Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom authority to judge was committed. Also I saw souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image, and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years. Let's pray. Dear Father, we ask your help and your blessing as we look at this text. Help us to find in it the encouragement that you intended to give to us, the writings of your Apostle John. We thank you. We have great hope rooted in the Lord God of heaven and earth, rooted in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, rooted in the Word of Christ on our behalf, and the power of the Holy Spirit has brought us to life. In Christ's name we ask for help in understanding this text. Amen. Okay, this text has a lot to it. I'm going to try to cover a few things just in the brief time we have. Considering this text this morning, and it's a greatly debated text in our day as to how to interpret it. I've changed my view from my early years as a believer when I was taught what is called dispensationalism. which presupposes a very literal interpretation of this text and all the scriptures. And we must realize that we come to the scriptures with our own presuppositions to interpret and understand what we are reading. And that was a presupposition I was given, that I must be very literal when I come to these texts. It's important to know this. and to not think that you can come to any text without any presuppositions. The point is to get the right presuppositions, which is a bigger project that we can tackle this morning. I just want you to think about that idea. Also, let me get you to think about another idea. Do not assume that being literal in interpreting God's word is the best safeguard for being sound and orthodox. Taking a text, a text of scripture literally is not always right. Now let me see if I can demonstrate this to you very quickly. Look in chapter 20, right here in the previous paragraph. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding his hand, the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be released for a little while." And we can't go into everything here. But notice in verse 2, that little phrase, who is. Now, that phrase is interpreting for us what's going on in this paragraph. The dragon. It's figurative for the devil. It's interpreted for us, and that's a good hermeneutical, interpretive-type principle. That we're going to be given figurative things that represent literal things, or real things. So the dragon, a figurative thing, represents something real. The ancient serpent, the devil, Satan. That helps us understand what's going on in the rest of this text. The dragon teaching us that it is the serpent, the devil, Satan, that opposes God's people. The angel, okay, it's likely Jesus Christ. That's what Matthew Henry believed. Another commentator believed that it was a mediating angel, an angel given The authority of Christ. The thousand years? An immeasurable amount of time. There's a contrast drawn to the book of Revelation. We're not going to take time to develop right now. But an immeasurable amount of time in which Christ's churches are given authority to function, to flourish, to increase. This dragon was taken by the angel and thrown into a pit and sealed there. This declares Satan is under Christ's authority. He's bound. It's hard to understand some of these things exactly. But he's bound in this way, that he might not deceive the nations any longer. Let me just help you with that a little bit. This means that he cannot stop the progress of the gospel into every corner of the earth. He's still Satan. He's still given some liberty to work, but he cannot stop the progress of the gospel. He cannot stop the establishing of churches of Christ-worshippers in all nations. So we have freedom to pray for a planting of a church in Oklahoma City. because the evil one cannot stop this, the head of the church is in charge. Now, we wait for the will of the head of the church, don't we? But isn't that a better place to be? Okay, let's go on. In our text this morning, the next paragraph, I will give you what I believe the Apostle John is communicating to Christ's churches. What I said about verses 1 through 3, the first paragraph, indicates my direction. We're given figures that represent other things. A dragon represents something else. A chain represents something else than a chain. If it is difficult to grasp, be patient. Be patient with me, but be patient with yourself as well. This instruction is what many have held as true throughout church history. So I'm not giving you a modern, dispensational take on things. Rather, an older, amillennial interpretation of this text. It would take a long time to develop all this, but you're just going to have to work with me right now. The point, and let me emphasize this, the point is not that you have a tidy package for understanding the future. The point is that you understand God, and that you understand his purposes in Christ, and his promises to his people, to his churches, in Christ that he will fulfill with absolute sovereignty. I want to emphasize that to you. That's the point that we must get out of a text like this. In these first three verses, John taught Christ's churches three things. Let me just lay these out real quickly, kind of review for you. Christ, Jesus restricts Satan's power. Number two, this binds Satan so that he cannot restrict the gospel from going into all nations, nor annihilate Christ's churches. We would not exist if he was given authority to do that, because he would annihilate us. He would kill any one of us. He would destroy churches. But he's bound by Christ so that we might exist. Number three, This time we are in is the millennium that is inaugurated during the church age. It's roughly from his time of exaltation to the second advent. And I get that from G.K. Beal. That's not something I came up with myself. He's a very helpful commentator on Revelation. I recommend him highly to you. This follows from Christ's teachings in the Gospels. If you will, think with me real quickly. You can turn there if you want to. At least listen to it. When Christ came and answered the question, who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock. What's the rock? It's the confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. On this rock, I will build my church, and here it is, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. We're in Revelation 20. We're in the binding of the dragon, the chaining of the dragon. So, it's the same thing, similar to what Christ said in Matthew 20 and 18. All authority. in heaven and earth has been given unto me." One more text real quickly. This is John chapter 12. In verse 27, Christ, in Jerusalem, speaking of his soon departure via death, Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Therefore, the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said an angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice did not come because of me, but for your sake. I take that very personally for our church. Now is the judgment of this world. He's anticipating his death, his resurrection, his ascension. His exaltation, his sitting at the right hand of the Father. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. We're back in Revelation 20. The angel is given a chain to bind the dragon. Now, next, John directs our attention from looking at Satan in the pit or the abyss in verses 1-3, to looking at Christ and his people in heaven. These are simultaneous events. Be patient, think about it, work on it, you'll get there. In verse 4, look at just the first sentence. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom authority to judge was committed. This is a figurative description of authority given to Christ's people. Authority established by Almighty God. And so, ultimate authority. And it's not a new way of explaining authority and its function. We're not going to go there. You want to jot this down in Daniel 7. Beginning at verse 14, Daniel was given a vision, and by the time you get... And by the way, the vision is the coming of Christ, and there's a persecution of God's people, and then they're given authority in Daniel chapter 7, verses 26 and 27. You can read that later. But the Apostle John is drawing from that. John's point is that Satan is severely limited. He's bound. Although he persecutes Christ's people even to martyrdom, they will surely be given the place and right of ultimate judgment by Christ's authority and Christ's merits. The rest of verse 4, Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image, and had not received this mark on their foreheads, or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Christ's people, in this part of the vision, may appear to be overcome. Some of them were beheaded. I think this is representative of all his people as they face death in this age. I think being beheaded is representative of all of us. It's like the worst So it includes all. But that's not an accurate full accounting of them. While on earth they gathered with his churches. They had the testimony of Jesus. Do you see that? And for the word of God. And they did not worship the beast or receive his money. You know what I believe that is? I believe they weren't idolaters. They had forsaken paganism, and heathenism, and idolatry, and they were worshippers of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They gathered with their church weekly to worship God. This was their mark. They worshipped God triune, under Christ's authority, by the Holy Spirit's power. Therefore, at bodily life, excuse me, at bodily death, they came to life, into this thousand-year During the church age, we might call it, this is the lot of all believers. You are going to die. Your body is perishing as we speak. What's going to happen when you perish? My brothers and sisters, you're going to go sit on the throne. in heaven with Christ, grueling and reigning. That is true hope. That is true encouragement. When he says here in verse 5, they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. The rest of the dead is a reference to the unbelieving. The idolaters, the ones who worshipped the beast and took his mark, they do not live. When they perish here, they go to death. Now, he develops this elsewhere. We're not going to develop it so much this morning, right now. John instructed us that the first resurrection is this description of the total church age, of Christ and his people. When he says there, this is the first resurrection, it's kind of a summary statement for everything he's written so far, in a way, in chapter 20. If that doesn't sound quite right to you, let's talk about it later. But I believe that's what he's doing. I think he's giving us a summary statement of this whole idea we might call from Christ's exaltation to his second coming. What's happening to his people, how they're reigning. This is the first resurrection. While we are here, regardless of appearances here and now, Christ has given us promises. Christ has promised this to his people. So especially as we gather together to worship God triune, we hope in the first resurrection. Participating by faith with the Church, reigning in heaven with Christ. And at death, we are with him on thrones. that holy callings we have received that brought us to faith in Christ as the Word of God was preached, regeneration, sealed our place in the first resurrection. With the saints in heaven, we are blessed and holy. And you might think of many texts Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heaven and places. We have a foretaste. We're not there yet, but we have a foretaste of it now, every week as we gather and hear the Word preached. While we wait for this blessed and holy state, while we are anticipating that we are going to physically die, Unless Christ comes, we worship the Lord God of heaven and earth. And we pray to Him in Christ's name. That's what we've gathered to do today, to worship Him. We've gathered to pray in Christ's name, by the Spirit. And we know this, we have a full welcome. We have full acceptance as we go to prayer. And we have a sure hope that we're going to sit on thrones soon. And we're going to rule and reign with Christ in the church in heaven. I believe that's what this text is teaching us. I believe it's very hopeful, encouraging. It's a text that makes you want to shout, hallelujah, as you meditate upon it. God give us grace.