As Jesus inaugurates the thousand years of His reign, we learn more about what life on the earth will be like in the Millennium.
Transcription (automatically-generated):
Well, I know by now you've heard the rumour, but it's still out there. There are still people claiming that the book of Revelation is hard to understand. But as say we for you see, the word revelation means that something has been revealed and you should know this by now. The first words of the book tell us exactly who it is that's being revealed. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And God wanted us to read this book so much that he promised anyone who would take the time to read and respond to it a special blessing. And we find that blessing in Revelation chapter one, verse three. Let's claim it together as always. It says, Blessed is he or she who reads. And those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near.
But God knew there would still be those who would say, It's just too hard to understand. So, to make it easy to understand, he also included a simple outline. And we find that in Revelation chapter one, verse 19, Jesus tells John, Write the things which you have seen. That was the resurrected and glorified Jesus in chapter one. Then Jesus says, Secondly, John, I want you to write about the things which are that relates to the Church age which began on Pentecost in Acts chapter two around 32.
Ad continues to the present day and is prophesied in chronological order in chapters two and three. And then Jesus said, third. And lastly, John, I want you to write about the things which will take place after this events that will unfold after the Church age comes to an end. Now, when does the Church age end? That happens in Revelation, chapter four, verse one.
Let me read it to you. John says, after these things I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard, that was the voice of Jesus in chapter one was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And up John goes, serving as a picture of the Church who will be raptured to be with the Lord. And the Lord takes all of chapters four and five to make sure we understand that the Church is with Him in heaven before he begins pouring out his wrath on the Earth that has rejected Him.
And that begins to unfold in Revelation chapter six. In fact, in Revelation chapter six, verse 16, it reveals that everyone on the Earth during that time will understand the source of their judgment because they will identify it as the wrath of the Lamb. And then Scripture, the Lamb is who it's Jesus. So chapter one introduces the focus of Revelation Jesus Christ, chapters two and three take us through the Church age up to the present day. Then the Church goes up in chapter four, verse one, we see her safe and secure with the Lord in heaven for chapters four and five before wrath comes down in chapter six.
That wrath continues for a period of seven years, known as the tribulation that is documented in chapter six through 19, after which Jesus returns to the Earth with his Saints in the event known as the Second coming. And we studied that over our past two Bible studies together, and then we looked at some things that Jesus is going to do on the Earth when he returns. And today we're going to sort of continue that same theme. And though you may not understand or fully grasp all the details yet, I can tell you this. If you love Jesus, then your story will end with the words and they lived happily ever after.
We are studying the 1000 years of the future golden age of the Earth known as the millennial Kingdom. It will be a time when Christians need no longer pray, Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, because Jesus and his Kingdom will reign on the Earth. It won't be heaven, but it will be a great warm up for heaven. It won't be where righteousness dwells, but it will be where righteousness is enforced. And there's a big difference.
This is not the new heavens and a new Earth just yet. It's a temporary 1000 year redemption of the Earth and creation under the reign of Jesus before the universe as we know it is destroyed and replaced by a new heaven and a new Earth. And it is going to be wonderful. In the very first message of this Revelation series, I shared that for all intents and purposes, all Christians agree that Revelation 19 describes the second coming of Christ. But there's broad disagreement over what Revelation 20 describes.
And if you're interested in learning more about those different positions, you can go back and check out that first message in this series on the Church's website. Those of you who remember that study will recall that we hold to a pre millennial and pretripulation or pretrip interpretation of what the Bible teaches regarding the end times. In that same message, I shared that we always start by taking the Bible literally and only move to a figurative or allegorical interpretation if there's a compelling reason to do so. And I went through some good reasons and bad reasons to interpret a biblical text figuratively. Here's why that's important for today's study.
Pretty much all Christians believe that Jesus Second Coming will be literal. It will actually happen. That's what Revelation 19 describes. So if you believe that, why wouldn't you believe in a literal millennial Kingdom, which Revelation 20 describes? If you're going to take the main subject of Revelation 19 literally, what's your justification for taking the main subject of Revelation 20 figuratively, especially when the phrase thousand years is used six times in Revelation 20, you must provide a compelling reason to not take such a specific number, literally.
And when you dig into the offered explanations for that hermeneutical flip flop, I think you'll reach the same conclusion I have, namely that the explanations are unsatisfying and unreasonable. As we study through Chapter 20 today, I think you'll find that there are no compelling reasons in the text to allegorize the millennial Kingdom. I would be remiss if I didn't also remind us of an interesting detail regarding the Millennium. Jesus created the universe in six days. What did he do on the 7th day?
He rested in two Peter, three eight. The Apostle Peter is writing to believers and encouraging them to be patient regarding the coming of Jesus, and he makes this really interesting observation. It's on your outlines. He writes, Beloved, do not forget this one thing that with the Lord one day is as 1000 years and 1000 years as one day. It's interesting that we find ourselves living in the generation where Israel has reemerged as a political nation, again putting us in the generation that will see the return of Jesus according to biblical prophecy.
And it's interesting that when you lay out the genealogies and timeline of the Bible, it puts the age of humanity at around 60 years. And I know that's opening a whole other can of worms that we don't have time to get into today. The suggestion is that the six days of creation followed by a day of rest is mirrored in the story of humanity. There will be six days of 1000 years of work followed by a single day of 1000 years of rest. And those thousand years, of course, will be the Millennium at the very least.
It's an interesting thing that these timelines seem to add up now. Last week we saw Antichrist and the false Prophet thrown into the Lake of fire, and I shared that Satan would be dealt with first thing in Chapter 20. So let's read together. In verse one, John says, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit. This is not the Lake of fire that we're talking about.
It's the abyss, the abusas in the Greek that we looked at in detail in our study of Revelation Nine. It's the darkest, most tormenting place in Hades that serves as a prison for some of the most heinous supernatural entities in existence. When someone or something is cast into the Lake of fire, they're there forever. When someone or something is imprisoned in the abyss, it's possible for them to be released at a later time, which we'll find is going to be the case here. Then it says, and a great chain in his hand, John sees a mighty angel come down from heaven with the key to lock and unlock the abyss of Hades.
And a great chain in one hand. Verse two, he laid hold of the Dragon, that serpent of old who is the devil and Satan. This is how we know that wherever we see a reference to a Dragon in the Book of Revelation, we're talking about Satan. John also tells us that Satan is that serpent of old. That's a reference to Genesis three, of course, where Eve is tempted to eat the forbidden fruit by a serpent.
In case we were confused, Revelation 20, verse two makes it clear that it was Satan in the Garden of Eden who tempted Eve to sin, who in turn enticed Adam, which resulted in the fall of the human race into sin and death. We keep reading and it says he laid hold of the Dragon, that serpent of old who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years. Would you underline bound him for 1000 years and he cast him into the bottomless pit. Satan is imprisoned in the abyss for the 1000 years of the Millennium. So write this down.
It's the first fill in on your outline. Satan will be bound in the abyss for the duration of the Millennium. He'll be out of the picture. You might recall that in Revelation Twelve we read about a war in the heavenly realms that will likely unfold around the halfway point of the tribulation where Satan and his legions will attempt to take over heaven. Obviously, it doesn't work.
And what was interesting was that God didn't even enter that fight because Satan is not God's rival. God has no rivals. Satan began his existence as an Archangel created by God, and so God has the Archangel Michael and the other faithful Angels cast Satan and his allies out of the heavenly realms and down to the Earth. Michael has no problem doing that because God delegates all the power and authority to Michael that he needs. I revisit all that because I notice here that when it's time to imprison Satan in the abyss, God once again does not budge from his throne.
Instead, he delegates power and authority to this nameless angel, who may well be Michael, who by himself is able to arrest Satan and cast him into the abyss. We really need to understand that God's authority and power are unmatched. Whatever powers Satan and the gods of the nations currently have is only because God permits it for reasons that would be an entire study unto itself. Isaiah tells us what our reaction will be when we literally see Satan. We'll squint and cock our heads to the side and say, Is this the man who made the Earth tremble who shook kingdoms?
This event is just one example that makes it clear that the Millennium is literal. James 47 tells us to resist the devil and he will flee from you. We wouldn't need to resist the devil if he was currently bound in the abyss, would he? Therefore, we are not presently in the Millennium, and I put a host of other scripture references on your outline that reinforce this point. As many have observed, if we're in the Millennium right now, then Satan's chain is far too long.
Thankfully, the truth is that the Millennium will be markedly different to the world we experience today, because while Satan is not bound now, he will be bound. Then, continuing in verses three, we're told that the angel shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should and then underline this, deceive the nations no more. Now I had you underlined that because it tells us that Satan is presently actively deceiving the nations. Would you write that down? Satan is presently actively deceiving the nations.
When we look at our world and the things that are going on, the decisions that are being made, and we think what is going on, this verse reminds us of the answer. Satan is deceiving the nations. The rulers of our world are deceived. They are puppets of the Kingdom of darkness. And this makes me so grateful that God's Word tells us we can have the mind of Christ through the Holy Spirit.
We can think with truth and clarity in a very foggy world. Paul describes this in One Corinthians Two. I put it on your outlines. He says the natural man, the man who is not part of the family of God, who doesn't have the Spirit of God in him. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one, for who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him. But we have the mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ. In other words, because Jesus is in us. If we will allow him and his word to inform our thinking and our worldview, we will be able to discern things that are affected by the spiritual world, which is really everything.
And anyone who does not belong to God cannot discern anything of the spiritual world. So, Satan is bound up so that he cannot deceive anyone during the Millennium. And then we read till the thousand years were finished. But after these things, after the Millennium, he Satan must be released for a little while. At the end of the Millennium, Satan will be released one final time.
And we'll get into that more when we reach verses seven next week. And you'll understand why that happens. The time is coming when the one the Bible calls the ruler of this world and the God of this age will no longer be, and in his place, Jesus will rule the nations. There can be some confusion about who specifically will go into the Millennium. We've touched on this over our past few studies, but let's just summarize for the sake of clarity here's, who will go into the Millennium.
Firstly, the Church, who will receive their resurrected bodies at the Rapture Secondly, Old Testament Saints who will receive their resurrected bodies at the Second Coming, Thirdly Tribulation Saints who will also receive their resurrected bodies at the Second Coming, and then lastly, surviving ethnic Israel who will enter the Millennium in their earthly bodies. Let's talk a little bit more about each group. If you have placed your faith in Jesus as your Savior and as welcome and have welcomed him into your life as Lord, as Master, then you are part of the Church. And the Church is going to reign with Jesus on the Earth. In the millennial Kingdom, we will have assignments that will include judging and enforcing righteousness on the Earth.
Jesus will establish the civil laws of the world and they will be perfect. They will bring freedom and safety and life to the Earth. But why will enforcement be needed? Well, even though Satan the temper will be bound during the Millennium, there will still be people on the Earth in their earthly bodies, like ethnic Israel, who will still have to deal with their sin nature because they will still be in unredeemed bodies. And if you're thinking I don't want to be a supernatural security guard and party pooper for 1000 years, that sounds lame.
Remember that ruling with Jesus is going to be a reward. It's going to be something we will love. And I think that's because we will actively participate in making things right. All the evil that we wish we could stop today, we will help prevent in the Millennium. And that sounds amazing to me.
The second group that goes into the Millennium is Old Testament Saints who will serve in the same capacity as the Church. The third group will be the Tribulation Saints, those who turn to Jesus after the Rapture. Most of this group will have died or been martyred in the Tribulation. They include the souls under the altar that we read about back in Revelation Six nine, as well as those who lost their lives for refusing to take the Mark of the beast and worship Antichrist. Some Tribulation Saints will survive until the Second Coming.
Maybe their prepper is finally being spectacularly proven right. Or perhaps they live in a remote region beyond Antichrist's reach. Those who died before the Second Coming will enter the Millennium in resurrected bodies. Those who are still alive on the Earth when Jesus returns will enter the Millennium in their earthly bodies. The fourth group will be surviving ethnic Israel, all ethnic Jews who are alive on the Earth at the end of the Tribulation, who will receive Jesus as Messiah when he opens their eyes to recognize him at the Second Coming.
Scripture tells us that only a third of the Earth's ethnic Jews will survive the Tribulation. But in Zechariah 13, the Lord goes on to say this. I will bring the one-third through the fire. We'll refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer them.
I will say, this is my people, and each one will say, The Lord is my God and these will enter the Millennium in their earthly bodies. Continuing in verse four, John writes, "And I saw thrones and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them." I think the best way to discern who is being spoken of in verse four is to look at who the Bible says will be entrusted to judge the Earth with Jesus in the Millennium. And that group seems to be the Royal priesthood of believers consisting of Old Testament Saints and the Church. Now John sees those who were martyred for their faith in the Tribulation.
Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who would not worship the beast or his image and had not received his Mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for one thousand years. Notice that John sees them as souls and then he says that they lived and reigned with Christ for 10 years. The idea is that they received their resurrected bodies at this time at the Second Coming. These Saints reign with Jesus in the Millennium, like the Church in the Old Testament Saints, but judgment is not committed to them.
They're in a slightly different category. It's wonderful to be in the Kingdom of God in any way, but it's far better to be part of the Royal priesthood of believers, those who serve Jesus in faith before the Tribulation and the Rapture. As an aside that I've mentioned before, just notice the specific method of execution referenced in verse four that will be used on those who choose to follow Jesus in the Tribulation. It's beheading and that's interesting because today the only countries that really execute in that way are Muslim countries, and they do that because of verses contained in the Quran. For example, the 47th Surah, the Sarah of Muhammad, says in verse four, when you encounter the infidels that's a term for nonbelievers in Islam strike off their heads until you have made a great slaughter among them and of the rest make fast the fetters.
As we mentioned in an earlier study, all worldly religions, including Islam, will merge under Antiochus because all worldly religions will in all likelihood receive Antichrist as their end-time savior figure. And based upon the method of death, it appears that Islam will provide the executioners for the Antichrist regime verse five. But the rest of the dead did not live again until 10 years were finished. So write this down. The rest of the dead refers to all nonbelievers who died before the Second Coming.
The rest of the dead refers to all nonbelievers who died before the Second Coming. It's a small detail, but I think I got this wrong last week. Those who have rejected Jesus and are still alive on the Earth at the Second Coming will be judged on the Earth and cast immediately into the Lake of fire. Matthew 25 41 is your reference for that the rest of the dead, everybody else who has died rejecting God before the Second Coming goes to Hades, a place of torment where spirits await their final judgment before being cast into the Lake of fire for eternity. And verse five tells us when that final judgment will take place at the end of the Millennium.
It's called the Great White Throne Judgment, and it'll come up next week in verses eleven of the same chapter. While a person's spirit is in Hades, they are considered to be dead even though they are conscious and present. From a biblical perspective, to be in Hades is to be counted among the dead. When verse five tells us that these dead will live again, it's referring to the fact that they will leave Hades and appear in the land of the living before Jesus somehow some way for their final judgment. Getting to leave Hades, even for a brief time, is considered living, and that is sobering, almost as sobering as the reality that their return to life will only be a pit stop on their way to eternal death in the Lake of fire.
Then John writes, this is the first resurrection. The first resurrection is better understood as a large class of people rather than an individual event. It includes everyone who belongs to Jesus and is therefore destined to receive a resurrected body fit for the ages to covet. Our brother Paul make a note of this. Our brother Paul rightly describes Jesus as the first fruits of the resurrection because he was the first to rise from the dead to eternal life.
Jesus is the first fruits of the first resurrection. And then I underline all of verse six because I just love it so much. It says, Blessed and Holy is he who has part in the first resurrection over such the second death has no power. So speaking of the second death, that is eternal death, let me explain what verse six is saying. Is it's saying Those who are born once die twice, those who are born twice die once?
I mentioned this in our study of the letter to the Church at Smyrna, but I'll explain again, almost everyone will experience the first death, which is the end of our earthly, physical lives. But the Bible says the most important part of us, our spirit, will continue to live forever one way or another, that eternity will be spent in one of two conditions, eternal life or eternal death. Those who belong to Jesus will experience neverending life. Those who reject Jesus will experience never ending death. When you place your faith in Jesus as your Savior and welcome him into your life as your Lord, he described what takes place in your spirit as being born again.
In that moment you receive a new spirit his spirit. A person who is only born once, born physically, will die at the end of his earthly life and then die again for all eternity. But the person who is born twice, both physically and then again with a new spirit given by God, will die at the end of this earthly life, but then live again for all eternity. This is what verse is is referring to when we read Blessed and Holy is he who has part in the first resurrection over such the second death has no power. Everyone who is born again, everyone who was born twice will be part of the first resurrection unto eternal life.
Everyone who was born once will be part of a second resurrection unto eternal death. Christian, if everything else in your life is going wrong, you're still blessed because you are going to spend eternity with Jesus and the second death has no power over you. And we'll talk about the second death more when we get to verse 14 in this chapter. Next time, verse six continues speaking of those who are part of the first resurrection and says, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. Everybody who belongs to Jesus will reign with him and Minister to him in the Millennium.
And the Millennium is going to be incredible. It's going to be wonderful. We are really going to see everything wrong with the world made right. It's going to happen. Imagine a would he creation itself is restored to its original quality and beauty.
Every trace of damage to the environment is undone. The air and water quality are pristine everywhere. You'll be able to drink from Rivers that today would make you sick. The deserts will turn into lush forests. Isaiah prophesies, The Wolf also shall dwell with the lamb.
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fat Ling together. And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze. Their young ones shall lie down together, and the Lions shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the Cobra's hole and the weaned child shall put his hand in the Viper's den.
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, the creatures and animals will all become vegetarian and will not harm any person. Insects won't annoy, bite, or terrify us. That's right.
There's a day coming when we will have a good relationship with spiders. That's really going to happen. You'll be able to lie down anywhere outside, take a nap and not worry about anything. Wolves and bears and deer will roam among us and children will play with them. And speaking of children, every parent will be a free-range parent because the world will be so safe.
Children will be able to roam and play and explore. Children will be treasured and watched over by everyone. Orphanages will close because there will be no orphans, and there will be no armies, for there will be no war. Isaiah chapter two describes this. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills, and all nations shall flow to it.
Many people shall come and say, Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem he shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into plow shares. Those are farming tools and their Spears into pruning hooks. The idea is kitchen knives.
Nations shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. Hospitals will close because there will be no sickness. Isaiah 35 declares, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the death shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb the mute will sing, for water shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
Did you know that different languages only exist because of the curse God put on humanity at the Tower of Babel in the Millennium? That too will be reversed in Zechariah three nine, the Lord promises, for then I will restore to the people's a pure language that they all may call on the name of the Lord to serve him with one accord. The impact of our sin on the universe will be undone. Everything will be restored to God's original design, and when we see it, we will declare as he did when he made it, this is good. This is so good.
Imagine a world where Satan, the gods of the nations, and all demonic entities are absent. They don't tempt or deceive anybody. The reins of power will sit firmly in the hands of the righteous, who will serve under the leadership of Jesus. On the rare occasion when someone commits an injustice, it will be known and dealt with immediately and perfectly. Nobody will be able to abuse or oppress anybody.
Neither will anyone consolidate wealth at the expense of another. There will be no middle class, no lower class, no upper class, no elites. Because everyone will be blessed. Everyone will have all they need to enjoy life in peace, full of joy and adventure. Work will not be labor.
It will be rewarding, fulfilling, and enjoyable. And people will enjoy each other as never before. Freed from all our insecurities, scars, anxieties, impure motives, lust, and every other negative issue. Humanity will experience relationships as God intended, full of love and life, and joy. It will be the greatest season of history the world will ever know because Jesus will reign as King, and he will make all things right.
I believe that a compelling argument for the God of the Bible is the fact that there is a longing in our souls for a world that looks like the Bible's description of the Millennium. Because we all look at the world and have this existential sense that things are not as they should be. We don't look at the world and think, yes, this is exactly as everything ought to be. It's simply evolution and natural selection doing its thing. We shouldn't expect anything more.
We look at the world and lament and grieve over its condition. When death interrupts the life of a child, we don't say, well, it's just a statistical reality that a certain number of children will die from cancer. Objectively, we have nothing to be upset about. When confronted with death, we are all struck by how wrong it seems. We can sense in the deepest parts of us that things should not be like this.
Where does that come from? How do we just know that something has gone terribly wrong with the world? How do we just know that something is off about everything we know? Because we're all made in the image of God, and he has placed in our souls a hunger for the kind of reality that can only exist under the reign of Jesus. We are all wired to view his idea of the world as being right, and we either recognize that and turn to Jesus, or we refuse to accept what our soul testifies because we want to be our own God, and we want that more than we want the life that Jesus offers.
And if we do that, if we reject the testimony of our souls, we will spend our lives embracing the delusional belief that even though humanity is the cause of everything wrong with the world, humanity is somehow the solution to everything wrong with the world. If you want to get serious about spirituality and philosophy, two of the key questions you must seek to answer are what has gone wrong with the world and what is the solution? The Bible teaches that we humanity is what has gone wrong with the world. We brought sin into the world, but praise God, there is a solution, and his name is Jesus.
Let me read to you what Isaiah 65 prophesies about the Millennium. This is God speaking to ethnic Israel who will enter the Millennium in their earthly bodies. He says, Be glad and rejoice forever in what I create for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people. The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
Jerusalem, perhaps the most contentious real estate on the planet, will be the safest, most peaceful place on Earth. No more shall an inerrant from there live but a few days. The idea is that there will be no more miscarriages, no more sudden infant deaths, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days. For the child shall die 100 years old. But the sinned, being 100 years old, shall be accursed.
At the age of 100, someone will still be considered a child. And if someone dies a natural death at the age of 100, it will only be because they grievously rebelled against God and he ended their life. They shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. I like to think that this means that everything I try to build and grow will actually work.
I can't wait for that. They shall not build and another inhabit they shall not plant and another eat. This is saying that nobody will work for another person. All employer employee relationships will cease. There'll be more than enough for everybody, wherever you are and whoever you are.
For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people. And my elects shall long enjoy the work of their hands. The norm will be centuries to enjoy whatever you build centuries. They shall not labor in vain. Every task you set your hand to will succeed, nor bring forth children for trouble.
Pregnancy and labor won't hurt anymore. It won't be uncomfortable. There'll be no medical emergencies caused by giving birth, for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord and their offspring with them. I love this. It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer.
And while they're still speaking, I will hear. That is how near God will be to every person who is on the Earth. In the Millennium, the Wolf and the lamb shall feed together. The lion shall eat straw like the Ox, and dust shall be the Serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my Holy mountain, says the Lord to wildly understate things.
It's going to be incredible. It's going to be incredible. The chaos and brokenness we see in the world today exists because humanity has rejected the Kingdom of God. But praise God, the day is coming when Jesus will reign over the Earth and put an end to that chaos and brokenness. In the meantime, while we wait, there's good news.
I can invite the Kingdom of God into my life today. I can submit my life to the reign of Jesus. And if I do, my spirit can experience his life and joy and peace and hope. Now, if you've never welcomed Jesus into your life to reign as King, then I want to invite you to do that today. Do not give in to the delusion that you are capable of being your own God and being your own supply of life, joy, peace, and hope.
You're not and you'll either figure that out now or later, or when it's too late. Invite Jesus to reign over your life today. And for those of us who already belong to Jesus, I just want to check in. Is there chaos and brokenness in your soul? If so, make sure you're bringing it to Jesus.
Make sure you're dealing with it. What Jesus asks you to do... Sometimes we're not so good at allowing Jesus to be Lord over the chaos and brokenness in our life. Sometimes the times we're most disobedient to the Lord is when we refuse to do with the chaos and the brokenness in our lives. That which the Lord calls us to do. What does he ask?
He asks us to cast our cares upon him because he cares for us. He calls us to confess our sins to him and be forgiven. He calls us to confess our sins to one another if we want to be healed. He calls us to seek wise counsel for mature brothers and sisters. He calls us to ask our Church family to pray with us and for us.
He calls us to ask the elders to lay hands on us and pray for healing. And he calls us to personally fast and pray. If you're experiencing chaos and brokenness in your life and you're a follower of Jesus, let me call you to obey Jesus in what you do with that chaos and brokenness. Follow Jesus as Lord in that. Do what he tells you to do.
Let his Kingdom reign in your life and you will experience his life joy, peace and hope. And with that, I'm going to ask you to pray. Would you buy your head and close your eyes? And right now, if you've never given your life to Jesus, I just want to invite you to do that. I want to invite you to say, Jesus, I believe in you as my Savior.
I believe that you are the only one who can save me and heal me and bring wholeness to the chaos and brokenness that is in me and Jesus, I want to follow you as Lord. If that's you, then just pray that as your own prayer, take ownership of it and God will put his spirit in you. You will be born again and welcomed into the family of God. Lord, for the rest of us who love you and know you and belong to you, Lord, we want your Kingdom to come in our lives now. And Lord, we recognize that we are still in a fight every day to allow you to reign over our lives because our flesh doesn't want that.
Lord, I pray especially for anyone experiencing any degree of chaos or brokenness in their life who belongs to you. Lord, I pray for the faith to obey you in that. For the faith to not hold on to that, but to do with those difficult things. That what you have called us to do, to bring them to you to seek wise counsel, to ask for prayer, to fast and pray and to lay our burdens at your feet. Lord, help us to do that.
Help us to know how to do that and help us not to suffer in silence. When you have made a way through our brothers and sisters and through your Church for us to have people walk alongside us and to pray for us and that You've chosen through them to bring us wholeness and healing help us not to neglect the gifts that you've given us in each other, Lord and the greatest gift that you've given us in your son Jesus. Thank you that you are our life, you are our hope, you are our joy and you are our peace. And you're coming for us. And then we will return with you when you make all things right on the Earth.
And Lord, we can't wait, we can't wait. We love you, Jesus we bless you in your name we pray Amen.