you
Now, in Revelation chapter number 20, verse number 1, the Bible reads,
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and 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.
Now, the first thing I want to point out is about the angel of the bottomless pit here.
It says that an angel came down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and
this angel lays hold on the devil and casts him into the bottomless pit, or hell.
Flip back, if you would, to Revelation chapter 9.
I'm going to show you the identity of this angel that casts Satan into the bottomless
pit.
This is what the Bible says in Revelation 9-11.
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in
the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
So here the Bible tells us that the angel of the bottomless pit is called Abaddon or
Apollyon.
Now, what's funny about this is that a lot of people believe that Apollyon or Abaddon
is a name for Satan.
You know, I know when I was growing up I was always taught that.
And it comes from Pilgrim's Progress, because there's a book called Pilgrim's Progress that
was written hundreds of years ago, and in that book Apollyon is Satan.
And so because so many people have read that book, that idea has gotten into people's minds
that Abaddon or Apollyon is Satan.
Well, first of all, the book Pilgrim's Progress also teaches that a person can lose their
salvation, and it teaches a lot of other false doctrines.
So we should never make a fictional book our authority.
We should go to the Bible, because in the Bible it's very clear that Apollyon is not
the devil, because in chapter 20, what do we see?
The angel of the bottomless pit says, I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the
key of the bottomless pit and 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.
So this angel that has the key to the bottomless pit cannot be Satan, because he is grabbing
Satan and throwing him into the bottomless pit.
The other thing that doesn't make any sense about saying that Apollyon is Satan is that
in chapter 9, God is pouring out his wrath upon the unbelievers, the unsaved world.
And it is God who is sending the locusts from hell with the fifth trumpet judgment that
we see there in Revelation chapter 9.
So if God is sending these locusts from hell to torment the wicked, to torment the unsaved,
the unbelievers, why would God's judgment be carried out by locusts that have a king
over them, which is Satan?
See how that doesn't make any sense?
You know, can Satan cast out Satan?
I mean if you look at when God's pouring out his wrath with the trumpet judgments and the
vile judgments, he pours out his wrath upon the kingdom of the beast, and his kingdom
was full of darkness and they gnawed their tongues for pain.
Remember, Satan is the one putting the beast and the antichrist and the false prophet,
he's putting those people in power.
He's the one who is on the side of the forces of evil, so it really would not make any sense
to say that Satan is leading an army against his own kingdom, against his own rulers.
So it makes absolutely no sense.
It's a completely fabricated doctrine.
Now the word Abaddon, it says that in the Greek tongue his name's Apollyon, but in the
Hebrew tongue it's Abaddon.
Now the word Abaddon does not appear in our English Bible anywhere else, but the Bible
is telling us here that Abaddon is a Hebrew word, right?
Well if you go back to the Hebrew Bible, you'll see the word Abaddon over and over and over
again, and basically Abaddon means destruction, and if you look up in the Old Testament there
are many times that God sends a destroying angel.
Like for example, if you remember there's an angel that's standing with a drawn sword
over Jerusalem.
When David sends and numbers the people, then there's an angel that's going to destroy Jerusalem,
or also there's the angel that God sends at the Passover, this death angel that's going
to kill the firstborn of all the Egyptians, okay?
So this particular angel, Abaddon or Apollyon, is an angel that God uses throughout the Bible
to carry out judgments and destruction upon the wicked, and that's what we see here.
So don't let anybody fool you into thinking that Abaddon or Apollyon is a wicked angel,
or that it's a fallen angel, or that it's Satan.
No, this is one of God's angels that carries out his will.
You see, the devil does not rule and reign in hell.
You know, saying that these locusts that come out of the bottomless pit are ruled over by
a king, Apollyon, and then to say that Apollyon is Satan, basically it's like you're saying
that Satan is the king of hell, and that's basically what the devil wants you to believe
in, and you know the mantra or the motto of Satan worshippers, here's what they say, it's
better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.
That's a common statement that you'll hear people say that worship the devil, that worship
Lucifer or Satan.
They say better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven, and they think that the devil rules
and reigns in hell, and that he will give them power and authority over the kingdoms
of hell.
You know, that is a bizarre thing to think, because what the Bible teaches is first of
all, the devil's never even been to hell.
The first time the devil goes to hell is right here in Revelation 20 verses 1 and 2, when
the devil is cast by Apollyon into hell and bound there a thousand years, and look, he's
going there to be punished, he's going there to be tormented.
He's not going to be down there ruling and reigning, he's going to be down there suffering
and in torment, because God is the one who created hell, God is the one who rules and
reigns over hell, God is the one who has all authority both in heaven and in hell and everywhere.
The Bible talks about people in hell being tormented in the presence of the holy angels
and in the presence of the Lamb.
Don't be fooled that the devil is the king of the bottomless pit, or the king, you know,
that is a false doctrine.
Look if you would here, it says that he laid hold on the dragon, and we know that's Apollyon
from chapter 9 verse 11, which is the devil and Satan, Apollyon lays hold on the dragon,
which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless
pit, and shut him up and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no
more till the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little
season.
So Satan is temporarily put in hell, put in the bottomless pit, until the thousand years
are expired.
Now, why is it called the bottomless pit?
Well if you think about it, what makes things fall into a pit?
You know, gravity, right?
Well, the Bible's real clear that hell is in the center of the earth.
It's located in the heart of the earth, the Bible says, in the lower parts of the earth,
in the nether parts of the earth.
So if you were in the center of the earth, wouldn't it be easy to characterize that as
a bottomless pit?
You're never really going to hit the bottom, because there's a void place in the center
of the earth where hell is located.
Now this is a different destination than the antichrist and the false prophet went to.
Look at Revelation 19 verse 20, and the beast was taken, that's the antichrist, and with
him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that
had received the mark of the beast, and then that worst of his image, watch this, these
both were cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone.
So in chapter 19 verse 20, we see that the antichrist and the false prophet are cast
alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone.
Now Satan's eventually going to go to that lake of fire, but right now, instead he's
locked in the bottomless pit, which is equivalent to hell in the center of the earth where every
unbeliever who's ever died is already located right now in hell.
Now look at verse 4.
It says, 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 worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his
mark upon their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand
years.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
This is the first resurrection.
So while Satan is bound in hell for a thousand years, locked up in the bottomless pit, that
he should deceive the nations no more, for a thousand years that is, then we as believers,
we as the saved, as the saints, will live and reign with Christ on this earth for a
thousand years.
Christ will literally rule and reign on this earth from Jerusalem for one thousand years,
and we will rule and reign with him.
Now if you would go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 3.
1 Thessalonians chapter 3.
Now this isn't the only scripture that talks about what we call the millennium.
Millennium just means a period of a thousand years.
Revelation 20 talks about the millennium.
It doesn't give us a whole lot of detail, but if we study other scriptures from the
Old Testament, New Testament, we can get more details about this thousand year reign
of the millennium.
But first of all I want to show you that every single believer will be present during this
thousand year millennial reign of Christ.
Because some have misinterpreted Revelation 20 there, where he talks about seeing those
that were beheaded for the word of God and had not worshiped the beast, neither his image,
and characterized this as, well those are the only ones that are going to rule and reign
with them.
Only the ones who have been beheaded.
But the Bible is clear that in the first resurrection it's not just those who have been killed for
the cause of Christ.
It's every believer.
Let me prove it to you.
Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 13.
The Bible reads, to the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before
God, even our Father, watch this, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
So when the Lord Jesus Christ returns he will have all the saints with him.
Not just a certain group that was beheaded.
Now obviously the reason that those who are beheaded are brought up is because people
who have been beheaded for the cause of Christ, people who have given their lives for the
cause of Christ, they are going to have a lot of authority in the millennium.
Because the Bible says, if we suffer we shall also reign with him.
And the more people have sacrificed and suffered for the cause of Christ, the more they're
going to be glorified together with him during the millennium.
They're going to receive a greater reward.
I mean think about it.
If you sacrifice your life and give everything for the cause of Christ, you're going to get
a great reward.
More so than someone who does very little for the cause of Christ or suffers very little
in this life.
They have their reward now.
So 1 Thessalonians 3 says he will return with all of his saints and of course saints are
those that are saved.
1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 makes that really clear, a lot of other places.
But now go to the famous passage in 1 Thessalonians 4 right across the page there and look at
verse 14.
The Bible says, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
So the Bible says that Jesus will bring those that sleep in Jesus with him.
The Bible says that he will come with all his saints.
And so I just wanted to make that very clear to you that all believers are going to be
resurrected in that first resurrection.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and I really want to emphasize this about the first resurrection
and then I also want to talk about the second resurrection.
Look at 1 Corinthians chapter number 15.
Now 1 Corinthians 15 gives us the order of the resurrection of the dead.
Starting out with Jesus Christ which is called the first fruits of the resurrection.
Look at verse 22 in 1 Corinthians 15.
The Bible reads, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order.
So we're talking about people who died being made alive but they're going to do so in a
certain order.
There's an order of people being resurrected or made alive.
Here's the order.
It says, every man in his own order, verse 23, Christ the first fruits, afterward they
that are Christ's that is coming, then cometh the end when he shall have delivered 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, talking about the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ, till
he hath put all enemies under his feet, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is dead.
So this is a very clear scripture that shows us that there are two resurrections of the
saved.
Two resurrections of God's people.
Because we had the order as Christ the first fruits, Jesus Christ only.
He was the first fruits of the resurrection.
He was resurrected of course 2,000 years ago.
But then it says, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming, that's 1 Thessalonians
4, then we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them
which are asleep.
Then it talks about the trumpet sounding, the famous rapture passage in 1 Thessalonians
4.
And then he says, then cometh the end.
And when he says the end, he's talking about after the millennium, after Jesus has reigned,
when the last enemy is finally destroyed, death, and there's no more death.
That is a second resurrection.
So here's what we have.
Christ the first fruits.
Then we have the first resurrection, which is those that are Christ's at his coming.
Not just those that are beheaded, but all that belong to Christ at his coming.
That is the first resurrection.
Then we have the end, when there's a second resurrection after the millennium.
Now look, it's very simple.
Jesus rose 2,000 years ago.
At the rapture, there's a resurrection of God's people, and then there's the second
resurrection which is after the millennium.
Isn't that pretty simple?
But here's the thing.
There are people who try to teach other resurrections other than these that are laid out in 1 Corinthians
15.
He gives us the order.
Christ, they that are Christ's at his coming, and then cometh the end when death is finally
destroyed.
Those are the only resurrections.
Now a lot of people will confuse things like the resurrection of Lazarus and try to say,
well, that was also a resurrection or that was another rapture that took place here or
there or the other.
But here's the thing.
Enoch was not resurrected because Enoch did not die and be buried and rise again.
Enoch was translated that he should not see death and he was not found because God took
him.
And when you look at other people who were resurrected in the Bible, like, for example,
Elisha, he brought a boy back to life that had died.
The difference there and why that does not count in this reckoning of resurrections here
in 1 Corinthians 15 is that that boy died again.
Or, for example, when Jesus raised Lazarus, you say, what about when Jesus raised Lazarus?
Lazarus died again.
Okay, that was not a final resurrection where he was changed from corruption to incorruptible.
You know, he wasn't going from mortality to immortality there, which is what 1 Corinthians
15, get the context of the whole chapter of 1 Corinthians 15.
When he talks about the resurrection, he's talking about becoming immortal, rising again
to die no more.
And every other person in the Bible who was resurrected or brought back to life, whether
it be Lazarus, whether it be when Jesus went to the city of Nain and there was a coffin
there and he touched the coffin and the boy that was in the coffin came back to life and
rose up again.
Those people all died again.
So the first fruits of the resurrection is Jesus Christ, the only person to this point
where I'm talking in 2013, the only one who has been resurrected to die no more is Jesus
Christ.
The first resurrection of God's people will not be until the coming of Jesus Christ, which
is 1 Thessalonians 4 covers that.
And then there will not be another resurrection until after the millennium.
But those who believe in the pre-trib rapture will often tell you, well, there's a, there's
a resurrection, you know, before the tribulation and then there's another resurrection partway
through the tribulation and then there's another resurrection at the end of the tribulation
and then they got resurrections and resurrections and more resurrections.
And most people who I've talked to that believe in a pre-trib rapture, they also believe that
the Old Testament saints, because often pre-trib rapture and dispensationalism, you know, they
go hand in hand, right?
They're two peas in a pod.
And this is what they'll often teach.
They'll say, well, the Old Testament saints were already resurrected back when Jesus rose
from the dead.
All the Old Testament saints were resurrected and so that's already happened.
Who's ever heard that doctrine before?
You know, you've heard this thing where they say, you know, all the Old Testament saints,
they were already resurrected.
And what they do is they use the verse in Matthew where it talks about how when Jesus
rose from the dead that a lot of, it says many of the saints, it doesn't say all the
saints, it says many of the saints rose from the graves and walked into the holy city and
showed themselves unto many.
So basically what happened was there was a miracle that took place where when Jesus died
on the cross and was buried and rose again, basically the graves were opened and basically
dead bodies, some, just many, not all the same, but just many dead bodies of the saints
were actually resurrected and basically walked out of the grave.
Now this is a similar miracle, pay attention to what I'm saying.
This is a similar miracle to when Elisha died and if you remember they buried a body and
when they threw the body into the pit and it touched the bones of Elisha, the body came
back to life.
That guy died again.
Well these people that came back to life when Jesus rose from the dead and walked into the
city, that was just a miracle.
I mean a lot of miracles happened when Jesus died on the cross, the veil was rent in twain,
there was darkness, there was an earthquake, and basically these dead bodies came out of
the graveyard, walked into Jerusalem.
But those people all died again, that was similar to a Lazarus resurrection or other
miracles like that from the Old Testament.
Let me prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that all the Old Testament saints were
not finally resurrected or glorified in their immortal new bodies at the resurrection of
Christ.
Go to Acts 2.29.
Because remember these dispensationalists will try to take a verse that just mentions
that many of the saints came out of the graves and walked into Jerusalem and showed themselves
to many which was just a miracle, just like when Elisha died and was thrown in the grave.
A guy came back to life, it was just a miracle like Lazarus being raised.
They try to compare that with an event like the rapture or the first resurrection where
all the dead in Christ are raised.
They try to say the Old Testament saints were all bodily resurrected, I mean their final
resurrection when Jesus rose from the dead, and that is a false doctrine and a lie.
First of all, it's not compatible with 1 Corinthians 15, because 1 Corinthians 15 told
us clearly that Christ was the first fruits, afterward they that are Christ's coming and
then the end.
That's it.
That's all there is for it.
Quit trying to talk to me about other resurrections that aren't one of those three.
The resurrection of Christ, the rapture, and the post millennial resurrection.
That's all I want to hear about.
Look at Acts 2.29.
I'll prove to you that that's a false doctrine.
Now ask yourself this question.
Is Acts chapter 2 before or after the resurrection of Christ?
After.
I mean Jesus Christ rose from the dead at the end of the four gospels.
The book of Acts takes place after that.
So look if you would at verse 29.
Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David that he is both
dead and buried and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.
So let me ask you something.
If this false doctrine were true that says that there was a resurrection of all the Old
Testament saints that already took place when Jesus rose from the dead, would this make
any sense?
Saying no.
Oh David, yeah, he's still in the grave.
His sepulcher is with us unto this day.
He is dead and buried.
Now look, when it's talking about David being dead and buried, it's not talking about his
soul.
You don't bury a soul, do you?
His soul's in heaven.
His soul's alive in heaven.
When he says the patriarch David is dead and buried, he's referring to the body of David
saying David's body is dead, David's body is buried, his sepulcher is with us until
recently when all the Old Testament saints were bodily resurrected.
No he said it's with us unto this day, proving that at the time Acts 2 is taking place, the
Old Testament saints are still in the grave.
Their bodies are still in the grave.
You say when are those bodies going to be resurrected?
I'll tell you when.
At Christ's coming.
Afterward they that are Christ's that is coming.
At the rapture, where it says the dead in Christ shall rise first.
The Old Testament saints were not in Christ because that was a different dispensation.
You know what?
The Bible says the dead in Christ shall rise first and guess what?
He's talking about Old and New Testament saints, isn't he?
Because David was still in the grave.
He was still dead and buried in Acts 2, that's what it says.
Go to 2 Timothy 2 and we'll find even more reinforcement for the fact that these Old
Testament saints had not been bodily resurrected.
Did a few people come out of the graves and walk into Jerusalem and show themselves unto
many?
Yeah, it was just another miracle, another testimony of the power of the death, burial
and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It was symbolic.
It was like a raising of Lazarus or a raising of other people in the Old Testament that
Elisha did.
2 Timothy chapter number 2 and we'll see more proof.
I mean Acts 2, 29 is enough but let me just show you a little more proof.
It says here in verse 16, but shun profane and vain babblings for they will increase
unto more ungodliness and their word will eat as doth the canker of whom is Hymenaeus
and Philetus.
I'd hate to be a poster child for babbling and vain talk but these guys, Hymenaeus and
Philetus go down in history as being a bunch of babbling fools when it came to teaching
Bible doctrine and it talks about what their false doctrine was.
What was the false doctrine of these babbling idiots, Hymenaeus and Philetus, verse 18,
who concerning the truth have erred saying that the resurrection is past already and
overthrow the faith of some.
So what were these babbling fools saying?
They were saying that basically the resurrection had already taken place and look, yes, only
the resurrection of Christ is the only resurrection going from mortality to immortality that had
taken place.
Next will be the rapture, then post millennial.
So I really want to drive that in.
Go back to John 5.
Let's talk about the second resurrection.
So we all understand Jesus' resurrection and we all understand the first resurrection.
That's where Christ comes in the clouds, the trumpet sounds, and the dead in Christ rise
first and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
and to meet the Lord in the air so shall we ever be with the Lord, wherefore comfort one
another with these words.
Now ask yourself this question.
At the coming of Christ in the clouds are the unsaved resurrected?
Is there any evidence that the unsaved are resurrected at Christ's coming in the clouds?
No it's the saved.
It's those that are asleep in Jesus that are resurrected when Christ comes in the clouds.
But look at this interesting verse in John 5 verse 28.
The Bible reads, Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in the which all that are in
the grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth.
They that have done good under the resurrection of what?
Life.
And they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.
Now that tells us that the hour is coming in the which all that are in the grave shall
hear his voice and they that have done good under the resurrection of life and they that
have done evil under the resurrection of damnation.
Now I've had those who believe in a pre-trib rapture try to tell me, you know, that hour
there is spanning thousands of years.
Now I don't understand, how can you look at that and say this hour is talking about things
that are over a thousand years apart?
No it isn't.
Who here believes that there's going to come an hour when all that are in the grave shall
hear his voice, the saved and the unsaved, and that there will be a resurrection of life
and a resurrection of damnation the same hour?
Who believes that?
I mean that's what it says.
Why wouldn't we believe that?
You say, well how can that be Pastor Anderson because at the rapture it's only the saved
that are going up.
I'll tell you why.
Because there is a second resurrection of the saved after the millennium.
That's why.
And so after the millennium is where the unsaved are resurrected before the great white throne
and there will be saved people resurrected at that time also so that will be a time where
everybody in the grave hears his voice and are resurrected, both the good and the evil.
You say how can that be?
Why would people not be resurrected until after the millennium?
Very simple.
Because after the rapture takes place, after the first resurrection takes place, there
are going to be other people who live and get saved after that.
So when Christ's coming takes place, those that are Christ's that is coming will all
be resurrected, but there are other people that are going to be born after that.
Think about it now.
Because there are going to be the years where God pours out his wrath, then there's going
to be the thousand year reign of Christ on this earth.
During that time people are going to be born.
New people will be getting saved that were not saved before the rapture took place.
And so as new people are getting saved and being born and dying, well, those people eventually
all need to go through the bodily resurrection.
That's going to take place after the millennium.
That is the second resurrection.
I'll prove it to you.
Are you in Revelation 20?
Get in Revelation 20 and I'll show you that.
Because the Bible says they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years at the end of
Watch this.
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
This is the first resurrection.
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 them
a thousand years.
Here's the thing.
If you're in the first resurrection, you get to rule and reign with Christ a thousand years.
But he said the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
Now, who are the dead who are going to live again after the thousand years are finished?
You say, oh, that's the unsaved.
Wrong.
The unsaved will never live again.
Do you understand that?
Because Jesus said that there's the resurrection of life for those that are saved and the resurrection
of damnation for those that are not saved.
Jump down, if you would, to verse number 12, where we see the great white throne judgment
after the millennium.
And in verse number 12, it says, I saw the what?
The dead.
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, 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.
Now, does that sound like they're living again?
They're still dead.
Even when they're staying before God being judged, they're called the dead, because it's
not a resurrection of life.
A resurrection of life is where somebody is raised up and they are alive.
But this is not a resurrection of life.
This is what's called the resurrection of damnation, where people are raised up from
the grave, bodily, but they are not alive.
They are dead, and they are there to be damned.
They are there to be condemned.
They are not living again.
So when the Bible says the rest of the dead lived not again, we're talking about saved
people that are dead who will live again.
Let me make this real clear.
The first resurrection includes people who refused to take the mark of the beast.
Do you see that?
It says in verse 4, and I saw thrones and they that 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 worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither
had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands, and they lived and reigned
with Christ a thousand years.
Now look, the Bible is clear in 1 Thessalonians 4 that the dead in Christ rise first, right?
The dead in Christ rise before we are raptured.
Right before we're raptured, the dead in Christ rise first, then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.
So question, if the first resurrection contains people who refused to receive the mark of
the beast in their hands and foreheads, how can anyone teach that the rapture takes place
before the mark of the beast is handed out?
How can you teach that the rapture is before the tribulation if the rapture is equivalent
to the first resurrection according to 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15?
If the rapture and the first resurrection take place at the same time, you know, the
dead in Christ rise first, then we're caught up with them, and if the first resurrection
includes people who refused to take the mark of the beast, how can you say that it's happening
before the tribulation when the mark of the beast is handed out during the tribulation?
It makes absolutely no sense.
It's a false argument.
That's why those who believe in a pre-trib rapture, they have to add in extra resurrections
here, throw a few resurrections there, come up with a bunch more, because it doesn't make
any sense.
Why don't we just accept the fact that the first resurrection, they say, well, this is
the first type of resurrection.
No, 1 Corinthians was clear on the order of resurrection, and the first resurrection contains
people who resisted the mark of the beast.
Now, are we saying that the first resurrection takes place at the end of the seven years
known as Daniel's 70th week or that it takes place chronologically at the time of Revelation 19?
No, we're not, because we know that the rapture takes place before the trumpets and vials
of God's wrath are poured out.
That's why when we get to chapter 20 and he's talking about the first resurrection, which
is something that had already happened a few years before, he talks about those people
as being part of the first resurrection.
That doesn't mean they were just resurrected five minutes ago.
They were actually resurrected several years before at the opening of the sixth seal when
the sun and moon were darkened.
That's what Jesus taught, would be when the rapture would take place.
That's why he says the rest of the dead lived not again.
Because if the first resurrection were happening right now in chapter 20, then basically everybody
who is asleep in Jesus, everybody who is dead in Christ would be resurrected.
There would be no rest of the dead to talk about.
But since the first resurrection had happened a few years ago, it had happened over three
years ago in fact, are you listening?
Because the first resurrection took place over three years before the events in Revelation
20, doesn't it make sense that some other people have gotten saved in the meantime and
died and are in the graves and he's saying, hey, the rest of the dead that are saved are
not going to live again until the thousand years are finished?
So I hope that didn't go over your head.
I hope you understand that.
I'm trying to make it as clear as I can tonight.
But it says in verse 7, when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out
of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters
of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the battle, the number of whom
is as the sand of the sea.
Now notice, Satan is always characterized in this passage as deceiving the nations.
In verse 3 it said that he would deceive the nations no more until the thousand years are
finished.
That tells me he's deceiving the nations right now.
And that's why back in Revelation chapter 12 he said the devil deceiveth the whole world.
He said in verse 9, you know, the devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole world.
You know, that tells me we're living in a world that's deceived.
I mean the people of this world have been lied to about so many things.
I mean they've been lied to and told that there is no God.
They've been lied to and told we have proof, we have evidence of the big bang.
There's concrete evidence that we evolved from animals.
I had somebody tell me recently, science has proven that God doesn't exist.
You know, people just say these things but it just shows how deceived they are that they
actually believe that.
They actually believe that science has proven beyond, I mean what's the formula for that?
Science has proven the big bang, science has proven, you know, it's just, it's all lies.
You know, and there are so many lies about world events.
You know, we see all these things in the newspaper and people just believe them.
You know, and a lot of it's manipulated.
And it's funny because years and years later you learn about the deception.
After these wars are fought, decades later, you look back and you find out, oh it turns
out, you know, that the Gulf of Tonkin really wasn't, you know, what we thought it was.
Or you go back and look at Pearl Harbor and it turns out, oh you know, the government
had foreknowledge, here's all the evidence.
But our government today would never do anything like that.
And you look back and you see the deception that our own government has used so many times
just to get people to do what they wanted them to do.
They lied to them and deceived them just to try to get them in line with a certain program
that they wanted to carry out.
And they're doing the same thing today.
They're lying to us every day.
The Bible says that the devil is the god of this world.
The Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places.
What's that talking about?
High places of authority.
High places in our government are occupied by people who engage in spiritual wickedness.
And they literally worship Satan.
And it's amazing how people lift up these politicians and, oh he's a Christian, he's
a godly politician, he's Republican, you know, he's a born again Christian.
And these are the same people that are passing legislation to murder babies through abortion.
They want to bomb innocent people over in this country, you know, because for the love
of money.
You know, from whence come wars and fighting among you?
Come they not hence from your lust which war you remember?
You know, you kill and desire to have.
And there are greedy, evil people running the governments of our world.
The love of money is the root of all evil.
They lie to you, they deceive you, they say they're a Christian, they say god bless you,
and in reality they literally worship Satan.
I mean look at our government that promotes sodomy and homosexuality.
Look at our government that promotes abortion, that promotes so much wickedness and sin and
is constantly lying to us and yet we're deceived by it.
The Bible says there will come a day where the devil is locked up and he won't be able
to deceive the nations anymore for a thousand years.
The truth will prevail.
We'll actually know the truth about the world that we live in.
Unlike now where we're being bombarded by lies.
That's why this book is the only thing you can trust.
Don't trust what any news outlet tells you.
Trust the Bible.
The Bible will give you the truth.
And so we see here that the devil is a deceiver and when he comes out of the bottomless pit
after he's been locked in hell for a thousand years, he's going to go out to deceive the
nations, you know that's what he's been good at all these years, which are in the four
quarters of the earth, watch this, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle,
the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Now go back quickly to Ezekiel 38 and 39.
Now I think that this blows my mind more than anything else when I look at some of
the teaching that's out there on Bible prophecy because it seems like everybody that preaches
on Gog and Magog, everybody who teaches on Bible prophecy, it seems like they always
want to talk about Gog and Magog as if it's something that's about to happen.
And I mean there are all these prophecy conferences and people come from all over and they come
to this Middle East Bible prophecy conference and it's all about Gog and Magog and this
battle of Gog and Magog is right around the corner.
But here's the funny thing about it folks, Gog and Magog are only mentioned twice in
the whole Bible, okay, you know, aside from being in a genealogy, just who they humanly
were in Chronicles, you know, Gog and Magog are only mentioned twice.
One of those times is in Ezekiel 38 and 39, the other time is in Revelation 20.
Now let me ask you this, when is the battle of Gog and Magog taking place according to
Revelation 20?
Is it before the millennium or after the millennium?
After the millennium.
Does that sound like something that we can kind of look at the Middle East and see it
starting to gear up for happening?
It's over a thousand years away.
Why would anything that's happening in the Middle East right now have anything to do
with the battle of Gog and Magog?
But it makes for a really interesting prophecy conference.
I mean it makes for a really interesting sermon to preach.
But folks, how can people teach that the battle of Gog and Magog will take place before the
millennium or even before the tribulation or during the tribulation when the Bible clearly
says that the battle of Gog and Magog will take place, I mean, why did he even bring
up Gog and Magog?
He said the devil's going to deceive all the nations.
Why name those two?
Why specifically say he'll go out to deceive the nations, Gog and Magog?
Because he's trying to point us back to Ezekiel 38 and 39 and to tell us that the events in
Ezekiel 38 and 39 are being fulfilled in Revelation 20.
And yet, I'm sure that probably all over the world this month there are probably going
to be preachers and conferences and prophecy teachers that are going to tell you that the
battle of Gog and Magog, and look, there's a famous movie Left Behind.
It's basically just a fairy tale is what it is.
It has nothing to do with biblical truth, and I would highly suggest you to ignore anything
that you think you learned.
I mean, look, if you want to know how things are not going to happen with Bible prophecy,
just watch Left Behind.
Everything's the opposite.
If you want to know what the Antichrist is going to be like, just look at the Antichrist
in the Left Behind movie.
That's probably the opposite of what he's going to be like.
In the Left Behind movie, the Antichrist is this clean-cut, short-haired guy in a business
suit with an East European accent.
What in the world?
And people are going to believe that guy's Jesus?
You got to be kidding me.
Obviously, when the Antichrist comes, he's going to be believable, and he's going to
look like what people would expect Jesus to look like.
He's going to have long hair, and he's going to have olive skin, and he's going to have
a beard, and he's going to be dressed and looking like all the fake pictures of Jesus.
Of course, Jesus had short hair, I believe, because the Bible says that it's a shame for
a man to have long hair, and men are commanded to have short hair, ladies are commanded to
have long hair, to be in their proper gender roles.
But this movie is so wrong, and in this movie, one of the first things that happens in this
movie is the battle of Gog and Magog.
I mean, that's one of the first things in the movie.
Before the rapture even happens, they've got the battle of Gog and Magog.
That should tell you right away that this movie is nonsense.
Nobody who teaches you that the battle of Gog and Magog is taking place before the millennium
is sorely mistaken, because Revelation 20 makes it clear.
But if we look back at Ezekiel 38, it says in verse 1, and the word of the Lord came
unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief
prince of Meshech, Tubal, and prophesy against them.
And just to point out some highlights, verse 11 says this, and thou shalt say, I will go
up to the land of unwalled villages.
I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls
and having neither bars nor gates.
Now let me ask you this, O thou who believes that the battle of Gog and Magog is right
around the corner.
Is the nation of Israel today dwelling safely with no walls, no bars, no gates, unwalled
villages?
I mean, is the nation of Israel today just going to bed every night with their front
door unlocked?
They just put away all the weapons and they're just dwelling safely.
The nation of Israel has more security.
They have more metal detectors and machine guns and tanks and barbed wire and walls.
I mean, they are not feeling safe right now.
This scripture does not apply, my friend.
Now I will tell you what Ezekiel 38 and 39 is about, because you'll say, well, some things
in Ezekiel 38 and 39 do not fit an interpretation of taking place after the millennium.
But let me tell you this, some of the events in Ezekiel 38 and 39 are prophesying about
short-term events that happened back then, because a lot of times when you're reading
Old Testament Bible prophecy, especially Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, there's an immediate
interpretation of things that are happening right now or in the very near future.
Then there's an end times Bible prophecy application.
Well, let me tell you something.
The end times Bible prophecy application is for sure after the millennium, Revelation
20.
The end times Bible prophecy application is just talking about something that was happening
back in the Old Testament.
But see, this verse 11 that I just read for you that talks about dwelling safely on walled
villages, no gates, no bars, doesn't that make perfect sense if it's after the millennium?
Because during the millennium they're going to beat all their weapons into plowshares,
right?
They're going to beat all their swords into pruning hooks.
They're going to dwell peacefully.
The lion's going to lay down with the lamb.
Sure they're going to leave the front door unlocked.
Sure they're going to dwell safely without walls, right?
I mean, doesn't that make sense for the millennium?
That's because that's what it really is about.
Here's another highlight.
It says in verse 22, and I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood and I will
reign upon him and upon his bands and upon the many people that are with him in overflowing
rain and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.
So in chapter 38, 22, he talks about raining down fire and brimstone from heaven when he's
judging Gog and Magog.
But in Revelation 20 it says in verse 8 that he gathers Gog and Magog.
Look at verse 9, they went up on the breadth of the earth and compass the camp of the saints
about and the beloved city and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
So isn't that compatible with what we see in Ezekiel 38, fire coming down from heaven
and devouring them?
Look at chapter 39 of Ezekiel, verse 6, and I will send a fire on Magog.
Isn't that compatible with Revelation 20?
And among them that dwell carelessly in the isles and they shall know that I am the Lord.
I don't want to spend the whole night on that, but really it should just be enough to see
Gog and Magog in Revelation 20 and Ezekiel 38 and 39 only to show you the timing of when
those prophecies are going to be put in their proper place, left behind notwithstanding.
Basically what's going to happen is after the millennium, the devil's going to go out
and deceive all the nations to rebel against Jesus Christ.
Because remember Jesus Christ has been ruling and reigning for a thousand years.
Now there are three types of people that are going to exist during the millennium.
First of all, there are the saints who were resurrected in the first resurrection that
went up at the rapture that are going to return with Christ at the battle of Armageddon.
They're going to be in heaven for a few years, then they're going to return with Christ on
white horses at the battle of Armageddon and rule and reign with Christ a thousand years.
Now are those people able to be killed or to die?
No they've already been raised.
And look, we're going to be in glorified bodies.
We're not going to be in a flesh and blood body.
We're going to be in a flesh and bone body.
But we're going to be in a spiritual body.
We're going to be sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body.
And so we, because it's going to be us, we're part of this first group, we will be immortal.
We will not die.
We will live in the millennium, we will have a glorified body.
But then there are going to be two types of other people in the millennium.
Number one, there are going to be mortal men who are saved but they got saved after the
rapture or maybe they were even born after the rapture, grow up, get saved, right?
So there's going to be the immortal saints of God that came back to rule and reign with
Christ.
Then there are going to be saved mortal men and then there are going to be unsaved mortal
men.
You say, unsaved mortal man, wouldn't everybody be saved if Jesus is reigning on the earth?
No because Jesus is going to be a man on the earth ruling and reigning just like we will
be men on the earth reigning under him.
But not everybody's going to believe that he is really who he says he is.
Just like when he came the first time, did everybody believe in him?
Did everybody?
I mean you say, yeah but what about when they see supernatural things?
Okay did they see supernatural things the first time he came?
Did they see him multiply food?
Did they see him raise the dead?
And yet even when he raised Lazarus, a lot of people just refused to believe on him.
You say, how can they not believe when they see him?
Because this is the thing, they're going to see Jesus and they're going to see him
ruling and reigning.
They're going to know he has powers.
They're going to know that he has the ability to perform miracles that they can't perform.
They're going to notice that those that are his servants cannot be killed, cannot die,
are immortal and have power that they do not have.
But there will be people that are unsaved.
There will be people who do not believe and you say, well what explanation could they
have?
There's going to be some deception that the devil is going to fool a lot of unsaved people
into believing, but they might tell themselves that, well I just believe that these people
have found, I'm just making stuff up right now, but this is the type of deception that
could be used.
This is just speculation.
Everything I've preached so far has been fact.
Now I'm going to get into a little speculation, okay?
This is just my opinion.
But I think there could be a deception that says, well you know the reason that these
people can't die and the reason why their leader, Jesus, has all this power is because
of the fact that they've found access to a certain technology that they're withholding
from us.
They've got access to these life extending technologies.
They've got access to these powers and technologies that they want to keep us enslaved.
I mean think about, picture this now, and I know we're going way into the future.
We're going to a time period that is very different than the day that we live in.
But think about the scenario where you've got very much a two class system here where
one class of people is immortal and has all this power under Jesus Christ.
And then there's another class that's just your typical average mortal man that gets
sick and dies and so forth.
You know, they could say, hey wait a minute, they're ruling over us with a rod of iron.
They're making all these rules.
We don't want to follow these rules.
They're the bosses and we have to obey them and here we are getting sick, dying.
They never get sick.
They never die.
They're withholding technology from us that keeps them as the bosses and keeps us under
them.
Can't you see that lie being permeated by people who just don't want to believe in the
truth of what's happening?
And they'll say, this guy's not really Jesus.
He's just claiming to be Jesus.
He really just has access to technology.
You know, this is just the global elite that have gotten these life extending technologies
and they don't want anybody to stop.
You know, you can see how things can be twisted and turned around to say that.
Now the other thing is that the Bible talks about that it's when the thousand years are
expired that Satan goes out and deceives the nations.
I don't think he's going to deceive them overnight.
I think that deception is going to take time.
And if you think about it, maybe if they're thinking of this as a thousand year reign
of Christ and then the thousand years are expired, and it's been a thousand and one
years, thousand two years, thousand three, they're saying, wait a minute, this is never
going to end.
This has nothing to do with the millennial reign of Christ.
These people are lying.
You know, they have access to some technology.
So that's just kind of a little food for thought.
Again, that was speculation.
Okay, back into, back into the truth of what the Bible actually says here.
So he goes out and deceives the nations and they think, you know what, we're going to
attack.
We're going to overthrow Jesus and his servants.
And so basically the servants of God and Jesus Christ are all basically at Jerusalem
here because of this attack that's coming and they surround the city and they're going
to just finally try to overthrow Jesus, you know, because the devil has provoked them
to do so.
And then what's going to happen?
Fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them.
Then in verse 10, I got to hurry, 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.
Now look, tormented day and night forever and ever, but notice it says that he's thrown
into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet were.
Is that what it says?
It says where the beast and the false prophet are.
Now if you remember, they were thrown in there before the millennium.
Chapter 19 verse 20, that shows you that when you get cast into the lake of fire, we're
not talking about the bottomless pit, the current location of hell.
We're talking about the new location of hell, which is outer darkness, the lake of fire.
That proves that when a person is cast into the lake of fire, they don't just burn up
and they're gone.
No, they're tormented day and night.
And he says that even over a thousand years later, the beast and the false prophet are
still there.
And by the way, the beast and the false prophet are both human beings.
And those, because you say, well, the devil's going to be tormented day and night forever
and ever, but not humans.
The beast and the false prophet are human beings.
They're burning in hell for over a thousand years at this point and they're still there
in that lake of fire.
He says, I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great.
We talked about this earlier.
This is the unsaved stand before God and the books were open and another book was open,
which is the book of life.
And the dead were judged out of those things, which are written in the books according to
their works.
And the sea gave up the dead, which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead,
which were in them.
And they were judged every man according to their work.
So two things about these verses.
First we see them judged by their works.
Now I don't know about you, but I would not want to be judged by my works.
I thank God that I'm saved by grace through faith, not of myself, but that it's the gift
of God, not of works lest any man should boast.
If my salvation were dependent upon my works, I'd come up wanting.
I'd be on my way to hell.
But thank God for his grace that saves us through faith, not according to our works.
You see, the unsaved though, they're going to be judged by their works.
We that are saved are not going to be judged by our works.
But those who trust in their works to save them instead of trusting in the shed blood
of Jesus Christ, his death, his burial, his resurrection, they will be judged by their
works.
And let me tell you something, they're all going to be found guilty before God.
You know, and you say, well, why?
Why be judged by their works?
They're all unsaved.
They're all going to hell.
Yeah, but I believe that different people's punishment will be worse than others and that's
a whole other sermon of itself.
It's all going to be bad.
It's all going to be fire and brimstone and burning, but there is a lot of evidence in
the Bible that some people will suffer a worse degree of hell than others.
That's another sermon.
But notice he says the sea gave up the dead which were in it.
Now the reason that the sea is brought up, because he talks about death and hell delivering
up the dead which were in them, I think the sea is brought up just to emphasize that this
is a bodily resurrection.
A lot of bodies are located in the sea, aren't they?
A lot of people have a burial at sea or their ashes are cast into the sea.
The bringing up of the sea is to emphasize this is a bodily resurrection of the unsaved
standing before God.
And it says, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was
cast into the lake of fire.
Now the last point I want to make is that this is not saying that hell ceases to exist
at this time.
A lot of people will say, you know, hell is not eternal, hell is cast into the lake of
fire and burns up and it's no longer eternal.
Well to prove that that's false, you must realize that first of all, when a person dies
without Jesus Christ as their savior, their soul goes to hell but their body remains on
this earth.
We bury their body but their soul goes to hell.
Not their body.
But if you remember, Jesus Christ said, fear not them which kill the body but are not able
to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in,
where?
Hell.
So when the Bible says that hell is cast in the lake of fire, basically what that's saying
is that hell is relocated to the lake of fire.
Because when people are cast bodily into the lake of fire in Revelation 20, 15, Jesus refers
to that as them being destroyed both soul and body in hell.
So Jesus referred to the lake of fire as hell.
I want to point that out.
And it says here the lake of fire is the second death.
Look down at chapter 21 verse 8, it says, all liars, the latter part there, all liars
shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second
death.
So according to the Bible, the lake of fire and brimstone is the second death.
The first death is basically the current place called death.
The current place where the dead souls of the unsaved are located.
That place, hell, that is the first death.
The bottomless pit hell, the one that's located in the center of the earth right now.
The second death will be the lake of fire in the outer dark.
So I'm going to talk a little bit more about that in chapter 21 sermon.
But let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for this chapter.
Just jam-packed with truth.
I tried to get as much out in the short time that I had.
But Father, I just pray that you would help everyone to understand these truths.
Some of them are a little bit more complicated.
Some of them are the deeper truths of your word.
But I just pray that you would please just fill us with your spirit and give us the ability
to understand your word.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.