Revelation 20:6, John 5:25, Ephesians 5:14

Watch on YouTube

As we discuss Revelation chapter 20, there’s one more part that often throws people for a loop. When you read it, it will say,

Blessed and holy is the one who has a share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them. Instead they will be priests of God and of Christ. And they will reign with him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)

What is that talking about? Why does it talk about two different resurrections? And this often throws Christians for a loop. For instance, my friends who believe in the rapture would say that Jesus will come back first, once secretly, and then there will be a secret resurrection from the dead, and then he’ll come back again later, and then there’ll be another resurrection from the dead. Thus you have two resurrections from the dead. However, the simplest and easiest way to take these words is the truth that you’ve already participated in the first resurrection from the dead. In fact, it’s what Jesus promises in John chapter five when he says

A time is coming and is here now when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen will live. (John 5:25)

You see, faith and coming alive through faith is a real resurrection. Worked by the Holy Spirit. We are dead in our trespasses and sins, and God makes us alive through faith in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul says,

Awake, you who sleep. Arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. (Ephesians 5:14)

That’s so important to understand because as Revelation says, blessed are they who partake in the first resurrection.

What it’s saying is that we only have one life to believe in Jesus Christ. We only have one small window and that’s it for you to come alive through faith in Jesus. The second death, eternal death in hell, has no power over you, but you will reign with Christ forever. And on the last day when Jesus raises the dead, he’ll raise you with a glorified body to inherit a beautiful new creation. However, for those who don’t believe in Jesus in this life, they too will be raised from the dead. But they won’t be raised in honor, but they’ll be raised for everlasting shame.

You see, God has made you a participant in the first resurrection. He’s forgiven your sins through faith in Jesus and made you a priest of his kingdom, so that you may participate in this first resurrection. The miraculous spread of faith and the true awakening and the true resurrection caused when a soul trapped in sin hears and believes the gospel. And for you and me to understand what a privilege that is, that we get to participate in this work, that our prayers, our offerings, our time spent in church, your talent shared with your pastor and with your church have an effect on the Kingdom that God uses you in powerful ways to participate in the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit as he continues to spread the Gospel.

As Christians who live in the end times, we look forward to Jesus second return. We know that day is coming and we know time is short. It’s all the more reason why we must urgently take up our calling to live as priests with Christ and His Kingdom. May God give you strength to this end. Amen.

Revelation 20:3

Watch on YouTube

Last week we talked about the thousand year reign of Christ. However, if you look at those verses very closely in Revelation chapter 20, you’ll see that a time will come when the devil is unleashed. (Revelation 20:3) He is set free from his chain, and he is once again given power to deceive the nations.

Well, as people look around them today. They often ask, well, has this happened? And I can promise you, you’ll find no shortage of preachers on YouTube that will tell you that, yes, you know, the devil has been set off his chain. And of course, their goal is to create fear because fear drives up views just like it does on the news, right? But what’s interesting is the book of Revelation was not written in order to scare Christians. The book of Revelation was written in order to comfort Christians.

The comfort that you have victory through Christ. And one of the great comforts comfort in the book of Revelation is actually an understanding that Revelation doesn’t so much talk about the future as much as it just describes the natural patterns in history. For instance, we see that God has worked the same way throughout time, time, and time again. That the gospel will come into a land and it will seem as though the devil is chained. His power to deceive the nations has been limited, because the gospel grows and spreads, and hearts eagerly receive and receive it with joy. But that season of plenty lasts for only a short time, and in time what happens is that Christians will become apathetic. They lose interest in the gospel. They sell the inheritance they have in Jesus for a life of pleasure and comfort. And so how does God respond to this?

Well, it seems like he lets the devil off the chain, or at least gives him some slack on the chain. Suddenly that culture will rise up and turn against the Christian faith. You’ll see how the home is attacked and the church is attacked. And Christians in that land and in that culture will face persecution. And what will inevitably happen is that the church will pick up roots and move somewhere else, and the process starts all over again. There’s nothing new in history. That’s what Revelation teaches us.

In fact, as you look at your own life, how are you facing persecution? Is it difficulty at work, or is it challenges at school being made fun of for your faith? Is it the pressures and the social pressures that come with a culture that has embraced athletics but rejects the church? Is it persecution from your own family or persecution from false Christianity? We oftentimes throw up our hands to God and say, why? Why are, why these changes in our culture? Why these changes in our lands? Why would you allow persecution? And the answer is always the same. Because persecution is God’s answer to lukewarm Christianity.

We can’t afford to sit on the fence when the world and the culture we live in rises against us. We have to choose a side. We have to either be hot or cold as we face trials and tribulations in our life, whether they’re physical or spiritual, let these do their God intended work, which is to drive us to Jesus. To drive us to the comfort we have and the forgiveness of sins. The assurance of eternal life in heaven. And let that fire burn hot in your heart. So the God will use you and me as witnesses, as witnesses, that he is coming back. We pray, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.

Revelation 20:1-5, 2 Peter 3:8, John 18:36

Watch on YouTube

Last week we started looking at Revelation chapter 20. We saw how God had bound the devil with Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. So now we want to ask to what effect? To what purpose? Well, those passages go on to tell us that the devil has been bound for a thousand years, and that Christ will reign with his saints for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:1-5) As we talk about the thousand year reign today, that’s oftentimes a point of controversy in Christianity.

Just what is this 1000 year reign? Is it literal or is it figurative? Well, some important things to remember about the Bible is that as it uses numbers, the number ten oftentimes represents fullness or completion. That’s because, well, if I’m counting on my fingers, I have ten fingers, so I can’t go much higher than ten, can I? Ten is the number of completion. Three is the holy number of God for the holy, Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So what you have with 1000 is you have ten times ten times ten. Which when you take it together, is a thousand years. A number that represents a holy completion.

In fact, there’s one other time in the Bible where God mentions a thousand years. It’s in the book of Second Peter. When Peter is talking to the church, he’s telling them to be patient as they wait for the Lord’s return. Because to God, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. (2 Peter 3:8) The thousand years is a figurative number that represents just the right amount of time. So be patient.

The second question people often ask with the thousand year reign of Christ is what type of reign will this be? Many Christians today are tempted to look at this as a political reign from Jerusalem, that Jesus will return in person and set up a kingdom in Jerusalem, and there he will reign for a thousand years. Others might look at this as the progression of history as the church progresses and as the world governments all become Christian theocracy that we’ll be able to establish an order of peace and security that will reign over the world for a thousand years. Both of these views see the thousand year reign of Christ as a physical, worldly kingdom.

And there’s an allure there. There’s a very human desire for us as Christians to have our time on top. To have a world and a government that makes sure that everything goes my way. I get what I want, and I get to be on top of the pecking order. Though that’s certainly tempting to want to believe that, God never works that way in the Bible. Jesus confessed to Pontius Pilate, a worldly ruler, saying, my kingdom is not of this world. (John 18:36) In fact, Jesus’ kingdom, Jesus’ thousand year reign has already begun. It began a long time ago, as we confess in the Creed, Jesus ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. That statement in the Creed confesses that Jesus is seated on the throne in heaven, that all things are under his power and under his control. And as Jesus sits and reigns from the right hand of God the Father Almighty, that means he’s governing over everything for the good of the church. For your good and my good. So that his kingdom can continue to spread.

No, his kingdom is not a kingdom of worldly governments or worldly rulers or powers or empires or military. His kingdom is a kingdom of hearts that have been captured for the love of Christ and captured by Christ’s love. Who have been freed by the forgiveness of sins, and reign with Christ through your prayers and petitions. Today, as we think of the thousand year reign, that’s something you and I as Christians get to participate in through our prayers, through our offerings, through our ministries, and our personal witnesses. You and I get to help share and spread that kingdom. Amen.

Revelation 20:1, Revelation 1:18, Job 1:6-12, Romans 16:20

Watch on YouTube

I want to spend the next couple of weeks with you looking at some of the most controversial verses in the Bible, which for me is always fun. If you open your Bibles to Revelation chapter 20, verse one, you see this moment where God describes this great dragon, the devil. And John, the author of Revelation, sees this angel come down from heaven who has these keys to the abyss. And the angel takes the dragon, and he chains up the dragon. And this picture is a picture that is meant to comfort God’s people.

What does that mean when we see that the dragon, the devil, has been chained? Well, this chaining of Satan is a limiting of his authority, a limiting of his power. You might picture a prisoner in a cage. Or a dog chained up on a leash. It limits his sphere of influence. We have examples of this in Scripture. In the book of Job, (Job 1:6-12) the devil has to go to God and ask for God’s permission in order to reach out his hand and cause any harm to one of God’s children. God very carefully sets the limits on the devil’s power and tells him, this far you may go and no further. Because ultimately God ensures that though the devil might attack believers, God ensures that you and I will not be overthrown by his power. He lets us be tempted and tested just enough, but no further and never past our breaking point.

The second question, though, is, as we think of that image of the angel chaining the dragon, just who is that angel? Well, we have to go back to Revelation chapter one, (verse 18) where we first meet Jesus. He appears and says to John, I am he who was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. This angel that John sees with the keys is none other than Jesus Christ, who came down from heaven to bind the dragon. And this binding of the dragon, of Satan, by Jesus, it happened on Easter morning. When Jesus rose from the dead as your victorious Savior, the first thing he did is he descended into hell. Into the very kingdom of the devil. And he bound the devil.

Now, as I mentioned before. God has always had authority over the devil. The devil has always been bound in a certain sense. So what makes Jesus on Easter morning, what makes his binding of the devil so important? Well, what makes it so important is that this is a man. It is the God man who has now bound the devil and made the devil captive to his power and his authority. This is your brother in human flesh, Jesus Christ, who holds the leash on that powerful dragon and keeps him at bay. And why that’s so important for you is because one of the devil’s worst lies is he wants us as Christians to think we’re the captives. He wants us to think that we’re the ones bound in a prison of obedience to God, or that we’re bound in this prison of sin, or that we’re on his leash. And nothing could be further from the truth.

The forgiveness of sins through Jesus shatters that chain and breaks every single prison wall, just as it broke Jesus free from the tomb. You are truly free in Christ Jesus. You are truly free of the devil and free of his power, and free to not have to listen to him anymore. Through your Savior, Jesus, you exercise powerful authority over the devil. One day the Bible says you too will crush him under your feet. (Romans 16:20) Until that time, we exercise authority by calling him out as a liar and by forgiving sins. Through that forgiveness of sins he is bound and can harm you no more.