There are a great many
people in the world today who would give anything to be able to
read the future. How often people have said to me, "If I could
only know what the future holds; If I could only catch a glimpse
of what lies ahead." If people would only read their Bibles! Why
God has revealed to man the events to take place for over a
thousand years in the future.
1000 Years of Heaven
In the prophetic book of
Revelation St John has recorded an amazing prophecy which is
found in
Revelation 20:6, “Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no
power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall
reign with him a thousand years.”
When Jesus shall come to
gather His people; when the great trumpet is blown; all those
who have died in Christ will come forth to eternal life and then
they are taken home to heaven.
Jesus said in
John
14:2,3, “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it
were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you.
Verse 3
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and
receive you unto myself…”
So you see there is a
thousand years of joy and happiness in the future for God's
people.
Why Only 1000 Years?
However I am sure that
some of you will be thinking "I thought we are going to live
forever? What do you mean by a thousand years?" That is true! We will
live forever. Why a 1000 years?
Well, let us take a look
at what the Scripture says about it. When does it start? What
will happen at the end of it?
We will turn to
Jeremiah
25:31-33. “A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for
the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with
all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith
the LORD.
Verse 32 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go
forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be
raised up from the coasts of the earth.
Verse 33 And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one
end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they
shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall
be dung upon the ground.”
How did things come to
this terrible state? Nobody left to mourn or bury the dead?
The Earth Desolate and Made Waste
Isaiah gives us a
picture of what takes place at this time. “Behold, the LORD maketh
the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside
down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” (Isaiah
24:1)
It is a desolate
picture. The earth is to be emptied; made waste.
Verse 3
says, "The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled:
for the LORD hath spoken this word.”
Isaiah 24:19,20 say,
“The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved,
the earth is moved exceedingly.
Verse 20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and
shall be removed like a cottage....”
The Great Earthquake
This is a picture of
desolation and ruin. Did you notice that the earth shall reel to
and fro like a drunkard? Have you wondered what that means? It is the great
earthquake that takes place at the coming of the LORD.
Isaiah 2:19 says, "And
they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of
the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his
majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”
Being a New Zealander I
know something about earthquakes. As long as I live I will never
forget the terrible Napier - Hastings earthquake (of 1932).
There was a deadly hush, an uncanny stillness; not a sound from
bird or beast; when suddenly it seemed as if the earth had gone
mad. The building that I was in began to sway back and forth
with ever increasing rapidity. How I got out I do not know, but
I did and as I tried to stand erect I saw the great clock come
crashing down. The bell rang once or twice as it fell. Great
cracks opened in the roads and cars and their occupants were
swallowed up and buried alive as the ground closed up again. That was terrible, but I
want you to read a description of the greatest earthquake this
world will ever know.
Revelation 16:18 says,
“And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there
was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the
earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.”
Now notice
verse 20, "And every island fled
away, and the mountains were not found.”
Did you know that in
Japan, in 2 minutes 250,000 people died from an earthquake? But
when God shakes this earth like it has never been shaken before
I could not even guess what the death toll will be.
Heavens Departed as a Scroll
Now here is another
picture of the events that take place at this time.
Revelation 6:14-17 says,
“And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together;
and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Verse 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the
rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every
bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in
the rocks of the mountains;
Verse 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and
hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb:
Verse 17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall
be able to stand?”
I tell you that all
people are thinking about today is money, or their friends, or
success. But
Ezekiel 7:19 tells us that they will cast their
money into the streets and gutters. Money won’t be worth
anything in that day. However we must move on, as we look at
these great final events.
The Second Coming
Matthew 24:30,31 says,
"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see
the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory.
Verse 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a
trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four
winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
To those who have
despised the truth; To those who have
rejected the Christ; To those who have
scorned the warnings of God; this day will be a day
of terror. But to God’s people it
will be the greatest day of their lives. This is the day that
will mark the beginning of the 1000 years.
St Paul describes it in
1 Thessalonians 4:16,17; "For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Verse 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:
and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
What a glorious day for
the people of God! What rejoicing as the angels gather those
precious souls up to meet Jesus. It will be joy
unutterable. But it will be a very sad day for those who have
despised the salvation of God. St Paul tells us in
2
Thessalonians 2:8 that they will be destroyed by the very
brightness of His coming.
The picture is clear.
The people of God are in heaven enjoying the wonders of the
celestial land. That is what Jesus told
us in
John 14 for HE said “ I will
come again” so that My People can be with Me in heaven.
The 1st Resurrection
Now notice another
vision that St John witnessed in
Revelation 7:9. "After this I beheld,
and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the
throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms
in their hands;”
A great multitude of the
Redeemed standing before the throne and praising God. That is
why it says in
Revelation 20:6, “Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no
power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall
reign with him a thousand years.”
The Earth Empty
This means that there is
no one living on this earth for 1000 years. The Earth is
depopulated, and that agrees with what God says in
Jeremiah
4:23-25. “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and
void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
Verse 24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all
the hills moved lightly.
Verse 25 I beheld, and,
lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were
fled.”
Verse 26 "I beheld, and,
lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities
thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his
fierce anger.”
It seems very positive
from this that he old Earth is a very empty place at this time.
We are told that the Lord maketh the Earth emply. He makes it waste. There is
no man. The birds are all gone; the cities are all broken down. It
is a picture of desolation and emptiness.
Satan Bound for 1000 Years
However St John goes on
to describe another remarkable happening.
Revelation 20:1-3
says, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key
of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Verse 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which
is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Verse 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up,
and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no
more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after
that he must be loosed a little season.”
There are some people
who say that the devil was bound
in 1914. If that were the case I
would not like to be around when he does get loose. Since 1914
we have had nothing but wars, calamities and catastrophes on a
major scale.
The bottomless pit is a
description of the Earth after the terrible earthquake. In the beginning of this
world we are told that it was without form and void. So during
this time it reverts to its original condition.
Satan
is bound for 1000 years. He is bound by circumstances for there
is no one to tempt.
Satan Reflects for 1000 Years
He is able to review his
past triumphs. He thinks of those whom he deceived into thinking
that the greatest quest of life was the search for wealth. Then
of those whom he deceived into thinking that all that was
necessary to gain eternal life was to live a good life. There was no need for
taking a definite stand for Jesus Christ.
But the greatest
majority of those who were lost and damned were those who said
“God is not particular, He is not fussy. He cannot expect us to
do everything He asks us to do."
As Satan reviews his
conquests and thinks of the Great Multitude that he has deceived
he fills with pride.
But a 1000 years is a
long time. No matter how successful
he may have been in the past, his work is at a standstill during
this time There is plenty of time for reflection. However we
must move on.
Resurrection of the Damned
A remarkable thing is to
happen at the end of the 1000 years; the dead, that is all those
who have died in sin, they are going to be raised again. Jesus mentions it in
John 5:29. He calls it the
resurrection of damnation. Daniel
calls it the resurrection of shame in
Daniel 12:2. Paul speaks of it as the
resurrection of the unjust (Acts 24:15). Revelation 20:5 says,
“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand
years were finished.” Modern versions of the
Bible: "The rest of the dead did not come to life until the
thousand years were over.
The resurrection of the
damned is not a very pleasant thing. As the wicked went into
their graves so they are raised. What a contrast to those
who were raised at the first resurrection! The people of God were
clothed with immortal youth and beauty, but the wicked bear the
traces of diseases and death. Their faces are cruel
and hard just as they were before death.
Satan Deceives the Wicked
Satan has no difficulty
in deceiving the wicked.
Revelation 20:7,8 says,
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed
out of his prison,
Verse 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the
four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them
together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the
sea.”
The wicked are raised,
so naturally Satan is loosed to deceive them. There will be billions
of them.
A lot of people have the
idea that if you are with the majority then you are sure to be
right. But I tell you it will be bad to be with the majority on
that day.
New Jerusalem Coming Down from Heaven
St John sees another
great event take place. He saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem
coming down from heaven.
Revelation 21:2,3 says,
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Verse 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them,
and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with
them, and be their God.”
The beautiful Holy City,
the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven to become the capital
of the universe, right here on this earth. We are even told where
it will be situated. In
Zechariah 14:3,4 it
says that the Mount of Olives will split in two and form a great
valley and there will stand the great city.
The Final Deception
As Satan and his evil
host look at the great city,
they decide that this is their last chance. They must take the
city.
Revelation 20:8,9 says,
“And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four
quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together
to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Verse 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and
compassed the camp of the saints about…”
Satan prepares for the
last mighty struggle for supremacy.
During the 1000 years he
was shorn of his power. But now as he sees that the wicked are
raised, the prince of evil sees a vast multitude on his side. He
determines that he is going to win this final battle. The wicked are his
captives. In rejecting Christ they have accepted the rule of the
great rebel. They are ready to do his bidding.
Did you notice that the
Scripture says that "He shall go out to deceive the nations.” It is apparent that they
are unaware of his true identity. He pretends that he is
the prince of this world and possibly assures
them that through his power they were brought forth from the
graves. As they see the great
numbers on their side, and then compare the number of those
inside the Holy City. They are greatly
encouraged.
Assault on the New Jerusalem
They begin to lay plans
for the assault on the New Jerusalem. Famous military leaders of
the past organize them into an army.
When all is ready the
march towards the city begins. Satan is in the lead followed by
his angels, then kings and great men close behind. The armies of
Satan surround the city.
Appearance of Christ
Suddenly Christ appears
to the view of His enemies.
Revelation 20:11 says,
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was
found no place for them.”
As the wicked host are
ready to make their attack on the celestial city they are
suddenly paralyzed by a scene of indescribable glory.
Panoramic View of the Great Controversy
As one inspired writer
pictures the scene in these words, "Far above the city, upon a
foundation of burnished gold, is a
throne, high and lifted up. Upon this throne sits the Son of
God, and around Him are the subjects of His kingdom. The power
and majesty of Christ no language can describe, no pen portray.
Above the throne is revealed the cross and like a panoramic view
appear the scenes of Adam's temptation and fall, and the
successive steps in the great plan of redemption...."
Yes, like a great motion
picture is revealed the scenes of the great Controversy between
Christ and Satan. Everyone is conscious of
their guilt. All those who down the streams of time have
rejected Christ, who have openly defied Him now see
the coronation of Christ take place.
It is at this time, is
fulfilled what is written in
Philippians 2:10,11; “That at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and
things in earth, and things under the earth;
Verse 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Every knee will bow,
every tongue will confess, but from wicked it will come
grudgingly for a while. The wicked are petrified and powerless
to move, but filled with frenzy
Satan makes his last desperate effort. He rushes into the midst of
his subjects and arouses them to battle. The final curtain is
drawn.
Music Page
