The Millennium Is Now

"In His coming the “last day”’ to which the Old Testament looked forward arrived, but they have not yet run their course; the Christian church is still living in this eschaton. Jesus’ first coming inaugurated it; His second coming will consummate it. The coming of Jesus was, therefore, the beginning of the end." R.T. France 

Hebrews 9:
26b ......... But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the END OF THE AGES to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Christ will return, (the exact moment known only by the Father), not to airlift the church out of tribulation and whisk them away to heaven for three and half years, or seven, or ?? He comes to gather those whom He has already redeemed and will put an end to tribulation and persecution. He is coming in judgement, to rule and reign forever in the earth, as he is already ruling and reigning at the right hand of the Father.
He is not coming to take care of any "unfinished business" regarding salvation for the jews our anyone else.His death has redeemed and will continue to redeem all for whom it was intended, up to the very moment He returns

Rev 6:
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.
10 They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Rev 7:
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?"
14 I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 "Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." 

Rev 13:
5 And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.
6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation,
8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear:
10 If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

CALLING AND ELECTION

 

2Peter 1:

3  His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

4  by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

HIS divine power……

HE has granted us ALL things pertaining to life and godliness through the knowledge of Christ.  (John 17:3)
By which HE grants us His greatest and highest valued promises, through which we become partakers in His divine nature as His granting us all things has caused us to escape the corruption of the world that exists through the sinful desire of men. (Ephesians 1:3-14; 2:1- 10)

2 Peter 1:

5  For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,

6  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,

7  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

8  For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Some of the “all things” spoken of in verse 3, are qualities we possess.

Peter lists them in the above passage (v5-7).
When we are abiding, we walk worthy in all things that he has granted us, and when we walk worthy we are both effective and  fruitful, and when we are fruitful, we are pruned to produce even more fruit and so glorify God. (John 15:1-16; Matthew 5:16)
The pruning brings on the increase of these qualities which are seen to be ours because we are walking in them.

Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

John 15:16  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

2 Peter 1:

9  For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

If you are lacking (not walking in) these qualities then you “cannot see afar off (kjv)”,that is you are without vision.

You have forgotten that by His freely giving us all things through the knowledge of Christ, you have been freed from sin and death, all worldly corruption. (James 1:12-18).

You are unfruitful as you are not abiding.

2 Peter 1:

10  Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

11  For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

12  Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.

Be diligent to “confirm or make” your calling and election sure. To confirm or make sure; translated from the Greek:

βέβαιος

bebaios

From the base of G939 (through the idea of basality); stable (literally or figuratively): - firm, of force, stedfast, sure.

Taken from the base of:

βάσις

basis

From βαίνω bainō (to walk); a pace (“base”), that is, (by implication) the foot: - foot.

This indeed has to do with our walk. Peter is in no way suggesting that we earn our salvation through our walking worthy, or any work whatsoever, but because we have been elected and effectively called we can walk worthy through the knowledge of Him, as ALL the elect and called have been given every good thing that pertains to life and godliness. Walking in this truth, (as we are established in this truth), is the basis, the foundation, the “bottom line”, our stability; it keeps us from falling.

To walk this way is our entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior. As Peter intended always to remind the saints of the qualities bestowed upon them, so we need to always be doing so for one another.

Acts 14:

21  When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,

22  strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

The Spirit Of The World; 1 Cor 2:12

1John 4:
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them.
6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

"Greater is he that is in you"; the preposition "in" from the Greek does not mean "he that dwells within you individually" John is not speaking of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He is speaking of those who have remained in the fellowship as compared to those who have gone out into the world to preach another christ, through another gospel, by another spirit. (2 Cor11:4) These are the antichrists, the false prophets, and they speak by the spirit of antichrist The world receives their message gladly as the "Jesus" they preach is just another version of the golden calf. They are of the world and though they may remain with the saints for awhile, they end up going back to where they belong. Greater are those who remain in fellowship, proclaiming the true Christ and His Gospel, through the Word of God. revealed by the Holy Spirit. Greater are these than those who return to the world. Let the 'super apostles" and their ilk depart. (2 Cor11:12-13)
(By the way the fellowship that John is speaking of is not a particular institution, denomination, or sect that many people spend their time hopping in and out. He is speaking of the Body of Christ whoever and wherever they may be)

1John 2:
18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

2Peter 2:
18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error.
19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.
20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire."

Imputed Righteousness;For The Sake Of The Righteous One

Genesis 18:
17 The LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,
18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him."
20 Then the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave,
21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know."
22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD.
23 Then Abraham drew near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it………………… 

It has been erroneously taught that Abraham interceded with the Lord on behalf of Sodom and
Gomorrah. A close reading of the text shows that his intercession was actually on behalf of the
righteous (if any) dwelling in those cities. Abraham’s question is “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” He was not asking the Lord to spare the wicked.
Abraham’s argument, beginning with fifty (not really a huge number in itself in comparison to the population of a city), and working down to just ten righteous ones, the Lord vows that He will not destroy the cities for their sake. Since the Lord ends up destroying both Sodom and Gomorrah, it is safe to assume that not even ten righteous men could be found.
However, the Lord does spare Abraham’s nephew Lot and his family and delivers them from the imminent destruction, though we know Lot’s wife in her failure to heed the Lord’s instructions does not make it with her husband and daughters to Zoar, the only town in the entire valley that the Lord spared from destruction,(He provided a refuge), so that Lot may dwell there.

Genesis 19:29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, GOD REMEMBERED ABRAHAM and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Hebrews 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

John 17:9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

What we discover is that God spared Lot and family solely for the sake of Abraham the intercessor for the righteous. So it was not Lot’s righteousness that saved him, but a righteousness imputed to Lot by the Lord.
Once again we find Christ revealed in the “old testament” i.e. all the law. and the prophets. and
psalms. (Luke 24:44-47)
He alone intercedes for all who are declared righteous through Him and in Him.
The Father’s promise to Abraham is that He will never destroy the righteous with the wicked, and for the sake of the Son and the joy and glory set before Him, He declares a people to be righteous in Him; He who is the offspring of Abraham. (Galatians 3:16 and 29) 

Ephesians 2:
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Proverbs 12:7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.

The Resting Place

Isaiah 58:
13 "If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; 

Jeremiah 6:16a Thus says the LORD: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.......

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Mark 2:
27 And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath."

The sabbath is God's rest pure and simple. It's fulfillment is found in the finished work of Christ and according to Hebrews 3-4 is entered into by faith in Christ and the salvation He has wrought and is made manifest by our having ceased from our efforts of self-justification and self-sanctification. Going to church and/or synagogue once or twice a week was never the intent of the sabbath.Even those with Moses in the wilderness were given a double portion of manna on the sixth day so that there would be no need to leave their dwellings in search of sustenance on the seventh.
God's rest in Christ is to and for the saints. It is part and parcel of the free gift given through Christ.The sabbath serves the saints, not the other way around. Regular, "required", attendance at a "service" is one of the biggest weights/guilt trips we lay upon each other. It is certainly not anymore an evidence of salvation,than running down the aisle and saying the "sinner's prayer".

Hebrews 4:10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

The saints rest in the same finished work that God Himself rested in.

John 6:
28 Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?"
29 Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

Isaiah 11:10  And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+3%3A1-4%3A11&version=ESV