Participants: Pr. David Klinedinst
Series Code: DPR
Program Code: DPR000004A
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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. |
Revised 2018-07-05