Rebellion Crushed & Great White Throne Judgment - Part 1 - Revelation 20:7-15

Welcome to God First with Brian C. Thomas, a program committed to encouraging you to put God first while viewing life through the window of the Bible.

Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, let's join Brian C. Thomas for today's message. Is there an afterlife? That is the question that so many ask, is there an afterlife? Well, I can definitively tell you up front, based on the word of God, that the answer to that question is yes.

Because the Bible tells us that all will exist eternally, and it is your decision about Jesus Christ that will determine your eternal home. It is your decision about Jesus Christ that will determine whether you inherit eternal life or eternal damnation. So we're going to look today at this rebellion by Satan that is going to take place in the future. And, of course, we know Satan has already rebelled in the past, but there's going to be one final rebellion by him that we're going to look at today in Revelation chapter 20. And then we'll also look at the great white throne judgment that he is to come. So please turn your Bibles with me to Revelation chapter 20, and we're going to look today at verses 7 through 15.

Revelation chapter 20, verses 7 through 15. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this day. We thank you for this time together, Lord. We thank you for your word. And Lord, we pray that all things that are spoken, that it be nothing but sound doctrine, and may you be honored and glorified.

And all things, in your name, Jesus, amen. We're going to begin today by looking at the seventh verse of Revelation chapter 20. In the Word of God reads as follows, now when a thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison. So after Satan has been in prison for one thousand years in the bottomless pit, unable to tempt mankind, he will be released. We look last week at the one thousand year reign of Jesus Christ during a time in which Satan will be bound, unable to tempt mankind. And how much we look forward to that day when we will have no influence, no temptation from Satan.

And so we come to the end of that one thousand year period today and we're finding that when that time period comes to an end, Satan is going to be released from this bottomless pit. Now today, the time that we're living in, there are three forces of temptation. There's first the world and all the things that the world brings. There secondly, the flesh, the flesh of our humankind.

And then thirdly is Satan. So during the millennial kingdom, we won't have to worry about lewd or suggestive or worldly temptations that can influence us because Jesus and his followers will be ruling with a rod of iron. That is those of us today who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, who will be taken away by way of the rapture when we come back with our Lord to inherit his earthly kingdom. He says that we are going to rule and reign with him and the judgment will be swift. So we won't have to worry about things like today when I'm watching a basketball game and I simply want to see the sport in the entertainment that it brings.

But yet I have to see women that are half undressed and won't have to worry about watching commercials as we see now during this political season in which people are promoting wickedness like abortion. Those things will not exist during the millennial kingdom because the Bible says again that we will rule with a rod of iron. So we will put those things down very quickly if they ever tried to rise up. So there will be no temptation or influence from the ways of the world like we see all around us today. And then the scripture tells us as we read that Satan is going to be in prison.

He's going to be unable to tempt us. So the only force of temptation left is going to be our flesh, the human flesh. During the millennial kingdom, nobody will be able to say Satan made me do it because Satan will be bound. Nobody will be able to blame it on the ways of the world.

Nobody will be able to say, well, if people didn't walk around in these provocative ways and I wouldn't have the struggle because that will not be the condition of our society. But anything that anyone that's in a natural state does and they sin during the millennial kingdom, it will be because of simply the desires of the flesh. And I believe that this is an environment that is going to lead to an enormous number of people getting saved because of the lack of temptation. If we look in the book of Isaiah chapter 65 verse 20, it cast a light on how great this time of blessing will be. It says there are no more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days, for the child shall die 100 years old, but the sinner being 100 years old shall be a curse. So this verse suggests that believers will live after they have been born during the millennial kingdom, all the way to the end of the millennium in natural bodies. So at 100 years old, a person will be considered still a child. That is how life spans are going to increase during the millennial kingdom. But a person born during this time, during this 1000 year reign of Christ, they will be given 100 years to make a decision about Jesus Christ, whether to receive him or not. And if they reject him, they will die at 100 years old. That is what it means by it says they will be accursed. We have to remember that just like after the flood of Noah's day, where people were procreating and they feel the earth, well, those who enter into the millennial kingdom in natural bodies, that is those who receive Jesus Christ during the tribulation, they reject the antichrist, they do not receive his mark of the beast and they live to the end of the tribulation. Those people will enter the millennial kingdom in natural bodies and they are going to be the ones that are going to populate the earth.

So they'll give birth to large number of children over the course of the thousand years. And then as we come to verse eight, and let me back up and read verse seven along with that to make sure you're understanding what the text is telling us. Verse seven once again says, now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison.

Verse eight, and we'll 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 numbers as the sand of the sea. So after having been incarcerated for a thousand years, Satan does what? He goes right back to his old ways, which is deceiving. And it makes you scratch your head when you think about having been incarcerated in a bottomless pit for that length of time. And as soon as you're released, you go right back to evil, to wickedness, to deceiving.

But you know, if we look at our society today, we find people do the same thing. I watched a lot of crime investigation type of shows and I was watching one just a few nights ago of a man who had been in prison for 10 years and his sentence had been fulfilled and he was released. And upon being released, it didn't take him but a week to go out and commit a rape. And he was arrested and sent right back to incarceration.

And I was thinking to myself, how can a person after having a decade to sit behind prison bars and contemplate the things that they've done, how can they go out and do the same thing all over again to go right back to where they came from? But that is the nature of Satan. That is for those who do not have the Holy Spirit, for those who are walking with the devil, that is his nature and that is his mission is to steal, kill and destroy.

And so he's trying to influence us to do the things that he do. So those who are not of God, they take on the character of Satan. So what we find is that at the end of this 1000 year reign, he's going to be released and he's going to again, go out into the world to deceive. And it's those born within the last 100 years of the millennium that reject Jesus Christ. These will be the ones whom Satan is going to deceive into battling alongside him. The scripture says they will be as the sand of the sea, which indicates a large number. But let me be careful to point out that this does not mean most of the world will be unbelievers.

I actually think the contrary will be the case, but it shows the population explosion that will occur during the millennial kingdom as again, lifespans are increased significantly. So what we're going to have here is this army of Satan is going to be a youth movement. And I also want to point out that this is not the same Gog Magog battle as Ezekiel chapter 38.

It has the same name, but it is a different battle. And so as we come to verse nine, they went up on the bread 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. So we see something that we've seen in the past in which they're going to surround Jerusalem that has happened numerous times in history. We saw it in 70 AD when the Romans surrounded Jerusalem and they attacked it. It's going to happen during the tribulation. They're going to surround Jerusalem, those who are against God. And then we're going to see it take place once again at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ when the rejecters of Christ were going to surround Jerusalem in an attempt to destroy it and the followers of Jesus Christ. But the scripture says God, the father will send fire to consume them. Verse 10 says the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. If you are of the age of accountability today and you have not received Christ as savior, you have been deceived by Satan.

Now you may try to dress it up with excuses, but that is the reality. If you are one today who is not a Christian, you've never accepted him and you are of the age of accountability, you have been deceived by Satan. And if you do not receive Jesus Christ, you are going to share in the final outcome of Satan, which is eternal torment in the lake of fire.

If you do not turn from the following, the one who is the deceiver and turn to following Jesus Christ. And that is why I stress come to Jesus Christ today. It is my desire, which is the same desire as God that no one goes into the lake of fire.

It is my desire that all inherit eternal life. So come to Jesus Christ today. But as we look at this text, the question comes to mind, why won't Jesus cast Satan into the lake of fire at the same time when he placed the antichrist and false prophet there before the millennium? Turn back with me to Revelation 19, 20.

We looked at this a few weeks ago. Revelation 19, 20 says, then the beast was captured and with him, the false prophet who worked signs in his presence by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone. So this is a flashback to what happens when Jesus Christ comes back to the earth, his second coming, in which it says he's going to place the antichrist and false prophet into the lake of fire. But again, the question becomes, well, why not go ahead and put Satan in the lake of fire? Why not go ahead and put Satan in the bottomless pit?

A lot of people have that question. Let me just say this, that when it comes to things of this nature, we have to take a step back and remind ourselves that we are finite human beings and we don't understand all things. We don't have the wisdom of God. God's ways are beyond our ways.

Yes, he gives us his word and there are things that he shares with us, but there are some things that simply as human beings, we don't have the capacity to comprehend and to understand why God does what he does. So that's the thing that I want to state up front is that it is because of God's infinite wisdom as to why he doesn't place Satan into the lake of fire at the same time that he places the antichrist and false prophet there, because every human from Adam onward has sinned, but God gave a second chance through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ and he's given a chance to me, he's given the chance to you, he's given the chance to everyone who has ever lived or ever will live. And so no one will have an excuse on the day of judgment for those who have rejected him. They will have no excuse because everybody gets the opportunity to come to Jesus Christ. But what we're going to find during the millennial kingdom is that it's going to show mankind just how spiritually bankrupt it is that some will reject Christ even without the influence of Satan. So just imagine that for a moment, Jesus Christ will be on the earth living in the flesh for everybody to see and to hear and to touch, Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit and yet there will be those who are going to say, Jesus, I don't want you.

There are going to be those that are going to say, no, Jesus, I rather have my sin. And so again, it shows us just how spiritually bankrupt mankind is because nobody will be able to blame it on Satan. But note that the antichrist and false prophet are still existing in the lake of fire at the 1000 year mark. And this is a passage that for those who believe in annihilation, who think that, you know, people we get punished and inhaled, but it's only for a time and then we're, we're consumed, we cease to exist. Well, at least in this case, they're still existing at 1000 years.

And I believe that they're suffering along with all who reject Jesus Christ, which includes Satan will all go on for eternal suffering in the lake of fire. Verse 11 of chapter 20, then I saw a great white throne in him who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and that was found no place for them. So now we're coming to what we call the great white throne judgment. And this passage begins by revealing the sobering truth of mankind's ultimate encounter with God. As we see the accountability to God on full display, we're in a time today in which so many think that they have the right to do whatever they want to do. Many today think that they are the ones who determine what is right and what is wrong. Many today think that they have their truth and I can have my truth and you can have your truth. But folks, there is only one truth and the Bible says Jesus Christ is the truth.

He is the way and the life and no one comes to the father by him. So if it is anything outside of Jesus Christ, it is not truth. And if anything outside of Jesus Christ, you don't have the right to do it.

Well, let me, let me preface that by saying this. Yes, you have the right, but you are going to face the consequences when what you do goes against God because the only true rights that we have are the ones that God gives us permission and commandments to follow. And so, yeah, you can make the choice to do what's wrong, but you're going to have to suffer the consequences. And so what we find here, this great white throne judgment is just that thing happening in which those who have chosen to reject Jesus Christ, they are going to be now held accountable.

The consequence of their decision to do what they want to do. You know, a few days ago I was in my home and I was walking through and the kids had the television on one of those Nickelodeon channels. I think it's called Team Nick and I heard a young lady on their rapping.

I guess that's what they still call it, rapping or hip hop, whatever it is. And it caught my ear and so I stopped to hear what was being said and she was just repeating over and over, I do, I do, I do what I want to do. She was just saying that over and over, I do, I do, I do what I want to do. And I thought to myself how sad and this, this young girl, she looks like she's only a early teenager, maybe preteens.

I mean, I'm thinking 15, 16 years old at the, at the oldest. And yet hearing this song, she's saying, I do what I want to do and, and, and we got all these young children that are listening to that they're being influenced by it. And I, my, my heart broke when I heard that because I said to myself, that young girl, and for all of those listening to that, that are being influenced by that, they're headed down the wrong path. They headed down a path in which they're going to suffer. They headed down a path in which they're going to have to answer for choosing to do what they want to do because what they want to do more times than not is going to be what God does not command us to do. And so folks, we have to be obedient to God. And if you choose to not be obedient to him, you're going to appear before him at the great white throne judgment and Jesus Christ is going to sit on this throne to judge. Verse 12 states, and I saw the dead small and great standing before God in books were open and another book was open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. This judgment that we're looking at today, this great white throne judgment is a judgment for non believers only. It is not the same as the judgment for the believers, which we see in second Corinthians chapter five, verse 10, that's called the beam of seat judgment. So if you would turn your Bibles there with me to second Corinthians, chapter five, verse 10, in which we see a judgment that is going to occur, but it's not going to be a judgment for salvation, but it's going to be for rewards. Second Corinthians five, Corinthians five, 10 says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad. So we're going to stand before Jesus Christ, those of us who are believers, and we will be judged for rewards.

So think of it in terms of like the Olympics, when the competitors, they go before the judges after a competition to receive the gold medal and the silver medal and the bronze medal. So that is going to be for the believer at a separate time. This is going to come after the rapture of the church. But this judgment that we're looking at here, this great white throne judgment is for non believers, those who have rejected Christ, and it will be their sentencing for having not received salvation because of having rejected Jesus Christ. These non believers are dead now in trespass and sin, and they're going to be resurrected to appear at this judgment. This is what revelation 25 is pointing to.

So flip back with me to revelation chapter 20 verse five, just earlier in this chapter. The verse tells us, but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. And what we're seeing here is that there are going to be two resurrections that the Bible speaks of. And it says, bless is he that is part of the first resurrection because that means you have been resurrected to eternal life.

But for those in the second resurrection, which is the ones who are going to stand before Jesus at the great white throne judgment, they will be small and great intellectually, physically, financially, positionally, in every other way, they're going to be those from all walks of life who are going to stand there to be judged by our Lord Jesus Christ. Pay close attention to the wording concerning books. There's a set of books that are open and then another book, the book of life, Galatians three 10 describes the book under which man will be judged. Turn to Galatians chapter three verse 10 and here we find reference to the law for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. So it describes the book under which man will be judged and folks again, that is why we have to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior if you want eternal life because Jesus came to not do away with the law, but he came to fulfill the law.

No man could do it and so God took on the form of a man. He came to the earth as our Lord and savior Jesus Christ and he fulfilled the law and he paid the sin debt by dying by giving his life the perfect sacrifice because that is what it took a perfect sacrifice to account for sin because the Bible says the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life and that gift is our Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. But if you choose to reject Jesus Christ, if you do not receive his sacrifice, then you have to pay the penalty for violating the law and that is the way by which you will be judged and so I stress, I urge come to our Lord today, receive the gift, it's a gift. All you have to do is confess your sins and profess him as Lord and savior and you too can inherit eternal life because it is only by accepting the mercy of God through the person of Jesus Christ can one be found righteous for Romans 3 23 says for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Come to Jesus Christ, receive him today. Ecclesiastes 12 14 states for God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil is a sobering passage because apparently everything that a person does is recorded in a book. Now for some who may think this is far fetched, just think for a moment, the time that we're living in, in which people are constantly recording everything.

Everybody has a smartphone or they're recording and they're posting things up on YouTube. I just heard the other day, they said thousands of videos are posted to YouTube every day and so you have all this footage and you can even go back further to where we had more traditional cameras and we had VCRs and that's really a throwback to a few decades ago, but we have all these things for future retrieval and so certainly God can record everything in our lives and he's going to do just that and it's going to be recorded in the books and then Jesus is going to examine what is recorded there. He's going to pass judgment accordingly and the thing about it is somebody may say, well, you know, I haven't done anything very egregious, I haven't murdered anyone, I haven't raped anybody, haven't did, I haven't robbed a bank, but it says also this includes our thoughts.

It includes your mind, the things that you think about. Jesus is going to judge these things, but again that is for the non-believer and that is why if you come to Jesus Christ and receive him as Lord and Savior, you don't have to worry about receiving punishment on that day for your thoughts and your actions, but if you reject him, the books are going to be open and everything over your life is going to be played out and you're going to be judged accordingly and let me take a moment to state this because I've heard people who are even Christians say they are worried about on Judgment Day that it's going to be this great big TV screen and everything they ever did or thought is going to be played out before everybody and how embarrassing it's going to be, but here's the thing folks, if you come to Jesus, if you have received him, your sins are already accounted for. The only thing we're going to have to account for when it comes to standing before Christ for the believer is whether your works are worthy of reward. It's going to be passed through the fire, the Bible says, and things that are worthy of a reward will make it through the fire and then you will receive your reward, but for those that are not, those things will be burned up, but you will still have eternal life. You will still have eternal salvation and live in the kingdom of our Lord.

So for believers, we don't have to worry about all the things that we've done that is wrong playing out before everyone, but for the non-believer, those things will be on full display and you will be judged accordingly. We've been listening to the Bible teacher, Ryan C. Thomas, founder and president of God First. Ryan and God First reserve all copyright protection under applicable law. Our copyright policy is available at our website, GodFirst.org. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel and seek first the kingdom of God.