me in the word of God this morning to the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John, John chapter 5, and we'll read verses 24 through 29. This will be the twelfth and concluding message in our series on the subject of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It will comprise the third part of the message in that series on the subject of the Lordship of Christ, his coming kingdom of glory. Reading from John 5, verses 24-29, our Lord states, Verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath, present tense, everlasting life, shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice. and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." We have tried to set forth in this series of messages on the Lordship of Christ that the Lord Jesus Christ is absolute King of Kings and Lord of Lords right now. And that to be Lord does not mean that everything must be perfect in your kingdom. It merely means that you have the right and the option to exercise authority over all that's within that kingdom. And that some ask the question, well, how can Jesus be Lord today when there's so much sin going on? And the answer is that if anyone has the power to stop sin at any time, they're Lord over it. That is, they have the option to say, either permit it to occur or to stop it, they're the Lord over it. And because there's coming a day in which Christ is going to exercise his Lordship and subdue the last enemy, he has that power right now. Now do you believe that? Then why has he not stopped the sin in the world? Because it has not been in his purpose yet to do so. But at the time that he chooses to do so, nothing's going to prevent him from it. So he is absolute Lord right now. And just because sin is in existence does not mean that God is not in control of what is going on. For if he isn't, then there never will come a time in which he will be in control of it. If God's not all-powerful now, then pity us all to think this thing's ever going to improve. Now we have seen in this series of messages on the glorious kingdom of Christ, that this is the consummation of his kingdom. That the Old Testament prophets saw a time of an age of Messiah, and they saw a time in which that that Messiah would come and he would be humiliated in suffering. They would also follow his sufferings by a resurrection from the dead of the Messiah, and he would be exalted to the Father's right hand. So bear that in mind. The Messiah would be humiliated in suffering, and he would be raised from the dead and exalted to a state of glory at the right hand of God. They also saw that the Messiah's people would be exposed to a period of suffering and humiliation. And then they saw there was coming a day in which the Messiah's people would be resurrected from the grave also, and they would enter into a state of glorious experience with their Lord. And so the resurrection is the crucial issue in regard to what the future holds ahead for us all. Whatever we believe about the resurrection will affect us in what we believe about the second coming of Christ and our view of prophecy. Now, you either must hold to a general resurrection, or you must hold to a split resurrection in time. If you hold to a general resurrection in prophecy, you will be either a postmillennialist or an amillennialist. If you hold to a split resurrection, divided by a thousand years, in which the saints will be resurrected a thousand years before the non-saints or the wicked, then you are premillennial in your outlook on prophecy. And so this morning we want to examine what does the Bible teach. Does the Bible teach a general resurrection, or does it teach a split resurrection? Now we have seen from the Old Testament that the prophets' view of what the resurrection would usher in Last week we saw how Job believed that when he was raised from the dead, he did not expect to see the same heavens and earth he saw when he was alive here on this present earth. Therefore, the resurrection under the Old Testament view of Job would not take place until the new heavens and the new earth make their appearance. David's view of the resurrection was that he prayed in Psalm 17 that when he was resurrected into the likeness of righteous perfection, that David would be completely delivered from the presence of wicked people who were pursuing the temporal things of this life. That is, David's view was that when he was resurrected from the grave, he would no longer be in the presence of sinful, mortal human beings. Then we looked at Daniel's view in Daniel 12, and there at the resurrection both the wicked and the righteous would face their eternal destinies. We looked at Isaiah's view on his view of the resurrection, and how the New Testament writers quoted his position in Isaiah 25 to take place at the resurrection and that it would usher in the eternal state of affairs. Now it is generally acknowledged, as I will read a quote to you from a dispensational premillennial gentleman as the message goes on, it is generally consented by all students of prophecy that the Old Testament taught a general resurrection. No one dissents from that. Even those who are pre-millennial today, because they know the Old Testament, acknowledge that the Old Testament taught a general resurrection in which that the saved and the unsaved would come out of the grave at the same time. And we're going to take that premise and try to hold today and answer this question. What was the New Testament apostles' view of what the resurrection would usher in? What did they think would happen after the resurrection, or when the resurrection occurred? We've already established that the resurrection of the righteous occurs at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, first, what was Paul's view as to what the resurrection of the body would usher in? Remember, from the Old Testament saints, they viewed it would usher in the glorious state of eternity. Now let's look at the New Testament apostles and see if they had a different view, or if they held the same view. Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians, if you would. Chapter 1. I think I have 2 Thessalonians. I may have Chapter 2 there, but I need Chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians, Chapter 1. The church at Thessalonica is going through tribulation and trials in verse 4. So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure. They were suffering because of their entrance into the kingdom of God, verse 5. They were in tribulation and they were in the kingdom at the same time. Now then, verse 6, seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. That is, you are now suffering tribulation, but there's coming a time in which God's going to balance the books. And those who persecute God's people, they will in turn be dealt with by God Almighty. Now when is that going to take place? That is what Paul is going to explain to us now. Look at verse 7. To you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels." Now, this is a clear reference to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, accompanied by his angels. What is going to happen at the second coming of Christ? Now we want to look at what his view was that would happen to living men, living human beings, at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 8, when he comes in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day." Now what did Paul believe was going to happen to human beings at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ when he comes with his angels, taking vengeance upon them that know not God, at the same time that he comes to be glorified in his saints? First, what is going to happen to the wicked at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? Verse 8. flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Let's suppose the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come at noon today. Nobody knows that, although some think they do. They've made all kinds of predictions down through the centuries, and every one of them have proved fruitless and have brought reproof and disillusionment to the people of God. We don't know the day nor the hour when our Lord is going to come. But let's suppose hypothetically we knew he would come at twelve o'clock today. If a person is here without the Lord Jesus Christ in their life, they're not a Christian. They're unregenerate. They're not justified. They have to stand in their own righteousness before God. What is going to happen to that person if the Lord comes at twelve o'clock? It says that they shall be punished with everlasting destruction. What is everlasting destruction? From the presence of the Lord. Not that they are annihilated, but that they shall be separated from God forever and ever and ever. Not that they cease to be, but they shall be cut off from all comfort of the creation and the Creator forever and ever and ever. That's what eternal destruction is. That's what the second death is. That's what spiritual death is, is separation from God Almighty. Now that's going to happen to the wicked. Not some of them, all of them. Those who don't know God and have never embraced the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be punished with everlasting destruction when the Lord comes again with his angels from heaven. What's going to happen to the righteous? at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 10, When he shall come to be glorified in his saints. The saints are going to be rewarded eternally. at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the wicked are going to be eternally destroyed at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice there's no separation here in this passage of how that God's going to deal or Christ's going to deal with the wicked at one time and the righteous at another. When are the wicked going to be eternally destroyed? When the saints are glorified. And when are the saints glorified? At His coming. And how are they glorified? We've seen in previous messages, in the resurrection. The saints have been regenerated by the grace of God, they have been justified by grace through faith, they have been sanctified by the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit, and at the coming of Christ, the work of Christ will be completed in its application, for they shall be glorified in that they shall be changed. If they are alive, to meet him in the air, and if they have died, they shall be raised from the dead and given new bodies. Glorification is that which awaits the people of God who have been called by his grace. And that glorification takes place at the same time the wicked are eternally dealt with, not a separate period of time in this passage of Scripture. There's nothing here that we can read into this to say, well, now this takes place here, this takes place over here. Paul makes no distinction whatsoever in this passage of scripture. So at the coming of Christ, living men would be dealt with, the wicked eternally destroyed in the presence of the Lord, and the righteous eternally rewarded. Now let's look at Peter's view of what the coming of the Lord would usher in, in regard to this present earth. Not the people who live on it. Paul has dealt with that. What will happen to this present earth, which we are standing on today at the return of the Lord? 2 Peter 3. Verse 1, This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your minds by way of remembrance, that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the whom? The holy prophets. In other words, this is what the Old Testament teaches. So whatever is going to happen in the present heaven and earth, Peter says, is based upon what the prophets of the Old Testament have taught. And of the commandments of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. So now Peter is saying, we're in agreement on this thing. The apostles and Christ and the prophets all have a similar outlook upon this issue that I'm going to discuss now, he says. Knowing this first, there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lust, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." That is, things just keep going on just like they are, have always been. Uniformitarianism. That is, that people are born, they live, they die, nothing changes. There is no intervention by God into the created order. He has just established natural laws, and these laws operate, and he does not intervene. So how is he going to intervene? Where is the promise of his coming? Everything has just continued on since the day of creation. Peter says this, "...they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished." I believe in verse 5 we have a reference to Genesis 1 in the original separation of the water from the land, and then in verse 6 we have a reference to the flood in the following chapters of Genesis, where God did intervene. He intervened in the original mass which he created in Genesis 1 and shaped it. And in Genesis chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9, he intervened again in the history of the creation by destroying every living creature except those that were in the ark. So God has intervened in his creation before, and Peter's argument is he's going to intervene again in a most dramatic way. Verse 7, But the heavens and the earth, which are now, By the same word are kept in store, by the providential power of God, the earth is preserved. Reserved unto fire against the judgment and perdition of ungodly men. God's going to intervene again in judgment. But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing. One day is what the Lord has a thousand years. And a thousand years is one day. That is, those of you who are scoffing and saying that the Lord's never going to intervene, we're not dealing with a little time-manufactured God, we're dealing with an eternal God who is above time. And he does not go by time, but he is the eternal Jehovah of old. So a thousand years in our time schedule is a day with God. and vice versa. Verse 9, the Lord is not sly concerning his promise. Now see, the apostles believed that God had promised he was going to intervene again in this present world order. Mark that. God has promised that. He's going to do it. And it was made known in the Old Testament era, not just the New Testament. But as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. Why has not the Lord intervened in the human affairs and brought this thing to a final judgment?" This passage here. is interpreted by different schools of theology. The Arminian school of theology says this is an indication of the general compassion of God that he has upon all men, and that the reason Jesus hasn't returned is that God is giving all men another day to exercise their free will and be saved. and that he is not willing that any should perish, but he must wait, in that he cannot do anything about it, he must wait until they repent. The Calvinistic school of interpretation is divided into two camps. One holds that this is a manifestation of the general compassion of God, connected with the passages in Ezekiel, where that God does not delight in the death of the wicked. And that the reason that the Lord has not returned is that he is compassionate. And this is a manifestation of this. The other school of interpretation, which I think is more consistent with the context, is that 1 and 2 Peter are written to the chosen, the elect of God. And that the reason that the Lord has not yet returned is that all of his sheep have not yet been brought into the fold. And when the last of those chosen sheep are called by the Spirit of God, regenerated by the Spirit, and justified by grace through faith, when the last one of those is brought into the fold, then the redemptive purpose of God shall be completed in Christ, and Christ shall return." So God has made a promise. And incidentally, if you look at it from just a logical standpoint here, if you reject the last interpretation and you take the first one I gave you, then you're in a real dilemma. Because the longer that God lets things go on, the more people perish. You realize that? If interpretation number one is such that God doesn't want anybody to perish but for everybody to come to repentance, then he ought to shut this thing down a long time ago. Because there's a whole lot more babies being born today than there were by the time Peter wrote this. And unless God doesn't have the ability to shut it down, and I hope you won't take that position, I believe God could have prevented sin from ever entering into this world, and I believe he's going to prevent it one day from ever entering into the world again. He's going to cease the existence of sin in this world. Why doesn't he do it now? Because it's not in his purpose to do so. Why did he permit it to occur in the first place? Best I can answer is that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. I can't give all the answers to that, but the good pleasure of God, and I must rest there and bow and worship. But the scoffers are saying, why doesn't God intervene? Peter is saying, because he has not worked out all of his redemptive program yet. That's the reason. And when that is worked out, here's what will happen then in verse 10, to this present earth on which we're living. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. That is unannounced, unexpected. That's the way a thief works. A thief doesn't blow a trumpet and announce his appearance ahead of time. He comes unexpectedly. in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise." Incidentally, back when I was in Bible college and I was taught the dispensational premillennial view, it was held that there was a secret rapture that would take place in which the Lord will come as a thief in the night, and the church will be secretly raptured out. And suddenly all the living Christians will just disappear, and the non-Christians will look around and say, Well, where'd they all go? And they're gone. And that this would be quiet and silent. I tell you, this is the noisest rapture I've ever seen, right here, when you look at it in this passage. Look at it. The heavens shall pass away with a great noise. When? When the Lord comes as a thief in the night. That sounds sort of noisy. In fact, it sounds sort of hot. Not sounds, it feels hot. Here. The elements, H2O and all of those, shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Now when is this going to take place? At the coming of the Lord as a thief in the night. Seeing then that all these things, this material universe, shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." What is going to happen to this present earth on which that we're living when the Lord returns? My friend, it's going to be radically altered. Now, some say, well, fire is going to completely annihilate it. It'll just be entirely burned up. But I think this must be taken into the context of how that the first earth was destroyed. The earth was destroyed once before by water, but it wasn't annihilated. But it was said that when Noah stepped off that ark, it was like stepping forth on a new earth. And that at the renovation of this earth, I do not believe that it's going to be completely annihilated, but it's going to be radically changed and renovated so that no sin and the effects of the curse are entirely lifted. All pollution of air, water, and land shall be renovated, and it shall become a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." Now, others believe it's going to be entirely burn up in the sense that it is consumed and totally destroyed or annihilated. I'm of the latter view. And I believe that as the waters in Noah's day destroyed the earth, but did not annihilate it, so that the element of fire, as God separates all of these ingredients in the atmosphere, and if any of you have ever gone to any, had any courses in school, you know it doesn't take much. We have a very necessary ingredient called water. called H2O, two parts of hydrogen, one part of oxygen. A harmless, helpful ingredient. But you separate that, and you've got hydrogen. When you start splitting the atom, you start talking about fiery, fiery things. And the God who put all of this together So that each balances out the other, has but to speak, and this whole thing goes up in fire and smoke. Now when is this going to take place? At the coming of the day of God, when Christ comes as a thief in the night. What is going to take place after the coming of Christ and the present heaven and earth is destroyed by fire. Look at verse 13. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, that promise which we've looked at before that God has made, he's going to intervene again, we look for what? A thousand years of expanded time on this present heaven and earth? We look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." And beloved, that's the same thing the Old Testament prophets looked for. When Christ returns, this present world order and the earth on which that we live is going to be radically transformed so that no human being is going to survive the second coming of Christ in a mortal state. And not only will human beings be in a mortal body, this temporal mortal earth is not going to remain the same at the coming of Christ. I was pointing this out to a dear brother who was trying to defend his view. And he said, Oh, but what will happen? And I'd ask him, I said, How will people escape this, to go into a millennium? And his profound statement was, Well, some of the wicked will run and hide in the mountains and in the caves. And then when all this is over, they'll come back out and start marrying again and repopulating the earth. My friend, I don't care how big a mountain you run to, and how deep a cave, that's not going to prevent that fiery judgment of God from renovating this thing at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's just not going to be any mortal people left, and there's not going to be any earthly creation as we now know it, left at the coming of Christ. And again, Peter says, this is in verse 2, the words which were spoken by the holy prophets, the commandment of us the apostles of our Lord and Savior. So Peter's view as a holy apostle was the same view as what Job had, do you remember? When he said, I'm going to go into the grave, I'm not going to be resurrected till the heavens be no more. So Job was going to come forth of his understanding and the resurrection and be able to set his feet upon a totally new heaven and a new earth. Now then, let's go to Revelation chapter 20, the Apostle John. For this is the passage which causes a different interpretation on the part of the premillennial position. I want to read to you, before I read Revelation 20, this famous passage, I want to read to you from Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost and his famous book, Things to Come. Dr. Pentecost, in his view of prophecy, is known as a dispensational premillennialist. This book is the final word upon that position. It's a massive volume, over 630 pages. He doesn't leave any stone unturned, very thorough. This is the book that is the standard textbooks in all of the Bible colleges that I know anything about. that teach the dispensational premillennial view. It was the book that I used while I was in Bible college. Now, I want to give you his statement here in regard to the resurrection, because the resurrection is the juggler vein here. Whatever happens in the resurrection, that's got to determine whether there's going to be an extension of this present world order or whether eternity is ushered in. I quote to you from Dr. Pentecost on page 398. The Old Testament clearly taught the fact of the resurrection, but no revelation was made concerning the time element involved. In fact, one might have concluded, were it not for the revelation contained in the New Testament, that there would be a general resurrection in the which the saved and the unsaved are raised together to be separated to their final destiny, as taught by the Ammonoist. However, the New Testament contains clear revelation to the contrary." Now what has this gentleman stated? He has stated that he acknowledges that one could have lived in the Old Testament era and have believed in a general resurrection, because there was no revelation given that there was going to be anything other than that." Now he acknowledges that. But he says, New Testament revelation has now altered that. Now I am a subscriber to what is known as progressive revelation. Not everything has God made known at one time to his people. It wasn't until later on after the creation that God forbid those close of kin to marry. But there was nothing unlawful for Adam and Eve, sons and daughters, to marry one another. And so some of you that haven't got that thing clear yet, where did Adam get his, or rather, where did Cain get his wife at, you're probably troubled with the fact that you know that the Bible later on teaches that it's for a sister and brother to marry. But that wasn't always the case because of progressive revelation. You could not say that Cain or Abel sinned by marrying one of their sisters. You could later on when God made it known. That's progressive revelation. And progressive revelation holds this principle. If he makes something known here, you cannot read that back into what was previously known, and make those people believe that they were responsible for something then. Now, progressive revelation up to the time of Christ, all parties confess that it taught that there was to be a general resurrection of the dead, in which the dead that were without Christ and the dead that were righteous would be raised at the same time. That was what was generally conceded, and Dr. Pentecost acknowledges this. Now then he makes the statement, New Testament revelation contains clear revelation to the contrary. Now where do you suppose he's going to take us to in his book for New Testament revelation? Well, you would expect to be able to start right in the Gospels with the teachings of Jesus and have Jesus explain if there's going to be something other than a general resurrection. And knowing Dr. Pentecost's thoroughness, if there was something in either Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John that would teach something about a split resurrection, he'd go there. But he passes over all the Gospels. That brings us to the Book of Acts, in which the New Testament missionaries went out and founded the Christian Church upon the revelation God had given them. Dr. Pentecost passes over the Book of Acts, acknowledging there's nothing in the Book of Acts that teaches a resurrection of the saved at one time and the resurrection of the unsaved at another time. Well, maybe we can go to the epistles. Dr. Pentecost passes over all of those, not one word in the epistles. Is there any reference to anything but a general resurrection? And only one passage does he go on and refer to as that which sets aside the Old Testament revelation. And where do you think that might be? Revelation chapter 20. Nearly the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, God suddenly drops a bombshell upon the Church and says, here's something new I've never told you before. Now then, the question is, what's in Revelation chapter 20? Does Revelation chapter 20 teach A thousand-year reign of Christ marked off at the start of it by the resurrection of all the saved, and at the end of it, the resurrection of the unsaved. Let's see if we can find that out. Now before I take you there, and I hope you're already there, I want to read to you what Dr. Pentecost and the dispensational view of the resurrection contains. They do not hold to a general resurrection. They hold to five different resurrections. Here they are. Quote, The order of events in the resurrection program will be, first, the resurrection of Christ as the beginning of the resurrection program. Christ rose from the grave first. Secondly, the resurrection of the Church Age Saints at the rapture. That is, that the Church will all be raptured out at one time, and that'll be another stage of the resurrection. Thirdly, the resurrection of the tribulation period saints. That is, there's going to be seven-year tribulation, there's going to be some people saved in there, they're going to die, and they've got to be resurrected at the end of the tribulation period. So there's three resurrections. And then the resurrection of the Old Testament saints. Got to get them out of the grave. And that is a point of disagreement where these are going to be resurrected at. Some hold that they are resurrected in the rapture, others so know they don't belong in the Church, so they have to be resurrected at the end of the tribulation period with the Christians that were saved in the tribulation period. You getting confused? You ought to be, because this is the most confusing situation that you'll ever get into when you start trying to divide out the resurrection into four or five different stages. And then fifthly, he states, the final resurrection of the unsaved dead will be at the end of the millennial age. The first four stages would be all included in the first resurrection to life. Inasmuch as all receive eternal life, and the last would be the second resurrection, or the resurrection under damnation, inasmuch as all receive eternal judgment at the one time. My friend, I only know of one second coming of Christ. I only know of one resurrection. I don't know of five or six stages of the Lord's return, but he's going to come as a thief in the night, suddenly. Not through a long, drawn-out process. But let us go to the book of Revelation and see then what this introduces us to. Revelation chapter 20. Verse 1, I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil, and Satan had bound him a thousand years. Now this is the first time this is ever referred to in the word of God. And cast him into a 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 loose for a little season. 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, for the word of God, 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 reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." Now then, here is this passage of Scripture. The rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are completed. This is the first resurrection. So then the premillennial view is that here is new revelation which replaces all the revelation which has been given us up until this time. And now then what's going to be taking place is that there will be a resurrection in which the saints will be raised from the dead, and then a thousand years later there will be another bodily resurrection in which the non-saints will be raised from the dead. Verse 6, blessed and holy as he that hath part in the first resurrection, on such the second death hath no power. But they shall be priests of God, and with Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." I have an interesting footnote here from Dr. C. I. Schofield in his comment upon this verse. He says, quote, The resurrection of the just is mentioned in Luke 14. The resurrection of life, distinguished from the resurrection under damnation in John 5. Listen carefully. We here learn for the first time what interval of time separates these two resurrections." Dr. Schofield places the writing of the book of Revelation in 96 A.D. If you have a good reference Bible, you can drop back and just look when all of the epistles were written. They were written in 50, 55, 60, and 62 A.D. then that means that the whole New Testament Church of the Lord Jesus Christ was established before anybody had it known that there was going to be a thousand-year reign of Christ. Because you cannot take what was written in 96 A.D. and read it back into what they were preaching in 30, 40, 50, and 60 A.D. But yet, those who hold to this system of interpretation say that we must interpret the whole Bible in the light of Revelation chapter 20. Would it not appear more logical to interpret Revelation chapter 20 in the light of what the rest of the Bible says? Or you say, Pastor, then we've got to handle this thing of the first resurrection. What is this? You arrested the dead, first resurrection, second resurrection. What is the first resurrection? It's obviously a bodily resurrection, is it not? Well, look at it. Verse 6, one of the distinguishing factors of the first resurrection is that it exempts one from the second death. Is the second death a physical death? No, it is not. The text clearly describes the second death as when the wicked are cast from the presence of God into their eternal destruction. So the second death is not a bodily resurrection or a bodily death. It is a spiritual separation from God, and whoever has a part in the first resurrection is exempted from the consequences of the second death. it be possible, then, that the first resurrection is not a bodily resurrection?" And I say, absolutely. And I think we have somebody who has good understanding of what they mean when they wrote that. For the one who wrote it was none other than the beloved John, the one who has written the epistle of John. And it is my contention here that John is not introducing some new concept at the close of God's revelation, which would require the Church to have to go back and revamp everything that has been revealed up to now. But John is using the same language in Revelation 20 he has already used in the gospel of John, in the resurrection concept. Now then, our text that we all read at the start of our service, let's go there, and after examining that we'll conclude. John 5. Is the first resurrection a bodily resurrection, or is it something else? If it is something else in the way John has already used it, then we interpret Revelation 20 in the light of what the rest of the Bible teaches. Not altering the rest of the Bible by one statement in Revelation 20, a highly symbolic book, if you please. John 5, verse 24, "...truly, truly, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life." Present tense. "...shall not come into condemnation," future tense, "...but is passed from want." What does your text say? death unto life." Now what is that? What happens when someone passes from death unto life? That is a resurrection. All right, now look on. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, future, and now is present. when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." While Jesus was preaching, people were passing from death unto life. Through the proclamation of the Word, they were undergoing a spiritual resurrection. They were being quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. And that was going on right while Jesus was teaching there, for he very clearly marks it out. The hour is coming, and now is, right now, when the dead shall hear my voice, and they'll pass from death unto life. Verse 26, For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself, and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. And then he may think that his hearers, this was a shock to them. And he says to them, don't marvel at this, verse 28. Don't marvel that people are now coming to life while I'm teaching. Don't you marvel at this, for the hour is coming, future. Notice he does not say, and now is here. The hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice." Now what kind of resurrection is that? That's a bodily resurrection. Those that are in the grave at some time future, from the time Christ was teaching, are going to come out of the grave in a split resurrection or a general resurrection. They shall come forth, verse 29, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of what? Of damnation. In other words, Jesus said out here in the future, don't you marvel, God's going to raise the dead, just like it had been believed in all the Old Testament era. And there's going to be a general day of resurrection in which the wicked are going to come out of the grave, and the righteous are going to come out of the grave, and they're going to be separated to their eternal destinies. I said, you believe that? I said, don't you marvel at what I'm teaching. While I'm preaching right now, there are people who are hearing my voice, and they're passing from death unto life. They're taken out of the kingdom of darkness, Brother Tim, and translated into the kingdom of God's own dear Son. Revelation chapter 20 says that whoever partakes of the first resurrection, they're exempted from the consequences of the second death. And they are given the opportunity to live and reign with the Lord Jesus Christ, to know that whatever happens to them, there's a Lord on the throne. that's going to see them through this thing. This is the blessedness of the first resurrection. And the first resurrection is not a resurrection of the body, it is a resurrection of a moral state from depravity unto righteousness. And at the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ, all of the dead will come forth in the day of the resurrection. And that only leaves one question to be answered in my mind, and that is, what is the thousand-year reign of Christ? Is it a literal thousand-year period of time, or does it speak symbolically of the whole messianic reign of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ that was established when he arose from the grave and ascended to the right hand, and will continue until he consummates that kingdom when he comes again in clouds of glory. It is said of Alexander the Great, the great ruler of Greece, may your kingdom last a thousand years. And what the people meant by that was not, when a thousand years is over, may Greece go downhill. But it was an expression of perfection. May it last forever. A thousand years is as the Lord is one day. The Lord owns the cattle on a want. I haven't time to deal with all these expressions. A thousand years, a thousand years. Do you believe that? Do you believe the Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills, Brother Bill? Well, there happens to be more than a thousand hills, so whose cattle is that? You mean the Lord doesn't own the cattle on Hill 1001? Of course not. The expression is, the Lord owns it all! And the thousand is but an expression of the perfection of what our God is in control over. And our Lord Jesus Christ is Lord. And he is presently in a kingdom of grace in which he is going to usher in a kingdom of glory. He once was in a state of humiliation, now he is in a state of exaltation. We are now in a state of humiliation, but bless God, one day we're going to be where he is, in a state of exaltation. And that shall take place at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, when the resurrection is ushered in. And this present heaven and earth melts with fervent heat. Now, how on earth are people going to be left behind and escape that? I'll leave that to the other position to solve. I'm going to go on to glory, Brother Howard. And others can talk about staying behind here and living as hiding in caves and missing the coming of Christ, Christ not finding them. But no, he knows where everybody's at. And I close with this. You'd better be in Christ this morning. Know him this morning. For if he comes today, there will be no second chance to repent. Now that is clear. That is clear. Don't let any system of prophecy hold out a hope that somehow after the second coming of Christ, you're going to have an opportunity to receive the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. If you're not a Christian today, you need to be one. Do you love him? Paul would say, if any man loved not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, let him be accursed. And that's what's going to happen when the Lord returns. To all those who don't love Christ, they're going to be accursed forever. and ever and ever. Flee to Christ today, look to him on that throne, see him as a king in a kingdom the way the dying thief saw him. By divine grace, look upon that one who is being humiliated and saying he's a king in a kingdom. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. Let's stand together. When our song leader comes, I'll now give you my prophetic view of the future, what I believe will happen when Jesus Christ returns. First of all, the devil shall be denied. Secondly, the earth shall be purified. Sin will be mortified. Righteousness will be amplified. The saints will be glorified. The wicked will be horrified, Jesus shall be satisfied, and God will be magnified. Any questions? I'll conclude with that.