Transcript

Revelation 20. I just want to say quickly something about the goodness and the sovereignty of God. Many years ago when I preached through Revelation, that was in a season of time, actually a number of years when I was exceedingly diligent in my studies. It was a time when there was a prominent person who was purposing to spread around in the Shoals that I was not preaching the word of God. There have been a few things like that scattered around about through the years and it was something in me, maybe it’s my OCD complex that I have, but I thought, “I’m going to preach the word of God if nothing else happens.” I just spent enormous amounts of energy exegeting the text and one of those books was Revelation and I have copious amounts of just study and stuff on it. Then I did some of that during my study break and then I began this series on the return of Christ. I actually had not even thought about going back and looking at all the work I’ve done in past years and then I did this and it’s better. Just to give you an update, I don’t like this kind of stuff but every Sunday I hear talk about my hand. My hand is fine. The pain subsided greatly this week. There is nerve and tissue damage. It’s going to take a while. I just don’t want to bump it on anything when I get to preaching, that’s the perfect opportunity to bump it. So it’s good, everything is good, thunb’s over. Okay? Let’s listen to the message today, alright? But the thing that’s most difficult is to hold a pen and write and that’s what I do all week long is right notes and so literally for about a month I have been unable to write notes or at least not many of them without having to rest and it’s just been laborious to do that. But I had enormous amounts of work already done from many, many years ago. Who would have figured that out but God? Any other series, I would have been purposing to preach, I would not have had this kind of material to draw from. I would’ve had to have done the long work of writing it all out and working it all through so I just thought that’s God. I mean, you couldn’t have figured that out but the Lord did that. He knows what he’s doing.

Well, this message is going to be a two-parter and this is talking about the final events of the end time. The final events of the end time. Let me remind you again, now listen to me, we are not in this present age looking for signs of the end time. The Bible does not promise any of those for this age. We’re not looking for certain nations to do certain things. We’re not looking for certain levels of lawlessness or immorality or ungodliness. None of that is an indication of anything right now. What we’re looking for is Jesus Christ, the rapture of the church. Now, there will be cycles of degradation and downfall and the downgrade in mankind and in culture and in countries and then God in his sovereign goodness gives us something of an awakening and something of a revival to more biblical principles in our countries and in our cultures and then it will cycle back down again and it will cycle back up, never getting to where it ought to be but just getting better. That’s going to go on until immediately, one day Jesus will appear in the skies and gather together the church, the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mind you, there will be a lot of Roman Catholics. There will be a lot of Episcopalians. There will be a lot of Presbyterians and Methodists and Pentecostals and Baptists who are not raptured because they were not part of the true church. They bought into a religious system, they went through some motions, they jumped through some hoops but they did not know Christ. But all of those who know him will be gathered to him and the Bible talks about that we will meet him in the air, he will come in the clouds and we will be with the Lord.

Then with the church removed and the Spirit’s restraining influence removed, earth will go through seven years of awful tribulation. The Bible says that nothing in history can come close to comparing of the awful tribulation that will be on the earth for those seven years. Not only will God have removed his restraining influence so that wickedness, hatefulness, murder and evil of all sorts runs rampant through the earth, but God himself will unleash a series of violent judgments against the physical earth itself. Great cataclysmic events in the earth’s surface will occur. Significant numbers, significant percentages of mankind left on the earth will be killed. It’s going to be unbelievable. It’s as if God is saying, “Okay, here is what you can do without me. Here is what it looks like when I completely remove my influence.” We live in a world today, a culture today, that basically says, “We don’t want God. We don’t want the Bible. We don’t want truth. Leave us alone. We can run and ruin our own lives better than God can.” Well, one day they are going to get their prayer answered.

At the end of that seven years of tribulation, we come to a point where Jesus is going to return, this time not to the clouds in the sky but to the earth. I call it the permanent return of Christ. There is the imminent return that we’re awaiting for, the rapture, then the tribulation and then there will be the permanent return when he will establish his feet on Mount Zion, literally the Mount of Olives and he will rule and reign from Jerusalem. That’s what’s going to happen. Now, we’ll be gone and we’ll come back with him but that’s going to be one of the events of the end time. I’m going to outline it and then Lord willing, we will cover the first two points and, Lord willing, we will cover the rest of it when we come back together next Sunday. The first point is going to be: the final kingdom in the earth. In the end times, there is going to be one more kingdom established. We’re going to talk about that in just a moment. Secondly, there is going to be a final rebellion and a final war on planet earth. Thirdly, there will be a final end to planet earth. God spoke and created all that there is and God is returning to destroy all that there is. Number four: there will be the final judgment. There will be a time when heaven and earth will have passed away and suspended in the darkness and nothingness, all sinners who did not know Christ will be resurrected and stand before the Great White Throne Judgment. Then lastly, there will be a final end of death and the grave. We won’t need death and the grave in the new heaven and in the new earth.

Number one for this week’s study: the final kingdom in the earth. Let’s look, if you will, at Revelation 20 and for our purposes today, let’s go through verses 1-10. John seeing these visions of the events of the very end of time says,

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. 4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. 9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Number one on the final events of the end times is: the final kingdom in the earth. There is one more global worldwide kingdom to be established in the earth. You know, until Christ returns and establishes that final kingdom on the earth, there is going to be endless seasons of those who try to establish a global utopia in the earth or those who dream about doing so. Until the true kingdom comes, there will always be those counterfeiters. Remember, that’s the spirit of the antichrist. He can sound like the true thing; he’ll use Scripture; he’ll talk about God; he’ll say, “I’m going to help everyone. The oppressed will be lifted up. The little guy will be taken care of. Just give me control and give me power and I’m going to make it all right.” There is one magnanimous fatal flaw to all other global utopias that have been proposed by man or attempted by man or dreamed of by man. What is that great magnanimous fatal flaw to all of these other utopias? Here it is: their’s is based on the principles of unrighteousness. That’s it. They are based on the principles of unrighteousness.

There have been those, I want to be careful in my wording, I’ll use it, lunatics who propose that perhaps we can all just get together and have a one world, peace-loving, prosperous utopia for all mankind. John Lennon was a member of the rock band the Beatles and he wrote a very popular song entitled “Imagine.” Now, many people have idolized John Lennon as some sort of deep thinker, a great philosopher, even a theologian, a demigod as such. Here is what he says in his song,

“Imagine there’s no heaven It’s easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today…

“Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace…

“Imagine no possessions (you don’t get to own anything) I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world…

“You may say I’m a dreamer But I’m not the only one I hope someday you’ll join us And the world will live as one.”

Now John Lennon was not a theologian. John Lennon was not a philosopher. And John Lennon was not a God. John Lennon was simply a 60s hippie, deceived by Satan into thinking that there can be a global utopia apart from Jesus Christ. That’s the key. They want to fix the ills, they want to conquer the problems, they want to lift the oppressed, they want to rid the world of harm and hate and murder and strife and war and disease but they want to do it on principles of unrighteousness.

So many have proposed a one world system that would be great for everybody. The Pharaohs of Egypt proposed this. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon proposed this. Alexander the Great of Greece worked for this. Hitler proposed this. Stalin proposed this. And all of these, too, were deceived by Satan and history records their rise and their fall. As you know, I did quite a bit of reading on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Christian martyr under Hitler’s Nazi regime there in Germany. But what’s interesting to me was how much Hitler used his “Christian faith,” how much he talked about the Scriptures and how he manipulated and used the common man to advance his wicked agenda. He established and was head over the United Workers Socialist Union of Germany and he told them, “Your oppressed. You’re not taking care of. You’re not being treated right and furthermore, one of the primary culprits in oppressing you are the Jews who slipped into our country, Germany.” The Jews, indeed, owned many if not most of the great businesses and companies. The Jews had at least percentage-wise, done a lot better than their German cohorts. Do you know why? Because they worked harder. Because they worked longer. And because they were more industrious. So Hitler said, “No, that’s not the reason. The reason is they have just take advantage of the situation. They have been taking advantage of you. They are beating down the common man and the working man and taking advantage of the oppressed and if you’ll give me the power and if you’ll give me the authority, I’ll fix this thing and bring equality and justice for all.”

Well, that sells but here’s the key, are you listening? When he began to propose and perform unrighteous things against the Jews, that’s when the righteous among the oppressed, the righteous among the working unions should have said, “Wait a minute, you’re right, there is a place for unions, there’s a place for taking care of the poor, there’s a place for the rights of the common worker. We have needed that all over the world and we need it in this country and even need it today. However, we will not stand with a dictator who is trying to bring us equality on principles of unrighteousness.” You see, they saw it. They saw it early on. Hitler promised all these great things. “I’m going to rule the world. We’ll rule it from Germany. We’ll lift up the oppressed. The worker will be taken care of finally.” But Hitler was unrighteous and that’s where they missed it in Germany. They needed more Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s who would stand up and say, “Yes, these are good things but you’re trying to accomplish some good things on principles of unrighteousness.” Here’s the point: there will be no global peace, there will be no global utopias, there will be no one world systems that bring equality and justice to all men until Jesus, the Prince of Peace, returns and establishes his kingdom on planet earth.

Now, what is the foundational principle of a true, fair, equal, global utopia, if you will? The foundational principle is righteousness. Now, the foundational principle of righteousness is this: the worship of Jesus Christ. Did you hear that? The worship of Jesus Christ. Where that foundational principle does not rule in the heart of people, then you better run from the notion of, “We’re all going to get together and make something special out of this.” The foundational principle of righteousness is that Jesus is worshiped. Secondly, connected to that, is that he alone is righteous and therefore, he alone has the right to rule over us. Did you hear that?

Now, that’s the brilliance and the wisdom of the founding fathers of this country. They had generation after generation after generation of absolute monarchies in England and in Europe and king after king after ruler after ruler after dictator after dictator had said, “I’m the one who will help you and I’m the one who will bless you. I’m the one who will lift up the oppressed and bring justice for all.” And the people would buy in and once again, those men were not righteous enough for that power so they would abuse their power and authority and the end was worse than the beginning. So these men who wrote our Constitution understood that there is no one righteous enough to have the rule and authority over all of us so we need a representative government with lots of checks and balances. With a legislator made up of representatives based on the population of each state but we don’t just want the big states to have their way over the little states, we’ll have senators who will represent two people from all states so even the little states will have a voice equal to the big states. Then we’ll have a judicial branch. Then we’ll have an executive branch that carries out the legislation written by the Congress. So they had a brilliant understanding that we have no one that would be righteous enough to rule over us so we want to rule ourselves. But there’s one key principle in that. Are you listening to me? The people themselves will have to have enough true righteousness to govern themselves for us to have this kind of liberty and this kind of freedom. And as the people themselves lose their righteousness and lose a sense of a Christian consensus in the nation and lose their moral absolutes and principles, then the people begin to live in wickedness and in selfishness and greed and bitterness and envy and strife and hatred begins to rule in the land and that gives rise to another totalitarian authority to coercively rule over the people and keep sanity because the people were not able to do it for themselves. So when asked, one of the writers of our Constitution after they got through said, “What have you done?” He said, “We have established a Republic under God if you can keep it.” If you can keep it. And as we’ve lost God in America, don’t be surprised that we’re losing our liberties and losing our freedoms because there is no one outside of Jesus Christ and if he reigns in us, then we can have some sense of a righteous leadership but if he is evacuated, he is cast out, if he is removed and the principles of righteousness are removed, then you establish whatever you establish on the principles of unrighteousness.

But this day is one where there is going to be first of all, this end time kingdom is going to be a time where they will be, sub point A: the binding of the evil one. The binding of the evil one. Look at it, if you will, in verses 1-3. John says, “I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.” In verse 2, it’s interesting that John uses several titles and I’m convinced several titles for Satan are used to show the depth of his wickedness and vile character. He is called the dragon; he’s called the serpent; he’s called the devil; he’s called Satan. As we know, the Bible also calls him the tempter; the evil one; the God of this world. In other words, when there is a one world kingdom or if there is any kingdom or country on the earth ruled by those who do not honor Christ and the principles of righteousness, then Satan is actually the God and the leader of that country. He’s the God of this world. He’s a murderer, the Bible says. He’s the father of all lies. He’s the original liar and he’s the sponsor of all falsehood and deceit. He’s the original spin master. Packard says, “The picture is of one of unimaginable meanness, malice, fury and cruelty directed against God, against God’s truth and against those whom God has extended his saving love.” But remember, saints of God, I challenged the men of this church to be mature spiritually and to be discerning. Don’t believe everything that uses the Bible and talks about Christianity. Don’t believe them because Satan, the Bible says, cloaks himself as an angel of light. Why do you think the national church of Germany fell in lockstep with Hitler? They were not spiritually mature and discerning. They were sucked right in. It sounded good. It sounded right. Because their values were not righteous values, their values were temporal, material values and Hitler promised material, temporal blessings and they just went right along. Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

We must remind ourselves that Satan is a creature. He is superhuman but he is not divine. He has much knowledge and much power but he is neither omniscient nor omnipotent. He can move around in ways that humans cannot but he is not omnipresent. In fact, he’s already a defeated rebel having no more power than God allows him and being destined for the lake of fire. So Jesus has come to the earth and Jesus summons some angels to take hold of Satan and throw him and seal him in the abyss so for this thousand years he cannot do his cruel, vile work on the earth.

Sub point number 2, B under this final kingdom of the end times is: the blessings of the holy one. The blessings of the holy one. Satan is now bound. He can no longer deceive, divide, incite fleshly and selfish motives, produce conflict, promote hate and all evil and wickedness. Only Christ rules and reigns and glory fills the land. Here is something interesting: when Jesus returns and establishes his worldwide kingdom in Jerusalem, he has co-regents that rule with him. Look at it there in verse 4 and by the way, I’m convinced this is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them.” I believe that’s the church. Listen to what Paul said to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 6:2 and 3, “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” This is what Paul was talking about, this time when far from being the castaways and the outcast and the ridiculed and the martyred, the true Christians will in this day be the rulers of the earth with Christ. He says, “You’re going to judge the world.” He says also in 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, “You’re going to judge angels.” Of course, his practical application in that text is that Christians should resolve all of their conflicts and, by the way, we’re going to have some, but we should resolve them with one another and not take it to the world and the world’s court system. Then Matthew 19:28. “And Jesus said to them,” these are his followers, the church, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Daniel 7:21-22, “I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came.” That’s the tribulation time. The horn was the antichrist and he was martyring and destroying the true church and true Christians while he was embracing the false church. And he’s doing all of this until the Ancient of Days came, that’s Jesus, “and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.” That’s this time recorded in Revelation chapter 20.

So we see the binding of the evil one. We see the blessings of the holy one. Now, let’s talk about the wonders of Christ’s kingdom in the earth. Now, I see we could preach a number of messages on this by itself but one of my challenges in getting this series ready is what to leave out so we’ll look at some things but not nearly all of it. The Bible talks in Romans 8:22 “that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” There is a sense in which God says that the physical earth knows things are out of joint. The physical earth groans waiting for things to be made right with the Creator. Now, the unique thing about this righteous utopia, this final kingdom that Jesus will rule over, as the Bible says in verse 6, “Blessed and holy.” Blessed and holy. You could translate that, “Happy and holy.” That’s the great problem of the world we live in today and the world of every generation actually and that is this: we want to be happy and unholy. Did you hear me? The politicians, Republicans, Democrats and Independents, all of them have far too many who are sellouts and compromisers, who want to tell everybody, “We can make everybody happy and at the same time embrace unholiness. We’re going to fix everything and let you kill your unborn children. We’re going to make everybody happy and we’re going to applaud the marriage of sodomites. We’re going to make everybody happy and you don’t have to keep your marriage vows. And on and on and on we could go. What are they saying? “We’re going to make you happy and unholy.” That is a lie from hell. That is the spirit of the antichrist and that is why there will be no true happiness, no true peace, no true joy in the earth, no true utopia until the righteous one comes and establishes his millennial kingdom on principles of righteousness. That’s why this country is going down the tubes because we have leaders today that think they can cure and fix things but at the same time embrace that which God calls evil, which God calls sin, which is unholy. The Bible says, “Blessed and holy are those included in this kingdom.”

Back to the glories. Not only is it holy and happy for everyone, Jerusalem the Bible says will be the capital of planet earth. The Bible says that the desert will turn into a garden and the wilderness, that means the dry, arid plains and regions will blossom like the rose. The lion will lie down with the lamb and the child will play by the viper’s den. Mama will look out the door and, “Did you see Sally? What is Sally doing? Sally’s only three and she’s out there playing with a copperhead and a rattlesnake and they’re just having a great time.” That’s what it will be like in the millennial kingdom. You won’t have to worry about that kind of stuff. Just a couple of weeks ago I had Ray McCallister at my house and he was working and he walked in and he said, “Look at this,” and coiled up by a tree right outside in my yard was a copperhead. Ray didn’t know what it was. I said, “Ray, get back. I’m getting my shotgun,” and I exercised my God-given dominion over the copperhead. There won’t be any of that in this kingdom. We’ll pick it up and take it to our bedroom and say, “We’ll just keep you around. We’ll just hang out together.” God’s going to change the nature of the whole earth. Why? Because it’s a holy place built on the principles of righteousness.

The armies of the earth will have been disbanded. The the machinery of war has been dismounted and it’s all been converted to implements of peace. Prosperity and peace will reign from pole to pole. Poverty will be made unknown. There will be no prisons. No hospitals. No mental institutions. No barracks. No saloons or houses of ill repute. No gambling dens. No old age homes or homes for the infirm. Notice, it’s good for everybody but it’s holy. Did you hear that? Don’t you believe these lies that we can embrace unholiness and make things better. It can’t be done or God is a liar. It can’t be done.

When man is 100 years old, he’ll be considered a youth. Cemeteries are crumbling relics of the past. Tears will be exceedingly rare. All of these type things belong to the past. They belong to a lesser age that we will have passed by at that time. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of God. Can you imagine, you can get on a plane and travel anywhere on the globe and get off and the first thing people want to talk about is the greatness, the glories and the goodness of Jesus Christ who rules the earth from Jerusalem. Right now you go places and you’re a little bit shy to talk about Jesus. Then lo and behold if you do talk about him, you have to define which one you’re talking about. Not the Joel Osteen Jesus. Not the Jesus of the progressives and the liberals. Not the Jesus of the conservatives who just want to put up moral force in place without true regeneration of the heart. But the true Jesus of Scripture.

The Sermon on the Mount will be the law of the kingdom and men obey because infractions are not allowed. As a matter of fact, real quick, look over to the Old Testament book of Isaiah. There’s a beautiful prophecy of this coming kingdom and the glories that will be in it. Isaiah 11. Would you turn there? Isaiah 11, beginning in verse 1, “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” What beautiful figurative language. Who is Jesse? He’s the father of David. Who was born of the line of David? The promised Messiah, Jesus Christ. A shoot will come from that line and he’s going to bear fruit and branch. That speaks of Christ’s flourishing kingdom on planet earth.

Verse 2, “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength .” Just think about it, if any issue comes up where we’re like today, “What are we going to do about that? What are we going to do about that?” Instantly we’ll say, “Jesus will know. Jesus will know what to do,” and what he does and what he decides will be perfect every time. What a kingdom. ” The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.”

Verse 3, “And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear.” That’s all we can do now. You and I can only judge, our judges and rulers can only judge by what they see and hear but he has knowledge infinitely greater than us. “But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth,” there’s the true labor unions, Chief Jesus Christ. He will lift up those oppressed on principles of righteousness and not embrace unrighteousness in doing it. “He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.” That’s what he has to do to take the throne and get established. “Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.”

So we’ve seen righteousness in verse 4, righteousness in verse 5, “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them.” A little boy is just going to play with all of those things. “Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea. Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse,” the root of Jesse is Jesus, “Who will stand as a signal for the peoples,” he’ll be the standard everybody looks to; he’ll be the model, the reference point for all mankind, “And His resting place will be glorious.”

Quickly, number 2. Not only the final kingdom in the earth, it’s going to be a glorious kingdom where everybody is happy and everybody is holy, a kingdom based on the principles of righteousness. Number 2: the final rebellion and the final war. The final rebellion and the final war. Look at verse 8 of our original text. Go back to Revelation 20 and look at verse 7 for the context, “When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth.” Sub point 1: Satan’s strategy for rebellion. So we see one final time how Satan is the instigator behind all unrighteous rebellions in the earth. You saw it in your Sunday school class today: Satan incited King Saul. When he went down under strict and clear instructions of God to destroy the Amalekites, the king, the livestock, everything, yet Saul thought, “I can accomplish God’s work my way.” Did you hear that? The rulers of our present age whether it be the Prime Minister of England or the President of the United States or some leader somewhere else, basically say today, “We can achieve the love, the unity, the justice, the equality, the Bible talks about our way.” That’s what Saul thought, “I’ll go down and we’ll defeat the Amalekites. I don’t have to do everything exactly the way God says. We’ll keep some of this livestock. We’ll bring Agag the king back,” and what did God say? “Saul, I’m taking the kingdom from you because to obey is better than sacrifice. You claim you came back to sacrifice all these things to God, God’s not interested in you doing your things your way. God is smarter than you. You’re just supposed to obey God.” Now listen to me: the rulers of the world and the leaders of the professing church run amok following this very rebellious compromise. “We’ll get souls saved. We’ll build God’s church. We’ll grow the faith. But we don’t really have to obey God’s way, do we? We can change some things because cultures change and people change and they won’t come if we don’t do these new, culturally relevant things.” God sits in heaven and says, “I’m assigning you over to the harlot church. I’ll have nothing to do with you anymore.”

It ought to put fear in your heart. It ought to put fear in your heart. I’m convinced that there are genuine, believing brothers and sisters in those churches where they crossed God’s line and God said, “I’ve had enough. I’m tired of you.” God tells Saul, “I’m taking the kingdom away from you. I’m writing Ichabod over the door: the glory has departed. My blessing has departed. My Spirit is not there. Whatever else you make happen in this church now, you will do it in your flesh and in your strength. I will not be doing it. You can congratulate yourself and commend yourself and glory in your results but it will not be my church.” Are you listening? When the end comes, those will not be reigning with Jesus Christ, only those who stayed true to him. I’m not talking about perfection but God forbid we go forward in our personal lives, in the leadership of our country and especially in Christ’s church, purposeing to compromise clear biblical instructions thinking that we can get ahead by doing it. That’s Satan’s strategy every time. He gets behind it and he puts a spin and a twist on it. “Oh, you’re accomplishing the same thing. You don’t have to be a fuddy-duddy, you don’t have to be a stick-in-the-mud about it. You don’t have to be so legalistic about it. Just do it this way and that way. God’s okay with all of that.” And that’s what he’s going to do here. He’s going to go out and he’s going to seduce the nations of the earth at this time into marching on Israel, marching on Jerusalem and against Christ who rules on the throne.

This has always been his strategy and primarily above all other things, Satan’s strategy is to deceive a leader and he can get the rest to fall into rebellion. If he can get the leader of something off track, it’s just very easy because the sheep will just naturally follow. We see it in Eve’s rebellion in the garden of Eden. Eve was the matriarch of the earth. She was in a perfect paradise. She had everything and Satan said, “Hey, God’s cheating you. God is not allowing you to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he knows if you eat it you will be like him and God wants to keep you down. God is trying to oppress you, Eve. God’s trying to rob you. Shake off these restraints and enjoy your liberties and your freedoms.” And she did and she seduced her husband and plunged humanity into sin and rebellion.

Korah and his gang rise up against Moses. God said, “Moses is going to lead my people.” Korah said, “We don’t think Moses is perfect. We think Moses messes up a lot. We think we can lead as good or better than Moses.” So Korah leads and instigates a rebellion to overthrow Moses but God steps in and says, “You forgot one thing, I didn’t put Moses in place because he was perfect, I put Moses in place because I wanted to put Moses in place and if you a go against Moses,” God says, “you go against me.” So God opens up the ground and swallows up Korah and all of his followers in a great fiery hole and he closes it back up on them.

Why would God do those things? Because God knows until the tribulation time, until it’s time, he must keep knocking rebellion back. Knocking it back. Knocking it back. Holding it back until it’s time to let it run amok. That’s the tribulation. This has always been his strategy. Absalom, David’s son said, “I can rule better than David. David is lazy. David doesn’t care for you like I can care for you,” and the people followed Absalom and God said, “No, you forgot something Absalom, you’re a good man and you have a lot of wisdom and you could have done a lot of good things but I put David on the throne. So Absalom, I’m going to let your head get hung in an oak tree and Joab is going to come along and plunge swords, spears into you to show you that when I choose a guy to lead, that’s who I want to lead.”

That’s always been Satan’s approach and Satan will one day come into the heart of the antichrist and I believe Hitler is about as good as a type of how the antichrist will work as anybody because Hitler used the false professing Christian church and his modus operandi, his mode of operation, was to stir up the bitterness and the envy in the hearts of the common man, the oppressed, and tell them you’re going to help them and save them and the world will come after them. As a matter of fact, Hitler’s generals early on wanted to get rid of him because they saw he was so unrighteous but Hitler was smart. The generals had to stay on board or at least in cowardice, they did stay on board and don’t judge them until you’re in their shoes, the generals stayed on board for a long season of time because the common people so overwhelmingly supported Hitler. He’s smart. That’s what the antichrist will do. One final time, this satanic strategy. The antichrist is gone by this time, you understand that. He’s gone at the end of the tribulation. He’s already in the abyss but one final time, at the end of that thousand year reign, Satan will be released, he will go out and he will deceive these nations one more time and incite a rebellion against God. That’s his strategy. Incite a leader to lead a rebellion based on the fact that God is somehow, God’s truth is some how holding you back and oppressing you down. But did I mention in my outline, this is the final rebellion? This is it. This is the last one. Never again will it be allowed.

Well, that’s Satan’s strategy. B: the culmination of human rebellion and sin. The culmination of human rebellion and sin. Here we have Satan’s released, verse 7, verse 8. He goes out to deceive the nations from the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog. “Pastor, who are Gog and Magog?” I have no earthly idea and no one else does. Are you hearing me? Stop spending money on the stupid DVDs and the books where these guys are telling you who this is. We don’t know. It just represents the kingdoms of the world. Is that too strong? He’s going to gather them together for war. “The number of them is like the sand on the seashore.” What does this point out to us? What this is, this shows you God is bringing to the climactic culmination point how wickedly depraved the human heart really is. Are you kidding me? For 1,000 years there’s been peace, prosperity, goodness, no want, no hospitals, no dying, no disease. Earth has been wonderful for 1,000 years and these folks still gather together to march against Jesus to overthrow him. It’s God one final time showing what is in the heart of man.

It shows the total depravity of the human heart. Romans 8:7 is a powerful foundational principle on this. Romans 8:7 says, “the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God,” now listen, “it is not even able to do so.” Did you hear that? So during this thousand year reign, children will be born. At the beginning of the thousand year reign, everybody is converted and loves Christ but children are born who are not converted, who are not regenerate in their hearts. They go along and give feigned obedience because nobody can dare question Jesus. They go along as if they are on board but in their hearts they are not on board. Think about all that the earth has already been through, how God is showing what is in the heart of man. God brought the seal judgments of Revelation 6, the trumpet judgments of Revelation 8 and 9, the bowl judgments of Revelation 16, the astonishing destruction when God destroyed Babylon in Revelation 9, 16 and 11, where Babylon represents the great anti-God empires of the world was completely destroyed. There has been unbelievable turmoil, pain, hardship, wrath and judgment and they didn’t repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

Before Brother Steve came back on our staff, we talked. I counseled with him a little bit. The church that he was a part of, I hope you’re all listening right now, the church he was a part of had every Halloween a spook house for Jesus. Their goal was to get people inside of the spook house and scare them real bad and maybe they’d all get saved. I told you the humorous story about Pastor Nelson up in Wayne County, Tennessee who used to do a big spook house for Jesus up there every Halloween. His role was to be the Texas Chainsaw Massacre guy in the haunted house. You’ve got to know this guy’s personality that he is wild looking. I hope he’s listening too. He is wild looking. I can just see him on Halloween with a chainsaw chasing people. He said, “Brother Jeff, before I started listening to your preaching, I chased people all over Wayne County with a chainsaw trying to get them saved.” And the whole time it’s the Gospel that saves, not chainsaws. Amen? Look, if seven years of awful tribulation won’t convince somebody to come to Jesus, your chainsaw and your spook house ain’t going to do it either. The Gospels saves and primarily the preaching of the Gospel saves. That’s God’s means of giving people Jesus.

So the great tribulation and all that wrath and judgment couldn’t convert them. Now 1,000 years of Jesus himself ruling in a perfect and wonderful utopia didn’t convert them. What does that tell you? That tells you the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful beyond all things. There is all of these on the earth who are born during the tribulation who have not yet been genuinely converted and regenerated in their hearts and in their heart of hearts, they wouldn’t dare say it, they long for a time when the strict principles of righteousness and holiness that Jesus insisted on in his kingdom could be relaxed. So the devil finds fertile soil in their hearts. “Let’s take it over and we’ll have the same happiness, the same peace, the same love, the same prosperity, but you’ll get to indulge in your sin.” That’s the lie from hell and man will believe it. Listen to me: one final time. This is the final rebellion. One final time.

So we’ve seen that this is the final rebellion and war. Satan has a strategy to deceive and get this rebellion started. We see something of the culmination of human rebellion and sin as these people literally will have the audacity to march against Christ and try to overthrow him. So we have C: the universal exposure of man’s sin and Christ’s righteousness. I touched on this quite heavily but I want to touch on a phrase in verse 3 right quick. The Bible says in verse 3 of Revelation 20 at the end of the thousand years, now listen, “Satan must be released.” Interesting phrase. Satan must be released. Why? Because in Satan being released and mankind willing to align with Satan instead of Jesus, God once and for all exposes man for the wicked, depraved sinner that he is. You see, man apart from the supernatural regeneration of his heart unto the Gospel is morally bankrupt and man apart from the changing power of the Gospel in his heart, is desperately wicked and lacks the moral power to preserve himself and his culture. Did you hear me? Man left to himself, if God didn’t change his heart, lacks the moral and ethical ability to preserve and keep himself in any sanity or decency. He will corrupt himself and his culture from within.

Man not only is morally and ethically bankrupt, he is spiritually bankrupt. He is spiritually bankrupt and completely unable to change himself to desire holiness and righteousness. So man by himself will always ultimately side with Satan. Oh, he may put on a religious façade. The antichrist will. Hitler did and many others have. But he has no ability to save or regenerate or change his heart. He is morally and ethically bankrupt. He is spiritually bankrupt and he is physically impotent and bankrupt. He is impotent and has not the might to defend himself or cure himself or guard himself from enemies or from dangers. Listen to me: so when God says in verse 3 of chapter 20, Satan now must be released after being bound for 1,000 years, here is what God is saying, “I’m going to prove once and for all, absolutely everything outside of my Son Jesus Christ will fail.” Will fail. Even living in the environment of the blessings of Jesus ruling on the earth couldn’t change them. Everything that’s not in Christ will corrupt and corrode from within and fall into destruction and will finally be justly destroyed in the judgment. Adam and Eve sin and rebel, the earth is cursed with sin and is going to fall apart completely one day and be completely destroyed. The nations of the earth come together in Genesis 11 and say, “We know how to succeed. We know how to get to God our way,” and built the Tower of Babel and it came to nothing. The millennial kingdom, a perfect kingdom with Christ reigning on the earth but men decide, “Wait a minute, can’t we have all this happiness and blessing and still enjoy our sin? Let’s overthrow this Jesus and prove that we can.” And it’s going to come to nothing.

So Satan is going to be released. The unregenerate false citizens of Christ’s earthly kingdom will gladly align with Satan and openly expose their hard, sinful, depraved hearts and strive to fight against God. Romans 8:7 again, “the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.” You say, “Surely they’d be convinced to love and serve Jesus after being in the kingdom for 1,000 years?” They are not able. That’s why we must preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ because, listen, what does the Bible say? It is the power of God. It has the power to change hearts. Nothing else does. Only the Gospel and that’s why you see this all out Satanic attacked in the confessing Church to get us away from the true Gospel and follow every other shenanigan and gimmick and entertainment in the world. Why? Satan knows that can’t save men, only the true Gospel can save our children and our grandchildren and our loved ones and give them a new heart.

So why must Satan be released? Revelation 20:3, he must be released to show and bring out this awful fact of how wicked men’s hearts are and to exalt the grace of God, showing that apart from Christ nothing will ultimately exist or stand and this is the great lesson of the ages and it will not be fully manifest or fully seen until this day. When this day is finally complete, here’s what the whole existing universe, the lost and the saved alike, will wholeheartedly confess, “Your way, God, through your Son to save men is the only way anything will ever stand.” We’re going to hell because that’s true and the church of God will say, “We’re going to be with God forever in the new heaven and the new earth because that’s true.” But everyone will confess it with conviction that everything apart from Christ fails and ultimately comes to judgment.

Gog and Magog, verse 8 says, represents the nations of the earth. There are going to be a whole bunch of folks marching against Jesus. The Bible says that they are like sands on the seashore and just like he did with Adam and Eve in the garden, Satan will go out to these rulers of the nations and he’ll discredit God’s dealings and he’ll misinterpret God’s word. But in verse 9, look at it together with me and we’re through, “And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.” I want five chapters describing what happens next. I want all the details of how it happens. God doesn’t give you that because that’s not important. “Fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” Why is it just so blip, over? Fire comes down, they are gone.

Why? Why? Think I know why: because there’s just so impotent. It’s just no big deal to God to kill every one of them. It’s just nothing. There’s nothing to talk about. Blip, gone. It’s over. As if God says, “That’s what man is apart from me.” In one millisecond, “I’m through with them.”

Lord willing, next week we’ll talk about a new heaven and a new earth where we’ll be with him forever.

Let’s stand in prayer.