If you have a copy of the scriptures, let me invite you to turn once again to the last book in our canon of the Christian scriptures, and that is the book of Revelation. And if you would turn there to Revelation in chapter 20. And it's interesting in the providence of God, as we're coming to the end of this year on Lord's Day mornings, we are finishing, coming to the end of Genesis. In these afternoons, we are coming to the end of the book of Revelation. And so we should complete both of these books by the end of this year. Revelation 20 is a chapter with some 15 verses. We're going to look at the entirety of it in this ongoing search to do an overview of each one of these chapters. in this book that is considered by many one of the most difficult to rightly divide and to interpret. And so we're going to look at the entirety of it. But for our purposes now, I'm just going to read the opening three verses, the opening three verses of Revelation 20. And so let me invite you as you're able. Let's stand together and listen as I read aloud this portion of God's word. Revelation 20. The apostle writes, and I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that, he must be loosed a little season. May God bless today once more the reading and the hearing of his word, and let us join together in prayer. Gracious and loving God, as we come again before thy holy word, and we read it, and we meditate upon it, and we seek to profit from it, give us eyes to see and give us ears to hear. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen. And you may be seated. So we are drawing ever closer to the end of the book of Revelation. And this means we are drawing closer to the last descriptions in this book that will focus on the consummation of all things. How does history end? How does this world end? What happens in the end? And really, that's the heart of what we call the doctrine of eschatology, the doctrine of last things. And we know that Christ will return with great glory and power at the end of the ages, that there will be the general resurrection as Christ himself put it in John 5. Those who are in the grave will hear his voice and they will be raised either to the resurrection of life or to the resurrection of condemnation. And so there is resurrection and there is judgment that is coming. And we get to see that spelled out in these final chapters of Revelation. There are many controversial areas of interpretation when it comes to the book of Revelation. It's probably the most contested with respect to interpretation book in the entirety of the Bible. And this chapter in particular is a chapter that has been much contested. And a lot of the controversy about this particular chapter has to do with the references that are made to a period of 1,000 years. And so we see this in verse 2, when it talks about Satan being bound for 1,000 years. We see it as well in the third verse, till a thousand years should be fulfilled. It's mentioned as well in verse four, when it talks about those who lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. As well in verse six, At the very end, it shall reign with him a thousand years. And also in verse 7, and when the thousand years are expired. And so there's this reference over and over again to a thousand year period within this chapter. This period of time has come to be known by the Latin term millennium. And the word millennium simply means a thousand years. It's the joining of two words that have a Latin root. One is the word mile, which means thousand. You may know this from the metric system, where lots of units of measurement are divided into miles. Or, and then the other word is the word for year, annum. And so you put those two together, millennium means a thousand years. So what does the term mean? What is being referred to when there is reference to 1,000 years? Well, we're going to suggest in our survey here that this term, like so many terms in the book of Revelation, is best taken in a figurative or a spiritual sense and less in a wooden sense. And so I'll give you some reasons for that. The reference to 1,000 years refers to a long period of time. And I believe that it's referring, in fact, to the time in which we are now living, this period, this age in which we live. So let's begin our seven-question catechism. The first question is this. What does John at first see? And the answer is there in verse one. He says, and I saw an angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And so John has seen many angels in the book of Revelation. They are the messengers of God. And this angel comes down and he has the key to the bottomless pit. And if you've been with us through this series, this may sound somewhat familiar, because if you go back to Revelation nine, there was also a reference to a key to the bottomless pit and of a star that that fell and the key being given to an angel. And it says in Revelation nine, too, he opened the bottomless pit and there arose 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. So the messenger has this key to this bottomless pit, which as we'll see is a place of torment, a place of holding, a place of punishment. And so the angel comes down. Second question, what does this angel do? What does this angel do? And we're given the answer in verses two and three. It says in verse two, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that, he must be loosed a little season. And so it says he cast the devil, that old serpent. And that also sounds like something we've heard before. If you look back at Revelation 12 and verse 9, it describes the great dragon who was the old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceived the whole world. And he was cast out upon the earth. And so this is referring to a time when Satan will be There will be limitations put upon him. He cannot completely deceive the nations. And he is being held on a leash, as it were, by God himself and not allowed to do all the mischief that he might do. But we're told that towards the end of this thousand-year period, he will be loosed for a little season. And then the third question we come to then is, what is the meaning of this millennium? What is the meaning of this thousand year period? And I would share with you as we just do a little bit of teaching here for a few moments, that there had generally been three historical explanations for this period of time, all related to the second coming of Christ. The first view is called pre-millennialism, or historic pre-millennialism. And this view sees this 1,000-year period as a time in the future which is preceded by the glorious second coming of Christ. And so Christ comes, and then there's this thousand-year period, this millennium. And so the coming of Christ is before the millennium, and so it's premillennial. This view is held by some early Christians, and it's a view that's held by many evangelicals today. A second view is called postmillennialism. This view sees the thousand years as a time that happens, and then at the end of that period, that's when Christ comes. There's this thousand-year period, and then Christ comes. And so this view often sees or suggests or anticipates that there will be a great success of the gospel in this age, that the Great Commission will be fulfilled, the gospel will be preached to all nations. And there will be a great sort of golden age before Christ's final return. This view was held by some of the Puritans. And it's still held by some people today, particularly by people often who are very interested in doing things like having Christians involved in government. or having Christian alternatives to worldly institutions and educational endeavors and so forth. You find this view as popular among some homeschoolers, for example. You may not have known this. But they believe that there can be the success of the preaching of the gospel in a golden age, and the knowledge of the Lord can spread upon the earth as the waters cover the seas. And then, when that is complete, then Christ will return. So again, it's post-millennialism. The third view is called ah-millennialism. And the ah is a negative. sometimes called the alpha privative, it negates. So an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in God. An agnostic is someone who says I don't think we have enough knowledge to know about God. But an amillennial technically means someone who doesn't believe in the millennium as a wooden 1,000-year period. This view says the millennium is to be taken figuratively and spiritually. it refers to a long period of time. So for example, in Psalm 50 and verse 10, the psalmist says, the cattle, has the Lord saying, the cattle on a thousand hills are mine. Well, when the Lord says in Psalm 50 verse 10, the cattle on a thousand hills are mine, Does that mean that on the thousandth and first hill that the cattle are not gods? No. The thousand there is a figurative number. It means really all the cattle are the lords. The cattle on countless hills are the lords. And so this view would say that sometimes we are meant to take things very literally. I'm a literalist, you know, mostly. when I read through the passage. But I also recognize that there are places in the scriptures where the language is figurative and where it is poetic. And we've seen many places in Revelation where John has told us, this is a figure. This represents something else. Like when he talks about seeing the bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. It's a figure and meant to show us the prayers of the saints. And similarly here, this view would say that the reference to 1,000 years is a reference to a long period of time. And in fact, it is the age in which we live now. It is our present experience. We are living essentially in the millennium. This is the age in which we live. This is a view that's held by most reformed theologians and pastors today. Our confession of faith, the Second London Baptist confession of faith, does not present any one of these views. If you go to the last chapter of our Confession of Faith, or if you go to the last chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith, good Confessions of Faith always end with eschatology. They always end with, OK, how do things wind up in the end? And if you read our last chapter, it will express belief in the final return of Christ. It will express belief in the fact there will be a general resurrection at the end of the ages, and there will be a final judgment, and there will be assignment to heaven and hell for eternity. But what does it not take a position on? It doesn't defend or present any view of the millennium. And so that means in a church like ours, there might be people who say, I'm a pre-millennialist. historic premillennialist. There might be someone who says, I'm a postmillennialist. There might be someone who says, I'm an amillennialist. And there might be people who say, you know, I just don't know. As I heard someone say, I'm a promillennialist. I'm in favor of Christ ruling for a thousand years, however that might be. Some have even said, I'm a panmillennialist. I believe everything is going to pan out in the end. For our purposes here, I think the reference to 1,000 years is a symbolic, a spiritual, a figurative reference to the age in which we live. And the point is that that age is going to come to an end. And Christ is going to return, and it's going to be glorious. Returning to our catechism, fourth question, what does John next see? And we're moving on now to verses four through six. John sees that those who have died as believers reign with Christ in this thousand year period, while the rest of the dead, those who are not regenerate, do not take part in his reigning. We see this in verse four, 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 in which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. And I think this speaks to what's happening in this age, this age in which we live. What did Paul say? Absent from the body, present with the Lord. All those who have died in Christ during this age, they immediately go and they are with God, with Christ in heaven. And they are ruling and reigning with him in this age. They are reigning with him for 1,000 years, for this period of time in which we're living. And who's not reigning and ruling with him? Those who are unbelievers. Those who are unbelievers who have died, sadly, they have already entered into suffering, and so they have entered into punishment and they are not ruling and reigning with Christ. And then, if you look at the second half of verse 5, John says, this is the first resurrection. What does he mean by that? What is the first resurrection? Well, who was the first person to be raised from the dead? Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul calls the Lord Jesus Christ the firstfruits And what happens to those who are believers? What do we believe? We believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved by the resurrection of Christ, his death on the cross. And as Paul said, we are justified by his resurrection. And so the first resurrection refers to those who become believers through the life, death, resurrection of Christ. And he says of such persons at the end of verse 6, 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. Here he makes reference to the second death. So we've got the first resurrection, which I think the resurrection of Christ, and those who are believers experience the first resurrection and that they trust in Christ. Think about Romans 10.9. If you confess the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. And we, though, will experience the first death because the wage of sin is death. We will die. But what we don't experience is the second death. What is the second death? The second death is spiritual death. The second death is when we are condemned to suffering in hell because we are apart from Christ. And all those who know the first resurrection don't experience the second death. They don't experience being cast out into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. We move on to the fifth question. What happens at the end of the millennium? What happens at the end of this age? And the answer is given to us in verses seven through 10. And it tells us that Satan is loosed for his little season. And he has he has opportunity to cause one bit more of mischief among the nations. And these are though are his death throes. These are his death gasps before he faces his ultimate defeat and is cast into the lake of fire. Look at verse seven. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sound of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them." And what it tells us, again, we could debate some of the particulars of what this description is like. But it just simply tells us, by the end of this age, Satan will have one more burst in his death throes to strike out at the gospel of the kingdom. But guess what? He will be defeated. He will be defeated. And what's more, what is his end? Look at verse 10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. And you might remember if you were listening last week in chapter 19 and verse 20, it talked about actually verses 19 and 20 of chapter 19 about the beast and the false prophet being cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And now added to the beast and the false prophet is Satan himself. And notice the emphasis on the fact that This torment will be perpetual. It will be forever and ever. Eternal conscience, suffering, and punishment for Satan, for the beast, and for the false prophet. This leads us then to our sixth question that we would ask about this chapter. What happens next? And we find this in verses 11 through 13. And what it describes for us after Satan's climactic defeat at the end of this age, there will be what is called here by John a great white throne judgment that takes place. And so look at verse 11. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. You want to be judged by your works? Well, stand apart from Christ. And at the end of the ages, the books will be opened, and you will be judged according to your works. And you will be weighed in the scales As Daniel saw the hand in his day and the judgment will be that you are lacking, that you are wanting. And you have not lived a righteous life so that you can justify yourself before God. And the result will be judgment, your condemnation and your judgment. And notice this happens to all people. This happens to the small and the great. This happens to the beggar and to the billionaire. They are all brought before the judgment seat of Christ. Even those who have died before the end of this age, it says in verse 13, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it. All those who have died at sea and their bodies were cast there. Well, the God who made the world in the space of six days and all very good It will be nothing for him to reconstitute every body of every person who has ever lived, who thought their bodies went to the four winds or to the sea or into the ground and the sand and the plants. They will all be brought together. The Lord can do that. And it says, and death and hell delivered up the dead that were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works. And so there's a great day of judgment that comes at the end of the ages. And then the seventh question, what finally is done? And finally, we're told in verses 14 and 15, that death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. Verse 14, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. And it says this is the second death. Again, we talked about the first death is every man is born. It is appointed unto men once to die and after that the judgment. But there's something much worse than dying, physical death. And that is the second death. And that's a death where we die apart from Christ and we face eternal judgment. And it says in verse 15, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. That means they're facing the same end as Satan and the beast and the false prophet. And go back and look at that description once more in verse 10. And shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. That's a very grim and a very dire warning that's going out. Just this past week, there was a, I saw a video where there was a fellow who's a pretty well-known Christian. He's a former actor who became a Christian and was speaking out on various issues. And he had a video in which he was saying, you know, the more I think about it, I just don't think that a good God would make people suffer. And he said, you know, I'm being won over to a view called annihilationism. That is, that at the end of the ages, God just takes the wicked and just kind of obliterates them. They just sort of cease to be. It's called annihilationism. It's actually a view that's taught by Seventh-day Adventists. Some of you, after lunch or after the first service today, were talking about Seventh-day Adventists. And there are some things, if you meet someone who's a Seventh-day Adventist, they can talk to you about the gospel and the Bible. But they do have some unbiblical views. And one of them is they don't believe in eternal conscious suffering and torment. They believe in annihilationism. Well, friends, how do you make that view fit with these verses? You don't. You can't. An infinitely holy God demands infinite justice. And the Bible gives us a very sober warning that to die apart from faith in Christ means that you face the books being opened and trying to give an answer before God for your own works. And then when you come up short, then you being assigned for eternity to the lake of fire. That is frightening. And this is why we must, in this life, flee to Christ, believe in Christ, trust in Christ. He is the sin bearer. He bore our wrath on the cross so that we do not have to endure that type of suffering. Well, in the end, go to verse 14, Death and hell are finished at the end of the ages, at the end of this age. Death and hell are done. Rebellious men and angels face the second death. But for believers, death is finally defeated. We're going to see this later on. There is no more death in the kingdom, no more tears. And death has come to an end. The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 54 anticipates this when he says, death is swallowed up in victory. Death is swallowed up in victory and that there's a sober warning here, but there's also a confident hope that for us, death will be swallowed up in the end in victory and death will be cast in to that lake of fire and that the believers will not be threatened by it any longer. Amen. Let me invite you as you're able to stand together. Let's join in prayer. Gracious and loving God, we do give thee thanks for thy teachings about how things will end. And we're thankful that as believers, we have trusted in Christ that we need not be worried We need not be exercised with fear, but we can have confidence and we can have hope in Christ. And we ask that you would help us, O God, in this age to be faithful and true, even faithful unto death, knowing that even if we die before Christ returns in glory, that we will be with Him in glory. that are absent from the body, we will be present with the Lord and we will be living and reigning with Him if we have not the mark of this world upon us, but instead we have the mark of Christ upon us. Help us to be faithful in this generation and help us to look toward the glorious return of Christ and for Thy just judgment at the end of the ages. And we give Thee thanks that Thou hast defeated already on the cross Satan and death and suffering. And one day this will be made obvious and apparent to all who have ever lived. We trust thee today for Christ's sake. Amen.