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Tonight we continue to study
the doctrine of the last things, specifically the doctrine of
the millennium. We've already studied the return
of Christ, and next time, God willing, we'll be looking at
the resurrections and the judgments. In between, we are looking at
the millennium. And we saw before that there
are different views amongst Orthodox Christian churches regarding
this time period that is referred to here as a thousand years in
which Satan is bound and Christ is ruling and reigning with his
saints. And we've looked closely at two
of the main views. We have looked at Amillennialism,
as that is popular in Reformed churches today, And we've also
looked at premillennialism, which is my understanding of this passage. And after looking at arguments
for both of those views, we have begun an exposition of Revelation
20, verses one through 10. Last time, we went through verse
three, so today we'll continue with verse four, and God willing,
we will complete this section today. I want to read to us the
section again. If you look in your Bible at
Revelation 20, verse 1 says, Then I saw an angel coming down
from heaven, holding in 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. Then I saw thrones, and
seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was
committed. 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 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 a 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. And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be
released from his prison and will come out to deceive the
nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and
Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand
of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the
earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved
city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And
the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire
and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were. And they
will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Now this passage is not a repetition
of events revealed earlier in the book of Revelation. For nowhere
else in Revelation is there prophecy of the resurrections that are
revealed in verses four through six. And that's what we come
to first tonight is this prophecy of the resurrections. If you
look closely at verse four, it says, then I saw thrones. and
seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was
committed." So in the previous chapter, we were told of Jesus
Christ's return. After he returns, there are thrones. There are beings who are seated
on these thrones to whom the authority to judge is committed. Now, these beings who are seated
on these thrones are probably described in the rest of the
verse as the saints who come to life and reign with Christ. The verse goes on and says, also
I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony
of Jesus and for the word of God. Notice what these saints
were beheaded for. They were beheaded for the testimony
of Jesus. So they were faithful in testifying
to Jesus Christ, in witnessing of Jesus Christ, in spite of
the threat of persecution and possible execution, which is
what they suffered. That was the high cost they paid.
for their giving witness to Jesus Christ. It says, they were beheaded
for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God. So it's
the same idea. They were faithful to testify
to the truths of the gospel. They proclaimed the gospel of
Jesus Christ in a hostile world, and for that they were beheaded. It says in verse four that they
came to life. Now we have to ask ourselves,
what does this mean? That these ones who were beheaded,
these saints who were beheaded came to life. If you go down
in the passage, it refers to their coming to life as the first
resurrection. Notice that in verse 5. It says,
the rest of the dead did not come to life until a thousand
years were ended. This, referring to what was described in verse
4, this is the first resurrection. So saints were beheaded and they
died when they were beheaded and then were told that they
came alive and that their coming alive then is referred to in
verse 5 as the first resurrection. These saints who were martyred
in the Great Tribulation represent all the Old Testament and New
Testament saints who died prior to Christ's return. Because if
you go down to verse 6, it really broadens out to include all the
saints who had died. Because in verse 6 it says, 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." So these saints who come to life and then reign with Christ
for a thousand years, are not limited to the saints who were
beheaded. It includes saints who were martyred
in other ways. And it includes all the saints
who had died previously in history prior to the return of Christ. Now, amillennialists interpret
this in several different ways. Let me give you three different
amillennial interpretations of the saints coming alive, this
resurrection called the first resurrection. William Hendrickson,
in his commentary on Revelation, says that this is the translation
of the soul from this sinful earth to God's holy heaven. So he's saying it's the beginning
of the intermediate state. It's after the saint dies, this
coming alive, this resurrection, is the soul of the saint departing
from the body, departing from the earth, and going to be home
with the Lord. G.K. Beale, in his commentary
on Revelation, gives the same interpretation. Augustine, who
was the first Bible scholar to popularize the Amillennial view
of this passage, taught, and many have followed in his footsteps,
have interpreted this as spiritual regeneration. This coming alive
of the saints, the first resurrection, he said, is when the unregenerate
is regenerated by the Holy Spirit, is born again, is saved, is then
converted to Christ, becomes spiritually alive, goes from
spiritual death to spiritual life. He says that is what is
being referred to here as the first resurrection, the saints
coming alive. And then a third interpretation
that was given in Beal's commentary, but he does not hold, is that
it refers to sharing in Christ's resurrection. Every believer
shares in Christ's resurrection. We have been crucified with Christ. And they say that this is what
this is referring to. But various facts lead us to
interpret this not as a spiritual resurrection, but as a physical,
bodily resurrection of the saints. And let me give you some reasons
for interpreting this that way. First of all, the immediate context. And context is king. When you're
interpreting the scriptures, the first thing you want to do
is look at the immediate context. What does the rest of the verse
say? What does the verse that comes before say? What does the
verse that comes after say? The immediate context is essential
for interpreting any phrase in scripture. So the immediate context
speaks of prior physical death. In verse four, it says that these
individuals, these souls, had been beheaded. That's talking
about physical death. So being that it just says that
they suffered the physical death of being beheaded, then it would
follow that when it talks about them coming alive, it's talking
about coming alive physically. They already were regenerated
long before they were beheaded, or shortly. It depends on the
individual. But they were certainly regenerated before they were
beheaded. They certainly shared in Christ's
resurrection before they were beheaded. Then they were beheaded.
Then it speaks of them coming alive. It's in context. We assume
it's talking about physical resurrection of the body. Another reason for
interpreting it this way is that most interpreters, including
amillennial and postmillennial interpreters, recognize that
the same words came to life refer to physical resurrection in verse
5. Look closely at verse five. The rest of the dead did not
come to life. So the rest of the dead, that's
the wicked who had died. Those were not included in the
saints who have died. The rest of the dead did not
come to life until a thousand years were ended. The only legitimate
translation that's recognized by most interpreters is that
it's talking there about the physical bodily resurrection
of the wicked that will precede their final judgment. And again,
context is king. Since these words come to life
in verse 5, clearly referred to bodily resurrection, it would
suggest that the same words in verse 4 mean the same thing. Something very significant needs
to be communicated that the term is now being used in a different
way if we're going to interpret the same wording in two different
ways in two verses that come together. Another reason for
interpreting Revelation 20 to be speaking about the physical
resurrection of the saints is that the words came to life refer
to physical resurrection in various passages. This is a usage, a
meaning of these words come to life that is found elsewhere
in the New Testament. For example, in the same book,
Revelation chapter 2 verse 8, we read, And to the angel of
the church in Smyrna write the words of the first and the last
who died and came to life. Who is that? Jesus Christ. He's the one who's
writing, speaking this letter, giving this letter to the churches,
and he's identifying himself as the first and the last, the
one who died and came to life. There, came to life refers to
Jesus Christ's bodily resurrection. That's understood by all interpreters. So the words can have that meaning.
And I would say they do have that meaning in verse four of
our text when it says that the saints came to life and reigned
with Christ for a thousand years. They came to life in the same
sense that Jesus came to life on the third day. And then my
last reason for interpreting this as a physical resurrection
is that in the New Testament, the word resurrection almost
always refers to physical resurrection. I didn't verify it, but what
I read in the commentaries is that this word resurrection which
is the Greek word that we based the name of our newborn daughter
upon, Anastasia, comes from the Greek word Anastasia, resurrection. That word occurs over 40 times
in the New Testament. Almost every time it refers to
physical, bodily resurrection. That's the standard meaning.
That's the usual meaning. If it's going to mean something
different, it's going to be obvious in the context it means something
different. So for all those reasons, I interpret
Revelation 20 verse 4 to be prophesying the resurrection of all the saints
who have died, a resurrection that will occur after Jesus Christ
comes again. Now, notice what happens to these
saints who come to life. It says at the end of verse 4
that they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Now, it
may not be speaking about a literal, exact, precise 1,000 years. That
can certainly be a round number. But certainly speaking of a long
period of time. Just think about that length of time, 1,000 years.
That's much longer than the Antichrist's reign was. His reign during the
Great Tribulation is spoken of in the Book of Revelation as
lasting for 42 months. One thousand years is longer than anyone has
ever lived on this earth. Methuselah lived longer than
anybody else in biblical history. And he lived, I think, 969 years.
So this is a long period, a thousand years. that we're told that the
saints will reign with Christ after they have been raised.
Now this reigning of Christ that all of us who are believers will
participate in, this reigning with Christ will be the fulfillment
of various passages. Turn over to Daniel chapter seven. All the way back in the Old Testament,
The reign of the saints with the Messiah was prophesied. It's
a glorious truth that we need to ponder now, to reflect upon,
to appreciate. Daniel 7. In the middle of the
chapter, we have the prophecy of the son, one who appears like
a son of man. It's the Messiah. His coming
in power and great glory is prophesied here, which is his second coming. And if you go down to verses
25 and following. We now, in verse 25, we have
prophecy of the Antichrist. It says in verse 25, He shall
speak words against the Most High. He shall wear out the saints
of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law.
And they shall be given into His hand for a time, times, and
half a time. But the court shall sit in judgment,
and His dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed
to the end. And the kingdom and the dominion
and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall
be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. Their kingdom shall be an everlasting
kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them. That language
about the kingdom being everlasting kingdom is very similar to the
terminology back in verse 14 about the Son of Man. It says,
His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass
away and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. But as
the passage goes on, it amplifies upon the reign of Christ. And
here in verse 27b, we see that the saints will reign with the
Messiah. The terminology in verse 27 is
even that the kingdom will be given to the people of the saints
of the Most High. Their kingdom shall be an everlasting
kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey them. An amazing,
amazing prophecy. that the saints, sinners saved
by grace, unworthy sinners, saved purely by the grace of God on
the basis of Christ's finished work for us, that we would have
a place in Christ's kingdom, that we would rule and reign
with Him That is grace. That is amazing grace. And what that will be like, we
can only imagine. We've not experienced anything
like this before. In the notes, I give you other
passages in the New Testament that refer to this very thing. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 2. The
context is that the saints are not to sue one
another, that we can settle these disputes between members of the
church within the church. We don't have to go to the secular
courts to settle these things. 1 Corinthians 6, 2, or do you
not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world
is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to trial trivial
cases? So this fits with what Daniel
was prophesying of the saints ruling with the Messiah. Here, the Apostle Paul says that
the saints will judge the world. And then at the beginning of
the book of Revelation, chapter two, verses 26 to 27, in one
of the letters to the seven churches, We read, the one who conquers
and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority
over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron,
as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have
received authority from my father. There are other portions of scripture,
including in Revelation, that speak of the Messiah ruling the
nations with a rod of iron. We see that in chapter 19 in
the description of his return. It's all the way back in the
prophecy of his coming in Psalm 2. Here we are told that the
one who conquers, that's the saint, The genuine saints, how
do you know they're a genuine saint? Because they conquer,
they persevere to the end, they overcome. The one who conquers
and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority
over the nations. He will rule them with a rod
of iron. This is involved in our sharing in Christ's reign,
that we will be given authority over the nations. We will rule
the nations with a rod of iron. Who are we to do this? Who are
we to share in Christ's rule like this? Amazing. And then
chapter 5 of Revelation, verses 9 through 10, they sang a new
song. This is a heavenly song saying,
worthy are you to take the scroll. This is praising Christ as being
worthy. Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals. For you were slain, and by your
blood you ransomed people for God. from every tribe and language
and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and
priest to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. So there
it is again, the saints will reign on the earth, because they
are made by Christ to be a kingdom and priest to our God. What is
the significance of this reigning of the saints with Christ? It
certainly is spoken of in some of the passages that we just
read as a reward for the saints' perseverance. The Bible speaks
of how the Lord will reward his people. And he rewards us by
grace. He's the one who has produced
good fruit in our life that will be seen in the judgment and when
we are rewarded. And the rewarding will include
this sharing in the reign of Christ. So certainly this is
a reward. It also is vindication of the
martyrs. Remember which saints were spoken
of as representatives of the saints who will reign with Christ
for a thousand years. It was those who were beheaded
for their witness to Christ, who went through great tribulation,
but persevered all the way to the point of shedding their blood
for Christ's sake. So the martyrs were already highlighted
in this text. Turn over to Revelation 6, where the martyrs are crying
out for vindication. Revelation 6, beginning at verse
9. It says, When he opened the fifth
seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain
for the word of God. And for the witness they had
borne, they cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy
and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood
on those who dwell on the earth? Then they were each given a white
robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their
fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who would
be killed as they themselves had been. So you have in the
Great Tribulation these martyrs represented. Now, they're not
represented yet as ruling and reigning. That's not until later
on. At this point, they are under
the altar. They're not resurrected. It just
speaks to their souls. And they're crying out, O sovereign
Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge
our blood on those who dwell on the earth. They would be vindicated
when the Lord would judge those who put them to death, and they
also would be vindicated when they are rewarded with ruling
and reigning with Christ for a thousand years. It's the Lord's
vindication of them, declaring them to be His righteous ones,
who are pure and spotless and blameless. In verse 11, it says,
they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little
longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers
should be complete, were to be killed as they themselves had
been. And when that number would be complete, then Christ would
come again, and then they would rule and reign with Christ, completely
vindicated Remember what we read last week
from Isaiah 11, verse 9. The earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. That will
be seen very clearly. That will be fulfilled very clearly. As the saints rule with Christ
for a thousand years, the earth will be full of the knowledge
of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Right now, the earth
is nothing like that. The world is in the clutches
of the evil one. The world is following the prince
of the power of this air. The world is completely under
the curse that came upon this world with the fall. But Christ is going to come again.
He's going to begin to renew the earth. He's going to begin
to renew His creation. And He's going to glorify His
saints. He's going to rule and reign
over the nations. And the knowledge of the Lord
will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. What a glorious
time that will be. Now, if we continue in our text,
we come back to Revelation 20. We go into verse 5. It says, the rest of the dead
did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. So after the thousand years,
then the wicked will be raised physically. They'll be raised
physically for the judgment. Now we will study that in great
detail in future weeks. What will follow upon their being
raised and judged will then be them suffering the second death. It's referred to in verse six.
It says, Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first
resurrection. Over such the second death has no power. The wicked, after a thousand
years, will be raised. They'll be raised unto the second
death. What is the second death? Well, if you turn over, 2, chapter 21, verse 8, it's clearly
taught to us what the second death is. It says, but as for
the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers,
the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their
portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which
is the second death. So the lake that burns with fire
and sulfur is the second death. It's an eternal death. This is something, in one sense,
it's very, very terrible. Not saying it's terrible in the
sense that it's not what God has ordained. God has ordained
the second death. He has ordained the eternal punishment
of the wicked. But in another sense, it's something
very, very terrible. It's because sin is very, very
terrible. Rebellion is very, very terrible. And the punishment
matches the nature of rebellion. We'll leave that for another
time. But coming back to our text, We're told in verse six, blessed
and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who
shares in the first resurrection. Those who experience the first
resurrection are the holy ones. They are the saints. And what
a blessing they receive in the resurrection. It says later on
in verse six, but they will be priests of God and of Christ,
and they will reign with him for a thousand years. So now
we have something added to this idea of the saints reigning with
Christ for a thousand years. Now we're also told that the
saints will be priests of God and of Christ. So we have two
things brought together. The saints will rule and reign
and they also will serve as priests. So they will serve as priests
and kings. Remarkable. As priests, what
will we do? As priests, we will serve and
worship the Father and the Son day and night. This is spoken
of elsewhere in the book. Turn back to chapter 7, verses
14 through 15. It says, I said to him, Sir,
you know, and he said to me, these are the ones coming out
of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are
before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His
temple." That's the idea of being a priest of God and of Christ. It is the idea of serving God,
serving Christ day and night. Even here we have the language
of doing so in His temple. That certainly brings to mind
the priestly function. Chapter 22, verse 3, speaking
of the new heavens and the new earth and the new Jerusalem,
it says, That's what the priests did. They worshipped God. And
that will be our vocation. As we rule and reign with Christ,
our vocation will be to serve and to worship God and the Son,
to worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What a glorious
time that will be. We will be priests of God and
of Christ. We will live out our new identity
in Christ to the full. I put in your notes some of the
first verses in this book, Revelation 1, verses 5 through 6. To Him
who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and
made us a kingdom, priest to His God and Father, to Him be
glory and dominion forever and ever. Already, even though we
are not yet to the point of Revelation 20, already we are told that
we have been made to be a kingdom. Already, we as Christians are
priests to our God and Father. Now think of how we will fulfill
this role as priests to an even greater extent in the millennium,
when we are right there, we're in the place where The Lord Jesus
will physically, bodily dwell, and we will see him as he is,
and we will serve him as his priests. This ruling and reigning with
Christ, the serving God and the Son as priests, is what God has
purposed for his people throughout history. Exodus 19, verse 6,
records the establishment of the Mosaic Covenant at Mount
Sinai. And there the Lord speaks to
the people of Israel and says, and you shall be to me a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation. Now, the Old Testament history
shows that they fell very far short of this responsibility
of being a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This was their
identity, but they did not live up to their identity. They did
not live according to their identity. But this has been God's revealed
purpose throughout redemptive history is that His people would
be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And it will be fulfilled. after Christ comes again, and
we are raised, and we rule and reign with Christ. This is what
the first Adam failed to do. Genesis 1, verse 26 says, Then
God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over
all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on
the earth. When God created mankind, he
created us in his image to exercise dominion over his creation, to
rule and reign over his creation as his representatives. And in
the fall, we failed miserably at doing that. And we will be
restored unto our original purpose of being Christ's representatives,
God's representatives, ruling and reigning over the earth.
Chapter 2 verse 15 of Genesis tells us that the Lord God took
the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep
it. That's similar to priestly work. He was to do that in the garden,
that place where God walked, where God came to meet with the
first man. But he again failed miserably.
He was expelled from this place of blessing, this place where
he met with God. He was expelled because of his
sin. How glorious it will be when
we rule and reign with Christ as his priests. Let's go on in
our text. Revelation 20 verse 7 says, And
when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his
prison. and will come out to deceive. Over and over again
in the scriptures, we see that Satan is a deceiver. I saw or read one commentator
point out that Satan does not overpower people, but deceives
them. Satan does not work in our life
by overpowering us. He works in our life by deceiving
us. He feeds us with lies. That's
the form that temptation takes. Temptation takes the form, often,
of a lie that Satan feeds to us. He is a deceiver. This is
how he works. And he will be bound for a thousand years. Now,
think of the sovereignty of God. God doesn't have to go to Satan
personally to bind him for the 1,000 years. All God has to do
is send one of his angels with authority, with power, and that
angel is able to, without any difficulty, bind Satan for 1,000
years. That's the sovereignty of God.
That's the authority of God. But after the 1,000 years are
ended, God will temporarily release Satan. Satan's not going to escape.
He's not going to find some way out of that prison. No, the Lord
God will purposefully release Satan temporarily from his prison. We're told that Satan will come
out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the
earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number
is like the sand of the sea. Now, if you're not familiar with
the book of Ezekiel, Gog and Magog is going to make no sense
to you. This is an allusion to the book of Ezekiel, to a prophecy
there of this very event. Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 prophesy
what we are reading of right here. Gog and Magog represent
the nations. who are rebellious against God
and hostile to His people. Look in our text, Revelation
20, verse 9. It says, and they, this is Gog
and Magog. This is the nations that are
at the four corners of the earth that are gathered by Satan for
battle, whose number is like the sand of the sea, verse 9.
And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and
surrounded the camp of the saints And the beloved city, the beloved
city is Jerusalem. Just think of how Jerusalem is
spoken of in some of the Psalms. They surrounded the camp of the
saints. The camp, that's using Old Testament
terminology. Remember the Israelites would
encamp around the dwelling place of God, the tabernacle. They
marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the
camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from
heaven and consumed them. So Gog and Magog represent the
nations of this world that rebel against God and come against,
to fight against the people of God, all right? And so we are,
or we're told how this prophecy from Ezekiel will be fulfilled.
Now let's go back to the prophecy. Turn with me to Ezekiel chapter
38. Ezekiel 38 verse one. The word of the Lord came to
me. Son of man, set your face toward Gog. of the land of Magog. So Gog is referring to a king. The land of Magog is Gog's kingdom. This is a hostile nation, a hostile
world ruler named Gog. Son of man, set your face toward
Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshach and Tubal,
and prophesy against him. Now go down to verse eight. Verse
eight says, after many days you will be mustered. This is speaking
to Gog and Magog. After many days you will be mustered.
In the latter days you will go against the land that is restored
from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples
upon the mountains of Israel." So, this is speaking about something
eschatological. Something that was in the distant
future. It says in the latter years this will happen. The latter
years you will go against the land that is restored from war.
The land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountain
of Israel. So speaking about a time in the
future after the Lord restores a people for himself. And after the Lord renews the
earth, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples
on the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste, its
people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely
all of them. You will advance coming on like
a storm. You will be like a cloud covering
the land, you and all your hordes and many peoples with you. So
the prophecy is many peoples of this earth are going to come
against the people of God after the Lord restores things. Now
you go down to verse 16. 16. You will come up against my people,
Israel, like a cloud covering the land in the latter days.
I will bring you against my land that the nations may know me
when through you, oh God, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
Now we're starting to see some of the purpose, God's purpose
and what we are studying in Revelation 20 with the last battle. Here it is. God's purpose is
that the nations may know me. The Lord will vindicate his holiness
before the eyes of the nation. So God is going to be revealing
himself. He's going to be revealing his glory. Let's go on further. Verse 18. But on that day, the
day that God shall come against the land of Israel declares the
Lord God my wrath. will be roused in my anger. Go
down to 21. I will summon a sword against
Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord God. Every man's sword
will be against his brother. With pestilence and bloodshed,
I will enter into judgment with him, and I will reign upon him
and his hordes, and the many peoples who are with him, torrential
rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. So I will show my greatness
and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations."
So God is going to judge the rebellious nations in order to
showcase and exalt God's holiness. We sang that hymn at the beginning,
holy, holy, holy. God's holiness is his hatred
of sin and his justice flows from his holiness, where he must
judge those things that are contrary to his holiness. So he says here,
so I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known
in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am
the Lord. Earlier in history, before this, God showed his holiness
in salvation. Isaiah prophesies how God will
show his holiness in salvation. Here is how God will show his
holiness in judgment, in wrath. Going on, look at chapter 39,
verse 6. I will send fire on Magog and
on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall
know that I am the Lord. And my holy name I will make
known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my
holy name be profaned anymore. And the nation shall know that
I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel." Think of what is said
in Philippians about one day, every tongue will confess that
Jesus is Lord and every knee will bow before him. That's not
just the saved, the regenerate, who will do so out of heart that
are worshiping Christ. It will include the unregenerate
who have no choice when the judgment falls but to acknowledge that
the judge, Jesus Christ, is Lord. The nation shall know that I
am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. Go down to verse 13. All the people of the land will
bury them. That is after the Lord destroys these nations that
come against his people. All the people of the land will
bury those who are destroyed. It will bring them renown on
that day that I Show my glory declares the Lord God and then
go down to 21 And I will set my glory among the nations and
all the nations shall see my judgment that I've executed and
my hand that I have laid on them so that's Gives us the purpose
come back to Revelation chapter 20 to see What Revelation says
about how that those prophecies in Ezekiel will be fulfilled? Revelation 20 Verse 7, And when
a thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison
and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four
corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle.
Their number is like the sand of the sea, and they march up
over the broad plain of the earth. and surrounded the camp of the
saints in the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and
consumed them." Note here the futility of rebelling against
God. This is prophesying the last
rebellion on this planet. The nations will gather to war
against the saints, but there's not going to be a battle. There's
not going to be warfare. What's going to happen? Fire
will come down from God in heaven and consume them. It is foolish
to rebel against God. No one will succeed in rebelling
against God. God always will have the last
word. We see that very clearly in this
text, both with Satan and with these nations who join him in
this last rebellion. This last rebellion will be followed
by the final judgment, which is foretold in the following
verses, verses 11 through 15. God will permit the last rebellion
that we've just studied in order to accomplish at least two things. First of all, it is in order
to show in one more way that the wicked of mankind are without
excuse. Romans 1.20 makes a big point
that the unbeliever is without excuse. Romans 3.19 makes clear
that on the day of the final judgment, every mouth will be
closed. No one will be able to give an excuse for their sinful,
idolatrous ways at the judgment. And now what we are seeing in
our text is that when God permits the last rebellion to occur,
It will show in one more way that the wicked of mankind are
without excuse. The ultimate root of human sinfulness is not
a bad environment, nor is it Satan's temptations. Though Christ
will reign in righteousness and goodness for a thousand years
over this earth, and Satan will be bound during those thousand
years, unregenerate man's allegiance to Satan will not be overturned. The last rebellion will show
that the rebellious heart of man will be unchanged. This will manifest the necessity
of eternal punishment. Unless freed by the grace of
the Lord Jesus, the unregenerate are under the eternal power of
sin. It's clearly seen. When Satan
is released and he pours out his deception, and the unregenerate
follow after him, this will be clearly seen. A very clear case
will be made for the necessity of eternal punishment. The last
verse in our text, verse 10 says, and the devil who had deceived
them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the
beast and the false prophet were. The casting of Satan into the
lake of fire will be the second of three stages by which evil
is eradicated from the world for all eternity, preparing the
way for the new heavens and the new earth. What was the first
stage? The first stage was the casting of the beast and the
false prophet into the lake of fire in chapter 19, verse 20.
Here's the second stage, the casting of Satan into the lake
of fire. What will be the final stage
of this will be the casting of the wicked of mankind into the
lake of fire in chapter 21, verse 15. Well, this passage is a full
passage from the glories of ruling and reigning with Christ as his
priests to eternal judgments. This displays both the grace
of our God and the justice of our God. Do you have any questions
or comments? I'm just going to repeat for
the recording. The question is, what will happen
in the millennium to the saints who were alive at Christ's return
and so therefore enter the millennium without glorified bodies? What
will happen to them when they die during the millennium? Scripture
doesn't tell us. what will happen. But we know
that to be absent from other places in the New Testament,
to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
So, you know, they're going to continue to be with the Lord.
Right. We're not told, you know, certainly
they will receive a resurrection body. They're not going to be
excluded from having a resurrection body. That's clearly God's purpose
that he's going to fulfill for all the redeemed. Salvation will
culminate. We'll talk about that when we
talk about the judgments. Salvation will culminate in glorification,
which includes the glorification of the body. So possibly the
body will be instantly glorified. I don't know. The Bible just
doesn't tell us. But we do know that the saints will, from the
coming of Christ, from the second coming, from then on, the saints
will forever be with the Lord. Whatever state they are in, they
will be with the Lord. Robert. So the question is, those who
reign with Christ for a thousand years, is it just limited to
the martyrs who are pointed out in the text? No, it has to be
broader than that. Verse 6 of our text widens it
out. 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. It wouldn't make any sense
for only the saints who had been beheaded, and it specifically
says those who had been beheaded. It wouldn't make sense only for
the saints who were beheaded to receive this blessing of ruling
and reigning with Christ for a thousand years, and the rest
of the saints are somehow left out of it. That doesn't make
any sense. So they're just highlighted. They represent the whole. They represent all the saints
who have died. All right, Robert, follow up
and then... Abraham as well, yeah. All the saints who died
before the coming of Christ. My verse. Right. Right? And we saw the terminology
day and night in Revelation 7. We will serve the Lord day and
night. We can only imagine what that
would be like to have a glorified body that will not be subject
to so many of the weaknesses that our bodies currently are
subjected to. Yes. The rest of the dead, so these
are the rest of the people who have lived on this earth who
have died. So we have two groups of people
there in that point of the text. The saints are raised, the saints
who have died are raised. The rest of humanity who has
died, physically died, so that's now the wicked who have died,
they will not be raised until the thousand years are finished. So those individuals are all
the wicked who died before the coming of Christ, from Cain to
Ahab to people of our generation who do not know Christ, who died
before he comes again. One last comment or question
from Boyce. So the question is, the saints
in verses five and six, where are they? So we have, you're
talking about the ones who share in the first resurrection, right? Let me just make sure I understand
your question. Verse 6 says, 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. You're asking about where
this will be? the thrones are on earth. I know
the amillennial interpretation sees these as heavenly thrones. The premillennial interpretation
sees these as on earth. The idea is, first of all in
verse four, The first thing that he sees are these thrones. He
sees them being seated on these thrones. To these beings, authority
to judge is committed. Then he sees the souls of those
who have been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus. And he says,
they came to life. So evidently he sees this in
the vision. These souls come to life and reign with Christ
for a thousand years. I interpret the second half of
the verse to be explaining who these beings are who are seated
on the thrones at the beginning of verse four. The people sitting
on the throne are those who participate in the first resurrection. And
they sit on those thrones after the resurrection occurs. And
it would be here on earth because Christ has returned to the earth
to rule and reign over the nations. And we're told, in some of the other passages
that the saints will be ruling over the nations. Where are the
nations? The nations are on earth. You're
going to rule with a rod of iron. So this is not ruling over beings
who are in heaven, ruling with a rod of iron. It's going to
have to be over beings who are on the earth. Does that answer
your question? Afterwards, bring that to me.
I'd love to go further with this, but I'm just watching the time
go by and I want to leave enough time for prayer. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you
so much for revealing to us what will happen in the future that
we should be aware of right now. Lord, we thank you that Jesus
Christ will come again. And he will consummate his reign. Lord Jesus, come quickly for
us. Lord, may you find us faithful. May you find us prepared for
your return. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Premillennialism Part 2
Series Eschatology
| Sermon ID | 1031171021205 |
| Duration | 59:15 |
| Date | |
| Category | Bible Study |
| Bible Text | Revelation 20:4-10 |
| Language | English |
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