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[0:00] So, I want to begin by expressing my appreciation for your presence and welcome you to the 20th chapter of the Revelation for the month of December.

[0:12] And I had seriously given thought to bringing a special Christmas message this morning as opposed to what we will be studying in Revelation.

[0:23] But in retrospect, I've come to the conclusion that the end of Revelation chapter 20 is in reality what the beginning of the manger in Bethlehem is all about.

[0:40] Because the scriptures make it quite clear that our Lord Jesus Christ was a minister to the circumcision to confirm the promises that were given to the fathers. And that, of course, began with Bethlehem and it has extended all the way through human history and it will culminate in what we will be seeing in Revelation 20, 21, and 22.

[1:03] So, the new heavens and the new earth will be the final consideration that we will give and that will enter into the eternal state. So, let's thank the Lord for the time that we can spend together.

[1:16] We're grateful, our Father, for the content that is before us. We realize that there are aspects to it that we certainly fail to understand and comprehend as much as we would like.

[1:30] But we believe that the information and the truth has been made available to us to the extent that we can be responsible for it and to it. So, we ask that as we engage the material, you will stimulate our hearts and minds to a greater faithfulness and love for our Lord Jesus Christ in view of all he has done for us and that which is yet future.

[1:51] We bless you for it in Christ's name. Amen. We've been trying to take about a chapter a session. And I realize that this means we just do a lot of hitting and skipping and we do a great deal of missing.

[2:07] If anyone is interested in a more thorough study, I would just remind you that several years at Grace, several years ago, we conducted a verse-by-verse exposition of Revelation.

[2:19] And we devoted 66 hours of the congregation's time to that. So, it took us well over a year to get through it. And this material, all 66 hours, is available on CD or can be available on CD.

[2:36] But I want to warn you that that was material that was taught in my younger days and my views regarding a few things have changed since then. So, that's the way we keep our mind clean, you see, by changing it every now and then.

[2:52] And I've had to do that through the years because as you get additional truth, you look back on what you thought was true before and you say, whoops, I need to revise that. So, that's the process of learning.

[3:04] And that's the risk that you take when you engage in a learning process. You're going to discover that as you add information to what you already have, you're forced to change your position about some things. But, I think in the main, as my old history professor used to say, we become more and more certain of fewer and fewer things.

[3:26] But those things that we do become more certain of, we really become more certain of and they are non-negotiable. And that's what we find in the essence of the gospel.

[3:36] So, as you have your 26th translation sheet before you for Revelation chapter 20, let me just bring you up to speed a little bit by way of reminder that as we enter this chapter, we of course should ignore the chapter divisions as we want to do because they are strictly man-made.

[3:57] And you've got to remember that when John was called upon to write this document, he wrote it as one continuous whole without chapters and without verses. Consequently, what we see in verse 1 of chapter 20, which we of course recognize for locating texts, is the fact that the tribulation, the seven year period, the time of Jacob's trouble, the time that our Lord described as a time of tribulation such as the world has never seen before and will never see again, as chapter 20 opens, that's history.

[4:35] That has already occurred. We saw the second coming of Christ in power and great glory as prophesied in Matthew chapter 24 by our Lord himself on the Olivet Discourse and also in Revelation chapter 19, the preceding chapter.

[4:56] So, as we open with verse 1, we have another reference to an angel. Angels and the miraculous play a very important dynamic role in the latter days.

[5:12] We do not see, at least not in any obvious form, angelic activity taking place today. These are very mysterious beings.

[5:24] We are told in Hebrews that angels are ministering spirits sent to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation.

[5:35] We don't know in exactly what capacity they minister to us. It is entirely possible that angels being spirit beings are unseen beings.

[5:46] That does not mean that they are powerless. It simply means that they are not visible. But they may be very actively involved in your life and mine right now in ways that we don't comprehend or even appreciate.

[6:02] I don't know that for sure. But I don't know that that is not the case either. However, during the tribulation period and during the period that is involved here with chapter 20, angels are very, very obvious.

[6:16] Center and up front. They play a very dramatic role in the end times. As does an expression of all kinds of miraculous manifestations.

[6:30] Not only by angels, but some by the Antichrist, some by Satan, and many by God himself. So, this tribulation period that we just covered is literally loaded with the miraculous.

[6:45] And I just want to point out something that I think is very germane to this. The miraculous and the manifestation of the miraculous is not in keeping with the church age.

[6:59] That doesn't mean there are no miracles in the church age. Of course there are. But it does mean that in the main, there are not. The miraculous is primarily focused upon the nation Israel.

[7:14] We find that in the Old Testament, it began with the birthing of the nation out of Egypt. God revealed himself to his people through one miraculous, obvious demonstration after another.

[7:29] That continued on through the Old Testament, even though it slowed down during the time of the prophets. But we see miracles in Elijah's ministry. And then when Christ came on the scene, his ministry was replete with all kinds of miracles.

[7:44] Where he demonstrated power over the elements, power over death, power over disease and sickness, etc. All of this is in keeping with what God has provided and promised to his people Israel.

[7:57] This is what Paul meant when he said, For the Jews require a sign. God taught them to require a sign. And he gave them many signs when he was here.

[8:10] So signs are going to return again in spades during the time of tribulation. Because the church is gone. And Israel is in the crosshairs once again.

[8:25] So they will be characterized by a manifestation of the miraculous. And as you go through the revelation, as you've already seen and will recall, we noted one incident of the supernatural after another.

[8:38] Surfacing in the book of the revelation. And that's because Israel is once again the focus. Where is the church? The church is gone. The church is raptured and is in heaven.

[8:49] And according to our last study, we think, is engaged in the marriage supper of the Lamb. So with that behind us, the tribulation behind us, now is the time for the millennium to begin.

[9:01] And that's the burden of chapter 20. The millennium gets its name from the word millennia, which literally means a thousand.

[9:12] It is also synonymous with the kingdom age. Remember when the Lord Jesus said, You who have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man comes into his kingdom, you also, you twelve apostles, will sit upon the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

[9:39] That is during this millennium. During this thousand year reign. And it is also what the apostles were referring to in Acts chapter 1.

[9:52] Right before Jesus ascended, they asked the question, remember, Lord, is it at this time that you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?

[10:05] This is the kingdom they were talking about. This is the kingdom Daniel was talking about in chapter 2, when he talks about a kingdom being set up by the king of kings that will be an eternal kingdom.

[10:20] This is it. This is utopia come to earth. This is paradise. This is that of which Peter was speaking in Acts chapter 3, when he talked about Christ returning to heaven, whom heaven must receive until the times of restitution and refreshment.

[10:42] What is that? That's this millennium. That is the time when the lion and the lamb will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like an ox, and the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas.

[10:59] There will be peace and prosperity. Men will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and neither will they learn war anymore. That is what we're talking about, and that's what is opening here in Revelation chapter 20.

[11:14] And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit. Now, I'm not going to go back there, but I would just remind you, we saw this bottomless pit, otherwise known as the abyss.

[11:32] We saw that surface in Revelation chapter 9. It is the place where demonic hordes are confined.

[11:42] I don't understand how they are confined, because they are spirit beings. These are not the kind of beings that you can lock up and put behind bars with physical restraints, because these are spirit beings, and they are not subject to physical incarceration.

[12:03] So, how that is to be done, I don't know, but I can assure you it is not a problem to God. And there are many there. There are many of them there. And remember, remember on one occasion in the Gospels, where our Lord confronted a demon, and the demon responded by saying, I know you who you are, the Holy One of God.

[12:26] And they prayed that He, Jesus, would not send them to their place. And this is their place. Why all of them are not there, I don't know.

[12:39] But it is apparent that some have a limited amount of freedom, and these demonic spirits are going to be very, very active during this tribulation period.

[12:51] So, this is the same bottomless pit that is referred to, I believe, in Revelation chapter 9. And he, this angel, who is not identified, but may I just suggest, this is just a Wiseman opinion, and it may well be wrong, but I think it's probably Michael.

[13:11] He is one of the principal angels. He is an archangel. That means an angel of the first rank, or first order.

[13:22] We get the impression that he was of power and authority, perhaps, and I'm qualifying this, perhaps not the equal of Lucifer, who was, of course, another creation of God, who ultimately became Satan and the devil, but in Jude, in Jude 9, there is a very curious expression that I've never been able to get a handle on, and it talks about Michael, the archangel, not being able to withstand or contend with Lucifer.

[14:07] And there was some kind of a conflict over the body of Moses. And that's very esoteric to me.

[14:19] We're told that Moses died and was buried by God on Mount Nebo, after he allowed him to look over into the promised land, but told him that he could not enter it.

[14:34] But he will enter it later. Remember the transfiguration, when Jesus goes to the Mount of Transfiguration, he's transfigured, and who are the two personages that join with Jesus, Peter, James, and John?

[14:48] Moses, and Elijah. So he did get to the promised land, after all. And as best as we can determine, and I'm not dogmatic about this, I think that this is Michael.

[15:01] Michael, Michael the archangel, seems to be peculiarly assigned as the angel of Israel.

[15:12] And he interacts on behalf of Israel in a number of places, and the cheapest of which is found in the book of Daniel. The chapter escapes me now, but it's in Daniel, where Michael is involved.

[15:25] And it may well be that now, on this occasion, for whatever reason, Michael is up to the task. And he lays hold on the dragon.

[15:41] Who is the dragon? Well, we're told that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.

[15:51] The New English Bible says, chain him up. And again, I am at a loss to explain how a non-physical being can be chained.

[16:02] We don't have any trouble understanding how we could be chained. We've got bodies. But these do not. So may I just suggest, to put any mind at ease that might be troubled by this, God has spiritual capacities that we know not of, and this could very well be the equivalent, in a spiritual sense, of what a chain would be to a body.

[16:27] He has the equivalent in a spiritual capacity to bind and incarcerate a spirit being. I suspect that it must be that, because I do not think there is language that could express to us with any understanding what it would mean, and what it would take, to bind or confine something that is not physical.

[16:56] We wouldn't be able to understand that or comprehend it. So, as best we can do here is just realize that this is a kind of a metaphor, and whatever the result is, it is sufficient.

[17:10] And it incarcerates him, and he is bound for a thousand years. Now, of course, the question surfaces, is this a literal thousand years? Well, why not?

[17:25] I realize that Peter says a year is as a thousand years, and a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day, but that is not saying that there is no difference between a year and a thousand years, or a day and a thousand years.

[17:44] It is simply saying there is no difference between the two with God, because God doesn't reckon time as we reckon time. God is eternal.

[17:56] He dwells. He inhabits eternity, and time is of no consequence with Him. So, with God, a second is the same as a thousand years. Now, it certainly isn't to us, but it is to Him.

[18:09] So, I think that this is quite literal, and I believe that it is a thousand years, and we'll see this surface again. And He cast Him into the bottomless pit, and shut Him up, and set a seal upon Him.

[18:22] And this seal, of course, is a seal of, what shall I say, permanence, a seal that is inviolate, a seal that cannot be broken or tampered with, a seal that cannot be removed until one who has the authority and power to remove the seal and allow Him out is willing to do so, and that time is coming.

[18:50] And He cast Him into the bottomless pit, shut Him up, and set a seal upon Him that He should deceive the nations no more. One almost gets the impression that this was His principal objective, and I suspect that it was.

[19:08] Satan activates himself around the conference tables of the world. He is a deceiver of the nations. And we know just from what little information we have about foreign and international intrigue and the kind of things that go on between nations in spying on one another and the treachery that is often involved and the national backstabbing that goes on between nations.

[19:40] We know that this takes place. It is part of the human condition. And one who is a chief instigator in this is none other than Satan himself.

[19:53] And he is going to be taken out of commission so that he will not be able to fulfill his primary objective. And that is deceiving the nations.

[20:05] In other words, he is going to be neutralized. For a thousand years, Satan is going to be literally taken out of the game. He will not have any input, no influence at all.

[20:19] Because all he does is deceive. And that will be till notice that little word till the thousand years should be fulfilled.

[20:34] Now, I want you to understand what is taking place during this thousand years. First of all, at the tribulation period, at the conclusion of the tribulation, and I realize we're talking a lot of people here, but I cannot see any other way of interpreting this.

[20:55] What is going to occur at the conclusion of Armageddon is that every person that is opposed to God and has been a follower of the Antichrist, every one of them without exception is going to be eliminated.

[21:19] They are going to be purged from the world scene. This will be during and concluding the tribulation period. This is where the fowl of the air are called upon to gorge upon the carcasses of those remaining, and it is going to be carnage the likes of which you cannot imagine.

[21:41] And that is described in Revelation 19. We saw that in our last session. So, those who are entering this tribulation period will consist of two people, two kinds of people.

[21:54] First, there will be an innumerable company of redeemed believers with glorified bodies. These people will constitute the church, the body of Christ.

[22:10] They will consist of yourselves. They will consist of Martin Luther and all the believers who have died and gone to be with the Lord from the time of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, from the time of the establishment of the body of Christ.

[22:31] all of these people are going to be resurrected at the rapture. 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Corinthians 15, and be given glorified bodies.

[22:46] These will be supernatural, glorified bodies. They will be bodies fashioned like unto that of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to Philippians 3, I believe it is.

[22:57] and we will be removed from any capacity for sin or rebellion. A glorified body will be incapable of rebelling against the Lord.

[23:11] So, all of these people with glorified bodies are going to enter this millennial reign. And, all of those who became believers during the tribulation period, many of whom will be Jews, many of whom will be Gentiles, there will be huge numbers of people who will come to faith at the peril of their own lives during the tribulation period.

[23:46] They will not have received the mark of the beast. They will be believers. Many of them will be martyred for their faith. And, these perhaps are they who are referred to in Revelation chapter 6.

[24:01] John says, I saw the souls of those who have been beheaded for the witness and the testimony of Jesus under the altar, crying out to God, how long, O Lord, how long before you avenge the blood of those who have died for your cause?

[24:17] And, these will be entering, the tribulation will be entering the millennial reign, and they will not be in glorified bodies, they will be in bodies just like you and I have right now.

[24:35] And, what are they going to do? They are going to live, eat, breathe, function, and procreate. They are going to get married, they are going to have babies, there is going to be a lot of people, and they are going to be born during the millennial reign of Christ.

[24:53] Now, I realize that it is a rather difficult scene to imagine during this millennial reign of Christ, there is going to be huge numbers of redeemed saints with glorified bodies, ruling and reigning under the authority of Jesus Christ on the earth, alongside of a huge number, a burgeoning population that will be growing over a thousand year period of time, and it's going to produce a lot of people, and these people are going to reach an age of personal accountability where they will be called upon to make a decision for Jesus Christ being their Savior in the same way that you and I are, and a great many of them will, and a great many of them will not.

[25:51] They will live on for a long period of time during the millennium as unbelievers. Some of them will appear to be believers outwardly, but they won't be.

[26:03] Some will be obvious that they are not believers, so it is going to be a mixed bag. Everything isn't going to be perfect in the millennium. We tend to think everything is going to be perfect.

[26:15] Well, in a sense, it's going to be perfect for those who have glorified bodies, because, and I take great comfort in this, I won't be able to screw anything up. I'm looking forward to that. You just won't have the capacity to be as ornery and as difficult as we are now.

[26:31] So, it's going to be an entirely different kind of thing. So, let's move on now. That he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled.

[26:46] Well, then what? Then, he's going to be up to his old tricks again. And after that, he must be loosed a little season. And a very logical question to that is, why in the world would God do that?

[27:01] Why would he turn that scoundrel of scoundrels loose? He's got him incarcerated, and apparently God has the ability to incarcerate him.

[27:12] He certainly would have the ability to continue his incarceration. Why didn't he sentence him to life without the possibility of parole?

[27:23] But here he's going to be not only loosed, he's going to be turned loose. Why? Think about that. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.

[27:42] that means the ability, the right, the authority to judge, to make decisions, will be given to them. These, at least in part, are the twelve apostles, referred to in Matthew 19, and they refer also to you and to me.

[28:04] We don't know in what capacity we're going to serve as a judge, we don't know where we're going to serve, we don't know what our assignment will be, we don't know what it will involve, but we do know that the one who is dispensing the assignments will see to it that it is done perfectly, and everybody will be assigned for that area for which they are responsible.

[28:27] They sat upon these thrones, and judgment was given unto them. Goodspeed says, Then I saw thrones with beings seated on them, who were empowered to act as judges.

[28:42] And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God. I referred to these earlier, they are found in Revelation chapter 6.

[28:55] They are those under the altar whom John describes earlier. And neither had they received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

[29:10] Here we've got the same thousand years again. I take it that these are ten centuries not to be toned down or made into anything else other than a thousand years.

[29:25] And when you understand that part of what will be involved with this millennial reign of Christ will be, I am confident, the restoration of the primeval atmosphere of the earth prior to the fall.

[29:47] This was before there was rain upon the earth. When a mist went up from the ground to water the earth, there likely was this huge vapor canopy over all of the earth.

[29:59] And this vapor canopy served as climate control. There were no icebergs or anything of that kind, no ice caps. It provided a perfect climate control for the earth and a perfect degree of moisture.

[30:16] And it also provided a wonderful shield for radiation from the sun. Ultraviolet rays from the sun contribute to the wrinkles on your skin.

[30:31] and the aging process. Any dermatologist will tell you this business of hanging out tanning in the sun for hours at a time so you get that nice deep dark tan.

[30:44] You will pay a price when you hit your 40s and 50s for that. So it's advised against it. So all of that contributes to the aging process. And if this is restored, then that will not be the factor that it is now.

[30:59] And we will find longevity of life so that a child, one who dies at the age of 100, would be considered as a child. This harkens back to the time, primevaly, and before the flood, when people like Noah lived to be 969 years, and Adam was 930, and then it slowly starts to decrease until you get down to Abraham, I think he was 170 or 175 when he died, and it keeps going down, down, down, until you get to where it's about 70.

[31:37] And that's pretty close to where it is now. Well, this is going to be restored, and longevity of life will be returned to the earth, and that, of course, will dramatically increase the world population.

[31:52] if you take the number of people that are entering the millennium, and they are going to live to the kind of longevity that they did before the flood, during which much of that time they will be reproducing, you're talking about an enormous number of people, you're talking about several billions of people, maybe hundreds of billions, the number just absolutely escapes us.

[32:22] May I ask a question? Yes, certainly. Question? I'm confused. Is the millennium, the thousand-year reign, when the devil is incarcerated, does that mean there will be no sin on the earth at that time, and is that at the same time that Christ reigns with his people?

[32:44] And that's my understanding of what you said, but I'm just wondering if there's no sin during that time. Well, that's an assumption that we cannot make, though, Richard, because there will be sin during that time, and the reason there will be is because you're going to have a huge number of people who have the capacity and ability to rebel against God, and this is the reason why Christ is spoken of as ruling and reigning over the earth with a rod of iron.

[33:19] And the symbolism there is not only authority, but justice executed. A rod of iron. He's not going to be ruling with a willow stick.

[33:30] It's a rod of iron. And the impression that I get is that there will be throughout the earth, there will be pockets of rebellion and sin that will erupt, and it will be dealt with summarily, and it will be dealt with severely by those who are delegated to these positions.

[33:56] You see, ruling and reigning with Christ on the earth is going to entail real responsibility. This isn't going to be busy work.

[34:07] We're not just going to go around watering flowers. We are going to be administering the planet under his jurisdiction and direction. And I realize this is a difficult concept for us to absorb because we've never been here before.

[34:23] We just can't imagine what this is going to be like. But we're going to be delegated spheres of responsibility to carry out, and there are going to be punishments handed out, there are going to be judgments rendered and executed, and it's entirely possible that there will be capital punishment during this time.

[34:42] So this is not going to be a perfect environment even though Christ is going to be ruling and reigning. And this, by the way, is revealed very dramatically with the release of Satan from his incarceration for a thousand years.

[35:06] Because he is not rehabilitated, he is not reformed, he is up to his same old tricks, he is completely incorrigible, he is no sooner going to get out of this pit, and he's going to be looking for recruits.

[35:27] And he will be successful. He is going to use, I think, the same ploy that was used with Eve in the beginning when he deceived her.

[35:37] And essentially, essentially, Satan's message has always been the same. As it was to Eve, so it will be to these nations.

[35:49] So it was to Judas, so it will be to the Antichrist, whom he will empower. And his message is simply this, I know what God said, but I can get you a better deal.

[36:04] And they're going to buy it. Eve bought it, Judas bought it, and several buy it. Because they think they can get from him what they cannot get from God.

[36:17] And that has been the story of man's fall from the very beginning. What Satan's release is going to demonstrate is not only that he is incorrigible, but it is also going to indicate that man in his heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked who can know it.

[36:41] The hearts of those who do not have glorified bodies, they're going to be just like you and me. They are going to be subject to corruption, subject to influence, subject to rebellion against Christ, despite the fact that the earth has been turned into a virtual utopia, where there is peace throughout the earth, where there's no hurricanes, no floods, no tornadoes, no war.

[37:12] The most ideal conditions with Christ ruling and reigning in Jerusalem, over all the earth. One gets the impression that nobody is going to have a legitimate gripe.

[37:25] Things are going to be as they ought to be. But man will still have the capacity to be self-willed, self-serving, self-seeking, and that's going to play out also during the millennium.

[37:39] And Satan is going to recruit them. And he will be successful for a great many. We read that he will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog.

[37:55] This may be confused a little bit with Ezekiel 38 and 39 that talks about Gog and Magog. But I think what it is really saying in verse 8 is that Satan is going to go out, he will be loose from his prison, he is going to go out to deceive the nations that are upon the earth from one extremity to another.

[38:21] We would say all over the globe, well Lamza translates it, even to China and Mongolia. In other words it will be the extremities. There will not be any spot on the earth that has not been subjected to his influence and he is going to gather them together to battle.

[38:43] The number of whom is as the sand of the sea. I have no idea how many that is, but it's a bunch. When you take people with great longevity of life, living during this thousand year period, it would not be at all unusual for you, one of these individuals, not you because you will not be in that category, but for one of those individuals who does not have a glorified body, but is living in this millennial under these ideal conditions climactically, environmentally, health-wise, and everything.

[39:22] By the way, there won't be any noxious weeds or herbs, there won't be any poisons, there won't be any polluted water, everything will be healthful and beneficial and contribute to the longevity of life, there won't be any cancer, there won't be any heart disease, all of those things will be gone.

[39:40] So people are going to live and thrive and it will not be at all unusual for a man to be alive and have children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren and great-great-great-grandchildren and on and on because they will be multiplying like that.

[39:56] Can you conceive of how many people this is going to be for a thousand years? We can't think in those terms. I mean, we're talking about the kind of numbers that not even Congress uses.

[40:12] And he will gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea, and they, that is this great horde, went up on the breadth of the earth, encompassed the camp of the saints about and the beloved city.

[40:33] Now, they are going to battle, but there isn't going to be any battle. There is going to simply be a summary execution on the spot, and that will be the end of that.

[40:52] it will not be a conflict. There will not be barbs and bullets and arrows or anything else flying around. There will not be tanks or anything else maneuvering anywhere.

[41:04] It will simply be fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. it's kind of like in the Old Testament when Moses called down fire and this time it will be God himself and devoured them.

[41:28] And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are.

[41:41] we saw they were placed there in chapter 19. Joe do you have a comment or question? Question. Back up a little bit. God's people in the beloved city that's who are going to come around.

[41:53] Does that mean the Jews in Jerusalem? Oh yes. There's only one beloved city on the planet. That's Jerusalem. What about all the other people that have accepted the Lord during this period?

[42:04] Where are they at this time? Well the whole earth is going to be populated. And it is going to be centered in Jerusalem but the earth is going to be populated over the face of the globe.

[42:17] There are going to be people everywhere. It's just that this will be the capital. Jerusalem will be the capital of the world. The only sound is surrounding those people.

[42:28] What happens to all the other people and the rest of them? I don't know. They're going to be all scattered out but apparently all of those who have been recruited by Satan are going to in mass march if you will.

[42:42] This is going to be like a gigantic protest march where all of these people have been gathered from all over the world and are assigned to this spot at this time.

[42:54] And they are all coming together with the intent of overthrowing the establishment. That's going to be their goal. But of course it will be a no contest.

[43:04] John. Jerusalem is where Christ is going to be at. He's going to be ruling from Jerusalem. That's my understanding. Yes. Could that be the reason why they're coming against Jerusalem?

[43:18] Oh yeah. Absolutely. Because they're after Christ. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. That will be his headquarters and he will be there. And I don't want to really depart too much to go into this but David the king is going to be a vice regent during this time.

[43:37] And there are some exciting prophecies that indicate that. And David of course with other saints are going to be resurrected and he is going to fulfill a very important and key place as only David could.

[43:53] And of course Christ will be David's greater son. And then we continue where the beast and the false prophet are and by the way it doesn't indicate where the beast and the false prophet were.

[44:09] They are still there and they are still alive. And we don't know and I cannot begin to tell you how they are going to be in this kind of situation without being consumed.

[44:22] I don't understand that. I don't know that. But I do know the text says that they shall be tormented. That's subjected to intense or excruciating agony or pain.

[44:38] And this goes on day and night forever and ever. And we'll be talking about that a little later on. And I saw a great white throne. This is the throne before which no one wants to appear.

[44:54] there will not be any unbelievers who appear before the award throne of Christ, the Bema, the judgment seat of Christ.

[45:09] There will not be any unbelievers there. They will all be believers and they will receive reward or loss of reward depending on how they live their lives as believers.

[45:25] The award throne of Christ, the judgment seat of Christ is limited specifically to believers only. 1 Corinthians 3. However, the great white throne judgment is limited to unbelievers only.

[45:44] There will not be any Christians at the great white throne judgment. This is only for those who are not saved. And their salvation is or lack thereof is not determined at the great white throne.

[46:00] That's already settled. What they are there for is sentencing. That's their purpose for being before the great white throne is to receive their sentence.

[46:14] And we are told that the one who sat on the throne from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them.

[46:27] And John says and I saw. And many many times throughout the revelation we've seen this phrase haven't we? And I saw and I saw and I saw because way back at the beginning of the book where the spirit of God calls John up to heaven is to witness certain things which must come to pass on the earth and write that which thou sawst and that's what John is doing and that's why we have this book I saw the dead small and great that means the relative nobodies the John does and the somebodies the peons the servants the kings and the emperors and the presidents and the prime ministers from A to Z small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life that is everyone who possesses spiritual life in

[47:43] Christ will be written in this book your name is in this book it is not the book of the dead it's the book of life the book of the living but there will be names that are not in this book and they are those who are standing here before this one out of those things which were written in verse 12 I saw the dead and the books were opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works now I have no idea how this is going to be conducted I have no idea what the protocol is going to be I have no idea how long it is going to take I have no idea how this is going to be carried out but I can assure you that it is not too large a task for the almighty

[48:48] I suspect that it will be done very very efficiently and very fairly and the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works and death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death someone has said that everyone who has been born twice dies once everyone who has been born once dies twice and the second death is the death that separates a man from God this second death of course is the one to be avoided and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire well how long are they going to be there well if verse 10 is any indication it will be forever and ever and we have a lot of people today who have real difficulty with that because we have always been taught

[50:12] I think from our earliest childhood that whenever someone receives punishment for whatever the punishment should fit the crime in order to be just now I know I can recall being so angry with my teenage son over something he did I would say you are grounded until you're married well that's a little bit of overkill that's a frustrated parent speaking where the sentence outstrips the crime and we tend to think that there isn't any crime there isn't any deed so vile or so vicious as to constitute eternal punishment how can that be justified well let me just say this

[51:14] God is a God of infinite justice and I've often said that the dispensing of justice is the very least that the almighty can do God cannot do less anyone and everyone who ever lived in any age under any circumstances can be absolutely guaranteed that they will receive from God at the very minimum perfect justice whatever that is however while God cannot do less than dispense justice he can do more and we call that grace and God can bestow lavishly his grace upon those who are willing to receive it but for those who reject it and will not have it there is no recourse left to them but justice so in rejecting

[52:22] God's grace man opts for God's justice and justice means this justice means you get just exactly perfectly what you deserve and man will have no qualms about that because he will realize he is being treated completely just he'll have no comeback he'll have no complaint not only that but I want to caution you with this and this I think is a really important point when once we undergo the glorification of these bodies one additional thing well there will be a lot of additional things we're going to have but one of the most dramatic things we will have with a glorified body is a glorified mind and we are going to be given a new perspective on everything we are going to see everything with pure eyes that are able to evaluate and judge and understand and appreciate with fullness and completeness in a way that we've never been able to before in other words we are going to have

[53:47] God's perspective God's viewpoint on these things including justice and we will be able to say amen to the almighty in whatever he dispenses it will be absolutely perfectly just and equitable no one will have any complaints and there will be no appeals Richard could you just contrast the appointed and the man wants to die and then the judgment that judgment with this what will that judgment be well that's true of all of us that's true of all mankind so that's just a separation from the sinner and the believer at that time well the judgment the the the the the Hebrews 927 it is appointed in the man once to die and after this the judgment that's true for all believers and for those in Christ there will be the award throne of Christ where the awards will be granted or denied according to 1 Corinthians 3 and those who receive no reward because their works were wood hay and stubble yet will be saved yet so as by fire that will be our judgment but for those who are not believers it will be this judgment it will be the great white throne so there are these two judgments one for believers and one for unbelievers and neither will be in the others other comments or questions

[55:27] Mike at the great white throne judgment I get the feeling that everyone is going to be dispensed with and then the judgment takes place so essentially it's a spiritual judgment that takes place there there won't be any live bodies there will it?

[55:48] No well it will be a judgment that will consign these to eternity and what part their body will play in that I have no idea you're right it may be entirely spiritual I don't know but it will be permanent and what will follow this is what we'll see coming up in chapter 21 that gets into the new heavens and the new earth and we'll reserve that for the new year which seems kind of fitting so these will be summarily judged and well the point has been made that this lake of fire that exists here and I don't know some say is this a literal lake of fire I don't know I have no reason to doubt it yet these who are going to be there are going to have what kind of body

[56:52] I don't know what will keep them from being consumed or burned up you know annihilationism is a favorite topic today and there are some evangelicals who have even crossed over into that and they bought into the annihilationism thing and annihilationism simply says yes unbelievers are cast into hell and they are destroyed there they are burned up they are completely destroyed so that they have no existence no memory no anything they are in the same state they were in before they were conceived which is non-existent and that's what their end will be and they have opted for that because they simply cannot conceive of a lake of fire where anybody is going to be for eternity and we say eternity is a long long time no it isn't eternity is not a long time and it isn't a short time eternity is timeless it is a state of being rather than how long they are there so you're not talking in terms of weeks months or even a thousand years you're talking in terms of a non-existence of time and there will be a non-existence of time in the eternal state as well any other comments or questions yes yeah well it well the impression that we get is let's see here we are not told no we are simply not told that he recruits everybody we are not told that everyone follows him but there obviously is a very large number that do and there may be an equally large number that won't

[59:04] I don't know we just aren't told that we are told that he does enjoy a considerable success in his recruiting but it would be wrong I think to read into it that he succeeds in recruiting everybody because I don't think that will be the case there will be those who will understand the truth and they will not comply and they will not fall into step with him they will remain true to the Lord any other comments or questions I think I was confused on verse 8 there it says and shall go out to deceive the nations and when the thousand years are expired Satan shall be moved out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle the number of whom it has to stand in the sea I'm not sure about I mean all of a sudden

[60:05] Gog and Magog are in there what am I just not reading it so I don't get it but for my point of you to leave Gog and Magog out and the whole thing would make sense well I think Gog and Magog is simply an expression for describing the extremities of his influence one translation who is it as Lambs' translation says even to China and Mongolia and this could be the expression of Gog and Magog it means from one extreme of the earth to the other it means cover the globe it isn't a localized thing he is recruiting from all over the world and all over the world will respond but that doesn't mean everybody will respond there are other places in Revelation I thought it had kind of been described that Gog was actually a person and Magog was the place yeah well Ezekiel 38 and 39 that's that's very likely the case but these are these are two terms

[61:14] Gog and Magog over which some anisists have argued for a long long time and I don't claim to have a handle on the precise identity of these two entities some are convinced that Magog is Russia in the Old Testament and Ezekiel and they may be right I don't know the jury is still out on that I'm just not at all clear on the Gog and Magog thing but I think the context here is indicating all over the earth from one extremity of the globe to the other any other thoughts or comments feel free anybody Mike it's hard to imagine that all of these folks are going to be deceived by Satan when they are completely happy the way things are and yet they're still going to you're right that is that seems extremely puzzling to us Joe some people have all the money in the world some of these stars basketball players

[62:20] Pete Rose for example had everything he was happy he could have what he wanted to but yet he did sinful things and everybody is like that I think that's the answer it doesn't matter what you have and how good you got it you're right and it speaks of the corruptibility of human nature it's not good enough for your that's very typical and that verse in Jeremiah 17 9 is one of the most powerful verses in all of the Bible and it really describes the condition of man and man hates it hates it with a passion the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it well speak for yourself Jack maybe yours is but mine isn't oh yes it is too your heart can deceive you you can sell yourself a bill of goods don't tell me I've done it I've done it we can we can we can justify just about anything we want to when it comes right down to it the human heart is capable of that we are corruptible beings we are subject to corruption we don't like to think of it that way and you're right they're living in an idyllic kind of place there won't be any unemployment there won't be any starvation there won't be any homelessness

[63:45] I mean things will be virtually as good as they can be and yet Satan is going to say I can still top that I can still get you a better deal yes Richard I know from experience that when you are thought to be terminally ill you draw closer to God and so we pray and we want to be healed and we want this hurt to be taken out of our lives and as soon as God answers that prayer we start directing my point is you cannot be totally interruptible how soon we forget God is putting you in fire all the time I tell you I don't trust me if you trust you I feel sorry for you you got a big problem you got a big problem and self deception self deception is the most injurious kind that there is and we're all capable of that we're all subject to that any other thoughts or comments so as to why

[65:02] God would even consider releasing Satan he's proving two things demonstrating two things one is Satan is incorrigible he is not reformed he is the same as he always was and so is the heart of unregenerate man he doesn't need Satan in order to do wrong because here he's taken out of the picture for a thousand years and we're still going to have people with corruptible hearts and subject to this kind of influence it's remarkable it is a sad story about man but it's a glorious story about God the creator and we wonder about how sin came into the world you know God said we do it because we're have our own enticement it's not because any what Satan did necessarily but our own self that's hard to understand yeah you're right and

[66:06] I'll leave you with this thought in in Revelation 4 and in my estimation this is this is the only satisfactory answer that can be given not only as to why God would release Satan after he's being bound for a thousand years but why would God create Lucifer when he knew what he was going to become why would God create Adam and Eve when he knew what they were going to do and plunge the whole world and all of their descendants into a state of fallenness and sin that we experience today why would God be willing to do that and the only answer I think that can be found in all of scripture is what the four and twenty elders say in verse eleven of revelation four worthy art thou our

[67:10] Lord and our God to receive glory and honor and power for thou didst create all things and because of thy will they existed and were created the King James says and because of thy pleasure or thy good pleasure they were created and the only reason that anything exists today the only reason there is something rather than nothing is because it pleased God to create that's all the reason we're given he knew exactly what was going to ensue he knew exactly who was going to do what when nobody has ever thrown the almighty a curve nobody has ever surprised him he knew exactly what was going to transpire he knew there was going to be with creation a fall he knew there was going to be redemption he knew there was going to be rebellion and it pleased him and you know being the almighty the creator sustainer maker of everything he doesn't really need any other reason other than it pleased him to do so and that's where we need to leave it yes

[68:35] I think it would be similar to why did he give man free will yeah it's the same answer sure why did he give man free will absolutely and of course some would deny that man has free will that's another argument but I think the scriptures make it quite clear that we do and that becomes our basis for judgment and evaluation the basis for accountability is rooted in the fact that we are a free moral agent because if we aren't then we're not accountable but we are accountable because we are a free moral agent so let's have a word prayer father there is much that we have discussed that we fail to really grasp and understand but we see enough superficially we see enough there on the surface to know that our praise and our honor needs to be directed solely to you and that we have no position that we can justly claim other than being one of submission at your blessed throne being available and willing for whatever you bring into our lives and to be able to carry it out with joy and with confidence knowing that you the gracious

[69:53]  God are behind all of these things we marvel at your wisdom and your power and your glory and we joyfully submit to it and at this season of the year in particular when so much focuses upon the person of your son the Lord Jesus we are especially grateful we bless you and thank you for it in Christ's name amen