The Millennium

The Conquering Lamb  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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INTRODUCTION

When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time on the Reams Farm, with my cousin Chris.
It was a giant, sprawling plot of land at the end of Capeway Road, run by his grandfather, James Reams.
When we would want to walk from the bottom of the property, where Chris lived, to the top of the property, where his grandfather lived, we had to take a dirt road.
That long dirt road had a couple of rental properties on it that James Reams maintained.
One of those rental properties had this massive German Shepherd living outside. It was chained to one of those running lines and it would try to get us. It was a very mean dog.
So we knew exactly where to walk so that the length of the leash would run out and the dog couldn’t get to us
We knew his binding kept us safe from his bite.
But we also knew that within the radius of territory that his leash provided him, he would unleash havoc.
While no analogy is perfect, this is an image that serves us well as we look at Revelation 20 tonight.
We have a dog on a leash.
A dragon that is bound.
And the people of God, the recipients of the First Resurrection are safe from his bite.
The message they bear, the one true Gospel, will not fail in its task of saving every name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life before the foundation of the world.
And in the end, the Dragon and all his beasts and Babylon and those who take the mark of the beast, will be defeated in the lake of fire.

CONTEXT

Revelation 20 marks the beginning of the seventh and final cycle of the book of Revelation.
We have seen this period of age of the church—the time in between Jesus first and second comings—described in a number of pictures.
We have seen the 2nd Coming of Christ explained through an array of images.
We saw Jesus in the midst of His seven churches
We saw Jesus opening the seven seals of judgment
We saw God’s judgments also explained in the image of the seven trumpets
Then we had the pictures of Christ fighting against the Dragon in chapters 12-14, really the centerpiece of the book
We saw the seven bowls, which focused on the end of history
And then in the sixth cycle, we saw the judgment of Babylon and the Beasts
The centerpiece conflict of the book in chapters 12-14 brought five enemies of Christ and His church onto the scene.
The Dragon
Beast 1
Beast 2
Babylon
Those who take the mark of the beast
As we arrive at Revelation 20, there is only one enemy left to be slain.
It is the Ancient Serpent. The Devil. The Destroyer.
Satan himself.
With Revelation 20 marking the beginning of a new cycle, we leave the scene of Final Judgment and Armageddon in Revelation 19:11-21 and we rewind back to the present time.
This is what we have done at the end of each cycle and the beginning of a new one. We do it one more time before the book draws to a close with all the glorious pictures of heaven.
But before we can get there, the dog must be dealt with.
As I read the text, I want to encourage you to track the sequence of events.
First Coming of Christ—Satan is seized
Satan is bound
There is a little season of unparalleled evil as he is let loose
And then Christ comes again
Revelation 20:1–10 (ESV)
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 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 thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
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, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 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.
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 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 they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

SATAN IS BOUND (v. 1-3)

BEGINNING OF NEW CYCLE, NOT CHRONOLOGICAL (v. 1, Then I saw…)

We start with the first events of the sequence. Satan is bound and tossed into the bottomless pit and the pit is sealed.
Verse 1 begins with the words, “then I saw...”
This is a common phrase in Revelation. It occurs 32 different times.
The Premillennial viewpoint argues that Revelation 20:1 is a chronological event occuring after Revelation 19:11-21.
They argue that “Then I saw,” is a phrase that is moving us along the timeline of history from one event to the next.
My issue with this argument is that Revelation 19:11-21 certainly seems to be describing Final Judgment.
Revelation 19:20–21 (ESV)
And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
The enemies of God are all defeated.
Hebrews–Revelation (Comment)
One significant problem with the premillennial view is that Jesus had destroyed all unbelievers at the end of chapter 19; thus it is difficult to understand how anyone could enter the millennium with an unglorified body. Why would Satan need to be bound if the armies opposing God were destroyed at the second coming?
Thomas Schreiner
The premillennial response is that the armies of chapter 19 do not represent all people and that some are not destroyed and enter into the millennial kingdom, but I struggle to see this in the text.
So with that in mind, “Then I saw,” would represent the beginning of the 7th cycle. The final angle of the church age and then the end.
In it, we get the fullest picture of judgment, with Satan himself defeated.
In it, we get the fullest picture of glory, with Jesus reigning over His Kingdom.

BINDING OF SATAN (v. 1-3)

In verse 1, an angel comes down from heaven with a key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
He is clearly planning to lock someone up.
It is not our first go round with the bottomless pit. We saw it back in chapter 9.
Revelation 9:1 (ESV)
And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
If you were with us on that night, you might remember that Satan is the one given the key to the bottomless pit.
The bottomless pit is the abyss.
In verse 2, we see him seize the Dragon and bind him for a thousand years.
There is no doubt as to who this Dragon is. John describes him with four names.
The Dragon—identifying him as God’s foe from Revelation 12 who wanted to eat His Son and kill His people.
The Ancient Serpent—identifying him as Adam and Eve’s deceiver from the Garden
The Devil—the slanderer who comes to steal, kill and destroy
And Satan—The Adversary
This is the rebel angel who has led the charge against the glory of God throughout time.
And now, here in Revelation 20, at the beginning of the 7th cycle, we are finally seeing his end.
In verse 3, he is tossed into the abyss and it is sealed over him so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years concludes.
After that, he will be released for a brief time.
We will get to the question of the Christ’s reign during the Millennium, but as we look at verse 3, we focus on Satan’s binding.

PREMILLENNIALISM

Premillennialists say that Satan’s binding happens when Jesus returns to the Earth.
They say that Satan cannot be locked up before the Lord returns because he is clearly alive and well in this age.
2 Corinthians 4:4 (ESV)
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.
If he is called the “god of this world,” how can he also be bound?

AMILLENNIAL RESPONSE

This is more than a fair question, so allow me to spend some time teaching my understanding of these first few verses.
And in order to do that, I actually want us to go to John 12. Because I believe that Jesus’ words in John 12 are key to us understanding John’s vision in Revelation 20.
John 12:20–24 (ESV)
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
When Jesus says that the hour has come for Him to be glorified, what does He mean?
He means that it is time for Him to go and die and resurrect and ascend to the right hand of the Father.
That is why right after those words, he says that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it doesn’t bear fruit.
But if it does, it bears much fruit.
He must die, in order to resurrect and ascend and free His people from their bondage to sin.
And then, a few verses later, he repeats that the “hour has come,” but this time, He does not refer to His saving work as His glory, but as the judgment of the world and the casting out of the ruler of the world.
John 12:31 (ESV)
Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
The Cross of Christ judged the world in the sense that it exposed the awfulness of sin—so awful that it has slain the Son of God.
But in His redeeming work at Calvary, bearing the guilt of His people, Christ disarmed Satan and his minions.
Colossians 2:14–15 (ESV)
by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
And now, with Christ’s work on Calvary completed, Satan is cast down and bound in the sense that he will not be able to stop the Gospel from going to all nations—not just the Jews, but also the Gentiles.
For before the first coming of Christ, the nations were in abject darkness.
God had revealed Himself to Israel and made covenant with Israel, but unless a nation came into contact with Israel, no one would know God’s saving grace.
The nations did not have the light that Israel had.
But now, with Christ coming, and accomplishing His saving work, the Gospel will go out from Jerusalem to the entire world.
John 12:32 (ESV)
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
In fact, when we think about this casting out, there is a direct connection to Revelation 20 and John 12 because when Jesus says the ruler of the world will be “cast out” in John 12:31, the same Greek word is used to refer to Satan being “thrown” into the pit in Revelation 20:3.
And now, with Satan bound in the pit during this age, which is described as “the thousand years,” Jesus will gather every name from every nation that is written in the Lamb’s book of life.
With the strong man bound, his house is ready to be plundered.
Matthew 12:28–29 (ESV)
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.
He overcame Satan in the wilderness by the Word of His Father.
He saw Satan fall like lightning when He sends the seventy to go out and evangelize.
And now, with His saving work done, Satan is bound.
The Gospel will go to the nations.
And the Gospel will go to the nations during this 1000 year period.
The 1000 year period is like the other numbers of Revelation.
It is a symbol communicating something to us.
1000 is a multiple of ten.
Ten and its multiples symbolize an indefinite amount of time from the perspective of humanity.
We see “thousand” used a hyperbolic way of describing things you can’t measure in the Bible.
Psalm 50:10 (ESV)
For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
Daniel 7:10 (ESV)
A stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.
2 Peter 3:8 (ESV)
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
So with these things in mind, the thousand years is symbolic for the church age—an indefinite, large amount of time.
And what is the purpose of Satan’s binding during this time:
so that he might not deceive the nations any longer
The Gospel will go to every nation.
No Gentile nation will be in darkness.
A multitude, who did not take the mark and whose names are written in the Lamb’s book, will be saved from every tribe

1. Satan is bound that the Gospel may advance (v. 1-3).

APPLICATION

It would be really tempting for us to simply have this be a night where we seek to understand the meaning of this text and we forget to apply it, but we cannot do that.
This is not a passage of Scripture that exists purely to provide us with our eschatological framework.
In fact, that isn’t the purpose at all.
This was intended to be a passage of comfort that motivated the first-century Asia Minor believers on toward faithful perseverance.
This passage is a reminder to them and to us that the gates of Hell do not and will not prevail against the Lord’s church.
Matthew 16:18 (ESV)
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The Lord will resurrect His people from their graves and nothing will stop it.
You see the horror in the world and you think that things are out of control but the truth is that Satan is bound.
He is a dog on a leash who can only spew his havoc within the radius he has been given.
He will bite and bark and gnash his teeth, but the Lord will finish the task of the Great Commission through His people and that dog won’t be able to stop it.
Pray for evangelism and missions in fervent faith with an expectation that souls will be saved, because they will be.
Give sacrificially toward missions like your pennies will actually make a difference, because they will.
Go on mission trips and serve at Trunk or Treat and coach Upward teams with gladness like your hand to the plow pushes back darkness, because it does.
If there is a sense is which the Dragon is bound from deceiving those whose names the Lord has written down before time, it is just a matter of going and getting them.
But the binding gives us absolute confidence that the Lord’s Word will have a saving effect.
And if it doesn’t—we know that is because those rejecting it are perishing, which is exactly what Paul said in the verse we looked at earlier:
2 Corinthians 4:4 (ESV)
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.

THE MILLENNIAL REIGN (v. 4-6)

Let’s keep going and look at verses 4-6.
John says, “Then I saw...” indicating that he is seeing a new picture now.
This vision in verses 4-6 seems to be taking place at the same time at the vision in verses 1-3.
That is indicated by the fact that we are still dealing with this period of 1000 years.
John sees thrones (v. 4)
Those seated on the thrones are those who have been giving the authority to judge (v. 4)
The souls of the martyrs are also seen. They come to life and reign with Christ for 1000 years (v. 4)
The rest of the dead come to life after the 1000 years end (v. 5)
John calls this the first resurrection
And then in verse 6, you see that the 2nd death has no power over those who share in the first resurrection.
They will be priests of God and of Christ and reign with Him for 1000 years (v. 6)

PREMILLENNIALISM

Premillennialists understand verses 4-6 to refer to the physical resurrection.
Those who were martyred for Christ are resurrected by God.
They are vindicated by being given glorified bodies.
They reign with Christ on the earth for 1000 years.

AMILLENNIAL RESPONSE

WHAT IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION AND WHERE IS THE MILLENNIAL REIGN?

For the first eight or so years of my Christian walk, this was also the viewpoint that I held. However, while in seminary, I became convinced that this text is not about a physical resurrection, but a spiritual resurrection.
Up until about three weeks ago, I believed this passage was about regeneration, but I have become convinced in my time of studying that this is not the case.
Some amillennialists believe that, but I would agree with those who say this is actually about our brothers and sisters who have passed on to heaven before the return of Christ.
And the key for this understanding is found in verse 5, when John speaks of the “first resurrection.”
I don’t believe this is a resurrection of the body because the text says that he saw the “souls.”
It is true that the Greek word for “resurrection” refers to physical resurrection throughout the rest of the New Testament, but the context here begs us to treat it differently.
For not only is John talking about souls, but he is also speaking of heaven.
John sees “thrones,” in verse 4.
When we see thrones in Revelation, they are in heaven.
Furthermore, we are talking about the souls of the beheaded, which would also point us toward a heavenly reality, not earthly.
A spiritual resurrection, not a physical one.
And finally, this reign happens with Christ—you see that in verse 4...
Where is Jesus at right now? He is in heaven.
So in putting these things together, the first resurrection—the “coming to life” that John speaks of in verse 5—is not a physical resurrection, but a resurrection to life in the intermediate heaven...
...The heaven that the souls of believers go to now, awaiting the day when Christ will return and they will receive their glorified bodies.
What is described as "Abraham’s side” in Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man.
Luke 16:22 (ESV)
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried,
It is the place that I am speaking of when I do a funeral and I say that one of our brothers or sisters is with Jesus in glory.
It is the place that the thief who hung next to Jesus was promised to go to that very day upon his death.
It is the magnificent waiting room for the children of God until the trumpet sounds and the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven and God’s people live in their perfect bodies.
We will cast off these bodies fashioned after the first, fallen Adam.
We will put on our bodies fashioned after the Second, saving Adam.
That is the second resurrection.
But the first—the first is our passing from life to life.

2. Believers are alive because the Gospel is true (v. 4-6).

THE NATURE OF THE MILLENNIAL REIGN

This is the promise of the Gospel.
That anyone who remained faithful until the end and did not take the mark, comes to life and reign with Christ for 1000 years.
They do not come to life because they earned the first resurrection through a life of righteousness.
Instead, they come to life by the grace of God and it is that same grace that carried through their years in faithful living.
But what is the nature of this millennial reign?
Well first of all, they are judging with Jesus. We see that in verse 4.
This should be no surprise.
In Revelation we have seen believers all sorts given promises about participating with Christ in His messianic activity.
They will share in His authority over the nations (2:26)
They will sit with Him on His throne (3:21)
They will stand with Him on Zion (14:1)
And they will sit with him in judgment.
Secondly, they live with Jesus. We see that in v. 4 as well.
They come to life and they are with Christ.
They will never be separate from Him again.
What could be better?
We also see that they reign with Jesus. John states it in verses 5 and 6.
Christ rules over the whole world as we speak, but not everyone in the common kingdom of man obeys Him.
But He also rules over His redemptive Kingdom, where He is loved and obeyed as the Majestic Royal Messiah that He is.
Here in this fallen world, we currently have our little Kingdom outposts, which are called local churches and we spread the light of the Gospel far and wide.
But one day, Christ will return and His knowledge will cover the earth like water covers the seas.
Until then, His children who have passed away are reigning with Him in the intermediate heaven, awaiting the full consummation of the Kingdom, when they will reign with Him forever on the earth.
And finally, they are priests of God and of Jesus. John says this in verse 6.
To say that the saints in the intermediate heaven are priests to God is to say they worship Him day and night.
It isn’t the first time we have seen this idea.
Revelation 5:10 (ESV)
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”
In Revelation 20:6, the priests are not on earth yet. They are glorified worshippers in heaven.

REST OF THE SECTION (v. 5-6)

Going back up to verse 5, John says “the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.”
This would refer to unbelievers.
Those who take the mark and rebel against the Lord unto death will face God in judgment and then go to the place that the rich man is found in that parable of Christ in Luke 16.
Luke 16:22–24 (ESV)
The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’
This is Hades.
A place of condemnation for the souls of the enemies of God.
At the end of this age, they will come to life in the sense that they will receive a resurrection of judgment.
John 5:28–29 (ESV)
Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
Then they will be cast into the lake of fire, where not just their souls, but their bodies will experience God’s wrath.
Revelation 20:13–14 (ESV)
And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
This is why verse 6 emphatically states, “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power...”
We will never taste the lake of fire.
Death’s sting has been removed.

APPLICATION

Now you might wonder why John would go out of his way to speak about this in this way.
William Hendriksen is helpful on this:
Roman persecutions are raging. Martyrs are calmly laying their heads under the executioner’s sword. Paul had already done this, and also James. Rather than say, “The emperor is Lord,” or drop incense on the altar of a pagan priest as a token of worshipping the emperor, believer confess Christ even in the midst of the flames and while they are thrown before the wild beasts in the Roman amphitheaters. But Christ is not unmindful of His grievously afflicted disciples. He sustains them in order that they may remain faithful to the end. For that very reason He gives to His sorely tried Church the vision of “the souls of them that have been beheaded for the testimony of Christ.”
William Hendriksen
Is it not encouraging in the midst of wars and rumors of wars to hear these words of Scripture tonight?
Is it not encouraging in the midst of battles with health and disease that these things are true?
That when we die, we will not die, but we will be resurrected to life in the intermediate heaven.
That we will go to be with Jesus and we will remain with Him forever.
That when He returns, we will ride with Him, as He slays His enemies once and for all.
When I was at a conference recently, I met a guy pastoring an older congregation in the foothills of Eastern Kentucky.
He told me he has done an average of 15 funerals a year since he came there 6 years ago.
I told him that I did 11 one year and I thought that was crazy.
But how comforting is it to know that as we bury those who did not take the mark, we are simply putting their bodies in their final resting place until the trumpet sounds.
Until then, the souls of the saints reign with Christ during this age of witness.
As we do the work on the ground with Satan bound, they are priests to God in glory, in the presence of Christ.

FINAL BATTLE (v. 7-10)

Turning our attention to the final few verses of the passage, we have a second angle of the final battle. Armageddon.
We saw the first angle in chapter 19:11-21.
Now we get another look.
Verse 7 speaks to Satan’s little season of being let loose. It was referred to in verse 3.
“Released for a little while.”
Bound for a thousand years and then let out for a small amount of time.
This is going to be the time in which we see the final Antichrist rise up.
2 Thessalonians 2:3–7 (ESV)
Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
The day of the Lord is not going to come until the man of lawlessness comes.
But the man of lawlessness has not come yet.
…the final embodiment of evil, appears to have not yet arrived. Something is restraining him. Lawlessness is on a chain. Satan is bound.
Joel Beeke
So at the end of this age, the Lord will let Satan off his leash and out of his pit.
The work of the church will be done.
The Gospel will have reached every shore.
It will all have been completed.
Satan will come out and rally up his troops to march up over the broad plain of the earth, but nothing will come of it.
It is no threat to the Lord.
This day of destruction has been long prophesied.
It was prophesied in the promise that Eve’s offspring would stomp the Serpent’s head.
And it was promised throughout the Old Testament prophets, most notably, Ezekiel.
In fact, Revelation 20-21 follows the sequence of Ezekiel 36-48.
Ezekiel has these visions of Israel being spiritually resurrected and reunified under a King like David in the New Covenant. Sound like it might pertain? (Ezekiel 36-37, Rev. 20:4-6)
But after the New Covenant promises, Ezekiel describes an attack by this international enemy, Gog, of the land of Magog, against God’s people (Ezekiel 38-39; Rev. 20:7-9)
This is what you are seeing in Revelation 20:7-9...
The prophetic language of Ezekiel is used to let the hearer know that with this battle, the prophesied time has come...
The Lord God is going to defeat His enemies and rule His world through His Son, the better David, Jesus Christ
And interestingly enough, if you keep reading in Ezekiel 40-48, it is all about God’s glory in a new temple, which is exactly what we will see in Revelation 21.

3. God’s enemies are defeated because the Gospel prevails (v. 7-10).

Notice that there isn’t much of a battle here.
The camp of the saints is surrounded and fire comes down from heaven and consumes the enemies who have coalesced with the Dragon and the Man of Lawlessness.
Remember that in chapter 19:11-21, we saw the First and Second Beast killed.
The Man of Lawlessness would be the final, horrible iteration of the Second Beast.
Revelation 19:20 (ESV)
And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
This is all happening in the same battle.
The language in chapter 19 is straight from Ezekiel 38-39, just like the Gog and Magog language in chapter 20.
It is just two different angles of Armageddon.
And in the angle we are shown in chapter 20, we get the conclusive evidence of Satan’s defeat.
You know that language if you watch football.
For a call to overturned, the replay must be conclusive.
This is conclusive.
Revelation 20:10 (ESV)
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 they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Every Sunday before we leave, we remind each other that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet.
Well this is that moment that we are talking about in our benediction.

FINAL APOLOGETIC

Before we close, I want to say that one of the reasons I became convinced of Amillennialism back in 2008 was because of the fact that it is the only interpretation of Revelation that places everything at the end in a singular event.
It does not break up the 2nd Coming and the rapture. It is one event that takes place at the end of this age.
It does not separate the resurrection of believers and unbelievers—both take place in Final Judgment on the Day of the Lord.
It does not separate the 2nd Coming and the establishment of the eternal age.
This age ends. Final Judgment happens. The eternal age begins.
And it does not have people running around on earth who are deceived after the 2nd Coming of Christ—something that premillennialism requires.
When I read the Bible, the consistent pattern that I see is that a singular event is anticipated, called the Day of the Lord, which will bring this age to a close and begin an age of glory.
And that is exactly what I believe Revelation 20:1-10 is showing us and it is why I wanted to teach it at one time.
Satan is bound during the age of witness.
He will not be able to stop the Gospel from saving God’s elect from every nation whose names were written in the book of Life before the foundation of the world
Believers who have passed away are already tasting the initial fruits of glory with Christ.
After all believers who are going to believe have believed, Satan will be let loose for a brief time.
The Antichrist will run amok.
Evil will be unparalleled and unprecedented.
The the Lord will return.
Final judgment will commence.
Believers will be resurrected unto the new heaven and new earth
Unbelievers will be resurrected unto judgment
Eternity future will begin.

CONCLUSION

But regardless of where we land on it all, the bottom line is that you must be ready for it.
Matthew 7:20 (ESV)
Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
All of our fruits will be found out on that day.
Are you rotten?
Or had the regenerating, life-giving Spirit of God raised your dead heart to life?
Because what all Bible-believing Christians agree on is that Jesus Christ will return and judge the living and the dead.
The only hope for your soul is that instead of Him being your Judge then, He would be your Redeemer now.
Bow your knee and give your life to Jesus.
Repent of your sinning. Agree with God that He is right and you are wrong.
Submit yourself to His authority as Lord.
Pray to Him and ask Him to forgive you of your sins on the basis of His Son’s death in your place and His Son’s resurrection from the dead, to crush your sin and your death.
Because one day He will return.
It will be as in the days of Noah.
Few will be ready, but blessed are those who are.
Blessed are those who share in the first resurrection.
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