Introduction:
Three Things You Need to Know About the Millennium (Rev 20:1-10):
- Satan is Locked Away. (Rev 20:1-3)
Isaiah 65: 20-23, 25
- Believers will Reign with Christ. (Rev 20:4-6)
- It ends with a "Battle". (Rev 20:7-10)
James 1:14 - But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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01:04-01:06
Alright, open your Bibles with me, please.
01:09-01:10
Revelation 20.
01:13-01:24
Last night after a long day of yard work in the beautiful weather, sat down on the couch, turned on, it was the Cubs and the Cardinals.
01:25-01:27
It was like the sixth inning, it was 4-4.
01:28-01:30
I'm just going to sit here for a couple of minutes, I'm going to watch this game.
01:33-01:34
(snoring noise)
01:36-01:53
I woke up what felt like a second later, but obviously some time had passed, and it was 4 to 4 when I passed out, and I woke up and Erin was sitting beside me, and it was 7 to 4, and I'm like, "What happened?" And she explained to me what I missed.
01:55-02:00
She's like, "Why are you telling us this?" Because that could happen during the sermon.
02:01-02:15
If you tune out, by the time you snap back to, you're going to be like, "What is going on?" So I want to encourage you right now to ask the Holy Spirit to help you be tuned in.
02:16-02:26
This is the most controversial passage in the book, because how you interpret all of Revelation really centers around what you do with Revelation 20.
02:27-02:32
And I'm going to say this on the front end, I'm not going to say it again.
02:34-02:41
You might disagree with some of these things depending on your view of Scripture and your view of eschatology and end-time events.
02:42-02:45
And you are still my brother.
02:45-02:46
You are still my sister.
02:47-02:54
But I am committed to believing and teaching the Bible straightforwardly.
02:56-02:59
And because of that, that affects the way that I look at Revelation 20.
03:00-03:02
and we'll be preaching it straight forward.
03:03-03:20
If you disagree with me, and you want to talk about these things, I would love to have you buy me Chick-fil-A, and we'll sit down and we'll talk about it." You're like, "Well, that was really nice of him." Revelation 20, judgment on earth at this point is finished.
03:21-03:24
It culminated with the battle of Armageddon.
03:25-03:28
And the question is, what's next?
03:30-03:38
I think sometimes as a church, and if I don't really stop and think about God's Word, I can be guilty of this too.
03:39-03:48
We think it sort of goes like this, I live life on earth, and if I gave my life to Christ, when I die, I go to heaven, and that's it for all of eternity.
03:49-03:51
And that's not true.
03:54-03:57
There's another chapter that's coming up.
03:58-03:59
Can we have that graphic on the screen, please?
03:59-04:01
We've showed this in the past time.
04:02-04:05
First gold box, Old Testament area.
04:05-04:10
That second box with the dotted line, that's the church age that wasn't seen in the Old Testament.
04:10-04:12
And that's the age in which we live now.
04:14-04:23
But we've spent the last several months talking about the tribulation - that's the third box over - seven years of God's judgment upon the earth.
04:23-04:27
That's what the Lion Sheriff Revelation talks about.
04:28-04:34
And then Armageddon, the return of Jesus Christ, Revelation 19, that was last week.
04:35-04:42
But that last box is another future period of time that is coming, and it's called the Millennium.
04:43-04:45
Now I know the word "Millennium" isn't in the Bible.
04:46-04:49
The word "Millennium" just means a thousand years, okay?
04:49-04:51
It's the same thing.
04:52-04:55
that's spoken of throughout the Old Testament.
04:57-05:06
There's more than 400 verses in the Old Testament in about 20 different passages talking about this concept of the millennium.
05:07-05:12
It's in the New Testament, Matthew 19.28, Acts 3.20-21.
05:12-05:14
And here's the truth that we're going to look at today.
05:16-05:25
that after the tribulation, Jesus Christ is going to reign on the earth for a period of a thousand years.
05:27-05:34
This is a subject that's very seldom thought about and much less discussed.
05:37-05:47
But God's Word tells us what the coming thousand years of Jesus' rule on the earth is like.
05:48-05:50
Alright, so we're going to look at Revelation 20.
05:50-05:53
Here's three things you need to know about the millennium.
05:54-05:57
And there's going to be more teaching than preaching today.
06:00-06:03
Number one, jot this down, first of all, Satan is locked away.
06:05-06:07
Look at the first three verses.
06:09-06:12
Getting the context, John just saw Armageddon, right?
06:12-06:23
The battle and millions of enemies of the Lord slain by the returning Jesus Christ, and the birds were stuffing themselves, eating.
06:26-06:34
John says, "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand a key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
06:36-06:57
And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended.
06:57-07:01
After that, he must be released for a little while.
07:02-07:04
Satan is locked away.
07:07-07:17
Now, a lot of the controversy surrounding Revelation 20 has to do with the term "thousand years." I believe that the thousand years are literal. Why?
07:18-07:26
Because he says six times in this passage, "A thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years." Six times you're going to see it.
07:27-07:30
Play Bible bingo. Circle it every time we see it today.
07:31-07:31
Six times.
07:32-07:43
So I believe in reading it six times, I mean, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but after reading a thousand years six times, I start to think maybe God wants me to know something about this period of time.
07:43-07:46
Maybe it lasts a thousand years.
07:46-07:47
That's what I came up with. All right.
07:49-07:49
Party on.
07:50-08:08
So God somehow at this point revitalizes the earth for the kingdom, but before we actually get into the text here, I thought it would behoove us to get caught up on where everybody is at this moment so we understand what's going on. You ready?
08:10-08:19
Where is everyone? Well, first of all, the beast and the false prophet, remember at Armageddon, they were thrown directly into the lake of fire.
08:19-08:25
Done. It's over for their influence here, but their eternity in hell is just beginning.
08:25-08:27
First Residence, Lake of Fire.
08:27-08:38
All human rebels, everyone who has rejected God during the tribulation, has either been destroyed through the judgments or the battle of Armageddon.
08:38-08:42
The human rebels that died during the tribulation are in Hades.
08:42-08:48
That's a temporary place of punishment that Jesus talked about.
08:50-08:52
What about the believers?
08:53-09:11
Well believers who died before the tribulation are resurrected at the rapture, receiving a glorified body, and then we will return with Christ at the battle of Armageddon.
09:13-09:26
Those who come to Christ during the tribulation, but are killed for their faith, they are resurrected at the beginning of this millennium.
09:26-09:28
We're going to see that in just a second.
09:29-09:38
The question is this, what about people that are still alive on the earth at the end of the tribulation who are not executed at Armageddon?
09:39-10:02
Okay, so at the end of the tribulation, you're going to have Christ followers who have avoided death, they've hidden, they've fled, they've escaped, and so you're going to have Christ followers still alive at the end of the tribulation, and you're going to have maybe people that received the mark of the beast, but they didn't show up for the battle of Armageddon.
10:03-10:08
So what happens to the people alive on the earth after Armageddon?
10:09-10:12
Well, that is the sheep and the goat judgment.
10:12-10:13
I'm not going to turn there, but just jot that down.
10:14-10:16
Matthew 25, Jesus talked about that.
10:17-10:22
"Those alive at the end of the tribulation are going to be separated, saved, unsaved, sheep, goats.
10:22-10:24
The unsaved go to punishment.
10:25-10:32
The saved enter the millennium." Not receiving a glorified body yet.
10:32-10:45
They enter the millennium, and they're going to live longer lifespans, and they're going to have children during the millennium, and they're going to fill the earth during the millennium.
10:47-10:58
Like I said, there are like 400 verses in the Old Testament about the millennium, and I thought, "Wow, this is a concept that probably some of us have never even studied." Like, where do you even start?
11:00-11:03
I just want to share a few verses out of Isaiah 65.
11:04-11:06
And we're going to have them on the screen for you.
11:06-11:11
But Isaiah 65 describes some of the conditions in the millennium.
11:11-11:14
And this is another reason I believe that the millennium is literally true.
11:14-11:23
Because if the millennium wasn't a literal period of time, then all of these verses we see in the Old Testament, they don't make any sense.
11:24-11:27
So Isaiah 65, these are millennium conditions.
11:27-11:28
Just look at verse 20.
11:30-11:38
"No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days." Is that late-term abortion thing?
11:40-11:41
Gone forever.
11:42-11:45
"For an old man who does not fill out his days.
11:46-11:57
For the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed." See, they're longer lifespans.
11:58-11:59
Next verse.
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This is verse 21.
12:01-12:02
"This is happening during the millennium.
12:02-12:04
They shall build houses and inhabit them.
12:04-12:10
"They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit." Normal earth life activities going on.
12:10-12:14
Verse 22 says, "They shall not build and another inhabit.
12:14-12:17
They shall not plant and another eat.
12:18-12:30
For like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands." So there's no social injustice.
12:32-12:34
It's not you build and somebody comes and takes it from you.
12:35-12:40
It's not you plant a garden and somebody comes and steals it, or the government removes it from you.
12:40-12:42
It's yours. Right?
12:42-12:44
And again, there's the long life thing.
12:46-12:47
Look at the next verse.
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It says, "They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity.
12:53-13:06
They shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them." the children. Again, believers alive during the tribulation, making it all the way to the end, entering the Millennium, are going to have children. That's important.
13:06-13:09
We're going to talk about these kids here in just a couple of minutes.
13:10-13:14
Next verse. Skipping down to verse 25.
13:14-13:17
You can read the whole section. I just want to make some highlights here.
13:18-13:21
"The wolf and the lamb shall graze together.
13:22-13:27
The lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food.
13:28-13:30
to change even in the wildlife.
13:31-13:43
"They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountains." Earth as it was meant to be, with Jesus Christ as King on the earth.
13:45-13:57
And we saw just from Isaiah 65, long life, children, social justice, no violence or wars, but the only thing that's left to do before the Millennial Kingdom is set up to take care of Satan.
13:59-14:02
And that's what John talks about, first of all, what he sees in Revelation 20.
14:03-14:06
He says he sees an angel lay hold of Satan.
14:06-14:08
Which angel is it? We don't know. We didn't get a name.
14:09-14:17
This angel lays hold of Satan and chains him and locks him into the abyss for the duration of the millennium.
14:18-14:25
You're like, "Wait, what's the abyss?" Just recall the abyss as a place of incarceration for certain demons.
14:26-14:27
We've talked about that before in Revelation.
14:28-14:37
We know that demons are scared to death of being there from Luke 8:31, when Jesus was driving demons out of the man.
14:37-14:42
Remember they cried out, "Don't send us to the abyss!" They knew of it, and they were scared to death.
14:43-14:44
It's a prison for demons.
14:46-14:56
Even in our study in Revelation back in chapter 9, and saw that some demons were released from the abyss at the sounding of the fifth trumpet.
14:59-15:07
So Satan is chained up and locked up and put away in the abyss for the millennium.
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Why? Why would God do that?
15:12-15:14
Well, your Bible tells you.
15:14-15:16
Look at the phrase in verse 3.
15:18-15:21
He threw him into the pits, shot it, and sealed it over him." Look at this next phrase.
15:21-15:35
"So that he might not deceive the nations any longer." Satan is locked up during the millennium to stop his influence over people.
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Lest he continue the same line of work that he's been doing from the very beginning of creation, which is deceive.
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Satan does. He deceives. He deceives.
15:51-16:06
But, even with Satan bound, we already saw in Isaiah 65, there's still going to be sin during the millennium, but that sin is going to be swiftly and perfectly dealt with.
16:07-16:27
That's why the Bible says Jesus is going to rule, we talked about this last week, rule, or pastored, or shepherd, with a rod of iron." Meaning Jesus is going to rule the earth, but He's going to do it not tolerating any sin.
16:31-16:38
After a thousand years, we're going to see Satan be released for a little while.
16:39-16:41
We'll see that later in the passage here.
16:41-16:42
Why is he released?
16:43-16:50
He says here, after that, "He must be released." Why must He be released? Can't we just leave Him in there?
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All in favor of just leaving Satan in there?
16:54-16:56
Yeah, that's what I was thinking, but here's the reason.
16:58-17:09
People born during the millennium have to face the ultimate test in the same way that the people during the tribulation had to face the ultimate test.
17:10-17:11
And it's who are you going to love?
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Who are you going to serve?
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Jesus Christ? Is He your Lord?
17:18-17:22
Or do you serve self, which is really serving Satan?
17:23-17:25
Who do you love? Who do you serve?
17:25-17:27
Christ or the devil? Ultimate choice.
17:29-17:31
But for the millennium, Satan is locked away.
17:34-17:38
Number two, three things you need to know about the millennium. Satan is locked away.
17:38-17:44
And number two, believers will reign with Christ.
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Believers will reign with Christ.
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Look at verse 4.
17:50-17:58
John says, "Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed.
18:00-18:17
Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.
18:18-18:33
They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years." So John sees God's people resurrected, rewarded, and reigning with Jesus Christ.
18:34-18:38
We saw thrones. These are positions of authority.
18:42-18:57
Like, I guess to use familiar vernacular, it's like mayors and governors who rule underneath Jesus Christ, who rules over the world.
19:00-19:03
These mayors and governors are going to be enforcing God's rule.
19:04-19:20
"Well, who are these saints on the throne?" That's the question. "Who are these saints?" Well, the answer to that question is, when you look at God's Word, who did God say was going to reign with Him during the millennium?
19:21-19:25
Well, we know it's saints from the Old Testament, from Daniel 7.
19:26-19:27
Verse 27.
19:29-19:36
Jesus promised the apostles reigning and judging with Him. Matthew 19.28.
19:37-19:45
And if you've been with us through the study of Revelation, the promise for us to reign with Christ has been given over and over and over.
19:46-19:50
Revelation 2.26, Revelation 3.21, Revelation 5.10.
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This theme keeps coming up, that we will reign alongside Jesus Christ.
19:58-20:04
There's also another group specifically mentioned here, the martyred believers from the tribulation.
20:07-20:11
The Bible says they came to life, they physically resurrected to reign with Christ.
20:13-20:21
Remember those who die before the tribulation are resurrected at the rapture and returned.
20:24-20:25
The church of the Bible makes it clear.
20:26-20:36
Reigning with Christ, the authority that's doled out to reign is assigned in proportion to faithfulness.
20:36-20:40
Just jot this down, Matthew 25, Luke 19.
20:43-20:49
Sometimes as a pastor people ask me, "Well, the Bible says you get rewards in heaven, and you're rewarded for faithfulness.
20:49-20:57
What are these rewards?" One of the rewards for faithful living is authority.
21:00-21:16
I encourage you to look up those passages, because Jesus made it very clear that we, through our faithfulness, will someday have the opportunity to reign beside Jesus Christ.
21:18-21:28
I could spend a few hours just talking about how awesome of a concept that is, and how gracious of an invitation that is.
21:30-21:31
I'm going to go on to verse 5 right now.
21:33-21:38
"The rest of the dead did not come to life..." That's resurrected.
21:38-21:45
"The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended." This is the first resurrection.
21:46-21:58
The rest of the dead, these are unbelievers who face the resurrection unto judgment after the millennium, after the thousand year reign of Christ.
21:59-22:05
going to raise from the dead in order to experience the second death.
22:06-22:07
That's the lake of fire.
22:09-22:12
Jesus talked about this back in John 5.29.
22:13-22:15
Jesus said there are two resurrections.
22:17-22:27
Everyone, literally everyone, is going to get an indestructible, glorified body that they're going to have for eternity.
22:29-22:48
You're either going to have an indestructible glorified body that you will enjoy in heaven, or on the earth during the millennial reign, to enjoy in the presence of and in the service of God, or you will have an indestructible glorified body that will be thrown into the lake of fire.
22:52-22:58
Verse 6 says, "Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection.
22:59-23:07
"Over such, the second death has no power." The second death.
23:08-23:09
Maybe you've heard this phrase.
23:09-23:10
This is where it comes from.
23:11-23:18
Somebody once said, "If you're born once, you die twice." How many people here were born at least once?
23:19-23:22
Oh, you're still listening. Okay, that was a test.
23:23-23:23
Very good.
23:24-23:25
We've all been born at least once.
23:26-23:28
If you've only been born once, you will die twice.
23:29-23:37
You will die a physical death, and you will die an eternal death in the lake of fire, and that's the second death spoken of here.
23:38-23:39
So if you're born once, you die twice.
23:41-23:44
But if you're born twice, you die once.
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We've all said we've been born at least once.
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Jesus said you must be born again.
23:51-23:57
But understand, Christianity, the Gospel, It's not about getting religious, being a church member.
23:59-24:00
Are you born again?
24:01-24:03
Have you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?
24:04-24:11
Has His Holy Spirit come and indwelt you and changed you and made you a new person that's being born again?
24:13-24:15
That's the second birth.
24:16-24:18
So if you're born twice, you're only going to die once.
24:18-24:21
Yes, you're going to die a physical death, that's true.
24:23-24:33
"You will never experience the second death." And that's why he says, "Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection.
24:34-24:41
Over such, the second death has no power." Somebody say, "Amen." Thank you.
24:42-24:44
The second death has no power.
24:47-25:10
But they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years." Part of the authority that believers exercise during the millennium is serving as priests.
25:12-25:24
meaning with earth's population growing, with these people entering the millennium having children, we're going to have the privilege of teaching them about Jesus Christ.
25:25-25:29
The three things you need to know about the millennium, first of all, Satan's locked away.
25:29-25:33
Second of all, believers are going to reign with Jesus Christ.
25:34-25:37
And thirdly, it ends with a battle.
25:38-25:40
that battle in quotes. You'll see why in a second.
25:43-25:49
This is very important, and this is important to really understanding this whole thing and everything we saw from Isaiah 65.
25:49-25:50
So listen to this.
25:53-26:10
Even though the only people who enter the Millennium from the tribulation are going to be believers, that's true, you're like, "Wait, where's the battle going to come from?" Everyone entering the Millennium, yes, believers.
26:12-26:23
But those entering the Millennium from the tribulation, people who did not die, are still going to have their normal bodies with a sinful human nature.
26:25-26:30
And as we saw from Isaiah 65, they are going to have children.
26:30-26:32
They are going to have lots of children.
26:33-26:35
They are going to have lots and lots of children.
26:36-26:43
because they're going to have a prolonged lifespan, and the millennium is going to last for a thousand years.
26:44-26:49
So the population of the earth is rapidly going to grow.
26:50-26:59
But some of these children, some of these people born during the millennium, some are going to come to salvation in Christ, and other people are going to reject them.
27:01-27:04
Oh, they're not going to outwardly reject him.
27:05-27:06
They're ruling with a rod of iron.
27:06-27:12
But they're going to inwardly reject Jesus Christ.
27:15-27:18
So right now you might be thinking, "Wait, wait, wait, hang on a second, Pastor Jeff.
27:18-27:21
There's a lot of stuff going on here." Yeah, there is a lot of stuff going on here.
27:23-27:24
"What about me, Pastor Jeff?
27:24-27:28
Am I going to sin in the Millennium?" I don't believe you will.
27:29-27:53
If you die and are resurrected at the rapture "Return with Christ at the battle of Armageddon, you're going to have your glorified body, which is not going to have sinful flesh as we dwell in currently." So I don't believe resurrected believers are going to sin during the millennium.
27:55-27:57
Let's look at the text, verses 7 and 8.
27:58-28:05
"When a thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison.
28:06-28:16
And will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle.
28:17-28:20
Their number is like the sand of the sea.
28:21-28:25
So after the millennium, Satan is going to be released from the abyss.
28:26-28:32
Satan, did you learn your lesson for being grounded for a thousand years, chained up and in prison?
28:32-28:34
"Did you learn your lesson?" He did not.
28:35-28:43
He comes right out and immediately starts the same stuff he's done from the beginning, deceiving people.
28:46-28:58
Those who rejected Christ during the Millennium, the children of believers born during the Millennium that have rejected Christ, are going to be led by Satan for a worldwide rebellion.
28:59-29:05
So just like the tribulation, the millennium is going to end with an assault on Jesus Christ.
29:05-29:10
And this huge army is given a symbolic title, Gog and Magog.
29:12-29:14
Like, what is Gog and Magog?
29:15-29:20
It's a name for enemies of the people of God.
29:20-29:25
That's a whole other lesson, but it comes from Ezekiel 38-39.
29:27-29:28
Look at verse 9.
29:30-29:36
So you have the scene, Satan's out of prison, he deceives the nations, they gather for battle.
29:38-29:52
Verse 9, "And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints." Now that word for camp is a little bit misleading.
29:52-30:13
In the Greek, it's better translated "castle" or "military installation." When I first read this, I'm thinking, "Okay, Jesus is in this sweet palace in Jerusalem, and we all have these pop-up tents around, which would be way cool to even be in a tent near Jesus, but it's not that kind of camping, alright?
30:14-30:17
It's more like a military camp.
30:20-30:23
I think the word "castle" is a good word to think of.
30:25-30:32
"They surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city..." That's Jerusalem, where Jesus will reign over the earth.
30:34-30:37
This countless multitude surrounds.
30:41-30:42
Look at the rest of the verse.
30:43-30:47
"But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
30:49-31:12
The devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever." So the rebels come to Jerusalem where the saints are with Jesus, and like Armageddon, it's just not much of a battle.
31:15-31:17
are consumed by fire from heaven.
31:20-31:22
Now these people who are consumed are about to be judged.
31:22-31:25
That's the sermon next week, next passage.
31:25-31:34
But the devil is immediately thrown into the lake of fire to join the beast and the false prophet who are already there.
31:37-31:39
And that is Revelation 20:1-10.
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Did you get all of that?
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Anybody that wants me to start over and take another run at it?
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One of you.
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This is going to be awkward for everybody else.
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Fortunately, due to technology, we have the ability to listen to this again because I know it's a lot of content.
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I had a question when I was looking through this.
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Looking at the scene straightforwardly, we saw that people sin during the millennium, I get that, because people that enter the millennium from the tribulation, they have their sin nature, and they have kids who inherit their sin nature.
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I get that, okay? I understand that.
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But what I was struggling with is, how could someone reject Jesus Christ?
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wholesale reject Jesus Christ in an environment like this.
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Jesus is ruling over the earth. The curse is being reversed.
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There's no crime. There's no injustice.
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Everything is happening exactly the way the earth was intended to be.
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So how could people reject Christ in such an environment?
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It's almost like the Garden of Eden.
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So in an environment like that, how could people reject Jesus Christ?
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That question itself demonstrates the problem.
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It presupposes a lie that people have believed for literally all of human history.
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The question is, how could someone reject Christ in such an environment?
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The problem is, we're blaming our sinful condition on our environment.
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Here's what I mean by that.
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In the Garden of Eden, go back to Genesis 3, in the Garden of Eden when God confronted Adam and Eve regarding their sin, do you remember what Eve did?
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She blamed the serpent, right?
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Then God turns to Adam, do you remember what Adam did?
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But first he blamed Eve.
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He's like, "That woman?" Setting a precedent for husbands throughout history.
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"Wrongly! Wrongly, men! Wrongly!" Everybody say, "Wrongly!" Okay, wrongly.
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He blamed Eve, but then Adam, he kind of blamed God.
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He says, "The woman that you gave me?" "You know, God, the garden was pretty good before Eve came." And I'm not criticizing you, God, I'm just saying.
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I mean, I'm just saying.
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Things were great until she showed up.
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See, we're always looking for something or someone to blame.
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How could someone reject Christ in such an environment?
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We are so used to thinking, "It's the environment that's my problem!" and the environment is not your problem.
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You are the problem!
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Oh, we do this all the time.
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And if you, by God's grace and His Holy Spirit, will recognize it in yourself...
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God help us.
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You see it everywhere.
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I struggle with drugs because my parents never showed me affection.
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Whose fault is it?
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It's my parents' fault.
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No!
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It's your fault!
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I lust because my wife doesn't meet my needs.
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Whose fault is it?
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It's my wife's fault. No, it's your fault.
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I lose my temper because my kids won't behave.
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Oh yeah, let's blame the kids.
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Let's blame the kids.
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I'm impatient because people are slow and stupid.
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That's why I'm so impatient.
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Admittedly, that laugh sounded very nervous.
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I'm bitter and unforgiving because of my family.
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You know the family I grew up in?
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That's why I act this way.
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Dude, you haven't lived at home in 30 years.
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I'm an alcoholic because of my job!
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Now listen, church, please.
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I am not trivializing difficult circumstances.
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We all have them!
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Every one of us have them!
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And I'm not trivializing them.
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But you have no one and nothing to blame for your sin but yourself.
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And yes, Satan is a deceiver and he's a destroyer, but one thing we learn from Revelation 20 is that people don't need Satan to sin.
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Satan is still prowling around today, the Bible is clear on that.
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But even for us, church, we can't file every sin that we commit under "the devil made me do it." As I heard one preacher say, "The devil gets credit for things that he would be embarrassed to admit to." The devil did not make you do it.
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You're like, "Well, then who made me do it? Who's the problem?" James 1.14 says, "Each person is tempted to sin.
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Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." Whose fault is it? Point to whose fault it is.
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I'm like this, and you're like, "Oh, we pointed to Pastor Jeff." No. I'm pointing at myself for my sin.
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And you do the same.
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The Millennium proves the truth about ourselves that we deal with today, that our sin problem comes from the inside, not the outside.
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And why is this truth so critical?
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Because you will never come to Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin if you believe that you're not really guilty.
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You will not own up to your sin and seek the Lord for true transformation if you have resolved yourself to believe the lie that you are not really guilty.
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So as I close, I just want to say this, it's time for us to own up to it.
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Your sin, it's time for you to own up to it.
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My sin, it's time for me to own up to it.
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And thank God for the forgiveness that He offers in Jesus Christ.
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and embrace the change that comes when we are willing to be honest with ourselves, and we're willing to be honest with God, and say, "My sin is on me.
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Please, Holy Spirit, change my heart." Because Revelation 20 also provides us the motivation.
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Through the transformation, through the renewed faithfulness, we will someday reign alongside Jesus Christ.
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Who's excited for that? Amen.
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Will you bow your heads and pray with me please?
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Father in heaven, we thank You for Your Word.
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Passages of Your Word like this, Father, can be difficult for us.
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But I pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit is our teacher.
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We're just sort of laying out the verses and trying to understand, but Father, Your Holy Spirit is the one who takes these things and teaches us.
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So Father, I pray that You would give us understanding.
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Father, I pray that we would be motivated greatly today by the glorious future truth that we will someday reign beside Your Son.
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We thank You, Father. We praise You in the glorious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior forever. Amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Revelation 20:1-10
GROUP
What was your big "take-away" from this passage / message?
Looking at Revelation straightforwardly, can you write a timeline of events from the Battle of Armageddon to the moment the devil is thrown into the Lake of Fire?
If Satan is bound, how is there sin in the millennium? What does this say about the human heart?
Tell of a time you've blamed your sin on someone or something else. Why do you think people are so quick to look for someone to blame? Why is it critical that we learn to take responsibility for our own sin?
BREAKOUT
Pray for one another!