Voddie Baucham - When is the Millennium

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
If you have your Bibles with you this morning, open
them to Revelation Chapter twenty. Revelation Chapter twenty. We'll concentrate
today on those first three verses in Revelation twenty. But

(00:29):
today I want us to read the chapter to get
a feel for where we're going over the next few weeks,
and to get a sense of what's being communicated on
the whole in this section of Scripture, so that we
can have a grasp on what's happening in these first
three verses. The first three verses that we're dealing with

(00:51):
this morning have been referred to as among the most
difficult in Revelation. Quite amazing, since the whole book is
among the most difficult in the whole Bible. But there
is hope for us. God has not left us in

(01:13):
the dark. And if we apply the same principles that
we've been applying to the rest of this book, it
will become clear what we're dealing with here in chapter twenty.
And we read then I saw an angel coming down
from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the

(01:34):
bottomless pit and a great chain. And he sees 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

(01:57):
until the thousand years were ended, that he must be
released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and
seated on them were those to whom the authority to
judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those
who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and

(02:18):
for the word of God, and those who had not
worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received
its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came
to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Excuse me, the rest of the dead did not come

(02:39):
to life until the thousand years were ended. This is
the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who
shares in the first resurrection over such the second death
has no power. But they will be priests of God
and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for

(03:00):
a thousand years. And when a thousand years are ended,
Satan will be released from his prison and will come
out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners.
Of the earth gog and maygog to gather them for battle.
Their number is like the sand of the sea. And
they marched up over the broad plain of the earth

(03:24):
and surrounded the camp of the Saints and the beloved city.
But fire came down from heaven and consumed them. And
the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the
lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the
false prophet were, And they will be tormented day and

(03:45):
night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne,
and him who was seated on it. From his presence,
earth and sky fled away, and no place was found
for them. All the dead, great and small standing before
the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened,

(04:07):
which is the Book of Life. And the dead were
judged by what was written, and the books according to
what they had done. And the sea gave up the
dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up
the dead who were in them, excuse me, And they
were judged, each one of them according to what they

(04:28):
had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the
Lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake
of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written
in the Book of Life. He was thrown into the
lake of fire. Revelation chapter twenty poses many difficulties, not

(04:55):
least of which is its placement. It's placement after Revelation
nineteen can make it a bit confusing, since in Revelation
nineteen we seem to have had an end of all
things and an end of judgment. But we've seen this before,
have we not, Where we see the culmination of God's

(05:19):
righteous judgment, and then a recapitulation, if you will, or
a retelling of this picture of God's righteous judgment. Here
in chapter twenty, I believe we have another such recapitulation,
another retelling of God's righteous judgment, but from a different perspective.

(05:42):
And so as we see these four vignettes in Revelation
chapter twenty, we see a picture of what God is
doing and how God is judging, and how God will
judge the world and final. But the picture here becomes
more specific as we see how He deals with Satan

(06:06):
himself and what the ultimate end of Satan, the Unholy Trinity,
and those who accept the Mark looks like.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Today, what we deal with is those.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
First three verses, and in those first three verses were
introduced to perhaps the most controversial idea in Christianity, the
idea of the millennium, the millennial reign of Christ. Will
find it very interesting for a number of reasons, not

(06:45):
least of which is you won't see any of the
specificity here with which people talk about the millennial reign
of Christ. None of it. It's just not here. This
idea of the thousand years and what's happening during that
thousand years not very specific at all. It's just mentioned
in this sort of matter of fact way. But we'll

(07:08):
look at it here and make some observations. Look at
those first three verses again. Then I saw an angel
coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key
to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he
sees the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil

(07:28):
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. After
that he must be released for a little while. I
want to introduce this idea. There'll be more said about

(07:50):
it in the next week. But I want to introduce
this idea. First of all, let's understand this is not
the gospel. But in other words, there are respected scholars
who hold each of the various eschatological positions concerning the
millennium that we've discussed up to this point and we'll

(08:11):
discuss today, and they are respected scholars. Our confession, like
all the confessions, leaves room for disagreement.

Speaker 2 (08:24):
Here.

Speaker 1 (08:25):
Our confession doesn't say here's the particular millennial view that
you must hold. No confession does that, because we recognize
that there are differing views. Nevertheless, there is a new
test of eschatological orthodoxy that has arisen in recent days.

(08:47):
As we've said throughout our time and Revelation, dispensational premillennialism
dominates the current landscape. It is assumed by most Christians
that that's the way you view in times. This has
risen in popularity because of a number of things, not

(09:08):
least of which are these The Schofield Study Bible, which
was the earliest of the study Bibles with study notes,
and it was written from a dispensational premillennial perspective. So
people now had a study Bible that was telling them
what these things meant, and this study Bible was from

(09:30):
that perspective, the rise of Dallas Theological Seminary, which has
produced numerous scholars, and the difference is that Dallas Seminary,
unlike most seminaries over the years, has been very specific
and particular as to what is appropriate eschatology, and they

(09:51):
have been unwavering in promoting the idea of dispensational premillennialism.
The Bible College movement, which accompanied Dallas Seminary but moved
down into the college level to teach from a same perspective,
the Zionist movement, which connected these things with Israel, and

(10:17):
also popular literature like the Late Great Planet Earth. Anybody
who's see hands out there, Late Great Planet Earth, or
I won't say who it was who just sheepishly put
their hand up in the back like this, like the
Late Great Planet Earth, or the runaway hit series Left Behind,

(10:38):
which was only supposed to be a couple of books long,
but it was so huge, it was ginormous, So they
just kept producing book after book after book in this
series that was only supposed to I believe its supposed
to be maybe three books in the series. And because
of that, people have set in their minds a particular

(11:00):
understanding of the end times. My first ministry position, I
faced this. I did not have a sort of set
in stone at schatological position and was really overwhelmed by
all of it. I was a new seminarian in my
first year in seminary, and I was going to interview

(11:22):
for this particular job.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
And I understood when.

Speaker 1 (11:24):
I sat in that interview that there was room for
disagreement on philosophy of ministry. I could have a different
philosophy of ministry. When I was in that interview, I
knew that I had talked to people about that. I
knew that there was room for disagreement on spiritual gifts.
I knew that this church had a particular position on
spiritual gifts. I didn't have to hold to that position

(11:46):
on spiritual gifts. There was room for disagreement on the
role of women in ministry. I knew that the church
that I had come from before I went the seminary
and for Worth had a different position than this particular
church that I was interviewing with. If that wasn't going
to be a deal breaker, wasn't a big deal. However,
there was no room for disagreement on eschatology. If I

(12:08):
sat in that interview and said that I held to
anything other than dismisational premillennialism and a pre tribulation rapture,
I would not have gotten that position.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
Period.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
All those other things were negotiable. This one was not,
Nor is this my experience alone. Listen to this from
Kim Riddlebarger. He writes, Another problem encountered when examining this
subject is that discussions of it often generate a great
deal of heat, but not very much light. One local

(12:44):
prophecy pundit has quipped that the people in heaven with
the lowest IQs will be amillennial. How Late Great Lindsay
goes so far as to label Amillennialism as anti Semitic, demonic,
and heretical. Is not uncommon to hear prophecy teachers label
a millennial Christians as liberal or accused them of not

(13:07):
taking the Bible literally. Sam Storms a graduate of Dallas
Seminary who moved gradually away from the dispensational premillennialism that
he was taught first. The first thing that went for
him was the idea of a pretrib of rapture. He

(13:28):
just couldn't hold it together even before he left seminary,
and then the rest of it sort of caves, and
he talks about his experience in this regard. He says,
it wasn't long before lad Hoikima and Gundry, together with
a few others, had persuaded me that there is no
basis in scripture for a pre tribulational rapture of the church.

(13:49):
That was, in the eyes of many bad enough. Indeed,
I distinctly recall the horror. Trust me, horror is by
no means an exaggerated term to describe the reaction I
received in my church when I made it known that
I could no longer embrace pre tribulational rapture. More than
a few were convinced that I was well on my

(14:11):
way into theological liberalism.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
But when in the.

Speaker 1 (14:14):
Early nineteen eighties I abandoned premillennialism in all its forms,
public reaction was such that you would have sworn I
had committed the unpardonable sin. I'm not suggesting that all
or even the majority of dispensational premillennialists feel this way today.
I hope and pray that few do. But the atmosphere

(14:37):
in the nineteen seventies and nineteen eighties, and again my
experience was in the nineteen nineties was something less than
amicable for those who departed from the accepted as schatological faith.
So while I say to you this is not an

(15:00):
issue central to our understanding of the Gospel, know that
this is an issue of importance, of more importance to
some than to others. Nor do I argue that it
shouldn't be held as something that is very important. This
will say much about the way you read the scriptures

(15:21):
as a whole. It'll say much about the way you
view the Great Commission, It'll say much about the way
that you view geopolitics. It will influence the way you
view culture, and it will influence the way that you
view the future. So it is of consequence. So as

(15:43):
we look at this, keep those two things in mind.
One we're not talking about something that is central or
cardinal doctrine, but two, we are talking about something with
a great deal of significant to all of us as believers.
There are several issues we need to address. Number one,

(16:07):
the issue of where we are in chapter twenty one
of the questions that determines the way we read these
first several verses and determines the way we understand. The
idea of the millennial reign of Christ is the question
of where we are. Remember these seven visions. I'll recap

(16:31):
them again. Vision number one, The Church on Earth. That's
Chapter one, verse nine through three twenty two. Vision two,
God's Throne and the Seven Seals four to one through
eight one. Vision three, the Seven Trumpets eight two to
eleven nineteen. Vision four, there's an interlude Warfare and Salvation

(16:51):
twelve one to fourteen twenty. Vision five, the Seven Bowls
of Judgment fifteen one to sixteen twenty one. Vision six,
we just finished the Victory of Christ. That's seventeen one
to nineteen twenty one. And then Vision seven the New
Heavens and the New Earth twenty and one through twenty

(17:13):
two five. We're in that seventh vision. We're in that retelling.
So the idea here is that in Revelation seventeen to eighteen,
we see the destruction of Babylon the Great, In Revelation
nineteen we see the fate of the Beast and the
false Prophet, and then in Revelation twenty we see the

(17:34):
fate of the Dragon and the consummation of all things
before we see the New heavens and the new Earth.
So we need to understand that this is another one
of those recapitulations that chapter twenty doesn't follow chapter nineteen chronologically.
That's not what John is doing. Chapter twenty reintroduces the

(18:00):
idea of the chronology of God's judgment of the world.
We're starting again kind of like we did chapter six
into chapter seven.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
If you remember that who can stand?

Speaker 1 (18:12):
Remember that the world has been judged there in chapter six,
and then in chapter seven we go answer the question
who can stand? So we go back in the midst
of the judgment. Here, we go back to the beginning
in order to see what God is doing, which leads
us to question number two, the millennium. This is the issue.

(18:33):
First issue is where we are in context. The second
issue is the millennium. It's really simple. It's a thousand
years Verses one and two. Then I saw in angel
coming down from heaven holding in his hand the key
to the bottomless pit and the great chain, and he
sees the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil

(18:55):
and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. Question
number one is what is the most millennium? What is
the millennium? It's this picture of Christ's reign. Question number two,
when is the millennium? And that's where people disagree. You
have people who hold a premillennial position. That position argues

(19:17):
that the millennium comes after Christ's second coming. So Jesus
is going to return to the Earth, and when he
returns to the Earth, there's going to be a thousand
years where he reigns on the earth and then the
consummation of all things. These people usually interpret the thousand
years literally, though not always. There are some premillennialists who

(19:43):
won't interpret the thousand years literally. They are usually pessimistic
about the future. Things are going to get worse and
worse and worse, and then Jesus is going to return.
Sometimes this can lead to a kind of why bother
mentality as it relates to the culture.

Speaker 2 (20:02):
Why bother?

Speaker 1 (20:04):
We know things are just going to get worse and
worse and worse, and then Jesus is going to return,
So why bother? Why rearrange the deck chairs on the
Titanic since we're all going to sink?

Speaker 2 (20:16):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
Then there's the post millennial view. This is the idea
that the millennium comes before the second Coming, that this
thousand years of Christ's reign actually occurs. This thousand year
Golden Age actually occurs, and then Christ comes at the
end of the earth, the end of the age. These

(20:41):
individuals usually almost always see the millennium as symbolic, not
a literal thousand years, but a symbolic thousand years, and
are very optimistic about the future. Obviously, things are going
to get better and better and better. The Gospel is
going to spread and spread and spread. The world is

(21:03):
going to become more and more and more Christianized. And there's
the amillennial view. The amillennial view. Again, a lot of
people just go and they say, ah, that means no
or not the millennial. There is no millennium. That's not
actually what the amillennial view is. The amillennial view sees

(21:26):
the millennium as the age between Christ's first and second coming,
which is now. The amillennial view is that Christ is
reigning now. The amillennial view says that what happens at
the end of this period of time is that Christ

(21:46):
returns at the consummation of all things at the end
of the age. Therefore, people hold this view always view
the thousand years as symbolic and having already not yet
approach to the future. Christ is reigning here and now
and through his church, and yet his reign is not

(22:11):
consummated until he returns in the future. As we've said
on a number of occasions, the approach that we've taken
to Revelation is from an a millennial perspective. And here's
where sort of the rubber meets the road and explaining
what we mean about that, one of the issues is

(22:33):
do we see this millennium as literal or symbolic? And,
to be quite honest with you, this is one of
the things that kind of gets under my skin the
most when I deal with people from differing perspectives, because oftentimes,
as you heard in my own experience, in Sam Storm's experience,
and riddle Burger's experience, and others experience, there is this

(22:55):
charge of liberalism, this charge of not taking the Bible
literally and not taking the Bible seriously. If you view
the millennium as not being a literal thousand years, that
is so incredibly disingenuous. Why well, first of all, the
nature of the Book of Revelation. It's filled with symbolic numbers.

(23:19):
It's filled with symbolic numbers, In fact, at the beginning
of the book, the author makes it clear that he's
using symbols. So how can it be not taking the
Bible seriously when you interpret revelation symbolically, just like Revelation
says it's supposed to be interpreted. Secondly, the use of numbers,

(23:44):
the use of numbers here and the use of numbers
throughout the book would point us to the idea that
we use this symbolically, not literally. Thirdly, there's other things
in this text that are obviously symbolic. Let's look again,
shall we. Then I saw an angel coming down from

(24:06):
heaven holding in his hand the key. Are we talking
about a literal key? Oh, to the bottomless pit? And
a great chain? Is the devil going to have a
literal chain around him in the bottomless pit? Again, those

(24:27):
individuals who would interpret the thousand years literally look at
these things and say they're symbolic.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
And he sees the dragon.

Speaker 1 (24:37):
I thought the devil was an angel who was a
fallen angel. Now he's a dragon. And of course those
individuals who say it's liberal if you interpret the numbers symbolically,
don't look here and say the devil is literally a dragon.

(24:58):
So again they don't have a pri problem with symbolism
unless and until it disagrees with them. So revelation filled
with symbols. The numbers used in the book overwhelmingly used symbolically.

(25:19):
The number one thousand has been used symbolically. We've already
talked about that. And there are other things right here
in this same paragraph that have to be interpreted symbolically.
Listen to kiss deemacher Revelation on the Whole in chapter twenty,
in particular, demonstrates symbolism. For instance, the chain with which

(25:39):
the angel binds Satan is not a customary string of
metal links. Neither is the key to the Abyss a
metallic object, nor are the thousand years chronologically ten centuries.
The term key appears in chapter one, verse eighteen, where
Jesus notes that he holds the keys of death and Hades.
In three seven, Jesus says that he holds the key

(26:02):
of David. In nine to one, an angel described as
a star holds the key to the Abyss. In all
these passages, the word signifies authority.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
It is clear that.

Speaker 1 (26:14):
A spirit cannot be shackled with a chain, but can
be restricted by a divine command, and the expression one
thousand in a book that is filled with symbolic numbers,
intimates a multitude, that is a large number. That is
the most natural sense in which this term can be read.

(26:43):
Issue three, the binding of Satan. Look at verse three
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.

(27:06):
After that he must be released for a little while.
The objection, if you believe that this millennial period refers
to the here and the now, then how do you
explain all the wickedness in the world. Is Satan is
supposed to be bound, how do you explain all the

(27:27):
wickedness in the world? And this is a legitimate question,
it's an important question. But in order to answer the question,
we got to look at a couple of things. First,
what Revelation twenty does not say. It does not say
that evil is gone from the world. Revelation twenty didn't

(27:48):
say that anywhere. By the way, most of the evil
that you do, devil didn't have anything to do with it.

Speaker 2 (27:55):
It's the world and the flesh.

Speaker 1 (27:57):
Amen, somebody, Okay, Satan is an actual being. He is
not omnipresent. Amen, God is omnipresident. Satan is not omnipresent.
Satan can only be in one place in one time.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
And here's a.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
Little news flash, You're probably not important enough for him
to bother with you personally. Don't mean to bust your
little bubble. Okay, here's the other issue. Your flesh does
enough of a number on you. The devil don't have
to worry about you at all. You can't overcome your
own flesh. You think you need Satan personally your flesh.

(28:42):
So Revelation twenty doesn't say that the flesh is gone.

Speaker 2 (28:49):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (28:50):
You're gonna deal with that until you get your new body. Amen,
Come Lord Jesus or the world. Okay, So again, when
individuals say, how can Satan be bound and there's still
all is evil in the world, Text never says he
was gone. Text doesn't say that sin is gone. Revelation

(29:13):
twenty doesn't say that. He doesn't say he binds Satan
so that evil can be gone. Doesn't say he binds
Satan so that sin can be gone. It also doesn't
say that Satan is completely powerless. Let's look at it
again verse three, and threw him into the pit and

(29:38):
shut it and sealed it over him, why so that
he might not deceive the nations any longer. In other words,
this binding of Satan has a very specific and particular application,
and that specific and particular application has to do with

(29:59):
the deception of the nations.

Speaker 2 (30:01):
And that's all. Nothing else is mentioned. Nothing else is mentioned.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
Out of all the stuff that Satan does, out of
all the stuff that Satan is, there's this binding of
Satan for a thousand years, and the one thing that's
mentioned is deceiving the nations. That's all. Not the rest
of it. Nor does it say because there are others
who would still object. Let's say, okay, Satan is bound

(30:30):
so that he can't deceive the nations, but there are
still nations out there where he's where Christ is not known.
Text doesn't say that every nation will receive the Gospel.
It's not what the text says. The text does not
say Satan is bound so that every nation will receive
the Gospel.

Speaker 2 (30:52):
And again nations here.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
Still using that same word from which we get our
word ethnicity. What relation twenty does say? It says that
the binding is specific and limited, not comprehensive. It says
that the binding is specific and limited, not comprehensive. This

(31:20):
is another issue that I have with the idea of
Jesus having an actual earthly reign, physically and personally ruling
the world with a rod of iron. And the only
thing that Satan's not doing is deceiving the nations. Secondly,

(31:45):
says Satan, that's ability to blind the nations is limited. Thirdly,
it implies that the Gospel has room to thrive among
the nations, which is exactly what has happened during this age.

Speaker 2 (32:04):
The Gospel has thrived among the nations.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
Folks, we do not have to go to Israel to
find God's people.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (32:15):
The Gospel has thrived among the nations. Listen to this,
just in the Book of Acts. Just in the Book
of Acts. And remember also, you have to keep this
in context. When we're talking about the nations. Usually what
we're talking about is Israel versus the nations, or the
Jews versus the gentiles. So we're talking about the Gospel

(32:36):
proliferating among the gentiles, among the non Jewish nations of
the world. Listen to Acts chapter nine and verse fifteen.
But the Lord said to him, go for he is
a chosen instrument of mind to carry my name before
the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. Acts
chapter eleven, verse eighteen. When they heard these things, they

(32:56):
fell silent, and they glorified God, saying then to the Gentiles, also,
God has granted repentance that leads to life, Acts thirteen
forty eight. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began
rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as
many as were appointed to eternal life believed, Acts Chapter fourteen,

(33:17):
verse twenty seven. And when they arrived and gathered the
church together, they declared all that God had done with them,
and how He had opened a door of faith to
the Gentiles. Acts chapter fifteen, verse three. So, being sent
on their way by the Church, they passed through both

(33:37):
Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles,
and brought great joy to all the brothers. Acts chapter fifteen,
verse seven. And after there had been much debate, Peter
stood up and said, to them, brothers, you know that
in the early days God made a choice among you,

(33:57):
that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word
of the Gospel and believe. Finally asked twenty eight twenty eight. Therefore,
let it be known to you that this salvation of
God has been sent to the gentiles.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
They will listen.

Speaker 1 (34:14):
Why because Satan is bound from deceiving the nations, and
the Gospel is going forth, and the Kingdom of Christ
is expanding and extending during this age where He reigns
here and now in and.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
Through his church. That's why. What's the rest of the
New Testament? Saying?

Speaker 1 (34:38):
Rest of the New Testament gives us insight into this.
First of all, Satan is defeated, but he still fights.
Don't we see this? That Satan is defeated foe, and
yet he still fights. So it wouldn't be inconsistent that
Satan would be bound and that we would still see
evidence of his work and his evil in the world

(34:58):
Colossians two thirteen to fifth. And you, who are dead
in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God
made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our
trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against
us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing
it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities

(35:19):
and put them to open shame. By triumphing over them
and him. So the rulers and authorities have been disarmed
and Christ has triumphed over them and put them to shame.
So that means they don't do anything anymore? Right, you
know better than that. So why does Revelation twenty have
to mean that Satan didn't do anything anymore? Especially when

(35:42):
Revelation chapter twenty is much more specific than Colossians Chapter two.
Colossius chapter two is much more comprehensive in what has
happened not just to Satan.

Speaker 2 (35:54):
But to all.

Speaker 1 (35:54):
Spiritual opposition as a result of what Christ is accomplished
on the cross. So why is that we can look
at colle Was chapter two and understand that this victory
has come, this triumph has come, and yet the war
still rages on for now already not yet. But when
we get to Revelation chapter twenty, we see something that's
much more limited and we can't understand. While there would

(36:18):
still be Satanic influence, Satan is bound, but he's still
active Luke eleven twenty two. But when one stronger than
he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his
armor in which he trusts, and divides his spoils this
is what Jesus was doing to Satan. John twelve thirty one.

(36:40):
Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the
ruler of this world be cast out? Jesus said that
now during his time Revelation twelve nine, and the great
dragon was thrown down the ancient serpent, who is called
the devil in Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.

(37:02):
He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels
were thrown down with him. They're cast out of heaven,
and yet they're active. Thirdly, Satan is powerless to stop
the proclamation of the Gospel. You remember when Jesus set
out the seventy two, they come back here Luke ten
seventeen to twenty. The seventy two returned with joy, saying, Lord,

(37:24):
even the demons are subject to us in your name.
And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like
lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to
tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power
of the enemy, over all the power of the enemy,
over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall
hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this that the

(37:46):
spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names
are written in heaven. What's the context here of the
gospel going forth? These seventy two going out preaching the gospel,
and there as great authority as they go out and
preach the gospel. Why because as the Kingdom has come

(38:06):
Matthew twenty eight, eighteen to twenty. This relates directly to
this issue of Satan being bound concerning the deception of
the nations during this particular period, Jesus came and said
to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has

(38:26):
been given to me. Leaves no room for anyone else
to have any authority in heaven and on earth. All
authority in heaven and on earth is given to me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, teaching him to observe all
that I've commanded you, And behold, I am with you always.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
To the end of the age.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
Jesus gives this great commission before his ascension. Now, if
the binding of Satan so that he doesn't deceive the
nations doesn't happen until some future time after the so
called church Age, then, how is the great commission accomplished?

(39:19):
Seems to me that Jesus makes it very clear that
Revelation twenty is the reason that Matthew twenty eight can
be accomplished because of the binding of Satan, specifically during
this period of his reign and and through his church,

(39:39):
so that the nations can be evangelized.

Speaker 2 (39:45):
Saints.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
Can you see this in the scriptures? We have this
picture of two ages, not three. We don't have in
the scriptures a picture of the present age and in
the millennial age and in the Age to come. We
don't find that anywhere in the New Testament. When Jesus

(40:10):
speaks and when his apostles speak, they speak about the
present age and the Age to come, and that's it.
When they speak about Christ's return, they don't speak about
Christ's return in stages. They speak about Christ's return and
the end period. Not he comes and does a few things,

(40:33):
and then there's a different No, he comes, and that's
the end of the age. There's this present age and
there's the Age to come, which is another reason why
I believe that what we're dealing with here is the
present age. Listen to just a few of these things
Titus two eleven to thirteen, for the grace of God

(40:55):
has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to
renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self controlled,
upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for
our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our
great God and Savior Jesus Christ. This age and the

(41:17):
age to come. Listen to Matthew twelve thirty two. And
whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will
be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will
not be forgiven, either in this age or in the
age to come. Matthew thirteen thirty seven to forty three,

(41:38):
The soler who sows the Good Seed again a reference
to this age and the age to come. Luke eighteen
twenty nine to thirty three that one, and he said
to them, truly, truly, I tell you, there is no
one who has left house or wife, or brothers, or
parents or children for the sake of the Kingdom of
God who will not receive many times more in this

(41:59):
age or in the age to come.

Speaker 2 (42:03):
Ephesians ie. Nineteen to twenty one.

Speaker 1 (42:08):
And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward
us who believe according to the working of his great might,
that he worked in Christ, when he raised him from
the dead and seated him at his right hand in
the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority, and
power and dominion, and above every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in the one

(42:34):
to come. It's clear that there are two ages, only
two ages. There's this age and the age to come.
People ask, do you believe we're living in the last days.
I don't believe we're living in the last days. I

(42:56):
know we're living in the last days. How do I
know it? Whoop? Because according to Acts two fifteen to
eighteen Hebrews one, one and two, the New Testament defines
the last days as the period between Christ's first and
second coming. There's no other definition of the last days.

(43:20):
The only other reference is a reference to the day
of the Lord, which is not the last days. That's
the last day.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (43:31):
So when the Bible talks about the last days, when
the New Testament makes reference to the last days, it
is making the reference to now. Right now, we're in
the last days. Peter was in the last days, Paul John,

(43:53):
They were in the last days just like us. But
what about the end of the age. We address these
two first, these cardinal passages to look at in this
regard one corintheens fifteen twenty to twenty four.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
Turn there.

Speaker 1 (44:13):
I want you to turn there and look at this
first corienteen's fifteen twenty to twenty four. And I'm gonna
want you to turn to the last one as well.
So we see that this reference to the last days
in the New Testament is a reference to the time
between the first and second coming. We see that there
is a reference to two ages, the present age and

(44:37):
the Age to come, but there is no other division. Now,
I want you to see two of the clearest passages
about the return of Christ that make it clear that
this is what we're talking about. First crienteen is fifteen
twenty to twenty four. But in fact Christ has been
raised from the dead, the first fruits of those those

(45:00):
who have fallen asleep. For us by a man came,
death by a man has come also the resurrection of
the dead. For as Adam and Adam all die, so
also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each
in his own order. Christ the first fruits. Then at
his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end.

(45:24):
To let me read that again, but each in his
own order. Christ the first fruits, He's already been resurrected.
Then at his coming those who belong to Christ. So
when he returns, those who belong to him are going
to be resurrected just like he was. Then comes the end,
when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after

(45:46):
destroying every rule and every authority and power. There it
is when Christ returns. He doesn't return to establish a
millennial reign. When he returns. That's a wrap. And again
first Thessalonians four thirteen to eighteen. Turn there, first Thessalonians

(46:10):
four thirteen to eighteen. But we do not want you

(46:33):
to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that
you may not grieve as others do who have no hope,
for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again.
Even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those
who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you

(46:54):
by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive,
who are left until the coming the Lord will not
proceed those who have fallen asleep, for the Lord himself
will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with
the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of
the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will

(47:16):
rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left,
will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. And so we
will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another
of these words. There it is the return of Christ,

(47:37):
is the end of the age.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (47:40):
When he comes, it's over, which further testifies to the
fact that this idea of the millennial reign of Christ
has to be now. There's no room for it anywhere else.

(48:01):
What are the difficulties We've already talked about the difficulties. Well,
one difficulty is, well, it's supposed to be a thousand years. Well,
okay again, symbols in this passage we see symbols in
the numbers. In this book, we see symbols. Thousand years
is a great age, a long time. It doesn't have

(48:25):
to be a literal thousand years. It doesn't make sense
that it's a literal thousand years when you read this
book in its context. What's the other problem, the binding
of Satan. Well, we've dealt with that problem. The binding
of Satan does not mean that all evil everywhere is gone.
The binding of Satan is very specific. The binding of
Satan is referred to here as his ability to deceive

(48:50):
the nations, which when you look at the Great Commission
and the fact that in this age we are called
to and have been takeing the Gospel to Panta ta
ethne every people group, that it makes sense that that
binding is related to the great commission that is going
on right now in the church. If we were to

(49:16):
see a show of hands right now in this room
and talk about people's ethnic roots and backgrounds.

Speaker 2 (49:22):
There may be dozens.

Speaker 1 (49:23):
Of different ethnicities and backgrounds that are represented just right
here in this room. Why, because the Gospel is going
forth to the nations. Are the nations that haven't been
reached yet? Yes, yeah, there are. But the end of
the age hasn't come either. Amen. So there's that problem

(49:43):
dealt with. There's something remaining. It's ominous. After that, he
must be released for a little while. I don't like that.

(50:06):
I don't like that. As to that he must be
released for a little while, we've read on a number
of occasions about this great battle that is to come about,
how nations are going to be deceived. And as these
nations are deceived, they rise up against God and against
the people of God, and there is this great outpouring

(50:26):
of persecution against God's people. We've seen that on a
number of occasions in revelation. That has not been hidden
from us. John has not hidden that from us. But
because we've read that all these times, when you see
this phrase, it's even more ominous because you know what
he's talking about. That right now, we're in the midst

(50:48):
of that time where the Gospel is going forth. Right now,
we're in the midst of that time where we're seeing
this rule and reign of Christ and and through his church.
Right now, we're in the midst of that time. We're
entire cultures have been transformed by the Gospel. Do you
realize that entire cultures, entire parts of the world have

(51:09):
been transformed by the Gospel? And much of it you
absolutely take for granted, But the world has never been
the same, And the spread of the Gospel impacts cultures
and has impacted cultures and continues to impact cultures. We're
seeing it right now. But he must be released for

(51:33):
a little while. It won't always be like this. Before
the end of the age, there will be a great
reversal of fortune, if you will, before the end of
the age, that there will be a rising up against

(51:56):
God and God's people. And yet Jesus reminds us, do
not lose heart, because I've overcome the world.

Speaker 2 (52:13):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (52:16):
We've seen it before. In fact, John saw it and
has alluded to it earlier. On next week, we're going
to look again at this idea of martyrs and people
who have refused to take the mark. Over the years,
there have been these periods of history where we've seen

(52:37):
little pictures of this, where the people of God have
been persecuted and mass and yet Christ is victorious, and
yet he will have the fullness of the reward for
which he died. So what do we do with this? First,

(53:03):
we recognize that there is an open door for the
proclamation in advance of the gospel, and we take advantage
of it. There is an open door for the proclamation
and advance of the Gospel, and we need to take
advantage of it. The Gospel is being preached all over
the world. The gospel is bearing fruit all over the world.

(53:26):
There are countries that never ever would have thought about
being opened to the Gospel that are open to the
Gospel now all over the world's happening, and it oftentimes
is accompanied by great persecution. But great persecution doesn't necessarily
mean the Gospel is not flourishing.

Speaker 2 (53:46):
Sometimes the opposite is true.

Speaker 1 (53:48):
Sometimes great persecution is the evidence that the Gospel is
beginning to flourish, and people have to rise up against
them to try to stamp it out by persecution, which inevitable, believe,
leads to even greater increase of the effectiveness of the gospel.
As God's people endure hardship, there's a great open door. Secondly,

(54:14):
this door will always be open. The end is coming,
and when Christ returns, he won't return to bring a
great thousand year second chance. When he returns, he will
judge the world in righteousness and it will be over,

(54:40):
which means there needs to be an urgency about us,
an urgency to see the Gospel go forth, not just
amongst those closest to us, but amongst all those in
the world. But by the way, why why would we
do that? See the natural tendance He is for me
to be selfish, The natural tendency is for me to

(55:02):
say I got mine. But when I understand who Christ is,
when I understand that he is Lord, when I understand
that He saved me in order that He might exercise
his reign in and through me, now all of a sudden,
I can't be satisfied with just me being saved. When

(55:25):
I realized that the one who rescued me and saved
me is about the business of rescuing and saving the nations,
then all of a sudden, I too have to be
about the business of proclaiming the Gospel among the nations.
Nothing else makes sense. When I understand this, and here's

(55:49):
the good news, we are guaranteed success.

Speaker 2 (55:54):
Amen.

Speaker 1 (55:57):
Why because he will save his people. Why his name
is Jesus. Amen, you should call his name Jesus. Why
because he'll save his people. His name is not Jesus
because he might kind of have a chance to maybe
save some people if that. No, his name is Jesus
because he saves his people. He will save his people.

(56:19):
He will, and he hasn't returned yet, which means he's
still about the business of saving his people, and the
gospel is still.

Speaker 2 (56:25):
Bearing much fruit.

Speaker 1 (56:26):
So when we preach the gospel. The gospel will bear fruit.
Our success is guaranteed. Amen.

Speaker 2 (56:32):
He may not look like we wanted to look.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
That doesn't mean we get everybody we want, But that
means he gets everyone from whom he died. But there's
another thing. This goes straight to the heart of our
own personal holiness. If Christ he's ruling and reigning, you

(57:01):
remember how he taught us to pray our Father in heaven.
How be your name your kingdom come connected to that
will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
His kingdom is the place where He rules and reigns.
If I believe that his kingdom is here, that his
kingdom is now. If I believe that His kingdom is

(57:23):
being expressed in and through his Church, that I believe
that his rule and his reign must be expressed in
and through his Church. Which means that I believe his
rule and reign has to be expressed through me, Which
means that I seek to live in obedience to my
reigning King. And I ask myself, am I living like

(57:48):
I believe Christ is reigning? Forget whether or not I
believe Christ is reigning out there? Do I believe Christ
is reigning? And here do I believe that my life.
My life will bear evidence to that effect. Let me

(58:18):
say something to those of you who have loved ones,
family members, who are not saying, that's all of us
in this room. That's every last one of us. There
is hope because there is a gospel to preach, because

(58:42):
there is a king who reigns, because there is a season.

Speaker 2 (58:48):
For the gospel to flourish, and we must hold out hope.
We have to.

Speaker 1 (58:56):
We have to because that's the age in which we live.
I don't know who that person is to you. They
may be seated next to you today. My prayer for
you is that you will hold out hope, and that,
more importantly, you will hold out the gospel, because the
Gospel is the power of God, of the salvation. Christ

(59:21):
will have the fullness of the reward for which He died.
We know that we can hope in that. We can
hold on too, that we can believe that and praise God.
If we open our eyes, we can see that. If
you are here today and you have not come to

(59:44):
repentance and faith in Christ, I beseech you bow the
need to Him. If you are here today and you
are depending on something other than the finished work of
Christ to see you through what we're about to look

(01:00:06):
at in the rest of this chapter.

Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
Help you.

Speaker 1 (01:00:11):
There is no hope for you apart from Christ. Run
to him, Receive him. Repent of your sin, Repent of
your independence, Repent of your trust in yourself, Repent of

(01:00:32):
your feeble attempts to find sufficient righteousness in doing the
right thing. Repent in holding out hope that somehow God
will grate on the curve and that you'll get by
because you were better than somebody.

Speaker 2 (01:00:52):
Repent.

Speaker 1 (01:00:55):
Christ died for sin, once for all the just, for
the unjust, that he might bring us back to God.
If you believe anything other than that death will suffice
for you, that is blasphemy. Because you believe you can
do a work that is more significant in the sight
of God than the death of his only begotten son.

(01:01:17):
You know better than that. Turn from that, Receive Christ,
Rejoice in Him. Let's pray, Father, as we bow before you.
We bow before you as a grateful and humble people,

(01:01:43):
grateful because we recognize that you have called us to
live in such a time as this, at a time
where you are ruling and reigning and in through your church,
in a time when the Gospel is going forth and
bearing much fruit among the nations, because we live in

(01:02:09):
a time where we have identified unreached people groups and
have plans under way to reach them with the Gospel.
And your at lowerd humbled. We're humbled because we recognized
who we are and that we are wholly unworthy. Grant

(01:02:37):
by your grace that we will not wallow in our unworthiness,
but that we might embrace Christ's righteousness. Grant us boldness
to proclaim the Gospel, and grant us much fruit as

(01:03:04):
we do so, not that we might make much of ourselves,
but that we might make much of Christ, our ruling
and reigning King, in whose name we pray Amen.