REWARD OR CONSEQUENCES

INTRO:

We are almost finished with the book of Revelation.

Last week Dave finished off Rev. 19 And in a nutshell what we looked at was the coming to an end of the tribulation period. The end of the 7 years of judgement on a Christ rejecting world.

the ending of the tribulation period really is looking at the two different dinner reservations. These reservations were made many years in advance and every day filled with decisions was leading closer and closer to the feast.

My wife and i are going on 20 years of marriage this year, i know its crazy since i am soon young. But I remember when we first got engaged and we started making plans for our wedding.

the first thing that we had to do was to pick a day to get married. My Natalie made it easy on me and picked our dating anniversary to make it one day for me to remember.

We picked a day that was close to a year away. Now for a wedding , there are a number of things that have to be organized, planned, picked out. Do we want a big wedding or a small wedding? What color do we want for the wedding, what type of food, what type of music, where are we going on our honeymoon, where are we going to live, how many people are we going to invite...... and most importantly...... how are we going to pay for it.

from the time that we made a decision to get married and we set a date, each day was counting down to the wedding ceremony and the banquet dinner party that we had reserved. Each decision from that day on was bringing us one day closer to the wedding and closer to fulfilling the wedding plans ....

Transition

in a similar way, this is what we looked at in chapter 19. There were 2 specific dinner feasts that the people of the world made reservations for years in advance . And each daily decision would lead them closer and closer to the reservations that they made.

the two dinner reservations were the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb” and the “ Super of the great God”

Marriage Supper of the Lamb

is the feast that would take place after the 7 days of celebrating in a Hebrew wedding. The bride and the groom have been married and they have gone away to consummate the wedding and they return after 7 days.

the bridegroom returns with His bride to the Marriage Supper.

this is the picture we see in the bible, Jesus being the bridegroom and His church being the bride. At the time of the rapture, the groom came for his bride to be unitied with Him. And He has been gone for 7 years with His bride in heaven, while on earth, it has been 7 years of tribulation.

After the 7 years of tribulation Jesus returns with His Bride , the church to the earth in His second coming.

Those that are a part of the marriage supper of the Lamb, those who will return with Jesus at His second coming are those who put their faith in Jesus. Who committed their lives to live for Him. The moment they gave their lives to Him in faith was the moment that they made their reservations and each day they walked in faith would lead them closer to the day that they would be with the Lord.

Supper of the Great God

We have this other reservation that the people of the world have made. They have chosen to reject Jesus. From the moment that they chose to reject Him, they made reservations to this supper.

See at the end of the tribulation period, we see the armies of the world and those who reject God gather at the valley of Megiddo, and they come to fight against God and those who came with Him. This is the great battle of Armageddon.

And what we see here is that God destroys all of the armies of the world who come against Him in this huge valley in Israel. Rev 14:20 tells us that the blood that is spilled during this battled is like grape juice coming from a winepress. It is flowing after being crushed. It talks about how the blood will rise to the horses bridle.

so in this great battle , God destroys all the armies and the people who came against Him. This is the culmination of the 7 years of tribulation. The destruction of all these who rejected Him.

and in Rev. 19 we saw that an Angel cried with a loud voice saying to the birds of the air to gather “together to the supper of the Great God”. That you may eat of the flesh of the captains, the mighty men, the flesh of the horses and those who sit on them. Basically, God destroyed everyone who came against Him and He left the bodies to rot in the fields. Now birds will come to eat the rotting flesh of the dead corpses.

These who died here also made reservations to this day. They made a choice to reject God and each day, they made daily decisions that lead them here to this day .

Transition

this is what we are going to look at today. The tribulation period is over but now we will see both the “REWARDS” and “CONSEQUENCES” given out.

for some they will receive their reward for their faithfulness and for some, we will see the consequences of their rejection of Jesus.

Galatians 6:7–8 NKJV

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

Jay has talked about the spiritual law that is at work in our lives. That whatever you sow or whatever you bring into your life will eventually produce something out of your heart.

if you have accepted the Lord and have made it a point to bring the things of Him into your lives daily, your life will begin to produce fruit of the spirit. Gal. 5 talks about this. There will be Godly character traits that will come out of you that are Christ like as a result of that relationship with God.

yet the opposite is true. If you reject God, reject His word, reject to obey His word...... you will produce the things of the flesh in your live. things that are not of God and with those things, with that type of life, there will be consequences......

this is what we will see as we look at the end of the tribulation period and now entering into the millenial reign of Christ.

I. SATAN BOUND FOR 1,000 YEARS (V.1-4)

A. THE BOTTOMLESS PIT (V.1)

We see an angel here who has come down from heaven to the earth and he has the key to the bottomless pit and a chain in his hand.

the bottomless pit is actually the “abyss” which speaks of being a shaft towards the center of the earth. This is not hell, but it appears to be a holding cell if you would, which is why it would require a key to lock the gate.

This angel appears to have the key and the chain in his hand ready to lock somebody up in the abyss.

in Rev. 9: 1-6, we see an angel , possible the same one, was given the key to the bottomless pit and he went and opened the door to let out some of the craziest demons that appear to contained in the abyss. These demons were like locust and they were given power to torment those who were not sealed by God.

Revelation 9:5–6 NKJV

And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

this is the same bottomless pit that in Chapter 9 & 20. Now we see instead of letting demons out, this angel is about to put one back in to confinement.

B. Satan Bound for 1,000 years (v.2-4)

so we see that as the Tribulation period is over, as Satan has been running wild on the earth for thousands of years corrupting the world and the people of the world, now there comes a point that he is contained.

this angel who holds the key to the bottomless pit in one hand and a chain in the other hand, binds satan and he locks him up for 1,000 years. Understand that his final judgement has not come yet, God still has a plan to use him in the future...... judgement will eventually come but for now , he is locked up in this bottomless pit for 1,000 years.

now as we read this, there are many questions that we really don’t have the answers to. Like who was the angel, was the chain a pyshical chain?, if it was, then how big and strong must this chain be? How strong was the angel that bound him?

we don’t know all these things , the bible does not tell us of it. But we take the words of the bible litterally that these events will happen, yet how exactly , we just don’t know. But we rest on the fact that the God of the universe who created all things, can do anything. There is nothing impossible with God.

Transition

Now we are told the reason that he is being bound. So that he will not “deceive” the world.

the bible calls satan by many different names, including here we see 4 different names for him. One of his names is “deceiver” , or liar.... And i think this name fits him the best because it describes his nature. He is a liar.

John 8:44 NKJV

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

In Eph. 2 we are told that the wold is under the control of the world.

Ephesians 2:1–2 NKJV

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

So we see that Satan is at work in the world..... controlling the world in a direction that is contrary to God , contrary to His word, contrary to His will.. Satan’s entire purpose is to destroy you and i

John 10:10 NKJV

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Satan is trying to destroy an entire world, the entire human race, trying to get us to follow the path that will lead us away from God and will lead to our destruction, just like him.

and one of the ways that Satan is controlling the world, leading the world and current culture , is to cause people to believe in a lie. If Satan can cause you and i to believe a lie, then he can lead us away from following God and eventually destroy us.

Lies Satan Teaches

GOD DOES NOT EXIST

i want you to understand how satan used the things of God and he destorts them. He does not create anything on his own, but he twists and changes the things God has created.

this is the case for science. God allowed man to have the understanding of science, to gain an understanding of how things work, how the world works, how the body works..... and these these were meant to produce a greater awe of the one who created all things.

Psalm 19:1 NKJV

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.

God meant for His creation and the understanding of it to be a way that we could see Him as creator of it and would glorify Him.

yet what does Satan do, he twists and distorts the very things God meant for good in order to have men get prideful and see themselves and their knowledge instead of seeing God.

and because men see themselves in everything and don’t see God..... they don’t believe in God and come up will all kinds of explanations to explain the creation of the universe, the creation of life, the purpose of our bodies ......

in school you are taught evolution not creation..... even though there are a lot of holes in the science. You have society around you teaching you that there are not two genders in a body… male and female.... but now there are some 50 + genders that you yourself can determine to be.

with this whole abortion ruling recently .... what you are hearing from those people who are upset is “ my body, my choice” . Nothing is more arrogant that to say your body, your life belongs to you...... you and i have done nothing to say it is my body, i should be able to do what i want with it.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NKJV

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Transition

Paul made reference to this type of mindset and what it would lead to.

Romans 1:18–29 NKJV

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,

this is exactly what you see in our society today. Men and women who no longer believe in the God who created all things, but instead they worship the creation instead of the creator.

because they don’t believe in God, they don’t have to answer to a God. They themselves are their own God and therefore they do what they want. This is exactly what satan wants.

2. THE BIBLE IS NOT THE WORD OF GOD

another lie that Satan pushes in the world today is that the word of God is not the word of God at all. That the bible is just another book.

2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

Inspiration means “God Breathed”. … Paul is saying that the very word of God that we have was breathed by Him, inspired the writers of the bible. It is God’s very word. The very fact that you have 66 books books written by 40 authors, over 1,500 year period, all working together to make one perfect story that has never been proven wrong,

The word of God is true. It is His revelation of Himself to us, it is His direction or roadmap for us on how to live and what His will is for us.

yet satan would want to teach that the bible is not true. If he can get us to believe that the bible is just another book, than we don’t have to follow the moral standard written in the bible. But we can do whatever we want and not feeling guilty.

this again is taking our eyes off of God who revealed himself in the bible, to get our eyes on ourselves......

3. THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE TRUTH

Along with believing that the bible is not true, it leads us to believe that there is no absolute truth.

see you and i believe that the bible is not only true but it is truth. Truth that has a standard , truth that shows consequences.

John 17:17 NKJV

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

this is exactly what satan wants you and i to fight against and to believe that there is no absolute truth. You have heard this saying “my truth”..... again, if it is all about you and what you feel to be right apart from a moral standard.... then you can do what you want....

doing what you want will always lead you to walk down a path that is away from God’s will ,away from God’s plan for your life and away from God’s way of salvation for you.

4. THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO SALVATION

one of Satan’s lies that he wants us to believe is that there are many ways to salvation… Many roads to heaven, or eternal peace.

this is the very reason we have so many different religions in the world today. Satan has twisted and distorted and counterfeited God’s truth and God’s way of Salvation

if there are many ways to find eternal peace, then i can choose any path that best suits me and that does not cause me to have to change my ways…

-yet the bible says

John 14:6 NKJV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

5. THERE IS NO HELL/ HEAVEN

Satan would love for you and i to believe the lie that there are no consequences to our actions. So if there is no hell , no consequences to living an evil and sinful life, then i have no reason to live right.

no fear in me. i can do what i want. Imagine if your parents let you do whatever you wanted without any consequences...... how would you live?/

yet what keeps you in line is the reality that your actions have consequences. And if you disobey your parents, you will get a beat down.

6. THAT I AM A GOOD PERSON

this is one that makes its way even in the church. The thought that i am not that bad.... I can look at other people who are at my school, or on my team or my relatives… and see that they are evil and wicked ...... and i can compare myself to them and say i am not as bad as they are.

i don’t need God as much as those people do. This is a real thing that creeps into our lives even as Christians. When we first get saved or when we first realize we are sinners we understand our need for a savior…

then time goes on and our character begins to change little by little. There can be a false assumption that i don’t need God as much as i did when i didn’t believe. And that is a lie meant to get you and I to become complacent , to relax in our spiritual walk and to compromise.

compromise will always come at a time when i relax and rest in my spiritual life...... and compromise will slowly lead to a life apart from God.

“ indeed the safest road to hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts”. C.S Lewis

there has to be an understanding that we are sinful people by nature and are evil. We will never be good enough to not need God in our lives.

Romans 3:23 NKJV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

7. That i can handle that sin

this is also one of the dangers that we face as Christians. The lie of thinking that we can handle the sinful things in our lives. We often think, it is just a small area in my life that i am struggling with, i have it under control

this is a lie from Satan meant to destroy your life. We cannot on our own strength overcome sin alone...... We cannot play around with sin and think we have it under control.

it is like taking fire to your chest and thinking you won’t get burned.

Proverbs 6:27–28 NKJV

Can a man take fire to his bosom, And his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, And his feet not be seared?

Conclusion

these are a few of the deceptions that Satan spins in the world. And as we have mentioned already..... these are meant to drive you and i away from God, away from His plan for our lives and away from His plan of salvation for us.

this is what satan has done for thousands of years ....... Now his time has come to and end for a season as he is placed in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years.

next week we will see the 1,000 year reign of Christ , we will see the end of the 1,000 year reign and we will see the final judgement of both Satan and of all those who rejected Jesus.