Revelation chapter number 20 this evening in your copy of the Holy Scriptures, Revelation 20. One of the boasts of the Roman Empire is that it brought peace to the earth. And it was a phenomenon called Pax Romana, or the Peace of Rome. And for more than 200 years, Roman citizens enjoyed safety and security. They felt free to travel and to conduct trade without the threat of calamity. And peace on earth was so significant at the time that it was said to have been a miracle. and a miracle that had not been known in such a widespread way for such a long period of time. And if I could get those monitors there to reflect what's on the screen, that would be helpful to me. But due to the prominence of Pax Romana, or the Peace of Rome, historians then have looked back over the course of human history and have sought to identify other times and places since then when there was peace. For example, Pax Britannica, was identified as a period of time, a season of peace in Great Britain during, of course, the 19th century. And then there was Pax Americana, which describes relative peace in the Western Hemisphere during the 20th century. And of course, there have been pockets of peace for some periods of time in the course of human history, but by and large, there has been generally chaos and conflict in the world all the time. And you can even watch the news today and follow geopolitics, and we understand that the world is so unruly today. Some have even said that the world cannot be ruled. because the world is so unruly today. But I declare to you that the world can be ruled and it will be ruled in perfect righteousness, not by the United States or not by the United Nations, but by the Messiah. We might call it Pax Messiah, the peace of the Messiah. When Jesus comes, he will bring peace on earth for 1,000 years. And this evening, in the course of our series on future events, I'd like to address the matter of Jesus' millennial kingdom reign on the earth in what I'm simply titling, The Millennium. Let's pray, and then we'll look at the scripture. God in heaven, we thank you so much for the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that he is good and strong and he is kind. And when we have need and when we fear, Lord, when we're lost, we can look to Jesus. I thank you for this truth and this reality. And God, now as we turn our attention to the Holy Scripture and we read, The prophetic word of the time in which Jesus will come again to rule and reign on the earth for a thousand years, may we be encouraged by this promise, this prophecy. And Lord, may you help us to see Jesus in all of this, for I pray it in Jesus' name, amen. The word millennium is a Latin term made up of two different words, mille, meaning 1,000, and annum, meaning years, 1,000 years, mille, annum, or millennium. It's the span of 1,000 years in which Jesus Christ will literally and physically rule and reign on the earth, fulfilling the covenant promises that God made to David in 2 Samuel 7 and to Israel through the prophets. In Revelation 20, we are explicitly told of the millennium, of the 1,000 years, six times in a row. Look at Revelation 20, look at verse number two. He laid hold of the dragon and the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for how long? 1,000 years. Look at verse three, and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should be so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. Look at verse number four, 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 worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for, here it is again, A thousand years, look at verse number five, but the rest of the dead did not live again until how long? The thousand years were finished. Verse six, blessed and holy is he who is part of the first resurrection, over such the second death has no power, but that they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. Verse number seven, and when the thousand years have expired, And folks, I belabor the point here at the beginning of our study to make the case of the thousand year millennial reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. There should be no confusion about the millennium. But as we come to Revelation 20, we must prepare ourselves with this presupposition. I am approaching the text. We ought all to approach the text with the presupposition that what is written here is a literal description of what will take place on the earth in the future. This is our hermeneutic. These are the rules of our Bible interpretation, the principles and practices of our Bible interpretation to read and to understand God's word, the text, Literally, if we don't begin with this approach, with this presupposition, then we will be left with different conclusions. For example, there are three different interpretations of Revelation 20 that's before us. One view is called postmillennialism. And postmillennialism teaches that Jesus will come again after, that is post, a golden age of prosperity on the earth. And the idea is that the church of Jesus Christ will usher in the kingdom, the millennial kingdom on earth. Christianity will enjoy success on the earth, and then, post the millennium, Jesus will come again. The problem is that there is nothing that even closely resembles what we read of a few moments ago in Isaiah chapter 11. the description of the millennial kingdom, a righteous kingdom existing on earth. Some of the historic proponents of this view are Jonathan Edwards, Charles Hodge, A.H. Strong of Strong's Concordance. Others more recently would be Douglas Wilson, R.C. Sproul, and Tim Keller. This is post-millennialism. There's another interpretation of Revelation 20, and that would be amillennialism. Amillennialism teaches that there is no literal, physical, actual reign of Christ on the earth. The ah negates millennialism, no millennial, and rather it teaches that this is a spiritual reign of Jesus Christ in the hearts of believers. And amillennialists will confuse Israel and the church, and they assign the fulfillment of the prophetic promises to Israel as being fulfilled in the church today. A historic proponent of this view would be Augustine. More recent names would be J.I. Packer, Michael Horton, J. Adams, Sam Storms, Mark Dever, and most Presbyterians. And the short of it is this, that post-millennialists and amillennialists, they both interpret Revelation 20 in a non-literal sense. And they would admit such. And so I hope that I'm accurately representing their views. And then there is premillennialism. Premillennialism is named such because it interprets Revelation 20 as describing a literal 1,000-year kingdom reign of Jesus Christ on earth following Jesus' coming. That is, Jesus' second coming happens before, pre, the millennium. and so thus called pre-millennialism. And I'm proud to tell you the names of advocates of this position because I find myself in their company. Historically, C.I. Schofield, Lewis Sperry Schaefer, Charles Ryrie, Merrill Unger, those are the old Dallas guys more recently, John MacArthur, John Piper, D.A. Carson, Doug McLaughlin, Roy Beecham, all the faculty at Central Seminary, the pastors here at Fourth Baptist Church, you get the picture. And so as we come to Revelation 20, we come with the presupposition that the 1,000 year millennial kingdom reign of Jesus Christ on earth is in fact a 1,000 year millennial reign of Jesus Christ on earth, all right? And so we read this as a literal description of events that will take place chronologically after Revelation 19. So this 1,000 years of peace on earth, the kingdom reign of Christ, will take place after Jesus' second coming in Revelation 19. And so Jesus returns pre the millennium, pre-millennialism, all right? With that, Revelation 20, verse number one, then I saw an angel, this is the apostle John writing, then I saw an angel coming down from heaven. And again, a normal reading of Revelation 20, verse one, continues the sequence of events begun back in chapter 19. And so there's both grammatical and causal connections that make the case for a continuation of events. And the key to establishing the timing of the millennium after the return of Christ is right here before us then in the verses that follow. Revelation 20 verse one, then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, the serpent from the Garden of Eden that we've been studying on Sunday mornings, who is the devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years and 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. I would offer you, number one, Well, I'm sorry, here was my presupposition that I gave you just a moment ago without projecting it there on the screen. A literal description, a thousand years, but number one, the restraining of Satan in verses one through three. Now, amillennialists would contend that Satan was bound at the first coming of Christ. However, I would take issue with that because countless New Testament passages explain that Satan is alive and well today. He's making every effort to defeat Christians today. 1 Peter 5a, be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. That doesn't sound to me as if he is bound for a thousand years today. He's on the loose. That's why Paul warned us not to be ignorant of Satan's devices. He blinds the minds of unbelievers and is now working in the sons of disobedience, Ephesians 2, verse number two. Satan, folks, is alive and well. He's on the loose. But fortunately, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. The spirit of God is greater than Satan, and when Jesus comes again, he will bind Satan, he will place Satan into this bottomless pit, casting him there, that has been mentioned multiple times now in the book of Revelation, chapter nine, chapter 11, chapter 17. It's the temporary place of incarnation, not incarnation, incarceration for the demons, and this will occur in a very literal, definite amount of time. 1,000 years, verse number two. Look at verse four. 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 worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands during the tribulation, and they lived and reigned with Christ for 1,000 years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the 1,000 years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who is part of the first resurrection. Over such, the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. So John saw, beyond just the restraining of Satan in verses one through three, John saw the resurrection and reign of the saints, the resurrection and reign of the saints. And if you look closely, I think you'll find that John describes a few different groups of saints in verse number four. Look with me at verse four. Those who sat on the throne, those who shared in the judgment, appears to be a reference to Old Testament saints who God promised would reign in the millennial kingdom. I would cite Daniel 7, verse 27. And those who sat on the thrones and shared in the judging also appeared to be church saints. The New Testament promises us in 1 Corinthians 6, 2, 2 Timothy 2, 12, that the church will reign with Christ and judge the world. And so we have Old Testament saints and New Testament saints on these thrones who are part of the righteous rule of Christ during the millennium. And then you see also in verse four, there were those who were beheaded. These are tribulation saints who were martyred because they refused to worship the beast or to take the mark of the beast during the tribulation. Now we believe that the church saints will have already been raised at the rapture. The Old Testament and tribulation saints will be resurrected at the second coming of Christ pre-millennium, before the millennium. The end of verse number four, I think if you have the ESV, it says they came to life. and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. And that is the resurrection and the reign of the saints here. But from verse number five, you might ask, well, what about those who are not resurrected until the end of the millennium, at the end of the thousand years? That is the resurrection of the wicked dead from all of the ages. It'll be explained here in a moment in verses 11 through 15, so hold that thought about that. But you might also ask, why does the end of verse five call this the first resurrection? All right, so let's think through this together. We know that there were many who were resurrected from the graves when Jesus died, Matthew 27. We know that Jesus was raised from the dead, as well as many others by the hand of the apostles. Of course, Jesus raised Lazarus. And then there are the resurrection of the two witnesses during the Great Tribulation. And so, in what way is this the first resurrection if there have already been other resurrections? And the answer is that in this context, The first resurrection in verses five and six is contrasted with the last resurrection in verses 12 and 13. So we have two resurrections happening in Revelation 20. It speaks of two general resurrections that happened in the end. All right, verse number six. Blessed and holy is he who is part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him for a thousand years. Now, when the thousand years have expired. And so, for the sixth time now, we have this designation of a millennium, of 1,000 years. And in that, we accept the other numeric descriptions. In Revelation, as literal, we take the 1,000 years here as literal as well. And so, so much of Revelation 20 is giving us these timestamps so that we're clear. But, you ask, what is the millennium gonna be like? Give us some description of it. There are many Old Testament passages that assure us that it's a great time of blessing. It's Pax Messiah, the peace of the Messiah. I'll give some of these to you before you on the screen. Isaiah 2, he shall judge between the nations, rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into plowshares. Swords are weapons of war. Plowshares are just instruments of agriculture. They shall beat their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Unique in all of the history of human civilization, a thousand years without war. As was read a moment ago, Alan Hodak read from us from Isaiah 11, and I'm sure you caught some of this language. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with the young goat. The calf and the young lion and the fatling together and the little child shall lead them. The cow and bear shall graze. Their young ones shall lie down together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Folks, respectfully, show me where in the world this is happening today. We are not in the millennial kingdom, but rather this is something that will be literally fulfilled yet in the future. So here in the book of Revelation, chapter number 20, The point is really to establish the fact that the millennium will follow the second coming of Jesus Christ, last for a thousand years. Jesus coming, his second advent, will be pre-millennium. Verse number three, Satan is then loosed at the end of the thousand year reign. And then we pick up with that thought in verse seven, now when a thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison, the prison that he was cast into in verse number three, after being bound for a thousand years. And at that time, countless people will follow him after, as many as the sand of the sea here in verse number eight. And Satan will go out to deceive the nations that 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 I would title this the rebellion of sinners. There will be one last rebellion. And the details here in verses eight and nine, they need some explanation. And so if you'll follow me into the deep weeds here, what is the reference of Gog, the reference to Gog and Magog in verse number eight, you see it there? If you know your Old Testament well, Ezekiel 38 and 39 describes a war in which the nations of Gog and Magog are mentioned. However, what is happening in Revelation 20 is different from the war in Ezekiel 38 and 39 for a number of reasons. The armies in Ezekiel come from the north and engage a few nations while the battle in Revelation 20 involves all the nations in every direction. Okay, so if that is so, if we've got two different battles happening in Ezekiel 38, 39, and Revelation 20, then why is the expression Gog and Magog used in Revelation 20, verse eight? And it may be that it's a historic reference to communicate significance. So for example, In the vernacular today we might speak of a great disaster like a hurricane or a flood. We might speak of the destruction that occurred in South Florida or Western Florida this past month as a war zone. Even though it actually wasn't a war zone, we would describe the destruction as a war zone because of that hurricane. Or we might speak of a great conflict in the world as a World War III or an Armageddon. And we might not actually mean the battle of Armageddon, but we might use it as a descriptor. Gog and Magog represent the enemies of God's people here, in this case coming from every direction. And like the battle of Armageddon 1,000 years earlier, right, when Jesus comes, his second advent, his second coming, plants his feet on the Mount of Olives, defeats the nations there. We then have the 1,000-year millennial kingdom reign on earth. And now we have this event. It's a one-sided massacre. And the enemies of God are immediately and totally exterminated when they revolt and rebel. Verse number nine, 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. And so the final rebellion led by Satan will be put down here at this time. I like what Charles Ryrie has written regarding this. It's helpful to me. The rebellion of sinners. He says they will seize on the, I've copied this for you in your notes. They will seize on the chance to give expression to the rebellion of their hearts when Satan arises to be their leader in this last revolt. The millennium will prove, among other things, that a nearly perfect earthly environment and universal knowledge of the Lord will not change human hearts. This must be done personally and voluntarily, and multitudes will never do that during this long period. So follow this now. There will be peace on earth for a thousand years because Jesus Christ will reign in perfect righteousness. However, utopia on earth will not eradicate the depravity of man's hearts. Remember that even during the conditions of the Garden of Eden, the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve still rebelled against God. Remember that during Jesus' earthly life and ministry at His first coming, most people rejected Him. And having peace on earth does not ultimately solve the problem of man's relationship with God. And folks, that idea has great implications for us today if you consider our own political action. there are just causes that we ought to fight. And there are causes that are worth fighting for, but if we eradicate all of the ills in our culture, if in this coming election we regain the House and the Senate and the gubernatorial races and other positions in state or local government so that righteousness might prevail in our country, know that man's sinful nature still remains, and that's a problem. Look at verse number 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. Folks, you might underscore verse number 10 or highlight or circle verse number 10. This is where things become final, as Satan is cast into the lake of fire. What of the lake of fire? It's not popular to expound on the idea of eternal punishment. However, the text is clear. We read it literally, that final damnation is not annihilation for the false prophet and the beasts, after the thousand years. But this lake of burning sulfur is a torment that will endure forever and ever. And I'll ask you, what is worse? Is it the fire or is it the forever? that's worse, the fire or the forever, verse 11. Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead small and great standing before God and the books were opened, 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 this now here is one of the most serious and sobering scenes in all of the Bible. This is the final judgment of unbelievers from all the ages. Now be careful here to not misunderstand. Be careful to distinguish the judgment seat of Christ which occurs at the rapture of the church, it's a time of reward, from this, the great white throne judgment. The judgment seat of Christ is the occasion of reward for believers. Romans 14, 2 Corinthians 5. The great white throne judgment will be the final damnation of unbelievers, and unbelievers will be judged according to their works. And one author describes it this way. I've printed it for you as well. A multitude of unredeemed people standing before God, apart from Jesus Christ. These are the people who said, I don't need Jesus. I'm good enough. I'll stand in my own works, on my own record. At that time, heaven's books will be open, revealing everything these people have ever thought, said, or done. Because they refused the grace of God, they will be judged by the things written in the books. And all of these people will be found wanting. You see, folks, here's our options. We may be judged according to Christ's work or according to our own works. It's only the righteousness of Jesus Christ and his work on the cross that redeems us, which points us then to the results of the great white throne here at the end of the millennial kingdom. Let me read verses 13, and following 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. Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, and anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. I'm mindful of Jesus' warning in Matthew 7, where he says, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work lawlessness, or you workers of lawlessness. Jesus' words in Matthew 25, depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And man's excuses will sound so hollow in this day. But I did many wonderful works in your name. I went to church in your name. And yet these unbelievers will be resurrected to the second death, eternal damnation in fire forever. Here in the text, the death of the Hades, their terms for the grave. Hades is a term used 10 times in the New Testament, always refers to a place of punishment where the unrighteous dead are kept pending their sentence to the eternal lake of fire. This is the second and final death. The lake of fire is the Greek Gehenna. It's a New Testament word for the valley of Ben-Hinnom, which was really Jerusalem's garbage dump for the community. And it was there where garbage was dumped and it was was burned and it continually burned, always burned. And Jesus repeatedly used that valley of Hinnom as a picture of eternal hell in his teaching. And one Bible commentator says it bluntly, says, hell will be God's eternal cosmic dump. Its inmates will be burning as garbage forever. That's a graphic picture, but it's the second death, the sentence to the lake of fire forever. So folks, as we think through future events, and we work our way from the rapture of the church to the judgment seat of Christ and the marriage supper of the lamb, the rise and the fall of the antichrist we've discussed, the tribulation period, the second coming of Jesus, the second advent where he comes to the Mount of Olives and defeats the nations, the millennial kingdom reign of Jesus Christ on the throne of David for 1,000 years, reigning in perfect righteousness, concluded with here these horrific events. There's only one way to avoid this end. And I believe Hebrews 10 gives us the best conclusion. It's there before you on the screen. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot? It's one thing to violate the Mosaic law. It's an entirely another thing to trample the son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing and insulted the spirit of grace. For we know him who said, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, the Lord will judge his people. Here it is, it is a fearful things to fall into the hands of a living God. And as we think of the peace that will exist during the millennial kingdom, and we'll be here to rule and reign with Christ. We also are mindful of that final judgment, the great white throne, and the damnation that is assigned to the false prophet, to the beast, to Satan himself, and all the unbelieving who will be raised to stand before God before they're cast into the lake of fire. These are sobering things that may make us uncomfortable. but it should really motivate us to pray as Jesus taught his disciples to pray. And how was that? Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Let's pray. God in heaven, we thank you so much for the written revelation of these things. And God, we tremble before them. And we shudder to think of the righteous rule and reign, not during the thousand-year millennium, but the judgment that concludes all of history as you have ordained it. I pray, Lord, that we would examine our hearts and search our hearts as to whether we are in the faith that we might make our call and election sure, or that we might be burdened for the loss of this world who are who are ignorant of these things because Satan has blinded their eyes. Lord, I pray that we would take comfort this evening in knowing that Jesus is King of kings, Lord of lords, is coming again to rule and reign for a millennium. For I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.