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 Sermon > Lecture Messages |
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Title |
Revelation Lectures(81) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation 20:6-10 |
Date |
2008-11-07 |
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Scripture
Revelation 20:6-10
[6] 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.
[7] When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,
[8] and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.
[9] And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
[10] And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Beginning tonight, we will take a look into the Millennium Kingdom in detail.
In order to help you understand its concept well, I will first give you its general perspective, I will then continue to tell you about the details.
Since Adam was driven out by committing sin, there has been the 6,000 year-long human cultivation on earth.
When the human cultivation ends, the Lord will come in the air along with the souls who had died and received salvation during those 6,000 years.
At this time, the souls of the earth will be taken into the air, and participate in the 7 Year Wedding Banquet.
There will be happy feasting and forgetting all tears and sorrows.
While the Wedding Banquet is taking place in the air, the miserable 7 Year Great Tribulation takes place on earth.
Most people die from nuclear wars and other various disasters, and the earth become completely polluted and devastated.
It's safe to think in terms of nature, civilization, and the environment of the earth being completely destroyed by the end of the Tribulation.
The earth is so polluted that it's not easy to find the sun and the moon, and most buildings are destroyed and gone.
There are some people who survive during this terrible chaos, but if they are left on the earth, they will not be able to survive any longer.
Since the sky, the earth, the ground, and water are polluted, even though there are no more wars and disasters, the environment has become too toxic and hazardous to live in.
At the end of this situation when the Tribulation is over, the Lord comes to the earth along with the saints. And the Lord cleans up everything first.
The whole universe was created by His word in the beginning, the air and water and the earth become purified and the natural environment is restored at His word.
In this newly recovered environment, the Lord's reigning Millennium Kingdom begins.
A small minority of people of the flesh who survived the 7 Year Great Tribulation, and the people of the spirit who participated in the 7 Year Wedding Banquet enter the Millennium Kingdom together.
Of course, they don't intermingle and live together; their dwelling places are separated from each other.
There is a separate city where the people of the spirit dwell, and the people of the flesh live outside of the city.
Since all the civilization and facilities were destroyed, the people of the flesh live a life of the primitive days.
On the contrary, the people of the spirit live a comfortable life in a separate city.
The number of the people of the flesh who survived in the 7 Year Great Tribulation is extremely small.
As the days of the Millennium Kingdom go by, however, their number increases rapidly.
How rapidly do they prosper in a world where there is no death and disaster, and there is abundant food?
Even though there is just a few in the beginning, as one thousand years pass, countless people will spread throughout whole globe.
The people of the spirit will diligently teach the truth to these people of the flesh for a thousand years.
They teach them about God, the Lord, and the beginning and the end of the human cultivation.
They teach them about the state of affairs and situation as time passes in the Millennium Kingdom and about what will happen after a thousand years pass. They teach them to bear the in mind the things taught all the time.
Then, when a thousand year is up, the enemy devil and Satan that have been confined in the Abyss are released for a short period.
The enemy devil and Satan deceive the people of the flesh to stand against God and to attack the city where the people of the spirit live.
For the last thousand years, the people of the spirit have warned the people of the flesh that such things would happen.
But too many of them are deceived into betraying God and they stand against God.
When the people of the flesh attack the city, God sends fire from heaven and destroys them.
And the Millennium Kingdom ends, and the Final Judgment begins.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Let's take a closer look at the life of the Millennium Kingdom.
I told you that the earth is completely destroyed during the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
It doesn't mean just that the environment is not comfortable or pleasant enough to live in.
Even these days, many people suffer from respiratory or skin ailments in a severely polluted city.
In a factory where poisonous materials are treated, there is a strong probability that its employees die of cancer or leukemia.
Or, in a place of radioactive contamination, diseases of unknown-cause develop and many deformed babies are born.
In a movie of a future nuclear war, many survivors live in a deep underground base to avoid radioactive contamination.
Then, as long years pass by they conduct investigations to see whether the earth is restored.
It is much this same way by the end of the 7 Year Great Tribulation, the whole world is covered in all kinds of toxins and pollutants.
The natural order such as the cycle of seasons, atmospheric circulation and condition, and the circulation of ocean currents is totally disrupted
The water is polluted so that the plant and animal life in it all die and that it's not easy to find drinking water.
The earth is polluted and the forests are burned so that it is hard for vegetation to grow.
It becomes an environment that cannot guarantee the survival of the people who survived the wars and confusion.
Matthew 24:29-31 describes this situation well.
It says, "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 ON 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."
Some people misunderstand these verses that it is the description of the scene when the Lord comes in the air.
But it describes a scene when the Lord comes down to reign in the Millennium Kingdom on earth that has been polluted during the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
"THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other" means that all the souls who enjoyed the Wedding banquet in the air come down to the earth.
When the Lord comes down to this deteriorated place, He first cleans up the entire environment.
He removes pollutants from the sky, the earth, and the sea, and He restores everything.
When Adam came down to the earth, the earth was quite fertile.
Even though the earth was also cursed because of the sin of Adam, he could get harvests easier than today.
As the world became more and more evil, the earth was also became increasingly polluted and became sterile.
When the Lord restores the earth, the earth will become fertile again, and people will be able to reap as much as they have sown.
They can also get many fruits that grow naturally without being sown.
Since they don't kill, they don't eat meat, but they aren't lacking in nutrition and they don't become hungry.
Originally, in the days of Noah when the evilness of people was not as terrible as of today, they didn't eat meat.
During the Millennium Kingdom, too, even though people don't eat meat, nothing is lacking; there are plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Water becomes pure water, and the taste of water is the same every place.
The seasons and the circulation of atmosphere and the oceans are restored.
Unlike the period of 6,000 thousand year-long human cultivation, however, the changing of the four seasons is not distinct.
There is no extreme heat, cold, and no (severe weather) no typhoons, no drought, and no floods.
In the ability of the Lord, the sun, the wind, and the rain are properly controlled, and the earth becomes a most comfortable and pleasant place to live.
In this environment, the place that the Lord and the people of the spirit will live in will have been constructed.
"The camp of the saints and the beloved city" in Revelation 20:9 refers to this place.
This city is made of shining stones, and it is distinguished from other buildings of the world.
Do you remember the materials that Adam used to construct the pyramids?
I told you that Adam used the materials that he brought from the second heaven.
Especially, the surface was made of stones that were like glass so that it looked so bright and beautiful and it shined like a star when seen from heaven.
The city where the people of the spirit live during the Millennium Kingdom is also built with the spiritual materials that are different from the fleshly ones.
It is built of the materials which are very bright and shining, but it doesn't hurt the eyes of the people of the flesh when they look at the city.
There is a boundary of light, however, and the people of the flesh cannot freely enter the city.
Of course, they can enter under special conditions and with permission, but they can't even come close to the boundary otherwise.
Like this, the dwelling place of the people of the spirit and the people of the flesh is clearly separated by the light.
By the way, there isn't just one city.
In the center of the biggest continent of the earth, there is the city where the Lord stays.
There are cities on each continent, and the people of the spirit in each city reign in the area and manage the people of the flesh.
As their presence is requested, people who live in the separate cities come to the central city where the Lord stays.
Now, they have to move quite a distance between the continents. What do they use for transportation?
The basic transportation during the Millennium Kingdom is a horse.
Then the Lord sends for the people of the spirit, however, they instantly move through spiritual space.
Since the people of the spirit are in the resurrected body already, it's possible for them to move through the spiritual space.
When the Lord was resurrected, He could enter a house or disappear in an instant even when the door was shut and locked.
The concept of time and space is applied differently to the people of the spirit and the people of the flesh since the people of the spirit are in the resurrected body.
However, when the people of the spirit teach the people of the flesh or when they stay with the people of the flesh to manage and teach them, they adjust to accommodate the people of the flesh.
They travel by horse according to the practice of the people of the flesh and according to the justice.
Let's recall the resurrected body for now.
When the spirit of a man leaves the body when he dies, it is in a 'spiritual body' that is identical to the shape of the flesh before he died.
This spiritual body may have the form of a child or an old man depending on at what age he dies.
Unlike the fleshly body on earth, it has no wrinkles or scars or infirmities, but it shows the age of the man at the time of his death.
Those who are waiting in a waiting place of heaven in this spiritual body will put on the resurrected body when the Lord comes back in the air.
Those who are taken into the air alive will also take on this resurrected body.
This resurrected body doesn't have a shape of a child or an old man; it has the beautiful form of a man at the age of 33.
During the Wedding Banquet and the Millennium Kingdom, they keep wearing this resurrected body.
This resurrected body is suitable in the 2nd heaven, and therefore, even though it is a body of spirit, it can be seen and touched by the people of the flesh.
The bible records that, after the Lord was resurrected, He ate a piece of bread and fish.
Those in the resurrected body can also eat the fleshly food like this, but they don't taste the food.
The spiritual food in the spiritual world is too delicious to be compared with the fleshly food.
And thus, they don't eat the fleshly food, but when they are invited by the people of the flesh, together with the people of the flesh they eat the fleshly food.
However, when they eat the fleshly food, they don't digest and excrete it the way the people of the flesh do through the digestive system.
They decompose the food as they eat, and let it out through respiration
The people of the spirit live in the resurrected body like this during the 7 Year Wedding Banquet and the Millennium Kingdom, and after the Great White Throne Judgment, they will then assume the heavenly body.
While the resurrected body is more suitable in the 2nd heaven, the heavenly body is suitable in heaven, the perfect spiritual place in the 3rd heaven.
Then, what is the reason the souls in the waiting place in heaven don't wear the heavenly body right away?
That's because there are Wedding Banquet in the 2nd heaven and the Millennium Kingdom on earth that take place.
Of course, there are some who are exceptions.
There are some people who are already in the heavenly body, and I told you about them in the Heaven lecture series. (They are Heavenly Rank 1 to 4, Elijah, Enoch, Abraham, Moses)
When they stay in the earth during the Millennium Kingdom, however, they can also be seen by the people of the flesh.
Even though the people of the flesh wear in the fleshly body, they live a healthy and happy lives because there is no disease, death, or becoming old.
The number of the people of the flesh who enter the Millennium Kingdom is, though I can't tell you the number, extremely small.
But, as a thousand years pass by, they prosper over the whole earth.
How much did the 70 Israelites prosper for 400 years after they moved into Egypt?
At the time of Exodus, there were 'about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children.'
If women, children, and weak old people had been counted, it must have been more than 2 million.
Moreover, science and medicine were not well developed, and there were people who died even before they reached an average age.
Conversely however, there is no death in the Millennium Kingdom.
They don't need to worry about hunger, cold, heat, diseases, and disasters.
That's why the population increases dramatically as one thousand years pass by.
Even if the number increases like this, however, they cannot achieve the level of civilization as that of today.
Of course, the small number of people who survived have memory and knowledge of the past civilization.
However, they don't have the ability to develop such a civilization.
Let's say, a dozen of you are left in a desert island.
No matter how skilled you are in electronics and computers, it's useless in the desert island.
You cannot dig iron and make computers with your bare hands, and even if you do, what can you use them for?
There isn't much difference from when not knowing you end up living like a primitive man.
The people of the flesh who enter the Millennium Kingdom have the memory of the past civilization, but they begin their life in the level of primitive days.
They cannot even easily produce a cup or a knife.
When you recall the 6,000 year-long-human cultivation, it wasn't long ago to have reached the level of civilization of today.
Adam who was driven out to this earth also had outstanding knowledge and wisdom he gained in the Garden of Eden.
Even though he had such wisdom, however, he had no way to use the wisdom since he started on this earth with bare hands.
During the first two thousand years, the civilization had not developed much.
When I gave the first Revelation lecture in 1988, I was told that they might achieve the level of civilization as of today when the Millennium is about to end, but only God knows it.
But according to what God told me this time, no matter what they do during the Millennium Kingdom, they will be in the manual level.
They will be just able to produce what they need most everyday with their bare hands.
There will be no civilization such as computers, automobiles, and high-rising buildings.
And thus, there will be no environmental pollution.
There will be no diseases, disasters, and death as well as no hatred, argument, and evil.
All the people will live in gentleness and peace as if they were sanctified.
Isaiah 11:6-8 says, "And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den."
In this peace, a thousand years fly by quickly.
I said the enemy devil and Satan will be released for a short period of time.
Then, the countless people of the flesh will be deceived by Satan and fall to destruction.
Isn't it strange?
The people of the flesh experienced how peaceful it is in the world of no evil.
They were also taught so many times that if they are deceived by the enemy devil and Satan they will fall to the destruction.
But, why are they tempted and deceived?
How does Satan deceive them?
I will tell you about it in the next lecture.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
During the Millennium Kingdom, the people of the spirit will do many things with the Lord besides teaching and managing the people of the flesh.
From time to time, they will travel here and there of the earth with the Lord and the prophets.
They can go anywhere such as the place where they were cultivated, the place they longed to visit, and the site and ancient civilization.
(Of course the buildings are all destroyed due to wars and disasters during the 7 Year Great Tribulation, most of them become only ruins in the Millennium Kingdom.)
While visiting such places, the Lord plays the role similar to that of a travel guide.
Creation of the earth, its chronicle changes, and the various phenomena that current science cannot explain; the Lord will explain the hidden and ultimate principles one by one.
However, there is a big difference in how they accompany the Lord.
For example, when a king goes outside of the castle, some will accompany the king at a very proximal (close) distance, and others follow more distantly.
There are even some who don't even come close to the king; they just watch the king from a far distance.
In the Millennium Kingdom, not everyone can come close to the Lord and appreciate the Lord's guiding.
If they are little bit short of sanctification of the heart and their heavenly rank is low, they cannot come close to the Lord even when they travel with the Lord.
Where would you like to visit most in the Millennium Kingdom?
How closely would you like accompany the Lord?
Would you like to stay right beside the Lord all the time and listen to His detailed explanation?
Or, are you going to be satisfied if you can receive the conveyance of the Lord's explanation while staying afar from the Lord?
None of you would like to do so.
Now, you don't have much time left.
You should diligently finish adorning yourself as a bride.
I hope that all of you will stay closer to the Lord while traveling here and there in greatest happiness when the Millennium Kingdom comes.
May we all together share such happiness that will continue even in New Jerusalem forever, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
[Amen] |
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