Salvation Through the Ages - Part 6 — Genesis 3

0:00 The ultimate triumph of the redeemer. And I would just remind you about the words of what has been called the proto evangelium, the beginning of the Gospel, the statement that was made by God to Satan in Genesis three fifteen said, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. This was at the moment of Satan's ascension to the throne of the world. Adam had collapsed as the Lord over God's creation. God had given him a position to rule over the earth, and he had failed.

0:58 And so Satan had abrogated to himself that position, and God is announcing to him that someday the seed of the woman would conquer him and displace him and himself rule. And so this is one of the great themes that we find in the book of Acts. And I'd like to read a few verses in chapter one. Acts chapter one. The kingdom is mentioned eight times in the book of Acts, and we'll read a couple here in chapter one.

1:46 Acts chapter one and verse one. The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up after he, through the Holy Spirit, had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also presented himself alive after his sufferings by many infallible proofs being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And then a little further down, verse six, Therefore when they had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost end of the world. As we read through the Bible, we see that there are four main themes that keep developing.

3:23 There is, first of all, the revelation of God's person. And this is of course the big one. The big one is not knowing the book, it's knowing the author. Jesus said to the Jews of his day, You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me. Right? And

3:47 And knowing that the Bible is helpful to us only to the extent that it brings us to know the Lord. And then secondly, the revelation of God's provision. God is a giver God and he has given in creation. He's given in providence and given in redemption. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift.

4:18 And then thirdly, we have the revelation of God's plan. God is working out his will in history. And fourthly, we have the revelation of God's people. And these are the four great themes. And so when we study a passage of scripture, if we're looking for these, they will all result in a different response.

4:39 Right? The revelation of God's person should result in worship and also in developing godliness in myself. Beholding his glory, I'm changed into the same glory. The revelation of God's provision should result in thankfulness, in gratitude, and also in appropriation if this is available for me. Sometimes we think they're promises when they're actually already provisions.

5:07 They're not to be just hung on the wall, they're to be lived in the life. And then, of course, the revelation of God's plan should result in obedience, in living out our lives in sympathy with the will of God. And the revelation of God's people is an important one because it helps me to rightly discern the word of God. If we get this wrong, you know, most error is truth out of place or out of proportion. There are people today who are trying to live in the kingdom.

5:44 And there are people who are trying to live under the law. And we need to understand the distinctions in scripture. You'll find people who will quote a verse like, He that endures to the end shall be saved, which is an application of the Jewish remnant during the tribulation. It's got nothing to do with us. David says, Take not your Holy Spirit from me.

6:08 People actually sing that these days. But there's no danger of a Christian losing the Holy Spirit. We are sealed by the Spirit until the day of redemption. So it's important for us to see these and to appropriate these. And so when it comes to the people of God, there are three main streams of truth in the Bible having to do with Israel and the kingdom and the church.

6:40 And these are not to be confused. There are places where it seems there's overlap, but these three entities have different beginnings and different constituents and different purposes and agendas. And so it's important that we keep them clear in our thinking. God has given us a chapter, Leviticus 23, which is an overview of the history of Israel. The seven feasts of Jehovah are actually a picture book of lessons about the great events in the history of Israel.

7:30 And then we have in Matthew thirteen seven parables of the kingdom. And the Lord Jesus explains these parables. The first four, he explains to the crowd by the lake, and they're full of sabotage and subterfuge. The enemy seems to be winning. And then he takes the disciples into the house, closes the door, and says, Now, gentlemen, let me tell you what it's really like. That's

7:58 That's it appears. It looks like Jesus is losing these days. But he says, Let me tell you how it really is. And he tells them about a treasure hidden in the field and about a pearl of great price coming out of the sea and about the day when he will sort it all out at the end. And he says, Gentlemen, I'm right on schedule.

8:19 I know what I'm doing. You can trust me. So when we turn then to Revelation two and three, we have seven letters that Jesus wrote and you can read his correspondence. And he gives us then an overview of the church. So we have seven feasts in Leviticus 23 that are his overview of the history of Israel, seven parables in Matthew 13 that are his overview of the kingdom, and seven letters, epistles to the churches in Revelation two and three that are an overview of the church.

9:41 You really believe that Jesus was the Messiah? Well, yes. Well, now wait a minute. Let's read our scriptures and let's see what it says he's going to do when he comes. It didn't sound very hopeful, did it?

10:02 Because, well, Jesus was going to defeat the enemy and he was going to establish a kingdom that was never going to have an end. Didn't work out very well, did it? They said, We will not have this man to reign over us. And they crucified him and he went away. I don't think that's very much in line with what our Bible says at all.

10:30 And so you understand why they would have to speak to them concerning the kingdom. The Jews had been so confused by these descriptions of the Messiah in the Old Testament that some of them had come up with a scheme that there were actually two Messiahs. Messiah ben Joseph, Messiah ben David. One was going to come to suffer and die and the other was going to come and reign in glory. But if they had read the story of Joseph and David a little more carefully, they might have noticed a pattern developing.

11:07 Rejected by their brethren. Lost to the Gentiles. Falsely accused. And then finally reigning in glory. And the Lord Jesus as he walked along the Emmaus Road. This

11:25 This was the point that he made with the two discouraged disciples. O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have said. You've been cherry picking, haven't you? And you've picked out all the ones that had the happy ending. But ought not Messiah first to have suffered and then to enter into his glory?

11:49 So in fact, it wasn't two messiahs, it was two comings of the same messiah who would come first to die for his people, and then he would return to reign. And there was another complication, and it was that when the Bible speaks about the kingdom, it speaks about it in two very distinct ways. It speaks about the kingdom as having existed as long as God existed, that he has been the sovereign since the beginning and that he rules supreme and that no one can defy him and that he is absolute in His right to rule over everything. And there are lots of verses that talk about that. But then there are another set of verses that speak about the kingdom coming.

12:57 Right? Jesus taught the disciples to pray this, Thy kingdom come. Which meant that it wasn't there yet, was it? And there are a whole set of verses that talk about this. And if we want to read one that's I think quite helpful, it's in the book of Daniel.

14:05 His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. Earlier on, we have this metal man, superman. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of this massive person with a head of gold going all the way down to feet of iron and clay. And at the explanation that was given that you're the head of gold, the Babylonians, all the way down to the restored Roman Empire, And at the end of history, there will be a great stone not cut out by human hands. It will be God's wrecking ball.

15:00 And it will come hurtling through space. And it will hit the image and smash it to smithereens. And then it will become a great mountain that will fill the earth. Okay? So we have then two different portraits of kingdom rule and one of them is when the phrase heaven and earth or the heavens and the earth is used, it's the word for the universe.

15:30 Okay? It's not just talking about going up as far as the birdies. It's describing the whole universe. And so when we read about that kingdom, we realize that its starting point was at the beginning of creation. The moment there was anything that God made, it was subject to him. He

15:50 He ruled over it. And it continues forever. So that was its starting point. Whereas this, the starting point is still waiting to happen. When the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he met with his disciples and he explained this to them. I'm

16:09 I'm not sure how they all grasped it at the time. And when they asked this question, they were wondering when the next stage of the process would begin. And Jesus said, It's not up to you to know. In fact, here's what the Father said to the Son. When the Son rose and entered into the presence of the Father, the Father said, Son, sit here at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

16:43 And then Jesus himself will take up rule in the world. But this is a different thing and that's the portrait that's given to us in Daniel. That the ancient of days, the sovereign God who rules over everything, then gives to his son a kingdom and the kingdom is going to be ruling on planet earth. And whenever we read about that kingdom, it speaks about under heaven, all the nations under heaven. It's talking about the world.

17:21 Now, just pause for a second in your Bible study. This my own little thinking here, so forgive me. Don't take this as Bible truth. But it would seem to me that when God planted garden in Eden and he placed the man in the garden, that his intention was that this man and woman who would have children and they would have children and they would have children, that as the family grew, the garden grew. And the garden would push out its boundaries until eventually it filled the whole earth and all of the earth would be Eden.

18:06 I personally believe that this is also what God has in mind for the whole universe. This little pale blue planet is simply the starting point. And the Lord is going to make new heavens and a new earth and I believe that he will make it a habitable universe. And that we will have the privilege of claiming the universe for God. Would you like to decorate a planet?

18:39 Would you like to paint a sunset? Would you like to train some birds so they can sing an aria for you? You know, man did a very small part of what God gave him to do. He hardly got out the garden. We've domesticated a few animals. We

18:57 We can get a parrot to curse at us or something, you know, get a cow to milk or get an ox to make it down the road. But really, most of creation is not under our control. And one of the things Jesus did at the cross was make provision to bring the whole universe back under control. And that's what the scripture declares, that the whole creation is groaning and travailing, waiting well, waiting for you, actually Waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. In other words, at the present time, your neighbors think you're a butcher or a baker or a candlestick maker. They

19:54 They don't know that you are a member of heaven's royal family. But God knows it. And he's preparing not only heaven for you, but he's preparing you for heaven. And there's a day coming when he will give you a special glorified body, like Christ's own body, that will give you the capacity then to take on massive responsibilities in the world to come. The Lord explained that the jobs we have now, which can exhaust us, quite frankly, the old man up here is just about at the red line.

20:35 And you think, well, man, this is about all I can handle. Jesus said, those are penny jobs. And if you're faithful with a penny job, I'll give you a city job. Right? How many pennies would it take to buy Cleveland?

20:56 That's the proportion of the tasks that he's going to give us. Right now we're playing with monopoly money. We're learning how to be stewards, but we're going to be stewards of the kingdom. He's going to open up to us the opportunity of reigning with him over this vast empire. And this is what the scripture says, of the extension of his kingdom, there will be no end.

21:28 It it... The Lord Jesus is called a high priest of good things to come. Good things to come. It'll never diminish. It'll never sag. It'll

21:39 It'll never wear out. It'll never fade. It'll just keep on getting better. And that's place for a hallelujah. There we go. So

22:40 So this perfect world was given to Adam and his wife, his co regent, to care for on behalf of God. God rules in the supreme, in the universe, but he placed man as a regent to rule over the earth. And that was an abysmal failure. And at that point, Satan took control. He's called in John twelve thirty one the ruler of this world.

23:18 He's called the god of this age. And the Bible tells us that under his tutelage, man shall grow worse and worse. You probably noticed that. And at a certain point, God is going to say, Gentlemen, it's closing time. And the Lord Jesus is going to rise up from his father's throne and begin to initiate the transfer of authority into his own hands.

23:58 When he was 30 years of age, ready to begin his public ministry, he went into the synagogue in Nazareth, took the scroll of Isaiah, turned to what we call chapter 61, and read his response to the servant songs. There are a series of these servant songs where God calls on his son to take on the task of restoring what he took not away. Behold my servant. Take a look at him. I'm not going to give you only to restore the lost sheep of Israel, but the whole world is going to come to you. They're

24:43 They're all going to respond. The kingdom is the Lord's, and it all belongs to him. And so in this moment of history, the man that they thought was merely a local carpenter lays claim to his role to execute the will of God in the world. Now, when he got to a certain point in that description, he closed the book. Closed the scroll.

25:23 It wasn't a book, a codex. It was a scroll. And he closed the scroll and he handed it back. And the place where he closed the scroll, we have a, in our English, we have a comma. But that comma has been hanging there now for well over two thousand years.

25:41 It was between the line that said that he had come to preach the acceptable year of the Lord and the next line that said, And the day of vengeance of our God. Now the scene changes and we go to the book of the Revelation. And once again, the Lord Jesus is sitting with a scroll in His hand. And now He's going to open the scroll. And when He opens the scroll, He breaks the seals.

26:12 And the seals execute the judgment of God on the earth. And this period of time on the earth, which is often called the tribulation, has three grand purposes. Number one, he is going to judge what is called Babylon. And Babylon is a code word to describe the system that men have built in opposition to God. Babel and the Plains Of Shinar was the institution of united rebellion, the first time all the people got together in one act of rebellion against God.

27:28 It has a political aspect. It has an economic aspect. It has a religious aspect. Basically, the world is the place where people are trying to be happy without God. And Babylon is the system that they have built up to give themselves the false impression that they don't need God.

27:53 And so this is one of the great missions of the Lord Jesus to demolish Babylon. And the Bible says in one hour, it'll all be done. All that men have built in opposition to God. World entertainment, world economics, world politics, world religion. Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, for in one hour is thy judgment come.

28:25 Gone. Right? Now the next chapter describes the church in heaven. And instead of saying, alas, alas, that chapter says, Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

28:39 It's an interesting thing that all the hallelujahs in the New Testament are reserved for the wedding day of the bride and groom. I think I might have inserted a hallelujah the day it was announced that Jesus was born. Or maybe a transfiguration mountain. Certainly when he cried, it's finished. Hallelujah.

29:02 Or he's not here, he's risen from the dead. Hallelujah. But there are no hallelujahs there. But there were four of them right in a row for the great day when the Lord Jesus brings his bride to the wedding. I plan on being there.

29:23 I think I'll look nice in my gown. What you think? So you sisters don't be too bothered by the fact that you're called sons, will you? I'm part of the bride. The So Lord Jesus, in speaking to the disciples, is explaining this to them, that this is not an accident.

29:57 They're not making the best of a bad deal. Like, Oh, we really wanted Jesus to be king, but they ended up killing him, so we'll have to come up with a different story. They were able to go back and to show, to reason in the scriptures, that Jesus was right on schedule, that Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 were in their scriptures too. Had they missed them? But just a little word of warning to us.

30:30 We sometimes focus so much on the sufferings of Christ, we might forget the glory. For example, if I were to say Psalm 22 to you, you might think, oh, yes, Psalm 22, that describes the cross. Well it does indeed. It describes it in no uncertain terms. We know exactly what's happening.

30:50 A thousand years before crucifixion was invented, really, or seven hundred years before crucifixion was invented, a thousand years before Jesus died, David took up his pen and he wrote this description of crucifixion. But that's only half the story, isn't it? As we read on, it's almost enough to make you a universalist. Listen, he says this in verse 27, All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For the kingdom is the Lord's and he rules over the nations.

31:33 All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who cannot keep himself alive. A posterity shall serve him it will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation. They will come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born, that he has done this. That's the end of the story.

32:02 That he did come and suffer and die, but he will return and reign in glory. Not simply reign, but reign over that very city where he is taken out to be crucified and be worshipped by the very people who put him there. They shall look on him whom they pierced. And they will wail because of him, and they will receive him as their Messiah, as their Saviour, as their sin bearer. So when we think about this amazing event that is about to occur, we see that the Lord Jesus has been invested 100% with God's mission.

32:50 A lot of people think that God could have done a much better job of world evangelization. It seems a bit spotty, bit uneven, like it's not working very well. You know, we could give the book of the Revelation a new subtitle. God is vindicated in picking Jesus for the job. When we see how he, through his death, not only redeemed human beings but but redeemed the whole creation, restored the whole planet.

33:34 And how the angels of heaven rejoice every time someone is transferred out of the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of his dear son. And that eventually, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. Yep, Mohammed will be there. And the Buddha and Confucius and Baha'u'llah and Pol Pot and Hitler and the demons and the devil himself. And we will do it. We'll

34:12 We'll happily do it. Every knee will bow. You see what that means? For one moment in all of history, every God conscious creature will be agreed about one thing. I don't think anybody will be forced to do it.

34:32 I think it will be so obvious. It'll be like a kid in a schoolyard lot who's lost in a fight, and he says, You win. You win. Jesus, Jesus says, He's gonna win. In spite of how bad it looks at times, He's gonna win. And

34:53 And He's gonna win gloriously. He's gonna triumph gloriously. And so when we read about the kingdom that has been so distorted and corrupted and used against humanity, there's a day coming when the king who sits on the throne once had a crown of thorns on his head, still has the marks of Calvary in his hands, a sympathetic but glorious being who sits on the throne and for a thousand years of rule everything is perfect. Some people wonder what is the purpose of the millennium? Well, as I mentioned, there are three objectives to his work during the tribulation. The

36:20 And they will be destroyed. They will die in their sins in the great battle. However, one third of them, he will bring them through the fire, says the scripture, and one third of the people, the Jews that are then living in the world that will be all of them, the scripture says all Israel will be saved. They will be all the ones left. And this is what the Bible describes in the book of Ezekiel as a nation born in a day.

36:52 Ezekiel's valley of dry bones. It looks absolutely hopeless, useless, and then all of a sudden, click click click, the bones start coming together and before you know it, sinew comes on the bones and muscle and skin and then clothing and then armor and then suddenly there's a whole army standing in the valley. And the Lord is going to resurrect the nation, a new nation of Israel that will acknowledge Him as Lord. But the third reason that the tribulation occurs, we were talking a little bit about Psalm 107 and how God uses the horrible things, the painful things of life to bring people to the end of themselves so that they cry out to the Lord and He saves them. And he's going to use this tactic one more time.

37:44 And John writes, he's taking a tour of heaven and he sees this huge company that no one can number. He's asked, Do you know who these people are? And he said, You tell me. These are the ones who have been saved out of the great tribulation. Can you imagine that?

38:09 The darkest chapter in the history of the world and this mighty harvest of souls that will be forever worshippers of the Lord Jesus. You say, How will this even happen? Well, he will have his witnesses. He always has his witnesses. We sometimes apply a scripture that says, Despise not the day of small things.

38:34 As if like, well, we're not seeing many people saved, so it's okay. That's not at all what that verse means. It's talking about the tribulation. And it's talking about what are called the sons of oil. This is the closest thing to a perpetual motion machine that you'll ever find.

38:55 It's two trees growing in the dark. And the reason they can grow in the dark is because they're producing olive berries. And the olive berries produce olive oil and there are two golden pipes that run from the trees down to a menorah. And the menorah is shining in the darkness and causing the trees to grow and the trees are producing the olive oil which causes the light to shine. And that's how they can grow in the dark.

39:27 And this is a picture, says the Lord, of how he's going to use these two witnesses who will light up the darkness of the tribulation with the glorious gospel. And everyone around the world will see them. You know, it wasn't too many years ago we'd think, well, maybe, but we had a group in Israel, this is some time ago now, we had a group in Israel, we were down at the brook where David picked his stones to fight Goliath. And all of a sudden around the bend there came some sheep. And behind them is the shepherd and he's got on a kefi and he's walking along, but we notice he's on his phone.

40:14 It kind of spoiled the picture there, you know. Everybody's got phones. Everybody's in touch. Everybody's connected. And it will be the news that in spite of the fact that the Antichrist has been murdering Christians like they're going out of style, here are two men standing, of all things, in the streets of Jerusalem proclaiming the gospel to the world.

40:45 There are also 144,000 virgin men who will be witnesses for the Lord during that time. But in any case, we're told that there's going to be such a mighty harvest. You know, we're probably approaching the point where half the people who've ever lived in history are living on the planet. And so could easily tip the scales so there'd be more in heaven than in hell. This massive number of people saved in those desperate hours of the tribulation.

41:54 She has an added motive for submitting happily to the King. She loves him, or hopefully that's the case. Well certainly in our case it is. That the reason we are happy to submit to him and obey him is because we love him. And so he's going to return and take up his kingdom.

42:14 And in order to do this, he needs first to rescue the remnant, this little group of Jews. And they're trapped in Jerusalem. And the Lord Jesus returns and he lands on the Mount Of Olives He splits the mountain in two and opens up a new valley of escape, opening up the Eastern Wall of the city of Jerusalem and they flee through it and head down into Southern Jordan down to the land of Edom to a mountain fortress, a city carved into the rock. I think you've seen pictures of Petra. This is about 30 miles, 25 miles from Petra. It's

43:02 It's called Basra. It was built by the Nabateans. The Nabateans at one time were simply highway robbers. The road that comes from Saudi Arabia up eventually to Europe came up what they called the King's Highway, the spice trade came up that road and then so they would rob the caravans. And they found it was more lucrative if they built some hotels and restaurants and provided food and a place to sleep and protection for these people and the Nabateans flourished. And

43:45 And they built these cities right into the rock, carved them right into the rock. And in order to get into them, you have to go down these very narrow cracks in the rock. You can reach out and touch. You can't take a truck down there. We had to ride horseback to get into Petra. It's

44:00 It's very narrow. And so it was an ideal place to hide out. And so they will go to that place and they will hole up there. And I think when some Jews hid out in Petra in the first century against the Romans, it took the Romans two years to break the siege. The way they finally got it was they knew that they were getting water in there and they didn't know how they were getting the water.

44:33 They'd carved out of the rock face of these passageways, they'd carved the channel and then they had plastered it so that the water was actually running right down the walls beside them into the city. And what they did was they brought some camels in. And the camels sniffed around until they came to the water. And they found the water source and they were able to defeat Jews in the first century at Petra. But anyway, the Jews are going to be in this stronghold and when the forces of Antichrist come, it looks like it's hopeless.

45:15 And these people are crying out to God, Please send the Messiah! And just in the nick of time, the Messiah shows up. But what are these wounds in your hands? Oh, no. We esteemed him stricken, smitten of God.

45:40 But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. And then they say this, that our sin, our transgression was laid on him. You see, it's not enough for the Jews to accept Jesus as their Messiah. They must accept Him as their sin bearer.

46:06 And that's what Isaiah 53 describes. The moment when they realize. And Isaiah 53, the end of 52 through 53, is a chiasm. You have at the one end, He will be exalted, lifted up, made very high. And at the end you have Him lifted up, made very high, like two mountains and in between the deep valley down to Calvary.

46:33 The Lord Jesus, the one who is seated at the right hand of the Father said, Here am I, send me. And he came down, down, down. Philippians chapter two describes it. And then God exalted him again to the highest place. And we have that described in fifty two and fifty three, this descent of the Lord to the lowest place and then rising up to the highest.

46:57 And so the Lord Jesus will rescue the people before they even know it. He will be the one who saved them out of Jerusalem and provided the exit for them. They don't even know it. And then they're hiding out and they're crying out to God for mercy and Jesus comes. And individually, they bow their knees and they accept Him as their savior. Every

47:22 Every one of them. Now we have this pictured in the life of Jacob, don't we? In fact, the tribulation period is called the time of Jacob's trouble. The word Jacob is the nickname for Israel when they're away from the Lord. And so they're far from God. The

47:44 The Jewish people today, they look just like Jacob off in pad in arum, don't they? Just wanting to make more money. And their families involved in wicked idolatry. Not a thought of God. Until one day, God taps Jacob on the shoulder and says, It's time to go home.

48:07 And the Bible tells us that God is going to do that with the Jewish people. He's going to call them to come back, to come home. As he approaches the land, he comes to the fords of Jabbok. And the family has moved across the river and Jacob is left alone and a man shows up. And he wrestles with the man all night.

48:38 And as morning breaks, to his utter amazement, he discovers he has seen the face of God. Can you see the face of God? Only in the Lord Jesus. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father, he has declared him.

49:08 God who spoke the light into being, has spoken light into our heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I've seen the face of God. And he named the town there Peniel, the face of God. And his whole life has changed. No longer Jacob.

49:42 Now he was a prince with God. And so it will be with the children of Israel who at last will recognize their Messiah and then begin the journey. And the Lord Jesus, the Bible tells us, Who is this that comes from Edom, his garments dipped in blood, riding victoriously, driving back the forces that are set to destroy the Jews? Why does everybody want to destroy the Jews? Why do college students who don't even know what they're talking about stand on our campus today waving flags that say, From the river to the sea.

50:22 The river is the Jordan, the sea is the Mediterranean. And they're saying what the Arab nations have been saying since the birth of Israel, that the only solution is the final solution. Adolf Hitler's final solution. Drive them into the sea. Wipe them out.

50:43 Who's behind that? Well, the devil. The devil's behind it. If he can have the Jews annihilated, he can make God a liar. I'll tell you something.

50:59 The Jews have stood at the grave of every civilization that have sought to destroy them. You can't find a Philistine these days, but you can find Jews because God has supernaturally preserved them. Now, are they nice people? Not necessarily. Paul says they're enemies for the Gospel's sake, but they're beloved.

51:24 Beloved for the Lord's sake. The Lord loves them. And He's going to rescue them and He's going to restore them because He promised. He's going to keep his promise. And so once this is established, once victory is won, the Lord Jesus will ride into the city of Jerusalem and declare his kingdom.

52:14 Jehovah Sabaoth is his name. And the Lord will ride into that very city where there was no place for him. You know, there's only one city in the world where God put his name. Not Paris, not New York, not Chicago, not Cleveland. No, he put it in Jerusalem. He

52:34 He he said, that's the place of my name. And everybody tries to fight it. Everyone try... It's called the City Of Peace. Yarus Salaim, the city Of Peace.

52:48 They've had more bloodshed there. They say that if blood was indelible, Jerusalem would be all red. But Jesus, the Prince of Peace, is going to make it the city of peace. And the Bible tells us that He'll reign there for a thousand years. The kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. So

53:07 So in other words, there will be nations and there will be kings over those nations. But all will be subject to the Lord. And the question is, why the thousand years? Well, there are a lot of people, you see, who say, Well, if I'd been in the Garden Of Eden, I wouldn't have done what Adam and Eve did. I don't think it's fair that we're suffering because of their stupid mistake.

53:33 So God says, Well, let's try that experiment. How about a thousand years of paradise? Can't blame the devil. Can't say the devil made me do it because he'll be cast into the bottomless pit. Perfect government, can't blame the government.

53:46 Perfect peace, perfect employment. Everybody have their own garden, sit under their own fig tree, enjoy the grapes from their own vine. Everything will be wonderful for a thousand years, and then the devil is let loose. And multitudes follow after him. And God says, I rest my case.

54:10 The human race is incorrigible. Without a savior, without Jesus, there's no hope for the human race. Following this, of course, at the beginning of the millennium, the Lord Jesus is going to redecorate the earth. The desert will blossom like a rose and the wastelands will be made fertile. Everything will be brought down under the tree line and the empty gulches will be lifted up.

54:44 There will be a river opened up, a waterway opened up from the Gulf Of Elat all the way up to the Dead Sea and a river will flow out of Jerusalem purging the waters of the Dead Sea. They'll begin fishing in the Dead Sea, setting their nets Elat, En at Gedi, and it will be a wonderful time. And you say, Well, where will we be in all of this? Well, we'll be reigning with Christ. And we'll be enjoying watching everybody worship our savior.

55:20 You know, I have 24 grandchildren, and I get a real kick out of other people enjoying my grandchildren. I like to see that, you know. I love it when people admire my wife and they tell me, you know, your wife, she's a very special lady. It thrills my heart to hear it. What will it be when we at last see the name that has been used in exchange for any foul gutter word, been used in defamation, at last will be used in acclamation.

55:56 People will say, Your savior, your Jesus, your bridegroom, isn't he wonderful? And we'll sing his praises. You know, we enjoyed a little singing here, You ain't seen nothing yet. Talk about lifting the rafters, I tell you it will be quite a thing. Million Voice Choir or whatever it is, I don't know what it's going to be.

56:21 But I do know this, that all the universe will respond with joy. David wrote about that, didn't he? It's like the trees were happy. It's gonna be a wonderful, wonderful time of the honeymoon stage, if you will, as we enjoy our Lord Jesus, watch him in action. Do you think of Jesus as an empire builder? Do

56:49 Do you think of him as a master diplomat? Do you think of him as a ruling sovereign? He is, you know. And we're going to have the joy of watching the Lord do such marvelous things, things we never imagined, and it will unfold forever, better and better throughout the ages. When the thousand years is done, of course, and the last battle has been finalized, and the great white throne judgment is complete, then there will be a new heavens and a new earth. We

57:53 But just to come back to this simple little idea that the Lord Jesus, when He took the lowest place and God took him to the highest place, he tells us, I want to tell you the secret of my kingdom. Every other form of government has been tried and failed. But no one's ever tried this one. Ruling by servants. The king who sits on the throne is the servant of servants.

58:37 And you can hardly believe it if it wasn't in black and white. But at his own wedding reception, he will rise from supper and gird himself and serve us. You know why? Well, it's the most important job. Can you imagine this?

58:58 The most important job in heaven is being a custodian. Being a mother with some little children running around your knee. Being a bus driver who shines for Jesus and encourages people to think about Christ. Being a shepherd on the hillside, being all these little things that Jesus speaks about, being faithful to him in the smallest things of life, the little things of life, You see your calling, brethren. It's not many big time characters.

59:35 It's mostly ordinary folk who have lived for Jesus. God is not looking for superstars. He's looking for ordinary people who will let him do extraordinary things through them. And there is only one job opening in the kingdom. It's for servants.

59:57 And we shall serve him, and he forever will serve us, and we'll be very happy. So be encouraged. He's right on schedule. He knows what he's doing. Jesus shall reign wherever the sun does its excessive journeys run. His

60:18 His kingdoms spread from shore to shore till moon shall wax and wane no more. I'm looking forward to the day when my Lord Jesus is given his rightful place, and I'm looking forward to the day when you and I will be in a land where everybody loves him, And everybody obeys him. This is what the Bible describes, a world where righteousness dwells. Right? In that world to come, everybody will agree with Jesus. Everything

60:54 Everything he says will all say, That's a great idea. And he'll have some really great ideas. Let's pray. Father, once more, we have peeked into your word what massive truths there are, what glorious themes. We're so thankful that you've let us in on your secrets. We

61:16 We are confidants of heaven. He has made known to us the mystery of his will and shown us these things. Shame on us if the angels know more about it than we do. They desire to look into these things. And the prophets of old did too and they were just told, Well, seal up the book. The

61:38 The people that it's for, they'll read it, they'll understand it. And we're the people. We're the people that were given the complete canon of scripture. Help us to want to know your ways, to know your will, to understand your generosity and take advantage of it. But most of all, to know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

62:09 We ask in the Savior's name.