REVELATION 20 THE MILLENNIUM2011 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Revelation 20 The Millennium

Well, as we get started here in Revelation chapter 20...

Once again, we want to look briefly at the outline of the book of Revelation that Jesus gave to us in Revelation chapter 1 verse 19, where Jesus tells John to write down three different parts of this revelation. The first part is the things of the past. He tells John to write down the things which he had already seen. That was chapter 1 of the book of Revelation, the vision of Jesus that he had there on the island of Patmos.

Then Jesus tells John to write down the things which are, that is the things of the present time, the things really dealing with the church and the church age. And that's found in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. And that time frame, the things that Jesus is writing about and dealing with, is for us the present as well. And it really continues until the rapture of the church that we're living in, that time period that's recorded there in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.

Well then, in chapters 4 through the rest of the book, we have recorded there the things that Jesus told John to write regarding the things that will take place. That is the future things and their yet future for us as we study them together. And as we are here in Revelation chapter 20...

We're looking at things that have not yet taken place, but they will happen. It is going to happen, and it's going to happen the way that is described here by Jesus in the vision that he's given to John here in Revelation chapter 20.

And what are those future things that will take place? Well, it began back in chapter 4. We started talking about the rapture of the church, the time when the church is caught up to be with the Lord, and we will forever be with the Lord from that point on. As the church is out of this world or out of the picture,

then the earth is going to go through seven years of tribulation. It'll be trouble, death, destruction, like the world has never seen before for seven years. We studied through this in chapter 6 through 19, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the seven bowls, all of the things that will be going on during that time.

Well, that tribulation period comes to an end with the return of Jesus Christ. He ends the battle of Armageddon that is taking place, and then he sets up his kingdom here on the earth, and he rules and he reigns for 1,000 years upon the earth. We'll be talking about that today here in Revelation 20. At the end of that 1,000-year period, Satan will lead one final rebellion against God.

And that, of course, will fail. We'll talk about that today. And that will bring upon then the great white throne judgment. Again, that's something we'll deal with today here in Revelation chapter 20. So the millennium, the final rebellion of Satan, the great white throne judgment...

All of these we'll be talking about today in chapter 20. And then chapters 21 and 22, in the coming weeks, we'll talk about the new Jerusalem, the new heavens, the new earth, and the rest of eternity that God has in store for us. And so some exciting things that we're looking at here in the book of Revelation. And as we get started in chapter 20 today, we're dealing with a period of time that's called the millennium.

And so as we get into this portion, I want to spend a few moments before we actually start studying through verse by verse and give you an overview of the millennium. The word millennium simply means a thousand, just like we use the word century to describe 100 years or decade to describe 10 years. A millennium is 1000 years.

And this period is a literal time frame, it's a literal 1000 years that will exist on the earth where Satan will be bound and Jesus will be ruling and reigning here upon the earth. Now during this time you might wonder, well who is living upon the earth during the millennial kingdom?

I want to take you back a little bit to a diagram we showed earlier on in our studies in the book of Revelation, which describes the different kinds of people in relation to the tribulation period. Now, we are the church. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ today, you're included in that. And so we see here from the scriptures that the church will be raptured out, will be caught up to be with the Lord before the tribulation begins.

And so we will not be going through the tribulation. We'll see the birth pains. We'll see them draw nearer and nearer. But we're gone before the Antichrist is revealed.

Then we see in the tribulation there are going to be believers. There's going to be those after the rapture of the church they realize, oh my goodness, the Bible is true. I need to get right with God. And they will turn and they will follow God and have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ by faith just like you and I have today. And so some of those will be martyrs. They will be put to death for their faith in Jesus.

If you remember back in chapter 13 of Revelation, when the mark of the beast is implemented, those who refuse, those who will not worship the beast, are put to death. And so there's going to be many who are put to death for their allegiance to Jesus Christ. And we've seen that several times throughout our study in the book of Revelation. We've seen them in heaven, there in the throne room, with God being clothed in white, those martyrs who come out of the tribulation period.

There will be others though, just call them believers, who are not put to death for their faith, but they die of natural causes or because of the judgments that are being poured out. You know, the earthquakes or the hail or, you know, the fire, those types of things are, you know, affecting them and they're killed during the tribulation period. And so they will enter into the presence of God as well. They will go into heaven.

But then there will also be some believers who survive all the way through the tribulation period. It's going to be rough. It's going to be difficult. We've seen that very clearly. But there will be a few who survive along with the 144,000.

They are protected by God. They're sealed by God. And so they will be brought through the tribulation period as well. And it's those believers and the 144,000 who will enter into the millennium and populate the earth during the millennial kingdom.

Now the final group of people in regard to the tribulation period is unbelievers. Those who have rejected God and they all go to the same place. It's a place called Hades. Whether a person dies today or during the tribulation or at the battle of Armageddon, they go to a place that's called Hades which we'll talk about more as we get to the end of our chapter today in chapter 20.

And so this is kind of a quick diagram or understanding of the different kinds of people that will be involved in the tribulation period. It's the believers in the 144,000 that make it through. And then heading into the millennium, it's the believers who will be able to go into this millennial kingdom and populate it. If you remember in Matthew chapter 25 verses 31 through 46, Jesus gives the account or the parable of the sheep

and the goats. He describes a time of judgment when he will separate the sheep from the goats. The sheep will be able to enter into the kingdom of God and the goats will go to a place of torment. And that's describing that judgment period that happens at the end of the tribulation. The sheep...

That is, those who are righteous, they're allowed to go into the millennium. That's the believers. They go into the millennium and then on to eternity with God beyond that. And so here we have believers. They go into the millennium. They spend that thousand years living upon the earth, having lives...

probably very similar to what you and I know of as life today. These believers, as they enter in, they'll have bodies like you and I have bodies today. They will cook, they will get married, they will have children, they will go to Jerusalem to worship God, they will have food, they will have clothing, they will work fields, all of that. And so very similar to what we are familiar with as life today, they will be living in that time.

There will be some differences though. The believers who live and head into the Millennial Kingdom will experience an earth that is renewed and restored. It's going to be an incredible time of righteousness.

Now here in Revelation chapter 20, John does not give us a lot of description or understanding into what that thousand year period will be like. He talks about a little bit of things at the beginning and a little bit at the end, but the in between, he doesn't really cover that. So for understanding the thousand year reign of Christ and what that will be like, there's many other prophecies in the Old Testament that we can refer to and get an understanding about

I'll refer to them briefly here and there and you can check them out later. One such example is Isaiah chapter 2 verses 1 through 5. And there the prophet Isaiah talks about the time of righteousness and the peace that will exist upon the earth in that time.

We've been studying on Wednesday nights in the book of Ezekiel, the temple that will exist during this thousand year reign of Christ. There will be a temple that's built. There will be sacrifices that are offered. There will be, you know, feasts and things that are celebrated. There's proper order. There will be a priestly order. There's a way for people to come in, a way for people to go out. Ezekiel chapter 40 through 48 deals with all of these things in regards to the millennial temple that will exist today.

during that thousand year reign of Christ. Also, some other things we know about the millennium from the scriptures is that the earth's conditions will be brought back to what it was like before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. There's going to be, you know, kind of a reversal of the sin effect.

In Isaiah chapter 11, it talks about this in regard to animals and how babies will be able to play with vipers and there's no fear, no need of harm. The snakes won't harm them. They'll be able to stick their hand in the viper's nest and the vipers will not be venomous or attacking humans.

We also learned some things from Isaiah chapter 65. And I want to read to you just a quick portion. Isaiah chapter 65, verse 20 through 25.

To give you a little bit of a snapshot of what this time period will be like. In Isaiah 65 verse 20 it says, No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days. For the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner, being one hundred years old, shall be accursed.

They shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit. They shall not plant and another eat. For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people, and my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble. For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord and their offspring with them.

It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while they are still speaking, I will hear. 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 mountains, says the Lord.

And so here Isaiah gives us a little bit of a preview about some of the things that will be happening in that time. He talks about there in verse 20 of Isaiah 65, the long life that will be restored. And if someone dies at a hundred, they'll be thought as a child, that man, they died so young. For us, you know, that's really old. But if you remember Old Testament days, people lived 900 years long. And so that's going to be resumed like that. And

There'll be long life restored at that time. He says that they're going to build houses and live in them. They're going to plant vineyards. They're going to eat their fruit. They don't have to worry about someone else taking their fruit or coming in and taking their land. There's not going to be crime. There's not going to be oppression. Those types of things. Also, it says there in verse 24 that before they call, God says, I will answer.

And so during the millennium, there's also going to be a real closeness and relationship with God that He will answer. He'll be right there in the midst as they're calling. He says, while they're still speaking, I will hear. And so there's going to be a greater relationship with God in that time. And then again, we see the animal kingdom there. The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat straw. And so they won't be eating meat or devouring one another. But they'll be...

vegetarians basically eating straw, eating the product of the earth. And so this incredible time is going to be taking place for a thousand years while Jesus is in Jerusalem ruling and reigning upon the earth. And yet, with all these incredible things that we've been seeing here and talking about, and we'll see as we go on, with all of this that's happening, there will still be people who refuse to walk with God.

Again, Isaiah 65.20 says, The sinner being 100 years old shall be accursed.

those who choose to rebel against God during the millennial kingdom will be accursed. They'll be killed. They will lose their life as a result of their rebellion against God. And so in the millennium, you have the believers. They go into the millennium. They populate the earth. But their kids, you know, they didn't survive the tribulation. And so they will have the opportunity as they're living there in the millennium to rebel against God if they choose.

If they choose, unbelievers, the unrighteous in that time, they will be killed. They will die as a result of their rebellion and they will go to the place that's called Hades. It's a temporary holding place, a temporary place of judgment until the final judgment, which we'll deal with at the end of this chapter. You can find out more about Hades in Luke chapter 16 and get some insights into what goes on there.

Well, at the end of the millennium, you will have those who have made it all the way through as believers. You'll have those who are unbelievers who have gone to Hades. And then you will have what's called the Great White Throne Judgment. And we'll talk about that here in chapter 20. The Great White Throne Judgment is the final judgment. All of those who have died that are unrighteous, all of the ungodly will be brought before God. They'll be resurrected from Hades. They'll be brought to God.

to the white throne judgment and then from the white throne judgment they will be sent to the lake of fire which is the the final resting place the final place of judgment for those who reject God and so that's a quick overview of some of the things we're going to be dealing with today I wanted to give you like a little bit of a picture or diagram to to help you understand the flow because as we look at these things it can be a little bit confusing

And so let's go into chapter 20 now. And as we do, there's four points I want to share with you from Revelation chapter 20. The first one we find in verses 1 through 3, and that is that Satan is bound for 1,000 years. Verse 1 says, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand.

And so now John continues to describe the vision that he's receiving there as he's writing out the book of Revelation. And he sees now an angel that comes down from heaven. And this angel has a key to the bottomless pit. Now the bottomless pit we've seen before in the book of Revelation. It is a temporary holding place for fallen angels or for demonic spirits.

And so he has a key to this bottomless pit. And when we've seen it before in Revelation, the bottomless pit was open to let things out. There was demonic activity that was going on as these creatures were let out. But this time he has the key. He's opening the bottomless pit not to let something out, but to put something in.

And so he has a great chain in his hand. And then in verse 2 we find out 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. And so this angel who has the key, he grabs hold of the dragon. That takes us back to Revelation chapter 12, 13 and 14.

where it talks about the dragon, the great fiery red dragon. Then he also calls him the serpent of old. And that takes us back to Genesis chapter 3. There in the Garden of Eden, the serpent that deceived Eve and convinced her to partake of the forbidden fruit.

He also calls him the devil, which means accuser or the slanderer. He is the one who accuses the brethren or accuses the children of God. And then he's also called Satan here, which means adversary. He is the roaring lion that roams about the earth seeking whom he may devour. So if there's any confusion about who it is that we're talking about, John makes it very clear here. It's the dragon.

The serpent of old. The accuser of the brethren. Our adversary. That's the one that this angel comes down. He has a chain in one hand. He has the key to the bottomless pit. He grabs Satan and he puts him in the bottomless pit. Binds him there for 1,000 years.

There's some amazing things to consider about this. The time that will exist upon the earth with Satan bound, it's hard to imagine without him being able to go out and deceive the nations how things will be. But one point I think needs to be made is we need to understand as we look at this that Satan is not God's opposite.

It's so easy for us to think in those terms, you know, good versus evil, and, you know, hopefully good's a little bit stronger so it'll win, and we kind of think of God and Satan in those terms from time to time. But the reality is, it's not like that at all. Satan is a created being. It's not that Jesus here goes and grabs Satan and puts him in the bottomless pit.

The Heavenly Father doesn't grab Satan and put him in the bottomless pit. It just says an angel. Not even a named angel. It's not, you know, Michael the Archangel or Gabriel or, you know, some powerful or, you know, it just is an angel. It's an unnamed angel. I kind of get the impression, I may be exaggerating a little bit, but God says, yeah, you over there, angel, what's your name? It doesn't matter what your name is. Go get Satan, put him in the bottomless pit for a thousand years.

Because Satan is under the authority of God. He can't fight against God, and so God can send anybody. It didn't matter. It's about the authority that God has given to accomplish these things. And so Satan is not God's opposite. He is a pawn, or even less than a pawn, in the plan of God. He doesn't have the ability to escape. He is not able to defeat this unnamed angel. He is...

to what God allows him to do. Verse 3. It says, 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. And so he's here cast into the bottomless pit. And I love how it says, and shut him up. And so I picture the angel. He has the key. He has the chain. And then he has a roll of duct tape. And he shuts him up. So

So he can't speak his lies or his deception anymore. Of course, it doesn't mean that. It just means he can't get out. But I like my version better. Satan is the accuser. He's the adversary and he is a deceiver. And so he's locked up in the bottomless pit. So he's not able to deceive the nations anymore. He will not be allowed. Remember, John tells us that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. That the whole world is affected by, well, the deception of the devil.

But that will not be the case during this thousand year reign of Christ. And so it's going to be a time without the influence and without the effects of Satan. But it says there at the end of verse 3, something that troubles some, it says, but after these things he must be released for a little while. And some kind of stumble over that and say, well, why does he need to be released?

And I would share with you briefly, you know, God has His reasons and one day you can ask Him and I'm not God and I don't have all the answers. I can give you a suggestion though. I think that God is allowing Him to be released at the end to give the people a real choice. It's a real choice to follow God or to reject God. Again, there will be many who are born during the millennium and they're going to be born into a time of righteousness and peace like the world has never known before.

They will be required to worship God. They will be required to walk uprightly, to practice righteousness. It will be part of their culture. It will be part of their upbringing. And it won't be necessarily a real choice that they have to make to follow God. It will just be part of the life that they are living and the life that they've been brought up in.

And so Satan being released at the end gives the people a real choice. They have the choice there at the end of the millennium to follow God or to join with Satan in rebellion against God. And so we'll talk about that a little bit more later on in the chapter. But here we see that Satan is bound for a thousand years. Imagine a world, imagine nations not being affected by the works of the enemy. Hard to imagine, but it's going to take place.

Well, then the second thing we see here in Revelation 20 is that the saints will rule with Christ for 1,000 years. And we see that here in verses 4 through 6. Look again at verse 4. It says,

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. 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 worshipped 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.

Here we see that the saints are going to come back with Jesus and they're going to rule and to reign with him. Jesus, when he returns, will set up his kingdom. He will establish his throne on the earth and he will rule the earth. But like God is so often,

He desires not to just, you know, be Lord over the earth, but He invites us to participate and be part of His work. And so He's chosen to let His people, those who have walked with Him in this life, when they come back with Him, He's chosen to let us be part of this new kingdom that is established and be part of ruling the world with Him.

He says there that he sees thrones now and there's people who are sitting on them and judgment is committed to them. Who are these people? Who is the they that he's referring to? Well, he answers that in this verse and the next couple of verses. It's the saints. It's those who return with Jesus. He says here in verse 4, I saw the souls of those who have been beheaded for their witness to Jesus during the tribulation.

There's going to be many who are beheaded, who are put to death for their faith in Jesus, for refusing to receive the mark of the beast. And so those tribulation martyrs will return with Jesus. You remember in Revelation chapter 19 verse 14, as it was talking about Jesus and his return, remember P.O.D.'s playing in the background, he's coming back to end the battle of Armageddon, he's got a tattoo on his thigh, it says King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and he has the armies of heaven with him.

Well, that's the tribulation martyrs as well as the rest of the saints. We'll see that in just a moment. And so they come back with him. They come to the earth, not in the same form as they were in this life,

Not in the same form as those who are living during the millennium, but those who come back with Christ will be in their glorified body. There won't be temptation to sin anymore. There won't be that sinful nature that you and I struggle with. But when we come back with Jesus, we'll have our new bodies. We'll be walking in righteousness. We'll be walking uprightly. And we will be assisting Jesus in ruling and reigning here upon the earth for that thousand year period.

Specifically here we're looking at the tribulation martyrs. They will be with Jesus during that time. Verse 5. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. The rest of the dead that is referred to here is the unbelievers.

We'll see this at the end of the chapter as the unbelievers are resurrected. But this, what he's describing here is the first resurrection. When they come back with Jesus and they're ruling and reigning with him, that's part of the first resurrection. And what is the first resurrection? Well, let's look at verse 6 and then we'll talk more about it. It says, Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death has no power. The second death has no power.

But they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. So in verse 4, he's talking specifically about the tribulation martyrs. But in verse 6 is where we come in, the church and those who have gone before us. Those who are part of the first resurrection.

Now he says that those who are part of the first resurrection are blessed and they're holy. And over them, well, the second death has no power. And this can get a little bit confusing because what in the world is he talking about here? The first resurrection, the second death, what's going on? Well, to start...

To understand this, we need to start at the beginning and understand that there are two births that are possible for a human being. John chapter 3, Jesus explains this to Nicodemus. If you don't know it, become familiar with it. There's two births. The first birth is a physical birth. I'm pretty sure all of you have been born physically.

All of you have experienced a physical birth. We all exist because we were born. That includes C-sections or whatever method. We were born. We were brought into this life physically. But there's a second birth that's possible and that's necessary for eternal life, and that is a spiritual birth. We've all been born physically, but not everyone has been born spiritually. In fact, when we are born physically, we are spiritually dead.

We're dead in our trespasses and sins, Ephesians chapter 2 tells us. And so there needs to be life, spiritual life that's given to us. It's called regeneration or being born again. And that's what Jesus describes there in John chapter 3. It's when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, His finished work upon the cross, and He gives us spiritual life. We're born again. We're given a new nature again.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5 that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed. Behold, all things have become new. That's describing being born again. So there's two births, not just one. There's two births, the physical birth and then the spiritual birth. Now then, in regards to death, there's also two types of death. There's the physical death and there's a spiritual death.

The physical death is something that every person will experience. As you've often heard, the statistics are quite staggering. 100 out of every 100 people will die. It's a physical death. We all die. The one exception is if the rapture happens, then we won't all sleep, but we will all be changed. And so our bodies, this body that we know, it will come to an end. That's the physical death. The second death is a spiritual death. And that is

is only experienced by those who have not been born again. That second death, we'll see at the end of chapter 20 here, is the final judgment being cast into the lake of fire. It's an eternal judgment, an eternal death. It's not ceasing to exist, as we'll see, but it's an eternal place of torment and judgment.

So the first birth is physical, the second birth is spiritual, the first death is physical, the second death is spiritual, and then there's two resurrections. The first resurrection is a resurrection to eternal life. That's those who have received the Lord, they're resurrected, they're given new bodies, and they have eternal life with Christ.

The second resurrection is a resurrection to eternal judgment, where the dead are brought to life to stand before the great white throne judgment and then to be cast into the lake of fire. So let me put it this way. If you're born once physically, you will die physically. And then you will be resurrected, but it will be for final judgment. And you will die spiritually at that point, the second death.

And that will be an eternal place of judgment. But if you're born twice, if you're born again, you will still die physically. That's still going to happen. But then you will be resurrected to eternal life and the second death has no power on you. And so he says here in verse 6, blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection because you will not have to worry about that final judgment, the lake of fire, because you will have eternal life with God.

Not only that, but going on, finishing up verse 6, it says, "...they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years." So not only will we have eternal life, but we also will have a place and a part in the kingdom of God here upon the earth for a thousand years. This is something that God will have us, you know, be participating in. He will have roles and responsibilities for us.

The church, you and I return with Jesus and we rule and we reign with him for a thousand years. What exactly that looks like, we don't know for sure, but we know it's going to be good. You know, nobody's going to be like, eh, you know, I don't really want to rule and reign with Christ. You know, I'd rather just kick back in heaven. I'll wait till you guys are done. No, no, no. This is something that's going to be exciting and something that you want to be a part of.

In Luke chapter 19, Jesus tells the parable of the minas. If you remember this, it's the account where the master is going away and he gives his servants certain sums of money. And he tells them, hey, put this to use while I'm gone. And then when I return, you'll give an account for those monies that I entrusted to you.

And there in Luke chapter 19, he describes the different servants and how each one used the funds and the resources that were given to them. And the ones who did good, he said, hey, well done, good and faithful servant. In one particular instance in Luke 19, 17, he says, you were faithful in very little, have authority over 10 cities.

And so as Jesus tells this parable, he's describing for us the importance of being faithful in the little things, faithful in what God has entrusted to us today, because it will impact us.

The way that we will be able to serve, the capacity that we will have there in the millennium and perhaps even beyond that into eternity. And so there's, you know, great opportunity for us here to invest in our future by being faithful to the things of God. And as we're faithful in the little things, He will give us authority in many things in the things that are to come.

And so here we see point number two, the saints rule and reign with Christ for 1,000 years. Be faithful in those things that God has entrusted to you, whether it be finances, whether it be talents, abilities, and skills, whether it be family, whatever he's entrusted to you, be faithful with those things and secure for yourself an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God. Point number three,

Verses 7 through 10, we see that Satan rebels one last time. Verse 7 and 8 says, 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. So it's interesting, sometimes the Bible does this.

We're talking about the beginning of the thousand year period. And then the next verse we're talking about the end of the thousand year. Just skip right over. He doesn't talk about it. He doesn't describe it. Again, there's all those other scriptures. Isaiah chapter 2, Isaiah 11, Isaiah 65. You can look at those and study those and get a good idea of the things that will be going on. But...

The vision here is very specific about now we're talking about the end. Now we're talking about after the thousand years is over, Satan has been bound for that time, but now he is released. Now notice that it says he's released. He doesn't escape. He doesn't figure out how to outsmart God. He doesn't get away. He's released. He's still under the authority and still only able to do what God allows. He's released and he goes out to the nations.

Notice here that the nations are in the four corners of the earth. Jesus will be ruling and reigning in Jerusalem. That will kind of be the capital of the earth at that time as he rules and reigns in the earth. But the inhabitants of the earth will spread out and be in all four corners of the earth. They'll be all around the globe. He'll be ruling and reigning in Jerusalem, but people will be living all over. And if you could imagine for just a moment,

If people are living a thousand years during the millennium and Satan is not deceiving and there's no war and it's righteousness, there's not death like there is today. And so there's fewer people dying. And at a hundred years old, a person is still thought of as a child. So people will be healthy and productive for hundreds of years.

you can imagine the population of the earth will increase and become substantial very, very quickly. And so at the end of this thousand year period, I would suggest to you the population of the earth will be far greater than what we even know today. There's going to be an incredible time.

They're going to be spread out all over the earth. And as Satan is released, he goes out to this great number of people that are living there in the earth during the millennium. And he gathers them together for battle. Until the very end, Satan is at war with God.

He's fighting against God, trying to stop the plan of God, trying to overthrow the kingdom of God. He's deceived himself. He's blinded by his pride. And to the very end, he's fighting against God. And you know, that's really no surprise. That's how he's always been. It's what we should expect. But I am surprised by what it says there at the end. You see that? The end of verse 8. Whose number is as the sand of the sea. He gathers together an army.

to fight against God from among the nations that are all around the earth. In this incredible time where Christ is ruling and reigning and the saints have come back and are ruling and reigning with him and there's peace and there's righteousness. In the midst of this incredible, wonderful time, Satan is able to gather together an army whose number is as the sand of the sea. Even in paradise, even in perfection, there will be many who will rebel against God.

You know, it's interesting as you look at the whole scope of history that has already been accomplished and that will be accomplished. And you can see in the whole scope of history how God is answering the objections of mankind, the objections of humanity. People say, you know, oh man, things would be really great because, you know, humans are basically good. It's just their environment that's bad. And so, if only they had a perfect environment, right?

then things would be fine. We wouldn't have any problems. We wouldn't have to deal with sin. You know, it'd be perfect because man is basically good. That's what some people say. And yet, you go back to the Garden of Eden and you see the perfect environment. And what did man do? Man fell. Man rebelled against God. So another objection. You know, if only we had a list of

If we had a list of stuff to do and a list of stuff not to do, it'd be easy. No problem. We could just do that list and not do the things we're not supposed to do. And we could be right with God. We could be righteous. And every other religion attempts to do that. Practice these things. Don't practice those things. And then you'll be righteous. But the Old Testament makes it clear. It's not possible. We have a list and we can't keep it.

We can't be righteous by the law. We can't be righteous by doing these things and not doing those things because, well, we're not faithful. We're not able to keep those things. And so then you could object, well, okay, so maybe this won't work. But how about if it was simple and like all we had to do is believe. That's what we have right now under the New Testament, right? We're called to believe.

People ask Jesus, hey, what works do we need to do to do the work of the kingdom of God? He said, here's the one work. Believe on the one whom the Father has sent. That's what we're called to do, to believe in Jesus Christ and His finished work for us upon the cross. And yet today still we see there's many who reject. So then you could say, okay, well, what if it was a perfect environment for

No, let's not get there yet. Okay, so what if everybody knew that God was real, and they knew that judgment was real, and then they would have an opportunity to get right with God. Then they would get right with God. The problem isn't us. The problem is that God doesn't really reveal himself. And then so you have the tribulation period. We saw it many times throughout the tribulation. They knew it was God bringing the judgments. They knew that the judgments were real.

And yet, they insisted on continuing to rebel against God. They had opportunity to repent, but they refused. And so then, looking at the millennium, okay, well, what if everything was perfect and, you know, God was here and He was making Himself real. Remember Isaiah 65? Before they finish calling, He's going to answer.

That's going to be the relation. That's going to be an incredible time. And yet there will still be some. You see, the issue is not the environment. The problem is not this world. The problem is not the nations. The problem is not... The problem is our hearts. And the problem is our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked, Jeremiah 17 says. The problem is that we hate the idea of God ruling and reigning over us.

And we hate the idea of submitting to anyone, even to God. But that's what we're called to do. And that's how we're born again. By agreeing with God, yes, I am a sinner. I need a Savior. By surrendering ourselves to Him and agreeing, I'm going to walk with you. I'm going to live according to your ways. I'm going to do what you tell me to do. It's about that relationship. It's about that surrender, that submission. And that goes against our nature to the core. And that's why we must be born again. We can't do it on our own.

Even in paradise, even in the millennium, there will be a great multitude that rebels against God. Verse 9, They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints in the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. So this great army surrounds Jerusalem. Again, their intent, he's deceived the nations, convinced all of them, hey, we can take down God. But of course, it comes to nothing. A fire comes down from heaven and

and devours them. The whole army is wiped out. It's not really even a battle. God just takes them out. Then in verse 10, 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.

And so now the army is wiped out. Now the devil is cast into the lake of fire. We talked a little bit about the lake of fire last week, and we need to talk about it again this week, and we'll deal with it in the last few verses as well. The lake of fire is a real place. It's a place that was not created for humans, but it was created for the devil and his angels. Matthew 25, 41, Jesus tells us that.

Right now, this lake of fire, by the way, the lake of fire is the place that you and I usually refer to today when we talk about hell. It's the final place of judgment. There's another place called Hades, and we'll talk about that in just a moment. But this place, the lake of fire or hell, right now is unpopulated. There's nobody there. The first who will go there is the Antichrist and the false prophet. They'll be thrown into the lake of fire right at the end of the tribulation period. Here at the end of the millennium,

Satan will be cast into the lake of fire. Again, it's a place of eternal judgment. Notice that it's not oblivion. They don't just cease to exist. The beasts or the Antichrist and the false prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire, Revelation 19.20 tells us. And a thousand years later, after the millennium, the devil is cast into the lake of fire. It says where the beast and the Antichrist are. They continue to exist in this place of torment. And the devil is cast into the lake of fire.

It says that they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. And so this is a real place. It's an eternal judgment. It's not ceasing to exist. It's a place of torment where constantly there will be pain and agony. Jesus described it as weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now we don't like to consider these things. We don't like to talk about these things. We don't like to think about these things. But listen, we need to.

Because this is a reality. Eternal judgment is real. And it awaits everyone who does not turn to God by faith in Jesus Christ. So we need to know these things. We need to think about them. We need to consider what the scripture says. And so we continue on now. Point number four, the final judgment. Verse 11 says, Then I saw a great white throne.

So now John sees this great white throne. This is it, the final judgment. This is a judgment for those who have rejected God.

This is a judgment for unbelievers. Verse 12, 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. And so here he sees the dead, the small, the great, all who have ever died.

standing before God. And it says the books were opened and another book is opened, the book of life. So the book of life has the names of those who have life. The books are the books, the record books, the recordings of each person's life, their actions, their thoughts, their motivations, their intents. So here's basically how it might go.

I'll use myself as an example, although I'm confident I won't be at the great white throne, but rather than accuse any of you of being there, I will just use myself. Okay, so here's how the judgment will go. Standing there before the great white throne, God says, so what's your name? Gerald Simmons. He opens the book of life. You're not listed here. Did you receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord? Did you give yourself to me?

Did you receive the gift that I gave you of my son there upon the cross, dying for your sin? No, I didn't. Okay, bring me the books. So the books of my life are brought. First book is open, page one, May 8th, 1978. See you there, kicking your mom all the way out. You're a sinner. Then you screamed at the doctor. Dad went to change your diaper and you let him have it. Called you the whiz kid ever since.

May 12, 1978. This was your heart. That's what was going on in your mind. Those are the sins that you committed. Those were the intents of your heart. Day 7, day 8, day 9, day 10. That's what you were like. That was the condition of your heart. That's your sinful nature. There was the lust. There was the corruption. There was the greed. There was the covetousness. Day 11,860. That was if I died on my birthday last year.

That was your heart. Those were your motives. At the end of the books, when everything, there's no more excuses. There's no more, well, I, it's all laid out. Open and bare. This is who you are. This is what you were like. This is what you thought. This is what you meant. This is what you did. We will agree with God. Not me, because I won't be there. But those who are there, they will agree with God and say, yes, I'm guilty.

I deserve to go to hell. I deserve eternal judgment. Every tongue will confess, Paul says, that Jesus Christ is Lord. It's a recognition. It's an acknowledgement. Yes, I was wrong for those who stand before that great white throne. Yes, this is what I deserve. Yes, this is just and right. God, you have every right to send me to hell because that's how I lived. That's who I was. That's what I thought. I am guilty of sin.

That's how it's going to go. There's not going to be any excuses. You're not going to be, you know, I was better than, you know, I'm not going to say any names. I was better than these other people. I was, I was, I didn't do those things. I went to church. I was good. But that was your heart. Those were your intentions. Those were your thoughts. That's what you did. You were sinful. You lived in sin. You practiced sin. You walked in rebellion against God. Guilty. We will agree. Those who stand there will agree.

And that's why it's so important for us to agree now. See, if we agree right now, and we say, yes, you're right, God, I'm guilty, and we instead of waiting until that day, we accept it right now, and we turn to Jesus Christ, and we surrender ourselves to Him and submit to Him, we're part of the first resurrection, we're blessed, we're holy, we don't have to worry about this second death.

But for those who insist, no, no, no, I'm fine. I don't need Jesus. I don't need to walk with God. I'm not going to let Him be my Lord. I'm not going to let Him reign over me. They will stand before the great white throne judgment and admit themselves, I'm guilty and I deserve hell. Verse 13. 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. All of the dead will be judged. No exceptions, no exclusions.

All who have ever died in unrighteousness will stand before God on that day. Verse 14, Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Hades is a place of temporary judgment. It's an awaiting place until the great white throne, until the final judgment. But at this time there will be no need for it any longer. And so it will be cast into the lake of fire. And then finally verse 15, And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Whoever's not found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire because when the books are opened, it will make it clear. There's none righteous. No, not one. There's none that seek after God. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Anyone who does not come to God by faith in Jesus Christ will be cast into the lake of fire.

Now again, these are not things that we like to think about or we want to think about or we want to consider. You're not going to go home and tell all your friends about this great message you heard today. But maybe you should consider that. But it's not exciting for us. It's tough. I understand that. It's tough for me. I'd rather not share these things. But this is where we are and we need to know these things.

I was kind of relating it in my own mind to, you know, when you're going through driver's ed in school and they show you those gory, crazy, ugly videos, right? Red asphalt. I think road rash is another one. Like, you know, like the worst case, you see the highway patrol, you know, scraping brain matter off the asphalt and all the accidents that could happen trying to, you know, get the kids to understand, look, this is real. You got to pay attention. You got to follow the laws. They're for a reason. Same type of thing. Look, these things...

They may be tough for us to, they're kind of gory. Oh, I don't like to think about that. And maybe you're going to remember it for the rest of your life like you remember those videos. But that's okay because we need to understand. This is reality. This is what we're dealing with. The lake of fire is real. It's a place of eternal judgment. People don't just go into oblivion and cease to exist. They're conscious.

They know, they think, they remember, they feel. It's painful. Not only that, but there's no relief, there's no hope, there's no escape. Have you ever had a really rough night? You know, maybe one of those nights where you're just feeling absolutely terrible and you just can't wait for it to be over.

For the day to come or for you to fall asleep or to get, you know, you're up all night, you're throwing up all the time or you're having diarrhea, you're going to the bathroom every two minutes. Just miserable, coughing and hacking and maybe you got, you know, bad heartburn or whatever is going on. You know what it's like, those miserable things, just like agony all night long. That's what hell will be like except for a whole lot worse and for the rest of eternity.

No hope, no escape, no rest. Torment, judgment, eternally. Now listen, you deserve to go there. I deserve to go there. That's what we deserve. We deserve hell. Some of you know people that are awaiting the lake of fire. They've already died. They're in Hades. They're in torment right now, waiting for that great white throne judgment.

to be sent to the lake of fire because they rejected Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Some of you have family that will go there. All of us know people. We have people in our lives who will spend eternity in hell. But nobody has to go there. You see, that's the good news. The gospel message. We open the books and we find out, I don't measure up, but, well, Jesus died upon the cross.

He received the full punishment, the full penalty for my sins so that I don't have to go to hell anymore. He received that punishment for me so that instead of looking at my works and saying, here God, I did the best I could, we by faith in Jesus Christ say, look, I received him. And you said, God, whoever believes in him will have everlasting life.

And His righteousness is accredited to me. God doesn't look at the books for us. As believers, we have an entirely different judgment. 2 Corinthians 5, it's not judgment of penalty or judgment like that, but it's a judgment of rewards. We don't have time to get into that. But the books aren't open for us as believers because the work was accomplished at the cross. That's the good news. Nobody has to go to hell. It's only those who choose.

The good news is good because the bad news is bad. This is real, guys. The lake of fire, I know it's not an exciting subject to end on. We talked about the millennium. Ah, there's some cool things that are going to happen. But we also need to deal with reality. We love to live in a fantasy. Oh, it's so much easier to just pretend like, you know, there's no consequences, there's no debt, you know, there's no repercussion to the things that we're doing and the

activities we're participating in. We love to live in the fantasy. It's so much easier than reality. But let's come back to reality and let's remember what is at stake. As we're hanging out with friends and family, as we're talking with them, doing stuff with them, as we're using our time, let's remember what's at stake. We're talking about eternity. The conversations we have, they need to matter. The things that we do, they need to matter.

We need to be faithful in the things that God has given to us. The opportunities, the responsibilities, because we're dealing with eternity. That's what's at stake. It's often been said, I'd rather have somebody mad at me today than mad at me in that day. You know, the books are open, they're going through the books and they're thinking, why didn't he ever tell me? Why didn't he ever challenge me? Why didn't he ever remind me about eternity and that all this was real?

Yeah, they might be upset if we share with them today. Now, please understand, I'm within balance, okay? It doesn't mean we go and scream at people, you're going to hell. Hey, use the conversations, use the talk about sports, use the talk about weather, that's great. You know, get the link, build the bridge, and then share the truth. We can't avoid the truth because the reality is eternity is at stake. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray for our hearts.

Lord, that even though it's uncomfortable, Lord, that we would get this into our hearts, we would get this into our heads. Lord, that eternity is real and that the time to prepare and the time to act is now. Lord, help us to be faithful in the ways that you've called us to serve and the ways that you've called us to share with the resources that you've given to us. Help us, God, to be faithful that one day when we stand before you, Lord, you would say, well done, good and faithful servants.

Lord, we want to be faithful to you. Help us, Lord, to love people enough to share with them the truth. Help us, Lord, to love them enough to encourage them and to help them. Lord, we pray that you would remove the blinders of our friends and loved ones, that the enemy is placed there. Lord, we ask that you would use us to show them the truth, to speak to them and open their eyes to the reality. Lord, the bad news is bad, but the good news is so great.

Because you've accomplished it all for us. Lord, if there's any who are here, any who are listening to this, Lord, their hearts aren't surrendered to you. Lord, they're still in that state of rebellion. They've been born once, but they've not been born again. God, I pray that you would open their hearts. Open their eyes, Lord. Let them see. Let them know this is for real. Lord, that they would turn to you.

And not try to approach you on their works or their goodness or what they've done. But Lord, that they would finally submit and surrender and give their lives to you. Lord, I pray that they would turn to you by faith in Jesus Christ and the work that he accomplished for us upon the cross. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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