This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Here we are at day three of Revelation 20, looking at the Millennium. We've
talked about some of the details of what's going to happen, that we can trust
God with the details, we've talked about some of the different views that people
have about those details and what's going to happen, and the fact that we can
trust God to do exactly what's right in the end, I'm so grateful for that. We
also need to talk about perspective, that's what I want to focus on together
today.

It's very clear in the book of Revelation that there will be a Millennium, God
is revealing this to us. No matter how symbolically you take it, and by the way
I take it to be more literal than symbolic, no matter how symbolically you take
it, you still have to deal with the fact that God has given us this picture, and
why has He given us this picture, what does it mean for the end of time, what
does it mean for our lives today, why will there be a Millennium? I think there
are two major reasons, number one has to do with God's promises, and number two
has to do with our nature.

First God's promises, there's a Millennium so that God can fulfill His promises
to His people on the earth. Some think that this relates to the Jewish nation
particularly, others think that this relates to the people of God as a whole. A
time when many of those promises that are in the Old Testament of what God's
going to do in His kingdom on this earth will happen, where swords will be beat
into plowshares, where God's will is done, that prayer will be answered, God's
will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

I like the picture that some writers have of this, of a Jewish wedding, a
marriage feast in the Jewish wedding, the wedding supper of the lamb that we
looked at last week, that is where the bride is honored. But then the bride and
the groom, they would go back to a house and they would have a great celebration
and in that great celebration they would have a year, the best year of their
life where they would celebrate the whole year that they were married. They
would often be called prince and princess that entire year.

It was a year of foundation of looking forward to their life together. And
there's a sense in this Millennial reign of Christ following the wedding supper
of the lamb that the bride is being honored and now the bride is on display, the
bride is being glorified, what Jesus Christ has done in the bride, looking
forward to the eternal life that we have together. It's a great picture of
Christ's promises being made real and visible in this Millennial reign of
Christ.

Now that makes sense for part of what happens here, but then Satan is set free
again. So why does God allow this, this final loosing, this final rebellion?
That's not the way I would write the story, but you have to realize that's the
most significant thing about the Millennium.

There'd be no Millennial reign of Christ except for what happens at the thousand
years. It makes it a thousand years because something happens at the end of that
thousand years and that is that Satan is loosed again for a time. Why?

That's the second reason why there's a Millennium, I believe, so that God can
show us the real and terrible nature of our sin. We see it at the end of time,
but we need to see this back into our lives, my life and your life today. Listen
to what happens in Revelation chapter 20 verses 7 to 10.

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and
will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and
Magog, to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand of the
seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp
of God's people, the city he loves, but fire came down from heaven and devoured
them and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur
where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown.

They'll be tormented day and night forever and ever. And so see the picture from
these verses. There's a thousand years of peace, there's a thousand years of
blessing, a thousand years of Christ's rule, and a thousand years of Satan being
shut up in a prison where he doesn't have any influence over this world.

Even at the end of this thousand years, Satan is set free and there are still
many on this earth like the sand on the seashore from the four corners of the
earth who follow him. What happened? How could this happen?

Don't miss this picture of what happens at the end of the millennium because I
believe it is the most important thing about the millennium. A thousand years of
peace and blessing to demonstrate beyond question the fact that Jesus reigns and
that he reigns in peace and in joy. But also, this loosing of Satan at the end
of that thousand years to demonstrate beyond question the fact that every one of
us finds it hard to believe.

The fact that we belong to a fallen race, that every one of us is born with a
basically evil nature. No one wants to believe that. No one wants to accept
that.

We compare ourselves with ourselves and we say, "We're doing okay. " No, we're
separate from God. We've fallen.

And what happened in the Garden of Eden still stains the entire human race
today. This is very hard for people to believe. It's hard for me to believe.

I mean, I see some of it in my life, but I see much more of it in your life.
That's the way we all feel. It's hard for me to accept the fact of my own
selfishness.

It's also hard for me to accept the fact of the selfishness of all mankind. But
it's there. I know the selfishness.

I know the impatience, the anger, the other things that come upon me unbidden,
unwanted so many times. I struggle with the same things you struggle with.
Everyone does.

Some lie about it, some don't lie about it, but there are no exceptions.
Everyone struggles with sin. When you take a look at your own life and what goes
on in your own thoughts, your heart, your motives, there is no question that
God's picture of man is honest, it's accurate.

We're born with a fallen nature. You don't have to wait but a few weeks to see
this in a baby. The selfishness that comes in.

I want what's mine. I begin to grab for what is mine. Now remember, God is
showing us here at the end of history what we need to know even now in history.

You and I need to know that we have a fallen nature. That old argument of nature
versus nurture, do we go in an evil direction just because of the nurture around
us, what people have taught us, or is it somehow in our nature? This makes it
clear.

It's in our nature. Even after Satan has been bound, people will rebel. This
reminds us, we need more than just a new leader.

We need a new heaven. We need a new earth. We need a new creation.

That's what the millennial reign and the loosing of Satan at the end of that
millennium teaches us. This final release of Satan is going to drive the hidden
evil out into the open and they're going to come from every corner of the earth.
Many who represent Israel's old antagonists, Gog and Magog, those are pictures
from Ezekiel's chapter 38 and 39 of those who would attack God's people.

So here you have this perfect world that Jesus has made and it's filled with
unbelievers enjoying the reign of Jesus, but immediately when the opportunity
comes, rebelling against Jesus. Here's the breadth of what this is telling us.
The terrors of the tribulation will not cause people to say Jesus is Lord.

We've seen this. But we're seeing here also that the wonders of the millennium
will not cause people to say that Jesus is Lord. As we walked through the
earlier chapters of Revelation, I reminded you that God's going to allow His
wrath upon this earth to give people every opportunity to come to Him, to give
themselves to Him.

And many people are still going to say no. You may have wondered, well, what if
God gave them every opportunity in a different way? What if He made everything
perfect for them?

That's what He does in the millennium, and even in the millennium, even then,
they rebel against Him. And why do we rebel? We have a fallen nature.

We want what we want. We don't want another leader in our lives. And so when the
opportunity comes, many follow Satan again.

And predictably, he's immediately destroyed. He's thrown into the lake of fire.
This is a reminder that no one is thrown into that lake of fire against his or
her will.

In one sense, you choose the lake of fire by not choosing to follow the God of
the universe, to fall before Him, grateful for His love. This is very personal.
What you and I need to know from these verses is here's the truth about myself.

It's not the devil made me do it. Oh, yes, Satan is an influence in this world
today, but I can't blame him. And it's not even that the world around me made me
do it.

It's not that I can think if I just didn't hear that gossip. If I just didn't
have that kind of television show or movie. If there just wasn't that evil
company.

If everybody in the world was just good, then I would be good. Well, that's what
happens in the thousand year reign of Christ. And while he's reigning, it's all
good.

But as soon as the opportunity comes, the fallen nature comes out again. And he
wants us to choose to follow him and love him. He does not force his love upon
us.

That's the way God has chosen to relate to us. Here at this end, there are still
those who won't follow. There are still those when Satan is released who
immediately attached to him because that is where their heart is.

The personal question here is, what am I going to do about sin in my life? What
am I going to do? What are you going to do about that deceit that has come into
your life that's keeping you from doing God's will in your life that could
potentially tear your life apart?

It might be a monetary deceit. It might be a sexual deceit. It might be a
prideful deceit.

You're telling yourself it's going to be OK. But you know if it was found out,
if it played out, it's going to tear my family and life apart. What are you
going to do about it?

What are you thinking in your mind that you know is not right? I should not
allow those thoughts into my mind about those people, about that person. What
seems to you right?

And you are OK about doing it, but inside deeply you know is dreadfully wrong,
terribly wrong. What are you going to do about those things? Here's where you
begin.

You fall at the feet of Jesus and you say, "Jesus, forgive me. I'm not going to
try to make up for my fallen nature by being a better person. If it won't work
over a thousand years, it's not going to work in the time I have on this earth.

And so I turn to you. Forgive me. Give me a new life.

Make me a new creation, Jesus. Make me the person you want me to be. In this
world, grow me to be more and more like you, and in the next, let me enjoy who
you are for all eternity.

Jesus, I fall before you, admitting who I am, but also grateful for who you are,
that you want to save me. You want to renew me. You want to make me a new
creation.

Do that in me, Jesus. I pray this in your name, Amen. Tomorrow we're going to
look together at the great white throne of God.