THE MILLENNIUM

Revelation 20:4 – 6

 

INTRODUCTION

 

·                    Series Introduction: This is the fourth of the Seven Last Things, The Seven Last             Things of Human History.  The first was the Return of Christ; then is Christ’s Defeat of the      Anti-Christ; next was the Apprehension and Arrest of the Person behind the Antichrist,      Satan    himself.  Now we arrive at the Millennium.  So, we have seen that . . .

                                                                                       Heaven will Rejoice, 19:1 – 10

                                                                                       Christ will Return, 19:11 – 21:3

                                                                                                Saints will Reign, 20:4 – 6

                                                                                                Satan will Revolt, 20:7 - 10

	·         I will not say everything about the Millennium in this message. ·         I will not say everything about this portion of Eschatology, the doctrine of Last Things. ·         I will concentrate on what these verses say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·                    Sermon Introduction

In a scene from a movie, a man in a fancy sports car ends up driving down streets that are darker and more deserted until finally his car stalls.  He calls a tow truck, but before it arrives, five street thugs surround his car.  Just in time, the tow truck arrives and the operator begins to hook up the sports car.  Surrounded by the street tough teenagers the tow truck operator pulls the leader of the gang aside and says, “Man, the world ain’t s’pposed to work like this.  Maybe you don’t know that, but this ain’t the way its’ supposed to be.  I’m supposed to be able to do my job without askin’ you if I can.  And that dude is s’pposed to be able to wait with his car without you rippin’ him off.  Everything’s s’pposed to be different than what it is here.”

 

God hates sin because it violates his law.  God hates sin because it breaks the peace; it interferes with the way things are supposed to be.  It adulterates marriage.  It uses an excellent mind to devise a tax fraud.

 

I.                   Who will be in the Millennium?

A.     Martyrs

1.      They were beheaded.

2.      They were true to the witness and the word.

3.      They did not worship the beast nor receive the mark of the beast.

4.      They are resurrected to life, v. 4.

B.     Those in the first resurrection will be in the Millennium.  The first resurrection is not an event, but an order: the Rapture, O. T. saints Daniel 12:2, and last the Tribulation saints.  All the redeemed will be there Daniel 7:18, Matthew 19:28, 1 Corinthians 6:2 – 3.

C.    The blessed and holy will be there.  Why are they blessed and holy?  Because the second death has no effect on them and they are alive with God.

 

II.                What will they do during the Millennium?

A.     They will live, v. 4 & 6.  We will have resurrected bodies as Jesus had.

B.     They will be priests, v. 6.  We will have a part in the religious life of the Millennium.  This is a fulfilling of the promises of God, Matthew 6:10 and Acts 1:6

C.    They will reign, v. 4 & 6.  We will have a part in the political life of the Millennium.  There will be people who survive the Tribulation. They will marry and have children and so on for a thousand years.  There will be a need for government.  Things will be better than now, but not perfect.

 

III.             Who will not be in the Millennium?  “The rest of the dead.”  If you die in this life without professing Christ as your Savior, you will spend the Millennium in Hades, you will spend the Millennium waiting for, “and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God,” (20:12)

 

CONCLUSION

 

P.T. Barnum delighted in showing clergyman an exhibit he called “The Happy Family,” in which lions, tigers, and panthers squatted around a lamb.  When anyone asked if the group ever caused any trouble Barnum replied, “Apart from replenishing the lamb now and then, they get along very well together.”  No, the world is not what it is supposed to be, but one day, “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them,” Isaiah 11:6.

 

There is nothing about Israel in these verses.  Even if Israel is not in the Millennium and the Temple is not rebuilt, I would believe in the Millennium.  I believe in the Millennium because JESUS will rule and reign.

The emphasis is about those beheaded and martyred for the faith.  Even if the saints of this age were not present, I would believe in the Millennium because Jesus must rule and reign on the Earth.

 

The Millennium is not about Israel rebuilding the Temple and Jerusalem.

The Millennium is not about us ruling over Washington, Bradford, Canton, the town where you live or Mt. Healthy, the suburb of Cincinnati where I grew up.

 

The Millennium is about giving “him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him,” Daniel 7:14a.

The Millennium is about the glory of Jesus.

 

Do you want to have a part in the first resurrection or the second death?