The Word of Truth is sponsored in part by Paul Rents. Visit paulrents.com for party and equipment rentals. Welcome to the Word of Truth, a ministry of Pastor Lars Larsen and the First Baptist Church of Leominster, Massachusetts. It is our desire that our Lord use this broadcast to instruct, encourage, and strengthen both Christians and local churches in the New England region. Pastor Lars is always available to assist you. You may reach him at 978-660-8869. May today's message from our pastor be blessed by our Lord to instruct and encourage you through the Holy Scriptures, the Word of Truth. Greetings, and thank you for listening to us today. We are presently addressing the account of the 1,000-year millennium that is recorded for us in Revelation 20. Now, if you have heard our programs of the last few broadcasts, you know that I am arguing for a minority position on the interpretation of this passage. And because of this, I realize it's my responsibility to argue the case biblically, which we will continue to attempt to do today with the Lord's help. I wish to pray to this end. Our Father, we come to your most holy word with a great sense of responsibility and accountability. Who is sufficient for these things? For you tell us in your word, not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. But who is not or does not stumble in what he says? And this is especially true when we stand forward and declare to others Your will as taught in Your Word. For we are finite creatures, and we are fallen creatures. And so, Father, we are in need of Your illumination, the illumination of our souls to apprehend Your Word. Better men than we have failed in these matters. And so, Our Father, may You be gracious to us as we continue to consider Your Most Holy Word that is open before us. May the Blessed Holy Spirit guide us and help us. And may the precious blood of our Lord Jesus cover our faults and our errors. For we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Now it is my contention that Revelation 20, 1-10 does not teach what most evangelicals believe. that it teaches a future literal 1,000-year kingdom on earth in which Israel, as an ethnic Jewish nation, will dominate the world of Gentile nations even while King Jesus is ruling from a political earthly throne in Jerusalem. But rather, as we've already asserted, this passage reflects the reality and nature of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ that was inaugurated when He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and was seated upon the throne of David, that being the very throne of God. That's what Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. And from the day of his ascension, King Jesus has ruled over the world, executing God's judgment upon his enemies while saving his people from their sins. Now, toward the end of the program, last time, we began to work through the verses of Revelation 20 to show how those with different views of the millennium interpret the passage. And the first section of Revelation 20 is the first three verses, which read as follows. And this is John recording what he saw. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. How then do each of the positions, the millennial views, approach and understand Revelation 20 in the context of the book of Revelation? These positions being the pre-millennialists who believe Jesus is returning before a future thousand-year millennium, the post-millennialists who believe the Lord Jesus will return after a thousand-year period of kingdom peace through the gospel, or the all-millennialists who believe that Revelation 20 is a prophecy of this current church age. How do they interpret these first three verses of Revelation 20? First, the premillennialists believe that Revelation 20 immediately follows in the narrative, and because we are to read Revelation literally and chronologically, it clearly teaches that a thousand-year millennium immediately follows Christ's second coming, hence their understanding of the premillennial return of Jesus Christ. How do postmillennialists read Revelation 20? They also see these two chapters, chapters 19 and 20, as chronological. However, post-millennialists do not believe that the vision of Revelation 19 is a prophecy of the second coming of Jesus Christ. And so Revelation 20 describes a future time, a thousand years, in which the blessing of the gospel will transform the world and Jesus Christ will return at the end of the thousand years of this Christian world governed by the word of God. The position of the Amillennialist, which is what I personally espouse, is that the vision of Revelation 20 should not be viewed as following chronologically with Chapter 19, but rather it rehearses the course of this church age. It is the seventh and final scene in the book of Revelation which recapitulates this church age from the beginning even on to the Second Coming. The Second Coming has been mentioned a number of times in the Revelation already. And so from the early years of the Christian era, the course of this age is rehearsed, which then culminates at the Second Coming. So amillennialists argue that the New Testament, well the entire Bible for that matter, teaches a future general resurrection of all humanity and a future general judgment in which the Lord Jesus will separate the saved from the unsaved. Whereas the premillennialists believe the judgment of the saved and judgment of the unsaved are two different judgments separated by well over a thousand years. Now, how are these three verses understood more specifically and directly? Well, premillennialists teach that upon his return, Jesus Christ will reign over the world from his throne in Jerusalem for 1,000 years in a kingdom characterized by peace and righteousness. They say that the devil will be removed from the world during this thousand years and this enables there to exist conditions of peace between the nations and people living in the millennium will be able to live in righteousness with King Jesus ruling literally from the throne of David in Jerusalem. Postmillennialists, however, deny that Revelation 19 speaks of the second coming of Christ. And so they say that this thousand years is yet in the future, but it's within this church age. And they argue the second coming of Jesus Christ is not mentioned until Revelation 20, verse 7, which follows the Millennium. What is the view of the Amillennialists? Well, amillennialists see the binding of Satan described in Revelation 20, one through three, to be limited in scope. And so whereas the premillennialists say that it teaches that the devil will be removed completely from the world for a thousand years, amillennialists would say the passage does not say that, but rather it teaches that Satan's presence or power will be limited. What is spoken of here in Revelation 21-3 is a limitation placed upon Satan's power during this church age. Until the cross, Satan had blinded the Gentile nations to the message of God's salvation. Salvation was limited to the Jewish nation. The Gentiles were blinded by Satan, held in bondage by him, but because Jesus Christ conquered and subjected Satan to his authority through his death and resurrection, this power of Satan was broken, and now the gospel could go forth into all the nations, and it has through this last 2,000 years. Now let me show you a couple passages that reflect this limiting of Satan's power. Luke chapter 10, verses 17 and following, we read, and then the 70, this is a reference to 70 disciples, and then the 70 returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. Now listen to what Jesus said to them. I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing by any means shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. The Lord Jesus, through His disciples, made it clear that the power of the devil was broken, and the deposing of Satan's authority is described as Satan falling from heaven like lightning. This is metaphorical, of course. But Jesus is describing the fact that his kingdom authority, the kingdom of God, was advancing, and demon-possessed people were being delivered, and the devil could no longer hold them in bondage. Now, let me also direct your attention to the teaching of Matthew 12, 27 and following. Here the Lord Jesus was refuting those who denied his kingly authority. And if I cast out demons by bills above, by whom do your sons cast them out? And therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God is come upon you. Now listen, for 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. And we would argue that's what Jesus did when he died upon the cross and he rose again and was given all authority. He bound the strong man. He bound the devil in order to plunder his goods. In other words, the Gentile world. Now, listen to what's taught in John's Gospel respecting this matter. This is in John chapter 12, verse 20 and following. And this is toward the end of our Lord's earthly ministry, even the last week, just prior to his crucifixion. Now, there were certain Greeks, now these would be Gentiles, among those who came up to worship at the feast. And then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. And Philip came and told Andrew. And in turn, Andrew and Philip told Jesus. Now, how did the Lord Jesus respond to this news that certain Gentiles wanted to see him? Well, we read in John 12, 23. But Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces much grain. And then a little farther down in the passage, in John 12, we read these words. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.' And then a voice came from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, An angel has spoken to him. But Jesus answered and said, Now listen. This voice did not come because of me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And if I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself." In other words, Gentile peoples to the world. This, he said, signifying what death he would die. So consider what's taught here. Certain Gentiles wanted to come to see Jesus. apparently with the desire to inquire of Him regarding their souls, and as to His identity and role as the Jewish Messiah. And upon hearing that these Gentiles wanted to see Him, Jesus declared the hour had arrived for His crucifixion, and then glorification, which would be His enthronement as King upon His resurrection. And Jesus declared that his death was necessary in order that much fruit would come forth. And in the context of this passage, that would be Gentiles also embracing him. Well, the voice of the father came from heaven with the father's intention to glorify his son. And then Jesus declared this would result in the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And as a result of the ruler of this world being deposed by King Jesus, cast out of heaven, which is an emblem of Satan's authority being broken, and that he was now submitted to King Jesus, as a result of Jesus being enthroned or lifted up, speaking of his crucifixion and subsequent enthronement, he would draw all peoples to himself, that is, Gentile peoples in addition to Jewish people. Well, the Amillennialist argues that this is exactly what is taught in Revelation 20, verses 1-3. Let me read them again. John wrote, I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. Well, just here you have the same idea of Jesus binding the strongman so that his house, the world, could be made a spoil. And then Revelation 20 verse 3, and he cast him into the bottomless pit. And Jesus spoke in John 12 of casting out the devil, and shut him up and set a seal on him. And then here's the purpose for him being sealed and shut up, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. And after these things he must be released for a little while. And so we would argue this passage does not teach that the devil will be removed absolutely and completely from history for a thousand years, but rather the Lord removes the devil's ability to deceive the nations from coming to faith in the gospel. And the fact that the gospel has gone worldwide, that peoples from all over the world, Jews and Gentiles alike, have embraced Jesus as their King, as their Lord and Savior, is evidence of the fact that Satan's power to blind them, to prevent them from seeing the glory of the gospel has been removed. King Jesus has done so. Now, one might ask, however, well, yes, pastor, but what about the reign of 1,000 years so clearly mentioned in Revelation 20, verses 4 through 6? Well, let's read these verses. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. Well, how do premillennialists understand these verses? Well, they would argue that this is to be a period of one thousand years of literal history yet to take place after the second coming of Jesus Christ. They further teach that there will be two classes of people, actually four classes of people, who will exist and live during the millennium on the earth. There will be Christians who had been resurrected at the rapture of the Church before the final seven-year tribulation. They'll be reigning with Jesus Christ in their glorified resurrection bodies. But further, those Jews and Gentiles that were converted by the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom throughout the tribulation, and who were able to survive the tribulation, who were a part of Israel, by the way, and not the church, according to dispensational premillennialists, they will also be living in the millennium, allowed to enter the millennium and dwell upon the earth, but in their natural bodies, However, there's a third class of people also, we might say, and these would be those tribulation saints who were converted after the rapture, but who died a martyr's death in the tribulation due to the persecution and the oppression of the Antichrist. Well, they will be raised, it's taught, and they too will be in their resurrection bodies, who will also populate the future thousand-year millennium as citizens of Israel, living on earth as led by King Jesus. Although some say, no, it's King David. Well, King Jesus is with his church in heaven. King David will be on his throne in Jerusalem, but that's another matter for another time. There's actually a fourth class of people as well. There are also those who will be born naturally during the thousand-year millennium who live long lives, but many of which will die during that thousand-year millennium, and I suppose be resurrected upon death. I don't know. I've never had that very well explained to me by dispensational premillennialists. And so premillennialists argue that the first resurrection mentioned in Revelation 20, verse 6, refers to the various resurrections of the redeemed. But again, actually there are resurrections for different people at different times. And so there's more than just a first resurrection or one resurrection, but there's multiple resurrections under this category of the first resurrection. And then the second resurrection is viewed as the resurrection of all the damned who will be raised from their graves at the end of the thousand year millennium to face Jesus Christ at the great white throne judgment. But the main point of the dispensational premillennialist is that the text clearly states that the kingdom will be 1,000 years in duration. Doesn't it say that Christians will reign 1,000 years? How can anyone dismiss this and not take it literally is what they ask sincerely. Well, how do postmillennialists view the thousand years? Well, they would argue that this is a literal thousand years. Some of them view it metaphorically, but many see it as a literal thousand years. And they would argue that God limits Satan's authority through the gospel so as to secure the gospel's advancement in history. Now, what are the amillennialists? They understand the reference of the thousand years to be a symbol. For a period of long duration, again, it signifies this current church age. A thousand years is a number embedded in the Revelation, which is apocalyptic literature, which characteristically uses numbers metaphorically and symbolically. And so the thousand years is used to convey the present kingdom of Jesus Christ as a worldwide kingdom encompassing Jews and Gentiles converted and serving as citizens of Christ's kingdom. And it's already lasted 2,000 years and will continue to do so into the indefinite future, which we hope will be short in duration. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Now, those who are dispensational premillennialists are often incredulous at what I just described. How can you view that thousand years is not literal? Do you not take the Bible literally? Well, we use language all the time, metaphorically. We even say, do in our Western culture, we use this kind of language. For example, Adolf Hitler desired to establish the Third Reich, in other words, the Third Kingdom of the modern state of Germany. The term Third Reich was adopted by Adolf Hitler in the 1920s to describe the thousand-year kingdom that he intended to create. The First Reich or Empire was the Holy Roman Empire which existed from the time of Charlemagne to the year 1806. And then the second Reich was the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, created by Otto von Bismarck. However, Hitler saw his Germany as the third kingdom, the third Reich, and he declared that it would last 1,000 years. But that 1,000 years was a figure. Hitler meant by that term that his kingdom would be established and would last a very long time through history. I'm sure at the end of a thousand years, he would have thought that it continued after that point. But the fact is we use the term of a thousand years metaphorically in our own culture. Now, of course, those who are not amillennial argue very strongly against the position. Well, you just don't believe the Bible. You don't take it literally like we do. But I would argue that no one takes the Bible literally consistently. People pick and choose what they want to take literally rather than following the pattern and teaching suggested in the literary forms in which the Bible is given. Let me give you an example. In Psalm 50, verse 10, God declares, For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine. All right, you take the Bible literally. Okay then. The Lord only owns the cattle on 1,000 hills. Clearly the number 1,000 is used here poetically. Poetically of all hills. In other words, God owns all the cattle on all the hills of the earth. And I would argue that the use of 1,000 years is the same kind of metaphorical expression in Revelation 20. What is suggested in this account of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus enduring for a thousand years is it means it would be a long period of history, and this is perfectly consistent with apocalyptic literature. It was common at the end of the first century, actually for several centuries during that period of time. Now, what about the third paragraph of Revelation 20, in which we read that Satan is released at the end of the thousand years? How do the different views understand this? Well, let me read the verses. Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations, which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. And they went up from the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are. and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Well, how do the various positions understand these last verses in Revelation chapter 20? Well, unfortunately, I see that we are at the end of our time today, so we'll have to address this next time, Lord willing. Until then, may the grace of God be abundantly granted to you. We trust that God has blessed you from listening to Dr. Lars Larson. Today's program, as well as previously recorded messages, are available through our website. We invite you to visit thewordoftruth.net. The First Baptist Church of Lemonster and Concerned Friends have sponsored this broadcast of the Word of Truth. If we may assist you by directing you to a sound, reformed church near you, please contact us. If Pastor Larson can assist you further or answer a question that you may have about today's subject, he would be pleased to speak with you. You may reach him at 978-660-8869. Until our next time together, may our God bless you richly through our Lord Jesus Christ. Today's The Word of Truth program was sponsored in part by Paul Rents. Visit paulrents.com for party and equipment rentals.