Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20010805.htm

REVELATION: CALL TO HOLINESS IN VIEW OF PROPHECY
Part III: The Things Hereafter'
"P. Living In View Of The Lesson Of Christ's Millennial Reign
(Revelation 20:1-6, 7-15)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Man has a difficult time on the earth due to his environment. Checking just one day's paper, the Monday, July 30th Waterbury Republican-American, can demonstrate this:

(1) [Page 1A] An article details how Morris residents are faced with the proposal of a company wanting to build a condo complex on 30 wooded acres off Little Road. Though it would mean more tax dollars for Morris, one resident worried, "A condominium . . . the size they're talking about would pose a threat to Bantam Lake and . . . change the character of the town." Those living near Bantam Lake are ALLEGEDLY at risk of EITHER having taxes rise OR seeing their lake possibly contaminated because of WHERE they LIVE.

(2) [Page 1A] The main story dealt with the Waterbury mayor's alleged enticements of young girls, and a second family with girls ages 9 and 11 were struggling to deal with the fact that their children were also "objects of the mayor's alleged solicitation." Young girls in Waterbury with access to the Internet have allegedly been at risk of abuse from their mayor simply because of WHERE they LIVE!

(3) [Page 2A] Another article reported on six Palestinians who were killed in a blast in Nablus, West Bank. If they had GROWN UP in another ENVIRONMENT, they might not have died this way!

(4) [Page 5A] Sicilians living on the slopes of Mount Etna "prayed for divine protection from its fury Sunday while the Archbishop blessed the volcano in a Mass held at its base" reads another story. People in Nicolosi, Italy were in jeopardy of losing their homes because of WHERE they GREW UP!

(5) [Page 10A] Mona Charen's column wrote about the racial tension of Cincinnati, complaining the media is biased in its coverage. She reports how writer, Heather MacDonald has found "a Cincinnati cop is 27 times more likely to die at the hands of a black man than a black man is to die at the hands of the Cincinnati police.'" Because of WHERE they POLICE, and because of the views of the media in the NATION where they live, white Cincinnati police will likely be misrepresented if they EVER shoot to kill a minority party!

Should we then seek to address our ENVIRONMENT as a PRIORITY to make things better for man?!

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "I read and see how man's ENVIRONMENT leads to lots of our world's problems. If we could address that ENVIRONMENT, wouldn't it solve mankind's problems!?"
  1. When Christ returns to establish His millennial reign, man's ENVIRONMENT will be fabulously renovated at all levels, 20:1-6:
    1. Christ will renovate man's spiritual environment in setting up His Messianic reign, Revelation 20:1-3a.
      1. After His victory at Armageddon, God will have Satan bound in the "bottomless pit" so as not to deceive the nations during Christ's millennial, messianic reign, Revelation 19:21; 20:1-3a.
      2. Hence, the "angelic conflict" that plagues us today will be very confined much to man's spiritual assistance.
    2. We know from Old Testament messianic kingdom prophecies of God's renovation of all other areas of man's earthly environment (cf. J. Dwight Pentecost's, Things To Come, p. 481-490):
      1. Christ's reign will be marked with righteousness beginning in the government and flooding all social strata, Isaiah 62:1c-2a.
      2. Hence, there will be a high level of obedience to God and holiness (separation from sin) in man's experience, Ps. 22:27-28; Joel 3:17.
      3. Believers will all experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit's ministry during this time, cf. Joel 2:28-29.
      4. There will be worldwide peace (Zech. 9:10), worldwide release of nature's curse (Isa. 11:6-9), worldwide joy (Jer. 30:18-19), the worldwide display of God's glory (Isa. 24:23), worldwide comfort (Ps. 12:1-6), worldwide justice (Isa. 9:7), a worldwide knowledge of God (Isa. 54:13), worldwide instruction by God (Jer. 3:14-15), worldwide health (Isa. 33:24), worldwide healing (Isa. 29:17-19), worldwide safety (Isa. 41:10-20), worldwide liberty from oppression (Isa. 14:3-7), worldwide maturity (Isa. 65:20), worldwide population expansion (Jer. 30:20), worldwide economic expansion and order (Isa. 65:21-23), worldwide economic prosperity (Isa. 35:1-2, 7), a worldwide increase of light (Isa. 30:26), a worldwide pure worship (Zeph. 3:9) and the worldwide manifestation of God and His glory (Ez. 37:27-28).
    3. In this kingdom environment, God's people will enjoy added blessings of resurrection and ruling with Christ, Revelation 20:4-6:
      1. Tribulation Period martyred saints will be resurrected to reign with Christ during this 1,000 year messianic kingdom, Revelation 20:4.
      2. We know from Daniel 12:13 that after the Tribulation era, Old Testament saints will join these folk in this resurrection. Hence, people like Abel, Abraham Sarah, Daniel and Job will be there!
      3. Since Jesus' 12 disciples will rule Israel's tribes in His reign (Mtt. 12:27-28) and the Church is always with Christ after the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:17c), we Christians will join this group in the kingdom!
  2. Yet, an INTERNAL FLAW in MAN will RUIN his earthly life:
    1. We learn from Revelation 20:3 that after Satan has been bound in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years, he will be released for a short time.
    2. That release will lead to Satan's deceiving the children of unglorified believers who survive the Tribulation, Rev. 20:7-8 (Matt. 24:12-13).
    3. We know from the 2 Thess. 2:10-12 precedent, this evil deception is God's permissive judgment on those living in Christ's kingdom who will still have not trusted in Christ for salvation from their own sin!
    4. Hence, Satan will deceive these unbelievers to do what he had led the unsaved in the Tribulation to do -- to stand against Christ, Rev. 20:9.
  3. Accordingly, MAN'S FLAW of SIN will be RIGHTEOUSLY JUDGED with ETERNAL results by GOD, Rev. 20:9c, 10-15:
    1. At the temporal level, man's rebellion against Christ will be judged by God as He rains fire down from heaven upon him (as with Sodom and Gomorrah in Abraham's era and Gog and Magog during the Great Tribulation, cf. Genesis 19:24-25; Ezekiel 38-39), Revelation 20:9c.
    2. At the eternal level, man's rebellion against Christ will be judged by God by eternal damnation in the lake of fire, Revelation 20:10-15:
    3. However, all who have looked in faith to CHRIST will ESCAPE God's judgments, and gain ETERNAL LIFE, Rev. 21:1-2, 27!
Application: To address our world's needs, instead of improving the ENVIRONMENT as a PRIORITY, we must address our SIN by (1) trusting in Christ for salvation, Jn. 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:17, 21. (2) THEN, as AMBASSADORS for Christ, we can urge others to BELIEVE in Him, 2 Cor. 5:20. (3) We can then to look BEYOND even Christ's MESSIANIC rule to hope in the FINAL state where there is NO SIN for ultimate, ETERNAL blessing!

Lesson: Christ's environmentally wonderful Messianic reign will reveal the problem behind man's TROUBLES does NOT originate with his ENVIRONMENT, but with MAN HIMSELF in the form of SIN! Thus, we must address man's SIN by God's GRACE to become truly blessed! >

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Corrie ten Boom, author of The Hiding Place which was made into a movie with the theme song our choir sings spent ten months in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Her family was incarcerated for hiding Jews in their home in Haarlem, Holland.

Corrie's parents were dedicated Christians who wanted to do their best to protect "God's chosen people," the Jews. When the family was first betrayed to the German authorities and taken prisoner, Corrie's aged father had Psalm 91 read to the family and encouraged his children in the Lord.

Due to his great age, he died after only 9 days of imprisonment.

As she was in prison, Corrie managed to write on scraps of paper and get the paper smuggled out to her sister, Nollie who had not been incarcerated.

One such piece of paper tells of the victory she as a believer had over even one of humanity's most horrible of environments. It reads as follows:

"It's hot and the blankets are terribly itchy. I close my eyes and dream of a bed with sheets. I am walking in our house in the Beje. I stroke the railing post at the foot of the stairs. I walk through the Liberty room and throw some wood on the fire. Then I look at Father's portrait and my closed eyes fill with tears. I think again of the 9 days which Father had to spend in that cell, but quickly I switch over and lose myself in thought of the glory of Heaven, which he is now enjoying. I am saturated with joy. We will meet again in God's time." (Italics ours)

(Corrie Ten Boom, Prison Letters, p. 58)

Corrie was able to witness to one of her prison guards, and after the war was thrilled to be able to lead him to Christ, Ibid., p. 89-90.

Corrie Ten Boom's life, along with the lives of countless other believers through the centuries, testify that man's HEART, NOT his environment, is what must be CHANGED for him to be truly fulfilled! Man's core problem is his SIN, and salvation by faith in Christ CHANGES his heart so he can be BLESSED of God REGARDLESS of the condition of his earthly environment!