Cross References: I The Exaltation of Christ 1. The prophet spoke of the exalted position of Christ and His coming Kingdom, [Isaiah:2:1-2]; [Psalms:2:6-7]; [Micah:4:1]; [Revelation:19:11-16]. 2. All nations will come under the rule of Christ during the Millennial Reign, [Isaiah:2:2-3]; [Psalms:2:8-12]; [Micah:4:2]; [Revelation:11:15]. 3. War will cease during the period of Christ’s Kingdom, [Isaiah:2:4]; [Micah:4:3-4]. II Reign of Righteousness 1. Those who refuse to come under the rule of Christ will be judged, [Isaiah:2:5-9]; [Psalms:2:1-3 ]; [Zechariah:14:17-19]; [Revelation:19:19-21]. 2. Sin and pride will be brought low in the Day of the Lord, [Isaiah:2:10-18]. 3. Idolatry will be discarded and men will seek a hiding place when the Lord arises to shake the earth, [Isaiah:2:19-22]; [Psalms:2:4-5]; [Revelation:6:12-17]. 4. The Lord will be exalted and will reign in righteousness and peace, [Isaiah:2:17]; [Isaiah:25:6-9]; [Isaiah:35:1-10]; [Zechariah:14:16 ], [Zechariah:14:20-21]; [Revelation:20:4-6]. Notes: In the beginning of time, the Triune God looked over His creation, “and, behold, it was very good.” Provision had been amply made for the prosperity and happiness of all creation. The rhythm and reason of all things is harmony with God and praise to Him. The cadence of this happy, perfect living was soon broken, however, for mankind listened to and obeyed the subtle, sinful suggestions of Satan, spoken through the mouth of the serpent. Immediately the living, eternal soul of man became separated from God -– dead in trespasses and sins. The absolute perfection that man had known was destroyed, and the nature of sin became inbred in the very soul of man, ruling the nature and destiny of the unregenerate man to this day. Satan attempted to usurp God’s power and creation, and seemingly almost succeeded; but God retains His might and authority, and one day he will release the earth from the cruel bondage imposed upon it by the curse of sin. God will send Jesus back to the earth to set up a literal kingdom and rule the earth in righteousness for one thousand years. Last Days “It shall come to pass in the last days,” was Isaiah’s introduction to his prophecy of the coming Kingdom of Christ. At the time when sin has run its course and Satan seems ready to deliver his final destructive blow to men and to the world, Jesus will appear on the scene and wrest the world from the power and influence of Satan. “I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. . . . And the armies, which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 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” [Revelation:19:11], [Revelation:19:14-15]). The Kingdom of Christ will be a world power. The very thing that history’s great military leaders fought to obtain, and wasted their lives trying to achieve, will be given to Jesus, the Son of God. There will be a terrible war of short duration to prepare the way for this righteous reign of Christ. Many people will fight against the Lord in that day, but they will be destroyed by the sword of Christ’s mouth. Satan will be bound a thousand years in the bottomless pit, and his chief emissaries will be cast alive into the lake of fire. The people who escape from this time of judgment and tribulation will be ushered into a thousand-year period of unprecedented peace. The Way into the Kingdom There is a sure and blessed way of entering this wonderful coming Kingdom of Christ. John the Baptist was God’s instrument to announce the Kingdom to the world with its admission fee: “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” [Matthew:3:2]). Jesus proclaimed and enlarged upon the same message, but He indicated that the complete fulfilment of the Kingdom was not at that time. “When he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” [Luke:17:20-21]). All men who truly receive Jesus Christ into their heart and fully obey His commandments are born into His Kingdom. These people overcome the powers of Satan by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. These full overcomers may die physically, yet they will be resurrected, and, along with the living, overcoming saints, will be translated to Heaven to be with Christ during the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. When Christ is revealed to the earth as King, these saints will come to the earth with Him, to be priests of God and Christ and reign with Him during the thousand years. (Read [Revelation:19:1-21] and [Revelation:20:1-15].) To their own destruction, multitudes are putting off making this most important decision to serve Christ. Most people fail fully to realise the fatal consequences of neglecting to take the necessary measures to insure their part in Christ’s Kingdom, but nothing in a man’s life should be deemed of more importance than praying through to real salvation. The Lord has given time and opportunity to the children of men to prepares their hearts for eternity. “The Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation” [Hebrews:3:7-8]). All people who have refused or failed to trust and obey Christ in this life will have to face the second death. Some unrepentant sinners will have the privilege to live during the Millennial Reign, but then they must face God at the Great White Throne Judgment. From there they will be cast into the lake of fire; “This is the second death” [Revelation:20:14]). The Exalted Kingdom Throughout the history of Christendom, the Kingdom of Christ has never been unanimously received by the world; however, the time is coming when all living men will acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. Christ’s disciples have laboured through the years to bring men into the Kingdom of Christ; but all the exertion, however extensive and faithful, will not bring about the final, complete fulfilment of Christ’s Kingdom upon earth. That will require the coming of the King Himself out of Heaven. The earth’s inhabitants will no longer hate Jesus and say of Him, “We will not have this man to reign over us” [Luke:19:14]); but all nations shall flow unto the Lord’s house in Zion. “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths” [Isaiah:2:3]). The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. The lofty looks of man will have been humbled, and the haughtiness of men will have been bowed down. The idols He shall utterly abolish. All men do not worship a golden or silver idol today, but anything that is set up in preference to God, or anything that is given more love and more devotion than is given to God, that thing is an idol and will be utterly abhorred in the day of the Lord of hosts. Time of Peace Before the influence of Satan and sin entered the Garden of Eden, the scene was one of peace and tranquility. The people, the animals, the birds -– all lived together in unity without a trace of fear or suspicion of one another. The Lord had appointed the green herbs of the field to be the meat of the beasts and fowls, and apparently the curse of sin brought about the practice of carnivorous animals consuming other animals for food. When Christ comes forth from Heaven upon the white horse and conquers Satan and all the forces of evil, the dispositions and appetites of the beasts and fowls will revert to the status enjoyed in the Garden of Eden. “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. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” [Isaiah:11:6-9]). The Lord shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people. With such a triumphant King as Christ at the head of the government to worship and serve, and with Satan bound in the bottomless spit, and false accusations, envy, and pride lying dormant even in sinners, men will find it possible to live at peace with one another. The implements of war, the swords and the spears, will be reformed into plowshares and pruning- hooks. “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn way any more.” The nations have gone to great length to obtain peace in the world, yet it seems the harder they try to attain peace the more elusive is that scarce state. In the day of the Lord of hosts, however, peace will be in evidence on every hand – in the home and on the streets, in the country and in the cities. The divorce courts will no longer be in operation, because family life will be once more as God intended that it should be. The Jews As Jesus comes back to the earth to be revealed to the Jewish people and all the people of the world, the “blindness in part” which “happened to Israel” will be done away with. Then will be fulfilled the words of Isaiah: “O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD” [Isaiah:2:5]). A few scattered Jews have believed in Jesus as their promised Messiah down through the years, but as a whole the Jews have rejected Jesus as their Messiah. Dire trouble has followed that nation, especially since that day when their rulers demanded Jesus’ crucifixion and death, declaring, “His blood be on us, and on our children” [Matthew:27:25]). More disastrous trouble lies ahead until, at last, those Jews who are left will recognise their King on the white horse and receive Him as the Saviour and Son of God. “It shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God” [Zechariah:13:8-9]).
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 19:59:09 +0000
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