The Essence of the Three Millennial Views Greg L Bahnsen Revelation Verse By Verse {Part 59 of 63}

Revelation 20 is one of the most controversial chapters of the entire Bible and is a chapter which perhaps accounts for the existence of more separate churches than any other chapter in the Bible. In a post millennial perspective, Revelation 20 has created a number of churches because of the missionary impetus that it's given rise to since the days of the Reformation and the confidence that it inspired and people that God was intending to bring all nations into submission to His Son. And therefore a good number of churches have been generated by Revelation 20. However, my opening remark had more to do with the fact that Revelation 20 has been a point of division between so many Christians and more separate churches. Independent fundamentalist churches exist today, perhaps having divided from other churches over this particular chapter more than any other chapter of the Bible. So it's a highly significant chapter in the course of church history, and it's a highly controversial chapter. It's one which we're going to want to give some time to. We'll probably spend two or three weeks at least on it, trying to understand the nature of the millennium. A good number of people who study the Book of Revelation in depth study it precisely with a view to understanding the 20th chapter, or at least presenting their views to the 20th chapter of Revelation. It's a chapter, as I've said, over which is a lot of controversy. And consequently, theological polemicists have turned to Revelation 20 to advance their causes, and to do so, they often have had to look at the entire book. So a lot of commentaries are written on the Book of Revelation with a view to the 20th chapter. I won't go into too much depth this morning explaining why I think that's disproportionate understanding of the Book of Revelation, that there is a lot of important material that precedes and succeeds this chapter. But the fact remains that this is the controversial one, and so we're going to spend some time on it as well. John says, I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years and cast him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be finished. After this, he must be loosed for a little time. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them. And I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God and Such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection over these. The second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed and out of his prison. And he shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to war, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about. And the beloved city and fire came down out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet. And they shall be tormented day and night, forever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead and that were in it. And death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them. And they were judged every man, according to their works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. And if any was not written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire. John obviously, is encompassing the remainder of human history, from the point of his prophecy that he left off in chapter 19 to to the end of history, to the great white throne judgment, where even death and Hades are said to give up their dead and then to be cast back into the lake of fire themselves. And so it's a scene of the consummation of human history at the end of chapter 20. But the opening of chapter 20 is not quite so clear to a number of commentators. What exactly does this mean? That an angel has bound Satan for a thousand years, and that during that thousand years certain who are called the souls of the dead reign with him, reign with Christ over the nations, as priests of God and of Christ reigning for a thousand years. This has been called the millennium, and I suppose it's not necessary to explain to this class, but millennium comes from the Latin word for 1000. And so the millennium is the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ. And the whole question is, what does this mean that Christ is going to reign for a thousand years? And in what sense does he reign? Where does he reign? What are the effects of his reign on earth? Before we look at the various schools of thought on Revelation 20, I'm going to try to give you a detailed analysis of premillennialism, amillennialism and post millennialism. This morning I think it would do us well to review Revelation up to the 20th chapter at some length. This will be the last time I review the book and in this detail, because from chapter 20 on we'll be discussing eschatological events, and I'd like us to remain with that theme till the course on Revelation is over. So I'd like us to be reminded of what John has told us up to this point, because Revelation 20 turns out to be something of an explanation of how all these things are possible. Some of you have received an outline of the Book of Revelation from me, and I'm going to be following it and then trying to fill in some of the details as I go along. The Book of Revelation opens in chapter one, the first eight verses, with what I called the introductory matters of the title of the book, who authored the book, a blessing and greeting pronounced upon those who read the book and pay attention to it, and a benediction upon the name of God. From that point, John then launches into the three major sections of the Book of Revelation, those being the things which he has seen, the vision of the first chapter, then the things which are presently the case in the churches, chapters two and three, the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor, and then finally the things which shall take place hereafter, chapters four and following in chapter one, as I've said, those are the things which John has seen, and we have a background to that. John explains why he is in the island of Patmos and what the effects of that are. He says that he was given a vision of Christ among the seven candlestands, verses 12 to 16. And then finally God gives reaction. God shows us John's reaction and gives an interpretation of the vision of Christ among the seven candle stands, that interpretation being in verses 17 to 20 of chapter one. The point of the first chapter is to set the stage for the remainder of the book and the drama that follows. Christ, who is the resurrected, ascended and glorified Savior, is in the midst of his church. The church would be tempted not to think that to be the case because of the persecution it's undergoing at the hands of the Jews and the Romans. But Christ is in the midst of the church. And Christ controls the church. He has the seven stars in his right hand, which is to say the officers, the pastors of the church, are in the hand of Jesus Christ himself and are protected and directed by him. Having noted that Christ then is the Lord of the church, that as the resurrected and glorified Messiah, he is present powerfully with the church, John writes seven letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor in chapters two and three. He writes to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, and Thyatira in chapter two, and then to Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea in chapter three. And you'll notice that there's a common pattern in all of these letters to the seven various churches. That pattern goes something like this. First, there's an address to the angel of the church. An address is made to the angel of the church, being, as I interpret, the pastor of that church. And then a designation of Jesus Christ is given as the one who addresses the pastor of the church. And that designation of Christ is usually an allusion to some feature of the description of the glorified Messiah in chapter one. And then in most cases, the church is commended for something. And then again, in most cases, the church is rebuked for something. There are exceptions. One church receives no rebuke, one church receives no commendation. And then there's an exhortation to every church given. And finally that. That stylized formula. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And then finally, a promise to those who are overcoming, those who are victorious in the name of Christ. All right, so let's recapitulate. John is seeing Christ as glorified, ascended, the one who reigns with power in the midst of his church. Christ now exhorts his church to be victorious. He commends, he rebukes, he revolves. He exhorts them to be victorious. And then John says, and here are the things which are going to happen hereafter. Chapters four and following, John tells us that he sees two basic prophecies. One, the prophecy of the seven sealed scroll, the scroll that is rolled up and has seven wax seals on the back of it. And then finally, a prophecy of the little scroll or the little book, which comes later. So Two main prophecies. And it turns out that the first, first prophecy deals with who was the first enemy of the Church in the ancient world. That was the Jews, Judaism, centered in Jerusalem. And then the little book, the prophecy of the little scroll, deals with the other major opposition that the Church encountered in the ancient world, and that was from pagan Rome. So let's go chapter by chapter through this. John, first of all, in chapter four, four begins to give us the background to that judgment which God is going to bring against the first enemy of his people, that judgment against apostate Jerusalem. In chapter four, we have the scene of the heavenly court, and John exalts the sovereignty of God in creation, the one who is lord over all of creation. Chapter 5, however, sets some of the turmoil in John's mind, explains it, because nobody is found worthy to open that seven sealed scroll. And then we're introduced to the Lamb of God and how God is sovereign in redemption, in the realm of redemption. And because Christ has overcome, he is worthy to open the seven sealed scroll. Then in chapters six and seven, John tells us of the he gives us a preview of the contents of that seven sealed scroll. As each one of the scrolls is broken. Excuse me. As each one of the seals on the scroll is broken, then it's as though some of the contents is being revealed and the first seals are broken, showing us the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Then two other seals are broken, then finally a climactic seal is broken. Because with the breaking of the seventh seal, the scroll is now open and open to view before the judgment finally falls, however, against apostate Jerusalem. Now that we've had a preview to it, John tells us that God will seal his saints, the 144,000. He will put his mark upon them, so that through his judgments upon Jerusalem, through his judgments on Rome, his people will not be affected. And then in chapter eight, first five verses, we have the scene at the heavenly tabernacle, which tells us that God is ready to judge. The angel comes forth, standing at the altar, and puts forth coals from the altar on his censer and casts them upon the earth as a sign that God will now judge the enemies of his people. In chapters eight through 11, about the middle of chapter 11, I'm sorry, eight through the entirety of 11, the seven trumpets now blow, the seven trumpets of judgment against apostate Jerusalem. In chapter eight, we have the first four trumpets blowing, which are natural calamities which God brought against Jerusalem in the days of AD 70 before it fell. Then the last three judgments are called human woes. According to the eagle flying in midheaven, the last three trumpets blow, bringing human judgments against Jerusalem. Now then, in the section between chapter 8, verse 13, and chapter 11, verse 19, we find at least five things. In preparation for the transition to the next section of the Book of Revelation, John receives an interpretation of what he's seeing. In chapter 10, verses 1 to 7, John is told that in the days of the seventh angel, when it sounds its trumpet, then will be finished the mystery of God. And that mystery of God, if you do a study background in the New Testament, turns out to be the mystery that the Gentiles should come into the kingdom of God on an equal footing with the Jews. And so the point is that with the blowing of the seventh trumpet and the completion of God's judgment against Jerusalem, that will make clear that the Jews have no special place in the kingdom of God. That the Jews and Gentiles stand on an equal footing before God and can only be part of his kingdom by embracing the gospel. Chapter 10, verses 8 to 11. At the sixth trumpet, you'll notice, give us a foreshadow of the next section where John sees this magnificent angel standing with one foot on the ocean, one foot on the land. And the angel has a little book that is given to John to eat. And he's told that he'll have to prophesy again now over many tribes, peoples, tongues and nations. And so John is told that a second prophecy is about to come. At the completion of the first, then the seventh trumpet finally sounds at chapter 11, verses 14 to 19. And at that point the declaration is made. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. With the fall of Jerusalem, God gives, you see, his pledge that he will make all nations submissive to His Son. And then the declaration of God's victory in his Reign completes the 11th chapter. Now, after we've gotten through the first 11 chapters of Revelation, what we've been told is Christ is powerfully present with his church. His church is exhorted to overcome in his name. And God will vindicate his church by judging apostate Jerusalem those who are persecuting the true kingdom of Jesus Christ. At that point, a reader might very well begin to wonder, how can all these things be true? How is it going to be possible that God's kingdom shall overcome the nations and that Jerusalem shall fall and these things. And so chapter 12 gives us an explanation of how these things are going to take place and gives us a transition to the second half of the prophecy of the future. At chapter 12, we see Christ defeating Satan in the first six verses. And verses 7 to 12 explain that Satan has been cast down from his power. Satan, you see, has been dealt a death blow by the coming of Jesus Christ. With the inauguration of God's kingdom, Satan's kingdom must now wane. And so Satan has been cast down. His power has been grounded. And we see that Satan, in his wrath, tries to persecute the followers or the children of the woman that stands for the people of God in both Testaments. And verses 13 to 16 of chapter 12 show us that the Jewish church, which was persecuted by Satan, would be saved because they would flee to the wilderness at the point that Satan is finally going to destroy the city as an instrument of God's wrath. So the Jewish church flees to the wilderness. Jerusalem falls. Satan realizes that he's been thwarted. And in the very last verse of chapter 12, he turns to persecute the other children of the woman that is the Gentile church now. And we begin in chapter 13 to see the fall of the Roman Empire. Christ rules powerfully in the midst of his church. Christ exhorts his church to overcome. Christ promises his church that he will judge, apostate Jerusalem. Christ explains that he can do these things because Satan has been cast down out of heaven. But now we see Satan, wrathful again, going after the Gentile church. And we begin chapter 13. And again John gives us the background to the judgment. He. He gives us the setting and the main characters. In chapters 13 and the beginning of chapter 14. He says, first of all, he saw Satan standing on the seashore, on the Mediterranean seashore. And then he shows us that Satan has two followers, those two followers being the beast from the ocean. The beast from the earth, the beast from the ocean represents the Roman Empire from across the Mediterranean Sea coming to persecute the church of Jesus Christ. And that beast has in his employ, has in his following a second beast from the earth, which is the emperor cult centered in Asia Minor. The emperor cult requires those who would live, who would partake of the marketplace, who would have commercial interaction in the marketplace, to have the mark of the beast upon them. Now, that mark I don't take to be a literal mark, but rather an indication that the law of the beast is followed by in the place of the law of God, which was to be on the forehead and on the hand of the godly Jew of the Old Testament. Now the beast comes, and he requires that his name and number be placed on the forehead. And on the hand. All right, now this gruesome picture has been presented. John's painted the picture of Satan using the two beasts against God's people. But in chapter 14, we're introduced to those who will oppose Satan and the two beasts. Christ on Mount Zion, the Lamb of God. And. And in his following 144,000 again, the true church of Jesus Christ. Now John gives us again a preview of the contents of the little book. That preview comes in the form of three angelic messages in chapter 14 and 2. Harvest of the earth, actually a vintage of the earth, and then first of all, a harvest of the earth and then a vintage of the earth. The three angelic messages have to do with the fact that Rome is going to fall, but the fact that the Gospel is going to be preached to all people. And then Christ is going to harvest the earth, gathering into his kingdom the wheat, and then he's going to harvest the earth. He's going to have the vintage of the earth by cutting all the clusters of grapes, the grapes of God's wrath, and pressing them down in the winepress of God's wrath, so that the blood, you may recall, flows to the length of 1600 stadia, 1600 miles up to the horses bridles. So it's a gruesome picture of the final judgment that will befall men who are not part of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. What are you to expect then in the second part of the book of Revelation? You're to expect to see the fall of Rome. You're expecting to see the gospel preached, and you're expecting to see the final judgment of God. And we begin first of all, then with the judgment upon rome in Chapter 16. Right before Chapter 16, Chapter 15 had been again a prelude to the judgment. Remember, in the first section of the book, an angel had come to the altar and cast coals upon the earth, indicating God was going to judge the earth. Now we have another scene at the heavenly temple or tabernacle. And smoke fills, you see, the temple of God. So there can be no intercession on the part of the Roman Empire. God will hear no more pleas, and that smoke will not vacate the temple. God will not hear any prayers, and in that regard until after Rome has fallen. Okay, chapter 16 begins the seven bowls of wrath, the seven vials of wrath that are poured out upon the Roman empire. The first four bowls being natural calamities in chapter 16, verses 1 to 9, then the last three bowls being human afflictions. Chapter 16, verse 10 and following. Remember that when we saw the judgment on Jerusalem, the seven trumpets were broken down into four trumpets of natural calamities and three trumpets of human woes. And now we have the seven bowls of wrath, four natural calamities, three human afflictions. Also included in this section of Revelation, we have again a foreshadowing of the next section to come. John is always preparing his reader for what is to follow. And so the foreshadowing of the next section is given again at the sixth bowl, even as at the sixth trumpet a foreshadowing was given previously. Chapter 16, verses 13 to 16. Give us that foreshadowing. Then a note of finality again at the end of this section of the seven bowls of wrath. The interpretation is given in chapter 17, even as John was told the interpretation of Christ in the midst of the candle stands at the end of the first section of the book. And as Christ gave the interpretation to John at the end of the the seven trumpets of wrath, telling us that would be the indication to all mankind that the church of Jesus Christ welcomed Gentiles and Jews on an equal footing into it, into God's kingdom. So also John gets an interpretation of this final section of the Book of Revelation, and that's in chapter 17. We've been studying that at some length already. And then there's an elaboration on the justice of God in chapter 18, where we see the fornication of Babylon described at great length. And then finally, the great fall of the city at the end of the chapter, chapter 19, which we studied last week, begins with the declaration of God's victory and his reign, the rejoicing of the saints over the fall of Rome. Now, what did we say we were going to see in the last section of the Book of Revelation? The fall of Rome, preaching of the Gospel, the final judgment. We have seen the fall of Rome. And now chapter 19 at verse 11, verses 11 to 21, John is given the resultant vision of a rider on this white horse, who is followed by the church of Jesus Christ, also riding white horses. And here is the vision of the Gospel being extended to the earth's remotest ends with the preaching of the Word of God, symbolized by a sword from Christ's mouth, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Again, John gives us the background. He gives us the main characters, Christ upon the white horse and the Church following him with white garments. And he shows us all the nations of the earth gathered together to war against the Church. So here you have the classic battle set up, the kingdom of God, or the city of God and the city of man, as Augustine put it. And with the preaching of the Gospel, the sword from Christ's mouth, it turns out that those who are in opposition to it are completely destroyed, are not destroyed in the physical sense that God judges them for all eternity, but they are destroyed by the preaching of the Word. That is to say that they are renewed by the preaching of the Word. Their old lives are destroyed that their new lives might begin. And let me just review for you our lesson from chapter 19 of last week, and then we can see where we stand in chapter 20, which is our message for today. Chapter 19 tells us that there is going to be a marriage supper of the Lamb in the background to that marriage supper I found in Isaiah 61:10. We might turn to that now. Isaiah 61:10 those who come to the marriage supper of the Lamb have to be clothed in white garments, pure and spotless. They have to be justified in the sight of God. And Isaiah 61:10 says, I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah my soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. See, there's the justification, the gracious justification of God. He clothes his people with righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels. So here in this marriage setting, being clothed with the garments of salvation and righteousness is the justification of the saints. Isaiah continues, for as the earth brings forth its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord Jehovah will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. In the day in which we rejoice in the marriage supper of the lamb, God is going to cause righteousness to spring forth in all the nations. Revelation 19:8 had said and it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And this marriage supper is called the marriage supper of the Lamb. Why is Christ called a lamb in Scripture? Because he's the sacrificial lamb of God. It's because his blood is shed for the salvation of his people. In Romans, the fifth chapter, verse nine, you note how Paul describes our justification in these terms. It says much more then being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him. Justification comes because of the blood of Jesus Christ, because he is the Lamb of God, we can be justified. The garments of salvation, the garments of righteousness can be placed on us. And those who are justified by his blood, the Bible teaches us, are brought in union with with the Savior. First Corinthians 10:16 teaches that as well as Romans 6:6 8 or John 6:56. We won't look at those right now. But the point is, those who are justified by the blood of Christ are brought in union with him. Now that union with Christ is in the New Testament denoted with the metaphor of a marriage. Paul speaks of marriage in First Corinthians, chapter 11 in Ephesians 5 so we who are married to Christ are in union with him, are made one flesh with Christ, so that we might be justified through his blood. And consequently I believe that the marriage supper of the Lamb, denoting the justification of the saints and being in union with him, is the supper spoken of in 1 Corinthians 11:20. Let's look at 1 Corinthians 11 just for a second. Here Paul says, when therefore ye assemble yourselves this is verse 20 when therefore ye assemble yourselves together. It is not possible to eat the Lord's Supper. That which the church is partaking, I think on a weekly basis, by the way. But nevertheless, that which the church is having here is called the Lord's Supper. Here's the supper of the Lamb who shed his blood for the justification of his people. Verses 25 and 26 read in like manner also the cup after supper, saying, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he come. You see, there's the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, our Passover sacrifice, so that we might be made right in God's eyes. So Revelation 19 we see the rejoicing of the saints over the fall of Rome, and we see this blessing pronounced upon those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. That's in verse nine of chapter 19. And he said unto me, write, blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Now let's bring it all together here. We've said that John has three major sections to his prophecy. First, Christ is reigning in the midst of his church. Second, he exhorts his church to be victorious. Thirdly, he shows that the enemies of his church will be judged. Jerusalem will fall. And when Jerusalem does, then we know the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of Our Lord and of his Christ. And then Rome will fall. And when Rome falls, we know that the church of Jesus Christ will be the only kingdom left to fill the earth. In fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy, Daniel had interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream about four world empires that will be destroyed with the stone cut without hands. That stone will then grow to fill the earth. Now, the fourth world empire is Rome. The stone cut without hands is the kingdom of Jesus Christ. And with the fall of Rome, we should now expect that church to be filling the entire earth. John had told us that we would see the fall of Rome, the preaching of the Gospel and the final judgment. We've seen the fall of Rome. We've now seen a blessing on those who are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb, those who are called to the Lord's table. And there's the Gospel invitation. And now what's the outcome of that gospel invitation? We see the victory supper of God as Christ comes forth riding upon a white horse, the church of Jesus Christ, clothed in the garments of righteousness, following behind him. And Christ comes forth on this victorious white horse with a sword from his mouth. Now, the background to this victory supper of the bridegroom can be found in Psalm 45. 1:6. In Psalm 45, the Psalmist says, my heart overflows with a good matter. I speak the things which I have made touching the king. I'm going to speak a good prophecy about the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. I am very happy and ready to write these things. What does he write? He says, you are fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Interesting. You see the sword of the spirit from the mouth of Jesus Christ. Grace is poured upon his lips. Now thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured upon thy lips. Therefore God hath blessed thee forever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one. Thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride on prosperously. Now, you see, that sword of the Messiah's majesty is going to be prosperous as he rides forth because of truth and meekness and righteousness. That is, he's going to establish his kingdom in the earth. And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp. The peoples fall under thee. They are in the heart of the king's enemies. Okay, so all those who oppose the Messiah according to Psalm 45, are going to fall as he rides forth prosperously, grace being poured out upon his lips. Then verse 6, Thy throne, O God, is forever a scepter of equity is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Now as we read on here, we see that it goes into the image of the King being married to the daughters of Zion. And so in the midst of the marriage feast, if you will, you have also the sign or the the literary device of the victorious rider in Psalm 45. And I believe that's probably the Old Testament background to John's thinking as he brings together the marriage supper of the Lamb and then the riding forth victorious of the rider on the white horse. Also, as background to this and as cross reference to Psalm 45, let's look at Psalm 72. There David writes of Solomon's inauguration, but of course referring to the latter day great king that would fulfill this prophecy, Jesus Christ. Give the King thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. He will judge thy people with righteousness and thy poor with justice. The mountain shall bring peace to the people, and hills in righteousness, and he will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee while the sun endureth so long as the moon throughout all generations he will come down like rain upon the mown grass and showers that water the earth. In his day shall the righteous flourish. Now I realize I'm bringing together a lot of scripture passages and you have to follow closely. But remember, Isaiah 61 had said that in the day of the marriage supper, when we are clothed in garments of righteousness, righteousness will spring forth in the earth. In his day will the righteous flourish in abundance of peace till the moon be no more. And then, as Psalm 45 had indicated, he shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. You see, all his enemies will fall under him. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall render tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seva shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him. Daniel had said that when the fourth world empire falls, then the kingdom of Jesus Christ would fill the earth. The psalmist says, in the day of the marriage of God's son to his people, he will ride forth victoriously, so that all his enemies lick the dust, and all nations fall beneath his feet. Worshiping him. Isaiah 9:6 explains that this would take place at the first advent of Jesus Christ, not at the second advent, but at the first. Isaiah 9:6 and following for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government, the rule, you see, shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. It's a shame that we stopped reading our Christmas cantatas at that point, because verse seven goes on to say of the increase of his government, which was introduced in verse 6, of the increase of his government and of peace, there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness. From henceforth, even forever. There will be no end to the increase, you see, of Christ's rule in the earth. And he will bring, as Psalm 45, as Psalm 72 had said, he will bring justice and righteousness to bear in the earth. As Isaiah 60:1 will say, righteousness will spring forth before all the nations. If you have any doubt that this shall take place. I mean, after all, the government's upon his shoulder. God has guaranteed this with the prophecy that it will always increase. Then Isaiah adds, the zeal of Jehovah of hosts shall perform this. There can be no doubt then that in the day of the marriage supper of the Lamb, in the day when we are justified and we are bidden to come to the marriage supper of Jesus Christ at the Lord's table, that he will be riding forth victoriously, subduing all his enemies under him. And that reign of Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament, as I've already said in the Old, begins with his first advent, not with his second. Look at Matthew 16, verse 28. I just want to show you a few verses that indicate that the reign of Jesus Christ has already begun. It's not awaiting Future inauguration. Matthew 16:28 Verily I say unto you, there are some of them that stand here who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Christ will come forth, riding forth victoriously, bringing his kingdom, increasing his government, showing that that mountain is going to fill the earth. He's going to do that before those who hear him talking in this chapter have died. Look at Luke 9. Well, I'm sorry. Let's look at Mark 9, verse one, first of all, Mark 9:1. And he said unto them, verily I say unto you, there are some here of them that stand by, who shall in no wise taste of death till they see the kingdom of God come with power. Not the kingdom of God come in humiliation, but come in power. In the day of its victory it will begin before those who hear Christ die. And then Luke 9:27. But I tell you of a truth. There are some of them that stand here who shall in no wise taste of death until they see the kingdom of God. So in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we all have the pronouncement of Christ that his kingdom, a kingdom of power, would begin within the lifetime of his hearers. And when that kingdom is inaugurated, it will come with a subduing effect. Acts 2:33. Here in Peter's great Pentecostal address, he says, being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received to the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this which ye see and hear. For David ascended not into the heavens. But he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand. Jesus has been inaugurated in his kingdom he's sitting now at the right hand of God, exalted on high. He's received the promise of the Father. So the Lord says to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand. And then what? Till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet? In Hebrews the tenth chapter, verses 12 and 13, we see that this is the effect of Christ's ascension on high. The glorified Savior is going to subdue people under him. Hebrews 10:12. But he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God, henceforth expecting that his enemies will be made the footstool of his feet. First Corinthians 15 tells us that Christ is in the process of subduing his enemies under him during this age between the two advents. First Corinthians 15. 50 now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We all shall not sleep. We shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. And Paul tells us this corruptible shall put on incorruption and so forth, Speaking of the victory that is ours when Christ raises our bodies from the tombs in the final day. So we know that that victory is a resurrection victory in the final day. Now let's look earlier in the chapter to verse 23. Well verse 20 perhaps would be a better background for you. But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that sleep Christ is raised from the dead. The rest of the harvest will come later. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam shall all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order. Christ the first fruits, then they that are Christ at his coming. So our resurrection corresponds with the coming of Jesus Christ. Verse 24. Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom of God, even the Father, when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power. The end will come when we are raised from the dead. That's the consummation of the kingdom, when all rule and power has been abolished, has been brought under Christ's sway. Verse 25. For he must reign until he hath put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be abolished is death. When is death abolished? We've already seen in Paul's theology, it's abolished at our resurrection. The last enemy is abolished at our resurrection. Our resurrection takes place at the very end, at the consummation of the kingdom. And before the last enemy is defeated, all other enemies will be subdued by Jesus Christ. So the teaching of the New Testament, I think, is rather consistent that the kingdom of Jesus Christ has been inaugurated even in the lifetime of the hearers of our Lord, and that that kingdom means he is going to subdue all his enemies under his feet, and he's going to do that before he returns again. Revelation 6:2 had given us a foreshadowing of this when we read that John saw and behold a white horse. And he that sat thereon had a bow, and there was given unto him a crown. And he came forth conquering. And to conquer, that is to say, in the Semitic imagery, he came forth to conquer. To be very sure he will conquer because he rides upon that white horse with a cross. Okay, with that background to Revelation 19, what's Revelation 19 teaching us? Christ comes forth here with many diadems on his head. He is the king over all the nations of the world. That sword proceeding from his mouth is the word of God, the preached gospel. And even as John had said we'd see the fall of Rome, the preaching of the Gospel and the final judgment. We've seen the fall of Rome. Now we see the preaching of the Gospel and its effect. Widespread victory for the preaching of the Gospel. Christ comes forth conquering, and to conquer he completely slays all opposition, so that all the nations are now gathered into his kingdom. He has subdued all his enemies. And it's at that point, now that Revelation 20 comes. I realize that's been a long review of the book of Revelation, but if you don't have, at least in one real quick stroke, all of that before you, the Old Testament background, what John has been saying throughout Revelation, and the expectation of what's going to come at this point in the book, you won't understand it very easily. John has said, now Jerusalem will fall. Jerusalem is not the stone cut without hands. It is not the true kingdom of God. The true kingdom of God is the church of Jesus Christ. Jerusalem, then, is not the stone cut without hands. It is the church of Jesus Christ that will destroy the fourth world empire, Rome. And when Rome falls, then that stone cut without hands, as Daniel said, will become a mountain that fills the earth. The Gospel will be preached and all nations will be subdued by Jesus Christ. Revelation 19 shows us Christ preaching the word of God so that all his enemies are subdued by him. And now chapter 20 says, I saw an angel coming down out of heaven. Just as John had in chapter 12 explained the victory of the kingdom of Jesus Christ for his readers, he in chapter 20 gives an explanation of the victory which he has told us of in chapter 19. How is it that Rome will fall and that all nations are going to be subdued by the Gospel? How is that possible? Now we have people who ask that kind of skeptical question today. They just don't think it's possible that the Gospel could really conquer the nations. John has prophesied that the Gospel will conquer the nations. In his day, the readers must have been far more skeptical than even in our day, because in his day, the church was being persecuted on all sides. People were being martyred. How on earth could the kingdom of Jesus Christ be victorious in that setting? John says, I'll explain it to you. Just as he had explained the fall of Jerusalem in terms of Satan being destroyed by Jesus Christ, so he explains the fall of Rome and the victorious preaching of the Gospel. And in terms of the relationship of Jesus Christ and Satan. I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. For a thousand years, Satan has been bound by an angel. When we get to a verse by verse exposition, I will interpret that angel as being Christ himself. Christ has come forth as the messenger of God binding Satan. And when Satan is bound, verse three says it will be in order that he deceive the nations no more for a long period of time. Satan is going to be bound so that his deceiving effect on the nations will not hold sway. When the Gospel is preached, it will break the hold of Satan. That's how this is going to take place, this preaching of the gospel in chapter 19. That's how Christ is going to be victorious in subduing the nations, and because he has already bound Satan to that effect. And when he does bind Satan so that the nations are not deceived and the Gospel is preached, chapter 20, verses 4 to 6 say that the church of Jesus Christ will reign on earth with Jesus Christ as their head, and they will, you see, rule over the nations. Now, I don't want to get into any detailed Exposition of Chapter 20 at this point, but basically that's what I'm going to be saying. Christ has bound Satan so the Gospel can be proclaimed victorious and the church of Jesus Christ holds sway over the earth. We need to look, however, at the various interpretations of Chapter 20 which have been advanced as a background to our exposition in trying to eliminate one or the other and coming to some settled conviction as to what it means. And I'm going to summarize from an article I have written the seven main tenets of premillennialism, amillennialism and post millennialism. These will be familiar terms or labels to some of you, and to some of you perhaps very obscure. The millennium is taught in chapter 20. We've talked about that already. The thousand year reign of Christ from the Latin 1000 millennium. Now there are those who call themselves pre millennialists. They believe that Christ will come back before millennium. There are those who call themselves post millennialists. They think Christ will return after the millennium. Then there are those who are amillennialists who in one form or another deny the doctrines of the millennium taught by premillennialists and post millennialists. That's why it's called amillennial without a millennium. That doesn't mean that amillennialists don't believe Revelation chapter 20. It's just that they don't believe that it teaches anything like an earthly victory for the kingdom of God, either held by the premillennialist or the post millennialist. And so they're called amillennialists pre, post and amillennialism. And I'd like to give you what I consider the seven major tenets of each one of these Schools of thought. And we'll probably run out of time before we get done with that. Next week we'll take these three schools of thought up again at length. But first of all, premillennialism. First of all, premillennialists say that Christ will return physically prior to the millennium. Christ is going to return prior to the millennium in a physical fashion. Premillennialism. Secondly, that millennium is a period of righteousness, peace and prosperity for Christ's kingdom on the earth. Christ will return physically and then there will be a millennium, a thousand year period of righteousness, peace and prosperity on the earth. The third tenet of premillennialism would be that there will be a significant historical delay. There will be a historical gap between the return of Christ at the first resurrection and and the judgment of the wicked at the second resurrection, which is right before the inauguration of the eternal state. Yeah, actually, if you're trying to take notes, the best thing to do would be just to find this in the Symposium on the Millennium in the Journal of Christian Reconstruction. And that would be the winter of 1976, volume three, number two. Okay, let me put this together for you. Christ returns physically at the first resurrection. He inaugurates a period of peace and prosperity and righteousness on the earth where he's reigning physically. And at the end of that period, there's a second resurrection which brings the final judgment of God and then the eternal state. Christ returns physically, a physical millennium of peace and prosperity and then the second resurrection, the final judgment and the eternal. Fourthly, premillennialists teach that the millennium is distinct from the current church age, being a future interim period between Christ's return and the final judgment. Premillennialist. Distinctive to premillennialist is the view that there is a gap between the return of Christ and the inauguration of the eternal state, a thousand year gap called the millennium. Christ returns at the first resurrection, there's a thousand years, then there's the second resurrection and then the eternal state. Now they also believe that that period between the first and second resurrection, that millennial period, is the kingdom of Jesus Christ. And in some sense that's distinct from the church age which has preceded it. I think what I'm going to have to do when we come together next week is have a blackboard so I can diagram this for you. That's the big thing in eschatological discussions is the diagrams. Let's finish out premillennialism though. The specific nature of the millennial kingdom will be seen in the national prosperity of a restored Jewish state, with Christ ruling bodily from Jerusalem and militarily subduing the world with his sword. What's the nature of that millennial period? The restored Jewish state will be ruled over by Christ physically, in a military way, subdues the nations. Sixthly, the Old Testament prophecies of prosperity for the kingdom of God. These Old Testament prophecies of prosperity are required to be taken literally as pointing ahead to this Jewish state separate from the Church. Premillennialists insist that there is a distinction between the Church and Israel. Israel will be restored during the millennium, and that will fulfill the Old Testament prophecies. And. And then finally, the premillennialist says the Church's preaching of the Gospel through the whole world prior to the return of Jesus Christ will prove to be of no avail. Culturally, the world will become a hopeless wreck, increasingly getting worse and worse, and climaxing in the tribulation at the very end of the church age. Okay, so let's put it all together. The preaching of the Gospel is going to be a matter of defeat in this church age. Things are going to get worse and worse until we finally get to the tribulation. Then, you see, Jesus Christ will return physically after the tribulation at the first resurrection. He will set up a restored Jewish kingdom, a kingdom of prosperity and righteousness, but a kingdom that is made such by the military use of the sword, by which he subdues the world. Then at the end of that period, after there's been this gap of a thousand years, then the rest of the dead will be resurrected and Jesus Christ will be saved by his father from the onslaught of men against him in Jerusalem, and the final state will be inaugurated. That view that I've been giving you, which is very popular these days in evangelical circles, one which you hear on the tv, if you watch tv, preaching that you see in bookstores all around is called premillennialism. Now, next week when we come together, I'll try to give you two opposing views, all millennialism and post millennialism. And we'll begin looking at Revelation 20 to see which of these views can be squared with the text of Scripture. Have I confused you sufficiently today? Do you have any questions before we close? Yes, Kim. Is there a reason why. I mean, that's not to be taken in a chronological order? No, as I said, that is a theological explanation of what has taken place previously. John has already shown us that Jerusalem is going to fall. Okay, here is this powerful force that has been for any number of years allied with the kingdom of God. And John is telling his readers, that is no longer the kingdom of God. It's going to fall. God will judge it. And when he does, then he will fulfill the promise that all the nations of the world will become his kingdom. His readers are going to ask, how can that be possible? And John says, don't you see that there was. Satan was cast down from heaven, Even as Christ said to his disciples when they came back, wondering how the demons were subject to them, he said, I saw Satan cast down out of heaven, grounded out in his power. Because now the kingdom of God is going to supplant the kingdom of Satan. In the second half of the book, John shows the Roman Empire is going to fall. Even a greater opponent of the kingdom of God, it's going to fall. And the Gospel is going to be proclaimed victorious throughout the earth. How is that possible? He says, because Satan has not only been cast down out of heaven, he's been bound and cast into the abyss so that the nations are no longer deceived. That's right. That's right. Chapter 12 of Revelation is an expansion on what Jesus told his disciples at that point. Even as Chapter 20 is an expansion of how Jesus said to the Pharisees when they accused him of casting out demons in the power of Satan. He said, how could it be possible to do this unless I had first bound the strongman? And so now we see that because Jesus has bound the strongman, the demons are subject to us in his name, the nations are no longer deceived, and the Gospel will be preached. There are other questions. That comes from his article the Millennium and the Apocalypse found in the Oxford edition of Biblical Doctrines. Yeah. Yes, I do. And next week, if I can get a blackboard and do some diagramming, I'll try to show you what some of those differences are. In the first place, historic premillennialism is post tribulational in their view of when Christ will return to rapture his saints and set up his kingdom. Whereas dispensationalism is either pre tribulational or mid tribulational. Moreover, there is a de emphasis upon the restored Jewish kingdom, the Jewish nature of the kingdom in premillennialism of a historic nature, whereas that's a dominant feature in dispensationalism, the contrast between the church and Israel being of paramount significance. So there are some differences. Yeah. Let's close with a word of prayer. Father, we ask that you would enlighten our eyes that we might understand properly this difficult section of your Word. We know this word has been given for our benefit, that we might be advanced in doctrine and in reproof and correction, indeed instruction and righteousness. We ask that this word would do its work in our life, that we might have a proper doctrine that corrects our lives and shows us how to live properly before you. We ask that the Holy Spirit would keep us from error, keep us from the opinions of men. We ask, Lord, that your word might become plain as we interpret your word by your word itself. We pray, Father, that these things might be done. Not simply that we would be able to set ourselves over against others as having a right opinion while they are wrong, but rather that we might have the strength of the truth of your word, that we might labor more diligently and responsibly in your kingdom, that we might have the confidence of your victory which has been set before us, and that we might accomplish that which you would give us to do. Lord, we pray that you might indeed bring all nations unto your Son. We ask that he might subdue them and subdue them in our sight in our day. We ask that you might give us revival in our day, that you might bring a widespread reformation to your church. We ask, Lord, that the kingdom of Jesus Christ might prosper, that all majesty and power and might would belong to him, that he would be uplifted before men and they would praise him even as we would this day. For we pray in his name. Amen.