Isaiah 9:6-7 (KJV) For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. [7] Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Psa. 110:4 (KJV) The LORD has sworn, and will not repent, You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

Luke 1:30-33 (KJV) And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. [31] And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. [32] He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: [33] And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Rev. 11:15 (KJV) And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Rev. 22:3-5 (KJV) And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: [4] And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. [5] And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

In the New Testament when the writers wanted to express a long time, an age or world, they often used this word (165). It can mean forever but is not usually used in that sense. In the uses we are examining it is always preceeded by the Strong's 1519. It is this combination (1519, 165) that is translated "forever." We have broken down the following verses that make use of this phrase (Strong's 1519, 165) into three categories. Those where the meaning is "age-abiding", those that might refer to "forever", and those that clearly refer to "forever."

Age-abiding

(Mat 21:19) And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever. And presently the fig tree withered away.


(Mar 11:14) And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it.

(Joh 13:8) Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never, wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

Age-abiding and possibly Forever

(Luk 1:33) And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

(Luk 1:55) As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever.

(Joh 6:51) I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

(Joh 6:58) This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever.

(Joh 8:35) And the servant abideth not in the house forever: but the Son abideth ever.

(Joh 8:51, 52) Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never, see death. (52) Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never, taste of death.

(Joh 10:28) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never, perish, neither, shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

(Joh 11:26) And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never, die. Believest thou this?

(Joh 12:34) The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?

Rev. 1:18 (KJV)
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Forever

(Mar 3:29) But he, that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal condemnation:

(Joh 4:14) But whosoever, drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

There is one more category. When it is emphatically "forever" the Greek doubles the word aion (165). In these cases we find Strong's 1519, 165, 165. The Standard or King James version translates this "forever and ever." Literally this would mean "for ages of ages." As we note how this phrase is used it becomes a simple matter to determine that it does indeed correspond to the English word "forever."

Below we list every occurrence of this phrase.

Galatians 1:3-5 (KJV)
Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, [4] Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: [5] To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Philip. 4:20 (KJV)
Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Tim. 1:17 (KJV)
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

2 Tim. 4:18 (KJV)
And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 1:8 (KJV)
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

Hebrews 13:21 (KJV)
Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:11 (KJV)
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 5:10-11 (KJV)
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. [11] To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Rev. 1:6 (KJV)
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Rev. 1:18 (KJVwc)
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for ever and ever, Amen; and have the keys of Hades and of death.

Rev. 4:9-10 (KJV)
And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, [10] The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

Rev. 5:13-14 (KJV)
And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. [14] And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

Rev. 7:12 (KJV)
Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.

Rev. 10:6 (KJV)
And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

Rev. 11:15 (KJV)
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Rev. 14:11 (KJV)
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Rev. 15:7 (KJV)
And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

Rev. 19:3 (KJV)
And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.

Rev. 20:10 (KJV)
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.

Rev. 22:3-5 (KJV)
And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: [4] And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. [5] And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Above texts Categorized

How long does God and/or Jesus receive glory.
Gal. 1:3-5; Phil. 4:20; 1 Tim. 1:17; 2 Tim. 4:18; Heb. 13:21; 1 Pet. 4:11; 1 Pet. 5:11; Rev. 1:6; Rev. 4:9-10; Rev. 5:13; Rev. 7:12

How long does the throne and/or reign of Christ last?
Heb. 1:8; Rev. 11:15

How long will God and/or Jesus live?
Rev. 1:18; Rev. 5:14; Rev. 10:6; Rev. 15:7

How long does the symbolic smoke/torment of enemies of God last?
Rev. 14:11; Rev. 19:3; Rev. 20:10

How long does the church reign? Rev. 22:3-5

2 Peter 3:8 (KJV) But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Rev. 20:2-7 (KJV) 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.

[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. This is the first resurrection. [6] Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. [7] And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.

We note in this, as in all related subjects, we look first to our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the important one and anything to do with the church is all completely dependent upon Him. This is true when it comes to the reign of Christ and His church. The church does not reign without Him, but with Him. Like a bride shares in that which belongs to her husband, so with the reign of the church, she shares in His reign, thus her reign is counted as beginning with His reign, even though she is not yet complete.

At His return in 1874 Christ begins to bind Satan. Matt. 12:29; Rev. 20:1-2.

The reign of Christ begins at His return in 1874. Luke 19:12-27 - esp. vs. 15.

This reign lasts forever. Rev. 11:15.

The reign begins with a special portion that is designated as lasting a thousand years. 2 Pet. 3:8; Rev. 20:4.

The church shares with Christ in that 1,000 year reign. Rev. 20:4.

At the end of that 1,000 year reign Satan is loosed. Rev. 20:3; 20:6-7.

At the end of that 1,000 year reign Satan is loosed. Rev. 20:3,6-7.

Please note that these last verses demonstrate that the reign of Christ and the reign of the church are one and the same period. It does so by showing that at the end of that 1,000 year period (whether referring to his binding or referring to the reign of the church with Christ) Satan is loosed out of his prison.

The reign of the church, like that of her Lord, lasts forever. Rev. 22:3-5.