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Voddie Baucham - When is the Millennium · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: If you have your Bibles with you this morning, open
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: them to Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20. We'll concentrate
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: today on those first three verses in Revelation 20. But
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: today I want us to read the chapter to get
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: a feel for where we're going over the next few
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: weeks and to get a sense of what's being communicated
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: on the whole in this section of Scripture so that
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: we can have a grasp on what's happening in these
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: first three verses. The first three verses that we're dealing
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: with this morning have been referred to as among the
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  Speaker 1: most difficult in Revelation, which is quite amazing since the
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  Speaker 1: whole book is among the most difficult in the whole Bible.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: But there is hope for us. God has not left
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  Speaker 1: us in the dark. And if we apply the same
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  Speaker 1: principles that we've been applying to the rest of this book,
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  Speaker 1: it will become clear what we're dealing with here in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 20. And we read, Then I saw an angel
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  Speaker 1: coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key
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  Speaker 1: to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he
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  Speaker 1: seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil
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  Speaker 1: and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years and
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  Speaker 1: threw him into the pit and shut it and sealed
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  Speaker 1: it over him so that he might not deceive the
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  Speaker 1: nations any longer until the thousand years were ended. After that,
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  Speaker 1: He must be released for a little while. Then I
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  Speaker 1: saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom
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  Speaker 1: the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the
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  Speaker 1: souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus and for the word of God, and those
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  Speaker 1: who had not worshipped the beast or its image and
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  Speaker 1: had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.
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  Speaker 1: They came to life and reigned with Christ for a
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  Speaker 1: thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come
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  Speaker 1: to life until the thousand years were ended. This is
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  Speaker 1: the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who
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  Speaker 1: shares in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death
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  Speaker 1: has no power, but they will be priests of God
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  Speaker 1: and of Christ forever. and they will reign with him
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  Speaker 1: for a thousand years. And when the thousand years are ended,
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  Speaker 1: Satan will be released from his prison and will come
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  Speaker 1: out to deceive the nations that are at the four
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  Speaker 1: corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them
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  Speaker 1: for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea.
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  Speaker 1: And they marched up over the broad plain of the
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  Speaker 1: earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the
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  Speaker 1: beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
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  Speaker 1: And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into
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  Speaker 1: the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and
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  Speaker 1: the false prophet were. And they will be tormented day
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  Speaker 1: and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great
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  Speaker 1: white throne and him who was seated on it. From
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  Speaker 1: his presence, earth and sky fled away and no place
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  Speaker 1: was found for them. And I saw the dead, great
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  Speaker 1: and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened.
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  Speaker 1: Then another book was opened, which is the book of life.
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  Speaker 1: And the dead were judged by what was written in
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  Speaker 1: the books according to what they had done. And the
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  Speaker 1: sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death
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  Speaker 1: and Hades gave up the dead who were in them.
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  Speaker 1: And they were judged, each one of them, according to
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  Speaker 1: what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown
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  Speaker 1: into the lake of fire. This is the second death,
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  Speaker 1: the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not
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  Speaker 1: found written in the book of life, he was thrown
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  Speaker 1: into the lake of fire. Revelation chapter 20 poses many difficulties,
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  Speaker 1: not least of which is its placement. its placement after
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  Speaker 1: Revelation 19 can make it a bit confusing, since in
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  Speaker 1: Revelation 19, we seem to have had an end of
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  Speaker 1: all things and an end of judgment. But we've seen
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  Speaker 1: this before, have we not? Where we see the culmination
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  Speaker 1: of God's righteous judgment and then a recapitulation, if you will,
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  Speaker 1: or a retelling of this picture of God's righteous judgment.
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  Speaker 1: Here in chapter 20, I believe we have another such recapitulation,
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  Speaker 1: another retelling of God's righteous judgment, but from a different perspective.
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  Speaker 1: And so, as we see these four vignettes in Revelation
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  Speaker 1: chapter 20, we see a picture of what God is
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  Speaker 1: doing and how God is judging us and how God
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  Speaker 1: will judge the world in finality. But the picture here
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  Speaker 1: becomes more specific as we see how he deals with
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  Speaker 1: Satan himself and what the ultimate end of Satan, the
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  Speaker 1: unholy trinity, and those who accept the mark looks like. Today,
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  Speaker 1: what we deal with is those first three verses. And
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  Speaker 1: in those first three verses, we're introduced to perhaps the
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  Speaker 1: most controversial idea in Christianity, the idea of the millennium,
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  Speaker 1: the millennial reign of Christ. We'll find it very interesting
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  Speaker 1: for a number of reasons, not least of which is
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  Speaker 1: you won't see any of the specificity here with which
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  Speaker 1: people talk about the millennial reign of Christ. None of it.
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  Speaker 1: It's just not here. This idea of the thousand years
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  Speaker 1: and what's happening during that thousand years, not very specific
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  Speaker 1: at all. It's just mentioned in a sort of matter-of-fact way.
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  Speaker 1: But we'll look at it here and make some observations.
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  Speaker 1: Look at those first three verses again. Then I saw
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  Speaker 1: an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand
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  Speaker 1: the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
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  Speaker 1: And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is
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  Speaker 1: the devil, and Satan, and bound him for a thousand
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  Speaker 1: years and threw him into the pit and shut it
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  Speaker 1: and sealed it over him so that he might not
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  Speaker 1: deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended.
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  Speaker 1: After that, he must be released for a little while.
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  Speaker 1: I want to introduce this idea. There'll be more said
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  Speaker 1: about it next week, but I want to introduce this idea.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, let's understand. This is not the gospel,
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  Speaker 1: but in other words, there are respected scholars who hold
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  Speaker 1: each of the various eschatological positions concerning the millennium that
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  Speaker 1: we've discussed up to this point and we'll discuss today.
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  Speaker 1: And they are respected scholars. Our confession, like all the confessions,
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  Speaker 1: leaves room for disagreement here. Our confession doesn't say, here's
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  Speaker 1: the particular millennial view that you must hold. No confession
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  Speaker 1: does that, because we recognize that there are differing views. Nevertheless,
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  Speaker 1: there is a new test of eschatological orthodoxy that has
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  Speaker 1: arisen in recent days. As we've said throughout our time
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  Speaker 1: in Revelation, dispensational premillennialism dominates the current landscape. It is
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  Speaker 1: assumed by most Christians that that's the way you view
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  Speaker 1: the end times. This has risen in popularity because of
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  Speaker 1: a number of things, not least of which are these.
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  Speaker 1: The Scofield Study Bible, which was the earliest of the
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  Speaker 1: study Bibles with study notes, and it was written from
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  Speaker 1: a dispensational premillennial perspective. So people now had a study
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  Speaker 1: Bible that was telling them what these things meant, and
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  Speaker 1: this study Bible was from that perspective. The rise of
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  Speaker 1: Dallas Theological Seminary, which has produced numerous scholars, and the
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  Speaker 1: difference is that Dallas Seminary, unlike most seminaries over the years,
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  Speaker 1: has been very specific in and particular as to what
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  Speaker 1: is appropriate eschatology. And they have been unwavering in promoting
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  Speaker 1: the idea of dispensational premillennialism. The Bible college movement, which
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  Speaker 1: accompanied Dallas Seminary, but moved down into the college level
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  Speaker 1: to teach from a same perspective. The Zionist movement, which
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  Speaker 1: connected these things with Israel. And also popular literature. like
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  Speaker 1: the late great planet Earth. Anybody who's eating hands out there,
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  Speaker 1: late great planet Earth, or I won't say who it was,
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  Speaker 1: who just sheepishly put their hand up in the back
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  Speaker 1: like this, like the late great planet Earth, or the
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  Speaker 1: Runaway hit series, Left Behind, which was only supposed to
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  Speaker 1: be a couple of books long, but it was so huge.
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  Speaker 1: It was ginormous. So they just kept producing book after
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  Speaker 1: book after book in this series that was only supposed
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  Speaker 1: to be, I believe it was supposed to be maybe
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  Speaker 1: three books in the series. And because of that, people
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  Speaker 1: have set in their minds a particular understanding of the
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  Speaker 1: end times. My first ministry position, I faced this. I
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  Speaker 1: did not have a sort of set in stone vision
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  Speaker 1: eschatological position and was really overwhelmed by all of it.
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  Speaker 1: I was a new seminarian in my first year in
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  Speaker 1: seminary and I was going to interview for this particular
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  Speaker 1: job and I understood when I sat in that interview
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  Speaker 1: that there was room for disagreement on philosophy of ministry.
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  Speaker 1: I could have a different philosophy of ministry when I
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  Speaker 1: was in that interview. I knew that. I had talked
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  Speaker 1: to people about that. I knew that there was room
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  Speaker 1: for disagreement on spiritual gifts. I knew that, that this
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  Speaker 1: church had a particular position on spiritual gifts and I
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  Speaker 1: didn't have to hold to that position on spiritual gifts.
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  Speaker 1: There was room for disagreement on the role of women
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  Speaker 1: in ministry. I knew that. The church that I had
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  Speaker 1: come from before I went to seminary in Fort Worth
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  Speaker 1: had a different position than this particular church that I
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  Speaker 1: was interviewing with. That wasn't going to be a deal breaker.
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  Speaker 1: It wasn't a big deal. However, there was no room
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  Speaker 1: for disagreement on eschatology. If I sat in that interview
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  Speaker 1: and said that I held to anything other than dispensational premillennialism,
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  Speaker 1: and a pre-tribulation rapture, I would not have gotten that position. Period.
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  Speaker 1: All those other things were negotiable. This one was not.
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  Speaker 1: Nor is this my experience alone. Listen to this from
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  Speaker 1: Kim Riddlebarger. He writes, another problem encountered when examining this
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  Speaker 1: subject is that discussions of it often generate a great
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  Speaker 1: deal of heat, but not very much light. One local
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  Speaker 1: prophecy pundit has quipped that the people in heaven with
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  Speaker 1: the lowest IQs will be amillennial. Hal, late great Lindsay,
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  Speaker 1: goes so far as to label amillennialism as anti-Semitic, demonic,
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  Speaker 1: and heretical. It is not uncommon to hear prophecy teachers
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  Speaker 1: label amillennial Christians as liberal or accuse them of not
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  Speaker 1: taking the Bible literally. Sam Storms, a graduate of Dallas Seminary,
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  Speaker 1: who moved gradually away from the dispensational premillennialism that he
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  Speaker 1: was taught, the first thing that went for him was
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  Speaker 1: the idea of a pre-trib rapture. He just couldn't hold
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  Speaker 1: it together, even before he left seminary. And then the
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  Speaker 1: rest of it sort of caved, and he talks about
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  Speaker 1: his experience in this regard. He says, it wasn't long
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  Speaker 1: before Ladd, Hoikema, and Gundry together with a few others,
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  Speaker 1: had persuaded me that there is no basis in Scripture
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  Speaker 1: for pre-tribulational rapture of the church. That was, in the
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  Speaker 1: eyes of many, bad enough. Indeed, I distinctly recall the horror,
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  Speaker 1: trust me, horror is by no means an exaggerated term
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  Speaker 1: to describe the reaction I received, in my church when
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  Speaker 1: I made it known that I could no longer embrace
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  Speaker 1: pre-tribulational rapture. More than a few were convinced that that
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  Speaker 1: I was well on my way into theological liberalism. But
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  Speaker 1: when in the early 1980s I abandoned premillennialism in all
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  Speaker 1: its forms, public reaction was such that you would have
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  Speaker 1: sworn I had committed the unpardonable sin. I'm not suggesting
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  Speaker 1: that all or even the majority of dispensational premillennialists feel
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  Speaker 1: this way today. I hope and pray that few do.
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  Speaker 1: But the atmosphere in the 1970s and 1980s and again,
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  Speaker 1: my experience was in the 1990s, was something less than
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  Speaker 1: amicable for those who departed from the accepted eschatological faith.
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  Speaker 1: So while I say to you, this is not an
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  Speaker 1: issue central to our understanding of the gospel, know that
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  Speaker 1: this is an issue of importance. of more importance to
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  Speaker 1: some than to others. Nor do I argue that it
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  Speaker 1: shouldn't be held as something that is very important. This
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  Speaker 1: will say much about the way you read the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: as a whole. It'll say much about the way you
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  Speaker 1: view the Great Commission. It'll say much about the way
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  Speaker 1: that you view geopolitics. It will influence the way you
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  Speaker 1: view culture. And it will influence the way that you
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  Speaker 1: view the future. So it is of consequence. So as
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  Speaker 1: we look at this, keep those two things in mind. One,
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  Speaker 1: we're not talking about something that is central or cardinal doctrine.
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  Speaker 1: But two, we are talking about something with a great
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  Speaker 1: deal of significance to all of us as believers. There
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  Speaker 1: are several issues we need to address. Number one, the
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  Speaker 1: issue of where we are. In chapter 20, one of
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  Speaker 1: the questions that determines the way we read these first
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  Speaker 1: several verses and determines the way we understand the idea
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  Speaker 1: of the millennial reign of Christ is the question of
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  Speaker 1: where we are. Remember these seven visions. I'll recap them again.
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  Speaker 1: Vision number one, the church on earth. That's chapter one,
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  Speaker 1: verse nine through 322. Vision 2, God's throne and the
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  Speaker 1: seven seals, 4-1 through 8-1. Vision 3, the seven trumpets,
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  Speaker 1: 8-2 to 11-19. Vision 4, there's an interlude, warfare and salvation,
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  Speaker 1: 12-1 to 14-20. Vision 5, the seven bowls of judgment,
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  Speaker 1: 15-1 to 16-21. Vision 6, we just finished, the victory
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  Speaker 1: of Christ, that's 17-1 to 19-21. And then vision seven,
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  Speaker 1: the new heavens and the new earth, 20 and 1
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  Speaker 1: through 22, 5. We're in that seventh vision. We're in
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  Speaker 1: that retelling. So the idea here is that in Revelation
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  Speaker 1: 17 to 18, we see the destruction of Babylon the Great.
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  Speaker 1: In Revelation 19, we see the fate of the beast
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  Speaker 1: and the false prophet. And then in Revelation 20, we
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  Speaker 1: see the fate of the dragon and the consummation of
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  Speaker 1: all things before we see the new heavens and the
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  Speaker 1: new earth. So we need to understand that this is
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  Speaker 1: another one of those recapitulations. That chapter 20 doesn't follow
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  Speaker 1: chapter 19 chronologically. That's not what John is doing. Chapter
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  Speaker 1: 20 reintroduces the idea of the chronology of God's judgment
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  Speaker 1: of the world. We're starting again, kind of like we
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  Speaker 1: did chapter 6 into chapter 7, if you remember that.
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  Speaker 1: Who can stand? Remember that the world has been judged
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  Speaker 1: there in chapter 6, and then in chapter 7, we
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  Speaker 1: go answer the question, who can stand? So we go
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  Speaker 1: back in the midst of the judgment. Here, we go
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  Speaker 1: back to the beginning of In order to see what
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  Speaker 1: God is doing. Which leads us to question number two.
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  Speaker 1: The millennium. This is the issue. First issue is where
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  Speaker 1: we are, context. The second issue is the millennium. It's
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  Speaker 1: really simple. It's a thousand years. Verses one and two.
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  Speaker 1: Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding
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  Speaker 1: in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and
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  Speaker 1: the great chain. And he sees the dragon, that ancient serpent,
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  Speaker 1: who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for
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  Speaker 1: a thousand years. Question number one is, what is the millennium?
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  Speaker 1: What is the millennium? It's this picture of Christ's reign.
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  Speaker 1: Question number two, when is the millennium? And that's where
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  Speaker 1: people disagree. You have people who hold a premillennial position.
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  Speaker 1: That position argues that the millennium comes after Christ's second coming.
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  Speaker 1: So Jesus is going to return to the earth, and
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  Speaker 1: when he returns to the earth, there's going to be
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  Speaker 1: a thousand years where he reigns on the earth. And
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  Speaker 1: then the consummation of all things. These people usually interpret
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  Speaker 1: the thousand years literally, though not always. There are some
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  Speaker 1: premillennialists who won't interpret a thousand years literally. They're usually
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  Speaker 1: pessimistic about the future. Things are going to get worse
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  Speaker 1: and worse and worse, and then Jesus is going to return.
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  Speaker 1: Sometimes this can lead to a kind of why bother
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  Speaker 1: mentality as it relates to the culture. Why bother? We
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  Speaker 1: know things are just going to get worse and worse
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  Speaker 1: and worse, and then Jesus is going to return. So
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  Speaker 1: why bother? Why bother? Why rearrange the deck chairs on
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  Speaker 1: the Titanic since we're all going to sink? Then there's
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  Speaker 1: the post-millennial view. This is the idea that the millennium
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  Speaker 1: comes before the second coming. That this thousand years of
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  Speaker 1: Christ's reign actually occurs, this thousand year golden age actually occurs,
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  Speaker 1: and then Christ comes again. at the end of the age.
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  Speaker 1: These individuals usually, almost always, see the millennium as symbolic.
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  Speaker 1: Not a literal thousand years, but a symbolic thousand years.
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  Speaker 1: And are very optimistic about the future, obviously. Things are
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  Speaker 1: going to get better and better and better. The gospel
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  Speaker 1: is going to spread and spread and spread. The world
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  Speaker 1: is going to become more and more and more Christianized.
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  Speaker 1: Then there's the amillennial view. The amillennial view, again, a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people just go and they say, ah, that
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  Speaker 1: means no or not in millennium. There is no millennium.
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  Speaker 1: That's not actually what the amillennial view is. The amillennial
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  Speaker 1: view sees the millennium as the age between Christ's first
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  Speaker 1: and second coming, which is now. The amillennial view is
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  Speaker 1: that Christ is reigning now. The amillennial view says that
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  Speaker 1: what happens at the end of this period of time
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  Speaker 1: is that Christ returns at the consummation of all things
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  Speaker 1: at the end of the age. Therefore, people who hold
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  Speaker 1: this view always view the thousand years as symbolic and
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  Speaker 1: have an already not yet approach to the future. Christ
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  Speaker 1: is reigning here and now. in and through his church.
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  Speaker 1: And yet his reign is not consummated until he returns
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  Speaker 1: in the future. As we've said on a number of occasions,
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  Speaker 1: the approach that we've taken to revelation is from an
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  Speaker 1: amillennial perspective. And here's where sort of the rubber meets
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  Speaker 1: the road in explaining what we mean about that. One
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  Speaker 1: of the issues is, do we see this millennium as
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  Speaker 1: literal or symbolic. And to be quite honest with you,
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  Speaker 1: this is one of the things that kind of gets
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  Speaker 1: under my skin the most when I deal with people
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  Speaker 1: from differing perspectives. Because oftentimes, as you heard in my
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  Speaker 1: own experience and Sam Storm's experience and Riddle Barger's experience
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  Speaker 1: and others' experience, There is this charge of liberalism, this
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  Speaker 1: charge of not taking the Bible literally and not taking
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  Speaker 1: the Bible seriously if you view the millennium as not
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  Speaker 1: being a literal thousand years. That is so incredibly disingenuous. Why? Well,
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  Speaker 1: first of all, the nature of the book of Revelation.
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  Speaker 1: It's filled with symbolic numbers. It's filled with symbolic numbers.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, at the beginning of the book, The author
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  Speaker 1: makes it clear that he's using symbols. So how can
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  Speaker 1: it be not taking the Bible seriously when you interpret
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  Speaker 1: Revelation symbolically, just like Revelation says it's supposed to be interpreted? Secondly,
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  Speaker 1: the use of numbers, the use of numbers here and
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  Speaker 1: the use of numbers throughout the book would point us
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  Speaker 1: to the idea that we use this symbolically, not literally. Thirdly,
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  Speaker 1: There's other things in this text that are obviously symbolic.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: Let's look again, shall we? Then I saw an angel
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: Are we talking about a literal key? No. To the
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: bottomless pit and a great chain. Is the devil going
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: to have a literal chain around him in the bottomless pit? Again,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: those individuals who would interpret the thousand years literally look
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: at these things and say they're symbolic. And he sees
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: the dragon. I thought the devil was an angel who
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: was a fallen angel. Now he's a dragon? And of course,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: those individuals who say it's liberal... If you interpret the
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: numbers symbolically, don't look here and say the devil is
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: literally a dragon. So again, they don't have a problem
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: with symbolism unless and until it disagrees with them. So
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: Revelation filled with symbols. The numbers used in the book
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: overwhelmingly used symbolically. The number 1,000 has been used symbolically.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: We've already talked about that. And there are other things
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: right here in this same paragraph that have to be
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: interpreted symbolically. Listen to Kiss the Mocker. Revelation on the whole,
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: and chapter 20 in particular, demonstrates symbolism. For instance, the
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: chain with which the angel binds Satan is not a
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: customary string of metal links. Neither is the key to
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: the abyss a metallic object, nor are the thousand years
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: chronologically ten centuries. The term key appears in chapter 1,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: verse 18, where Jesus notes that he holds the keys
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: of death and Hades. In 3.7, Jesus says that he
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: holds the key of David. In 9.1, an angel described
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: as a star holds the key to the abyss. In
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: all these passages, the word signifies authority. It is clear
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: that a spirit cannot be shackled with a chain, but
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: can be restricted by a divine command. And the expression 1,000
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: in a book that is filled with symbolic numbers intimates
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: a multitude. That is a large number. That is the
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: most natural sense in which this term can be read.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: Issue three, the binding of Satan. Look at verse three.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: and threw him into the pit and shut it and
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: sealed it over him so that he might not deceive
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: After that, he must be released for a little while.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: The objection. If you believe that this millennial period refers
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: to the here and the now, then how do you
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: explain all the wickedness in the world? If Satan is
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: supposed to be bound, how do you explain all the
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: weakness in the world? And this is a legitimate question.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: It's an important question. But in order to answer the question,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: we got to look at a couple of things. First,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: what Revelation 20 does not say. It does not say
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: that evil is gone from the world. Revelation 20 doesn't
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: say that anywhere. By the way, most of the evil
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: that you do, devil doesn't have anything to do with it.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: It's the world and the flesh. Amen, somebody. Okay? Satan
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: is an actual being. He is not omnipresent. Amen? God
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: is omnipresent. Satan is not omnipresent. Satan can only be
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: in one place and one time. And here's a little newsflash.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: You're probably not important enough for him to bother with
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: you personally. Okay? Don't mean to bust your little bubble, okay?
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: Here's the other issue. Your flesh does enough of a
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: number on you. The devil don't have to worry about
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: you at all. You can't overcome your own flesh. You
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: think you need Satan personally? Your flesh. So Revelation 20
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: doesn't say that the flesh is gone. Amen? Amen? You're
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: going to deal with that until you get your new body. Amen?
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Come Lord Jesus. Or the world, okay? So again, when
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: individuals say, how can Satan be bound and there's still
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: all this evil in the world? Text never says evil
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: is gone. Text doesn't say that sin is gone. Revelation
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: 20 doesn't say that. He doesn't say he binds Satan
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: so that evil can be gone. Doesn't say he binds
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Satan so that sin can be gone. It also doesn't
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: say that Satan is completely powerless. Let's look at it again.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Verse 3. And threw him into the pit and shut
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: it and sealed it over him. Why? So that he
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: might not deceive the nations any longer. In other words,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: this binding of Satan has a very specific and particular application.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: And that specific and particular application has to do with
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: the deception of the nations. And that's all. Nothing else
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: is mentioned. Nothing else is mentioned. Out of all the
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: stuff that Satan does, out of all the stuff that
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Satan is, there's this binding of Satan for a thousand
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: years and the one thing that's mentioned is deceiving the nations.
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: That's all. Not the rest of it. nor does it say,
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: because there are others who would still object, they'll say, okay,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Satan is bound so that he can't deceive the nations,
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: but there are still nations out there where Christ is
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: not known. The text doesn't say that every nation will
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: receive the gospel. It's not what the text says. The
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: text does not say Satan is bound so that every
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: nation will receive the gospel. And again, nations here still
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: using that same word from which we get our word ethnicity.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: What Revelation 20 does say, it says that the binding
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: is specific and limited, not comprehensive. It says that the
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: binding is specific and limited, not comprehensive. This is another
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: issue that I have with the idea of Jesus having
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: an actual earthly reign, physically and personally, ruling the world
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: with a rod of iron, and the only thing that
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: Satan's not doing is deceiving the nations. Secondly, Satan's ability
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: to blind the nations is limited. Thirdly, It implies that
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: the gospel has room to thrive among the nations, which
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: is exactly what has happened during this age. The gospel
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: has thrived among the nations. Folks, we do not have
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: to go to Israel to find God's people. Amen? The
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: gospel has thrived among the nations. Listen to this, just
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: in the book of Acts. Just in the book of Acts.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: And remember also, you have to keep this in context.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: When we're talking about the nations, usually what we're talking
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: about is Israel versus the nations. Or the Jews versus
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: the Gentiles. So we're talking about the gospel proliferating among
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: the Gentiles. Among the non-Jewish nations of the world. Listen
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: to Acts chapter 9 verse 15. But the Lord said
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: to him, go. for he is a chosen instrument of
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: and the children of Israel. Acts chapter 11, verse 18.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: When they heard these things, they fell silent and they
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: glorified God saying, then to the Gentiles also God has
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: granted repentance that leads to life. Acts 13, 48. And
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: the word of the Lord. And as many as were
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: appointed to eternal life believed Acts chapter 14, verse 27.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: declared all that God had done with them and how
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: Acts chapter 15, verse 3. So being sent on their
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria,
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles and brought
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: great joy to all the brothers. Acts chapter 15, verse 7.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: and said to them, Brothers, you know that in the
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: early days God made a choice among you, that by
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: gospel and believe. Finally, Acts 28, 28. Therefore, let it
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: be known to you that this salvation of God has
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: been sent to the Gentiles. They will listen.
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: Why? Because Satan is bound from deceiving the nations. And
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: the gospel is going forth. And the kingdom of Christ
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: is expanding and extending during this age where he reigns
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: here and now in and through his church. That's why.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: What does the rest of the New Testament say? The
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: rest of the New Testament gives us insight into this.
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: First of all, Satan is defeated, but he still fights.
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: Don't we see this? That Satan is a defeated foe
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: and yet he still fights? So it wouldn't be inconsistent
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: that Satan would be bound and that we would still
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: see evidence of his work and his evil in the world.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: Colossians 2, 13-15 says, And you who are dead in
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: by canceling the record of debt that stood against us
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: So the rulers and authorities have been disarmed and Christ
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: has triumphed over them and put them to shame. So
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: that means they don't do anything anymore, right? You know
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: better than that. So why does Revelation 20 have to
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: mean that Satan doesn't do anything anymore? Especially when Revelation
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: chapter 20 is much more specific than Colossians chapter 2.
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: Colossians chapter 2 is much more comprehensive in what has happened,
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: not just to Satan, but to all spiritual opposition as
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: a result of what Christ has accomplished on the cross.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: So why is it that we can look at Colossians
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: chapter 2 and understand that this victory has come, this
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: triumph has come, and yet the war still rages on
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: for now? Already? Not yet. But when we get to
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: Revelation chapter 20, we see something that's much more limited,
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: and we can understand why there would still be satanic influence.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: Satan is bound, but he's still active. Luke 11, 22 says,
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: But when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him,
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: he takes away his armor in which he trusts and
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: divides his spoils. This is what Jesus was doing to Satan.
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: John 12, 31. Now is the judgment of this world.
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: Now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: Jesus said that. Now, during his time. Revelation 12, 9.
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: And the great dragon was thrown down. the ancient serpent
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: and his angels were thrown down with him. They're cast
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: out of heaven, and yet they're active. Thirdly, Satan is
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: powerless to stop the proclamation of the gospel. You remember
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: when Jesus sent out the 72? They come back. Here,
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: Luke 10, 17 to 20. The 72 returned with joy saying, Lord,
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: even the demons are subject to us in your name.
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: of the enemy, over all the power of the enemy,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: are written in heaven. What's the context here? Of the
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: gospel going forth. These 72 going out preaching the gospel.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: And there is great authority as they go out and
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: preach the gospel.
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: Because the kingdom has come. Matthew 28, 18 to 20.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: This relates directly to this issue of Satan being bound
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: concerning the deception of the nations during this particular period.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: and on earth has been given to me. It leaves
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: no room for anyone else to have any authority in
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: heaven or on earth. All authority in heaven and on
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: earth is given to me. Go therefore and make disciples
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. And behold,
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: I'm with you always to the end of the age.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: Jesus gives this great commission before his ascension. Now, if
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: the binding of Satan so that he doesn't deceive the
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: nations doesn't happen until some future time, after the so-called
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: church age, then how is the Great Commission accomplished? Seems
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: to me that Jesus makes it very clear that Revelation
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: 20 is the reason that Matthew 28 is can be
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: accomplished because of the binding of Satan specifically during this
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: period of his reign in and through his church so
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: that the nations can be evangelized. Saints, can you see this?
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: In the scriptures, we have this picture of two ages,
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: not three. We don't have in the scriptures a picture
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: of the present age and in the millennial age and
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: in the age to come. We don't find that anywhere.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: In the New Testament, when Jesus speaks and when his
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: apostles speak, they speak about the present age and the
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: age to come. And that's it. When they speak about
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: Christ's return, they don't speak about Christ's return in stages.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: They speak about Christ's return and the end, period. Not
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: he comes and does a few things and then there's
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: a different, no, he comes and that's the end of
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: the age. There's this present age and there's the age
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: to come. Which is another reason why I believe that
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: what we're dealing with here is the present age. Listen
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: to just a few of these things. Titus 2, 11
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: to 13. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior,
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. This age and the age to come. Listen
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: to Matthew 12, 32. And whoever speaks a word against
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: this age or in the age to come. Matthew 13,
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: 37 to 43. The sower who sows the good seed. Again,
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: a reference to this age and the age to come.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: Luke 18, 29 to 30. Let's read that one. And
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: he said to them, truly, truly, I tell you, there
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: is no one who has left house or wife or
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: brothers or parents or children for the sake of the
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: kingdom of God who will not receive many times more
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: in this age or in the age to come.
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: Ephesians 1, 19 to 21.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: us who believe according to the working of his great
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: might that he worked in Christ when he raised him
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: from the dead and seated him at his right hand
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: and power and dominion and above every name that is
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: named not only in this age but also in the
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: one to come. It's clear there are two ages. Only
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: two ages. There's this age and the age to come.
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: People ask, do you believe we're living in the last days?
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: I don't believe we're living in the last days. I
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: know we're living in the last days. How do I
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: know it? Well, because according to Acts 2, 15 to 18,
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: Hebrews 1, 1 and 2, the New Testament defines the
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: last days as as the period between Christ's first and
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: second coming. There's no other definition of the last days.
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: The only other reference is a reference to the day
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: of the Lord, which is not the last days, that's
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: the last day. Amen? So when the Bible talks about
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: the last days, when the New Testament makes reference to
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: the last days, it is making a reference to now,
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: right now. We're in the last days. Peter was in
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: the last days. Paul, John, they were in the last days.
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: Just like us. But what about the end of the age?
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: Let me address these two. First, these cardinal passages to
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: look at in this regard. 1 Corinthians 15, 20-24. Turn there.
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: I want you to turn there and look at this.
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians 15. 20 to 24. And I'm going to
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: want you to turn to the last one as well.
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: So we see that this reference to the last days
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: in the New Testament is a reference to the time
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: between the first and second coming. We see that there's
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: a reference to two ages, the present age and the
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: age to come. But there is no other division. Now
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: I want you to see two of the clearest passages
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: about the return of Christ that make it clear.
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: That this is what we're talking about. 1 Corinthians 15, 20-24.
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead,
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: by a man came death, by a man has come
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: also the resurrection of the dead. For as Adam and
• 45:08
  Speaker 2: Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: made alive. But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits,
• 45:16
  Speaker 2: Then at his coming, those who belong to Christ.
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: Then comes the end. Let me read that again. But
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: each in his own order. Christ, the first fruits. He's
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: already been resurrected. Then at his coming, those who belong
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: to Christ. So when he returns, those who belong to
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: him are going to be resurrected just like he was.
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: Then comes the end. When he delivers the kingdom to God,
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: the Father, after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: There it is. When Christ returns, he doesn't return to
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: establish a millennial reign. When he returns, that's a wrap.
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: And again, 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 to 18. Turn there.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 to 18. But we do not
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep,
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: that you may not grieve as others do who have
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: to you by a word from the Lord. That we
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: who are alive, who are left until the coming of
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive,
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: who are left, will be caught up together with them
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: encourage one another with these words. There it is. The
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: return of Christ is the end of the age. That's it.
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: When he comes, it's over. Which further testifies to the
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: fact that That this idea of the millennial reign of
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: Christ has to be now. There's no room for it
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: anywhere else. What are the difficulties? We've already talked about
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: the difficulties. Well, one difficulty is, well, it's supposed to
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: be a thousand years. Well, okay. Again, symbols. In this passage,
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: we see symbols. Symbols. In the numbers in this book,
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: we see symbols. A thousand years is a great age,
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: a long time. It doesn't have to be a literal
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: thousand years. It doesn't make sense that it's a literal
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: thousand years when you read this book in its context.
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: What's the other problem? The binding of Satan. Well, we've
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: dealt with that problem. The binding of Satan does not
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: mean that all evil everywhere is gone. The binding of
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: Satan is very specific. The binding of Satan is referred
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: to here as his ability to deceive the nations, which
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: when you look at the Great Commission and the fact
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: that in this age, we are called to and have
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: been taking the gospel to every people group, that it
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: makes sense that that binding is related to the Great
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: Commission that is going on right now in the church.
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: If we were to see a show of hands right
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: now in this room and talk about people's ethnic roots
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: and backgrounds, there may be dozens of different ethnicities and
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: backgrounds that are represented just right here in this room. Why?
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: Because the gospel is going forth to the nations. Are
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: there nations that haven't been reached yet? Yes. Yeah, there are.
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: But the end of the age hasn't come either. Amen?
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: So there's that problem dealt with. There's something remaining. It's ominous.
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: After that, he must be released for a little while.
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: I don't like that. I don't like that. As in
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: that he must be released for a little while. We've
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: read on a number of occasions about this great battle
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: that is to come. About how nations are going to
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: be deceived. And as these nations are deceived, they rise
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: up against God and against the people of God. And
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: there is this great outpouring of persecution against God's people.
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: We've seen that on a number of occasions in Revelation.
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: That has not been hidden from us. John has not
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: hidden that from us. But because we've read that all
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: these times, when you see this phrase, it's even more
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: ominous because you know what he's talking about. That right now,
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: we're in the midst of that time where the gospel
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: is going forth. Right now, we're in the midst of
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: that time where we're seeing this rule and reign of
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: Christ in and through his church. Right now, we're in
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: the midst of that time where entire cultures have been
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: transformed by the gospel. Do you realize that? entire cultures,
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: entire parts of the world have been transformed by the gospel.
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: And much of it you absolutely take for granted. But
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: the world has never been the same. And the spread
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: of the gospel impacts cultures and has impacted cultures and
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: continues to impact cultures. We're seeing it right now. But
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: he must be released for a little while. It won't
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: always be like this. Before the end of the age
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: there will be a great reversal of fortune if you will.
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: Before the end of the age there will be a
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: rising up against God and God's people. And yet Jesus
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: reminds us, do not lose heart, because I've overcome the world. Amen?
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: We've seen it before. In fact, John saw it and
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: has alluded to it earlier. On next week, we're going
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: to look again at this idea of martyrs and people
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: who have refused to take the mark over the years.
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: There have been these periods of history where we've seen
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: little pictures of this where the people of God have
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: been persecuted in mass and yet Christ is victorious and
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: yet he will have the fullness of the reward for
• 52:51
  Speaker 1: which he died. So what do we do with this? First,
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: we recognize that That there is an open door for
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: the proclamation in advance of the gospel. And we take
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: advantage of it. There is an open door for the
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: proclamation in advance of the gospel. And we need to
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: take advantage of it. The gospel is being preached all
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: over the world. The gospel is bearing fruit all over
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: the world. There are countries that never ever would have
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: thought about being open to the gospel. That are open
• 53:33
  Speaker 1: to the gospel now. All over the world it's happening.
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: And it oftentimes is accompanied by great persecution. But great
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: persecution doesn't necessarily mean the gospel is not flourishing. Sometimes
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: the opposite is true. Sometimes great persecution is the evidence
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: that the gospel is beginning to flourish. And people have
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: to rise up against it to try to stamp it
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: out by persecution. Which inevitably... leads to even greater increase
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: of the effectiveness of the gospel as God's people endure hardship.
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: There's a great open door. Secondly, this door won't always
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: be open. The end is coming. And when Christ returns,
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: he won't return to bring a great thousand years second chance.
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: When he returns, he will judge the world in righteousness.
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: And it will be over. Which means there needs to
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: be an urgency about us. An urgency to see the
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: gospel go forth. Not just amongst those closest to us,
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: but amongst all those in the world. By the way, why?
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: Why would we do that? See, the natural tendency is
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: for me to be selfish. The natural tendency is for
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: me to say, I got mine. But when I understand
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: who Christ is, when I understand that he is Lord,
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: when I understand that he saved me in order that
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: he might exercise his reign in and through me, now
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden I can't be satisfied with just
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: me being saved. When I realize that the one who
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: rescued me and saved me is about the business of
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: rescuing and saving the nations, then all of a sudden
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: I too have to be about the business of proclaiming
• 55:41
  Speaker 1: the gospel among the nations. Nothing else makes sense when
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: I understand this. And here's the good news. We are
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: guaranteed success. Amen. Why? Because he will save his people.
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: That's why his name is Jesus. Amen. You should call
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: his name Jesus. Why? Because he'll save his people. His
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: name is not Jesus because he might kind of have
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: a chance to maybe save some people if that. No,
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: his name is Jesus because he saves his people. He
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: will save his people. He will.
• 56:19
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: And he hasn't returned yet, which means he's still about
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: the business of saving his people. And the gospel is
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: still bearing much fruit. So when we preach the gospel,
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: the gospel will bear fruit. Our success is guaranteed. Amen.
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: It may not look like we want it to look.
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: That doesn't mean we get everybody we want. But that
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: means he gets everyone for whom he died. But there's
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: another thing. This goes straight to the heart of our
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: own personal holiness. If Christ is ruling and reigning, you
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: remember how he taught us to pray? Our Father in heaven,
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, you're connected to that,
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: His kingdom is the place where he rules and reigns.
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: if I believe that his kingdom is here, that his
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: kingdom is now, if I believe that his kingdom is
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: being expressed in and through his church, that I believe
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: that his rule and his reign must be expressed in
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: and through his church, which means that I believe his
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: rule and reign has to be expressed through me, which
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: means that I seek to live in obedience to my
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: reigning king. And I ask myself, Am I living like
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: I believe Christ is reigning? Forget whether or not I
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: believe Christ is reigning out there. Do I believe Christ
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: is reigning in here? Do I believe that? My life,
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: my life will bear evidence to that effect. Let me
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: say something to those of you who have loved ones,
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: family members, who are not saved. That's all of us
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: in this room. That's every last one of us. There
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: is hope because there is a gospel to preach, because
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: there is a king who reigns, Because there is a
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: season for the gospel to flourish. And we must hold
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: out hope. We have to. We have to. Because that's
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: the age in which we live. I don't know who
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: that person is to you. They may be seated next
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: to you today. My prayer for you is that you
• 59:10
  Speaker 1: will hold out hope and that more importantly, you will
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: hold out the gospel because the gospel is the power
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: of God and the salvation. Christ will have the fullness
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: of the reward for which he died. We know that.
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: We can hope in that. We can hold on to that.
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: We can believe that. And praise God, if we open
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: our eyes, we can see that. If you are here
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: today and you have not come to repentance and faith
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: in Christ, I beseech you, bow the knee to him.
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: If you are here today, and you're depending on something
• 59:59
  Speaker 1: other than the finished work of Christ to see you
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: through what we're about to look at in the rest
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: of this chapter, help you. There is no hope for
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: you apart from Christ. Run to Him. Receive Him. Repent
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: of your sins. Repent of your independence. Repent of your
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: trust in yourself. Repent of your feeble attempts to find
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: sufficient righteousness in doing the right thing. Repent in holding
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 1: out hope that somehow God will grade on the curve
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: and that you'll get by because you were better than somebody.
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 2: Repent.
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: Repent. Christ died for sin once for all, the just
• 1:00:58
  Speaker 1: for the unjust, that he might bring us back to God.
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: If you believe anything other than that death will suffice
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: for you, that is blasphemy. Because you believe you can
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: do a work that is more significant in the sight
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: of God than the death of his only begotten son.
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: You know better than that. Turn from that. Receive Christ.
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: Receive Christ. Rejoice in him. Let's pray. Father, as we
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 1: bow before you, we bow before you as a grateful
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: and humble people. Grateful because we recognize that you have
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: called us to live in such a time as this.
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: At a time where you are ruling and reigning in
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: and through your church in a time when the gospel
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: is going forth and bearing much fruit among the nations.
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: Because we live in a time where we have identified
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: unreached people groups and have plans underway to reach them
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: with the gospel. And you're lowered, humbled, We're humbled because
• 1:02:26
  Speaker 1: we recognize who we are and that we are wholly unworthy.
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: Grant by your grace that we will not wallow in
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: our unworthiness, but that we might embrace Christ's righteousness. Grant
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: us boldness to proclaim the gospel. And grant us much
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: fruit as we do so. Not that we might make
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: much of ourselves, but that we might make much of Christ.
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: Our ruling and reigning King, in whose name we pray. Amen.