Jul. 09, 2023

The Words of the King - Producing Peculiar People (9 July 2023)

Introduction - Last week’s lesson started with the same observation which this lesson will continue:  That the Western church constructs a gospel all of its own.  The end product looks and sounds nice, is very comforting and non-demanding and is very pleasing to us.  The components of it come from popular devotional books, self-help guides, Christian media, folklore.  What we end up practicing, memorizing, and teaching to others really bears little resemblance to the actual words spoken by our King in His version of the Gospel of the Kingdom.  Today’s lesson is not a simple subject, so I’m taking some time today to lay some groundwork so we can really understand what seems to be hard-to-understand parts of the Scripture.  

First of all, fast forward to the point in time where Jesus has just returned to earth.  This return marks the beginning of the 1,000-year earthly reign of Jesus.  The section of the Scripture from which a number of “hard to understand” verses come is the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:3-7:29.  There is a similar, shorter section in Luke 6:20-49, called the Sermon on the Plain.  This is certainly a code of conduct for a coming period of time, called a dispensation, which we are not in yet, but which begins when Jesus returns, and ends 1,000 years later.  Matthew 7:22 says that “on that day” God will perform a judgment on all unrighteous people. This judgment occurs at the end of the 1,000-year earthly reign of Jesus called the Millennial Kingdom. This judgment is referred to as “the Great White Throne Judgment.”   

Revelation 20:11-14 And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide.12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. 14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. NLT

We Christians are not the subjects in this judgment, because the judgment of our sin occurred when we believed in Jesus.  All persons who have believed in Jesus during the Church Age we live in right now will be raised from the dead, or if living, will be translated to meet the Lord in the air and accompany Him to heaven, so we will not be present on earth for this judgment day.  The GWT judgment is to evaluate the works of the unrighteous, either dead or living at that time.  

Matthew 5:3-7:29 is notable for the subjects it does not include:

    1.    No reference to the Holy Spirit

    2.    No regeneration or mention of faith for Salvation

    3.    No mention of the death of Christ with redemption, propitiation, or reconciliation

    4.    No mention of being in Christ

    5.    No mention of enabling power, only human effort

    6.    Righteousness is man-produced, not a gift from God.  

    7.    #6 results in people being in danger of hell’s fire, because they are not “justified by faith”

    8.    Mercy is not gained by being merciful, but by finding it even when dead in sin

    9.    Forgiveness is not gotten by forgiving others, but by being forgiven for Christ’s sake

    10.  Eternal life doesn’t come from following a straight path, but it is a free gift, a present possession

    11.  Fellowship with God doesn’t come from perfectly executed human works, but from God’s desire                    that “none perish”

So, these chapters are describing the conditions of God’s relationship with humans during the Millennial Kingdom, because they contrast so strongly with the Kingdom dynamics of the church age, under which we live. Only some general scriptures (loving your enemy, treating others as you would like to be treated, not loving mammon more than God, etc.) found in these chapters apply right now to the Christian.  The rest of the three chapters apply to natural people living in the Millennium.  Knowing this, we can better understand some seemingly difficult Scriptures.  Here’s the first:

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ NLT

This sounds like almost no one can be saved, doesn’t it? Keep in mind that this scripture addresses a scene at least 1,000 years away from the present day.  During the Millennium, conditions will have reverted to near-perfect on the earth:  no animal ferocity, seven times more light, disease is almost non-existent, Satan is bound for nearly a thousand years, there is 7 times more light, human industry, populations, and biological plant and animal growth explode, there are no food and water shortages, no wars of any kind, and mammon abounds.  There is no shortage of goods and services, and people live for hundreds of years.  On the earth during this time are a mixture of transformed people (us Christians) who need no salvation, and naturally born people who all need salvation.  These people will need some kind of salvation experience before the end of their natural lifetime. People born during the Millennium will eventually die. It will probably be a much less traumatic death than we experience, like going to sleep and then waking up from a deep sleep.  Some, however, will not ever become a Kingdom member and will endure being cast into the lake of fire as a result of unbelief.  The major reason they will not be saved will be mammon.  

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. NLT

God’s biggest competitor for the human heart is not the devil, it is mammon.  When we are absolutely content, we quickly get absorbed in the enjoyment of things.  We usually don’t seriously seek God until we have some problems to solve.  For most earthly people, the Millennium will be a time of enjoying God’s unbelievable glory and lavish provision, but beware!  It will also be a time in which interest in, and need for, God will be very low. There will probably not be many saved, even though the Holy Spirit will be calling many, hence Scriptures like this from a parable Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God:

Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.” NLT

The references to “casting out demons” and “prophesying” and “performing miracles” from Matthew 7 sound like these people are Christians from the church age.  If that were the case, this Scripture would dash the hopes of every believer saved by grace.  These are normal phenomena we should all be involved in.  If these are the evidences of true spirituality, and the Lord rejects us for offering them as evidence, then what hope do we have of having a place in heaven?  The professions likely came from insincere people.  One thing is for sure: they did not have Jesus as their King.  There was no inner transformation which comes from the new birth.  

These verses do not refer to blood-bought Christians, for the following reasons: In every age, as in the Millennium, there were and will be true and false prophets, (Isaiah vs. Elymas), true and false workers of miracles (Moses vs Pharaoh’s magicians), and true and false exorcists (Jewish sons of Sceva vs. Apostle Paul).  Satan Himself will be bound for the 1,000 years, but no Scripture says that demons are not present on the earth during that time.  A true believer in Christ, in the Millennium, will give radical evidence of repentance from his sin nature.  He will never worry, will seek first the kingdom of God, will lay up treasure in heaven, will allow people to take what he has left after being wrongfully sued in court, love his enemies, be sorrowful over sin to the point of cutting off a hand or gouging out an eye, will go a second mile when forced to go the first one.  This will be very different from the mass of people who are just bloated by blessings of the age sin which they live.  Until there are no more natural born people, there will be demonic activity and counterfeit spiritual phenomena because of the natural wickedness of the human heart. The reason God will allow this condition to exist in the Millennium is that it will be the final demonstration of man’s utter poverty, showing that even under conditions of glory, man will fail.  He is utterly dependent on God to save Him.  

There are other signs elsewhere in Scripture that show that the Millennium will not be the utopian society it seems to be:  During the Millennium, Jesus will rule the nations with a rod of iron (Revelation 12:5, 19:15).  The Book of Zechariah (Zechariah 14:17-18) says that nations which will not come to Jerusalem to worship at the Feast of Tabernacles will not have rain on their crops.  All the people groups of the world will have to demonstrate their obedience to Jesus as a people.  The command in Matthew to cut off a hand or gouge out an eye which causes a person to sin against someone else are evidences that there will be sin and corresponding judgments because there are natural people with a sin nature.  So, it is not hard to understand that, if masses of natural people are completely satisfied by an overabundance of mammon and have no problems to drive them to God, the Scripture could be very accurate when it says that:

Matthew 7:13-14 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.  NLT

This Scripture sounds, again, like almost no one will be saved.  Remember, that this Scripture is teaching about the Millennium, not the Church Age.  The situation on earth at that time could easily be that there is very little overt sin, such as when the devil and demons are active in this age, but that masses of people miss the small gate and narrow way to finding Jesus and they go to hell at the end of the Millennium because they have been lulled into believing they have no need for God.  So, Thank God that we live in an age in which we have problems!  

James 1:2-4 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. NLT

Satan, who has been imprisoned during the entire 1,000-year Millennium is allowed to come back into circulation on the earth for a short time.  He succeeds in rallying masses of natural people, due to their unsaved nature, but the rebellion against God is short-lived.  The Antichrist, False Prophet, and Satan Himself are captured and thrown into the lake of fire as the Great White Throne Judgment progresses to judge every unsaved person of the ages.  

After considering these verses, you should be able to see that the Sermon on the Mount must be approached very carefully.  Most of its contents apply to people living during the Millennium.  Even time-honored parts of it, like the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) are human works-reward transactions, not free gifts from God. They have some applications to our lives, but only secondarily: love, give, be kind, don’t worry, trust God, etc.

Conclusion - Unlike the ominous tones specific to the Millennium, you will have a path aided by the love and grace of God. This is not a vain speculation, but based on Good Bible verses!  First of all, you are different from the natural people of the Millennium:  

1 Peter 2:9. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar* people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:  KJV

You are not them.  Part of the Sermon on the Mount is “the Lord’s Prayer” taught to his disciples by Jesus, not just in the Sermon on the Mount, but in Luke 11:2-4.  You, as Christians of the Church Age, will have special authority and influence as you ask for all that has to do with “His Kingdom coming and His will being done.”  There is so much in the Bible about God desiring to save everyone, and that He can save us to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25). 

2 Peter 3:9. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.  NLT

This isn’t the age of Noah’s flood, where only 8 people were saved.  Jesus has already been to the cross and rose victorious.  God’s will is plain concerning the saving of masses of people.  Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41), not for people, although wicked humans will be sent there.  Considering this, there is a great probability that all of the people you pray for and love will be saved! This is only my personal opinion, but it is hard to completely discount the great force of the desire of God to save mankind.  You have been given a special mandate, never before given to any group of people, and the authority to back it up: 

Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” NLT

We each, individually, can make believers.  We can only make disciples in a group.  Only Jesus can build the worldwide church.  Let’s have a gospel based on the King’s commands!