Well, we kick the evening off tonight with our, I was gonna say Tiny Notes, but it's not Tiny Notes, it's Junior Choir with Michelle McCleary directing them, and Lynette, I was gonna say Smeltzer, but that's not right, Lynette Myers on the piano, and so let's enjoy the choir tonight. When Satan tempts me to do wrong, I'll just walk God's arm around. With the sword and shield of faith, on God's word I'll stand. With the sword, with the shield, on God's word I'll stand. With the sword, with the shield, on God's word I'll stand. Oh, fight the good fight like a soldier, put on the whole armor of God. ♪ The belt and the breastplate and helmet ♪ ♪ The shoes and the shield and the sword ♪ ♪ And pray as you fight in this manner ♪ ♪ And stand against the walls of the fall ♪ ♪ The Savior of victory will give you ♪ ♪ And be with you wherever you go ♪ Amen. Good news before we take testimonies tonight over in Hwa, which is in Ghana. They have had some breakthroughs. A number of people got saved the other day, including three Muslims that received the Lord as their savior. This is with Esther and Violet and the team that's over there in Hwa, which they're working with a local national pastor, Pastor Daramani. and an evangelist Pastor Tig Bonnie, Brother Tig Bonnie, they're working together with that local church and on the radio singing and preaching and in an open air village preaching the gospel and so we're thankful for good news from over in Ghana. I believe Esther and Violet finish up this week should be home maybe over the weekend I believe as they travel back and so got that good news next week next Sunday night Brother Hardeker will be giving an update and be preaching in the evening service so he'll be giving you an update of the ministry over there he did tell me when he arrived home that he's not going to be preaching on one simus this time around how many of you remember the message on one simus okay he said he's not going to be doing that right Pastor Bill is that right? that's right that's right okay But you'll enjoy getting that update next Sunday night. And then, of course, Esther and Violet get back. We'll give a trip presentation about that this summer. That'll be weaved in. And then there'll be another trip presentation about our teens going on a missions trip out to Montana. And you'll hear about that a little bit later in the summer. And so these things are happening. We'll take testimonies tonight before we open in prayer. Anybody with a good word of testimony that you would like to share this evening? Anybody with something like that? Stand with me then. We'll stand together and pray. That's unusual, isn't it? What's that? Sean, who are you pointing to? Brother Steve, go ahead. Hmm. What happened in our courtrooms this week was not good at all and It's really an attack in my my opinion. It's an attack on the justice America and take the name out of the picture the way things went down was not Not a godly godly way of him things But we do have a judge. That's right And that's God, and God knows how to take care of things. And so we do need to pray for our country and all that is going on in it. I'm going to ask Brother Duke Joines, if you would, lead us in prayer as we begin our service tonight. Amen. Take your songbooks, let's sing together tonight. God bless you. Hymn number 186. Hymn number 186, and can it be, we'll sing all the odd number verses one, three, and five. One, three, and five. ♪ And can it be that I should be ♪ ♪ And be impressed in the Savior's love? ♪ ♪ Riding or leaving, whose heart is brave? ♪ Amazing love, how sweet it would be, that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me. He left me and my God chose thy glory. He left his Father's throne above, so free, so fair. His praise. And He did say, The Lord God and man His mercy all, in excellency His mercy all, in excellency His mercy all, in excellency His mercy all, in excellency His mercy all, in excellency His mercy all, in excellency His mercy all, in excellency His mercy all, in excellency His mercy all, in excellency His mercy all, in excellency His mercy all, in excellency No condemnation now I dread. Jesus and Paul live in His mind. I live in Him. I live in Him. ♪ Oh, I approach the eternal throne ♪ ♪ And when I'm done, you rise, my Lord ♪ ♪ Amazing grace, how cleverly you have found me ♪ Please remain standing for prayer. Brother Rich, would you pray over offering, please? Father, as we listen tonight and apply your word to our hearts and minds, Lord God, may we be that work when it's thoroughly furnished, unashamed of what we pretend to do. You're reminded, Lord God, that it's not long before that trumpet will sound and true judgment will come into this world. Father, we will see those who think they're above everything come to that punishment. Lord, I'm saddened by what I think. Lord God, that they have not come to that receiving knowledge. Father, I'm saddened. Please be seated. Good evening. ♪ When I shall leave my Savior be ♪ ♪ And in my suffering die ♪ ♪ Would He, O God, take revenge ♪ ♪ On sinners such as I? ♪ ♪ Was it for crimes I loved? ♪ upon the tree. A lazy, bitty grace unknown, and love beyond degree. And her proud It was there I laid, I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day. The drums of Greek and Mary came, the death of my own. I give myself away, is all that I can do. At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my arm pulled away, it was there that I paid, I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day. And the cross where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart pulled away. It was there I bathed, I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day. with his precious blood. On the cross He sealed my pardon, paid the debt and made me free. Paid the debt and made me free. Made me free. Made me free. Would you stand with me, please? Turn to hymn number 302. Hymn number 302, Take the World but Give Me Jesus. We'll sing all four stanzas of hymn number 302. Take the world, but give me Jesus All its joys are but a gain But His love abiding ever Through eternal years to sing O the height and depth of mercy O the length and breadth of love Oh, the fullness of redemption, where Johannes' life abound. Take the world, my dimly Jesus, sweetest comfort of my soul. With my Savior watching for me, I can sing the will of joy. and get the mercy for the land and breath of God, for the fullness of redemption and the life of God. Take the world, my Timmy, Jesus, let me view His constant smile. Then throughout my pilgrim journey, Light will cheer me all the while. Oh, the height and depth of mercy! Oh, the length and breadth of love! In the fullness of redemption, Pledge of endless life above. Take the robe, my dear King Jesus, in His cross my trust shall be, till with clearer, brighter vision, face to face, my Lord, I see. Oh, the height and depth of mercy! Oh, the length and breadth of love! O the fullness of redemption, pledge of endless life above. Please be seated. Sometimes when life seems gentle and blessings flood my way, I turn my gaze away from you and soon forget to pray. But when the sky grows darker and courage turns to fear, My anxious voice cries upward with word too long to hear. Lord, I need you. Lord, I need you. When the sea of life is calm. Oh, Lord, I need you. I need you. ♪ When the wind is blowing strong ♪ ♪ Weather trials come or cease ♪ ♪ Keep me always on my knees ♪ ♪ Lord I need you ♪ ♪ Lord I need you ♪ ♪ Lord help me to remember ♪ I'm weak but you are strong ♪ I cannot sing apart from you ♪ For Lord you are my song ♪ Although I'm prone to wander ♪ And boast in all I do ♪ Lord, keep my eyes turned upward ♪ So I depend on you ♪ Lord, I need you ♪ Lord, I need you ♪ When the sea of life is calm ♪ Oh, Lord, I need you ♪ I need you ♪ When the wind is blowing strong ♪ ♪ Whether trials come or cease ♪ ♪ Keep me always on my knees ♪ ♪ Lord I need you ♪ ♪ Lord I need you ♪ Take your Bibles now, turn to the book of Revelation. Book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 20. Almost to the very end of the Bible, Revelation chapter 20. When you found Revelation chapter 20, stand with me if you would for the reading of God's word. I want to start reading Revelation chapter 20 in verse 1. You follow along as I start reading Revelation chapter 20. Bible says, And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that, he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads. or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and come past the camp of the saints about and the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every man, according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Let's bow for a word of prayer. Father, we come before you. Lord, we thank you for your son, Jesus Christ. Lord, thank you for the gift of salvation. Lord, that Jesus Christ, that you loved us so much Jesus Christ came down to die on the cross for our sins, that whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved so they don't have to be cast into the lake of fire. They won't be cast into the lake of fire. God, I thank you for that precious gift of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, that his shed blood covers our sins, those that have accepted him as Savior. God, I pray that as we look into the scripture tonight, But Lord, if there's one among us right here in this building, or maybe one by way of livestream, does not know you as Lord and Savior, has not accepted that gift of salvation, oh God, I pray that tonight they would make that decision and get saved. Lord, I pray that you would help each and every one of us to listen intently for what you have for us, Lord, as your preacher brings to us this message. I pray, Lord, that you would be glorified in it all. In your name I pray, amen. Baby, seated. Don't you wish you had a photographic memory? that you could read the book of revelation and retain it all forever and ever and ever and ever and just have it all clear in your mind that you would never have to go back and review it boy i wish my mind was like that but if your mind is like my mind i know some basic things about revelation i know some basic things about the order of things but i have to review it and when i review it it helps me and i'll retain it for a little while and then it will escape me I have to come back to it and so we're in the book of Revelation tonight in chapter number 20 tonight's message along with this morning's Sunday School has some depth to it so I need you to be your minds to be activated okay a lot to get through tonight I won't get through all of it but certainly we want to dissect the scriptures and understand them it is interesting to know that over the years there's been an increase of shows on television involving the courtroom These shows really are more about the judge. He or she seems to be the focus of the program. There's an entire station, I understand, now devoted to court TV, where it's just one court television show after another. It started with the People's Court years ago. Judge Warpner, or what was it? Wapner, how many of you remember the judge, all right? Most of you remember the judge. How many of you have ever seen Judge Judy? Judge Judy, ah, she'll give you a laugh. And Judge Mathis is another one. And you can tune into Court TV and watch people being judged anytime you want. Many people seem to be fascinated with being able to watch someone else get what they deserve. If these shows weren't hits, they wouldn't stay on the television. But they are hits, because guess what? People like to have their nose in other people's business. And they like to take a side. And so when you're in the middle of watching one of these court shows, and two people are going at it, and the judge brings down the gavel and makes a judgment, you're sitting in your chair saying, no, it shouldn't have gone that way, or yes, they deserve it. And so all of that to say that the judges here on earth don't get everything right, whether that's the Supreme Court, or whether that's a judge in Court TV, or whether that's a judge at York County, or locally here, the judges don't always get things right. But can I tell you, the judge, the real judge is coming. The real judge is coming. Last week in Revelation 19 we move from the end of the tribulation period after that seventh vial is broken or is trumpeted. We move from that to where Christ comes back in all of His glory and He comes with the saints to fight the battle of Armageddon. The result of Armageddon is that there's going to be a great supper for the birds. In fact, that's what the scripture says in Revelation chapter 19, because the angel calls all the fowls of the earth and says, gather together, we're going to feed you up with flesh and with blood out of the valley of Megiddo or the battle of Armageddon. Let's review the coming events as we know them tonight as we get into the message. Next event on God's calendar is the rapture of the saints, is it not? All saints will be caught up with Jesus when He comes at the Last Trump as we discussed this morning in the Feast of the Trumpets. Then after the rapture of the church, we believe that the Antichrist will be revealed. After the church is taken out, the Antichrist will be revealed. That kicks off a seven-year period known as the Tribulation Period. The last three and a half years being the Great Tribulation Period. That's happening down on earth while the Bema Judgment Seat of Christ is happening up in heaven during that seven-year period. Then we also know as we studied last week at the very end of the great tribulation period there's the marriage supper of the Lamb described in Revelation chapter 19 and out of that is the second coming of Jesus Christ as he fights the battle of Armageddon and two of the three evil trinity are cast into the lake of fire that being the beast the Antichrist and the false prophet at the end of Armageddon both of those are cast into the lake of fire then we get into Revelation chapter 20 here and an angel comes down from heaven in verse number one and binds up Satan lays hold on the dragon in verse number two that old serpent which is the devil and Satan so nobody can make a mistake here as to who he's binding up Very, very clear. And he's bound 1,000 years. This is happening at the beginning of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Satan will be bound for a thousand years. Also during this time, according to Matthew chapter 25, there will be a judgment of the sheep and the goats during this time at the beginning of the millennial reign or right before the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. And then there will be the loosing of Satan for a season at the end of a thousand years. We read that in our text tonight. Following that, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire, once and forever judged and banished to that great place of torment. And then we come to the great white throne judgment at the end of this chapter. By way of review, the tribulation with its seal trumpet and bull judgments has ended when we get to Revelation chapter 20. Israel has experienced a great time of revival during the tribulation period. 144,000 from 12 tribes of Israel come to know the Lord Jesus as their Savior. Two witnesses on earth. And we believe those 144,000 probably evangelize many, many nations because during the great tribulation period, we'll have people saved out of every kindred tongue, people and nation, according to the scriptures. And so Babylon, that evil, organized, religious, political, social, and economic world system has been destroyed in Revelation chapter 17 and 18, leading up to Armageddon in the millennial reign of Christ. Turn to Acts chapter 1 and verse number 6. Acts chapter 1 and verse number 6. The disciples were all about the kingdom. They wanted the kingdom to come. And so right before Jesus ascends back into heaven in Acts chapter 1, the disciples ask this question. when they were therefore were come together they ask of him saying Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel and when we read about that in other passages of scriptures they have a little bit of an arrogant position on that because they want to be first in the kingdom or they want to be high in God's government so to speak as he rules here on earth and so they were asking about the kingdom that is going to come in at the millennial reign of Christ. That's the kingdom they were asking about, the physical kingdom that Christ would bring in during His millennial reign. Now on the doctrine of eschatology, or the doctrine of future things, if you read our doctrinal statement, you would find out that we are pre-Trib and we are pre-millennial. When we talk about pre-trib, we're talking about we believe the rapture is going to come and take place before any part of the tribulation takes place. that believers are going to be taken out of this world before God pours out all that judgment. We don't believe in mid-trib which believes that Jesus would come back somewhere in the middle of the tribulation. We don't believe in pre-wrath that Jesus would come back like around three-eighths of the tribulation being finished. And we don't believe in post-trib that Jesus is going to come back and take the church at the end of the tribulation. We believe in a pre-trib rapture number of reasons for that we've covered that at the beginning of the series but one of those reasons is throughout the scriptures we have the pattern of God taking care of his remnant before he pours out judgment study the flood you'll find it with Noah and his family study Sodom and Gomorrah even though Lot was backslidden in a big way He still brought that family out before he poured out fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah. So a number of reasons why we believe in the pre-tribulation. By the way, a pre-tribulation position is great comfort to the believer when you understand the judgments. We also believe in his pre-millennial return. he returns in the clouds in the rapture when he comes in the second coming at the end of the tribulation period he's coming to earth to fight the battle of Armageddon and set up his kingdom. There are three views on the millennium. There's a post-millennial view, there's an amillennial view, and there's a pre-millennial view. And I want to discuss those with you because verses four through six of Revelation chapter 20 are king-size verses when it comes to the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. In the chapter of Revelation, chapter 20 here, did you know that the Bible, the Holy Spirit, chose to record on the pages of Scripture for us the phrase, a thousand years, six different times? That's critical. Because if you take an amillennial or a postmillennial position, you have to reinterpret the thousand years. And you have to say, well, that's open-ended. It doesn't really mean a thousand years. As the Bible says, it just means a really, really long time. Let me explain the positions. The postmillennial position says that Christ's second coming will take place after the millennial reign of Christ. We believe that it's going to take place, the second coming will take place before the millennial reign of Christ. Postmillennialism is an interpretation of Revelation chapter 20 which sees Christ's second coming as occurring after the millennium, a golden age or era of Christian prosperity and dominance. here's what the post-millennial position says it says the world is getting better and better and the church is going to usher in the kingdom my friend that is not bible that is not what the scriptures say and by the way our world is not getting better and better our world is getting worse and worse. And so those who hold this view do not interpret unfulfilled prophecy, get this, using a normal, literal, and historical method of interpretation of the Bible. Those of you that were in my Bible study class last spring, we talked about approaching the Bible and approaching the Bible with correct interpretation. they're going to go into Revelation chapter 20 and they're going to redefine Bible terms. That's dangerous. When we take that which is literal and we say we throw it open to allegorical, at that point it can mean anything. And thus they come up to a post-millennial position. And so in the false teaching of post-millennialism, Christ will not be on the earth during the kingdom. He will rule in the hearts of his people, but will return after the millennium. There will be no literal 1,000-year millennium. And the church, not Israel, will receive the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham and David in a spiritual sense. All of that is off, my friend. It is off doctrinally. It is off eschatologically. Years ago, we had a missionary call. I interviewed him over the phone. I said, please send me your doctrinal statement. and so I can see your doctrinal statement before we have you in he sent me his doctrinal statement which was his church's doctrinal statement which would make sense that you believe the same as your church does I believe he was unaware of the church's doctrinal statement because the church's doctrinal statement said that they were post-trib and post-millennial and I called him back and I said brother we everything else looks good but your doctrine of the end times is not in line with scripture at least you're sending churches doctrine is not in line is that what you believe he said no I'm a pre trip premillennial believer I said well you're in a church that's not And I said, if I were you, I'd get out of that church, and I'd get into a church that was doctrinally sound in the scriptures, and one that I could be sent out of that would agree with the Bible on this doctrine. You know what that missionary did? He got out of that church. He got a different sending church that was doctrinally pure on that front, and we ended up supporting him for a number of years. This is not something small. This is doctrine. This is doctrinal teaching, and we need to know what the differences are, and we need to know what they believe. By the way, advocates of post-millennialism include Jonathan Edwards, Charles Wesley, Augustus Strong, B.H. Carroll, George Truitt. All of these would be proponents of a post-millennial position. They may be right on salvation, but it doesn't mean they're right on this. and so this is critical. Postmillennialism. Amillennialism says that there's no literal reign of Christ on earth for a thousand years. His second coming simply ushers in the eternal state. Now as we study the scriptures tonight in Revelation chapter 20 we're going to see there's a millennial reign of Christ that's going to take place at the second coming. That's going to be followed by Satan being loosed, and there's gonna be a great deceiving of the nations, the Bible says, to where Satan is loosed for a season. He deceives a whole bunch of nations. They gather around Jerusalem and camp around Jerusalem, and God sends fire from heaven and devours them, the Scripture says. And then he takes Satan and he throws him into the lake of fire. And after that is the Great White Throne Judgment, and after that is the Eternal State, the New Jerusalem. But an amillennialist says there's no millennial reign of Christ, actual thousand years. When he comes, he just ushers in the eternal state. In amillennialism, the kingdom reign of Christ and his saints is in existence for the period of time between Christ's two advents. The kingdom is realized in the church on earth and or the saints in heaven Or in other words, the amillennialist interprets the church age as the millennium problem. You say, preacher, how do people get off on these things? They do not make a distinction between Israel and the church. you see we are what we would call dispensationalist and when we say dispensationalist that's in opposition to covenant theology covenant theology blends Israel and the church as one and when you do that and interpret revelation you get into deep trouble you come up with interpretations like what I'm talking about tonight and so amillennialists reject the idea of two physical resurrections separated by a thousand years we have the first resurrection the bible's going to talk about tonight and we're going to explain what that first resurrection is and then we have another resurrection at the end of the thousand years at the great white throne judgment and that's the resurrection of all the dead that are unsaved the amillennialists if you don't believe in a millennium how can you have a thousand year separation of the two resurrections and so you understand the interpretation is often it messes up a lot as far as understanding the clarity of scripture amillennialists then interpret the first resurrection as either the regeneration of believers at the point of conversion or the entrance of believers into life in heaven at the point of death that is not what the resurrection is talking about and I'll prove that tonight from the scriptures it's not the first resurrection is not when people get saved That is not what it's talking about. Now when we get saved, we were dead in trespasses and sins, right? Ephesians chapter 2 and verse number 1, we were quickened, we were made alive spiritually, but that's not what it's talking about in the first resurrection. Alright? And so it is not somebody getting saved, and it is not somebody dying and going to heaven. When we're talking about the first resurrection, we're talking about the raising of physical life, somebody that was dead physically and they have been raised. And so there's amillennialism and there's postmillennialism. Amillennialists, many Calvinists are amillennialists. Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, reformed theology, replacement theology, advocate these beliefs. They see no difference between Israel and the church. Calvin and Berkhoff and all that movement, those theologians, they're all pressing for an amillennial view of scripture. Can I say this? Be careful who you read. Be careful who you read. When it comes to End Times, don't go to the Internet and type in a search on one of the events and just read anybody. You better know that they're pre-Trib, pre-Millennial, have a literal, grammatical, historical interpretation of Scripture, or your brain's going to get twisted real fast. Because they're going to interpret things in Revelation that are not literal, grammatical, and historical. Premillennialism is the position that teaches the millennium will be preceded by Christ's return to the earth. Christ will return to the earth at the end of this age, at the end of the Great Tribulation with His saints. Saints including those saints that came up in the rapture. They will be in glorified bodies They will return with him saints including Old Testament saints Saints including tribulation saints and a hundred and forty four thousand at least Jews that are coming back with Jesus Christ to reign during the millennial reign of Jesus Christ we could say it this way all saints are coming back to reign with Christ. And so that's important for you to understand. New Testament believers will likewise share in the covenant blessings of Israel, God's people, having been grafted into one people of God during the millennial reign of Christ. The church today is not completely experiencing the fulfillment of the promises made to Israel. You need to understand this. As we get into the end times, there are promises to Israel. There's the restoration of Israel. It's coming at the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, all right? The church is not experiencing that today. The church and Israel are different. Israel's a nation. The church is the New Testament creation of the Lord. And so that is important. The millennial kingdom then is the 1,000-year period in which Jesus Christ will rule over the earth as the promised Messiah, the seed of David. Turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Why? Why is Christ coming, preacher, to reign on the earth? Is there anything in scripture that points to the purpose for the millennial reign of Jesus Christ? 1 Corinthians chapter 15. look at verse number 22 the Bible says for in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive every man in his own order Christ the firstfruits afterward they that are Christ at his coming then come at the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power so battle of Armageddon he puts down all rule and all authority and power because he destroys the kings of the earth all of its destroyed at the battle of Armageddon he does it by the sword of his mouth does he not according to Revelation chapter 19 and so that happens for the Bible says in verse 25 for he must what? must reign So he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death, for he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is accepted, which did put all things under him. What is the purpose of the millennial reign of Christ? I read somebody's notes named Dr. Starr, and he wrote a number of good purposes for the millennial reign of Christ. Number one, to put down all rebellion. That's why he's coming to reign. Because he's going to put down all rebellion. At the end of a thousand years there's one last rebellion and it's a big one. As many people as the sand of the sea will be against Jesus at the very end after the millennial reign of Christ. But then he will put down all of them. He'll devour them. and then he'll take care of that enemy, Satan, and cast him in the lake of fire forever. The Millennial reign of Christ is necessary for Jesus Christ to put all rebellion and enemies under his feet. The Millennial reign of Christ is important because it fulfills God's covenants with the Jews through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and particularly David. The millennial reign is important because promises to Israel will be fulfilled in that millennial reign. If we don't have that, those promises remain unfulfilled and we don't have a God that keeps His promises. So it's necessary. It's necessary to exalt and reward the saints. Saints will be rewarded in the millennial reign. They will judge. They will reign with Him. We know that from the scriptures. He will restore the earth to its rightful owners and all prophecy will be fulfilled. through the millennial reign of Jesus Christ that is powerful let's look at the binding of devil of the devil tonight verse number one and I saw an angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand this angel here has complete power over the devil number one he will lay hold of him and he's not going to get out of his grasp once the angel lays hold of him the bible goes on to say uh... that he will uh... shut up uh... throwing into the bottomless pit he will shut the bottomless pit and he will seal it for one thousand years let me remind you tonight you may see a lot of power in operation by the devil today there are a lot of demonic forces working all over the world, in America, in the hearts and lives of people. Recently I read this week that there was a medical doctor that helped a lady who had wanted to commit suicide for 29 years. Helped her do that this past week. And there's great concern that that spreads. We help people take their own lives. And so the enemy cometh but for to steal and to kill and to destroy but I'm reminding you of his end his end is that he'll be bound for a thousand years that means he does not have all power because when we get to this point at the end or at the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ you need to understand he is powerless when it comes to that angel That angel will lay hold of him, that angel will bind him, he will open up the pit, he'll throw him into the pit, he'll lock him up, and he'll be there for a thousand years. No way out. He has limited power as it relates to what the Bible teaches us about this. The picture of a locked dungeon differs from that of an open shallow pool of fire that constitutes the lake of fire. Understand that this is probably not the lake of fire, but we have reference to this in Revelation chapter 11 verses 7 and 8 where the demons and the evil spirits come out of the bottomless pit. This is a bad place. This is a place where demonic activity is running wild and Satan will be confined to that abyss in the scripture. And so, notice the binding of Satan and the Millennium must come in conjunction with and as a result of this second coming of Christ. Christ comes in the end of chapter 19, and at the beginning of chapter 20, the angel binds the devil. Interesting. Interesting, interesting that God has power over him. And there's coming a day where he will have no power to deceive. It reminds me of scripture. When we start in the beginning in Genesis chapter one, Satan is busy doing what? Deceiving. Have God said? Deceive? God hath not said. you won't surely die, God's just afraid that you'll have knowledge right, deception we're getting to the end of the book sixty-six books later and what's he doing? he's deceiving now brethren can I say we're not there when he's locked up yet which means he has the potential to deceive you every fiery dart aimed at a person's mind is a dart of deception I have told people this in counseling for years in order for you to sin you have to believe a lie Eve looked at the food and she believed the lie that the devil gave her in order to do what she did against the Lord the devil is very suave and subtle in the mind Oftentimes when I'm working with people, somebody that's struggling really bad in the mind or somebody that's struggling with a habit in their lives, we have to get to the point where they are identifying thoughts that come in, whether they are of God, according to the knowledge of God. Because if they're not of the knowledge of God, then you can identify the other source. It is the deceiver. And the quicker that people understand thoughts that are coming in, that that's from the devil. And therefore, I can't give any credence or attention or any dwelling upon that thought because it's coming from the devil. My friend, that is a very, very real scenario in the life of the believer today. You need to understand the devil is a deceiver and he's out to deceive you. That's why we need truth. We need constant access to truth. Because truth does what? It reveals error. It reveals deception. You have to understand, his whole life purpose is to deceive. He is a father of lies. Young people, would you hear me tonight? One of the greatest traps you can fall into as a young person is becoming dishonest in your life. is giving up the character quality of honesty. When you choose to tell a lie, when you choose to be dishonest with your parents about something, when you choose to hide something that's sinful and you don't deal with it properly before God, I want you to know you are linking up with Satan. In my office, I've told many people, if you lose honesty, you will lose every relationship in your life. Because all relationships are built on trust. And so if you cannot be honest, if you link with the devil, if you buy into a deceitful life, you understand you will destroy the relationships in your life. Truthfulness, integrity, honesty is of utmost importance when it comes to you enjoying the relationships of your life. And the devil wants to destroy all that. He comes to steal and to kill and to destroy. And so it would be a good call for all believers tonight to just make sure that we are committed to honesty in our lives. Honesty at the job. Honesty in private. Honesty in our family. Honesty with church members. Honesty, honesty, honesty. because the devil's a deceiver and he he's going to deceive at the beginning to deceive he's going to deceive nations as many as the sand of the sea and human beings will be deceived at the end of the thousand-year reign and so he's good at what he does would you put the armor of truth on in your life tonight would you understand that probably somewhere this week the devil's gonna aim a fiery dart of deception at your mind He's gonna cause you to think wrong about something or someone. He's gonna cause you to think that you're the exception to the rule, that you can get away with something that you can't get away with. He's planting lies all the time in people's lives. Understand that tonight. We look at the binding of Satan. Secondly, we look at the first resurrection. Look at verse number four. Revelation chapter 20, verse number four. And I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Christ and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Who's it speaking about there? Speaking about martyrs, isn't it? Speaking about those who refuse to take the mark, worship the beast, and their lives were taken from them during the great tribulation period. Bible says that they'll rule and they'll reign with Christ a thousand years but notice verse number five but the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years were finished this is the first resurrection Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. The term resurrection in the New Testament is used about 40 different times. And in almost every passage outside of Revelation, it is referring to a physical resurrection. It is referring to somebody that died physically and that came up from the dead. The only place that really it's not referring to a physical rising from the dead is in Luke chapter two, verse number 34. And this child is set for the fall and the rising again of many in Israel. Physical resurrection is clearly the concept that would have immediately arisen in the minds of the people that were reading Revelation. If you're talking resurrection, resurrection is somebody physical. Now the Bible talks about here the first resurrection. The first resurrection. What does the first resurrection include? Well, it includes first of all the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because he's the first fruits of all those that would rise. then it includes the resurrection of the believers at the rapture remember the dead in christ shall rise first and then it's going to include the other resurrections of the other believers right so we can say the first resurrection includes all of those believers that have died and god has risen from the dead you say now wait preacher we're going into the millennial reign and we have all of these believers that are going to reign with Christ where's the evil gonna come from at the end of the millennial reign preacher if we have glorified bodies those of us that are dead in Christ and raised guess what will have glorified bodies those that are resurrected from earth were living and the rapture takes place will have glorified bodies so we're going into the millennial reign and we can't sin so who's gonna send preacher at the end of the millennial reign when he deceives nations lots and lots of people well there's some people that come through the tribulation period right they make it through those seven years they're not killed they go into the millennial reign in mortal bodies and they have children in the millennial reign of a thousand years and just like now people that will be born through mortal bodies in the millennial will have a sin nature and they will have to make a choice to come to Jesus by faith, and many of them will be deceived. And so we're dealing with this timeframe of the reign of Christ and the first resurrection. So, what's the role of saints and apostles in the resurrection period? Turn your Bibles to Revelation 20, verse four. Revelation 20, verse four. Notice here, these are tribulation saints that were murdered, but they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. So the tribulation saints are going to have a role in God's program in his government here on this earth. They're going to rule and reign with Christ. What about the apostles preacher? What's going to happen to the apostles during the millennial reign of Christ? Go to Matthew chapter 19. Remember, there's a lot of thickness here. We don't discuss these things very often, but it's good to study what the Bible has in the text. And so Matthew chapter 19. Look at verse number 28. Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory. When is that? That's the millennial reign of Christ. He also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. The apostles will have very specific governance, so to speak. They will sit on 12 thrones and they will judge the 12 tribes of Israel during the millennial reign of Christ. What about the church? What about the church? Preacher, what are we going to be doing? Does God have a role for us? Yes, He does. The Bible says in Revelation chapter 2, when He's writing now to the churches, local churches like ours, He says in verse 26, And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. the local church will be part of God's ruling branch in the millennial period he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of the potter shall they be broken to shivers even as I received of my father and so you can study Zechariah chapter 8 it also deals with some of these things but there's going to be a role in the millennial reign for the Jews save Jews for the tribulation saints for the church all of that is laid out in the scriptures all the saints will be with him during the millennial reign and so it's important to know that you say preacher what are the conditions of the millennial reign like or what are the conditions of the kingdom Christ kingdom number of things will be true number one life will be lengthened there's some great millennial passages to study in scripture, a couple in Isaiah, some in Ezekiel, some in Zechariah. Remember, our Old Testament prophets could see mountain peaks. And the mountain peaks looked, if you've ever been in a mountainous region, you know when you look at mountain peaks, from a distance they look like they're right up against each other. But then you might get closer and there's there's some gaps between the mountains. That's how the Old Testament prophets could see into the New Testament. They saw the mountain peaks, but they couldn't connect all the dots. But most of what they spoke about was the millennial reign and the second coming of Jesus. Not so much about the raptures I explained last week, because they couldn't see the church age. But they could see the second coming. They could see God restoring Israel. They could see God dealing with his people again and restoring them. And so the life will be lengthened. The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 65, there shall be no more thence an infant of days. nor an old man that hath not filled his days. For the child shall die an hundred years old, but the sinner, being an hundred years old, shall be accursed." It goes on in another passage to say, in another millennial passage in Zechariah 8, there shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And it says in some other passages that some people will live the whole thousand years. So the millennial reign, during the millennium, life will be lengthened. Number two, light will be strengthened. Light will be strengthened. The sun shall be no more light by the day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee, but the Lord shall be unto thee, in Isaiah 60, a millennial passage, an everlasting light. and thy God, thy glory. The sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. There will be light that's strengthened for God will be the light. There will be life that will be lengthened. Thirdly, reward for labor will be proportionate. Turn your Bibles to Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65. Isaiah, a ton of verses about the millennium, millennial kingdom. Isaiah 65, verse number 21. Bible says and they shall build houses and inhabit them and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. I don't think that you're going to be starved to death because of the taxes of Christ's kingdom. You're going to be able to build a house and you're going to be able to live in it and afford it. Here the Bible says you'll be able to plant vineyards and you'll be able to partake of the fruit of them. There'll be peace between animals and mankind and animals and animals. We read about the wolf also dwelling with the lamb in Isaiah chapter number 11. And the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them. I cannot imagine that. I cannot imagine a little child coming up to a lion. Let me put my leash on you. Let's go for a walk today. Leopard come here, come here. That's what the Bible says. The Bible says that's what the Millennial Kingdom's going to be like. There's going to be peace. The land will be restored. Righteousness will be the environment. There'll be a population explosion in the Millennial Kingdom. You can read about this in Isaiah chapter 60 and Isaiah chapter 61. There'll be peace and there'll be no war. He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." In the Millennial Kingdom. Guess what? No CNN, no Fox News, there's nothing to talk about. There's no war. There's peace. there's peace because the king of kings is reigning and he demands righteousness and so there'll be no disease in these days you can read about that in Isaiah chapter 65 and so these these are just some of the conditions that the Bible describes about the millennial reign of Christ won't it be such drastically different from what we experience today And in eons past, God planned this whole thing out. And He planned this whole thing out for His people. If you're a believer tonight, He planned it out for you. He planned that it would all get to this point where you get to enjoy the Millennial Kingdom with Christ as President, so to speak. With Him as King overall. Come back next week we'll look at the judgments. We'll look at all the different judgments in relationship to the end time, the loosing of Satan, and the great white throne judgment. Let's bow in prayer tonight. Father we thank you for just giving us a little inkling about what's coming. Lord we are grateful and we need understanding Lord there's lots here to digest and to understand so Lord I pray that you'll help me as I explain these things to be as clear as possible Lord so that we could have the understanding of comfort but Lord prophecy in the scripture was given to motivate Lord it was given to motivate that we would purify ourselves Lord the soon appearance of Jesus Christ is a motivator for us to be clean before you. So Lord I pray that if there's a believer here that Lord is not clean before you tonight. Lord they know there's a coming day when you appear. Lord we don't want to be ashamed when you appear. I pray that you'll convict, you'll motivate God, you'll stir. Bring us to confession. Lord bring us to cleansing if needed tonight. Then, Lord, I pray, as we think about the devil and his deceit, Lord, he's a horrible deceiver. He's so opposite of God, who is, Lord, you're 100% truth. And so, Lord, in our lives, we ought to be committed to truth, to follow truth, to tell the truth, to live the truth. And God, I pray, if there's anybody here, Lord, that, Lord, has been dishonest this week in some area, pray tonight or they'll see that the devil they're linking with the devil they would come apart from that or recommit themselves honest then lord maybe some have been facing fiery darts this week of deception or lord the devil's been trying to play tricks on the mind use darts of discouragement or use darts to get them to excuse themselves in order to sin or get darts to thinking about somebody in an evil way or begin accusing somebody in our minds and God I pray tonight that Lord we would be on the high alert that Lord we would not allow the devil to have any control of our minds Lord help us to purge out deceitful thoughts in Jesus name Stand with me, your heads are bowed, your eyes are closed, if God's dealt with your heart tonight about honesty. You say, Preacher, I have had my mind bombarded lately on thoughts that I know are not from the Lord. I just need God to cleanse my mind, purge my mind of those things. I've had a confused, I've had a muddied, I've had a troubled mind of late. Be aware tonight of the deceitfulness of the devil. And let's cast aside those thoughts. Let's recognize where they're coming from. If you're here and you're not living a holy life tonight, be motivated through prophecy. Oh, my, I ought to be cleansed this evening. Boy, God, there's something I got to get right with you tonight. Lord, I'm not waiting. I know you could come at any moment. Lord, I want to be thoroughly right with you. I need to use the altar tonight. You come as the pianist plays softly. Would you search yourself tonight? We talked about the Day of Atonement this morning. It was a day God set aside to consider my standing before Him. Church service after preaching is a good time to consider your standing before God tonight. Would you do that? In your pew, she plays this verse. Would you just say, Lord, Lord, is there anything that needs to be purged? God, is there anything unholy that happened in my conduct, in my speech this week? Lord, is there any thoughts that I dwelt on? Lord, you know the thought of foolishness is sin. God, I maybe gave some attention to a thought this week that I shouldn't have given myself to. Lord, cleanse me. Cleanse me. Take your songbook, turn to hymn number 57. Sing it as a prayer to the Lord individually here as we close our service. Urge me, O God, and know my heart today. Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts I pray see if there be some wicked way in me cleanse me from every sin and set me free I appreciate your attention to the word of God in this series. I know there's a lot of detail there. We didn't want to rush through it tonight, but hopefully you got some understanding of some of the things that are coming at the very end here. Pastor Todd, you come and give us closing announcements. All right, please check your bulletin for what's coming up this week. VBS workers, we have a meeting Wednesday night, 645 down in room number one. And there's a CBI workers prayer meeting. and uh... that's at seven p m not sure where that's at room three that's right that's the cbi workers prayer meetings in room three and then uh... the church picnic this saturday you've got the flyer on that in your bulletin so be aware of that always a good time and uh... so that is this coming saturday and uh... then just take note of all the camp meetings coming up we have our counselor meeting tonight campus services were meeting next Sunday night, and then also newsletter articles are due next Sunday to Olivia Dougherty, and the email address is in your printed announcement sheets. And there's other things in there I would invite your attention to, to keep you informed of everything going on. All right, are there any other last minute announcements before we're dismissed? Pastor Jared. Right after the service, missions trip meeting for all the teens down in room number one, all right? Any other last minute announcements? Don't forget, Bible assembly is tomorrow night. All right, Mark Waldemeyer, would you please dismiss us in prayer? Thank you for joining us by way of the internet today. We're so glad that you were able to be with us and we pray that the service was a blessing to your heart. Even though the sermon is over, our service is not over. At the end of our service, we give an opportunity for people to respond and come to an altar and pray over what God dealt with them about. Sometimes people come to call upon Christ and to be saved. Others come to make a decision for Christ regarding their Christian lives. Others come to call out to the Lord about special needs and situations in their lives. Maybe God has dealt with you today about some specific area of your life. I invite you to make an altar right there in your home, a quiet time before the Lord where you pray to Him and respond to Him about what He has spoken to you about. If you made a decision for the Lord today, we would be glad to hear about that decision and or answer any questions you have today about the message that was preached. You can contact us by way of email at info at mountziononline.org or by way of phone at 717-927-9227. Again, we thank you for joining us today and we look forward to you joining us again for our live stream. weekly on Sundays at 1045 a.m. and on Sunday evenings at 645 p.m. If we can meet a need in your life, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you and God bless you.