Jesus Christ will one day return to the earth in His Second Coming and establish His Kingdom during a period known as the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ. During this time Satan will be bound for one thousand years, unable to deceive the inhabitants of the earth. “He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:2

Jesus Christ will reign as “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”.  “On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” Revelation 19:16

The Bible refers to the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ as the ‘First Resurrection’.

It will occur after the coming of the Antichrist (referred to as the ‘beast’ in the following Scripture) and a great tribulation on earth.

“I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20: 4-6

Prior to all of this I believe there will be a “Rapture” of the faithful followers of God.  The Rapture is a taking away of people from earth to heaven.

Jesus Christ describes the Rapture in this way:

“Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore KEEP WATCH, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Matthew 24:42

“Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” Revelation 3:10-11

People – the purpose of this post is to give you a glimpse of what is coming and to emphasize the need to ‘KEEP WATCH’.

Those who worship the ‘beast’ (i.e., Satan in the flesh) during the time of the Antichrist will not come to life in the ‘first resurrection’ and we must understand that every time we sin and offend God in this age we are worshiping Satan.

The Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ will be a political and spiritual reign. Jesus will govern the earth.

“He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” Isaiah 2:4

“Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:7

The Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ will be a time of peace and prosperity. The righteous will rise in the ‘first resurrection’ and live with Jesus on earth.

“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.’” Isaiah 12: 3-4

In the midst of all of our worldly troubles it is comforting to know that God will one day restore peace on earth. Jesus Christ will return and reign over the entire earth.

“In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” Psalm 72:8

Occasionally we hear people announce a specific date when Jesus is returning. If you hear these things ignore them because the Bible tells us that no one will know when Jesus will return.

“However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.” Matthew 24:36

Jesus did however teach us that we should learn to understand the signs of the times.

“Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?” (Luke 12:54-56).

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” 2 Timothy 3: 1-5

Could this be a very description of our current age?

“Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.” 1 Timothy 4:1

What is true faith?

Believing in Jesus Christ is ‘true faith’.   Allowing Jesus to reign spiritually over us TODAY is TRUE FAITH.

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

There has been too much violence throughout world history in the name of religion. “Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:10

Friends I believe we are living in the end times. But how long the end times will be no one knows for sure the Bible tells us that. The important thing is to KEEP WATCH. Remember Jesus said, “…keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Matthew 24:42

Let’s reflect on what that means.

Consider for a moment that you are invited to meet a great King. How will you behave? What will you say? How will you feel?

If we truly, truly understood that we are always in the presence of Our Lord and King Jesus Christ that insight would surely affect our behaviour, the words we use, the choices we make, our attitudes etc.

Living perpetually in the presence of God and spiritually discerning continuously how we should behave in order to please Jesus Our Lord and Saviour —THAT IS KEEPING WATCH!

Would it be fair to say you would not approach a King with mud on your face and dirty clothes? No! That would be a big disgrace! You would want to be clean – right?

As we KEEP WATCH we will want to be SPIRITUALLY CLEAN. This necessitates REPENTANCE and FORGIVENESS BY JESUS CHRIST. All of us are sinners. No one is perfect.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood–to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished– he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” Romans 3: 22-26

Today I don’t know you personally, but God knows all about you and if you are reading this it’s not by accident. God wants to reign over your life. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us in order to free us from our sins and make us part of His Royal Priesthood.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9

Allow Jesus into your life and acknowledge Him as your Lord and Saviour. Bow down to Him with the respect and dignity worthy of a great king for He is Our Great King, True God, True Man who wants to save His royal subjects.

How many Kings in history do you know of that allowed themselves to be tortured and killed to save his people.  Only One King ever resurrected from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion and His name is Jesus Christ!

Our King is Jesus Christ and one day He will return to reign on earth as He establishes His Millennial Kingdom. For one thousand years Satan will be bound.  After this Satan will be released sparking a final battle between Jesus and Satan where the devil and his followers will be conquered for all eternity.

Meantime, let’s focus on loving God and one another as we pray for God’s strength to conquer the power of evil in our lives.   Let us come to Jesus with broken and contrite hearts, confessing our sins and praying for His forgiveness. Take the hand of Jesus.  Invite Him into your life as your Lord and King who desires your heart as His throne. Give Him your heart and allow Him to fill it with His Holy Spirit and make His dignity and honour and glory the goal of your existence.

Please join believers of Jesus all over the world who are stopping in a solemn, sacred moment to pray together and remember the Passion of Christ every day @ the Time Jesus died for us, 3pm (each of us in our local time zones). At this time pray for the Holy Spirit to touch the hearts of all souls, so that all can come to know and love Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Our Saviour, Our God, Our King. Let Him reign over your life today and always! May the Peace of Jesus Christ be with you today, tomorrow and forever more!  More info here.