Heaven on Earth - Part 1 - Part A

Try to imagine it truly is all we can do but imagine a world of perfect peace in a world of perfect law, perfect order, perfect justice everything is always fair. Sin is dealt with immediately. All politicians are saints are you really really have a stretcher imagination. Imagine a world where the health is such that if a person dies at 100 years of age there said to be an infant. Because of the longevity of man. Imagine a world where kids can go on playing snakeheads and find the snakes friendly and the stakes can find the kids friendly.

Imagine a world where the food is overabundant.

Even though the population has increased dramatically and there is no that sounds like. To most people. Pure fiction paradox.

What sort of images but with your head when you hear that word sunny tropical beaches, lush green rain forest. Maybe the crisp white asparagus of a snow-covered field. We all have some idea of what paradise is here on earth. Which brings up a good question. Can we ever truly experience heaven on earth can we get a taste of eternity.

During this lifetime. That's exactly what will explore today we Skip Heitzig here and connect with Skip weekend division first hears more about this month's special resource you know. Proverbs 31 the go to passage that describes the ideal Christian woman in life. To be honest ideal can be as intimidating as it is inspiring.

Here Skip I said, with more can I just tell you it's exhausting to just read that, let alone how on earth women, could you ever do that.

Let me say first of all, you can't do that in a day is not giving the 24-hour description of the virtuous wife. This is a woman over time. Get to know some of the most incredible women in the Bible and in history to inspiring resources. A six message CD collection from pastors And prominent women in Scripture. The book 7 women by best-selling author Erica Texas. This bundle is our thanks when you get $35 or more to help expand the Bible teaching outreach of skintight sake charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Call now to request these captivating resources as our thanks for your generous gift 800-922-1888. Get online securely connectwithskip.com/offer your Bibles to Revelation chapter 20 Is You Find Your Pl., Skip Heitzig will begin today study with a little history lesson was 40 years ago when a historian philosopher named Will Durrant very famous made an estimation. He noted that at that time in the 3124 years of recorded history, there have been only 268 of those years that had seen no war, which translates into 92% of recorded world history is been a time of war and conflict, no peace and yet that has been the very triumph people from the beginning. Peace on earth and if possible even to create a utopia way back in the days of the philosopher Plato. He talked about up an ideal policy called the city state ruled by a philosopher king in knowledge and equity bringing peace. He longed for that the Roman government actually attempted for two centuries. They brought in the pox Romana, the Roman peace and enforce peace but taking pirates and thieves off the seaways and the roadways. Then there was the pox Britannica for a century, Britain ruled much of the inhabited earth and promoted a financial security and growth. During that time, but was back in 1516, when a guy by the name of Thomas Moore, Sir Thomas more wrote a book called utopia a fictional island where there was the perfect legal, political, economic, state the perfect place we've always dreamed of that Karl Marx envisioned that he thought if we could just deal with class distinctions and move them out of the way that virtually every social problem would be solved and that cry for peace is with us today. It's on the back of cars with bumper stickers. The most famous being, visualize world peace cry for peace. I was on a website yesterday and I found a website that sells peace. Bumper stickers. There are 1005 different pieces, bumper stickers, you could buy that is the cry of the human heart. Peace on earth and some politicians have even included in their promise for the future biblical language millennial language as an example out of Hitler with his imperialistic Reich's reign said that it would cover the whole earth, and last for a thousand years. How horrible that would've been Matt's a tongue one time dictator of China said his revolutionary revolution would dominate the world for a thousand years now for a moment. Try to imagine insulates all we can do but imagine a world of perfect peace. A world of perfect law, perfect order, perfect justice everything is always fair. Sin is dealt with immediately. All politicians are saints. I know you really really have to stretcher imagination. Imagine a world where the health is such that if a person dies at 100 years of age there said to be an infant. Because of the longevity of man being restored. Imagine a world where kids can go on playing snakeheads and find the snakes friendly and the stakes can find the kids friendly. Imagine a world where the food is overabundant.

Even though the population has increased dramatically on the earth. Now that sounds like. To most people.

Pure fiction. That's a fairytale best to most people. But the Bible readers, we know that that's exactly what the Bible promises will happen one day on this earth for a thousand years. When Christ rules and rain snow for that to happen, we can quickly understand that this earth would have to go to a reconstruction. We would call it an extreme makeover and extreme makeover. We have been for 10 weeks looking in the Bible at eternity with been following a Christian. From the moment of death, the going into the portals of heaven.

We looked at the reunion with other believers. We talked about the resurrection of our physical bodies the capabilities of those bodies we talked about the throne room of heaven. And we talked about the bema seat of Christ and actually we just gotten started were now coming to the very heart of our eternal future. In the next several weeks, and today we discussed an entirely different phase of it a phase. Honestly, most Christians do not believe or not not believe but really even think about.

To most people think he died at having set on a cloudy play harp missing chance forever and ever and ever and ever.

Part of the idea that Goshen people's minds.

There were two Christians. They were having a conversation one up and said I have a one-way ticket to heaven and never coming back. The other Christians that we shouldn't miss a lot them.

I have a return ticket.

Frankly, on the go to heaven see Jesus in glory. Then come back in power and glory to rule and reign with him. That second Christian had his theology right. I believe with a look at that this morning. But on a personal note, I want to let you know the more I personally study about the future about heaven about the millennium about the eternal state. I get really stoked and it's can it not be sitting on a cloud sinkhole for thousands and millions of years.

Heaven is way cool and it's multifaceted, it's not monolithic. There are different structures in different phases to it.

In chapter 20 introduces one of those future phases called the millennium. It is one of the most important chapters in the Bible John while the Lord who taught prophecy for 50 years at Dallas theological seminary, rights. There are few verses in the Bible that are more crucial to the interpretation of the Bible as a whole than the opening verses of Revelation chapter 20 know why that is, is Revelation 20 tells us the climax of Earth's history.

This is where it all culminates, and once this phase is done.

All of life as we know it on earth is finished climax and the culmination let's look at the first but say seven verses together and then will go back and make a few comments. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the Dragon that serpent of old who is the devil and Satan bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while and I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years, but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison. First thing I'd like you to notice the most obvious is the extent of this kingdom age. When I refer to the kingdom age.

I'm referring particularly to the thousand years were talking about.

Notice the extent of it is worldwide four corners of the earth are involved in it last a thousand years. Six times in seven verses is that precise little phrase thousand years thousand years thousand years thousand. Thousand year.

So how long is a company a thousand years is the extent of that's the millennium and that word sorta gets lost with some believers, there was a theological student in school brand-new one didn't study that week and so the test came on a certain day and he looked down at the first question. The first question is what is the millennium.

He did not answer and so he said the millennium is the same as a Centennial only has a lot more lakes sinking in terms of a blog well unfortunately there are some believers who don't have a better grasp on the millennium than even that chapter 20 of Revelation is simply basic outline form of this kingdom age is not a whole lot of information given on is very very minimal. The character and nature of it is is not fleshed out here. There are hundreds hundreds of verses in other parts of Scripture. All the talk about the kingdom age, but the only information were given is that the last thousand years the great highlight is Satan is bound in just a few other details about it, which were in the cover and weeks to come after the Bible this millennium or this kingdom age is given several different titles. Matthew 19 verse 28 Jesus said in the re-generation and the original language means the new Genesis in the regeneration when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory that this era, the kingdom age in acts chapter 3 verse 19.

The kingdom is called the times of refreshing and in the same chapter verse 21. The time of the restoration of all things. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 10 Paul describes it as the dispensation of the fullness of the time so there's a lot of different titles.

This millennial kingdom is called let me give you a just a quick bottom-line description.

This is a time when the earth will have undergone massive topographical, geological and climactic changes that will resemble very similar to the original design of the earth with the garden of Eden again this, try to imagine this, but if you're like me, I love the outdoors love going up to the mountains love to go on a bicycle ride. Love the smell the air after the rain I love it. God's done a great job in making this earth has any the earth is the Lord's Psalm 24, and the fullness thereof.

We get to enjoy it. Now imagine an earth that is re-created like it was intended to be from the beginning in the Garden of Eden and you in resurrected glorified bodies, no aches, no groans, no complaints for a thousand years. That's the millennium now.

The very thought of the term millennium gets a little people for some people little bit tweaked. You know, just the idea of a millennium.

It seems that every thousand year mark on the calendar. People start to act strange.

You remember the millennial madness just before the year 2000 member all the talk the world and the computers and all freeze in life as we know it is to cease.

That's not that uncommon in the year 1000 there's an article from psychology today.

Legend has it that at midnight on January 1, 1000, the entire population of Iceland converted en masse to Christianity in the belief that they were about to experience the apocalypse at the same time in Rome. Many expected the end of the world and prepared themselves in various ways, including giving away all possessions doing penance mortifying their flesh and wearing sackcloth and ashes. The very word millennium or the thousand year or 2000 year mark evokes all sorts of emotion in its I remember before the year 2000 in the late 90s.

All of the groups that used the millennium mark as their target date they said by the year 2000.

We want to end world hunger by the year 2001, a drug-free society by the year 2000. We want to find a cure for cancer.

By the way, in the millennium. All that will be true. All that will be true the kingdom here then is given only in summary terms. If we were to study all of the verses in the Bible about the kingdom age we would be doing it for months and months and months is a lot of literature on in the Bible. Okay, that's the extent of it. Now the explanation of did you know the Revelation chapter 20 is one of the most hotly contested verses of the Bible.

It's a theological battleground. And here's the battle lines are we to take Revelation chapter 20 symbolically allegorically spiritually or is this to be taken literally, actually just to be an event in our future, in time and space and it's that question. That is the dividing line. So in explaining the thousand years though it is mentioned six times in seven verses very specific. Let me give you quickly. Three main viewpoints about this idea of the millennium first and it's in your outline is the pre-millennial view. Simply stated, Jesus Christ will return to the earth before pre-millennium come back and then set up his kingdom. We believe or that view believes in the personal bodily glorious return of Jesus to the earth where he will set up his throne and rule from Jerusalem over the throne of David for a thousand years and over the whole world know if you were to just read the Bible without any other books. Just read it simply plainly literally straightforward, you would have a premillennial view. Even people who oppose this view will admit that a plane rendering will give you that interpretation and this was once the dominant view of the early church fact, it's hard to find any other viewpoint until A.D. 190 the apostles believe this, the post-apostolic fathers believe this and wrote about it. It is the dominant viewpoint of the early church around A.D. 190 this group of theologians scholars down in Alexandria, Egypt, and the theological school decided we can't take the Bible literally. It has to be all figurative all symbolic and they sought to find shades of meaning below the surface of the literal text. By the way when they did this. Most of the rest of the church said that is heresy Bible is to be taken at face value and many are just a sampling. Many of the early church writers, happiest the writer of the epistle of Barnabas is called pseudo-Barnabas I was reading this yesterday morning that little book fascinating Justin Martyr I Renée Esther truly and unhappily. This all believed in a premillennial viewpoint that is Jesus will come back to the earth bodily physically glorious lake and set up a kingdom is a quote from Pappy aceto-who on earth is happiest, happiest tradition says was meant toward by John the apostle who wrote the book of Revelation is one of the students. Pappy is wrote, there will be a millennium following the resurrection of the dead, when the kingdom of Christ is to be established on the earth. Justin Martyr, who I mentioned also said quote the city of Jerusalem will be enlarged and rebuilt just as the prophet Ezekiel and Isaiah have declared, said virtually all authorities believe that except those Gnostic heretics that was the dominant viewpoint. The premillennial viewpoint that everybody holds to that there is something called post-millennialism the terms. Don't let them throw you. It's pretty easy to figure out post after the millennium. They believe that Jesus Christ will come back after a period of time where we God's people on the earth Christianize the world and present the world to Jesus Christ present the kingdom. When he comes back after a period of time. Not necessarily exactly a thousand.

It's the idea that were gonna spread the gospel Christianize the world and the world to get better and better and better and so good that everyone is a Christian, and we will then bring the kingdom and give it to Jesus is the viewpoint that was popular in the 19th century and early 20th century, the Industrial Revolution scientific advancements had given people the idea that hate. We are bringing in utopia were really doing this now. It's not very popular today that the whole idea sell often so the fair questionable. Whatever happened to post-millennialism. Here's the answer. World War I happened to the Great Depression happened to World War II happened to the Nazi Holocaust happened to it. There was enough catastrophic catastrophic events because people go oh I guess the world isn't getting better and better rather worse and worse.

No heaven on earth may not ever really be a reality until Christ returns. That doesn't mean we can introduce people to heaven forward here on earth. In fact, we need to make the most of every opportunity we have share the gospel and make sure that no one misses heaven bullets will have to enter study for today.

But before we go, we wanted to let you know what's going on or connect with Skip resource Center for May, who comes to mind when you think of great godly women probably Jesus's mother Mary, maybe Ruth, the unlikely ancestor of Christ. What about you here's a New York Times best-selling author Eric the taxes.

Clearly, if God created us male and female in his image and is leaning into who we are as women for women that is going to show God's greatness.

Discover how the lives of some of the latest women in history can show you the path to true greatness in your own life as a woman made in God's image, that's what you'll find in this month's inspiring resource by Eric metathesis everyone the seven women. I think you see a different side of femininity seven women is our thank you for your gift of $35 or more today to help connect more people to God's word and right now will also send you a special bonus resource pastor skips next message CD collection on prominent women from Scripture visit connectwithskip.com/offer to get online securely or call 800-922-1888.

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Call us today at 1-800-922-1888, or just go to connectwithskip.com will continue to explore this concept of heaven on earth, and whether or not the world can never truly enjoy peace. Next time you hear and connect with Skip weekend edition of presentation of connection communication and so may connecting you to God's never changing true and ever-changing time