No 2nd Chances - Revelation 19:15-20:3

[0:00] Hey guys, thanks for listening to our Calvary Chapel Charlotte podcast.! I will walk by faith and not by sight.

[0:48] Revelation 19, we'll finish 19 and we will just crack the door on 20 tonight. As we finish up this chapter and move into really exciting stuff, really just amazing stuff for the Lord.

[1:05] He could have ended with 19 and wrapping up in 20 and just been like, hey guys, I got it all. You'll see what's to come. But he kind of throws it out there and says, hey, this is what's to come. This is what it is.

[1:17] I has not seen, neither is ear heard, neither is entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. Oh, what will it be? If a relationship with him is this wonderful now, what will it be there?

[1:30] So last time we were together, we looked at, we ended in verse 14, that the armies which were in heaven followed upon white horses, clothed in linen and fine linen, white and clean.

[1:43] They followed the rider on the white horse, the one who was coming, who heaven had opened for to release him. Out he comes. And we said, it brought up this whole question of resurrection.

[1:57] It brought up the question of, well, who are these people, the white horses? Did the resurrection happen? What is the resurrection? You know, and I was thinking of it that the context of scripture determines the meaning of scripture.

[2:11] The context. You can think of context as the container, that which contains the text. And context is very, very important. It's important in everyday life, right? If I said to you or someone said to you, man, did you hear about Mr. Jacobson?

[2:23] Dude, that flood, it like, it wiped out his bank. Say, no way. Yeah, yeah. Anybody get hurt? I mean, the whole thing's, the whole thing's gone. I don't think anyone got hurt.

[2:34] It's like, well, man, I hope he didn't have all his money there. Like, I know, I know. And you go and talk to him and you see him, you're like, oh, Mr. Jacobson, I heard about your bank. He's like, yeah, it's too bad. Whole thing just washed away. Anybody get hurt?

[2:45] No, no one got hurt. No one was around. Oh, what about your money? Don't you keep your, I didn't keep my money there. What are you talking about? So my bank washed away. Who cares? Right? Context is important.

[2:56] If Mr. Jacobson is a farmer who has a stream through his pasture and like his bank washes away. If you know that context and someone comes to you and says, did you hear about Mr. Jacobson's bank? It washed away. And you're like, yeah, well, that happens every rainy season.

[3:08] It's no big deal. But context is important. It's very important. It's important in everyday life. And it's super important when we approach God's word. If we don't allow the scripture to say what it means, if we don't allow the scripture to contain the text for us, we will be everywhere.

[3:23] And there are people that are everywhere. There's all kinds of interesting doctrines and cults and religions and things that have been based off of scripture, based off of a text, based off of something that someone pulled out of the scripture.

[3:38] But it's no longer contained by the text. It's very important. It's very important as we look at this section of scripture. Let the scripture speak for itself. And so in Revelation 19, 14, we ask the question about the resurrection.

[3:51] Did it just take place? Who are these people? Was there the resurrection, the promise that Jesus gave of the resurrection? We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. This mortal must put on immortality.

[4:03] This corruption must put on incorruption. Did it just happen? Had it already taken place? Or is it yet future? And we looked at a bunch of different things and talking about how scripture must reconcile with scripture.

[4:15] The ideas we hold regarding resurrection, they must reconcile with scripture. And we looked at what does reconcile with scripture? Well, the resurrection having previously taken place long before Revelation 19 reconciles with scripture.

[4:29] We're not going to go through all the reasons that other ideas don't. But this is why it does reconcile that the resurrection took place before Revelation 19 and a good bit before it back in Revelation 4.

[4:42] And the reason is it reconciles with scripture because the church would then be delivered from wrath as promised. None of the New Testament writers place the church in the coming time of God's wrath. They don't.

[4:53] So the resurrection couldn't be taking place now because neither of those conditions can be met. They can't reconcile with scripture. The New Testament writers imminently expected the return of Christ for his church.

[5:03] There's just no getting around it. Paul says we. We. He expected it. He looked for it. And the church has no part in any of the 70 weeks of Daniel. We're going to see that this week. And we're going to see that in chapter 20.

[5:15] The 69 weeks that have taken place, the church was not there. It was all Israel. This 70th week of Daniel, these seven years has to have to do with Israel specifically. And we're going to see that Jesus is coming back for that purpose.

[5:30] And the entire symbology used by Jesus throughout his ministry and the New Testament writers use it. The entire symbology of marriage. It reconciles that Jesus came for his bride.

[5:43] Philippians 3.20 says, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Eagerly to earnestly and attentively wait with patience and perseverance.

[5:57] So Paul writes this and says, listen, guys, my place of belonging is heaven. And I am earnestly, I am attentively, with patience and perseverance, I am waiting for my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[6:11] And I can say the same thing. You know, I don't think I was as eager as Paul. I wish I was. I have peaks and valleys of eagerness. Right? Man, to earnestly and attentively wait with patience and perseverance for him.

[6:25] You know, these things that we say we believe as we look to the scripture and we attempt as best we can to understand it, to let it speak for itself. It's a little crazy.

[6:35] I had my friend and I, we used to talk about this. You know, it's kind of crazy what we believe. Isn't it, though? When you stop and think about that, like, I believe that by giving mental assent to truths and principles and historical facts contained in this book, that that has done something eternal in me that will last beyond my death.

[6:55] That's pretty crazy. And then I believe that God has promised he's going to resurrect me into eternity. That's pretty crazy. That's some crazy stuff.

[7:06] And I think Paul kind of had that in mind as he wrote to Timothy at the end of his life in 2 Timothy, this last letter to Timothy. He says in 2 Timothy 1, verse 7, he says, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

[7:23] We're not crazy. Okay? We have a sound mind. Be not thou therefore what? Don't be ashamed. Don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner.

[7:35] Why? Because the world believes it's shameful. It's shame on you to believe that. You know, one of the biggest reasons they consider it shameful? Is because we don't love this world. They can't handle it.

[7:45] No. Life is all about here. It's all about now. It's all about me. It's all about this world. And we say, no. This world is gone. That's shameful to them. Unfortunately, it's very shameful to a large part of the professing church.

[7:59] But contrasting that, be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Thank the Lord for that part, according to the power of God. The afflictions we suffer.

[8:11] Man, we have God's very power. His ability to go through them. Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace.

[8:23] Which was given us in Jesus Christ before the world began. What is he saying there? He's essentially saying, guys, don't be ashamed of this. It existed before this world. And it's going to exist after this world.

[8:34] Okay? Don't be ashamed of it. It was given us in Christ before the world began. God's purposes and God's grace have nothing to do with the opinion of man or how well it's received here.

[8:45] He has called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works. Why not according to our works? Because we are mortal, right? We are eternally, we are eternal beings. We will exist eternally, right?

[8:58] We have been made in the image of God. We are eternal beings. But we live in a temporal, mortal existence. So any works we do are then temporal and mortal.

[9:09] How can I do an eternal work when I don't have the capacity to do that? Now, yes, as an eternal being, in a sense, one that's been created in the image of God, I will die and my soul will exist and continue existing.

[9:23] But right now, I'm limited to the sphere that God has created me in. And it is not one that has access to be able to do the type of work that needs to be done for an eternal redemption of an eternal soul.

[9:35] So Paul says, it's not according to our works. We don't have that capacity, guys. But according to his purpose and grace, which existed before the world began, it's going to endure after it. What we believe is shameful to the world.

[9:49] But what we believe existed before this world, and it will endure after this world. We believe that we have made eternal decisions, eternal choices. And those choices, as we're going to see today, there's no second chances.

[10:03] An eternal decision is eternal. And there's no second chance. Now, that's for good or for bad, right? I have made an eternal decision. Eternal life, by its very definition, is eternal.

[10:16] If it ends, it's not eternal. Very basic, right? And I believe, having made that decision, there's no going back from it. That's an eternal choice.

[10:26] Praise God. So in verse 15, we are picking right back up with heaven has been opened. The armies have returned with Christ, with the rider on the white horse.

[10:39] And now we get this description regarding him. We're told what he's about and what he's going to do. And he's coming to wrap some things up, to finish some work, before then he does something new.

[10:52] And so out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

[11:08] We've seen this sword before going out of a mouth. In Revelation chapter 1, John hears the voice, he turns, and he sees this person with eyes that are fire, and his hair is like wool.

[11:21] And in his right hand he had seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as a sun which shines in his strength. And so out of his mouth goes his sword.

[11:32] And here we see again, the one that out of his mouth goes a sharp sword. We've seen the wrath of God. In Revelation chapter 6, at the end of Revelation 6, it says that the people of the earth are crying, you know, let the rocks fall on us.

[11:49] Whoa! Because of the, hide us from the face of him that sits upon the throne, and the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath has come. And now we see here there's something added to this.

[12:01] For he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of God. Wrath means anger, passion. Fierceness means passion, anger, heat.

[12:14] But the idea is a boiling up, quick boiling up, and quickly to be subdued. Just think of something that's fierce, like the fierceness of an animal, you know. A dog could be very passive, and all of a sudden, he's very fierce, and then he calms right back down.

[12:27] That's the idea. There's this culmination of it's, yes, God's wrath, and now there's this fierceness. We're going to see it's very, very fierce, what's going to happen. Revelation 14.

[12:40] We saw the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and he gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

[12:51] And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even under the horse's bridles, by the space of 1,600 furlongs. I think that's 200 miles. I remember.

[13:02] So that's the description of what is happening now, as Jesus returns in Revelation 19. A winepress. What does that mean? Well, it's something that contains, what, grapes that are about to be squashed.

[13:14] There's no escaping it, and there's no leaving it the same way you went in. And what does Jesus come to do? He's coming to separate. He had said in Matthew 10, 34, he said, Think not, and come to send peace on the earth.

[13:27] I came not to send peace, but a sword. Jesus brings division. Jesus brings separation. Jesus brings the need for a choice. You know, in Hebrews 4, we all know that scripture.

[13:41] In Hebrews 4, 12, the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even the dividing of thunder of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Verse 13 says, He knows exactly what's going on.

[14:04] Nothing's hid from him as he comes. And the idea is his word reveals all. You know, that's one of my favorite scriptures. I think I got a lot of favorite scriptures. Definitely one of my favorite.

[14:14] But one part has always kind of made me go, huh, interesting. I mean, I can understand it's quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. And I get that, you know, it divides between soul and spirit.

[14:26] You know, is that soulish? Is that on my passions and feelings? Or is that of the spirit? You know, and I get that it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. You know, many times the condemnation of the enemy is what?

[14:38] Oh, that wasn't intent. I'm like, oh, no. The Lord's like, no, no, it's just a thought. Thoughts blow through your mind like the wind. Let them keep blowing. Right. But the one part that the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, dividing asunder between joints and marrow.

[14:54] What does that mean? Well, I think that's what's happening right now in Revelation 19. His word is dividing between joint and marrow. His word is final.

[15:06] His word is quick. His word accomplishes its purpose. And something that might look kind of strange in one context. When you see it in another context, you understand, wow, God's word is more than just something that affects the scene.

[15:23] And I mean, something that just affects the spirit and the unseen. It affects the scene as well. Luke chapter 12.

[15:33] Let's read some verses to you. Verses 45 through 48. Kind of describe in a parable what's happening right here. Jesus gives the parable of the master who goes away and he leaves his servants in charge.

[15:46] But if that servant say in his heart, my Lord delays his coming and shall begin to beat the men's servants and maidens and to eat and drink and be drunken, the Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him.

[16:00] Comes a thief in the night. At an hour when he's not aware, no man knows the day or the hour. And what will he do? He will cut him in sunder and will point him as portion with the unbelievers.

[16:11] And the servant which knew his Lord's will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. Is this talking about someone who's a believer?

[16:22] No, it's not. His portion was of the unbelievers. He did not prepare himself. He didn't know his will. Is he still God's servant? Yes. Read Revelation. Romans chapter 9. Even Pharaoh is God's servant.

[16:35] We're going to see that even Satan is God's servant. doesn't mean necessarily that they are ones who have submitted themselves to their Lord. But he that knew not and did commit the things worthy of stripes, he shall be beaten with few stripes.

[16:50] For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall much be required. And whom men have committed much of him, I say they will ask the more. And so Jesus comes and it says that he smites.

[17:03] The word smite is to strike with the sword, to cut down and to slay. And so he is coming to smite. And who is he smiting very specifically here? He should smite the nations.

[17:14] The nations. That is, those on earth. Right? The wrath of Almighty God is not for those whose citizenship is where? Heaven. Heaven.

[17:24] Our citizenship is in heaven. He's coming to smite those that are of the earth. And he does so by shredding the wine press. And he does that all by himself.

[17:36] You might be thinking, yeah, you know, we're coming out of those horses. Give me a sword. No, there's only one sword in Revelation 19. That's coming out of Jesus's mouth. Isaiah 63.3.

[17:47] I have trodden the wine press alone. And of the people, there was none with me. For I will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury. And their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments.

[17:58] And I will stain all my raiment. Jesus is coming again to separate. We, the armies of heaven, we follow in victory. We do not partake in the battle.

[18:12] Romans 8.37 says that we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. What's more than a conqueror? It's a victor. We don't do the conquering. We're more than conquerors.

[18:23] We get the victory. You know, it's interesting. The only time you see the church with a sword until this point is when Peter does what? Jesus says, you know, there's one point, boys, I told you not to take money.

[18:37] I told you not to take a sword. I told you not to take a staff. But now I'm telling you, you know, it's time for you to take a sword, to take a staff, and take some money. And one of them goes, here's a sword.

[18:47] And he goes, that's enough. One's good. And then what does Peter do with it? Peter thinks, I know how to use this. And he cuts off the guy's ear. The only other sword is in Ephesians 6.

[19:01] The sword of the spirit that we are given to use. The next time you see a sword that's actually doing any type of physical work, Jesus wields it. So I will let him wield that sword. And I'll just continue to use the one he's given me.

[19:15] God's word is so good. If you use God's word faithfully, it won't damage. Right? It may hurt. It may cut. But it won't damage. And this one on the right, the white horse, the one whose the sword goes out of his mouth, he has on his vesture and on his thigh, he's got his tattoo, a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

[19:38] There will be no mistaking his identity. None. I can't help but think like this idea it's on his thigh. And if you're like on the ground and he's, where is your eye level going to be? It's going to be like right there.

[19:49] There it is. Here he comes. King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Revelation 17, 14. Speaking of the 10 Kings, those that would be part of the beast system that would set up the kingdom of the Antichrist.

[20:03] It says, these will make war with the lamb and the lamb shall overcome them. For he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And they that are with him, who is with him, the armies of heaven and the white horses, they that are with him, they are called, they're chosen and they're faithful.

[20:24] God looks at us and says, I've called you. You're chosen. You're faithful. I think, Lord, I'm not very faithful. Sometimes I don't act very called. You sure you chose me?

[20:35] You sure you wanted this to be like that? King of Kings and Lord of Lords. King of Kings. What is a King? The King is one who has the authority to rule. So a King of all Kings is one with the highest authority to rule.

[20:47] There's none higher than him. Lord of Lords. A Lord would be one that you serve. A Lord among Lords. He's worthy of all service. He's the King above all Kings, the highest authority to rule.

[20:58] And he is worthy of all service. Revelation. Keep saying revelation for every single text. Guys, it's been two weeks. Just cut me a little slack. Philippians 2, 10 and 11.

[21:10] That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven, things in earth and things under the earth. That every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the father.

[21:23] He is King of Kings and he is Lord of Lords. And there's nobody who will detest that. That's not the word I wanted. Who will contest.

[21:35] Yeah, it's close. Verse 17. I saw an angel then standing in the sun and he cried with a loud voice saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather yourselves together under the supper of the great God.

[21:50] One way or another, this angel is either in the sun and it's like, whoa, you can't miss him. Or he's in the sun casting a really big shadow and you can't miss him. He said, all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather yourselves together under the supper of the great God.

[22:07] We've seen the marriage feast of the lamb. And now this is the supper of the great God. But this is a gathering that's not for fellowship. This is a gathering for finality. This isn't for joy.

[22:19] This is to finish. You know, as we read Revelation, there is many, many, many things in Revelation that directly harken back to the Old Testament. There's not direct quotes.

[22:31] Like you'll see Jesus through his ministry. He will directly quote Old Testament text. Revelation constantly points back to Old Testament text. What is it? Two thirds of all Bible prophecy has to do with this period of history that we're reading about.

[22:44] A couple of those scriptures. Isaiah 13 verse 6 says, how will you for the day of the Lord is at hand? It shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

[22:55] Verse 9. Behold, the day of the Lord comes cruel, both with wrath and fierce anger. Remember we read that. We just read that. Where it said he comes with a fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

[23:11] To lay the land desolate and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. It's his purpose for coming. Zephaniah 1, 7 through 8.

[23:23] Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God. For the day of the Lord is at hand. For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice. He has bidden his guests. And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice that I'll punish the princes and the king's children and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

[23:42] What does that make you think of? The parable of the wedding feast. And the one shows up and he says, friend, where's your garment? You're in strange. It doesn't mean weird apparel, right? I mean, you can wear weird things to church if you want.

[23:53] But it's strange as in it's not accepted. It's not orderly. It's not received. Strange apparel. Come to the great supper, the supper of our great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, of captains, of mighty men, of horses, and them that sit on them.

[24:13] And the flesh of all men, both free and bond, small and great. What's the idea here? There's no one that outranks judgment. None. Some of these men and some of the men today and women that rule the world think, I outrank the system.

[24:30] I outrank justice. I outrank judgment. But there's none that outrank judgment when Jesus returns. In verse 19, I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, and they were gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army.

[24:49] They think that. But what did we find out? He just threw them into the wine press. They think, yeah, we're all together to make war. No, you're all together to get squashed. The beast and the kings and their armies, they gathered to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army.

[25:08] This is the delusion of the garden that has come to full fruition. It's come full circle here. Delusion means false representation. An illusion. An error or mistake proceeding from false views.

[25:21] That is the lie of the garden. An error or mistake proceeding from false views. And that delusion has come full circle that they think we're going to make war against God. Psalm 2.

[25:34] Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed.

[25:45] We'll make war with him that sits on the horse and against his army. Let us break their bands asunder, they say, and cast away their cords from us.

[25:57] How does God respond? He that sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. He's like, what are you doing? Really? What are you? You know, it'd be like you go to go in the wine press and all the grapes are like, you're not going to get us.

[26:13] Really? Then shall he speak unto them. Out of his mouth goes a sword. He shall speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

[26:28] Psalm 48 verses 1 through 8. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God and the mountain of his holiness. Beautiful for situation. The joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion.

[26:40] On the sides of the north, the city of the great king. God is known in her palaces for a refuge. For lo, the kings were assembled. They passed by together.

[26:51] They saw it. And so they marveled. They were troubled. They hasted away. Fear took hold upon them and pain as a woman in travail. Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

[27:03] As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord of hosts. In the city of our God, God will establish it forever. However, you see, Jesus allows for no neutrality.

[27:15] There's no neutrality with Christ. It's one or it's the other. In Matthew 12, 30, Jesus said, He that is not with me is against me. He that gathers not with me scatters abroad.

[27:27] And Jesus is exposing the world system here. He's exposing the world system that it's not neutral. It's not. It is against Christ. It is anti. It is instead of Christ.

[27:38] There is no neutrality. And the world system, no amount of government, no amount of well-meaning, no entertainment, no education system that's part of this world system.

[27:52] It's either for Christ or it's against him. It's not neutral. In Joel chapter 3. If you want, you can turn there or I'll just read it to you.

[28:08] Actually, I'm going to turn there too because it's cutting off part of my screen. Joel is right after Hosea.

[28:23] Which is right after Daniel. For behold, in those days and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem.

[28:39] What will I also do, says the Lord, I will also gather all nations and I will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and parted whose land?

[28:55] And parted my land, says the Lord. And they've cast lots for my people. And I've given a boy for a harlot and sold a girl for wine that they might drink.

[29:07] Man, we live in those days, don't we? Human trafficking. Yay. And what have you to do with me, O Tyre and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine?

[29:19] That is not Israel. Speaking of Philistia, of the Philistines. Palestine is of, comes from the derivative from Philistines. Will you render me a recompense?

[29:31] And if you recompense me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head? Because you've taken my silver and my gold and have carried it into your temples, my goodly pleasant things. The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have sold you unto the Grecians that you might remove them from their border.

[29:49] Behold, I will raise them out of the place where you have sold them and will return your recompense upon your own head. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah.

[30:01] And they shall sell them to the Sabians, to the people far off, for the Lord has spoken it. Proclaim you this among the Gentiles. Prepare war. Wake up the mighty men.

[30:12] Let all the men of war draw near. Let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, I am strong. That's what he's saying to the nations.

[30:23] Come on, do your best. Assemble yourselves and come all you heathen and gather yourselves together round about. There cause your mighty ones to come down.

[30:35] Let the heathen be weakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. For there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put you in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.

[30:46] Come, get you down, for the press is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

[30:59] The sun and the moon shall be darkened. The stars shall withdraw their shining. Haven't we read about that all through Revelation, the different judgments? And then the Lord, he also shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem.

[31:15] And the heavens and the earth shall shake. But the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall you know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.

[31:30] Then shall Jerusalem be holy and there shall no strangers pass through her anymore. The 70th week of Daniel is for Jerusalem. It's for Israel. It's for God's people. And it shall come to pass in that day.

[31:42] What day? Well, that's where we get to in Revelation 20. As God sets up his kingdom. That the mountains shall drop down new wine. And the hills shall flow with milk. And all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters.

[31:54] And a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the Lord. And shall water the valley of Shittim. Egypt shall be a desolation. And Edom shall be a desolate wilderness. For the violence against the children of Judah.

[32:07] Because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall dwell forever. And Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed.

[32:20] For the Lord dwells in Zion. Because they will say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And at that point in time, the Lord will say, yes, Israel. My blood is for you. My blood is for you.

[32:31] And I cannot wait to see that fountain come out of the house of the Lord. And just renew. As like, if there's anything I'm like really excited about. Is to see what God does to renew the world.

[32:43] At that time. But this is a day of return. When he comes back, it's a day of retribution. But it's also a day of renewal. He will return.

[32:55] It's retribution to those who have rejected him. It's retribution to those who have parted his land. And shed the blood of his people, Israel. But it's also a renewal.

[33:06] We're talking about seven years we've read about. Seven years. Less than two terms, guys. It's so fast. And then he sets up a thousand years. We're going to just do the first kind of two and a half, two and a smidgen verses of Revelation 20.

[33:25] It kind of continues. So we've had the. Did we do. We've missed one, didn't we? No, we're in 20.

[33:36] I thought that meant. I'm sorry. I was thinking Revelation 20 to verse 20. Anyway, we will do a couple of verses in Revelation 20 because it all fits. He's going to wrap up. Now it's going to happen to the beast and the false prophet, the remnant of the armies that came against him and then Satan, the dragon.

[33:50] So that's why we're going to go into chapter 20. I'm sorry. Verse 20. And the beast then was taken. Remember what we just read he was doing in verse 19? I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies and they gathered to make war.

[34:04] And God just took him. And the beast was taken. This is not a war. This is a wrap up. War is a contest between two parties, a strife or a struggle.

[34:15] This is not that. He was taken. It means to lay hold and to take captive. That's all it was. The beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image.

[34:31] These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. Satan had his moment. But he that had deluded the nations, he was just as deluded himself.

[34:43] As we see here, he thought he was going to make war against God. And God just takes the beast, takes his man. The only lasting result in this whole scenario is the response to the lamb.

[34:58] Whether people, whether angelic beings, it's all based on their response to the one who is the lamb, the one who's the rider on the horse. The beast and the false prophet, they essentially bypass death where it says they're both cast alive into the lake of fire.

[35:13] So death is the holding place of the of the of the damned or of the just. But since the resurrection now to be absent with the body is to be present with the Lord for believers, for the just. But there still is the holding place of the damned of the dead, which we call hell.

[35:29] But then there is the lake of fire where we will see in Revelation 2014 that death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. This is there's a death to death.

[35:41] The beast and false prophet, they bypass death, but they were not annihilated. Right. It says they were cast alive into the lake of fire. We will see in Revelation 20, the sheep and goats judgment takes place there.

[35:54] This is talking about the result of the goats in Matthew 25, 41 says, then he shall say unto them that on the left hand, depart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire. Prepared for who?

[36:06] Devil and his angels is prepared for them. Wasn't prepared for people was prepared for man. What was prepared for Adam's sons? Redemption.

[36:17] Redemption was prepared. Redemption is available to all who would take it. What was prepared was a marriage feast of the lamb that anyone who was invited could come. Come on, come in, please.

[36:31] There's two feasts. You can be at the marriage supper of the lamb or the supper of the great God. There's two destinies prepared. Destiny for those who would put their faith in Christ and the destiny for those who would choose.

[36:46] The destiny of the devil and his angels. And there's two people prepared. The people prepared for a citizenship in heaven. And there's people that are prepared, unfortunately, for a lake of fire. And the remnant, the remnant, verse 21, being those that were part of this army.

[37:01] So the beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire. The remnant of those who thought they were going to make war, the kings of the earth. They were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse. So they got their joints and marrow divided.

[37:13] Which sword proceeded out of his mouth and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. The word is effective in every area of life, not just spiritual and non-physical, but also in the physical.

[37:25] God's word is not always literal. But it is always fulfilled. It's not always literal. You know, Jesus said, I'm the bread of life. Didn't turn into a loaf.

[37:36] Right? But it's fulfilled. His word will be fulfilled in being the bread of life. We're the light of the world. Is that literal? No. But it is fulfilled. It's fulfilled in how we live our lives and how the Lord shines, as it were, his truth through us.

[37:52] Isaiah 55, 11 says that my word that goes out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void. When that sword goes out of his mouth, it's going to accomplish its purpose. But it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it.

[38:06] Praise God. Because Jesus tells us in John 6, 63, the words he speaks unto us, our spirit and our life, they're going to accomplish their purpose. They go out of his mouth. They're going to accomplish spirit and life in us.

[38:19] Now we get into chapter 20. Because we want to see the wrap up for the dragon. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

[38:35] We saw in Revelation 9 that that pit was opened to let out the demonic horde. And if you want to read in Joel, I can't remember what chapter, it talks about that period in Revelation 9, those judgments.

[38:49] And it says that those that they shall go forth arrayed as a horse. And it says they shall climb the walls. It's totally creepy. Like when you realize what it would be like at that time. And that will be the time where they will wish for death and they will not have it.

[39:02] And these things will be creeping up their walls and coming to their houses. But anyway, we've seen that the pit was opened to let out. And here it's being opened to let in.

[39:13] Where heaven has been opened in this instance to let out. And the pit is being opened to let in. The same one who opened heaven has the same authority to open the bottomless pit.

[39:23] This angel has no authority except what he's been given the key. The key belonged then to someone else. You know, Satan is not God's equal.

[39:35] And he's not his opposite. He doesn't even rate a named angel. Right? It says an angel came and took him. I saw an angel come down from heaven, having a key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

[39:50] Come on. Come on, boy. Time to get back on the leash. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. Satan's not God's equal. He's not his opposite.

[40:02] He doesn't even rate a named angel. You think it'd be like, and Michael and Gabriel came down and they wrestled and they... No, he just kind of grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. You know? Satan is not God's opposite.

[40:14] But he is his instrument. Right? Look, there's many things that we use that aren't very pleasant, but they do the job. Right? The scripture says in Proverbs, where no oxen are, the crib is clean.

[40:27] But much strength is by the increase of the ox. What does that mean? You know? You get a lot of work done with the ox? They're kind of messy. And you got to kind of clean the stall. Right? That's all Satan is.

[40:38] He's just like the shovel that scoops the poop. That's what he is. He's God's instrument. It's not a very pleasant thing to be. He's not God's opposite. He's just his instrument.

[40:49] That's all he is. You can read for yourselves in Job chapter 1, how Satan has to go and get permission. Satan's time, his reach, and his time and reach, they're all at God's permission.

[41:02] You can't just go and do these things. 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8 says, For us to be sober, to be vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour.

[41:17] He just goes about making a bunch of noise. Seeking whom he can devour. Who can he defile? What do we do? Whom resists steadfast in the faith. Just resist him.

[41:30] Knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. Meaning what? God's using Satan as an instrument. To do what? To bring depth and character and maturity to us.

[41:42] To bear eternal fruit. But the God of all grace, who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you've suffered a while, make you complete, perfect, established, strengthened, settle you.

[41:55] Yes! Satan goes about as a roaring lion. Resist him. Steadfast. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God, says James chapter 4. Resist the devil, and he'll run away.

[42:06] He seems so big and bad. What do we do? Just resist him. He runs away. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. What does he do with all his roaring? What does he want to do?

[42:16] He wants to convince you to not draw near to God. He wants to keep you from drawing near to God. Resist him. He runs away. Draw near to God. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. And purify your hearts, you double-minded.

[42:29] See, Satan will say, okay, okay, okay. Fine, fine, fine. We'll draw near to God, but you don't need to cleanse your hands. Right? You need to purify your heart. You're double-minded. No, no, no, no. Well, what does the Bible say about Israel, one of their indictments?

[42:43] Man, this people draws near to me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Right? Drawing near to God. Cleanse your hands. Get out of that muck. Our citizenship's in heaven. Satan is not God's equal.

[42:54] We don't need to be a part of what he's a part of, right? He's over there just scooping out the muck. We don't need that. Cleanse your hands. Clean yourself up. Get away from that. Purify your hearts.

[43:05] Resist him. He runs away. You are of God, little children. And you have overcome them. Because greater is he that's in you than he that is in the world.

[43:16] Fact. Right? So Satan is not God's opposite. He's not his equal. This is not a war. This is simply a wrap-up. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, Satan, and bound him a thousand years.

[43:33] Satan's time and reach there by God's permission. And we don't need to fear. This defeated foe, his verdict and his sentence are sure. It's all ready. We already see what it is. We don't need to fear him.

[43:45] It's not a struggle. It's not a fight. But when the time comes for Satan to be laid hold of and be put in chains for a thousand years, there's no struggle. There's no fight. There's no great war. He simply must submit.

[43:56] Because he also is God's instrument. Is God through with Satan? No, he's not. But he's done with him for the moment. He's going to keep him bound up for a thousand years. And he cast him, verse 3, into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till a thousand years should be fulfilled.

[44:16] And after that, he must be loosed a little season. And we're going to look next time at a thousand years at the millennial. And we'll look at what's going to happen with those that have been martyred during the tribulation of resurrection.

[44:32] But we know how effective God's seals are, don't we? Revelation 6, I mean, Revelation 5, John sees in the right hand of him that sat on the throne. He sees a scroll bound with seven seals.

[44:44] And he weeps because he said there's none that could loose those seals. There's none under the earth, in the earth, or in heaven. There's none. No man who could do this. Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals?

[44:57] And no man in heaven or earth or under the earth was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. God's seals are not going to be broken by anybody but God himself. We know how good God's seals are because we're sealed with one of them.

[45:12] Ephesians 1.13, We're like stamped with a receipt, essentially.

[45:26] Like, we are his. We're sealed. And that means that there is something so much greater that God says, yeah, this is kind of like the fact that I will fulfill this.

[45:37] You know, you bring that receipt, which we will, and he will fulfill that good of sales, essentially. So Satan, he is no longer able to deceive the nations.

[45:50] He's the father of lies, but he's the peddler of deceptions. He doesn't just stick in front of us, bold-faced lies. Say, look at this really terrible thing. Come and do it. No, we don't do that. He doesn't do that. What is the deception?

[46:02] The deception is that his lies are good. You're always presented as something good. Right from the beginning. Now, the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

[46:16] And he said to the woman, Yea, has God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And jump down to verse 5. He says, For God does know in the day you eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened.

[46:29] You should be as God's, knowing good and evil. That deception, that lie was hid behind a deception that, oh, this is good. This lie is good. It's the dragon.

[46:42] It's the dragon in Revelation 12 that is waiting to snatch up the man-child that persecutes Israel. And he speaks with the voice of a dragon. But you can always tell dragon speech.

[46:55] Dragon speech always leads to doubt and deception. Has God said doubt? Deception. And the day you eat of that, you shall be as God's. Doubt and deception.

[47:08] Then there's another voice. It's the voice of a lamb. Not nearly as loud and powerful as the voice of the dragon or seemingly powerful. Satan goes about as a roaring lion.

[47:19] Remember when Elijah runs to the Mount of God after he gets that text message from Jezebel? You know, you're next. And so he runs and he's terrified. And then there's the earthquake and the fire and the windstorm. And there's a still small voice.

[47:30] And he wraps himself and he goes out and he says, oh, he knows it's the Lord. God doesn't shout. He says, you're going to have to pick it up. You're going to have to open it. You're going to have to read it.

[47:41] That's the only way you're going to get it. The speech of the lamb, contrasting that with the speech of the dragon, is not in doubt and deception. It's in assurance and truth. Whenever God speaks, it brings assurance and it's truth.

[47:55] All truth is reassuring, even when it's hard truth. Even when it hurts, it's still reassuring. Jesus in John chapter 8 said, Truth brings assurance.

[48:18] Even when it's hard. When the Lord speaks, it doesn't lead to doubt. When it doesn't lead to deception. So there's two feasts. There's two destinies.

[48:31] Two different seals. One's going to seal Satan. One can seal us. Two voices speaking. And two peoples. But only one king. And for us, it's which voice will we listen to?

[48:46] Which feast? Which destiny? Which seal are we going to partake of? Well, I think we've listened to the lamb. I think we've partaken of him. Jesus would tell us to enter into the straight gate.

[48:58] Broad is the way that leads to destruction. Narrow the way that leads to life. And few there be that find it. It's not like they couldn't find it. It's few there be that choose to find it. Eternal decisions, they're eternal.

[49:11] There's no second chances. But I think sometimes we think maybe because, you know what? I've made that decision. I've made that eternal choice. And I'm sealed. I'm good.

[49:22] But we live lives where the enemy has deceived us into believing something's good that's a lie. And what is it doing? It's preventing me from further decisions, a further life that will bear eternal fruit.

[49:38] I end up having unclean hands. I let sin in my life. I have an impure heart. I'm double-minded. I try to draw near to God. And it's like, something's just not right.

[49:50] What is this? Because I've listened to the peddler of deceptions. Because maybe I'm listening to some dragon speech. That's what I need to remember.

[50:01] I have a king. It's above all kings. He's the highest authority. It's his voice I want to hear. I have a lord who's worthy to be served above all lords. It doesn't matter what voice says.

[50:12] Serve me. Listen to me. Satan will run. All we've got to do is just resist him. What we believe, it has existed before this world.

[50:25] It will endure after this world. And it will overcome this world. Jesus in Luke 10 has sent out the 70 and they've returned.

[50:38] And they're super excited. And he says in verse 18, before we get to verse 20, he says, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. It's like, guys, it wasn't a battle.

[50:49] It was boom. It was lightning falling from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you.

[50:59] Guys, you have that authority. Resist the devil. He will flee from you. He says, notwithstanding. In this rejoice not.

[51:10] In other words, that is all true. You do have that authority, but that's not your reason for rejoicing. Your reason for rejoicing is not that the spirits are subject unto you, which they are.

[51:23] This isn't a battle between light and dark. Have you ever seen a battle between light and dark? Right? There's never been a time we've come here, turn the lights on. It's like, oh, darkness is so strong tonight. It's just not working.

[51:34] We need some more powerful lights in here. No, they all do the same thing every time. There's no darkness that's ever overcome the light. This isn't a battle between the two, but rather he says, rejoice because your names are written in heaven because your eternal choice has been sealed.

[51:53] And your name is there sealed. We don't have to fear defeated foe. And we also don't have to live lives that don't have eternal value and meaning.

[52:05] We can live lives where every day the choices we make are eternal choices. That's wonderful. That means you realize the fruit that you bear for eternity. It's not like you're going to lose it. Like we could bear very little fruit.

[52:17] I could be someone who bears very, very, very little fruit, but it's there. It's not like I'm going to get there and be like, oh, they're all rotted. Oh, that's too bad. I had so much and it just all rotted. It doesn't work that way. Right? We can make decisions every day that bear eternal fruit, that have eternal value.

[52:34] And we don't have to think, well, is it going to last? It is. It's going to last. And the God who has all authority is worthy to be served. And we don't have an enemy that needs to be feared.

[52:46] So my encouragement to you tonight is make eternal choices because you've been eternally sealed. You are the only people in the earth, not just you here, but we who believe we are the only people who can make choices of value for eternity.

[53:03] The rest of the world can't. I don't know what that is. We can. Let's do it. Right? Amen. Well, Lord, what a blessing.

[53:15] Lord, just to be here together, Lord, to be in your word. Lord, to just see the end of all things, Lord. Do we see them perfectly?

[53:27] No, we look through a glass darkly. But then face to face, Lord, then we will know as we are known. Until then, Lord, what a blessing, Lord, to have in our hands the truth of the word, truth that you have given us that we can understand because we have the spirit.

[53:45] To know, Lord, that we have been given a choice for eternity. And Lord, you have sealed that choice in your blood and by your spirit.

[53:57] Lord, I thank you that every day we can make eternal decisions, Lord. And one of those is we're going to resist the devil. We're going to resist this enemy that has no authority. He's simply, Lord, one of your instruments.

[54:08] And Lord, whatever he's doing in our lives, as we read about in Peter, it's simply to complete us, to perfect us, to cause us, Lord, to grow spiritually and to mature, not to destroy us, not to defeat us, not to bring us down.

[54:24] Lord, I thank you that when it is all said and done, Lord, Satan is just one of your hired lackeys and you will take him and you will deal with him. But Lord, we don't need to rejoice because Satan's been overcome, but we can rejoice or because we have overcome.

[54:42] By the blood of the lamb and by the word of your testimony, and you have written our names in heaven. Lord, help us to live lives every day as eternal citizens, Lord, to realize that the choices we make now, they will last into eternity.

[54:57] I thank you, Lord. We don't have to fear that any of that will be undone because Jesus, you as our elder brother, as the first fruits have gone before us. And as long as you are there, Lord, we know that what we have sent on ahead, Lord, is safe and held for us.

[55:13] We thank you, Lord, that there is an inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, that fades not away, reserved for us in heaven. Come quickly, Jesus, and bring us to that marriage feast of the lamb. And in your name, I pray.

[55:25] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.