Sunday School - Escatology Part 1

The Premillennial, Postmillennial, and Amillennial Views of the Millennium

It'd be just good to continue that study of eschatology. Last week, we talked about 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and we looked at the rapture. But today, I want to go a little more broader in a theological discussion on eschatology in regard to the millennium.

Now, unfortunately, you can pretty much put every major category or theological doctrine of eschatology in the camp of what you do with Revelation 20. Specifically, what do you do with the millennium?

So if you know anything about eschatology, which means the study of end times, you know that all the eschatological perspectives have the word millennium in them. So there's premillennium, postmillennium, allmillennium.

Can anyone tell me what those mean? What does premillennium mean? What does the pre in premillennium mean? How does that relate? The coming of Jesus in the millennium. If you believe in premillennialism, you're saying what about the coming of Jesus in relation to the millennium?

That's right. So premillennialism teaches that Jesus comes before the millennium, which is therefore the pre in the premillennium. Then there's postmillennial. What do they teach? What do they believe in relation to the second coming and the millennium?

After. After. So post meaning after. Now allmillennium, or allmillennialism, or amillennialism, what do they propose? Well, yeah. So the word all in the Greek means no. And so many folks interpret that to mean that they mean there's no millennium, which is actually a misnomer.

It's not actually true. A lot of allmillennialists take gripe with the word allmillennialism because of that. Allmillennialists believe in actual, what they call realized millennium, and a very vibrant true millennium that's happening right now, specifically in the heavens.

But we're going to dive deep into this discussion. And so what I've given you this morning is something I came up with a couple years ago. And it's simply a survey of Revelation 20. So we're looking at Revelation 20.

And I'm going to just be up front with you. I'm an allmillennialist. I believe in the allmillennial perspective on eschatology. And I've been all over the map on this. I've been a dispensationalist, historic premillennialist, and allmillennial, and never been postmillennial.

But I believe that allmillennialism is the correct one. And I'm going to give you a surprising answer as to why I think so. I'm an allmillennialist precisely because of Revelation 20. Now, that might sound surprising to you because that is the go-to text for the premillennial perspective.

And premillennialism supposes that there's going to be a literal 1 ,000-year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth. So Christ comes back at the end of the age. He brings forth the millennial kingdom. He reigns literally, physically from Jerusalem.

And in that 1 ,000-year period, there's going to be death, rebellion. There's going to be a continuation of likely most dispensationalists, if not all. And many historic premillennialists believe there's going to be a return to temple sacrifices.

So there's going to be a temple erected in Jerusalem before the coming of the Antichrist. And then Jesus is going to come and reign from Jerusalem in that temple. And there'll be sacrifices. And all these things will be happening during the millennium.

The all-millennialists would say, no, not quite. We believe that Jesus comes at the end of the age. And when he comes, he establishes the new heavens and new earth. No intermediate 1 ,000-year period.

But rather, the 1 ,000-year period is fulfilled in the age of the church. And it's fulfilled literally in heaven so that when a believer dies, he goes into the age of 1 ,000 years. And he is alive, reigning, seated with Christ in heavenly places where Jesus Christ reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords.

The Binding of Satan in Revelation 20

But let's look at Revelation chapter 20. In that packet that I gave you, I quote the first few verses. And then we're going to give you basically a subject that we're going to dive into. Notice in this paper that I gave you, there's no commentary.

I think if you just read what's on this paper, you'll come to believe what I believe. Because I think scripture is clear enough to define itself. And so let's look at Revelation chapter 20, verse 1 to 3.

Anyone want to read those three verses? It's right there on the paper for you, so you don't have to go to it. Go for it. Amen. So chapter 20 is a difficult chapter. So let me put it this way. The book of Revelation, almost everyone agrees, is the most difficult book of the Bible.

Chapter 20 is probably the most difficult chapter of the most difficult book of the Bible. It's tough. And it doesn't quite fit any framework just perfectly. There's things that you have to contend with.

There's a tension in the text that I would tell you that you have to do some harmonizing. You have to really go deeper into it in order to understand properly what the scripture is teaching. And the first problem that all millennials will face when looking at Revelation 20 is what?

Go for it. That's right. But even before that, there's a big glaring problem, and it's the binding of Satan. Like, what do you do with Satan? And I had friends who were all millennial, and I used to make fun of them all the time.

I said, you guys are crazy. You think Satan is bound? You think that Satan is not like a lion waiting to devour? And how can you believe in all millennialism? It is so beyond what scripture teaches. And precisely because of Revelation 20, I said that, because if you believe the millennium is now, then you must believe that Satan is bound.

And notice the context here in chapter 20. It says, And he sees the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. So pretty clear there. There's Satan, the devil, who's pictured in Revelation as an ancient serpent, as a dragon, and he is bound, chained, thrown into a pit for a thousand years.

And it's shut, and it's sealed so that he may not deceive the nations any longer. Now, does an all-millennialist believe that Satan is bound? Okay. It depends. That's right. Go for it. Yeah. That's right.

That's right. So let's set the genre. Not every book of the Bible is of the same genre. Revelation is a very specific, particular genre. What genre could we put the book of Revelation into? What genre?

Prophecy. That's true. Also, I'm looking for another word. It starts with the word apocalyptic. Now, apocalyptic, it's ironic that we call Revelation apocalyptic because that's actually what the word is in the Greek, apokalypsis.

Apokalypsis is the word where we get revelation. It just means revealing. It means like a, like think of a stage with a curtain, and the curtain being drawn back. That is what the word apocalypse or revelation means.

It's revealing. And so it's very appropriate that the book of Revelation, or in the Greek, the book of apokalypsis, literally is apocalyptic literature in the most basic sense of the word. And so it's apocalyptic literature, which means that there's going to be things in the book of Revelation that is obviously Satan is not a literal dragon with seven heads.

Right? Jesus is not a literal lamb running around heaven. There's a lot of things that you're going to see in Revelation that are idioms and ideographic and have specific meaning in the particular context in which it comes to us.

So when we look at Revelation chapter 20, we're looking at a highly symbolic text, a text filled with symbolism that's very rich, that's telling us a story about redemption and telling us a story about history.

And so I would say this. Let's look at the next heading, the binding of Satan. Notice what the rest of scripture talks about and how it relates to Satan and the relationship that he has to this age. It says in John 12, 31 to 32, Jesus said this, Now is the judgment of this world.

Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. Let's put those words of Jesus into context. I mean, this is huge, what Jesus is saying here.

Because what he's saying is that now, that tomorrow, that future, but now in his ministry, in his life, in his death, burial, and resurrection is the judgment of the world. And the ruler, who's the ruler of the world according to scripture?

Satan, the devil. So 1 John 5, verse 19 says, The whole world is lying in the hand of the wicked one. Bible says that Satan is the god of this age who's blinding the minds of the unbelievers. He's the prince of the power of the air.

All these things in reference to Satan are true. He's the ruler of this world. But Jesus says he will be what? Cast out. And notice the context in which Jesus is saying these words. He's saying, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, that is his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, will draw all people to myself.

That's the key to the text, to understanding what Jesus means by the judgment and casting out of Satan. No longer can Satan have comprehensive influence over the nations, over the Gentile powers, but instead now Jesus is going to draw all men, all nations, to himself.

So no longer is there this comprehensive deception that Satan can have over the nations as it was in previous times. We see evidence of this in Isaiah chapter 7, 8, and 9, where there's the nations walking in complete darkness and gloominess, and yet the hope that comes to the nations is the birth of Emmanuel, the birth of the son on whom's shoulder the government shall dwell.

And so the promise of the nations coming out of darkness is vested solely in the Messiah, Jesus Christ. And Jesus says that now that he's come, when he'd be lifted up, that's his ascension, he would draw all people to himself.

In that way, Satan is cast out. He is bound. He is judged. He no longer has the same power and influence as he once did. Does that make sense? Let's look at what Jesus says on another occasion in Matthew 12, verses 20 and 29.

Jesus says,. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Not will, or in the future, or in a thousand years. 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. What's interesting is that it's pretty much unanimous across commentaries and even theological spectrums of eschatology. Everyone agrees that Matthew 12 is talking about Satan being bound to some degree, to some extent.

And almost in the text it's irrefutable that the kingdom of God has come upon us in the ministry of Jesus. That Jesus came to plunder the strong man's goods. That's his house. That's the nations. That's the kingdom of darkness.

Colossians 1, verse 13 says that he's transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son. There's this transfer that's happening. And so Jesus says it very strongly. How can he plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man?

Then indeed he may plunder his house. This is in the context in Matthew 12 of the 70 going forward and preaching the gospel, seeing demons subject to them, seeing powers and principalities subject to the name of Jesus.

And he's using this as evidence to say that now the kingdom of God has come upon you. Because the charge he was given by the Pharisees was that, well, you're using demons to expel demons. And Jesus said that's preposterous.

He says, you know, if I'm doing this work, it's because the kingdom of God has come upon you. And the fact that this is happening is evidence that the strong man, Satan, is bound to some degree. Does that make sense?

Any questions so far in the text? Notice what it says in Luke 10, verse 17 through 20, and other words from Jesus saying, The 72 returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.

And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the who? The enemy. And nothing shall hurt you.

Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. So Jesus says he saw Satan fall like lightning. This is after he sees the return of the disciples, the 72.

They're rejoicing because they have power over the forces of darkness and they have power over the enemy, that's Satan, the devil. And because of this kingdom authority that the church now has, he saw as a result of this, he's saying it's as if Satan fell from heaven, as if he fell like lightning to the earth.

Jesus is pointing to the power and the authority vested in the disciples as evidence of Satan's downfall from heaven. Pretty amazing stuff. Any questions on that text? Any thoughts on it? So you can begin to see how the scriptures as a whole, not just in Revelation, begins to treat the fall of Satan, begins to treat the binding of Satan.

And it says in Colossians 2 .15, it says,. And he disarmed, that's Christ, disarmed the rulers and authorities, those are the powers and principalities of the scriptures, meaning the demonic power, Satan himself, the prince of darkness, and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.

So what did Jesus do through the cross? He what? He triumphed, but he also what? Disarmed. He disarmed the powers of darkness. So pretty clear cut. In that way then, we can understand that Satan is bound, that Satan has been disarmed, that Satan has been judged, that Satan has been overcome, that Satan is no longer having total comprehensive authority over the nations as he once did.

Notice again what the context of the binding of Satan is in Revelation 20 verses 1 to 3. It says,. So that he might not deceive the nations any longer. That's the key to understanding what is meant by the binding of Satan in Revelation 20.

It's so that he may no longer deceive the nations totally as they once were, walking in complete darkness as we see in Isaiah chapter 8. Jesus continues on in the same frame in John 16 and 11 saying, Concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

He's judged. Not saying will be, might be, future, thousand years, no, now. Jesus then puts it this way in John 4 verses 35 to 36. Do not say there are yet four months. Then comes the harvest. Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest.

And already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. Now Christ uses the imagery of the harvest to represent the world.

He says elsewhere in the same gospel. He says that the harvest of the field represents the world. And Jesus is saying to the disciples, lift up your eyes and see the fields are white for harvest. He's talking about the nations.

He's talking about the kingdom work of going and being a proclaimer of God's kingdom and bringing forward the nations as a harvest. And he can only do that because Satan is bound to some degree. Jesus then puts it this way in Matthew 13, 39.

And the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. So we see how that connection between John 4 and Matthew 13 referring to the harvest, referring to the work that's happening at the end of the age.

And so what I would put forward is this. That Revelation 20 1 -3 is speaking of the binding of Satan in a very particular, specific regard, that this is the binding of Satan so that he may no longer deceive the nations comprehensively so that the kingdom gospel can go forward into the world and have success and bear fruit.

We are witnesses of that. We are here representative of many different nations. And the fact that we are coming from different nations is evidence that Christ is king, that Christ reigns, that Christ is on the throne, that Christ has disarmed the rulers and authorities, that he's judged the ruler of this world, and that his days are now numbered.

Does that make sense? Can you see that? Even if you don't agree exactly with all millennialism yet, can you at least concede that this is a very plausible interpretation of Revelation 20 1 -3? Correct.

So Satan is still, according to Scripture, 1 Peter 5 says, he's like a roaring lion waiting to devour. But that line, think of like, have you ever seen the movie Lion King? Compare Scar with Simba when he's grown up.

I mean, Scar is like a weak, skinny, beat-up lion, and then you've got this kingly lion, and that's Christ. Christ is the king. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah. He is far more powerful and authoritative than this weak, defeated lion called Satan.

So I would say that Satan has been disarmed. He's been declawed. He can still do damage, but he's nowhere near as powerful and influential as he once was and as powerful and influential as he will become at the end of the age when he is loosened again.

And so there is a period in time, which I believe is now, saying that we're in the millennium, that Satan is bound, but that influence that he once had will be regained at the end of it when he's loosened from his binding at the end of the age.

And so that's the time of trouble that's prophesied in Scripture. Therefore, another good reason why I'm not a post-millennialist, because the post-millennialists believe that things are going to get better and better and better until the return of Christ, yet Scripture pretty clearly points the opposite is true, that things are going to degenerate towards the end of the age before the coming of Christ.

Yeah. That's a great question. Everything that we just read from the Scriptures, seeing the point that it happened in the life of Jesus, in the ministry of Jesus. Now, I would say Revelation 12 is the story of the binding of Satan.

So what you have in the book of Revelation, you can't think of Revelation as a linear book where you have chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and they're all happening sequentially. That's not what you're going to find in Revelation.

It is not a sequential book. In fact, it's very similar to what we find in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 where you have a story of creation, then you have a more detailed version of it in chapter 2 in regard to the creation of man.

You have this duality that are not opposed to each other, but they're from different vantage points. And I'd say Revelation has a lot of that. You have oftentimes reoccurring themes and occurrences in Revelation, but from different prophetic points of views.

So Revelation 12, I would say, is the fall of Satan from heaven in the life of Jesus because in chapter 12 we see that there's a woman in heaven who's pregnant. That woman is a picture of heavenly Jerusalem, and she gives birth to a man-child that's Christ.

It's in that time, and then Satan tries to devour the man-child, and that's what we see in the life of Jesus when Jesus was born. Herod tried to kill the newborn infant, the newborn Christ. He said they had to flee to Egypt.

That's exactly what we see in Revelation 12. It's that same narrative. The woman has to go into the wilderness and flee to protect the child. It's the same narrative we see in the Gospels with regard to the birth of Christ.

And then it says that in that same chapter that Satan fell from heaven. He had this conflict with Michael the archangel. There's this conflict in heaven, and it results with Satan being cast to the earth, which is exactly what Jesus says in Luke 10.

He says, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. He clearly points to in Matthew 12 that he is bound. He clearly says that now is the judgment, and the ruler of this world will be cast out. And so I believe that the fall of Satan from heaven happened in the life of Jesus.

Now that's interesting because that means that Satan had access to the heavens. Everyone presupposes that Satan fell from heaven somewhere after the fall in Genesis 1, 2, or 3. And that's not what the Bible teaches.

For instance, you see in the book of Job 1 and 2, you have Satan entering into the assembly of the sons of God in heaven and wagering with God. And so how did he have access to heaven after the fall? And why does the Bible often say that the heavens became corrupt?

Why do we need a new heavens if heaven is all good and it's perfect and there's no issues up there? Just as we need a new earth, we need a new heavens because the heavens are being corrupted as well. And part of the fall of Satan is God's judgment upon Satan that he no longer has access to the heavenly throne room.

He's still ruler of this world but a very weakened ruler. And Jesus is the true ruler of the world and he's overcoming. It's like think of an advancement of battle. We are advancing in battle. We are conquering the kingdom of darkness even now through the church by what we're doing today.

When we gather in the Lord's day, we're pushing back against the kingdom of darkness. So the conflict is ongoing. We're still in the midst of the conflict. But he is surely defeated. Does that make sense?

And what's interesting about Revelation 12, one more thing about Revelation 12 in relation to this topic is that it says specifically when Satan was hurled down in Revelation 12, it says the heaven rejoiced because the accuser of the brethren has been hurled down which is why it can be said in Romans 8 .1, therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because who is the one who condemns us?

It's Satan. Satan is the one who accuses and condemns. We saw that in the book of Job. But now the accuser of the brethren has been hurled down. He's got no authority. He's got no power in that regard to accuse the brethren.

He's been hurled down. You had your hand up. Yeah. Well, it was so bad in the days of Noah that he had to flood the earth. Right? It was so bad, even in the times of Israel, that the one nation that God chose to be his portion, to be his heritage, to be the light of the world, even they fell into apostasy.

And so there was no light. That's why we see this in Isaiah 8 specifically where it talks about the nations walking in complete darkness and gloominess and that even Israel has failed. And so there's no hope.

It's the idea of hopelessness where Romans 3 quotes from. It says that there's no one good or not even one. This is talking about the old covenant age. This is talking about the world under the influence of the devil.

Now it's obviously still true today that there's no one good but specifically borrowed from that age in which there was no spiritual light except for what was coming through the prophets. And so I would say that the church is vindication of God's truth and light coming forward into the world, into the nations.

And so there are plenty of examples in Scripture, Old Testament. You just look at the apostasy of Israel. Look at the gloominess of the nations. That's no longer the case. We're now in every nation under the heavens.

There are Christians who are worshiping faithfully, who are pushing back against the kingdom of darkness unlike in ages before.

Does that kind of help? Yeah, that's right.

There's a remnant, a remnant, always a remnant, always a remnant. Can you do me a favor? Can you put my laptop in my desk? I'm going to print some more because I've got some more folks here. And so there you see kind of the understanding of the binding of Satan and how one could understand that from Revelation 20.

The Meaning of the Thousand Years

And so now let's look at the next part of it, which is 1 ,000 years. So in Revelation 20 verses 1 to 3 is where we also get the idea of 1 ,000 years. And this is very important because, again, every eschatological framework begins with their view of the millennium, unfortunately.

Now, again, we've established how the millennium is the most difficult or Revelation 20 is the most difficult chapter probably in the entire Bible. And yet we decided to make our eschatological perspectives hanging upon the interpretation on the most difficult text of the Bible, which I think is kind of unfortunate.

It probably shouldn't be that way, but it is. And so let's look at the term 1 ,000 years. How does the Bible elsewhere use that term, 1 ,000 years? Let's look at a couple of examples. Psalm 50 verse 10 says, For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

Does that mean that after 1 ,001 hills, it's no longer gods? Is it just at 1 ,000 or is the word 1 ,000 being used in a particular way? How is it being used here? Yeah, it's a long or a lot or comprehensive.

It's a word that invokes a comprehensive time or amount. And so we see that again in Psalm 90 verse 4. For a thousand years and I saw it as yesterday when it is passed. And as a watch in the night. So a thousand years are used again in a very comprehensive symbolic way.

Psalm 105 verse 8. He have remembered his covenant forever. The word which he commanded to a thousand generations. We also have, we need one for over here. Do they have one? Do you guys have an insert or paper?

Yeah, you've got something. Okay, well, I think we printed out more anyway. So if anyone needs one, just raise your hand. And so we also see again in Isaiah chapter 60 verse 22. And a little one should become a thousand and a strong one, a strong and a small one, a strong nation.

I, the Lord will hasten it in his time. And so again, you see the word thousand years being used comprehensively. Matter of fact, outside of any numerical value, such as the counting of the Israelites in the wilderness or a battle.

These are all the occurrences of the word thousand years in scripture right here. I've compiled them for you. So outside of them being used literally, like in the context of a battle or in the context of counting men.

These are all the occurrences of the year of the number 1000. Obviously, other than Revelation 20. But it says in 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 8. But beloved, do not be ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.

So notice the use of the word a thousand consistently throughout scripture is used in what fashion, in what way? Literal or figurative? It's a figurative usage. It's to denote a lot. We see this also with the term you've heard of the word myriad, right?

Myriad upon myriad upon myriad. And that's like 10 ,000 upon 10 ,000 is what literally means. But that too is meant as a almost like a double entendre of the word a thousand. It's like a lot, a lot, innumerable.

You can't count it. Okay. And so it doesn't when you see myriad upon myriad isn't literally. You don't have to like sit down and start doing the calculations of how many angels there are in heaven. It's not meant for that.

It's meant to communicate an innumerable amount of people. Okay. Similarly to the word a thousand, it is covering a long period of time or a comprehensive amount of things or time. Does that make sense?

Now, again, this is a survey. So this is all the occurrences outside of Revelation 20 and outside of a literal usage of the word a thousand of how the word a thousand is used. So I think we'll have time to do one more.

And this one is the heavy one. This is the resurrection topic in Revelation chapter 20, verse four through six. It says that 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 worshipped 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 a 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. Okay. So very heavy. Now, this makes a beautiful argument for premillennialism in some regard, because premillennialism teaches and believes that Christ comes.

When he comes, he defeats the beast, which many interpreters claim to be the Antichrist. And then he raises, you know, either at the rapture or somewhere near his return. He raises the dead in Christ.

The dead in Christ will now reign for a thousand years. Now, in this text, it would seem to indicate that there's going to be a second resurrection because it mentions a first resurrection. And they said the rest of the dead did not come to life until the end of the thousand years.

So the model for premillennialism is simply this, that you have Christ come. He raises the church. He translates the church to a resurrected state. They rule for a thousand years on the earth. But the rest of the dead don't come to life until after the millennium.

That is to say the unbelievers who will be judged for eternity, they don't come back to life until the end. So you have two resurrections separated by a thousand years. You have the resurrection of the righteous, and then at the end of the thousand years, the resurrection of the unrighteous.

That's the premillennial model for understanding this text. And I would say on the surface, that sounds pretty reasonable. That sounds like a good reading of the text. But I would submit to you that that probably isn't the case when you consider all the rest of scripture has to say on the topic of the resurrection.

And specifically on the state of believers even now as we speak. So look at Ephesians chapter 2, 5 and 6. We've preached on this recently, but notice what it says. So where are you seated right now? Where are you seated?

It's heavenly places. You might be sitting here in this pew in Sunnyvale, California, but you're actually seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus spiritually. Now this is, I would say, also literally true for those who die in Christ.

When we die in Christ, we're not waiting for, you know, we don't believe in soul sleep. We're not waiting for us to have a conscious experience with Christ in the future. Upon death, to be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord.

We go straight into God's presence, and we enter into the realm of a thousand years where we are literally reigning and seated with him in heavenly places. So it is spiritually true now, but it will be also spiritually realized in heaven upon our death.

Notice what it says in John chapter 3, verse 3 to 7. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born when he is old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Therefore, do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. Now how does this relate? Well, Jesus says you have to be what? Born again. Now what does that mean to be born again? We're evangelicals, we're Christians, we believe in being born again.

What does that mean exactly? What does that mean? Were you born literally a second time? Did you crawl out of your mother's womb like Nicodemus asks? Is that what Jesus is trying to get at here? It's conversion, which is what?

Spiritual. It's a spiritual birth. And upon that spiritual birth, you now have entrance into the kingdom of God. Not a future kingdom of a thousand years, as the pre-millennials would say. But rather, you become a citizen of that kingdom immediately upon being born.