The Return of Jesus Christ.

We who trust the Lord as their Saviour need have no fear of the future as God loves and protects His own family, whatever happens.

We now come to the last acts of the plan of God for His creation.
In the Great Tribulation the world has been exposed to terrible conditions, as controlled by God, and finally ending in the Battle of Armageddon, when the world, led by the Antichrist, was planning in wiping out the Jews but he was attacked by many other nations. It was then that Jesus Christ came, with His heavenly army, to reclaim and restore order on the earth as planned by God.
Revelation 19:11 1ff.

"11 And 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.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 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 wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

The power of Christ will destroy the evil armies of the world, the Antichrist, the False Prophet and those who received the mark and worshiped the Beast, Rev 19:20,will be immediately placed in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, Rev 20:10. Satan will be locked in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. Rev 20:1-3.
We are not told what happens to the other demonic angels, we can only assume that they were put in the Lake of Fire, which God had previously prepared for them or the bottomless pit with Satan, but . Matt 25:41.

"19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. "

"1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. "

One single angel can chain and control Satan!!!!

Jesus will descend from Heaven accompanied by those who had died in the Lord in the passed, those who were raptured before the Tribulation, and those who had refused the mark of the Beast and died in the tribulation. In addition both Matthew and Paul tell us that the angels of heaven will also come with Christ at his return.

In the Old Testament prophet, Zechariah, we find a clear prediction of what will happen when Christ touches the earth, Zechariah 14:1-7.

"1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
"

We now know that Christ will return to the Mount of Olives and have a fantastic effect on the geography of the area.

Jesus himself told of the event in Matthew 24:29-31.

"29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

Following the return of Jesus Christ, the world, which must be in a terrible state following the seven years of God’s wrath on those who rejected Him, will come under the full control of Jesus the Christ and a 1000 year period,the Millennium will be created, of never before known, peace on earth.

Those who were true Believers and those who had not worshiped the beast, his image, or received his mark during the tribulation period are now living and reigning with Christ for the next thousand years.
Rev 20:4,5.

"4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. "

Read Luke 16:19-31, who has ever lived will be judged in some way.

This court does not determine guilt or to condemn, because every person involved will be a True Believing Christian, the grace of God through Jesus covers all of their sins. This court is to judge how these people served the Lord while on earth and to determine their rewards.

The Millennium, 1000 years rule.

The earth will be in a terrible state following the seven years of rule by Satan and the punishment by God.
We are told that this period will last a thousand years, that is mentioned six times in this chapter. We call it the "Millennium period," as the Latin equivalent for 1000 years is "millennium." It is the time when Jesus Christ will reign on this earth, righteousness will flourish, there will be peace everywhere and the productivity of the earth will be great.

This is the time that all those who were martyred during the Tribulation will be resurrected, and also the Old Testament saints will also join the resurrected, Daniel 12:1,2; Isaiah 26:19..
The first resurrection is now complete. Every believer who has ever lived will have been raised from the dead.
John 5:26-29.

The rest of the dead are brought back to life for the judgment after the thousand years.

We have to look at various prophecies for this time in the Old Testament to appreciate what the establishment of the Millenium, the 1000 year rule by Jesus, will produce upon the earth.

Isaiah 2:2-4.

"2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 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: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

Isaiah 11:1-9.

"1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
6 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.
7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
9 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."

Daniel 7:13,14.

"13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. "

Zechariah 14:4-11.

"4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
10 All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s wine presses.
11 And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited."

What happens at the end of the Millennium?

Looking even further forward, for the thousand years Satan will not be free to tempt anyone or work evil as he is locked away in the bottomless pit. However,We must remember that there will still be people who survived the Tribulation but were not True Believers, they have accepted the rule of Christ but have not taken Him as their Saviour. During the Millennium period these will have children and repopulate the earth.
At the end of the 1000 years it is the plan of God to release Satan from the pit and he will be allowed to deceive the people who still did not accept Jesus. He will make one final attempt to overthrow Christ by using those who had not accepted Jesus as their Lord. Though they had giving outward obedience to Jesus the King, they had never accept Him as Lord.
By the power of God Satan is totally defeated and those who followed him are punished.
Rev 20:7-10.

" 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 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.
9 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.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."

The names Gog and Magog are the worldwide enemies of Christ. This is not the same battle as described in Ezekiel 38-39.

The Judgment Day.

Hebrews 9:26,27.

"26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: "

Revelation 20:11-15.

"11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

Here is pictured the judgment of the unbelieving dead. It occurs at the close of the Millennium following the final battle of Satan. The sea, Death and Hades all deliver up the dead in them.
It takes place before the throne, upon which Christ sits as the Judge. The judgment is based upon the works of the people while on the earth, this is in order to show that the punishment is deserved.
Matthew 7:21-23

"21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

We must remember that all these unsaved people are first of all at this judgment because they had already rejected Christ as their Saviour during their lifetimes on earth.
The result for those there in the judgment is that everyone in this judgment being cast into the lake of fire. This is the resurrection unto condemnation.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Those who had rejected Jesus as their Saviour and their names are not in the Book of Life will now be given some kind of resurrection body in which they will be tormented forever in the Lake of Fire.

Philippians 2:8-11.

"8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

A New Heaven and a New Earth.

We now reach the final stage of the plan of God for Mankind, a New Heaven and a New Earth:

2 Peter 3:7-13.

"7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."

"10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."

Hebrews 1:10-12.

"10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. "

"1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. "

Isaiah 65:17-25.

" 17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20 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.
21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 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."

Isaiah 66:22,23.

"22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. "

None of us can conceive what the future will be like for those who have taken Jesus as their Saviour, why don’t you take Jesus as your Saviour and know what your future is?

The New Jerusalem.

Following the final events of the human history we enter eternity in a New Heaven and a New Earth, what this actually means we are only given a small glimpse. We know how wonderful the Garden of Eden was for Adam and Eve, until they disobey God. Now God is restoring the situation, somehow God will purge heaven and earth of sin and death and provide a new, cleansed heaven and earth for eternity, there will be no curse on nature.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Rev 21:5.

In the book of Revelation we are given a small glimpse of this city, the capital city of the eternal kingdom of God.

Revelation 21:2,3.

"2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. "

The dimensions of the City.

"15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel. "

In modern terms, New Jerusalem will be about 1,500 miles long, 1,500 miles wide, and 1,500 miles high. The top is above the stratosphere, which starts at about 1,000 miles up.
And this city is only a small part of the earth, what will the rest be like?

Will you be living in that Holy city and the perfect new earth for eternity?