Introduction

Revelation 20:4-6 ESV  Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. 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.  (5)  The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.  (6)  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.

• Ok church, we now get to a, for whatever reason, controversial part of Revelation.
  • And it’s controversial because I am just convinced that some pastors don’t read their Bible and some theologians just have moments where their brains fall out…
  • It’s controversial because it seems that LARGE swaths of Christianity don’t know how timelines work…
    • Let’s take a look at our end times timeline to remember where we are at…

Show “Reign

≈6000BC: First Prophecy of a Messiah
                This is from Genesis 3, when cursing Satan for his involvement in the fall of mankind, God tells Satan that the offspring of woman will crush his head: Genesis 3:15 ESV  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

≈2000BC: Promised Land Promised to Abraham
                In Genesis 12:1-3 God promises a land for Abraham and all his descendents that will bless the whole world…. Genesis 12:1-3  Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  (2)  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  (3)  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

God further made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15 that promising this land forever. Because only God, and not Abraham, solidifies this covenant, that means that only God can break it. There is nothing anyone can do to break this promise, that God’s people will live in this promised land forever.

≈1000BC: Messiah Promised Through David
     The book of 2 Samuel gives us some detailed prophecies about the coming messiah. Specifically in verses 7:10–17 where we read about the promises God makes to King David. God specifically says in these verses in 2 Samuel chapter 7 that one of David’s sons will have some very special things about him: in verse 12 we read that God will establish this son of David’s kingdom, in verse 14 we read that God will be known as the Father of this son of David (David will not be known as the father), and in verse 15 God promised to never remove His love from this coming son of David’s. Furthermore in verse 13, God says this son of David’s “will build a house for my Name and that David’s son’s throne would be forever”.  (this info gathered heavily from https://www.gotquestions.org/premillennialism.html)

≈1-34AD: Life, Death, Resurrection, Ascension of JC

Now it is important to note that Jesus did die, He did Rise, and He did ascend. He did not stay here on earth, but left us with the great commission: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all I have commanded you…

≈34AD-Present : Church Age
This includes all of the great church history since Jesus… all of these saints obeying the great commandment… Stephan the first martyr, the 12 Apostles, the events of all the Biblical books from Acts to Jude which is most of the new Testament. Jan Hus, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jacob Arminius,  John Wesley, Billy Grahm, Pastors Matt Krachunis, Daniel Ong, Jeremy Seaward… every born again believer in this building, we are all living in this time period.

≈Future: Tribulation Begins
This is Revelations chapters 4 through about 18. It includes the seven seal judgments, the seven trumpet judgments, and the seven bowl judgments.

Future: Rapture, Wedding Feast
Somewhere, likely in the seventh Trumpet judgment, the church is raptured… all Christians dead and alive are taken into heaven. As we are in heaven, Babylon the great falls and the kings of the earth gather themselves to make war with Jesus and his saints. While Satan, the false prophet, and the beast all gather with the kings to war against Christ, we saints are chilling in heaven with Jesus at the marriage supper of the lamb.

Future:  Armageddon, Christ reigns 1k years
After the marriage supper, Jesus leads us to the battle of Armageddon, the Beast, the false prophet and the evil kings and armies of the earth are defeated, Satan is imprisoned for 1000K years and Christ reigns on the earth with some saints for that 1000 years without the influence of Satan. This is where we are at in the scripture today.

Future: Satan Defeated, Christ reigns forever
Finally, we will talk about this next week, but Satan will be loosed, ultimately defeated, and Christ will reign forever with all the saints on earth in New Jerusalem.

• Now, if you want more information on this you can check out https://www.gotquestions.org/premillennialism.html I used that a lot with this research.
• But I hope this helps you visualize a very basic timeline of the Messiah’s prophesied reign and fulfilled reign.
• And it seems pretty simple doesn’t it? First this happens, then this happens, then this happens, then this happens.
  • I mean, for heaven’s sake… John even says all through out Revelation.. THEN this happens… THEN I saw this… THEN this took place… THEN this happened…
  • BECAUSE THAT’S HOW TIMELINES WORK.
• But sometimes Christians and theologians just love to make things difficult! “Well you know if this word could possibly mean… and we just rearrange some of this… and that probably doesn’t mean what it says it means… so we can conclude that Christ actually doesn’t come back until AFTER the 1000 year reign…
  • These Christians are called “Postmelinials” and they have forgotten the first fundamental law of biblical interpretation.
  • Anyone remember the first law of Biblical interpretation?
    • Whenever possible take scripture literally.

• Whenever possible, take scripture literally.
• Let Scripture interpret Scripture.
  • Now postmillennial believe that “1000 years” just means a long period of time… that Jesus will only come back after we have converted the whole world to Christianity, and then finally Jesus will come back… and some really really smart people believe and teach this…
    • AND I AM LIKE: WHAT BIBLE ARE YOU READING?
• But interestingly enough, you know who IS good at the laws of Scriptural interpretation? Jewish Scholars… Let me explain… bring that timeline back up…

• Jewish scholars are good with the Messiah being prophesied in Genesis 4.
• They are good in their Biblical understand of the promised land, of course they are it is a major ternate of Judaism.
• And in fact it was Jewish Scholars who first realized that these verses about David’s son in 2^nd Samuel 7 were not about Solomon, but about the coming Messiah…
  • why did they figure this out? Because they followed the FIRST LAW of Biblical interpretation… take a look…

2 Samuel 7:10-17 ESV  And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly,  (11)  from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.  (12)  When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.  (13)  He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.  (14)  I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,  (15)  but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.  (16)  And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”  (17)  In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

• Now all of this sounds like King Solomon… isn’t that who Nathan is prophesying about?
  • I mean he marks all of the boxes…
  • Solomon is David’s offspring.
  • He was one of the greatest kings of Israel…
  • And he built the temple, a house for God!
  • Surely Nathan is prophesying about Solomon right?
    • Except, uh oh… it can’t be when following the first law of hermeneutics…
    • What’s the first law of Hermeneutics? Whenever possible take scripture literally!
  • And that means, these verses can’t be about King Solomon, why? Because of verse 13

2 Samuel 7:13 ESV  He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

• Yeah, Solomon built a temple, a house for God… BUT Solomon’s throne and kingdom DID not last forever.
  • Solomon died… his throne was passed down… over and over and over again…
  • So if we are taking this prophecy literally, as we should, then we realize, just as Jewish scholars realized before the birth of Christ… that Nathan was not prophesying about Solomon, but was prophesying about the Mesiah who would come from the line of David.
• And Church THIS IS WHY many Jews of the time and still today do not believe Jesus is the Messiah… because if Jesus is the Messiah, according to them, then He should not have ascended but instead He should have stayed on earth and established a kingdom FOREVER.
  • And that issue stems from this… their application of the laws of Biblical interpretation are good… but their understanding of God’s promises is not…
  • That’s why I am going to preach what I am going to preach today…

• God Keeps His Promises… that’s the application I want you to take away from the thousand year reign of Christ… that God keeps His Promises. GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES. Shure, the enemy tries to frustrate toe promises of God, that devil tries to confuse things, delay things, and interfere with the promises of God… but in the Ent, ALL OF GOD’S PROMISES ARE ALWAYS KEPT!
  • Amen?!
  • Let’s Pray.

Point One – The Enemy Always Tries to Frustrate the Promises of God

Revelation 20:1-4 ESV  Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.  (2)  And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,  (3)  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.  (4)  Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. 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.

• You know it is almost as if God was sick and tired of Satan messing with His promises.
  • God had promised that the Messiah would reign forever…
  • But Satan was doing everything in his power to stop that from happening.
    • First He tried to stop the line of the Messiah by trying to kill off the Jewish people.
    • Failing that he tried to stop the Messiah Himself by killing Jesus on the Cross.
    • Failing that now Satan deceives the nations and the churches trying to stop them from receiving the gift of salvation, trying to stop them from preaching on sin and repentance, trying to stop them from following the great commission.
    • Failing that, Satan will gather the armies of demons and kings of the earth and make war with Jesus and the saints at Armageddon, the hills of Megiddo.
    • After all of this frustration from the enemy, it is almost as if God is like “ENOUGH! Enough of this! It is time for the Messiah, Christ Jesus, to begin His eternal reign. So why don’t I just lock you up in the great abyss for a thousand years so that you can stop trying to frustrate my promises!
  • That’s our first point this morning… the Enemy always tried to frustrate the promises of God.
• And you know the same Jewish scholars who deny Christ as the messiah… they understand this point… but they refuse to apply it to Christ.
  • I know they understand this point, because look at the nation of Israel.
  • God PROMISED that Israel would eternally be a nation. That it would be the eternal inheritance for Abraham and his offspring.
    • We talked about that when we went through the Biblical timeline.
    • God made a covenant with Abraham, but only GOD entered into the promise making of the Covenant, while he put Abraham to sleep. So ONLY God can break that covenant, and God doesn’t change so we know he wont break that covenant.
  • If that is the case… then why did Israel get conquered by Rome… why did it stop being a Nation in 63 BC when Rome made it a state and eventually a province.
  • Why did Isreal cease to exist as a nation from 63 BC all the way to 1948 after the end of WW2… that’s nearly 1900 years of non-existence as a nation.
    • Was God LYING when He said that Israel would be the eternal promised land?
      • No of course not! No jew, nor Christian would say that… WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE ENEMY IS ACTIVE IN TRYING TO FRUSTRATE THE PROMISES OF GOD!
• And if Jews today would just understand that about Jesus as the Messiah, the enemy is active in trying to frustrate the promises of God… if they would understand that, then they would come to the saving knowledge of Jesus as Lord!
• Now I wonder dear saints… do you understand this fact… that the enemy is active in trying to frustrate the promises of God in your life?!
  • Do you realize that demons have been assigned to you to attack you, to frustrate you, to interfere with you.
  • They know what God has promised you and they want to do everything they can to frustrate those promises.
    • THAT DOESN’T MEAN THE PROMISES ARE NOT REAL…
    • But it does mean that things can get tough.
• What promises has the enemy been frustrating in your life?
  • His promises to bless you? Maybe you are not feeling very blessed right now…
  • His promises to be near to you? maybe you feel far away right now…
  • His promise to protect you? maybe that weapon formed against you feels like it is prospering right now…
  • His promise that His love will never fail you… maybe you don’t feel very loved right now…
  • His promise to forgive your sin? Maybe you feel shamed and condemned right now…
  • His promises to prosper you? Maybe you feel like you are starving right now…
  • His promise to comfort you? Maybe you feel pretty uncomfortable with life right now…
  • His promise to give you peace? Maybe life feels like chaos right now…
  • His promise to give you rest? Maybe you feel exhausted right now…
  • His promise to give you power? Maybe you feel pretty weak right now…
• Just because you FEEL some kind of way, does that mean these promises are not true or somehow don’t apply to you?
  • OF COURSE NOT! It simply means that the enemy is messing with you!
  • He is running interference… He is trying to frustrate the promises of God over your life.
    • And that’s just a few promises God lists for us in scripture.
    • What about personal promises?
      • Maybe it was prophesied that you would have another child… do you laugh like Sarah laughed?
      • Maybe it was prophesied to you that you would have a better job…
      • Or a ministry
      • Or a wife or husband
      • Or whatever was prophesied to you…
        • Do you feel like those promises failed?! NO.
          • You should recognize that the ENEMY is messing with you!
• CHURCH WE NEED TO GET A WHOLE LOT BETTER AT SPIRITUAL WARFARE!
• That’s my second point this morning…

Point Two  – We Need to Get a Whole Lot Better at Spiritual Warfare

Revelation 20:1-2 ESV  Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.  (2)  And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,

• WE NEED TO GET A WHOLE LOT BETTER AT SPIRITUAL WARFARE.
  • JESUS UNDERSTANDS SPIRITUAL WARFARE! That’s why He is going to chain up Satan in the abyss for a thousand years!
  • It’s time we start chaining up the demons coming after us, so we can come to the full realization of God’s promises.

James 4:7 ESV  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Ephesians 6:12 ESV  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 ESV  For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.  (4)  For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

• When Jesus came to earth He cast out a whole lot of demons… dozens of scriptures about hundreds of demons, if not more, that He cast out.
• When His disciples where sent out, they cast out demons!
• When the apostles rose up, the cast out demons!
  • The New Testament church understood that demons were real but that we have the power, the weapons, and the authority to wage war on them!
• WHAT HAPPENED CHURCH?! What happened between then and now?
  • In modern day America we have cast a lot of things out.
    • We have cast prayer out of the church.
    • We have cast marriage out of the constitution.
    • We have cast politics out of the pulpit.
    • We have cast morals out of our media.
    • We have cast logic out of the window.
      • IT SEEMS TO ME THE ONLY THING WE ARE NOT CASTING OUT NOW A DAYS IS DEMONS!
• But we are not standing for that at Christian Life Church! God’s people SHOULD NOT STAND FOR THAT.
  • If you have demons frustrating the promises of God in your life, it is time to kick their butts!

Ephesians 6:10-18 ESV  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  (11)  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  (12)  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  (13)  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.  (14)  Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,  (15)  and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.  (16)  In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;  (17)  and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,  (18)  praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

• You know I have preached on these verses before, I think every pastor has…
  • But I think so often we think of these verses far to metaphorically…
  • Like these verses describe how we should live life when going to the office, or picking our kids up from school, or doing yard work.
    • And we certainly should be putting on the armor of God daily…
      • But not because it will help you type better in your office.
      • Not because it will help you drive better when picking up your kids…
      • Not because it will help you pick out the weeds from your Garden.
    • No, the armor of God is not here to make our daily lives easier, it is here to help us MAKE WAR.
  • Be Strong! That’s what it says. Stand against the schemes of the devil.
  • Wrestle with the demons! Fight them! Defeat them! That’s what it says.
  • The belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the armored boots of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the SOWRD of the Spirit/
    • THIS IS NOT BUISNESS CASUAL OFFICE ATTIRE! THESE ARE WEOPONS OF WAR!
  • Yes we should put on the armor daily, because demons will be trying to frustrate us daily.
    • MAKE WAR!
• Guard your heart by being righteous… so when the enemy tries to attack your heart your righteousness says “NOT TODAY SATAN!”.
• Walk in the peace of the gospel, so when the enemy tries to cause chaos, you turn to the shalom peace of Christ.
• Put on the helmet of salvation, see the world through the lense of the gospel, let your mind be protected from the very real fact that you were saved and transformed. Remind yourself of your own testimony, then remind the enemy of that testimony for you will overcome the enemy by the blood of the lamb and the word of your testimony!
• Hold it all together with the belt of truth, not situational ethics that change depending on the situation… not relative truth that means something different from person to person… no, real, rock solid, Biblical, never changing truth…
• Then Sharpen your sword by opening your Bible, reading it, and doing what it says… then use that sword to strike down the enemy that is attacking you.
• USE THE ARMOR OF GOD TO MAKE WAR ON THE ENEMY!
  • WE SHOULD BE FRUSTRATING THEIR PLANS! THEY SHOULD BE AFRAID OF US!
• MAKE WAR CHURCH! Don’t be afraid of spiritual warfare, make the enemy afraid of you and your power when you make war.

Mark 16:15-18 ESV  And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.  (16)  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  (17)  And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;  (18)  they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

• Y’all, casting out demons is a part of being a Christian.
  • I love this rendition of the great commission.
    • Jesus says “Even if you, while preaching the gospel and making disciples, even if you are bitten by a  deadly snake (as Paul was) you will not die!
    • Even if you are forced to drink poison while out on the mission field (as Amanda and I had to drink the most horrible unhygienic likely filled with parasites water while on the mission field) even if you drink poison you will not diel
  • And when you are out fulfilling this commission, you will encounter demons, CAST THEM OUT! MAKE WAR ON THEM! That’s what my followers do.
• Now this is the part of the sermon where I say “Sunday is not enough”. If I as your pastor had to deal with every demon messing with you on Sunday, then all we would do on Sunday would be spiritual warfare, all Sunday every Sunday.
  • Because there is to many of you and not enough of me.
  • But this is why DISCIPLESHIP is so important.
    • Disciplers, listen to me! MAKE WAR with your disciples.
    • If your disciple tells you how their life is frustrating right now, MAKE WAR!
      • If their life is frustrating because of their own sin… Make war on their sin. Bring them to repentance!
      • If their life is frustrating because of their own flesh… MAKE WAR on their flesh, teach them to daily take up their crosses.
      • And if their life is frustrated because of attacks on the enemy, MAKE WAR ON THE ENEMY.
  • Now disciples, if you go to your discipler and the two of you don’t know how to make war… THEN come to Pastor Mike and Tina, or Pastor Jared and Elizabeth, or Pastor Amanda or I… and we will help you learn how to make war… but don’t come to me first, go to your discipler first.
    • And if you don’t have a discipler, go talk to Pastor Mike and Pastor Tina… you need an armor bearer… you need a co-warrior in Christ… you need someone to ride into Battle with!
• And with that, you should be praying in the Spirit. Both Jesus in Mark 16, and Paul in Ephesians six say we should be praying in the Spirit. It is one of our weapons of warfare!
  • If you are not praying in the Spirit, if you don’t know how to pray in the Spirit, talk to your discipler… go through the foundations class on the gifts and power of the spirit, skip straight to that one this week… then cry out and ask for the gift of tongues… the ability to pray in the spirit! We all need to be praying in the spirit more… it builds ourselves up and prepares us for war.
    • And again, if you and your discipler don’t have that gift, then come to me or any of the other pastors and we will lay hands on you and your discipler and we will impart that gift as the power of the Spirit has given us authority to…
    • But don’t just sit by idly and do nothing… Warriors don’t sit around and do nothing! WE STAY ACTIVE. WE STAY TRAINED. WE KEEP OUR SWORDS SHARP. WE MAKE WAR!
• Now that brings me to my conclusion… IN The End, All of God’s Promises Are Always Kept.

Conclusion – In The End, All of God’s Promises Are Always Kept

Revelation 20:4-6 ESV  Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. 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.  (5)  The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.  (6)  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.

• This thousand year reign, where Christ and the saints who were martyred in the tribulation reign is the beginning of God’s eternal kingdom.
  • I don’t know where the other saints are, if they are there ruling with Christ or if they are hanging out in heaven waiting for the thousand years to get over…
  • But for this thousand years Christ starts His eternal reign. He rebuilds the true temple, not the one that the Antichrist sat in and the witnesses preached in front of, but an eternal temple.
  • From it He will reign forever. And after the first thousand years of His reign, Satan will finally be completely crushed, the wicked dead will be raised and judged, New Jerusalem will come down from heaven, and we will live with Christ in New Jerusalem, in a new recreated perfect earth, forever.
    • Why, because God promised that would Happen.
    • He promised Jesus would crush the head of Satan all the way back in Genisis 4.
    • He promised in Genesis 12 and 15 that Abraham’s descendants would rule the world from the promised land forever.
    • He promised that  through the prophet Nathan that Jesus would reign from the throne in the temple FOREVER.
• AND GOD ALWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES NO MATTER HOW MUCH THE ENEMY TRIES TO FRUSTRATE THEM.
• What has God promised you? HE WILL KEEP THOSE PROMISES. Keep Him in front of you, put on the armor of God, make war, and be patient. GOD ALAWAYS KEEPS HIS PROMISES!
• Gospel Call