Mesa Hills Bible Church

Pastor Tim Dane: Last week in our study of Revelation, we got down to verse 12 and we saw how Israel, who is being described in the imagery here as a woman that is clothed as we see back in verse one, she is the woman who is clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of 12 stars. This comes right out of Genesis 37:9. This woman in this image is the nation of Israel.

And we saw in verse five how Israel brought forth a male child, and that is Jesus Christ. Verse five: "She gave birth to a male child, a son, a male child." And we spent a lot of time last week talking about Messianic prophecy because we want to see what the Bible said about who that child was going to be. So we went through a number of Old Testament passages looking at Old Testament Messianic prophecy.

I want to continue on that right now. We're going to look back in time and see the promises, more promises about who this promised Savior is going to be, but then we're going to fast-forward and we're going to look into the future and see what's going to happen when he rules with a rod of iron. Now, we ended our study as we went through Messianic prophecy last week, we ended by talking about the Book of Ruth that goes back to about the year 1125 BC.

And when we were looking in the Book of Ruth, we saw that Ruth married Boaz and that Ruth and Boaz had a child, and that child's name was Obed. And then it tells us that when Obed grew up, he had a child named Jesse, and when Jesse grew up, he had a child named David. And so we find out that Obed, this child that is born to Ruth and Boaz, is the grandfather of King David of Israel.

That's a major, major connection of the Bible. And we also looked at the fact that in Ruth chapter four, verses 18 through 22, it lists a genealogy that ends with King David, who's going to come along a couple generations later, but that genealogy that is listed in Ruth chapter four, it begins with a man whose name was Perez. And we talked a little bit about this. Well, who was Perez?

The key to understanding who Perez was is that you go back to Genesis chapter 38. Now, this is about 750 years before the birth of Obed in the Book of Ruth. But if you go back to Genesis 38, to roughly around 1876 BC, we learn the story that Judah, one of the sons of Israel, Judah, one of the sons of Israel, had a daughter-in-law by the name of Tamar.

The daughter-in-law's husband died. Two of her husbands died. And so what happened is that Tamar hid herself, she disguised herself, and Judah ended up having a child with his own daughter-in-law Tamar who had dressed up as a prostitute. And we find out that Tamar, the daughter-in-law, ended up having twin sons. One of them was named Zerah. What was the other one's name? Perez.

So way back in the Book of Genesis chapter 38, we find out that Judah, who is in the line of Christ, he's the family line of Christ, that Judah ended up having a son named Perez. And then 750 years later in the Book of Ruth, we find out that this is the connection on how Christ is going to come into the world. He's going to come in through Judah and his son Perez. David comes out of this.

Now, when we go into the books of First and Second Samuel, that's where we learn about David. I want to talk a little bit more about Messianic prophecy before we go to the future, but we know that Obed was born about the year 1125, and Obed ended up having a son named Jesse, who was born probably about 40 years later in around the year 1085. And then we know that Jesse ended up having David roughly around the year 1040.

As we come to the life of King David, the chronologies get a little bit more clear as far as how we date things. David was born in about the year 1040. He came to the throne in about the year 1011. Now, who is it that comes next after David? When we read about David in the Old Testament, we see that God favored David because God chose David as the line through whom Christ would come.

God raised up David. God did everything for David. He protected him from King Saul, who wanted to murder him. He raised him up and gave him the throne of not only the southern portion of the tribes, but the northern tribes as well. The whole nation was united under David. God gave everything to David. And then in Second Samuel, if you'll turn with me to Second Samuel chapter seven, we see where this line of the Messiah picks it back up with David.

Second Samuel chapter seven is where we come to this time when God swears a promise to David. Now, we call this the Davidic covenant. Did God's promise of salvation begin with David? No. Did it begin with Abraham? No. Where did the promise of a Savior originate? All the way back in the Book of Genesis chapter three.

As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, God said, "One day I'm going to send a Savior." So when we look at these promises that God swore to people like Abraham and David, we call it the Abrahamic covenant or the Davidic covenant, but the promise of salvation originates from the time that we needed a Savior back in the Book of Genesis.

But here in Second Samuel chapter seven, God has now established David firmly as king over the entire nation. And if you come down here to chapter seven, for example in verse 12, God says, "David, when your days are complete and you lie down, in other words when you die, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom."

Now, if you look at verse 16, he says, "Your house and your kingdom will endure before me forever. It'll be established forever." So what God is telling David is the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, is going to come from David's family and it says it's an eternal kingdom. "I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever."

All right. Now, as you go through the rest of Samuel, we find out how God continued to raise David up. Everything is going great. I mean, David is on top of the world. And then we come to Second Samuel chapter 11, and this is where things get ugly because David saw a beautiful woman. He saw her from his palace. He looked down and he saw this beautiful woman and he says, "Well, who is that?"

And they said, "Well, that's Bathsheba, the wife of your captain, Uriah. He's out in the battlefield right now. That's his wife." And David says, "Well, bring her into the palace." And David committed a great sin by sleeping with another man's wife. She got pregnant. When David tried to cover the whole thing up and couldn't cover it up, he ended up having Uriah killed in battle.

David effectively murdered a really, really loyal citizen so that he could cover up his sin. Well, we know what happened is that God sent a prophet by the name of Nathan to come and confront David because God saw what happened. And Nathan kind of gave a story about a fictitious story about somebody who really did something wrong in one of the villages.

And the whole thing was setting David up to indict himself. And so when David says, "Well, that guy needs to be judged. He deserves to die. He has to pay back in full what he did and pay back four times as much," and Nathan says, "Well, you're the one, David, because you stole Uriah's wife and you had him murdered. And because of this violent, wicked deed that you did, you're going to have a lot of trouble in your family and in your kingdom from now on."

Well, David had a really big consequence from that sin, but God forgave his sin. And David, and here's something very fascinating, when Nathan confronted David, David's first words were, "I have sinned." And what did Nathan say back to him? "The Lord has forgiven your sin."

Free grace. David didn't deserve to be forgiven, did he? But then again, neither do I and neither do you. This is the free grace of what God gives us when we trust in his son, Jesus Christ. You believe in Jesus Christ, you could be the worst, animal, wicked person on the planet. If you will repent and believe in God's son, God will forgive you. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Amen.

Yeah, man, what great news. We all need that. Well, now what happened is that David and Bathsheba's first baby died. And God said, "There's going to be a judgment. This child is going to die." But David and Bathsheba had another child. So when you come to Second Samuel chapter 12, we come down here and we find out that this child was born to Bathsheba and David gave him the name what? Solomon.

And so God gave David and Bathsheba Solomon, but when you come down here to Second Samuel chapter 12, verse 24, notice what happens. David comforted Bathsheba, he went into her, he lay with her, she gave birth to another son, he named him Solomon. Now it says here in verse 24, "Now the Lord loved Solomon."

And verse 25, "He sent word through Nathan the prophet and God named him Jedidiah for the Lord's sake." Jedidiah. Now we don't hear that name very much in our culture. What does Jedidiah mean in Hebrew? The verb `did` means to love. That's one of the verbs that means to love. So like David's name was `Dawid`, beloved.

So `Jedidiah` in Hebrew means "the Lord has loved him." So Nathan the prophet came to David and Bathsheba and said, "The Lord has given him the name Jedidiah." This was God saying, "He is my chosen king. David, of all your sons, the line of the Messiah is going to come through Solomon."

And you say, "Well, wait a minute, that shouldn't work that way because David committed adultery with Bathsheba and that was a really bad thing and all these things were wrong, and yet God is going to bring the Savior of the world through that family and that person?" Absolutely. The Bible is not about a bunch of good people.

The Bible is about a bunch of sinners like you and me. And I'm glad that they're not writing the Bible these days and my name's not in the Bible. And we should all be glad that we're not the ones being exposed in the Bible, right? But this is when Paul says, "We know that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord," it is true.

God is taking all of the things of this life, he's at work to bring redemption to a sin-cursed world, and it includes all kinds of things like this right here. So what happens here in Second Samuel chapter 12, we find out that Solomon is the line of the promised king.

And what happens is as you go throughout the rest of the Old Testament, every time there is a son born into that family line, this is the family line of the Messiah of Jesus Christ. And it ended up in a place called Bethlehem when Joseph and Mary were forced to have to make a trip across the country because of a Roman tax statute.

And they had to go when she's nine months pregnant and they go down to Bethlehem where Mary ends up giving birth in a road trip. And they don't even have a house, they have to go into looks like an animal stall, and Christ is born and then he's placed to sleep. His crib is an animal food trough, a manger. Wow.

We don't want to see those things for our little babies when they come into the world, do we? And yet this was all God's work. And by the way, the Bible predicted in Micah chapter five that Christ would be born in Bethlehem. So all of this is more part of God's work. Now, we come to the next part of verse five right here.

This is where John, so going back to Revelation, this is where and by the way, I want you to turn with me in just a minute to Psalm two. But in Revelation chapter 12, verse five, it says that she, meaning Israel, gave birth to a son, a male child, and then it says in the next part of verse five, "who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, an iron rod."

So this is not just a stick for kind of shepherding your sheep, this is not like a staff, but it's an iron rod. Iron rod means that we're talking about a harsh, firm, fierce rule. And this kingdom is not here right now. It says in chapter 12, verse five, that when she gave birth to the son, it says that he will rule all the nations with a rod of iron.

So here in Revelation chapter 12, verse five, it says this is something still future. He is going to, the word means "will," he will rule all the nations with a rod of iron. The background from this comes in Psalm two. Now I want you to glance with me at Psalm two for just a minute.

Psalm two, and you see here one of David's psalms where he's talking about the coming of Christ to bring the kingdom. Psalm two, verse one begins, "Why are the nations in an uproar? Why are the peoples devising a vain thing?" In other words, all the world is just raging against God. "The kings of the earth take their stand and all the rulers against Yahweh, the Lord, and his anointed chosen king."

And they say, "Let us tear their fetters apart. Let us cast away their cords from us." In other words, if you look at unsaved man, it's like a big ant pile that has gotten mad, and you see these ants just start getting furious. This is what the sinful world is like, raging against God, raising their fists against God.

And what is God's response? Verse four says, "He who sits in the heavens laughs." He looks at them, he scoffs at them. God looks down and says, "You puny little ants that hate me and think you're going to attack me and overthrow me. No, that's not how it's going to work."

Psalm two, verse five, "Then at that time when he sends Christ, the word says then it's looking at a specific point when Christ brings the kingdom, then he will speak to them in his anger. He'll terrify them in his fury. As for me," says God, "I've installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain." Zion is Jerusalem.

When Christ comes to this world, he's going to rule the world from Jerusalem. Christ says right here, "I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh, the Lord, that he said to me, `You are my son. Today I have begotten thee. Ask of me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance, the very ends of the earth as your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron. You're going to shatter them like earthenware.`"

This is a direct rule of Christ when he comes to this world. He's going to rule. Now here's the implication of this for the nations of the world and all the political leaders of the world. Verse 10 says, "Now therefore, o kings, you better wise up. Show some discernment. Take warning, o judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence. Do homage. Rejoice with trembling."

Verse 12 says, "Do homage to the son." The Hebrew says "kiss the son," bowing down in reverence to Christ the King. "Kiss the son, worship the son, lest he become angry and you perish in the way." In other words, all of you unsaved political leaders out there that think that you're hot stuff, and by the way, that would be true at an individual level for every one of us too, right?

But all these political leaders that think "look at me with my power," he says, "You better wise up and bow down to Christ because Christ is going to come and he will become angry and you're going to perish because his wrath will soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in him."

So this is what it means to rule with a rod of iron. It means that Christ is going to return and he is going to bring a severe, swift judgment. Now this verse is quoted here in Revelation 19:15. It says that when Christ returns to this world, Revelation 19, verses 11 to 21, when Christ returns, it says that he comes and in verse 15 it says that he's going to rule with that rod of iron or that iron rod.

And it also says in Revelation 19:14 that somebody else is with him and returns to this world. It says that the armies who are clothed in fine linen, bright and clean, return with Christ from heaven to earth. That is the resurrected church in resurrection glory returning with Christ at the end of that seven-year tribulation period when Christ comes and brings all these judgments on the pagan nations of the world that are trying to destroy Israel.

We know that this is the resurrected church because it describes the church in verses seven and eight, Revelation 19. Let's go back quickly to Revelation. We want to pick it up and look at some verses in Revelation. It says that the church was clothed in fine linen, bright and clean.

This is the resurrection glory that we are going to have when we get raptured and taken to heaven, and then we return with Christ it says in Revelation 19:14. So here's a question that we need to look at and answer. What is going to happen when Christ returns? Well, Revelation chapter 12, verse five says he's going to rule with an iron rod.

But guess what? He is not going to be ruling alone. Who else is going to be ruling with him? We are. The church. All of the resurrected saints of former ages. The resurrected church is going to be ruling with Christ in resurrection glory and the resurrected Old Testament saints are going to return and be brought back into resurrection in the kingdom.

So the Old Testament saints are going to be resurrected in the kingdom. It says so in Daniel chapter 12, verse two, and also in Daniel chapter 12, verses 11 to 13. All of the Old Testament saints are going to be resurrected, they will be in the kingdom ruling with Christ. Beloved, I'm going to hammer this point quite a few times.

This is not happening right now because it's still future. We are not in the kingdom of God. God's kingdom comes to this world when Christ returns and says, "The party's over. The sin party is over. It's my kingdom. This is my world. And now you are going to submit to me."

And the only ones that are permitted to enter into the kingdom are the believers. No unbelievers are allowed into the kingdom it says so, Old Testament and New Testament. But when Christ comes, he's going to rule this world and the church is going to be there ruling with him, and so are the resurrected Old Testament saints.

So look with me at Revelation chapter two, because if I say something I need to demonstrate that to you from the Bible, okay? Not just the concept, but I need to be able to say, here's what the Bible says about that. So look at Revelation chapter two when he speaks about the resurrected church returning with Christ.

Revelation chapter 2, verse 26 says, "He who overcomes," which means the believer, "he who overcomes and keeps my deeds to the end, to him," to the individual believer, "I will give authority over the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces."

Well, in Psalm two, that prophecy speaks about the son, Christ the King returning, but here it says, "Guess what? The believers are also part of that rule as well. We are going to rule with him." Revelation chapter three, notice down here in verse 21, "He who overcomes, I will grant him to sit down with me on my throne as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne."

Listen, we're not in the kingdom right now. When Christ brings his kingdom, you are going to be there in resurrected glory and you're going to be ruling the world with him. Where do you want to be? I don't know, man, I've always wanted to maybe think Maui or something like that, you know, being down in Cabo, you know, somewhere really nice. Didn't get to go there when I was in this world, but you're going to be ruling with him.

In Matthew chapter 19, verse 28, there's another passage that goes directly with this. When Peter is looking at his retirement account, and I'm dramatizing this here, but Peter looks at his retirement account, he says, "Jesus, we left everything to follow you. What are we going to get in the end?"

They were pretty self-seeking, but you know, it helps us to answer a question. He says, "What are we going to get out of this?" And Jesus told the disciples, "In the kingdom," he says, "you 12 apostles are going to sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel." The apostles are going to be the ones who give rule and management to the nation of Israel, the resurrected apostles.

That's not happening right now. Why? Because we're not in the kingdom. This is what the Bible says is going to happen. Look with me at Revelation chapter 5, verse 10. Again, another verse that speaks about the church. He speaks about how God has purchased his saints by the blood of Christ.

And in verse 10 it says that "he has made us to be a kingdom, priests to our God," and it says, "and they," meaning we, "will reign where? Upon the earth." This is not a spiritual kingdom. We are going to reign upon the earth. This is what the Bible says is going to happen in the kingdom.

Look at Revelation chapter 20, notice what it says here in verse 4. Revelation 19, verses 11 to 21, give an explicit description of the return of Christ to earth to wage war on the armies that are assembled at Armageddon. He destroys them and then it says in Revelation chapter 20 in verse four that after he has destroyed these armies, he begins his 1,000-year millennial kingdom.

It says that Satan is bound for a thousand years. It says that in Revelation chapter 20, verses one to three. Satan and all the demons are bound for the entire millennium. Satan is not bound right now. Peter said in First Peter 5:8 it says that he roams around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. And he's active, he's very active in this world, just look around you.

Satan is not bound. But what happens in the millennium? He's bound for the thousand years. No demonic influence or activity. Notice what else happens in chapter 20, verse four. In the middle of the verse, it says that there are people who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God.

And they had not worshipped the beast or his image. They had not received the mark of the beast on their forehead or upon their hand. They came to life and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. They're resurrected. They would not bow down to the antichrist.

Now where do we read about this mark of the beast? In Revelation chapter 13, it says that there's going to be a political leader that rises up and there's going to be an economic system, you must take a mark on your body, your hand or your forehead, and that is the only way that you are allowed to buy or sell.

Now you know, I mean there's talk that's going around right now about going to electronic currency. I heard a news article on this last week where they're talking about complete electronic currency. I don't know if that's how much it connects with this stuff, but it's connected one way or another.

But what it says is that if you don't take this mark on your hand, you cannot be part of the economic system. And the people that refused to take the mark because they're believers, it says they were killed. But these people that were killed for refusing to worship the antichrist and follow him, they're resurrected and they reign with Christ for how long? A thousand years.

That's not a symbolic number. The numbers in Revelation are literal. This is a literal millennial kingdom and they're going to rule with Christ for the thousand years. So Christ is going to rule this world with a rod of iron it says in Revelation 12:5, but we are going to be there with him.

Now, I want to talk to you some more about what this kingdom is going to look like because it's important that we're taking our theology directly from the Bible. We are not the kingdom. We are not Jews. Now, some of you may be Jews. To be a Jew means that you're a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You come from Jacob, that's what a Jew is.

So we're not Jews. We're not spiritual Jews. Now the Bible does in two different places say that if you believe God's promises in Christ, it says that you become a spiritual child of Abraham because you're walking in the footsteps of Abraham, the father of faith. So we can say that we are spiritual heirs of Abraham.

Even if we're not a physical heir, we are spiritual heirs of Abraham. But to be a spiritual heir of Abraham because you trust in Christ and you believe in God's word is not the same thing, it is not the same thing to be a Jew. Now Paul makes a big deal about this in his letters because there was a lot of Jews back in the first century.

Most of the Jews did not believe in Christ, right? Most of them denied him. Now are those people that denied Christ back then or the Jews that deny him today, are they going to be in his kingdom? No, they will not. Says that they're going to be cast out.

But the important point here is that you can be a physical Jew but have no proper relationship with God. And if you're a physical Jew but you don't believe, your Jewishness means nothing. Now Paul talks about this several times in his letters. For example in Romans chapter 2, he says, "Listen, a Jew is not simply being outward. You can be a male and have circumcision and be a Jew physically, but if you're not a believer, then it means nothing."

He says the true Jew is the one that has faith in the heart. When Paul says that here, he is not saying that Gentiles become Jews when they believe in Christ. That absolutely is not at all what Paul is saying in the flow of his argument. What he is saying is that if you're a Jew but you don't believe, it's worthless.

That's what he says. But it does not say that Gentiles become Jews because we don't become Jews. We're believers, we're saints, but we're not Jews. We're not Jews unless you're a physical Jew. The church is not spiritual Israel. We're not the kingdom. But what is this kingdom going to look like?

What I want to do in the rest of our time this morning is I want to go through seven biblical facts of what is going to happen when Christ comes to rule with the iron rod. Seven biblical facts of what the kingdom is going to be. Here is the first one right here.

When Christ returns, the Bible says that he brings the kingdom, he is going to destroy a massive coalition of world armies that have assembled to destroy the people of Israel. Now this is repeated quite a few times in the Bible. So it's not like a single passage or an isolated statement, there's a number of places.

Now, just as a starting point for this, we can even look to what the Torah said when Moses wrote in Deuteronomy chapter 30. Moses said the following statement about Israel's future. Because Moses told the people of Israel, "Here's what's going to happen to you. God is now bringing you into the land of Canaan, he's giving you the land that he swore, but you guys are only going to get blessed if you stay faithful to the Lord."

So in Deuteronomy 28, verses 1 to 14, he says, "Stay faithful to this covenant that God made with you at Mount Sinai, you're going to be blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed." Deuteronomy 28, verses 1 through 14. 14 verses of blessing. But then from verses 15 to 68, he says, "If you turn away from God and become idolaters, God's going to bring judgments upon you," and you have 54 verses of curses that are proclaimed upon Israel.

And they culminate with Israel being cast out of the land for a long, long dispersion. Okay. Blessings and curses. Now in Deuteronomy chapter 30, Moses says, "Now when all these things have happened, the blessings and the curses have come upon you, at the end of the age, God's going to turn you back to himself. He's going to restore you to the land, he's going to bring spiritual life to you and he's going to settle you in the land that he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

And then here's what it says in Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse seven. "If your outcasts are at the end of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you and from there he will bring you back. The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed and you will possess it. And he will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. The Lord your God will inflict all the curses on your enemies and on those who hate you and persecute you."

Listen, the Bible says that at the end of the age when God brings the kingdom here, he destroys the nations that are seeking the destruction of Israel. That has not happened yet. Very, very clear. Some people say, "Well, the Preterist interpretation of this says, well, when the kingdom started back in the first century and the Romans crushed Israel and destroyed the second temple, this was the second coming of Christ. And so God's destruction and judgment on Israel really was the fulfilling of these things."

It's the exact opposite of what the Bible says. The Bible says God is going to destroy all the nations that are seeking Israel's destruction. This is biblical theology. And this is repeated over and over again in the prophets. This is what Psalm two said, what we just read a minute ago. This is repeated in other prophets as well.

In Psalm 110, King David says, "God is going to stretch forth the scepter of Christ from Zion saying, `Rule in the midst of your enemies.`" Psalm 110 says he will shatter kings in the days of his wrath. In other words, all these world powers that hate Israel and want to destroy Israel, it says that God is going to destroy them.

He'll fill the mountains and the valleys with corpses it says in Psalm 110. This is repeated in Joel chapter 3, verses 11 to 17. Joel says, "Come, all you surrounding nations." Well, that's surrounding nations. Let's see. Iran, Egypt, Turkey.

And we don't know how these things right now are going to play into the eschatological events that the Bible says. They might be setting the stage for those things, but we don't know how these things are going to play out. And so, what does that mean? We keep living our life, keep preaching the gospel, keep mowing the grass, keep making a sermon for next week.

But this is what these things that are happening right now very well could be what evolve, turn into the biblical events. But Joel chapter 3, verse 11 says, "Come, all you surrounding nations, gather yourselves together. Bring down, o Lord, your mighty ones. Let the nations be aroused and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat."

Know what Jehoshaphat is? He's talking about the Valley of Megiddo where God judges, because that's what Jehoshaphat, it means Yahweh judges them. And in Revelation chapter 16, verse 16, it says that the gathering place for these armies that are coming together, Megiddo is going to be that central gathering place.

But God brings his judgment upon them. So there's going to be a gathering of the world to destroy Israel, but Christ is not going to let it happen. And then in Joel chapter 3, verse 17, it says, when all of this has happened, he says to Israel, "Then you are going to know that I am Yahweh, your God, when I dwell in Zion."

Guess what? Jesus is Yahweh. And he says, "When I have returned and saved you and I'm dwelling," it says, "and I am dwelling in Zion, you're going to realize who I am. You're going to know that I am the promised one." That promise is repeated over and over again. Zechariah chapter 14 says the same thing.

Zechariah, at the end of the Old Testament canon, it says that all the nations of the world are going to gather together against the Lord, against Jerusalem. Zechariah 14, verse two. God says, "I'm going to gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle. The city is going to be captured, houses plundered, women raped, half the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off."

They're not going to win the war, they're going to destroy Israel, but they're not going to wipe it out. And it says in verse three, "Then, when this invasion has come upon Jerusalem and Israel, Zechariah 14, verse 3, `Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations like when he fights on a day of battle.`"

"In that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives is going to be split in two from east to west by a large valley, so half of the mountain moves north and half of it south." Massive earthquake is going to come, literal earthquake when Christ returns and it's going to split the Mount of Olives in two.

Dear friends, that hasn't happened yet. And the reason why is because the second coming of Christ hasn't happened yet. We're not in the kingdom. When Christ returns, the Bible says these things are going to happen. Believe it. It's clear. It says it. Christ is going to return and he is going to wage war on those nations.

Well, this is what we see in the Book of Revelation chapters 6 through 19. You see all of these armies gathering together. And by the way, Israel is not going to be the only one in this conflict. The Bible says nation is going to rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There's going to be wars all over the world, earthquakes, famines, starvation, disease.

Not just Israel, it's going to be the world imploding. But one thing in common is that most of these people, if not all of them, but most of them hate Israel and say, "We want to wipe you out forever." Now we see the stuff going on right now. It's really easy to see how these things are going to end up in that place.

But here's my point. That's what's going to happen when Christ comes and rules with a rod of iron and brings his kingdom. Here's a second biblical fact about what's going to happen. Christ will save every elect Jew and restore the nation to permanently live in an everlasting peace in the land of Israel.

Now, the truth is that he's going to save every elect saint, whether they're Jew or Gentile, okay? But it says that there's going to be a restoration of Israel and every remnant of Israel is going to be saved and restored to the land of Israel. It starts off in Deuteronomy chapter 30, in verse 6, where Moses says, "The Lord your God is going to circumcise your heart so that you will love the Lord your God and follow him."

That's circumcision of the heart means he's going to save you. He's going to bring regeneration. Now this promise is repeated over and over again. For example, in Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 24, the prophet Ezekiel says, "I will take you from all the nations where you've been scattered. I will gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land."

"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you'll be clean and I will cleanse you from your filthiness and your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I'm going to remove that hard, stony heart and give you a heart of flesh. I'm going to put my spirit within you." This is a promise to the people of Israel that there's going to be a regeneration to the nation.

Matter of fact, in Zechariah chapter 13, verse 8, it says one-third of the whole nation is going to turn to faith in Christ. Well, this has not happened yet. Whatever the percentage is of Jews in the world that believe in Jesus Christ, it is really, really small. But God is going to restore them from all the places where they're scattered and they're going to live in that land that he swore. This is what the Bible says.

Believe it. Here's a third thing that's going to happen when Christ returns with the kingdom. It is this. He will rule this world in glory from his throne in Jerusalem. In Matthew 25:31, Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will take his seat on his throne."

In Isaiah chapter two, when Isaiah looked at that day, it says it's going to come about that all the nations of the world are going to stream to Jerusalem. Isaiah chapter two, verse two. And all the nations of the world are going to come to Jerusalem and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to Mount Zion, to the house of the God of Jacob, so that he may teach us concerning his ways and that we may walk in his paths, for the law will go forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

In Matthew chapter 5, verse 35, Jesus said, "Jerusalem, the city of the great king." Mount Zion, Jerusalem is his city. The Bible says he's going to rule the world from his throne in Jerusalem. That's not happening right now. The reason why is because we're not the kingdom of God. This is the body of Christ. We're the church.

Now, if you belong to Christ by faith, you are part of his kingdom. You belong to that kingdom, you're going to be in the kingdom with him when he returns. So we're part of his kingdom, but the kingdom is not here right now. What I'm doing is I'm wanting to show you from the Bible, here's what the Bible actually says is going to happen when the kingdom comes.

Christ is going to rule the world. In Zechariah 14:16, it says that it'll come about that if anybody doesn't come to worship Christ in Jerusalem, God's judgment will fall upon them. We're not in the kingdom right now. Now some people, you know, say, "Well, okay, what about that statement in Matthew 16 where in verse 28, Jesus was with his disciples and he said, `Well,` he was with the 12 disciples in an isolated place called Caesarea Philippi.

And he said, `Well, there's some of you who are here right now that are not going to die until you've seen the Son of Man coming in the power of his kingdom.`" Does that mean that the kingdom came in the first century? No. In all three gospels when Jesus made that statement, what happened is six days later, Jesus went up onto the Mount of Transfiguration and he took three disciples. Who were they?

Peter, James, and John. And Peter, James, and John saw Christ transfigured before them, where it said that he was shining like the sun. He was shining like the sun. That's the glory that is his, that he will return with when he comes in the kingdom. So when Jesus said, "Well, there's some of you who are here that are not going to die until you see the Son of Man coming in the glory of his kingdom," the fulfillment of it is the immediate context when he appeared to them in resurrection glory.

Three people, three of the 12 disciples got to get a sneak preview of that glory. The kingdom didn't come in the first century. The context tells us the fulfillment of that was when Peter, James, and John saw him, but the Bible says that when he comes, he is going to rule in that glory that he returns with.

Here's a fourth biblical fact about what's going to happen when Christ brings the kingdom. It says that when he comes to rule, he's going to put an end to all war. Slide 19. You know, we think about the war that is here at our time. In Revelation, it tells us that he's going to return, he's going to bring a judgment on the nations and he's going to put an end to all war.

In Isaiah chapter 2, in verse 4, it says this: "He, Christ the King, will judge between the nations. He will render decisions for many peoples and they will hammer their swords into plows and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will never again lift up sword against nation. Never again will they learn war."

How can we say that this is being fulfilled right now? We can't, because it's not being fulfilled. This is what is going to happen, the Bible says. And this is repeated several times. Micah chapter four, Zechariah chapter 9, verse 10, Isaiah 32:17, Hosea chapter 2, verse 18. Multiple prophets say when Christ brings the kingdom, there's going to be an end of human warfare.

Beloved, we're not in the kingdom. That's why these things are still like they are. That's why we still have the mess that we do. If you belong to Christ, you're part of his kingdom. When he returns, you're going to be in his kingdom. We're going to be there with him, ruling with him, but we are not in the kingdom right now.

Messiah comes, Micah chapter 4, verse 3, "He will judge between many peoples, render decisions for distant nations, all the nations of the world. They will hammer their swords into plows, their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will never again rise up against nation and never again will they train for war." Well, obviously that is not true right now.

Here's a fifth biblical fact about what's going to happen when Christ brings the kingdom and rules with an iron rod. It says that Satan and all the demons will be bound. I've already mentioned this already, but in Revelation chapter 20, verses one to three, it says that Satan and all the demons are going to be cast out of this world for the thousand years.

Now, it says that at the end of the thousand years, Satan and all the demons are going to be released for a short time period. Satan immediately violates his parole agreement, so to speak, and he goes out and he starts stirring up rebellion, a rebellion among the people that have been born during the millennium, but some of them, many of them, even with Christ ruling on the earth, they still refused to repent and believe.

Christ is ruling on the earth and yet they didn't believe. And it says that Satan stirs up a rebellion, Revelation chapter 20, verse 10, and it's a very short-lived rebellion. Fire comes down, wipes them out, and that's the end of that rebellion. But the Bible says that Satan is going to be bound. It's going to happen. God said so.

It's not happening right now. You know, Peter says that Satan roars about like a roaring lion. He's not bound. Ephesians 6, verses 10 to 20, Paul says, "Watch out for the enemy. All these demonic powers, they're trying to destroy you." James tells us in his letter, "Watch out, you got to resist Satan. Don't fall for his lies."

Here's a sixth biblical fact of what's going to happen when Christ returns and brings the kingdom. The Bible says that he's going to be ruling from Jerusalem and his glory, the Shekinah glory of God, is going to completely envelop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter four. Isaiah chapter 4, verses 2 to 6. Notice what it says over here.

Isaiah 4, verse 2, "In that day, the branch of the Lord," which is a Messianic title, "the branch of the Lord, Christ himself, will be beautiful and glorious. And the fruit of the earth will be the pride and adornment of the survivors of Israel. And it will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be holy. Everyone who's been recorded for life in Jerusalem."

Verse 4, "When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, in other words, when God saves that remnant of Jews and he washes away the filth of their sin, here's what's going to happen. He purges the bloodshed of Jerusalem by the spirit of judgment, by the spirit of burning, then, verse 5, the Lord will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke and brightness of a flaming fire by night."

When did we see this in the Old Testament? The Exodus. In Exodus 13, the glory of God, that was Christ with them, that was the Angel of the Lord. Christ led them out of Succoth in Egypt. He took them to the edge of the Red Sea. And when they were at the edge of the Red Sea, the armies of Egypt came because Pharaoh said, "I just let all my slaves go. I got to get these guys back."

The armies of Egypt trapped them on the edge of the Red Sea. How come the armies of Egypt were not able to re-enslave the Jews? Because Christ stood right in the middle of them and it says in the daytime it was a bright cloud and at nighttime it was a fiery pillar.

Christ was there, defending his people from annihilation at the hands of the Egyptians. Well, guess what? The Bible says that when Christ rules on this world, he's going to rule from Jerusalem, it says so, and it says that the whole city of Zion, the whole Temple Mount is going to be covered with this cloud by day and this fire by night.

And there will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain. This is what is going to happen when Christ brings the kingdom. It's not happening right now because we're not in the kingdom. I'm trying to take you and say, look, here's what the Bible says is going to happen. Believe it.

And here's a seventh and final biblical fact, and we could give more, but here's a seventh biblical fact about what is going to happen in the kingdom. There is going to be a thorough purging of the impact of sin and curse and its impact upon human life. Turn with me to two passages. Go with me to Isaiah 35, and then also I want you to turn with me to, well, go to Isaiah 35 right now.

And then we're going to go after that to Isaiah chapter 25. But Isaiah chapter 35, notice what it says over here. Isaiah 35, verse four, "Encourage the exhausted. Strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, `Take courage! Fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. The recompense of God will come, but he will save you.`"

Judgment on unrepentant sinners, but he will save you. Now look at verse five. "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened." Are you blind? Christ comes and brings the kingdom, he's going to take away your blindness. "The ears of the deaf will be unstopped. The lame will leap like a deer. The tongue of the dumb will shout for joy!"

Just imagine what this is going to be like for those that have disability. They're crippled, they can't talk, they can't run, they can't leap. They're disabled. Christ brings the kingdom and all of a sudden, your little child that has this disability... oh, you know, I rejoice over that. We have personal experience with that kind of thing. A child with disability.

You know, imagine you've got a child with disability and now the Lord comes and brings his kingdom and now your little baby is able to talk and walk and see. This is what God is going to do. He's going to take away this curse of sin. We're not in that kingdom yet. These are glorious, precious promises that give us great hope.

Look at Isaiah chapter 25. Notice what else it says. Isaiah chapter 25, notice down here in verse 8. "When the kingdom comes, he'll swallow up death for all time. The Lord will wipe away tears from their faces." Guess what? An end of sickness, an end of death.

Now look at chapter 26, notice what it says here in verse 19. "Your dead are going to live. Their corpses are going to rise." Guess what? Resurrection to those who have died. Resurrection of the saints that have died. I remember when my grandpa died. I loved my grandpa, he was my favorite person in the whole world, and I used to have dreams that, you know, I got to see my grandpa again and he was alive. I had that dream a long time, you know.

God says, "I'm going to bring to life all my dear friends, all of these precious promises." This is what God is going to do. Believe it. Okay, let's just make one last final comment on Revelation chapter 12. It's going to be short, I promise you.

Revelation chapter 12, in verse five, here's what it says. After it says that he's going to come and he's going to rule with the iron rod, the rest of verse five says this: "Her child was caught up to the throne of God, to God and to his throne." This is what happened 40 days after the crucifixion. Christ was ascended back to the throne of God. We're waiting for the day when he's going to return, but that ascension brought an end to that first coming of Christ.

Now, I want you to turn to that, go to the next slide right here. Let's see what we have here. I have a few passages, about a half dozen quotations that come from the earliest church that talk about the things that I've just been sharing with you right here because the early church believed all these things.

This was the standard universal belief of early Christianity for several hundred years until the medieval time came, medieval Christianity came, and they walked away from these views. This is called premillennialism. What I've been describing to you is premillennialism. Christ returns, brings the judgment on evil, establishes his kingdom on this present earth for a thousand years, transforms into an eternal kingdom in Revelation 21.

But right here, this is Clement of Rome. He was the bishop of the church in Rome in the first century. Clement says, "Of a truth, soon and suddenly will his will be accomplished as the Scripture bears witness saying, `Speedily he will come and he will not tarry, the Lord will suddenly come.`" Clement taught these things.

Go to the next slide. This one here comes from a late first-century Christian teaching manual called the Didache. It means "the teaching." "Let grace come, o Lord, and let this world pass away. Hosanna to God, the son of David. If anyone is holy, let him come. If anyone is not so, let him repent. Maranatha. Come, Lord. Be ready, for you do not know at the hour in which our Lord is going to come."

They believed he was going to return and bring these promises because that's what the Bible says is going to happen. Next slide. This one comes here from Papias, one of the disciples of the Apostle John and a disciple of Polycarp who also was a disciple of the Apostle John.

And Papias said, "Among the things of Christ, of Papias, he said that there's going to be a millennium after the resurrection of the dead when the personal reign of Christ will be established on this earth." Papias said the Lord used to teach concerning those end times that there will be a period of a thousand years after the resurrection of the dead, believers, that Christ is going to establish his kingdom and it will be in material form on this very earth.

That's first-century testimony. Next one. Justin Martyr. Justin Martyr lived from in Ephesus, he was born in 100, lived from 100 to 165. He moved to Ephesus when he was young and he ministered in Ephesus, the very place where John had been for like 40 years from like 65 to 100, 65 to 105. So he's there right after John died.

And Justin Martyr said, "Well, there was a man among us named John, the apostles who received a revelation that followers of Christ will spend a thousand years in Jerusalem, after which will come to pass the universal and eternal resurrection all at once followed by the judgment." He believed in premillennialism.

Next one right here. Justin Martyr said, "I and every other completely orthodox Christian feel certain that there will be a resurrection of the flesh followed by the thousand years in a rebuilt, embellished, and enlarged city of Jerusalem, as has been announced by all the prophets like Ezekiel, Isaiah, and others." This is biblical theology and it's what the early church believed.

All right, it's not here yet, but all those things are going to come. So what do we, what does all this mean for you and me right now? Let me tell you what it means. Number one, be ready for him. Jesus said, "Be ready. You don't know when I'm going to return. Make sure that you have repented and trusted in Christ."

Number two, don't be afraid about the future. Now I don't want to see our own country fall under some kind of war. I don't want to see this war in Israel. I don't want to see this war in Ukraine. None of us want to see those things, but that's part of a fallen world. And we don't know what the future's going to bring for you and me. We don't know. I'll just tell you this: don't be afraid though, okay?

Here's the third thing. Apply all this to yourself by telling others about God's son, right? Do something about it. Be in the business of bringing people into the kingdom. Be in the business of telling people about their need for a Savior. That's what we can do and that's what we must be doing. Amen.

Father, help us to be faithful to this calling. Lord, forgive us if we're not doing those things like we should be, if we're not living for you, if we're not living in readiness, and forgive us for not telling others about your son, Jesus Christ. Help us to be faithful in these things.

And Lord, as we think of the war in Israel right now, I pray that you will bring an end to it right now. Wherever we lay blame and guilt, I just pray that you'd bring an end to the evil. I know that it's not going to happen in full until you return and bring your kingdom, but I pray that you'd bring an end to it.

I pray that you'd bring an end to this war in Ukraine, Lord. And so many more, probably two dozen more wars that are going on around the world that we don't even know about. But we pray just like John did at the end of the Book of Revelation, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus." All of us here at Mesa Hills Bible Church say, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus." Amen.