November 6, 2016 Worship, War & Peace Revelation 19-20 Time Magazine's latest cover has a picture of Trump & Clinton holding a sign that reads, "The End is Near." For many that about sums it up. People are bewildered and less than optimistic as we approach election. As we come closer to the end... of our study through Revelation... we see John writing about the return of Jesus Christ. This morning I want to turn our attention to Jesus, not presidential candidates because our hope is in Jesus, not presidential candidates. Regardless of who is elected this week, Jesus is still King of Kings on His eternal throne and He is coming soon. Our hope is not based on the one who sits in an oval office, but the one who sits on the Eternal Throne. 1. Worship. a. The Sovereignty of God (19:1-5). Again we see that God is sovereign & in control as He brings about His promised end of the satanic forces currently at work in this world. b. The Supper of the Lamb (19:6-10). 2. War. This is the great marriage feast as God s people are finally & physically with Him for eternity. This is a beautiful picture of the bride (the church) made ready for her bridegroom (Jesus Christ). Here we see a glimpse of that certain & coming celebration. And, O what a glorious day that will be! a. The Vision of Christ (19:11-16). In this vision of Christ, we see His supremacy. Church, this is our Warrior King, Faithful & True, the Living Word of God, King of kings, and Lord of lords who comes to strike down evil and to end, once & for all, the enemy s rebellion. b. The Victory of Christ (19:17-21; 20:7-10). In this section we see the Part 1 of the complete & final victory over Satan's beast & false prophet, as well as his followers. We ll see Part 2, the final defeat of Satan, in 20:7-10. (Note: Some see this as two separate battles, one in chapter 19 & another in chapter 20. Others, including myself, see it as one final battle. Which is also the same battle seen in chapter 17). 3. Peace (20:1-6, 11-15). 1
Chapter 20 verses 1-6 are arguably the most controversial verses in the entire book of Revelation. In this passage we see what is referred to as the millennial (or thousand year) reign of Christ. It has been said that the millennium is a thousand years of peace that Christians like to fight about. That s funny and true. There are three primary views each relating to Christ s return in relationship with the millennium: Pre-millennial, Post-millennial & A-millennial. Each of these views are within the framework of historic Christianity and each view presents a biblical argument for its position. So, we have biblical latitude for disagreement and that s okay. Disagreement is around 3 questions: 1) When is it going to happen? 2) How long is it going to happen? 3) Where is it going to happen? But before we consider those questions, we need to understand a couple of things. a. What we should to know for certain 1) It is sanctifying to disagree about the millennium. Listen, it s good to understand that we don t know & understand everything. I know that makes some of us crazy especially the Type As but we just need to get comfortable in the discomfort because this is one of those things in which Scripture is not absolutely clear. In His infinite wisdom & for His good purpose, God chose not to give us a clear outline of the millennium, complete with charts & graphs. Much about the millennium is mysteriously veiled by God. There is a popular quote from church history that says: In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity. In essentials, unity: There are many essential things in the Bible that God is absolutely clear about. On these things, we must stand in agreement. Authority of Scripture; justification by faith alone in Christ alone; Christ s substitutionary atonement; Christ s virgin birth, physical death, bodily resurrection & ascension of Jesus just to name a few. In non-essentials, liberty (freedom): There are less important non-essential doctrines that are less clear, even obscure in the Bible. On these we can agree to disagree. However, know this, salvation & faith in Christ is not grounded in non-essential doctrines. In fact, no essential doctrine of salvation is gray. In the Bible, those things are crystal clear. 2) It is sin to divide over the millennium. As we proceed, we need to understand that this is a secondary non-essential issue. In other words, one s perspective (view) of the millennium does not save or condemn you. Furthermore, it is a sin to divide over different views of the millennium. It is not a litmus test & must not be a basis for our fellowship together. When it comes to the millennium, the only thing that we must agree on is that there is one... because the Bible refers to it. But the what, when & where are open for differences of opinion, as there have been throughout history. When preaching through the book of Revelation, NT scholar & pastor, Thomas Schreiner, wisely stated: 2
Everything in God's Word is important. Yet good Christians have different views on the millennium. A month ago, and during this whole series, I would have said, I'm an Amillennialist. But I've actually changed my mind as I studied this passage. So how much trust are you going to put in me tonight? Right? I'm not very stable on this issue. You know, that's a good thing to be reminded of, that our confidence is not in a preacher, but in God's Word. It's in the truth of God's Word. That's what matters; not my opinion towards something. we must distinguish between central issues of the faith and issues which aren't central. Some people have a hard time doing that. Everything for them is of equal importance in the Bible. But that's not true. There are some things that are nonnegotiable in our faith. But there are less clear matters in the Bible as well; things like when the rapture will take place and what we're looking at today regarding the millennium. I could not agree more. In fact, my personal view of the millennium is different now than it was when we began our study through the book of Revelation. Let me also say that I loosely hold my view of the millennium, and I reserve the right to change my position. Or, as one pastor put it, I m perfectly fine changing my position in mid-air. b. What we don t know for certain. Clearly, as we read the beginning of chapter 20, Satan is bound, thrown down, and sealed in a bottomless pit. For a thousand years (millennium), he is unable to deceive the nations. During that same period, Christians come to life & reign with Christ in what s called the first resurrection. At the end of the millennium, Satan is released, deceives the nations, and mounts a final assault against the Church. But he is defeated and thrown into the Lake of Fire for eternity (Platt). Simple enough, right? Well, as Lee Corso says on ESPN s College Game Day, Not so fast! When is this going to happen? 1) The time of the millennium. Some hold a chronological view of Revelation 19-20 with an order like this: Jesus returns, Satan is imprisoned for 1,000 years, Christians reign with Christ in the millennium (1,000 years of peace & justice), Satan is released to deceive the nations, Satan is finally defeated & banished to the Lake of Fire, final judgment of all people. This is the premillennial perspective, and probably the predominant view of Christians. However, others hold a cyclical view of Revelation 19-20, much like the rest of the book of Revelation. This is called recapitulation. In other words, the structure & visions of Revelation do not convey a strict & consecutive timeline of events, but frequently cover the same things from different perspectives. Therefore, Revelation 20 is not to be thought of as following in chronological order chapter 19. Rather, Revelation 20 takes us back once again to the beginning of the New Testament era and recapitulates [repeats, reiterates] the entire present age (Storms). Those who hold this view see it something like this: We are now in the millennium the church age. Christ is reigning in heaven. Those who have died in Christ are now reigning with Him. Satan is now bound from deceiving the nations. In the future Satan will be released to deceive the nations & raise up his army (coinciding with chapters 16 & 17). Jesus returns to finally defeat 3
Satan. Satan is banished to the Lake of Fire. Final judgment of all people. Now about that part of Satan being bound now. Satan s binding is not a complete prevention of Satan s influence on earth. Satan is active in this world, but his actions are restricted. In Matthew 12 after Jesus had healed a demon-possessed man, He was accused of being of Satan. Then in we read in verse 25: Knowing their thoughts, [Jesus] said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?... 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. David Platt is helpful when he writes: The whole picture there is Jesus saying, The kingdom of God has come upon you, and I am binding the strong man (i.e., the god of this world, Satan), casting out demons, showing my authority over demons, and in the process, plundering his house, the place where he rules, this earth. The whole picture we have in the Gospels is Jesus doing exactly that asserting His authority over this world, sin, suffering, and Satan. Also, in Colossians 2:15, the Apostle Paul writes: [Jesus] disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open by shame, by triumphing over them. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus proclaimed: I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So, Satan could not & cannot stop Christ. Christ bound Satan. Furthermore, Satan cannot stop Christ s church until her mission is completed. In Matthew 24:14, Jesus said: This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Therefore, according to this view, Satan is currently bound restricted from a particular task He cannot now deceive the nations in such a way that he stops the advance of the gospel to the nations. How long is it going to happen? 2) The length of the millennium. You may be thinking, Wait a minute pastor, we know how long it is. It s a thousand years! It says it right there in verses 2 & 7. Now to be clear, no biblical view of this passage denies the millennium. Many have the perspective that the millennium is a literal 1,000-year period. Others believe the millennium is used figuratively or symbolically like other parts of the book of Revelation. They say, We ve seen 1,000 used as a number to refer to completion and perfection. So the point here is that the millennium is a complete, perfect, and limited amount of time that God has set. (Platt). Where is it going to happen? 3) The location of the millennium. 4
Many believe the millennium is a future time of great peace & justice, which is usually thought to be a literal period that will begin when Christ returns to physically reign on earth as King, which will include resurrected believers reigning with him. Others believe that the millennium is symbolic, but no less literal, of the present church age the time between the first & second comings of Christ. They do not believe there is a future earthly millennium before Christ returns for the final judgment. The major point of difference is the location of Christ s millennial reign: In the future on earth or now in heaven. Each perspective has a biblical basis for their views. Each perspective answers some questions the other perspective does not. No perspective answers all the questions. c. What we do know for certain 1) Those in Christ reign with Christ (20:4-6). The second death refers to the eternal death when the wicked are returned to bodily existence, condemned for their evil deeds, & cast into the eternal Lake of Fire with Satan as we see below in verses 14-15. But those who are in Christ those who have received His grace of salvation, putting faith & trust in Him alone will not experience this death. To paraphrase the Puritan John Owen, for the Christian the second death was put to death in the death of Christ. 2) Christ will return to finally defeat the enemy (19:20-21; 20:9-10). In verses 9-10 we see that after Satan is released, he will deceive the nations, gather his army for war against Christ, then in verse 9 we read: They marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 3) Everyone will be judged by God (20:11-15). One day we will all stand before God. We will stand condemned in sin to eternal torment (according to the book of their own deeds), or we will stand redeemed in Christ to eternal joy (according to the book of life found in Jesus). 5