Thank you Waldo for leading us tonight.
Paul and many of our musicians are at the Lake Como.
Is that what I want to say? That doesn't sound right.
At the sing down there this evening, which starts in about an hour or so,
and they had to get set up.
And Waldo was kind enough to fill in for us tonight, as he often does.
I would encourage you to pray for him and for Emily.
They'll be flying out to Portland this week. Waldo's father is not doing well.
He's 94 years old and so they'll be traveling there to spend a few days with him.
Well this evening we are going to open the Word of God to the Book of Revelation and the 20th chapter.
The Book of Revelation is of course the final book in the Bible.
And just as the Book of Genesis is the book where things begin,
so the Book of Revelation is where things end.
The word Genesis means beginning.
All things, the beginning of the universe, the beginning of human history.
Finds its recorded beginning in the Book of Genesis.
Now as we come to the other end of the Bible, the Book of Revelation,
we come to the point where all things end.
At least those things that we know now.
Tonight as we study in chapter 20, we're going to see that old things,
that is the things that are a part of this present order, will pass away.
That new things will come to be.
That there is a future order that God is going to create and bring to pass.
It is a very wonderful thing.
I'm going to begin reading in chapter 20 with verse 7.
Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison
and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth,
Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle,
whose number is as the sand of the sea.
They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints
and the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
Now as many of you know, the Bible has different kinds of literature in it.
Some of it is historical.
And in those books we have history, human history, recorded for us.
And of course it focuses on the Middle East and the story of the Jewish people
and how God had chosen the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
to bring the Savior into the world.
And then in the New Testament, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
is open to all of the human race.
So it is not just a Jewish message, it is for all of humanity.
We have the historical record of that.
Some of the Bible is poetic.
There are books that include poetry, not as we often think of it in our western sense,
but in an oriental sense, a very beautiful sense.
And the book of Psalms, for example, is a book of 150 poems
that were set to music that we no longer have.
So we don't know what that music sounded like, but those poems were sung like hymns.
And then there are some books in the Bible that are prophetic.
Now that means that those books tell us something about future events.
Now some of those books have already been fulfilled
in things that have taken place in human history.
But in this book, the book of Revelation,
the events that are talked about are all still future from our own day.
And so as we read the 20th chapter of Revelation,
we are reading about events that have not taken place,
but which the Bible predicts will take place someday upon the earth.
Last week we saw that the Bible predicts that there is going to be a 1,000 year reign
of righteousness, peace, and justice in the world.
A 1,000 year period of beauty and prosperity,
the absence of war, and nearly the absence of all death.
That period will be inaugurated with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ back to the earth.
The Bible predicts that Jesus is coming again.
He came the first time to die for our sins on the cross of Calvary.
As we said earlier, he was raised from the dead, is back in heaven,
seated at the right hand of God. We worship him.
But one day he himself is going to come back to the earth
and will establish his kingdom and will reign for a thousand years as the perfect king,
as the God-man. He will reign over the earth.
Now that is the period that is in mind when it says in verse 7,
when the thousand years have expired.
So now in the prophecy we're looking beyond that kingdom.
We're looking way into the future from our own day.
Even if some of the prophetic things were to begin happening tonight,
what we're going to study now is at least a thousand years into the future.
You say, well is this literally a thousand years?
We have no reason to take it any other way.
Six times the thousand years are mentioned here in Revelation chapter 20.
We understand them to be literal years.
Now when the thousand year reign of our Lord Jesus Christ has been culminated,
God is going to put away the present order of things.
What are called here the old things.
These things are put away by three final judgments
that are recorded for us in this chapter.
The first judgment is the final judgment upon rebellion.
You notice that Satan who has been imprisoned for a thousand years
is now released from his prison in what the Bible calls the bottomless pit
or the abyss.
Why does God release him? The answer is so that he might resume
the activity that he is involved in today, this very time,
deceiving the nations of the world, leading them astray from God,
leading them in rebellion against God, fomenting pride in the human heart
so that we think that we can be independent of God.
All of that is the deceit of Satan. He will not be free in the thousand years
of Christ's reign to do that, but now he is released from prison and he resumes
his work of deceit.
It says that he will gather together the four corners of the earth,
Gog and Magog, to battle. It says the number of those involved in
this is as the sand of the sea. Now if you've been with us in our study
up to this point, you will remember that we said when the
one thousand year reign of Jesus Christ begins,
only the righteous will enter into it.
Only those who are the righteous will enter it, that is, those who have
trusted Christ as their Savior, whose sins have been forgiven,
and who are right with God. Only they will enter into this beautiful period of
time on the earth. And so the question logically comes to
mind, then where do these people come from
that Satan deceives after the thousand year reign
is over? The answer is that there will be people who will reproduce
in the millennial reign of Christ. They will have children.
And among those children will be those who will outwardly
give obedience to Jesus Christ who is reigning on the earth,
but in their hearts they will not give him obedience.
That rebellion, however, is carefully hidden
because to overtly, outwardly disobey Jesus Christ, who will reign as the king,
will bring punishment and even execution.
And so they hide it. At the end of Christ's reign, Satan then is
released that he might go out throughout the earth and to bring
together all of these people who have only outwardly given obedience
to Christ, but who inwardly are in rebellion.
The term Gog and Magog is used here and I think I will
defer trying to give any in-depth explanation of that
because frankly it's not easy to do. The terms Gog and Magog are used in the
Old Testament in the book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39.
In that prophecy, Gog is a leader, a human leader. Magog is his
empire and the Bible predicts a time when this leader and his nation
will invade Israel and God will cause them to be conquered and defeated upon
the mountains of Israel and will send them back to their land
confessing that there is a God who lives and who oversees the protection of Israel.
Now it seems to me that that prophecy is going to be fulfilled sometime
in the tribulation period. I think that's the best explanation of it.
But here we see that same term used again and it's used symbolically
for people who are in rebellion against God. I think that's the simplest and quickest explanation of it.
That Satan is going throughout the earth together together all of those people
who will secretly be in rebellion to Jesus Christ who is reigning on the throne
from the city of Jerusalem. He will gather them together for one battle
and that battle from Satan's viewpoint will be to overthrow Jesus Christ.
It says that they will be like the sand of the sea. That is, there will be
a numberless people who will be involved in this final rebellion against Christ.
It says they went up on the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city
which we would understand to be the city of Jerusalem.
What we learn from this is that the environment of the world
is not the real problem with the human condition.
The problem of evil in the world does not lie
in poverty, oppression, and injustice.
Because none of those things will exist when Jesus reigns.
And yet at the end of his reign there are still those who are in rebellion against him.
The real problem with evil in the world lies within the heart of each person.
It's the evil that is inside of us.
That evil will be carefully covered over during this period of time but as I say
it is going to be exposed as Satan goes out into the world
to gather all of these people in rebellion against God.
And as they come in rebellion as a great army against the people of God
and it seems they surround the city of Jerusalem, the beloved city,
there is fire that comes down from God out of heaven and devours them immediately.
Now if you know Ezekiel 38 and 39 you know that that is not what happens in that prophecy.
So that's why I say this is a distinct battle.
Just as we have World War I and World War II,
I think Ezekiel 38 and 39 is Magog I and here we have Magog II.
And this one is worldwide and God himself intervenes
to destroy those who are now in open rebellion against the reign of his son.
And fire comes down from the sky and immediately destroys this entire
host of people who are like the sands of the sea.
And so we have here a sudden, dramatic and final judgment upon human rebellion.
And then in verse 10 we have the final judgment upon the devil.
You say well who is the devil? Well we've talked about this before.
He's mentioned a number of times in this book but also throughout the Bible.
He is mentioned the first time in the book of Genesis, the book of beginnings.
He is a fallen angel who rebelled in pride against God and who brought sin into the world
when he tempted Adam and Eve and they disobeyed God and followed the devil.
And from that time he has been active in the world seeking to cause men and women
to be in rebellion against God.
Now this evil spirit, the devil, who deceived them was himself it says
cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.
You say what is that place? Well that is the place of final judgment
for all of those who are in rebellion against the God of heaven.
It is a frightening and fearful thing as we read about it in the scriptures.
It is in John's word, his description, as it were a lake.
This is the land of 15,000 lakes.
But this is a lake unlike any lake that we know.
It is a lake of fire that burns with brimstone and sulfur.
And it says here that the beast and the false prophet are already there.
You remember they were dealt with before the thousand years.
They were cast in, they are alive. They are still there after a thousand years.
And now they are joined by resident number three in the lake of fire and that is the devil.
And we would assume, and I think rightly so, that with him will go all of the host of demons
who follow him, that is those fallen angels who rebelled with him against the God of heaven.
And who were then cast out and who are active in our world today.
And so here we have a final judgment upon the devil.
It is not a judgment of correction. It is not annihilation.
It is punishment and it lasts for eternity.
Forever and forever and forever.
The devil will be punished in the lake of fire because of his rebellion against God.
Now he knows that today and he hates it.
But somehow he has deceived himself in thinking that he will be able to manage and escape at the last moment.
He will not be successful in that.
But he thinks he will be able to.
And he is very active in the world seeking to build a base of rebellion against God.
And still he thinks to overthrow our Lord.
And here we see his final attempt and his ultimate judgment.
And then in verses 11 to 15 we have the final judgment upon all of those who are lost.
That is all of those in all of history and all nations of the world who have died in rebellion against the God of heaven.
Who have died without knowing God.
Who have died in sin with their sins being unforgiven.
John says, I saw a great white throne.
A throne of course is a seat for one of royalty.
And here it is a great throne and it is described as white which symbolically speaks of its holiness.
And the purity and the righteousness of the one who sits on this throne.
It says, I saw him who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away.
And so John now sees this event taking place somewhere other than on earth and in heaven.
In the heavens.
Because at this moment as this judgment begins to take place earth and heaven flee away.
They are struck with fire and are dissolved.
And yet there is this vast multitude of people that are now dealt with.
I saw the dead, small and great standing before God and the books were opened.
Now what are these books?
The books of their lives, the record of their lives.
Everything that has ever been done is recorded in these books.
We live in a world where there is much injustice.
And sometimes the justice that we do have is not true justice.
And we occasionally become discouraged because there are those who do great evil and they are not punished.
For the child of God it is encouraging to know that someday at the end of time there is going to be an accounting of all of the works, all of the deeds of all of history.
And God is going to justly and righteously judge all people.
And that is not going to be as a mass, it is going to be individual.
Each of us will personally stand before the God of the universe.
And it says for these who are unforgiven, who have died without hope and without God.
It says that the books of their lives are opened.
There can be no excuse, there is no defense, the proof is all there.
The evidence is in, it is written in the books.
And it says another book was opened which is the book of life.
And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books.
Now what is the book of life?
Well as we see it referred to other places in the book of Revelation.
The book of life is a separate book from the ones that we have just described.
It is a book of names.
And in this book of life are written all of the names of those who have trusted Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.
All of those who have opened their hearts to receive him as we have heard testimony tonight from these who were baptized.
All of those who have been saved, who have been redeemed, their names are written in the book of life.
You say why is it opened at this judgment?
Well it may be the place of last appeal.
It may be that there will be those who will have some argument.
And so this final place of appeal is the book of life.
And the angel as it were will check to see is this person's name written here in the book of life.
And indeed the name is not there.
And this person is not forgiven.
This person is not saved.
And so what happens?
Well it says the sea gave up its dead who were in it.
The death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them.
This is the second resurrection.
There has been the first resurrection of the righteous.
Now there is a resurrection of everyone else.
You see everyone who has died, even if their bodies have long ago decayed into dust,
everyone who has died will be raised from the dead to stand before God at this judgment.
John says I saw them and they were judged each one according to his works.
And then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death.
And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
We must understand that God did not create this terrible place of punishment for human beings.
It was created for the devil and for those angels that followed him in rebellion against God.
But now those humans who have also rebelled against God in their sin must share the destiny of the devil,
which is the lake of fire.
And I want you to know that no person will be cast into the lake of fire,
but that the heart of God does not break for them.
God's love and God's compassion is so great that he sent his Son to save us
so that we may not have to be at this judgment.
So that our works can be forgiven, our sins can be forgiven.
So that our names can be written on the book of life.
And we can escape the judgment that we too deserve.
God is a God of love, but God is also a God of justice.
And now at this judgment, it is time for justice to be satisfied.
Now why does God wait until the end of history?
Why doesn't God just judge each person as he or she dies?
The answer is clear if you think about it.
It is because the evil that is done in the world during the lifetime goes on even after the person dies.
Let me take a notorious example of Adolf Hitler.
Adolf Hitler committed heinous crimes against humanity.
He was a man who was an open defiance against God.
He was responsible for the deaths of millions of people in World War II.
Very, very wicked.
As much as we know, he committed suicide in that bunker in Berlin in 1945.
If God had judged him at that point in 1945,
then who would have fulfilled the justice for all of those who since then have continued to suffer in this world because of Adolf Hitler?
You see, God is waiting until the end of human history to draw the line
and to announce judgment so that all of the accumulated wickedness of the life of every person will be fully measured.
And then judgment is announced in this lake of fire and people are cast into this lake of fire
where they, along with the devil and his angels, will suffer, torment.
Now remember, it's because of their rebellion against God, their refusal of God.
They will not know God, they will not trust God, and so they must now suffer the consequences and will do that forever and forever.
Those are heavy things.
John does not stop there, I am glad to say, but he goes on to say,
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
Now what has passed away at this point are the old things, as he will tell us in a moment.
And now he's going to tell us about the new order.
He's going to tell us about a new world that God is going to create.
A new order of things.
It is an order that all of the righteous, all of those who have trusted God through the ages will enter into.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David, Moses, all of those of all of the ages who have trusted God
will be able to enter into this new order of things that we're going to read about.
He says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
The first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
Now just in these brief words, we see a brand new beginning.
A new heaven and a new earth.
There was no more sea. Isn't it interesting?
Remember John, who's writing these words, is an exile on an island.
He is surrounded by the sea.
It's his prison walls, as it were.
And the first thing that he notices about the new earth is that there's no more sea.
The sea represents separation to John.
And symbolically in this book, you may recall, it represents that massive humanity out of which Antichrist comes.
He says, no more sea.
No more massive humanity and rebellion against God.
I John saw the holy city.
Now he sees something else. He has seen the new heavens, the new earth.
But now he sees the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
And so he sees this place that is called a city.
It's the new Jerusalem.
Not the old Jerusalem, which is no more.
It's a part of the old earth.
It's gone.
But there's a new Jerusalem, and he will describe it in some detail, which we'll study some other night.
But he says now that this city is prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Aren't weddings wonderful?
Prepared as a bride for her husband.
Now, what does John mean about this? Does he mean it's a lovely place, like a bride is lovely?
Probably so.
A bride is beautiful.
I hesitate to say she will never be that beautiful again, because that's not true.
But at least up to that point in the relationship between the bride and groom, she's never been that lovely.
When I think of weddings, I think of expense somehow.
Maybe it's because we had a wedding in our family a few weeks ago.
And I think that John may be saying that this holy city spares nothing.
It is a place of elaborate preparation.
Jesus said to us, I am going away to heaven to prepare a place for you, and I am going to come again and receive you to myself.
This is the place that Jesus Christ is right now preparing.
Apparently it's not been visible to this point.
It's not been visible.
John sees it now coming down out of heaven.
It's not the same as heaven exactly.
It comes down out of heaven from God.
And he says, I heard a voice, a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.
He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
In that new order of things, there is going to be an intimacy, an intimacy with God that we cannot know now.
Some new dimension of that intimacy will be experienced.
God will wipe away every tear.
No more death or sorrow or crying or any more pain.
Five of those experiences of human life that make it miserable in the world.
The heartbreaks of life.
None of that. It's all gone.
He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
And he said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.
And he said to me, It is done.
I am Alpha and Omega.
That's the name for Jesus Christ.
Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet.
It means that he is before the beginning, he comes after the end, and he includes everything in the middle.
He is all in all.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
He who overcomes, that's the believer, shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
Now he explains to us something about this new order. It's going to be different than this one.
The very world itself will be different. We're going to see that there's going to be no sun, for example.
Now can you imagine what kind of a world it will be without a sun?
That's later in our study here in the book.
There's not going to be a moon. That's how we measure time.
Sun and moon.
It's the sun that causes life to be possible on this planet.
But in this new order, there's no sun, there's no moon.
There will be a heaven of some kind. There will be an earth, a new earth.
No sea in it. It will have an ecological system that is entirely different than the one that we live on today.
And in some relation here, there's going to be this beautiful city that he describes.
The awful experiences of life now because of sin are gone forever.
God will wipe away every tear.
No more pain, no sorrow, no crying, no more death.
That's part of the old order.
He says, I will make all things new, and I will be among my people.
I will tabernacle with them.
But John doesn't stop there. There's more that's said.
He says, but the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the sexually immoral sorcerers,
that's a word that has to do with use of drugs, particularly with occult kinds of overtones to it.
Secret things.
Idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
And so once more he comes back to this and he punches it home again.
He says, here is God's beautiful new order for all of those who are his people.
But here in this place there is not found one who is identified with these things.
Those things involve the second death.
It has been said that if we are born twice, we die once.
If we're born once, we die twice.
What that means is if in addition to being born physically, we are born again spiritually and trust Jesus Christ,
we only have to die once, the physical death, then comes the resurrection and the entrance into this beautiful new order that God is going to create.
But if we are not born a second time, born spiritually and have only a physical birth,
then not only must we die a physical death, but someday we'll be resurrected and then cast into the lake of fire,
which is the second death and so much greater to be feared even than physical death.
How wonderful to know that this God that we've studied about who's going to cause the old order to pass away
and the new order to be created is a God who today opens his arms in grace and in love and invites all people to come to him.
His great heart of love is broken when people rebel against him.
God does not delight in the death of the wicked.
Justice demands it. It will happen, but God does not delight in it.
God is willing that all should repent, that none should perish.
So if you have not turned from your sin, your personal sin, the evil that is within you,
and found forgiveness with God through Jesus Christ by trusting him, I would hope tonight you would do that.
Through trusting him, you would know that your sins are forgiven, that that book that contains all the wicked things of your life
has been cast away by God, destroyed, forgotten, the sins put away, and your name written down now in God's book of life.
Oh, how much we have to look forward to as God's children.
A new order of things. Let's pray together.
Father in heaven, I thank you for your word.
There are many things in it that leave us with questions.
It is so profound and deep. It is beyond our human understanding.
But we thank you for the Holy Spirit who opens our minds to understand and our hearts to believe.
We thank you that by the Holy Spirit's work we can understand the word of God.
And we thank you for this prophecy that explains something about the end of the world as we know it now.
And the inauguration of the new age, of the new order, the new heavens and the new earth.
That's a long time yet in the future, Lord, and there are many things that must yet come to pass upon the earth.
But understanding those things that are yet distant, may we live wisely now in this world.
And may all of us take care to be sure that we are prepared to meet you.
And that we are prepared to stand before you in judgment.
And to know that when we do our sins have been forgiven that we will not be called to give account for them.
And that we are accepted by you and our names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
Father, thank you for all who have come tonight.
And we pray for the Holy Spirit to take the word and apply it to our lives.
And we ask that you, as we go, keep us and enrich our lives as we learn more about you and walk with you each day.
Amen.
Thank you very much for coming tonight.
We want to pray God's blessing upon those who are baptized this evening.
Good night.