Major Bible Themes

Okay, so this morning we're talking about the Millennial Kingdom. One of the things that's really interesting about the Millennial Kingdom to me is how badly people can mess it up. So we'll talk about that a little bit. And then we'll talk about what the Millennial Kingdom actually looks like. And then at the end we're going to look at the Kingdom Gospel and how Christ was talking about all the cool things that are going to be coming in the Kingdom and how the Church tries to apply some of these things to us. And we'll find out as we run through that that it doesn't quite fit. that we're just coming from a completely different place and that place is all goodness. So let's start with what we believe here at Holly Hills.

This is called the pre-millennial view. It's pre because we believe that Christ comes before the start of the millennial kingdom and that his coming actually marks the beginning of it. And so in this view We're cruising along as the church for some period of time. There's going to be a rapture we get out of here the the tribulation comes there's lots of ickiness here on the earth for about seven years, and then there's a judgment. We talked about that judgment last week.

And basically, what God's going to ensure is that beginning in the Millennial Kingdom, He's going to pull all the unbelievers out. So we're going to start the Millennial Kingdom with a fresh pot of believers. So we get to come with Him and reign during that time frame, but there are going to be lots of people walking around on the earth These are people who have made it through the tribulation and they'll be having babies and stuff So we've got a population of people here on the earth during this time period Is this this view is pretty clear?

This is what you end up with if you have a literal interpretation of scripture which we here at Holly Hills like having a literal interpretation of scripture. There are two other views and had I been more on top of it I would have pulled the slides that I think might present the two other views. One of those views is post-millennialism which says that Christ comes at the end of the millennial kingdom and you kind of scratch your head and as we run through the millennial kingdom you'll see that There are lots of cool and very unique things about that millennial kingdom. And so having Christ come at the end is odd in and of itself.

But these folks believe that the world is going to just get better and better and better until we end up into this utopian sort of existence. And then those who are more conservative in this view think that We'll hold steady state with that utopian for about a thousand years and then Christ comes. But those who are more liberal will say, you know, it just gets better and better and better and then Christ comes and the moment that Christ comes we usher in the new heavens and new earth. A couple things that make you scratch your head, looking at how man has done over the last couple thousand years, it's pretty hard to envision this world getting better and better and better until we enter into some utopian state. And indeed, this view has lost popularity over the last hundred years or so because people are looking around and saying, wait, this doesn't quite make sense.

Other issue, Christ coming at the end. I don't know what these folks actually do with the tribulation. Do you, Mike? I really don't. The Millennium and the Tribulation are going on. They would say the Tribulation happened in 77 AD. Oh, okay. So yeah, the way I figured it, there were really only three approaches. Number one was they would say it already happened, and that would line up with your 77 AD sort of view, except the mayhem that's occurring around that time frame and the rapture and some of those things don't line up especially well.

Or they could say, you know, the world's going to get better and better until it's utopia and then, you know, all hell's going to break loose and God will rain fire on utopia and then Christ will come, which is weird. Or else you'd say there isn't one. So that view is pretty messed up and not a lot of people hold to that line of thinking anymore. The other one is amillennialism, which says that there actually won't be a millennial kingdom. What do you call those words? amillennialism, so ah as in not millennialism.

And they think that there isn't going to be a millennial kingdom. here on earth and the way that they get around this is they hand wave around scripture and say that well really Christ is ruling in the hearts of believers today or Christ is reigning in heaven today and so that's what the millennial kingdom is all about and again you run into problems around that where okay scripture is really clear that this is a thousand year period And Christ has been reigning in believers' hearts and has been reigning in heaven now for almost 2,000 years.

You've got a math issue. The two ways that they work through that, way number one is they say, well, you know, 1,000 years doesn't mean 1,000 years. 1,000 years is just like a really long time. And 2,000 is a really long time, so those line up pretty well. That's one. And then two is, for the engineer geeks, almost vector analysis.

So you end up with, on the whole, the number of people on this earth who are believers is X, and they have good days and bad days, so some number less than X are actually having Christ reign in their hearts. If on average you've got 10% of the population is a believer, then you need 10,000 years to compensate for 1,000 of raining. We just don't have all the variables to do that mathematical calculation. So that's amillennialism, which says that there is no millennial kingdom.

Christ could come at any point. I think that they do like the tribulation, and that there actually would be a tribulation, and then Christ comes, and then we get new heavens and new earth. So those are the two opposing views. We're not going to do a whole lot to address postmillennialism, but amillennialism, some of the things that you can look at are, well, does scripture talk about Christ reigning on earth and ruling over people here on earth? And we'll start out actually by looking at that. They're relatively clear about the three different views and why we're holding to the first one. It should become more clear as we go through today too.

Alright, so Christ will rule the entire earth. This is not we'll rule heaven or we'll rule in the hearts of the believer. So let's start with Isaiah chapter 2. Tristan, I see you've got your Bible today. That's excellent. So Tristan, why don't you give us Isaiah 2 verse 2, actually 2 through 4.

Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains. and will be raised above the hills, and all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us concerning his ways and that we may walk in his paths.

For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he will judge between the nations, and will write the decisions for many people. And they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not lift up swords against nations, and never again will they learn war. Okay, so these are things that are clearly talking about earth, the nations streaming to the mountain of the Lord. We see Zion, we see Jerusalem, and this is where the Lord is going to be. So here on earth. Courtney, how about Psalm 2 8? Asking me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possession. The ends of the earth as your possession. So again, very earth focused.

Nick, how about Daniel 7 14? And to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. Okay, so we've got all people, nations, and men of every language serving him.

So here on earth. So, there's also a manner in which Christ is going to rule during that time frame, which ends up being really, really cool. Let's start with Psalm 72, verse 11. And I'm sorry, I don't know your name. Carl. Okay, hey Carl. I'm Craig. And let all kings bow down before him, all nations serve him. Okay, so everybody's going to be serving him. And there are actually two places in scripture.

We'll look at Revelation 19.15, where we find out that he's going to be ruling with an iron scepter. So I guess that's you, Alan.

Revelation 19.15. From his mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it Okay, so Christ will have absolute control, absolute authority over the earth at that time. And we may see as we look at more scripture this morning that the end result of that is all open sin ends up getting addressed and getting punished. Nobody's going to get away with anything, which is doggone cool.

And then Isaiah 11, and I think I want to do more than 4 through 9. So, Isaiah chapter 11, and I'll read this one. So, I'm going to start in verse 1. And I'll take a pause after verse five. So, then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. And if you look at the line of Christ, you've got Jesse in that line.

The spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what his eyes see, nor make a decision by what his ears hear. But with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth. And he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about his loins, and faithfulness the belt about his waist.

And I just love the fact that At that time period in Christ's rule, when we're placed in positions of authority and there's a conflict of any sort or there's something going on, we have to listen to both sides and make a determination based upon the best sort of, well I believe him 75% and I believe him 33% and so the math gets complicated and I guess you're probably right and so I'm going to go in this direction. And that's how all of our court systems are set up. I mean, it's okay, you make your case and you make your case and based upon only things that you've heard in this particular courtroom, you guys need to go off and make your decision about who's right and who's wrong.

And your scripture says that in the millennial kingdom, When Christ is ruling, it's not going to be about even what he sees, and he's probably got pretty good eyesight, probably knows what's going on. It's not going to be about what he sees. It's not going to be about what he hears. It's going to be about righteousness, which is a pretty cool way to end up being judged, I suppose, if you're righteous. And so what does the world look like under his rule, under that sort of absolute, you know, he is going to punish the wicked. He is going to rule by righteousness, not by what he sees or hears. Here's what the world looks like. Oh, I have a shiny quarter. It is a main quarter.

And I'm going to give it away to the person who can find in scripture where it says the lion is going to lie down with the lamb. Okay? We've all heard this, right? That's not fair. They have iPads. The lion is going to lie down with the lamb. Somebody's going to get the shiny quarter. Okay. Yeah, that's exciting, isn't it? Well, wouldn't it be in Revelation, I should think? So Monique is not going to be getting the shiny quarter. But she gets to keep coming back.

That's right. That's right. Okay. It's actually kind of challenging to find that. So maybe to draw this out, people with iPads can be frantically looking. We're going to skip ahead to Israel and then we're going to come back and look at what the world looks like under this sort of rule. That should give people a small hint. Okay, so Israel during this time period. So right now we've got Israel scattered.

There are all sorts of fights going on about the land. I think, Courtney, you were the one that showed... Oh no, it was Andrew Malloy who showed the slide on where the Jewish population is today. Like number one is Israel, which is cool, but then right behind that is the United States of America, which is probably not where Christ has them long term. So we find out that Israel will be regathered and restored to their land. So let's go ahead and look at Jeremiah 33.

And that's to you, Dani. For behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel. in Judah. The Lord says, I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall possess it. And so God made a promise. You get this land, and in the Millennial Kingdom, they get that land, which is a pretty cool way for that to work out. They will be subjects of the revived Davidic Kingdom. This was another promise to them.

So April, if you can do Isaiah 9, 6 through 7, For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of this government of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Board of Hosts will accomplish this. Okay, so Christ gets to sit on the throne of David. And one more, Jeremiah 23, 5.

And I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name. Oh, is it my turn? It's your turn. What's your name? I'm not even there, Steve. Steve, okay, thanks. You're not even there, are you trying to find where it says the lion will lie down with the lamb? You want that shiny quarter? I was of the opinion that scripture actually didn't say that and so I was going to offer a dollar until Crystal and I had a conversation just this morning and we decided that we could kind of make it out somewhere. So it dropped to a quarter, but I'm giving it away.

Okay, what did you want us to look at? Jeremiah 23, 5. Thank you. For the time is coming, says the Lord, and I will raise up a righteous descendant. In King David's life, he will be a king who rules with wisdom and will do what is just and right throughout his life. There you go. So Israel gets the kingdom of David reinstilled. So that's a happy thing for them. Israel and Judah get to be reunited. This is also pretty cool stuff.

Jeremiah 3.18. So, Steve, if you've made it up to Jeremiah, then we're in the right sort of place. And we can do 3.18.

In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north, the land that I have given as an inheritance to your father. Do you guys recall when Judah and Israel ended up getting split up?

What the circumstances were around that? I actually didn't. I had to look it up as I was looking through this. I'm like, cool, they get back together. And I know that Judah's up in the north and Israel's not. Ellen? Was it the man that had his wife cut up in pieces and they were taking her all around? I don't believe so. Or if it is, I didn't get that far into it. Top of Dan, I think.

So King Solomon's son ended up being a pretty crummy leader. And Israel decided, you know what, we don't want to follow you whatsoever. But Judah and Benjamin, those tribes said, well yeah, but it's still the line of David, and we really need to be following the line of David. So it was that issue that ended up splitting the two of them up. And so they were split up over, we want to follow the line of David, But this guy's really crummy and nasty.

But we want to follow the line of David. And so in the Millennial Kingdom, we end up with the line of David being that it's restored. Christ is on the Davidic throne. So now there's no controversy whatsoever. We want to follow the line of David. We want somebody who's not crummy. Bingo. You've got Christ in both cases.

And so it's not just a magic wand got waved and suddenly Judah decided, you know what, let's let bygones be bygones and let's all get back together. The issue is actually resolved. And so, we no longer end up with Judah and Israel, we end up with one Israel, all 12 tribes coming together. So, pretty cool.

Israel is the wife of Jehovah, so Isaiah 62, 2 through 5. Actually, I think I preferred Hosea, and whenever I see HOS, I really want it to be Hosanna, and I'm wondering if we can just rename that book. But Hosea 2, 14 through 23. Okay, where are we now? You're making me confused. I'm making myself confused, so you are not alone. We are in Hosea. Oh, okay. Chapter 2, verse 14. Therefore, behold, I will lure her, bring her into the wilderness, So we're actually doing 14 all the way through 23. So you picked up a good one to read if you like reading. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Acorah, for a door of hope, that she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.

And it should be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishai, and shalt call me no more Beli. for I will take away the names of Balaam out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name. And in that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground, and I will break the bow and the sword and the baffle out of the earth, and I will make them to lie down safely.

And I will betroth thee unto me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee unto me in kindness and in mercies. I will even betroth thee to me in a faithless, and thou shalt know the Lord. And it shall come to pass in that day I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens and they shall hear the earth. So Israel ends up getting to be the betrothed of God.

And interesting in that passage to me again is, betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, which again is the theme during this millennial kingdom where things are righteous, things are just. The little bit about that you will call me ishi, ishi is remembered, you will call me remembered. and will no longer call me Bali, which is master. So it ends up being a sweeter relationship, almost.

This one's interesting. Israel will be in a privileged place above the Gentile believers. So this shouldn't be confused with the church that has come back to rule and reign with Christ. These are folks who are living, walking around on the earth. during the Millennial Kingdom. And we're going to look at a couple of these because I think it's interesting. So Isaiah 14, 1 through 2.

And the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and again choose Israel and settle them in their own land. Then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. These people will take them along and bring them to their place and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the Lord as male servants and female servants. And they will take their captors captive and they will rule over their oppressors.

Okay, so we've got two groups of folks here. We've got Jews, we've got Israel, And we've got everybody else. So the strangers, which camp are they going to be in? They'll be in the everybody else camp. And they're going to be servants. Let's look at Isaiah 49, 22, and 23.

Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will lift my hand in an oath to the nations and set up my standard for the peoples. They shall bring your sons Kings shall be your foster fathers, and queens your nursing mothers. They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed to wait for me.

And so you look at what's happened with the Jews over the last hundred years or so and how it seems like every single nation at some point in time has taken their turn to kick these people, right? And so it's wonderful to look forward and know that these are God's chosen people and he's going to restore balance. And those who did the kicking will then become the servants. And we don't have time to go and chase all of these, but there are a lot of references like this. And one of them that I liked seeing was that the portion for Israel will be twice that of the Gentiles. And the Gentiles will be happy for what they get. Israel gets extras, they get bonus, they get the extra slice of pie.

And that everybody else can't, it's like, that's good, that's fine, I'm totally down with that. But that's just for the Israelis that are believers, right? Well, in the Millennial Kingdom, the law is written on the hearts of the Jews. So all of the sons of Israel at this time, in this era, will be in this camp.

Really? Isn't that unbelievable? Well, you remember we had a judgment at the beginning. Right. And we didn't go over the judgment of Israel. We just went over the judgment of the nations. But there's a similar one for the judgment of Israel, where those who are hostile toward God are removed from the picture. So we're starting out the Millennial Kingdom with a good set. I mean, if you were to pick some good people to start a Millennial Kingdom with, God did a great job.

Okay, so let's look at what, so we've got Israel's restored, the line of David is restored, we've got a kingdom again, we're ruling by not what we see, not by what's heard, but rather by righteousness, and so the world that this creates ends up being pretty doggone cool. So I'm going to flip back here and we'll look at Isaiah 11 now, 5 onward. And I'll read this one. 5 what? I guess 6 onward. So Isaiah chapter 11, verse 6 on.

The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's stem. They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. So you earned your own quarter. Not necessarily. I don't know that any... How... Nick's got it. Nick? Well, that was the verse I was... I thought you had the other one. No, that was the one. Which verse is the one? Verse six. Okay, you're going to have to explain it to me.

It says all those animals are lined together and then the boy is leading them. Where's the line and the lamb? The lamb is first line. The line is third line. Well, the wolf is going to dwell with the lamb, they're over there, right? And then you've got the leopard with the young goat over here, right? So how do you get the lamb involved?

They're not all together, you don't think? You think they're separately? They're spoken about separately, and this is why I was feeling really good and getting ready to bring in my quarter. I mean, my dollar, it's gone down to a quarter, yeah. It says the calf and the young lion and the fatling together. The fatling is the lamb. Turns out that that's correct. The fatling is the lamb like it's a quarter. Well done, it's mean. But also interesting, so a fatling is not necessarily a lamb. A fatling is just a sacrifice that's been fattened up. Could be any sort of sacrificial fattened up thing, but most likely a lamb.

Interesting also is that in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation, there's no mention of the fatling. Instead that particular verse would read, and the calf and the young lion eat together. So you don't get a fatling at all. So we would never have found it. That's right, which is why I was feeling really good about bringing in that dollar. But Crystal's the one who said, well, that fatling's probably a lamb. I'm like, OK, I'll give you the fatling. So there you go.

Anyway, don't let the quarter in all of that distract you from the fact that this ends up being a really cool earth, right? Where nothing is harming anything else. And why is that? It's because the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. That is the why. So that ends up being a pretty cool place to end up living.

When you were saying everybody thinks the Millennial Kingdom is all happy and good, but there's some heartaches in the Millennium, did you say that? I don't know if I did say that, but I believe that to be true. There are definitely heartaches in the Millennium. What we're going to find out in more depth probably next week when we go over the judgments of Satan, is that you end up with a whole bunch of people.

So in the Millennial Kingdom, all the animals are getting along pretty well. And overt sin, open sin, gets punished. So people aren't doing a lot of the open sinning. And the knowledge of the Lord is everywhere. And it seems like the majority of the folks during this time period are believers.

And so this minority of people are unbelievers, but they're having to pretend, and it's making them angry. And they don't enjoy this. And this is why when Satan gets let out, he's able to go and find so many people to come against Israel. because they're sore. They're really not happy about having to pretend like they like this whole Jesus guy. So there's definitely heartache during this time. But I think less so for believers than today, by a long shot.

Mike? learn there. He will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths etc. down in verse 3. What struck me was that this has to be Gentiles because Jews don't have to be taught. That's right. And so the Jews are going to be involved in teaching the Gentiles who the Lord is because they already know find out who the king is. Right. Yeah, I'll buy that. And I think that that's pretty cool.

Most of them won't like it. Oh, you think? Well, some will, some won't, you know. Yeah, it's, I mean, scripture's not super vocal about what percentage of Gentiles end up being believers during that time period. What we know is that by the end of the millennial kingdom, Satan's able to, you know, find as many as grains of sand to come against Christ. So there are quite a few who don't like it. But at the same token, we've got a thousand years where people are procreating with extended lifespans, so the earth population is going to get pretty big as well during that time period I would think. So, yeah, interesting.

Something that just seems so Sweet to me is what the Lord does for the sons of Israel during this time period and I want to Read a passage to you guys It's it's Zephaniah chapter 3 is what we're going to look at And I think I will start Verse 11, and by 11 I mean 10.

So, from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my worshipers, my dispersed ones, so we're talking about Israel, will bring my offerings. In that day you will feel no shame because of all your deeds by which you have rebelled against me. For then I will remove from your midst your proud, exulting ones, and you will never again be haughty, O my holy mountain. But I will leave among you a humble and lowly people, and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel will do no wrong. And tell no lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths. For they will feed and lie down, with no one to make them tremble.

Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away His judgments against you, and has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst. You will fear a disaster no more. So I can't help think about how the sons of Israel got given the law. So here's God's gift.

Here's the law. Now start trying to keep this. And they look at this set of 600 however many rules it is that they've got. I'm so afraid I'm going to mess that up, that I want to build all these extra rules, so I'm going to come up with thousands of rules that will provide this sort of border around all of these 600 rules so I know I can't ever even get in to touch them. I can't work on the Sabbath. Okay, well let's come up with what a definition for work is and this is work, but that's not work. And I really need to understand all of these things and it's so complicated and such an intense focus up there in lives for so long and they can't keep it. And just how tragic that is that they can't keep it. And in the millennial kingdom, they will do no wrong. I mean, how gracious is that of the Lord to say, you know what? My betrothed, I love you. You're my chosen people. You're not going to sin against me anymore. And just, thank you. Just very cool.

Okay, so let's talk about various Gospels, and I don't think that we've got a ton of time because I blathered about other stuff. This is not covered in the major Bible themes book. This was something extra that Roger did, and I really like the fact that he did it. I thought it was well put together.

So he looks at the Gospel of the Kingdom. And we can see Matthew, I think it's 423. Jesus was going throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. Okay. So he's going through and teaching a gospel.

And this gospel, is it the same gospel that we believe to be saved? And the answer is obviously no. Where's the gospel found by which we are saved as the body of Christ? 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, 1 through like 4. Right? Okay. So that's the gospel that we believe. And it ends up being that there are a number of different gospels. Gospel is euangelia. It's good message. That's all it is. And so there are a number of them. There's another one I think you'll find in Revelations chapter 14 where the angel comes and brings the gospel, and the gospel is fear the Lord. That's the gospel.

Gospel doesn't mean all gospels are the exact same thing by which we are saved. This is good news. It's good news about the kingdom. What sort of good news do we end up with about the kingdom? Well, just hopping over to chapter 5 to see the sorts of things that Jesus is preaching at this time.

He opened his mouth and began to teach them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And people see these and they're like, oh, that's great. That totally applies to the church. And so now we need to run out and be, you know, We need to be merciful so that we'll get mercy. And we need to be gentle so that we'll get gentleness. And we need to be pure in heart so that we can see God. And here are all these things that we've got to do so that we get stuff. And it couldn't be further from the truth. And so what Roger did, which I think is fantastic, is put together this chart. And so in the chart, we look at one verse from the Beatitudes.

And then we look at what the Old Testament says about the kingdom with respect to that. And then we look at, okay, now we're in the church age. What does it say about us believers in that regard? So I'm going to skip over the first couple and go straight to blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. And if we look at Isaiah 11, 4, it says, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth. But if you look at the church age contrast, what's the fruit of the spirit?

Gentleness. Gentleness is in there, right? So because of our position in Christ, our natural walking around behavior is gentleness. Do we need to try to be really gentle so we get something in return? No, it's a natural offshoot of who we are. Because otherwise it would be works. Exactly right. So this is the fruit of the Spirit. I mean, it comes out from the vine, who is Christ. So, looking at... Oh, this is a good one.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. So, if we want to apply this to the Church, we should be trying really hard to thirst and hunger for righteousness. And if you look at what the Old Testament says about the Millennial Kingdom, For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not keep quiet, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning. The nations will see your righteousness." So there's going to be righteousness in the Millennial Kingdom, right? So those who hunger and thirst for it will get it.

That's cool. I mean, that's awesome. We have it now. We already have it. He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the very righteousness of God in him. We are the righteousness of God. Do we have to wait until the millennial kingdom to see that? Not at all. Not at all. These things are not applicable to us.

Another one that I like, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. And so Old Testament words regarding the kingdom, who may ascend into the hill of the Lord and who may stand in his holy place, he who has clean hands and a pure heart, your eyes will see the king in his beauty. So they get to see God if they have clean hands and pure heart.

And where do we stand? But we do see him who is made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned. And with respect to being able to see God Almighty, one of my favorite verses of all time is Jude verse 24, which is, Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless, with great joy. So because of who Christ is, We're not standing in the presence of the Lord, cowering. We're standing in the presence of the Lord, joyful, happy to be there.

So again, do we need to strive really hard to be pure in heart right now so that someday we can see the Lord? Absolutely not. These things are not applicable to us. That second Corinthians 4, 6 verse? of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So the ability to see and perceive God isn't something he's done to and near us and through us already. Yup. And I'll give you one more. And it's the same thing with all of this. The Jews have to wait until the Millennial Kingdom to see these things. We get them now.

Constantly. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Second Timothy says, indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Sweet, we get persecution right now.

We don't have to wait for that. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Church age? For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. We get to suffer right now. So never let somebody take the beatitudes and beat you up with them. You have all these things already today. Yeah, cool.

So if somebody doesn't want to hear about it, is that being persecuted? If somebody doesn't want to hear about what? You know, you want to share the gospel? You want to share what's in the book? And you know, they want no part of it. It's a private thing. It's personal. I don't know if I would define that as persecution or not. I suppose it depends on how they share with you that they would not like to hear that. If it's no thank you, probably not persecution. If it's get away from me you freaky Christian person, persecution.

Okay, let's close. Father, thank you again for this day and for your immense love and for revealing to us a time period in which you will be ruling and reigning and what a cool world it's going to be. And just thank you for looking after your chosen. And I just really look forward to seeing Israel lifted up during that time period. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.