One morning, 4-year-old Kevin and his grandpa went out to buy donuts. While on their way Kevin’s Grandpa thought it was a great opportunity to talk to his grandson about his eternal future and asked, “Which way is heaven?” Kevin pointed to the sky. “Which way is hell?” Kevin pointed towards the floor of the pick-up truck.
Grandpa continued, “And where are you going?” “Dunkin’ Donuts,” Kevin replied. (Kathy Chapman, North Lauderdale, FL, “Heart to Heart,” Today’s Christian Woman)
Where do people go when they die? Well, in Revelation Chapter 20 we will see the 2 eternal destinations of every person.
I invite you to study Revelation chapter 20 with me. But first, I want to share one fascinating fact about this chapter. This chapter covers over 1000 years in 15 verses and we are going to study those years this morning. Verses 1-6 are 1000 years of informational content and verses 7-15 are the end of time. Let’s see…
Revelation 20:1-3 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
There is coming a day when God will order Satan into the bottomless pit! Hallelujah! He won’t be around to wreak havoc in this world. In fact, this means that he will not have contact with anyone.
Isaiah the prophet described what living in these days will be like. “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” – Isaiah 2:4.
There is a key word used in verse 3. The word explains how Satan is imprisoned. Satan is “sealed.” This word “sealed” is a significant word though out the New Testament because it connotes an absolutely secure situation guaranteed by God Himself. It’s used of saints in 2 Corinthians 1:22 and Ephesians 4:30. It’s used for the 144,000 in Revelation 7:4. It’s used for the seventh seal on the scroll in Revelation chapter 8. The Greek word σφραγίζω means secure or to make insured. No one will be able to remove or change this situation.
Notice the emphasis of this era in these verses. It’s repeated for “a thousand years”, it’s detailed, and it’s very clearly explained.
When Satan is out of the way, there will be peace on earth. Hallelujah!
In these days, Satan will be restrained, and the saints will reign. Believers will rule the earth with Christ. Let’s look at it …
Revelation 20:4a Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed.
The thrones and those who sit on them are representatives of believers – all who have trusted Christ prior to the Tribulation. This includes those who trust Him that are living today and all believers who died in the past.
Believers are given the authority to rule. Jesus promised His disciples that they would sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:29-30). And the Apostle Paul reminded us in 1 Corinthians 6 that believers would judge while on the earth.
Those believers are joined by..
Revelation 20:4b Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
These are the tribulation saints, i.e., those who will trust Christ during Satan’s reign on the earth. (Revelation 4-19). They are the people who had faith in Christ after believers are taken out of this world.
So far in Revelation chapter 20, God has these two groups of people bodily raised from their graves. And both will reign with Christ for a thousand years. Yet there is another group of people who refused to believe in Jesus…
Revelation 20:5-6 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years.
There are two bodily resurrections surrounding the 1,000-years – one BEFORE and one AFTER. The people raised BEFORE will include all those who have trusted Christ. They will be raised to reign with Christ.
There is one group of people that are raised after the 1,000 years. Notice in verse 5 it says the rest of the dead did not appear “until the 1000 years” were over. Who are the rest of the dead? That question is understood by the context, as any person who passes away without Christ. Verse 6 clearly says that the first resurrection is the resurrection of the blessed and holy. The second resurrection of the dead is another story…
When Jesus spoke in Matthew 25 and told His followers the parable about rewarding believers in His coming kingdom. “Well done… You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ – Matthew 25:23.
Believers in Jesus have the assurance of ruling and reigning with Him someday. We will share in the happiness of His reign, and He will put us in charge of “many things.”
It’s a blessed destiny with Jesus Christ. There are two options. You can reign with Christ, or you will return with Satan. In the remaining verse we see the return of Satan and the rest…
Revelation 20:7-10 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog [i.e., the rulers and their people], to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city [i.e., Jerusalem], but fire came down from heaven and consumed them…and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
After the thousand years, Satan is released and Satan again deceives the nations into thinking they can depose Christ from His throne.
Now, where does Satan get this army of people to oppose Christ? Where does he find so many who will join him at the end of the thousand-year reign?
During these 1000 years, people will be born through the survivors from Chapter 19. These are the rest of the people who did not go to battle with the beast and the false prophet against Christ. And many of those people will reluctantly submit to Jesus Christ and the believer’s rule on the earth.
See like Adam, who had his will tested in a perfect environment, people will sin. Yet God will justly show again, that even in a perfect environment with full disclosure of righteousness, mankind will choose to sin.
Sadly after a thousand years people will reject Christ, because they are born with a sinful nature. By the end of the thousand years, they will be looking for an opportunity to oppose Christ; and when Satan is loosed, they will find that opportunity.
The purpose of God to release Satan after 1000 years is to disclose that God is Just, full of Mercy and Grace, and that mankind has a will to choose to sin and rebel.
Now this is the second choice of the two eternal destinations. Those who reject Jesus Christ will be bodily raised to attend The Great White Throne judgment and then sent into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:11-13 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and the grave gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
First or foremost, the great white throne judgement is for all non-believers. No believer will appear before this white throne. Unbelievers will be brought there on account of their sin. Their deeds done outside of Jesus payment for their sin and they are guilty before God.
This use of the word “great” is not unintentional. The word “great” indicates the important reason for this white throne judgement. The word “great” describes a weighty consequence rather than size, (see Matthew 23:19; 1 Corinthians 13:13; Hebrews 11:26) and greatest (2 Peter 1:4).
The color white sums up the themes of God’s purity and holiness and triumph that have been associated with throughout the book. A few examples are Christ’s white hair 1:14, angels dressed in white 4:4, the saints wear white 3:4-5, 6:11, 7:9,13, and at the return of Christ on a white horse 19:4.
What is the Book of Life?
This book is described as a record of every person who has trusted in Jesus Christ’s shed blood for their sin. In Revelation 13:8 “Names… are written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” There are two significant identifying markers to be in this book. First, every name in the book of life belongs to the slain Lamb. Second, the basis to be in this book is the sacrificial atonement of the Lamb.
Theologians and pastors have always understood the book of life as a register of all the living. Those who have eternal life, through faith in Christ’s shed blood for their sin, have their names written in this book.
Those who die in their sins, without Christ are never recorded in the book of life.
An artist named Auguste Rodin was a French impressionist sculptor, and even though a lot of people don’t know who he was, yet most are familiar with his work. He created The Thinker. It’s the sculpture of a naked man, sitting with his elbow on his knee and his chin on his fist, contemplating something very important.
A lot of people wonder what the Thinker is thinking about. Perhaps he’s wondering about where he left his clothes the night before. Do you think? No, of course not.
What the Thinker is thinking about is an eternity of judgment separated from God. Rodin created him to sit on this sculptured block, which it is told that the Thinker was thinking about why people want to go into the gates of hell. (Neil Cole, He Had a Million of ‘Em, www.ChicagoTribune.com, 10-6-04)
So what is life like after the thousand years and the great white throne judgement for a non-believer? Here it is….
Revelation 20:14-15 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, they will be thrown into the lake of fire.
What is the Lake of Fire? Verse 10 states, The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone … a torment day and night forever and ever.
Remember Jesus words about people who refuse His love in Matthew 25:41″Then He (Jesus) will say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:”
The great white throne judgment of God is not annihilation nor is it something we can pray people out of. It’s eternal punishment and most importantly it is to be without God forever.
This is a final judgement and no one escapes. Every non-believer will be drawn out of their grave to attend the great white throne judgement and then destined to the lake of fire.
There are only two choices and there is not a neutral position. We can choose Christ, or we can choose Satan.
A nonprofit organization, called the First Amendment Project, opened three eBay auctions in September 2005.
They told potential buyers, “Here’s your chance to be immortalized in literary history! Bid on a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a character in an upcoming book by a very famous author. What could be a better gift for an ultimate fan?”
The auction ended with the top winner agreeing to pay $25,100 to see their name printed in one of the books. (“First Amendment Project,” eBay.com, 9-26-05)
Hopefully those bidders know about another book, which could make them truly immortal. The author’s name is Jesus. His book is the Book of Life, and He will add your name as a free gift. Jesus will save you from the consequences of your sin, if you call on Him. It’s a choice to not have your name in the wrong book.
It’s not for God’s desire, for He is not wishing that any should perish. -2 Peter 3:9. You can be sure where you will spend eternity. This is how to avoid the dead end of the lake of fire created for the devil and his angels.
In John 11:25-26 Jesus said.., “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in Me will live even if they die, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.