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The Millennial Kingdom as a Testimony to the Depravity of Man By Lucien LeSage Much has been written about the Millennial Kingdom of
Christ. By Millennial we mean a period of one thousand years. Those of the A-Millennial camp say that we are in the Millennium now.
While I do believe Jesus Christ has a spiritual kingdom now, it is hard for me
to read scripture and not come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ will reign
visibly on
the earth for one thousand years (Rev. 20:4-6). In the whole scheme of things this makes
perfect sense to me.
In every age since the fall of man it has been evident that
man is utterly sinful. As
Isaiah tells us, “the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the
sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and
bruises, and putrifying sores” (Isaiah 1:5-6). In the Antediluvian age men
became so wicked that God destroyed the whole earth with a flood except Noah and
his family. And yet after such a great judgment men were soon worshiping idols
and every false god under the sun. We see God later confounding the languages of
wicked men, and so evidently nothing has changed
with man since before the great flood. Later we see that God calls Abraham and from him sprung a great nation. When that nation was in bondage in Egypt God called Moses to lead “his people” out. The Lord worked great miracles at the hand of Moses in their sight. He gave them His holy law and met with them in the wilderness. They beheld the pillar of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He met with Israel above the mercy seat in the tabernacle in the wilderness, and He supplied all their needs and yet for all of that they murmured. Thus the Lord declares, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me” (Numbers 14:27). Messiah's First Advent So it came to pass when their Messiah came on the scene
that the majority of the people of Israel rejected Him in the face of the mighty
works that he performed. They declared, “We will not have this man to reign over
us.” And thus Jesus declared to them and their city, “For the days shall come
upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee
round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall lay thee even with the ground,
and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon
another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation” (Luke 19:43-44).
Thus we see that a whole economy of law could not save. So Paul rightly tells us
“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
in the flesh:” (Romans 8:3). The Gospel Age or New Testament Times Now we enter what is commonly called the Gospel age. I would point out that in every age since the fall of man, salvation has only been by grace. There is nothing short of regeneration by the Holy Spirit that can cure the fallen and depraved nature of man. This fact will be declared in the end. Paul tells us that even we who are saved, “were dead in trespasses and sins” and that God had quickened us to life together with Christ. (See Ephesians 2:1-5). Religious men have all but denied the total depravity of man. Evidently they do not take Paul at his word when he says that lost men are dead spiritually and that those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Death is total and the word "cannot" confirms total inability. Men seem to think that there is some spark of spiritual life already in them that will enable them to come to God of their own will, yet Paul declared that “there is none that seeketh after God” (Romans 3:11). In our day men are religious but without God. Paul spoke of men in the last days before the coming of Jesus Christ as “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” and “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” With all the religious people in the world you would think that our society would be a holy and righteous society, but instead it loves pleasure more than God and only has a form of godliness. It sees no need for the power of God in the regeneration of sinners who are dead in their sins. “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). We see this age ending with the world accepting the “man of sin”, the very “son of perdition” as he is called in the scriptures. Paul tells us that because men “received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” that God would “send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). So we see that man will never be able to setup a just kingdom on this earth that is governed in righteousness. Only the Lord Jesus Christ when he comes again has the power and righteousness to do such a thing. The Golden Age or
Millennial Kingdom Now we come to a time yet future. A time when the Lord
Jesus Christ will be present on the earth and reigning as King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. A time which is referred to as the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ;
the reason being is because it will last one thousand years. It will begin after
the destruction of the antichrist and the false prophet and after Messiah defeats the
nations that come against Israel in the latter days. It will be preceded by a
day in which the Lord will “make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people”
but “all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the
people of the earth be gathered together against it.”
He goes on to say that “it
shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that
come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they
shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one
mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in
bitterness for his firstborn.” (Read Zechariah chapter 12 for more detail). What will be the nature of this
future kingdom we might ask? It
will be one of peace and justice. Concerning Jesus Christ, Isaiah tells us that
“the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace. Of the increase of his government
and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom,
to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth
even for ever.”
It will be a time in
which Jesus Christ will sit on his throne in Jerusalem and will rule the entire
world in righteousness. The nature of this government will not be a democracy
but a theocracy. A. W. Pink says, “Many have been the experiments of politicians
and reformers for the establishing of a government that should be equitable,
stable, and pure; but all have been in vain. Ever since the flood, four thousand
five hundred years ago, God has allowed man every opportunity to develop his
schemes, but ancient and modern, Oriental and Occidental, monarchies and
republics, all have served only to demonstrate that man is a colossal failure.
The record of human government is tyranny and oppression, greed and
discontentment, war and bloodshed. How all this serves to show the crying need
for One who has all power and yet all compassion, One who is God and yet Man.
Under the rule of Christ shall be solved every problem of capital and labor,
wealth and poverty, war and peace.”
During the time of this kingdom men will live long lives for Isaiah
tells us that “there shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man
that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but
the sinner [being] an hundred years old shall be accursed.”
If a person were to die at an age of one hundred he would be considered
yet a child. The animal kingdom will also be at peace for we are told that “the
wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the
kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little
child shall lead them´ (Isaiah 11:6). Isaiah goes on to say in chapter 65 that
“the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like
the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor
destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.” Now that we have looked briefly at the nature and
government of this kingdom, what about the occupants of it? Are they all saints
in glorified bodies? The answer is a definite no. There will be sinners in this
kingdom and sinners who are not saved nor ever will be saved. How can I make
such a statement? Because the Bible is very clear on this matter. But please
hear me. This does not mean that Christ fails in any way. The Christ of the
Bible is no failure and has never failed. The fact that
there are sinners during the Millennial reign of Christ is proven from the fact
that Jesus rules the earth with a “rod of iron.” If everyone is in love with
God, in love with holiness, and in love with righteousness, then there is no need to
rule with a rod of iron as we are told by the Bible. “And out of his mouth goeth
a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he
shall rule
them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness
and wrath of Almighty God” (Revelation 19:15). This will be a time of law as
Isaiah tells us “for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of
the LORD from Jerusalem.” That sinners will be rebuked during this time is clear
from Micah who says, “And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go
up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and
he will teach us of his ways, and we
will walk in his paths: for the LAW shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from
Jerusalem. And
he shall
JUDGE among many people, and
REBUKE strong nations afar
off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war any more” (Micah 4:2-3). Glorified saints in the eternal kingdom,
which will follow the millennial kingdom, do not need to be governed with a "rod of iron" and there
will be no need to "rebuke"
them for they will all be without sin like unto their savior.
Men, especially the godless liberals, have said that men sin because of the environment and social conditions they live under. The latest nonsense out of Washington is that Muslims are committing Jihad because they need jobs. I admit that men in poor neighborhoods steal more perhaps but this is still sin in the heart of man. Rich men steal as well. Well educated men do the same. During the Millennium Kingdom, God, in the person of Jesus Christ, will rule as King over the entire earth. This will be the first truly righteous King that has visibly ruled. There will be peace on earth for one thousand years. Men will beat their swords into plowshares. Even the animal kingdom will be at peace. But, why do men beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks? Is it because they are born again? Is it because they love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul and mind and their neighbor as their ownself? No, not at all. It’s because the King of Kings is ruling. Oh, sin will be greatly reduced perhaps because Satan is bound these one thousand years as Revelation chapter 20 verse 2 tells us, but the heart of man remains unchanged apart from regeneration.
But what happens when the thousand years has ended? Has the only truly utopia since the fall changed man? Has anything short of regeneration by the Holy Spirit changed man? Can anything short of the New Birth fix man? No, a thousand times no. Man is under the curse of sin. And although the curse will be greatly removed from the earth during the Millennial reign, yet man, though his depravity will be kept in check, is still dead in his sins. Dead is dead, and without spiritual life being given even seeing the King of Kings will not bring life. Without the quickening of the Holy Spirit men remain lost and dead in sin. The Proof of An Unregenerate Heart After the thousand years has
expired we are told in Revelation 20:7 that “Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison.” And what do men do? Do they reject Satan and follow Jesus Christ? Or do they rebel? And if they
rebel how many take part in this rebellion? A few or many? Is it one nation or
many? Is the rebellion from one location
or is it global in nature? The answer is almost beyond comprehension when we
understand the righteousness and just rule that has gone forth from Jerusalem. “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 compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and
fire came down from God out of heaven,
and devoured them” (Revelation20:7-9).
What a testimony this is to the depravity of man and the necessity
of the new birth. “Ye MUST be born again” (John 3:7).
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