Well, this evening, it's part two of our study of what the millennium that is spoken of in Revelation chapter 20 might mean. This 1,000 year period derived from the Latin for 1,000 years, millennium, mille annae, what it means in the context of Revelation chapter 20 and indeed in the context of the rest of the Bible. Is it a literal thousand years? What are we to make of where it speaks of Satan being bound? And what does it mean as well about those who share in this first resurrection? Who are they? And where are they? So we're going to be looking at some of these issues tonight as we continue our study in the subject of the millennium, which we find spoken of in Revelation chapter 20. Let's refresh our memories. There are three, basically, branches of study of the millennium. There is premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism. Now the premillennial view says that the Lord Jesus Christ returns pre the millennium, hence premillennialism. And so the understanding would be that this period in Revelation 20 follows the return of the Lord. The Lord returns pre the commencement of this thousand years, or whatever it is, period of time. pre-millennialism. Post-millennialism goes to the opposite end and says that the Lord returns after, post the millennium period, and that you have this period of time, Revelation 20, and then the Lord returns. And then amillennialism, which is actually the view that I favour, which basically means no millennium, but it doesn't mean thereby that it doesn't believe in the millennium or doesn't believe in this period of time. But what it does deny, as we were thinking of a few weeks ago, is that there is going to be a golden era upon earth completely unlike anything that we have ever known in church history or any other period of the church age. Because both the post-millennial and the pre-millennial view coincides in this, that both expect here upon earth a significant time of great blessing over all the earth. and a rule of the church, or the premillennial view of the Lord himself from Jerusalem, that will affect society, transform the laws of lands, bring peoples under subjection, that even if they're not converted, they're behaving in a standard that adheres to the morality of the Bible. Now the post-millennialist believes this will occur as the gospel is preached, and as the church has more and more influence throughout society and throughout nations, and that then the Lord will return. The pre-millennialist says, well actually the Lord himself returns, and he rules then in Jerusalem, and the blessing goes forth, and that's very much associated with the role of the Jews in this. But their millennialist says, no, from scripture we do not understand that there will be this distinctive golden age, this thousand years or whatever period of time it's going to be. To quote, a quote I quoted a couple of weeks ago, but let me quote it again, from Dr. Voss. And he says this, amillennialism is that view of the last things which holds that the Bible does not predict a millennium or period of worldwide peace and righteousness on this earth before the end of the world. Amillennialism teaches that there will be a parallel and contemporaneous, happening at the same time, development of good and evil, God's kingdom and Satan's kingdom, in this world which will continue until the second coming of Christ. At the second coming of Christ, the resurrection and the judgment will take place, followed by the eternal order of things, the absolute, perfect kingdom of God, in which there will be no sin, suffering, nor death. And last week, a fortnight ago I should say, we saw from the parable of the wheat and the tares how the owner of the field in the parable suffered the incursion and the invasion of these tares. And when his servants asked him, well, should we go and pluck them all up and be done with them? He says, no, lest you also disturb the wheat. Let them both grow together, and then at the end, they'll be separated and dealt with. And the interpretation of that parable was very much The end of the world as the Lord returns, the harvest is engathered then. That's when the whole matter of the good and the evil, the sons of the wicked one and the sons of God is decisively confirmed. And then the end of the world as we know it comes. So the parable of the wheat and the tares shows that they're going to be both. Hence this understanding that good and evil will continue to be together. That evil will not be so eradicated that we could say well it's been virtually eliminated, it's virtually disappeared. It will still be there as we understand it from that parable until the end. Now this evening I want to start with the passage I read earlier, Matthew chapter 24. This is another place where the amillennialist would look to gather support for this view of continuing evil until the end of history. It's in what is called the Olivet Discourse, took place on the Mount of Olives, the Lord spoke, it was a discourse, and it is found in Matthew 24, and again in Mark 13, and also in Luke chapter 21. Here, the Lord answers the disciples' questions regarding the time when the temple is going to be destroyed and, in verse three, what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age. These passages are important in the formulation, really, of each of the millennial approaches. The reason is that one has to interpret very carefully what is in these, and people have come to different views and sought to place their own millennial understanding in the context of Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. Because it would seem, at least from face value, that these passages are talking about the end of the world and what leads up to it. And so one cannot ignore them or interpret Revelation chapter 20 completely without reference to these passages, which so clearly have something to say about the future. Now, many commentators have tried to reconcile the various parts of, for example, Matthew chapter 24. And we have to admit that you have to read these carefully. And Christians do come to differing views on different parts of it. Yet, that said, it is still important that we do try to understand this passage, because it does most obviously have relevance to our concerns and for our approach to the future. After all, the Lord advised his disciples in verse 44 of Matthew 24, therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. And part of our watching, and part of our being ready, includes being able to understand something about where we are in God's timetable and how to respond. So let us take, for the moment anyway, these passages as describing the entire period of the world until the return of the Lord. And it has to be said that from that reading it is difficult to see anything other than the continuing presence and influence of evil. Like the owner of the field and the parable of the wheat and the tares, the Lord is willing to tolerate the presence of evil in his world. He is also willing to permit, according to his own wise and secret purposes, considerable hardship to affect his church. Look at the language that is used. First of all, the church is surrounded by those who are trying to deceive the Lord's people. In fact, it says many will be deceived, verse 5, by those claiming to have some special authority, indeed actually claiming to be the Lord himself. False Christs and prophets will arise, verse 24, who will have the power to perform deceiving signs and wonders. there is going to be considerable pressure put upon the Lord's people to hurry here and there, following up supposed anointed teachers and preachers. Verse 23 and verse 26. It is a picture of the church under extreme and constant pressure from those who are deceivers. Their power will be able to trouble, but not ultimately deceive the elect, which is how I would understand verse 24, where it says, for false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, the elect. Secondly, the natural world is going to continue to give man concerns by its demonstration of the ongoing effects of the fall, verse 7, and there will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places. This is the world that existed in the time of the Lord himself, which continued to exist in the apostolic period, and which has certainly persisted to this very day. The earth still continues to rear up thorns and thistles and make living a precarious thing for many. Thirdly, The world of fallen man will continue to show its fruits and usual effects. Will war be ended and a golden period come into being? Not according to these words, verse 6, you will hear of wars and rumors of war. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, verse 7. This looks and sounds like the world with which we are sadly familiar. It is the world of sinful man, with conquest, hatred, prejudice, and violence in his heart. No great change prophesied there. Along the same lines, we learn that the state of society is not destined to show remarkable improvement. Troubles will remain and be able to cast a shadow over the stability of society. Verse 12. Because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. It is hardly a picture that shows a Golgan age just around the corner or some significant change in the way that society operates. Lawlessness abounds. Heartlessness and cruelty will come to the fore perhaps even more. No thousand years of largely trouble-free rule here. That is not even hinted at. So all the indicators are that life will go on much as it does at present. There will continue to be the coexistence of good and evil until the Lord returns. In similar vein, the Lord painted a portrait of life when he comes to the earth, and it is again remarkably normal by our standards. Luke 17 sets this out for us. Let me read verses 26 to 30 of that chapter. And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man. They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. But on the day Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Taking the days of Noah and the time of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as his examples of life when he returns, it leads us to very sober predictions about the future state of the earth. If his return is to the world of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the times of Noah, it is not a pleasant world at all. In fact, the evidence points to it being a world ripe for judgment. Hopes are not being raised here too much. It is all very restrained. And we see the scale of our evangelistic task in that context. Well, next, let's turn to Revelation chapter 20 itself and see what we can make of that. This, after all, is the only passage, the only section in the Bible which talks about this thousand years. How are we to understand this in the light of what we've seen in the parable of the wheat and the tares and of Matthew chapter 24? Now there are two particular aspects of Revelation 20 I want to draw your attention to first of all. The first is what it means to say that Satan is bound and sealed. What is this? What does it mean? The second thing is to look at the meaning of the first resurrection in verse 6. This, as you will see, actually brings the person, as it's described here, into a state of living and reigning with Christ for a thousand years. What is this resurrection? And who are the saints who reign? The premillennialist claims that these are people who are literally raised from the dead and come back to live on the earth. Is this what the passage teaches? Looking then firstly at the binding of Satan, both post and pre-millennialists regard this as being a significant reduction in the power of Satan on a scale not seen before. But does the passage require this? Do we have to look beyond the present order of things to a golden age to do this expression justice? Let's say the following things. The language of the New Testament points to the coming of Christ as being a binding of Satan. Where do we find this? Well, we find it in the words of the Lord himself. On one occasion, he was defending his ministry against skeptics after he had cast out a demon. He tells them, Matthew 12, verse 29, Or, he says, how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. Now the strong man is, of course, the devil. The plunderer is actually the Lord Jesus. And who is the one who binds the devil? Well, that is the Lord Jesus as well. The devil's property includes people, as well as such tools as false religion, deception, error, and death itself. The coming of Christ achieves this particular binding of Satan. There is a major curtailing of his power. It's not that his power vanishes entirely. It does not. But the devil is not the same after the first coming of the Lord. Or, as Luke's gospel describes it, Luke chapter 11, verses 21 to 22, When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoils. So this tells us the devil is left unarmed in crucial and critical respects. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ achieved. Now the immediate context was demon possession. But it looked forward to the most significant victory of the cross itself. Then through his death and resurrection, the Lord defeated the devil, sin, and death. See, for example, how Christ's death and resurrection mark an end to the devil's reign of terror through death. Hebrews chapter 2, verses 14 to 15. Inasmuch then, as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he, the Lord himself, likewise shed in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil. and released those who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Now, does it mean that the devil now has no power whatsoever? Well, no. And yet it can still talk about destroying him who had the power of death. because the resurrection of the Lord showed life beyond death and removed that part of the devil's armor which had been so effective in keeping people away from an enjoyment of the full liberty of freedom and acceptance before God. His last stranglehold upon mankind had been loosened. The Lord Jesus Christ had revealed what lay beyond since he brought life and immortality to light in the gospel. Related to this, the burden of sin and the consciousness of culpability before God was removed through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan's power to accuse was brought to an end. That piece of his armour in which he trusted was now also taken from him. Or, see how it is put in Colossians 2 verse 15, having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle over them, triumphing over them in it. So the devil has not lost all his power. That's evident from the way that the world has gone and society has gone. He still has very great power. But the Bible describes the work already achieved by the Lord by his death and resurrection as having disarmed the devil in key respects. The Lord coming into the world marked an end to this aspect of his misrule and his savage attacks upon the very soul of man. Now there was fullness of life, because in Christ there was fullness of light. The Spirit of God shed abroad upon the church, and all of Calvary to testify to. Now hearts could be at rest and in peace. Now this last point about the spirit is also important. The day of Pentecost saw the gospel marching out from national Israel and being broadcast in a language other than Hebrew and Aramaic. This was a token of the greater accessibility now of the gospel. While in times past God allowed all nations to walk in their own ways, this time was now over. Or as Paul explains to his listeners in Athens, Acts 17 verses 30 to 31, Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead. So now the devil's largely peaceful and uncontested ownership of these nations and their false worship and false gods was now being challenged. This is important in fact to Revelation chapter 20, where the result of his binding is precisely looking at verse 3, that the devil should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. So bound at the cross in respect to some of his powers, he is bound again at Pentecost. When tongue speakers on the day of Pentecost declared the wonders of God in the languages of the native peoples, it spelt an end to this particular aspect of his rule and undisturbed authority. In this respect, his power is mightily diminished. Despite his best efforts, the gospel is being heard in more and more nations. Despite his attempts, it is bridging nations and finding willing hearers in many nations of the world. There is nothing he can do ultimately to withstand this or stop it. He may try, but his power is now critically and crucially curbed. So the language of his power being restricted, of him being bound and sealed and in a pit, is consistent with the Bible. It does not need the removal of all evil from the world. Enough has happened in the coming of the Lord to make the language of revelation not sound extravagant. Secondly then, we must ask about the saints who are resurrected and then live and rule with him. These that we read about in verse 6. How are we to understand their first resurrection? For these are the people who exercised this rule with Christ for a thousand years. So do we have to literally look for people to be raised and then become rulers on earth? Well, the answer to this, I believe, is no. As we're beginning to think about this, let us turn to the Gospel of John. Here in chapter 5 and verses 24 to 25, the language of resurrection is actually used to describe the new birth, the work of God's Spirit which makes a sinner into a saint. So I read, most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment but is passed from death into life. Most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will live. So does this mean that we are talking about people who are literally dead as we would understand it? No, it doesn't. Nobody who is dead is able to have the gospel preached to them. Their time has come and gone. This refers to people who are alive. They're living and breathing. But they have no spiritual life. Therefore, they are dead in trespasses and sins. When we come to Revelation 20 verse 5 then, resurrection, as we would understand from John chapter 5, doesn't necessarily have to mean bodily resurrection. So what does it mean? Well the clue perhaps is to be found in what these believers are doing. We are told, I repeat again, not only that they're living, but also reigning with Christ. And I would understand that to be this, that these are believers who have now gone into heaven and are ruling with Christ. This is what the first resurrection speaks of here. It is their translation to glory. Now remember, there is nothing extravagant in saying that believers in glory are reigning with Christ. It is a perfectly natural way of thinking about them. Because indeed, believers on earth are already described as reigning with Christ, how much more than those that are in heaven. To do full justice to this terminology in verse 6 here of it speaking about them reigning with him a thousand years, we don't have to give these people ministries which are converting thousands of people, or great executive powers, great authorities ruling nations and exercising law. were not forced to place them in a golden era where they are bringing about extraordinary social reform or consigning injustice and war to a thing of the past, not according to the Bible. The Bible teaches that every believer is already reigning with Christ. The moment they are born again, they are regarded as those who share in the authority and power of their elder brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. may enter into the peace and rest that is his to give, and become partakers of the good things which he came to bring. So we read in Ephesians 2 verses 4 to 6, But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That's about believers now, here upon earth. They are regarded as being in this place of authority now. They are already sitting, which is precisely what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing right now, at the right hand of God, as a symbol of His rule and powerful reign. His work is finished. He is reigning. Again, this is clear from Ephesians chapter 1 verses 20 to 23. It talks about God working power which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come. and he put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. From this we see the Lord Jesus Christ is in a place of unassailable power and undisputed authority. He is in charge of all things and there is nothing left undone. His rule is unrivaled and matchless. And the term sitting conveys this supremacy. Yet as we have seen, it is the same word that is used to express the current state of affairs for every believer. Let me emphasize that. Every believer. Paul did not write this letter to the Ephesians for a future generation who are going to take over the world, or have success in the gospel that the world would be virtually Christianized. it applied to all the people he addressed. So, his words of exhortation and instruction to bond servants in Ephesians 6 verses 3 and following apply to them as much as to the masters that he addresses in verse 9. The slaves are reigning. Now, they're obviously not exercising some great public ministry or being able to influence the whole world. For sure, they're able to testify to their slave owners, but it was a very limited sphere of influence they had. But they were reigning just as much as anyone else. Whoever is a Christian has now entered into the benefits of Christ's death, including the sharing in his authority and power. While on earth insignificance is the lot of most Christians, in Christ they are regarded as ruling already with him. In similar fashion, even the sinful church in Thyatira, on condition of repentance, is promised great authority and power. Let me read. And he who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron. They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessel, as I also have received from my father." That's in chapter 2 of Revelation, verses 26 to 28. So the son's authority is to be shared with all his believing people. It is a real rule and reign. Where are the thrones that are spoken of at the beginning of verse 4 that John in this vision sees? Well, this is the period of rule that is already happening in heaven. There it is perfectly realised. in verse 4. These are the souls of the departed. They are believers in what theologians call the intermediate state. That is the state that all who die in Christ go to be in his presence, but not as yet united with their resurrection body, that awaits his return on the day he comes. But every believer that has already preceded us and gone into his presence, though not there in body, they're there in soul, and that state is called the intermediate state. It's between the earthly state and the final resurrection state, a period of great blessing for the believer who's died and whose soul now is in the presence of God. So that's why it speaks of souls in verse 4. They're in paradise, but they've not yet been clothed with their resurrection bodies. Now remember, believers on earth, in Ephesus, were told they were already seated in the heavenly places in Christ. All of them, not just a select few who had been involved in the Christianization of the world. They were not told that only the generation that take part in the future millennium were seated. They were all seated, all reigning, all sharing in the victory of Christ and of his assured conquest over all evil and every foe. These are the priests of God in Revelation 20 verse 6. ordinary believers. This is true of believers on earth now. How much more so are these prospects made good when they've passed from this world into the next to be ever with the Lord. There they find themselves indeed seated in the heavenly places with the Lord himself. But there's still some details to clear up. What are we to make of the beheading of Christians in verse 4 of Revelation 20? Among others, these souls exercised this millennial rule. Does this not single out a specific group of believers for this privilege? But straight away we can see that we cannot take this literally. If it were only for those who were beheaded because of their faith, it would be a small number indeed. What is more, it would exclude all who were burnt at the stake, died in police custody, were set upon by a mob, or were themselves crucified as happened under certain wicked Roman emperors. So clearly it does not mean simply those believers who were martyred in this particular way, but of martyrs in general. The beheading is another way of speaking of martyrdom. But it also talks about those who have not received the devil's mark on their foreheads, they have not worshipped the beast, and they had not received any of those matters that were part of the following of the devil rather than the Lord. And that's where all other believers fit in. Because we who have come to Christ have forsaken all that belongs to this world and all that belongs to this worldly kingdom that is his. And we are those who have not worshipped the beast or his image and have not received his mark on our foreheads or on our hands. He's not in our actions, he's not part of our thinking. Our thoughts are upon God and our works and deeds are to bring him glory. So these are the people, I would believe anyway, that are spoken of in verse 4. They're martyrs, very particularly singled out. And then the whole company of other believers, whoever they are, who have come to Christ, however fickle and weak their faith, but have forsaken sin, the flesh, and the devil to be his. So I believe then, the millennium now is happening in heaven. It is for those who share in this first resurrection. It is a period of reigning which begins on earth, in our present state, but is only fully realized as a golden age for those who are in glory. It is not, I believe, a literal thousand years, but in fact a longer period of time. It is a place of unimaginable joy and delight. Not on earth, but in heaven. Not tomorrow, but now. And not diminished by the continuing influence of evil in the world. Christ is reigning as much now as ever. Evil does not spell the end of his rule or undermine his will. Neither does it ruin the experience for his people either. Believers in heaven are reigning with him. And so will we all one day. But in keeping with this interpretation, there is a change that takes place right at the end of history. The restrictions placed upon Satan to prevent him deceiving the nations are removed in verses seven and eight. With this newfound liberty, he mounts an offensive against the church of Jesus Christ, that is the camp of the saints in the beloved city. But his season of activity is short, and he is destroyed by the coming of the Lord. which brings this interpretation into line with the thought of the Lord returning to a world similar to Noah's and with heavy overtones of Sodom and Gomorrah. So the amillennialist expects both good and evil in the world. He or she expects to see advances in one place with perhaps difficulties in another. The hardships and problems will not be entirely done away with, although Satan's power is curbed and the gospel can be preached to the world. But this is destined to end toward the conclusion of history, when the devil has opportunity to create mischief. Over and above it are all the believers in glory in the heavenly millennium, who rule with Christ and watch as he achieves his great purposes in history. His return will consign the devil to hell and is the signal for the final judgment. Looking at church history, we'd understand that that's been how it has been up until this particular point in time. And amillennialism would say, and it will continue that way until this very last season when Satan has a period just before the Lord returns. I want to go on to try to defend in more detail basically that interpretation which I've laid out there, that way of understanding Revelation 20 and some of the other passages that we looked at earlier. The first thing that is to be said in defense of amillennialism is that it actually has a straightforward and uncomplicated view about the end of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ returns to this world and it is one single event and one single visit. We'll see this is significant later when thinking about some branches of premillennialism. These have more than one return of the Lord. Here, the amillennialist is actually closer to the postmillennialist. They may disagree about the millennium and where it is fulfilled, but they both agree the return of the Lord brings to an end this world and order of things. They both assert the Lord will return once. This will be the occasion for the resurrection of the dead, for the rapture of the saints who are alive on the earth. It is the time for the general judgment of all. His return will bring the new heavens and the new earth, and there is no special period of time which is not quite the new heavens and not quite the new earth. It all happens together. And you recall that the conclusion of Revelation chapter 20 has all the dead appearing before the throne and with the ungodly being consigned with the devil to everlasting fire. Dare one say that the basic simplicity of this would appear to be the teaching of scripture in other places. First, Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 16. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. The Lord returns once, it's a single event, and all the dead are raised. Or as we read in 1 Corinthians 15 and verses 51 to 52. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. The trumpet is the same as in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 16. It's when the Lord returns. So the end of the age is marked by the visible bodily return of the Lord. There is to be the resurrection, primarily here it's thinking of God's people, but of all believers and non-believers alike. That much is made clear in John chapter 5 verses 28 to 29. Let me read that. The Lord says there, Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. So it tells us his return means all will hear his voice, be raised and then come to judgment, some to life, some to condemnation, but both at the same time. It is orthodox teaching about the coming of Christ and about the judgment. It includes the teaching that believers go to heaven forever and unbelievers will go to hell forever, which has been the mainstream teaching of the evangelical church mostly through the ages. And I think this orthodoxy and plain handling of the scriptures about the Lord's return is one of the obvious great strengths of a millennialism. Let me just finally look at this idea again of millennium now. The view that the millennium is now is the one that perhaps has suffered the most at the hands of critics. While the blessedness of saints in heaven is not denied, both the post-millennialist and pre-millennialist believe the millennium must mean more visible glory for Christ and the church upon earth. The One Group, post-millennialists, look for this time before the Lord returns. The pre-millennialist looks for it after the return of the Lord. They say if Satan is bound, they'd expect to have more to show for it. After all, who would deny that the world is evil now? There's wickedness everywhere. and it makes some dissatisfied with the idea that this can be the millennium with Satan bound and yet be a world so full of evil. If, they say, Satan is bound, then we would expect all evil to be bound or at least severely restricted. As part of this, they might also say, they'd expect to see the church having effectiveness and influence throughout the world. This and only this, they would say, would live up to the description of Satan being bound and shut up in a bottomless pit. Now interestingly, both post-millennialists and pre-millennialists use the same passages to argue for this better state of affairs. The prophecies of Isaiah are specially employed for this purpose. We might think of prophecies such as Isaiah chapter 2 and verses 2 to 4. Let me just briefly turn to that and read it for us this evening. where we read, now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." It is, is it not, a very broad and expansive prophecy. It's a vision of unparalleled glory and prominence for the Lord in His Word. The effect is very dramatic upon the nations. They lose their warlike tendencies and there is universal peace. Another example of this kind of prophecy would be Isaiah chapter 11 and verses 6 to 9. And again, I'm not going to read that now, but you might like to turn to it at some point. A portion of a longer prophecy which envisages great success and immense influence for the gospel. The premillennialists and postmillennialists both would say that this state of affairs remains to be fulfilled on earth. For the prophecies to be fulfilled, it awaits some golden period in church history which has not yet happened. So how are we to answer this? First thing to say is that most, if not all, amillennialists believe that the Spirit of God does at times work to transform whole societies here upon Earth. We call this revival or awakening. The Gospel reaches the people and many become believers. As a result, the whole spiritual climate of a place can change. Attitudes can be changed. Laws altered as a result of God's Spirit moving. To deny that there are ever periods of remarkable activity and gospel success is not the belief of the amillennialist. Many fervently pray for revival and believe that God can bring this again to the nations. So at times, indeed, nations do seem to be full of the knowledge of the Lord. Great things are accomplished upon earth. Secondly, amillennialists do believe that the gospel and its influence will spread across the nations and will convert people. This, remember, is precisely the power that Satan has lost. He cannot stop the gospel spreading. He cannot deceive the nations anymore. Note, it does not say that all evil will be removed. It does not say Satan will have no power. But it does say that he cannot stop the progress and advance of the gospel. The amillennialist is positive about the prospects for the gospel. The peoples of the world will be called. Satan's power to prevent this has been curbed. So because the amillennialist does not go so far as to expect a golden period of worldwide influence for the church everywhere, it doesn't mean that he or she feels the whole enterprise of mission is a waste of time. Far from it. The amillennialist believes that this is a time of blessing right now, rather than something which has to be awaited in some distant future. While the prospects for the church are more soberly evaluated by the amillennialist, he or she has not lapsed into pessimism and inactivity. The word of God is to reach the nations, and God will bless his word. It is a great work, and will gather many, many people, because it is precisely here that Satan's power is limited. Thirdly, and really to emphasize again, the Bible does not shy away from using very wonderful terms to describe the circumstances of very humble and lowly people. The golden age of the Lord's people is now, even though their circumstances may be modest. 1 Corinthians 3, verses 21-22 tell us, therefore, that no one boasts in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours. It is very sweeping and very dramatic. And it wasn't that these assurances were given to someone or to a group of people that would risk the unbeliever saying, you're out of your mind to say these things. It did not nullify the great promises of God that those people to whom he spoke were still, by the world's standards, insignificant and powerless. We thought about the slave owners and the slaves, all of them together reigning with Christ. But it's not on earth, but in heaven, that the most marvelous things are fulfilled more amply, when faith is replaced by sight. It's then that the reality is displayed in its fullest sense, and those prophecies of Isaiah come to have their perfect fulfillment. Where we read of there how God is going to bring all things to a conclusion, But think, for example, of how it will be and how heaven itself, in the language of Revelation, matches very closely the language of Isaiah. Let me just turn to Revelation chapter 21 and verses 22 to 27 in this respect. Revelation chapter 21, verses 22 to 27. John says there, but I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light, and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day, there shall be no night there, and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter into it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. Did you hear how it spoke about things? Did you hear how it talked about nations bringing their glory and honor into the New Jerusalem? Of the nations which are saved walking in its light. Is this a millennium upon earth? No, it's in heaven. It's fulfilled in heaven. Revelation 21 tells us this. It paints a picture which reminds us of the great prophecies of Isaiah. Let me read Isaiah 60 verse 3. The Gentiles shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. Or verses 5 to 7 of that same chapter. The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you. The multitude of camels shall cover your land. The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah. All those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and incense and they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord. Verse 9 of Isaiah 60, Surely the coastlands shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish shall come first to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of the Lord your God and to the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you. Do you see how these words about different nations, their wealth, their gold, their silver, the kings of the nations, all these are found in the picture in Revelation chapter 21. We can see there how in the glorious state that there will be, there will be those that are nations that are walking in the light of the Lord. And Revelation brings a fulfillment of those expressions that we have in Isaiah chapter 60 and elsewhere. It is heaven that does full justice to these fine descriptions of the Church and her prosperity. The nations are coming to the Lord. Kings are worshipping there. Every gift of man has been laid upon the altar of sacrifice to Him and made available to Him. All possessions are His. All the wealth of the new heavens and the new earth are all visibly His and are given over to Him. It's already happened. Or in Isaiah chapter 2 and verses 2 to 4, we can put that alongside Revelation 22 and verse 2, about the nations learning war no more. Well, in heaven it says this, in the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. It's all changed, it's peace and it's prosperity, and it's all fulfilled in heaven. Finally, in defense of this view that Satan is indeed bound and to talk about reigning is not too extravagant in the light of the glory of heaven itself, that if we question whether Satan is bound because there really is so much evil, in a way logically there's no point just staying there. For the same argument can be used against the biblical view of the position of the saint reigning with Christ even now before going to heaven. We could be critical and say the presence of evil in the world makes it look incredible that Christ and his church are reigning. Look at the persecutions, error in the church, how little progress the gospel makes, how small the church is. Yet the fact is that Christ is still reigning and the church is still reigning. The Bible is clear about this. And it is clear about this, as we have seen, despite the fact that in making these claims, it is making them about small and weak people such as slaves. It's not embarrassing to say that Christ and the Church are reigning now. And in a similar way, it's not embarrassing to say that Satan is bound, especially as we realize that the Church is now spread throughout the world, whereas it used to be confined to national Israel. The gospel is reaching to the very nations of the world, a process that has been happening through history and is still happening now to this very day. We'll finish there.