Revelation 20

If you brought a copy of scripture with you this morning, you can find the book of Revelation and the 20th chapter. Revelation chapter 20.

I heard of a man that walked into a neurological clinic. He was suffering from early onset dementia. And so he inquired about a brain transplant. And sure enough, they said, “We do. Actually, we have an engineer’s brain is frozen right now, but we could transplant yours for that for $10,000.” He said, “That’s fantastic! Is there anything else?” He said, “Well, yeah. We, actually have one of my former colleague’s who’s deceased. We have his brain as well. And you can have a neurological surgeon’s brain for $100,000.” He said, “Wow, that’s something else! Are there any other brains here?” He said, “Well, just one more. We have a politician’s brain. And that’s yours for a million dollars.” He said, “A million dollars? — for a politician’s brain?” He said, “Well, you gotta understand, it’s barely been used.” (laughter)

So Jesus is coming again, not as a politician… but as a KING! — And as such, he will rule. And the prophet told us this 700 years before he came. “… the government shall be upon his shoulder…” [Isaiah 9:6]

Now, when I was a boy growing up, I can kinda, I have to be honest, I can… the older I get in my serving the Lord and studying eschatology, the study of future events, the more I see maybe the wisdom of the patriarchs, of the church patriarchs, that is, who didn’t really get into all the details of Jesus’ return. In fact, every Sunday, I would recite in the church I grew up in the Apostles Creed, which is sort of a synopsis of doctrine, if you please. And at the very end, it concludes with, ‘we believe, I believe, in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.’ Talk about bare bones, eschatology!

But the Bible does give us a lot of details regarding the return of Jesus and subsequent events leading up to his return like the Rapture of the church that the bible speaks of in 1 Thessalonians 4. Very descriptive! The seven year Tribulation… descriptive and yet not necessarily in a linear way. Daniel 7, or Daniel rather, talks about this… Daniel 2, Daniel 7. The Tribulation, itself, as we have said in the study of Revelation, my understanding of the Tribulation, the twofold purposes of that seven-year Tribulation is to punish Christ rejecting men and prepare Christ receiving Israel. We saw the coming, we studied from [Revelation] chapter 13, the Antichrist who is to come. 2 Thessalonians 2 tells us that he’s going to eventually walk into a temple which will apparently be built, declare himself to be God, and that’s when all hell breaks loose on earth! —and leading into the second half of what others are thought of, or it’s called the Great Tribulation. And finally, as we saw from Pastor Curt last week in his very heartfelt message, the return of Jesus. And when Jesus returns, Zechariah the prophet, 500-ish years before Jesus came, Zechariah [12:10] prophesied as if Jesus himself is speaking to say, ‘… they will look to me the one they’ve pierced.’ That’s pretty powerful, isn’t it? And Jesus Himself said in Matthew 23 [:39], that’s when they’ll say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'” And then the apostle Paul writes in Romans 11:26, ‘Then all Israel will be saved.’

Have you ever read that? Then comes the literal 1000 year reign of Christ on earth. In fact, if you pray the Lord’s prayer as I do, I use it as sort of a template for my own personal prayer life, then you regularly pray, “Thy kingdom (what?) come.” [Matthew 6:10] What are you praying for if it isn’t for a real kingdom to come?

Now we agree that the kingdom of God is already… but, also, not yet. God has always reigned. Always, He has always reigned. God has never let reigning off the hook. Psalm 29:10, “The Lord sits enthroned over the flood,” the greatest cataclysmic time this world has ever known. Where was God? — reigning, and the rest of the verse says, “The Lord sits [enthroned] as king forever.” So there’s never been a time where God has not reigned. And actually the moment a person places their faith in Jesus, the very moment you cross over from death unto life. In that moment you become a participant… you enter into the very kingdom of God. Jesus said, “Unless a person is born again he cannot (what?) see the kingdom of God.“[John 3:3] The Apostle Paul, in Colossians 1:13 says, “He has translated us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son.” So that’s the “already…” if you know Christ, but “not yet” is right here in Revelation 20, the kingdom which is to come. It’s still to come, it’s fullness, it’s literalness, it’s physicality-ness. (I just made that word up.) is still to come. And so with that in mind, chapter 20 in the first six verses.

Revelation 20:1-6

1 “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.

2 And he seized (very strong word in the original) the dragon, (that would be, well, we know he just tells us) the ancient serpent, (directly connecting this personage to the Garden of Eden) who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for (say it) a thousand years,

3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the (say it) thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, (We’ve said this repeatedly throughout this study. This is the only reason people are ever persecuted, tortured, and martyred. There’s the two reasons… for the word of God and for their testimony of Jesus) and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. (That would be during the Tribulation time, which is now behind us from the text’s perspective.) They came to life (that is, they’ve been resurrected) and reigned with Christ for (…) a thousand years. (How many years? Thank you.)

5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.

6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”

That’s five times, and if you go to the next verse, you’ll find a sixth. A thousand. We get our Latin, the Latin word, “millennium,” literally a thousand years, six times in this context. And it’s never… the thousand years is never connected to the word “as” or “like.” You know, when the Bible says it’s “like,” “… one day is as a thousand years…” [2 Peter 3:8] It doesn’t mean one day is a thousand years. It’s like a thousand years when Peter says that. But here, he just says it without any of those governors.

Now there are… we have brothers and sisters in Christ, and I’m guessing some of you here or watching online are amongst those who have a differing millennial view than our church holds, and that I personally hold. There are basically three views.

One is the A-millennial position. “A” negates  millennium. The A-millennialist’s position believes that we’re living in it now, that the millennium began, its figurative, its metaphorical for just right now and forever on. It’s just… it spiritualizes, it allegorizes all of the specificities of the tribulation and the millennium to come. And just as we all win in Jesus and we’ll all sing spiritual “Kumbayah” some day, right? I disagree with that position.

There’s a post-millennial position, which basically is completely out of favor anymore almost universally, not entirely. But the post-millennial believes that the millennium comes “post.” That is, Jesus will come back after the millennium. And so the post-millennial position says that the world’s just going to keep getting better and better and better. And the church is just sort of going to take it all. We’re going to just assimilate the entire world with the gospel. And then World War I occurred. And then the Great Depression. and then World War II. And many other things, and so there just aren’t a whole lot of post-millennials around anymore.

And then there is the position that we take, I take, I preach, we believe, the pre-millennial position. And that allows for a lot of wiggle room, by the way, and we’re okay with that. The pre-millennial position means “pre,” “before.” That means we believe that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of kings, the Lord of Lords as the scripture teaches is going to return and set up his prophesied kingdom on the earth for (how long?) a thousand years. And on into eternity I might add.

That begs the question, “Why a literal thousand year kingdom? Why is that necessary?” Let me suggest four reasons, okay? Here they are.

1. It will fulfill the Bible’s promise in both Testaments of a coming earthly kingdom. I’ll just give you the references. You can snapshot them if you want. 2 Samuel 7 is when God made the promise to David that there will be a perpetual kingdom that will follow his lineage and Messiah, Himself, will sit on the throne and using the verbiage “forever.” And then you have

Luke 1:31-33 when the the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was going to give birth to the Son of God. Remember that? ‘And he shall sit on the throne of his father, David. He will reign forever.‘ There is the fulfillment. The messianic fulfillment. In Matthew 19:28, Jesus told his disciples that they’re going to sit on 12 thrones. They’re going to judge the tribes of Israel. So it fulfills the Bible’s promise in both Old and New Testament. And there are many other references. We can’t exhaust them this morning.

Secondly, it will prove man is sinful even under perfect conditions. I need you to pay attention here. See, in the Millennium, the earth will return to Edenic conditions. It’s going to be like back to Eden. It’s going to be perfect. The curse will be lifted, and yet, people who will go into that Millennium will populate the Millennium. And guess what? — Even with Satan thrown into a pit, even under perfect environmental conditions man is a sinner to the core. You can’t blame the devil for everything. You’re a sinner. You don’t need him to foment your sin to make you awful. In fact, I want to show you something that might not be as familiar to you. I’m going to put it up there. Zechariah 14:16-17. Here’s what it says toward the very end of Zechariah’s prophecy. This again, 500-ish years before Jesus came. He’s referring to this time period, this kingdom, verse 16… [chapter] 14, verse 16.

Zechariah 14:16-17

16 “Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem (this is those who go into the Millennial kingdom) shall go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths.

17 And if any of the families of the earth (watch this) do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them.”

Have you ever read that? I shared this with a young pastor just the other day. He said, “I’ve never seen that before!” So, apparently in the environment with Jesus sitting on His throne, everyone around the world will rightly give homage to Jesus, but not everyone around the world is gonna want to from their hearts. — And if they don’t, you get no rain.

If you’ll skip down… go back to Revelation 20:[7-9] and you have Satan’s release. So he’s been pent up for a thousand years under this… We live in this perfect environment, and verse seven says,

Revelation 20:7-9

7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison

8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, (a reference back to Ezekiel 37:38) to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.

9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city…”

Where are these people coming from? The answer is… everywhere! — because man, even under perfect conditions, is a rebel and he will rebel! I mean, this is the sinfulness of sin with the King of kings reigning on his throne we’re still a sinner. And this, if you think about this, this should give you just so much gratitude for your salvation if indeed you’re saved that God has redeemed you from this wickedness. Oh well, did you read the rest of it? Probably some of you kept going, didn’t you?

Revelation 20:9b-10,

9b “… but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,

10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, (and still are) and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

So another reason is that this proves that we are sinful to the core!

A third reason is to demonstrate our king, (I said four reason, I should have said three) It will demonstrate our king has power to restore a ruined earth to glorious Eden. Now this is a more familiar passage. You know it, and it’s in Isaiah. We’ll put it up there for you right now.

Isaiah 11:6-9

6 The wolf (This is the descriptor here) shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.

7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. (Is there more? Yeah)

8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.

9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”

That’s a descriptor, isn’t it? And it will demonstrate that Jesus has the power to completely renovate a ruined earth. I mean, I think of what Paul says in Romans. I just thought of this in Romans 8[:22] where he says ‘the whole creation groans until it is redeemed.’ The creation hasn’t been redeemed, but it will be. Hallelujah!

Now admittedly, I mean, as I get into details, I feel a little bit like the African-American preacher who said,

“Brothers and sisters, this morning I intend to explain the unexplainable, to find out the undefinable, ponder over the imponderable, and unscrew the inscrutable.”

an African-American preacher

Only my black brother can talk like that… drive it home, because that’s kind of what we’re doing, isn’t it? We’re trying to explain things that are just hard to imagine, right?

So before Christ’s kingdom on earth begins… (go back to the text) before it begins, there’s a little housekeeping. If you host a party, you’re going to clean house, right? Well, you look at chapter 20 and verse 2, we’re told that… verse 1,

Revelation 20:1-3

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.

2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is (you know) the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,

3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him…”

Wow! Now Satan was thrown out of heaven in chapter 12. We saw that, and then he causes all this havoc during the Tribulation. Satan who’s been thrown out of heaven will have had all but his own way throughout the Great Tribulation, the second half, but no more. Listen, to this irony, by the way. In chapter 9 of Revelation, Satan opens up the pit of hell to let demons out. Here an angel opens up the pit and throws Satan in. Hallelujah! And by the way, our

A-millennial friends tell us that Satan was bound at the cross. Was He defeated at the cross? Go like this. [Shakes his head, ‘Yes!’] Yes. Hebrews 2:14 says that, of course… but bound? I mean, if he was bound as James Gray says,

“If Satan is bound today, he must have a terribly long chain.” James Gray

I mean, the references that you see on the screen behind me are all post-crucifixion and post-resurrection references.

Ephesians 2:2, “… in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—“

Ephesians 4:27, “… and give no opportunity to the devil.“

Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.“

2 Corinthians 4:4

4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

2 Corinthians 11:13-14,

13 “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

14 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.“

2 Corinthians 12:7, “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.” 

1 Thessalonians 2:18, “…because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.”

1 John 5:19, “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.“

1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

All of them refer to Satan’s present activity in this world. He is the prince. He is the prince of the power of the air. Don’t give room to the devil Ephesians 6:27 says. ‘We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against, you know, against the devil himself’  in Ephesians after 6:12. 2 Corinthians 4:4 calls him “the god of this world who blinds people.’ In 2 Corinthians 11:13-14, He creates ministers, servants, preachers who are false and he’s a masquerader. We’re told in 2nd Corinthians 12:7 that he actually sends out messengers to inflict God’s people. We’re told in 2nd Thessalonians that Paul says, ‘I wanted to get to you over and over again, but he cut me off!’ And then we put this one up there a couple of weeks ago, but it’s important for you to see that when John says in

1 John 5:19, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

That’s post crucifixion and resurrection. And by the way, look at what Peter says. Peter says this [in 1 Peter 5:8.] Peter says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a (what?) [roaring lion] seeking somebody to devour.” It’s hard to do that if you’re bound.

I’m reminded, I think I shared this several years ago… about ten years ago, our son John, who’s pastoring Eden Church, he’s a Christian now, but he was working for an electric company. He was a meter reader. And he was in this town. He says, “Dad, every time I’d walk by this… it was just un-nerving! I’d walk by this house and this huge Rottweiler on this big chain would just come…” [Pastor barked like a vicious dog] after him! He’d just… it just… all the way… I mean, John would be right to the place of the meter… Blahhh! — you know, caught by the chain. And it was just un-nerving! But month after month went by and, you know, he just… “ARH ARH ARH ARH ARH!” After a while he just knew that dog was gonna be doing it, and you know, couldn’t quite get to him. One day, he was walking up to the meter and the dog was… and all of a sudden… SNAP! He turns around facing the dog! Starts backing up like this, right into the street! And ,thankfully, a car separated the two of them or he would have lost a leg or something! Hey, praise God, Satan ain’t snappin’ this chain!

And we will reign with Jesus! At the end of verse 4, it just says it in passing, we’re going to reign with them without any description.

[Revelation 20:4, “Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed.“]

We’ve given you some descriptors, descriptors like Zechariah and what Isaiah says. By the way, Isaiah chapter 2[:4b] is where it says that they’ll beat their swords into plowshares, right? And look at this in chapter, in Isaiah 65:20. I want you to get your eyes on this.

Isaiah 65:20, “No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.”

Let’s leave it up there for a moment. Again, I shared this with the young minister the other day and he says, “I’ve never seen that!” Have you? Here’s the point. During the Millennium, we’re going to return to pre-flood days. People are going to be living extraordinarily long lives, hundreds of years! So much so that somebody dies when they’re 100, it’s going to be, ‘Oh man, cut off young, wasn’t he?’ But the point is… don’t miss it… they die! Our A-Millennial friends, they have a struggle with this one because they do die! The point is when Jesus sets up his kingdom, he’ll set everything right. Even nature itself will be right. The curse is going to be lifted. But hear this. God won’t force people to worship Him. He never has. He never will. At the end of the thousand years, he’ll put down all the rebellion, Satan, himself, cast him into a pit… eventually, into the newly created Lake of Fire. Sadly, Satan isn’t the only one going there. I want to remind you that God never created hell originally for you or me. The Bible tells us, in Matthew 25:46, just came to my mind just now.

[Matthew 25:46, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”]

It was created for the devil and his angels. But we have to go there if we reject his Good News. Dante’s words come to mind as he imagined the entrance of hell with this inscription;

“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” Dante

The final scene, the final scene, which will give way to the eternal state, which we’ll be looking at in the next couple of weeks, is the most dreadful in all of the Bible. There is nothing more dreadful than this next scene. Nothing! You could make a companion to this scene with where Jesus said, in Matthew 7,

Matthew 7:[21-23]

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’

23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

And here’s the scene… verse 11.

Revelation 20:11-15

11 “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.

12 And I saw the dead, great and small (because God is not a respecter of persons) standing before the throne (that’s what we mean when we say everybody stands before God) and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them (this is the final judgment) and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Perfect justice will give way to eternal joy! Friend, do not find yourself at this judgment. This is called the Great White Throne Judgment because it’s there that every one of your sins will be exposed. Every idle word that men shall speak, they’ll give an account therein in the day of judgment. That’s what Jesus said.

[Matthew 12:36-37

36 “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”]

Every single sin will be exposed. Every single excuse you’ve ever made will be laid bare and you will be damned forever! It’s almost impossible to imagine that, isn’t it?

When I was a kid, John Lennon, the former Beatle, wrote a song which has been by Rolling Stone, ranked the greatest song of all time. Certainly the greatest “peace” song. And you can almost sing it in your mind, can’t you? It’s a beautiful ballad, beautiful… not lyrics, but the music is beautiful! And he writes,

“Imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try. No hell below us. Above us, only sky.”

John Lennon

Is it comforting to you to imagine something like that? — No joy above, no justice below? Hardly. Peace without the prince of peace is a false peace. And it’s no peace at all! But…

[Romans 5:1] “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God…” [through our Lord Jesus Christ.“]

If you’re a Christian, your peace is in a Person. Go to Him.

[Philippians 4:6-7

6 “… do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”]

Bring all of your anxieties before Him. Cast all your burdens upon Him. Pray to Him and the peace of God that passes all comprehension will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

If you’re a Christian, your enemy is still on the loose. Ask protection from him. This is why we say daily,

[Matthew 6:13] “… And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.“

If you’re a Christian, your future is an eternal kingdom. So seek its present joy.

[Matthew 6:33] “… seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (that you worry about) will be added to you.”

Right? And finally your King is coming. Look for Him!

[Titus 2:13] “…waiting (looking) for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…”

If you’re not a Christian… repent! Repent right now! Change your thinking. Repent… Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ who died and rose again for you, and enter into the kingdom of God.

Just the other day I was talking with a friend I was sharing Jesus with, and he’s got a leather satchel. Everything he has, all his books are covered in leather. It’s really cool! And we were talking for about an hour, and he looked at his watch… “Oh, I gotta go! See you later, Pat. We’ll talk again next week.” Out of the restaurant he went, out the coffee shop he went. And I kept on studying. About half hour later, I looked down, and one of his leather satchels was right there. And so I sort of thought, I thought, well, I should probably just take it and bring it back next week. Then I got thinking, what if there’s something in there that’s vital to his life? Like medicine or something? This guy is not a spring chicken. So I texted him. I said, “I took the liberty of looking inside just in case there was, you know, not something in there vital to keeping you alive in this world.” And then I added, “After all, I’m here to get you ready for the next!” Are you ready for the next?

Father in heaven, we thank you for the kingdom of God both now and later. Already… Not yet. And we believe in it. We believe in You. We believe Jesus is coming again. And Lord, I confess all the details, they’re so powerful, they’re so inspirational. I don’t understand them all. And I confess, Lord, that there’ll be plenty of things that I’ll see when I get to be with you and I’ll say, ‘Oh man, I bungled that one up, Lord.’ But I pray that we’ve come close and you’ll accept this message. I offer it back to you. And more importantly, all the hearts of your people here and watching online who are not ready for the next world. If that’s you dear friend, make today the day that you trust Jesus as your Savior. Trust Him right now. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. God, come for the Christians here today to find their peace in Your Son, the protection from Him, as well. As we look for the kingdom to come, oh God, Your kingdom come. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.