WHAT IF THEY
     DROP THE BOMB?

"We want war!"  That's what the sign read as waved by a young Pakistani marching in the streets of Karachi, Pakistan. From the look on the faces of those marchers you could tell they meant it. Of course they were thinking of the border dispute between India and Pakistan. Both sides of this argument are known to have nuclear weapons. What if one of them should pull the trigger!

With a nuclear holocaust a possibility, the antichrist/beast could view this as the time to emerge and begin his rise to power. Would the Lord allow such a thing?  Indeed.  His Word even lays out the route the antichrist/ beast will follow in gaining control of the whole world. Not only will he gain complete military control, but he will win the hearts of the masses with his bold embrace of Judaism. As Constantine in 325 AD declared Christianity the official religion of the world, so will the antichrist/beast declare Judaism the official religion of his empire. A host of church goers will succumb to his awesome charm—en masse.

PEOPLE ARE THINKING ABOUT THESE THINGS

Sarah Fulton of New York writes...

"Dr. Lovett, I was puzzled by an article on prophecy in which the author said he thought more people would be saved during the millennium than were saved during the 2000 years of the church age. He gave as a reason, the population explosion that will occur when there is no death and no crime and the earth explodes with food. Not knowing how to handle this, I felt led to see if you think he is on target?"

HE IS—TO A POINT

With the curse removed and no pain in childbirth the population will snowball. If all man has to do is live off the abundance of the earth, having babies could become the chief occupation of the kingdom. Even though only a few survive the plagues of God's wrath (Matt. 24:22), masses of people will be born into the millennial kingdom. They could number in the billions. We note that when Satan is loosed at the end of the millennium, his army covers the earth.

But when it comes to people being saved during the millennium, that is another matter. On the surface at least, one could suppose that with the Lord on earth and His glory obvious to all, masses of people would flock to Him. But something strange occurs at the end of the 1000 years. Satan is released from the abyss where he's been confined all that time and goes out to deceive the nations once more. (Rev. 20:7- 10).

The reason God did not send the devil into the lake of fire, as He did the beast and the false prophet, was because He had one more task for Satan. The UNREGENERATE population of the earth had yet to be tested. So when Satan is released at the end of the millennium to wield his beguiling deceptions once again, he finds the masses ready for him. He has no trouble rousing the nations to "march across the breadth of the earth" to wage war against the Lord (Rev. 20:7-9). With their number as "the sand of the seashore," the whole non-Christian world is ready to turn against the Lord and follow the devil.

WHY IS SATAN INVOLVED?

One would think there'd be no place for Satan in God's plan once Jesus assumes control of the world. With people responding to Jesus' presence as the "King of kings," and the earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord (Isa. 11:9), it must be asked...

"Can mere knowledge of the Lord make men godly?"

That's why Satan is needed to answer that question. An expert in bringing out the evil hidden deep in men's hearts, Satan will provide the perfect test for the inhabitants of Jesus' kingdom. Not the Christians, of course. Their testing is over and behind them. With their God-given righteousness they will be part of Jesus' government.

SO WHAT'S WRONG?

After men have lived under the righteous reign of Jesus for 1000 years, we need to see what effect the ENVIRONMENT has had on them. There are those who believe that given the proper environment, people will love righteousness and hate evil. The devil's work answers that question too. What we find is that a 1000 years of living under the personal reign of Jesus cannot make a man righteous. No amount of exposure to truth transforms an unregenerate man into a child of God.

Where are all those who were supposed to come to the Lord during the millennium? It would seem the opposite is true. Satan reaps the harvest and not one single person is saved. Why not? Ah, here's another awesome truth from the Word. To get into God's family people need to be BORN AGAIN.

The only way anyone can have the life of God is to be born of God. We know this is true on the physical level—a father passes his life on to his offspring. The same is true at the spiritual level. The only way a person can receive life from another is to be born of him.  Life can only be passed on by the birth process.  So how is spiritual life passed on during the millennium?

Here's the shocking part—IT ISN'T!

There is no way for people to be born of God during the kingdom. Therefore there is no way for people to be saved during the millennium. Does that surprise you? While you may not hear this truth everywhere, it is one that stands out clearly in God's Word.

I'LL MAKE THIS BRIEF

Jesus announced this truth to His disciples. When He was instructing them concerning His return and the need to be ready for it, He gave them the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 25:1-13). Five were ready for the master's return and five were not. Those who were ready went into the wedding banquet with Him...AND THE DOOR WAS SHUT. Those who were not ready found the door slammed in their faces. The Lord denied ever knowing them.

 When He gave this parable, the Lord said. "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like..." He is advising us that this will be the situation when He returns. That door is never opened again. With the Lord appearing in the sky at the last trumpet, we understand the salvation door to be closed that same moment.

Once Jesus appears and "every eye shall see Him," the program shifts from FAITH TO SIGHT. People on earth will see Jesus coming in His glory..."And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." (Luke 21:27).

IS SEEING REALLY BELIEVING?

If salvation is by faith as the Bible insists, and faith is no longer needed once Jesus appears, it is obvious people cannot be saved after that point. As Paul says..."Hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?" (Rom. 8:24). Once Jesus is visible to all, the faith-method of saving men is over. During the millennial kingdom, Jesus will be visible for a 1000 years.

To be saved, people have to be born of the Spirit. Jesus said this was an absolute requirement..."Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). What's more, Jesus said that no one could come to Him unless he was drawn by the Spirit (John 6:44). And He added..."it is the Spirit that gives life" (John 6:63).

Ah, but is the Holy Spirit operating in the kingdom? NO. Jesus made it very clear that while He was on earth in a body, the Spirit could not come (John 16:7). It was necessary for Jesus to leave before the Holy Spirit could come and indwell men. Why? The Spirit is the Spirit of Christ operating in the hearts of men. It had to be one way or the other. Jesus had to be either in bodily form or in the Spirit, but not both at the same time.

Since He is returning in a body that is visible to all, He will not be operating in the Spirit. That being the case, it will be impossible for people to be born of the Spirit during the kingdom.

WHY
DO IT
THIS WAY?

Why have a 1000 year kingdom on earth during which no one was saved? The answer: The millennial kingdom is not evangelical. It is not to win souls. That program ends when Jesus appears in the sky. The Lord won't return until His family is complete. He will not appear until the last man to be saved has said yes to His invitation. Consequently, the millennial kingdom is a totally different program, one that accomplishes many remarkable things. I will mention one and save the rest for another time.

The kingdom will demonstrate that God was just in closing the salvation door when Jesus appears. It will be seen that all those coming into the kingdom, after surviving the bowls of God's wrath, as well as those born into the kingdom, care nothing for righteousness. They prefer to go with Satan rather than with Jesus. That's why Satan is loosed, to prove that this is true and that all whose names are  in the Lamb's book of life were already saved and in the heavenly family  BEFORE the earthly kingdom is established.

THIS IS A LOT TO DIGEST

I have given you plenty to digest and you'll want to read up on these things to answer any questions that linger in your mind. That's why we make sure the books we offer do just that. You want the truths to come to life in your spirit. As a bonus you won't really care whether they detonate a bomb or not. You'll see it as part of God's plan and rejoice that you are... SAFE IN HIS ARMS!

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This article is Copyright 2002 by Dr. C. S. Lovett and is found on www.cslovettbooks.com