Bible Discussion Thread

 
  • S Spencer - 2 years ago
    Millennium kingdom.

    By J vernon mcgee.

    Part 2.

    There is a glorious day in the future which does not depend upon a ritual or a liturgy or a ceremony or jumping through some little hoop and thinking that will please God. God says that it is the heart which will have to be changed, and He says that He is going to change these people's hearts. The Word of God will go forth from Jerusalem, and it will be called a city of truth.

    Isaiah goes on to say in his prophecy, "And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" ( Isaiah 2:3,4). But we have not come to that day yet. Yet there is coming a day when "Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain [or, kingdom] of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain." In other words, Zechariah is speaking of the establishment of the millennial Kingdom, which is yet in the future.

    Actually, the Millennium is merely one phase of God's eternal Kingdom; that is, the "theocratic Kingdom," as Dr. George N. H. Peters calls it - and I like that term so much better. Actually, everything thathashappened in history, thatishappening in our day, andwillhappen in the future is all part of God's program in setting up His Kingdom here upon this earth.

    Now the Millennium, one feature of God's eternal Kingdom, is a special dispensation that is yet future. The Millennial Kingdom will come to an end, and the eternal Kingdom will begin. That is stated clearly in Scripture. Over in1 Corinthians 15, Paul gives the order of events, beginning with the resurrection of Christ inverse 20,
  • S Spencer - In Reply - 2 years ago
    Millennium kingdom.

    Part 3.

    then he says that those who are Christ's will be raised at His coming.

    But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming. ( 1 Corinthians 15:23)

    After that, "Then cometh the end." The end of what? The world? No. The Bible does not teach the end of the world. This world that we live in will not come to an end but is going into eternity. Yes, it's to be renovated, made new, but it is going into eternity.

    Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father

    There does come a time when this thousand-year reign will be delivered up to God the Father,

    when he [Christ] shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. ( 1 Corinthians 15:24, 25)

    Christ is coming into this world someday, and He will come in with great judgment. He will set up His thousand-year reign here upon this earth. And during that thousand-year reign, He will accomplish a purpose. Today He is accomplishing His purpose of calling a people out of this world unto Himself. During the millennial reign He's going to bring this earth under His rule. He will rule with a rod of iron. Those who oppose Him will be dashed in pieces like a potter's vessel. That is going to be a time when Christ will rule arbitrarily upon this earth.

    Now let me make this very clear. We have not yet seen a real dictator rule. You wait till Christ rules. When He rules on this earth a bird won't even cheep, a rooster won't crow and a man won't open his mouth without His permission. That'll be a time when His will at last will be done on this earth. And, my friend, even the Millennium would be a hell for any man who is in rebellion against God.

    see part 4.
  • S Spencer - In Reply - 2 years ago
    Millennium kingdom.

    Part 4.

    The Bible tells us that there will be some in rebellion, and that rebellion breaks out during the Millennium. Christ will judge it immediately because He is going to bring this earth back under the rule of God. That is God's purpose for the earth.

    For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. ( 1 Corinthians 15:25-28)

    Now what does that mean? It means simply this: The Lord Jesus will come to this earth, reign one thousand years, and bring this earth back under the rule of God. When this is accomplished, I take it that He will return back to His place in the Godhead. And this earth then will become what God intended it to be throughout the eternal ages of the future. This is the picture that the Scripture presents.

    All the way through the Old Testament, and especially in the Prophets, this Kingdom, this thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth, is set before us. In fact, there is more Scripture - this may surprise you - on this subject than on any other subject in the Bible. The prophets had more to say about this coming Kingdom than anything else. It was their theme song. They sound like a stuck record, saying over and over that the King is coming, the Kingdom is coming, and great blessings will be on this earth.

    Now, the prophets spoke of it as coming in the future. And from where you and I are today, it is still future. The conditions predicted have never been fulfilled in the past, and they are not being fulfilled yet, as we shall see.

    See Part 5
  • S Spencer - In Reply - 2 years ago
    Millennium kingdom.

    Part 5 of 6.

    The Kingdom of God will not be established by man's efforts, by human ability. The church is not building the Kingdom today, yet it is geared into a program that will see the coming of the Kingdom. It's not our business to build a Kingdom. This is one reason that I am thankful today to be out of the denomination I was raised in. I used to go to meetings in which there were always brethren building the Kingdom - and you ought to have seen the cheap little "chicken-coop" that we built! Yet we were always talking about building the Kingdom. My friend, when God is ready to set up His Kingdom, He won't need help from any church. In fact, He is going to remove His true church out of the world before He establishes His Kingdom here upon the earth. That is His plan, that is His program, if you please.

    Now the Kingdom that we are looking at in these few pages will be confined to what Isaiah had to say on this subject. And believe me, he had a great deal to say about it.

    This Kingdom - and this is important for you to understand - is the same as we find in the New Testament where it is called the Kingdom of Heaven. That was the message John the Baptist began with: "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" ( Matthew 3:2). When the Lord Jesus began His ministry, He said the same thing.

    thecommonpeople who heard John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus understood what they were talking about. The Kingdom we are talking about is just what the Old Testament has been talking about: the Millennial Kingdom coming on the earth.

    The Kingdom of Heaven is just simply this: the rule of the Heavens over the earth. When Heaven rules over this earth on which we live, we will have the Kingdom of Heaven condition.

    See part 6 of 6.
  • GiGi again - In Reply - 2 years ago
    Mark, I understand what you are saying, but Scripture reminds me what Jesus said about the Kingdom of God. It is "within you" and it is "not of this world".

    "Kingdom Building" is one catch phrase in many churches nowadays. However, Jesus said that He will build the church, which I believe is His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. He said He was going to prepare a place for us, a place for his church to live in. We are the Kingdom I believe. We are called to be obedient to what the Spirit has to say to the Church. I think it is good for every church congregation to study what Jesus' says to the churches in Revelations, and work on correcting what the Lord points out as problems that need to be rooted out to remain shining lights to the world of God's gospel of grace. Paul speaks of judgment beginning in the house of God first. May each person and every congregation put their house in order as the Spirit empowers them to work and do the will of God.
  • S Spencer - In Reply - 2 years ago
    Millennium kingdom.

    Part 6.

    The Millennium will be the time when there will be the full manifestation of the glory, the power and the will of God over this earth. And all agree that this is not in evidence today. You'll not have hospitals, you'll not have graveyards, you'll not have the suffering nor broken hearts and lives when Christ is reigning on this earth. And it's an insult to my Lord to say that the Kingdom of Heaven is being built today and is in existence on this earth. When He is reigning you won't have the tragedy that presently exists throughout the world.

    Millennium takes its label, is detailed in numerous passages including Revelation 20, Isaiah 65, and Ezekiel 40-48, among others. Ezekiel's detailed tour of the Millennial Temple virtually defies any skeptic's attempt to treat it allegorically.

    1 John 2:27. Is not a verse we use to defy scripture. Any revelation from the Holyspirit should line up with Gods written word, and what Jesus taught.

    John 14:26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

    One can symbolize all the scripture and twist it to say what ever. This is Dangerously flawed!!

    Jesus said MY sheep hear my voice, to follow another voice and turn from the call of the great shepherd then you're not his sheep.

    Paul says Galatians 1:6-8. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

    Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

    But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

    2 John 1:9-10.

    Keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

    Which some professing have erred concerning the faith.

    God bless.
  • James - In Reply - 2 years ago
    A wise man is of few words .

    Gods word is enduring and to be taken with fear and reverence, to love Gods word is to understand it .



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