Jesus has told us how this universe will end. He has told us that this is not our home. In light of that, how should we live? What does living wisely look like? I've said it a lot in this verse is I'll say it again, don't waste your life. Don't waste your life. Don't spend your life on things that are destined to dissolve. Spend your life on Jesus. Live for him radically, not recreationally, and do not get caught up in the cares of this world. Last week, like many of you, I read through the first 26 chapters of Deuteronomy for Home Group.
Moses is ending Israel of their history, what God has done for them, and he's reminding them of the things they most need to remember in the future. I was struck by how often Moses says things like Remember and do not forget. I looked it up and Moses says, remember 14 times over the first 26 chapters of Deuteronomy. One of the warnings Moses gives Israel is to watch out for spiritual complacency when the struggles are over, when the battles are done, when life starts getting good, that's when we're especially vulnerable. In Deuteronomy chapter eight, Moses says this to Israel, beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His Commandments, his judgments and his statutes, which I command you today, lest when you have eaten and are full and have built beautiful houses and dwelling them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, when your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, who led you through that great and terrible wilderness in which were fiery serpents and Scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water, who brought water for you out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with Manna which your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and that he might test you to do you good in the end.
Then you say in your heart My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth, and you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. If you're a Christian who's been around the Church for a while, then you've seen this type of thing play out. Unfortunately, people get something they've longed for. They reach a life stage or a goal they've been investing in for ages, and they just tune out. They shift into cruise control. In their walk with Jesus, they become complacent and lose spiritual hunger and zeal. I've seen it happen when people get into a romantic relationship that they've been longing for. I've seen it happen when people start having kids. I've seen it happen when a person's career or business finally starts really taking off. I've seen it happen when people reach retirement. We get distracted, we get complacent, and God just slips down the priority list. And if we allow ourselves to fall into that type of spiritual malaise, we can end up wasting years of our lives living for things that are meaningless. We can waste entire seasons of our lives.
Nate Saint was the pilot of the plane that flew Jim Elliot and three others into the remote Ecuadorian jungle where they hoped to reach an isolated tribe with the gospel. All five were immediately murdered by that tribe, and if you don't know what happened after that, you should go and read the story because it's amazing. There are two quotes from Nate Saint that I think are worth reflecting on. He said, "People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives, and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted." He also said, "When life's flight is over and we unload our cargo at the other end, the fellow who got rid of unnecessary weight will have the most valuable cargo to present to the Lord." Don't waste your life.
In that parable, Jesus teaches that Hades is a place of torment for those who have rejected God. Hades is where unbelievers will wait before being judged at the Great White Throne judgment. Jesus also teaches that time in Hades runs parallel to time on the Earth. That means that right now there are people in Hades in torment who have been there for thousands of years. When Hades is emptied for the Great White Throne judgment, there will be people who were in there for only days, having died just days before the end of the Millennium. My point is this. Even though Hades is a place of torment, God is not concerned about the fact that people are spending different lengths of time there before the Great White Throne judgment. That doesn't make sense. If God intends to use time for differing levels of punishment in the Lake of Fire, why would God consider time a justice issue in the Lake of Fire but not in Hades? It only makes sense for God to disregard the issue of time in Hades. If the nature of the unbelievers ultimate punishment is indeed eternal. If anyone judged, objects and says, I'm not perfect, but I certainly don't deserve to go to the Lake of fire.
The Lord will simply say, Open the books and everything will be laid bare. Every good deed that was done with an ulterior and selfish motive, every moment of envy, every time evil was wished upon another person, every lustful and covetous thought, every moment of sinful stubbornness, every unnecessary conflict due to pride, every single sin. And if that happens, I believe God won't get anywhere close to the end of that person's chapter before they cry out, Stop it's true, I'm guilty. When the books are opened, nobody will be able to argue their innocence and remember that ultimately people go to the Lake of fire for one reason. They reject Jesus. They spit in the face of their Maker and reject Him. The matter of guilt was determined long ago. As Jesus Himself said in John 318, he who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Verse 14. Then death and Hades were cast into the Lake of fire. This is the death of death. Satan, his Kingdom, and death itself will be cast into the Lake of fire.
God is going to create a new heaven and a new Earth, and we'll see that in the next chapter. As part of that process, sin must be dealt with definitively, and the Great White Throne judgment is necessary as part of the final judgment of sin and death. Verse 14 goes on and says, this is the second death. We talked about this last week. Those who are born once will die twice. Those who are born twice will die once. Verse 15 and anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of fire. Sobering stuff, to say the least. When it's all said and done, Satan and death itself are cast into the Lake of fire, and Jesus leads His Saints into overwhelming, eternal victory. I want to read you a little more of what Peter wrote, including what we read earlier. This is on your outline as well. We read this earlier, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the Earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in Holy conduct and Godliness looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new Earth in which righteousness dwells. Every single one of us needs to regularly ask ourselves the question Peter poses. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in Holy conduct and Godliness?
By our definition, I'm not as bad as Hitler. I'm not as bad as that jerk that I work with. We don't consider the possibility that perhaps one of the things that makes God God is that he's not exactly like us. The Bible teaches that God is perfect without sin or flaw, and he intends to judge us according to his standards, not ours. God spoke this through the Prophet Isaiah. My thoughts are not your thoughts nor your ways. My ways, says the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. The bottom line is this. Nobody can live up to God's standards. That's why we need Jesus, and it's why the Great White Throne judgment won't be a trial. It'll be a sentencing. Scripture also implies that under the umbrella of the term, works will also be included the amount of revelation each person received. The greater the revelation, the greater the evil of rejecting God, and the worse the eternal torment will be. In Luke Ten, Jesus sends out 70 of his disciples and pairs to preach the gospel. And in his instructions, he says this: "But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless, know this, that the Kingdom of God has come near to you.' But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city." The idea is that because these cities received greater revelation than Sodom did and then rejected that revelation, their eternal punishment would be worse. Jesus continues and addresses cities that had apparently already rejected him. He says, Woe to you, Corazon. Woe to you beside. For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done entire and ending, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and Ashes. But it will be more tolerable for tire and ending at the judgment than for you. Because Jesus did greater works in Corazan and Bethsaeda, thereby giving greater revelation, their citizens would be judged by a higher standard than Tyre and Satan. Two chapters later in Luke Twelve, Jesus shares this observation as part of his explanation of a parable. That servant who knew his master's will and did not prepare himself or do according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes, but he who did not know yet committed things deserving of stripes shall be beaten with few.
For everyone to whom much is given from him, much will be required, and to whom much has been committed of him they will ask the more. And you could make the case that at a certain point in his Ministry, Jesus switched to teaching publicly only in parables, so that those who chose to reject Him would not be able to understand what he was saying and thereby not be accountable for ejecting even greater revelation. It was an act of mercy on the part of Jesus. Make a note of this on your outline. Every nonbeliever will be judged according to their works, which includes the amount of revelation they received. Every nonbeliever will be judged according to their works, which includes the amount of revelation they received. I mentioned Annihilationism earlier, and I want to address another version of it because some believe that the varying degrees of punishment in the Lake of Fire will be accomplished through the method of time. In other words, the more wicked a person is, the longer they will have to spend in the Lake of Fire before they cease to exist. The problem with this is the parable that Jesus tells in Luke 16 of The Rich Man and Lazarus.
Write this down. The first resurrection gives believers new bodies for eternity with God. The second resurrection gives unbelievers new bodies for eternity apart from God, eternity apart from God. That's the truth and I would not be loving you if I misled you in any way regarding what the future holds for those who love Jesus and for those who reject Him, the issue at hand is submitting your life to God or spitting in his face and choosing to be your own God.
These scriptures are in the Bible because God does not want any of us to be confused about the gravity of our decision, and it is our decision. God's heart for us is made clear in the Bible over and over again. Two Peter 39 says The Lord is not willing that any should perish. He doesn't want anyone to perish, but that all should come to repentance. God wants everyone to repent and be saved and spend eternity ending the glories of his presence in eternity. But it's our decision. God will not force us to love Him. If he did, it would not be love and he will not force us to spend eternity with Him. We must choose for ourselves. Those who advocate for a posttribulation Rapture face a logical problem because it seems flat out silly to suggest that the Church will be raptured at the end of the tribulation, only to immediately turn around and return to the Earth with Jesus. Those who advocate for annihilationism, the belief that there is no eternal torment for unbelievers, only an absolute end to their existence, face a similar logical problem because it doesn't make sense that God would give unbelievers a new body at the second resurrection only to immediately execute them.
It doesn't make any sense. Continuing in verses twelve we read and books were opened and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death in Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one according to his works. Books are opened and some of these books seem to contain a record of everything each person has done, neglected to do, spoken, and thought over the course of their lifetime. Solomon prophesied that God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. Also among the books will be the Scriptures. In John 12/48, Jesus said, he who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges Him. The word that I have spoken will judge Him in the last day. Another book that sits open is the Book of Life. This book contains the names of everyone who is a citizen of heaven. If you belong to Jesus, then your name is in there.
My name is in there. But the names of all who reject Jesus are not. And because they declined Jesus offer of Salvation, Jesus is offered to be judged in their place. They will now stand before God and have their life judged according to his standards. One of the most foolish spiritual beliefs that we often embrace sounds something like this. I'm just going to do my best to live my life as a good person. Then whatever is on the other side, I'll be ready. That is so foolish because it makes a massive assumption.
It assumes that whatever is on the other side shares our definition of what is good.
What in the world would make any of us think that whatever definition of good we come up with, God will share it? We generally come by our definition of good by figuring out a standard we can live up to and want to live up to. If we change our mind and want to do something we previously considered to be less than good, we simply revise our definition of good to align with our current desires.
And we do this because we seem to believe that all we must do to pass whatever test follows death is be able to point out a handful of people who are worse than us.
Also, last week we talked about the first resurrection and learned that it refers to a large class of people that includes everyone who belongs to Jesus and is therefore destined to receive a resurrected body fit for the ages to come. The first Resurrection is completed at the second Coming, and in verse is we read this blessed and Holy is he who has part in the first resurrection over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him 1000 years. We need to talk about why it's called the First Resurrection. That phrase is used because obviously there must be a second resurrection, and indeed, that is exactly what we see taking place here at the end of the Millennium. In John chapter five, it's on your outlines.
Jesus explained it this way, saying, Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he is granted the Son to have life in Himself and has given him authority to execute judgment. Also, because he is the Son of man. Do not Marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth those who have done good to the resurrection of life. That's the first resurrection and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. That's the second resurrection. The first resurrection spoken of in verse, is of Revelation 20 is a resurrection to eternal life. The second resurrection takes place at the Great White Throne Judgment and is a resurrection to eternal death. The term resurrection refers to receiving a new body that is fit for the ages to come, a body that will last for eternity.
When Jesus was resurrected, he received a new eternal body. Paul spoke of the first resurrection in one Corinthians 15 and wrote, Now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam, all die. Even so, in Christ, all shall be made alive, but each one in his order. Christ the first fruits afterward. Those who are Christ's at his coming at the second coming. When the Bible speaks of resurrection, it is not referring to simply being conscious. Nobody in the Bible is referred to as being resurrected while in a disembodied state. In Scripture, resurrection always includes a physical body. And remember that in Revelation six nine, John saw the disembodied souls of tribulation martyrs under the altar in heaven. But it was only at the first resurrection in Revelation 20, verses four that John says, Those same tribulation martyrs lived, they came to life. What did John mean? He meant that at that time in Revelation 20, verses four, they received their new physical bodies. Now where am I going with this?
I'm going somewhere heavy. Here's the bottom line. The first resurrection sees new eternal bodies given to all who belong to Jesus because our current bodies could not endure the weight of glory that awaits us in eternity. The second resurrection sees eternal bodies given to all who reject Jesus because their current bodies could not endure the torment that awaits them in eternity. Those who belong to Jesus will be equipped to enjoy an eternity of pleasure. Those who reject Jesus will be equipped to endure an eternity of torment. Or to say it another way, those who reject Jesus will be equipped to endure an eternity apart from Him. Jesus said this plainly when he told his disciples in Matthew 10/28, do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
The text then tells us that Satan will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the Earth GOG and may GOG to gather them together to battle whose number is as the sand of the sea.
Now, before any of you Bible nerds get too excited at the mention of GOG and Magog, let me just say that I do not think this is a reference to the war described in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. When you read in Ezekiel 39 about the after effects of that war, it just doesn't align with the text here in Revelation 20 because the Earth and in verses we know it won't exist after the Millennium comes to an end, and we'll talk more about that later. This verses seems to be simply telling us that the number of people who will side with Satan will be significant as the sand of the sea and will include people from practically every nation on the Earth, the nations which are in the four corners of the Earth. Verse Nine they went up on the breadth of the Earth and surrounded the camp of the Saints in the beloved city. The beloved city is of course, Jerusalem Zion. Satan's plan is to attack Jerusalem because it will be where Jesus is reigning over the Earth from the throne of David. And you might be thinking, haven't we seen this movie before at Armageddon?
Yes, we have. But maybe there'll be a more epic battle this time around. Let's keep reading. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. Never mind. Just like that, it's over. Verses Ten The devil who deceived them was cast into the Lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false Prophet are. Satan's purpose in God's plan has been fulfilled, and so he's cast into the Lake of fire forever to join his compadre's Antichrist and the false Prophet who have already been in there for 1000 years. Remember that they were cast in the Lake of fire at the second Coming. Then it says, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. They're not destroyed, they're tormented forever. Now we reach the great White Throne judgment, and it's no exaggeration to call this the most tragic and coveting passage in all of scripture. For in it those who hate and reject Jesus are brought face to face with him for their first and final audience with the God of the universe. Verse Eleven Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the Earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.
God doesn't leave anything unfinished, having given us 10 years to observe and experience the paradise of Earth. Under his governance. Jesus will say, Point made, time for the next order of business, and with that, the Earth and the entire universe will cease to exist. Two Peter 310 I put it on your outlines tells us about this moment, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the Earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. The creative process that birthed the universe will be reversed. The universe will be uncreated in the same manner it was created by the Word of God. So write this down. At the end of the Millennium, the universe is destroyed, the universe is destroyed, and it seems that our location now leaves the Earth and moves to the heavenly realms where the one who judges perfectly and righteously has assembled a cosmic courtroom. Jesus is seated on a white throne which speaks of his sinless perfection. Verse twelve says, And I saw the dead underline the dead, small and great, standing before God.
Note the reference here to the dead. These are not believers. They are those who died rejecting God and have been in Hades awaiting this, their final judgment. As I mentioned last week, the glorious news for you and I is that we've already been judged because Jesus was judged in our place for our sins on the cross. We're so thankful for that.
Those who say I'd have peace and joy and fulfillment if I had a billion dollars, or I'd have peace and joy and fulfillment, or if I just didn't have blank, or if all my problems went away. Everyone who says such things will be proven wrong because in the Millennium people will grow up in paradise. Satan bound everything provided for them. No hardship, no sickness. They'll play badminton with bears and leapfrog with Lions and they still won't be happy. The futility and emptiness of life without Jesus will be revealed when all the Earth's problems are healed. People have everything and yet some still aren't happy. Why? Because joy is not found in everything being perfect. It's not found in having a perfect body, perfect stuff, a perfect climate, or even a perfect world.
We were made to know God. We were made in such a way that nothing can fill the space in our souls that was made for Him. And yet, even under his reign in the millennial Kingdom, there will be those who will refuse to submit beyond what is required. They will not have a relationship with Jesus, and so fulfillment and joy will elude them even in the Millennium. So, get this Church - it's your first fill-in. Make a note of it. We will be satisfied in the Millennium the same way we're satisfied now in Christ. The only way that you'll be satisfied in the Millennium is the same way you'll be satisfied right now in Christ. Yes, it will be easier for us to be satisfied in Christ in the Millennium because we'll be in resurrected, righteous bodies. But we do not have to wait for the Millennium to experience God's satisfaction, peace, and joy. Those things are available through Jesus right now. He will fulfill us then, and he can fulfill us now. Here's what I know with certainty right now. The Holy Spirit is working on the heart of every person who loves Jesus, and one of the lessons he's trying to teach us is that our contentment and joy do not have to be connected in any way to our circumstances.
David wrote this in Psalm 144, verse 15. Happy are the people whose bank balance is full. Happy are the people whose relationships are all perfect. Happy are the people who never have to deal with any sickness or difficulty. No, none of those things. David said, "Happy are the people whose God is the Lord." God's plan is not that we would be miserable in this life and say, at least I'll be happy in the Millennium. God's plan is that we would find our joy in him now. He wants the Millennium to be gravy for you and me. Our hope is not the Millennium. Our hope is Jesus, and he's available to us right now. We can say, It is well with my soul right now for the same reason we'll be able to say it in the Millennium because God is with us. It's not a perfect world that satisfies. It's Jesus that satisfies. Incredibly, there will be those in the Millennium who will honor Jesus only to the degree that is legally required. They will not worship him as Lord. They will give into the part of themselves that desires to be their own God, just as Lucifer did.
And as the men of Jerusalem cried out during Jesus first coming, so too will some cry out at the end of the Millennium. We will not have this man to reign over us. Write this down. God will give the man and woman of Earth a choice at the end of the Millennium. God will give the Amen and women of Earth a choice at the end of the Millennium. There will be ethnic Jews and believers who survive the tribulation who will enter the Millennium in their earthly bodies for those thousand years. People will generally live for at least centuries, and they'll have kids. And if you have 1000 years of good health where you're aging, slowly, and pregnancy and childbirth aren't even uncomfortable. You're going to have a lot of kids and they will. And from those multitudes will arise a group who will sadly side with Satan at the end of the Millennium when he is released.
If you love Jesus, then the story of your life is going to end with the words and they lived happily ever after. We are going to pick things up today in verses seven of Revelation chapter 20. In our previous study, we looked at some of the wonderful details of the Millennial Kingdom in Scripture. Now we move to some significant events that occur at the end of those glorious thousand years. Some of today's study will be difficult to hear. It will be heavy, and it should be. My only goal is to preach the truth because the truth does not change based on whether we want to hear it. What happens to us after we die is not affected in any way by what we think should happen to us after we die. In today's study, we'll hear from Jesus, the one who will actually judge everybody in eternity, and so we would be wise to listen to what he wants us to know. Let's read verses seven together. Now, when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison, his prison, and the abyss, and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the Earth.
The first thing you need to know is that if you belong to Jesus, you will not be deceived by Satan at the end of the Millennium. In fact, no man or woman who belongs to Jesus will ever be deceived or rebel against him again. We will be in resurrected bodies free from sin, and so we will have a spirit and a body that loves Jesus. We will also have knowledge and experience with the devastating consequences of sin, so nobody will be able to convince us that sin is somehow better. If you're wondering who exactly Satan will deceive, remember that there will be many born during the Millennium. All they will know is life on a redeemed Earth under the good and righteous reign of Jesus. Yet even under those ideal conditions, some will live begrudgingly. Under his reign, Satan will be bound and unable to tempt them. But something in their free will nature will still entice them with the desire to be their own God. The most obvious parallel is the emergence of Lucifer's pride and covetousness when all he had ever known was the glory, beauty and goodness of heaven. And so, sadly, there will be those who will live in the greatest age the world will ever see submitted to Christ's reign only because there will be no other choice.
For this reason, at the end of the Millennium, Jesus will give them a choice. You and I have already made our choice. If we belong to Jesus, we've already chosen to be chosen. We've already selected to be elected, so we have nothing to worry about. If you're wondering why the Lord would choose to do this, I believe there are three main reasons. Firstly, God doesn't want anyone in His Kingdom who doesn't want to be there. Love cannot exist apart from free will. God desires a relationship of love with his people. Therefore, our love must be based on the mutual choice of God to love us and us to love Him. God doesn't want to take anybody into eternity with him who doesn't want to go. The second reason I believe the Lord does this at the end of the Millennium is to destroy the argument of those who claim if it weren't for my parents, if it weren't for my flawed upbringing and the corrupt environment that I was raised in, I wouldn't have any issues. I would be perfectly good. Those who claim their sins are merely the result of being set up to fail won't have a leg to stand on.
After being raised in the abundant goodness of the millennial Kingdom, it will be clear that our sin is what went wrong with humanity and the Earth. The third reason I believe the Lord will release Satan for this short time at the end of the Millennium is that it will prove that there is truly nothing that satisfies and fulfills except knowing Jesus and being known by Him.
Series: Revelation................Passage: Revelation 20:7-15...Speaker: Jeff Thompson
At the end of the Millennium, the universe ceases to exist and unbelievers are gathered together in the heavenly realms for the Great White Throne Judgment…
Well, with everything going on in the world, the rumor just won't die. There are still those who are claiming that the book of Revelation is hard to understand. But daftness say we! For you see the word itself. Revelation means that something has been revealed. And the first verse of this incredible book tells us exactly who it is that's being revealed. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. And God wanted us to read this book so much that he promised anyone who would take the time to read and respond to it a special blessing. And we find that blessing in Revelation chapter one verse three. Let's claim it together. It says, "Blessed is he (or she) who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near." But God knew they would still be those who would say, "It's just too hard to understand." So, to make it easy to understand, he also included a simple and easy-to-follow outline. And we find that in Revelation chapter, in verse 19, Jesus tells John, Write the things which you have seen. That was the resurrected and glorified Jesus in chapter one.
Then Jesus tells John to write "the things which are". That refers to the Church age which began around 32 A.D. on Pentecost in Acts chapter two, continues up to the present day, and is prophesied in Revelation chapters two and three in chronological order. And then thirdly, Jesus said, "John, I want you to write the things which will take place after this" - after the Church Age comes to an end. Now, when does that happen? The Church Age comes to an end in chapter four, verse one, and Jesus says, John, I want you to write about those events. And John says in chapter four, verse one, after these things, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard speaking with me, that was the voice of Jesus in chapter one was like a trumpet saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And up John goes, serving as a picture of the Church who will be raptured to be with the Lord. And Jesus takes all of chapters four and five to make sure we don't miss the fact that the Church is with Him in heaven before he begins pouring out his wrath on the Earth in chapter six.
And Revelation 6/16 reveals that those on the Earth will understand that this is the wrath of God being poured out upon them because they will refer to it as the wrath of the Lamb who's the Lamb. In Scripture, it's Jesus. So chapter one gives us the focus of this amazing book, Jesus Christ. Chapters two and three take us through the Church age up to the present day. The Church goes up in chapter four, verse one, we see her safe and secure with the Lord in heaven for chapters four and five before wrath comes down on the Earth in chapter six. That wrath continues for seven years in a time period referred to as the Tribulation. It's chapter six through 19 in the Book of Revelation that are taken up with God's judgment of the Earth before Jesus returns to the Earth in the event known as the Second Coming. Jesus will then rule and reign on the Earth for a thousand years, known as the Millennial Kingdom, a golden age when the Earth will be restored to an Eden like state and everything wrong with the world will be undone. And though you may not understand all the details just yet, I can tell you this.
You're not and you'll either figure that out now or later, or when it's too late. Invite Jesus to reign over your life today. And for those of us who already belong to Jesus, I just want to check in. Is there chaos and brokenness in your soul? If so, make sure you're bringing it to Jesus.
Make sure you're dealing with it. What Jesus asks you to do... Sometimes we're not so good at allowing Jesus to be Lord over the chaos and brokenness in our life. Sometimes the times we're most disobedient to the Lord is when we refuse to do with the chaos and the brokenness in our lives. That which the Lord calls us to do. What does he ask?
He asks us to cast our cares upon him because he cares for us. He calls us to confess our sins to him and be forgiven. He calls us to confess our sins to one another if we want to be healed. He calls us to seek wise counsel for mature brothers and sisters. He calls us to ask our Church family to pray with us and for us.
He calls us to ask the elders to lay hands on us and pray for healing. And he calls us to personally fast and pray. If you're experiencing chaos and brokenness in your life and you're a follower of Jesus, let me call you to obey Jesus in what you do with that chaos and brokenness. Follow Jesus as Lord in that. Do what he tells you to do. Let his Kingdom reign in your life and you will experience his life joy, peace and hope. And with that, I'm going to ask you to pray. Would you bow your head and close your eyes? And right now, if you've never given your life to Jesus, I just want to invite you to do that. I want to invite you to say, Jesus, I believe in you as my Savior.
I believe that you are the only one who can save me and heal me and bring wholeness to the chaos and brokenness that is in me and Jesus, I want to follow you as Lord. If that's you, then just pray that as your own prayer, take ownership of it and God will put his spirit in you. You will be born again and welcomed into the family of God. Lord, for the rest of us who love you and know you and belong to you, Lord, we want your Kingdom to come in our lives now. And Lord, we recognize that we are still in a fight every day to allow you to reign over our lives because our flesh doesn't want that.
Lord, I pray especially for anyone experiencing any degree of chaos or brokenness in their life who belongs to you. Lord, I pray for the faith to obey you in that. For the faith to not hold on to that, but to do with those difficult things. That what you have called us to do, to bring them to you to seek wise counsel, to ask for prayer, to fast and pray and to lay our burdens at your feet. Lord, help us to do that.
Help us to know how to do that and help us not to suffer in silence. When you have made a way through our brothers and sisters and through your Church for us to have people walk alongside us and to pray for us and that You've chosen through them to bring us wholeness and healing help us not to neglect the gifts that you've given us in each other, Lord and the greatest gift that you've given us in your son Jesus. Thank you that you are our life, you are our hope, you are our joy and you are our peace. And you're coming for us. And then we will return with you when you make all things right on the Earth.
And Lord, we can't wait, we can't wait. We love you, Jesus we bless you in your name we pray Amen.
And if we do that, if we reject the testimony of our souls, we will spend our lives embracing the delusional belief that even though humanity is the cause of everything wrong with the world, humanity is somehow the solution to everything wrong with the world. If you want to get serious about spirituality and philosophy, two of the key questions you must seek to answer are what has gone wrong with the world and what is the solution? The Bible teaches that we humanity is what has gone wrong with the world. We brought sin into the world, but praise God, there is a solution, and his name is Jesus.
Let me read to you what Isaiah 65 prophesies about the Millennium. This is God speaking to ethnic Israel who will enter the Millennium in their earthly bodies. He says, Be glad and rejoice forever in what I create for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people. The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
Jerusalem, perhaps the most contentious real estate on the planet, will be the safest, most peaceful place on Earth. No more shall an inerrant from there live but a few days. The idea is that there will be no more miscarriages, no more sudden infant deaths, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days. For the child shall die 100 years old. But the sinned, being 100 years old, shall be accursed.
At the age of 100, someone will still be considered a child. And if someone dies a natural death at the age of 100, it will only be because they grievously rebelled against God and he ended their life. They shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. I like to think that this means that everything I try to build and grow will actually work.
I can't wait for that. They shall not build and another inhabit they shall not plant and another eat. This is saying that nobody will work for another person. All employer employee relationships will cease. There'll be more than enough for everybody, wherever you are and whoever you are.
For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people. And my elects shall long enjoy the work of their hands. The norm will be centuries to enjoy whatever you build centuries. They shall not labor in vain. Every task you set your hand to will succeed, nor bring forth children for trouble.
Pregnancy and labor won't hurt anymore. It won't be uncomfortable. There'll be no medical emergencies caused by giving birth, for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord and their offspring with them. I love this. It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer.
And while they're still speaking, I will hear. That is how near God will be to every person who is on the Earth. In the Millennium, the Wolf and the lamb shall feed together. The lion shall eat straw like the Ox, and dust shall be the Serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my Holy mountain, says the Lord to wildly understate things.
It's going to be incredible. It's going to be incredible. The chaos and brokenness we see in the world today exists because humanity has rejected the Kingdom of God. But praise God, the day is coming when Jesus will reign over the Earth and put an end to that chaos and brokenness. In the meantime, while we wait, there's good news.
I can invite the Kingdom of God into my life today. I can submit my life to the reign of Jesus. And if I do, my spirit can experience his life and joy and peace and hope. Now, if you've never welcomed Jesus into your life to reign as King, then I want to invite you to do that today. Do not give in to the delusion that you are capable of being your own God and being your own supply of life, joy, peace, and hope.
Nations shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. Hospitals will close because there will be no sickness. Isaiah 35 declares, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the death shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb the mute will sing, for water shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
Did you know that different languages only exist because of the curse God put on humanity at the Tower of Babel in the Millennium? That too will be reversed in Zechariah three nine, the Lord promises, for then I will restore to the people's a pure language that they all may call on the name of the Lord to serve him with one accord. The impact of our sin on the universe will be undone. Everything will be restored to God's original design, and when we see it, we will declare as he did when he made it, this is good. This is so good.
Imagine a world where Satan, the gods of the nations, and all demonic entities are absent. They don't tempt or deceive anybody. The reins of power will sit firmly in the hands of the righteous, who will serve under the leadership of Jesus. On the rare occasion when someone commits an injustice, it will be known and dealt with immediately and perfectly. Nobody will be able to abuse or oppress anybody.
Neither will anyone consolidate wealth at the expense of another. There will be no middle class, no lower class, no upper class, no elites. Because everyone will be blessed. Everyone will have all they need to enjoy life in peace, full of joy and adventure. Work will not be labor.
It will be rewarding, fulfilling, and enjoyable. And people will enjoy each other as never before. Freed from all our insecurities, scars, anxieties, impure motives, lust, and every other negative issue. Humanity will experience relationships as God intended, full of love and life, and joy. It will be the greatest season of history the world will ever know because Jesus will reign as King, and he will make all things right.
I believe that a compelling argument for the God of the Bible is the fact that there is a longing in our souls for a world that looks like the Bible's description of the Millennium. Because we all look at the world and have this existential sense that things are not as they should be. We don't look at the world and think, yes, this is exactly as everything ought to be. It's simply evolution and natural selection doing its thing. We shouldn't expect anything more.
We look at the world and lament and grieve over its condition. When death interrupts the life of a child, we don't say, well, it's just a statistical reality that a certain number of children will die from cancer. Objectively, we have nothing to be upset about. When confronted with death, we are all struck by how wrong it seems. We can sense in the deepest parts of us that things should not be like this.
Where does that come from? How do we just know that something has gone terribly wrong with the world? How do we just know that something is off about everything we know? Because we're all made in the image of God, and he has placed in our souls a hunger for the kind of reality that can only exist under the reign of Jesus. We are all wired to view his idea of the world as being right, and we either recognize that and turn to Jesus, or we refuse to accept what our soul testifies because we want to be our own God, and we want that more than we want the life that Jesus offers.
In that moment you receive a new spirit his spirit. A person who is only born once, born physically, will die at the end of his earthly life and then die again for all eternity. But the person who is born twice, both physically and then again with a new spirit given by God, will die at the end of this earthly life, but then live again for all eternity. This is what verse is is referring to when we read Blessed and Holy is he who has part in the first resurrection over such the second death has no power. Everyone who is born again, everyone who was born twice will be part of the first resurrection unto eternal life.
Everyone who was born once will be part of a second resurrection unto eternal death. Christian, if everything else in your life is going wrong, you're still blessed because you are going to spend eternity with Jesus and the second death has no power over you. And we'll talk about the second death more when we get to verse 14 in this chapter. Next time, verse six continues speaking of those who are part of the first resurrection and says, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. Everybody who belongs to Jesus will reign with him and Minister to him in the Millennium.
And the Millennium is going to be incredible. It's going to be wonderful. We are really going to see everything wrong with the world made right. It's going to happen. Imagine a would he creation itself is restored to its original quality and beauty.
Every trace of damage to the environment is undone. The air and water quality are pristine everywhere. You'll be able to drink from Rivers that today would make you sick. The deserts will turn into lush forests. Isaiah prophesies, The Wolf also shall dwell with the lamb.
The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fat Ling together. And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze. Their young ones shall lie down together, and the Lions shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the Cobra's hole and the weaned child shall put his hand in the Viper's den.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. For the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. As the waters cover the sea, the creatures and animals will all become vegetarian and will not harm any person. Insects won't annoy, bite, or terrify us. That's right.
There's a day coming when we will have a good relationship with spiders. That's really going to happen. You'll be able to lie down anywhere outside, take a nap and not worry about anything. Wolves and bears and deer will roam among us and children will play with them. And speaking of children, every parent will be a free-range parent because the world will be so safe.
Children will be able to roam and play and explore. Children will be treasured and watched over by everyone. Orphanages will close because there will be no orphans, and there will be no armies, for there will be no war. Isaiah chapter two describes this. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the Hills, and all nations shall flow to it.
Many people shall come and say, Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem he shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into plow shares. Those are farming tools and their Spears into pruning hooks. The idea is kitchen knives.
t's beheading and that's interesting because today the only countries that really execute in that way are Muslim countries, and they do that because of verses contained in the Quran. For example, the 47th Surah, the Sarah of Muhammad, says in verse four, when you encounter the infidels that's a term for nonbelievers in Islam strike off their heads until you have made a great slaughter among them and of the rest make fast the fetters.
As we mentioned in an earlier study, all worldly religions, including Islam, will merge under Antiochus because all worldly religions will in all likelihood receive Antichrist as their end-time savior figure. And based upon the method of death, it appears that Islam will provide the executioners for the Antichrist regime verse five. But the rest of the dead did not live again until 10 years were finished. So write this down. The rest of the dead refers to all nonbelievers who died before the Second Coming.
The rest of the dead refers to all nonbelievers who died before the Second Coming. It's a small detail, but I think I got this wrong last week. Those who have rejected Jesus and are still alive on the Earth at the Second Coming will be judged on the Earth and cast immediately into the Lake of fire. Matthew 25/ 41 is your reference for that the rest of the dead, everybody else who has died rejecting God before the Second Coming goes to Hades, a place of torment where spirits await their final judgment before being cast into the Lake of fire for eternity. And verse five tells us when that final judgment will take place at the end of the Millennium.
It's called the Great White Throne Judgment, and it'll come up next week in verses eleven of the same chapter. While a person's spirit is in Hades, they are considered to be dead even though they are conscious and present. From a biblical perspective, to be in Hades is to be counted among the dead. When verse five tells us that these dead will live again, it's referring to the fact that they will leave Hades and appear in the land of the living before Jesus somehow some way for their final judgment. Getting to leave Hades, even for a brief time, is considered living, and that is sobering, almost as sobering as the reality that their return to life will only be a pit stop on their way to eternal death in the Lake of fire.
Then John writes, this is the first resurrection. The first resurrection is better understood as a large class of people rather than an individual event. It includes everyone who belongs to Jesus and is therefore destined to receive a resurrected body fit for the ages to covet. Our brother Paul make a note of this. Our brother Paul rightly describes Jesus as the first fruits of the resurrection because he was the first to rise from the dead to eternal life.
Jesus is the first fruits of the first resurrection. And then I underline all of verse six because I just love it so much. It says, Blessed and Holy is he who has part in the first resurrection over such the second death has no power. So speaking of the second death, that is eternal death, let me explain what verse six is saying. Is it's saying Those who are born once die twice, those who are born twice die once?
I mentioned this in our study of the letter to the Church at Smyrna, but I'll explain again, almost everyone will experience the first death, which is the end of our earthly, physical lives. But the Bible says the most important part of us, our spirit, will continue to live forever one way or another, that eternity will be spent in one of two conditions, eternal life or eternal death. Those who belong to Jesus will experience neverending life. Those who reject Jesus will experience never ending death. When you place your faith in Jesus as your Savior and welcome him into your life as your Lord, he described what takes place in your spirit as being born again.
Jesus will establish the civil laws of the world and they will be perfect. They will bring freedom and safety and life to the Earth. But why will enforcement be needed? Well, even though Satan the temper will be bound during the Millennium, there will still be people on the Earth in their earthly bodies, like ethnic Israel, who will still have to deal with their sin nature because they will still be in unredeemed bodies. And if you're thinking I don't want to be a supernatural security guard and party pooper for 1000 years, that sounds lame.
Remember that ruling with Jesus is going to be a reward. It's going to be something we will love. And I think that's because we will actively participate in making things right. All the evil that we wish we could stop today, we will help prevent in the Millennium. And that sounds amazing to me.
The second group that goes into the Millennium is Old Testament Saints who will serve in the same capacity as the Church. The third group will be the Tribulation Saints, those who turn to Jesus after the Rapture. Most of this group will have died or been martyred in the Tribulation. They include the souls under the altar that we read about back in Revelation Six/9, as well as those who lost their lives for refusing to take the Mark of the beast and worship Antichrist. Some Tribulation Saints will survive until the Second Coming.
Maybe their's is finally being spectacularly proven right. Or perhaps they live in a remote region beyond Antichrist's reach. Those who died before the Second Coming will enter the Millennium in resurrected bodies. Those who are still alive on the Earth when Jesus returns will enter the Millennium in their earthly bodies. The fourth group will be surviving ethnic Israel, all ethnic Jews who are alive on the Earth at the end of the Tribulation, who will receive Jesus as Messiah when he opens their eyes to recognize him at the Second Coming.
Scripture tells us that only a third of the Earth's ethnic Jews will survive the Tribulation. But in Zechariah 13, the Lord goes on to say this. I will bring the one-third through the fire. We'll refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name and I will answer them.
I will say, this is my people, and each one will say, The Lord is my God and these will enter the Millennium in their earthly bodies. Continuing in verse four, John writes, "And I saw thrones and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them." I think the best way to discern who is being spoken of in verse four is to look at who the Bible says will be entrusted to judge the Earth with Jesus in the Millennium. And that group seems to be the Royal priesthood of believers consisting of Old Testament Saints and the Church. Now John sees those who were martyred for their faith in the Tribulation.
Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who would not worship the beast or his image and had not received his Mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for one thousand years. Notice that John sees them as souls and then he says that they lived and reigned with Christ for 10 years. The idea is that they received their resurrected bodies at this time at the Second Coming. These Saints reign with Jesus in the Millennium, like the Church in the Old Testament Saints, but judgment is not committed to them.
They're in a slightly different category. It's wonderful to be in the Kingdom of God in any way, but it's far better to be part of the Royal priesthood of believers, those who serve Jesus in faith before the Tribulation and the Rapture. As an aside that I've mentioned before, just notice the specific method of execution referenced in verse four that will be used on those who choose to follow Jesus in the Tribulation.
We'll squint and c*ck our heads to the side and say, Is this the man who made the Earth tremble who shook kingdoms?
This event is just one example that makes it clear that the Millennium is literal. James 47 tells us to resist the devil and he will flee from you. We wouldn't need to resist the devil if he was currently bound in the abyss, would we? Therefore, we are not presently in the Millennium, and I put a host of other scripture references on your outline that reinforce this point. As many have observed, if we're in the Millennium right now, then Satan's chain is far too long.
Thankfully, the truth is that the Millennium will be markedly different to the world we experience today, because while Satan is not bound now, he will be bound. Then, continuing in verses three, we're told that the angel shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should and then underline this, deceive the nations no more. Now I had you underlined that because it tells us that Satan is presently actively deceiving the nations. Would you write that down? Satan is presently actively deceiving the nations.
When we look at our world and the things that are going on, the decisions that are being made, and we think what is going on, this verse reminds us of the answer. Satan is deceiving the nations. The rulers of our world are deceived. They are puppets of the Kingdom of darkness. And this makes me so grateful that God's Word tells us we can have the mind of Christ through the Holy Spirit.
We can think with truth and clarity in a very foggy world. Paul describes this in One Corinthians Two. I put it on your outlines. He says the natural man, the man who is not part of the family of God, who doesn't have the Spirit of God in him. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one, for who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him. But we have the mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ. In other words, because Jesus is in us. If we will allow him and his word to inform our thinking and our worldview, we will be able to discern things that are affected by the spiritual world, which is really everything.
And anyone who does not belong to God cannot discern anything of the spiritual world. So, Satan is bound up so that he cannot deceive anyone during the Millennium. And then we read till the thousand years were finished. But after these things, after the Millennium, he Satan must be released for a little while. At the end of the Millennium, Satan will be released one final time.
And we'll get into that more when we reach verses seven next week. And you'll understand why that happens. The time is coming when the one the Bible calls the ruler of this world and the God of this age will no longer be, and in his place, Jesus will rule the nations. There can be some confusion about who specifically will go into the Millennium. We've touched on this over our past few studies, but let's just summarize for the sake of clarity here's, who will go into the Millennium.
Firstly, the Church, who will receive their resurrected bodies at the Rapture Secondly, Old Testament Saints who will receive their resurrected bodies at the Second Coming, Thirdly Tribulation Saints who will also receive their resurrected bodies at the Second Coming, and then lastly, surviving ethnic Israel who will enter the Millennium in their earthly bodies. Let's talk a little bit more about each group. If you have placed your faith in Jesus as your Savior and as welcome and have welcomed him into your life as Lord, as Master, then you are part of the Church. And the Church is going to reign with Jesus on the Earth. In the millennial Kingdom, we will have assignments that will include judging and enforcing righteousness on the Earth.
And it's interesting that when you lay out the genealogies and timeline of the Bible, it puts the age of humanity at around 60 years. And I know that's opening a whole other can of worms that we don't have time to get into today. The suggestion is that the six days of creation followed by a day of rest is mirrored in the story of humanity. There will be six days of 1000 years of work followed by a single day of 1000 years of rest. And those thousand years, of course, will be the Millennium at the very least.
It's an interesting thing that these timelines seem to add up now. Last week we saw Antichrist and the false Prophet thrown into the Lake of fire, and I shared that Satan would be dealt with first thing in Chapter 20. So let's read together. In verse one, John says, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit. This is not the Lake of fire that we're talking about.
It's the abyss, the abusas in the Greek, that we looked at in detail in our study of Revelation Nine. It's the darkest, most tormenting place in Hades that serves as a prison for some of the most heinous supernatural entities in existence. When someone or something is cast into the Lake of fire, they're there forever. When someone or something is imprisoned in the abyss, it's possible for them to be released at a later time, which we'll find is going to be the case here. Then it says, and a great chain in his hand, John sees a mighty angel come down from heaven with the key to lock and unlock the abyss of Hades.
And a great chain in one hand. Verse two, he laid hold of the Dragon, that serpent of old who is the devil and Satan. This is how we know that wherever we see a reference to a Dragon in the Book of Revelation, we're talking about Satan. John also tells us that Satan is that serpent of old. That's a reference to Genesis three, of course, where Eve is tempted to eat the forbidden fruit by a serpent.
In case we were confused, Revelation 20, verse two makes it clear that it was Satan in the Garden of Eden who tempted Eve to sin, who in turn enticed Adam, which resulted in the fall of the human race into sin and death. We keep reading and it says he laid hold of the Dragon, that serpent of old who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years. Would you underline bound him for 1000 years and he cast him into the bottomless pit. Satan is imprisoned in the abyss for the 1000 years of the Millennium. So write this down.
It's the first fill in on your outline. Satan will be bound in the abyss for the duration of the Millennium. He'll be out of the picture. You might recall that in Revelation Twelve we read about a war in the heavenly realms that will likely unfold around the halfway point of the tribulation where Satan and his legions will attempt to take over heaven. Obviously, it doesn't work.
And what was interesting was that God didn't even enter that fight because Satan is not God's rival. God has no rivals. Satan began his existence as an Archangel created by God, and so God has the Archangel Michael and the other faithful Angels cast Satan and his allies out of the heavenly realms and down to the Earth. Michael has no problem doing that because God delegates all the power and authority to Michael that he needs. I revisit all that because I notice here that when it's time to imprison Satan in the abyss, God once again does not budge from his throne.
Instead, he delegates power and authority to this nameless angel, who may well be Michael, who by himself is able to arrest Satan and cast him into the abyss. We really need to understand that God's authority and power are unmatched. Whatever powers Satan and the gods of the nations currently have is only because God permits it for reasons that would be an entire study unto itself. Isaiah tells us what our reaction will be when we literally see Satan.
We are studying the 1000 years of the future golden age of the Earth known as the millennial Kingdom. It will be a time when Christians need no longer pray, Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, because Jesus and his Kingdom will reign on the Earth. It won't be heaven, but it will be a great warm up for heaven. It won't be where righteousness dwells, but it will be where righteousness is enforced. And there's a big difference.
This is not the new heavens and a new Earth just yet. It's a temporary 1000 year redemption of the Earth and creation under the reign of Jesus before the universe as we know it is destroyed and replaced by a new heaven and a new Earth. And it is going to be wonderful. In the very first message of this Revelation series, I shared that for all intents and purposes, all Christians agree that Revelation 19 describes the second coming of Christ. But there's broad disagreement over what Revelation 20 describes.
And if you're interested in learning more about those different positions, you can go back and check out that first message in this series on the Church's website. Those of you who remember that study will recall that we hold to a pre millennial and pretripulation or pretrip interpretation of what the Bible teaches regarding the end times. In that same message, I shared that we always start by taking the Bible literally and only move to a figurative or allegorical interpretation if there's a compelling reason to do so. And I went through some good reasons and bad reasons to interpret a biblical text figuratively. Here's why that's important for today's study.
Pretty much all Christians believe that Jesus Second Coming will be literal. It will actually happen. That's what Revelation 19 describes. So if you believe that, why wouldn't you believe in a literal millennial Kingdom, which Revelation 20 describes? If you're going to take the main subject of Revelation 19 literally, what's your justification for taking the main subject of Revelation 20 figuratively, especially when the phrase thousand years is used six times in Revelation 20, you must provide a compelling reason to not take such a specific number, literally.
And when you dig into the offered explanations for that hermeneutical flip flop, I think you'll reach the same conclusion I have, namely that the explanations are unsatisfying and unreasonable. As we study through Chapter 20 today, I think you'll find that there are no compelling reasons in the text to allegorize the millennial Kingdom. I would be remiss if I didn't also remind us of an interesting detail regarding the Millennium. Jesus created the universe in six days. What did he do on the 7th day?
He rested in two Peter, three eight. The Apostle Peter is writing to believers and encouraging them to be patient regarding the coming of Jesus, and he makes this really interesting observation. It's on your outlines. He writes, Beloved, do not forget this one thing that with the Lord one day is as 1000 years and 1000 years as one day. It's interesting that we find ourselves living in the generation where Israel has reemerged as a political nation, again putting us in the generation that will see the return of Jesus according to biblical prophecy.
Passage: Revelation 20:1-6.........Speaker: Jeff Thompson
As Jesus inaugurates the thousand years of His reign, we learn more about what life on the earth will be like in the Millennium.
Well, I know by now you've heard the rumour, but it's still out there. There are still people claiming that the book of Revelation is hard to understand. But as say we for you see, the word revelation means that something has been revealed and you should know this by now. The first words of the book tell us exactly who it is that's being revealed. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And God wanted us to read this book so much that he promised anyone who would take the time to read and respond to it a special blessing. And we find that blessing in Revelation chapter one, verse three. Let's claim it together as always. It says, Blessed is he or she who reads. And those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near.
But God knew there would still be those who would say, It's just too hard to understand. So, to make it easy to understand, he also included a simple outline. And we find that in Revelation chapter one, verse 19, Jesus tells John, Write the things which you have seen. That was the resurrected and glorified Jesus in chapter one. Then Jesus says, Secondly, John, I want you to write about the things which are that relates to the Church age which began on Pentecost in Acts chapter two around 32.
Ad continues to the present day and is prophesied in chronological order in chapters two and three. And then Jesus said, third. And lastly, John, I want you to write about the things which will take place after this events that will unfold after the Church age comes to an end. Now, when does the Church age end? That happens in Revelation, chapter four, verse one.
Let me read it to you. John says, after these things I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard, that was the voice of Jesus in chapter one was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And up John goes, serving as a picture of the Church who will be raptured to be with the Lord. And the Lord takes all of chapters four and five to make sure we understand that the Church is with Him in heaven before he begins pouring out his wrath on the Earth that has rejected Him.
And that begins to unfold in Revelation chapter six. In fact, in Revelation chapter six, verse 16, it reveals that everyone on the Earth during that time will understand the source of their judgment because they will identify it as the wrath of the Lamb. And then Scripture, the Lamb who it's Jesus. So chapter one introduces the focus of Revelation Jesus Christ, chapters two and three take us through the Church age up to the present day. Then the Church goes up in chapter four, verse one, we see her safe and secure with the Lord in heaven for chapters four and five before wrath comes down in chapter six.
That wrath continues for a period of seven years, known as the tribulation that is documented in chapter six through 19, after which Jesus returns to the Earth with his Saints in the event known as the Second coming. And we studied that over our past two Bible studies together, and then we looked at some things that Jesus is going to do on the Earth when he returns. And today we're going to sort of continue that same theme. And though you may not understand or fully grasp all the details yet, I can tell you this. If you love Jesus, then your story will end with the words and they lived happily ever after.
The Book of Revelation desperately wants us to understand how quickly things can change. Jesus, writing through the Apostle John, wants us to grasp the truth that when it looks like everything is collapsing and Satan is winning, there is a greater reality, a greater plan unfolding right on schedule. And because Jesus's victory is certain, we know that our victory is certain too, because, as always, he is our victory. We keep the faith because we know that for all of us, one way or another, everything is going to change in an instant. In the twinkling of an eye, when the moment comes for you, when everything changes in an instant, how will you feel about the way you lived your life?
How will you feel about the things you prioritized in your life? Well, the things you spent your life devoted to, the things you spent your life serving matter. When that moment comes for you, I want to leave you with this exhortation from our brother Paul in Galatians six nine. He writes, Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Do not lose heart. Do not lose heart. Let's pray. Would you bow your head and close your eyes? Jesus is always thank you for Your Word.
Thank you that you are the Word of God. You are all truth. You're the way, the truth, and the life. You are the answer to every question that matters. You are the meaning of life and the universe and all reality.
And you have revealed yourself to us through Your Word. So, Lord, I pray that we would not grow weary in doing good, because when we do, when we live for you wholeheartedly, we are living in light of true reality. The kingdoms of this world are destined for destruction. And so, Lord, would you help us not to give them an ounce more of our time, treasure, resources, devotion or service than is necessary? It's our desire that every bit of everything we have would go to you for the glory of Your name, to serving you, Lord, that we might live profitably for the only things that truly matter in eternity.
And we thank you that that moment is coming for each of us when everything will change in an instant between where we are now and when that moment comes. Help us not to lose heart Lord would you encourage us all right now by the power of your spirit, would you release a gift of faith and fill us up afresh with that right now? Lord would you give us ears to hear, eyes to see, to live for you with everything we have because you deserve nothing less. You are a good God who is nothing but good and nothing but faithful. We love you for it and thank you that we will enjoy you in the Kingdom that you've prepared for us before the foundations of the world.
You're just so good and we love you for it. We bless you Jesus in your name we pray Amen.
When he was on the Earth, Jesus wept over Israel's hard hearts, crying out in Luke 13, "Oh, Jerusalem! Jerusalem! The one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing. See, your house is left to you desolate and assuredly I say to you..." Now get this... "...you shall not see me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" Paul writes about this reality in Romans 11:25, saying, "Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." At the Second Coming, that moment arrives, and the blindness that is currently on Israel is lifted. In the very next verse, Paul tells us that the destiny of Israel is that "all Israel will be saved." Zechariah 12:10 tells us that when they see Jesus at the Second Coming, Israel will instantly be made able to recognize him as the Messiah they've been waiting for. Zechariah prophesies, "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and supplication. Then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only Son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn."
Jesus will return to the Earth, deliver Israel from her enemies, and in a moment their blindness will be lifted. They will recognize Jesus as their Messiah, and they will grieve in collective repentance over their 2000 years of rejecting Him and their involvement in his death. And Jesus will forgive them. Just as Jesus has forgiven us, their relationship will be restored and they will enter the millennial Kingdom as part of the family of God. God is not through with the Jew as some claim.
Paul explains all this in detail in Romans 9/10 and eleven three chapters that speak to Israel's past, present, and future. He is a God who remembers all his promises, and he's a God who keeps all his promises. And I'm so thankful for that. I didn't have room on the outline. But for those who want to dig into the Lord's plan and heart for Israel a little bit more, you can check out Isaiah chapter 25, and Isaiah chapter 54, verses five through 17, Isaiah 25, and Isaiah 54, five through 17.
Both passages prophesy regarding the Lord's plans for Israel at the Second Coming and in the Millennium. Well, as I said in the intro, at the Second Coming Jesus will defeat all forces of evil, freeing the Earth of Satan's influence. He will reveal himself to Israel and their relationship will be restored. He will remove everyone on the Earth who has rejected him. He will host the marriage supper of the Lamb, where he will be joined to his bride, the Church, and he will inaugurate the millennial Kingdom and begin his reign over the Earth from Jerusalem.
And I cannot. Wait. I don't know how this chapter feels to you, but to me it feels almost too abrupt. I mean, we've had tribulation and judgments and wrath being detailed for what seems like a really long time, and suddenly it's all over. Just like that?
Yes, just like that. It's as instantaneous as your Salvation. One moment you're dead, the next you are alive in Christ. It's as instantaneous as eternity with Jesus. One moment you're in this body of death, and the next you are clothed in white robes in heaven with the Lord.
Paul writes, The Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels inflaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power when he comes in that day to be glorified in his Saints and to be admired among all those who believe. Jude tells us that Enoch, the first man to be raptured, was a Prophet, writing Now Enoch the 7th from Adam prophesied about these men Apostates also saying, Behold, the Lord comes with 10,000 of his Saints to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Jesus also talked about these events in Matthew 24 saying as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of man be. The idea is that when Jesus returns, everyone on Earth will see it because it will light up the entire sky.
The whole atmosphere will be full of the glory of God and his Saints and his Angels returning with him. And then Jesus says, for wherever the carcasses there the Eagles will be gathered. And I have to share this because whenever I've taught on this previously, I shared I had no idea what it meant and all the scholars I had read said that too. They either didn't know, or they had explanations that clearly didn't make sense. But after more than 15 years, I believe that Jesus has revealed the answer to me this week and it is annoyingly obvious as I'm sure some of you have just figured it out.
It's simply an allusion to Revelation 19 verses 17 and 18 where the angel calls the meat-eating birds to feast on the dead bodies of God's enemies. It's Eagles gathering around dead bodies at the second coming that's the illusion mysteries solved. Jesus continues in Matthew 24 and says, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the Earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."
And he will send his Angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other, the elect on heaven and on the Earth. Those who have turned to Jesus in the tribulation along with all of those who are in Heaven will be gathered and invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The Church will be there as the bride of Christ. Those who have rejected the Lord will mourn not in repentance, but because their Kingdom has been brought to nothing and Jesus is coming to claim the Earth as his own. However, there will be one group of people who will mourn in repentance at the Second Coming ethnic Israel, all ethnic Jews who are still alive on the Earth at the second coming and have not yet recognized Jesus as Messiah.
You see, because they collectively rejected Jesus at his first coming. Israel has had their spiritual eyes blinded to the truth ever since because they would not believe in Jesus. God made it so they cannot believe in Jesus. And the Lord did this to be merciful because every person who rejects God will be judged based upon the degree of revelation they received. The greater the revelation, the greater the sin of rejecting Jesus knowing they would continue to reject Jesus throughout the centuries, God chose to limit Israel's revelation, sparing them even greater judgment.
Verse 19 John says, And I saw the beast, the Kings of the Earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army. So these armies will be gathered together on the plain of Jesrael in the Valley in Northern Israel, more famously known as Armageddon. Antichrist's plan will be a final attempt to wipe ethnic and political Israel off the face of the Earth, starting with Jerusalem. Revelation 16 tells us that armies from the east will be gathered at Armageddon. According to Daniel Eleven, the south, which includes the Pan African Nations and the Arab States, will band together and head north into this conflict as well as the King of the north, likely Russia.
And as they all meet and converge in and around Armageddon, they will look up and see Jesus returning to the Earth. Their response will be to turn all their weapons upon him in the greatest Fool's errand the world will ever witness. Now notice the extreme amount of detail were given regarding the epic back-and-forth battle between Jesus and Satan. Verse 20. Then the beast was captured and with him the false Prophet who worked signs in his presence by which he deceived those who received the Mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image.
These two were cast alive into the Lake of fire, burning with brimstone. It happens like that in an instant. Antichrist, the beast, and the false Prophet are captured and cast into the Lake of fire. And if you're thinking, what about Satan? Well, he gets dealt with first thing in the next chapter.
The Lake of fire is the final destination of Satan, Antichrist, the False Prophet, all supernatural entities opposed to God, and all men and women who reject Jesus as Lord and Savior. Hades is a temporary holding place for the spirits of men and women where they await their final judgment before being cast into the Lake of fire. Verse 21: "The rest of the armies opposing Jesus were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of him who sat on the horse..." That's Jesus "...and all the birds were filled with their flesh." The voice that calmed the storm, cast out demons, healed the sick, raised the dead, and created the universe, will speak a word, an Antichrist, and the false Prophet will be cast into the Lake of fire. He will speak a word, and physical life will flee from their armies.
He will speak a word, and all those who have hated him will lose their earthly lives and descend into Hades. Jesus' victory will be effortless and instantaneous. The Prophet Zechariah describes God's wrath against the armies of Armageddon. This is a little graphic. This shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem.
Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet. Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongue shall dissolve in their mouths. It shall come to pass in that day that a great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor and raise his hand against his neighbor's hand. Their bodies will rapidly decay where they stand, or they will be killed by their fellow soldiers who will be seized by absolute panic.
As I mentioned in the Introduction, two of the things that Jesus will do at the Second Coming are defeat all forces of evil, freeing the Earth of Satan's influence that'll take place at Armageddon and remove everyone on the Earth who has rejected him. That will be the sheep and goat's judgment. Those who hate Jesus will not want to live under his rule in the Millennium, so he will honor their desire and remove them from the Earth. I want to share some more verses with you that speak about these future events in two. Thessalonians chapter one, verses seven through ten.
I was a stranger and you did not take me in naked, and you did not clothe me sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they will also answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked or sick or in prison, and did not Minister to you? Then he will answer them, saying, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me, and these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Jesus also described this judgment in Matthew 13. If you want to turn there.
Beginning in Matthew 13, verses 24, Jesus shares what is known as the parable of the tears, saying, another parable he put forth to them, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came, and sowed tears among the wheat and went on his way. Tears are a type of weed that looks exactly like wheat until it is harvested. So it's a disastrous thing if you're trying to grow a field of wheat and you get tears in there because you can't discern between the weeds and the wheat. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tears also appeared.
So the servants of the owner came and said to him, sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tears? He said to them, an enemy has done this. The inerrant said to him, do you want us then to go and gather them up? But he said, no, lest while you gather up the tears, you also uproot the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest. And at the time of the harvest I will say to the Reapers, first gather together the tears and bind them in bundles to burn them. But gather the wheat into my barn. And if we go down to verse 37, Jesus explains the parable. He answered and said to them, he who sows the good seed is the Son of man, that's Jesus, the field is the world, and the good seeds are the sons of the Kingdom.
But the terrors are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the Reapers are the Angels. Therefore, as the tears are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age the Son of man will send out his Angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine forth as the Son in the Kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let them hear. The second coming will be glorious and joyful for those who love the Lord, but it will also be doom and terror for those who hate him. And I'll say it again, there will not be doom and terror and repentance. The phrase gnashing of teeth means they will still be displaying the hostility toward God that marked their lives.
Like Pharaoh in the face of the miracles of Egypt and the people of the Earth, in the face of the miracles of the Tribulation, God will simply be giving them what they want eternity apart from him. Now it's a whole separate study, but I just want to point out something for you. Bible Nerds The famous war of God and May GOG described in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, bears many similarities to Armageddon. Just go and read Ezekiel 39, verses 17 through 20 and compare it to Revelation chapter 19, verses 17 and 18. You might find a little bit of clarity regarding the timing of the war of GOG and Magog and where it falls in the chronology of eschatological events.
We are talking about people who refuse to repent no matter how bad things got. We are talking about people who took the Mark of the beast and pledged their allegiance to Antichrist despite seeing and hearing an angel warning them that it would result in their eternal damnation. We are talking about people who cheered as those who love Jesus were murdered. But most of all, we are talking about people who will simply be given what they want. They don't want to serve Jesus.
They don't want a relationship with Him. They don't want to be part of his family. They don't want to be under his leadership and authority. And so Jesus will give them what they want an eternity apart from Him. Those who aren't killed at Armageddon will be judged and executed at the so called sheep and goat judgment, which will likely immediately follow.
Stick your bulletin or a bookmark where we are in Revelation 19 and then turn with me to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25. We're going to jump in in verses 31 and we'll read through verse 46. So let me read to you the words of Jesus, Matthew 25 31. He says, when the Son of man comes in his glory and all the Holy Angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory in Jerusalem.
All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats, and he will set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on his left. So at the second coming after Armageddon, everyone alive on the Earth will be gathered before Jesus, and he will separate those who belong to Him from those who do not. He says, Then the King Jesus will say to those on his right hand, the sheep, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit. And then underline this phrase, the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. This is another one of those little clues about our future destiny that we miss because what it's saying is so incredible it doesn't even enter our minds to consider.
It seems scandalous. It sounds blasphemous, but Jesus Himself referred to His Kingdom as being prepared for us from the foundation of the world. When the Bible teaches that we have become adopted sons and daughters of the Father, it also teaches that our adoption has made us brothers and sisters of the Father's Son Jesus. He is our Savior, he is our Lord, and he is also our brother through adoption. And one of the things that I just cannot wrap my head around is the reality that Jesus is excited to share everything he has with us.
We didn't earn any of it. He earned it all, and it is given to Him by His Father. And yet, even though Jesus earned it through the worst suffering anyone will ever endure, all he wants to do with His Kingdom is share it with those who love Him, saying, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. As David mused when he pondered the ways of the Lord, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high.
I cannot attain it. Jesus continues in verses 25 and says, For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and take you in or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. Then he will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and His Angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink.
Because when the Jesus of the Bible rules the nations, it's going to be the greatest age the Earth will ever see. Verse 15 continues. "He himself..." - that's Jesus - "...treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." In the hour when it looks like Israel and Jerusalem are about to be destroyed, Jesus will show up. You may recall that back in chapter 14 we got a preview of Armageddon.
Let me read to you verses 19 and 20 from that chapter again. It says So the angel thrust his sickle into the Earth and gathered the vine of the Earth and threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trampled outside the city and blood came out of the wine press up to the horse's bridles for 1600 furlongs. That's around 176 miles. Armageddon, the Second Coming is no battle, it's no war.
Jesus speaks and his enemies are destroyed. They're crushed. Jesus died for the sins of every man and woman on Earth. He personally paid. He personally received the penalty for the sins of every man and woman who has ever and will ever live.
Therefore, he has every right to pour out fierceness and wrath on those who refuse to accept his sacrifice on their behalf. And he will. Verse 16 and he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I used to get real fired up about this because at first reading it seems to be implying that Jesus has a tattoo. However, having a tattoo is actually a violation of Old Testament law, which Jesus kept perfectly as a man on the Earth, and it seems likely has never and will never violate.
The more likely explanation is that King of Kings and Lord of Lords is written on the hem of his garment, the bottom edge where one's family pedigree was traditionally indicated in Hebrew culture, and his robe is simply pulled up to his thigh because he's riding a horse. But what a scene this is going to be. There really is a moment coming when we will be in our resurrected bodies, join the Angels and all the Saints, and return to the Earth with Jesus when he comes in glory as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Verse 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun. The original word there is Midheaven, which just means our sky or our atmosphere.
And he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather together for the supper of the great God that you may eat the flesh of Kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great. Talk about a bad Amen for the armies of Antichrist and all those on the Earth who hate the Lord. This angel tells all to prepare the feast because the enemies of God are about to die. There's an intentional contrast in the verbiage here. Those who don't want to be part of the marriage supper of the Lamb will instead be part of the supper of the great God.
The phrase the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great, refers to the fate of those on the Earth who have rejected Jesus throughout the Tribulation. They will not be permitted to enter the millennial Kingdom. Rather, they will be judged at the Second Coming. Their earthly bodies will be executed and their spirits will descend into Hades. Unless you think this sounds harsh, please remember that we are talking about people who refuse to turn to Jesus despite all the signs and wonders and judgments displayed over the seven years seven years of the Tribulation.
We approach the Bible so reverently, and it's why we take it so seriously. Would you write this down? The Word of God is part of Jesus identity. The Word of God is part of Jesus identity.
Verses 14 and the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses in heaven, who is clothed in fine linen, white and clean. The Saints, you and me. We saw that in our previous study in verses seven and eight of Revelation 19. Revelation seven verse is told us that white robes will also be given to Tribulation Saints, those who turn to Jesus after the Rapture in the Tribulation. This army will also certainly include the old Covenant Saints who will have just received their resurrected bodies, and the Angels who are prophesied to be with Christ at his return.
So to summarize, the armies in heaven will include the Church, tribulation Saints, old Covenant Saints, and the Angels. Jesus return is going to be spectacular. And keep in mind, Jesus doesn't need any backup. Armageddon isn't going to be a war. It's going to be an appointment and a very short appointment at that.
We won't be there to fight. Jesus will take care of everything as he always has and does. We will be there.
We'll be waving towels, high-fiving each other, singing, and shaking each other by the shoulders as we yell at each other's faces. Did you see that? That's our role in the return of Jesus. And I for one cannot wait to do my part in that verse 15. Now out of his mouth, the mouth of Jesus goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations.
As I mentioned a minute ago, I don't think we should take this literally because the Bible uses a sharp sword as an idiom for the word of God in places like Hebrews 4/12. And verse 13 of this same chapter just highlighted the fact that one of Jesus Amen is the word of God. All Jesus has to do is speak His will and reality bends to fulfill it. The words of Jesus created mankind, and the words of Jesus will ultimately destroy those on the Earth who reject him. Jesus speaks judgment and his enemies are judged.
Jesus speaks destruction and his enemies are destroyed. That's the idea here. It goes on and it says, and he himself will rule them, the nations with a Rod of iron. Now, this is also figurative. It means that Jesus will be in absolute control of the Earth when he rules from the throne of David in Jerusalem.
His enemies will not rise and overthrow him. He will have the power to enforce righteousness on the Earth. When somebody does something evil, it will be immediately identified and righteously judged. I want to point out real quickly that according to verse 15, the time when Jesus rules the nations comes after his return to the Earth. So, to anyone who would say, we're in the Millennium right now, I would humbly ask, did I miss something?
Because I can't remember the second coming having taken place. Yet the first part of verse 15 reveals that the "them" in question are the nations. Now, why is that important? Well, if there is no Millennium, no 1000-year reign, as some claim, then when does Jesus rule the nation with a Rod of iron? I pray that none of you believe we're in the millennial Kingdom right now, because if this is the Millennium, then I don't know about you, but I'm deeply disappointed because I have much higher expectations.
When the Jesus I read about in the Scriptures rules the nations, it seems obvious to me that it will be the most glorious season of history the world will ever see. So, whether you take verse 15 allegorically or literally, I just don't see how in the world you could possibly conclude that Jesus is presently ruling the nations. Because if he is, it's going horribly Ergo. He is not. That's why I can't wait for the day when this verse is truly fulfilled.
If you belong to Jesus, you have already been judged by God. The Father judged Jesus for your sins, in your place, judgment for your sins past, present, and future was rendered to Jesus just outside the city of Jerusalem around 2000 years ago. Can you say Amen to that good news? Amen. That is good news.
We've already been judged if we belong to Jesus. Verse twelve, his eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. This description of Jesus' eyes is intended to convey the fact that he is coming to judge the Earth. Fire speaks of judgment in the Scriptures, and the reference to many crowns is intended to convey the absolute authority over everything and everyone that Jesus has. He has absolute authority over everything and everyone on the Earth and everyone and everything in the universe.
Everyone who's ever lived it says he had a name written that no one knew except himself. In the Bible, one's name tends to speak of one's nature, and what is suggested here is that there is a side to Jesus that nobody knows except God. And when we see him, when we really see Jesus face to face, we will be absolutely awed by what we behold. Because even the most devoted among us don't know Jesus today the way we will know Him. Then Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:12 that now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.
Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I am also known. One day we will know Jesus the way he knows us, and we will spend eternity appreciating the infinite nuances and facets of his glory. Verse 13 he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and then underlined this and his name is called the Word of God. The second coming of Jesus is literal. Aspects of it, such as the sword coming out of his mouth, the rod of iron which we'll read about in a moment, and the wine press at Armageddon, are figurative.
The robe of Jesus that is dipped in blood is figurative. And we know that because at this moment Jesus has not yet engaged his enemies on the Earth. It's pointing to what is about to unfold on the Earth as Jesus returns as a conquering warrior. If you saw an image of a soldier holding a knife with blood sprayed on his clothes, you would immediately recognize that this is a warrior, not an ambassador coming to offer terms of peace. That's the idea here.
It's imagery that is foreshadowing the fact that Jesus is returning to the Earth as the lion of Judah, not the Lamb of God. If you ever think we overstate or overemphasize the importance of the Word of God the Bible, please notice. Verses 13 The Word of God is one of Jesus's names. It's who he is. His Word is intimately and inseparably part of his identity.
John, who just told us that Jesus name is the Word of God, began his Gospel with these words. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Then he goes on in in verses 14 of that same chapter to write, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of Grace and truth. Jesus is His Word and His Word is Him. It's a mystical truth that Jesus and His Word are inseparably connected.
And so when we interact with God's, would he interact with God? That's why we approach the Bible so reverently, and it's why we take it so seriously. Would you write this down? The Word of God is part of Jesus identity. The Word of God is part of Jesus identity.
Thank you for that, Lord. We are back in chapter 19 this week for part two of the Second Coming, where we will witness Jesus returning to the Earth with us to rule and reign for the thousand years of the millennial Kingdom. There are five things that I mentioned last time to keep in mind that will take place at the Second Coming. First, Jesus will defeat all forces of evil, freeing the Earth of Satan's influence. Second, Jesus will reveal himself to Israel and their relationship will be restored.
Third, Jesus will remove everyone on the Earth who has rejected Him. Fourth, Jesus will host the marriage supper of the Lamb, where he will be joined to his bride, the Church. And fifth, Jesus will inaugurate the millennial Kingdom and begin his reign over the Earth from Jerusalem. Let's jump back into the text. In Revelation chapter 19, verse eleven, John says, Now I saw heaven opened underlined I saw heaven opened.
As we mentioned in that introduction, heaven opened in chapter four, verse one, for the Rapture, the event where Jesus comes for his Church. Let me just read it to you one more time. At that moment, John said, after these things, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. It's obvious that in the event described in that verses, the believer is moving from Earth to heaven.
Remember that Jesus told his disciples, I will come again and receive you to myself. Now here in Revelation 1911, we see heaven open again for the Second Coming, the event where Jesus comes with his Church and will see that the believer now moves from heaven to Earth. Paul referred to this as the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his Saints and Zechariah prophesied about the Second Coming, writing, Thus the Lord my God will come and all the Saints with you. When you begin to examine the details of these two events, the Rapture and the Second Coming, it quickly becomes apparent that they cannot possibly be the same event. They're so different, they are undeniably mutually exclusive.
At the Rapture, Jesus comes for his Church. At the Second Coming, Jesus comes with his Church. So write this down on your outlines in Revelation four one, heaven opens for the Rapture. In Revelation 1911, heaven opens for the second coveting and the seven year tribulation takes place between those two events, the Rapture and the Second Coming. Continuing in verse is and behold a white horse, and he who sat on him was called Faithful and true.
Underlying faithful and true. And then underline this in righteousness he judges and makes war. Faithful and true is how Jesus referred to Himself back in Revelation 314 in his letter to the Last Church. The Last Day's Church, the Church age. We are living in the Laodiceaan Church.
Just as Jesus was faithful to do His Father's will at his first coming, he will be faithful to do his Father's will at his second Coming. And just as he was true to every promise he made in his word regarding his first Coming, he will be true to every promise he has made in his word regarding his second coveting, he is faithful and true. I also had you line the phrase, in righteousness he judges and makes war, because in light of everything we see in the Book of Revelation, we must never forget that everything God does is righteous. It's right. Have you ever heard somebody post or rock a tattoo that reads, Only God can judge me?
By this point in our study, I hope we all understand that such notions are true and should terrify those who belong to Jesus who do not belong to Jesus. Sorry, because he will judge every man and woman. If you have a tattoo that says Only God can judge me, that should concern you. If you are not right with the Lord because he will judge you. But here's the glorious truth.
The Second Coming (Part 2)................................Date:3/27/22
Passage: Revelation 19:11-21...........................Speaker: Jeff Thompson
The moment of Jesus’ return has finally arrived! This study sees Jesus return to the earth with His saints at the Second Coming, to rule and reign from the throne of David in Jerusalem and usher in the thousand years of the Millennial Kingdom.
Well, can you believe it? There are still those who are saying that the book of Revelation is hard to understand. But codswallops say, we for you see the word itself. Revelation means that something has been revealed. And the first words of this amazing book tell us exactly who it is that's being revealed.
It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. And God wanted us to read this book so much that he promised anyone who would take the time to read and respond to it a special blessing. And we find that blessing in Revelation chapter one, verse three. Let's claim it together as we always do. It says, Blessed is he or she who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near, but God knew they would still be those who would claim Revelation is hard to understand.
So to make it easy to understand, he also included a simple and easy to follow outline. And we find that in Revelation chapter one, verse 19, it says, Write the things which you have seen. Jesus says, John, I want you to write about the resurrected and glorified version of me that you saw in chapter one. Then Jesus says, John, I want you to write about the things which are that refers to the Church age, which began around 32 ad continues to the present day and is prophesied in chronological order in chapters two and three, and then third. And lastly, Jesus says, John, I want you to write about the things which will take place after this, after the Church age comes to a close.
And when does the Church age end? That happens in Revelation, chapter four, verse one. Let me read it to you. John says, after these things I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I heard, that was the voice of Jesus in chapter one was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And up John goes, serving as a picture of the Church who will be raptured to be with the Lord.
And Jesus takes all of chapters four and five to make sure that we don't miss the fact that the Church is with Him in heaven before his wrath is poured out on the Earth that has rejected Him. And as the wrath is being poured out, Revelation 616 reveals that those on the Earth will know and understand the source of their judgment, identifying it as the wrath of the Lamb. And who is the Lamb? In Scripture, it's Jesus. So chapter one introduces the focus of Revelation Jesus Christ, chapters two and three take us through the Church age up to the present day.
The Church goes up in chapter four, verses one. We see her safe and secure with the Lord in heaven. For chapters four and five before wrath comes down in chapter six, that wrath will continue for seven years, the course of which is known as the Tribulation, and it's documented in chapter 619, after which Jesus returns to the Earth with His Saints in the event known as the Second Coming, which we will be studying today. And the good news is that if you love Jesus, then I can tell you this. Your story will end with the words and they live happily ever after.
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What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
Jesus has told us how this universe will end. He has told us that this is not our home. In light of that, how should we live? What does living wisely look like? I've said it a lot in this verse is I'll say it again, don't waste your life. Don't waste your life. Don't spend your life on things that are destined to dissolve. Spend your life on Jesus. Live for him radically, not recreationally, and do not get caught up in the cares of this world. Last week, like many of you, I read through the first 26 chapters of Deuteronomy for Home Group.Moses is ending Israel of their history, what God has done for them, and he's reminding them of the things they most need to remember in the future. I was struck by how often Moses says things like Remember and do not forget. I looked it up and Moses says, remember 14 times over the first 26 chapters of Deuteronomy. One of the warnings Moses gives Israel is to watch out for spiritual complacency when the struggles are over, when the battles are done, when life starts getting good, that's when we're especially vulnerable. In Deuteronomy chapter eight, Moses says this to Israel, beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His Commandments, his judgments and his statutes, which I command you today, lest when you have eaten and are full and have built beautiful houses and dwelling them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, when your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, who led you through that great and terrible wilderness in which were fiery serpents and Scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water, who brought water for you out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with Manna which your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and that he might test you to do you good in the end.
Then you say in your heart My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth, and you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. If you're a Christian who's been around the Church for a while, then you've seen this type of thing play out. Unfortunately, people get something they've longed for. They reach a life stage or a goal they've been investing in for ages, and they just tune out. They shift into cruise control. In their walk with Jesus, they become complacent and lose spiritual hunger and zeal. I've seen it happen when people get into a romantic relationship that they've been longing for. I've seen it happen when people start having kids. I've seen it happen when a person's career or business finally starts really taking off. I've seen it happen when people reach retirement. We get distracted, we get complacent, and God just slips down the priority list. And if we allow ourselves to fall into that type of spiritual malaise, we can end up wasting years of our lives living for things that are meaningless. We can waste entire seasons of our lives.
Nate Saint was the pilot of the plane that flew Jim Elliot and three others into the remote Ecuadorian jungle where they hoped to reach an isolated tribe with the gospel. All five were immediately murdered by that tribe, and if you don't know what happened after that, you should go and read the story because it's amazing. There are two quotes from Nate Saint that I think are worth reflecting on. He said, "People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives, and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted." He also said, "When life's flight is over and we unload our cargo at the other end, the fellow who got rid of unnecessary weight will have the most valuable cargo to present to the Lord." Don't waste your life.