Well, as we approach the apex or the climax of Jesus' teaching on His imminent return in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and 25, we are faced with the stark reality of what that second coming entails. Oftentimes, and I know you've heard this before as well, but you hear people express discomfort or even aversion to the so-called God of the Old Testament, claiming him to be angry or severe or vengeful. People say, I don't like the God of the Old Testament. And yet they also find themselves drawn to Jesus. They call him the God of the New Testament, claiming him to be gentle and lovely and mild. What they fail to understand is that there is no difference between the two. There is one God of both Testaments, and He is all of what the scriptures reveal to us. He is loving and kind, merciful and gracious, as well as just and holy, jealous for his own glory, and angry at the wicked. And this all-encompassing characterization is true of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yes, certainly he is, the Bible says, gentle and lowly at heart. extending compassion to the downcast and the hurting. We also read in places like 2 Thessalonians 1.8 says that when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels and flaming fire, he will deal out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Apostle Paul goes on to say, And so how do we balance out this vengeful Jesus of 2 Thessalonians 1 with the gentle Jesus of St. Matthew 11.29? Furthermore, why does Jesus return this way? And what is the promise that he makes to us? And that's what I wanna look at together today. So if you have your copy of scripture, go to the end of Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25. By my count, we'll have this week and next week to finish out Matthew 25. And Lord willing, we're gonna be finished with the Gospel of Matthew by early summer of next year. I think this is my, you're laughing, I'm not joking. I think this is my 162nd sermon in Matthew or something like that. But who's counting, right? Now this has been just a wonderful, not to give you a commercial for the Gospel of Matthew, but just a wonderful time together just looking at this scripture. I think about all that we've been through as a church in the Gospel of Matthew. It's just been wonderful. But really here, just seeing the, like I said, the pinnacle of his return in Matthew 25. Earlier in Matthew 24, 3, it begins by the disciples asking the Lord Jesus about the sign of his coming and the end of the age. He responds by giving them sort of a small or a tiny peek behind the curtain of the future, which includes events leading up to the last days. He talks about the abomination of desolation. He talks about the setting up of the Antichrist, the period of the Great Tribulation. And then finally, he talks about his return to the earth and we looked at this not too long ago in Matthew 24 29 Jesus recounts but immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the sky with power and great glory, and he will send forth his angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of the sky, to the other. And so at that point Jesus goes from that description, from that announcement of his coming, he sort of pivots in his teaching, his approach. He opts for more of an illustrative He moves into parables and analogies at the end of chapter 24 and chapter 25 and then starting in chapter 25 verse 31 he goes back to more of a direct instruction and that's where we are even today. And so you see he's moving back and forth between his style of teaching to drive home the point and to illustrate all of what this is. Because again, we're having the benefit of looking back 2,000 years and having the chance to read this. They're hearing this for the first time. Can you imagine hearing all of this from the very first time and having to step back and say, what are you talking about? And then here's some parables and here's illustrations and here's this and here's that. This would have blown their minds, more so as it has been challenging even in our own thinking. And so in chapter 25 verse 31, like I said, he goes back to his direct instruction. He focuses on the actions of his return. What happens when he returns? Matthew 25 verses 31. We're going to stop in 34 today. So verses 31 to 34. These are the words of Jesus. But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all His angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on His left. And then the king will say to those on his right, come, you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And we'll stop right there. Even though the narrative continues, we're gonna take a little break right there. This passage, leading all the way up to the end of the chapter, by this portion is, again, more than enough for us today, but it's building on the back of the previous teaching up to this point. Jesus once again foretells the events of His return. Keep in mind here in the context, we've been in Matthew 24-25 for quite some time, for a few months now, but we have to remember where we are. At this point in Matthew's gospel, we're only a couple of days away from Jesus going to the cross. It's right at the end of his ministry. The events are at a fever pitch in Israel. It's Passion Week, it's Passover Week, there's a lot going on. He's just blasted the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the temple courts, and now he's marching his way, not just up to the mountain, but he's going to come back down the mountain and eventually go to Golgotha, into the grave, and then resurrect. So we're very, very close to that fever pitch moment in the Gospels here. And so here, he begins to speak again about this coming of the Son of Man. Now we know that he's speaking about himself in the third person. This is not the first time he's referred to himself as the Son of Man. In fact, he uses this title 32 times alone in Matthew's Gospel, six times in the Olivet Discourse. The title comes from the prophet Daniel when he reports this heavenly vision where he gazes into the throne room of the Lord and he sees in Daniel 7.13, he says, And so it was accepted in Jewish theology, rabbinic tradition here, that the Son of Man, that's a messianic title, for the anointed one who God is going to send to his people. And so Jesus is claiming that that is speaking of him, that he is the son of man. He's the Son of Man, He's the Messiah, He's the Anointed One, He is the Savior. And so, Jesus prophesies that the Son of Man will come, and He's already spoken about this in chapter 24, verse 30, on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And then here, Jesus kinda repeats that sentiment, even though He simplifies it, and He says, the Son of Man will come in His glory. Now, it's very easy to sort of understate that. about talking about Jesus coming in His glory. What is His glory going to look like? What will it be to us when we see this glory revealed? Well, if it's anything like the Shekinah glory in the Old Testament, it's going to be a bright and radiant, burning light. In fact, that's exactly what Peter, James, and John see in the Mount of Transfiguration in Matthew 17. It says, Christ was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as light. Mark 9, adding to the same comment here, he says that his garments became radiant and exceedingly white as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And then we see in John's vision, a glorified vision of Christ in Revelation 1.14, he records his head and his hair were white like wool, like snow, and his eyes were a flame of fire, and his feet were burnished bronze when it has been caused to glow in the furnace. And so we see this very radiant, bright, burning vision of the glory of Christ from the scriptures. But then John records even more of this in Revelation 19, and we saw this just a few weeks ago. John says at the end of all of this, he says, And then he repeats the same sentiment. and He Himself has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself, and He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God." So you have this compounded, glorious vision of Jesus Christ returning at the end of the age. We have this marvelous and awesome, beautiful, even terrifying image of the Lord Jesus Christ at His return. And so this is what He's talking about when the Son of Man comes in His glory. And on that day, the sky lights up with the glory of Christ. And yet, we know he's not alone. It's not just Jesus who comes back. He adds that all of this, his angels will be with him. But if you look more carefully at the text, he says, all the angels are with him. What do you mean all the angels? All the angels. Don't miss that. Every single angel in heaven comes with Jesus at his return. It's a marvelous, startling idea. The entire, the whole host of heaven comes with him, Revelation 19, it says, and the armies which are in heaven, that's the angel, the angelic army, the army in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, are following him on white horses. So you have this array of countless numbers of angels on white horses following the Son of Man, the King of Heaven, on a throne in blazing glory at his return. I don't even know what else to say. Marvelous, marvelous imagery of the coming of Christ. And in several places, Jesus mentions what his angels are going to be doing. Why do they come with him? What is the purpose? Matthew 13, 41, the Son of Man will send forth his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who commit lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire. In that place will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And so the angels partake in the judgment of Christ. They carry out, they met out his judgment on the earth. But then we also see Matthew 24, 31. We looked at this already not too long ago. Jesus says he will send forth his angels also to do something else. To gather up all his elect from the four winds from one end of the sky to the other. So Christ comes in his glory. He is the judge. He is the king. He is the victor. And yet He is an entire host of armies that are carrying out His divine will on earth as He comes. And so again, Christ, He comes in His glory and all the angels with Him. And then we can even interpret even further here according to Zechariah 14, verse 4, that says that Christ will stand on the Mount of Olives. Where is He teaching right now in Matthew 24, verse 25? On the Mount of Olives. So he's standing in the place at this time, and he says, I'm gonna come back right here. So he comes back and he stands on the Mount of Olives, and Zechariah says, when he does that, the mountain will split in two. Lots of commentary about what that means, but I'll just leave it at that. The Bible says that the mountain splits in two, one side goes to the east, one side goes to the west. And so this is the force, the force of the sovereign Lord touching down on the planet Earth. Marvelous imagery. And then Jesus continues, and here in this gospel he says, and then he will sit on his glorious throne. Now this statement, Jesus assumes the office of both king and judge, as we'll see. Both king and judge. Well, is this a new concept? This idea of Christ sitting on a throne? Well, not at all. approaching Christmas not too long away here. We read very similar verses every single year. There's sort of a catalog of Bible verses we like to recite at Christmastime, and a lot of us talk about Isaiah 9-7. where the prophesied Messiah is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, you know this verse. But then it goes on to say, furthermore, there will be no end of the increase of his government or his peace, and then it says, on the throne of David and over his kingdom. On the throne of David, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness. Even back in Isaiah chapter 9, we see the king of the kingdom sitting on his throne, the throne of David. So this is not a new concept here. In fact, at the announcement of his birth, the angel Gabriel, another one of our Christmas passages we like to read, Luke 1.32, he will be great, speaking of Christ, he will be great, and will be called the son of the most high, and the Lord God will give him what? the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end. Even at his birth this was prophesied. You're not just getting a prophet. You're not just getting a teacher. You're not even just getting the son of man. You're getting God incarnate coming and one day he will reign for a little bit? No. Isaiah says, Luke says, forever. Eternal kingship. And so there is a promise here that the son of David will one day sit on the throne of David and reign forever." Now, these kinds of verses, these kinds of statements, some even see this as more of a statement regarding His kingship, sort of a generalized statement. and not a reference to a future literal throne on which Christ sits in his millennial kingdom, but scripture seems to paint a different picture. And so, if you would, turn over to Joel chapter three. This is in the Old Testament in the Minor Prophets. Maybe just a hundred or so pages before where we are in Matthew. Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, so right at the beginning of the Minor Prophets there, Joel chapter three. Not a place that most people normally go, even though these minor prophets are remarkable, not just in their visions and warnings of the Lord and of his judgment, but also of the events of the future. We get a lot of eschatology from the minor prophets here. But Joel is writing in the ninth century B.C., he's a very early prophet, in the ninth century B.C., and he records the events of the coming day of the Lord. That's a major theme in Joel is the day of the Lord. At the beginning of chapter 3, Joel prophesies the restoration of Judah and Jerusalem, and then he moves to the return of the Lord. So now we're coming to the actual day of the Lord, the return of the Lord. Joel chapter 3, we're going to pick it up in verse 12. These are the words of the Lord himself. Joel 3.12. Let the nations be aroused, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in a sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. Now look at this verse, this is familiar. The sun and the moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness. The Lord roars from Zion. and utters his voice from Jerusalem. And the heavens and the earth tremble, but the Lord is a refuge for his people and a stronghold to the sons of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, and strangers will pass through it no more. And so we see here the Lord seated as judge over the nations. They all pass before him in what he calls the Valley of Decision. It's a place where all the nations of the world, they come and they pass through and he decides, he judges over them. In fact, if you notice the Lord Jesus Christ, he quotes verse 15 in the Olivet Discourse. We saw this not too long ago. But why this passage is significant is that it places the coming of the Lord in judgment at a geographical place. This isn't just some sort of ethereal symbolic place. It isn't a heavenly spiritual reality. It's not allegorized. He says, Joel says, that the Lord is judging specifically in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, verse 12. It's also called, again, the Valley of Decision, verse 14. He locates it in Zion, Jerusalem, a specific place. Verse 17 again. then you will know that I am the Lord your God dwelling, living, abiding in Zion, my holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy and the strangers will pass through it no more. Again, we see the Lord dwelling in Jerusalem, sitting on his throne, judging the world. In fact, this has led many Bible scholars to conclude that in the last days, there will be a new temple built in Jerusalem. And the Lord, when he returns, will enter that temple in Jerusalem. He will seat himself on the throne of David, and he will reign over the earth. Now again, there's a lot of discussion about that. And there's a lot of people who have very strong views about that. And I have a personal view about that. And I think you can back a lot of it up with scripture. But the bottom line is that there is great mystery with this. But it seems to be the picture that is being painted here. Of course, we know that he will do more than simply reign on the throne when he comes. Go back to 25, Matthew 25. And so again, we see this ruling and reigning and judging on the throne in Jerusalem in the Valley of Decision. We go back to Matthew 25. Again, the Lord is seated on his glorious throne. There's a modifier there, glorious throne. And then we read in verse 32, all the nations will be gathered before him. Does that sound familiar? Sounds like what we just read in Joel, right? All the nations will be gathered before him, and look at this, he will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And so the Lord, he comes, he enthrones himself, and Jesus says that he will gather all the nations. For what purpose? For judgment. But specifically, he's examining evidences of faith. That's what he's looking for, evidences of faith. Because he says that at that time, he will separate the nations from one another. And then he gives an analogy here. What is that going to be like? Well, it's going to be like a shepherd that separates the sheep from the goats. In the first century in Palestine, in Israel, it was not uncommon for shepherds to let their flocks to graze together with other flocks. So a whole bunch of shepherds, they'd find a huge grassy field or a hill and they would all come out and their sheep would all graze and there'd be hundreds or even thousands of them on this field. And as you looked at this mass of animals on this field, you didn't know. You couldn't tell sheep from goat from anything else. It was just a big mass of animals. But then at the end of the day, the shepherds would go and separate their flock specifically, and you could even go further and say they would actually call them by name and the sheep would hear the voice of the shepherd they would follow. There's a lot of things to go there. But the whole idea is at the end of that, The shepherds would then separate their sheep from the rest of the flock and certainly from all the goats. And that's what Jesus is describing here, this separation, this parsing out of who belongs to him and who is with the rest. That's the action being done here. And what's interesting is even in Ezekiel 34, the Lord gives the exact same analogy of separating sheep from goats to describe the analogy of judgment. The Lord here who is called the Good Shepherd in John chapter 10 asserts his own judgment and he divides up all the nations into two groups and only two groups. There are the sheep and then there are the goats. Sheep are true believers. Those are the ones who belong to Christ. They're the ones who believe Him. They're the ones who love Him. Those are God's people. And then you have the goats. They are false converts. False converts. Verse 33. And He will put His sheep on His right and the goats on His left. To divide between right and left was a judgment in and of itself. Generally speaking, the right, the place at the right, was the place of honor and blessing. To sit someone at your right hand, and we even know that terminology by today's standards. If you have a person who is closest to you, the person of trust, the person of honor and In camaraderie, you say, oh, they're my right-hand man. What does that mean? Well, that's a symbol, isn't it? But this is the place of honor and blessing. It's where the father seats the son in Psalm 110. We know this verse, don't we? The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And so the sheep, the believers who belong to Christ, are placed on His right. And even Psalm 79 13 declares, so we, your people, and the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever, to all generations we will tell of your praise. Verse 34, and the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Notice in the text here that Jesus moves from calling himself the Son of Man in verse 31, now he refers to himself as what? The King. The king in verse 34. This is actually a remarkable shift in the course of the narrative. Why? It's the first time. It's the first time that he refers to himself as the king in the gospels here, and it won't be the last. Even we think about John 18, 37, when Jesus stands before the governor, Pilate, and Pilate asks him if he is a king. Are you a king? And what does he do? He affirms, he says, you say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, for this I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth. And then he adds this, everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. The sheep hear his voice and he calls out to them when they follow him. You know that? Sounds very familiar, doesn't it? John 10, 27, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me and I will give them eternal life and they shall never perish. These are themes that are being repeated over and over and over again in the gospels. Repeated themes. And what does King Jesus say to his sheep in verse 34? He says, And so here Jesus will invite all of his sheep, all of his people, to partake with him in the blessings of the kingdom. "'Come,' he says, "'you who are blessed of my Father.'" Now this is interesting because the word he uses here, blessed, is not the same Greek word that is used in the Beatitudes. In the Beatitudes, it's makarios, which is happy or joyful. And we will oftentimes will render this sort of loosely. Happy are those who are poor in spirit, for they will inherit the kingdom of God, right? So happy or joyful, blessed, makarios. But in here, this section here, Matthew uses a different word. Eulogomenoi, which is where we get the word eulogy. It often refers to a specific blessing. It's a gift of prosperity that's been bestowed. It's a blessing that you render. It's a different kind of blessing. It's the same word used in Ephesians 1-3 to speak of God saving love for his people. And many of us know this verse, certainly. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us, same word, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him. And so Bible scholars are very quick to note that this blessing includes the full realization of the believer's salvation. What does that mean? Well, it means that when we inherit the kingdom, we become partakers of the blessings of heaven and an eternity with Christ in glory. To inherit the kingdom of God is to inherit God as our king. It's to inherit everything that God is and all that he possesses. It's to be seated with Him in the heavenly places. Can you fathom that? Romans 8 talks about us being heirs with Christ. Heirs with Christ. I'm not even worthy to be His footstool. I'm not worthy to be His doormat, and I suspect you're not either. And yet, we're seated with Him in the heavenly places and become co-heirs with Christ. That is a blessing that is beyond measure. Conversely, the Bible is also clear from places like 1 Corinthians 9 verses, or excuse me, 6, 9 through 10, or Galatians 5, 21, that those whose lives are marked by sinfulness, those whose lives are characterized by things like immorality, impurity, idolatry, drunkenness, deceit, malice, and so forth, the Bible's very clear, they will not inherit the kingdom of God. And so it's clear that those on the right, Jesus says, will inherit salvation. They will inherit the kingdom. And those on his left, if we were to skip ahead to verse 46, will go away into eternal punishment. There's only two ways. There's always only been two ways. That goes back to Matthew 7. The narrow gate and the wide gate, right? There's only two ways. Psalm 1, the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. Only two ways. Which way will you go, my friends? Will you be on the right or on the left? Sheep or goats? What determines where you go? How do you know? Well, it's based squarely on whether or not you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you trust in him? It's all connected to him. I like the idea of heaven, but I don't know if I like Jesus. Well, then you're not gonna go there. Because you can't inherit the kingdom of Christ without inheriting Christ himself. If you don't like Christ, you're not gonna like his house. Make sense? And yet we try to divide. People get, they play these word games all the time. Well, I have a relationship with the man upstairs. I hear that all the time. New Englanders love that phrase. Oh, the man upstairs, we're good. He and I are good. Really, are you sure? Do you know him? Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, as Lord? And more than that, do you obey him? Do you follow him? Is he your shepherd? Are you his sheep and you follow his commands? Is your life marked by Christ's likeness? Because what you believe is connected directly to what you do. And we're gonna see that even next week when we go into the coming verses, verses 35 to 46, where Jesus actually offers somewhat of a test. He tests the hearers, he tests the disciples. And he says, here's how you're gonna know if your faith is taking root and if it's real. It's how you treat other people, by the way. The way you treat other people is actually how you treat Jesus. Because again, you could even go so far as to say, well, I love Jesus, but I don't love his people. Then you don't love him. You can't say, I love God and hate my brother. You can't do it. And I'll tell you, this is where love in the church is most important. Because again, we can come here every week, we can sing wonderful songs, we can listen to a sermon, we can get all riled up and say, I love Jesus, and then sneer and snicker at each other on the way out the door. And you've invalidated your worship. The way that you treat one another is how you treat Christ. Husbands, the way that you treat your wife is the way that you're supposed to be, or the way that you treat Christ. If you don't love your wife and treasure her, then you don't love Jesus. Wives, if you don't treat your husbands with respect and honor, you don't honor Christ. It's as simple as that. That's the most basic level. Then you go into children, parents, coworkers, friends, even your enemies. How do you treat your enemies? What does Jesus say about that? Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. And so all of this is connected. This isn't just some eschatological future hypothetical reality for us. This is now. Yes, we see a vision of the future, but it impacts us right now. Do you love me? If you do, you'll keep my commands, he says. So this is all connected. How do you know that you are a sheep and not a goat? Do you love Christ and do you obey Him? Because ultimately, again, it's all connected to Him. Ultimately, John 5, 27 says that He will ultimately be the one to judge. Jesus says in John 5, the Father has given me all authority to exercise judgment because I am the Son of Man. Jesus has all judgment. All judgment. So you can't think you're fine with God if you don't know Christ. Jesus has all judgment. Even on the last day, according to Matthew 7.23, when false converts try and break into heaven and they say, oh Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name, what does the Son of Man say to them? Depart from me, I never knew you. It's all about whether or not you know Christ and whether he knows you. And so consider this, especially if you're here today and you're not sure if you know him, or maybe you're here today and you've been playing games. So many people play games. I've been going to church my whole life. That's great. Do you know Jesus Christ? Well, I read my Bible. That's great. Do you know and love and obey Jesus Christ? It's as simple as that. Go back to Matthew 25. There is another aspect here of this verse, verse 34 in Matthew 25. When Jesus tells his people that they will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world, there's another component here. There's another element. Many scholars maintain that Jesus is speaking about even more than salvation. So turn over to Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20. The book of Revelation is comprised of visions of the future given to the apostle John toward the end of the first century. And toward the end of that revelation in chapter 19, we have the bodily return of Jesus Christ to earth. And we've seen that several times over the last couple of weeks. Revelation 19 verses 11 through 16, we see the glorious return of Jesus Christ, at which time he annihilates the armies of Satan who are gathered together on the plains of Megiddo in verses 17 to 21. And then after that judgment is carried out by the Lord in chapter 19, we see sort of a new era breaking in. in chapter 20. So look at this with me. Revelation chapter 20. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he threw him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed. After these things he must be released for a short time." Verse 4, "'Then I saw thrones, And they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus, and because of the word of God. And those who did not worship the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand, and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. And the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years." Stop right there. Revelation 20, this passage here and more, comprises what scholars refer to as the Millennial Kingdom. During this time, Satan is bound and is not deceiving the nations anymore. Evil is mitigated, even though it's not fully destroyed. Righteousness reigns on the earth, according to Isaiah 11. There's a universal peace and a widespread prosperity, according to Isaiah 35. And the Lord Jesus rules as the sole king over the entire world. And the believers who are with him minister and serve underneath him, reigning with him, even though to a lesser degree. And according to all these verses, verse two, three, four, five, six, and seven, it's repeated all these times that this earthly kingdom is going to be for a thousand years. What is that also referred to? A millennium. And so it is only after final judgment, which is called the Great White Throne Judgment, at the end of chapter 20, that the Lord establishes the new heavens and the new earth and inaugurates the eternal state. So let me just back up a little bit here. You have the return of Christ and His judgment. You have the battle of Armageddon where Christ destroys the armies that were against him. You have a thousand year reign of Christ, and then you have a second judgment, and then you have the eternal state. However, Christians differ on these views of the millennial kingdom. I want to be very clear about this. All Christians are united on the bodily return of Christ. If you deny the bodily return of Christ, that's a tenet of orthodoxy. So all of us believe in Christ returning bodily. We are united on final judgment. We know that Christ comes and judges the whole world. We are united on the eternal state, where sin and suffering are no more, and Christ reigns victorious forever. So all of those things, every Christian on planet Earth is united on if they are sound in their theology. But there are several different understandings of what we read in chapter 20 of Revelation here and all the verses that apply to it. Now up to this point in the last couple of months, I've only really hinted at these. I haven't made it a big to-do about talking about all these views and all the, yes, catalogical verbiage about it. And the reason I've been doing it this way is because I just don't want to bog us down with terminology. And I don't want to plunge us into this debate over end times, which I've seen destroy churches. So many churches have bogged themselves down in timings of this and timings of that to the point where it's all they focus on. Now, we're here in the text, and so we're going to deal with it, but we're not going to live here and fight about this for the rest of the time that we're a church. We have bigger things to do. It doesn't mean this is not important. It's just not the most important thing, okay? So that's why I haven't plunged us so far into all this. There's a lot here. There's a ton here. But for today, I do want to talk a little bit about it in the time we have left. One view of Revelation 20 takes this text at face value, at face value, a literal, grammatical, historical interpretation of the scriptures, and sees a future thousand-year reign on earth. Considering the fact that Christ reigns or returns before this millennial kingdom, before that, that view is called pre-millennialism. Again, Christ returning before or pre the millennium. A second view sees Christ returning after the millennium, so that would be called post-millennialism. This view interprets many of these verses and others more figuratively and argues that the kingdom that we call the millennial reign is this growing and advancing kingdom that's taking place even now. So this view argues that we are now currently in the millennial kingdom and we're seeing the gospel advancing and they use verses like Matthew 24, 14, and the gospel of the king will be proclaimed and then the end will come. So there's a lot of verbiage for that as well. At some time in the future, Christ will return and receive the kingdom that has been advancing all these years. Again, this is the view that is post-millennium. There's a third view. The third major view interprets, again, all these verses in a similar way, making many of them figurative. This argues that the realities expressed in Revelation chapter 20 are more spiritual and heavenly realities, that Christ is already ruling and reigning in the hearts of believers, and so that view does not accept the millennium of any kind in the way that we would think about it, and aptly is called amillennialism, or no millennial, okay? To be clear, there are many points of agreements with all three of these major views. Yes, Christ is ruling in the hearts of believers. Again, all Christians acknowledge that. Yes, Christ is king regardless of politics. Okay, that's a hot topic right now apparently. But Christ is king, it doesn't matter what you believe. He is the king. And yes, the gospel is advancing and the spiritual kingdom of salvation is growing. Always, however, there are numerous exegetical regions. And just so you know, my position personally from studying is pre-millennialism. I take this text at face value, that there will be a future thousand year reign on earth with Christ on a throne. Just a couple of, and I don't have time to go into all of the details of that today. Maybe that'll be a different series in a different time, I don't know. But just a couple of things about this. Matthew 19, 28, Jesus is talking to the disciples and he says, That is not a kingdom that they create and then hand to Christ. That is a premillennial verse, if you will. But even looking at this passage today, noting that believers, again, inherit the kingdom. at the time of Christ's return, it certainly supports a millennial, a pre-millennial view. And yet, with all that being said, yet, we have to admit that there is a lot here that is shrouded in mystery. There's a lot that is mysterious about these doctrines. And so I don't want to hang us on the mystery and on the debate of these things. But again, it's important that you know that these views exist out there. And it's also important that you know which view I'm going to continue to teach because that's the view I'm convinced of. And again, the Lord has much more to teach us. He does not tell us everything. The Lord does not satisfy all of our curiosities. And when you study the Bible, especially on secondary doctrines like end times, you have to get to a certain point where you can study and then stop and say, you know what? We've gone beyond my understanding and I have to trust that God is sovereign. I know he's coming again. I know he's gonna set everything right. I know that he is the king of all creation. And no matter what happens in this life, no matter what happens in my life, no matter what happens in the presidential election, no matter what happens with my sickness, no matter what happens with the economy. Whatever happens with wars, it does not make a difference in the grand scheme of eternity because Christ is King and He will be glorified by all. It does not make a difference. Does that mean we don't care about the present realities of this life? Of course not. Of course we care. And I would encourage you and exhort you to care if you know what I'm talking about. However, there is a transcendent reality here. The most important feature of Christianity is Christ. And He is the King. And He is your King if you love Him and know Him. And He has dominion and authority over your life. And He has the right to tell you how to live and what to do. And so I exhort you one more time, honor Him. Honor Him. But Lord, I'm scared. Trust Him. Lord, I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. He does. And not only does He know what's going to happen, He has ordained all things according to His sovereign will. Be encouraged by that because He is our King now and He is our King forever. What is so much more important than all these other temporal realities is that you know the King of creation. because He is coming again to judge. And when He returns in judgment, we will be placed on His right hand, the place of honor, and we will receive the blessing of God. Again, do you know Him? Do you know Jesus Christ as Savior? Do you know the gospel that Jesus came, lived perfectly on this earth, and then went to the cross to pay the penalty for sins? You say, I've done a lot of bad things in my life. I don't think I could be forgiven. Any sin, all sin, can be forgiven. Do not carry your sins around on your back and think you have to shoulder them. Well, I can do enough good in this life. No, you can't. Well, how do you know? Because so many have tried, and all of them have failed. But there's one who has taken your punishment for you, and that is Jesus. Yeah, but is that really so simple that he just takes away my sins? It's called a free gift. That's what grace is. He's given you the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Do you believe in him? Do you trust in him that he died on the cross, took your punishment, and then rose again to bring you life? If you believe in him and confess your sins to him and trust him, the Bible says you have eternal life. You have eternal life. and you'll be with him forever, and you will see him in his glory, and you will marvel on that day, and what a glorious day it will be. Let's pray. Oh, Lord God, we marvel at your word. We read these verses, we read these words, and frankly, Lord, our understanding begins to fail us. We read words like glory and power and king and dominion and judgment and righteousness. And maybe we understand these words and have a conception of them, but there is a depth and a breadth and a reality to these words that are so far beyond that. Lord, I cannot conceive truly of your glory. I know what it's like, what the Bible says it's like, but frankly, I cannot fathom. the magnitude and the marvel of your glory. But oh Lord, we see all of these things by faith. We read your word and in our mind's eye, we conceive of your glorious return. And our hearts break and mourn because we're stuck here in this world that is marred by sin and calamity and destruction and unrighteousness. In our hearts, Lord, we ache to see you. And we long for the day that we will see your glorious face, and your eyes will shine forth like a flame of fire. And in your voice you will utter words of destruction against those who do not accept you. And yet for those of us who love you, O Lord, We long to hear you say to us in a tender voice of a shepherd, well done, good and faithful servant. Now enter the joy of your master. Oh Lord, let that drive us and motivate us, not to work hard to earn a place at your side, but to work hard in response to the glory and the grace we have received by you. Lord, you've given us so much. You've given us your kingdom. You've given us yourself. You've given us forgiveness and salvation. What could we possibly offer to you that you don't already possess? Nothing, except to love you. And so I pray, Lord, that you would motivate us, stir in our hearts to honor you and love you. And treat others in a way that reflects our true faith in you. That others would see our faith and see our works and give glory to you in heaven. That we might be your witnesses here. And that when you return, you would be pleased. Not at how good we are, but how we have responded to your grace, Lord. We are your sheep, we are your redeemed people, and you are our glorious shepherd. We love you, oh Lord. We pray these things in Jesus' holy name, amen.