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

[0:48] You can open your Bibles if you've got them with you to Revelation 20. I was just getting teased about how long we've been in Revelation.

[1:00] I don't know. But we're getting close to the end. There's two chapters left after tonight. I was thinking about, as we've been going through the book, you know, there's certain parts that are somewhat familiar, especially the first three chapters.

[1:18] It's like, yeah, okay, I can understand this, the letters to the churches. And then we get into those seven years, and, you know, we're starting to lose a little bit of our grasp on familiarity. It's this same world, but it looks different, and things are happening.

[1:31] And boy, then we get into, like, 20 and 21, and, like, our grasp on the familiar is just like, whew, what's going on? So, last time we looked at the first, I can say the first half, just almost the first half of Revelation 20.

[1:50] And we've got down as far as through verse 7, where Satan would be bound in the pit. We saw how the tribulation saints in verse 4, those who died during the seven years, the tribulation, not just died, it's interesting, what it says is, and them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus.

[2:07] I don't know, then, does that mean that if you are a believer, and you died at that time during those seven years, would you be raised with these people? Or is it only those who are martyred? I don't know, but the scripture, the text says, those that were beheaded were raised, that they had their resurrection at that time.

[2:23] And then there's this thousand years that we see in like five verses after spending however many chapters between four and 19, well, I guess it'd be 15, 16, or 15, that I guess these chapters that took seven years, and all of a sudden we're giving these thousand years so fast.

[2:46] So I wanted to do a quick recap for my own benefit, and hopefully yours. I'm going to put a timeline on the screen. If it's too small, it was a little small. I've got like a bunch of them printed out back on the prayer request stand.

[2:58] You can grab afterwards if you want to go grab one. But we're going to see tonight, tonight's message is the last stand. It's probably my most favorite slide I've ever done. We're really into Westerns in our house, old Westerns, so I like that.

[3:10] We're going to see two stands, two last stands. So I can't take complete credit for this. Someone else kind of put it together, and then I edited it.

[3:21] But as we've been going through Revelation, like I said, we've covered a lot of ground. And I kind of wanted to kind of start with a bigger overview.

[3:32] This is essentially the 79 weeks of Daniel. And so if you look on the left there, you see in the blue, the 69 weeks, the 69 weeks lead up to when the Messiah will be crucified, when Jesus is put to death.

[3:45] Daniel chapter 9, that ends at verse 26. And then if you look a little further to right, you'll see the blue there, Daniel 9, 27. And that would be the seventh, the 70th week of Daniel, or the last of the week of seven years.

[4:01] So they're weeks of seven years. And that's why it's weeks, 70 weeks of seven years. And so 69 of them have been accomplished. And there's one remaining. In between there is where we are right now.

[4:12] And that is what? The church age is where we currently are. The millennial, as we said, the reign of Christ on the earth is the fulfillment of the new covenant.

[4:26] That was promised to Israel. There are three promises primarily in the new covenant. First is the gathering of Israel. Second, the cleansing and spiritual transformation of Israel.

[4:37] And third, the reign of Messiah over the whole world. So we're going to see in John 3 on Sunday, by the time Jesus comes, the Jews thought the first two are done. Israel's in the land.

[4:48] And they all thought, hey, if we're in the land and we're Jews, then we have a cleansing, the spiritual, and we're ready to go. We're just waiting for the Messiah to come and bring the king of the kingdom. And then Jesus is going to say to Nicodemus, what?

[5:01] You must be born again. It's not about your ethnicity. But Ezekiel 11, 17 to 20 says, Therefore, say, thus saith the Lord God, I will even gather you from the people and assemble you out of the countries where you've been scattered.

[5:16] And I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come thither and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart and I'll put a new spirit within you.

[5:29] And I'll take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and do them. And they shall be my people and I will be their God.

[5:40] So essentially the church age, if you remove that, hypothetically, if Israel had received their king and then they had gone into the kingdom, then the new covenant would have been fulfilled entirely there.

[5:53] But what happened? Israel is in disbelief. And so God opens the door. If you remember, we have the parable of what? The wedding feast, right? That says, hey, come on, we're ready.

[6:05] Let's go. And everybody who's invited is like, no, I don't want to go. I was going to say, I can understand that. But no. They didn't want to come.

[6:18] They had every excuse in the book and every reason they didn't want to go. I don't think it was just because they didn't like going to weddings. I think it was because they prioritized something else above it. And so what does the master of the feast do?

[6:30] He says, all right, and open the door to everybody. Go out on the highways and byways and compel them to come in. Whosoever will, let him come. But eventually what happens? What comes? The wedding. It comes a point where it's time.

[6:42] It's time for the wedding feast. And at that point, there's no more invitations being sent. So what do we see in Revelation 19? The marriage feast of the lamb. At that point, there's no invitations to the bride.

[6:54] And at that time, then, as the kingdom, as Jesus comes back to rule and reign at that time, we see what? Israel in belief at that point. Or right now they're in disbelief. But anyway, before I get too off topic, let's go through these real quick.

[7:07] So as we move through our timeline, we hit the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. We're in the church age. Revelation 119. That's our description of what's happening in the book of Revelation.

[7:18] Write the things, Jesus says to John, which you have seen, which are, and which shall be hereafter. What has he seen? Well, he's seen Jesus, this vision of Jesus. What are the things which are?

[7:29] He's writing things which are to the churches. And what are the things which shall be hereafter? Well, Revelation 4 tells us what that is. He says, after this, I looked and behold, a door was opened in heaven.

[7:41] After what? After his letters to the churches. And the first voice which I heard. Who's the first voice he heard? It was Jesus. He heard the voice and he turned and looked behind him and he saw that vision of Jesus.

[7:53] And the first voice which I heard was as it were a trumpet talking with me, which said, come up hither. Makes me think of 1 Corinthians 15, 52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound.

[8:05] And the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. There's a trumpet that were talking with me and it said, come up here. I'll show you things that what? Which I'm sorry, I'm reading it like it's on the screen.

[8:16] Like you guys feel like, what is it? Don't you got it memorized? And I will show you things which must be hereafter. And so Revelation 119 was, write the things which you have seen, which are and which shall be hereafter.

[8:30] So the things which John is going to write about, which are hereafter, start in Revelation 4. Have we experienced those? No, they're still hereafter for us too. They have not yet happened. And he says, immediately I was in the spirit.

[8:43] Behold, a throne was set in heaven and one sat on the throne. So that is there at the resurrection of the church at that time.

[8:53] John in type in Revelation 4 is taken up to heaven at that point. And then we are in the seven years. We're not going to recap all of the different tribulation judgments.

[9:05] We're going to focus instead on, we're up there, there's seven years. And what happens at the end of the seven years? And that is the marriage feast of the lamb. It also is the return of Christ to the earth.

[9:17] And that was in Revelation 19, where we read, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready. And so like our parable of the marriage supper, there comes a point where it's time for the wedding.

[9:32] Invitations aren't being given anymore. Right now, an invitation is going out to whosoever will, they can come be part of the wedding feast as the bride. They can come and be part of that. But at this point, the wife has made herself ready.

[9:45] She's complete. And I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness, he does judge and make war. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

[10:00] And that's what we saw in Revelation 19, as Jesus returns with his bride, with the armies of heaven, and they come to earth. I'm not a horse guy. I know some people really like horses. My wife's excited about riding a horse someday.

[10:12] I'm like, I'm sure at that point they won't be stinky. But they're just such large animals. And then as we went through into Revelation 20, the first thing we saw was Satan was bound by, you know, Mr. No-Named Angel, just came and grabbed him and said, your time's done, buddy.

[10:32] And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.

[10:45] At that time, as Jesus has returned to the earth, he's setting up his kingdom. That's where we see in Matthew 25, the sheep and goats judgments. We see the resurrection of the tribulation saints and the beginning of the thousand year reign of Christ.

[10:58] The sheep and goats judgments is for those who are alive through the tribulation will be judged. The sheep go into the kingdom to populate the kingdom. The goats go into hell.

[11:11] The resurrection of the tribulation saints, as we read in Revelation 20, those that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

[11:24] And that is the beginning then of the kingdom. And I think that took us through verse six of Revelation 20. So we will look tonight at the great white throne judgment and finishing Revelation 20.

[11:40] And then when you get into 21, we have a new heavens, a new earth. And then it's just like, wow, here goes, there goes familiarity in any way. But if, even if we're not familiar with what's to come, we're familiar with the one who's to come.

[11:57] And that's the important thing. Let's pick up in verse seven of Revelation 20. And when the thousand years were expired. And so if you look on our timeline, we have the millennial kingdom.

[12:08] Satan then is going to be released. He's currently bound for a thousand years in the millennium. And then at the end, he'll be released. We are reading about that now in verse seven. And when the thousand years are expired, means to bring to a close, to be finished.

[12:24] Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. The interesting thing about God and reading his word. And even as we're going to get into the new heavens and new earth, God is a God of order. And he's also a God of, I don't want to say time, but he is a God of sequences.

[12:39] And he's a God of distinctions. And even in the new heavens and new earth, it's not just like it's a giant, for lack of better terms, a giant socialist state, where it's just like, hey, we're all kind of there.

[12:50] And we're all kind of in some kind of like happy place. Heaven is not heaven without God, but God is a God who is, there's a father and there's a son and there's a Holy spirit. It's not just like, he's kind of like some and more for God, but it's, there's distinctions and God loves distinction.

[13:06] He thinks it's a beautiful thing. Look at marriage. Look at men and women. They're very distinctly different, very different. There's a beautiful thing. It's not meant to be something that's like kind of weird.

[13:17] And so it's very fascinating to me when we get into the new heavens and new earth, the distinctions that he continues to maintain. And when the thousand years were expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his, out of his prison.

[13:29] So the millennial reign of Christ upon this earth, it will have an end. But as Gabriel told Mary, the kingdom will not. Jesus's kingdom will have no end.

[13:40] His physical reign on earth will have an end. This earth will have an end, but his reign won't. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there shall be no end.

[13:51] And so Satan here is released. This is not a jailbreak. This is a supervised release. It's not like Satan's like, I got out. And you think, you got to think all those, you know, we looked at last time, the great men of the earth that say, you too have been made like us as Satan's cast into hell.

[14:07] And you got to think, they're thinking, we didn't let us out. How come he got out? And then Satan shall go out to deceive the nations, which are in the four quarters of the earth. Then we get these two names, Gog and Magog.

[14:19] I'm not going to read all the scripture. You can look in Ezekiel 38 and 39. They're referenced there quite a bit. And you've probably heard of the Ezekiel 38 war, the Gog and Magog.

[14:31] Magog is just the land north of Israel, and Gog is the king. So it's just King Gog of Magog. Be a good villain in a cartoon or something. It is the area that is now Russia, that area.

[14:45] In Ezekiel 38, you have Russia, you have Turkey, and you have Persia. Persia is Iran that come against Israel. This does not seem to be what is described in Ezekiel 38.

[14:55] He's just using these terms because the conditions are not the same. But it is a king that comes against Israel. And so here he goes out to deceive the nations, which are in the four quarters of the earth, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

[15:13] As glorious as the thousand-year reign of Christ will be, it's still a kingdom filled with sinful man. It's not a perfect situation. It's a perfect king in a perfect kingdom filled with imperfect people.

[15:28] And no matter how much we try to replicate that beforehand, it's still going to be a government, a nation, a church filled with imperfect people.

[15:40] Who did Jesus come for? Imperfect people. Thank you, Lord. I'm glad about that. Satan was a liar and murderer from the beginning, and he will be so unto the end.

[15:51] As Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 8, you are of your father, the devil, and the lust of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there's no truth in him.

[16:04] When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. Does it ever seem like sometimes Satan and his kingdom is so disorganized? How can you run something when everybody speaks lies?

[16:15] How you doing over there? I'm great. Everything's fine. All good over here. What about your department? No, we're good too. But it's a sad commentary, I think, on the heart of man, that when man is given the choice, the majority will choose their own destruction.

[16:29] How sad that at the end of all of this, that they choose their own destruction. That no matter what the environment is, it can't cure a man's heart. It can't.

[16:41] But how wonderful that we are in a time where what can we do? We can go out with the cure and say, hey, I have a cure for your heart. We can take the gospel, and we can still invite people.

[16:54] But at this time, there will be those who will choose instead, whatever that lie is, it's probably just the same lie from the garden, repackaged a little bit. And he goes out and deceives the nations, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

[17:08] You can't quantify it. You can't measure it. Corruption cannot be quantified. How can you, you know, I heard someone say, how did it go?

[17:19] That, that evil, it was Chesterton. I had read one of his books. He was saying that men can keep a certain level of good, but nobody can keep a certain level of evil because evil always corrupts and goes down.

[17:35] There's no way you can, you can maintain a certain level of, well, I'll only go so far into this sin. It doesn't work that way. Corruption can't be quantified. It's, it's bigger than anything we imagine from the little tip of the iceberg we see.

[17:51] And these people at that time, they go up on the breadth of the earth and they compass the camp of the saints about and the beloved city. What is the beloved city? Beloved is agapeo.

[18:02] The beloved city. Psalm 87, two, the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. And second Chronicles six, six is Solomon dedicates the temple.

[18:13] He says, but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name might be there. And they went up and compassed about the camp of the saints, the beloved city. And there's a great battle.

[18:24] No fire came down out of heaven and devoured them. Devoured. I looked up that word. It means devoured. It just means like, eat it up quick with ferocity. One of Satan's greatest deceptions to man.

[18:39] And one of the lies that is most successful is that might makes right. That many voices make a victory. The more we get, yes. And so he's got all of these people gathered there and Satan's last stand, our first last stand, it doesn't last very long.

[18:56] It's not much of a showdown. Satan's gone. Satan's gone. He didn't even get time to draw. And it's over. Satan is attempting a coup here. Satan doesn't want to destroy God.

[19:08] Remember what he said? He said, I will be like the Most High. I will ascend into the hill of the Most High. He wants to be like God. If he does away with God, well, he does away with all of creation.

[19:20] But if he can strong arm God, if he can twist his arm, he can forestall his end. But a coup is just an illegal and often violent seizure of power from an existing government.

[19:32] And this is what he's trying to do. Come in with a violent, illegal seizure of power. He thinks it worked before. Let's see if we can do it again. He's attempting to force Jesus out of office.

[19:43] Kick him out. Unfortunately, Jesus doesn't run a democracy. It doesn't matter how many votes are against him. The heart of man here is so desperate to validate itself.

[19:56] How desperate we are that even when Jesus rules and reigns in a perfect environment, man's heart is still unable to come to terms with who they are. I want to validate myself.

[20:09] So they join with the devil instead of seeking renewal in Christ. No, no, no. I don't want a new heart. I'm going to keep the one I got. I'm going to try and do something with it. How sad. It's the same thing today.

[20:21] People are so desperate to validate themselves. They'll join with the devil instead of just being renewed in Jesus. Come and get a new heart. Here is Satan with all the, I guess, mighty men of the earth, whoever they are at that time.

[20:34] And Jesus says, this is who the kingdom belongs to. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I'm going to take it by force. In Psalm 37, the Lord speaks of the end of the wicked.

[20:52] He says, Why does God let Satan come up and do this?

[21:22] Because he's showing one last, well, not one last. We're going to see that, I think, the great white throne judgment. But he's showing that man's heart, even after a perfect environment, is still bent towards sin.

[21:36] Man's greatest effort to overcome God is no effort for God to overcome. Remember when Elijah had cause for it not to rain.

[21:48] And Ahab says, Go out and find him. What does he look like? He's a hairy man. Some kind of hairy man. And they find him sitting on top of a hill, just sitting there. And the captain went out with 50 men and he goes with his 50 and he went up to him and he that sat on the hill and he spake and he said, You man of God, the king has said, Come down.

[22:07] Listen, you may be a believer, you may be a Christian, but you're still a citizen of this nation. The king has said, Elijah's not being rebellious. Elijah's being faithful.

[22:18] How sad when even our own fellow citizens, shall we say, don't recognize faithfulness. They think it's rebellion. And Elijah answered and said to the captain of the 50, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50.

[22:36] And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his 50. And then 50 more come out. And you picture him standing there like kicking the ashes, like my word, you know, if you'll be a man of God, there goes the other 50.

[22:49] And the next guy comes out and he's like, Oh, great man of God. Please. I have children. Dealing with man's efforts to overcome God.

[23:00] We live in a world that is so desperate to overcome God. There's so many efforts to overcome God. It's no effort for God. God is like, this is no problem. This is not a problem. He's laughing.

[23:11] Why does he let it? Why does he leave it? Is he slack concerning his promise? He's not willing that he should perish. That's why. Lord, why do you leave the wicked there? Because I can see in the midst of all of that, there is, there's a good shoot coming up.

[23:26] There's a piece of wheat there. Remember the parable of the sower? How, what percentage fell on good soil? 25, one fourth.

[23:37] You scatter it out. You think of the sower. He was prepared. He was equipped. He had his seed. Corinthians tells us that God is able to make all grace abound towards us, that we would have all on bread for our own need, and then to scatter as well.

[23:50] And he goes out and he's got the most valuable seed. He's got God's word and he spreads it. And only a quarter return? That doesn't seem very good, Lord. You're not very good with math, are you? He's very good with it.

[24:02] As the disciples were standing in the temple with Jesus, and they were watching them throw the money in. And it's tradition that they had these great, like cornucopia almost made out of like beaten bronze or gold.

[24:15] They would throw their money into. So a clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, right? And our little offering box back there, there's, um, fabric boxes in the bottom. So that if you throw a penny in, it doesn't go, you know, but Hey, if you're going to give $200 in bills, or are you going to give $10 in pennies, man, clang, clang, clang, clang.

[24:37] And Jesus is standing there and they all come to great ones and they're throwing their money in. And then that, that poor widow comes and she throws in and Jesus says, she has given, she has given the most. And the disciples are like, I didn't hear anything.

[24:50] It's like, well, she gave out of her necessity. She gave all that she had for, she gave out of her necessity. How willing are we to give an effort? Look at the effort. The enemy goes to, to try and bring down God.

[25:02] Am I just giving, well, that's the extra. Or am I giving my effort? We're going to look at that a little later. And the devil that deceived them, he was cast in the lake of fire.

[25:13] I don't know. I just picture a little cartoon and him going, not again. No, as he's thrown by the next angel with no name into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are at this time.

[25:23] And he shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. The lake of fire. The lake of fire. It's a real place. It's an eternal place.

[25:36] It's an uncomfortable place, but it is a hundred percent an avoidable place. Matthew 25, 41 says, then shall he say unto them on the left hand.

[25:47] These are the sheep and goats judgment at this time. And Matthew 25, he says to the goats, apart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for you, prepared for the devil and his angels.

[25:58] It's not prepared for you. It's completely avoidable. Please come and get a new heart. Be renewed in Christ. Put your faith in Christ. No, I'll validate myself. I'll stand in my own right.

[26:11] And those who arrive there, they stay there day and night forever and ever. Ecclesiastes 8, 8 says, there is no man that has power over the spirit to retain the spirit.

[26:24] Neither has he power in the day of death. There is no just discharge in that war. Neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. You can't get out of it.

[26:35] Well, I didn't sign up for this. And what a sad statement there. Neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it to think that, but isn't that, isn't that what the world's chasing? If we can avoid death, if we could live longer and how are they doing it through wickedness because they reject God.

[26:51] And I saw then John says at this time, the end of this thousand years, I saw a great white throne, the GWT. I got to end my notes for an acronym.

[27:02] I saw a great white throne. And him that sat on it from whose face, the earth and heaven fled away.

[27:14] It means to flee away, obviously in a way that is to vanish, disappear. Poof. From whom the face, from whose face, the face, the earth and heaven fled away.

[27:26] And there is found no more place for them. Second Peter three, 10, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. The day that in first Thessalonians chapter five, Paul says that day should not overtake you as a thief in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.

[27:43] The earth also, and the works that are in there in shall be burned up. Nevertheless, we according to his promise, look for new heavens and new earth wherein dwells righteousness.

[27:56] The day of the Lord is also used like in first Thessalonians chapter five and Zephaniah. It's a day of woe, a day of terror. So is I thought that Jared, I thought that was like the seven years.

[28:08] That was the day of the Lord. And now it's like at the end of the thousand years is still the day of the Lord. Well, first it does make me think of the scripture. A thousand years is as a day with the Lord and day is a thousand years.

[28:19] But the term of the day of the Lord just speaks of God's time. It's the idea that now currently is the day of man. We are in the day of man. Anybody, anybody Lord of the Rings fans, you know, and they're like the bad guys, the orcs are coming and they're like the time of man is over.

[28:34] It is the time of the orc or whatever. So that's the idea here. One day the Messiah, he will end the day of man and he'll bring forth the ultimate day of the Lord. And a significant aspect of that is the great tribulation.

[28:47] Now it is a day of woe. It is a day of terror. The fact that there is this tribulation and the fact that at one point here, the heavens and earth will be gone, but it is not for me. It will be for many people, but it won't be for me.

[29:01] The day will come when God will, as we read here in verse 11, heaven and earth will flee away from that face. The day of the Lord is the season of God's great triumph.

[29:14] God's day, as opposed to man's day. It's kind of like your birthday. It's one day, unless you're my wife, it's about a month long. So it's like the day of Sue. Adam's created world at this point has run its course.

[29:29] It's fulfilled its purpose and there's no more need for it. There's no longer a place for it in the face of God's final judgment. That face, heaven and earth can't even stand before that face.

[29:40] That final stand of heaven and earth. That face gives me goosebumps. That face that heaven and earth cannot bear the gaze of is the face that we long to see.

[29:51] First Corinthians 13, 12, for now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. And we're not going to flee away. We're going to flee, run towards it. Now I know in part, but then I shall know even as also I am.

[30:04] No, that is not a day that I'm afraid of. It's the day I can't wait for the day of the Lord. Who is on the throne? Who is this person that's on the throne? Sunday school answer, Jesus.

[30:17] John chapter five. We'll get there in about six months. For the father judges, no man, but has committed all judgment to who? To the son. Truly, truly, I say unto you, the hour is coming.

[30:30] And now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the son of God. And they that hear it shall live. For as the father has life in himself. So has he given to the son to have life in himself and has given him authority to execute judgment.

[30:43] Also, because he is the son of man. Jesus is the one on the throne. Throne means, the Greek is throneos, kingly power, royalty, a tribunal, the place of judgment.

[30:54] And the, the GWT, the great white throne, great in status, and power, and authority. It's white in purity, and holiness. A throne, the kingly sovereignty, as Jesus sits there, the great white throne.

[31:10] Not to keep referencing old works of fiction. But the last battle in Narnia just captures this, this idea of the end so well, and all of the end coming and facing the one to whom they have to do.

[31:27] Verse 12. And John now, he sees the dead, small and great stand before God. Their final stand. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life.

[31:43] And the dead were judged out of those things, which were written in the books, according to their works. This is Matt. This is man's last stand, his final stand before God.

[31:54] This is it. This is the dead. Dead means deceased, departed, one whose soul is in either heaven or hell. It is just no longer in living, in the living is of the dead.

[32:06] And it says here, from the small to the great, they stand before God, meaning the least to the greatest. They are judged by the same standard. No one will be judged separately because, well, I was one of the movers and shakers of the world, or I, you know, I was powerful, or, or I, I was a really good person.

[32:25] From the least to the greatest, they're judged by the same standard. They stand before God. Standing before God indicates what? A resurrection. Resurrection. If they're going to stand there, there's in some type of body where they're standing before God.

[32:39] We have had four resurrections. You could kind of put two of them together. I guess the dead in Christ shall rise first. And then we, which are alive and remain, should be caught up together with them to meet him in the clouds.

[32:50] And there we shall ever be with the Lord. But you have the dead in Christ are raised. The living in Christ are raised. We have dead tribulation saints or martyred tribulation saints were raised. And then it seems like we have the remaining dead here at the great white throne.

[33:04] There are two resurrection events that aren't recorded specifically for us in scripture. Can you think what those might be? What just happened at the end of the millennium?

[33:17] Heaven and earth, right? Where'd all the people go? What about all the people that didn't come up against Jerusalem? They were not told how that happens, but they must have some type of resurrection.

[33:29] And the other one is, what about the old Testament saints? I know of no scripture that specifically records the time that the old Testament saints are raised.

[33:41] Whereas we have, this is the resurrection of those in Christ. This is the resurrection for the tribulation saints. So it's just interesting to me that for myself, I don't see where either of those are specifically mentioned.

[33:51] But we've had four resurrections now that are recorded for us. We have the remaining dead. Now the great white throne, who are these dead? Who are those standing there before God at this time?

[34:06] Well, it's not the church. You might think it was when you read some of the scripture that Paul writes in Corinthians here in second Corinthians chapter five. He says, we are confident. I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and be present with the Lord.

[34:21] Wherefore, we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Maybe this is where we are, but everyone may receive the things done in his body.

[34:33] According to that, he has done, whether it be good or bad. Judgment seat is a different word. It's not a throne. It's not thrown us. It's Bema, a Bema seat. It was a seat that Herod had built in Caesarea in the theater to hand out, like to give people their medals in the Olympics, essentially like that.

[34:51] He used to, to view the games, to make speeches, to hand out reward. Paul is saying here that he is, oops, let me turn that off.

[35:03] He's willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. He wants to be, he's not scared of this. He's desiring it. I'd rather be absent from the body. I'd rather be with the Lord.

[35:16] We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. First Corinthians 3.10 says that according to the grace of God, which has given me, Paul is writing, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another man builds thereon.

[35:35] But let every man take heed how he builds thereon. Literally the take heed is let every man discern how he's building. So Paul is saying there is a time where I have laid the foundation by giving the gospel, giving Christ as that foundation.

[35:51] Others will come after me and they will build upon that foundation, but take heed, discern how you build. And then here in second Corinthians five, as we're looking, he says, wherefore we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted.

[36:04] Accepted just means be well-pleasing or appropriately acting. We may be well-pleasing to him. It's not a question of like, am I accepted before God by the works that I do? It's I want what I do here and there to be pleasing before God.

[36:18] And then he says, why? Well, because we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive what we've done in our body, whether good or bad. Now, I've been growing up in the church.

[36:29] I've heard a lot of teachings on rewards and they always, I always come away like half terrified. I don't know if I want to face Jesus, but receiving the things and done in the body, whether good or bad is just simply, was it something that has value or not?

[36:45] If not, it has no value. If so, great. There will be value that will carry over. First Corinthians chapter three seems to allude to this time period where we were stand before Christ in a judgment of benefit of reward.

[37:04] It doesn't exactly say that it is, but it seems to indicate it's the same time period. He says in first Corinthians three, 11 for other foundation can no man lay than that, which is laid, which is Christ.

[37:16] We just read how Paul said, Hey, according to the grace given me, I laid this foundation. Other people are building on it. Now, if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work should be made manifest for the day.

[37:30] She'll declare it because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire. She'll try every man's work of what sort it is. Is this regarding any type of salvation issue? No, because the foundation is Christ.

[37:41] This is just what you're building upon it. You know, Paul essentially says, Hey, go build. There's the foundation, build upon that foundation, but what you build upon it, be discerning of, make sure it's something that has value and that'll last and that it's well, pleasing to God.

[37:55] If any man's work abide, which he's built there on, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work should be burned, he shall suffer loss. It's a really bad way to translate that.

[38:07] It just means if it's burned, then there is loss from what he's had. It doesn't mean he himself personally will suffer loss. It's like, if, you know, if you're, if you're robbed, you've suffered loss.

[38:17] You've lost of what you had. If any man's work should be burned, he shall suffer loss. It is, if it's consumed, then it's a loss, but he himself shall be saved. Yet is so by fire.

[38:29] And growing up in the church, I've heard, you know, that means if your rewards are all burned up, man, you'll get in, but you'll smell like smoke. That's not what it means. This is an encouragement. Paul is saying, Hey, even if all of your works are burned up, don't worry.

[38:43] You won't be, you will survive the fire because that's not what is being judged. Your works do not determine your salvation. I think what Paul is saying here is go build.

[38:54] Build, go build. You have the foundation. It's Christ. Build. Maybe you build this huge structure and then it's like, okay, let's test it. And all that's left is like one gold coin.

[39:06] Praise God. What am I going to do with the gold coin? Well, put on my head and pretend it's a crown and I'll throw it at Jesus's feet. Remember, there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.

[39:17] Old things are passed away. All things have become new. Standing before Christ is not going to be a negative thing. It's not going to be a chastisement. The chastisement of my PR piece was upon him. There's ultimately no loss.

[39:30] So it's unfortunate the way it's translated there. He shall suffer loss, loss of what was burned. There's ultimately no loss. And we all have the potential to add to the foundation, which is Christ.

[39:42] Because in Christ, all is gain. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose. So no, we will not stand before him in judgment.

[39:55] What have you done? We'll stand before him. The judgment is one where he says, what have you done? What have you done? Hey, come on up, Jared. What have you done? Uh, not as much as I thought.

[40:09] Here you go. It's not one person who's going to stand there and say, yes, I did it. I built with stone, with diamonds and silver, and I deserve the reward.

[40:21] Give it to me, Jesus. No, whatever he gives me, I'm going to go, not a chance, Lord, Lord, you can't give, why are you giving me that? You know, I did nothing. You know, it was all you. What are you doing? Giving me something.

[40:32] So there are no special classes of believers. There won't be the class over there that's like, man, look what have he got? I'm like, God, it's this thing right here. He's over there eating filet mignon.

[40:43] I got a cup of jello. You know, like, oh man, it's nourishing, but it's disgusting. There's no special classes, but there are special purposes, special callings and giftings.

[40:55] And there are different giftings. First Corinthians chapter 12 tells us that currently there are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. And there are difference of his ministrations, but the same Lord.

[41:06] And there are diversities of operations, but it's the same God which works all in all. So there's no special class of believer, but there are special purposes, callings and giftings. And every one of those is directly impacted by my participation in them.

[41:20] So I've been called to be a pastor, you know, shepherd the flock of God, whom you are among to teach the word, to be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but they will heed themselves teachers having itching ears of their own lusts.

[41:36] They'll teach the hip teach, uh, heap to themselves teachers. That was too fast. But if I don't respond to that, it doesn't really matter. If I don't participate in that, it doesn't matter what the calling and the gifting and the purpose was.

[41:50] If I don't participate, man, I do wonder sometimes, God, could I have participated a little sooner? You know, I was 41 and I got to pastor a church, but you know what I found? All things work together for good.

[42:03] I look at this situation now and I'm like, I don't think I could have thought of a way to do it better. I don't think I could have planned it any better. Like we had this time period where I wasn't able to do that. And we were, our kids were little, but now I get to do this with my kids as adults serving and watch them grow.

[42:19] And I don't think I could have done it any better. First Corinthians 15, 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren stand, our last stand is in Christ.

[42:29] Be you steadfast, be unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Why? So I can get a lot of reward or so I don't get in trouble in front of Jesus. No, because I want to be well-pleasing.

[42:41] I want to do the appropriate thing. So when I stand before him, it's not what I've done. Like I say it all the time. I say, God, bring as many people as you can fill this place. So that we got two services.

[42:52] We're moving into a bigger space. Why? Cause we want to be that church. No, so that we can bring a harvest and say, look, Lord, look what you did. Here it is. It's yours. So then who then are these dead?

[43:05] Well, they're dead. Whose judgment style fits more of the old covenant than the new. They're being judged by their works, but whose salvation is based upon the same faith for everyone across all ages.

[43:18] Psalm 103 10 says he's not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. It's a judgment style that looks more like what we would find in the old covenant.

[43:32] Galatians chapter three, six through seven says, even as Abraham believed God and was counted to him for righteousness. Know you therefore that they, which are of faith, the same are children of Abraham.

[43:43] That same faith of Abraham is the same faith. Adam had in the same faith. Noah had in the same faith that the old Testament saints had to have the same that the church has the same, that the tribulation saints will have the same, that the millennial saints will have.

[43:56] It's the same faith that Abraham believed God and was counted to him for righteousness in different seasons of God dealing with the world. That faith results in different outcomes and experiences with God.

[44:13] In the time period of the church, it allows us to partake in the spirit and to partake in his body. But no matter how they're judged, it's the same.

[44:24] Their salvation is same is based upon the same as everyone else across all ages. And the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things, which were written in the books, according to their works works is deeds.

[44:40] They were judged according to their deeds. There's multiple books here for multiple purposes. I have no idea what they all are, but only one book is for the purpose of life. Only one book for the purpose of life.

[44:55] Revelation three, five, he that overcomes the same shall be clothed in white raiment. And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I'll confess his name before my father, before his angels.

[45:07] So the book of life is a book that if your name is not in it, you don't go into life, but it's also a book that can have your name taken out of it. And this book, whether your name is in it, hangs on that other book, the book of life of the lamb.

[45:21] As you put your faith in Christ, your name is written in there. And then your name is not blotted out of the book of life. But at this time, all the books are open for whatever purpose they have. And the book of life, the one that is the only purpose for life.

[45:34] And there's no more excuses. At the GWT, there's no more excuses. This is the last and final stand for man. Their last chance to say, no, no, no, no, no. I can, I can do it.

[45:46] I got this. I don't think one of them is going to stand there and say, yeah, God finally get my audience with you. And the sea gave off the dead, which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead, which were in them.

[46:00] And they were judged every man, according to their works. We have two forms of death here. In a sense, we have the dead, those that were no longer in life. And then we have death. And then we have hell.

[46:12] Death is simply the power to be held in death. Death is that which holds us in death, describing the act, I guess, of it. And then hell is the holding place of the damned.

[46:26] But there's two, two places here that's referencing the sea and hell. And I think it's just saying from the biblical standpoint, those are two places that no one returns from.

[46:37] No one returns from hell and nobody returns from the bottom of the sea. There's two places that represent, that represents two places. There's no return. Unless there's one greater than those things, unless there's one greater than hell, unless there's one who can call someone up out of there, but they are innumerable dead in hell and the sea.

[46:57] There are innumerable dead. This is not an opportunity for a workspace salvation. It's not like, well, if you may, if you, if you hold out to the very end, you know, I can, I can outweigh my bad deeds with my good deeds, but it's a final chance to show the heart of man.

[47:13] The only redeemable work is the one that leads to life. As man stands there and all of his works, all of his deeds, there's only one redeemable work. And it's the work of God that you believe on him whom he sent.

[47:27] And those who do that redeemable work, their names are not blotted out of the book of life. And then at this time, death experiences a death and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.

[47:40] This is the second death. Second death was referred to earlier in revelation 20, referring to those who were, um, the tribulation saints, the rest of the dead after the tribulation saints were raised, the rest of the dead killed during the tribulation, live not again until a thousand years were finished at the great white throne judgment.

[48:00] This is the first resurrection referring to the tribulation saints, the first resurrection of those who died during the tribulation, blessed and holy is he that has part in that first resurrection. And on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and reign a thousand years.

[48:18] Death. The second death has no power. Why? Because they've taken part in a life that overcame death. The second death has no power because they are joined now with a life that death has no authority over.

[48:31] Death has no, no ability to, to, to claim. But here we see death is not forever, but the lake of fire is. Death has an end. The death of Hades going into the grave.

[48:45] The second death has no power over those who partake in the life that overcame death. First Corinthians 15 verse 20. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept.

[49:00] But every man in his own order, Christ, the first fruits and afterward, they that are Christ at his coming. Then we get this timeline. Paul gives us after Christ raises the latter fruits at his coming for the church.

[49:12] Then comes the end when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power for he must reign after he's put them all down. And the times of the Gentiles ends and man day is over and the day of the Lord comes.

[49:26] He must reign until he's put all enemies under his feet. And the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. And here we see that last enemy being destroyed. If you jump down to the bottom of first Corinthians 15, that's where Paul says, behold, I show you a mystery.

[49:41] We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump, the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruptible and this mortal must put on immortality.

[49:57] And so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptible, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.

[50:09] We don't have to wait till the great white throne judgment to experience the victory over death. Oh, death, where's your sting? Oh, grave, where's your victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law.

[50:22] But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory. He gives us the victory and sends ahead of time through our Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have to wait till the great white throne judgment to overcome death.

[50:33] We don't fear death or its end because in Christ, death has lost its sting. What is the sting? Ability to cause pain. It's lost its potency.

[50:46] That's what death does. Death for the believers. It's not, there's no sting there. There's no poison. There's no potency. It's just, it's just the doorway into life. And our last verse for tonight.

[51:00] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Whosoever was not found does not necessarily mean none were found with their names in the book of life.

[51:13] And I know I, I'm just reading what it says. And I don't think it necessarily means this is only a judgment of the lost. It says, and whosoever was not written in the found written in the book of life was cast in a lake of fire.

[51:26] Indicating doesn't necessarily mean there were none found with their names written in the book of life at this time. Why do I think that? And look, this is just my two cents. If you want to knock it down to one cent, that's fine.

[51:38] But just from reading what the Bible says, I think it's possible that this is when the Old Testament saints are raised. Why do I think that? Job 19. Job says, for I know that my Redeemer lives and he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.

[51:54] And though after my skin, worms destroyed this body, yet in my flesh, I shall see God. Whom I shall see for myself. My eyes shall behold and not another. Though my reins be consumed within me.

[52:07] Job says, hey, in the end, he shall stand on the earth. Doesn't say he's going to stand with him. Maybe, maybe they'll be raised. Maybe it's just a time that we don't get a description of the Old Testament saints being raised. But I don't think the purpose of the thousand year reign of Christ is for the Old Testament saints.

[52:24] And the reason I think that is if you remove the church age, and if hypothetically Israel had received their Messiah, then the kingdom would have been for a thousand years with those that were alive at that time.

[52:35] The only difference is, now there will be a kingdom for a thousand years of those alive at that time, with a church, ruling and reigning with Christ, with the bride there as well. But I don't think the purpose is for Old Testament saints.

[52:47] That's just me. And then in Daniel, Daniel chapter 12, verse 2, And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

[52:58] Doesn't mean those two things are the exact moment. Right? We just looked at Daniel chapter 9, where between verse 26 and 27, he got over 2,000 years. These two events could be very far apart. They could be two different things.

[53:09] Or they could happen at the same time. But then what does he say to Daniel in verse 13? But go your way till the end be. For you shall rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

[53:23] And when heaven and earth are no more, and there's no sun, and there's no moon, and there's no way to tell days, that is the end of the days. There are no more. So just food for thought. You can dig into that.

[53:33] But just looking at what it says, I don't know of any specific time. And anybody that I've read or listened to, they'll give different times. But there's no specific time listed when they're raised.

[53:44] This is the closest I can find to it. But either way, those who are not found written in the book of life at this time, they're cast into the lake of fire. That's to throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls.

[53:57] It's just like, just to throw it away. Those at that time. Kind of sad that a life that had so much potential, something that God created for eternity to bring glory and honor to him and to enjoy him forever just becomes something that is just cast aside.

[54:15] But that made me think of what the Father does with his hands with us. Jesus says, You know what pluck is in the Greek?

[54:36] Harpazo. To seize on. Claim for oneself eagerly. Jesus will come and he will harpazo us. He will claim us for himself. He'll grab eagerly.

[54:47] But nobody will pluck us out of our Father's hand. None of them shall pluck them out of my hand. I'm sorry, Jesus' hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all.

[54:57] And no man's able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. You know, I picture that. I picture Jesus like, I got him. I'm not going to let him go. And God takes his big hand and goes over Jesus and says, yeah, I got him too.

[55:08] So they're not going anywhere. Then we which are alive and remain shall be harpazoed together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord.

[55:20] We will be snatched away to the Father, but never snatched away from the Father. And we don't have to wait until the great white throne judgment to experience the Father's love, his grasp, the victory over death.

[55:40] And we don't have to wait until the great white throne judgment to experience a resurrection. We will experience one before then. Well, we got through chapter 20.

[55:53] Two left. It's going to take three or four months. Father, thank you, Lord. Thank you that we have a hope, Lord. A hope that lasts beyond the grave.

[56:03] A hope that lasts beyond, Lord, our lifetime. Lord, the age that we're in, Lord, that lasts beyond every judgment of God.

[56:16] Lasts beyond heaven and earth. We have a hope, Lord. We have an inheritance undefiled. Reserved in heaven for us that fades not away. Lord, we don't have to worry if what we do down here is going to mar that.

[56:33] Because your Father looks at us and loves us with the love that he has for you. There's no condemnation. You, as the bridegroom, will present your bride a pure and spotless bride.

[56:47] But, Lord, we want to be well-pleasing to you. I do, Lord. Lord, I don't want to be the guy standing there with nothing to give you. It's like bringing a gift for the bridegroom.

[56:59] You know, bringing your wedding gift or the host and hostess. You bring a gift. Lord, I want to be able to have something, Lord. And, Lord, I believe I do. But I recognize it's nothing of myself, Lord. And I know that in that moment when you're saying, hey, this one's for you.

[57:18] Lord, all I'm going to want is you. And I'm 100% assured that whatever that reward entails, it's got to have you with it in some type. So, Lord, thank you, Lord.

[57:29] Let us each respond to our different callings, our individual giftings. Lord, that we might be those who live lives that are saying to this world, it's not too late.

[57:45] Come and be part of something wonderful, glorious, and beautiful. You can overcome death, too. We thank you, Jesus, for being the one who holds us so tightly. We thank you, Father, for holding as well.

[57:58]  And in Jesus' name, amen.