A Biblical View Of The End Times #7
Revelation 20:1-10
1,000 YEARS OF HEAVEN ON EARTH
Intro: Revelation chapter 20 mentions a 1000 year
period of time 6 times in verse 2-7. This period of time
has come to be known as the Millennium. It is a
compound word from the Latin which means "1000
years." The millennium is that 1,000 year period of
time when the Lord Jesus Christ Himself will rule upon
this earth. He will usher in a time of peace, prosperity
and righteousness such as the world has not witnessed
since before man sinned in the Garden of Eden.
There are many who do not believe in a literal 1000
year reign of Christ. They believe that this is just
symbolic language. However, there is more written
about this future time than about any other event in the
realm of prophecy. It is a time that the Bible refers to in
a literal sense and there is no reason to believe that it
will not happen just as the Bible says. Therefore, those
of us who believe the Bible is to be taken literally
believe that there will be a literal 1,000 year period of
time during which Jesus Christ Himself will reign as
King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Since there is so much said in the Bible concerning
the Millennium, there is no possible way the I could
cover all the details in one message. Therefore, I just
want to skim the surface this morning and look at a few
specific areas of this great period of time that will give
us a little insight into what will take place during that
glorious time.
At this point, it might be good to refresh our
memories concerning the order of future events.
1. The Rapture - This is the next event.
2. The Tribulation Period - This will begin after the
Rapture of the church.
3. The Judgment Seat of Christ - This will take place
while Tribulation is unfolding upon the earth.
4. The Marriage Supper Of The Lamb - This too will
take place alongside the Tribulation Period.
5. The Second Coming of the Lord Jesus - This
event will close the Tribulation and will bring about
the Judgment of the nations, Matt 25. The Antichrist
and his armies will be destroyed and those who have
their faith in Christ will enter into the millennium.
Now, with that information in our minds, let's look at
a few specific areas of the Millennial period that will
help us to understand it a little better. My friends, I want
you to know that this is one thing you do not want to
miss for the world! You want to be sure that you are a
child of God so that when this time comes to pass, you
can join Jesus in His Kingdom and reign with Him for
1,000 years.
I. V. 4, 6 THE SAVIOR DURING THE MILLENNIUM
(Ill. What will Jesus being doing during the
Millennium?)
A. He Will Be Reigning - At long last, the Lord
Jesus Christ will sit on the throne of David, Isa.
9:6-7. He will rule the world in power,
righteousness and glory. His reign will usher in a
time of peace and prosperity like nothing the
world has ever experienced. His reign will finally
bring justice and holiness to the world.
(Ill. The world has never had a ruler like this. All
human rulers are controlled by their lusts for
power, for wealth and for self glory. Jesus, on the
other hand, will reign in perfect righteousness.
The millennium will be a time of almost perfect
existence.)
B. He Will Be Ruling - The Bible tells us that Jesus
will "rule the world with a rod of iron", Rev.
19:15. Like a shepherd, Jesus will guide the
entire population of the world. However, those
who refuse to bow to His authority will be dealt
with swiftly and harshly. Rebellion will not be
tolerated in that day!
C. He Will Be Receiving - In the day in which we
live, the Lord Jesus is viewed as some kind of a
comical character by the world. He is like a poor
fool who got Himself killed on a cross. However,
in the Millennial kingdom, He will receive the glory
He has always deserved. All people from every
nation will come and bow at His feet and worship
the King of Glory! Instead of cursing His name,
men will worship Him and shout His praises!
What a day that will be!
(Ill. Isa. 40:5, "And the glory of the LORD shall
be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it."
This verse tells us that man will finally be able to
look upon the glory of the Lord in that day! It will
be a time of glory to God!)
I. The Savior During The Millennium
II. V. 1-3, 7-10 SATAN DURING THE MILLENNIUM
A. V. 1-3 He Will Be Jailed - For 1,000 years, the
enemy of God will not be able to hinder God's
work, tempt God's people, nor will he be able to
work in the lives of the lost. He will be chained
and bound for the duration of the Millennium!
(Ill. Right now, Satan is the "god" of this world, 2
Cor. 4:4. He spends his time doing everything in
his power to hinder God's business, trip up God's
saints and claim soul for Hell. Ill. Note the titles
given to him in verse 2. He is a wicked and evil
enemy! However, in that day, he will be out of the
picture. Imagine a world, ruled by Jesus with no
devil! GLORY!)
B. V. 7-10 He Will Be Judged - These verses tell us
that at the end of the Millennium, Satan will be
loosed from his prison. He will return to the earth
and will be able to amass an army of incredible
size. He and this army will attack the city of God,
where Jesus is reigning and will think to
overthrow Jesus. However, divine judgment falls
and all the people who followed the devil in his
scheme will be destroyed. The, the devil himself
will be thrown into the Lake of Fire and he will
spend eternity in those terrible flames. His
judgment is certain and his doom is sealed! He
devil is headed to Hell! When he is cast into Hell,
the universe will be forever free from his
influences and wickedness. Just to know the
devil is going to burn is enough to shout about!
(Ill. Does it bother you that even when Jesus
Christ has ruled the world with perfect, righteous
judgment, Satan is still able to find a vast
multitude to follow him? It bothers me, but it is a
clear illustration of the heart of the lost sinner! No
matter how good God is to someone, until they
are saved by grace and changed by the power of
God, they are wicked to the core! In fact, I
believe this is one of the primary reasons for the
Millennium. It is to prove the hardness and
sinfulness of the heart of men! You see, in
various ways God has tried to reach men, and
each time, man has failed to respond with love
toward God. Notice:
1. The age of Innocence (Gen. 3) ended with
willful disobedience.
2. The age of conscience (Gen. 5-6) ended with
universal corruption.
3. The age of human government (Gen. 11)
ended with devil worship at the Tower of
Babel.
4. The age of promise (Gen. 12 - Ex. 1) ended
with the people of God in bondage in Egypt.
5. The age of Law (Ex. 2 - Matt. 27) ended with
humanity killing their Creator on the cross.
6. The age of the church (Acts 1 - ?) Will end
with worldwide apostasy.
7. The age of Tribulation (Rev. 19) will end with the battle of Armageddon.
8. The age of the Millennium (Rev. 20) will end
with an attempt to overthrow God Himself.
The point is that the human heart is terribly
wicked and prone to evil. There is no good in it
all, Rom. 3:10-11. The only hope for men is to
come to Jesus for salvation. He changes hearts!
Anything less will result in damnation and Hell.
Where do you stand this morning? Are you
saved!)
I. The Savior During The Millennium
II. Satan During The Millennium
III. V. 4-6 THE SAINTS DURING THE MILLENNIUM
(What will the redeemed people of God be doing
during the Millennium?)
A. V. 4a They Will Be Reigning - All the saints of
God, that is, every person who received Jesus
between the Day of Pentecost and the Rapture of
the church will reign with Jesus in His Millennial
kingdom. We will share in His glory and in His
reign, 2 Tim. 2:12; 1 Pet. 5:1.
(Ill. The children of God may be mocked and
ridiculed down here right now, but there is coming
as day when we will return with Jesus in power
and glory to this world and we will reign with Him
on this earth. In that day, we will be different that
we are now. In fact, we will have already been
through the Judgment Seat of Christ and we will
have enjoyed the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
We will have been with Jesus when He took
control of the world away from the devil and his
armies. We will have shared in it all and we will
share in His glory! When we reign with Him, we
will be in our glorified bodies! We will be free
from sin, free from death, free from disease. We
will be perfect in that day!)
B. V. 4b They Will Be A Resurrected - At the
beginning of the Millennium, all the Old
Testament saints and all those who died with faith
in Jesus during the Tribulation will be raised from
the dead. Imagine, seeing all the Old Testament
believers serving the One they were looking for!
You see, they all died in faith, looking ahead to
that day when the promised One would go to the
cross and die for sin. Well, He did and now they
are saved! They will love again on that blessed
day! Ill. Abraham saw His day and was glad,
John 8:56. In that day, he will see Jesus!
C. V. 4c They Will Be Received - The last part of
this verse makes it clear that there will be a
number of people who will come to the end of the
Tribulation Period with their faith in Jesus, These
people refused the Mark of the Beast and they
lived until the end. Some will be Jews, others will
be Gentiles, but they will all enter the Kingdom of
Christ. This is pictured for us in Matthew 25:31-46 as the Judgment of the Nations. Jesus will
honor the faith of those who trusted in Him and
He will receive them into His kingdom. Those
who lived to the end of the Tribulation and did not
place their faith in Christ will be destroyed and will
go to Hell!
(Ill. I hope you can see that the bottom line is faith!
Where is your faith this morning? Is it in Jesus
Christ, alone for salvation? If it is in anything else,
then you are on dangerous ground. Trust Jesus
while you can, He is the only One Who can save the
soul.)
I. The Savior During The Millennium
II. Satan During The Millennium
III. The Saints During The Millennium
IV. THE SINNERS DURING THE MILLENNIUM
(Will there be sinners during the Millennium? Yes!
There will be none who enter the Millennium, but there
will be billions born during that 1,000 year period. You
see, all the Jews and Gentiles who enter the
Millennium, out of the Tribulation will do so in their flesh
and blood bodies. These people are saved, but their
offspring will be born with a lost, sinful nature. They will
need to be saved too!)
A. Their Relationship To The Savior - In that day,
even the lost man will know Jesus. He will know
Him as King, but He will not know Him as Savior
unless he repents and receives Jesus by faith.
Salvation has never changed!
1. They Will Be Forced To Worship Correctly -
Every person on the face of the earth will bow
in worship before King Jesus! Every one will
lift their voices in praises and in singing to Him
Who sits upon the throne of glory. What a
blessed day that will be! However, imagine
having to praise Him and not love Him!
Imagine worshiping Him outwardly, while
hating Him inwardly! It will happen in that day!
(Ill. Listen, it also happens in this day! A lost
person comes into the church. They stand
with the congregation of the saints and they
sing the songs of praise unto the Lord. They
join in with all the redeemed of God as we
worship the King. Outwardly, there is no
difference, but inwardly, the heart of the lost
sinner is not in love with Jesus. He is merely
going through the motions. Friend, it does not
have to be that way! God can make this thing
real for you if you will only come to Him by
faith!)
2. They Will Be Forced To Walk Correctly -
Now, lost people walk to their own tune. They
do what they please without regard to what
the Lord has to say about it. However, it that
day, they will be forced to live rightly! Again,
there will be outward obedience, but without
inward love! People will need salvation then,
just as they do now!
B. Their Relationship To Satan - Just as the lost
have always had a close relationship with the
devil, so they will in the Millennium.
1. They Will Be Deceived - The Bible tells us
that when Satan is loosed from his prison, he
will deceive a great multitude of those who are
not saved. They will join him in his bid to
conquer God.
(Ill. I find it amazing the people who have
known nothing but the holiness, goodness and
blessing of God would rather fight Him than
love Him. I do not understand that! Yet, we
see it all around us in the world today. Even
in this room, there are people who eat God's
food, breath His air and enjoy His goodness,
yet you will not bow before Him and receive
Him into your heart and life. That is
something I will never understand! Willing to
tread underfoot the goodness of God, while
you march toward a destiny with Hell! My
friend, I would just like to remind you that it is
the "goodness of God that leadeth thee to
repentance.", Rom. 2:4.
2. They Will Be Doomed - Satan's plan will fail.
All those who followed him will be devoured
by the fire of God out of Heaven. Their bodies
will burn up and their souls will go to Hell.
What a terrible doom awaits the enemies of
God!
(Ill. It is the same fate that awaits everyone
who refuses to come to Jesus for salvation.
Friends, He is the only way for anyone to miss
Hell. He is the only way to be saved, John
14:6. Do you know Him?)
I. The Savior During The Millennium
II. Satan During The Millennium
III. The Saints During The Millennium
IV. The Sinners During The Millennium
V. SOCIETY DURING THE MILLENNIUM
(Ill. For just a few minutes, I would like to share with you
some of the changes that will come about during the
Millennium. I won't take too long, but these are a
blessing.)
1. Peace - Cessation of all war by the unification of
the nations and the resultant economic
prosperity. This will be a time of personal and
national peace. (Isa.2:4; 9:4-7; 32:17-18; 33:5-6;
55:12; 60:18; Eze.28:26; 34:25, 28; Hos.2:18;
Micah 4:2-3; Zech.9:10.
2. Joy - The fulness of joy will be a trademark of the
Kingdom. (Isa.12:3-6; 14:7-8; 25:8-9; 61:7,10;
65:18-19; 66:10-14; Jer.31:18-19; Zeph.3:14-17;
Zech.10:6-7.
3. Holiness - This Theocratic kingdom will be a holy
kingdom. This holiness will be manifested
through the king and his subjects. The land will
be holy, the people holy, the city holy the entire
world will be holy unto the Lord.(Isa. 31:6-7;
35:8-9; 60:21; 61:10; Eze.36:24-31; 37:23-24;
Zech.8:3; 14:20-21.)
4. Glory - This kingdom will be a glorious kingdom,
with the glory of God in full display. (Isa. 4:2; 35:2;
40:5; 60:1-9.)
5. Comfort - Jesus will fully minister to every need,
so that there will be fulness of comfort. (Isa
12:1-2; 30:26; 40 :1-2; 49:13; 51:3; 66:21-23;
Jer.31:23-25; Zeph.3:18-20.)
6. Justice - Perfect Justice will be administered to
every individual in the entire world. (Isa.9:7;
32:16; 42:1-4; 65:21-23; Jer.23:5.)
7. Full Knowledge - All the subjects of the king will
possess fulness of knowledge. No doubt, ther will
be an increase in the teaching ministry of the Holy
Ghost. (Isa. 11:1-2,9; Isa. 41:19-20; *54:13*;
Hab.2:14.)
8. Instruction - Perfect knowledge will come about
from instruction from the king. (Isa. 2:2-3;
29:17-24; 32:3-4; Jer.3:14-15; Micah 4:2.)
9. The Removal of the Curse - In Gen. 3:17-19,
God placed a curse upon the earth. During the
millennium, this curse will be removed, resulting
in an increase in the productivity of the earth, and
it will cause animals the loose their ferocity and
venom. (Isa 11:6-9; 65:25).
10. Sickness Removed - The King will be a healer,
so that sickness and death will vanish. Except as
a punishment for extreme sin, (Isa 33:24;
Jer.30:17; 33:6.)
11. Healing of the deformed - (All deformity will be
healed. (Isa.29:17-19; 35:3-6).
12. Protection - There will be a supernatural
preservation of life during the millennium.
(Isa.41:8-14; 62:8-9; Jer. 23:6; Joel 3:16-17;
Amos 9:15; Zech.9:8; 14:10-11.)
13. No oppression - There will be no social, political,
racial or religious oppression in that day,
(Isa.14:3-6; 42:6-7; 49:8-9; Zech.9:11-12.)
14. No Immaturity - It seems that there will be no
mental retardation or dwarfed bodies, longevity
will also be restored, (Isa.65:20).
15. Reproduction by the Living People - The living
saints who enter the millennium will reproduce.
The population of the earth will soar. Yet, all
children will be born with a sin nature, and will
therefore need salvation, (Jer.30:20; 31:29;
Eze.47:22).
16. Labor - There will be no laziness, or welfare. A
perfect economic system, all needs will be
provided for by the labor of men under direction
of the king. It will be a fully industrialized world,
(Isa. 62:8-9; 65:21-23; Jer.31:5.)
17. Economic Prosperity - The perfect labor
situation will produce economic abundance, so
that there will be no want. (Isa.35:1-2, 7;
30:23-25; Jer.31:5; 12; Eze 34:26; 36:29-30;
*Joel 2:21-27* *Amos 9:13-14*; Zech.8:11-12.)
The value of all the combined mineral and
natural resources of the earth have been
estimated at one decillion dollars. This figure is
beyond our comprehension. Listen to where
decillion comes in line. Million, billion, trillion,
quadrillion, sextillion, septillion, octillion, novillion,
decillion. If this number is divided by the
population of the earth, every one on the earth
would be a millionaire. (1 followed by 30 zeros)
18. Increase of Light - The will be an increase in
solar and lunar light, accounting for the increase
in productivity. (Isa.30:26).
19. Unified Language - All language barriers will be
removed, (Zeph.3:9).
20. Unified Worship - The entire world will worship
God and Jesus, (Isa.45:23; 66:17-23; Zeph.3:9;
Zech.14:16; 8:23; Mal.1:11).
21. The manifest presence of God - God will be
present upon the earth, and recognized by man.
Fellowship with God will be experienced in an
unprecedented degree, (Eze.37:27-28; Zech.2:2;
10-13; Rev.21:3.)
22. The fullness of the Spirit - All who are subject
to the King will experience divine enablement and
presence, (Isa.44:3; Eze.36:26-27; 37:14; Joel
2:28-29.)
23. The eternal nature of the Millennial state -
(Isa.51:6-8; 55:3, 13; 61:8; Jer.32:40; Eze.16:60;
37:26-28.)
(Ill. As you can see, the Millennium will be a special
time. I look forward to that day when it comes.)
Conc: I have been preaching about a time when Jesus
will reign as King upon this earth. That will be a special
time and it will be a blessed time. However, you do not
have to wait to the Millennium for Jesus to be King. If
you will trust Him as your Savior, He will reign as the
King of your heart right now. I wonder, have you ever
bowed before Jesus and confessed your sins and
received Him into your heart? If you haven't, you need
to and you can if you will come to Him today. Will you
do that?
