Presented by Evangelist Wendell Stover

You’ve heard the statement, "There’s more than one way to look at something." A young man was asked the question, "How many days in the week are there that begin with the letter T?" He thought for a while and then said, "Two." "Two?" "Yes, today and tomorrow!" He was asked another question—"How many seconds are there in a year?" He said, "Twelve. January 2, February 2,. and so forth." Sometimes there can be a different interpretation , a different twist put onto the way we look at things. When I was a little boy growing up my father ran a store, a rural country store. In those days customers would often come in and sit on a Coca-Cola crate, drinking an RC Cola, eating a chunk of hooked cheese my Dad had just cut, maybe eating a can of potted meat or a Moon Pie. Bring back any memories? But even as a little child growing up I remember some of the discussions that took place there in that setting about the Millennium. I must tell you I didn’t even know what the Millennium was. But evidently it was a topic of such grave importance that grown men would meet together and discuss this thousand years.

Now the word Millennium itself is not found in the Scriptures. It comes to us from a couple of words translated into a thousand years. If you will turn with me to the Book of Revelation tonight, let’s study what the Bible says, and then when we are finished I don’t believe there will be more than one opinion represented at all about what the Bible says—what the Bible teaches will happen before, during, and after this very special time period. Revelation 20: 1: He says, "And I saw an angle come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand." Now he does something with that chain that must be symbolic because he says in verse 2, "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the Devil and Satan and bound him for a thousand years. Now this is not a literal tying up or binding of Satan, but as we will see in our study this evening Satan will be bound or tied up by a series of circumstances. Sometimes we even use that phrase—someone will call and say, "Let’s go down to the Mall tonight." And you say, "Oh, I would love to go with you, but I’m all tied up. I’m baking my husband a delicious chocolate cake." Or, "Oh, I’m preparing dinner this evening for my grandchildren who are coming over. I’m all tied up." You aren’t really tied, as such, but yet you are bound by those circumstances. Likewise it is with Satan. Someday his work shall cease. Notice with me if you will verse 3. In a symbolic way the angel here is proclaiming that some day-verse 3—"Satan will be cast into the bottomless pit and he shall also be shut up. And a seal will be placed upon him that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little season." Now I am not going to put this on the board tonight. But as we begin this study of the thousand years from these couple of verses we could place on the board that Satan would be bound at the beginning of the thousand years and then at the end of the thousand years Satan would be loosed. And I can’t wait!

When our kids were much smaller there were a couple of words we taught our children not to say. These two words belonged to Debbie, the Mom. Occasionally, she herself would speak these two words. When she would, in a certain tone of voice, say, "Shut up!" I knew the close of probation had come! Think for a moment what it is like when Satan shall be shut up. No more divorce, disease, death. No more cancer. A lot of things shall be no more. But a lot of things shall be that we have not yet tasted of. The Bible tells us that eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of Man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.

This idea of the Millennium has several different focal points. What happens at the beginning, during, and at the end of it. Let’s stay right with the Bible right here. So, we’ve learned that the Devil will be bound here by some circumstances and then at the end of the thousand years he would be loosed. Notice with me verse 4. He says, "And I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them, and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ"—for how long? Now, I’ve taken the liberty this evening to in the middle of the board place, "Saints are with God." You understand what I’m referring to, don’t you? We will see in the discussion here this evening, that the thousand years has a very pointed beginning. I would like for you to consider that when Jesus comes the Millennium begins—Jesus’ Second Coming. The next few verses will tell us that there is a Resurrection. I’ve placed on the board the First Resurrection. And this is true, we have studied this, how that at the Voice of God the dead in Christ come forth. But there’s also something else mentioned here in the Book of Revelation. He reminds us of a Second Death. Notice with me verse 5. He says, "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." I sometimes wish that the last sentence of verse 5 would have actually been placed with the beginning of verse 6. Now John is as much interested in this resurrection, this focal point, as he is in what shall take place down here at the end of the thousand years.

Let’s read the next verse. This is the First Resurrection, verse 6. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection. On such the Second Death hath no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years." You know the text as well as I do, from 1Thessalonians 4. How that the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, with the Trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. And then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds in the air to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. This diagram is in harmony with the teaching of Scripture that at Jesus coming the Resurrection takes place. If you are alive when Jesus comes you are caught up together with those who are resurrected. You go to be with the Lord. During that thousand years the earth is desolate. Satan is bound by the circumstances here of having no one to tempt. Now there are those who suggest that during this time that some will have a second chance for repentance, to accept Jesus. The Bible does not teach that.

At the end of the thousand years I have placed the Holy City descending. Now, of everything I will share with you tonight, placing this Holy City here is the weakest part of my diagram and chart. Now in context I am very safe to place it here. But I cannot give you the exact verse that says that at the end of the thousand years the Holy City descends. But we do know at the Word of Scripture that it comes down out of God from heaven. Notice Revelation 21: 1, 2: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband." It makes a lot of sense in the context of this diagram to place the Holy City descending from God out of heaven at the end of the thousand years because inspiration tells us that a resurrection would take place there. Now keep in mind that Jesus says, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection." You want to be sure that if you should die this evening you shall come forth at the voice of Jesus Christ in the First Resurrection. That is important, because if you come forth from the grave in this resurrection, that which happens down here will have no effect on you. He tells us here in Revelation 20 that the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.

Now you only have two groups of people, the righteous and the unrighteous. The righteous are with Jesus Christ in heaven, those who are alive when Jesus returns but are unsaved are struck dead by the brightness of His coming. Those who are in the graves, and I need to be a little cautious here because there is a representative group of those who saw Christ being crucified, some call that a Special Resurrection. But the fact remains that that group of unrighteous people shall remain dead during the thousand years, but at the end of it there is a resurrection which shall be followed by death. Now, let’s go back to Revelation and look at this carefully. Revelation 20. It tells us in verse 6, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection. On such the Second Death hath no power." Well, why not? It’s because during this special time of being with Jesus in heaven it tells us here in verse 6 it tells us that they shall even serve as priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign or be with Him for a thousand years. Verse 7: "But when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison." The first part of this chapter we read that Satan would be bound for a thousand years, but then he would be loosed at the end. Now, when something is repeated in Scripture, we need to pay attention to it., it is very important to God. Now, something happens there at the end of the thousand years that we must not deny. Verse 8: "And he shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea."

Here is the setting--the Holy City descends down from God coming toward the earth. The Saints of God are inside the City. Now this is not some little place. It’s larger than the states of Georgia and Florida combined. Fifteen-hundred miles around the City—it’s a big place! And the Devil wants it! Inside the City is represented peace, joy, hope, and gladness. In order for there to be a Second Death here, there must also be that resurrection of the wicked. I don’t know what Faith this man was, most likely he is dead and gone now. But I was sitting in a tent meeting listening to a very mature pastor/revivalist preaching on this subject. He said, "Every one of you listening to me will be here when this happens. You will either be outside the City trying to get in, or you will be inside the City happy that you are there!" And I think that dear man was exactly right. Wouldn’t it be something if those who have gone into their graves come out of their graves with the same character that took them there, of meanness and hatred. And Satan rallies those forces together and says, "The Holy City is yours by right, you deserve it! Let’s join our energies together and take that City!" Now remember, he is a Master Deceiver.

I hope you believe what the Bible says happens next, it almost sounds like it should never happen. But notice with me verse 9: "As Satan has gathered them together to do battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea." Verse 9 tells the story of how they will circle the Holy City of God. "And they went up on the breadth of the earth and they encompassed the camp of the Saints about and the Beloved City. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them." And the Devil that deceived them was given immortality and he lived forevermore happy and joyous—No! Verse 10: "And the Devil that deceived them"—you see, he is the leader, he is the general, he is the head honcho. The Bible says that his day of judgment is coming also. "And the Devil that deceived them was cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever."

"And I saw a great white throne and Him that sat on it." Now, I wish John had taken the time to give a little better description right there. You know, for over 1200 years the imagery of God was misrepresented. People the world over came to believe that God was such a dictator, possessive God that in order to get His attention and His love and His concern one had to beg and plead—but that is not a true representation of God’s character at all. To say that God enjoys punishing the wicked is equally a false statement. Now, there will come some relief to God’s heart, I believe—justification that it’s now all over. But this is a very mysterious, strange act of God, don’t you think so? Way back in time it would have been God’s desire for sin never to originate—I want you to believe that. And even as the fires of hell are consuming the bodies and the lives of the unrighteous Jesus is not smiling and gleefully, joyfully dancing! He would have preferred that all of those believe in him and be ready for heaven. Some have even suggested that it is God’s mercy that allows the Second Death to actually take place, that really this idea of a Second Death of the wicked rightfully represents God’s attitude in punishing the wicked. He is not willing that they should hurt for all eternity.

Let’s back up—Revelation 20. This Second Death is described as occurring with the events here of verses 8 and 9. As Satan has garnered those hosts together telling them they can capture the City of God, the Bible says fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. That is the Lake of Fire and that is the Second Death that will burn up the unrighteous. Let’s read on in this chapter a little bit. It tells us, as we have already read in verse 10, that the Devil will burn there. Verse 12—"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the Books were opened." Now, verse 12 brings the promise that this could actually happen during the thousand years. I don’t know what you believe, but as the saints of God are made to be priests of God and of Christ and to reign with Him for a thousand years, surely God in His wisdom would allow the saints to have access to the record books of heaven. All the books are available. The Bible speaks about the Book of Deeds, the Book of Remembrance, and the Book of Life. Verse 12, as we finish the verse, says, "And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life, and the dead were judged out of those things that were written in the books according to their works. The sea gave up the dead which were in it. Death and Hell or death and the grave gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works." Verse 14—"And death and the grave, (or Death and Hell, as the King James version states it,) is to be destroyed." Remember, the last enemy destroyed." Remember the last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death. "Death and the grave were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the Second Death." Now that’s Bible! This resurrection that takes place down here allows for the unrighteous to come forth to try and capture the City. Fire comes down from God out of heaven, the hottest fire Godly possible. This fire is to do more than to just burn up the Devil. This fire is designed to totally eradicate, to destroy any trace of sin. Every scar of sin shall be gone, cleansed, purified. And in that process he says here that it is the Second Death because they die, verse 15—"And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire." Raise your hand tonight, how many of you are planning to go swimming in the Lake of Fire? Not a one of us! It’s an awful crowd that is there! Notice with me Revelation 21: 8. Let’s read this together out loud. "But the fearful and unbelieving, the abominable and murderers, the whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the Second Death." Let there be no doubt that this lake of fire that covers the earth is represented here by this Second Death, and all the unrighteous are burned up in that Second Death and they die, that’s the reason it is called the Second Death. And a partial reason why Jesus would say, "Blessed and holy is he that comes forth in the First Resurrection." Because if you come up here with the Seal of the Living God you will not die with that group down here that we just read about in Revelation 21: 8. It is up to us to decide whether we want to be taking part in this resurrection or that one down there, because we shall be in one or the other.

Can you see how there can be so much room here for discussion, but very little room for someone to say, "Oh, that’s just your opinion!" If you stay right with the Bible you will have the most beautiful story given of God’s love that could ever be told! Jesus came and died for the sinner. And even in the finality of all the events God’s love for the sinner can be seen—because he does not burn for all eternity. You say, "But Wendell, there’s a verse there that says they burn forever and ever." Let’s talk about this a little bit. Go back to Revelation 20:10. Some of you may have heard the idea before that as soon as someone dies they go straight to their reward, whether it be the Kingdom of God or whether it be the kingdom of the Devil. And if they go to be with the Devil they begin to burn immediately. Actually, we studied that in other meetings. That was an invention that came about in the imagination of men. It is not taught in Scripture at all. Even this idea here represented in verse 10. It says that the Devil will be thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. How do we explain all of this that I’ve placed on the board, how do we explain the idea of the Second Death with the idea that the wicked shall burn forever? Here again, let’s stick just with the Bible. In the English language we only have one meaning for the word, forever. A man proposes to his best friend, he wants her to be his life companion. He says to her, "I will love you forever." She understands that in the context of never ending.

Now, the Bible uses the word, forever, with another meaning, more than one meaning. This would be fun. Tonight, tomorrow evening when we are not having meetings here at the church, take a Concordance and look up forever. Read every one of those references—I’ve done this more than once and it doesn’t take all that much time. You’ll discover that in the Bible there are at least fifty different places where the word, forever, is used in reference to things that have already ended. So now, either the Bible is mixed up or perhaps we need to expand our understanding of the word, forever, just a little bit. The Bible does not lie. For instance, remember when Jonah was in the belly of the great fish—I believe it’s in about the second chapter of Jonah. He says, "The earth with her bars was about me forever." He describes how the weeds were wrapped around his head. I’m sure it was dark in there, smelled bad, and that whale bringing in seaweed and pieces of other old fish. I don’t know what was taking place in the whale’s stomach, but it would have been a horrible place to be. No wonder that Jonah would have written, ‘I was in there forever!" I promise if you got stuck out here on Hwy. 75 and 24 where all that road construction is going on, you will think you are going to sit there forever!

Why don’t we do this tonight. Instead of looking up all those references that refer to the word, forever, let’s see what Jesus said and Isaiah, Malachi, the apostle Paul, John, and let’s get an overview of what all these other great men of God really believe about the punishment of the wicked. Would you like to do that? Let’s begin here in the Book of Revelation, Revelation 21: 8. You will discover there is a contrast that takes place between reward of the righteous and the reward of the unrighteous. In verse 7 we find the reward for the righteous. "He that overcometh shall inherit all things." That means immortality, a new nature, a new home. That means dominion and all the good things that go with it. But for the unrighteous, verse 8, he says, "They shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the Second Death." Now that Second Death will be a very awful thing. For those who really thought this through they have suggested something far worse than the pain of fire, and that’s the mental anguish of knowing they have been deceived, they’ve made the wrong choice, and there is absolutely no further hope.

Second Death—the word, death, means just what it says, that they will die. Oh, but for the righteous—they will inherit all things. For the words of Jesus turn with me to the text that is the most popular text in all the world. Would you care to guess what that might be? Turn there with me, John 3:16. Here again we have that contrast between the reward of the righteous and the reward of the unrighteous. Let’s read this together, John 3: 15 and 16. "That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Two verses there you have it contrasting—everlasting righteousness and life for those who believe. But for those who do not believe, they shall perish. I learned a very valuable lesson in what it means to perish as a young man. I’ve always been a good salesman. But sometimes it has gotten me into trouble. I convinced my brother to buy a truck and let me drive the truck and be the salesman. And I assured him we could both make lots of money. So in the middle of the summer I had a load of peaches and tomatoes from the Atlanta Farmers Market in the back of an unrefrigerated truck with my produce route taking me through central and lower Alabama. No further details are necessary! That evening as I stopped to rest and that certain odiferous scent began to come out of the back doors of that trailer, I found myself sorting through box after box of fruit that had perished. Now, the idea of perish to me does not mean that it lasts forever! So, here Jesus has said if we believe in Him we have everlasting life, just like He said, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection." But for the unrighteous they shall perish because the fire comes down from God out of heaven—and, by the way, let’s place that up here—it devoured them. Did you catch that a while ago?

Let’s notice a couple of texts out of the Old Testament—all the way back here to the Book of Isaiah. I must give you a confession tonight—I have saved this verse for this evening. Isaiah 66:17—"They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swines’ flesh and the abomination and the mouse shall be consumed together, says the Lord." All right, let’s place the word, consumed, up here. Now, I don’t want to ride this too hard this evening., but maybe the idea we are made in the image of God carries with it a moral teaching, that as our bodies become the Temple of God and we choose to place into our bodies that which is healthy, then it becomes more and more important to God. God wants us to prosper and be in health, even as He wants our spiritual health to prosper. They tell me that Isaiah and Malachi were contemporaries. Turn to Malachi and let’s see if what he believed agrees with what Isaiah was teaching. Malachi 4. And here, again, we have that contrast between the righteous and the unrighteous, even to their reward. Malachi 4: 1—"Behold the Day cometh that shall burn as an oven." He is predicting here that the day would come when the earth would burn as an oven. "And all the proud, yes, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble. And the Day that cometh shall burn them up sayeth the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." What shall we place on the board from that verse tonight? Place stubble—anything else? How about "burn up"? I’m sure the English teachers get a little bit concerned here with some of these participles! You know, sometimes we may be sitting around a table with small children and we say, "Now, honey, please eat all of your peas up." That’s improper English. It means the same thing if we would simply say, "Honey, eat all of your peas." When you place the "up" on there it does not change the meaning, and that’s a dangling participle. But now, in this verse it is no dangling participle. The meaning would be totally the opposite if He just said, "The Day that cometh shall burn them." Now, that’s different. To say that the Day that cometh is going to burn them is different than saying, "It shall burn them up." When it says, "up," it places Malachi here in harmony with Jesus and Paul and John and Isaiah.

But let’s read on. Here comes the reward of the righteous. Oh, I like verse 2--"But unto you that serve me and love me, unto you that fear my name (God is not forgetting you in that Day!) shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings. You shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stalls." Verse 3—"You shall tread down the wicked for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of Hosts." Now, who is talking here? The Lord of Hosts is speaking. He says, "And they shall turn to stubble, they shall burn up. They shall turn to ashes." If you can give me evidence with all of these descriptive adjectives and words here, how could there ever be a second chance given? That second chance theory is designed to cause people to put off making a decision for Christ, it is simply an excuse.

Let’s go to the New Testament. In II Thessalonians 1:7, 8, 9—"And to you who are troubled, rest with us. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengance on them that know not God and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Verse 9—"Who shall be punishsed with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power." Did you catch that? In flaming fire shall they be destroyed. But they are punished with everlasting destruction.

I hope you can see this from the back of the auditorium tonight. I am reminded also of what Jesus said that we could place up here. You know, He knew a lot about this subject. As a matter of fact, He knew all about it. As He describes everlasting punishment, using those two words, we know that is the exact opposite meaning of everlasting punishing. Why is this everlasting descruction, why is this Second Death everlasting punishment? It is because the results are eternal—that’s the reason. Does it make sense to you this evening when Jesus proclaimed that wonderful teaching, if we would believe in Him we would not perish, but that we would have everlasting life? To me it is a lie against the character of God to say that He enjoys burning people, that for the first year in the pits of hell that God could sit on His throne and smile at all the thousands, millions of unrighteous people suffering and say to those in charge, "Turn the heat up a little hotter!" And then as the next hundred years go by, to see God sitting on his throne continuing the same smile, the same jesting, benefitting from their pain—it just is not true!

Let’s notice something else right here. Notice II Thessalonians 2. He says now, "We beseech you brethren." That word, beseech could be paraphrased as "begging." He says, "I beg of you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him." The reference to his idea in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He says in verse 2—"Hold on that you be not soon shaken in your mind or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as that the Day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that Day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition that was the anti-Christ." Now Paul was looking ahead in time for what was to come. We can look back on that as already happening. You are now living in the future that he saw! Don’t be shaken, don’t be troubled—Jesus is soon to come. Very soon with an escort of the mighty host of heavenly angels Jesus is coming to earth. His intention is not to burn sinners or to kill those who are unrighteous. He is coming to redeem His people and end the punishment of the wicked. It is not His purpose to punish them as such. But out of a genuine act of love it is His purpose to destroy them from the face of the earth to end their misery.

I’ve got other texts we could place on the board this evening, but I think the point here is well taken. When you have the apostle Paul and Mallachi and Isiah, when you have the words of John, when you have the words of Jesus Himself and many others, all agreeing on this idea, then we know we have the truth. The Bible says that the truth shall set you free.

Let’s pray tonight, "Dear Lord, tonight we have sort of focussed on a topic with a morbid ending. But may we end on a more positive note—that of the joyous, everlasting life of the righteous, who have decided to serve You. Please, dear Lord, in this congregation tonigh is represented men and women who love You with all their hearts, coming to these meetings and searching through the Scriptures so that they might learn how to please Thee. Dear God, tonight if anything has been said in a way that should not have been said that would have wounded the spirit or mind of anyone here, please forgive it. Our purpose is to learn of Thee so that we might be saved. And I pray that even tonight as decisions are being made for the Kingdom of God in this place, that no one would leave here without giving a decided effort mentally to confess their sins and to accept Christ as Savior and Lord. I pray in Jesus name and for His sake. Amen.

I may change our topic schedule just a little bit tomorrow evening—you wouldn’t mind if I did that, would you? You see, we have been studying in detail here in the Third Angel’s messages. The First Angel’s message, we have given that good consideration. We’ve spent at least two evenings and a lot of other references made to the Third Angel’s message. But we have said so little about the Second Angel’s message and yet we have two chapters in the Book of Revelation that come to us, giving us a description about the Second Angel’s message, I feel inclined tomorrow evening that our time would be well-spent to study the Second Angel’s message. So if you would like to read Revelation chapter 14 and Revelation 17 in preparation for that study tomorrow evening, that would be a good suggestion.

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Copyright 1999 by Wendell Stover and McDonald Road SDA Church