Millennial Hope For Today

Take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20. This is our text for today. You follow as I read God's Word. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and the great chain. and he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years and threw him into the pit and shut it and sealed it over him so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended.

After 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'd been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God and those who had not worshipped 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. The rest of the dead did not come 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 a thousand years.

And when the 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 Magog, 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 and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.

But fire came down from heaven and consumed them, And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 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.

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. and the dead were judged by what was written in 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 and they were judged each one of them according to what they had done Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.

This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Father, we come now to ask you to speak to us in your word. Lord, this is you speaking. This is not just the words of some prophet from long ago, but these are the very words of God. Would you help us now to listen, listen intently, to listen carefully, so that we might be steadfast and loyal to our King, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God, our thinking now, we pray, Father, I pray that your Spirit would work in each heart as he sees fit to bring home the truth of Christ and his reign. God, grant that we pray for your glory and our good. In Jesus' name, amen. As a kid, there was a hymn that my father did not like because it had these offending lyrics in it. For the darkness shall turn to dawning, and the dawning to noonday bright.

And Christ's great kingdom shall come to earth, the kingdom of love and light. My dad would say, we can't sing that song because it is doctrinally wrong. That is a post-millennial song. Okay. As I went off to Christian college, I learned that there was only one acceptable view of the millennium described in Revelation 20, the thousand years in Revelation 20.

Seminary taught me that anyone who held a differing view than ours of the thousand years of Revelation 20 obviously did not take the Bible seriously. Do you know what I learned from Revelation 20? Not only did I learn one particular view. That's not the only thing I learned. I learned that the purpose of Revelation 20 was to determine who believed the Bible properly and who did not.

I learned that Revelation 20 was determined who held orthodox theological views and who did not. now the question is is that the reason why it's here is that the reason why god included this in the in the text of scripture so that we would have some kind of theological divining rod to determine who was right and who was wrong no That isn why that here God gave this vision of the thousand years in order that you in the midst of persecution and seduction, would have a hope that would fuel your faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why it's there. Let me say that again.

God gave these visions of the thousand years in order that you, in the midst of persecution and seduction, would have a hope that would fuel your faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now two weeks ago, as we looked at this chapter, we kind of took a survey of this chapter, but two weeks ago we saw that the thousand years is a symbol of this age. That best fits the book of Revelation.

That the millennium that's described here in Revelation 20 is the age in which we live. The thousand years is symbolic of that age. And like other sections of the book, it recapitulates the story of this age. That is, it looks again at this age from another angle. It gives you another perspective on this age. It rewinds the tape and says, look, here's another way of understanding life in this age.

God gives you another one of heaven's perspectives on the life of suffering for Jesus. From our perspective, from this earthly perspective, we see defeat, shame, and suffering. But from the perspective of heaven, we have an entirely different view. It's one of Satan bound, saints ruling, and the certainty of victory. Now, we need to re-enter the world of this book by going through the door of the seven churches of Asia.

Now you remember that the book of Revelation is not this magical book that somehow shows us everything that's going to happen in the future. It's a letter to particular churches at a particular time in what was then called Asia, which we know today as Turkey. There were seven churches. We find them described and identified in chapters 2 and 3. And this book was written in order to tell them, Be conquerors.

Don't be the vanquished. You be conquerors. And the whole book unfolds in a way that encourages them to be conquerors in this age of seduction and persecution And you remember as we looked at those churches that they faced pressures coming from that persecution and the seduction around them There was outright persecution. Declare that Caesar is Lord or die.

There was the loss of economic security. Unless you participate in the immoral worship of the trade guilds, you will lose your job. unless you declare your fealty to another god, you will lose your job. We saw that they experienced religious persecution as the Jewish synagogues around them would turn them into the authorities because they were followers of Jesus.

They felt the pressure of immoral teachers in their midst. They felt the pressure of an immoral culture all around them. In other words, they were losing hope in the face of these pressures. And when you lose hope, you give in. When you lose hope, you drift. You become unfaithful to Jesus.

Without hope, that's what's going to happen. Now, just like any other book of the Bible written to a particular people in a particular place, this is our Bible. This is our Scripture. This Scripture was written to us in the 21st century. not to give us a magical book to divine all the crazy things in this world that we read in the newspapers it was written to help us be conquerors in this age and to remain steadfast in our loyalty to our king jesus instead of drifting away from him instead of giving into the pressure instead of instead of choosing something else rather than even death for him it was written to us today to keep us faithful to Jesus.

So Revelation 20 then, back into this chapter, Revelation 20 reveals heaven's perspective on this age so that you have hope and having hope you will remain loyal to our King, the Lord Jesus. That's how we come to Revelation 20. So let's look at it together. Let's look at the first three verses first. 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 seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. and threw him into the pit and shut it and sealed it over him so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be released for a little while. Here's what he tells us in the first three verses.

You have hope because God provides freedom on earth. You have hope because God provides freedom on earth. In the first act of this age, when Jesus ascended, Christ binds our greatest foe. Now it is symbolized here. It is pictured here. It's put in a form that makes us remember it clearly.

It's symbolized by an angel descending, grabbing Satan, binding him with a great chain, throwing him into a pit, locking the lid on it. That's how it is in my mind. Locking the lid and sealing it. A very graphic picture of Satan being imprisoned. And have we seen before, angels are emissaries of Christ and of God. And so it's saying that Christ, by His sovereign power, imprisons and binds Satan.

That Christ has the authority and the power to manhandle Satan. Now, this is no easy foe. He's identified here as the dragon. We saw that name, that picture in chapter 12. He is a powerfully violent creature that we've met in all His fury in chapter 12. He's a furious, dangerous creature.

He is the ancient serpent. There's a reference to the fact that He is the deceiver who has held much of humanity captive by His great delusions. He is the devil and Satan. Two synonyms. In Greek, it's diabolos and satanos, which both mean accuser, slanderer. He is the one who accuses us before God and he accuses us before others.

Let me ask you something. Do you think that without the authority and power of Jesus, you could possibly stand up to a foe like that? He's powerfully violent. He's an incredible deceiver. And he's an accuser. Do you think you could stand up against him?

I mean, it's not like OSU coming to play Ridgedale, right? It not that It isn He isn some weak kind of a thing that we can Again here another thing my father hated Do you remember I got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart? What's the next word? Where? Thank you. Where?

Down in my heart. Where? And you remember the last verse? And if Satan doesn't like it, he can sit on a tack. Ouch. My father would say, don't ever sing that.

Satan is a very powerful creature. You don't want to mess with that guy. The point is that he's very powerful. But here is the picture and the symbol that Jesus has accomplished something as our Savior and our King. He has bound Satan. He has bound him.

Recall our reading from Matthew 12 this morning. Yance read that. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? Jesus was saying, I'm casting out Satan's demons. How do you know?

It's by the Spirit of God. I have bound him and I'm doing whatever I want. I've bound the strong man. I'm plundering whatever he's got. And then Jesus said to a crowd of people before he died, in John chapter 12, he said these words, Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out.

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself. He said this to show by what kind of death He was going to die. Hear what Jesus says? Satan's cast out. I will be lifted up in death and by that will draw all men to Myself. Satan can't stop it.

The Apostle Paul wrote, He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in the cross. Satan has been disarmed. There it's the picture of disarming. In John, it's the picture of casting out. In Matthew, it's the picture of binding. This is what Jesus has accomplished with His incarnation, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension.

He has, by His sovereign power, in those actions bound Satan. Now wait a minute, you might object. Satan is alive and well today What are you talking about Doesn the Apostle Peter warn us to be careful of Satan because he is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour And doesn't James tell us in his book, resist the devil and he will flee from you? And doesn't the Apostle Paul write in 2 Corinthians, be careful because we are not unaware of Satan's schemes?

And didn't Jesus teach us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. And don't I face the tempter every day? What do you mean Satan is bound? Well, we need to pay careful attention to what this text tells us about the binding of Satan. First of all, notice this is a symbol. It is a picture.

It is a metaphor. It tells us in picture form what Satan cannot do. Suppose I made this statement. I probably wouldn't make it, But suppose I made this statement. Since Green Bay has no offensive line, Aaron Rodgers' hands are tied. And you would say to me, wait a minute, that's stupid.

I saw him complete a pass in yesterday's game. And I would say, you're missing the point. When I say Green Bay has no offensive line and so Aaron Rodgers' hands are tied, I don't mean that when Aaron Rodgers runs out to the huddle, he's running out like this. with his hands tied up. And I certainly don't mean that he can't complete some passes. He might even throw a couple touchdown passes.

But what I'm saying when I say, since Green Bay is an offensive line, Aaron Rodgers' hands are tied out there on the field, it means that he's ineffective. He's not nearly as productive as he could be if he had a good line. You see what I'm saying? It's not that he can't do anything. It's that he can't do what he needs to do. He can't do what he wants to do.

And so it is with Satan. In certain ways, he cannot do what he wants to do. Look carefully, if you will, at verse 3. He's thrown into the pit. He's closed in. He's locked in.

It's sealed so that he might not, note, deceive the nations any longer. The first thing to see is he cannot do what he used to do. That's the first thing to see. He is bound in such a way that he cannot do what he used to do He deceived the nations any longer Now in the past the Gentile nations were held in spiritual darkness not seeing the light of God.

They could not see the light of God. And Satan even succeeded in deceiving the majority of Israel, God's people, so that they were not able to fulfill their commission as being a light to the nation. So on one hand, the Gentiles were in darkness. They could not see the light. And the nation of Israel itself could not fulfill its commission of being a light to the nations.

As a result, nations like Egypt, Philistia, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Syria, Rome, oppressed and nearly destroyed the people of God. Not quite, but nearly. But the coming of Jesus is the watershed. with him the light of the kingdom through the gospel now breaks forth into nations that were once held in satanic darkness look at the old testament how many nations were converted well we can look at jonah we saw that nineveh repented for a while we can see ruth coming from a gentile nation to be part of the nation of israel we see little bits but we don't see israel being this great light to the nations what's happened now the gospel is penetrating every nation on earth it's going to every people so much so that in revelation chapter 5 we see this great chorus of people from every tribe from every tongue from every nation praising jesus christ the gospel now goes to the nations unhindered the gospel now goes to nations and calls people to christ there isn't a nation on this earth almost it's almost to the point where there's not a nation on this earth that does not have the gospel of Jesus Christ that is calling people to him is that not true that is true isn't it Luke records in Acts these words of the apostle Paul in Acts chapter 13 here's what he says to these people for the this is in Pisidian Antioch he's saying this to the people in the synagogue for the Lord has commanded us saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

Israel failed as a light to the nations, but the church has not. The church is now a light and we going out are a light to bring to the Gentiles, to bring salvation. to the ends of the earth. 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. So the light of the Gospel goes through all the nations calling people to Christ.

And Satan cannot stop it. There are nations, people, all over the world now coming to the light that's seen in Jesus. That's how he's bound. He cannot deceive the nations any longer. But note this as well. Not only can Satan cannot do what he used to do, Satan cannot do what he intends to do.

Notice the phrase again. That he cannot deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended. In the future, Satan will once again find success in blinding the nations, and we see that in verse 7. When he's let go, he has this incredible power and he blinds the nations. But at this moment, He is bound so that he cannot achieve what he wants.

He cannot achieve what he wants. Satan is bound. We have the freedom to take the Gospel anywhere and see it at work. Do you not find hope then in heaven's perspective? Satan is under the sovereign authority of Christ our King. Don't ever forget that.

Satan is under the authority of Christ our King. you know martin luther said that great reformer centuries ago always remember this satan is god's satan meaning by that he can't do anything unless god lets him and in this picture he is bound he cannot impede the gospel of jesus and its powerful drawing light in the world the story of jesus death for sinners goes out around the world. And just like Jesus says, it draws all men to Himself. You tell the story of Jesus' death and people are converted in every nation.

You see it all over. Satan can do nothing about that. The strong man is bound and Jesus plunders His kingdom. So with the imprisonment of Satan, you have immense freedom in this world to conquer with the Gospel. You want to be a conqueror Then use the freedom you have I don mean political freedom I mean the freedom to take the Gospel and watch people miraculously converted Now let's move on.

That's the first perspective. We have this freedom, this power, this freedom in the world. Alright, here's the next perspective that we see in verses 4-6. 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 for the word of God and those who had not worshipped 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. The rest of the dead did not come 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 a thousand years.

Here's the second heavenly perspective. You have hope because God vindicates in heaven. God vindicates in heaven. Again, we noted two weeks ago, if you remember, you remember what you learned two weeks ago, right? If you don't, I'll just preach that sermon over again. It's okay with me.

But as we saw two weeks ago, this is not the resurrection of bodies the final victory over sin and the curse. This is a picture again. Since the thousand years symbolizes this age in which we now live this is not the final resurrection. There's nobody on this world today walking around in an immortal body. A body that's not subject to death. And besides, we noted two weeks ago that this fulfills the vision of Daniel 7 where the thrones are all set up.

Where? In heaven. This isn't on earth. This is in heaven. This is a picture of heaven. Alright?

Now here's the question. Who are these people? Who are these people who are sitting on those thrones? They are the losers. They're the losers. They're the losers.

These are the ones that the world counts as criminals and kills them for remaining faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the Iranians the North Koreans the Vietnamese who have been marched before their friends and family shamed in public as enemies and as evil and then executed That's who they are. They are those that the world's regimes have said, you are evil.

And they've been counted as criminals. They've been shamed in public. And it's not just the martyrs. Notice, it's anybody who's not worshipped the beast or its image and have not received its mark on their forehands or heads. Now again, review from a couple months ago, maybe several months ago. What is that talking about?

It's talking about those who have not been subject to the political and economic idolatry of this world, who have not compromised Christ for the purpose of their jobs, for the purpose of even their lives. So it's not just martyrs, but those who have lost their jobs. Those who have been ridiculed and even persecuted and jailed because they did not receive the mark of the beast or give themselves over to idolatry.

Who refuse to serve the economic and sometimes the religious aims of this world. It also involves them. Not just the martyrs, but those who have suffered. For example, as we saw last week, John Bunyan. John Bunyan who sat in prison for 12 years and made bootlaces to support his family while he was in jail. Those kind of folks.

And in this world, the voices are unanimous in the declaration. Losers! Why do you die? Why do you put yourself and your family through such deprivation? What do you think you'll gain? Do you ever lose hope hearing that chorus around you all the time?

Losers. Losers. What? What's wrong with you people? What's wrong with you? Right?

Then you need to look to the heavenly court and see what God and the Lord Jesus say. What happens? notice these are those who receive life verses 4 through 6 they they receive life as you stand weeping at their graves you might say why did they die is the testimony of Jesus worth it Now we have not experienced that here We have not experienced that in our country We are a blip. We have freedom that no one in the history of the world has ever experienced like we have.

And so we as Americans are just a little bit unfamiliar with this. I've talked to people. VRL whose father was hounded out of his church and was sent to labor camps and whose uncle was taken into the woods for his testimony to Jesus and had his skull beaten in with hammers talk to people who know what it means to stand at the grave and when you stand there you're asking this question is it worth it?

Is it worth it to have your skull bashed in because you will not turn against the Lord Jesus Christ and deny Him? Is it worth it to leave your family behind just because you remain loyal to Jesus? And the answer is yes. Why? Because now they enjoy life in heaven. They're seated on thrones.

They're worshiping in the presence of God. They have received life. And notice that their physical death results in the first resurrection, delivering them from the second resurrection, which results in the second death. You see that at the end of the chapter. There's a second resurrection, right? That results in judgment.

Jesus vindicates His own by giving them life. Heaven's perspective gives hope. Those who, these are losers who receive an acquittal. Verse 4, Then I saw the thrones and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Those to whom the authority to judge was committed is literally, if we translate that literally, there's three Greek words, judgment was given to them.

Or, it can be translated, judgment was given for them. I think that's the way it ought to be. Here's why. Because if he's looking at Daniel 7, and he has Daniel 7, his Greek Old Testament in front of him. He's looking at Daniel 7. So turn back there with me.

And in Daniel 7, you find that phrase. In Daniel 7, let's read verses 21-22. 22, pay careful attention to verse 22. As I looked, this horn made war with the saints and prevailed over them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom. There, the phrase is translated, judgment was given for the saints.

So that's why I think it's judgment was given for them. Alright? So those whom the world judges guilty, God acquits and declares not guilty. He makes a judgment for them, not against them. Jesus vindicates His own by acquitting them. Heaven's perspective gives hope.

We are called losers here. We are called guilty here in heaven. Those are called innocent. One last thing. Notice this. Those who are losers receive reward.

From verses 4-6, or 4 and 6, what are they? They reign with Jesus. Alright? They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Look at the end of verse 6. But they'll be priests of God and of Christ and they will reign with Him for a thousand years.

Those losers receive the reward of becoming kings. They reign with Christ. they reign with Christ they conquer through the apparent defeat of death in this world they die and they look like losers but that's their victory because through that they become kings they're given the right to rule and reign with Jesus now I've got to tell you something I never like going into the pulpit with this but we're on a deadline and I've got to tell you right now I'm not exactly sure what that means I hate to tell you that I don't know what it means where those saints who've gone before us are ruling and reigning with Jesus. I'm not sure what that means.

But at least it means this much. Those who once suffered under the crushing oppression of evil rulers are now exalted above those rulers. They're no longer under their crushing oppression. They are ruling and reigning with Jesus. And they also receive the award of becoming priests of God and of Christ. Notice they are kings and priests Of course we already are priests before God but these priests know already the joy of unhindered worship and joy in the presence of God in the Holy of Holies called Heaven.

We're not there yet. And they know what that's like. They have this inexpressible joy of worshiping God with no hindrance at all. You know, I love coming to church. Not just because I can talk, all right? I love coming to church to worship, to come before God and praise Him for His grace in Jesus Christ.

But you know, it's hard sometimes, isn't it? You didn't get enough sleep last night, right? Some of you did, and I can tell. By the way, I can see everything from up here. All right? This is the closest to omniscience I'm ever going to get.

And sometimes we just don't feel like coming to church. You know what that's like. They're experiencing unhindered joy. Nothing is getting in the way of worshiping God as priests and the holies of holies. So Jesus vindicates his own by giving them reward. Heaven's perspective gives hope.

You have a hope that fuels your steadfast loyalty to Jesus. Look to heaven and see what awaits those who look like losers in this life. Get heaven's perspective. When judged by the world as detrimental to society because of what you believe, God reverses the judgment and vindicates His people in heaven. And in that, there is hope. one last thing we're told here you have hope because god achieves victory in the end put simply we win the score is already up on the board the game has to be played but we win that's it verses 7 through 10 and when a thousand years are ended satan will be released from his and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle.

Their numbers like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of 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 night forever and ever. You have hope because God achieves victory in the end.

At the end of this age, again symbolized by the thousand years, at the end of this age, God sovereignly releases Satan from his bondage. Why would God release our arch foe? I don't know. It's his plan. That's the best I can come up with. But I think he does it so that he can set up Satan and all his rebels for the destruction of judgment and he sets us up for victory and makes it look good.

With the deception described here and our suffering that will certainly happen never lose sight of the fact that Satan can only operate under the sovereign direction of our Lord and our King Jesus. He cannot do anything other than what he's allowed to do. And that's even evident here. He's got to be released. He doesn't make a break. There's never going to be a television series about Satan making the big break out of the bottomless pit.

It's not going to happen. He's let out. And God frees Satan so that he can accomplish this deception of the nations. Those that are deceived are described with a number of descriptive phrases here. It says the four corners of the world. Every nation will enter spiritual darkness.

It says Gog and Magog. Now these are not identifiable nations. Okay? When I was a kid, Gog and Magog were identified as Russia. Well, as the Soviet Union. For some reason, I can't remember all the argumentation that went through that.

But Gog and Magog, by John's day, had become a proverbial title. A proverbial title for any terrifying darkness that threatened the people of God. For example, if I would say to you, Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, is Hitler, what would you think? He's Hitler? You know what I mean. he's got in his mind the idea I'm going to destroy the Jews. He's another Hitler.

It a label for that which is evil in his intent and evil in what he wants to do And these are mentioned in Ezekiel prophecy You heard it today in Ezekiel 39 Ezekiel 38 and 39 describes what happens here in verses 7-10. But it uses the picture of what Ezekiel is familiar with. It's not talking about the Soviet Union coming down from the north to attack the nation of Israel.

It's talking about this final worldwide confederation that will come against the people of God. And Gog and Magog is a way of saying evil. This is an evil coalition that seeks the extermination of the church. They're innumerable as the sand of the sea. You ever been on the beach? And you see the beach and there's all kinds of sand there?

There's a whole lot more under the water. Right? It's innumerable as the sands of the sea. this is a worldwide coalition operating in concert but you might say but isn't the entire world against us already no not like what's described here those persecuted in china today find allies right in the united states and in britain and in north and south korea there's there's people in these countries that protest against what China's doing.

In fact, even our governments at times apply pressure on those nations that persecute religious minorities and persecute Christians. Sometimes that happens. But what you must imagine at this point is a world where no one any longer stands against the persecution of Christians, where the U.S. even cooperates with those bloodthirsty regimes. If there's a United States left, I don't know, might happen where for example if the u.s is existing does not not just cooperates with those regimes but is a bloodthirsty regime itself all right this is a worldwide coalition sold out to satan bent on the extermination of god's people the church and they will try to accomplish what satan has always tried always tried and what is that he wants to deceive the nations for the purpose of exterminating the people of God.

Only this time, he will come that close. According to this text. Now before you start losing hope and say to yourself, boy, I hope I'm not alive in that generation. And we may be alive in that generation. I don't know. But our hope is not found in, boy, I hope I'm gone before that happens.

Our hope is found in how we're described here. How are we described? Notice, they march up over the broad plain of the earth and surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city. We are the camp of the saints. Like the camp of ancient Israel, we are a community in the desert. We are not in the promised land.

Those of us who hold conservative views, please understand, America is not the promised land. All right? We have a great nation here. We have a great nation here, but this is not the promised land. Okay? We need to get that in our heads.

We're like a community in the desert who have not yet reached the promised land of a new earth where immortality reigns and there is unhindered worship and joy before God. We're not there yet. We're a community in the desert. And as that community in the desert, the presence of God is with us. Like the cloud and the presence of God was with them in the desert at the tabernacle, so we are like that community.

The presence of God is in our midst. That is who we are. We are His saints, set apart by the presence of God. And we are the beloved city. The city that He loves. Now, remember, as we've gone through, let's turn back to chapter 3, okay?

Just so we can make this point. Chapter 3, verse 12. and to the angel I sorry chapter 3 verse 12 the one who conquers the one who conquers I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven in my own new name. Those who are conquerors have the name New Jerusalem written on them.

So we see the beloved city, the new Jerusalem, That's us. We see it in the next two chapters in 21 and 22. That's us. That's us. Okay? We are the new city of God.

We are the beloved city. So we are not just the downtrodden strangers in this age. We are the bride of the Lamb. We are the city that He loves. Understand this, that the wrath of the Lamb is going to come down on our enemies not just because God is just, but because Jesus passionately loves His people. And He does not like it when they are treated badly.

And so the judgment that falls on the enemies of God fall on them because we are His beloved city. He doesn't like the way we're treated. Now we may say then, where are you? And he says, remember what's happening in heaven, right? The first three verses. But remember as well, there's coming a day when everything, all justice will come down because you are my beloved city.

And then, as we look at this text, when things look their worst, defeat and judgment arrive in the nick of time. As the picture here, it's like a picture of this great innumerable host marching over the plains toward that city, sitting there, this little city this little camp sitting there almost ready to be exterminated Boom All of a sudden Jesus appears and the whole force is wiped out in the twinkling of an eye with fire and brimstone. Now, in chapter 19, we saw the same battle.

You remember? Only there, a different picture of this battlefield strewn with dead bodies that invite the birds of the earth to come and feast on those who have been defeated. This is a different picture. Remember, this is symbolism. This is not a photograph, but a symbol. He's trying to get across that this will be overwhelming, unconquerable judgment.

And our enemies will be wiped out in the twinkling of an eye. And there's really no battle at all. What's the point? heaven's perspective tells us a future certain victory a perspective that gives us hope fueling steadfast loyalty to christ now you know what i find interesting is that jesus tells us about the future so we live differently now and victory is certain let me tell you something if you when i played football in high school i think i'd have a whole lot more confidence if we came out to the field and saw that we won on the scoreboard already.

The only thing we have to do is play the game. That's what's happening here. We win. We win. So you can live confidently now. Jesus wins.

God achieves certain victory in the future. That gives us hope. So what do we see here? in this chapter so far, what have we seen? Freedom, vindication, and victory are all the ingredients of hope. And that hope fuels our steadfast faithfulness to Jesus That what Revelation 20 is about It about a millennial hope now All of these, the victory, the freedom, the vindication, the victory, all of these are guaranteed by the Lord Jesus Christ who conquered when He died and was raised again so that all these things are ours if we're united to Him by faith.

Vindication, freedom, and victory. They're all ours in Jesus. He is sovereign over the nations, sovereign over His people, sovereign over even Satan. And with that hope comes steadfastness, faithfulness, and loyalty. That's what Revelation 20 is about. Father, thank you for your word.

You have not left us without hope. You have told us that in Christ we are vindicated in heaven even though it looks like we're losers here. We have freedom on this earth with the powerful weapon of the gospel and we have certain victory in the future. Lord God, help us to see that there is no reason at all why we should drift from our Lord Jesus Christ.

But that we always have hope in what He's accomplished. Thank You for Your marvelous Word. In Jesus' name, Amen. Let's stand and let's sing together. Amen.