Worthy is the Lamb: Our Rule and Reign in the Millennium

Sir Thomas More was a 16th century English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist, and deeply religious. In 1516, More published his most famous literary work. It’s full title is "A truly golden little book, no less beneficial than entertaining, of a republic's best state and of the new island Utopia" Over the centuries that lengthy title has simply been shortened to Utopia. In Utopia, More writes of a perfect world. It’s a place of equality in economics, government and justice. It’s a free and peaceful society. All the citizens of Utopia are satisfied with their culture and their place in it. More’s Utopia is an ideal society.

Ever since he wrote his book, the word utopia has come to mean an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. Even today there are those who believe that if humans are given enough time they will eventually create a perfect world.

Ever since the dawn of time, man has dreamed of a better world. There has always been a desire to make things better, to create a happier and more peaceful existence. Unfortunately, More knew that his Utopia was a dream since, according to More, too many “greedy, unscrupulous, and useless” men are in the world. But what men cannot achieve, God will. While Moore’s Utopia was fictional, our Lord’s Millennial Kingdom is not.

Extent of the Millennium

Explanation of the Millennium

Essentiality of the Millennium

I. THE EXTENT OF THE MILLENNIUM

“And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.” (Revelation 20:1–3, NIV84)

1. very few verses in the Bible are more critical to the interpretation of end-time events than the opening verses of Revelation 20

a. it gives us the scope of Christ’s earthly kingdom

b. it gives us the script outlining the events of Christ’s earthly kingdom

c. it gives us the central cast of characters involved in Christ’s earthly kingdom

A. THE SCOPE OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM

1. it will last one-thousand years

a. interestingly, this is the only place in all the Scriptures that mentions the length of Messiah’s Kingdom on Earth

b. hundreds of Old and New Testament passages describe the events of the millennium, but only Revelation 20 tells us how long it will last

1) as if in an effort to drive home the point, six times in seven verses John tells us that it will last one-thousand years

B. THE SCRIPT OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM

1. repeatedly we hear John say, “I saw”

a. in rapid succession John sees Christ come, John sees and angel inviting the birds of the air to the great supper of God, he sees Christ coming in power and glory to defeat the world’s armies in the great battle of Armageddon

b. now John sees Satan bound and cast into the Abyss

c. the scenes of God’s script for the end of the world are rolling by clip after clip

2. since his introduction to us in Genesis 3 as the architect behind mankind’s fall into sin, Satan has been our great archenemy

a. he is the dragon — the Great Red Dragon — of Revelation 12 who leads a third of the angels into open rebellion against God, and who stands ready to kill the Christ child and nip God’s redemptive plan in the bud

b. he is the ancient serpent watching Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and waiting for the opportunity to whisper in their ears, “God is not good because He is withholding the tree of knowledge”

c. he is the Devil, literally “the adversary” who opposes us in all our spiritual pursuits lest we come to Christ, or if we do, keeping us from knowing him better

d. he is Satan, the accuser of the saints of God reminding God regularly how disobedient we are, and reminding us how undeserving we are of His grace

3. at the 2nd Coming of Christ, Satan is not thrown into the Lake of Fire along with the Antichrist and the False Prophet

a. instead, he is bound with a great chain by an angle of God, and thrown into the Abyss for the duration of the millennium

ILLUS. I read this and can’t help but think of the Mutchkins in the Wizard of Oz. They’ve been harassed and persecuted by the Wicked Witch of the East forever, but when Dorothy’s house falls on her and kills her, they break out into jubilant song; Ding-dong the wicked witch is dead.”

b. there can be no one-thousand years of righteousness, and peace on earth while the great Enemy of God and men is at large

c. at the binding of Satan God’s people will undoubtedly break out into jubilant song

4. his residence for that one-thousand years is the Abyss

a. the Abyss is a mysterious place referred to nine times in the New Testament — all but one of those instances in Revelation

1) it’s a place where especially foul, and evil demonic beings are imprisoned

ILLUS. In Luke’s gospel we have the account of a demon-filled man who is possessed by a demon named Legion, and Jesus heals him. As Jesus prepares to cast them out, we’re told that the demons repeatedly begged him not to send them into the Abyss. It’s a place where even demons don’t want to go!

b. for one-thousand years Satan’s influence on Earth is non-existent — he will no loner be able to deceive the nations

1) as the great deceiver he seduced the kings of the earth with the glitz and glamour of his Great Babylon

2) but for one-thousand years his seductions are silenced

C. THE CENTRAL CAST OF CHARACTERS OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM

1. Jesus, of course, has the staring role in his 2nd Coming, but there is a host of “extras” in God’s redemptive drama

a. again we hear John say, “I saw” — he sees thrones, and seated on those thrones are those who have been given authority to judge

b. John also sees all the saints who were martyred during the Great Tribulation

2. I think these two groups are representative of the totality of God’s Elect from throughout the ages

a. they include all of the Old Testament Saints

“But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever — yes, for ever and ever.’” (Daniel 7:18, NIV84)

b. they include the Apostles of Jesus

“Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:28–29, NIV84)

1) Jewish believers will judge all the Jewish non-believers of the ages

c. they include all New Testament Saints

“Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!” (1 Corinthians 6:2–3, NIV84)

“To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27 ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery’— just as I have received authority from my Father.” (Revelation 2:26–27, NIV84)

“ ... with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”” (Revelation 5:9–10, NIV84)

1) not only will we judge the unsaved of this world, but we will also judge the angels who rebelled with Satan

2) but our judgments will be exercised under the authority of God as we serve Him

3. our rule and reign will be accomplished in perfect holiness and righteousness

a. John says of the saints, they came to life — this is the first resurrection

“According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:15–17, NIV84)

1) this has always been the Christian’s hope

a) of course our hope includes heaven, but even more important than heaven is our resurrection — the hope of glory

b. at our resurrection we will be totally conformed to the image of Christ

1) our sanctification of heart, and mind, and will is completed and perfected

2) we will have the glory of Christ, the mind of Christ, and the holiness of Christ

3) we will be priests of God and Christ, and we will reign with him for one-thousand years

c. how glorious is that!

4. John Tells Us about the Extent of the Millennium

II. THE EXPLANATION OF THE MILLENNIUM

1. Revelation 20:1-7 have been a theological battleground for most of the history of the church

a. the central question concerning the text is ...

1) do we take one-thousand years to be a literal one-thousand years?

2) do we spiritualize the millennium as a way of saying it’s just a really, really long time?

b. how a person answers that question colors how they interpret most other end-time passages in the bible

2. there are three major theological viewpoints of the Millennium — all held by various, orthodox, bible-believing Christians

a. how we interpret these verses is important, but shouldn’t be a test of Christian fellowship

A. THE PREMILLENNIAL VIEW

1. Premillennialists believe that Christ will return "pre" [before] the millennium begins

a. in fact Premillennialists believe that the 2nd Coming of Christ begins our Lord’s millennial reign

2. Premillennialists believe that Christ’s Millennial Reign on Earth will be a literal one-thousand year period

a. it will be a time of great peace and justice

b. resurrected believers from throughout the ages will reign with Christ

c. after the thousand year reign of Christ on Earth, comes eternity with a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem

3. Premillennialism has some two subset views

a. Dispensational Premillennialism — it is called dispensational because its proponents believe that God’s redemptive work has been administered differently in seven eras of biblical history called dispensations

1) it is distinguished by two essential beliefs

a) that the Church will be raptured out of the world before the Great Tribulation begins, and thus escape the persecution of the Antichrist

b) that God has two distinct redemptive plans ... one for Israel and one for Gentiles

2) it gained great popularity through the Scofield Reference Bible and Hal Lindsey’s 1979 book The Late Great Planet Earth

b. Historical Premillennialism is the other premillennial view — it is called historical because most of the early “Church Fathers” believed it

ILLUS. For the first 300 years of church history, this was what the church believed.

1) it is distinguished by three essential beliefs

a) that the church has been “grafted into” the remnant of believing Israel, and is the fulfillment of Israel

b) that the Church will go through the Great Tribulation, and be raptured at Christ’s 2nd Coming

c) that the Kingdom of God has been present through the Spirit since Pentecost, and will be experienced fully during the millennium after Christ's return

B. THE POSTMILLENNIAL VIEW

1. Postmillennialists believe that Christ will return "post" [after] the millennial period

a. Postmillennialists believe the Millennium is not a specific one-thousand year period, but represents a Golden Age on Earth previous to Christ's 2nd Coming

b. so powerfully will societies will be transformed by the Gospel, that peace and justice will reign on earth for a thousand years (or for a long period of time), after which Christ will return for the final judgment

2. it was an extremely popular end-time interpretation for much of the 19th and first decade of the 20th centuries

a. the industrial revolution and scientific advancements were making the world a better place to live

b. missionary work was steadily increasing, and entire nations were being evangelized

c. then came the 20th century

1) first there was World War 1 with 16 million deaths

2) World War 2 took place twenty years later and wracked up a staggering 75 million deaths

3) but the real scourge of the 20th century was Communism-Socialism which is responsible for 120 million deaths

3. those events pretty much took the wind out of the sails of Postmillennialism

C. THE AHMILLENNIAL VIEW

1. Amillennialists hold an "ah" [non-literal] millennial view, and believe this thousand years is the same period as this present church age, and that there will be no future Kingly reign of Christ before he returns for the final judgment

2. Ahmillennialism believes that the Kingdom of God was inaugurated at Christ's resurrection at which point he gained victory over both Satan and the Curse

3. at some point Christ will return and immediately usher the church into their eternal state after judging the wicked

ILLUS. There is a forth millennial view that many Christians have adopted. It’s called Panmillennialism. It’s the belief that trying to figure it all out is simply not worth our time. All that is important is that “Jesus is coming” and that it’ll “all pan-out in the end.”

D. THE MILLENNIUM WILL BE A BLESSED TIME

1. it will be a period when peace rules

“He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. 4 Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken.” (Micah 4:3–4, NIV84)

2. it will be a period when the animal kingdom will be tamed

“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.” (Isaiah 11:6–8, NIV84)

3. it will be a period when the world biosphere will be lush

“ ... Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.” (Isaiah 35:6–7, NIV84)

4. it will be a period when disabilities and illness will not exist

“Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. ... .” (Isaiah 35:5–6, NIV84)

5. it will be a period when longevity is the rule for those born during the millennium

“Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.” (Isaiah 65:20, NIV84)

6. John Gives Us an Explanation of the Millennium

III. THE ESSENTIALITY OF THE MILLENNIUM

1. why do we even need a millennium? — why does Christ need a on-thousand year reign on Earth? — why not go right from this age into eternity with a new Earth, a new Heaven, and a new Jerusalem?

A. THE MILLENNIUM IS ESSENTIAL FOR RESTORING GOD’S CREATION

“The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:19–21, NIV84)

1. our physical world is not now how God created it

a. Adam’s sin caused God to curse the ground making it produce thorns and thistles, making it difficult work to produce crops

2. in God’s original plan mankind was to tend the garden, in a loving stewardship of God’s creation

a. the Fall utterly changed mankind’s relationship with creation, and since the Fall we tend to exploit the creation more than being stewards of creation

3. during the Great Tribulation God’s Creation will feel the full force of His wrath, as He cataclysmically smites large swaths of this Earth in His judgment against a rebellious and unrepentant humanity who have largely followed the Antichrist and False Prophet

a. to use the jargon of our time, much of the Earth will be trashed

4. the Millennium will be used by God to liberate His creation from the curse and heal the land — it is the restoration of Eden

B. THE MILLENNIUM IS ESSENTIAL FOR FULFILLING GOD’S PROMISES TO ISRAEL

1. God promised that through Abraham and his descendants all nations will be blest

a. the Millennium will fulfill that promise

2. God promised King David that a descendant would sit on his throne

“Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ ”” (2 Samuel 7:16, NIV84)

a. the Millennium will fulfill that promise

3. God promised that Israel would know and worship her Messiah

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33, NIV84)

“And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” (Romans 11:26–27, NIV84)

a. the Millennium will fulfill that promise

C. THE MILLENNIUM IS ESSENTIAL FOR ANSWERING THE PRAYERS OF BELIEVERS

1. since the days when God’s Anointed One gathered twelve men around him, the Church has been praying, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

a. God’s will is perfectly accomplished on Earth during His son’s one-thousand year reign

D. THE MILLENNIUM IS ESSENTIAL FOR REVEALING MAN’S TRUE CHARACTER

“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:7–10, NIV84)

1. wow, this doesn’t make sense — a one-thousand year reign of Christ, and then Satan is turned loose upon the Earth to wreck havoc and rebellion once again?

a. what gives?

2. as the Millennium begins Christ and his saints will rule over the nations — what’s left of them

a. Jesus will be ruling on the throne of David, imposing a benevolent theocracy on all his creation, and over the world’s nations

3. those who survived the cataclysms of God’s wrath will pull their lives together, they will thrive under Christ’s reign and will begin to repopulate the Earth

a. these children will be raised in a perfect world — peace and prosperity are the order of the day

b. all of society’s ills vanish — authoritarianism, imperialism, class warfare, and racism are gone

c. for one-thousand years mankind will not experience demonic temptation since Satan is chained

d. but those born during the Millennium will still have the Adamic nature which bends us toward sin

4. throughout history there have always been those men who believed that mankind doesn’t really need God to be good

a. simply put men in the right environment and they will aspire to heights of greatness

1) our real problems are dysfunctional homes, disenfranchisement by the larger culture, and the desensitizing affects of a violence-filled society

2) simply solve these issues, and utopia follows

5. Revelation 20:7-10 reveals once and for all that man’s problem is a heart problem

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, NIV84)

a. deep down the lost man chafes under the sovereignty of God, and longs to be autonomous, free from all rule but his own

ILLUS. Albert Einstein once said, “Evil is the real problem in the hearts and minds of men. It is not a problem of physics but of ethics. It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.

b. this is what the Millennium will reveal

c. when given the opportunity to rebel against a benevolent God who has blessed mankind with Utopia, men will still be shown to be haters of God who want nothing to do with Him

6. the result? “ ... But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” (Revelation 20:9, NIV84)

a. that is followed by judgement, and eternal damnation

“If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15, NIV84)

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