Faith Baptist Church
4258 Botetourt Road
Fincastle, Virginia 24090
(540) 473-2325
A reminder for us now in this time of apostasy in the Church Age.
God always has more for the believer to know. He always provides the opportunity for us to prepare for the future. This is why Moses said in Ps.90:12 “So Lord teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” This is why suffering serves as a teacher, as seen in v.15 “Make us glad according to the day wherein thou hast afflicted us...” so that we will cease our activities and reflect on what God wants us to do, so that we can reflect on our lives and try to understand the temporality of it all. One day we will all be dead and gone if the Lord does not return first. I trust every one of us is ready for that day and every one of us is excited about our Lord and his plans, and do you know why? Because he involves us in his plans. He has a place for us. He has a work for us. We do matter. We don’t have to go to the work place or the to the world to find a purpose; God already has one for us. We don’t have to be members of a big church to find our purpose as Christians. The size of the church membership, large or small doesn’t define God’s purpose for your life. Being in a big church doesn’t make you a big Christian any more than being in a little church makes you a little Christian. God’s purpose is that we be conformed to the image of Christ through the transformation of our lives, Rom.8:29; which happens through the intake and spiritual metabolization of a maximum amount of Bible doctrine, Rom.12:2 and secondly to work to reconcile others to Christ, II Cor.5:18-20. This is God’s basic will for our lives.
Resume:
Today we will learn a little more about our personal activities in the future as we are with the Lord Jesus Christ at the time John sees this scene in Rev.20
Following the binding of Satan in the abyss John sees another vision, another revelation of the plan of God.
The kingdom age has begun.
v.4 John saw a group of people sitting on thrones, and judgment was given unto them. John does not say with certainty who these are, but we can go to Luke 22:28-30 and see where our Lord told the apostles they would sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Paul was not with the Lord before his crucifixion, but it is well known by most Bible students that Paul became the 12th Apostle as he saw the living Christ on the road to Damascus.
John saw another group; the souls of them who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God. John sees here those who had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and these lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. These would be the tribulation martyrs who died in defense of the truth. They are referred to on several occasions in the book of Revelation, 6:9-11;12:17; 13:15; 14:13; 17:5-6; 18:24; 19:2.
They will be resurrected and given glorified bodies at the same time the Old Testament saints are resurrected and glorified, Dan.12:12-13; I Cor.15:23. Remember the tribulation saints are connected with the Old Testament saints dispensationally.
Isa.26:19-21 prophesies that the Old Testament saints will not receive their resurrection bodies until after the “indignation is past”. This indignation refers to the seven year tribulation period which ends with the Lord coming out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquities, Isa.26:21.
Getting back to Rev.20:4, John sees, in particular, the tribulation saints reigning with Christ in his 1,000 year kingdom age. A special reward is apparently given to the martyred tribulation saints wherein they reign with Christ in his millennial kingdom. Now, this is not to say saints of other eras of time won’t also reign with Christ for Paul said of church age believers who suffer for Christ undeservedly that they too will reign with Him, II Tim.2:12.
It is said “they lived” [ezesan, Aor.Active Indicative verb of zao] meaning they were resurrected at this point in time.
v.5 The rest of the dead John saw lived not again until the thousand years was finished. Of course these are believers which are a part of the 1st resurrection for in v.6 it says blessed are those who have part in the first resurrection.
So the persons John must refer to in v.5 has to be saved people. These would be the saved people who die during the millennial reign of Christ. Some may live hundreds of years as per. Isa.65:20 where a person who dies at a hundred years of age will be considered a youngster.
Since the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all believers instantly go into the presence of the Lord in heaven and there they consciously remain until their dispensational family is concluded as per I Cor.15:23, whether it is Israel; Church Age believers or Millennial believers. As an example the Apostle Paul has to wait on us to receive his resurrected body, and we all have to wait until after our judgment to receive our decorated glorified bodies.
John refers to these in verse 5 as being in the first resurrection. The first resurrection refers to those saved during any time period. Jesus Christ is the first fruits from the dead, I Cor.15:23; the Church age saints make up the second group, I Cor.15:22, 51;
I Thess.4:13-17; with the Old Testament saints along with the tribulation martyrs making up the third group of which we have covered today. The fourth group of 1st resurrection saints is the millennial saints who die during that time period.
Rev.20:6 For those in the first resurrection, they are blessed for they will never experience the second death, it has no power over them. The second death is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire as noted in Rev.20:14. No love or mercy exists in hell. There are no more opportunities to be saved after death.
Those resurrected tribulation martyrs of whom we have spoken of thus far in v.4 will reign with Christ a thousand years. And also church age saints who have been resurrected who have had their works judged and rewarded accordingly, who have returned with the Lord in his second coming, we too, if qualified will reign with Christ for 1,000 years, and so will the resurrected Old Testament saints. There are no scriptures substantiating unfaithful believers of any age reigning with Jesus Christ though they will be with Christ.
So there you have it. All of the chaos and devastation of the tribulation period will be past. All of the carnage is laid to rest. All demonic powers are bound up in a bottomless pit. All saints past who have died or who were raptured now living in resurrected glorified bodies are here on earth with Jesus Christ.
The grand millennial kingdom of our Lord will commence. The golden age of the world where great prosperity will prevail upon the earth will dawn. Glorified saints will live and serve the Lord in connection with his will. We will be available to serve the Lord to enjoy the golden theocracy of Christ Jesus and quite possibly assist those who received him and came out of the tribulation period alive.
We will be privileged to serve the Lord to assist those born to their millennial parents.
Some Christians have the idea that after they die and go to heaven they will experience an eternal vacation with nothing to do but lay on heaven’s shore soaking up the sun and listening to the waves gently rocking them into timely naps; that heaven is only a permanent retirement home where no one dies, no one feels bad and everyday is a picnic.
Oh yes the Bible says wonderful events will fill heaven and scenes too wonderful to portray will be experienced, but there is much more to the afterlife than this according to the Bible.
We will see what a restored earth looks like and how prosperous and joyful a world is without Satan and wars and injustice.