“The Millenium And The Great White Throne” • 11.29.20 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- Chapter 19 concluded with a final showdown between the Antichrist and the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a genuine non-event, as the Lord destroyed his army without any effort.
- The short and blood reign of the beast is over and the King of King's is about to begin!
- As we cross into chapter 20, we are witnessing the establishment of Christ's Kingdom on Earth. We have a ways to go, so we'll just jump right into this. Verse 1.
Text
• Revelation 20:1-3 : "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while." John reports seeing an angel, one that is unnamed and of a general sort. He is equipped with the key to the bottomless pit and a large chain.
- This word refers to the kind of restraint that John would be very familiar with. The links of the large chain would end with a "manacle," which would be used to restrain the hands or feet.
- A Roman soldier would use a single chain for each limb and cross them over one another. Whether or not this is a literal "chain," the effect is conclusive.
- This ordinary angel easily overpowers the Devil and casts him, I'd like to believe "headlong," into the Abyss. As you can see, the Devil is far from being the equal or opposite of God.
- At the Lord's orders, the Devil has been seized and will be unable to ply his trade for a thousand years or, as the Latin translates it, a Millenium. Look at these four names for our enemy.
- The word "drakon" carries the meaning of causing one to look. He's a fascinating and dangerous animal who is cunning and shrewd.
- The ancients believed that the "serpent" represented crafty wisdom. Even the Greek name is associated with a sharp focus. His nature leads humanity to focus anywhere beside God!
- Of course, we are much more familiar with the words "devil" and "Satan." The Devil is the accuser of the brethren, our prosecuting attorney and the adversary of Christ and Christ's people.
- He is the true and ultimate criminal mastermind and at the end of the Great Tribulation, our enemy is bound with an initial sentence. He is shut up and the door is sealed above him.
- Satan isn't going anywhere! With minimal effort, God was able to set Satan aside.
- The next line however, is somewhat troubling. After the thousand years, "he must be released for a little while!" Why? Why let him loose again? Will this be probation for good behavior?
- Not at all. What is difficult for us to see is the purpose that Satan serves in God's economy.
- There will be a very important reason for his release, which we will see in a moment. Until then, he is behind proverbial bars. Verse 4.
• Revelation 20:4a : "And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them." : There are thrones and there are people who occupied them. They are given the right to pronounce and enact judgment. Who are the they?
- Daniel 7 offers us some insights that are very valuable at this point. Daniel watched this scene until "thrones were put in place and the Ancient of Days was seated." (Daniel 7:25)
- He is describing the Lord's victory final victory over the Antichrist and his system.
- When the court is finished taking their seats, Daniel tells us that the people seated are the "Saints of the Most High!" (Daniel 7:27)
- The Lord will give a portion of His people the right to judge the people that are left upon this earth! Perhaps it is the 24 elders. Their oversight will be over an interesting group. Verse 4.
• Revelation 20:4b-5 : "Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped 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 a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 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 a thousand years." : The Apostle makes note of the souls who had lost their lives during the Great Tribulation.
- They had been beheaded on account of remaining faithful to their witness to Jesus and for their loyalty to the word of God!
- When the world demanded that they concede, these men and women held their ground, held to their Lord and held fast, as the NLT renders, to their "proclamation of the word of God!"
- They would not go silent and these paid the ultimate price. They refused to bow their knees to the Antichrist or his vile image. They gave up their rights to participate in the open market.
- They could not buy or sell without his mark, a decision that would supposedly seal their fate. And it did. They died at the hands of the Antichrist system and THEY LIVED AGAIN!
- Truly, when a life is in the hands of Almighty God, that life is never lost! Jesus tells this to Martha shortly after her brother Lazarus died. "He who believes in me will never die!" (John 11:26)
- Similarly, the Lord makes a telling remark to the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection or anything supernatural for that matter. Turn in your Bibles to Luke 20.
- Jesus is listening to the Sadducees put together a long narrative regarding Levirate marriage and a wife that outlived seven brothers. "Whose wife will she be in the resurrection?"
• Luke 20:34-38 : "Jesus answered and said to them, 'The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.'" : When Jesus is Your Lord, you are always alive to God! The final joke will be on the world that tried to fool God's people into giving up their true lives!
- They "died" as enemies of the state, as paupers, as men and women with the least of the world's riches. On this day, they live as those co-regents to the King of Kings!
- They reigned along with Him for a thousand years! What a bargain when you think about it: These people gave up their potential 80 years for a guaranteed thousand and then some!
- What kind of math covers this sort of spread!? Our lives on Earth are but a vapor! (Psalm 39:4,11) Our true life in Christ is eternal! That is the whole story of the "righteous dead."
- They lived in Him, chose obedience to Him, died in Him, rose in Him and will live again in Him! The story of the unrighteous dead however, is quite different.
- They did not raise, but remained in their suspended state until the end of the thousand year period. What John was witnessing was the "blessed and holy" first resurrection.
- It is happy and sacred for God and His people as God endow His faithful servants with power and privilege upon the Earth. The second death will have no power over them.
- What an intriguing statement to make and one very worthy of you uttmost consideration. These had gone through a first death.
- Unless the rapture occurs, each Christian is going to face death. Like Elisha, we will all die of the sickness that we will die from! That death is necessary, a part of our journey home.
- It's the second death that is a choice. The first death is physical, the second death is spiritual. The first death ends a life and the second death brings with it a judicial and eternal sentence!
- The old statement is still true today: "Live once, Die twice. Live twice, Die once!"
- These who are raised during this thousand year period will never have to concern themselves with the second death. They are untouchable priests that will reign with and serve Christ!
- How will they serve Him? They will be priests. Priests have always represented God's desires to men and they have represented men before God!
- It's incredible to believe, but the presence of priests is indicative of men who will relay the desires of King Jesus to other men.
- This means that there will be men who survive the Great Tribulation without having made a decision to trust Christ, nor have they given their loyalty to the Beast. How will this be possible?
- Were they born to people late in the Tribulation period? Could it be that kids will be exempt until a certain age from the mark of the beast? Are these just cave dwelling doom preppers!?
- We don't know, but at the end of the age, the Lord will separates the sheep from the goats and the Lord's people are brought into the Kingdom, while the unbelievers are outside of it.
- All will benefit from the Lord's government and justice on this planet for a thousand years. Life will flourish in ways that have never been seen before according to scripture.
- I won't be able to give you an exhaustive list this morning, but consider these passages and what they tell us of the quality of life that will be the norm in the Millenium.
- Ezekiel 47:8 reports that water coming from the Temple will heal the waters of this planet. Isaiah 30:23-26 describes a new and longer pattern of day and night.
- Predictably, because the Prince of Peace will rule from Jerusalem, the world will experience unprecedented peace, according to Isaiah 2:2-4.
- Isaiah 35:5,6 speaks of a world without disability or defect. Consequently, men will live with lifespans similar to those found in the early parts of Genesis!
- Isaiah 65:20-23 tells us that a 100 year old will be considered a "baby" and that the lives of the righteous will be compared with those of trees! Whatever our work will be will not be in vain!
- That means that there will be work to do, but it will not be cursed by frustration as it is today!
- And then, there is my personal favorite quality. Isaiah 11:6-9 presents a picture of men and animals living in such harmony, that it won't be strange to find a nursing child playing with cobras!
- That is what the Millenium will be like in short! But, then we come to verse 7.
• Revelation 20:7-10 : "Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." : John fast forwards to the end and the release of Satan. Without batting an eye, Satan returns to his ways.
- A thousand years, a million or even a billion years would never issue in his rehabilitation!
- There has been no reform, no change in his nature. The moment he is released, he begins to work out his plan to lead the nations away from their safety. That is what it means "to deceive!"
- There is safety in Jesus Christ, protection as we obey Him, preservation as we choose His will over our own. Satan will do all he can to lure us out from that string of truths to trust ourselves!
- "But certainly, he won't have a chance now!" Look at how humanity has recovered! A thousand years of peace have produced nations of men upon every "corner" of the globe!
- Despite the overwhelmingly positive conditions upon the planet, Satan is still able to spur men on with the same set of temptations that he has always used!
- "Is God good?" "He won't punish you like He said!" "He just doesn't want you to be free!" Unbelievably, Satan will be able to rouse humanity to attempt to rebel against God again!
- Do you see what role Satan plays in the economy of God? God will not have men love Him who have had no choice to reject Him!
- Love requires real choice and Satan gives men the opportunity to make that choice! And within these verses lay the real purpose of the Millenium.
- Men will have a thousand years of peace. They will flourish like never before in history. They will have the opportunity to know Jesus and to see Him regularly.
- What keeps men from turning to God? It's not their lack of information. Jesus will be a visible King over the Earth and resurrected saints will lead people to listen to Him regularly!
- It won't be for their lack of powerful and present personalities. Did I mention resurrected saints? King David will be governor of Jerusalem! Imagine who else will be walking around!
- It can't be for their lack of an ideal environment. Nobody in the millenium will be able to cry "foul" against God. There will be no injustice. There will equal opportunity.
- But even with all of these advantages, human beings will still be living with their own worst problem: Their heart is dead before God, incapable of responding favorably toward Him!
- A thousand years, a million years of peaceful conditions won't change the fact that our own depravity is the greatest tool that our enemy possesses!
- It will be enough for Satan to rouse the nations to battle against the Lord and His holy city. John calls this group "Gog and Magog." This has been a source of some mystery.
- Is John giving away the timing of the Gog/Magog invasion and setting it at the end of the Millenium? If not, why is he using this language?
- Without getting too deep into the throes of Ezekiel 37 through 39, I will suggest that John is using these titles figuratively. I'll explain more in a moment.
- First, you'll note the size of this confederacy. The thousand years have produced quite a boon in population. There is a group that rivals the sand of the sea in number.
- They will organize themselves in such a way as to surround the New Jerusalem, the home of the King and all of His saints.
- As with the "Battle of Armageddon," this rebellion will be over in a moment of time. The Lord will hardly move and His saints won't feel an ounce of tension.
- The Lord will utterly consume these foes with fire from heaven. It won't even take a moment!
- This will be the Devil's final assault. In the wisdom of God, he is finally assigned to the lake of fire! He will finally be where he truly belongs, tormented in the lake of fire.
- Note who is there to greet him. Satan joins the Antichrist and the false prophet. They have been in the lake of fire since the end of the Great Tribulation for over a thousand years!
- They are still there, alive and in torment when Satan arrives! It gets even more clear as the Lord inspires John to delineate the length of their sentence.
- They will be tormented day and night forever and ever! There will be no reprieve. There will be no annhilation. The lake of fire will be full of God's enemies, beginning with these three!
- They may have plenty of room at the beginning, but they will not be alone for long! Verse 11.
• Revelation 20:11,12 : "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. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, 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 and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works." : John has looked upon many other thrones, but then, there was only one significant, radiant throne and only One who was allowed to sit upon it.
- The One on it was so fierce that none could stand in His presence. Earth and heaven fled away, as an opposing army flees for safety because there was no place for them.
- John is relaying to us that there isn't another thing in the Universe that can occupy the same space as the King of all Kings! When the judgment comes, He will judge by Himself.
- This is where everything is headed for humanity. The dead, the ones that had died in their unrighteous state now stand before God. The small and the great, the mikros and the megas.
- There isn't a person with enough clout to get out of this, nor is there a person who is so insignificant that they can skip out!
- They are bid to stand before God and books are opened. In ancient times, a person who was beckoned to stand in court was only there to receive their sentence!
- This is not a judgment where one argues their case. This is a judgment where men's cases confirm men's place in the Universe. How are they judged? That's where the books come in.
- "And the dead were judged according to their works." These are the actions that are recorded in the volumes pertaining to a person's life!
- God's judgment upon mankind will be just and mankind will receive what their works deserve.
- Unfortunately, there isn't a person alive whose works can bring them to an abiding righteous standard before a holy God! In the absence of faith, even "good works" are tainted!
- Imagine doing things that you think are good, but doing them from a motive of self-interest. That supposed "good work" means nothing before God!
- I can imagine being here at this moment, thinking, "Good. God has seen everything that I've done for Him. Now, we'll get this settled!" Unfortunately, it will be settled in an entirely different way!
- A person's works will be included in the books, as will the multiple times that the person has been called upon to trust in the FINISHED work of the Lord Jesus.
- There may be volumes of books collected by God regarding the record of your life, but if your name has not been registered in the Book of Life, you are nowhere! There is no balancing act here!
- All of our good works OUTSIDE of our faith in Jesus Christ, equal to less than nothing! Here is the work of God: That you believe in Him who He sent! (John 6:29)
- When you look at this judgment, you may wonder if there is any that could escape. Maybe their death was far enough away that they would have escaped God's judgment!
- Perhaps, in the intermediate state between physical death and the Great White Throne judgment, they had suffered enough. Think again!
- The sea gave up it's dead. Hades, the place of the unrighteous dead, gave up it's dead. Every single person who has ever lived and died will stand before the Lord and be judged!
- The dividing line will be based upon one's response to Jesus Christ, the most important question that one can answer in this lifetime! Verse 14.
• Revelation 20:14,15 : "Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." : We cannot truly comprehend this moment.
- Death itself, the ruling entity that has been the penalty for sin, will be thrown into the lake of fire. It will no longer hold any sway over mankind again.
- Never again will death be the inevitable end of any person. This final enemy will be destroyed forever. Because death is unnecessary, so also is the grave.
- Hades is the holding place of the unrighteous dead. In one swift moment, all of Hades is tossed into the lake of fire.
- This is the second death, the moment when God's sentence upon unbelieving humanity is finalized for all eternity! These will have lived once and died twice!
- The first death is physical, the second death is spiritual! The first death is natural, the second death is supernatural. What do I mean by this? Listen to this phrase.
- Every person not found in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire! Those that are in the lake of fire will be tormented day and night for ever and ever! (Revelation 20:10)
- There is no way to say this any more clearly in the Greek language. If you have ever believed in annhilationism, you have no scriptural ground to stand upon.
- It is a sentimental favorite among those with little backbone, but it is undeniably heresy! But how is it possible for flesh to remain in such a tortured position for all of eternity?
- There are two options here. First, the righteous are given bodies that can inhabit and enjoy eternal reward. It is possible that there are similar bodies given to the unrighteous?
- Are they granted bodies that are able to endure eternal punishment? I cannot recall a single scripture that says this or even hints at it. This leads me to my second thought.
- Colossians 1:17 tells us that in Christ, all things "consist," that is, they are held together. It seems very clear that Jesus is able to hold the unrighteous together for all eternity.
- There in torment, their "worm will not die and their fire is not quenched! (Isaiah 66:24) This doctrine is as true as it is sobering and you would do well never to be guilty of softening it!
Conclusion
- As we close, there are many things which call for our attention, but
this is what is paramount: Do you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior? Have you
repented from your sin and believed upon Him?
- These are assured that they have no fear of the second death, nor will they be anywhere near the White Throne judgment! Hell is real, eternal and painful.
- Even if it cost you everything, it would be worth it to avoid this place! And the beauty is that it already cost Christ everything to offer it to you for "free!"
- If you have never called upon the name of the Lord, if this chapter teaches us anything, it teaches us to do just that! May He move upon your heart to respond today!
No comments:
Post a Comment