Equipped for Every Good Work

2 Timothy 3:10-17.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, May 25, 2025.

Our natural inclination is to think of a good work in a self-oriented way.  It is good if it helps me.  Yet, in this case, we are talking about good works that are defined by God.  They are works that He has for us to do.  Essentially, this is being an ambassador of His loving purpose for those who do not know Him.

In this passage, we have an older apostle, Paul, who is encouraging a younger Christian, Timothy.

Timothy had first learned to work alongside of Paul in ministry.  Later, he had learned to minister on his own without Paul present.  Yet, Paul could still connect with him later and write letters such as this one.  Paul has come to the realization that the end of his life is near.  Read 2 Timothy 4:6, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.

Thus, Paul’s work will come to an end while Timothy’s continues.  Knowing this, Paul takes time in this letter to encourage Timothy for what lies ahead.

Let’s look at our passage.

Timothy carefully followed Paul (v. 10-12)

Earlier in this chapter, Paul pointed out that there would be perilous times in the last days.  He then describers the sinful things that will be happening.  So, when he gets to verse 10, there is a contrast between such people and Timothy.  Timothy was following Paul.

Just a side note, though it will be bad in the last days, not all people will be like that.  There will be a remnant of believers like Timothy who are following the example that has been set before them.

Some might think that this is a contradiction within Paul’s teaching.  He had warned many times against simply following men, yet here he commends Timothy for following him.

This is not a contradiction.  In fact, in 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul clarifies what he is actually saying here.  “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”  Timothy had not been taught by Jesus.  However, Paul had been.  He received the Gospel and the Way of the Lord from Jesus and had trained Timothy in it.

Paul commends Timothy for doing well by following closely, or carefully.  Many Christians are not being careful about how they live their lives.  We are to follow the Lord, but God has put people in our lives who are spiritually mature in order to help us grow.  People are not saved in a vacuum.  There are those who have been on this path of becoming like Jesus for a while and can help them to learn the ropes of following Jesus.

Taking care and following closely involves paying attention and seeking understanding from God’s Word, the Holy Spirit, and older saints.

Paul then lists various aspects of his life that Timothy was following closely: his teaching, manner of living, and his purpose.

Paul’s teaching, or doctrine, was received directly from Jesus.  He emphasizes this several times in his letters.  The Apostles were not teaching their own ideas.  Jesus had revealed the truth to them about what God was doing, and now they were teaching it to others.

Paul’s conduct or manner of living is next.  It is the idea of the course you are on and the way you live.  It is not detailed, but his letters speak for themselves.  How do you live your life?  We need to be a people of the Word of God, a people of prayer, a people who are seeking and following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Timothy had also followed Paul’s purpose closely.  Paul lived to do the will of Jesus, not his own.  In fact, Jesus showed us this by only doing the will of the Father.  This is what the Lord’s prayer is all about.  “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” is not just praying that other people do it.  It is asking God to start in you.  It is God’s will that we be conformed into the image of Jesus, who is the perfect imager of the Father.  Romans 8:29 tells us that we are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.  How can we do this?  We do this by faith and the help of the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s list continues, but becomes more about virtues that Paul exampled, and Christ commands.  Faith in Christ and the message of the Gospel is ultimately faith in God.  The next word is translated variously as patience.  It is a term that pictures patience as a long fuse with people and God.  A follower of Jesus should learn to control their temper.  Love is next.  Christians are to even love their enemies.  Of course, that does not mean that we condone everything they do.  Rather, we speak the truth in love and pray for their repentance.  Lastly, the word perseverance speaks of remaining under a heavy load in the midst of a tough calling.  When you serve Jesus, you will face some difficult things, things that test whether you are going to keep serving the purpose of Christ.

It is important to understand that the Gospel is not just about having a get out of jail free card.  It involves becoming like Jesus in our morals and life choices.  We can only do this by the help and power of the Holy spirit.  None of us do it perfectly, but as we keep our trust in Jesus, he perfects us.

Paul’s list then goes into the area of persecutions and afflictions (verse 11).  He mentions Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra.  In Acts chapters 13 and 14, we read about Paul’s time in these towns on his first missionary journey.  It was in Lystra that Paul had been stoned to death, and yet God spared his life.  On his second missionary journey, he meets Timothy in the area of Lystra and Derbe.  Timothy’s mom and grandmother had most likely become Christians.  However, they were Jewish.  They had taught Timothy the Scriptures from childhood (2 Timothy 1:5).  Before Paul’s arrival, they would have emphasized to Timothy the need to obey the Word of God while waiting for the Messiah to come.  Yet, Paul’s mission was to declare that Messiah had come.  It was in great affliction that the Gospel came to the area where Timothy lived.  Paul commends him for following his example in facing these.

They were not seeking out affliction and trying to instigate persecution from others.  Yet, they did not let the threat of persecution intimidate them in general, or in specific situations.

Verse 12 drives this point home.  “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”  It will be different from one place to another and from one time to another.  Yet, it will happen.  If you follow Jesus, those who refuse to follow him will not like it.

Thus, believers must be careful of trying to protect their lives (their goods or their body) at the expense of the work of God, which is to reach lost people.  They can’t believe and follow Jesus if they never hear about who he is, what he has done, and what he will do for those who trust him.

Of course, we are where God has put us.  We may not face physical persecution, but it is here nonetheless.  Timothy didn’t shrink back and quit when he ran into it.  When we suffer for the sake of Christ, we are stepping into an elite group of righteous people down through the ages.

His course was not with evil men (13-15)

It is easy to go with the flow of society.  Paul does not envision the world becoming more and more like Jesus.  Though Christians are victorious in reaching the lost, the sin of this world will grow worse and worse.  Technology can enhance the evil that can be done, but there is another way that things become worse.  The Gospel is good, but to reject such a clear light is to damage yourself morally.  You become worse because you have rejected something that is even better than what had been revealed before it.

Paul speaks of two categories of those who will grow worse and worse.  The first is simply evil men.  It is clear that he is speaking of those who are outside of the Church.  The word translated as evil is broader in its range of meaning than our English word.  It’s root points to the pain that sin causes in the life of the sinner and those who they affect.

The second category is imposters.  These are those who are in the Church, but they are only pretending faith.  In the end, they are living for their flesh, but work to cover it up.  Paul had warned the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:29-30.  “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves [from outside] will come in among you, not sparing the flock.  Also from among yourselves [inside] men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”

We must not be shocked by these things, but instead, learn to face them in the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Church hasn’t been perfect through the years.  Much of it is because of imposters.  Yet, you have a personal responsibility for yourself and the Christians around you.  We must learn the Word of God for ourselves.  We need to pray and seek God so that we will know Him for ourselves, so that we can do the acts of faith that God has desired for us to do.

In verse 14, Timothy is told that he must remain in what he has learned.  The word for remain is the same word used in John 15:4, “Abide in me, and I in you…”  This is the picture of dwelling in a place.  We are to stay living in Christ.  It is a living connection that Jesus pictures with a branch connected to the vine, a life-giving connection.

This is not just about content of information.  Timothy has learned Jesus Christ from Paul, but he has also learned Christ from God’s Word and the Holy Spirit.  These all work together for our good.

Paul then reminds Timothy of the godly people who were used by God to teach him.  First, there was his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice, which are mentioned in the first chapter of this book.  They had taught Timothy the Old Testament (the New Testament didn’t exist yet).  However, Paul then came along and taught them all the Gospel of Jesus, the Messiah.  He became a spiritual father to Timothy.

You may hear this and think to yourself that it isn’t fair that you didn’t have such things.  Maybe your parents and grandparents were avowed atheists.  This reminds me of the argument often made by atheists to Christians.  They will charge people with only being a Christian because they grew up in a Christian home.  Of course, this is not a logical argument.  Many people raised in Christian homes are no longer Christian, and many people raised in atheist homes are Christians now.  Your hope is not based upon a perfect scenario, and you are not thwarted in faith by having a bad situation.  It comes down to this.  What will you do with Jesus?  Yes, your parents may have taught you wrong or abused  you.  But still, what will you do with Jesus?

We can hold on to imperfections in others and in our life as an excuse, but the truth is this.  You can believe in Jesus no matter how bad your life has been.  People are saved from all kinds of mindsets and situations.  The good news is that you don’t have to have anything to have Jesus.  You only need to trust him over everything else.  In fact, the Scriptures warn us that we will have to be prepared to let go of everything in order to have Jesus.

He must be a man of the Word of God (v. 16-17)

Moving forward, Timothy would need to be anchored in the Word of God.  Paul reminds Timothy that Scripture is inspired, literally “God breathed.”  The content came from God.  Yes, men wrote it, but they wrote what God inspired them to write.  The purpose of the Scriptures is to point us to Jesus so that we can believe.  In fact, Jesus is the ultimate Word of God.  It is he who goes forth from the Father in order to do what the Father wills.  May the Word form this same attitude and purpose in us.

Part of why Timothy should be in the Word has to do with its profitability.  It will bring good into our lives.  It brings good teaching.  It also brings reproof.  This word has the idea of convincing, or proving, what the Spirit is saying.  It is also good for correction.  Who doesn’t need correction?  The Word is our rule and guide for this.

Lastly, the Word trains us in righteousness.  Of course, when it comes to salvation, only Jesus has acceptable righteousness.  But, through faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit will use God’s Word to teach us the right things to do.

The goal of this is to be fully equipped for every good work.  The goal is not to get a degree with many letters after our name.  It is to equip us for whatever we may need to do.  It is not so that people can remark how perfect we are.  It is so that we can reach the lost and lead them to Christ.

You may feel like you are not equipped enough to do this.  You may feel like the pastor should do that.  However, God made you to be an ambassador of His good love for them.  Like the woman at the well, we can have only minutes of faith in Jesus, and yet, tell everybody we know about Jesus.  We can be used by God to reach others.

God has things for you to do.  Will you do them?  Will you seek Him for understanding what they are?  This is what is needed in these last days.  Let us throw off sin, and put on the righteousness of Jesus!

Equipped audio

The Kingdom of God- 9

Subtitle:  A New Creation

Revelation 20:11-15; 21:1-5.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, May 18, 2025.

Two weeks ago, we looked at the Millennial Kingdom in Revelation 20:1-10.  This period of time ends with fire coming out of the heavens to stop the final rebellion that is led by the devil.  This brings us into a transitional time. 

Let’s look at our passage.

God will make a new heavens and a new earth (20:11-15)

This time of transition wraps up the old creation and leads into the new creation.  God is going to make new heavens and a new earth.  However, this is preceded by a final judgment for this world and these heavens.  This judgment takes place at the throne of God.

It is important to understand that the new heavens and the new earth will never have anyone who sins and wrecks God’s loving purpose.  Some people question why God didn’t make the first creation like that.  Of course, we assume that it can be done, i.e., an imperfect world isn’t a necessary step in creating a perfect one.  It is also possible that it is not about it being necessary, but about this way being wiser than creating a “perfect” world in the first place.

The Creator has once and for all shown His true heart when He hung on a cross for you and for me.  We can trust Him.

In verse 11, we have the heavens and the earth “fleeing away” from God’s great white throne.  It is from this throne that He will judge.  What is meant by fleeing away?  It appears to be metaphorical language since the concept of fleeing implies intention.  As a metaphor, this phrase  can be translated as vanish, in the sense of avoiding the immediate presence of God.  It is unclear exactly what is happening, but the sequence is this: fire comes down out of the heavens to destroy the rebellion, the heavens and earth are removed from the presence of God, at the same time that there is a gathering of humans and heavenly beings before God.

Though the phrase is not used, this appears to be the second resurrection that is implied in verses 5 and 6.  Those who are resurrected here will be at least all those who have ever lived who did not put their faith in God.  It is also possible that there will be some mortal humans who did not join the rebellion.  When everything is melted down by the fire, they would die.  However, they would now be resurrected in order to be rewarded by God.  Regardless, this resurrection would consist of mostly, if not all, the unrighteous dead.

The judgment is simple and clear.  We have beings and things that are judged and put into the Lake of Fire.  The Lake of Fire is defined as “the second death” (v. 14).  In the first death, our spirits are separated from our bodies so that we cannot interact with the material world.  At the second death, our spirits are separated from all of God’s creation so that we cannot interact with it.  This is like a firewall between the new creation that will be and those of the old creation who refused to trust God.  As best we know, no one ever comes back from the Lake of Fire.

If you follow through Revelation 19 and 20, you will see a series of beings and things put into the Lake of Fire.  First, we see the Beast and the False Prophet cast into the fire (19:20) at the beginning of the Millennium of King Jesus reigning physically upon this earth.  After the 1,000-year reign and the rebellion led by the devil, we then see the devil cast into the fire (20:10). 

Following the resurrection of all those still in the grave, there is a judgment of these souls.  It is also assumed that, as the devil was judged, so too will the other heavenly beings.  Paul speaks of the Church judging angels in the future in 1 Corinthians 6:3.

Regardless, the judgment of that day will be based upon the lives that people lived.  Did they live a life that flowed out of trusting God’s Word, or did they trust in themselves or something else?  All those whose names are not found in the book of life and whose deeds were wicked will be thrown into the fire (20:15).  Finally, both death and Hades (the grave) are thrown into the fire.  I do not believe this intends to imply that these are two spiritual beings.  I believe that, as God empties the grave and removes all things into the fire that belong there, death will cease to happen and the spiritual holding place we call the grave will become no longer necessary.  Whatever this place is in the spirit realm, it will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.  Thus, the imagery is death dying along with the grave dying.  They will never reappear in humanity’s experience again.

This will leave God with only righteous, resurrected humans along with righteous, faithful angels standing with God before His throne.  This brings us to the new creation.

Creation 2.0 (21:1-5)

There is no dramatic explanation of how God creates (similar to Genesis 1-2).  We don’t have to know how God does it.  He has created this creation, and He can create another one.  Verse 1 simply has John seeing a new heavens and a new earth.  In fact, a lot of things are described as new in this place.

Along with the new heavens and new earth, there is a new Jerusalem, which is a big city that comes down out of the heavens.  There are new bodies for the righteous human spirits.

The idea for something “new” can be contemplated from different angles.  It can be new in the sense of time, chronologically.  This would distinguish between a previous thing that used to be new, but is now old, from another thing that is currently new.  This typically would mean that the old thing, whether it has passed away or still exists, would be of the same kind as the new thing.

However, in this passage, the word for new is different.  It contemplates the idea of newness from the sense of quality.  This is not just a brand new earth of the same kind.  It is an earth 2.0.  It is an upgrade.  It is of a new, better quality.  This is true of all the things described as new in these passages.  God is not recontinuing the old things.  This is why we see things like death and the grave going into the Lake of Fire.  God is doing a new thing that is both chronologically and qualitatively new.  This will be a new life for humans of a greater quality than is experienced on this planet.

The new city that is provided is called the New Jerusalem.  It is presented as a dwelling place for God, the Lamb and immortal humanity.  This is a city that is qualitatively different than the old.  We will dwell directly in the presence of God without separations from His presence.

This is a city that has been built by God (Hebrews 11:10) and is symbolic of the bride of Christ who dwell in it with him.  This is not a city like the cities of this world.  It will be of a completely different quality and character.

Verse 4 emphasizes that the experience of life in the new creation will not involve the bad stuff of this world.  All tears will be wiped away.  This isn’t just about the absence of harmful and sad things.  It is also about healing.  There is a tender and personal touch from God that appropriately removes the sadness of the old world from our spirits.  There will be no more death.  There will be no sorrow, crying or pain.  The former things (the first things) will have passed away.

It is possible that the new heavens and new earth are made out of entirely new material.  It is also possible that the old heavens and earth are melted down into a plasma that is then reformed into better material.  It is not important for us to understand the physics of this new creation any more than we need to understand the physics of resurrection.  We know that God created the first heavens and earth, so how hard is it to believe that He can make new ones that are even better?

This new world will be a universe without any rebellions and wickedness.  We will live in perfect harmony with God.

Verse 5 ends with the declaration, “Look!  I am making all things new (qualitatively better).”  What does this mean to us now?  It means that we can trust God.  We can die to the things of this world without fear.  We are promised a better to anything that we lose in this life.

Now, all of this is symbolic of what God is doing in our lives today.  He is already making all things new by starting inside of you.  This then makes a difference in the immediate world around  you.  We are participating in the dawning of the new creation.  Our lives are meant to be the evidence, the foreshadowing, of the new creation that will be finished in the future.

This is why we have verses like 2 Corinthians 5:17.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  Also, Galatians 6:15, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation [does avail something].”  Being a new creation in God will accomplish something.  Letting the Spirit of God work His new creation power within us is the joy of every believer.  May God help us to lean into His work, to cooperate with Him!

New Creation audio

Becoming a Woman of God

1 Corinthians 13:11-13.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Mother’s Day Sunday, May 11, 2025.

Today we are going to talk about maturity.  Whether you are a young girl on the edge of womanhood, or a seasoned veteran, God has made you for the things that you will face.

I say this because we often feel like we are facing things that are too much for us.  “I can’t do this!”  We may say.  However, it is often us simply being afraid or intimidated.

Let me just say that we do not need to worry about our ability to do it (whatever “it” may be) when we face these things.  Yet, we do need to learn how to do it with God, in relationship with Him.

Let’s look at our passage.

The intimidating nature of maturity

In this passage, Paul is dealing with spiritual gifts within the Christian community that are being expressed in their meetings.  In the middle of two chapters about spiritual gifts (chapters 12 and 14), he shows them that godly love is the foundation upon which any spiritual gift should be exercised.

Most of chapter 13 focuses on the necessity of love and what godly love looks like.  However, at the end of the chapter (in our text), Paul uses the example of a child becoming an adult in order to make his point about spiritual gifts.  This is a natural progression in the life of every person.  When we reach adulthood, there are things that were a big part of our childhood that need to drop off.  Conversely, there are things that are a part of our childhood that should never be cast off.  He ties this back to the godly love that he has been calling them to do.  Faith, hope, and love are intended to remain in the life of an adult. 

Of course, Paul’s point is not about natural maturity.  He isn’t even talking about spiritual maturity in our lives, though that is an element here.  Paul sees this life, where Christians are living mortal lives by the power and leading of the Holy Spirit, as the childhood of our eternal life.  At the resurrection, we will enter into the adulthood phase of our experience.  There are things in the spiritual life of this age that are God-given, necessary components for now, but they will no longer be needed when we step into the perfect relationship with God the Father and His Son that will be experienced then.

Let’s pull on this maturity angle a little more. 

Every child faces the intimidating nature of the maturity process.  Some can’t wait and rush into adult things.  Whereas, others are reticent and slower at moving forward.  Both types face feelings of being in over their head, or even paralyzing moments that can keep us from starting, or finishing.

We need to see God’s signature in the fact that the things we were made to do are intimidating to us.  The things we were made to do will require us to become greater than we are now.  However, it is not something that you go to school in order to be trained.  Working a job and providing a place to live takes discipline that few teenagers have.  However, everyone of those teenagers (short of a debilitating condition) were made with the capacity to grow into a person who can do that.  Things like schooling, work, marriage, having children, and even growing old, can be given preparation, but the preparation will not make those things easy.  The things themselves cause us to grow, to mature, to become more than we were before.

A young person is not yet equal to the task before them, but they will grow as a person as they trust God and walk forward into the task.  Part of maturity is discovering just how childish our thinking is about adult things.  Reality crashes into the infantile notions in our head.  This helps us to mature.

Why do we have a society of people, young and old, who are kicking against reality?  Less and less kids have had an adult model maturity in a good way.  The supports in our society that used to encourage kids to move forward are all but shot.  Kids need good examples of moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, teachers and bosses who can example to them a proper response to these difficult things.  The active parenting of a mom and dad are meant to come off, like training wheels.  However, this analogy loses the idea of a relationship that has matured into something greater.

Long before a kid knocks on the door to adulthood, they have discovered that they have weaknesses and shortcomings.  Some of these are physical.  They can be permanent, but many are taken care of by physical maturation.  Other weaknesses will have to do with character. 

In fact, physical maturity acts like a sort of deadline.  It will happen whether you are ready for adult life or not.  All children need to be taught about the God who loves them and provides help for their failings.  They need to know that they can go forward even when things are not perfect yet.  Notice the transition in our text from verse 11 to verse 12.  This life is the childhood of eternity.  We are not yet what are going to be.  We are in an imperfect time.  Paul is recognizing that things are not perfect in this life, but God has made a way for us through Jesus.  The Corinthians were pursuing something that seemed to be the perfect in their mind.  But, they were thinking like kids.  Their understanding of what God was doing in them in this mortal life needed to grow.  Spiritual gifts are for this life, not the next.  What is important is to do them by the love of God and for His purposes.

Paul doesn’t touch on this, but you can rest in God’s design even when life is going along faster than you desire.  Just like physical maturity presses the issue in our adult matters of this life, so it will continue to push us to the edge of death and beyond.  Like any deadline that is along way off, we can spend little time thinking about it, until it is knocking on our door. 

Adults need to empathize with kids going through this transition, just as we all should empathize with people who are transitioning from this life to the next.  The biggest thing we can do for one another is to love one another with the love described in this chapter, God’s love.

I hope that you are hearing the truth that you can face these things and rest in the fact that God has designed you for them.  You are not the one who just can’t do it.  Don’t dwell in the land of anxiety and worry.  Instead, rest in God’s wisdom and foresight.

The need for maturity in natural things

We need to mature in body, in mind and in interpersonal relationships.  When we talk about anxiety, we are recognizing the internal development of our heart and mind.  We need to grow in emotional maturity as well as cognitive maturity.  In fact, the things that we feel and think will naturally change (hopefully mature) as we grow older.  However, we can hit roadblocks in this.

Some people did not grow up with the ideal situation.  God intended that a child be produced in the context of a man and woman who love each other with a godly love and are committed for life to one another.  The child is meant to be born into a home of love that expands to make room for them out of love.  This will help the child to mature in many ways.

Yet, a kid doesn’t have to have a “perfect situation” in this world in order to mature in body, mind and social skills.  Many people have come out of very bad situations, and yet chose to live differently.  Other people’s poor choices do not have to rule our life.  Oh, they will impact us, but they cannot take our decision to grow up in body, mind and relationships.

Paul is writing to the Corinthian Christians who were having a lot of maturity issues between themselves.  Some respond to such a problem through isolation.  However, God did not make us to be alone.  Even an introvert is merely a descriptor of those who are more internal than those who are external-oriented.  They are both in relationships.  In fact, we are not equipped to do life alone, and the human race would die out in one generation if we all chose the alone path.

Mother’s Day emphasizes those women who have come into a relationship with a man and have given birth to a child.  This is God’s design, and it works best when the parents love the child from the context of their own loving relationship.

Though the majority of men and women are “wired” for marriage, there are some who are not.  Yet, even the celibate life is not lived alone.  We are designed to be in appropriate loving relationships with others.

As you mature physically, emotionally, mentally and socially, the supports that were there in your childhood are being removed.  Some happen fast.  However, some happen slow.

The hardest support to face is that of the people who have loved you in your life.  In general, people face the passing of their grandparents, then their parents.  It will eventually become our turn.  This is always a challenge.  The child is destined to become the parent, then the grandparent, and then a memory.  It is the wisdom of God that has determined to use this imperfect time in order to bring us to the perfect that He has for us.  He is using the imperfect to perfect us for perfection.

The recognition of this requires us to step into the moment of each stage.  We put behind us childish things and take hold of the adult things.  We can fully engage, not because we are perfect, but because we can trust that God has provided for us all that we need.  It is not all up to you.  God is with you every step of the way.  Learn to rest in Him, but also trust in Him as you embrace each stage.

The need for spiritual maturity

This brings us to spiritual maturity.  There are many people who have matured and learned to interact socially with a minimum of adverse effects on others.  This is good, but we need more than socially adjusted people.

In verse 12, Paul compares this life to the life that will be when the righteous are resurrected and Christ returns.  This life is partial, imperfect.  The life to come will be perfect or complete.  In this life, we see God and life itself as if through a dim mirror.  But, in that day, we will see God face to face.

It is important for every adult to recognize that they are called to be a spiritual child in the care of a Heavenly Father.  All of this is headed somewhere greater than what we see today.  No child can fully comprehend the life of an adult.  So, it is for us thinking about the next stages with Christ.  God has a perfect plan to use these imperfections to bring us to a perfect place by His help.

This brings us full circle.  You were made to be like Him, to image Him.  There are some ways that a child becomes like their parents without any thought.  They begin to look more like them and take on their mannerisms, ways of thinking, etc.  However, other things require work.

Being made in the image of God means that we are designed to reflect God to the world, to the universe, around us.  Yet, sin has impacted our ability to do this.  Through Jesus, God has made it possible for us to become like Him, little by little, until we are completed in the resurrection.  We live this life with imperfection being perfected by God’s help, but we will not be perfected until that day Paul is talking about.

This is where we come to realize that this life is a childhood to the adult life in Christ to come.  We won’t be doing church like we do today in the Millennial kingdom, but we will walk in love, faith and hope.  In that age, we will put off the childish things of this age.  They are entirely good for now, but fully inadequate for the age to come.  Christ will lead us in taking on the adult things.

If we only look at this world, then it is easy to lose hope and to lose faith.  Just as you can trust God’s design in you as an individual, we can also trust God’s design behind history.  He knows what He is doing.  Humanity will step into adulthood through the grace of Jesus Christ.

Paul ends with the point that some things do not change from childhood to adulthood.  Faith, Hope, and Love are the foundational aspects of every phase in which God has been dealing with humanity.  We must never let the things we do that are only temporary overwhelm the more important permanent things.  Live life out of a mutual relationship of love, faith, and hope between you and God, as well as you and other people!

Woman of God audio

The Kingdom of God- 8

Subtitle:  Inheriting the Millennial Kingdom I

Revelation 19:11-20:10.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, May 4, 2025.

Last week, we looked at the promises of the a kingdom led by God’s Messiah that are in the Old Testament.  This Anointed King would judge the nations and cause the righteous to inherit the earth.  The kingdom of Messiah would never end.  That is the promise.

Today, we are going to look at the New Testament promise that speaks of the Second Coming of Jesus, the Messiah.  We want to explore how that will fit in with these Old Testament promises.

Let’s look at our passage.

The Second Coming of Jesus

Revelation 19:11-19.

The idea that the Messiah would come twice is not readily apparent in the Old Testament, but does make sense.  We talked about the nature of Messiah’s Kingdom.  It is operational now, but not yet fully as was promised.

There may be many reasons why this is so, but one of them has to do with God’s nature as a the ultimate Teacher.  He wants us to learn how to gain victory over our flesh, before He gives us immortal bodies that are not bent towards sin.  The resurrection is necessary because we cannot inherit the Kingdom of God in our flesh.  However, it is not necessary that it occur immediately.  God in His wisdom gives us a life of taking possession of our souls by patience, faith, and leaning on the help of the Holy Spirit.

Thus, the nations have had 2,000 years to hear the truth about who Jesus is, the reality of his kingdom, and the truth about what he is calling us to do.  At a point in time determined by the Father, Jesus will return to take up a direct rule over the nations bodily upon this earth.  This event will involve a judgment of those powers and people of the earth who have rejected his kingdom.

Revelation 19:11 introduces the rider of a white horse who appears before the earth as the heavens open up.  This connects with several passages, but Matthew 24:30 is an important one.  “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.”  Jesus uses the imagery of Daniel 7, which shows the Son of Man riding the clouds of heaven to God the Father in order to receive dominion over the earth.  Yet, in Matthew 24, Jesus depicts the Son of Man coming out of heaven to the earth in order to take up that dominion.

There is no question that this rider is Jesus, though his name is not mentioned here.  Jesus is presented in the New Testament as the Son of Man that Daniel 7 and Matthew 24 are talking about.  John is seeing that same event that Jesus revealed would happen in Matthew 24.

On top of that, notice the descriptions of the rider.  He is called Faithful and True.  He represents the character of God in keeping His promises to humanity.  It is not just that Jesus is faithful and true in his character, but that his very existence is the proof and actuality of God’s faithfulness and truthfulness.

We are also told that the rider will judge the earth in righteousness.  Isaiah 11:3-4 mentions that Messiah would “not judge by what his eyes see…and ears hear, but with righteousness.”  It may seem strange.  Surely, he should look at the evidence.  However, the point here is about a judge being swayed by the person who is in front of them to pervert justice.  Messiah will not do that.  He will give a righteous judgment (more on this in a bit). 

Verse 13 says that his name is the Word of God.  This ties back to John’s earlier Gospel (John 1:1-3, 14-18).  There John states that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory…”  John makes it clear in verse 17, for any who didn’t understand by then, that he is talking about Jesus.  Jesus is the Word of God.  All the words written by the prophets and collected together as Scripture point to Jesus, they reveal him.  If we were to sum up everything that God wants to say to humanity and put it in one Word, one person, it would be the totality of who Jesus is.

Verse 15 speaks of him as the one who strikes the nations with a sword from his mouth and who rules them with a rod of iron.  The first part is focusing on the words that he speaks.  He is the Word of God speaking the word of God.  This is blessing to some (those who believe) and a curse to others (those who do not).  Yet, the phrase about the rod of iron comes from several places in the Old Testament, but especially Psalm 2.  It points to a change in the kingdom of God.  At the Second Coming of Christ, the will of God will be enforced on the earth.  Jesus will not bend to the ideas and desires of the rulers of this earth.  They will bend to his will.  We see similar ideas in Zechariah 14, which speaks of the rule of the LORD after his coming to earth.  If a nation refuses to come up to Jerusalem and worship, then they will have no rain until they do.

Finally, the rider is referred to as the King of kings and Lord of lords.  We could spend a lot of time on this, but suffice it to say that it is a term that speaks of the highest authority and is connected to Jesus in 1 Timothy 6:13-14.  “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.”

Revelation 19:20-21.

Just as the identity of the rider is clear (Jesus), so the purpose of the Second Coming of Jesus is also clear.  We’ve already seen that he is coming to judge the nations, but he is also flanked by the armies of heaven (vs. 14). 

The nations have had ample time to submit to the authority and power of Jesus voluntarily.  The nations of the world today are strongly rejecting the wisdom of Jesus and forging their own paths.  Yet, these are proving to be unwise and destructive.  Yet, the book of Revelation reveals that even worse times are to come.

Yet, at just the right time, God the Father sends Jesus to judge the earth.  Isaiah 11:4 states that the Messiah will “decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth.”  Whenever you are tempted to question whether or not God cares about the little guys who are being crushed under tyranny, this should put it to rest.

Judgment is not necessarily a negative word.  It simply means a decision.  If my car was stolen and then I saw that my neighbor down the street had it, I would call the cops, and we would end up in court.  The judge would make a judgment, a decision, about the case.  When he decides that the car really does belong to me and that my neighbor knowingly stole it, the judgment will be a good thing to me, but a bad thing for the thief.  The Second Coming of Jesus is just like this.  It is good news for those who have been living by faith in Jesus, but it will be bad news for those who have rejected Christ and are living for themselves.

The armies are no doubt heavenly angels.  Matthew 24:31 pictures Christ sending forth his angels to gather his chosen ones.  Matthew 13:41 speaks of angels gathering “all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and will throw them into the furnace of fire.”

However, the armies of heaven also include earthly armies.  In this case, the only earthly armies that could be coming from heaven are the armies of resurrected, righteous saints.  1 Corinthians 15:23 speaks of the resurrected saints following him at his second coming.

This martial entry does not have to be a conflict, but the beast has gathered the kings of the earth with their armies in order to attack Jesus at his coming.  Can you imagine attacking the very One who went to the cross for your sins and to obtain your salvation?  Take note that this is the same problem that was at his first coming.  The perfect one, whom the world desperately needs, is attacked by the very ones he aims to help.  Jesus should be celebrated by the nations, but the nations of the world will try to kill him instead.  This is what we see in verse 19.

Thus, part of the purpose of this coming is to remove the enemies of Christ.  It begins in verse 20 with the beast and the false prophet being seized and thrown into the Lake of Fire.  These beings have worked in league with the devil to deceive the nations and harness them against Jesus.  They represent spiritual interference (interlopers) on the earth.  Then, the kings and their armies are summarily dispensed in verse 21.  In truth, all the great power of humanity to Jesus is but a drop of water to the universe.  There is no contest.  There comes a time when a military man needs to make a hard decision.  Am I fighting on the right side or not?  It is better to be killed by the beast and gain the inheritance of the saints, then to be safe for 42 months and then be taken out by Jesus for eternity.

There is yet another enemy that Jesus will deal with.  The break from chapter 19 to chapter 20 is unfortunate.  The story continues without a break.  Look at chapter 20:1-3.

The 1,000-Year Kingdom

Revelation 20:1-3.

An angel seizes the devil and chains him in the Abyss, or the Bottomless Pit.  This is a prison for fallen spiritual beings.  There is a difference between the Lake of Fire and the Abyss.  No one comes back from the Lake of Fire.  They are walled off forever from God’s creation.  We are told that the devil is only chained in the Abyss.  That is where the beast came from (Revelation 11:7).  The devil is held for 1,000 years and then released. 

The purpose for binding him is obvious.  It is so that he cannot deceive the nations any longer.  This helps us to explain why the world is as bad as it is.  Things would be bad enough if we were just sinning to please ourselves.  Yet, it is much worse because of the interference from the devil and his cohorts.  They want to destroy humanity and all that God plans with us.

The kingdom that Jesus sets up will have all of these enemies removed, spiritual and human.  We will be enabled to grow in a much healthier way with a much more righteous leadership.

This begs the question.  Why not put the devil in the Lake of Fire?  Why plan to release him later?  Let’s read on.

Revelation 20:4-6.

The devil is removed so that Jesus can rule over a 1,000 year kingdom on this earth upon his return.  This may seem to contradict the many places in the Old Testament that talk about a kingdom that never ends.  However, even this 1,000 year rule is not a beginning or end of his rule.  It is merely a different phase of his rule.  Presently, Jesus rules from heaven by the Spirit through those who believe in Him.  During this 1,000 years, he will be physically present on the earth.  He will rule over the whole planet.

Notice verse four.  Thrones plural are established and those who sit on them are given power to judge (by Jesus).  This is exactly what the Old Testament promises to the saints.  Jesus mentioned this to his disciples when he told them that they would rule with him on 12 thrones ruling over the 12 tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28).  Paul mentions this in 1 Corinthians 6:3 when he reminds the Corinthian believers that we will judge angels one day.  These thrones are the varying levels of authority that will be given to the resurrected saints.  They will be the perfect administrators for the authority of Jesus.

Who are they to rule over?  Matthew 25 makes it clear that, though many will die during this period, some will survive.  Those who survive will be brought before Jesus, and he will determine who is able to enter into this 1,000-year kingdom.

Revelation 20:4 may sound like it is limiting this resurrection to only those killed in the tribulation.  However, Colossians 3:4 makes it clear that all the righteous will participate in Christ’s Second Coming.  Thus, this is giving particular encouragement to those who will face the beast and his short rule.  Essentially, it will be worth it to hold on to faith in Jesus.

We also see that there is a sense of political and religious duties.  The saints will rule and judge, but verse 6 adds that they will be priests of God and of Christ.

There is little said about what the period will look like, but the earth will have its first government that is ran by people who are 100% righteous.  They will be just like Jesus.  Imagine that!

This section also makes a distinction between the First Resurrection and those who are resurrected later.  The wicked dead will still remain in the grave awaiting a later judgment.  They will eventually be resurrected in order to be judged (Revelation 20:12).

The First Resurrection is clearly the resurrection of the righteous.  Jesus and some of the Old Testament saints were the first fruits of the resurrection (a harvest picture).  The Second Coming of Jesus will complete this First Resurrection.  The Second Resurrection is a resurrection of the wicked.  It happens at one time for all of them.

The Old Testament speaks of the earth being transformed by the presence of Messiah and his saints.  There will be no war.  People will live longer.  The natural order will be restored so that the animals will not eat one another.  Babies will be safe next to a poisonous serpent because nothing will harm others in his kingdom.  The cleaning of the destruction of the previous epoch will begin, but then be replaced with a rebuilding.  It will be a society that is not built upon the bodies and souls of men.  The immortal believers will teach and lead mortal humans who survived and will repopulate the earth.  The earth itself will bear more fruit than ever imagined as the curse is lifted by the presence of Jesus.

Why would this only last 1,000 years?  Why would it ever end?  Let’s read on.

Revelation 20:7-10.

The release of the devil is to show that even 1,000 years of a perfect king with perfect laws, perfect judgment, and perfect administrators will cure the heart of mortal humans.  He will be able to deceive millions if not billions into rebelling against Christ.

This gives an important message to the current world.  Many hold out the carrot of a Utopian age built by man.  Yet, God warns that we will never be able to do it in our mortal bodies.  We are too bent towards pleasing our flesh.  Even when God gives us a Utopia, we end up rebelling against it and attempting to destroy it at the first opportunity.

This is why the resurrection is so important and why Paul stated: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50).”  Death and resurrection is the only workable plan to fixing humanity.

So, why would God go through this if it is only going to end in rebellion again?  One reason is that God is keeping His word to all the saints of every age.  They will see the wicked removed from power, and the world will be ruled by the saints.  Another reason is to teach us the lesson of what I just stated, the need for resurrection and the impotency of perfect governance in the face of man’s penchant towards sin.

Yet, the kingdom of Christ doesn’t end in verse 9.  Rather, it will only enter into a new phase.  Just as the Millennium is a new phase to the rule of Christ, so the creating of a new heavens and a new earth will be another phase to the kingdom of Christ.  No mortal or wicked being will be allowed to enter the new creation.

These are the promises of God to those who will trust Him.  When He fulfills them, it will be clear that He keeps His word and does all things in wisdom.  “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  How you live will make all the difference in the world.

Kingdom 8 audio