This thousand years refers to the thousand years that Satan will be bound, and the thousand years that Christ will reign here upon this earth. We preach the premillennial second coming of Christ, the millennial reign of Jesus Christ here upon this earth. And some people object to the millennium, saying that the word is not found in the Bible. But the word millennium comes from two Latin words. The first word is milioc, which means a thousand, and the second Latin word is anim, which means a year. And anum is still used in the English language today. And so that's all millennium means, that it means a thousand years. So as a practical fact, the word millennium is in the Bible when you look at it from that standpoint. Now there are three basic positions. upon the millennium. We've touched upon these in previous sermons from the book of Revelation, but I think that it's good, again, to review the fact that there are three different positions concerning the millennial reign. First of all, there is the position of amillennialism and the postmillennialism, and then thirdly, the position of premillennialism. Amillennialism and postmillennialism might both be said to have come from Augustine. Augustine, who lived in North Africa when he was a Catholic bishop, was a man that adopted some of the ideas of Origen, a man that lived several hundred years before Augustine. Origen spiritualized the whole Bible. He said that the Bible didn't mean what it said, but that there was a hidden meaning in the Bible, but you just couldn't know what that was by reading it, that it had to be understood. And, of course, he thought that he had the understanding of it. Augustine did not follow Origen completely in that, but Augustine did adopt the spiritualizing of prophecy. And out of that spiritualizing of prophecy, in other words, saying what the Bible says about prophetic events doesn't mean what it says, but rather that it is that there is a spiritual meaning in behind that, out of that flowed, eventually, amillennialism and postmillennialism. Now, our millennialism teaches that there will be no millennium. Ah means no. Ah, millennial, means no millennial. They insist that because the thousand years is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible except in Revelation chapter 20, that it is figurative here in this passage and must be spiritualized, that it really doesn't mean a thousand years. And this became popular principally through the collapse of postmillennialism. But the amillennial position is, of course, very strong in the theological world, especially among liberals. And there are different views concerning amillennialism. Some of them consider the fact that we are already in the millennium, they believe in present millennialism. But this is only another form of amillennialism, and they deny the personal, visible reign of Jesus Christ here upon this earth. Now, postmillennialism teaches that man. through the preaching of the gospel and through the work of religious men and the work of the Church, that there will come a thousand years of peace and prosperity brought about by men. and at the end of that thousand years that Christ will come back and end the millennial kingdom. And this doctrine really prevailed in the latter part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century. However, World War I and World War II dealt a very terrible blow to post-millennialism. Many of us thought that it was gone, that it was dead, and that it was buried. But strange as it may seem, there are powerful religious teachers in America. I say powerful, I'm talking about from the standpoint of their influence, and today they are post-millennialists. But we believe that the biblical position is premillennial, and that the Bible literally teaches that Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth, and that Satan is going to be bound, and that he is going to reign. That is, Christ will reign upon the earth for a thousand years. The Bible teaches that evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And instead of the world getting better, as the postmillennialists teach, it is getting worse, and Christ will come back to put an end to the reign of evil men at the Battle of Armageddon, which we preached on last Sunday night. And as a result of his victory there, he will personally set up his kingdom here upon this earth. If we're going to reject the literal teaching that is found here in the Bible of one thousand years of Satan being bound and one thousand years of Christ reigning here upon this earth, if we're going to spiritualize that and make the thousand years an indefinite time, and make the bounding of Satan only a kind of a doctrinal figment of the imagination, and the personal reign of Christ is not personal at all. If we're going to reject that, I don't know how we're going to keep from rejecting the rest of the books of Revelation and the twentieth chapter in particular. If Christ is not going to reign here upon this earth for a thousand years, and that's not literal, then the devil being cast into the lake of fire may not be literal either. And the great white throne judgment that is described in the latter part of this chapter, which we'll not get to tonight, may not be literal either. If we cannot take this literally, all of those who oppose the millennial reign of Christ try to do it in some way to throw doubt upon the literal reign of Christ here upon this earth. But I must say, that the Bible teaches this literal reign not only in the twentieth chapter and verses one through six, but it teaches it throughout the Bible. The length of the reign is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, at least as clearly as it is here, but that doesn't change the fact that the Bible teaches over and over again that Christ, the Son of God, will personally reign here upon this earth. To take, as do the modernists and the scoffers who do not want to believe in the literal reign of Christ, such passages as Psalm 90 and verse 4, which says, for a thousand years, in thy sight, or but as yesterday, when it is past, and as a watch in the night." And that's true as far as God is concerned, but it doesn't mean as far as man is concerned that a thousand years is as a watch of the night, because the watch of the night was only a few hours. at the most. And the Bible, in its teaching in II Peter chapter 3 and verse 8, where it's speaking of the longsuffering of the Lord, and He's not willing that any should perish, the Bible here tells us that one day is with the Lord is a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. And the Lord's not slack concerning His promises. It doesn't matter if the Lord made a promise a thousand years ago or five thousand years ago. God, who does not age and to whom time is not really that relevant, it's not going to make any difference whatsoever. But the Bible definitely teaches that Christ is going to reign here upon this earth. Now, there are so many scriptures in the Bible that speak of the reign of Christ, that it is certainly not within the province of this sermon to cover all of them. But the first thing that must come before Christ can literally reign here upon this earth is that Satan must be removed. And the only one who has the power and the authority to remove him is Jesus Christ himself. And so in our text tonight, we find at the very beginning that the Bible teaches us that an angel comes down from heaven. And that angel is not named here, but he has the key to the bottomless pit, and he has a great chain in his hand. And he lays hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. Now then, this passage of Scripture, is to be understood in relationship to what we studied in Revelation 12, verses 7 and 9, where Satan has been cast out of heaven. This will take place in the middle of the tribulation period, and for three and a half years, he's been roaming freely upon this earth and acting through the hands of Christ And now the angel is sent to put a stop to that. Now, the bottomless pit is in the Greek tongue the abyss, and it is mentioned a number of times in the book of Revelation. Not just here, the bottomless pit is mentioned over and over again. It is not the hell of the Bible. It is a different place than hell, but it is a place of confinement, a place where Satan will be kept, a place where apparently other evil spirit beings are kept in the book of Revelation. Chapter 9, verses 1 through 2, the Bible says, "...the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth, and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened." by reason of the smoke of the pit. And then in verse number 11, And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abandoned, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. And then in the eleventh chapter of the book of Revelation, in verse number seven, the Bible says, And when they had finished their testimony, the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And then that bottomless pit is mentioned again in the seventeenth chapter of the book of Revelation, in verse number eight. And we need to compare Revelation chapter 19 and verse 20, and you find out in Revelation 19 and verse 20 that the beast and the false prophet that wrought miracles, that they are taken at the Battle of Armageddon And the Bible says that they're cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. It's not the place where Satan is put. It is the place where the beast and the false prophet are put. In chapter 20 and verse 10, the Bible says the devil that deceived them was cast alive into the lake of fire and brimstone. This is after the thousand-year reign of Christ. when he is let out of his prison for a little season, and he goes out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth, when he is taken at the Battle of Gog and Magog, which we'll get into in next Sunday night's sermon. The Lord willing, we find that he will to be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. But here in our lesson tonight, which takes place a thousand years before chapter 20 and verse 10, he is cast into the abyss. He's cast into the bottomless pit. Now, I do not know the nature of this chain that the angel has in his hand, whether it is a chain made out of steel or some other material. But I do know that it's a chain that will do the job, and Satan will be bound. Some people have argued that Satan is a spirit being, and that spirits cannot be bound. That's putting limitations upon Almighty God. I want to tell you tonight, if the Bible says that Satan can be bound, then he can be bound. And he will be bound according to the Word of God. Satan is a real person. You cannot bind an influence. It's amazing how many people, even in the so-called religious Christian world, that do not believe in a personal devil. They believe that he is only an influence. That he is in the theological concept, a theological idea, but that he is not a person. But I tell you, everything in the Bible teaches that he is a person. He was a person when he came in the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden and deceived Eve. He was a person when he went into the wilderness after the baptism of Jesus and tempted Him after he had fasted for forty days. and forty knights, and offered him all the kingdoms of this world, and quoted Scripture to the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, he is more than an influence. He is a person, a person with influence, but he is a literal person, a created being, like angels are created beings. He is a fallen angel of the highest order that fell because of his pride. In verse number two, the Bible tells us something about him. His names that are given here, which seem to be four, denote his character. First of all, he is spoken of as a great dragon. A dragon, whether in mythology or wherever you read about dragons, they are creatures of great cruelty and of a great appetite to devour. The devil is a dragon because he is the most cruel of all creatures that exist in the universe. As the serpent, this denotes his cunning. The Bible tells us in Genesis chapter 3 and verse number 1 that the serpent was the most cunning of all the creatures that God created here upon this earth, and it was in the form of a serpent that Satan appeared to Eve in the Garden of Eden. As the devil, he is a liar, and he is a slanderer, and it shows that he is the accuser of the brethren. And then he is called Satan here in this verse because of his rebellion against Almighty God. And we find that he is going to be bound for a thousand years. Every once in a while, I run into one of these characters that begins to tell me that Satan is bound today, and that he's already bound, that he's been bound since the cross, or a short time after the cross. and that he is not running loose. I tell you, I cannot see how anybody can be so ignorant, can be so illiterate, as far as the Scripture is concerned, as to believe that Satan is bound tonight with all of the wickedness that is abounding upon every hand. I'd wonder what this world would be like if Satan was turned loose. if he is bound tonight. He is not bound tonight, but thank God he is going to be bound. The Word of God says so, the unchangeable, inerrant Word of God, and he's going to be bound for an entire thousand years, and this will enable the millennial reign of Christ to be established here upon this earth in peace and harmony. Men have dreamed of a golden age. You find it in all kinds of literature in ages past, as well as prophesied many times in many places in the Bible that there would be a reign of righteousness. a golden age, an age of peace and prosperity, an age when all of the enemies of man would be conquered. Well, I'm here tonight to tell you that that age is coming, but it cannot come until the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall come back to rule and to reign, just as Satan must be bound before we can have the millennial reign Even so, Christ must come back to this earth before we can have the millennial reign. And His coming back is clearly revealed in chapter 19, when He comes back at the Battle of Armageddon. Now, the Bible teaches us, not only in verse number 4, but many other places in the Scriptures, that the saints are going to reign with Jesus Christ here upon this earth. 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 worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark, upon their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived and reign with Christ a thousand years. Who will reign with Jesus Christ? Well, beloved, the saints who lived before the rapture. They are clearly set forth here in verse 4, And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. Jesus said when He would hear upon this earth that He would set up his reign, and he promised his apostles in the nineteenth chapter of the book of Matthew, and verses twenty-seven and twenty-eight, Peter had said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee, and what shall we have therefore? And 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, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. That hasn't taken place, but thank God it's going to take place. And these apostles will sit upon those thrones. This is revealed also in the book of Luke, chapter 22, in verses 29 and 30, how that the apostles will reign with Jesus Christ, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Verse 29 says, And I appoint you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Beloved, I take that literally. There is nothing in the world that would indicate that Jesus meant anything But exactly what he said to those apostles, what a cruel hope it was if he was not sincere, if he didn't really mean that they were going to reign with him. Then in the book of Revelation, chapter 3 and verse 21, We find that writing to the church in Laodicea, which can be applied to all New Testament churches, he says to him, "...that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in thy throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." There are people that will try to teach you that Jesus Christ is already on His throne. But this verse of Scripture certainly teaches differently. There is a difference between the throne where Jesus is now sitting and the throne on which He will sit. And it's clearly set forth in verse 21. He said, Just as I overcame and have sat down with my Father on His throne, He is seated on the Father's throne, at the right hand of the Father on high. And He says that even to Him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, my coming throne. the throne of David, which he will sit upon and rule and reign from in the city of Jerusalem. In the book of I Corinthians, chapter 6 and verse 2, the Bible says, Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? and that the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matter." This verse of Scripture teaches me that this will be the responsibility of the saints to judge and to rule with Christ over this world, and these are going to reign with Him, those that live before the rapture. And then we find that those who are martyred in the tribulation period, these two are going to reign with Jesus Christ. For he says here in chapter 20, in verse number 4, he says that he saw first the thrones and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And then he says, I am, and this is talking about another group, and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God. and which hath not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither hath received his mark upon their foreheads, are in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." with him for a thousand years." Now, the saints who are resurrected are mentioned here in verses 5 and 6. 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. says here that the tribulation saints will be resurrected and will be raised, then there are those who say that then the pre-tribulation rapture cannot be sold, that if the saints are raised here at the end of the tribulation period, that means that there's no pre-tribulational coming of Jesus Christ. But that's just as false as it can be. Beloved, the first resurrection is unfolded in the Bible. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verses 22 and 23, we find that Jesus Christ Himself was the firstfruits of the resurrection. He was the wave offering. The first fruits of the harvest were brought as a wave offering to the Lord in the Old Testament, and these were presented as the guarantee of the presentation of the full harvest. And beloved Jesus Christ, When he was resurrected from the grave, he himself, according to these verses, was the firstfruits of the resurrection. And I believe that I'd better just read that, I Corinthians chapter 15, verses 22 and 23. Or is it? For as in Adam all died, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order. Christ the first fruit. That had already been taken place when Paul wrote the book of Corinthians. Afterward, they that are Christ's at His coming." This certainly teaches us at the rapture, which is described in I Corinthians 15, 51 to 54, and I Thessalonians 4, verses 16 and 17, where the Bible says the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall be raised, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air." Christ was the first fruit. At His second coming, at the rapture, we'll be the harvest. But after the harvest, there was always the gleaning. In Old Testament times, when the gleaners later on went into the fields, and usually these were the poor, they went into the fields to glean the little bits of grain. In fact, God ordered that some be left in the field to be gleaned by the poor, that they were to leave hands full. from time to time in the corners of the field for the poor to come in for the gleaning. And at the revelation of Christ, when He comes back to the earth at the end of the tribulation period, I believe will be the gleaning of the tribulation saints. that they will receive their glorified bodies, that they might rule and reign with Christ." In the seventh chapter of the book of Revelation, I said the book of Tribulation, but it's the book of Revelation, but there's a lot of tribulation in it. Chapter 6 and verse 9, And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw unto the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto them. These are going to be avenged at the battle of Armageddon. and their bodies are going to be reunited with their souls and their spirits. And the Bible teaches that they are going to rule and to reign with Jesus Christ. So who is going to rule and reign? Those who are raptured at the rapture and raised at the rapture, and those who are raised at the end of the tribulation, the martyrs of the tribulation. Now then, Notice that this resurrection is a glorious and wonderful thing. The Bible speaks of it being the resurrection to everlasting life in Daniel chapter 12 and verse 2. It is the resurrection of the just. according to Luke chapter 14, verses 13 and 14, where Jesus said that you'll be rewarded at the resurrection of the just. And it is the resurrection of life, as Jesus said in John chapter 5 and verse 29. It is that better resurrection. that is described in Hebrews 11 and 31. The first resurrection as it unfolds here in the Word of God is not just one resurrection, but it is a series of resurrections. Jesus Christ was the first fruit of the resurrection. There were other saints that were resurrected at the time that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the grave, and we find at the rapture the saints will be resurrected, and the living saints will be changed, and at the end of the tribulation period, the martyrs will be raised. The unsaved dead are not going to be resurrected. at any of those times. In fact, verse number five specifically says that the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Beloved, this idea that there's going to be a general resurrection of all people that have ever lived, both saved and unsaved, and that they're going to be judged is not taught in the Bible. Here the Bible specifically by over a thousand years, the resurrection of the saved and the resurrection of the unsaved. There is a threefold blessing that is here promised to those who are resurrected in verse number six. Blessed and holy is he that hath power 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 threefold blessing is this. The Scripture is here telling us that the second death will have no power over thee. That is, the ones that are resurrected, the saints of God. They will never suffer death again. The second great blessing is that they shall be priests of God. According to verse number six, they'll be a holy priesthood unto God. They'll be what Israel failed in being, a holy, priestly nation. They'll be what we often failed. in as being a royal priesthood. They will be a royal priesthood indeed, and they shall be priests of God and of Christ. And the third great blessing is that they shall reign with Him for a thousand years. a thousand years in which all of the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies will take place, those prophecies that are found in the book of Zechariah. And I want to read just a few of them tonight. In Zechariah, the sixth chapter, and in verse number 12, the Bible says, And speaking to him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is the branch and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord." Chapter 9 and verse number 10 of the book of Zechariah. Far before, let me read the right verse, "...and I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace unto the heathen, and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth." Then the Bible tells us in Zechariah 14, and in the 9th verse, "...and the Lord shall be king over all the earth in that day, and there shall be one Lord and his name won. This is after his feet stands in that day on the Mount of Olives in Zechariah, the 14th chapter and the 4th verse. Don't tell me there's no literal reign of Jesus Christ, Isaiah 24 and 23. teaches us that there will be. Psalm 72, verses 6 to 11, Daniel 7, 13 and 14, and verse 27. God promised David that his sons would reign upon his throne forever. And when Jesus was born, the angels said, Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. And the Bible tells us in Luke chapter 1 in verse 32, that he was to be and would be of the great ruler. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end." You read about it in Acts chapter 2 and verse number 30. And when we find out what kind of a kingdom it will be, it will be a place where absolute justice will reign in Jeremiah 23 and verse 5. In Isaiah chapter 32 and verse 1, we learn these wonderful truths. We find that the earth will become fruitful again, that the desert shall blossom as a rose. We are told this in the book of Isaiah, the thirty-fifth chapter, and verses 1 and 2. We are also told this in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 36. and verse number 34, and Amos the ninth chapter and the thirteenth verse. Beloved, this old earth that's been cursed by sin since sin came into the world in the Garden of Eden is going to be changed. It's going to be changed and made into a glorious kingdom. Even the animal world will be changed according to Isaiah the 11th chapter and verses 6 to 9, and the nature of animals will be changed. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kids and the calf and the young lion. and the fatling together, and the little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the suckling child shall play with the hole of the ass, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice. Then 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." According to the book of Isaiah chapter 2 and verse number 4, the war will be abolished, and they'll beat their swords into plowshares, and their steers into pruning hill. Men will live in perfect safety, according to the book of Ezekiel and Micah, chapter 4, verses 3 and 4. And long life will be enjoyed, according to Isaiah 65, in verse 20, that a person who dies at the age of 1,000 years will be considered as a child. Listen to it. 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 a hundred years old, but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be a curse. Beloved, I tell you, the millennial kingdom of Christ is going to be a glorious kingdom such as this old world has never seen before. And life will be so long that when a person dies at the age of 100, they will consider them to be a child. The knowledge of the Lord will be universal. as I've already read from the book of Isaiah. But Hebrews chapter 8 and verse number 11 and Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 14 tells us this. And then according to the book of Zechariah, the 8th chapter, and in verses 20 to 23, we find that Jerusalem will be the center of worship for the whole earth. It will be at Jerusalem where that people will come to worship the Lord. Zechariah chapter 8 and verse number 20 says, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities, and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another. saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts. I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus said the Lord of hosts in those days, It shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." Micah chapter 4 and verse number 1 tells us also, But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountain, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow into it. And many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For the law shall go forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem And he shall judge among many nations, and rebuke strong nations afar off, 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 any more." The twelve apostles will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. The Lord's going to give various Christians places of authority according to their faithfulness unto the Lord in that day. The Bible says that He is faithful in a few things. Him will I make ruler over many things when I come again. He that's been faithful over one city, Him will I make ruler over five cities when I come again. You see, there's going to come out of the tribulation period a fleshly, earthly people, the people that will turn unto the Lord, and they are revealed in the twenty-fifth chapter of the book of Matthew at the judgment of the nations. These will go over into the millennial kingdom in their earthly bodies, and they will produce children and multiply upon the face of the earth. But the glorified saints And that will include you and I. We will be in our glorified bodies. We will not marry or be given in marriage, and we will not be producing children in that time, but we will be reigning with the Lord in this golden, wonderful age of the millennial kingdom. And, beloved, that's a glorious prospect.