Discover Prophecy

Discover Revelation's 1000 Years of Peace

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. David Klinedinst

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Series Code: DPR

Program Code: DPR000004A


00:07 You and I have grown up in a
00:11 age of conflict. Most of us have grown up in
00:15 an age where we have been surrounded by wars and the threat of wars
00:19 in fact if truth be told in the last 100 years
00:23 this world has seen very little peace
00:27 let us take a look at the last century that most of us were born in
00:31 the 20th centurty began with World War one
00:35 when many of the superpowers of the world were thrown into
00:39 conflict against each other. and after five difficult
00:43 years of war, finally the treaty of Versailles
00:47 was signed and that generation thought
00:51 that they had established peace. But it did not last very long becasue
00:55 a few years later came the second world war and the rise of
00:59 Hitler's third reich and the nazis and the attack on pearl harbor
01:03 and the world was again thrown into another chaotic
01:07 world war for 4 more long and painful years
01:11 finally, V-Day came and that
01:15 generation thought they had established peace but then came
01:19 the rise of communism and the Korean War and the controversial
01:23 Vietnam war, and then in the late 1980s you
01:27 may remember there was hope becasue you had the fall of communism
01:31 and the Berlin wall came down and that generation thought
01:35 that peace was coming, but it did no happen.
01:39 Because then came Sudan Hussein and all the Petrsian Gulf Wars
01:43 and even today in the 21st century we find ourselves
01:47 in a constant struggle against terrorism. You see people
01:51 peace is something we all want. We hope
01:55 for it for our children and the governments of the world work hard
01:59 towards it but it seems like no matter what we do
02:03 we just cannot seem to establish peace in this world.
02:07 but there is good news in the book of revelation becasue
02:11 the Bible tells us there is a time of peace that is going to come very soon
02:15 most Christian's refer to it as the time period
02:19 of the millennium, revelation calls it the thousand years
02:23 of peace. That is what we are going to study tonight. Now,
02:27 there are a lot of different theories surrounding what is the millennium
02:31 all about some people say this is a time of great peace
02:35 just on the earth. Others say it is a time after Jesus comes
02:39 when men have a second chance at salvation. Other
02:43 theories say this is a time of peace only meant for the Jews.
02:47 And then others say it is a time after Jesus comes
02:51 when the saints are at peace in the kingdom of heaven.
02:55 So what we are gonna do tonight,we are not going to worry about what
03:00 different doctrine says We are going to open up the book of revelation
03:04 and let revelation speak for itself. You will be amazed
03:08 at how absolutely clear God is on this subject.
03:12 in fact what I am gonna do is the opposite tonight. Normally we look up
03:16 all the verses and give the conclusion at the end
03:20 I am gnna give you the conclusion in the beginning, and then we are gonna look up the verses that
03:24 will help fill in the details. So what we are going to
03:28 discover is that the 1000 years of peace actually begin
03:32 at the Second coming of Christ,
03:36 and that makes sense because men will never establish peace
03:40 on this earth by himself. It will not be until Jesus Christ
03:44 intervenes in human affairs, so as we begin to study this
03:48 let us take our Bibles and we wanna go to revelation
03:52 chapter 19 begining in verse 11.
03:56 and Now I saw heaven opened and behold, What color of horse
04:00 a white horse and he who sat on him was
04:04 was called faithful and true and in righteousness He judges
04:08 and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of
04:12 fire and on his head were many crowns. He had
04:16 a name written that no one knew. except himself. He was clothed
04:20 with a robe dipped in What? blood.
04:24 His name is called the Word of God and the armies in heaven
04:28 clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
04:32 followed Him on white horses. Now out of
04:36 his mouth goes a sharp sword. that with it he should strike the nations
04:40 the nations that he himself will rule them
04:44 with a rod of iron. He himself treads the wine press of the
04:48 fierceness and wrath of all mighty God and then verse 16
04:52 and He has on his robe and on his thigh,
04:56 a name writen, What is it? King of Kings
04:59 and Lord of Lords Now that was a fairly
05:03 long five verses so we don't wanna go over that to quickly .
05:07 I am gonna put on the screen a little summary of what John has just
05:11 described in this vision first of all we have a rider
05:15 coming on a white horse so before we go any farther
05:19 we ought to answer the question well who is the rider
05:23 on the white horse it really not too hard
05:27 becasue there are quite a few clues in this passage
05:31 but you'll notice that in verses 11 and 12, what is the
05:35 name of this rider What is He called?
05:38 Faithful and True. You also notice
05:43 he is riding on a white horse now colors in the Bible,
05:46 particulary the prophetic portions of the Bible are very significant.
05:50 White is always used to represent what? Can you tell me?
05:53 That right! Purity, Truth
05:58 or righteousness. On top of that not only must
06:02 this ride represents truth, purity and righteousness,but in
06:06 verse 16 there is a name on his thigh that there is no mistaking.
06:10 What is that name? King of Kings and Lord of Lords
06:13 so the only person the rider could possibly be is who
06:17 Obviously it is Jesus Christ. And he is described
06:21 as coming with the armies of heaven
06:25 behind him. There are flames of fire in his
06:29 eyes. Now there are some imagery in this vision
06:33 that is disturbing to some people. Because normally when you
06:37 look through the gospel and you always hear about the meekness
06:41 and the gentleness of the loving and merciful savior and that is what Jesus
06:45 is. But here you also see imagery
06:49 of wrath and war did you notice that? Because he is coming
06:53 on a horse back in those days that is how you
06:57 would make war. It says he has eyes like flames of fire
07:02 and he is coming in the fierceness and wrath of God almighty
07:06 according to this vision .We may ask well why? It seems
07:10 to be such a different picture from the Savior of the four Gospel
07:14 you know Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John we can be assured it is
07:18 still the same Savior. But you have to understand at
07:21 this point time is no more. Jesus
07:25 coming to get rid of sin forever for
07:29 6000 years he has seen what sin has done to what was once
07:33 his perfect planet.He has seen his people
07:37 and his church persecuted, beaten,
07:41 going through all sorts of trials, he has seen what
07:45 satan and the wicked have done throughout the centuries and so now He
07:49 is angry. He is coming to put a stop to sin.
07:53 forever. in one sense we ought to say amen to that because we want
07:57 sin to be no more, but even though this is somewhat
08:01 of a graphic description still if you go to verse 13,
08:05 it says the rider is wearing a robe dipped in blood
08:09 and you see this is a reference
08:13 taking us back to the
08:17 cross. This is reminding us, this is
08:21 still the same savior who left the perfection of heaven
08:25 who left a place where millions of angels worshipped
08:29 and adored him to walk on this messed up
08:33 sin ridden world so that you and I would have the opportunity
08:37 to be saved. So yes he is coming to get rid of sin, but he is
08:41 still the same loving savior who gave his life on the cross
08:45 can you say amen. Now the other picture that is given here is
08:50 there is a sword that is apparently coming out of his mouth, now
08:54 do you think that we are to take that literally
08:58 does that mean he is literally gonnaa Knife between his teeth. Now this is all
09:02 obviously symbolic imagery. Now in the scriptures
09:06 a sword has always been used to represent what, do you remember?
09:10 the word of God or God's word
09:14 you see now why is it symbolized that way
09:18 you see when Jesus comes we are going to be judged by this
09:22 word see this is the word where truth is found
09:26 this is the Word of God that points us to Jesus and to the
09:30 Cross and so it is this word of God that deciphers who is
09:34 a true believer and who is not because I think we all know
09:38 that just because I profess to follow Jesus does not
09:42 mean that I do. What is looked at as
09:46 how have I lived my life. Now that does not mean
09:50 that we are saved by works, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus
09:54 Christ. But the decisions I have made in my life
09:58 are a big indication of who I have allowed to rule my life
10:02 you see the true believer chooses to follow the word
10:06 of God in the power of the holy spirit. The true believer
10:10 does not make excuses as to why he cannot follow Jesus.
10:14 A genuine believer does not back down and does not compromise God
10:18 word no matter what even if it means he is made fun of
10:22 even if it means that she is not in the majority
10:26 even if it costs us something
10:30 the true disciple of Jesus will always put the Bible above everything else
10:34 and Jesus above every one else
10:38 so that is the picture that Jesus is now coming to save his people
10:42 and to make war upon satan and sin
10:46 and the wicked but now the vision goes a little bit farther
10:50 and John gets even more graphic in his
10:54 description. Let us pick up the second part of his vision now
10:58 in verses 17-21
11:02 Now I'm going read these verses stright thruogh the again I just what you to
11:06 picture this in your mind Revelation 19 and
11:10 verse 17 The Bible Says!
11:14 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun,
11:18 and he cried with a loud voice saying to all the
11:22 birds that fly in the midst of heaven, come, gather
11:26 together for the supper of the great God. That you may eat the
11:30 flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, of mighty men, of horses, and of
11:36 those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people
11:40 free and slave, both small and great.
11:44 verse 19 it continues and I saw the beast
11:48 the kings of earth and their armies gathered
11:52 together to make war against him who sat on the
11:56 horse and against his army then the
12:00 beast was captured and with him the false prophet who worked signs
12:04 in his presence by which he deceived those received the mark of the beast
12:08 and those who worshipped his image. These two were cast
12:12 alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone, and then
12:16 verse 21 is talking about the wicked and the rest were
12:20 killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth
12:24 of Him who sat on the horse and all the birds were filled
12:28 with their flesh. Now we may not exactly
12:32 know what means yet. But let me ask you a question. Does that sound like
12:37 soemthing good or bad. What do you think? does that sound positive
12:41 or negative that does not sound so good, so what we need to
12:45 is stop and look a little deeper as to what John
12:49 is talking about here. Now here is a little summary on the screen
12:53 apparently as Jesus comes, Revelation
12:57 describes that the wicked are going to seek to make war
13:01 against Christ and the armies behind Him. Now
13:05 I dont exactly know whether that means the wicked
13:09 or the men are gonna shoot bombs to stop Jesus from coming,
13:13 but one thing I do know is Revelation says
13:17 they try to prevent Jesus from returning to this earth. But
13:21 my Bible says that no weapon fashioned by human hands
13:25 is going to be able to keep God from fulfilling his purposes
13:29 and carrying out the plan of salvation can you say amen.
13:33 You see we already read on sunday night in revelation 6 how
13:37 many of the wicked when they see Jesus come
13:41 when they realize that they are going to be lost
13:45 and they have rejected the free gift of salvation that Jesus offered that they begin
13:49 to run tot he rocks and mountains and ask them to fall on them
13:53 and hide them from the face of Jesus but apparently
13:57 before they do that there will be some who seek to make war against Jesus
14:01 and when they realize they will not be successful then they flee
14:05 from his face Revelation here it goes one
14:09 to describe this gruesome scene where the wicked are
14:13 slain by the glory of God and they just lie dead upon the face of the earth
14:17 and then John describes this
14:21 event where the birds feed on their corpses
14:25 now I don't like that verse.
14:29 but the imagery is telling us something important. You realize
14:33 that revelation talks about two suppers you know that? Revelation talks about
14:37 the marriage supper of the lamb where the righteous
14:41 are enjoying the presence of Jesus in heaven that is the supper you want to be at
14:45 but then there is the supper of the fowls
14:49 that is not one you want to be part of
14:53 you lknow why because you are not being invited
14:57 to dinner on that one you are the dinner on that one
15:01 see when Jesus comes we are gonna be
15:05 in one of two places. We are either going to be in in the Kingdom of heaven,
15:09 eternity with Him, or we are going to lying dead
15:13 on the face of the earth. Now Revelation
15:17 goes on and in this vision John actually describes
15:21 the types of people who are lost. I wanna cover that for a moment
15:25 as sensitive as it may be. He describes all types of people
15:29 the kings and the great political leaders of the earth
15:33 captains of armies, mighty men,
15:37 the rich, and the poor, small, and grear
15:41 all types of people because when Jesus comes you see,
15:45 the only thing that is going to matter is have I
15:49 chosen to follow Him. It is not gonna be
15:53 matter if I am some sort of business tycoon who is the CEO
15:57 of a fortune 500 company. It is going to mtter
16:02 if I have a big bank account with millions of dollars
16:06 if I have a stock portfolio other people would envy
16:10 none will help when time is no more
16:14 the only thing that is going to matter is if I have chosen to accept
16:18 and follow Jesus as my savior can you say amen?
16:22 It will not matter if I am some kind of entertainment star
16:26 or celebrity. I may have been filmed
16:30 in hundreds of movies. People may know me
16:34 as a house hold name. I may grace the cover of many
16:38 different magazines. I might be one of the sex objects
16:42 of the world, but the only thing that is gonna matter when Jesus comes
16:46 is not what did the world think of me
16:50 but have I chosen to put my life in the hands of Jesus
16:54 Christ. See I might even be a sports star or you might
16:58 be. I might be a star where every business wants
17:02 me to be the spokesperson for their product
17:06 posters of my face may be one very little boys bedroom
17:10 around the world, but clearly revelation is telling
17:14 us that when Jesus comes the only thing that
17:18 is gonna have any significance is have I chosen to
17:22 kneel at the foot of the cross. Have I chosen to allow
17:26 Jesus perfect life to count for me
17:30 have i followed him and have I followed his word that is all
17:34 that is going to matter. Brothers and sisters
17:38 if you and I are wanting to follow Jesus in the end times
17:42 then we need to choose to follow Jesus today
17:46 see that is why the Bible says today if you hear his voice
17:50 do not harden your hearts.
17:54 Now see Jesus doesnt put these things in the Word of God and Revelation
17:58 because he is some kind of mean ogre,
18:02 he wants to share with us the reality of what things are he
18:06 is willing to be vivid and graphic if he knows it will wake us up
18:10 and help us to realize what the priority should be in our lives
18:14 and that is our spiritual life and relationship with God
18:18 so here is the picture Revelation 19 gives us
18:22 thus far. These are some of the final events of earth's history
18:26 you have the second coming of Jesus Christ. The righteous dead are resurrected.
18:30 meet in the air and are taken to heaven as are the
18:34 righteous who are alive when Jesus comes, Then the wicked who are alive
18:38 at that time they are slain at christ coming
18:42 the wicked who all ready dead from previous generations
18:46 they stay dead. There is no reason for them to be resurrected
18:50 at the coming of Christ becasue they are not going to be saved
18:54 their resurrection comes later as we will discuss in chapter 20.
18:58 but this now marks the beginning of the thousand years
19:02 of peace. thousand years of peace for the righteous of heaven and
19:06 also a thousand years on the earth becasue all
19:10 the wicked will be lying dead. There will be no sin
19:14 going on. But then revelation 20 tells us
19:18 something else significant is going to happen
19:22 at the beginning of this milennium something
19:26 that involves satan himself. Let us pick it up
19:30 now in chapter 20 and start reading verse 1
19:34 to 3. Revelatio 20 and verse 1
19:38 The Bible says!
19:42 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven
19:45 having the key to WHAT?
19:48 the bottomless pit and a great chain in
19:52 his hand he laid hold of the dragon that serpent
19:56 of old who is the devil and Satan and bound him
20:00 for How long? a thousand years; and
20:04 he cast in to this bottomless pit and shut him up and
20:08 set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations
20:12 no more until the thousand years were finished
20:16 but after these things he must be released
20:20 for a little while. Now let us stop right there
20:24 because revelation 20 tells us some very
20:28 significant things. THe chapter opens up now with
20:32 the beginning of this milennium, the second coming of Christ has taken place,
20:36 and now John describes and angel coming down from heaven
20:40 takes a hold of sStan and casts him into
20:44 this place called the bottomless pit and binds him with
20:48 a great chain so that during that time
20:52 he can deceive the nations no more.
20:56 So the question is what does all that mean?
21:00 well let us think about it for a second. I guest biggest question
21:04 we should first, is what in the world is this
21:08 bottomless pit I mean is this literally going to be a pit
21:12 with no bottom and satan is gonna be constantly falling for
21:16 1000 years, Is that what God is trying to tell us, see we have to remmeber
21:20 that Revelation is a is symbolic book, it is filled with much.
21:24 imagery, so we need to ask what is the bottomless pit.
21:28 before we go to the original language let us ask some logical questions
21:32 in chapter 19 when Jesus comes
21:36 he is coming from heaven to where. This earth.
21:40 the events of chapter 19 are
21:44 happen where? On this earth.
21:48 where has the great controversy between good and evil been taking place
21:52 for the last 6000 years. On
21:56 this earth. In fact what we are going to discover
22:00 is the bottomless pit simply refers to earth in its
22:04 destroyed and partially desolated condition
22:08 after the second coming of Jesus. You say well how do you know that?
22:12 we can also go back to the original language. The word for
22:16 bottomless pit in revelation is abussos
22:20 and the neat thing is when you go back to Genesis 1 verse 2
22:24 that is similar to the very same word
22:28 that describes this earth as being without form and void
22:32 before God created life on it. So what revelation
22:36 is telling us is that this earth is the bottomless pit
22:40 when it is without form and void
22:44 partially destroyed and desolated at the second coming of
22:48 Jesus Christ and when you understand that it makes
22:52 a lot more sense. The bottomless pit is this
22:56 destroyed and desolate earth
23:01 You say now that brings us to couple of other questions
23:05 what is going to happen to the earth when Jesus comes I want
23:09 this event notice how peter describes what happens at
23:13 this event 2 Peter 3:10 now this is written
23:17 out on the screen for you The Bible says,
23:37 So see even other parts
23:42 of the Bible are telling us that when Jesus comes not only is the sky
23:46 recede like a scroll, not other are mountains and islands being
23:50 moved out of place, but even the heavens and the sky
23:54 the firmament is being passed away with a great noise the elements melt
23:58 with fervent heat. So clearly this earth is going to be
24:02 destroyed and desolated at the second coming of Jesus Christ
24:06 and this is where Satan is forced to be
24:10 for a thousand years let us think through
24:14 this. Revelation also said
24:18 that an angel binds him with a what
24:22 a great chain. Obviously would a literal metal chain
24:26 be able to bind a spiritual being like Satan
24:30 no so again it is symbolic so what does it mean
24:34 well let us ask a question. how many people here
24:38 own a dog. How many people have outside
24:42 dogs with a dog house.
24:46 Looks likes the vast majority of you have inside dogs. But people who have outside dogs
24:50 sometimes what they will do is they have a dog house
24:54 and they put on the the dog so he doesn't run aroung the neighborhood
24:58 a chain. The fact the dog has a chain
25:02 restricts him to a certain territory
25:06 is that right? In other words he can only go so far
25:10 and no farther that is what revelation is referring to here
25:14 Satan will be restricted to this desolate
25:18 destroyed earth during the 1000 years
25:22 of the millenium you see that is actually part of his
25:26 punishment, For being the father of lies and the instigator
25:30 of sin. It is almost as though God is
25:34 saying you know what you made this planet the way it is
25:38 you are the on that caused all these people to be lost
25:42 you were behind persecuting my church and my disciples
25:46 since you made the world like this you are gonna live in it
25:50 for a thousand years
25:54 the reason that is a punishment for satan is think about it
25:58 for the last 6000 years history what has his life been
26:02 has been live been consumed with leading
26:06 people astray and deceiving them away from Jesus Christ
26:10 but during the 1000 years where are the righteous?
26:14 in heaven. What has happen to the wicked? They
26:18 are dead upon the face of the earth that is why Revelation says
26:22 he cannot deceive the nations during the 1000 years because
26:26 there is no one to deceive.
26:30 I dont know if you have ever bought a puppy and
26:34 and you try to house train that dog you know you put news papers
26:38 on the kitchen floor so when you go away you say puppy if
26:43 you have to go go just do it on the news paper you know
26:47 go away and time after time you come home you come home
26:51 and instead of on the newspaper somehow he made his way
26:55 throught the gate you put up to the living room and you find a nice big
26:59 pile of let's say surprise on your nice clean
27:03 carpet. And maybe you get frustrated and you go to the dog and say
27:07 you say lok what you did bad dog bad dog
27:11 that is what God is doing to Satan
27:15 you made the world like this you are
27:19 the originator and the instigator of lies
27:23 you are gonna live in it for a thousand years with nobody
27:27 to temp. In fact did you know
27:31 that God gave some of his old testament prophets
27:35 a prophetic glimpse into what this earth would look like
27:39 during that thousand years? You know that? Would you like to see
27:43 some of the things the old testament prophets wrote How many would like to there
27:47 can I see your hands? About 50% of you, well we are going to have go there anyway
27:51 Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 4 now this
27:55 I written have on the screen for you and you will find that this is what is called
27:59 a dual or adouble application prophecy that means
28:03 it means 2 things. You see eremiah was also describing what would happen
28:07 to Jerusalem if they continued to be unfaithfult to God
28:11 but as you read what he wrote it also becomes very obvious
28:15 that Jeremiah was looking into the future
28:19 and describinng this earth during the millennial period
28:23 so let us read what Jeremiah wrote in chapter 4
28:27 and verse 23. The bible says, "
28:59 Let us put a little summary on the screen here
29:03 Jeremiah describes the earth as without form and void,
29:07 he said the earth had no light, moutnains
29:11 and hills were moved, the land is like a What?
29:15 Wilderness cities are destroyed
29:19 and specially the big clue Jeremiah says there is no
29:23 life on this earth He is looking
29:27 forward into the time of the millenium
29:31 but see Jeremiah is not the only old testament prophet
29:35 who was given a prophetic glimpse of this time period
29:39 Isaiah also was let us notice
29:43 something Isaiah wrote in his book in chapter
29:47 24 and verse 19. The Bible says,
30:11 But see Isaiah does not stop there he
30:15 goes on in his discerption,
30:43 See that is why Isaiah said even in chapter 14
30:55 there is that word again very clearly
30:59 when you look up different verses in the Bible
31:03 it is telling us that the pit is a desolated destroyed earth
31:07 during the 1000 years of peace.
31:11 See what we could have done
31:15 is we could have formed a committee and voted
31:19 well what do you think the bottomless pit let's put all the oppions on the chalk board
31:23 lets vote and majority will rules what the truth is
31:27 now is that a good way to do it. Yes or No but you realize that many
31:31 times through history that is how truth was determined that is why it is important
31:35 alway go to want the Bible says and.
31:39 When you take the Bible and you look up all the verses
31:43 on a topic you will come to Bible truth if all
31:47 I do is look up one verse
31:51 and isolate it from the rest of the Bible
31:55 I am likely to come up with a misinterpretation that is why we have
31:59 thousand of different doctrines in the world today but if I am willing
32:03 to take the word of God and when I am studying a subject
32:07 get out my concordance and look up all the verses
32:11 that talk about that subject and put them all those together
32:15 I can be sure that I am going to come to a conclusion
32:19 guided by the holy spirit that will be founded
32:23 not on what I say not on what you think
32:27 based but solely on what the word of God says can you say amen
32:31 that is how we study the Bible now some people wonder
32:35 what in the world is Satan going to do
32:39 for the thousand years that he roams back and forth
32:43 on this desolated earth?
32:47 well I imagine part of what he is going to do is consider
32:51 the rebellion he instigated in Heaven
32:55 i imagine that what he is going to do is think about the
33:00 path he has taken becasue he can look all around him and see
33:04 what the results are of his rebellion
33:08 I mean he will probably walk back and forth and perhaps in his mind
33:12 he will think of that young man that young mam that he
33:16 once held within his grasp or
33:20 he was a young man who grew up in a broken home. he had every
33:24 disadvantage a person could have. parents that did not love the
33:28 lord there was drug Addiction, alcohol,
33:32 abuse, yelling screaming in that home in that home all the time
33:36 as he grew up he went to school he did not take
33:40 education seriously. He eventually got involved
33:44 with the wrong guys. A gang who would giving him acceptance
33:48 little by little they began toshoplifted from
33:52 convenience stores just for fun the fun of it just to get kicks out of it
33:56 but teen agers and a young man in his twentys
34:00 the group the was hanging with decided to ga ahead and steal
34:04 a car just to ge a higth from it
34:08 and in less than five minutes they were caught that night and that young man
34:12 is now spent a significant time of his time in jail
34:16 and as he lays there and thinks about how
34:20 he has wasted the early part of his life wondering if there
34:24 is ever any hope from him there is a godly old gentlemen
34:28 who believed in ministry. A man who can in prayed for
34:32 that young man dispite the gray hairs on is he head
34:36 ventured into that cell and gave him a bible
34:40 and encouraged him to read it. and sence the young man had nothing else
34:44 to do durning the day he began to read
34:48 And he was impressed as he read about this man who was called the Son Of God.
34:52 this man who was sent from heaven name Jesus Christ
34:56 he began to heal
35:00 the lepers and give sight and hearing
35:04 to the blind that he spent time with prostitutes and tax collctors
35:08 and for the first time this young man came to the realization
35:12 that maybe he too could be saved that
35:16 he too could have the record of his life wiped clean
35:20 and that he could be changed and even in jail that young man accepted
35:24 Jesus as his savior and when his time was up
35:28 he found a good Bible believing church and he got involved in a ministry of helping
35:32 other disadvantaged youth and now he is in the
35:36 kingdom of heaven while Satan is roaming a desolated destroyed
35:40 earth praise God for the power of the Holy Spirit
35:44 working on human heart and the human mind. Can you say amen.
35:48 maybe the devil will walk a little bit farther
35:52 and he'll see the face of that young woman
35:56 that he knew very well
36:00 she grew up in a christian home and had all
36:04 the advantages a person would want to have. Godly parents who love,
36:08 the Lord took her to church every weekend
36:12 even had family worship. Made the sacrifices to send her to a christian school
36:16 but as she got older she didn't take
36:20 her faith seriously
36:24 in college she got straight A's got a business degree
36:28 began to work in the business world and her main concern
36:32 began to be climbing the corporate ladder and it came to a point where
36:36 she forgot Jesus, she forgot about her faith
36:40 she didnt have time for the Bible becasue her god was the bank account
36:44 her god became worldy ambition and
36:48 even though she may never have committed some great sin she simply forgot\
36:52 about Jesus and the next thing you knew the heavenly
36:56 trumpet was blowing and Jesus came and probation was closed
37:00 and it was too late. She had every
37:04 opportunity, to accept Christ as her Saviour but
37:08 now her famly is in heaven
37:12 she lies dead on a desolated earth
37:16 because of Satan deception in her life
37:20 see bother and sister we are gonna be in one of two places.
37:24 in heaven with Jesus or lying on a desolated earth
37:28 and my prayer is that every person in this building
37:32 tonight would choose that want to be with Jesus
37:36 for eternity can you say amen
37:40 now this is what Revelation has told us so far but the question
37:44 may be Ok what are the righteous
37:48 going to be doing in heaven? you see tradition sometimes
37:52 tells us we're just going are gonna be a bunch of spirits floating
37:56 around on a cloud and playing a harp for all of eternity
38:00 I sure hope not becasue that sounds awfully boring to me I'll tell you that
38:04 but later we are gonna talk about the new heavens and the new earth but when we
38:08 get to heaven I imagine that during the time of those thousand years
38:12 we are going to be healing from sin
38:16 we are gonna be healing from all the pain
38:20 the heart ache the trials that we have gone through during our live
38:24 on this earth becasue Revelation tells us that one of the
38:28 things the righteous will be doing is eating the fruit of the tree of life
38:32 becasue that fruit is for the healing of the nations it
38:36 is for our healing from sin
38:40 you say what else are we going doing during that time?
38:44 here is something the book of revealtion tells us that is absolutely
38:48 awesome You know that when you get to heaven
38:52 it is possible that you might have a few question, did you ever think of that
38:56 first of all you are going to be glad you're there, Can you say aman
39:00 but you might look around you might see people there that
39:04 you thought would never be there and
39:08 and you might see that some people are not there that you thought would be there
39:12 what would happen if I looked around and all of a sudden
39:16 I see the bully from high school is in heaven
39:20 the guy that beat me up shoved me into my locker numerous times
39:24 what is he doing here and as I look around I
39:28 notice Susie who i used to go to chruch with at times
39:32 she had a ministry for the homeless but she is not there
39:36 how is it the bully there and my friend Susie
39:41 is not, see I might go to God and
39:45 ask Him questions. God are you sure there wasnt some mistake
39:49 heanenly computer you know the bully is here and
39:53 my friend is not Lord are you sure you didn't miss anything
39:57 You know what God does?
40:01 God becomes transparent with us becasue he loves us
40:05 see he could say you know what you should be glad
40:09 just that you here don't question my judgement
40:13 and my ruling now God could say that and be perfectly just in saying it
40:17 because he is God, but that not the charter of God
40:21 becaase Revelation tells us
40:25 He is going to open up the books of record in heaven.
40:28 So that we can look through them. Did you know that?
40:32 you say there are books of records in heaven? There is a book kept of
40:36 every person's life. whether that means a literal book like we have on
40:40 earth I dont know, Revelation is trying to desribe it as best as John
40:44 can. I want you to notice what John writes now in Revelation
40:48 20: and in verse 4. Revelation
40:52 20 verse 4 The Bible Says!
40:56 "And I saw thrones and they
41:00 (meaning the righteous) sat on them. and judgement
41:04 (What was it?) judgement was committed to them.
41:08 then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the
41:12 witness to Jesus and the word of God who had not worshipped the Beast
41:16 or his image and had not received his mark on their forehead or on their
41:20 hand. And they lived and reigned with Christ (how long)
41:24 a 1000 years. (Notice the beginning of that verse)
41:28 they (meaning the Righteous) they sat on thrones judgement was
41:32 committed to them. You says what does that mean exactly
41:37 In other words God is going to let us
41:40 check His judgements in a sence, not that God could ever be wrong
41:44 but so simply that we get all our questions answered and
41:48 we are at perfect peace. In fact Revelation
41:52 is not the only book to refer to this do you realize that.
41:57 Paul actually wrote about this in his letter to the Corinthian church
42:01 notice what it says, in Corinthians 6 and verse 2
42:05 The Bibe says
42:17 referring to the wicked angels that were lost
42:21 I mean think about what that says about the character
42:25 of our Creator that he is willing to be
42:29 so open and honest and transparent with us
42:33 that he says look here are the books of record. You can open
42:37 them and look through them for yourself. And for the first time
42:41 we will be able to see this world through
42:45 the eyes of God instead of just seeing the limited picture
42:49 because you understand we are limited wiht our finite
42:53 and human comprehension but now the veil
42:56 was removed and we can see tings as God saw it
43:01 and we will understand why some person in here and some
43:05 person is not because during the time of the millennium
43:09 every question will be answered. Every
43:13 wrong will be made right
43:17 and we will be able to walk away from there saying I fully and completely
43:21 trust God righteous and true are your ways
43:25 Oh Lord God Almighty can you say amen
43:29 but you know what else that means? Do you think
43:33 you might have some questions about your life I know I will about mine
43:37 God why did you let these things happen
43:41 to me in my life on earth. All these things that caused
43:45 such pain. Why did you let my little boy die
43:49 in child birth. Why did you let me lose my
43:53 father when I was just six years old. Lord
43:57 why did you let me lose that job and my family go through a hard time
44:01 Lord why did you let my marriage break apart
44:05 Lord why did you allow me to lose my home
44:09 all these questions when we have asked God why on this earth
44:13 the truth is we may never know the answer on the
44:17 face of this earth, but that is what the time of the millennium is for
44:21 that is when all our concerns are brought before God
44:25 we can look through our books of record and won't that be amazing
44:29 that for the first time we can see our own life
44:33 as God sees it we will be able to see the big
44:37 picture every question will be answered
44:41 and that is why one christian writer has said that when we go
44:45 through that period of the millennium and ather we look through the books
44:49 of records we will be able to look at God and say Lord
44:53 now that I have seen the big picture, I would not have wanted you to
44:57 handle my life in any other way thank you
45:01 Jesus. And that means that
45:05 every seed of doubt will be removed and sin will
45:09 never rise again
45:13 say how do we know that? What was it that
45:17 caused sin in the first place. Now on Friday we are gonna talk about Revelation 12
45:21 where it says Lucifer caused rebellion in heaven and remember
45:25 he did that by sewing seeds of what in the hearts
45:29 other angels. Doubt! Doubting the character of God
45:33 doubting that God is love. Doubting
45:37 that God could be trusted the same thing he does ont he face of this
45:41 earth and becasue God does not want us to have any seed of doubt
45:45 in our hearts because he does not want rebellion to
45:49 happen all over again he opens those books of record
45:53 and that is why the Bible says every question will be answered
45:57 sin affliction will never rise a second time
46:01 that is the beauty of the thousand years of peace
46:05 that is my God who is so transparent that he sits by
46:09 my side and chooses to answer my questions
46:13 and yours. But now we
46:17 wonder well what happens at the end
46:21 let us pick up the rest fo the vision now
46:25 by takibng a look at chapter 20 and verses
46:29 7-8. Revelation chapter 7 and verse 7
46:33 Now when the thousand years have ended notice what John,
46:37 describes next The Bible says
46:41 Now when the thousand years have expired
46:45 Satan will be released from his prison and will go out
46:49 to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth
46:53 Gog and Magog, to gather them together to
46:57 battle, whose number is What?)as the sand of the sea.
47:01 now right away as soon as I read verses 7 and 8
47:05 there ought to be a red flag popping up in your mind
47:09 with a gread big question, What would that be?
47:13 Where did the people come from? If all the wicked
47:17 are dead during the thousand years what does it mean he goes out
47:21 deceive the nations. That is pretty good question isn't it
47:25 because here is happen now come the resurrection
47:29 of the wicked at the end of the thousand years becasue
47:33 you see the wicked have not yet had the opportunity to stand before God
47:37 and understand why they are lost.
47:41 See God is not going to sentence anyone to be lost without being fair
47:45 and just and having them understand why that decision is made.
47:50 And so as they stand before God and their life is opened before them
47:53 they can se where they have chosen to reject Christ and the salvation
47:57 that he offers. You see what happened here is
48:02 as you go to verses 11 and 13 John fills in the detail because
48:06 it is like he wrote verses 7 and 8 kinda said
48:10 you know I think I left detail there and sence he wrote this on the island of Pamos
48:14 Patmos It's not like they had white out and raser like we have today
48:18 He clarified in verse 11-13. Notice what he writes
48:22 Revelation 20 verse 11
48:26 "Then I saw a great white throne and
48:30 Him who sat on it from whose face the earth
48:34 and the heaven fled away And there was found no place for them.
48:38 (now notice verse 12 and I saw the (the who?)
48:42 small and great, standing before God
48:46 and books were opened and another book was opened
48:50 which is the book of life and the dead were judged according
48:54 to their works by the things which were written in the books
48:58 the sea gave up the dead who were in it
49:02 and Death and Hades(some version say hell) delivered up the dead who were in them and who were in
49:06 them and they were judged each one according to his
49:10 works. Let us stop therefor second.
49:14 john describes this great white throne of judgement he says
49:18 he sees the dead standing before God, books were
49:22 opened see what happened is the resurrection
49:26 of the wicked. Did you know the Bible talks about two
49:30 different resurrections. Let us put a pause here in Revelation
49:34 and I wanna take you back to something Jesus said when he walked this earth
49:38 it is in John 5 verse 28
49:42 It is on the screen for you Jesus said
49:46 :
50:02 See there are two resurrections but do not happen at the same time
50:06 the resurrection of life that happens at the second coming
50:10 when 1 Thessalonians 4 says The dead in Christ
50:14 shall rise the resurrection of damnation
50:18 happens at the end of the thousand years when the
50:22 millennial period is over and the wicked must stand before
50:26 the great great white throne of judgement of God
50:30 what happens is this.
50:34 As they stand before God they will acknowledge
50:38 Righteous and just are you way oh Lord
50:42 Becasue Paul wrote that every knee shall bow
50:46 Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
50:51 to the glory of God the father. That means that even the wicked
50:55 except it is not a true repentance because what happens is remember
50:59 revelation said that Satan now goes out to deceive the nations
51:03 and it says they were as thick as the sand of the sea
51:07 now think about it. All the wicked from throughout the thousand
51:11 of years of earth's history How many to you thin that is going to be
51:15 millions more that millions probably billions
51:19 and Satan sees that number and after they acknowledged that
51:23 God is right they understand why are going to be lost
51:27 it is not a true repentance becasue as Satan deceives them and says listen
51:31 our numbers are like the sand of the sea. Look The Holy City
51:35 is now descending from God out of heaven. We can take that city
51:39 we are more than they and it says they go to attack the new Jerusalem
51:43 as it comes from God down out of heaven
51:47 and it shows the whole universe that even after a thousand years Satan
51:51 has not changed. even the wicked who have stood before God
51:55 they have not changed. Now God
51:59 can choose to destroy satan and sin and the wicked
52:03 and be perfectly just before the eyes of the universe
52:07 that is why it says what it says now in verse 9
52:11 Revaltion 20 verse 9 The
52:15 Bible says, "they (meaning the wicked) went up on the
52:19 breadth of the earth surrounded the camp of the saintd
52:23 and the beloved city and fire came down from God
52:27 out of heaven and (did what?), devoured them
52:31 and even though that is sad verse
52:35 it also means sin is now gone forever
52:39 it shall never rise again
52:43 and that we can live in perfect peace
52:47 on a new eath in the prescence of Jesus
52:51 Some body should aman that. That is what God has
52:55 in store for us. And then revelation
52:59 21, describes the new heavens
53:03 and the new earth. Revelation 21:1 The Bible says
53:07 And I saw a new heaven and new earth
53:23 I do not know about you but I do not care for pain
53:27 I can stand it but I am looking forward to being in that
53:31 new earth where we have the constant presence of Jesus
53:35 and there is no death thers is no sorrow
53:39 there is no pain. And the one
53:43 wonderful thing is that is that the place God
53:47 has prepared for you and me and he desperately
53:51 want us to be there. Tonight I would
53:55 like to end with this story when I first met
53:59 Marquita nearly twenty years ago I met her
54:03 at a college in Tennessee. I remember when we were dating
54:07 that we would sometimes go down to visit her family in Alabama
54:11 and I remember her father had a strange
54:15 habit that I did not understand at first. I hope he never sees this
54:19 over the video but he understands I am making a point. When we would go visit
54:23 her grandparents in Alabama, and we would all drive up together,
54:27 Marquita's dad would always want to stop and visit
54:31 the cemetaries along the way, now you know when your
54:35 in early twentis and getting read to be married walking through
54:39 cemetaries Is not exactly a priority on the list you understand what I mean
54:43 your not think about death at that time But then I began to understand why
54:47 he wanted to do that. He would take us through the cemetaries and
54:51 so that we could read the writings on the stones
54:55 becasue he wanted to tell Marquita and I about
54:59 their ancestors. he wanted her to know about grandparents
55:03 or great great granparents or great uncles that she never had the opportunity
55:07 to met and you know you can sometimes tell a lot about a persons life
55:11 by what is written on the tomb stone
55:15 so I went along with it and I noticed something walking throught he cemetery
55:19 when you walk throught the tomb stones
55:24 near the front you know the ones fairly new
55:28 five to ten years old there is somthing you notice
55:32 most of those graves sides have flowers or
55:36 wreaths around them they are always well kept up
55:40 and most of the time the face on the tomb stone
55:44 you can easly read. and it is obvious
55:48 somebody continues to remember that person they have not gotten
55:52 forgotten but when go towards the middle
55:56 of the cemetery the tomb stones that you know
56:00 twenty thirty fourty years old there is a little difference
56:04 you begin to notice that sometime there are weeds growing up
56:08 around the edges sometimes there are cracks
56:12 along that stone and it is harder to read the writing
56:16 becasue dirt has gathered upon it and there
56:20 is not nearly as many wreaths or flowers on those tomb those tomb stones
56:24 and you begin to realize at as time has passed
56:28 people have forget.
56:32 And then you get back to the end of the cemetery
56:36 tomb stone that are sixty or seventy years old
56:40 the drastic difference, many are not kept up at all
56:44 sometimes the stones are totally broken in two
56:48 and you can hardly read the writing on them
56:52 and almost never do you see wreaths or flowers beside them
56:56 because after 70 years the
57:00 vast majority of people on this earth don't
57:04 even know their name.
57:08 see friends, we spend our lives trying to be popular
57:12 I can spend my life trying to please everyone in this room
57:16 I could spend my life making sure everyone knows my name
57:20 but the truth of it is the only thing that matters in the end
57:24 does Jesus know my name.
57:28 have i accepted him as my lord and my savior that is the
57:32 only thing that matters becasue one thing is for sure the world
57:36 may forget but Jesus will never forget
57:40 his own, see there is a verse that rings in my ear
57:44 it is Mark 8:36,
57:57 God has prepared a place for you
58:01 if there are decisions in your life that you need to make
58:05 if there is anything tha is standing between
58:09 us and jesus, the Bible encourages us to let it go
58:13 just let it go
58:17 there is nothing in this world worth missing out
58:21 on spending eternity with Jesus.
58:25 Tonight are you willing to say in your heart Lord Jesus I have
58:29 some decisions I need to make.


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Revised 2018-07-05