1. "Conflicts will persist as long as at least one side is convinced the other has committed an injustice and that injustice has not been addressed or acknowledged. We want peace, but peace has to go through justice, not around it. The only lasting peace is a just peace. Peace is only as good as the justice that it's built on."

2. "Who can know what's right and do what's right and assign to every competing party everything they deserve and only what they deserve? Who's up for the job of bringing justice in order to bring peace to everyone everywhere?"

3. "The same one who is gentle and lowly is also exalted and glorious. The same one who is the humble servant is the sovereign ruler. When he returns to judge and save, his divine glory will become evident to all."

4. "When Jesus looks you in the eye, there is nowhere to hide. His gaze cuts through every excuse and all blame shifting."

5. "Before he came to trample out the wine of God's wrath, he came the first time to drain the cup himself. That is the chief purpose for which Jesus came to this earth, to drain the cup of God's wrath on behalf of everyone who would turn from sin and trust in Him."

6. "These scary images have a precise and powerful agenda. They are meant to provoke you to repent and believe in Christ while there's still time. They're meant to warn you again and again if needed, out of allegiance with false gods. They're meant to shock you awake from whatever is lulling you to sleep."

7. "Before you sin, Satan tells you repentance is easy. After you sin, Satan tells you repentance is impossible."

8. "When God shows up, creation itself gets out of the way. When God comes to judge, creation runs and hides. But people will not be able to. Nothing can stand before him. Yet the dead must."

9. "If you struggle to know that God loves you, remember he didn't have to write your name. He didn't have to put you in this book. He chose to set his affection on you from all eternity."

10. "Death is coming for you, but God is coming for death. God is stalking death. God is sneaking up behind death. On the last day, God will take death and throw it into the lake of fire."

Observation Questions

1. In Revelation 19:11-16, what specific names and titles are given to Christ? What does each one reveal about His nature and authority?

2. Looking at Revelation 19:15, what three images are used to describe Christ's judgment (sword, rod, winepress)? What does each symbol communicate?

3. In Revelation 20:1-3, what specific actions does the angel take to restrain Satan? What is the stated purpose of this restraint?

4. According to Revelation 20:4, who are the ones seated on thrones, and what specific characteristics are mentioned about them?

5. In Revelation 20:11-12, what happens to creation in the presence of God, and what are the two types of books mentioned?

6. Looking at Revelation 20:14-15, what is thrown into the lake of fire, and what is this called? What determines whether someone faces this fate?

Interpretation Questions

1. How does the image of Christ as a warrior-king in Revelation 19 relate to His first coming as the suffering servant? What does this tell us about His complete work of redemption?

2. What is the relationship between justice and peace in this passage? Why can't there be lasting peace without perfect justice?

3. How should we understand the "first resurrection" and "second death" mentioned in Revelation 20:5-6? What hope does this offer believers?

4. What does Satan's final deception of the nations (Rev 20:7-9) reveal about human nature and the necessity of Christ's return?

5. How does the imagery of the Book of Life help us understand the relationship between God's sovereignty in salvation and human responsibility?

Application Questions

1. When was the last time you faced a conflict where you struggled to see how justice and peace could come together? How does Christ's perfect justice shape your perspective on that situation?

2. What specific lies has Satan been telling you lately - either that repentance is too easy before sin or impossible after sin? How can you combat these deceptions?

3. How does knowing that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life impact your daily walk with Christ, especially when you struggle with doubt or guilt?

4. In what specific ways are you currently experiencing opposition or persecution for your faith? How does the promise of Christ's return and final victory encourage you?

5. Think about the reality that every deed will be exposed at the final judgment. What specific actions do you need to confess and repent of this week?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Isaiah 11:1-9 - This prophecy provides additional context for the imagery of Christ judging with the sword of His mouth and establishing perfect justice.

2. Daniel 7:9-14 - This vision of the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man parallels the throne judgment scene in Revelation 20 and shows Christ receiving His kingdom.

3. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11 - Paul's teaching about Christ's return provides practical encouragement for believers about how to live in light of these future events.

4. 2 Peter 3:1-13 - Peter's explanation of why God delays judgment and how believers should live in light of coming judgment complements the themes of Revelation 19-20.

Sermon Main Topics

The Quest for a Just and Lasting Peace

By Returning in Power (Revelation 19:11–16)

By Defeating His Enemies (Revelation 19:17–21)

By Rewarding His People (Revelation 20:1–6)

By Destroying the Devil (Revelation 20:7–10)

By Judging All People (Revelation 20:11–15)

Assurance Through the Lamb’s Book of Life

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Detailed Sermon Outline

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with malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves and with all nations.

With those words, Abraham Lincoln concluded his second inaugural address, delivered five blocks from here on March 4th, 1865. The end of a brutal four-year war was in sight. With this speech, President Lincoln was addressing the hard reality that many on both sides were frustrated and angry with the other side. With the speech, the president was already striving to achieve and cherish this just and lasting peace that he appeals for. Instead of heaping blame on those who fought against the union, he reminded both sides of the limits of their virtue and of their accountability to God's judgment.

As he says just before that final paragraph, Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, As was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

With these words, Lincoln placed present human injustices under the searchlights of God's ultimate judgment. Lincoln's words raise an acute question: who or what can achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace? If your life is anywhere near normal, it is marked by conflict. Conflict with friends and family, conflict with colleagues or neighbors, conflict between competing companies or political parties. Maybe your life is seriously shaped by the conflict between major global powers.

Or maybe it's marred by internal conflict, division within yourself. What can bring about just and lasting peace?

One necessary condition for peace is that the claims of justice must be satisfied. As the protest slogan has it, no justice, no peace. Conflicts will persist as long as at least one side is convinced the other has committed an injustice and that injustice has not been addressed or acknowledged. We want peace. But peace has to go through justice, not around it.

The only lasting peace is a just peace. Peace is only as good as the justice that it's built on.

But who can know what's right and do what's right and assign to every competing party everything they deserve and only what they deserve. Who's up for the job of bringing justice in order to bring peace to everyone everywhere? This morning we continue our series in the book of Revelation. We're going to cover chapter 19 verse 11 through all of chapter 20. The passage starts on page 1040 of the Pew Bibles.

Now we're getting close to the end. Counting this one, we have three more sermons left in the book of Revelation. And as we approach the end of Revelation, John relays a series of visions. Unlike earlier parts of the book, these visions aren't numbered and they're not in any obvious structure. In this sermon from 19:11-20:15, we'll see five visions.

Four out of the five focus on the very end of history when Christ returns, One of them focuses on what takes place in the time just prior to that return. These five visions aren't a sequence but a collage. They're like a series of snapshots, mostly of the same subject. And all five answer the questions, who can bring us peace? And how?

Only Christ can bring perfect peace. And he does so by bringing perfect justice. Five visions, so the sermon will have five points. How does Christ bring peace? How does Christ bring peace?

Point one, by returning in power. By returning in power. We see this return in power portrayed in chapter 19, verses 11 to 16. Please follow along with me as I read those verses.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God, the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.

The main point of this vision is, as verse 16 says, that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is the soul and supreme sovereign. The same one who is gentle and lowly is also exalted and glorious. The same one who is the humble servant is the sovereign ruler. When he returns to judge and save, his divine glory will become evident to all.

He will return as the divine king to conquer his enemies and deliver his people. Look again at the very beginning of verse 11. Then I saw Heaven opened. Why is heaven opened? Not merely so that John can see in, but so that Jesus can come out.

Jesus is going to return and all will see him as he is. As one scholar put it, in Christ's advent, appearance comes into line with reality. With heaven open, truth is now going to flow from heaven to earth and prevail like the waters of the flood that covered the whole all illusions and delusions will perish and all who have propagated those lies will perish with them. In verse 11, Jesus appears riding on a white horse. It's a military posture.

He's a conquering king. He's going to come to subdue all his enemies and begin to reign perfectly and completely. Also in verse 11, Jesus is named faithful and true. That's a two word paraphrase of the Hebrew word amen. This is the truth, let it be so.

Jesus is eternally God's own truth. He is himself the truth and he is truth from truth. As we've heard in previous sermons, God's judgments are faithful and true. Now the one who is himself, God's faithfulness and God's truth is coming to earth to accomplish those judgments. First 11 also tells us that he comes in righteousness to judge and make war.

He's coming to end opposition and repay those who oppose him. This is like a topic sentence for all of the visions that follow in our section. Jesus, God the Son incarnate, will one day come back to enact God's own judgment on the living and the dead. The point of Jesus's fiery eyes in verse 12 is to remind us that since Jesus is truly God, He sees into the depths of our hearts. He sees through every lie you tell others.

He sees through every lie you tell yourself. His gaze cuts through every excuse and all blame shifting. When Jesus looks you in the eye, there is nowhere to hide. Verse 12 also tells us that he has a name written that no one knows but himself. Now, that might seem like a strange thing to say since in this very passage we get several names of Faithful and true, the word of God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

So what does it mean that he has a name that no one knows? I think there's a biblical background to this. In Scripture, there are times when to know someone's name is to have power or control over them. So like when the Lord is wrestling with Jacob in Genesis 32 and Jacob asks him his name and the Lord refuses to tell him his name. There's a sense in which to know someone's name is to know all there is to know about that person and therefore to be able to control them.

But no one can know all there is to know about Jesus. We can know him truly. We can't know him fully. We can trust him and submit to him. We can never control him.

That Jesus has an unknown name is another way of saying that he is God himself. And as God, he is incomprehensible. We can't draw a line around him and say, that's all there is to know about Jesus. Instead, there's always more of Jesus to discover. The fact that Jesus's robe is dipped in blood in verse 13 is an allusion to Isaiah 63 where the Lord himself and the Lord alone comes to carry out vengeance on his enemies.

It's a preview of the work Jesus is going to do in his coming judgment. Verse 14 refers to the armies of heaven who are probably redeemed saints and it tells us they're clothed in white linen. White linen is not military equipment. It offers no protective capacity and there's no weapons named here that the saints are holding. So they are armies but it is not their power or strength that is going to have anything to do with this decisive battle.

It's Jesus's power alone that's going to accomplish this final victory. The saints are just along for the ride. Verse 13 names Jesus the Word of God. Verse 15 tells us that a sharp sword comes out of his mouth to strike down the nations. That image is picked up from Isaiah 114 and it teaches us that it is by Jesus's word that he's going to accomplish all of God's purposes, that he's going to defeat all opposition.

That he's going to accomplish all judgment. It's through his truth. It's not by some kind of arbitrary tyranny or brute power that opposition to God is going to be subdued. It is by the truth prevailing against all opposition. That phrase ruling with a rod of iron also in verse 15 is an allusion to Psalm 2 which Madison read earlier.

It means that Jesus will one day reign over all nations with absolute authority. Psalm 2 as a whole is a script that encompasses Jesus' earthly life, his death, his resurrection, his exaltation to heaven, and his return. It's not laid out in order all like that in Psalm 2, but we can find all those events in Psalm 2. All throughout that sequence, the nations gathered together and opposed the Lord and his Messiah. But after Jesus' crucifixion, he was raised from the dead, ascended to heaven, and was installed in power at God's right hand.

That's when, as the Psalm says, the Lord says, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.

And when Jesus returns, he will claim the nations as his inheritance. He will make the ends of the earth his possession, and he'll rule over them in perfect justice. Verse 16 gives us one more detail in this portrait of Jesus as the returning, conquering king. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords. One of your pastors asked me this week, Does Jesus have a tattoo?

Well, I don't think this verse gives us evidence for that. I think the Greek grammar is best understood as meaning that this name is written on Jesus's robe, namely, the part of the robe that covers his thigh. That's significant because if you're a king entering a battle, what do you have on your thigh?

A sword. What's on Jesus' thigh? It's his name. His divine name is all the power he needs. No one can stand before that name.

That name will subdue all opposition. This name, King of kings and Lord of lords, means that Jesus demands your absolute submission and he deserves your absolute trust. He requires total surrender. He promises total security. Do you want perfect peace and protection?

Then surrender yourself to Jesus. The only thing you stand to lose is your illusion of self-sufficiency and self-rule. Look at the last phrase of verse 15. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. We'll see this again and again in the coming visions.

This means that on the final day at his return to earth, Jesus will execute God's just judgment against all who persist in sin and rebellion against him. Receiving Jesus is a package deal. You can't craft a custom portrait of Jesus and then decide, this is the Jesus I'm gonna follow and obey. You can't just take the gentle parts, the forgiving parts, the merciful parts, the parts that sound all lovey and inclusive, and so I'm gonna stop there. Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords.

This is who he is and he will come in power and glory. And the only way to accept him is to accept all of him. It's like what C.S. Lewis said of Aslan: He's not safe, but he is good.

Trampling the wine press of God's wrath is not all that Jesus has to do with that strong drink. This image of judgment as wine is a common Old Testament one. There's a repeated Old Testament refrain that God will make the nations stagger by drinking the cup of His wrath. When Jesus came to the close of His earthly ministry, He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, oh Father, if it is yous will, let this cup pass from me. Jesus was viewing His coming crucifixion as His mandated task of draining the cup of the wine of God's wrath to the full.

Before he came to trample out the wine of God's wrath, he came the first time to drain the cup himself. That is the chief purpose for which Jesus came to this earth, to drain the cup of God's wrath on behalf of everyone who had turned from sin and trust in him.

This sobering language of judgment, of a kind of strict and exacting vengeance, it's what each of us deserves from God. However hard that is for us and our pride to receive. This is what we've earned, this is what we've deserved and there's no way we can repay that debt. There's no way we can pass that cup along to someone else when it comes. But drinking that cup, draining that cup, is what Jesus came to do.

And that it was an effective sacrifice, that it was perfect and complete and sufficient to cover all who trust in him was proved by his resurrection. It was proved by all that happened next. And now the offer he holds out to you, if you don't yet believe in him, is if you trust in him, there will be no wrath for you to drink. There will be no cup for you to drain. There will be no payment you have to make for your own sins because he paid for it for you.

That's what Jesus did when he came the first time. When he comes the second time, it will be to execute God's vengeance on all who still haven't turned from their sin and trusted in him. How does Christ bring peace? First, by making peace on the cross and offering it to all who will turn from sin and trust in him. And then when he comes, He will make perfect peace by judging injustice, by perfectly subduing all opposition to God.

When Christ comes, which side of his peace will you be on? Point number two, by defeating his enemies. How does Christ bring peace? By defeating his enemies. We see this in the next section, verses 17 to 21.

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who is sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who is sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

I think this battle is the same one narrated back in chapter 16, verses 12 to 16, and that will show up again in chapter 20, verses 7 to 10. This is the last battle. It's Satan's last effort to oppose God and God's people. Common threads in all three of these visions, chapter 16, 19, and 20, include Satan's work of deceiving people into taking sides against God, Christ's immediate, effortless defeat of all of his foes and their final, eternal punishment. In verse 19, the beast and his earthly allies fight against Christ.

And in verse 20, Christ captures them and consigns them to eternal punishment. There's no drawn out conflict, there's no near defeat and having to regroup and Christ has to muster his strength and overcome them.

He simply dispatches with their opposition. When will this happen? I don't think the text gives us a timeline, but I think it's reasonable to expect some type of intensified opposition to and persecution of God's people shortly before Christ returns. We are in deep and stormy waters here, but I think Paul seems to teach the same thing in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8.

Paul says, For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. If I'm right that this is three different versions of the same battle, why does Revelation give us visions of the same event at least three different times? One reason is that the second half of the book is dominated by cosmic conflict.

Satan versus God and his people, the beast and the false prophet versus Christ and his saints. In fact, in terms of the way the characters are introduced and what happens to them, chapters 12 through 20 are structured as a chiasm. That is, kind of an X-shaped structure or a kind of there and back structure in which something's introduced in one order and repeated in the opposite order. So in chapters 12 through 17, the characters who oppose God are introduced. Satan is cast down from heaven to earth in chapter 12.

The beast and the false prophet conquer God's people in chapter 13. And then the harlot Babylon rides on the beast in the first part of chapter 17. But then, starting in chapter 17, each one of those foes of God and his people are defeated in reverse order.

So the harlot Babylon is destroyed by the beast and judged by God. That's the rest of chapter 17 into chapter 19. The beast and the false prophet are conquered as we see right here in these verses in chapter 19 and as we'll see in chapter 20, verses seven to 10, Satan himself is thrown into the lake of fire. So the sequence runs, Satan, beast and false prophet, Babylon, they're all introduced. And then Babylon, the beast and the false prophet, and Satan are all defeated.

The sequence is not chronological. The end point of each of them is the same event. But the point is to introduce this whole cast of characters, this whole set of opponents of God's people who could harm us, oppose us, entice us, get us to compromise, to introduce them all, and then show one by one how God is going to deal. With each of them. I think the point of warning about these characters' fates is twofold.

First, especially for believers, it teaches us to expect opposition because we're following Christ throughout our earthly lives. Even in some sense, to expect opposition to intensify before Christ returns. Expect this world's power to oppose God's power. Expect submitting to Christ to cost you. And I think the other point of this repeated warning us about the end of all of these opponents of God is to warn about what will happen to all who throw in their lot with them.

To warn about what will happen with all those who ally with God's enemies. Enmity against God doesn't end well for you. The point is to repent while there's still time. Earlier this week while I was studying for the sermon, I happened to listen to a new album by a songwriter that I like. This is not a Taylor Swift reference.

Kristen has listened to her new album. I have not and don't intend to. But this songwriter that I like has a line where she says, When I was seven, I saw the first film that made me scared. And I thought of this whole world ending. I thought of dying unprepared.

What's the first movie that scared you?

Kids, teens in the congregation, what about you? The first film that made you afraid? I can tell you exactly what mine is. It is Disney's original version of the Little Mermaid.

I was about three years old, went to see it in the theater with my parents, and Ursula, the evil giant witch octopus lady, who fills up the screen in her wrath when she has her creepy song, I was terrified. She haunted my dreams. That was not an ideal viewing experience.

Some people come to the book of Revelation with all these lurid visions and they treat images like the ones we're studying right now as if it's like a movie that scares a kid for no good reason. What's with all these shocking, horrifying, even disgusting images?

Isn't that a bit much? Shouldn't you like tune out to protect yourself? Isn't this some form of psychological harm? Are these visions just the product of some overly fueled, you know, vengeance driven psycho-religious imagination?

These scary images have a precise and powerful agenda. They are meant to provoke you to repent and believe in Christ while there's still time. They're meant to warn you again and again if needed out of allegiance with false gods. They're meant to shock you awake from whatever is lulling you to sleep, spiritually speaking. They're meant to bring profound and radical change.

What do the songwriters say? They're meant to make you think, her same thought. I thought of the whole world ending. I thought of dying unprepared.

What will it take for you to be prepared to die?

What will happen if you die unprepared?

Point number three.

By rewarding his people. How does Christ bring peace? By rewarding his people.

We see this in chapter 20, verses 1 to 6. Before I read the verses, a few comments. You might think that in this sermon series so far, we have covered some difficult and disputed passages. You are correct.

But I'm here to tell you that these six verses are the most difficult and disputed of them all. In fact, one scholar I greatly respect has publicly argued for three different positions. That scholar happens to be with us this morning. Hey, Tom.

Your most recent position didn't quite persuade me, but I love your commentary. It's been so helpful to me in preparing this whole series. So thank you, brother.

Now, I aim to keep this sermon from turning into a lecture as much as I can. It's gonna get a little lectury and I'm gonna try to bring it back to a sermon. If you have questions, feel free to ask me afterward or even better just ask Tom.

I would also highly recommend Mark's sermon on this passage from his Revelation series 15 years ago. One of Mark's main points when he addressed this section was that disagreements about how to interpret these verses should not be a source of division between Christians and they should not in any sense be a requirement for church membership. Now, with all that in mind, let's read verses 1 to 6 of chapter 20.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed.

Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection.

Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. There are a wide variety of interpretations of this passage. The two most common are typically called premillennialism and amillennialism. There are all kinds of variations within those two positions. There's also postmillennialism, but that's sort of a variant of amillennialism, so we're just going to leave it aside.

I hold amillennialism, but not dogmatically. I'm not as confident of it as I am of dozens or probably hundreds of other theological positions I hold. In brief, here's the two main views. Premillennialism understands these verses to teach that when Christ returns, his people will be resurrected and there will be a time period of either a thousand years or the thousand years are a symbol for a very long time when there will be widespread peace and justice with Christ reigning on earth. But it's not yet the final state.

Not yet the new creation. At the end of that period, after that millennium, Satan will mount his final attack, Christ will decisively defeat him, and then will come the final judgment and the new creation. In brief, the version of amillennialism that I tentatively hold to understands these verses to describe the whole time between Christ's first and second comings.

In this period, Satan is bound in the sense that he can't deceive the nations as he formerly did. Specifically, he can't keep the elect from every nation from coming to faith in Christ. And until the very end of this age, until the end of that period, he can't entice the powers of the earth to unite in a final opposition to God and his people. On this understanding, the first resurrection described in verses 4 to 6 is a metaphorical way of describing the life that saints have with Christ in heaven. As we await our final reward.

In other words, Amillennialism understands that first resurrection to be spiritual while the second is physical. I'll say more on that later. Both of these main positions have strengths and weaknesses. For instance, premillennialists rightly point out that in every other use of the word in the New Testament, resurrection refers to a physical, not a spiritual, coming to life. And they suggest that the Amillennial interpretation of Satan being bound doesn't do justice to the strength of the image that Satan is bound, shut in, sealed, can't get out.

Those are strong points. Nevertheless, I don't find them decisive. Here, as briefly as I can, are five reasons why I find the Amillennial reading more persuasive: genre, context, parallels, imagery, and the rest of the New Testament. Do not feel obligated to take notes on this. I hear pens clicking.

If you want, feel free, but don't feel like you have to. If you're ever going to take a break from note-taking, here's the time to just take it easy.

Five brief reasons. Genre, context, parallels, imagery, the rest of the New Testament. If you have a very keen memory, you'll note that here I'm going over some of the material I covered in my evening devotional on this passage. Last year. Number one, genre.

As we've seen throughout the book, these visions are symbolic. They're packed with metaphorical imagery. In the first couple verses alone, we have a key, a bottomless pit, a dragon implied, a lid over the pit. It's entirely in bounds within a highly symbolic vision to use a term or a concept differently than you would outside of such a symbolic vision. So yes, resurrection normally is physical, but this is a vision of resurrection.

It doesn't necessarily have to mean the same thing. The whole vision is a kind of metaphor. The question is, what does it describe? What does it refer to? A second reason is context.

A pre-millennial reading sees chapter 20, verse 1 as chronologically following the events of chapter 19, verses 17 to 21. But I think this chronological sequence faces difficulties that are so strong as to be decisive. In other words, this millennium doesn't and can't follow the battle described in verses 17 to 21. One factor here is that when John says, Then I saw, which he says often throughout Revelation, that doesn't imply that the thing he sees next happens next. He's like clicking to a new vision.

It's almost like changing the channel in the apocalyptic revelation. This is what he saw next, often what he sees next, either happened at the same time as the last vision or it even could be something before. Another factor is that both battles in chapters 19 and 20 are patterned on the battle prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39. This suggests that they refer to the same battle, not two different battles. Even in Ezekiel 38:39, the same battle is narrated twice, same thing in two different ways.

And there's even a detail that Revelation's version captures. So between Ezekiel 38:39 and Revelation's two versions, in both of those, in the first one, the enemy is destroyed by a sword. In the second one, they're devoured by fire.

A final factor on the context here, trying to put together the order of these visions, I would suggest that it simply doesn't make sense to see Satan being bound so that he can't deceive the nations after the nations have already been both deceived by him and judged by Christ at his return. In other words, at the end of the battle, narrated at the end of chapter 19, there are no more unbelieving nations left to deceive. Christ has dealt out final and full judgment. There's no one left around for Satan to work on. Number three, parallels.

Just briefly, Revelation 6:9-11, Revelation 12:9-11. I think there are strong commonalities with our current passage. I won't go through them all but there are references to martyrs, there's Satan's power being restricted, there's Christians bearing faithful witness even unto death, there's a sense of rest and reward for God's people even as we await our final fate. And in both of those, present rejoicing is not the end of the story but something that comes before the end. A fourth reason is sequence.

Now, I'm not saying this is decisive but I think this is the best way to put together John's language of resurrection and death, the sequence. In verse five, John refers to believers' reign with Christ as the first resurrection. Then he says in verse 6 that over all those who share in the first resurrection, the second death has no power. First resurrection implies a second. Second death implies a first.

So how can we put together this whole sequence? First death, second death, first resurrection, second resurrection. I think it goes like this: first death, first resurrection, second resurrection, second death. I think this also fits with what we read in John 5 earlier. It's another kind of chiasm.

The first death, that is, all people die except for those who are alive at Christ's return. So believer and unbeliever alike, we all die. Then the first resurrection. This, on my view, is the life that believers experience with Christ in heaven immediately following death until his return in the new creation. The first resurrection is not something all people experience, but only those who trust in Christ.

Then comes the second resurrection, which all people do experience, believer and unbeliever alike, as we read earlier, when Christ returns. And then there's the second death. This is the eternal spiritual death that all unbelievers will suffer as punishment for sin. We see this in chapter 20 verse 14 and the same phrase is used elsewhere. It includes, of course, a physical element but the accent is on eternal, conscious torment.

The first death is physical, the second spiritual. The first resurrection is spiritual, the second physical. I think John weaves together this language of death and resurrection in part to make the point that as a foretaste of our final reward, the life we experience with Christ in heaven at death really is a new form of life. It really is something to look forward to. It really does to reverse our earthly conditions, especially our suffering and our persecution.

Fifth reason, very briefly, the rest of the New Testament. In brief, I understand the rest of the New Testament to teach that Christ's return is a single event that instantly completes all of God's saving and judging purposes. I'd see a passage like 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 as positively teaching that at the very time of Christ's return, all the debt are raised, and the final judgment happens. Now, if those details are a bit overwhelming or leave your head spinning or you're just not used to so much dry exegetical detail in a sermon, here's the main point. And it's a main point that both pre-millennialists and amillennialists and most folks could agree on.

The point of this, these six verses, this thousand-year reign is the reward of Christ's people. Specifically, it's the reward that makes up for all the losses we suffer for his sake. John saw those who were beheaded brought to life. John saw those who refused to worship the beast and were persecuted for it reigning with Christ in heaven. John saw those who were excluded, marginalized, cast down in this life now in bliss, not only in bliss but in authority.

John's point is that present reign with Christ in heaven at death or in the millennium, if that's how you understand it, is every believer's reward for all the losses and hardships we undergo for his sake. John's point is the same as the words of the famous missionary martyr Jim Elliot, which you can see on the plaque. At the entrance to our parking lot. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. To the world, the martyr's death looks like defeat.

It looks like the triumph of the world's power over God's power. But this promise of a present immediate reign with Christ reminds us that martyrdom is victory, as we sang earlier. When passing through the gates of pearly splendor, victors we rest with thee through endless days. Already in heaven we will live with Christ and rule with him. One day that rule will be brought to earth as it is in heaven.

How does Christ bring peace? By rewarding his people. By ushering us directly out of the violence of this world into the shalom of heaven. Point four, by destroying the devil.

How does Christ bring peace? By destroying the devil. We see this in verses 7 to 10 of chapter 20.

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth. Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them.

And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. So as I mentioned earlier, I think these verses are a video replay of chapter 19, verses 17 to 21. And like a video replay, they give you a different angle on the action. Kristen and I had a blast taking our girls and Noelle Regue to the Washington Spirit game yesterday at Audi Field.

It was an amazing game. There was an incredible goal. And then when you watch the replay from another angle, you kind of see how even more incredible it was. We were looking straight at the field when you look sideways to see how far away it was when she kicked it. So this is a kind of video replay of the same battle, but it's a complementary angle.

And the focus here is on Satan instead of the beast and the false prophet. Satan himself is the personal embodiment of evil. The beast and the false prophet are just his minions. And the accent here is on deceit. Throughout the thousand years, Satan's deception is kept at bay.

But now the vision says twice in verses 8 and 10, Satan deceives the nations into giving a final battle against God. As I mentioned earlier, this vision is closely patterned on Ezekiel 38 to 39, which also names the hostile force Gog and Magog. That doesn't refer to a particular place or a literal political power. In Ezekiel, Gog is the leader and Magog are the people. It's kind of like if you're talking about World War II and you were saying Hitler and the Germans.

And here, this evil power gathers other nations for battle against God and his people. Verses 9 and 10, like the whole vision, are highly symbolic. They portray God's global multi-ethnic people in terms taken from the history of Israel, different parts of Israel's history. So the camp of the saints recalls the wilderness period. The beloved city uses the city of Jerusalem as a symbol for the people themselves.

Just like chapter 21, we'll use the new Jerusalem as an image for God's people. This is not giving us a schematic of battle movements. These two images, the camp of the saints and the beloved city, are complementary descriptions. They clash if you try to take them literally. Well, what did they surround?

Was the camp next to the city? No, no, the camp is the city. It's all one thing. What's the point of this replay of the last battle? The point is simple: Jesus will destroy the devil.

He will defeat him fully and finally. Jesus will unmask Satan's lies forever. He will remove every shred of Satan's power and influence. So now that should exhort you to resist Satan's schemes, expect clever tactics on his part, and resist his deceit with godly wisdom. What are some of Satan's deceptive strategies he uses on us in the present?

Consider all the different lies Satan tells us to entice us to sin. That would be a good lunchtime conversation. What are some of Satan's most common lies that he uses to entice us to sin? I'll give you one to start.

Before you sin, Satan tells you repentance is easy. After you sin, Satan tells you repentance is impossible. I'll say that again. Before you sin, Satan tells you repentance is easy. After you sin, Satan tells you repentance is impossible.

Both lies.

If you're not a believer in Jesus, you might find all this talk of Satan off-putting. Strange. But here's the basic point of it. The Bible is showing you the deepest roots of the conflicts in your life. The Bible is showing you that the things going on in your life have very deep spiritual roots.

They're rooted in sin. And in a sense, Satan himself is like sin incarnate. There are spiritual forces at work in your life, even if you don't know it. Maybe especially if you don't know it. The roots of your conflicts are deeper than you know and maybe even deeper than you fear.

Whose peace can reach that far down? Whose peace can reach farther than Satan's opposition?

Point number five, by judging all people. How does Christ bring peace? By judging all people. We see this in the last vision. Verses 11 to 15.

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who is seated on it, from His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it.

Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Now John sees the scene of the final judgment and he appropriates that work of judgment to God the Father.

God is seated on the throne, but we know that Jesus from the vision starting in verse 11, we know that Jesus himself has this authority to judge and comes to judge. So judgment is executed equally and inseparably by the Father and Son. The sun. Verse 11 says, From his presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. When God shows up, creation itself gets out of the way.

When God comes to judge, creation runs and hides, but people will not be able to.

As the Anglican theologian Austin Farrer put it, Nothing can stand before him, yet the dead must. In verse 12, all people of all social standings give an account of themselves to God. Verse 13 is like a flashback. It tells us how they got there. Wherever they have died, wherever their graves are, they're going to come out of those graves, get on up, and get before the throne.

That's what's happening in verse 13. And verse 13 tells us, this is when God judges all people for everything they ever do. Verse 13, according to what they had done. On that day, God will reveal everything you've done. He will review everything you've done.

And he will reward and repay you in accordance. With all that you've done. This judgment according to works applies to all believer and unbeliever alike. Though in a moment we'll come to the reason why their fates finally diverge. But for now, I want to focus again on verse 12.

And books were opened. Revelation uses this image of a book being opened for final judgment to refer figuratively to God's own perfect knowledge of all people and all events.

God's memory never fails. He never forgets or distorts. He is the ultimate witness to your life. And the fact that the book is opened shows that the truth of your life is going to be exposed and it's going to be the basis for God rendering judgment over your whole life. I live a very bookish life.

Anyone who's been to my office knows that it strikingly resembles a library. My kids love that every time they come in. Dad, it's just like going to the library. I love reading and writing. My hobbies strangely resemble my work responsibilities.

They have a great overlap. I love in writing what it does to thinking. How you can discover something in the process of trying to figure out how to say it.

I love what writing does to experience. How maybe even if you've suffered something hard or difficult or confusing, writing can turn that into something accessible to others and even beautiful. I love reading and writing.

Reading gives you a window into lives you could never live. It gives you a window into times and places you could never go.

Wherever you find me, a book will not be far away. But here's the thing, all human books, like their authors, are mortal. All human books are fallible. They'll fade, they'll be forgotten, and they're all imperfect. All human writing is imperfect.

All human reading is imperfect. But not so with God. His book, His record of all your thoughts, words and deeds is perfect.

There's no chance that He Himself will open up the page and misunderstand what he himself has written. The image of books being opened says that one day your whole life will be subject to the most sober, exacting, and unsparing scrutiny. My question for you now is, what will you be embarrassed by then?

And what can you do about it now?

What have you done this week that you will not be happy to have recorded in God's book and read out on the last day? Who did you lie to? Who did you lose your temper at? What did you take that wasn't yours? And what can you do about it now?

If you repent of that sin now, you can have a very different accounting to render. Of this upcoming week and the next month and the next year and the next decade. But that deed will be exposed. If you expose it now, that final accounting will get a whole lot better. And here comes even better news.

The book recording your deeds is not the only book that's there at the final judgment. Looking at verse 12, Then another book will be opened, book was opened, which is the book of life. Verse 15, if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. What makes the decisive difference between eternal bliss and eternal torment? It's whether your name is written in this book.

What's the full title of this book? John tells us elsewhere. And in Revelation. It helps to remember the exact words of the title of this book. Chapter 13, verse 8, the Book of Life of the Lamb who Was Slain.

This is the Lamb's book. And his sacrifice for all who believe is written in the title. It's on the COVID You can judge this book by its cover. The Book of Life of the Lamb of the Lamb who was slain. This book tells you that those in it are covered by the Lamb's blood.

This book tells you by its very title that those who are in it did not get in by anything good they did. This book tells you that those who are in it are in it only because of the mercy and the love of God. This book tells you that those who are in it are safe from final judgment because the Lamb's blood covers them like the Passover Lamb's blood covered the houses of the Israelites. This book's title tells you what it's all about. This book tells you that if your name is in this book, you are safe and secure forever.

If your name is in this book, you've passed from death to life. And so you can face that final judgment confident without fear. If you're the kind of believer who has a tender conscience, who struggles with assurance, who struggles to know whether you're saved, remember, you didn't write your name in this book, God did. You believe in Jesus because God chose you, because God put your name into that book. If you struggle to know that God loves you, remember, he didn't have to write your name.

He didn't have to put you in this book. He chose to set his affection on you from all eternity. And with your name in this book, you are safe from wrath forever. So as sobering as it is to realize there will be a final accounting and a judgment according to works, this book also teaches, meaning the the Book of Life teaches, justification by faith. The image of the two different books is a kind of pictorial shorthand for justification by faith and judgment according to works.

That your name is written in the Book of Life and that's how you get in is justification by faith. That we'll all have to stand before God and still give an account and that there will be degrees of reward for believers and degrees of punishment from believers, that's judgment according to works. That may seem like a paradox, but it's not a contradiction. Both books are there and the book that makes the biggest difference is the Lamb's Book of Life.

What happens after that final judgment? After the names are read out, after the deeds are read out, what happens next? Verse 14 tells us, Death itself is judged. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The point is that on the last day, God will destroy death itself.

Death is the last enemy to be defeated and on that day through Christ, God will defeat death. Death's days are numbered. Death's clock is ticking. Death is ticking. Believer in Jesus, death is coming for you.

But God is coming for death.

God is stalking death.

God is sneaking up behind death. On the last day, God will take death. And throw it into the lake of fire. That's one among countless reasons our passage gives us to confess, It is well with my soul. Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, we We praise youe for your grace in preparing a book of life. Father, we pray for those who don't yet trust in Jesus, that they would. We pray for those who do trust in Jesus, that they would persevere. We pray that yout'd grant us to resist Satan's schemes, knowing that his day is coming. And death day too.

We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.