Revelation Sermon - 49

Revelation: Millennial Madness Part 1

Revelation 20:1-3

1. Introduction – This morning we come to what is probably the most famous and most highly debated passage in all of Revelation.

a. The passage about the Millennium. Millennium is a Latin word meaning 1000 years. Mille meaning 1000 and annum meaning years.

i. And given that it is such an innocuous term – it’s hard to imagine the fiery debate it has fueled.

1. And given the attention this concept of the Millennium has received…given the books written about it and the wars fought over it…

a. One would think that it is a major theme throughout the letter of Revelation.

i. Churches have been split over the Millennium, Christians have warred against each other.

1. Verbal wars, literary wars…over differing views of the Millennium and how we should interpret and understand the sequence of events leading up the end of history as we know it.

b. Given that the Millennium has wrecked this kind of havoc throughout the evangelical world…surely it must be an important theme scattered throughout the entire letter of Revelation… The NT, the whole of Scripture…

i. Well, no. Not the whole Bible, not the NT, and not even Revelation. The word “Millennium” only appears 6 times in 6 verses in 1 chapter of the Bible.

1. Whole schools of biblical theology have been developed around this idea of the millennium – eschatology…the study of the doctrine of the end times.

2. Three Views – And while there are numerous variations within each school of thought, in the evangelical Christian world, there are 3 mains views regarding the Millennium, the thousand-year reign of Jesus.

a. These views differ on the timing of events in and around the Millennium.

1. The three main views disagree on the sequence of events…

a. On the chronology and relationship between chapters 19 and 20.

i. They disagree on when Satan is going to be bound.

1. They disagree on the how to interpret the term “1000 years.”

a. Is it literal or figurative? Is it happening now or will it happen in the future?

b. And while they disagree on timing, sequence and chronology, it’s important to realize that all 3 views agree on the fact THAT Jesus is going to come back and rule in power and glory.

i. All 3 views agree that the best is yet to come.

1. They agree that the future is not up for grabs.

a. They all agree that Jesus will win, that the future belongs to God and that evil will be fully and finally vanquished at the end of history as we know it.

i. And all 3 views agree that God’s kingdom will break in to our reality from the outside.

c. So, the three main views on the Millennium, on the end of time are as follows…

i. Premillennial, Amillennial, and Postmillennial.

1. These views disagree on the timing and sequence of events.

a. I believe it is important for us to touch on and acknowledge that there is a highly contested and debated passage.

i. Are we going to solve the debate here this morning? No. That’s not even my intention.

1. Hopefully after today’s sermon you’ll walk away with a better understanding of what you believe about the end of history.

ii. It’s not my intention to pit one side against the other, to convince you all to accept my view of the end time…my intention this morning is to walk you through the differing points, hopefully with grace and charity…

1. My intention this more is to give you background information about this chapter and the history of interpretation surrounding this chapter, so that when we come back to it in subsequent weeks, we’ll have a theological underpinning to help us interpret it.

3. Plan of Action – So here’s what we’re going to do this morning…earlier I mentioned the 3 mains views when it comes to eschatology…

a. We’re going to take some time this morning to walk through each view. Understand right off the bat that I’m not giving a detail analysis of each view, we don’t have that kind of time…

i. We’ll walk through the main points of each view…but understand that even within each school of interpretation, there are variations and disagreements.

1. Not ALL premillennials agree with each other, some with the amil camp.

ii. So what we’ll do this morning is look at what these big words mean and we’ll look at what each view teaches. Remember, quick analysis, not detailed description.

4. Premil – Let’s start with the prefix “pre”. Remember the issue and debate is around when Satan is bound, and when Jesus will reign on earth. The issue is around the ‘when’ of the Millennium.

a. So Premillennials believe that Jesus will return in power before the millennium – hence ‘pre’ meaning before. Jesus comes before the Millennium, so when he comes, he establishes his 1000-year reign.

i. The sequence of events for the premil view looks like this”

1. Jesus comes again – he establishes his millennial reign…whether that’s to be taken literal or not…not even premils agree on that.

a. At the time of Jesus’ coming, Satan is bound…we read about that this morning.

i. Premils stress that Satan can’t possibly be bound yet, because he is still active, prowling around like a lion seeking to deceive people into following him.

b. At the time of Jesus coming, Satan is bound for the millennium, maybe literal, maybe not.

1. With Satan bound, Jesus establishes his rule and reign on earth with his people. The Christian dead will rise.

ii. After the millennial period – literal or not… - Satan will be released from his binding for one final onslaught against God’s people…but will meet his ultimate defeat and be thrown into the lake of fire.

1. At the end of Satan’s final onslaught, the rest of humanity is resurrected and brought before the judgment seat and the unrepentant are also thrown into the lake of fire.

a. Then comes the glorious new heaven and new earth.

i. Now that’s a stripped-down and bare bone telling of this complex theological point.

5. Amil – The second view – and the one that has been held historically in the church – the view that has been around the longest…is called amillennialism.

a. In this view, the millennium is view symbolically. Amil literally means ‘no millennium.’

i. In many languages, if you want to negate something you stick the letter ‘a’ as a prefix.

1. So we have the word ‘millennium’ or ‘millennial’ – stick the letter ‘a’ and it means not or no millennium.

b. A better term for this view would be inaugurated millennialism – because this view believes that we are already in the millennium.

i. Amillennials believe that the 1000 years mentioned in Revelation 20 is symbolic of the whole church age.

1. Amils disagree with the timing of the premils. To the Amil – the premil view makes it sound like there are two comings of Jesus – one to rule for 1000 years, and then one to bring the new creation.

a. But to the amil view, they believe in only one coming.

c. Amils believe that Satan is already bound to a certain extent. That Jesus in his life, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension has bound Satan.

i. Jesus, after his temptation, comes back and preaches a parable about binding the strong man.

1. Amils believe that Satan is bound in that he can’t stop people from listening to and receiving the gospel during this age.

a. Amils acknowledge that Satan is still active in our world, but he is using the beast and the false prophet of Revelation to do his dirty work.

i. He’s like a mob boss, who even though he is incarcerated, still manages to get work done on the outside.

d. So contrary to premils, where Jesus comes, binds Satan, reigns for 1000 years, lets Satan go only to defeat him ultimately…

i. Amils believe that when Jesus comes again, he will come in power and glory; he will wipe out the forces of evil once, and when he comes, he will bring with him the new creation.

1. Amils believe that at a time just before Jesus’ return, persecution will ramp up…Satan being released…

a. And his final onslaught only serves to bring about his ultimate demise.

i. Again, a brief overview of this complex idea.

6. Postmil – The final view on the end times is what’s known as Postmillennialism.

a. It’s the view and belief that Jesus will return and reign on earth after the millennium, after the 1000 years…hence the word ‘post.’

i. This view believers that before Jesus comes back there will be 1000 of peace, 1000 years, maybe literal maybe not – in which unlike any other time in history the gospel wins the day.

1. During this millennial period, postmils believe that the church will finally start living out the gospel and the world will be wonderfully transformed because of it.

b. Like amils – postmils believe that Jesus’ reign began at his ascension and continues today through the preaching of the gospel and work of the Holy Spirit.

i. Postmils believe that both pre and amils underestimate the power of the gospel to transform society.

1. Postmils believe that can establish the 1000 years of peace of this earth through the power of the gospel.

a. And again, Postmils believe that evil gets one final shot at deception and war against God’s people before they meet their ultimate doom.

i. Postmillennialism isn’t even really around today. It collapses under the weight of its own optimism.

1. Because ultimately, no matter how hard we preach – humans ultimately can’t establish God’s rule and reign without divine intervention.

7. Who is Right? – So, the big question – Who is right?

a. Well, before we talk about the completely subjective topic of ‘rightness’ – understand that all 3 of these views were developed by serious students of the Bible.

i. All three were developed by people who wanted to know God’s betters, who wanted to know God better – people who wanted to read their Bible’s with integrity and consistency.

b. When we talk about the debate between premil, amil, postmil…we are not talking about liberal vs. conservative.

i. We aren’t talking about those who believe in the inerrancy of Scripture and those who don’t.

1. When we talk about this debate, we aren’t debating between orthodoxy and heresy.

c. Understand…this isn’t an issue where lines should be drawn in the sand. Salvation in the blood of Jesus…yes, a line in the sand. Inerrancy and infallibility of the Scriptures…yes, a line in the sand.

i. When the Millennium will take place and what it will look like??? I don’t believe so.

1. No human system, no matter how detailed, no matter how well-intentioned…no human system is going to replace the divinely inspired Word of God.

a. Human systems will always fall short.

i. And human systems will always fall short on a topic that is only mentioned 6 times in 1 chapter.

d. The truth is – all 3 have their strengths – more strengths than the other side cares to admit.

i. And all 3 have their weaknesses.

8. Seriously – Yeah, that’s great… but who’s right? Well, that depends on how you define “right”?

a. If rightness is measured by now long a position has been around…then the Amillennials are right.

i. It’s a position that has been held since the 2nd century. Premillennialism was only developed in the late 18th or 19th century.

1. Augustine, Luther, Calvin…they were all Amillennials.

b. If rightness is measured by zeal for the Lord’s return…then the premils are right.

i. If rightness is measured by confidence in the transforming work of the gospel, then the postmils win the debate.

1. If rightness is measured by what view has the most money behind it…then the premils are right.

c. The point…there’s no tangible way to measure which view is right. A couple points to think about.

i. As I said earlier, postmillennialism isn’t really a view that’s held today…but a postmillennial view was the driving force behind the revivals of the Great Awakenings.

1. The revivalists and evangelists of the Great Awakenings were stirred by the Enlightenment, they believe that things on earth could get better and better…so the driving force behind their revivals was to establish the 1000 years of peace so that Jesus could return.

ii. Men like Jonathan Edwards and Charles Finney were driving by a believe that the gospel could bring perfect peace on earth in this lifetime so that Jesus would come back.

1. Some of the greatness missionary and evangelistic work in history was done by people with a postmillennial view…a view that largely isn’t around today.

d. And think about this, apart from Billy Graham, few people have had a direct impact on their generations like john Wesley, Charles Finney and D.L. Moody…wonderful men who did wonderful things for God’s kingdom.

i. Yet all 3 of these men…whom God blessed…all 3 of them held quite different views about the end times.

1. What should we take away for these two points…God doesn’t pour out or withhold his blessing based on a particular view of the end times

a. That 3 evangelists with differing views were ALL that successful proves that.

e. Who’s right…Honestly, it doesn’t matter. If you are in Christ, then you will participate in the millennium., whatever it is and whenever it will take place.

i. I read this quote this week and I had to share it with you. It’s in regards to rightness.

1. Its from Scotty Smith a pastor in Tennessee at the time this book was published.

a. Hears these words…

9. Our Approach – So maybe you noticed we didn’t actually study a text this morning. That was on purpose.

a. I wanted to lay some ground work before we proceed through this passage.

i. So this is how we’re going to proceed through this chapter…very carefully.

1. We will not be pitting one side of the debate against another. All have their strengths, all have their weaknesses.

a. Not one of them is watertight in their arguments.

b. Also, we’re going to let Revelation 20 speak for itself.

i. A funny thing happens when we get to this chapter. Instead of looking at how it fits the context of Revelation…interprets immediately jump out of Revelation and go to other NT passages in order to prove that their view is right.

1. Sometimes interpreters forget that Rev. 20 has a context – forget what was said in 1-19 and what will be said in 21-22.

c. We’re going to do our best to put our preconceived notions to the side. We’ll study Revelation 20 in its context. We’ll study what it says, what it means, how it applies. We’ll do our best to let the text speak to us, not us speak into the text.

i. We’ll look at if and how Revelation 20 fits in with the repeating cycle of the book.

1. How does it fit with what came before? After? Does Revelation 20 further develop themes that were previously mentioned in the letter?

d. Our approach will be this…we’re going to try and study WHAT is happening and leave the WHEN up to God. Where timing and sequence is important, we’ll talk about it.

i. But we’re going to bask in the glorious news that Jesus will return and evil will be vanquished.

e. I’ll close with this… Jesus once said that no one knows the hour or day of his return…not angels… not even himself. Only the Father. So, let’s leave the timing with him.

i. Take comfort THAT this is going to happen. Take comfort that you don’t need to know when.

1. Take comfort that of these end times events are in the Almighty and powerful hands of God.