back at that as a great memory it was a lot of fun but when I picture the

Millennium I often just think it's just like pie in the sky no in the Millennium you can drive a car you can go through a carwash only there's no chance you're gonna get scalded to death it's real life whatever you can create imagine the the the creative potential of the children of God without Satan in this world imagine what this world is gonna be like it's going to be amazing but we won't be centered on the things of this earth we won't have the same bad decisions that would make you drive through a carwash in the thing we'll be sanctified and glorified and now that brings me to the last point in the last section something surprising happens do you ever find this strange when you read it that even after Christ reigns for a thousand years still there will be another rebellion and that just goes to show that the problem is not society in the structures of this world the problem is the depth of the human sinfulness in the hearts of men how deep that sin goes because even after a perfect world for a thousand years there's going to be a rebellion so the question of course is who are these people where do they come from didn't

Christ come and wipe everybody out so who are the people in the Millennium who eventually rebel verses 7 through 10 when the thousand years are ended

Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth

Gog and Magog to gather them for battle and their number is like the sand of the sea so this is a hyperbole it's figurative speech it's it's a ton of people way more than you would expect rebelling they march up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the

Saints and the beloved city but fire came down from heaven and consumed them so who's the them who are these people well if you look at Revelation 19 21 you see that the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him the rest of who contextually in Revelation 19 this is the army that came to Jerusalem to overthrow

Jerusalem to rage against God's people Revelation 16 goes right into Revelation 19 17 and 18 are about the fall of Babylon religion and Babylon politics so 16 goes into 19 and what you see from 16 is a battle called

Armageddon warriors who hate God who are raging come against the city of Jerusalem to overthrow it and so the context here is the rest are cut down by the sword of his mouth after the

Antichrist and false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire so there's still people who survived the tribulation maybe a four -year -old boy living in Iceland or a little family in Timbuktu they weren't part of the the war they weren't part of Armageddon they survive and now these are the people who repopulate the earth those who survived the tribulation

I see no reason why it wouldn't include unbelievers they live in a perfect world they repopulate the earth and now the earth is full of people again but even though they had the outward society everything in their life was good the king was in Jerusalem peace on earth nobody getting scalded to death or getting bit by a scorpion even so their hearts were not changed and this speaks to the need for conversion it's not enough to outwardly respond to God to go to church to transform society to do whatever the quote -unquote social justice work that a person intends to do the need is for conversion during those thousand years we service priests meaning we tell people that that King in Jerusalem we go up for the festivals multiple times a year and throughout the days we spend our time pleading with men to be saved and some will come to faith others evidently do not while Satan is bound they go about their business and they they go with the flow of society there they exist but they're not converted and so as soon as Satan is released that sin which still dwelt in them

James 1 tells us sin comes from our own desires and then when we're lured and tempted it gives birth to sin so that sin was already in them as desire now

Satan is released again he tempts the world he shows them the possibility of a better world not run by one monarch in Jerusalem with all of his saints ruling over no you can be king you can be like God and people follow that call as they always do who are

Gog and Magog we learn about Magog he's the grandson of Noah he's the one who established a kingdom north of the

Black Sea and so the seat of this rebellion will be

Russia led by Gat Gat Gog and Magog who is Gog well the

Bible doesn't tell us who Gog is but I would guess he's probably the warlord that's leading

Magog into battle against Jerusalem you guys remember when the socialists tried to take over Seattle what did they name their little socialist experiment

Chaz so you had Chaz and they had a warlord named

Raz so he was Raz king of Chaz I think in the same way this is

God king of Magog he's leading the world rebellion down to Jerusalem and from all corners of the earth people jump on board amazingly after experiencing the millennium they still rebel against the king so in closing where does that leave us today in need of conversion if you've never turned from your sin maybe you've spent all your time blaming society maybe you've been blaming your family and your circumstances and you say you know what if things were better then

I would I would do well it's not my fault but this text reminds us the depth not of societal sin although there is a such thing there are unjust systems but the issue is the depth of human sin have you ever looked into your heart and said what a wretch

I am I need to be converted I need a Savior and if you turn to Christ he will not only wash you with his precious blood and take away all your sin and make you spotless before him

Revelation 1 tells us he will also make you a kingdom and priest to serve the

Living God and you'll serve him during the rest of your days on earth and then you'll serve him for a thousand years and then he'll bring in the new heaven in the new earth but Satan will have that one last stand in verse 10 it says he'll deceive them but he'll be thrown into the lake of fire not much of a battle there right once this rebellion is put down fire falls from heaven they're consumed and Satan is thrown into the lake of fire he will be tormented day and night forever and ever and by the way if you're one of these who believe in annihilationism that well

I'm sure hell is just where your spirit and your body just get consumed and then God's done with you if you believe that you're not taking the text seriously because this word says forever and ever ionis tone ionis it appears multiple times through the book of Revelation in chapter 5 when they're worshiping the

Lamb they sing to him forever and ever again in chapter 7 in chapter 10 it applies to God who ever lives and will be worshipped forever and ever so if God will be worshipped forever and ever in the same way those who don't know him will suffer in an eternal punishment that goes on forever and ever it's terrifying but the good news is you can be converted you can be saved so if you haven't done that I just implore you to turn from your sin trust

Christ now you'll find him to be a perfect Savior but I assume I'm preaching to believers for the most part here today and so I say to you you are already a kingdom and priest to serve the

Living God live for that now because the Millennium will be centered on the king on his holy mountain where he reigns you will live for him then for a thousand years you'll have that same purpose so begin now plead with men like a priest calling them to repent and trust in Christ don't devote your life to transient things temporal things even big causes that that you want to see established on earth there won't be justice on earth until Christ comes your first work is to preach him and him crucified you go out and tell your neighbors and as you go you are a priest just yesterday a couple of times

I saw somebody standing around me and my kids and my wife we were out you guys ever heard of geocaching it's kind of brutal for a guy but they liked it geocaching is where you use an app to find like hidden boxes that have little toys and stuff in it and you locate them and then you you unearth it so while they're like digging around I'm just looking around and each time there would be somebody just standing there with a dog or with pushing a kid on a swing and I just share the gospel with them the first the second guy he was a

Jewish guy and I said I feel like I was supposed to talk to you and he's like no I'm good I'm supposed to talk to me

I got it so I kept sharing and you know just kind of got it brought it back around shared the gospel with him and he said you're that pastor

I was at so -and -so's funeral here at the church and I was just texting with his widow and it just connected us but it was a divine appointment but we missed those divine appointments unless we're living as kingdom as a kingdom and priests to serve the living

God so let's close in prayer and just ask for those opportunities and let's long for the return of the king so Lord thank you so much for your word to us today thank you that it's you that establishes your reign for a thousand years we look forward to it and we hasten the day so Lord we pray now that you would strengthen us to be a kingdom and priests to serve you and Lord I pray for those who have not yet been converted

I pray that you just make this idea of hell a burning for eternity forever and ever a scary frightening proposition to the minds of men and women who hear this sermon that they would turn away from their sin and trust in Christ who is

King forever and ever in his name we pray amen let's stand and worship you are good and you are kind you bring joy into my you make it easy to trust you you never left my side you've been faithful every time

Oh Jesus you are the refuge

I run you are the fire that leads me through the night how follow you anyway there's a million reasons to trust you nothing to fear for you are by my side

I'll follow you anyway Jesus you came to my rescue took my place upon that cross you redeem what

I lost my whole world revolving around you you're the center of my life you're the treasure you're the prize all

I want is you Jesus all

I want is you you are the refuge

I run to you are the fire that leads me through the night

I'll follow you anyway there's a million reasons to trust you nothing to fear for you are by my side

I'll follow you anyway wherever you lead me whatever it cost me all

I want is you Jesus all I want is you wherever you lead me whatever it cost me all

I want is you Jesus all I want is you all

I want is you Jesus all

I want is you you are the refuge

I run to you are the fire that leads me through the night

I'll follow you anyway there's a million reasons to trust you nothing to fear for you are by my side

I'll follow you anyway follow you anywhere