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Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here in your house this evening, and I ask you right now to just speak through me, give me boldness and clarity to preach your message. Help us to put aside all distractions tonight. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, we're in Revelation chapter 20, and as I mentioned before, there's going to be a lot of sermons from Revelation 20 because there's a lot of information. And last week we talked about the judgment seat of Christ, which is basically how believers are going to get rewards, and they're going to be ruling and reigning with Christ, okay? And that's right before the millennial reign of Christ. And so what we're going to be talking about tonight is the millennium, or the millennial reign of Christ, this 1,000 year period. Notice what it says in verse number one, and 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. So you see this 1,000 year time period, which is known as the millennial reign of Christ. You might say, Brother Stuckey, what is different about the millennial reign of Christ versus what we have today? Well, we're going to look at four different points here, but I want you to realize something, and that's this, that not every unbeliever is going to be killed before the millennial reign of Christ. There will be unbelievers that survive and are part of the millennium. Because you say, you know, why would there be an uprising with the devil after 1,000 years? Well, because there's going to be unbelievers. So there's going to be unbelievers, but there's also going to be new people born. And so those of us that already have our glorified bodies, of course we're going to be sinless. We're not going to do anything wrong. But there's going to be a segment of the population that is not sinless, that are sinners just like we're sinners, and they're going to have to abide by the laws of Christ. Because otherwise, you know, they're going to be breaking those laws, and there's going to be a punishment for that. So not every unbeliever is going to be wiped out during the 1,000 years. It isn't just Jesus here for 1,000 years with people that are glorified saints and they're perfect. No, he's going to be ruling and reigning, and there's going to be unbelievers there. Okay? So the first point I want you to realize is this, that during the millennial reign of Christ, one thing that typifies it are the commandments of God. The commandments of God. Go to Isaiah 11, Isaiah chapter 11, Isaiah 11. You say, Brother Stuckey, what's the government going to be like during the millennial reign of Christ? Well, we don't have to guess. Because the Bible already gave us that answer. See, the perfect law that was given throughout the entire Old Testament, an eye for an eye, you kill somebody, you get the death penalty for it, that is still going to be intact. Why? Because of the fact Christ is ruling and reigning and it's His laws. There has never been a country on the planet that has ever perfectly followed God's laws. I mean, even the nation of Israel or the kingdom of Judah, they never really followed that closely to what God said. God said these should be the instructions and yet the people never followed it. Right? I mean, even the nations that were filled full of believers, so to speak, or a lot of believers, they didn't follow the laws of God. But in the millennial reign of Christ, Christ will be ruling and reigning and it will be His rules. There's not going to be a president or a king making up rules. In today's world, there's not a country on the planet that is close to following God's laws. But during the millennial reign of Christ, Christ will be ruling and reigning and it's commandments, not rules by other governments or other people, but it's the commandments of God. Isaiah 11, verse 3, and shall make him of quick understanding and the fear of the Lord and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth and he shall smite the earth with a rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. So it says with righteousness shall he judge the poor. He's going to be ruling and reigning in righteousness. It's going to be the commandments of God during the thousand year time period. And so if we break the commandments of God, well, God already told us what the punishment's going to be. Right? I mean, if somebody commits adultery, that's the death penalty. If somebody steals something, depending on what it is, there might be a fourfold punishment or whatever the punishment's going to be. But there are rules based on what the Bible says. It's going to be his rules. Okay? Now turn to Revelation chapter two, Revelation chapter two, Revelation two. People have this idea that Christ is just all love, love, love. And when he comes here, it's all going to be love and you can just do whatever you want. It's going to be the opposite. He's going to be ruling with a rod of iron. The Bible says, I mean, he's going to be enforcing his laws because in today's world, somebody's a pedophile. They get found guilty. They spend three years in jail and they're out on the streets molesting other children. Isn't that true? Somebody commits murder, they get eight years in jail. Right? I mean, it's amazing how they'll get like five life sentences, but yet they get out after like eight years. It's like, well, I don't really understand the point of saying it's a life sentence when it only lasts eight years. Okay? Maybe I'm not an expert at law. I don't know. But it's just like, you know, in Christ's rules, though, I mean, there's specific commandments and specific punishments for breaking his commandments. Revelation 2 verse 26, and he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him I give power over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of Potter shall they be broken to shivers even as I have received of my father. So he's going to be ruling the nations with a rod of iron. It's going to be a dictatorship. You must follow his laws and if you break them, you're going to get the punishment that the Bible says. Because believers, we're going to have glorified bodies. We won't be doing anything wrong, but there will be unbelievers during the millennial reign of Christ and the commandments, the rules, the laws are going to be Christ's laws. Go to Revelation 19, Revelation 19, Revelation 19, Revelation chapter 19, and so when it comes to millennial reign of Christ, you only see a few verses in Revelation 20 that really reference this, but it's mentioned in the book of Isaiah. It's mentioned in other parts of Revelation. It's mentioned kind of throughout the entire Bible, a little bit here and there. Revelation 19 verse 15, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations. There's still going to be nations during the millennial reign of Christ. He's going to be ruling with a dictatorship and he shall rule them with a rod of iron and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. He's going to be ruling with a rod of iron. It's going to be the commandments of God. Turn to Matthew five, Matthew chapter five, Matthew five. Now to us that are believers, this sounds great. I mean God's laws throughout the entire world, that's fine for me. I mean I don't commit adultery, so I'm not really worried about the death penalty for adultery. I don't commit murder, so I'm not really worried about the death penalty for murder. I mean if you're doing what's right, you're not going to be mad at God's laws. The people that get mad at it, it's because they're breaking God's laws and they don't want the punishment. They don't want somebody to tell them no. It's like they never learned when they were two, three, four, five, six, seven years old, no. Apparently their parents never taught them that. Christ is going to be ruling and reigning. We don't have to be bothered by that though. God's laws are perfect. They're holy. Notice what it says in Matthew five verse 17, think not that I am come to destroy the law. This is Jesus speaking or the prophets. So he says, I'm not going to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Now we know that when Jesus rose again, some of the laws, some of the commandments were fulfilled. An example is the Sabbath day. We do not have to follow the Sabbath day anymore because the Sabbath was a rest and that is a picture of the rest we find in Jesus Christ. We don't sacrifice animals anymore. You say, why? Well, that's obviously a picture of Jesus Christ, but when Jesus rose again, and there's also a lot of cleanliness laws and carnal ordinances where basically they're a picture of Jesus Christ. And so those were finished when he rose again, but look, thou shalt not kill. He didn't fulfill that when he rose again. Thou shalt not kill is not a picture of Jesus Christ. Thou shalt not steal is not a picture of Jesus Christ. So why would that law change? It never changed. Now, people try to point out to Jesus that, well, he saw a woman caught in adultery. Well, he wasn't ruling and reigning the first time he came. The first time he came, he was not the governor. He was not the king of this earth in terms of ruling. He wasn't when he was here the first time. He came and he died and he paid for our sins. But the second time he comes, he's going to be ruling and reigning. He didn't do that the first time. And see, that's where a lot of people got confused because, you know, the Jews are looking at these passages. They thought, man, this Messiah is going to come and make us powerful or whatever, and a lot of people were confused. And then he died on the cross. A lot of people didn't get it. He didn't come to rule and reign. He came and preached the word of God. He got people saved. He died for the sins of the world. But when he comes the second time, he's cleaning house on all the wicked people, and he's going to rule and reign with a rod of iron. So when anybody does anything wrong, they're going to be punished according to what the Bible says. So some things were fulfilled when he rose again. But not most things. Not all things. Thou shalt not kill still applies. The moral law still applies. Notice what it says in verse 18. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall no eyes pass from the law till all be fulfilled. So what Jesus says is, you know what? Until heaven and earth pass. When do heaven and earth pass? Revelation 21, right? The new heaven and new earth is Revelation 21. So what is Jesus saying? Until Revelation 21, these laws still apply. So wait, the millennial reign of Christ, that's before the new heaven and new earth, right? That's Revelation 21. We're in Revelation 20. So until we get to the new heaven and new earth, none of these laws are going to pass until all be fulfilled. So guess what laws we're going to have during the millennial reign of Christ? We're going to have everything the Bible said, except the ones that were fulfilled when he rose again. So thou shalt not kill with a death penalty still will apply. Why? Heaven and earth haven't passed yet during the millennial reign of Christ. Until heaven and earth pass. One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. The way we can understand one jot or one tittle, it's not the exact same as in English, but just think of dotting an I or crossing a T. There's nothing that's going to pass from the law until all be fulfilled. So during the millennial reign of Christ, according to Jesus, the laws that are going to be being used and he's going to be ruling with are going to be the laws that are mentioned throughout the entire Bible. He says in verse 19, whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. You know, you got to think of a lot of Baptist preachers when you look at verse 19, right? Because the people that would say, well, you know, they break these commandments and they teach men so and say, well, these laws no longer apply. Well, according to Jesus, that's pretty wicked because he just said in verse 18, nothing's going to be destroyed until all be fulfilled. Yes, some stuff is gone when Jesus rose again, but not the moral law. And yet you got Baptist preachers that are telling you, well, you know, the death penalty for thou shalt not kill. That was just for the Jews. Well, not according to Matthew five versus 18 in verse 19. They'll say, you know, the death penalty for adultery, that's too harsh. Those are God's laws. And look, what's funny about it is, you know, people, the one that people really get mad at is the death penalty for homos. In today's world, they can't stand the fact that the Bible gives the death penalty for homos. You know, what's interesting about this is they try to say, well, that was just for Israel, but let's say it was just for Israel. It's not just for Israel, but let's say it was just for Israel. I mean, doesn't that mean God really hates that sin though? They say, well, I mean, that was only for Israel. Well, obviously God's showing what he thinks about that sin though, and he thinks about those people. Obviously it's pretty wicked to God and look, we get it that all these other nations weren't following God's laws, neither was Israel, neither was the kingdom of Judah, but when Christ is ruling and reigning, he's the one making the laws. It's not a corrupt or sinful King. It's not going to be a corrupt politician making laws. It's going to be his laws and he's the one who gave us the 10 commandments. So all of those things will apply. And so go in your Bible to Isaiah two, Isaiah two, Isaiah chapter two, Isaiah chapter two. So number one, during the millennial reign of Christ, what is it going to be like? Well, we're going to have the commandments of God enforced, and this is honestly going to be the first time in human history God's laws have ever actually been the laws of the country. They never followed the laws of the country. I mean, when you're reading the old Testament, they're not following the basic things like the Passover. I mean, they're making changes. They're not following it. I mean, it might last for a few years and then it's completely gone. They didn't obey it. They didn't listen to it. I mean, the Bible talks about letting the land rest once every seven years. I mean, when did they ever apply that? There's really no indication they did right at the year of Jubilee. It's like you never see them applying it. They probably never did right. God gave them the perfect laws and the perfect system, and yet they never really followed it. Okay. But during the millennial reign of Christ, those will be the commandments. Number one, we have the commandments of God. Number two, we have comfort, comfort, the millennial reign of Christ to people that are saved. It's a very comforting time. It's a very peaceful time. Notice what it says in Isaiah 2, verse four, and he shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people. Okay. Now notice this in verse number four, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Now what I just showed you and what I just talked to you about was the fact that God's laws will be basically the ones during the millennial reign of Christ, which is the death penalty for a lot of different things. And yet with God's commandments, it's going to be a very comforting and peaceful time. And we see that here in verse four, because what they're doing is they're beating their swords into plowshares. What does that mean? Well, a sword is a weapon, right? They don't need weapons during the millennial reign of Christ. They use it. They beat it into a tool that they can use for farming or something like that. They beat their swords into plowshares and their spears, which is a weapon, into pruning hooks. Why? A weapon is useless during the millennial reign of Christ. It's not needed. You say, why? There's not going to be much crime. There's going to be very little crime during the millennial reign of Christ. There's going to be no need for a gun during the millennial reign of Christ. You say, why? Because when God's commandments are put into action, people are afraid to break them. Why? Because there's a big punishment on the other side. I mean, if people knew that adultery gave you the death penalty, guess what a lot of people would not do? They would not commit adultery. They're not going to rob and steal and do these things. Why? They're afraid of the punishment that's going to be enforced. Now, criminals are not afraid in today's world because there's a very soft punishment given when they break the rules. But they're going to be afraid to break it during the millennial reign of Christ. Why? Because people will be put to death if they commit adultery. They commit murder. They do these things. They will be put to death. So guess what? People aren't going to do those things. I mean, 50 years ago in the United States of America, people left their houses unlocked. They had their car doors unlocked outside. They never locked their cars. There's no need to. Why? There's very little crime in the US 50 years ago. How about today? Oh, there's a lot of crime. I mean, all you got to do is put on any news station. I'm sure it's on. You know, they've shown all the protests and everything. I mean, it's a laughing stock right now. The United States, it's like there's a whole lot of crime right now. I mean, there's a lot of places, man, you got to be afraid if it's dark outside seven o'clock at night, you better be inside. It's dangerous place right now. And so 50 years ago, there was no need really for weapons that much. You say, why? Very little crime. Okay. During the millennial reign of Christ, it's going to be very comforting because there's going to be very little crime. Why? People are afraid of the punishments. People are not afraid to commit murder in today's world because they won't be put to death. But if people would be put to death, they would be afraid to commit murder. I remember I had a criminology class in college and you know, our professor told us that whenever there's a highly publicized death, um, trial that someone would get the death penalty death penalty trial for somebody, whenever there's a highly publicized death penalty trial, the amount of murders just drastically drops during that time period. You say, why? People are afraid to commit murder because like, oh man, somebody might get put to death. And so guess what? They don't commit crime. And that was just from a secular professor at a university. It wasn't a Bible believe in Christian. He said, you know that he said that hard punishment is a deterrent for crime and for criminals. And we see that in the Bible because of the fact there's going to be a harsh punishment for committing criminal acts. And all of a sudden people were saying, you know what, I don't need a sword. I'd rather have a plowshare. I don't need a spear. I'd rather have a pruning hook. Now in today's world, it's smart to have a weapon though. Say why? There's a lot of crime. Now in the United States, most people have guns here. Pretty much nobody has guns, right? If you do, then you know, don't tell me, right? It's considered. I remember, you know, cause I used to have a gun in the U S and I remember my wife was shocked like you have a gun. I was like, you know, I said, most people have guns in the U S right. I mean, U S is a dangerous place in a lot of areas. Now here we were talking about it the other day, you know, on Sunday after service. And I was just thinking about it. I was like, man, I need to get this weapon again because I used to have it in the U S and that's a baseball bat. That is a really good weapon here. And you say, why? Well, because of the fact it's long, so it's very easy to hit the target. It's very easy to grip. You're not going to lose control of it because if you have a knife and then you miss all of a sudden, you know, you're, you could easily get beaten up by the criminal or whatever with a baseball bat. Because unless you're really bad at baseball, it's, it's pretty hard to miss. Okay. It's pretty hard to miss the target. I used to have one underneath my bed, you know, in Sacramento. I was like, you know what? I need to get that back, right? A baseball bat. But you know, during the millennial reign of Christ, it's very comforting time for people that are not criminals. Why? There's very little crime, very little crime. Whenever crime comes, it's going to be destroyed by Jesus Christ. It's going to be punished. They're going to be punished. Notice what it says, there are spears into pruning hooks, nations shall not lift up sword against nation. Imagine a time where nations are not going to war against other nations. I mean, nowadays, you know, you have wars all the time, neither shall they learn war anymore. Now, why would they not learn war? There's no reason to learn war. You don't need it. You don't need, I mean, you know, Brazilian jujitsu classes probably aren't going to be as expensive during the millennial reign of Christ. You know, Muay Thai kickboxing, it's like, well, I mean, you're never really going to need it in real life. So it's like, is there really even a need to train for it? Right? I mean, people aren't going to learn war, they're not going to have any need for it. Okay, now go to Judges 17, Judges 17, Judges 17. I mean, it makes it makes perfect logical common sense that if there's a harsh punishment, then people are not going to be as likely to do it. I mean, isn't that true? I mean, this is what stops your kids at a young age from doing a lot of bad things because they're afraid of getting a spanking. I mean, if you don't spank your kids, well, good luck with them. And in today's world, it's like a free for all with parents. They don't want they're like, oh, they're too nice to spank their kids. Well, you know what? Go ahead and try that strategy. See how it turns out for you. Because in fact, we see in the Bible when you have a harsh punishment, what does it do? Well, you know what it does? It doesn't give the crime from happening. And you know what stops kids because the Bible says foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. And it says the rod of correction drive it far from them or something such as that. And so, look, the Bible speaks about spanking. Now, we're not talking about injuring children when you spank your children, but what we're talking about is causing pain. You say why? If it's just like a little tap, no, Johnny, no, Johnny, don't do that. Is that going to stop your child from doing something bad? No. It's going to be a joke. They're going to laugh. Now, there's a place of the body where God has provided where, you know what, kids can take something that's very painful and it does not injure them in the slightest bit. I have never struck my son on the head where, I mean, obviously we're not talking about child abuse, but there is a padded area of the body where, you know what, the body can take a lot of pain without having any injury. And that is the area God's providing. Look, spanking is in the Bible, but we're seeing even here, and this wasn't even part of my sermon, but the fact that, you know what, if you have a harsh punishment, it stops crime from happening. You say, Brother Stuckey, when should you start spanking? You need to understand you're not spanking because your child did something really bad. The reason why you spank is because they disobeyed. It doesn't matter how bad it is. How harsh the spanking is is determined by how bad it was that they did, but they get a spanking automatically if they disobey. So when do you start spanking? You start spanking when your kids clearly understand the word no, and then they disobey anyway. Now, you don't spank them super hard, right? At a young age, when it's something small and they touch the electrical socket, which every single child does that. They love the electrical outlets. They love the cords. Everything you play with. They love your cell phone. They love your computer. They love everything you play with, and they love the electrical outlets. When you tell them no, and then they look at you, they smile, and then they touch it anyway, they have to get a spanking. You say, Why? Because if you do not punish them, you're teaching them it's okay to disobey. You should start spanking, and look, for most children, that starts before the age of one. Before the age of one. Now, you don't spank them hard at that time, but then if they do something really bad, so the measure of how hard you spank them is based on how bad was it that they did it, what they did. But whether or not you spank them is did they disobey. So if a child makes an accident, let's say a child accident, my daughter, we do not spank our daughter yet at this point. We start to tell her no, and she's getting to that point where she's starting to understand. Okay? Now, what I've heard, and obviously I've talked to Pastor Menes and other people that have raised godly children, you kind of give them just a little tap on the hand where it doesn't hurt them, but you're telling them, no, we don't want you to touch that, to try to train them. Okay? But then once they're going to start to just willingly disobey you, because all kids do that. Okay? But when it comes to kids doing this, you know, you need to spank them even at a young age because you need to train them to obey you. And look, if you wait until they're five or six years old, I mean, good luck, but this is what you always find. When parents do not spank their children, what ends up happening inevitably is they end up getting really mad at their children because their children are acting unruly, and then they scream at their children, and then they spank them out of anger, and then they don't even hug them. And you can ask my wife, whenever I spank my son, I give him a hug, I say, I love you, Zeph, I do it calm and under control. Okay? That is how you're supposed to spank them. You're supposed to spank them calm and under control. But look, you don't wait until they're three, four, five, six, seven, eight years old, and if you do, your child's going to be out of control at that age. They need to understand the word no, and look, they understand that word before the age one. And look, there's no point of spanking them if it doesn't hurt at all. What's the purpose? I mean, it's like a joke. It's like a game to them, right? And look, it's easy to say, because people always think, well, you know what, I think they're too young, they're cute and everything like that. Yeah, I mean, imagine kids that are acting unruly all day long in your house. You know what? It's easy to say that until you're around them all the time. It's no longer that cute, my friend. And so, look, what I've heard from people that have raised godly children is that, you know what? Obviously, it depends on how bad they act, but generally, kids disobey every single day. So if my daughter, what I was trying to talk about earlier, if my daughter accidentally knocks over a jar of spaghetti sauce and smashes it all over the ground, she would not get a spanking for that. And if my son accidentally did it, he wouldn't get a spanking for that, even though that's really bad because it was an accident. He didn't willfully disobey. Or even if my son does something that I really don't like, but I have not told him no before, he doesn't get a spanking for that because he did not disobey. But if you told them no and they still disobey, they need a punishment. They need a spanking. Depending on how bad it was will depend on how harsh the punishment is, how harsh the spanking is. But them disobeying means you need to spank them. And look, that starts at a very young age. What I've found is this, most men don't have as much trouble with this. That's what I've found. Most men can say, you know what, my child disobeyed, they get a punishment. But a lot of moms are just a little bit too nice. That's reality. And here's the reality. You know, if a mom is around the child for 75% of the time and the husband's around for 25% of the time, which parent should be spanking more? The mom. And if you don't, what's going to end up happening is your child will not respect you, but they'll respect the father. Okay? So look, that ties into this because of the fact you see a harsh punishment prevents people from doing wrong. And the Bible speaks about spanking and look, when your children are disobeying, that's what you need to do. You need to spank them. Judges 17. Judges 17. And so we're going to see the opposite here. We see the millennial reign of Christ where we see God's rules, but then in Judges 17, what we see is basically a free for all anarchism. No rules whatsoever. Judges 17 verse six. In those days, there was no king in Israel, but every man did that, which was right in his own eyes. No king, no rules. It's just a free for all. People want to commit murder. They commit murder. If people want to commit rape, they commit rape. If people want to do whatever pedophilia, they'll do pedophilia. That's what you see. Judges 21. Turn to Judges 21. Judges 21. Judges chapter 21. And in Judges 21, notice verse 25. In those days, there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. So in Judges 17 and in Judges 21, you see there's no king. Everyone does that which is right in his own eyes. What's interesting about this is in between 17 and 21 is Judges 19. Now what is Judges 19? It's the most disturbing, sickest chapter in the entire Bible. I think worse than Genesis 19 personally. Genesis 19, Judges 19. Those are your two chapters to remember about the LGBT. And you see the most perverted and weirdest chapter in the entire Bible, Judges 19. Sandwiched between, there's no rules. Look, it's better to have bad rules than no rules. Because when there are no rules, it's a free for all. Right? I mean, if the government declared that rape was legal, let's say they did that. Do you know what would end up happening? There'd be a lot of rapes taking place. Isn't that true? If the government declared pedophilia is legal, what's going to happen? All these sodomites don't have to do it behind closed doors and put a smile on their face. They can just be openly just who they actually are, right? I mean, if there are no rules, if the government said, you know what, we're going to just say, you know what? You're allowed to kill people. If you don't like people, you can kill them. No punishment. What do you think is going to happen? You're going to see a lot of murders take place, right? It's like you're going to make sure you have that sword or that baseball bat or whatever. I mean, if there are no rules, then it's going to be a free for all. And look, there's this kind of attitude that this anarchist society with no rules is going to be some good society. That's the exact opposite of what the Bible says. That is the worst form of government. You're better off having a wicked government, ungodly government, corrupt government, then no rules whatsoever. Turn to Micah 2. Micah 2. Micah 2. But see, during the millennial reign of Christ, it's going to be a very comforting time because you're not going to get fined for accidentally driving over the speed limit, right? You're not going to be fined for something very minor. That's something that's just foolish. No, you're going to have God's laws. And look, man creates a lot of weird laws that are false laws that are wrong laws or whatever. And we're going to have God's laws during the millennial reign of Christ. So as a safe person that's trying to do right, you know, you don't really have to worry. You say, why? What does Micah 2 verse 7 say? Micah 2 verse 7. O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the Lord straightened? Are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? Look, God's words do us good. You say, why? Because of the fact we ought to have capital crime on murder. You say, why? That would protect us from bad people. If there are harsh punishments on murder and rape and kidnapping and pedophilia and theft, that would protect us. Why? We're not doing those things, but it would be nice to be protected from those things. And if you have a harsh punishment, you know what's going to happen? The crime is going to dramatically decrease. Turn to Ecclesiastes 8, Ecclesiastes chapter 8, Ecclesiastes chapter 8, and it says in Ecclesiastes chapter 8 verse 11, because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily. Therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. And so what the Bible says is the sentence against an evil work, a crime, it should be executed speedily. Now in today's world, somebody goes on trial for murder, and then four and a half years later they declare them guilty. It's like four and a half years. I mean, they have trial, they have retrials, a postponement of a trial, then they get to counter sue or whatever. I mean, it's like, what in the world? Why would it take four years to determine if somebody's guilty? The Bible says, you know what, it needs to be done speedily, otherwise it has no effect. And look, this is common sense, because think about it. If my son just decides, you know what, I'm going to break dad's cell phone, okay, and he just intentionally does it, and then I spank him three and a half weeks later. I mean, does that make any sense? It was done three and a half weeks ago. When the crime happens, there needs to be punishment quickly. It's a joke. It's a laughing stock that in courtrooms, it takes months and years and everything to declare if somebody's innocent or guilty or whatever, especially when there's so much evidence. I mean, there's like 15 witnesses that somebody's a pedophile, and they have all of this evidence, and it takes two and a half years to determine it. It's like, what in the world? See, the Bible says, it says, an evil work is not executed speedily. It should be swift judgment on the crime. Turn to Isaiah 2, Isaiah chapter 2, and that is what it's going to be during the millennial reign of Christ. When somebody's found guilty, they're going to have to pay it quickly. It's not going to be a long trial. It's going to be very quick. Number one, we saw that during the millennial reign of Christ, we're going to have the commandments of God. Number two, we're going to have comfort from the fact that God's commandments are going to be comforting for us that are walking uprightly. Number three, we're going to have a comprehension of God. You say, what do you mean by that? I mean that people are going to actually know God's word better than they've ever known God's word during the millennial reign of Christ. Notice what it says in Isaiah 2 verse 3, and many people shall go and say, come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways. What are you seeing? You know what the millennial reign of Christ is going to be like? It's going to be a lot of preaching, a lot of sermons. You're going to be hearing the word of God thunder from the Lord Jesus Christ, and look, us that are believers, we're going to have our glorified bodies, so you're going to be hearing sermons all over the world. It's going to be the word of God is going to be taught, it's going to be proclaimed, and knowledge is going to increase. People are going to have an understanding, a comprehension of God's word during the millennial reign of Christ. Why? Because his word's being preached. Now in today's world, here in the Philippines, is God's word being preached much? No it's not. Do people have much comprehension of God? No they don't. I mean, in today's world, I mean, when you talk to kids, you talk about, you know, the flood, Noah's ark, it's like, you know, Moses, Moses, who's Moses? They don't even know these people. I mean, it's laughable. People know nothing about the Bible in today's world. You say, why? Moses actually teaches. I mean, even in your average Baptist church, children are in some junior church room, and they're being taught just games and eating candy and just having a good time and everything like that. And they're being taught that church is a circus. They're not being taught that church is meant to be a time to learn the God's word. Turn to Isaiah 11, Isaiah chapter 11. I mean, this sounds like a great, great place, right? This thousand year reign, we're going to have God's commandments, but something that we've been thundering, you know, sermon after sermon, we want God's commandments. It's going to be a comforting time for us, and we're going to have a comprehension of God's word. Wouldn't it be awesome just to hear sermon after sermon from the Lord Jesus Christ? Hear a sermon from Moses, hear a sermon from Noah, just teaching us the word of God. Wouldn't that be a great thing? Isaiah 11 verse nine. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And this is in reference in Isaiah 11 to the millennial reign of Christ. The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord during this time period. Is the earth full of the knowledge of the Lord today? No it's not. But see, during the millennial reign of Christ, it's going to be full of the knowledge of the Lord. It's going to be taught. It's going to be preached. People are going to learn God's word. Turn to Daniel 12, Daniel 12, Daniel 12. Actually turn to Amos chapter eight for sake of time. Amos chapter eight, Amos chapter eight in your minor prophets. So go Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Amos chapter eight, Amos eight, Amos chapter eight, Amos chapter eight, verse 11. Behold the days come, sayeth the Lord of God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it. And see, the Bible says that, you know, there's going to be a famine of God's word. And I think we could say that in today's world, there's quite a famine of God's word. I mean, if there was not a famine of God's word here in the Philippines, why do some people come two hours away to come to our church? I mean, people come from an hour and a half away to hear God's word. And many of those people probably would rather listen to a sermon in Tagalog than English, right? But they come from an hour and a half away. You say, why? Just because they're hearing the word of God preached. Because they're learning God's word. They just want to learn God's word. They want to be at a place where you preach God's word, they learn God's word, they learn to live a godly life. They're motivated to go soul winning and serve God. You don't find that anywhere. There is a famine of God's word in today's world. And it's not just here, because the Philippines is one of the most densely packed areas full of Christianity. And that's sad to think about. I mean, there's probably more good churches here in the Philippines than just about any country in the world. There's maybe, you know, it's probably in the top 10, to be honest. Outside of maybe the US, Australia, the UK, I mean, it's right up there. I mean, that's sad to think about. There's countries of this world with 50 million people, and you might not even have one church preaching the right gospel. 50 million people, a famine of God's word, right? I mean, I guess there's a lot of Catholic churches there. This doesn't really do you much good. Turn to Micah four, Micah four, Micah four. And look, I've experienced this before myself, even coming from the US where there are a lot of good churches, because I was at a lot of churches, and service after service after service, I learned nothing, literally nothing. And I can't even explain. I don't know how preachers do it. I really don't know how you stand behind the pulpit for 45 minutes and preach a sermon with one verse and teach nothing. I don't know how they do it. How do they memorize all these stories? I don't have a good enough memory to be a watered down Baptist preacher. I don't have all these stories memorized in my head, right? I mean, they go on and on for like 15 minutes about this story, and you're just like, okay, what was the point of that? And then they preach you a little sermonette, a little 10 minute sermon, a little 15 minute sermon. They don't really teach anything. And then the classic one is when they go over one verse. They read one verse for the entire sermon, and then they just go on some tangent that does not explain that verse at all. It's like, let's just read John 3 16. Then they're talking about evolution. It's like, you know, why would you use John 3 16 as your text verse has nothing to do with actually what that verse is about here. We just teach you what the Bible says. We just show you the verses and explain them. Micah four, verse two, and many nations shall come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord into the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths for the law shall go forth of Zion in the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. So in Micah four, verse two, people were saying, you know what? I want to hear the word of God preached, and during the millennial reign of Christ, the Lord will be teaching us his word. It's going to be a time of great comprehension, understanding knowledge of God's word. Turn in your Bible to Isaiah 11, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 11, Isaiah Chapter 11. And so number one, during the millennial reign of Christ, what we're going to see is the commandments of God are going to be thundered forth. Number two, we're going to see it's going to be a very comforting time, a very peaceful time because of God's commandments. Number three, there's going to be a great comprehension of God's word. But number four, there are also going to be a few corrections. God is going to correct some things that have become corrupted. Okay. And so notice what it says in Isaiah 11, Isaiah 11. Now realize this before the fall of man. I mean, honestly, before Noah's flood, all animals were vegetarian. They didn't eat other animals. Now in today's world, you know, animals, most of them are carnivorous. They eat other animals, they eat meat. But you know, for example, cats, cats could not survive without eating meat. That's what they in their present state. That's what they need. But, you know, before the flood, obviously there was something different because those animals were vegetarians. Now people like to mock the Bible, and then they'll look at certain animals and they'll say, well, there's no way because you look at certain dinosaurs and you say, well, you know, maybe that's a herbivore, like it only eats plants and people evolutionists like to mock that. But there are plenty of just plant eating animals today that have teeth that are really, you know, vicious that look like they would kill some other animal, but they're herbivores. Okay. So regardless of what they look like in their mouths, you know, before Noah's flood, they were all herbivores. But notice what it says in Isaiah 11 verse six, the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them. What are you seeing in Isaiah 11 verse six? What you're seeing is the animals are going vegetarian. They're not eating each other. I mean, the wolf is going to dwell with the lamb. I mean, imagine that in today's world, right? You know, the wolf and the lamb just kind of cuddle up together and everything. They're going to take a nap together. I mean, you wouldn't see that in today's world, but they are going to become herbivores. Okay. They're going to become vegetarians and the leopard shall lie down with the kid. That's not something you're going to see. And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, all of these animals, they're no longer going to be attacking other animals and eating meat. They're going to be lying down together during the millennial reign of Christ, all animals are going to go vegetarian. That's what the Bible teaches. Verse seven, and the cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The Bible says the lion shall eat straw. What it's showing you is the animals are going to go vegetarian like they were before the fall of man. So once there was the fall of man, a lot changed with Adam and Eve, but the animals were still vegetarians when you read closely until after Noah's ark, okay? But after that point, all of a sudden they became carnivorous because when they went to the ark, if you read very carefully, the food that was given, it says for the end, for them, it was plants. They ate plants. So did the people. They ate plants on the ark, okay? But the animals after the flood, they became, many of them became carnivores, but what you're seeing is during the millennial reign of Christ, things are going to be corrected back to how they were originally before the fall of man and they will be vegetarians. Verse 8, and the sucking child shall play in the hole of the asp and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice din. So what you see here is the animals can be playing with these, the humans can be playing with these vicious animals and they don't have to worry about being killed. I mean imagine having your children play with snakes at a young age. Would you do that? I mean imagine having your kid just pet a lion, right? Pet these animals. Just, you know, swim with a shark, right? It's like, you know, just swim beside a shark and everything. You're having a good time. You're not going to have that in today's world. You say why? Because you're afraid that animal is going to eat you. But see, during the millennial reign of Christ, it's like a giant zoo, right? It's like a giant aquarium. You just get to see the animals like, oh man, here's a grizzly bear. You rub the belly of the grizzly bear and just kind of move along. That's what it's going to be like during the millennial reign of Christ. It sounds like a great place for us, right? Because there's a lot of really cool animals. It's like, man, it would be really cool to see this animal in person, except I'm afraid it would kill me, right? But during the millennial reign of Christ, the animals aren't going to be killing humans. They're going to be vegetarians. Okay. Turn to Isaiah 65, Isaiah 65, Isaiah 65, Isaiah chapter 65. This says in Isaiah 65, verse 25, verse 25, the wolf and the lamb shall feed together and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountains, sayeth the Lord. So what you're seeing is this, the wolf and lamb are going to feed together. The lion shall eat straw and the dust shall be the serpent's meat. What it's saying is this, that the serpent, you know, it's not going to be, you know, killing other animals. Okay. What you're seeing is the animals will be vegetarians during the millennial reign of Christ. Okay. Turn to Genesis chapter six, Genesis six, Genesis six, Genesis chapter six. And so not only is there going to be a correction in terms of the fact the animals are going to go vegetarian, but we're also going to see during the millennial reign of Christ that people will live longer lives. Okay. Now people that have glorified bodies, well that's different because they're not going to die. But in terms of people that are living during the millennial reign of Christ that do not have glorified bodies, they will actually, because I mean the second resurrection has not happened yet at this point. It's mentioned later on in revelation chapter 20, but they're going to be living longer lives than today. In today's world, people live 70, 80 years. I mean, pretty much the peak you can live is 120 according to Genesis six, verse three. And the Lord said, my spirit shall not always strive with man for that he also is flesh. Yet his day shall be in 120 years. Okay. Now I believe this verse has a dual application. One application is I believe the Lord's giving them warning. You have 120 more years before the flood is going to take place, but also that 120 is pretty much the peak that man's going to live. I believe it has dual application. And when you look at human history, people do not live to be 120. People do not live to be 120. I think in the Guinness Book of Records, someone lived to be 121 or 122, and you never know if these stories are real, right? Because you'll see it at something on Google that says Adolf Hitler's still alive and he's 100 whatever, or there's somebody who was born in a jungle, he's 175 years old or something like that. But you know, not all countries really have birth certificates and stuff like that. So people can kind of make up years. So it's a common thing with athletes. Athletes will lie about their age so they can sign a big, big contract because people are saying, hey, this person is only 15 years old and he's going to get a lot of stronger and bigger. And in reality, he's like 20 years old. Okay, so in a lot of countries, they don't necessarily have birth certificates that everybody has one where you can verify everything. But 120 years is pretty much the peak of how long people live in today's world. Turn to Isaiah 65, Isaiah 65, Isaiah 65. So that's what Jesus Christ or that's what the Lord said in Genesis chapter six. And what you saw is that the ages of man slowly dwindled down, because people live to be 900 years old, then you see it's like 500 years and 400 and 300. And slowly over time, there's some sort of genetic change or some change in the atmosphere that caused man to slowly live shorter lives. And then it kind of stopped at 120 with the average age being 70 to 80 years. And not much has changed, because the average person lives to be 70 to 80 years. That's what it said in Moses day. That's pretty much the same now. Okay. But during the millennial reign of Christ, people are going to be living longer, just as it slowly decelerated after the flood. It's probably going to slowly accelerate during the millennial reign of Christ. But notice what it says in Isaiah 65 verse 20. There shall be no more since an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days, for the child shall die in 100 years old. See, in today's world, you have people that babies might die at a young age, an infant of days that only lived a handful of days or whatever, and an old man that hath not filled his days. Sometimes people die that maybe they're in their 50s or they're 60 years old and everything. And you consider kind of a travesty that they didn't get to live a longer life. But see, during the millennial reign of Christ, if somebody dies at the age of 100, you're going to say they're a child. The child shall die in 100 years old. Now in today's world, if somebody dies, I mean, if they're past the age of 18, you're not going to really call him a child, probably, right? But in the millennial reign of Christ, if you die at the age of 100, people are going to say, you know, he was but a child, right? It's like nowadays, if he lived to be 100, that's a very long life. So during the millennial reign of Christ, people live longer lives. The child shall die in 100 years old, but the sinner being in 100 years old shall be accursed. Okay? There are different opinions about what this means. The sinner being in 100 years old shall be accursed. Now, what I believe it's saying is this, okay? Because some people say, well, you know, if you die at 100, basically once you reach the age of 100, because of the fact the knowledge is being increased in all the world, that if you reach the age of 100 and you're not saved, then you're pretty much going to become a reprobate. Okay? And that is a possibility. Maybe that is what it's referring to. Okay? That basically doesn't mean because when people hear the word of God over and over and over again and they reject it, eventually they're just going to become a reprobate if they reject the truth over and over and over again. Now, people can hear the gospel five times, six times, seven times, but if somebody hears the gospel for 500 straight days and doesn't get saved, they're never getting saved. Okay? So it could be saying that basically if you're 100 years old, very unlikely you're going to get saved past the age of 100. I believe it actually could be referring to kind of the age of accountability during millennial reign of Christ, that basically because people were living such long lives, God, you know, allows you to be up to that point before you'd kind of reach that age of accountability where then you become accursed and you need to get saved, whereas if you died before that, you would be safe. Because in today's world, if a child dies at three years old, they go to heaven, right? They don't have a comprehension enough of what we're speaking about now. But if they were to live to be 12 years old, then they would go to hell if they didn't get saved. So I believe that age could be increased during the millennial reign of Christ. So it could be that, you know, people basically if they don't get saved in the first 100 years, they're not going to get saved. They'd essentially become a reprobate, or it could be referring to the age of accountability. I'm not sure. Okay? Verse 21. And they shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit. They shall not plant and another eat. Notice this for as the days of a tree are the days of my people as the days of a tree are the days of my people. Now trees live a long life, right? Trees can last for a really long time. You can look at certain trees, and they got so many rings around that, right? I mean, ring after ring after ring. Trees can live for a very, very, very long time. And he's saying, you know what? The life of a human is going to be like the life of a tree. That's what it's saying during that time period. And mine elects shall long enjoy the work of their hands. Now that's interesting at the end of verse 22, because I want you to realize that in today's world, honestly, we really don't get to enjoy the work of our hands. I mean, pretty much your entire life is just work, work, work. You're always busy. You never really feel like you get a chance to really have much of a vacation and everything. But during the millennial reign of Christ, it says mine elects shall long enjoy the work of their hands. So there's actually going to be an opportunity to just have some fun, have some vacation. Whereas in today's world, because of the curse of man after Adam and Eve sinned, basically you're going to have to work very hard to till the ground. And that is the way it's going to be until the day we die. Life is difficult, but during the millennial reign of Christ, it's going to be like during the Garden of Eden where it was very easy, right? So basically this fall of man, we're basically reverting back to like the Garden of Eden days. And in the Garden of Eden days, basically everything just kind of grew itself. But what we saw in that and what we can understand is because everything was so easy, it caused man to commit sins because we have a sinful nature. Too much free time is not a good thing. But during the millennial reign of Christ, when people have their glorified bodies, they're going to have a lot of time to just have vacation and have fun. That's what the Bible is saying. Now turn in your Bible to Revelation 20. Revelation 20. So tonight's sermon was like a half sermon and a half Bible study kind of combination. Okay, let's look at a few more verses here. So the points we saw were this number one, the millennial reign of Christ, we're going to see the commandments of God. It's going to be his rules, his laws. He's going to rule and reign with a rod of iron. Number two, it's going to be a very comforting time because of God's commandments. Number three, there's going to be great comprehension of God's word. And number four, there's going to be correction where basically things are reverting back to the Garden of Eden type days. Revelation 20 verse three, 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 a thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that, he must be loosed to little season. So the thousand years of the millennial reign of Christ and what's going to happen after that time period is the devil is going to be let out and he's going to basically gather together armies against God. Verse four, and I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given on to 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 reign with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until a thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection implying there's a second resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. So what's the main point of today's sermon? What can we take away from the millennial reign of Christ? Because look, obviously, you know, one day we'll be part of the millennial reign of Christ, but that's not going to be now. So what can we learn in our day? Well, to be honest, there has never been a time in human history where God's laws have actually been enforced. And look, when you try to tell people the laws of the Bible, people say that would never work in today's world. What we're going to find out during the millennial reign of Christ is that God's methods work. I mean, if we had actually used God's laws, this world would be a wonderful place to live. It'd be a great place to live. Now it wouldn't be a great place for those that are wicked, but God's word does good to those that walk uprightly. Now us that are saved. But we make mistakes. We're not perfect. But you know, we're not committing these capital crimes where you're getting the death penalty. And the world would be a much better place if God's laws were actually instituted. But unfortunately, humans never really had that much faith in God's word. They never applied God's word. They never applied his rules and his laws. And so we've never actually seen it in action. But what we see in Revelation 20 and these other passages are the millennial reign of Christ. It's going to be God's laws and things are going to work. It's going to be a wonderful place. There's not going to be crime. It's going to be safe. You're going to be beating your swords and your guns and your baseball bats into plowshares. You have no need of weapons. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here in your house today. And I ask you to help us to apply this sermon to our lives and help us to always just trust in your word and that your laws and your commandments and everything you say is correct. It's right. And it will turn out right for us. Sometimes we can doubt, we can lack the faith that we need, God, that if we follow your instructions it will work out, but your way is best. And so help us just to apply the Bible to our lives, God, each and every day. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.