Scripture reading: Revelation 20:1-6.

Sermon text: Revelation 20:7-15.

Perfect peace. Perfect justice. Perfect society. Something in us seeks perfection in anything we do. Although we’ve always lived in a flawed world, we still hold the dream of a perfect world. Will we ever see it?

As St. John’s vision continued, he saw the fulfillment of our deepest desire. When Jesus returns to earth, He will bring His saints with Him. The resulting reign on earth will demonstrate the joy of submission to Jesus and the fallacy of rejecting Him as Lord.

Unfortunately, this glorious chapter ends with a troubling event: a judgment in which those who have rejected Jesus as Lord receive their just punishment. We must accept the reality of judgment and punishment. Justice exists, and everyone will receive it. Only those who accept Jesus’ payment for their sins will escape this judgment. Those who choose to reject Him as Lord will find themselves paying the penalty themselves.

Fortunately, this event also signals the final curtain on sin in the book and in humanity’s existence. Sin disappears with its followers into eternal separation from God, leaving the believers in Jesus Christ to enjoy a joyful eternity basking in the pure love of God without any limitations imposed by sin or fleshly limits. We will experience a relationship with God unknown since the Garden of Eden.

Chapter 19 ended with the battle of Armageddon, where Satan’s armies suffered instantaneous defeat at the word of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ armies who returned with Him never had to lift a finger to participate in the battle; Jesus spoke, and Satan’s legions disintegrated before his very eyes.

This event began a period of unknown peace and prosperity for all the earth: the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. For 1,000 years, Jesus will rule the earth with all His believers ruling under Him.

According to St. John, we will serve as “priests of God and of Christ” during this time. God had always sought to form His people into a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:6, 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6). We will finally fulfill this destiny in the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ on the earth.

How will this period happen? We find in verse 1 that following the battle of Armageddon, an angel will bind Satan for 1,000 years. For 1,000 years, the tempter will suffer imprisonment will humanity enjoys a respite from his work.

This passage gives us a good idea of how to interpret the 1,000 year reign. Early in Church history, most of the Church believed Jesus would literally rule over the earth for 1,000 years. St. Augustine, writing in the fifth century, introduced the idea that the 1,000 years represented the period following the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, a time when the Church would eventually spread to encompass all the world. St. Augustine reached this conclusion by allegorizing the number “1,000.”

However, an examination of history since the Holy Spirit’s coming amply demonstrates that Satan has remained unbound during this time. St. Augustine didn’t witness the Islamic conquest of Christian Africa in the seventh and eighth centuries, the Viking raids of the ninth and tenth centuries, the Mongol invasion of the fourteenth century, or the horrific wars of the twentieth century. No one with even a vague familiarity of history could believe that the Church has reigned as priests over the earth, that Satan has been bound in this time. History since A.D. 33 demonstrates plenty of evidence that in spite of his defeat at Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, Satan has actively participated in the hearts of humanity.

Yet, even in spite of Jesus’ literal reign in the period of the millennium, in spite of the absence of the tempter, some people will chafe at Jesus’ rule over their lives. Humanity, even in the absence of Satan, will still succumb to the temptation to rule their own lives. At the end of the millennial reign, Satan will find plenty of people awaiting his return to join Him in rebellion against Jesus. Satan will bring the nations “from the four corners” of the earth, “Gog and Magog,” to attempt an overthrow of Jesus’ rule.

Who are Gog and Magog? We find Magog mentioned first in Genesis 10 as a son of Japheth. Japheth’s descendants immigrated north following the debacle at Babylon in Genesis 11. Following this reference in Genesis 10, we next find Magog mentioned in Ezekiel 38 and 39, where Gog and Magog attack Israel only to suffer utter destruction through God’s direct intervention on behalf of His people.

Regardless of whether Ezekiel’s vision refers to another destruction of Gog and Magog (some believe Ezekiel 38-39 will be fulfilled prior to the events of the Revelation), the outcome is the same. Gog and Magog, in an army so numerous it resembles “ the sand of the sea,” will gather around Jerusalem to overthrow Jesus and His saints. In another verse of God’s song of deliverance, their defeat will be instantaneous: “fire came down from heaven and consumed them.” Jesus will plan no battle in His defense; He will send forth no saints from the city to attack the innumerable army. The army will gather, God will intervene, and the army will suffer annihilation. The end!

Following this defeat, Satan will find himself thrown into the lake of fire with the beast and false prophet. We will never see Satan again.

This defeat signals the ultimate end of sin. St. John next saw a “great white throne.” The One seated on this throne is so terrible in appearance and majesty that “earth and sky” will flee. Imagine the terror of those who find themselves before this throne, especially when they comprehend that their own sins and their choice to reject God’s mercy brought them to this place.

St. John noticed several books, among them the book of life. The actions of the dead, all faithfully recorded in their lives, will be read to them; they will see from their own actions that they justly deserve the fate awaiting them. The book of life, however, will prove the ultimate judge. Anyone whose name “was not found written in the book of life... was thrown into the lake of fire.” This fate is so terrible St. John referred to it as the “second death.”

Some will try to say, “If God were really merciful, He would forgive all their sins and let them into heaven. He would make some way for everyone to enter heaven.” Remember that God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to the cross to pay for the sins of the world. Even before Jesus’ sacrifice, St. Paul said in the first chapter of Romans that all creation spoke to the testimony of God’s standard. Everyone in history will have received a chance to live to God’s standard. Everyone who finds himself in the lake of fire will be there on his own actions, by his own choice. As C.S. Lewis put it in The Great Divorce:

1. There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.
   

On the other hand, while those who choose eternal separation from God receive their just reward, the saints enter their glorious reward they will receive by grace. We’ll discuss our eternity next week in chapter 21.

What does this chapter tell us?

First, this chapter tells us to persevere in temptation. Satan suffered his defeat at the cross, and while he continues to tempt humanity now, we will one day see how life can be without his activities. We will enjoy 1,000 years of Jesus’ presence on earth, with all the peace and joy He will bring.

Secondly, we should understand that some people will choose their own way even in a perfect world. We shouldn’t be surprised when people choose not to accept the lordship of Christ, but we should also continue to tell them of the joy we experience when we confess Him as Lord and receive the benefits of His atonement for our sins.

Perhaps you’re reading this and have never realized the consequences of rejecting Jesus as Lord of your life. You should probably read another sermon I delivered at New Hope, The Choice of Eternity. Once you see the consequences, I urge you to confess Jesus as Lord and escape the coming judgment.

Lastly, we should rejoice that in spite of individual defeats in our lives, Satan will one day face His ultimate defeat. We will see Satan and his followers disappear for all eternity while we enter a period of ecstasy and joy that will never end. Chapter 21 will describe, as much as St. John could tell, what we will experience. Join us next week, on the Sunday of Christ the King, when we read of the eternal presence of Christ among His people.