Man, the title of my sermon this morning is Pre-Millennialism, Pre-Millennialism.
Now we are pre-millennial, and what that means is that we believe that Jesus Christ
is going to literally return to this earth someday.
We believe that there's going to be a second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and that after Christ returns, He will rule and reign on this earth for a thousand
years.
This is what the Bible clearly states.
We just read it together in Revelation chapter 20, that those who were beheaded and had been
martyred for Christ and so forth, they are ruling and reigning with Christ for one thousand
years.
Now, not everyone believes in this doctrine.
There are people out there who believe other wrong things about this, such as amillennialism
and post-millennialism, and that's what we're going to talk about this morning.
Why are we pre-millennial?
Is what we believe biblical?
Let's look at what the Bible has to say.
Look at verse number one of chapter 20.
I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great
chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil
and Satan, and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit and
shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till
the thousand years should be fulfilled.
After that, he must be loosed a little season.
Then, of course, in the next verse, we have the verse about Christ reigning for a thousand
years and so forth.
But the first thing I want to point out is that the key thing about the millennium
or the thousand-year reign of Christ is that the devil is bound for one thousand
years.
He is shut up in the bottomless pit so that he can't deceive the nations anymore.
That is the key feature.
Now, what all millennialism teaches, first of all, we all know what pre means.
Pre means before, before the millennium.
Christ returns before the millennium, and then he rules and reigns for a millennium.
Makes perfect sense.
It's what the text says.
But all millennialism means basically not millennialism, right?
That's what that all prefix means, that it's not millennialism, because what they're
basically teaching is that there isn't actually a millennium.
There isn't a thousand-year reign of Christ, but that rather a thousand years is just
sort of a symbolic number that just means, hey, a really long time.
So that a thousand years doesn't really mean a thousand years, it's just a long time.
But here's what's so wrong about this doctrine is that they teach that the thousand-year
reign of Christ began at Pentecost.
Basically all millennialists believe that we are in the millennium right now, okay?
And here's what's so absurd about that is that Satan is clearly not bound right
now.
In fact, let's just see what the Bible says.
First of all, that should be obvious just from going outside and looking around a little
bit.
But let's see what the Bible actually says about this.
Go if you would to 1 Peter, chapter 5.
And while you're turning to 1 Peter, chapter 5, let me read you Revelation, chapter 2,
verse 10.
This is spoken to the church in Smyrna.
This is a church that was founded in the modern-day country of Turkey, and it was
of course founded long after the day of Pentecost.
And so this church in Smyrna is told in Revelation 2.10,
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried, and you
shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Look, if Satan is bound in the bottomless pit, then how's he throwing people into
prison in Revelation, chapter 2, verse 10?
It's crazy.
Look at 1 Peter, chapter 5, verse 8.
Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour.
You know, according to the Bible, the devil is out there right now.
He's walking to and fro in the earth.
He's going up and down on it, and he's looking for people to devour.
He's looking for people to ruin.
He's looking for people to destroy.
He's looking for people to tempt.
And look, he would love to make all of us fall.
He would love to make us crash and burn in our spiritual lives.
And this is why we need to be sober, and we need to be vigilant.
We can't just go through life in a relaxed, lackadaisical manner, just kind of going
through life naively thinking that the forces of evil aren't out there, that the devil's
not trying to deceive us, that he's not trying to trip us up.
We need to realize this world is filled with temptations.
This world is filled with lies.
This world is filled with deception, and we need to be on our guard all the time.
We shouldn't be relaxed in our spiritual life.
We need to be sober.
We need to be wide awake.
We need to be vigilant and understand that the devil is out to trip us up, and the
devil's minions are out to trip us up.
So we've got to work hard to stay in the Bible, walk in the Spirit.
We need to be in church so that he does not succeed in derailing our Christian life.
This is what the Bible says.
If you would flip over to Ephesians, chapter 6, Ephesians, chapter number 6.
While you're turning there, James, chapter 4 says this, submit yourselves therefore
to God, resist the devil, and he'll flee from you.
Wait, I thought he's already locked up for a thousand years.
You see how that makes no sense?
The Bible says in 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 25, in meekness instructing those that oppose
themselves if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging
of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil
who are taken captive by him at his will.
According to the Bible, there are people right now who are ensnared by the devil.
They've been deceived by the devil.
They've fallen into his trap.
We're going to them and preaching the gospel to them, telling them the truth from the
Word of God so that we can get them out of that trap.
How is that consistent with the devil being bound for a thousand years so that he would
deceive the nations no more?
Clearly, that is not talking about the time we're living in right now because right
now there are lots of people ensnared by the devil, and we're out there shining
the light of the glorious gospel in order to help them extricate themselves from the
devil's trap.
Look down at your Bible there in Ephesians, chapter 6, verse 10.
The Bible reads, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of
his might.
Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of
the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places.
I've brought this up before to people who are amillennial, and I've said to them,
How does that work?
Because I don't see the devil being bound.
I mean, there's people being deceived all the time.
There's all kinds of deception out there, and the devil is out there tricking people,
and there are all kinds of demonic things going on in this world.
And he said, Well, you know, relatively, you know, it was even worse before the time
of Christ, you know, relatively the devil's been brought.
My friend, that's not what the Bible says.
The Bible says he's locked up in the bottomless pits, and he can't deceive the nations anymore.
Not like, Well, he's still deceiving them, but it's a little better.
Really?
How do you even know that?
Because of the past, that you didn't even live before the time of Christ to even know
that.
And look, there's a lot of false religion.
There's a lot of idolatry.
There's a lot of garbage out there to sit there and just say, Well, you know, relatively.
In general, it's, you know, it's God's program that's moving forward right now, even though
the devil's still doing a little bit.
But the Bible doesn't teach that the devil's doing a little bit, my friend.
The Bible teaches, actually, that the devil is part of the rulers of the darkness of
this world, spiritual wickedness in high places.
It sounds to me like even the governments of this world, even some of the highest,
most powerful people in this world are under the control of Satan, according to the Bible.
Because the Bible says, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil, right?
You've got to put on the armor of God so that you can stand against the devil.
Why?
Because we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.
Do you notice how the Bible's associating those things with the devil?
The rulers of the darkness of this world are working for the devil, okay?
Spiritual wickedness in high places has to do with the devil, okay?
And so, no, the devil is alive and well, my friend, and he is out there like a roaring
lion seeking whom he may devour, and he is even in high places of power in this world.
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4, 2 Corinthians chapter number 4.
See, according to the all millennial view, Christ is ruling and reigning from heaven,
and you say, wait, it's been more than 1,000 years.
Well, that's just a symbolic number, you know, it just means really long time is
what they would say.
This is like, well, what about the devil?
He's not bound.
Well, he's relatively bound, you know, because Christ is ruling and the world's going according
to God's plan, and it's really just, you know, the devil's still doing some stuff.
No, that's not what the Bible said.
The Bible says he's literally locked up in hell for 1,000 years.
But look at this verse, 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 3, it says, but if our gospel be
hid, it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world has blinded
the minds of them which believe not.
Now, who has blinded the minds of those who don't believe the God of this world?
The lowercase God of this world, which is talking about the devil, okay?
He has blinded the minds of those who believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel
of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine into them.
You see, everybody who talks about God is not necessarily talking about the God of the
Bible.
You see, there's the God of the Bible, and then there's the God of this world,
where this world invents their own idea of God.
They've got their own conception of God, and they'll say things like, well, my God
wouldn't send anyone to hell, or my God believes that all religions are equally valid,
or my God is okay with you being a homo, or whatever.
That's the kind of stuff that they'll say because they're talking about the God
of this world, a made-up God, a fabricated God that is of this world.
But see, Jesus Christ said, I'm not of this world.
I'm from above.
You're from beneath.
You're of this world.
I'm not of this world.
Jesus Christ is not of this world, my friend.
But there is a God of this world.
It's a made-up God, and it's really the devil that they're following.
And he has blinded the mind of those which believe not.
Now, you may wonder, who believes in this?
Who believes in amillennialism because it's typically not something that Baptists believe
in.
Baptists are typically premillennial.
Of course, we are Baptists.
We are premillennial, so no surprise there.
But amillennialism is a doctrine that's taught by the Roman Catholic Church, the East Orthodox
Church, Anglicans, Lutherans, and Presbyterians.
Now, stop and think about it.
Why would these particular religions be interested in amillennialism?
Why would Roman Catholics love amillennialism?
Because of course, they want to believe, yeah, Christ is ruling and reigning right
now.
You know, look at us.
We've got a billion of the world's population already on the rolls of our church.
You know, of course, because there's a billion Roman Catholics out there, they say, look
at the progress the gospel has made.
And so, yeah, the devil's been, you know, put at bay and so forth.
First of all, it doesn't jive with Scripture, as we just saw.
But number two, what we have to understand is that Roman Catholicism is not biblical Christianity.
It is idolatry.
It is the same graven images and molten images of paganism just under a different
name.
You go and bow down to some female idol.
It doesn't matter whether you're in India and bowing down to some scary idol there
or whether you're bowing down to some other female idol and just calling it Mary.
It's the same idolatry, my friend.
You're bowing down to a graven image.
The Bible says, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them.
Thou shalt not serve them.
And yet we see that, of course, in the pagan idolatrous Roman Catholic religion,
it's a lot of idolatry, bowing down to graven images.
Not only that, of course, but the Bible teaches that salvation is by faith in Jesus
Christ, not of works lest any man should boast.
Save on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved is what the Bible says.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that you must be saved by going through their rituals,
their processes, and their false religion.
We could go on and on.
That's a whole sermon in and of itself.
But it makes sense that this all millennial doctrine would be taught by the Catholics
because they want a Christianity that sort of just takes over the world right now,
the millennium right now, ruling and reigning from Rome right now.
That appeals unto them.
And you say, well, what about the Lutherans and the Presbyterians?
Well, here's the thing about the Lutherans and the Presbyterians.
They're still like 90% Catholic.
And what's so funny is that sometimes Presbyterians will be so negative about Roman Catholicism
and it's like, uh, what?
You're like 90% Roman Catholic.
Your doctrine is virtually Roman.
You're Catholic light.
You're diet Catholic.
And then you're acting like, oh, Rome is so bad.
Oh, if Rome is so bad, then why do you copy Rome on like 90% of your teachings?
It doesn't make any sense.
And so that's where amillennialism is coming from.
It's big because it's believed by Roman Catholics, East Orthodox, Lutherans, Presbyterians, big.
It's not biblical.
So problem number one that we saw with amillennialism is that the Bible teaches
that the devil's out there like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
He's in high places of government.
He's one of the rulers of the darkness of this world.
We saw all that.
Here's a second problem with amillennialism.
Go back if you would to Revelation chapter 20, we're going to be back there throughout
the sermon, but back in Revelation chapter number 20, which is the key text about
the millennium, uh, picking up in verse three where we had left off, it says, it cast
him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should
deceive the nations a little less than he used to.
Is that what it says?
No, it says that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should
be fulfilled.
Now notice that it talks about the thousand years being fulfilled a little bit later.
It's going to talk about the thousand years being expired.
Okay.
The term expired implies that time has run out and this is why I don't believe
for one second, this is a symbolic number.
I believe it's a literal thousand years because if it's not a literal number, then
how could it expire?
It doesn't really make any sense.
You know, think about the expiration date.
You know, next time my kids explain, you know, complain that something expired a few
days ago, I'm just gonna say, that's a symbolic number.
Okay.
When it says good until June of 2026, that just means good for a really long time.
It's just a long, unspecified amount of time.
The words expired and fulfilled, they do lend themselves to a literal thousand years.
It says in verse number four though, because it says, after that, he must be loosed a
little season.
And I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them.
And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word
of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his
mark upon their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ
a thousand years.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
This is the first resurrection.
Now, here's the key point that I want to show you here, is that if you get beheaded,
you're not alive anymore, okay?
Like getting beheaded, there's no way to survive that.
You just don't come back from that, okay?
So the Bible says that these people had been beheaded, but yet the people who had
been beheaded, they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
This means that they had to be resurrected, okay?
This is meaning that the millennium happens after the resurrection of the saved, right?
One day, of course, the saved are going to be bodily resurrected.
And the Bible is clearly teaching here that it's those who've been bodily resurrected
that are living and reigning with Christ for a thousand years.
So if we're supposedly in the millennium right now, then when did the resurrection
happen?
When did people get beheaded for the cause of Christ and then come back and live again?
That never happened, and that's, of course, a huge problem with millennialism.
Go if you would to 2 Timothy, chapter number 2, and again, you can always keep a bookmark
or something in Revelation 20, because we will come back there throughout.
But here's the thing, and while you're turning there, let me just clear this
up real quick, okay?
If you're saved and you die today physically, right, then your soul is immediately going
to go to heaven.
Your body's not going anywhere.
Your body's going to stay here.
We will deal with it, you know?
We'll bury it.
Clean up the mess.
But your soul's going to go to heaven, okay?
Now if a person is not saved and they die today, their soul's going to go straight
to hell.
Again, their body is going to remain here where we can see it and deal with it and
so forth.
But the soul immediately goes to heaven or immediately goes to hell, okay?
The Bible, of course, tells a story about the rich man and Lazarus, and the Bible
says that he died, and in hell, he lift up his eyes and he's in torment.
It's just like in the blink of an eye, boom, he's there.
He's burning in hell.
He's in torment.
And then also, when it comes to heaven, you know, the apostle Paul talked about how to
be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord, and that he had a desire
to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better.
And so far, we could show lots of verses about that.
But the point is that if you die today, you're either going straight to heaven or
straight to hell, okay?
It's that simple.
But your body stays behind here.
So when the Bible talks about there being a resurrection of the dead, we're talking about
a bodily resurrection.
We're talking about you getting a new body, the Bible says, that we will receive a glorified
body at the Second Coming of Christ, which is when the saints will be resurrected, okay?
That hasn't happened yet, which is why we can't be in the millennium right now.
Now look down at your Bible there in 2 Timothy 2, verse 16.
The Bible reads, but shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more
ungodliness, and their word will eat as doth a canker of whom is Hymenaeus and
Philetus, who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past
already and overthrow the faith of some.
So the apostle Paul, in one of his last epistles here, probably the last epistle,
He says that it is wrong, it's an error, it's a false doctrine, and that it is overthrowing
the faith of some to believe that the resurrection already happened.
That that's a wrong doctrine.
And that people are being confused by this idea that the resurrection is past already.
Why?
Because of the fact that the resurrection of the saved is still coming in the future
when Christ comes in the clouds.
Go to Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 2, verse 29, and I'm going to show
you more that the resurrection has not yet happened.
The Bible says in Acts chapter 2, verse 29, Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto
you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is
with us unto this day.
And so when Peter is preaching at the day of Pentecost, he says, look, David is dead,
he's buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.
His body is still in that grave.
Now look, if his body was still in the grave when Peter's preaching in Acts chapter
2 at Pentecost, well guess what?
It's still in the grave now because nothing has happened between then and now.
There's been no resurrection of the dead since then, and in 2 Timothy, when the New
Testament's drawing to a close, he's saying, hey, it's a false doctrine to say that that
resurrection of the dead is past already.
It isn't.
And so David is still dead, he says in verse 30, therefore being a prophet and knowing
that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.
He's saying this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in
hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
So the one person who has been resurrected is Jesus.
That's what he's, he's not David, not any other saved Christians, Old Testament
saints, New Testament saints, no.
The only person who has been resurrected at this time is Jesus.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Go if you were to 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, what are we
talking about this morning?
The title of the sermon is premillennialism.
Why are we premillennial?
Because we believe that Jesus Christ is going to return someday and that when he
does return, he will rule and reign on this earth for a thousand years.
People who do not believe in this are called all millennial, which means not millennial.
And this doesn't mean that they were, you know, born, uh, you know, before the year
1980 or something.
Okay.
But if they're all millennial, what this means is that they're saying, well, there
isn't really any actual thousand year reign.
Thousand years is just kind of a symbolic number for a really long time.
And it started at Pentecost and we're in the millennium right now.
Here's the colossal problem with that.
Chapter one, the devil is clearly not bound at this time.
He is clearly out there deceiving the nations, even running governments, running religious
institutions.
We gotta be sober.
We gotta be vigilant because he is out there as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
The second colossal problem with this is that Revelation chapter 20 makes it clear
that before the millennium there's a resurrection because you have all these people who've
been killed and beheaded for the cause of Christ and that they live and reign with
Christ a thousand years, but the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand
years are finished.
And so what that means is that we have people being resurrected at the beginning of
the millennium who rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years.
Then what we have is the rest of the dead living not again.
What does it mean to live again?
It means that you used to live, now you're dead, and you're gonna live again.
That's a resurrection, folks.
And don't be confused by the fact that it says those who were beheaded and martyred
are gonna rule and reign with Christ a thousand years.
The Bible makes it crystal clear that all saved Christians will be resurrected in that
first resurrection.
I don't have time to go into that this morning, but it's easily proven from scripture.
All Christians will be included in that.
The rest of the dead that will not live again until after the thousand years are
finished, those are people who are born after the resurrection or get saved after
the resurrection.
Those people are gonna not live again until the great white throne judgment, which
is after the thousand years, after the millennium.
Now where did I have you turn in your Bible?
First Corinthians chapter 15, the Bible says this, verse 22, for as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive, but every man in his own order.
So we're gonna see about the resurrection of the dead, it's in a certain order, the
Bible says.
Every man in his own order.
Face the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming, then cometh the
end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the father when he
shall put down all rule and all authority and power for he must reign till he has
put all enemies under his feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Okay, now let's stop and break this down line by line here, okay?
The Bible says that when it comes to people being made alive or resurrected, of course
first Corinthians 15, if we read the whole chapter, it's known as the resurrection
chapter because it's all about the resurrection of the dead from start to finish.
But what we see here is that every man in his new order, Christ the first fruits.
Now first fruits is a farming term, okay?
This is a term for when you're out there and you farm the field, you sow the seeds,
the produce grows, there are going to be some outliers, there are going to be some fruits
that are ready to harvest before the main harvest is ready to go, right?
Because that's just the way the world works.
If I plant a whole bunch of crops, they're not all going to be ready on the exact same
day.
They're going to be those anomalies, those outliers that are ready first.
You know, the first fruits that pop up and so the Bible is comparing Jesus Christ
to those first fruits, he's the first fruits of the resurrection because he's coming early,
because he's resurrected before everyone else.
Jesus Christ, and by the way, you know, it's 2024 AD, which means 2024 years since
the birth of Jesus Christ, right?
In the year of our Lord, 2024.
So 2024 years after Christ was born, the only person who has been resurrected from
the dead is Jesus Christ and no one else.
Now you say, well, what about when we're reading the Bible and there are miracles
performed like where Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead or where Jesus, you know, raised
the boy in nine, you know, he raised, he touched the coffin and then, you know,
the child raised from the dead.
Here's the thing about that.
The reason that that's different is because those people died again.
They're not alive right now.
Okay.
So when somebody got sick and died and then Jesus lays his hands on them and brings
them back, that's different than the resurrection of Christ because the difference
with the resurrection of Christ is that he's dead for three days and three nights
and then he's resurrected never to die again.
So Jesus Christ lives forever.
That's the difference between just someone being healed or someone being brought back
temporarily because I guarantee you just because Lazarus died and was resurrected
by Jesus, he died again later.
You know, I don't know how he died in the end.
Did he just die?
Maybe he lived to be an old man, died of natural causes, whatever.
I'm sure people were a little anxious at his funeral if he was going to pop out again,
but he didn't.
Even if people maybe are like, you know, let's not bury him right away.
Let's give him five, six days.
They still eventually realize this guy's dead.
Why?
Because the only person who has truly been resurrected to live forever, to live and
die no more is Jesus.
He is what's known as the first fruits of the resurrection.
But then after that, we have the next stage.
The resurrection happens in three stages.
It's the first fruits, and then it says afterward, they that are Christ's at his coming.
Now when Christ returns, when he comes in the clouds and the trumpet sounds, all of
those who are Christ's at his coming will be resurrected.
And by the way, people in the Old Testament are Christ's as well.
Every saved person who's ever lived, whether they were like the Old Testament people who
looked forward to the Messiah or us, we look back at the Messiah, every saved person when
Christ returns to the cloud is going to be resurrected.
Now that's the big one because obviously we've had thousands and thousands of years
of human history, and so there have been just so many millions and millions and millions
of people that have been saved, and so that's the main harvest.
So back to the farming analogy, you have the first fruits, which is just a small
end gathering before the main crop is ready.
Then those who are Christ's at his coming, that's the big one that represents the vast
majority of human history, and so that's the huge end gathering of the harvest.
Then the third stage is what we would call the gleanings.
And the gleanings are when you go back and you get all of the things in the harvest
that were missed, or things that weren't ripe yet, because just as there are outliers
that are ready a little bit too soon, there could also be outliers that are ready a
little bit later, the late bloomers, the ones that grow up a little later.
So then you could go back through and make a second pass and get all of those
gleanings.
So you got Christ the first fruits, afterward those that are Christ's at his coming, that's
the main harvest, right?
But the rest of the dead, which is the gleanings, do not live again until the thousand years
are finished, okay?
Because then after the thousand years are finished, we have what the Bible calls here
the end.
Then cometh the end, the Bible says.
So three stages, Christ the first fruits, stage one.
Stage two, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming, stage three, then cometh
the end, okay?
This is after the millennium, when the end comes, when he shall have put down, now how
do we know it's after the millennium?
How do we know that the end, because some people will say, well, Christ's coming
and the end are both the same thing here in this verse.
And that it's just, it's just Christ and then every, just one, one general resurrection,
one and that's it.
One and done.
Here's how we know that because look what the Bible says.
It says in verse 24, then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority
and power.
Now here's the thing, that does not happen until after the millennium.
You see Christ rules and reigns for a thousand years, then after the thousand years, he
ends up putting down all rebellion and putting down all enemies and the last enemy
that shall be destroyed is death.
So after the millennium is over and Christ finally destroys his enemies, death will no
longer be a thing.
Death will no longer exist.
And that is when the end comes, when he, and by the way, at that point he delivers
up the kingdom to God.
Now Jesus is God, so how does Jesus deliver up the kingdom to God, because he's delivering
up the kingdom to the father.
Okay, Jesus is not God the father.
Jesus is God, but he's not God the father.
Because God consists of the father, the son, and the holy ghost.
These three are one, one God, three persons, but it's Jesus Christ ruling and reigning
for a thousand years, and then after those thousand years, he ends up delivering up
the kingdom to God the father.
And then it says the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death, verse 26.
Death still exists during the millennium, but it doesn't exist after the millennium.
Look what the Bible says next to verse 27.
For he hath put all things under his feet.
That's referring to God the father putting all things under Jesus' feet.
But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is accepted
which did put all things under him.
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the son also himself be
subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
So we have Jesus Christ after the thousand years submitting to God the father, right?
Putting himself under God the father's authority.
That's what we see here.
He delivers up the kingdom to God the father.
And so it's crystal clear here that there are three stages, Christ the first fruits,
afterward they that are Christ's coming, and then we have the end which is described
as the time of Christ relinquishing the kingdom, not starting the kingdom, relinquishing
the kingdom to God the father, being subject unto the father, and also that at that time
the last enemy that is destroyed is death.
Some people would say, well, no, the first resurrection and the second resurrection,
they both happen at the same time.
It's just two different kinds of resurrections.
But here's the problem with that is that the Bible says that those people who live
and reign with Christ a thousand years, they're part of that first resurrection.
It says the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are finished, okay?
Now here's the thing about that is that unsaved people are never going to live again.
That's why when the unsaved are judged at that great white throne of judgment, it
says I saw the dead stand before God.
The dead were judged out of those things which were written in the book.
The dead that were in the sea and death and hell were all delivered up to God and
they're judged and the ones who are not saved, of course, are cast into the lake of fire.
Whereas people that are saved, they have a resurrection of life.
They will live again.
Whereas the Bible says there's a resurrection of life and there's a resurrection of damnation.
So unsaved people are not going to be resurrected in the sense that they will live again.
They will be resurrected in the sense that they will be brought up to be judged and doomed and damned.
And it's called the resurrection of damnation.
And so the big problem here with amillennialism is that, A, the devil is not bound based
on what I see out the window and based on what the Bible actually says.
And number two, the big problem is that the resurrection hasn't happened yet.
And so if the resurrection hasn't happened yet, how can people who've been beheaded
be living and reigning with Christ a thousand years?
It makes no sense.
And you say, whoa, no, no, no, they're reigning from heaven.
The beheaded guys, they're up there and they're ruling and reigning with Christ from
heaven for a thousand years.
But okay, then what sense does it make to say, well, the rest of the dead live
not again?
If they're up there living, how could the rest of the dead live not again?
That doesn't make any sense.
Because live again is talking about an actual bodily resurrection.
Then it actually makes sense.
Otherwise every saved Christian's living up in heaven, but they're not living when it
comes to their body, are they?
Because their body's dead in the grave.
So let's move on from that quickly to post-millennialism, right?
Because we've talked about why premillennialism is biblical and why amillennialism is not
biblical.
But now there's another doctrine out there that is called post-millennialism.
And this has been getting a little bit more popular lately.
It was popular a long time ago.
And then in the 20th century, it lost a lot of popularity for obvious reasons.
You're going to see why in a moment.
But now it seems to be starting to come back and people are into post-millennialism
now.
So what is post-millennialism?
Well, post-millennialism teaches that this world is getting better and better.
And that ultimately the world will be Christianized.
And why are you laughing?
Is it because this is absurd and the opposite of what we see actually happening in the
world?
Is that what's so funny?
And that according to post-millennialism, eventually we will get this golden age of
just worldwide Christian culture known as the millennium.
And in fact, it doesn't even involve the second coming of Christ.
We just do it ourselves.
Because here's the whole point of post-millennialism, they're claiming that Christ will come after
the millennium.
So that we're going to bring in the kingdom ourselves.
We're going to bring in the millennium ourselves.
And then after the millennium is over, then Christ will return.
So here's the question, do we bring in the kingdom or does Christ set up his kingdom
on earth?
Now go through what is 2 Timothy chapter number three.
Second Timothy chapter number three.
Now the thing that is just patently absurd about this doctrine is that it claims that
the world's getting better spiritually.
I mean that just doesn't make any sense, my friend.
Like think about what does it mean to have a Christian culture?
I mean wouldn't that be a culture that is in line with the values that are taught
in the word of God, right?
So if we were to imagine a Christian culture, wouldn't we expect to see things like people
being married instead of living in fornication?
Wouldn't that be part of it?
Because the Bible of course says flee fornication.
The Bible says marriage is honorable and all and the bed undefiled.
But whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge.
And so I would say that a Christian culture would be one where people are married and
not out fornicating and committing adultery.
Yet today in the United States of America, we have more people today living with someone
that they're not married to than people who are actually married.
We have more couples living in sin today as just a fornicating pair than actually
married couples living in the United States.
And my friend, this is a trend that's been going on a long time.
Because some people will say, well you're just looking at the really recent history
here.
No, I'm really not.
Because we could go back 20 years, 50 years, 100 years, 200 years, 300 years, 400 years.
We could go back as far as you want since Europeans set foot on this continent.
We can go back as far as you want.
And you know what we're going to find is that back then there was more emphasis
on marriage and there was more of a condemnation of fornication and adultery than there is
right now.
Now of course people have always been committing fornication.
They've always been committing adultery in this world.
This world has always been a sinful place.
But in general, society has frowned upon those things and in general, marriage was
the social norm in the civilized world, in the Christian world.
That's just the way it is, my friend.
I mean think about it.
In the 20th century, chances are if you're a kid growing up in the 20th century, you're
growing up with your mom and your dad and your parents are married and you have
the family that the Bible describes.
But now in 2024, chances are you're not being raised by your biological, you know,
and Pastor Anderson, you're hurting my feelings right now because I'm not growing up with
my biological parents who are married to one another.
Well guess what?
You're in the majority.
If you're actually growing up in a home where your parents are married and they're both
your biological parents and they're married and you're growing up with them, you're
actually in the minority now.
But that's because we're getting so much more Christian.
It's because the world's getting so much more godly, right?
And look, all you have to do is look at the subject of homosexuality, homos, perverts,
sodomites, okay?
Look at that subject, my friend.
That has never been accepted in this world.
Now of course it's always been out there.
There have always been weirdos and there have been little pockets of it like in Sodom
and Gomorrah and places like that and Pompeii and other places that got rained
with fire and brimstone for being perverts.
But the point is, of course there have always been individuals.
There have always been pockets of that.
But in general, that has been condemned and it's been found to be repulsive by the
world in general.
Whether saved or unsafe, just in general, that has been rejected.
It's wicked.
It's gross.
It's vile.
It's sin.
It's an abomination.
And by the way, it's not just an abomination to God.
It's an abomination to me, too.
And it ought to be an abomination to you, too.
It's like, well, I'm okay with it but I guess God's mad about it.
Why don't you get on his program?
But look around, my friend.
It's being accepted all over the world.
It's being accepted all over America.
It's being accepted all over Europe.
And look, this trend is not slowing down.
It's being just normalized and accepted.
Do you really think people are just going to wake up tomorrow and just say, that's
it.
We're done.
It's illegal in America to be a sodomite.
We're going to end them up and kill them all and God won't even have to sort them
out because they're all reprobates.
You really think that's going to happen?
No.
The Bible says that the death penalty is for sodomites, according to Leviticus 2013,
but guess what?
That's never going to happen.
Why?
Because our country is not seeking the Bible for truth or for morality.
Our country is getting away from the Word of God and we are not alone, my friend.
It's happening all over the world.
All over the world, this is the trend.
And by the way, if you're uncomfortable about me preaching hard against homos, quit
being a fag-loving idiot, okay?
Why don't you quit filling your mind with the world's trash, spend a little more time
reading the Bible where God is pouring out fire and hellfire and damnation on these
people instead of watching them on TV and sympathizing with the poor little faggots
on TV or something.
I'm not going to apologize for having a biblical worldview.
I hate those who hate the Lord.
That's what the Bible says.
Psalm 139, and so, no, I'm not interested in being a fag-hag like you.
But the thing is that we see this happening all over the world, everywhere.
Now look, some of the last places in this world where homosexuality is condemned and
where it's illegal, it used to be illegal everywhere.
It used to be illegal in all 50 states and it was still illegal in some states
until 2003.
Did the New Testament start in 2003?
It's funny how nobody in the 20th century knew we were in the New Testament.
It's funny how theologians of the 19th century didn't know we were in the New Testament.
It's funny how theologians of the 18th century didn't know we were in the New Testament.
But finally, we just realized, oh, shucks, we're in the faggot testament.
What is that?
Isn't it interesting that all of a sudden we change the culture to embrace perversion
and now all of a sudden, oh, let's change our doctrine too?
Now we have all kinds of Christian theologians saying that my doctrine about homos is wrong.
Isn't that convenient that all of a sudden we change the doctrine even though every
state in America used to agree with me, even the secular government.
But this is all because we're getting more Christian, right?
One of the last places where this stuff is still condemned and illegal is Africa,
but folks, those countries are going to be changing in the next few years, five years
from now, 10 years from now, 15 years from now.
Folks, the United States of America has made it their agenda to evangelize the world
with the gospel of sodomy.
And so our government is sending all of these little pervert ambassadors all over the world
to try to promote sodomy throughout the world, literally.
I'm not making that up.
They literally have people in our government right now, full-time paid employees in the
federal government.
It was the same under Trump.
It doesn't matter if it's Trump or Biden, same thing.
They have literal people whose job is to make sure that being a homo becomes legal
everywhere in the world.
So all the countries where it's illegal, they're fighting to change that.
Now look, all of that, and look, I'm just bringing up a few examples.
I could go down a whole bunch of other examples, but aren't those some pretty obvious
examples that we're not getting closer to the Word of God, that we're not becoming
more Christian as a culture when now living with someone you're not married to is the
norm and now even being a homo is being normalized throughout the world.
This is not Christian culture.
It's the reverse of that.
To sit there and have a doctrine that says, oh, the world's getting more and more Christian,
it's getting more and more godly, and eventually we're going to have a golden age of Christian
virtue all over the world, and then Christ will return is madness.
First of all, it's not biblical, but second of all, it just doesn't make any sense.
Look out the window.
By the way, this is why most people stop teaching post-millennialism in the 20th century.
Because in the 20th century, they saw the horrors of World War I, they saw the horrors
of World War II, and they saw the de-Christianization that took place throughout the 20th century,
and they said, wait a minute, this isn't happening.
Things are getting worse.
You say, well, but you know, maybe immorality's on the rise, but the gospel is doing better
than ever.
Look, obviously amongst certain people it is.
Obviously there are always going to be the remnant that are preaching the true gospel
of Christ, and obviously there are men and women all over this world preaching the gospel
and evangelizing this whole world, and God's work always goes forward.
But does that mean that we're making Tempe into a Christian place?
Look, I believe that our church has been very successful.
You know, our church has been around for 18 years, started with just nothing, started
in my living room, just me and my family 18 years ago, and here we are, 18 years later,
you know, we got 300 people here, we got, you know, all kinds of people out there
winning people to Christ, we've won thousands and thousands of people to the Lord, millions
and millions of people have heard our message, hey, we're succeeding at evangelizing our
area because we've knocked every door in like three quarters of the city.
I mean, we've done a lot of evangelism, but guess what, Tempe is not more Christian
than it was 18 years ago.
Phoenix is not more Christian.
Arizona is not more Christian.
Does that mean that we have failed in our mission?
No, because our mission is to reach the individual, and we cannot stop a trend that was going
on before we were born and is going to be going on long after we're gone of a downward
spiral of humanity getting more and more immoral, ungodly, and less Christian.
Folks, in the last 18 years, I've noticed a de-Christianization even in our own area
right here in Phoenix, Arizona.
You know, just going out and knocking doors, and look, we're constantly receiving data
because we're out there every week knocking doors.
And so we're constantly sampling, and we're constantly knocking on doors.
And ask people, are you a Christian?
Are you a Christian?
And let me tell you something, you get a lot less answers of yes now than you used
to.
I mean, when my grandpa was soul winning back 50 years ago or something, or whenever
it was, he asked a lady, are you a Christian?
And she said, well, I'm not a cannibal.
Because in her mind, you're either a Christian or a cannibal.
Because our society was just culturally so Christian that she just, her attitude
was like, well, isn't everybody?
I mean, that's how she saw the world, my friend.
But nowadays, that wouldn't make any sense to say, well, I'm not a cannibal.
Because there are a lot of non-cannibals today who are not going to identify as Christian,
and it's more, and more, and more.
Look, Christianity is declining around the world as the world becomes more ungodly and
more wicked.
It doesn't mean we can't evangelize and get lots of people saved and do great things
for God, but it means that in general, the culture, the trend, in general, is going downhill.
It has to be fixed by the return of Christ.
Christ has to come and reboot this thing.
He has to reset this thing.
That's what it's going to take.
We're not just going to fix it ourselves by evangelizing.
Folks, just look at, and you say, well, you're just thinking about America.
But again, what about the United Kingdom?
You can think about the United Kingdom where today less than 4% of people go to church
in the United Kingdom.
Think about that.
There are more people in England today going to a mosque than going to church.
Is that how it used to be in the past?
Because remember, the Anglicans love amillennialism, right?
And obviously, now we're talking about post-millennialism, but these two things are similar in some ways.
But according to the amillennialist doctrine, man, we're in the millennium right now.
Well, that's quite a millennium you got going over there with the Church of England.
The Church of England is just so lame, nobody goes.
You want to know why less than 4% of the population in England is going to church?
Because the Church of England sucks.
That's why.
That's why nobody's going.
That's even the point.
So there's your millennium over there.
Your millennium over there in England, huh?
It's a Musliminium over there is what they got going on.
It's not the millennium.
So problem number one with post-millennialism is that it doesn't match reality.
I got to hurry up.
I'm out of time.
It doesn't match reality.
Number two, it doesn't match the Bible.
Look at 2 Timothy 3, verse 1.
Let us know also that in the last days, perilous times shall come.
The Bible tells us that in the last days, things are going to be dangerous.
Things are going to be scary.
Perilous times will come.
Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.
This is exactly what we see going on today in the United States of America.
Without natural affection.
There's your homos right there, right?
Being affectionate with another dude instead of having a natural affection toward females.
Truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.
Look at verse 13.
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
And so we see that biblically, the world is getting worse.
And of course, the other reason why post-millennialism does not jive with scripture is that, again,
according to the Bible, the resurrection happens before the millennium.
But according to post-millennialism, you know, we just usher in a golden age by Christianizing
the world.
No resurrection required.
No second coming of Christ required.
No, the millennium actually happens after Christ comes in the clouds.
I'm out of time, but Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 and 14, the Son of Man came with the
clouds of heaven, and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that
all people, nations, and languages should serve him.
So again, Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 and 14, Christ comes in the clouds, and then
a kingdom is given unto him, and he rules the world.
Why?
Because the resurrection happens before the millennium.
Because the second coming of Christ happens before the millennium.
And so do not be deceived by these false doctrines of amillennialism or post-millennialism.
They're false.
They're wrong.
They're unbiblical, and they're a denial of what we see in reality.
Unless, I mean, here's the thing, but you can see why the Catholics would believe
in amillennialism, because they're just like, this is fine.
I mean, they look at Mexico and just say, well, Mexico's Christian.
I mean, look at all these merry idols everywhere.
Mission accomplished, right?
And here's the thing.
They're not offended by the immorality of this world, because they're super immoral
themselves.
You think you're going to go to a Catholic church and hear the priest get up and start
ripping on fornication and adultery, and you think that the Catholic priest is down
the street saying, these filthy faggots!
You think that that kind of preaching's happening down at the Catholic church because it isn't.
He's like, oh, I'm never coming back.
Well, good.
I'm glad you're getting it while you're here.
Good.
I better just unload the whole truck on you while you're here then, since you're
not coming back.
And by the way, don't let the door hit you on your way out, because you know what?
I go through my week in this world here having this sodomite crap shoved down my
throat, but that doesn't bother you.
You know, you're just like, all the sodomite, filth, and garbage everywhere, advertisements,
the news media, pop culture, TV shows, movies, comics, and you're just like, eh, whatever.
Pastor Anderson gets up and says, filthy faggots, and you're just like, oh, yeah!
Folks, you got to hear this somewhere.
You're not going to get it anywhere else, my friend.
You got to get it here.
And so, what did that have to do with the sermon?
I don't know, but I'm glad I got that off my chest.
Here's the conclusion.
In general, things are going to get worse spiritually until the coming of Christ.
That's what the Bible teaches, and it's what we see.
It's not our job to fix the world.
And by the way, this is a relief, because if I had to fix America, man, that would
stress me out.
I'm glad I'm not the president.
I'm glad I'm not in Congress.
I don't want to fix this mess.
I don't want to fix Arizona.
What a relief to realize that it's not my job to fix this world.
My job is to win people to Jesus Christ.
That's a job I can do.
It's not our job to fix the world.
It's our job to reach the individual with the Gospel.
And that's why we need to be more concerned with evangelism than politics.
You know, it's 2024.
It's an election year, and we're going to get hit with just all kinds of political mumbo-jumbo,
the signs, the ads.
We're going to get the phone calls, the emails, all this stuff.
Don't get distracted, my friend.
The answer is not in the White House.
The answer is in the church house.
And so we need to focus on spiritual things, serving God, and you know what?
We're not going to fix America, but we can fix one person's eternal destination.
We can get a hundred people saved.
We can get a thousand people saved.
But at the end of the day, broad is always going to be the way that leads to destruction.
And narrow is always going to be the way that leads to life.
And all we can do is just preach the Gospel and make a difference in the lives of individuals.
And you know what?
We can let the Gospel light shine in a crooked and perverse nation among whom we shine as lights in the world.
Father, we thank you so much for your Word.
And Lord, thank you for the clear teaching in Revelation chapter 20.
And Lord God, if there's anyone out there who's been deceived by this amillennial doctrine or postmillennial doctrine,
Lord, I pray that they would get their heart right and embrace what the scripture actually teaches
and stop listening to a bunch of dead Catholic theologians
and rather, Lord, let them listen to the Holy Spirit and their own personal Bible reading.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.