Hear me There we go. Danny Baker would take you see we could begin We'll just wait for him everybody just wait with me They do things differently in Croatia. They just take their time and You just got to wait We do Well, let's open with the word of prayer Father in heaven. We do thank you for your goodness We thank you for the sunshine. We thank you for life And we thank you especially Lord that we can worship you publicly and openly and that you protect us and that you receive us Because of your son and so bless us this morning as we spend time in your word help us to do so in a way That would be pleasing in your sight and beneficial to our souls and we pray this in Jesus name Well, I'm excited about today Because this is our last Sunday in the quarter when we are not going to get told with the book. I know I would I Dreams of delusion last week that somehow that was going to work, but it's not going to work I sort of knew last week it probably wasn't two weeks ago. I thought I could do it and then yeah My bad, but But the good news is we're going to finish Lord willing chapter 20 today And that is the most controversial chapter in a sense and it's really where everything comes together and Probably what I'll do is in the fall because I'm doing a new members class in the spring in the fall The first at least three maybe four weeks maybe the first month will finish 21 and 22 and I'll even try to tie everything together in a You know after having been able to sit back and reflect on everything So I'm you know, I think that's going to be fruitful for you, but really chapter 20 is the last controversial chapter nobody really fights over 21 and 22 with the new heavens and the new earth and all of that. This is the last sort of chapter where there's conflict where there's a great enemy after the end of chapter 20 It's you know 21 begins with God wiping away every tear and there's a new heavens and a new earth and the bride and And all of that and so we're really talking about the consummation and Everybody kind of comes together at that point. Maybe not sure of the details, but nobody really Has a giant controversies over that so Last time we argued that beginning in chapter 14 We're getting this same basic picture of judgment day from different perspectives and I want you to stay with me as we try to summarize all this That as the chapters of revelation go on they recapitulate the same events they retell it as it were The same story but from different perspectives with different Emphasies using a variety of images and I think that's what comes and causes so much confusion among exegytes is that they're always looking for either some new thing or They're trying to see things in a strict sort of modern Western chronological order which is not the way the Bible even in the Gospels tell their stories And so it's important for us to recognize that and again We're in this apocalyptic type literature where we have to see all kinds of symbols and Pictures of things that are not literally true John over and over again They'll say I saw something that was like like like like like not it was it was like this and he's using common things to Describe what is not to be taken literally and so that is something that we saw and And last week we ended with this graph that showed the same language in the same motion used in chapters 11 to 12 That we find in chapters 19 to 20 And so what I want to do before we get into chapter 20 and we started it already and said some things about it But I want to summarize what we've been seeing since chapter 10 when John was given that new scroll and told again Prophecy again, so that begins kind of a new point this last whole section Beginning in chapter 10 and so starting then with chapter 11 once he eats the scroll in chapter 10 I want to summarize each chapter and that's his first section Roman numeral one. So chapter 1 chapter 11 rather We saw the mixed nature of the church between the two comings of Christ as the way I interpreted it for you And that was measure the temple and the worshipers But don't measure the outside because it's given to the Gentiles and they're going to trample it So there's a corrupt nature within the worship of God's people and then you had the two witnesses then and and and resistance in the world So the gospel goes out until the end And then chapter 12 was Christ's earthly ministry that was the woman ready to give birth to the this son who's going to rule the nations with a Rod of iron clearly Jesus and Satan's rage at not being able to destroy him until he rages against the church until the end and And then in chapter 13 we had these beasts coming together and and deceiving the whole world and uniting the whole world against Christ in his church And there would be this final rebellion led by the two beasts at the end and then chapter 14 Showed us the church triumphant in heaven. There's 144,000 that go with the Lord wherever he goes and the gospel to continue to go forth on the earth You know to fear God to give him glory the woes being declared until the end
And it's chapter 14 ends with the reaping of the earth and the wine press of God and the blood at the horses bridal level for all those You know hundreds of miles a picture of all of the ultimate judgment And then chapter 15 was all about the church worshipping in heaven triumphant Until the end remember they have their hearts. They're they're on the sea of glass. They're in the throne room again And then chapter 16 we saw the all the seven bowls of wrath being poured out on the world Which would be the world from the world perspective the reprobates even perspective Between the two comings of Christ because all of these judgments are just tokens of what's to come on the reprobate the rebellious unbelieving world and this final deception that would come At the end of chapter 16 with rebellion and judgment once again And then chapter 17 we get the picture of the harlot riding the beast And the power and the seductions of Satan's kingdom and how it increases in wickedness again until this culmination at the end And then chapter 18 gave us that detailed picture of the judgment of the harlot who is also Babylon who is really the world's System and culture of unbelief and the mourning that's going to occur when God destroys all of the wicked pleasures that men can have at the end And then it's chapter 19 we saw the church praising and completed worshipping God as the smoke of the torment of God's judgment of the wicked goes up forever The church is complete. It's perfected. It's The gospel age is successful. It's fulfilled Christ returns he judges the two beasts and all of their followers at the end So we're seeing this you know recapitulation and I'm trying to put it together for you here all these different ways of looking at it different perspectives and then in chapter 20 What we're going to see and we've touched on this already is a recapitulation of Christ's victory over Satan at his first coming With the resultant limiting of Satan's ability throughout the entire gospel age Until at the very end he must be loosed in order to be finally destroyed And then we get a detailed account of judgment day what sometimes is called the great white throne judgment At the end and that's all of chapter 20 So what I'm arguing then is that and I'm more confident having studied this now That these this is more or less what we've seen in the book of Revelation This same message repeated over and over again with images symbols and events and The following major events are more or less repeated throughout the book of Revelation So in Reverend Roman numeral 2 now, I want to give you another kind of summary topical this time Without just going chapter by chapter where you can find these same events and I'm just giving you sort of the main sections of them here You can also find these events in chapters 4 to 10 and I'll comment on that a little bit But I didn't put them in the outline, but I'll but I'll add them orally here before you but at least some of them So letter a Christ the feet of Satan at his first that these are things you can find throughout the book of Revelation repeated Christ the feet of Satan at his first coming That's what the cross was all about and we're going to look at some of those verses again in a moment Which limited Satan's power so that the church is now preserved and able to go out in its nature and its function Though not perfected still corrupt and still mixed right tears and weak, but not able to be stopped Until it finishes its mission and here you can look especially at the first half of chapter 12 And here in even beginning at the first part of chapter 20 were Christ Buying Satan with this great chain and he's not able to deceive the nations anymore, which we looked a little bit at last week uh Letter B you also see throughout the the book of Revelation the heavenly churches enjoyment of Christ victorious gospel reign between the two coming Even when all these judgments are going on even when the locusts are going out even when the beasts are raising We get these these periodic pictures of saints in heaven just rejoicing and praising God that he's one that he's in control Then even though there's still you know this resistance that God is is His timetable cannot be interrupted his victory has not been marred in the least And so we see that especially at the first half of chapter 14 where you get that 144,000 They follow the lamb wherever he goes their victorious. They're singing The first part of chapter 15 as well in the first part of chapter 19 where they're praising God Because the smoke of the torment of the wicked goes up forever and ever and this is this Again the heavenly churches enjoyment of Christ reign Even as Between again the two comings the gospel age and the church we you know we talk about the church triumph It's there right now they're praising God right now. They are triumphant right now. They're enjoying his triumph right now We're still the church militant on earth. We've got crises and issues But we should know and we should remind ourselves often that Christ has one that the judgments we endure in this world are for our good And that's a part of it too Let us see the third thing we see repeated again again is the corruption of the world and sin and these partial Judgments therefore they do really come Upon the wicked until Christ returns and you could look especially at the beginning of chapter 11 With the two witnesses being killed and the beginning of chapter 16 And the beginning of chapter 17 again with the harlot on the beast corrupting deceiving the world and and judgments coming down from God And then it periodically throughout chapter 18 of which is just the that that really Detailed description of the destruction of the harlot Babylon which again is the world system Then we see letter D periodically throughout the book the persecution of the church on earth We see the martyrs especially chapter six where they're told they're all under the altar and they're trying out to God how long until you You avenge us and bring justice on the wicked and God gives them robes tells them to hold on a little longer So we got that in chapter six even before this second scroll vision, but then it had beginning of chapter 12 also Uh actually the middle and end of chapter 12 where where Satan is the dragon is trying to destroy the woman Trying to destroy those who believe in Jesus and who keep the commandments of God and he's making war against them Because he couldn't destroy the son. He couldn't destroy the one who the woman gave birth to And so this persecution of the church being pictured also at the beginning or sorry the middle of chapter 14 and verses 12 Through 13 where it talks again about the The patience of the saints and the dead in the Lord who die and so clearly they died for their faith It says those who die in the Lord from now on and so forth and um So that picture gets repeated then we see Satan's uniting the unbelieving world against God in his church We've seen this repeatedly in chapter 11 when he gets them to Finally kill the two witnesses and the whole world rejoices in chapter 13 where the two beasts the first beast Everybody wonders at the second beast is goes out and deceives the world unites them against God against Christ And then in chapter 16 verses 13 to 16 We see again the the beast with the um unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the dragon and both the beast in order to gather the world together For the great day of the battle of the of God Almighty and so again they deceived the whole world We saw that in chapter 17 With Satan deceiving the whole world
Through the false miracles of the second beast And then letter f christ last day the destruction of Satan and his followers at harm again And or the rapture of the church because it's the same day the same day christ destroys the wicked is the day that the church Is gathered together of the dead and christ rise first they're taken into heaven and they join the train as christus coming down And so all that occurs on one day And we see that especially in chapter again at the end of chapter 11 at the end of chapter 14 and at the uh end of chapter 19 especially verse 11 the heaven is open. He's on the white horse Uh the host of heaven are behind him. He's slaying all the wicked with the sword of his mouth um, and again those but the um Yeah, the um last day destruction then of armageddon and then letter g Satan and his seeds final destruction and hell see this especially in chapter six where they're crying out to the mountains Because the wrath of the lamb has come fall on us hide us at the end of chapter 14 where the blood is at the horses uh bridle and then at the end of chapter 19 where they're actually thrown into the lake of fire where it becomes very you know much more uh Clear that we're talking about the the eternity of hell and chapter 19 open with their smoke going up forever Which obviously is eternal torment And then um letter h the other the final thing that we see repeated throughout these visions is the church worshiping and praising God for his final victory especially the middle and end of chapter 11 chapter 15 all of it i didn't mention that but chapter 15 all of it And uh the beginning of chapter 19 with the church praising God so uh these themes repeated Throughout uh with different images and again with different emphases Which brings us then to the millennial question chapter 20 Beginning of verse two so we touched on this last time and I really want to spend the rest of our time on really the first half of chapter 20 the second half is going to fall into place uh after we do that so let's look at the first half verses two and three So we have the first one which we looked at in somewhat in depth last time I saw an angel coming down from heaven having the key to the bottomless pit the abyss abusos Which we've seen earlier in the book in a great chain in his hand And they'd hold the dragon that serpent of old who is the devil and we compared this with that very same language chapter uh 12 And Satan and bound him for a thousand years he cast him into the bottomless pit the abyss And shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no more That's how he's bound until the thousand years were finished After these things he must be released For a little while So this binding is temporary It's a great long period Uh and the bind the nature of the binding is not totally bound But and the length of time he's not bound for eternity So uh we saw that so the event what's happening here? Satan is bound he's cast out he's or cast into the pit he's shut into the pit He's sealed into the pit the abyss which again is the place of torment and the place of the death The whole bottomless pit translation I just don't like that it's confusing we puts an image in our minds that's impossible to conceive of But the abyss is what we should uh talk about here the great deep The place of the dead sheol sometimes in the Old Testament Sometimes just the place of the dead, but in the book of Revelation always the place of torment and the place of the wicked The purpose of the binding that he should deceive the nations no more no other purposes mentioned Nothing else that he should deceive the nations no more Which clearly says that before he was bound he was deceiving the nations He was able to and till he's bound and now he's not able to So Satan now something has happened to him That he can't do what he used to do and the length of the binding is a thousand years So let's look at first some things that we have to say are definitely symbols All right Because a lot of times this interpretation I'm saying is faulted is for not being literal enough But everybody sees multiple symbols here and I try to show you that repeatedly like with the woman who is clothed with the sign That can't be literal can't be standing in the sun as you grow And all these actual stars which are actually other sons on your crown. That's Insane those are pictures those are images So the symbol Satan is not literally a dragon All right, a dragon was it refers to an actual dinosaur type of creature in the Old Testament Leviathan behemoth And Satan is not actually that So when it says he laid hold of the dragon that's an image that's a symbol It's not literally an actual dragon being held on to All right everybody takes it for that that serpent of old that speaks speaks of that one particular snake In the garden which is long dead now Okay, and it's dusk now that there was an actual snake that Satan was permitted and allowed and he actually didn't use to deceive Adam and Eve And that snake is dead and that snake is not Satan that's not being referred to your even though he's called the serpent of old the serpent of old Here is a title for Satan Okay, who is also the devil and Satan all right, so those are two names for Satan Diabolos and Satanus accuser and bound him so Satan's not literally a dragon. He's not literally the individual snake that he used to deceive and a spiritual being can't Actually be bound with a physical chain that in itself is also another image It's an image to say that Satan has now been limited. He's now been restrained He's now been hindered in what he would like to do and that's happened because of this angel coming down and doing this to him Again, the abyss the bottomless pit is not a literal pit in the ground that you can go to in Mexico somewhere and look into the hole That's not what it is All right, it's an image It's a spiritual prison It's not a physical prison It's a place of torment for the wicked um The shutting the ceiling Again, that's not literal. There's not an actual like you know lock that's client shot on the top of the pit Those words mean he cannot get out He's shot in he's sealed in this spiritual being using these physical things locks seals which we all can see in our minds That's an image that's a symbol to say that Satan is in escapeably bound limited hindered by this act of judgment Finally, and I'm going to argue this The number one thousand is often a symbolic number for the fullness of some category Now let me give you some verses and you'll notice that these verses and they're not all of them All have to do with the idea of a thousand Period of time being symbolic. Okay, so I'm not giving you a thousand things, but a thousand years for example um Deuteronomy seven nine know that the Lord your God he is God. He is the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations That's the length of time and it's clearly symbolic Doesn't mean on generation one thousand and one God breaks his covenant and he has no mercy All right, that's not a literal thousand generations and that's it That's it Abraham your thousand and one generation. I will not Remember okay. No, that's absurd. That makes God alive a thousand general all for all the generations It's a means the fullness of generations Psalm 90 verse four a thousand years or in your sight Are but as yesterday when it is passed or as they watch in the night a thousand years are like a day Now that doesn't mean that a thousand years in one day Is like ten days You know are okay then it is you know a thousand and one years Okay, that's actually you don't know a thousand years ten thousand years a million years You could put in whatever you want there It's symbolic that time for God is doesn't change him or doesn't cause him to do anything different a thousand years They're like a day right in one day. We don't really change what we're going to do That's like a thousand years for God a million years whatever Chronicles chapter 16 verse 15 I don't remember if it's first or second I didn't write it down so somebody can look that up if they're interested But God remembers his covenant forever the word what she promised for a thousand generations But on a thousand and one generations he forgets his covenant he just forgets You know, he's gone. He can't remember everything. No, it's not literal He always remembers his covenant for a thousand do you see how over and over again a thousand again generations years a period of Within number one thousand is always in all these places symbolic Ecclesiastes chapter six verse six even if he lives a thousand years twice But has not seen good do not all go to one place here. He's talking about doesn't matter how long you live And you could say even if he sees ten thousand years twice But he doesn't see good doesn't is it gonna help him he's still going to suffer so again living a thousand years here in Ecclesiastes is A symbol a symbol for it doesn't matter how long you live if you're not If you're not truly converted to the Lord it doesn't matter you're gonna die, right? So and there's many other verses I could do the ronomy 32 do the ronomy one May the Lord the God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are but not a thousand and one times no No, it's simple right and many many many Furby beast of the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills, but on hill number One thousand and one dose cattle belong to somebody else God. Sorry. You got your thousand hills. It's literal No, it's not literal or over and over and over again. There are dozens of passages in the Old Testament Where a thousand is symbolic for the fullness of time. No, I can't prove beyond the shadow of the doubt But that's the case here But if my interpretation and understanding it though so far is right Then this has to be a symbolic period of time and again It's in this passage where there's all kinds of symbols about dragons about being bound about being thrown into a pit about being sealed about being shot and they have to all be symbolic and Therefore that it's going to be for a thousand years seems also Since this is such a common symbol That it's not doing violence to the text to look at it as a As a symbol Daniel chapter 7 verse 10 a fiery stream issued and came out from before him a thousand Thousands ministered to him Ten thousand times ten thousands stood before him and the court was seated in the books were open Obviously those thousands those ten thousands are symbolic for everyone is there All right, so Satan is bound I'm going to argue then for some period of time some fullness period of time A thousand years the fullness of some period of time which I understand and I as we've gone through this is the gospel age And I want to try to prove that to you that Satan is bound Because of what Christ did at at his first coming until Christ loses him before his second coming that he's bound So that he can no longer deceive the nations Which enables the gospel to go out into every tribe and tongue and people and nation and for God to gather of people Not just from the Jews which was almost Exclusively where most believers came from in the Old Testament period at least from Abraham on But now from every tribe tongue and nation right the Jews very quickly in the New Testament become a minority Because so many Gentiles come in and that had never happened before there were a few that were trickle in here and there You know Ruth the Moabitis and Rahab the Canaanitis and a few others name in the Syrian many count and there was a mixed multitude in Egypt that came There were others there were always others But they were the exception Now it's the rule and and I want to show you this so I want to argue here that Satan Again was bound by what Christ did notice. I think I have some of these scriptures in your outline John chapter 6 verse 37 Jesus promises something here, right? All that the Father gives to me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will buy no means cast out So he's talking about a fullness of having all of these given to him and he's going to he's going to save them all This is the will of the Father who sent me that of all that he has given me I should lose none of them or nothing But I should raise it at the last day and in Revelation chapter 5 one of the first visions that we saw in heaven What did we see verses 9 and 10 they sang a new song there were these all these people up in the in the heaven and it says you have redeemed us to God By your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation There's that fourfold category that we've seen repeated that I've argued always means the whole world And you've made us kings and priests to God and we shall reign in the earth and that is what's promised every believer We believe her is a priest and every believer is a king and you don't have to be a child of Abraham or a child of Aaron anymore to be a priest or a child of David anymore to be a king If you're a believer you're a priest in the king you don't even have to be a Jew and that's the point of this They're from every tribe tongue people and nation and now they're reigning with God To on 176 where Jesus in the upper room says I have manifested your name to the man you have given me out of the world They were yours you gave them to me and they have kept your word. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world But for those whom you have given me for they are there yours and so there's this people that Christ is going to save And he's not going to lose one of them and we see this throughout his ministry And that's I think the reason why Peter says the Lord is not slack concerning his promises some counts slackness But as long suffering toward us or toward you some manuscripts Not willing that any of that group that God has promised Christ should perish But that all would come to repentance which is why Christ delays Peter saying he's not delaying because you know He's slow He's gonna wait until all of Christ's You know chosen ones come to faith and repentance and then He will bring me in So Christ in his Successful first mission when he came in the incarnation I'm going to argue what Jesus actually did Is he bound the strong man so that he can plunder his kingdom, which is the world That was what never happened before Christ before Christ the kingdom of God was located in this tiny little strip of land in the middle east And it basically was that one nation and all the other nations were in almost complete darkness Until Christ and we see all sorts of scriptures not only declaring this but actually prophesying of the change that would come When the Messiah came so let me just begin. I think in sort of a A logical order Where first of all first John three eight declares for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil So Jesus came in other words John says in order that he should do something that would affect what Satan was doing destroy Satan's works And of course what is Satan pictured is doing over and over again in the book of Revelation deceiving the whole world deceiving the whole world deceiving all of what a Jesus come to do Destroy his work destroy his work of deceiving The whole world Luke chapter four verse five then the devil taking Jesus up. This is during the temptations on a high mountain Showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time in the devil said to him all this authority I will give you and their glory for it has been delivered to me He actually had authority over all these other nations none of the other nations regards people And I give it to him ever I wish this is what Jesus did when he defeated Satan in the temptations He took that authority away from him All right, and he begins to declare this in his ministry Which is why immediately after the temptation what does Christ go out doing binding Satan casting out demons showing He has defeated him and now he has power to cast him out of the world And that's what we saw in chapter 12 and Matthew when the Accusers and the Pharisees and the daughters come to Jesus And they say he's casting out demons by the power of Satan they couldn't deny he was casting out demons But remember what Jesus said to them in verse 28 If I cast out demons by the spirit of God surely the kingdom of God has come upon you The kingdom is now here in a new way in a way. It's never been here before It was here at typically symbolically under the under these Type typological heads like David and David's line, but it was to David's greater son That it was promised his throne would be forever And so when Jesus came he brought the kingdom remember the son of son of David son of David Hosanna to the king the king is coming He's going to conquer our enemies and that's what Jesus did by defeating Satan And so he says how can Well, first of all to Matthew 1228 if I cast out demons by the spirit of God surely the kingdom of God has come upon you Very next first or 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 Jesus headed defeat Satan. That's why the very first thing he does is go out after he's announced in his baptism Is go out defeat Satan in the in the temptations and now then he begins to plunder Satan's house And that word in Matthew 1229 binding the strong man is the exact same word in the Greek As the angel binding the dragon with the great chain and revelation 20 All right, you see that bound him for a thousand were you are same word as Jesus saying This you have to bind the strong man before you can plunder his house and that's what Christ did And then when he anoints the 70 and sends them out notice what they say and Luke 10 Then the 70 return with joy saying more even the demons are subject to us in your name see Satan has been bound now So that these people can be given this kingdom authority and go out and they can cast out demons these believers And they did and then Jesus comments on that and he says in Luke 10 18 I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning When I defeated him in the wilderness When he could not make me sin and he suddenly lost his authority and now I'm plundering and I'm casting him out of the world And then in Isaiah we go back all the way back to Isaiah We get prophecies that this would happen that there would come a day Where all these nations that had always been in darkness would suddenly see a great light All right, that's what we sing about all the time in Handles Messiah Isaiah 92 famous passage right the people who walked in darkness that the Gentiles the pagans the nations the goyum They have seen a great light those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death upon them a light Has shined and again Isaiah 42 and there are many other passages likely to pick But I've just picked these two verse six I the Lord have called you in righteousness and I will hold your hand I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people here it is as a light to the Gentiles Who were always in darkness who were always in prison who were always bound by Satan and deceived by him But notice first seven to open blind eyes to bring the prisoners out of the prison Those are the end those are the other peoples they were basically prisoners They had no gospel those who sit in darkness from the prison house. That's what Christ did and interestingly In John chapter 12, let me just read you a little background here Remember Jesus is finishing up his ministry in John 12 It's really his last public appearance And in John 12 verse 20 it says there were certain Greeks the only place in the gospels were Greeks or mentioned As wanting to come to Jesus There were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast and they came to Philip who was From Bethesda of Galilee and they asked him saying sir We wish to see Jesus Greeks darkness Lost found no gospel Nations deceived by Christ the Greeks with all their gods and goddesses And now they want to see Jesus And it's Philips tells Andrew and Andrew tells Jesus and what does Jesus say verse 23 the hour has come that the son of man should be glorified Most assuredly I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it produces it remains alone But if it dies it produces much fruit. He says that in response to the Greeks wanting to see him That he's going to die and now have much produce among the Greeks among the Gentiles among the nations that Satan had always deceived before And that's what he says in John chapter 12 verse 31 The look just a couple verses after this same conversation Now is the judgment of this world now here it is the ruler of this world will be cast out Once I die on the cross I bind him and then I send out my disciples my apostles into all the nations and they make disciples of all the nations And Satan can't stop it anymore because he's been bound with the great chain He can't deceive them anymore to worship bail to worship daygan to worship Marduk and all the others because I bound Again, and if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw here it is all peoples to myself only once I'm lifted up only once I've defeated Satan only once I bound him with the great chain will now all nations come and be part of my church And that's what the visions open up with again in Revelation 5 where we tribe tongue people in nation is or saying you've made us Precinct kings and we reign with you and that begins the series of visions Colossians 2 says the cross was on the cross that Jesus what Disarmed the principalities and powers that's where he he took Away their ability to deceive the nations he triumphed over them On the cross and then Paul declaring it happens Chapter 17 verse 30 truly these times of ignorance times before the gospel went out God over looks but now the gospel is going into all nations and he commands all man everywhere to repent that hadn't happened before And then he mentioned earlier in John or in Acts 14 16 how God in bygone generations allowed the nations To walk in their own ways another way to just describe the fact that God was not calling people from all the nations to become as people Before Christ now in Christ he does and Jesus does this right he gives what we call the great commission Matthew 28 18 Jesus came and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me. He never says that before All authority now has been given to me because I've won I've defeated all my enemies in heaven and on earth Now go and make disciples of all the nations Because Satan won't be able to stop you You will make disciples of all the nations baptizing them etc. And I'll be with you in till the end of the thousand years He doesn't say that I'll be with you till the end of the eights to the end of this period in which I have all authority And I'm sending you out and you'll make disciples and no one will be able to stop it and Paul summarizes at the end of the book of Acts What God had said to him I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you to Open their eyes to bring them from darkness to light from the power of Satan to God Doleback and read Acts 26 17 and 18 from the power of Satan to God they were under Satan's power They were deceived before but now I'm sending you Paul and all the other apostles because the Gentiles won't be deceived anymore They can't be deceived anymore They're no longer in the darkness. They're no longer under the power of Satan I've sending you to open their eyes to turn them from darkness to turn them from the power of Satan to God That they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance By those among those who are sanctified by faith in me. That's what Christ did. That's the great commission The world was under Satan's dominion Jesus defeated him all right, and then he sends out The Apostle and Jesus talks about this you know John 10 other sheep I have which are not of this fold them Also, I must bring and they will hear my voice because Satan can't stop it and there will be one flock in one shepherd And so on and so forth and we can look at Psalm 98 the Lord has made a salvation among the nations he has made it known He has revealed his righteousness among the nations Isaiah chapter 11 in that day There will be a root of Jesse who will stand as a banner to the people for the Gentiles shall seek him We all know there are dozens of passages like this now when the Messiah comes there will be this great in gathering as a Gentiles It never happened before why didn't it ever happen before because Satan was a complete control of those nations Again in the province of God according to his timetable Jesus comes into feats him and he not able to deceive the nations anymore. He can't stop the gospel program So my argument here is that during the thousand years, which is the gospel age The gospel will have fruit in all the world Satan cannot stop it more or less You know this nation or that nation for a time Can really persecute the Christians for a time the Roman Empire Europe It's a horrible place to be for Christian Now, okay, maybe it's not as great as it was But that's where chrysanthem was for hundreds of years, you know Europe Europe were laws demanded that you had to be a believer in Jesus Not to say that that was the right way to go about it But I'm just saying that how those those nations were transformed right and now okay It's harder to be a Christian right now in Muslim nations in China maybe But you know South Korea Brazil, you know countries in Africa. I mean very much Christian and again Satan You know, it's like I think I described it like whack him all before for Satan He's trying to stop out the church, but it keeps popping up and he can't do it because he's been bound He's been bound for a thousand years all right So But it does say here again at when the time is up he'll be loose Well, why was he look? Why is he going to be loose because he has to be loose to be destroyed That's why during the gospel period Satan had more Sort of ability to do things than any other time you don't read anywhere in the Old Testament about all these demon possessed people You know, and you don't read about it in Paul's letters you only read about it in the Gospels All these people demon possessed and everybody knew they were demon possessed you can read about it in Tacitus We're demon possessed people are brought before one of the Roman efforts at that time And everybody knew somehow whatever this was this great phenomenon That Satan was kind of loosed in the world at the time of Jesus to actually possess people and do horrible things Because Jesus had to face him in that power under the hat and that's when Jesus defeated him But he never seems to be more sort of prevalent in the world except at the gospel time You know doing all this havoc and then Christ defeats him and then he's bound now until this thousand years up And then he's going to be again released So let's go to room in numeral four He's going to talk to you more about a Zekio, but I'm not going to do that But you can see the comparison in Ezekiel, which we've looked at before But we're running out of time and I really want to get to the rest of this. So um Here's the here's the key phrase. So let's go to verses four to six. I saw thrones And they sat on them and judgment was committed to them Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus Obviously these were people who were killed right? The heading was what Paul suffered if you were a Roman citizen and you were killed you were killed by the heading Here it's for their witness to Jesus. They're clearly martyrs Which is what we saw in chapter six the martyrs again And throughout the book where the those killed for Jesus were crying out, but um Who had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands, okay? And It says they lived in rain with Christ for a thousand years But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years We're finished. This is the first resurrection blessed and holy is he who has part in 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 Which the very beginning of the images are people saying we are priests and kings Okay, I don't want to Spell a lot too much, but let's let's just look at this for a second. So The word thrown occurs 46 times in revelation more than any other book in the Bible And other than the three times it refers to Satan's throne or to the beast throne three times Every single time the thrones are in heaven remember we did that diagram I'm not gonna do it again because it was such a magnificent piece of art that I grew for you But of the throne room in heaven where you get this picture of the throne in the sea of glass in the one in the middle And there are these other thrones the thrones are always in heaven the thrones are never on the earth ever Unless here in chapter 20 alone That these thrones are set up on the earth and I'm arguing this for a reason here And it'll become apparent in a moment But I'm arguing that these thrones have to also be in heaven because the thrones are always in heaven because that's where we reign with God The gospel of the epistles say that we're seated with Christ in the heavenly places being seated with him is raining with him having a throne You know when we pray the Lord's prayer die will be done on earth as it is in heaven That's where we are seated on the thrones where we see God's rule And so revelation four verse four around the throne there were 24 thrones and on the thrones I saw the 24 elders and so this is clearly heaven now When we read of souls in verse For the word soul can mean people there were eight souls on the ark. We know that means people the word soul can mean people I think it here it has to mean souls Because it says I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded Okay It's not I saw souls I saw the souls of those who had been killed so this this it seems to me Has to be actual souls and not people who are alive Okay, these are people who have been killed for their faith in Christ Um, and we again we saw the same thing in revelation six time when you open the fifth seal I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain So Departed spirits spirits separated from their bodies still alive because we know when we die our souls our spirits same thing By the way Goes to be with the Lord immediately that's clear in scripture And so john again saying that somehow he's allowed to see these spirits and God can do that And verse four and five says they lived and then this is the first resurrection now those two phrases are that's everything What does it mean to say that the souls lived and what is the first resurrection? This is when everybody fights about this is where all the controversy is I think we have a couple of options. I think we have three options The resurrection is either regeneration Which is being born again Which is coming back to life right spiritually right when you were converted to Christ you were regenerated You were born again you were given a new nature Remember how nicodemus was all confused with this because he understood it in the physical way in Jesus Wasn't talking about that you must be born again nicodemus spiritually obviously So that could be what we're talking about they lived they were born again. They were converted to Christ They were regenerated It could be an actual resurrection. They lived they were brought back to life like Lazarus Right Lazarus is brought back to life body and soul. He's alive now. He was dead. It could be that Or it could be third thirdly they're alive with Christ in heaven They are departed souls their souls like the souls under the order who are alive again Who after they die in their physical earthly deaths They are now they go to be with the Lord they live Remember it's just the word they live It's not they began to live and let's you'll see this in some translations now. This is a technical argument Um, it's you know look at the end of one of where we where we are at is the end of verse four and they lived in rain with Christ Some say and they began to live right Well There's a kind of different things in Greek and there's an ingress of airst and there's a resultant airst And there's an inceptive airst and some say this is the inceptive airst where you can translate the word that simply is the airst is simple past tense lived But if it's inceptive then it would mean that it's something that has just begun So you could actually translate it in English They began to live even though it's just one word in the Greek they lived and it's a complicated argument I'm not going to go into it. It's possible that this is a Inceptive airst it's not certain that it is you have to argue for that and it would need an infinitive for it to really be But there's no infinitive there, but it could be without it But even if it is it's still correct to translate it they lived And just understand that this is a new kind of life that they began to live So um, I'm not going to go any further into that but um, I think it's important to remember here a couple of things Every martyr for Christ in this book is filled with people being martyr Is not defeated, but victorious that happens and we see that over and over again. This is an encouraging book This isn't a scary book This isn't like you know when my wife was little when she was afraid to see the Wizard of Oz Which I reminded her of this morning because this flying monkeys were scary. I mean kind of like the locust, right? Scary monkeys But But everyone that dies in Christ is alive and right and that's what the book tells you over and over again Victorious he goes to be with the Lord and then begin to sing Uh and pray some even as things are happening on the earth that are Scary But it's not just the martyrs it seems to me That that's true for it. We've seen repeatedly. It's everyone who believes right everyone who believes That's why you get this category notice it's those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God who had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received the mark Now I've argued that worshipping the beast and receiving the mark clearly is a spiritual Condition of unbelief Because everyone who worships the beast and everyone who receives the mark clearly in the book does does not get saved But dies in good health that can't be true if it's just a mark on your hand or on your forehead If you're a believer in Christ if you've been born again And somebody stamps something on your forehead that's not going to cause you to die in good health Because you're saved by faith not by being markless You know, so that's the spiritual reality behind the mark that I think confuses many people And that's what pushes me to say that this the mark is not some actual physical thing But it's a condition of unbelief a condition of again being in league with Satan which is ultimately what unbelievers are whether they know it or not and so um It's everybody who doesn't take the mark. It's everyone who believes All dead believers are those who live and reign with Christ And this is what happens when we die and there are these thrones in heaven and you know Colossians and other books of the Bible a season say that we are seated with him in the heavenly place so that we will go and reign with him And there's no mention of living in new bodies but living as souls notice this in verse five But the rest of the dead Did not live again until the thousand years were finished It's the rest of the so here we're talking about Living as souls with God because they're dead and they're alive in some sense again And this is the first resurrection blessed in holi as you as part in the first resurrection over sucks the second death has no power That's true if you're converted to Christ and that's true if you've died in faith And you're with the Lord second death can't hurt you can't go to hell right So whoever dies in faith is with God and have any can't go to hell and the state of living souls in heaven is far better Paul says Then it is Here to be alive on earth now if there's a there's an interesting place that Can illuminate this what to go quick, but I think we'll make it John 525 where Jesus says on main on main I say to you The hour is coming now listen the hour is coming and now is When the dead will future tense here will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who will hear will live All right, the hour is coming and now is right now is Jesus said when the dead dead people Will hear Christ's voice and live For as the father has life in himself. So he's granted the son to have life in himself And he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man Do not marvel with this for the hour is coming verse 28 and he doesn't say and now is The hour is coming in which all who all who are in the graves will hear his voice and they will come forth Those who have done good to the resurrection of life those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation You see what Christ did there in John 5 he talked about two resurrections The first resurrection is all who hear the voice of the son and that was happening in his lifetime All who hear the voice of the son will live the hour is coming and now is If you hear really saving me hear my voice you'll live you will live You will live when you die remember when he said to Martha, you know Lazarus Oh, I know he'll live in the final resurrection. I'm the resurrection. He'll live now Martha's what Jesus meant the hour is coming when all who are in the graves here's the general resident will come forth Not just those to a resurrection of light, but to a resurrection of condemnation and so That's my argument here that what we're seeing is in this text as the way I understand it I would lean towards that these are the souls of believers who have died and they reign with Christ in heaven And that's the millennial reign When you die you will go and you will reign with Christ in heaven until he returns and That's that periodic praise that we've been seeing in heaven bursting forth You know again in chapter five and chapter 15 and chapter 19 We're always seeing these saints pray and they're raining with him and their kings and priests and I think that's what Christ is talking about here This is not living This is not people coming back to life in physical bodies and raining at some millennial kingdom on the earth I don't understand it that way I understand it and has a picture again of the of the victory that Christ has won that we joined In a in a greater way than we know now we again. I think there's categories. We are the church militant now We are not triumphant now We are seated by faith, but when we die we will go and join that church triumphant which is raining with Christ For a thousand years and however long it takes and so I think That's what we're getting pictured here Verses seven to nine is Armageddon Satan released he goes out again to the sea of the nations. This is something that happens very quickly And what happens fire comes down from heaven and the bars You say why such a quick summary of the greatest battle on earth because we've been given pictures of it already in six 12 to 17 11 11 to 1914 14 18 16 18 to 21 17 14 and 19 to 11 to 21 when Jesus is striking them down with the sword from his mouth What's I argued has to be that he's killing them and not a picture of conversion So we've already gotten the judgment day explained so now it just says fire from heaven Different pictures of the final day When Christ destroys and then in verse 10 where the devil's thrown into the lake of fire This isn't a thousand years later again. It's the same day that we saw on chapter 19 when the beast and the false prophet are thrown When the lake of fire is opened up Which is the fullness of hell body and soul which nobody is at now Pete the wicked dead are in a place of torment now But there's not yet the lake of fire the second death where after the rest general resurrection people are thrown in That's what's pictured at the end of 19 the beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire here in picture Chapter 20 the devil is but it's all at the same time It's all the same judgment Chapter 20 is giving us the demise of the final enemy We saw the harlot destroyed in 18 the two beasts in 19 the only one left standing is the dragon And he gets we get his image of being destroyed in verse 20 But all of them are the same event judgment day one judgment day Described again different pictures. Here's Satan's the my here's when he is thrown in to the The to the lake of fire and again that's um the same section over and over again and then the verses 11 to 15 is judgment day That's the picture of judgment day for everybody Um And there's only one judgment day there wasn't a judgment day before this on the earth That's why I argued those thrones are in heaven the beginning of the chapter There's only in fact the scripture is so clear on this one judgment day one second coming One final battle one resurrection over and over again It's always called the last day That day the day of the lord over and over again. It's always in the singular when christ returns That's when the dead in christ rise. That's when you want to see the rapture happen We will all we will whoever is alive and remains will be taken up But they'll be taken up as the lord is coming down to destroy the wicked and judgment will occur on that day And the wicked will be thrown into hell on that day and the um The saints will begin to shine like the sun the new truce and we'll we're going to get and 21 and 22 Lord willing if we're all still alive here in the fall and christ hasn't come back yet We're going to get a picture of What happens to the righteous? So in the the crisis now is over we have dealt with it over and over again seems to me um And I want you to really think about it and Let me know what your thoughts are. We've finished sort of the major Section of all of the disputed things. I'm not saying you know I figured it all out, but I'm very confident and comfortable and the in what we've Set forth as an interpretation revelation. It doesn't do violence to any other clearer Passages of scripture about the second coming or about the resurrection or about being justified by faith and so forth And I think those are the anchors that you've got to have when you're interpreting all these symbols And I think it does it does justice again to the gospel and what actually is happening in the world and so um, you know Well, that's that's it. That's all we're doing So a lot more to be said, but I'll take a couple quick questions Maybe a little bit late since there's some some moment time To think John He's on a leash He can't do everything he wants and That's on purpose that Christ gathers his bride right that that perfecting of that bride until Until the until the last saint comes and then I think again He's lost in order to be destroyed and there's another thing people say why is he losing again? Well not only to be destroyed But to show forth just how wicked the world really is even after all this right Even after all these opera all the gospel going out as soon as Satan's allowed the whole world's gonna hate the church again and persecute the church It's gonna be very brief, I think that's why it's always one hour You know three and a half days versus three and a half years and so forth. It's a brief period It's an intense period and although that's why you know all those who are martyred with him and we constantly promised that Go to be with the Lord your wipe away every tear. That's what 21 begins with wipes away every tear no matter what Satan has done so All right, well let's close with the word of prayer father again and thank you and we praise you for your goodness We thank you for this Most encouraging book and I pray that everyone would see it as that that you have won the victory Lord Jesus And that we get to experience it by faith right now, but one day when we die We don't have to wait for the second coming The moment we die we will experience it by sight. We will join that praising church in heaven. We will see your victory. We will be completely Delighted and it will still be looking forward to our new bodies. We won't be finished yet But it will be far better to be with you in heaven and we know that's the case And I pray that would comfort all those who have lost loved ones in you Lord God that they are with you and will all be once again together in new bodies someday and and that's a promise too So father, we just again thank you for this book that it doesn't encourage us no matter what we face that you're in control that you've won And that you are causing all things to work for our good and we praise you for that in Jesus name amen