I was thinking there when you were talking about elephants, about a conversation of Bible reading somewhere on one occasion. And somebody quoted from the scripture that the elements shall melt with fervent heat. And some old fellow says, boy, he says, could you imagine those big beasts sizzling? It's good to be with you this evening. I want to read a few scriptures in the New Testament, please. First of all, in John's Gospel and Chapter 1. The Gospel of John, Chapter 1, and reading at verse number 14. And the word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld his glory, a glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him and cried, saying, This is he of whom I speak. He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now, over to Ephesians please. Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1 verse number 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Verse number 9, Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him. And a final reading in the book of the Revelation, chapter 20. Revelation 20 and at verse number 1. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And they saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, on such the second death of no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog. to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and encompassed the camp of the saints about in the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Now, that's all I want to read. The Lord we know will add a blessing to the reading of his word. Now, tonight we are at the last of our studies. in the subject of the dispensations. We have looked on evenings past at the dispensation of innocence, of conscience, of human government, of promise, and of law. And tonight it is the dispensation of grace and the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now first of all we're going to look at the dispensation of grace. Larkin calls it the ecclesiastical dispensation. It's the age of salvation by grace through faith in Christ and Christ alone. And Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2 that by grace are ye saved through faith. And where we have read tonight in John chapter 1, it says that the law, which we looked at last week, was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Now, grace has been defined as being great riches at Christ's expense. And at the expense of his sacrificial death and suffering, we have been made recipients of spiritual riches upon believing. What is the grace of God? The grace of God is God's own merited favor to men. And God showing grace kindness and love to those who never could have merited it or deserved it. The dispensation began on the day of Pentecost and will continue until the return of Christ to earth. During that period there is really if you might call it a dispensation within a dispensation, which is the church age. We'll look a little more at that in a moment or two. During this period, God is dealing with the nations as individuals. And the blessings are not material, they are not earthly, but they are spiritual and heavenly. Ephesians 1 verse 3 says that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. Now there's a common view going about today that before the age finishes that all the world is going to be Christianized and converted. Now let me say that that is absolute nonsense because even though the preaching of the gospel of the grace of God is being proclaimed across the earth after two thousand years of gospel preaching the majority of people are still refusing the message and The dispensation of grace in which we are living is proving that even under the most commendable conditions of God's favor being bestowed upon man, man still remains a rebel at heart against God and the world is fast ripening for judgment. This dispensation has been sometimes described as being a valley between two mountain peaks. The two mountain peaks seen by the prophets of old were the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Some of the old Jewish scholars, you know, found it hard to reconcile the two thoughts particularly in sections of the scripture like the prophecy of Isaiah where Isaiah spoke very much about suffering and then very much about glory and because they couldn't harmonize the one with the other some wise guy somewhere decided that there was either two Isaiahs or two Messiahs and of course we know that's absolute nonsense because there is only one Isaiah and there was only one Messiah who came the first time to supper and will come again in glory, splendor and majesty. Now in this age there are about 14 different mysteries or hidden things that have been revealed that the prophets never seen. Some of them are doctrinal Like the mystery of faith, 1 Timothy 3, 9. The mystery of the gospel, Ephesians 6, 19. The mystery of Jews and Gentiles in one body, Ephesians 3. The mystery of the bride, Ephesians 5 and 32. The mystery of the seven stars and seven churches, Revelation 1, 20. The mystery of godliness, 1 Timothy 3.16. And then some of the mysteries are dispensational. There's the mystery of the kingdom, Matthew 13. The mystery of Israel's blindness, Romans 11.25. The mystery of the rapture, 1 Corinthians 15.51. The mystery of his will, Ephesians 1.9. And the mystery of God, Revelation 10.7. There's one devotional mystery, which is the indwelling Christ. And there are two diabolical mysteries, the mystery of iniquity, 2 Thessalonians 2, 7, and the mystery of Babylon, the Great, Revelation chapter 17 and 18. Now you'll notice this, that most of those mysteries revolve around Christ and the Church. And they take us right through from his first advent, to his second advent. There was no mystery, you know, in the fact that during this dispensation the gospel would be preached. Nor was there any mystery in the fact that it would be preached on to all nations. The mystery was in the fact that during this dispensation that Israel would be blinded nationally, blinded to the truth and that God would turn to the Gentiles primarily and that both Jews and Gentiles that were saved would be brought together in one body which is of course the Church, the Bride of Christ. God demolished the middle wall of partition and brings Jews and Gentiles together in Christ. Now that great body is of course known as the Universal Church. And it is represented throughout the world by numerous little local churches. Local churches which are planted by God to be lampstands of testimony in a dark age. They are composed of persons whose bodies are the temple of the living God. and who serve the Lord until their death or until he returns. During the church age which is a very prominent part of this dispensation the enemy the devil continues to be active particularly in the realm of false profession. You know I sometimes feel rather amused and a bit irritated when I hear people talking about world conditions and how bad things are getting and then they turn around and say, you know, I think the problem is that the devil has been let loose. Well, can I say this tonight? That the devil has not been let loose because the devil has never been confined. That's yet future as we see in Revelation 19. He is still going up and down in the earth as he was in the book of Job. And he's still going about his dreadful business. He is planting tares amongst the wheat, goats amongst the sheep, and wise and foolish people will alike be lulled to sleep by the devil's deceit. Until of course the bridegroom comes. Thus we have today two things in this age. We have the true church, the bride of Christ. And we have the false church, the counterfeit church, the harlot of Satan. Now, the main characteristic of the true church is relationship with God. Whereas the main characteristic of the false church is a thing called religion. You know, eventually God, although allowing them today to develop side by side, eventually God will remove the one and renounce the other. The true church will be ruptured And Babylon, the false church, will be totally ruined. The question is, of course, which one are you in? If you're born again, you're in the church of Christ. If you're not born again and have nothing but a covering of religion, then you're in the synagogue of Satan. Now, You will notice this with regard to this present dispensation of grace, that it's distinct in character from previous dispensations. Distinct because it is eternal in its purpose. Distinct because of its heavenly and spiritual nature. The individual believer, as a reading of Ephesians will clearly show us, is seated with Christ in heavenly places and receives spiritual blessing. That teaches me quite simply that a person saved today can never be lost. Because for the believer to be unseated from his position in the heavenly places, it would be necessary for Christ to be unseated. And of course, that is an unthinkable issue. When the Bible speaks of the purposes of God for this age, it speaks of its formation as being before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1.4 and 1 Peter 1 verse 20. It is distinct therefore because of its spiritual nature. In this dispensation, worship is spiritual. Those that worship God must worship Him in spirit and truth. Paul said that we are they who Worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. And work in this age is spiritual. And warfare in this age is spiritual. And for these things then, as believers, we are spiritually equipped by the gift of the Holy Spirit within us. Now this is something that in previous generations was unknown, in previous dispensations. All the great prophets and priests and kings of earth, no matter how much they were used of God, knew nothing whatsoever of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That only happened from Pentecost onwards. The Holy Spirit would come upon men of old for a particular purpose and could leave them just as quickly. And there was a prayer that David prayed on one occasion, which should never ever be prayed by any Christian believer in the age of grace. After he had sinned, gave it bread, take not thy Holy Spirit from me." No believer today, even when he falls into sin, if he has been born of God, will lose the person of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Yes, the Holy Spirit might be grieved, the Holy Spirit might be quenched, But the Holy Spirit is resident within the body of the believer. Incidentally, that's one of the reasons why I believe that when Christ comes back for the church, it will not be a partial rapture. You see, there are those who teach today that when Christ comes to the earth for the church, spiritual believers are going to be caught up and the carnal believers are going to be left on earth to go through the tribulation as like a kind of purgatory or purification. That cannot be. Because when the Lord comes to the earth for the church, the Holy Spirit will also return to heaven. And when the Holy Spirit goes up, He will take with Him all those in whose bodies He dwells, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. When the Lord comes to the air, it will be for all who have been born of the Spirit of God. The saved today are sealed with the Spirit. They're indwelt by the Spirit. and they should be controlled by the Spirit. And therefore, this present dispensation is different to all others in spiritual character, in heavenly focus, in eternal possession, in the purposes of God. What a privilege it is to be alive at such a time as this, in such a unique period. You know, sometimes we look back and we think, you know, wouldn't it have been wonderful to have been alive when Elijah was here and when Moses was here and when Daniel was here? Wouldn't it even have been wonderful to have been alive when Christ was here? Why, you know, to be alive today is something that even supersedes all that Because we do not only know the physical presence of the Lord, but we have the Lord dwelling within our bodies by the Holy Spirit. You see, when Christ was here on earth, He could have went into a house, He could have went into the temple, He could have went into a boat. But He couldn't physically enter into a person's body. But when He went back to heaven, The Bible says that the Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. But when he went back to heaven and God gave him glory, the evidence of that was the gift of the Holy Spirit to men. And he came down in the form of the Holy Spirit, not to be with us physically, but to dwell within our hearts. We can say, to borrow Old Testament language, that the lines have fallen onto us in pleasant places, and yea, we have a goodly heritage. We are the heirs of God, and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus. He has been made heir of all things, and therefore all things are ours in him. Well may I earthly joys resign, all things are mine, and I am thine. Now it's very easy as we read the Bible to see where this dispensation began. It began at Pentecost. Though as I'll refer to in a few moments, you know sometimes these dispensations overlap a little bit. And the Acts of the Apostles really up until AD 70 was a transitional period. But we'll see a little bit more of that in a moment. But the dispensation initially began with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The more difficult question is the question, when does the dispensation end? Now, many believe that it will end at the rapture of the church, when the Holy Spirit returns to heaven and God's door of mercy closes. But you know, while the door of mercy will close to those who have not been saved in the church age, it will still be open for millions who are yet unborn and who yet have never heard the gospel. Revelation chapter 7 makes it clear abundantly that there were 144,000 that went into the tribulation But through their teaching and ministry, there was a great multitude that came out of the tribulation. Multitudes are going to be saved after the church is gone. You see, remember this. It is not the rapture, but the signing of the covenant that commences the tribulation. And as we have covered in the past between those two events there is a gap which could be as much as an entire generation. Now I know that the tribulation is essentially a period of judgment. But many in that period will be saved and they'll be saved by grace and they'll be saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. During that period God will judge the Jews and Gentiles nationally, but the church individually. You say to me, wait a minute, you just told us the church is going to be raptured. Of course they are. But when the church is caught up at the end of this church age, and the tribulation period is progressing upon earth in the glory, Individual believers will appear, not for the judgment of sin, but for assessment of their service at the judgment seat of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5.10. The Jews will be judged under the reign of Antichrist. Their judgment is known as the time of Jacob's trouble. Jeremiah 34-7. It is also called passing under the rod. And according to Daniel 12, 1 it will be a time of trouble such as the world has never previously known. It will be a fearful time to be alive. The nations of the Gentiles will be judged at the end of the tribulation when the Lord will separate the sheep from the goats. The former going into the millennium and the latter into eternal destruction. Wilkie says that by the time the world has been under the rule of Antichrist for seven years, it will be almost an uninhabitable place. and yet the hatred of man will remain unabated. If you read Revelation chapter 16 verses 10 and 11, it says that even under the fifth vial of judgment, men will gnaw their tongues in pain, but rather than repenting, They will blaspheme God and blame God for their pain. And they will not at all be repentant. Now our question is, where does the tribulation fit in to the dispensational program? We know where it belongs chronologically. It's between the rapture and the return of Christ to earth. But though we can locate the period in time, identification of the dispensation to which it belongs is somewhat a different matter. Broadly speaking there are three views that are held by dispensationalists. Some say that since the church age is a parenthesis, that the tribulation takes up again where the church began and is thus the final judgment of the dispensation of law. Others say that the tribulation is a dispensation in itself. And thirdly, some say that the tribulation is the final judgment of the age of grace. Now there are three things worth thinking about. Number one, This is an area where dogmatism is not helpful and if we find ourselves in differences of opinion we must be ever ready to hear the other person's point of view and of minds and hearts open to be taught. If more people had been open-minded there might have been less confusion. Secondly, there is a great danger in allowing our position, whatever it may be, to be determined by our personal definitions. You know, there's a very thin line between deduction from the evidence of Scripture and the definition which we ourselves have devised. We need to test our definitions by what the Scripture teaches, not by what some Bible teacher preaches. not by what some book is saying. We need to base it on the scripture and not the other way around. Thirdly, it is seldom useful to impose rigid divisions on the scriptures. One of the traditional shortcomings in dispensational teaching has been to give the impression that one dispensation ends at 12 midnight and the other one begins at one minute past. When I was a young Christian, you know, in the early days among the brethren, I was taught, for example, that when the rapture occurred and the church was removed, the very next moment the tribulation began. Well, that might be good brethren teaching, but it's not good Bible teaching. And we have since discovered from the study of the scriptures that that clearly is not the case. Again, in the book of Acts, as I have already referred to, we have a transitional period between law and grace from the resurrection to A.D. 70. And even though the age of grace began at Pentecost, things related to the law continued for a period of time alongside it. Now since better men than we have struggled with this problem we may not reach a conclusion tonight that suits everyone but I'll give you the conclusion that I have come to from the searching of the scriptures and I'm open for correction provided it's based on the Bible. I believe that the rapture does not end the age of grace any more than the translation of Enoch end at the age of conscience. You know, Lewis Schaeffer contends that since temple worship and Sabbath keeping is reinstated after the church is gone, and the gospel of the kingdom is preached in the tribulation, that we are back to the age of law. But Romans 10 and 4 says that Christ is the end of the law. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And those who insist that the tribulation is a dispensation in itself, overlook one very important issue and that is that every one of the dispensations all ended in judgment. The church age doesn't if the rapture ends the age of grace. It is my opinion based on scripture that the rapture ends the church period but not the dispensation of grace. which will be ended by the judgment of God at the return of Christ to the earth, when He comes in flaming fire, taking vengeance on men who loved not God and who obeyed not the gospel. And at that point, He will then usher in the final dispensation of all earth's golden age, the Millennial Kingdom. Now, for us to deal with the Millennium in detail, it would involve many meetings. You certainly couldn't cover it in five nights. And so, in the context of our present studies, we will little more than mention it. You know, the Millennial Age is what Paul in Ephesians 1.10, where we have read tonight, calls the dispensation of the fullness of times. A period in which all things in heaven and on earth shall be gathered together in one in Christ. I quote Wilkie again. He says that all loose ends of the divine program shall be tied up. The unconditional promises to Israel will be fulfilled. Messiah shall be acknowledged and vindicated. It will be a time of unparalleled prosperity for the world when righteousness shall triumph. The earth in that day shall be fruitful as it never has been since the fall of Eden. And even the animal kingdom shall be at peace. You know, we're talking about wildlife programs there before the meeting, you know, and the anacondas swallowing all kinds of animals, and lions devouring cows and elephants, and certainly would devour a human without any difficulty. When the millennial kingdom comes, that will be over. There will be peace in the animal kingdom. And the Bible talks about the lion eating straw like the ox and the little child playing on the viper's den unharmed and untouched. Essentially, men will then have the blessing that they would have enjoyed had Adam not have fallen. And this will be the final test for humanity. How will man respond to one thousand years of unopposed righteousness when the devil is bound in the bottomless pit and satanic influence is removed from the earth? And by the time the thousand years comes to an end it will be proved that even under those ideal conditions Man is still a rebel against God. John records for us in the 19th chapter of the book of Revelation that when the thousand years have expired there will be another satanic uprising when he is released And the devil will have no difficulty in finding an army willing to try and overthrow divine rule upon the earth. In fact, in Revelation 98 we read that those who side with him, their number will be as the sand of the sea. An amazing thought that, you know. that even after a thousand years of Christ's personal reign upon the earth in the most glorious of conditions there will still be an innumerable multitude that will give their allegiance to the powers of darkness. It illustrates for us the depths of depravity in the human heart the blindness of the mind, the darkness of the human soul. Because remember this, that while those who initially go into the millennial kingdom will be saved souls, not all those born during the millennium will be saved souls. And multitudes of them will yet rebel against God. the whole history of man as the steward of God's creation from Genesis to Revelation has shown that he is a total failure and no matter what or how acceptable the conditions he is placed in he is a rebel against divine authority. True in every dispensation There have been the repentant, but in general man has proved himself to be a willful and determined sinner. Not just a being that is initially good and just needs to be improved, but a being that is totally depraved within his heart and apart from being born again has no love for God or for the gospel. Now of course the truth regarding the scriptural doctrine of the millennium is one of the most controversial in scripture and throughout church history it has been debated. However, the Bible teaches clearly not only that there will be a millennium but that there must be a millennium. It's purpose being, amongst other things, to vindicate Christ on the earth. The rejected Savior will be the reigning sovereign of the universe. The Bible says that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. He will rule with a rod of iron from the river onto the ends of the earth. And his enemies shall lick the dust The millennium is also crucial in God's plan for Israel. Of course, you know, after the reign of David and Solomon, Israel became a divided kingdom. Ten kingdoms north, two kingdoms south. If you read the prophecy of Ezekiel carefully, you'll discover this. That in a future day, the nation will be united. And the nation will have one king, and the nation will be totally surrendered to God. For the nations, it will be a time of righteous rule. You know, if you go back to the book of Daniel, chapter 2, whenever you can never have that great vision of the image that represented all the nations from his time to the time of the end. You'll discover this, that God transferred earthly authority from Israel to the Gentiles. And Israel became the tail instead of the head of the nations. When Christ comes back to earth, the tables are turned, the order is reversed. Israel becomes the head of the nations, And the nations of the Gentiles through Christ and the Jews will experience the blessedness of a righteous reign. The fact that he will rule with a rod of iron indicates, amongst other things, that he will rule with a reign of unbending righteousness. A scepter of righteousness. is the scepter of his kingdom. Mind you, you look around the world today at world leaders and men that are running to try and become world leaders. Some of them are like comic strip characters to be honest. You would have thought the Americans had more sense but That's another story. But you know, unrighteousness prevails in the nations of the world and in the leaders of the world. When Jesus Christ comes back and puts down all rule and authority and everything under his feet, righteousness will be the hallmark of his kingdom. For creation it will be a time of total deliverance. But there's one big question that we need to answer with regard to the coming dispensation of the millennium. And that is, where is the church placed in that future dispensation? Now, if you disagree with what I'm going to say, don't be too worried about it because you'll not be the first person to have disagreed. But some would have her, you know, to sit in isolation, totally removed from these events, so taken up with heaven as to have no involvement in Christ's earthly reign. Now personally, I don't believe that that's the teaching of the Bible. The church is the bride of Christ. Whoever heard of a king reigning without the accompaniment of his queen? The millennium, I believe, is as much a hope for the church as is the rapture. 1 Thessalonians 4 and 17 speaks of raptured saints saying, so shall we ever be with the Lord. If He's in heaven, we're with Him. If He's on earth, we're with Him. There's no possibility of Christ reigning without the accompaniment of His blood-bought bride. 2 Thessalonians 1 and 10 says of that day that He will be glorified and admired in His saints. Those who have trusted Christ will in the Millennial Kingdom be the perfect revelation of His grace and glory in that dispensation. You see, you've got to realize that this book that we love and read and preach and teach is not a Western book, it's an Eastern book. It's a Jewish book. And like an Eastern marriage, the marriage of the Lamb takes place in the Father's house. But the marriage will be publicly celebrated with the friends of the bridegroom in the millennium, which is the marriage supper of the Lamb. The marriage of the Lamb is in heaven. The marriage supper of the Lamb is on earth. Revelation 5 and 10 is conclusive. We shall reign on the earth. in the dispensation of the Millennium will be a theocracy on earth and though limited to 1,000 years on earth that reign will continue in the eternal state and his reign will be eternal. Messiah will be the king of the Millennium David will be the king's regent. Now let me say this that that's a truth that I missed for many years. I really only discovered it about 20 years ago when I was enlightened in a conversational Bible study with our good brother Ken Brown. There are several passages that indicate that David in the Millennium will be the King's chief representative. Perhaps in some ways like what we might call a Prime Minister. Some of course suggest that the mention of David in the context of the golden age is only typical. That's the view of the late Harry Ironside. But note that while Christ is called the branch of David, the son of David, the seed of David, the root and offspring of David, he is never actually referred to as David. And there are statements regarding this Millennial Prince that show that it cannot be Christ. Ezekiel 45 and 22. He prepares a sin offering for himself and for the people. And even though it is a memorial service, Christ could not prepare a memorial service for his own sin sacrifice because he knew no sin. Ezekiel 46 and 2, the prince is said to worship during the Millennium. In the Millennium, Christ receives worship. He doesn't engage in worship. For those reasons alone, I believe it would indicate that the prince is given. And there will be other lesser governors ruling under or along with David. Look at Revelation 20 and 4. It says, I saw the thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. You see, in the Millennial Kingdom, Christ will be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. As such, he is sovereign over a number of subordinate rulers. For example, the authority of the twelve tribes will be placed in the hands of twelve disciples. And those who have been faithful to him in this age of grace will share his reign in that kingdom. Some over ten cities, some over five cities, and so on. Not every believer will actually share his reign. But those who have been faithful will be given positions of responsibility. The government will be exercised in the fullness of the Spirit, Isaiah 11 verses 2 and 3. The government will be a unified government. Israel and the nations will be united. The one world government that men have sought for will under Christ become a righteous reality. Ezekiel 37 verse 13 to 28. Israel will be restored and the Gentiles will come into blessing. During the dispensation of the millennium the earth will be changed geographically. When Christ comes back to earth and stands upon the Mount of Olives there will be a tremendous earthquake that will split the mountain in two and the waters of the Mediterranean shall run into the waters of the Dead Sea and Jerusalem as a city will become the central international seaport of the whole world. It will also become the world center of true worship. All flesh, says the Bible, shall come to worship before me, saith the Lord." Isaiah 66 and 23. Now, with regard to worship in the Millennium and the dispensation of the Golden Age, I believe that the worship will be centered in the New Temple. I believe with all my heart that there will be a literal temple in a literal kingdom. Read the latter chapters of Ezekiel and you'll find out all about it. I don't believe that it is going to be built on the old site as many have supposed because if you read carefully you'll find that it's situated on the top of a high mountain and exalted above the hills. Ezekiel 2.4, Micah 4.1-4, Ezekiel 37.26 But irrespective of its geographical location, there will be a temple built in the millennial kingdom for the worship of the king. Now, that leads us to another great controversy, of course. And that is the subject of the offering of sacrifices during the millennium. And it is one of the amillennialist's greatest arguments against a literal millennium and a literal temple. Now, no matter what the amillennialist may say, you cannot read your Bible and fail to see the mention of sacrifices being offered in the temple in Ezekiel and Zechariah in particular. I personally really see no problem with it. If we can understand that these sacrifices are seen to be memorial. In a sense perhaps, like the bread and wine on Lord's Day morning. You see, you have to understand this. The Amillennialist, he'll say, well, Christ offered one sacrifice for sins forever. It's never to be repeated. It's never to be offered up again. And to say that there'll be sacrifices in the millennium, that is contradicting the Word of God with regard to the sacrifice of Christ. Not so. You have to understand this, that salvation was never obtained through animal sacrifices. The Old Testament sacrifice showed how salvation would be provided. It was a signpost pointing forward. The Old Testament sacrifice made atonement for sin covered over sin and the offerer looking forward to Calvary was accepted on the basis that Jesus would one day die on his behalf. The millennial sacrifices will point back and will show how it has been provided and that Christ did not make an atonement but made propitiation for our sins and that His one sacrifice for sins forever is the basis of all eternal blessing. There's one feast in particular which the nations must keep without fail in the city of Jerusalem and that's the Feast of Tabernacles. And failure to do so is seen to be punished severely. Zechariah 14, 16 to 19. The nations that refuse to attend the millennial sacrifice of tabernacles, the rain will be withheld and they will suffer drought. Let me say this, that the sacrificial system of that day is not a reinstated Judaism, but rather the establishment of a new order, the purpose of which is the remembrance of the work of Christ as the only ever basis of salvation. Man will never be allowed to forget that every blessing received, even in the millennium, will be a direct result of the work of the cross through which Christ tasted death for everything. Revelation 20, verses 7 to 9, which we have read, shows that At the expiry of the thousand years, Satan will be released again from his prison and shall again take up his deceptive work among the nations and will lead the final rebellion against God and Christ. But the rebellion will be crushed. The dissidents will be devoured by fire from God. and satan finally cast into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are and it says to be tormented day and night forever now you know the universalist will tell us this that the lake of fire is a temporary purification And that those who are cast into the lake of fire will be there to be purified from their sins and their faults. And in the final analysis that even the devil will be reconciled to God. I don't know where they get their ideas from. They certainly do not get them from the same Bible as I'm reading. Because my Bible says they'll be tormented before God night and day forever. Sweetnum says that man's final rebellion will be met by God's final retribution. And this final judgment brings to an end the years of time as the very creation is dissolved and passes away. The earth and the works thereof are burned to Peter 3.10. The evolutionists will tell us that the earth began with a big bang. That's the devil's lie. The Bible tells us that the earth will end with a big bang. That's God's truth. and set up in space, if we had read a little further, is the judgment of the great white throne and human history is concluded. There is then brought into existence a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. And as I said in my opening remarks on the first night, I do not believe that the eternal state is another dispensation. Because the dispensations were for the purpose of the trial of man, man who is perfected in the eternal state does not need any further to be tried. The purposes of God by then will have been fulfilled. The one who came to deal with the sin question will restore the kingdom back to the Father. And for the first time since, I was going to say since the Garden of Eden, but I'll put it another way. For the first time since the fall of Lucifer, God will be all in all. 1 Corinthians 15, 24-28. The various dispensations will have served their purpose. And an eternity of fellowship with God will thereafter be the portion of the redeemed. In that fellowship, there will be one supreme outstanding person. There will be many brethren, many sons in glory, an innumerable company of angels. But the Lord Jesus is the firstborn, Romans 8 and 29. He will be supreme in the eternal state. The restoration of that eternal fellowship is all based on the work of Calvary. That's what the Bible says concerning Christ, that for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross. What was the joy? The captain of our salvation, bringing many sons to glory. And throughout endless ages, The song of praise and glory shall be of him. You shall give him glory. I shall give him glory. We all shall give him glory, for glory is his due. As we have traced the program of God through the ages and the dispensations, we have seen on one hand that God is proving that man of himself is a total failure. that there is only one man that ever met with his approval and delighted his heart and that is the Lord Jesus Christ and he shall be the center of glory eternally. Majesty, worship his majesty. Unto Jesus be glory, honor and praise. Majesty, kingdom authority, flows from His throne unto His own, His anthem raise. So exult, lift up on high the name of Jesus. Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the King. Majesty. Worship His majesty. Jesus who died, now glorified, King of all kings, and the people of God said, Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank Thee for Thy Word. We thank you that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And we marvel and wonder that we, O undeserving sinners, have ever been brought into fellowship with thyself through Him. We thank thee, Lord, for salvation, wondrous grace that found a plan to rescue guilty fallen man and ease him of his load. found a ransom in the Son, to save the guilty and undone, and meet the claims of God. We rejoice tonight, our Father, in Thy goodness towards us, and give Thee thanks for Thy beloved Son, in His precious and worthy name. Amen. Let's sing from the chorus, folks, that little piece that I have just