Revelation 20:1-10 (The Millennium,, Jeff Kliewer)

Worship Through Song and Church Announcements

Bless the Lord's hole like never before. Oh, my worship, your hope comes up today. Donny, I'm just singin' your song again. Whatever may pass and whatever lies before We'll be singin' when the evening comes.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul His hole is kind. I will keep on singin' my heart to Bless the Lord, oh my soul His hole like never before. Oh, worship, your hope. My strength is fae and draws near And my time has come.

Still my soul will sing your praise unending Ten thousand years and then forevermore. Bless the Lord, oh my soul Like never before. Oh, worship, your hope Oh, worship, your hope Oh, worship, your hope.

So, we had Bible story, we had crafts, we had games, and it was just so great to see so many kids be able to come out and participate to hear about Jesus, and I just wanted to give a big thanks and shout-out to all of those that were a part of that behind the scenes praying for us, for those that came out and ran one of the stations or game areas for those that were in the planning process, for those who donated anything.

So, thank you so much for that. It's always a great opportunity for us to be able to share the love of Jesus with children, and we can't do that without your help, so thank you very much for that. We have, oh, the other thing is we're all indoors today, so you've got to give God a shout-out.

We had 14 amazing weeks of being able to be outside before he decided, you know what? God decided, you know, Sunday we need some rain, and it's okay to be inside today, so we just want to give God thanks and praise for all those amazing weeks we've had out there, and hopefully we're going to get some more.

Hopefully we'll be able to be out there again next week. We have a women's Bible study that's going to be going on tonight from 6 .30 to 7 .30 here. There's also a Zoom link available for that for the women that are attending that Bible study.

There's going to be a youth concert this Friday, right, the 28th? 28th, okay, featuring Romans Road, so all teens are invited to bring their friends out to that. We have an upcoming study of the Book of Isaiah that Pastor John and Pastor Jeff are going to be teaching.

That will be happening noon here at the church, but those will also be recorded and placed up on YouTube, so if you can't attend at the noontime hour, you can watch those. We're also going to be having a starting point class begin.

That's a three-week class, and that will be beginning in September as well, so you can see Pastor Jeff or Pastor John about information for that, and it will be in the evening here at the church. Then finally, I believe we have a Red Cross drive coming up on August 29th, so April is here.

She's our point person again, correct? Okay, I made that announcement at the first service, so I was hoping I was right. If you've given in the past, you probably have already received an email about that, but it's a great way to serve the community, and your donations of blood help save lives, so you can speak to April about that.

So would you pray with me? Let's bow our heads. Dear Lord, we're so thankful that we could be here this morning to worship you, to sing praises, to hear Jeff preach the word. We ask that you be with him during this service, that you would guide his mind and his heart and his words as he preaches from the book of Revelation.

Lord, we thank you again for these 14 amazing weeks we've been able to be outside. Thank you for your goodness. And Lord, as we have heard over and over again, we're living in bizarre times, strange times.

Lord, we know that you're in control, and we're thankful for that. Lord, we just ask that you would give us, the believers, patience and wisdom as we are interacting with people that are scared and afraid, that we would be able to share the love of Christ with them, that we'd be able to share about the peace that we have because we believe in you.

And Lord, as we draw near to the beginning of the school year, I can think of so many parents and students and teachers all across New Jersey and the world, or our country, that are wrestling with what to do, how we're going to do school.

So I just ask that you would be with us, that we would be able to pray for these teachers and kids, parents that may be homeschooling for the first time, that you would just guide us through this upcoming September and we just ask for your hand of providence during that time.

We thank you for your Son, Jesus, and we ask this in your Son's name. Amen.

Congregational Singing Before the Sermon

Before Jeff comes and opens God's word to us, we're going to sing a few songs together, so you can get those ready. We're going to sing two songs, Our God and What Can I Do? So you're ready for those.

If you would stand with me. Water you turned into wine Open the eyes of the blind There's no one like you None like you Beaten and tortured to die Hung on a cross crucified There's no one like you None like you Our God is greater Our God is stronger God you are higher than any other Our God is healer Awesome in power Our God, Our God Bunkered the grave Paid all my sin and my shame There's no one like you None like you Risen from death and alive Reigning in heaven on high There's no one like you None like you Our God is greater Our God is stronger God you are higher than any other Our God is healer Awesome in power Our God, Our God.

And if our God is for us Then who could ever stop us And if our God is with us Then what could stand against And if our God is for us Then who could ever stop us And if our God is with us Then what could stand against What could stand against Our God is greater Our God is stronger God you are higher than any other Our God is healer Awesome in power Our God, Our God Our God is greater Our God is stronger God you are higher than any other Our God is healer Awesome in power Our God, Our God Lord we come before you A redeemed people Not by anything that we've done But of your sacrifice Leaving heaven Coming to this earth to live Allowing us to benefit from You dying on the cross We are so thankful Lord That we can be saved From the hell and destruction that's coming Lord there's nothing that we can do To say thank you But Lord we pray that That our lives will be A testimony to your love And grace in our lives And we sing praises to your name Thanking you for who you are And what you've done for us When I see the beauty Of a sunset's glory Amazing artistry Across the evening sky When I feel the mystery Of a distant galaxy It awes and humbles me To be loved By a God so high What can I do But thank you What can I do But give my life to you Hallelujah Hallelujah What can I do But praise you Every day make everything I do Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah That's your prayer.

I hear the story Of a God of mercy Who shared humanity And suffered by our side Of the cross they nailed you to That could not hold you Now you're making all things new By the power Of your risen life What can I do But thank you What can I do But give my life to you Hallelujah Hallelujah What can I do But praise you Every day make everything I do Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah I do But thank you.

What can I do But give my life to you. Hallelujah Hallelujah. What can I do But praise you. Every day make everything I do Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah.

Revelation 20:1-10 and the Thousand-Year Reign of Christ

Okay, Revelation chapter 20 Verses 1 to 10. So Revelation 20 verses 1 to 10. 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. And 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 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 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.

The Meaning of the Millennium: Premillennialism, Amillennialism, and Postmillennialism

Thanks Ben. Let's pray God, thank you for this opportunity To open your word and hear your voice. We pray that as we read your scriptures And study and think upon these precepts Lord, that you would help us to cut ties with this world.

Lord God, that you would do a surgery on our heart To throw out the idols That we would be less self-centered And more centered on you That we would look to Christ. And so we pray, come Lord Jesus We are looking for you to come in your kingdom To reign in your glory.

We don't want to put confidence in the flesh To put confidence in the things of this earth To put confidence in ourselves. We pray that as we hear the word this morning Our hope would be in you. Jesus, you are the hope of glory.

In your name we pray, amen. You guys are all familiar with Karl Marx. If I say the name Karl Marx I see some eyebrows going up. Oh yeah, rolling the eyes. Yes, Karl Marx was a villain of history. And a couple centuries ago He began his political philosophy in Germany And then moving to France and Belgium and England He created a society of the just.

It was an underground society That sought justice on earth. And their supposition Upon which they built this claim Was that the whole world Could be described as a class struggle. You have those who have And those who have not.

So the bourgeoisie are oppressing the proletariat. And what needs to happen is a revolution That's going to make everything right. So he called eventually With his communist manifesto Around the midpoint of the 1800s He called for revolution.

The communist manifesto Called for the underclass to rise up And overthrow the bourgeoisie. And his hope was that this would bring in A reign of peace and justice on earth. And there would be a utopia Everybody would live as things were meant to be.

Of course the result of this political philosophy Was what happened in Russia. When comes Lenin and Stalin. And the Russians and the USSR experiment Ended up killing multiple millions of people. And then Mao Zedong in China With the Great Leap Forward did the same thing.

And tens of millions died because of it. And you've heard of Che Guevara And Pol Pot in Cambodia. And what's happening now in Venezuela. And even in our current country You have Marxists Who are trying to overthrow the system Because their worldview is one of oppression.

And their hope is that by overthrowing government There can be a utopia on earth. This is the great hope of the Marxists. But it's the opposite of hope. It ends in destruction Because it's built on a faulty worldview.

Marxism sees the world as a class struggle And defines the problem societally. As if the reason that there's suffering and death And pain in the world Is because society is wrong And the structure is wrong.

And if we could only turn things equal Then everybody would be happy and healthy And live good, wonderful lives. The scriptures teach us the depths of human depravity. And the scriptures define the problem as being sin.

Something deep seated within each of us Fallen sons and daughters of Adam. And so a Marxist utopia can never be established. And in fact they seek it by unbiblical, unjust methods. But the problem is not what they suppose.

The problem is human sin. There's coming a day When things will be made right on earth. It won't happen by societal change. It won't even happen by the church Ushering in the kingdom. The only hope of the world The only hope that things will get better and better And eventually lead to an era of peace and prosperity And love and joy and unity.

The only hope of this is the return of Jesus Christ. He alone can solve the injustices of this world. He alone is the one to whom we should look. Even the church itself cannot do that. We're going to get into that today.

In Revelation 20 as we look at the millennium. The millennium will be a 1 ,000 year demonstration Of what this world is like With Christ reigning in his kingdom Over against the thousands of years preceding Where Satan has had some freedom to reign.

So let's look at Revelation 20, 1 -3. And the first question we have to look at Is what is this millennium? And I'll give you a quick preview here. There's three different schools As to what the millennium is.

The amillennial, the postmillennial, and the premillennial. We're the third one here at Cornerstone. Premillennial. I'm going to define those terms. But recognize three different ways of interpreting this passage.

Revelation 20, verses 1 -3. 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.

Mark that A thousand years is going to be repeated six times. So, I think we can safely conclude. This is a literal one thousand years. It's not just an age. It's repeated six times in this passage. So we can recognize God is trying to communicate that it's a thousand years.

Period. Verse 3. And he 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.

So the millennium is a one thousand year period Where there's peace on earth. Things are great Because Satan is now bound. Now, before I get into the three schools of thought on this I just want you to notice something from verse 1 That I find interesting That I really enjoy.

Notice which angel threw Satan into the bottomless pit. Was it Michael? Was it Gabriel? Look in the text. Or was it simply an angel? It was just an angel. And the point is Some no-name angel Is sent by God To throw Satan into the pit.

Which means this struggle between good and evil Were never equal and opposite forces. God has always reigned as sovereignty With absolute power. He could have crushed Satan under his foot at any second.

He has absolute power. But he's allowing Satan a certain reign of freedom For his own purposes For God's own purposes. But when the time came to bind him He sent a no-name angel to do it. So for a thousand years, Satan will be bound.

Now the question is When does this happen? The amillennial school Says that this is the church age. Ah negates. So amillennial means there is no millennium. There's no literal thousand year reign of Christ.

Rather the church age is the reign of Christ. And Satan is bound right now. I see some eyebrows raised again. Satan isn't bound right now. 1 Peter 5, 8. He's like a roaring lion Roaming the earth seeking someone to devour.

John 8, verse 44 The father of lies deceives the nations. If I look out at the nations I see deception Throughout the nations. So clearly the amillennial school is not Consistent with this text Because Satan is not bound.

Now in fact the amillennial school Was not introduced Until the late 300's. Tychonius was the first one to preach it. And then Augustine picked up on it. The Roman Catholic Church picked up on it. And even many of the reformers held that amillennial view.

The problem is The Bible clearly teaches here That Satan will be bound Completely held under a bottomless Shut in, sealed over him In a pit No longer exerting his influence. The second school is postmillennial.

Postmillennial holds that the church Will usher in a thousand year reign of Christ. As the church continues to be salt and light Things will get better and better. But that again is not consistent With the teaching of scripture.

We're told before the coming of Christ There will be a great falling away A great apostasia In 2 Thessalonians. So the teaching of scripture is not that the church Will make things better and better But will hang on to Christ as we look For his return.

In fact also just as a quick Post script to that. Look at Revelation 19 verses 11 to 16. You'll recall Christ himself comes on a white horse With a sword coming from his mouth. He returns in chapter 19.

And then we get to chapter 20. So just think Just taking things chronologically. Postmill doesn't work. Thirdly The premillennial school. What does that mean? Well Premillennium. We are currently before the millennium.

We're still looking forward To the coming of this reign. And that's how I want you to think about The thousand years. There is coming A one thousand year Reign of Christ On this earth. And the point of it Is to show What this world would be With Christ as the king.

It's like the garden of Eden For a thousand years Because Satan is bound. So let's move on to the second question. Verse 4 to 6. What is this millennium Going to be like? What's it going to be like Here on earth For a thousand years?

First of all We'll see who is populating the earth At that time. Verses 4 to 6. Then I saw thrones And seated on them. Were those to whom the authority to judge Was committed. Well we need some biblical context here.

Earlier in the book of Revelation Thrones were set up. And there were 24 elders Seated on the throne. Some interpreters have said The 12 thrones represent The Old Testament patriarchs. And the 12 thrones on the other side Represent the apostles.

And from that interpretation You can say Old Testament and New Testament saints Are represented in these thrones. These are ones who are given to reign. But I can take it a step farther And point you to 2 Timothy chapter 2.

Verses 11 to 13 We're told there. This is a trustworthy saying. So you can trust what I'm about to tell you. If we died with him We will also live with him. If we endure We will also reign with him. Do you see the language of reigning in verse 4?

Seated on them Were those to whom the authority to judge Was committed. This is the church now. And Old Testament saints Reigning with Christ. Now there's a second class. There's the word also Which means there's a distinction here To the second class of people who are there.

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. This clearly speaks to The tribulation saints Those who missed the rapture When we were caught up to meet Christ in the air. And not preceding those who had died before us Who were also caught up to meet Christ in the air.

Now you have a second class. The also says it's another group Who lived through the tribulation And died in the tribulation. Because when they refused to take the mark of the beast The Antichrist had them Beheaded.

They counted Christ More worthy Than their very lives. They were willing to die Rather than to bend the knee to the Antichrist. Christ was so valuable to them That they were willing to suffer with him Not taking the mark.

Which meant they couldn't eat or drink Or buy or sell anything Without the mark. So many of them starved to death. And others were beheaded For their testimony of Jesus. They died during the tribulation.

But here this is the first resurrection. They get their body back. 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 Mark this word Priests Of God and of Christ. And they will reign with him For a thousand years. So the big question in this section is What's this millennium going to be like?

It's going to be A period of peace Where we And tribulation saints And Old Testament saints Are reigning with Christ on earth. It's this world And we are here. We've already been resurrected. So we have glorified bodies And we serve as priests Which means we proclaim The glory of Christ To the ends of the earth.

But what is the nature of the world In which we live during this time? So we're already resurrected. We're not sinning any longer. We're glorified. Where are we? And what are we doing? And what's the world like?

The Bible here does not give us that answer. But the scripture does harmonize To give us a picture of the millennium. There are promises in the Old Testament For Israel That were never fulfilled. But God is not a liar.

Every promise he's ever made Will be fulfilled. And so we harmonize those texts To see what this world will be like. So you can go to places like Jeremiah 23. Isaiah chapter 2 Verses 2 to 5 Speaks of In a period of time The mountain of the Lord Zion, Jerusalem Will be elevated as chief among the mountains And the nations will flow to it.

Interesting. In Revelation 16 The mountains were leveled And the islands fled. Which means the natural barriers Of mountains and seas Were eliminated. I think what happens there in Revelation 16. Is that Pangea is reestablished.

The world was split up into seven continents At the flood Because of sin. But God will bring them back together Lowering mountains So that the high point on this landmass Is Jerusalem. With the King reigning in glory He returns and sets his foot on the Mount of Olives.

And it creates a river that flows From one sea to the other. This beautiful place called Zion This is where our King will reign. And we are spread out across the earth. I get this especially from Isaiah 11.

Let's go there for just a few minutes. Isaiah 11. You might be familiar with the text Where a shoot comes up from the stump of Jesse. A branch from his root bears fruit. And the spirit of the Lord is on him.

The spirit of wisdom and understanding. Counsel in the fear of the Lord. This is a picture of Christ and the Holy Spirit. And we're told in 11 1 -6 That when he comes with the breath of his lips He slays the wicked.

When does Christ slay the wicked With the breath of his lips? At his second coming. At his second coming. We saw that at the end of Revelation 19 He slays the wicked with the breath of his lips. So now look with me Isaiah 11 6 and following.

Once he has come at his second coming What is the world like? I tell you this is a picture of the millennium. Isaiah 11 6 -9. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb. And the leopard shall lie down with the young goat.

And the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together. And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze. Their young shall lie down together. And the lion shall eat straw like an ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra. And the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain. For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.

As the waters cover the sea. That's a picture of the millennium. For 1 ,000 years the earth is like the Garden of Eden. Before Satan came as a tempter. Now Satan is held in a pit and the world is restored.

Can you imagine how the world will flourish? The vegetation springing up. The beauty of the earth. But also it doesn't seem that people are dying. The cobra that would bite the child no longer does. There's no death.

What are we doing? We are priests. Spread out over the face of the earth. Indwelt by the Holy Spirit. So we're in communion with our Lord. And yet serving as priests. Why? To make known who Christ is.

To plead with the people of earth Who are not yet in their glorified body. To repent and believe the good news. We're serving as priests Making known the knowledge of the Lord for 1 ,000 years. So if anybody here loves to be an evangelist.

And you're thinking Man, I wish this would go on even after the rapture. Good news. For 1 ,000 years you'll be out there preaching to the world. And I can imagine the population explosion. Well, who's going to populate the earth during that time?

That question we're going to answer in just a minute. But notice, during the millennial reign Everything is peaceful. This is the world as it would be If Christ was reigning Rather than the nations. And the political systems that we have.

With Christ in Jerusalem. All things are made right. I don't want you to think of this As like some ethereal. Like floating on a cloud with a harp kind of world. This is just as real as the world in which we live.

Only without the deadly stuff. I think about a story When I was living in Dallas My buddy went to the same seminary. And one day we went biking. So out in the mountains. We were just kind of going through the hills and stuff.

And he drove this car called The Thing. Anybody know what a thing is? It was like an old military vehicle. And it had no roof and no side. So we just throw the bikes in the back. So as we were driving back from biking He said, hey, let's go through the car wash.

I was like, alright. Then I thought about it, wait a minute. How are we going to go through the car wash in this? And so we pulled into the car wash. And right before it started, I thought I said, Tom, it's going to be scalding water.

We're going to get scalded to death. He's like, oh, you'll be fine. So we go in, and this thing is just slapping you. Remember those things that spin around? We're getting slapped by those, soap everywhere.

The whole place is like a giant sud. We're getting beat up. Then the water comes. And it's just cold water. So he starts yelling, I'm melting! I'm being scalded! He's mocking me. We go through this thing.

And we survive. And you know what, I look back at that as a great memory. It was a lot of fun. But when I picture the millennium I often just think it's just like pie in the sky. No, in the millennium You can drive a car.

You can go through a car wash. Only there's no chance you're going to get scalded to death. It's real life. Whatever you can create. Imagine the creative potential Of the children of God Without Satan in this world.

Imagine what this world is going to be like. It's going to be amazing. But we won't be centered on the things of this earth. We won't have the same bad decisions That would make you drive through a car wash in the thing.

We'll be sanctified and glorified. And now that brings me to the last point. In the last section. Something surprising happens. Did you ever find this strange when you read it? That even after Christ reigns for a thousand years Still There will be another rebellion.

And that just goes to show that the problem is not society In the structures of this world. The problem is The depth of the human sinfulness In the hearts of men. How deep that sin goes. Because even after A perfect world for a thousand years There's going to be a rebellion.

So the question of course is Who are these people? Where do they come from? Didn't Christ come and wipe everybody out? So who are the people In the millennium who eventually rebel? Verses 7 through 10.

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. And their number is like the sand of the sea.

So this is a hyperbole. It's figurative speech. It's a ton of people Way more than you would expect. Rebelling. They march 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. So who's the them? Who are these people? Well if you look at Revelation 19 .21 You see That the rest were slain by the sword That came from the mouth of him.

The rest of who? Contextually in Revelation 19 This is the army that came to Jerusalem To overthrow Jerusalem To rage against God's people. Revelation 16 goes right into Revelation 19. 17 and 18 are about the fall of Babylon Religion and Babylon politics.

So 16 goes into 19. And what you see from 16 Is a battle called Armageddon. Warriors who hate God Who are raging Come against the city of Jerusalem To overthrow it. And so the context here is. The rest are cut down By the sword of his mouth After the antichrist and false prophet Are thrown into the lake of fire.

So There's still people Who survived the tribulation. Maybe a four year old boy Living in Iceland. Or a little family in Timbuktu. They weren't part of the war. They weren't part of Armageddon. They survived.

And now These are the people who repopulate the earth. Those who survived the tribulation I see no reason why it wouldn't include unbelievers. They live in a perfect world. They repopulate the earth. And now the earth is full Of people again.

But even though They had the outward society Everything in their life was good. The king was in Jerusalem Peace on earth. Nobody getting scalded to death Or getting bit by a scorpion. Even so their hearts were not changed.

And this speaks To the need for conversion. It's not enough to outwardly Respond to God To go to church To transform society To do whatever the Social justice work That a person intends to do. The need is for conversion.

During those thousand years We serve as priests Meaning we tell people That that king in Jerusalem. We go up for the festivals Multiple times a year. And throughout the days We spend our time Pleading with men to be saved.

And some will come to faith. Others evidently do not. While Satan is bound They go about their business. And they go with the flow of society. They exist. But they're not converted. And so as soon as Satan is released That sin which still dwelt in them.

James 1 tells us Sin comes from our own desires. And then when we're lured and tempted It gives birth to sin. So that sin was already in them as desire. Now Satan is released again He tempts the world.

He shows them the possibility.

Of a better world.

Not run by one monarch In Jerusalem With all of his saints ruling over. No, you can be king. You can be like God. And people follow that call As they always do. Who are Gog and Magog? We learn about Magog.

He's the grandson of Noah. He's the one who established a kingdom North of the Black Sea. And so The seat of this rebellion will be Russia Led by Gog and Magog. Who is Gog? Well, the Bible doesn't tell us who Gog is.

But I would guess he's probably the warlord. That's leading Magog into battle against Jerusalem. You guys remember when the socialists Tried to take over Seattle? What did they name their little socialist experiment?

Chaz. So you had Chaz. And they had a warlord named Raz. So he was Raz, king of Chaz. I think in the same way. This is Gog, king of Magog. He's leading the world rebellion Down to Jerusalem. And from all corners of the earth People jump on board.

Amazingly After experiencing the millennium They still rebel against the king. So in closing Where does that leave us today? In need of conversion. If you've never turned from your sin Maybe you've spent all your time Blaming society.

Maybe you've been blaming your family And your circumstances. And you say, you know what? If things were better Then I would do well. It's not my fault. But this text reminds us The depth, not of societal sin Although there is a such thing There are unjust systems.

But the issue is the depth of human sin. Have you ever looked into your heart And said, what a wretch I am. I need to be converted. I need a savior. And if you turn to Christ He will not only wash you With his precious blood And take away all your sin And make you spotless before him.

Revelation 1 tells us He will also make you a kingdom and priest To serve the living God. And you'll serve him During the rest of your days on earth. And then you'll serve him For a thousand years. And then he'll bring in the new heaven And the new earth.

But Satan will have that one last stand. In verse 10 It says, he'll deceive them. But he'll be thrown into the lake of fire. Not much of a battle there, right? Once this rebellion Is put down, fire falls from heaven.

They're consumed. And Satan is thrown into the lake of fire. He will be tormented day and night Forever and ever. And by the way If you're one of these who believe in annihilationism That, well I'm sure hell Is just where your spirit and your body Just get consumed.

And then God's done with you. If you believe that, you're not taking The text seriously. Because this word says Forever and ever Ionis ton Ionis. It appears Multiple times through the book of Revelation.

In chapter 5, when they're worshipping the Lamb They sing to him Forever and ever Again in chapter 7. In chapter 10, it applies to God Who ever lives and will be worshipped Forever and ever, so if God Will be worshipped forever and ever In the same way Those who don't know him Will suffer in an eternal Punishment.