The Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ
(And the Sinful Human Heart Which Rejects It)
Revelation 20:1-10
May 21, 2017
Isaac Watts wrote:
“Joy to the world! The Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, And heaven and nature sing,
Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns; Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy,
No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found,
He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,”
That song is generally sung at Christmas, but the reality is that
It has very little to do with the first coming of Christ.
That song is a second coming song.
• It speaks of the day immediately following Christ’s glorious return.
• For after the day when He returns and crushes the enemy
• He then begins to reign upon the earth.
That is the day we look at this morning.
It is called THE MILLENNIUM – The 1,000 year reign of Christ.
This reality was clearly promised in the Old Testament.
TURN TO: Isaiah 11:1-9
A King who will rule in absolute justice and righteousness
And the world will most certainly benefit from it.
The New Testament also speaks of this Millennial Reign.
At the announcement of Christ’s first coming:
Luke 1:31-33 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
Or Listen to Jesus:
Matthew 19:28 “And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Or even Peter when preaching to the Jews in Jerusalem.
Acts 3:19-21 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”
We are talking about a glorious time known as the Millennium.
Also called “the regeneration” also called “the time of refreshing”
Also called “the period of restoration”
It is that glorious time when Christ reigns upon the earth.
• It will a time when corruption and injustice ceases.
• It will be a time when longevity of life is restored
• It will be a time when peace dwells on the earth
• It will be life as we long for it to be and Jesus will be in charge
However, we must concede that this glorious time of blessing
Is better described by the Old Testament prophets than it is here.
(Isaiah 9; Isaiah 35; Isaiah 65)
Clearly the point of Revelation 20 is not to describe
All the blessings of a world where Christ is King.
SO WHAT IS THE POINT OF REVELATION 20?
I’m sorry to tell you, but the point of Revelation 20 is the wretchedness of man and how much he deserves the judgment that is coming.
If you’ll notice, Revelation 20 ends with the Great White Throne Judgment.
That is where we are headed.
The first part of the chapter is setting the stage
To reveal just how just God is in carrying out that judgment.
This morning we are going to learn a very discouraging fact about man,
And that fact is that he deserves judgment,
Not because he has been a victim of unfortunate surroundings,
But because rebellion is in his heart.
Let me show you. 4 things:
#1 THE RETAINING OF SATAN
Revelation 20:1-3
Here we see the time period begin with the arrest and incarceration
Of the great enemy of God and of the world.
A warrant is clearly issued and John “saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of hold, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him”
This event makes up half of the reason that the Millennium is so great.
Certainly the main reason is that Christ reigns as a righteous King,
But almost equally important is the reality that the enemy is incarcerated.
Right now, Satan throws monkey wrenches into everything.
As we will see in a moment, one of his names is Satan,
Which is a Hebrew word meaning “adversary.”
He just opposes everything God does.
When Jesus spoke of Himself:
John 5:19 “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”
Satan is just the opposite.
Whatever he sees the Father doing, he opposes.
He is the enemy of the Church.
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
And he is the binder of the unbelieving.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
In short, Satan makes things extremely difficult on this earth.
BUT DURING THE MILLENNIUM:
Satan will be retained.
He is captured, He is bound, and He is thrown into prison for 1,000 years.
And if you are interested in the charges against him, here they are.
Is crime is found in his name:
• “dragon” – speaks of his cruel brutality.
• “serpent of old” – the deceiver responsible for the fall.
• “devil” – the slanderer who is the accuser of the brethren.
• “satan” – the adversary of God.
Satan is being arrested for, Brutality, Deception,
Perjury, and Insubordination.
And his initial sentence is immediately carried out.
(3) “and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him,”
YOU ARE AWARE OF THE ABYSS.
It is a maximum security spiritual prison.
• There were demons cast there in the days of Noah that never have been able to escape.
• We also saw some demons in Revelation 9 which were set loose for a time under the blowing of that 5th trumpet.
It is an awful place.
In fact, demons feared it.
Luke 8:30-31 “And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.”
And Satan will dwell there for the next 1,000 years.
And the reason he is imprisoned is: SO THAT HE WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO COMMIT HIS CRIMES.
“so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed;
Jesus told us of the devil:
John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
He is the great deceiver of the world, and now he is taken out of play.
He is chained, he is imprisoned, and he is punished.
Without his deceptive force at work on the earth,
Truth is now proclaimed unchallenged.
SO THERE IS ONE MAJOR EXCUSE OF MAN ELIMINATED.
No sooner did Adam sin in the garden
Then was it immediately traced back to Satan.
“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Well, God is taking the serpent out of the way.
If you sin in the Millennium you won’t be able to blame it on the temptation of the devil, he would be around, he’ll be in prison.
Now, curious at this point is the statement at the end of verse 3.
“after these things he must be released for a short time.”
Does that sound strange to anyone else?
I suppose one could say, “Well he must be released so he can be eternally cast into the lake of fire.” And that would be true.
So let’s ask it a different way.
Why then was he just bound and not thrown into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet were already thrown?
That is interesting, is it not?
Why was he only bound and why must he “be released”?
The answer, as you will see more fully in a moment,
Is because Satan still has a part to play
In God’s full plan of redemption, judgment, and glory.
We see the Retaining of Satan
#2 THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS
Revelation 20:4-6
“Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them.”
WHO IS “THEY”?
OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Daniel 7:27 “Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.”
APOSTLES
Matthew 19:28 “And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
THE CHURCH
1 Corinthians 6:2 “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts?”
Revelation 2:26 “He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS;”
Revelation 3:21 “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
But then John even adds to the group.
(4) “And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
Also joining the ranks of those who reign with Christ
Are those who were saved out of the great tribulation.
Now you certainly notice that not everyone receives this honor.
(5) “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.”
Not everyone gets to participate in this glorious earth, which is run by Christ.
• Only the redeemed are allowed to dwell here.
• Only those who were saved and made righteous by Christ.
And of course this leads to a beatitude of sorts:
(6) “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”
There’s a life goal for you…to be a part of the Millennial Reign of Christ.
And you see here TWO MAIN BENEFITS of being a part of this great day.
THE FIRST is that “over these the second death has no power.”
What is the second death?
Revelation 20:14 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”
So, all those who are called to life in the Millennium
Get to escape the judgment of eternal hell. I’d say that’s a good thing.
THE SECOND is that “they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”
That is called close proximity to God and Christ.
So it is clearly a blessing to a part of this.
I suppose the next question would be:
HOW DO YOU GET TO BE A PART OF IT?
• Well the clues are all throughout these verses.
• Why were these “beheaded” in the first place?
“because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand”
These people were sold out followers of Christ.
They didn’t love anything more than Christ, not even their own lives.
• Loss of worldly comfort couldn’t turn them away from Christ.
• Loss of worldly necessity (like food) could not turn them away from Christ.
• The threat of earthly persecution could not turn them away from Christ.
• Even being “beheaded” could not turn them away.
If you want to enter the Millennium then you must be a sold out follower of Christ.
NOW, WITH THIS COMES THE SECOND EXCUSE OF MAN REMOVED.
The only people who enter the Millennium are believers.
No one else gets to start this thing but the sold out followers of Jesus.
Do you see that?
So, during this Millennium it begins like this:
• A perfect holy and just King ruling the world.
• A world also ruled by His holy saints.
• The great deceiver is in prison and no longer allowed to deceive.
THIS IS THE GARDEN OF EDEN,
IF GOD HAD NOT ALLOWED SATAN TO ENTER.
People ask all the time (as sort of a way to accuse God),
Why did God have to let Satan in the garden?
It’s almost as if to try and blame the fall of man on God.
You know, if God hadn’t allowed Satan in the garden,
Then none of this would have happened.
That’s an interesting proposition, let’s see if it’s true.
• Because here we have 1,000 year time period with holiest King the world has ever known ruling a paradise earth and the enemy is in fact bound.
• No lost people get to enter this thing when it starts, the entire population at its beginning is 100% sold out followers of Christ.
• That is about as an advantageous start as one could have…agreed?
Let’s See what happens.
The Retaining of Satan, The Reigning of Saints
#3 THE REVELATION OF SINNERS
Revelation 20:7-8
Well, we read that Satan “must be released”
Now we see what he does when that occurs.
He wastes absolutely no time in leading a rebellion against God.
And the Bible says that when Satan gathers those willing to participate in the rebellion, “the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.”
WAIT! WHAT?
In just 1,000 years’ time, we have this many people willing to not only disobey Christ, but even willing to march against Him?
THIS IS AN INUMERABLE ARMY OF MEN
WHO WOULD ONCE AGAIN CRUCIFY CHRIST
Are you picking up on the problem?
This isn’t just a few people, this is an enormous amount of people
Who have decided to reject the authority of Christ,
Despite His righteous rule and His paradise earth.
WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?
• Obviously Satan made them do it! (Nope, Satan was in prison)
• Well then they were corrupted by their culture! (Umm, the culture was righteous)
• Well then it was sinners who corrupted them! (But, so sinners entered at the start)
WHERE DID THIS REBELLION COME FROM?
There is only one place it could have come from
THE HEART OF MAN.
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”
Your heart is what is evil.
That fall in the garden was coming with or without Satan,
All God used Satan for, is the same thing He uses him for here,
And that is to expose just how rebellious man is.
The sin of man is not a result of his culture,
It is a result of his wicked heart.
And even in the most advantageous conditions man still finds sin.
John MacArthur notes:
“The issue regarding lack of salvation is never a lack of information (Romans 1:18-20) it is love of sin (John 3:19).”
Even in the millennium men will love their sin too much
To let go of it and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
AND SATAN RALLIES THE TROOPS.
What we see then is that this final judgment
That is coming in the next 5 verses were God is going to sit on His great white throne and cast millions upon millions in the fiery hell…
HE IS ABSOLUTELY JUST TO DO SO.
What more should the Creator have to do for the creature?
• He created him
• He placed him in a pure environment
• He gave him everything he could possible need
And still the creature defied the Creator
God is just in His judgments.
That is what John is making sure you see.
The Retaining of Satan, The Reign of the Saints, The Revelation of Sinners
#4 THE RETRIBUTION OF GOD
Revelation 20:9-10
Here we are again reminded that rebellion against God is also pointless.
Once again, the battle isn’t even fierce.
Never is there a sword drawn, never is the end in doubt.
“fire came down from heaven and devoured them.”
And then the end came for Satan.
He was cast into the lake of fire.
DON’T MESS WITH GOD
Again, this wasn’t even a battle.
God judged sinners into death,
He will soon resurrect them for the second death which is the lake of fire.
At this point God no longer has use of Satan,
And so Satan is also cast “into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
There’s you a theology on hell.
Did you notice what was said about the beast and false prophet 1,000 years later?
• Where they “are”.
• Not where they “were”
1,000 years later they are still there. There is no annihilationism reality here.
Hell is absolutely eternal and it is filled with torment.
And what we have learned is that
God is absolutely just in throwing men there
Because they have defied Him.
And when we study things like this,
I find it so important to make sure that everyone understands
That we are not the Creator, we are the creature.
We were made by One who is higher and holier than we are,
And the sole purpose of our existence is to please Him.
AND THIS IS PRETTY FITTING ON A DAY WHEN
WE HONOR OUR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES.
And I am very happy to do that. Graduating from High School is a good thing.
Getting an education and going to work and making a living
Those are all good things.
BUT THEY ARE EMPTY THINGS
IF YOU DON’T KNOW THE PURPOSE FOR WHY YOU WERE CREATED.
The writer of Ecclesiastes has some great wisdom in this matter.
I want to show you some of the things he says
To the young man to whom he is writing.
• Certainly he writes about the futility of seeking happiness through money or fame or comfort or relationships.
• We are all aware of his “meaningless” statements.
But he also writes about the basic good things in life
Which we should enjoy.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-19 “Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.”
• There is nothing wrong with working hard and earning a paycheck and eating as a result. That is a good thing.
Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 “Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.”
• I mean certainly it’s a good thing to work and eat and be happy and get married and enjoy your life with your spouse. Certainly that’s a good thing.
But in all the things there is something you must always consider.
It is the last statement of the book and the writer’s main point.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
You can go out and take the world by the tale and enjoy life to the fullest,
But if you do that without giving mind to what pleases the God who created you then you are the biggest of fools.
For one day the God who created you
Is going to demand that you give an answer for how you lived.
In fact, earlier the writer made a very fitting statement.
It ought to be read to every graduate who ever steps out into the world.
Ecclesiastes 11:9 “Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.”
• He’s not saying you can’t enjoy your life.
• He’s just saying you had better be mindful that this life is not all there is.
There is a judgment coming, and for those who follow the lusts of their heart instead of the commands of their Creator,
There will be a judgment to pay.
And as we have learned this morning, that judgment is just.
God created man in His image and despite all the benefits that God has given him, man still insists upon rebelling against God and doing things his own way.
And this morning, sadly, we find that
Even without Satan man would still do it.
James said it best
James 1:13-15 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”
Even in the midst of the most perfect world imaginable
Man still rebels because of the sin of his heart.
WHAT DO WE NEED?
• We need to have our heart changed.
• We need to be regenerated.
Jesus said it like this to Nicodemus.
John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
And this is what Jesus offers.
He doesn’t offer just a 12 step process to tweak your life.
Jesus offers you new life.
He doesn’t just offer a pace maker to keep your heart in step.
He offers a new heart.
He offers to take what is most offensive about you
And replace it with something that will love God totally.
It is called Regeneration.
And apart from that, no man has a chance,
Regardless of their privileged circumstances.
I want to encourage you, that
• If God has revealed to you that you have a need to be made new by Him.
• If you have been shown that your heart is sinful and lusts for the things of this world…
• If God has revealed your sin and exposed your guilt…
Then I want to encourage you to call on Jesus
Who has promised that all who call on Him will be saved.
He won’t just forgive you, He’ll give you a new heart.
He’ll remove the heart
That will be rebellious regardless of good circumstances.
And He’ll give you a heart
That will be faithful regardless of bad circumstances.
SO THAT WE CAN HONOR GOD AS WAS INTENDED.
This, above all else, is what we need.
