The Millennium (Revelation 20:1-10)

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Okay, you can open up to Revelation chapter 20. Revelation 20 is where we’ll be this morning. There’s a song that, if I were to start singing it right now, there’s a good chance that most of you would bust out with me. You know, just going it starts, almost heaven. West Virginia, yep, everybody’s with me now, okay, we got it. And one of the reasons, I mean, it’s a catchy tune and all that we like it, but I think one of the reasons why we all know the song, love the song, want to sing along with the song, is because of that almost heaven idea that is probably everyone in this room has a place that they think of when they hear that phrase, almost heaven. Like this is what’s almost heaven for me, if you guys have been at the church for a while, you know for me it actually is Lake Placid New York, where my family’s been going for generations, and so everything about that place I go, Yep, this is as close to heaven as I think I’ll get in this life when I’m there. But notice that it’s almost heaven. What’s still lacking even as you’ve got your place in your head right now, what are you still longing for, even when you think of that place? And of course, the answers come pretty quickly. For as much as I love Lake Placid, my family’s had some epic blow ups there, because there’s sin, I think of the change that we’ve seen, of course, one of the reasons I love Lake Placid is because the people I’m there with, and some of those people aren’t there anymore because of Divorce, because of death, that sure doesn’t feel like heaven. So you see, there’s something we still want. We’re still longing for, and so we can’t help but think with that almost heaven, place where we’re going, Yeah, but I want something more. What would it be like to strip all that junk away in the end, the evil, the sin and the death. Can you even imagine the glory of life at that point? That’s the glory that we’re considering today. My goal here is really to stir up your imaginations, to keep you longing for the eternal, not to settle for almost heaven. We’re gonna do that by looking at the millennium, which is the only place in the Bible where it’s mentioned, which means we’re gonna be grasping about in the dark for the most part. This morning, we’re gonna do our best. Gotta warn you upfront as well. I’m gonna have to do some teaching here. Guy earlier. It was actually last week as I was finishing up, you know, hours and hours of prep and all this stuff, I went into Kyle’s office and I said, I’m ready to teach revelation 20 now. And that’s not where I wanted to be, because I’m supposed to preach revelation 20, not teach it. It’s not a class. I’m gonna try and keep that so we’re gonna do some teaching. But I do want to keep before you why this matters for us today, and not just get bogged down in the teaching piece. I’m gonna give you the big idea up front in part, just so we’ve got that like, here’s why it matters for us today, even when we get into some of the weeds. The big idea is that we should be longing for the day when Jesus reigns and raises us to reign with Him. Now, in one sense, of course, Jesus is reigning even now, but we know what we mean by that. When he is reigning fully and finally and forever, we’re longing for that day when he raises us to reign with Him. Now, there is a lot of debate about this passage, but one thing that’s really clear, at least, is we got three sections in it. One of them is talking about before the millennium. One of them is talking about the Millennium during it, and then one of them is talking about after the millennium. So that’s what we’re going to go our structure here. But in each case, I want to draw out part of what it is that we’re longing for, what we want to see come in the end the longing that we should be stirring in ourselves. So Scene one, this is before the Millennium we’re going to see. CHAPTER 20, verses one to three, we should be longing for the triumph of truth. The triumph of truth. Let me read Revelation 21, to three, and I saw an angel coming down out of heaven having the key to the abyss and holding in his hand a great chain, he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the Devil or Satan, and bound him for 1000 years. He threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore, until 1000 years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time, so evil continues to be ushered off stage. It started back in chapter 18, when Babylon falls. And then we saw last week that the beast is overthrown, the false prophet that second beast along with him. And now finally, at last. We get the dragon. One of the reasons why I think this is chronological, that chapter 19 comes before chapter 20 is because of that right there. We’ve got most of the characters removed, but not the big one. We’re still waiting on him. And so I think that’s where we’re going. In order here, this is not a recap of last week’s battle, although we’ve seen lots of recap in Revelation. Now there’s an angel with a key to the abyss. The Abyss is where the demonic dwells, and we’ve seen an angel do something with the Abyss already, way back when he unlocked the Abyss to let the locusts out during the plague cycles. And so this same angel is now locking it back up, which is just a great reminder, by the way, that it’s God who has the keys to the abyss. Satan doesn’t get to come and go as he pleases or anything like that. Which is even more interesting when you think about it, because do you remember the dragon? When we met the dragon, there’s the pregnant lady, she was given birth. We thought, wow, she’s really vulnerable. And then there’s this crazy, big dragon attacking her. He’s so big his tail sweeps away a third of the stars. You think this is going to be a fierce adversary, and he’s not, because it’s not even God that grabs him, just like one of God’s minions grabs him and shoves him in the abyss. God has total authority and total power, and Satan does not have either of those. It’s actually a helpful reminder for us that Satan’s superpower, if we want to call it, that, isn’t strength. He’s not strong. This is not Thor or Hulk in The Avengers. He’d be Loki, of course. Why? Because if he’s got a superpower, it’s deception. He’s crafty. That’s what. He’s good at lying, and that’s kind of it. In fact, we see deception in all these titles that are given him. So here’s the dragon. Who is the dragon? He’s that ancient serpent. That’s the snake in Genesis three that seduces Eve and Adam with a lies and half truths. Did God really say, Oh, you can eat this fruit. It’ll be fine. You won’t certainly die. And then he’s called the devil, the most common name in Greek in the New Testament. And then Satan the most common name in Hebrew for him in the Old Testament. Satan means accuser, slanderer. Devil, sorry, I’ve got this backwards. Devil means that Satan. Satan means adversary. But what sort of adversary are we talking about? Like a courtroom adversary? He’s the one who shows up and accuses and slanders like this is what he does. He’s a deceiver. You see that in Job, for example, God says, if you consider my servant Job, and Satan goes, hmm, yeah, but that’s only because you give him nice things. Take those nice things away. See what happens. We see it in Zechariah three, where the high priest, Jeshua is is standing before God in the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, he’s covered in filth that would be our sin, and Satan is right there next to him, ready to accuse him. We see it in Jude as well. This is all he’s got. He’s got lies and slander. We have absolutely no reason to fear Satan’s power. At the same time, we have every reason to guard against his lies by clinging to the truth. Of course, that’s how you guard against lies. Now some of you are going hang on now Brandon,
he’s like a lion. I know that from the Bible, and lions are strong and they eat people, so maybe we should fear his power. Let’s look at it and see what it actually says. First, Peter five, eight and nine, be alert and of sober mind your enemy. The devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, resist him standing firm in the faith. Because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. Notice what’s being talked about here. Be alert and of sober mind, like we’re dealing with thoughts at this point. Truth, in other words, doesn’t tell us to be strong, but to be aware of his schemes. And then it says, stand firm in the faith, not in faith. You know, be ready to go. No. Stand firm in the faith. That is the teaching that has been passed down the the faith, once for all, entrusted to the saints. As Jude says, you actually see that in the armor as well. We could go to Ephesians six, I’m not going to we not going. We got to put on armor, because he’s so strong, right? What would we put on the belt of truth? What protects our mind, the knowledge of our salvation? What protects our heart, the knowledge that we have Christ’s righteousness given to ourselves. We got the shield of faith, trusting in God’s word and. Then the one offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word truth. Again, you see it over and over and over again. We need regular and deep Bible intake if we’re going to resist Satan. But there’s one other part, even in that first Peter passage, right? We need regular and deep Bible intake, reading, studying, memorizing, meditating, we need all of that in community. And that what Peter says, because you know that the family of believers throughout the whole world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings like we’re all in this together. We need each other here. One reason it’s so important that we gather that we’re not trying to be a lone ranger Christian, which is an oxymoron, certainly is so that we are not deceived. And it’s much easier to deceive you when you are on your own. And I had a couple of conversations this week even, which, by the way, makes it like every other week of my life where I had to talk to someone and be like, well, that’s Satan voice right there. What you’re hearing right there. That’s what Satan says to you. That’s not what God says to you. Let’s look at the word, but see what God would say to you. We need people to be doing that for us all the time. So what happens and when he’s bound for 1000 years? Perfect number? Of course, this is 10 to the third power. So lots of perfection there. I don’t know if it’s a literal 1000 years or not, probably symbolic, based on everything we’ve seen in Revelation, he’s bound for 1000 years so that he can no longer deceive the nations. That’s what I mean by the triumph of truth. This is what we should be longing for. Can you even imagine how good it will be when we’re done with deception? No more lies, no more propaganda, no more misinformation, no more seductions and temptations, no more doubting. God. Did he really say? Is he really good? Is he really on my side? No more again, temptation this will satisfy. You know why you’re unhappy right now is because God doesn’t love you enough. But you know what will make your life better if you buy that thing you’re looking at, if you sleep with that person that you’re not in a covenant relationship with? Yeah, that’s gonna SAT. Can you imagine how good it’s gonna be when that’s over? What a day that will be but after it says he’s gonna be set free for a short time. And if you’re like me, you’re going really why? Let’s just keep him there. Great question. We’re gonna have to wait until the last section to answer it. But for now, let’s move on to the second section. This is the description of what’s happening during the Millennium. And what should we be longing for? Here we’re gonna see in verses four to six, we should be longing for the reign of the resurrected, the reign of the resurrected. Here it is. I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge, and I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, they had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ 1000 years the rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1000 years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him for 1000 years. So John sees thrones plural, and on these thrones those who’ve been given the authority to judge. Ali read it for us earlier from Daniel seven, nine thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. So why are there all these other thrones? And who is it that’s sitting on them alongside God Almighty? Almost certainly, we are talking about believers. We are talking about the church. Why do I say that? Well, in part because it’s been talked about throughout Revelation, we keep going back to this. So we could go back to the seven letters series that we did last summer, the seven letters, the seven churches in western Turkey. That’s who gets this book originally, some of the promises that are given to them. So Revelation, 226, it says, To the one who overcomes, I will give authority to rule the nations in chapter three. Verse 21 the one who overcomes. Guess what? Gets to sit with Jesus on his throne. We keep talking about Revelation five. Verse 10, this is when John has the Throne Room vision, sees the lamb, the lion who has conquered sin and death. And it says in the middle of it, and as Jesus is receiving this praise, you have made all these people, your people, to be a kingdom. And you think, okay, sure, we’re a kingdom. He’s the king. We’re the subjects, but it goes on, gonna be a kingdom to reign on the earth. We’re gonna be kingdom and priests. Who are reigning with Jesus, first, Corinthians, 62 Paul makes a similar point, just so you see, this is throughout the New Testament. Paul is yelling at the Corinthian church, which he did a lot. Why? Because they’re suing each other in court, in a secular court, instead of working this out in church, which is how that should happen, by the way, but why? Paul says, Look, you’re you don’t think you can arbitrate a dispute between brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord’s people will judge the world like maybe start practicing a little bit. And the word judge actually means rule. There. What you can see that this is the fulfillment of a multitude of promises, all these promises, we are going to reign with Christ, and it’s a fulfillment of promises, especially to the martyrs, those who’ve been beheaded. We have here. We keep seeing them as well. Do you remember in chapter six, they were under the altar, because that’s where their blood had been splashed, and they’re crying out to God, how long? How long? And of course, we got the the answer at that point is gonna be a little longer, because actually, not all the murders have been killed yet, not our sweetest promise, but a true one, nonetheless. What that means, though, of course, is that this, this can’t be the intermediate state. What is being talked about here in this millennium can’t be those who are reigning with Christ now in heaven. Maybe that’s a fine way to describe what happens to the dearly departed believers. But, but that’s not what’s happening here. Why? Because of what it says in verse four, they came to life and reigned with Christ 1000 years now, what does came to life mean? It could mean new spiritual life. That’s a fair reading of that phrase. In fact, it’s used that way. Same exact word in John 525, when Jesus is saying, the dead are going to hear God’s voice and live. The implication there is, they will believe and so they will be reborn. They will have a new life in Christ. But that’s not normally how it’s used normally. It’s kind of like what it sounds like, which is, they came to life. They you know, it’s physical life. John 1125, Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes this will live even though they die. They will come to life even though they die. So there’ll be a death, and then there will be a resurrection. Romans, 14, nine, Christ died and returned to life again. Same word, to be the Lord of the living and the dead. How this word is used throughout revelation as well. But even if you took all that away, we know it has to mean physical life, because it gets used that way in the very next verse, verse five, the rest of the dead did not come to life until 1000 years were ended. So like clearly, it means physical life in that one, I can’t imagine anyone would change the meaning of the word that close. So we’re talking there. And then verse five about those who are spiritually dead as well as physically dead. They don’t come to life until Christ comes, until after the 1000 years. That’s why we got this talk of the first resurrection and the second resurrection. First resurrection is of believers, second resurrection is of unbelievers, the unrepentant raised to face judgment. And that’s why John says that second death, which is spiritual death, condemnation, what we would call hell, has no power over those who experience the first resurrection.
And so blessed and holy are those who share in it, who share in God’s promises to reign as his priests and kings. And you’re reading this, by the way, and you’re thinking like, Yeah, you don’t want to miss this. You want to be here for this moment. Like, reminds me the ark in a lot of ways. You know, Noah’s building this giant boat, and he’s looking around his friends and neighbors going, bad things are coming, and there’s a way out, like, get on board, literally and figuratively. Get on board. Get on the boat before it leaves. And that’s what we need to face here as well, because there will be resurrection and the reign of the resurrected in Christ, but there will be judgment as well. So what does it look like to experience this new life to it means you own your sin, you acknowledge your your rebellion against God, accept the free offer of grace that is given to us in Christ, turn from sin. Trust in Him. It’s this invitation right come and enjoy the reign of the resurrection of the resurrected, the the vindication of the saints, of the faithful and true witnesses at. Last, right, we keep looking for the day when the faithful and true won’t be killed, but instead will be rewarded for their faithfulness. And here it is, and think again of how sweet this rain will be every time you have ever longed for a righteous, just, selfless, you know, uncorrupted and incorruptible leader, you are longing for this. Like how many times we looked out at those who are in power and gone. I wish it would be somebody else. All over the world. All the time, we’re thinking this, this isn’t good enough. Here’s when it’ll be good enough. Here’s when the right people will be reigning again, a world without deception, without sin, without death, with the right leaders the way it was always meant to be. This is the final restoration, the consummation. And notice how sweet it is too, that we will be not just the Kings, but priests of God, those who are directly before the Lord Himself. I mean the great covenant, promise, I will be your God, and you will be my people. And we are all there at this point. Can’t even get our puny minds around how good it will be. It is a joy beyond reckoning. You will not want to miss it. Third section. Then, this is after the millennium. We’re looking at verses seven to 10, last longing. We should be longing for the justice of judgment. The justice of judgment. I’ll explain what I mean by that in a moment. Here’s verses seven to 10, when 1000 years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog and to gather them for battle and number, they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them, and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever. So after these 1000 years, Satan is loosed to deceive the nations again, and he gathers people from the four corners of the earth, right, every tribe, every nation, every tongue. Now, why does God let Satan loose again here? And the answer is to vindicate His justice again, to show the justness of His judgment. There’s this big question. I’ve actually gotten this question twice in just the last two weeks even. That’s how often people raise it. It seems like maybe God is unfair, because we get what an infinite punishment and an eternal punishment for what is a finite crime. Like, even if you were just as wicked as you could possibly be, you’re wicked for what, 80 years and 80 billion years later, you’re still being punished. It just feels like punishment and crime don’t match up. But here we see that’s not right at all. It is infinite punishment, but for an infinite crime, this is rebellion without end. I mean, at any point here has it seemed like the dragon or the beast or the False Prophet feel contrite remorse, wish I hadn’t gone against God? No, and neither do their followers. They have just seen 1000 years of perfection of the reign of Christ, and they still hate it, and still hate Christ. They still want God dead so they can light Hell’s fires on earth again, they are choosing lies and violence and exploitation and all the rest, even still, that is what I mean by the justice of God’s judgment. But if you’re paying close attention, you got a big question right now, which is, Who are these people? Though I thought this was the reign of the resurrected led we got the saints on Earth. Where do they come from? All the rebels are already dead. That was last week, 1921 the rest were killed. There’s no rest beyond the rest, right? That’s everyone at that point. So there are no exceptions there. What’s happening are the saints having kids, some of whom rebel against God. That doesn’t make any sense, because there’s no deception. So where would they even learn to rebel? Now that question is the strongest objection to what’s known as the pre millennial view. And with that, let’s do the teaching part real quick. Okay, and some of you are like, no, that felt like teaching already. I’m trying. I’m trying so hard. Okay, so we got to talk about. Three views here. They all have millennial in it. That’s the millennium, right? Easy. We got a prefix for each there’s pre millennial, post millennial and, ah, millennial. And that prefix talks about when Christ comes in relation to the millennium, post millennialism. Okay? Christ comes post millennium, after the millennium. And so what’s envisioned in post millennialism is that the Church continues to grow, the Gospel continues to spread, until eventually it has transformed culture so completely that we could describe it as a millennial experience on Earth, and then Christ comes. This view was really popular when things seem to be going well for the church, it is not as popular today. Does not look like we’re winning all that often we are always in some places and not in others. Doesn’t really square with the teaching of Scripture, either. So post millennialism not particularly popular today. Pre millennialism is the idea then that Christ comes before the millennium, which is what I’ve given you so far. And then ah, millennialism, ah is the Greek prefix. That means Nope. And so there’s no millennium, although that’s a little bit of a misnomer in some ways, they would see that we are in the Millennium now, but not in that like golden age that’s coming the way post millennialists would see it. So this is the church age and the millennium. Again, we’re talking about the reign of the saints in heaven, the new birth that people experience here on Earth
now, as with things like baptism and stuff, the age of the Earth, like creation, debates and stuff, where we agree matters more than where we disagree, and I want to start there. We all agree. Satan will be defeated. God will care for his people and will bring them, ultimately and forever into his reign that provides us with comfort, regardless of how the Millennium shakes out. In fact, we got to be careful even as we’re reading Revelation. That’s been one of the main points we try to get throughout this series. Don’t miss the main point because you’re arguing over details and theology. This chapter advances the book’s themes that we need to know, the defeat of evil, for example, and the vindication of the saints, as well as the justness of God’s judgment. That said, we want to try to know the whole counsel of God, and so it’s worth teasing out here just a little bit. And so I just want to share why I can’t see amillennialism or post millennialism working, although pre millennialism is a huge group of people, and I have strong disagreements, probably the strongest disagreements, with a good chunk of that as well. Some of you are laughing because you’re like, I know what he’s saying right there. I’m not going to get into all that, though. I just know I’ve been teaching that this whole time. Why do I think that amilism doesn’t work? Really, it’s a this text, and only this text right here, but because of what we saw in verses four to six, because the dead came to life physically, and that happens when Christ comes again. That’s the resurrection. This is not a spiritual birth. This is actual resurrection. The word resurrection is used, the word resurrection is not used of spiritual life in the New Testament. So if we’ve already experienced the first resurrection, then Christ has already come second. I think it has to do with what happens to Satan here in this time as well, because the binding of Satan that we see here in chapter 20 for these 1000 years is just stronger and more absolute than the triumph of the gospel, because that’s what would be talked about. So when he no longer has power to deceive the nations, why? Because we’re going to make disciples of all nations. And so the gospel is triumphing, and that’s true, but that doesn’t sound like what this sounds like like this seems so much more absolute. In fact, if you’re an amillennialist you see what happened in Revelation 12, the same as what’s happening here in Revelation 20. It’s the same event you remember there. That’s when that is the woman in the dragon and stuff. And when Christ dies and rises from the dead, Satan is cast out of heaven onto Earth. And so that would be the same thing when he’s cast out of heaven onto Earth is like when he’s being cast into the abyss here, except it’s not the same, because he’s cast to Earth there, not into the abyss, and those are different places. And then you keep reading in like 12 and 13, and the emphasis is on Satan’s activity. When he’s cast out of heaven, he goes around deceiving the nations. You remember back then, I don’t know if you remember a while ago, but like, he’s angry that his time is short, and so he goes to attack the church. That is not what we see here in verses four to six. And so I think this is really, really unlikely that those are the same event, in which case we’re talking about something else entirely. And then this beautiful vision that we have here, and this. Chapter just doesn’t square with revelations other portraits of the intermediate state. We already talked about this right, the martyrs in heaven are crying out for justice. They don’t seem satisfied with their lot. They’re still waiting for vindication. They’re not reigning in triumph. They’re told to wait, told to wait until this moment when they are raised to reign with Christ. So there you go, boom, slam dunk, premillennialism, except no, because, well, there are a couple of other things we still gotta talk about again. Where do the rebels come from? Still got that question. And then another one. My problem with a lot of primordial views is because of their use of the Old Testament, which is not reflected here in Revelation, where there is this kind of weird intermediate state and a lot of things happen. Israel is reconstituted as a nation, the temple is rebuilt, sacrifices are offered again, all of which goes against, like the whole book of Hebrews, for example. But even more interestingly is just that’s not what we get here. The prophecies that you would expect to have cited, Isaiah 65 Ezekiel 40 and the rest of that book and stuff aren’t cited here. And I don’t mind just throwing those numbers out to you. Why? Because we’re gonna get to them next week, because they’re cited for the new heavens and the new earth, not for the millennium. And there’s no mention of Israel, the temple sacrifices, anything like that in the millennial age. I think that’s really important. Let me just say here, and then I’m gonna finally answer the question, Where did these rebels come from? Because you’re like, that’s all I wanted, okay, like this whole excursus I could have my it’s every view has issues, and that’s why there are multiple views. There’s an old joke many of you know it already, where you know people say, Are you pre moneyless, or you’re non millennialist? And you say, I’m a pan millennialist. And you go, Oh, great, there’s another one. Like, Pastor didn’t even talk about that one. I’m in so much trouble now, but the joke was pan Evans. We’re gonna, just gonna see how it pans out in the end. Amen, okay, like I am a pan millennialist through and through, we know the things we really, really, really need to know. Jesus wins and the rest of it. I think we’re probably gonna get there and go, Oh, yep, did not catch that. Okay, that’s me, my bad. Alright, where do these rebels come from? The key to where they come from is actually obscured a little bit in our translation. There, in verse nine, it reads literally, they came up unto the breadth of the earth. Why is it translated as they marched across the breadth of the earth, because they came up onto the breadth of the earth. Is really awkward in English, but came up onto the surface of the Earth, as in they came up out of the underworld. They came up out of the grave. In other words, what we see here is exactly what verse five said would happen. The rest of the dead did not come to life until 1000 years were ended. So this is the second resurrection of the unrepentant of unbelievers, and when they are raised to face judgment, they set about trying to destroy God’s people yet again. No surprise, this is what we saw in Ezekiel. They’re called Gog and Magog, right? That’s Ezekiel 38 verse two. Because in Ezekiel’s vision, I talked about this a little bit last week. In Ezekiel’s vision, we get this promise. The covenant is we restored. I’m going to be your God. You’re going to be my people. We get the valley of dry bones, right? There’s this new life that’s coming. And then we get the new heavens and the new earth. That’s Chapter 40. And in between, you get this like apocalyptic battle where Gog from Magog, attacks God’s people and tries to wipe them out. Doesn’t win, but there it is. He’s defeated. The birds eat him. That was all of last week as well. Then you get the new heavens and the new earth. So that’s exactly what we see here, too. But why? So God has just raised them from the dead to face judgment. Why are they attacking him and his church like surely they know this is suicide at this point you can’t kill resurrected saints, never mind defeat God. This is idiocy, right? That’s the point. This is the insanity of sin, right here, evil. Sin never make logical sense. Sin is, in the most literal sense, stupid, like it’s just dumb. It’s a dumb choice. Why choose death and destruction when the offer of life is right there. The answer is deception, by the way, that’s why. But still, it doesn’t make any sense. I mean, take a passage like Proverbs, five, five. I could pick these almost at random, but this is talking about the adulterous woman. It says, her feet go down to death, her steps lead straight to the grave. And you think. Great, maybe don’t hang out with her then, and instead, you got a bottleneck at the door, because we’re all like I think I might find life here in sin and immorality. So just pause and ask yourself, Where are you acting insane right now? What sin addiction is it? Where you’re like, I know this leads to death, and I will not turn around. Where are you hearing God’s word and refusing to put it into practice, refusing to submit and surrender to Him? Because make sure you catch how this story ends that insane evil is utterly vanquished and eternal rebellion is punished eternally. We should be longing for this day when the insanity of evil is brought to an end, when the righteous reign with Christ, longing for the day when Christ reigns and raises us to reign with Him that will be heavenly, not almost heavenly, heavenly, as I said last week, that we should be not just longing for that day, but living for that day. And so let me just very briefly talk about what that might look like, practically. Was Saint Augustine who said that when you’re teaching God’s word, you want to teach in such a way so that the people who are listening to you on hearing may believe, on believing, may hope and on hoping, may love. Think that’s exactly what Revelation should be doing for us. What we should get out of Revelation. 20 in particular, we first believe what it teaches us about sin. God the judgment he will bring in the salvation he offers when we believe that, then we hope. Revelation had been all about hope. Kyle talked about this in his prayer, even this morning, our hope that evil has an expiration date, that suffering and death will end, and that we will see vindication and justice at last, and the hope of that day produces a new approach to life today, summed up in the word love, love, Lord God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, love your neighbor as yourself. I could talk about a lot of different things here. We could talk about evangelism again. Makes sense? It is the most loving act you can perform is to share with someone in danger of eternal condemnation the good news that there is a way out. We talked about this some even in the pulse devotional this week, and we’ll continue for the next few weeks as we get ready for Easter, outstanding time to make an invitation so that people can hear the good news. I could talk about that. I’m not going to talk about service. Talked about service last week, though, really important. So today I just want to consider briefly, vocation, like you’re nine to five, whatever that looks like for you, whether it’s a paid career or something else entirely. What you have been called to do the nine to five matters. I think one of our dangers as a church big capital C is that we’ve reduced ministry to like church activities, so that we expect, at the end of time for the church to be big. But that’s not what we see, even in a passage like this, what we see is not the church. What we see is the kingdom of God. The kingdom is a bigger idea than just the church. Like yes, discipleship and evangelism matter so much. That’s the commission Christ has given us, but we have a broader mission as well. We pray it every day. I hope your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Hey, in heaven, it can be done everywhere, not just in ministry areas. Every part of the new heavens and the new earth will be God’s Kingdom and His will. That means we can’t, like separate some of this stuff out. Are you about evangelism, or are you about justice? Yeah, as Christians, we are about both of those. It’s not an either or. We want to see the kingdom come in the hearts and lives of people around us as we witness to them. We want to see it come on Earth as well as we do what we can to make this world look like what it’s going to look like in the end, that transforms how we think about work. Now, like you are not doing the Lord’s work only when you evangelize your coworkers, you’re also doing the Lord’s work when you are providing necessary services through the vocation that God has given you. Many of us have heard the famous CT stud line. He was a missionary, and he said, only one life will soon be passed. Only what’s done for Christ will last. Yes, it is absolutely right, but all of what is done for Christ will. Last, not just a narrow, little ministry sliver. So we are active, working to bring in the kingdom of God on earth will last. We know what the end looks like. We know the peace, the justice, the righteousness, the healing, the worship, the joy that will be true then. So how does your work now contribute to that end? That’s the question, right? You’re not working for the weekend. You’re not working for retirement, which is an unbiblical idea, by the way, but that’s a separate story. We’re thinking like 10 gazillion years past, then you’re working for that moment, thinking of eternity. And what we do, really can. We’re going to see this a little bit, but you know, there’s a city at the end, right? Which means it was built with things that humans devise, like human technology goes on. You’re an educator. Let’s say you think some of the difference that you’ve made in people’s minds will go in into eternity, are we just blank slates when we get there? Of course, we’re gonna be ourselves like that’s an eternal work. Culture is not erased, but transformed by the final judgment. It gives it new purpose to those of us who are in things like arts and education and business and politics. We can be shaping eternity. We should be longing for the day when Christ reigns and raises us to reign with Him. But this life is like a it’s like a warm up. It’s like a pregame where we are starting to lay an eternal Foundation, prove your longing by your living believe and then hope, and then respond to that hope and active love. Let’s pray, Father, we pray that even now you would help us to long in a different way for what is coming, that even now we would be longing for your truth to prevail, even in our own lives and minds, that we would no longer be deceived, but would cling to your truth. We long for the day when righteousness will be the law of the land, when the saints are vindicated because we are able to reign with you in the millennium, in the new heavens and the new earth. We long for the day when evil is finally vanquished, and when your injustice is done and done perfectly. Lord, would you help us to bring that longing into our every moment, including, as we talked about, especially our nine to five existence. Lord, do show us what it looks like to live like we’re longing now we ask in Christ’s name, Amen.