They don't understand the ravages of disease, of death, of war, of economic inequity. of a prowling devil. They will only have known the peace that Christ brings, and that's enough for them to rebel. And you say, this is sick.
Well, sin is not fooling around. Death will be the exception. not the rule during this Dispensation, that's the theological term for a phase of what God is doing. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville.
Rick is currently teaching through the book of Revelation. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio. Specifically, how you can get a free copy of this teaching.
Now, here's Pastor Rick in the book of Revelation, chapter 20, with this edition of Cross-Reference Radio.
Now, when a thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison. and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog. to gather them together to battle whose number is as the sand of the sea, They went up. on the breath of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and The Beloved City And fire came down from God, out of heaven and devoured them. The devil Who deceive them?
Was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where The beast And the false prophet are. and they will be tormented day and night Forever and ever. We go right to the first verse. which is the seventh verse of chapter twenty.
Now, when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison. And if you've been following along, you know that he has been locked away when Christ returns at the second coming of Christ. Satan is locked away for A thousand years, and now he's going to be released for a short time. In those thousand years, As expected, it did nothing to change his nature. There's no repentance.
There's no reform, same old evil. And he's ready to pounce on the fools that are dissatisfied with God. Mankind that Is in a perfect environment at this point. In human history. and still not satisfied.
Now it's not all of the people, but it's a large amount of them. as the sand of the sea. We Read that in our reading.
So today we see people go to prison, and some of them. Look forward to being released and doing something with their lives, and others. They plot their next crime upon release, and this is in Rhythm, if we can use that word. With such characters, with the devil. That's what he's going to do for those thousand years.
And as stated in verse six. Evil has no longer An appeal to we who are saved. We will be utterly secure. His sin will not appeal, as with Jesus in his temptation in the wilderness.
Now, that temptation of Christ, recorded in Matthew chapter 4, is not given to us to say, boy, what if he goofed? What if he did stumble? It's given to us to show us it was impossible for him to stumble. Sin has nothing in him, he later said in John's Gospel. That's recorded.
And we will be like that, Christ-like, where sin will just not have Anything That is appealing to us. because of this Christlike nature. I John chapter three, Beloved, Now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but We know That when he is revealed, that is, when we get to see him face to face, we shall be like him. And I referenced the temptation of Jesus Christ. Not equal, we'll never be equal with Christ, but we will be beyond sin.
Which is I'll take that any day. We were made in the image of God. And that image will be restored and then some. The Psalmist wrote this. And this is God speaking through the psalmist, that beautiful 91st Psalm.
Only with your eyes shall you look and see the reward of the wicked.
Now, in that psalm, of course, it applies to this lifetime, but when God speaks, it's eternal. And that will be the case with us. And I spend a little time on that because Christians often ask: well, are we going to go through temptation again? after we die and go to heaven and then Christ comes back and Satan is locked away and then released, are we going to be in jeopardy? No, not at all.
That's what I've been saying. Satan will be released, as it says here in verse seven, He will not escape from the abyss, and I think that's the strength behind putting this here. He's not able to escape.
So, according to the sovereignty of God, he is allowed again. To tempt those who have never died. And that will be the global population, historical population will. blanket the earth.
So there are five aspects Of this scene. And I think a lot of Christians like when pastors say, I'll give you five points, I'll give you three reasons, and oh, what are they? And then wait for you in the parking lot and say, Okay, name number two. Oh I don't remember.
So I so I'm not a big fan of that, but but here it uh takes up some of the time. Satan is released, as I've been repeating. His deception. That gathers the nations.
So this is a big deal. His armies Surround the people of God and the city of God. Their destruction as fire from heaven devours them, And then Satan and his people are cast into the lake of burning sulphur, which is hell. It's the Bible's way. Jesus used the word gehana, which paints the identical picture.
So we now move. from those five points to verse eight. and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
Now remember, chronologically, this is a thousand years, over a thousand years or about. after the second coming of Christ. And he's still at it. He hasn't changed. He doesn't want to change.
He still thinks he can beat God. He is the consummate loon. And He still is lying about God to people. As he did in the Garden of Eden, as he has done ever since. Deception of the people that live at this time, who again have not died.
Is due to their willful unrestraint of their own depravity. And this is a big deal. If there is no resistance to evil, Then evil takes over. And Christ has said this: you're the salt of the earth, you're that resisting element, and without that, The great tribulation will break through.
So it is significant. When a person is trying to restrain Their own carnality or sinful nature. It is meaningful. And Nebuchadnezzar was warned about this, and he decided it wasn't that important, and of course. That very moment, he was turned over to insanity.
Well, this will turn violent, it tells us. Uh that it turns violent, tells the whole story of their degeneracy. the capacity of human beings to turn on God, to turn on each other, to do things that are evil.
Well, a thousand years earlier Paul wrote about that. He said, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
Well, the same thing. It's played over again. They didn't receive the love of the truth. They have Christ ruling from Jerusalem. They have world peace and prosperity.
And still truth is secondary.
Well, you could just look on the news and find people that find truth irrelevant And look at their behavior. John 10, 10, the thief does not come except his sole purpose. To steal, to kill, and to destroy. And in contrast to that, Jesus said, I have come that they might have life, and that more abundantly. Price?
has great plans for his people. But this generation Millennialists, not in the sense we use the term. They have opted out. of the abundance of Christ. And they have spread throughout the four corners of the earth, as it tells us here.
And they join together as one. To usurp the authority of righteousness.
Now, Israel. The nation Israel All the Jewish people, ethnic Jews, at this time in human history. will never again rebel against God. They have a new heart. They're very happy with him.
Jeremiah thirty one And Romans 11, 26 are two short stops. Not baseball. player between second and third. I forget. We live in a generation that doesn't know.
I've used the word term grand slam, and people say, What is that? And you'll know they're not in the church anymore. We don't play that around these parts. Since God started the Bible, of course, in the big inning. God created the heavens and the earth.
So why would we be a what of anyway? Coming back to this, Gog and Magog to gather them together. I have seen commentators go potbelly and bowlegged trying to figure out who Gog and Magog is and Rosh and all these. You picture them pot-bellied and bow-legged. It's a little bit more funny.
Anyway,. Even the rabbis began to just say, you know, they symbolize the enemies of God. That's who Gog and Magog are. They first appear in Ezekiel 38 and 39 as symbols of nations that march against God's people. And they retain.
that reputation It's applied to all those who would come against God's people to destroy them. not just to enslave them, but to destroy them. And you could see all of those, you know, the Hamas people, they're a form of Gog and Magog, and all of their supporters.
So, no one should. If you want to know, is Satan real? Look at them. Look at these protesters. who are defending Abject evil.
Anyway, This is going to be the end of the world. When Christ returned, it was the end of world rule, human rule. of the world. This will end in the end of the world. The planet itself, the universe will be wiped out and restarted.
So this is a Here with the Gog and Magog referring Ezekiel's premillennial invasions in chapter 38.
Well, if you're a Bible student, you're keeping up with me. If not, you're saying, hmm. I gotta read about this stuff. Uh anyway, to gather them, he gathered to battle. Whose number is as the sand of the sea?
This is, of course, the devil's doing, deceiving the nations. These include survivors of the Great Tribulation period who were alive when Christ comes back. and their offspring. None of them have died yet. And death is very rare during this period of time.
They will bear children, they will repopulate the earth. Isaiah 65, verses 18 through 25, is one place that gives us a little bit more information. about this.
So under ideal circumstances, in which everybody knows about Jesus. They're still gonna pull Such stunts. Behaving. as though Christ can be Defeated, ready to rebel. This is the kind of stuff you tell an unbeliever when you say, listen.
The depravity of man is nothing to play with. It is a fierce fire. It burns hot like a furnace. There is the carnality of man, and that is a problem all by itself. But the depravity goes to another level, and I don't use the word according to the definition of.
reform theology. They have other definitions that Uh d Uh I don't agree with.
So, using depravity here, man is a sinner. And he is capable of the worst of worst sins. But he is never too depraved to be held accountable because he has a choice, and that's where I differ with other.
some of the other doctrines out there.
Well anyway. Most of these never knew The world Before Christ, those born during this millennial age, this thousand-year period, they never knew anything about the misrule of man. They've not had the Nancy Pelosis and the Hillary Clintons. They haven't had these kinds of people in power. All they know is the righteous are running the world and there is peace and there is prosperity.
They don't understand the ravages of disease, of death, of war, of economic inequity. of a prowling devil. They will only have known the peace that Christ brings, and that's enough for them to rebel. And you say, this is sick.
Well, sin is not fooling around. Death will be the exception. not the rule during this Dispensation, that's the theological term for a phase of what God is doing. And this, of course, again. is the end of the millennial reign.
Of Christ, which not the end of his reign, but the this thousand-year period and a little bit more. And when it comes... death, it will be a judgment. upon the guilty. And uh a perfect environment, however, cannot produce Perfect heart.
These are the lessons that come out of this, verse 9. And the world doesn't know it. There are churchgoers that don't know this is in your Bible. This is God saying to you, I want you to know this. That's why we have a Bible.
All of this book Is God saying, I want you to know this. I want you to do something with this. I want you to learn about me. And I want you to do something with what you learn about me. And that's what Paul capsulizes when he says in his conversion: who are you, Lord?
What do you want me to do? And God uses him to Put together a large part of our New Testament.
Now, verse 9: they went up. on the breath of the earth. And surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven. and devour them. Unsalted depravity leads to full-blown spiritual insanity, and that's what God is saying in just two sentences well, a sentence and a clause right here.
Their hearts Voiding out God's work. Evolutionists do that. They void out the obvious because they're just. Bent. on inserting themselves.
the way they see it. and not the way God has revealed it. And it is incredible to see intelligent people act unintelligently, And they're all over. They're in churches, they're in laboratories, they're in the government, they're everywhere. The work of sin.
Romans 8. because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can it be. There's nothing to salvage about our fallen nature. There's nothing impressive about it. And in fact, it is as we're seeing in these people.
people. unimpressed with Christ. I'm impressed with his spiritual protection. They have a better way. They've figured it out.
In the time that they have this longevity of life, they have plenty of time to philosophy. to form opinions. Part from God, and He's going to let them do that if that's what they want. Oh, not everybody's going to do it. They're going to be there.
I'm not moving with you. I'm liking this.
So they're impressed with opposing ideas. Just enough to energize them from hell, or by the powers of hell, They surrounded the camp of the saints. The beloved and the beloved city. Let me reread that. Surrounded the camp of the saints, the beloved city.
Christ-believing Jews will be in Jerusalem, but this won't be limited. This is global. If the populations, the astounding numbers of people, you couldn't get them to just surround Jerusalem. There wouldn't be enough spaces. They're everywhere.
Everywhere the righteous are, And again, they're not surrounding us. The overseers of this Period of time. They're coming at the people. Who believe the preaching Christ Through his overseers. This, now I'm going to go out a little bit on this one, but you know I'm going to be right, so just agree.
Yeah. This may be metaphor used to encompass all God's people. And The war May not be a physical, or the armies of Satan may not be physical. Remember, the book of Revelation is making points.
So when it says, and I saw a red horse, and the bloodshed that goes with that omen. It's not gonna be really a guy on a red horse showing up. But the point is made by God. that at that time in history there's going to be all this bloodshed. And when the famine horse and the sorrow horse, when these other similitudes.
And so when he's talking about The rebellion here. The reasons why it might not be a physical thing. but a philosophical thing. And I mean philosophy in the sense that they are agitating the believers, they are stirring up rebellion, but they won't get to pull it off because the weapons industry has converted their. has been converted.
into agriculture and infrastructure and other forms of industry have taken the place of your weapons plants. Micah four three. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
Well, where are they getting these weapons from? Maybe they were sneaking them. Maybe they created a black market and God let them have it.
Well, there's a lot of possibilities. There could be actual armies or it could be This Army of thinking. That is looking to corrupt the world again. And that's where I lean. I told you you'd agree with me, I told you that.
Yeah. Anyway.
So, could it be their uprising is not allowed to become thieves? Physical. Because we don't fight in this. The angels aren't even called upon. God just says fire from heaven and devours them.
They're done. Satan at work in the world without Antichrist to help him. And he is making a lot of gains. The spirit of militancy against Jesus Christ and his people doesn't die until Satan goes to hell. And that's what this chapter is telling us.
This labor to oppose God. Culture. Religion. turning against the laws of God. We've been looking at this throughout human history.
We're looking at it today with this cultural experiment that is insane.
Well, the glorified believers and the angels, as I mentioned, they're not going to be called upon. God says, no, I'll deal with this one right away. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. A flash victory. Not one wicked survivor.
Creation is purged of the Christ haters forever. This is the end. Verse 10. the devil who deceived them Was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented.
day and night forever and ever. They're going to pay, that's what God is saying. The amount of evil they unleashed on humanity, on God's will. that comes with consequence. He is the father of lies.
And a lot of other things that aren't good, all of them bad. Jesus said, when he speaks, he speaks a lie. A congenital liar from birth. He can just can't stop. But that would make it pathological.
It's both. Anyway.
All the sorrow of creation. Forever will stop. It is the end of evil. It is not just the removal of This character Lucifer, the devil, and the fallen angels, and the unclean spirits, and the demons, which are all wrapped up together, it's the end of them. All of them.
Never again will there be grief. or heartache. or sorrow. or embarrassment.
Well, if you disagree with me in heaven, you're going to be embarrassed for all the time. But I just know it. Anyway.
Do you think I'm a narcissist?
Okay, enough talking about me. What do you think about me? All right, back to this. No more depression. No more dread or danger.
For all creatures. No more evil. to lurk and to act against us. This will be the end of Evil. And in the end, we'll look over God's permissions.
Intolerances, his judgments, his actions, and his inactions. In the end, At some point, we will perfectly understand the material. That he made the right call every single time to achieve his objective, and his objectives are right. We can't see all of that here. That's why there's this thing called faith.
By faith, we understand the world's by faith, we, you know, God is big on that. And he's saying, I know, it's really hard to trust me, but you've got to do it. And we say Yes, Lord. And we try, we throw ourselves into that, and he appreciates it. He takes it very seriously.
Because the alternative is everywhere, and those are the wicked ones. He says here, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. inexpressible conscious torment. Revelation This same chapter in verse 15, and anyone not found written in the book of life was cast. into the lake of fire.
That's where the anti-Christian force prophet are, the first inhabitants of hell. Uh This has been Cross Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston. This program is a radio outreach of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Pastor Rick has been teaching through the book of Revelation, but if you're interested in learning about a different book of the Bible, we have hundreds of past episodes available to listen to on demand. Just visit us online at crossreference radio.com and you'll find an archive of Pastor Rick's past teachings.
While you're there, you can also find links to follow our program on your favorite podcast app, as well as links to get connected with us on Facebook and YouTube. There's also an interviews tab where you can learn more about Pastor Rick's heart for ministry.
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