Our Most Precious Faith
Last Things and Judgement
Turn to Revelation 20. There are certainly truths in the Scriptures which cause great wonderment for us as believers. Passages that we read that we are just amazed at the greatness of God. This should strike us when we first open our Bibles to its beginning verses and realize just how powerful and wise God truly is. As we consider such things as the creation of the world, things that we are still discovering today. And to also understand that God created the angels, the heavenly hosts, as well as the universe. The bigger telescopes we come up with, God’s creation grows larger; and the stronger the microscopes, God’s world grows smaller. The Bible reveals to us that God created the universe, the world, and all that is in it, in six days, and really gives to us some specific details of that creation—yet we were not there when He created. Therefore, there are many things that we cannot understand or know outside of what we know from Scripture as so much is a mystery—as this is one of the many mysteries given to us in the Bible, creation.
And important to know that we accept the account given to us as literal truth. That the world was created in six literal days, and that men lived long lives as recorded such as Methuselah, 969 years. Another mystery in the Bible is the salvation of man. How God determined before the foundation of the world His people and that He chose them to salvation—not based upon us—and yet we have a responsibility to believe on Him. It’s difficult to comprehend and understand. Another mystery is the vastness of God’s love. How we could be considered His enemies, and be indifferent to Him, utterly sinful; and yet how God could love us, and send His Son to die in our place—hard to fathom.
Well, the topic, or the church statement we have before us this morning is another of those which is quite laid-out for us in detail yet is one which we find difficult to fully grasp. So, our final statement in our series “Out Most Precious Faith” is on:
LAST THINGS AND JUDGEMENT
We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the just and the unjust. Those saved are eternally blessed in Heaven, while the lost experience everlasting, conscious, eternal punishment in Hell (Daniel 12:2; Matthew 25:41).
And we have added a footnote to this statement as we did with our statement on the Word of God, emphasizing that we teach here at Elim a very literal understanding of the Bible, hence, a 6-day creation, 24-hour days. Again, the ages given in the Bible are true and literal. That the facts and figures given in the Bible are reliable and accurate. This also keeps us from spiritualizing things in the Bible or coming up with silly dates and predictions based upon numbers and signs. so, be very careful of spiritualizing Scripture through numbers or symbolism and be careful of listening to those who do. Don’t believe that Jesus is coming back in 2033 or I am sure someone will say something differently when the next comet goes by or we have the next total eclipse that will have some deep spiritual meaning. That the rapture will occur on August 12 of this year because of a total eclipse. Only problem is, you will have to be in Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia, or a small area of Portugal to see it. So, if we lose Anna if she goes on holidays in Portugal, we will know why.
Listen, unless the Bible itself explains something stated in Scripture, where it says that this prophecy, number, sign, represents something else—which sometimes the Bible does—there is no need for us to create our own interpretation. And understanding that the Bible does use obvious symbolism, hyperbole, and similes—just as we do in common, everyday language—such as he ran like a gazelle, but he was not a literal gazelle, but he did run fast. Or when Jesus says, “I am the door,” we know that Jesus is not literally a door. But when the Bible says that Jesus was forty days in the wilderness, that is what it means. It is not using a symbolic number just to emphasize that He went through temptation, but that He was there for forty days and suffered for forty days. So, here is the footnote we have attached to our statement on last things and judgement, and it very much ties in with a literal understanding of the Bible:
We teach that the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to rapture His church is imminent (1 Thessalonians 4:17), followed by the outpouring of God’s wrath on earth, known as the tribulation (Matthew 24:21-28). After the tribulation, there will be a future thousand-year Millennial Kingdom where Christ will rule on the earth (Revelation 20:1-6), followed by an eternal kingdom where there will be a new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1-4).
I grew up as a young guy believing that after I die, I would go to heaven, and some day we would all be with God in eternity in heaven. And it wasn’t until I was in my later teens with some good biblical teaching, that I began hearing about a Millennial Kingdom, 1,000-years, on earth. However, my first reaction to it was, what would be the purpose of such a Kingdom? It certainly made no sense to me. So, I know that many of you have grown up with a strong teaching that there is no literal earthly 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom. Yet for some of you, a literal Millennial Kingdom is all that you have ever been taught. And then for the rest of you, you have no idea where you might land on this issue. We spent ten Sunday nights on the seven churches in Revelation here at Elim—though that is not directly involved in this topic. But we also spent another eight weeks on the Millennial Kingdom, four weeks on the rapture, and thirteen weeks on Revelation 4-22, all related to our statement this morning.
So, to try to be clear this morning, I have chosen five headings from the statement that I do want to guide us so that we know what we believe as a church, and what we teach as a church: bodily resurrection; heaven and hell; rapture and tribulation; Millennial Kingdom; and the Eternal Kingdom. Are you ready? Because we are going to fly!
Bodily Resurrection
Again, I cannot teach you this morning why we hold to a bodily resurrection or give you deep teachings on the other topics we will cover. But my goal this morning is to make it clear what we hold to and what we do teach here at Elim. And the first thing, the bodily resurrection is really unique to Christianity. The belief of us being up in heaven with angel’s wings is not biblical. I am not even sure if I am going to be able to play a harp when I get to heaven, though I do hope the Lord allows me to sing a high tenor part in heaven—love those high tenors! Jesus said this to those listening to Him:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death—ever.”
John 8:51 (LSB)
In fact, there are many references when the biblical writers are referring to Christians dying that they will often use the word “sleep.” And Paul says that those who have fallen asleep—or died in this life—will be resurrected just as Jesus was resurrected. Paul wrote to the Romans that we are eagerly waiting for the redemption of our bodies. And Paul also wrote to the Philippians:
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory.
Philippians 3:20-21a (LSB)
We know that when Christ was among His followers after the resurrection, He had a glorified body, and so, we too will have a “physical” glorified body as He did. We will not be disembodied ghosts or spirits in heaven as we often picture. Jesus told His disciples to see his hands and feet, because He still had real hands and real feet after the resurrection. In fact, though transformed, Mary mistook Jesus for the gardener, so the resurrected body cannot be too different from ours, at least in its appearance. Jesus looked just like another traveller to the two men on the road to Emmaus. So, although the resurrected body will be very different, the similarities are likely greater than the differences. Wayne Grudem wrote, “No [Bible] text says that Jesus passed through walls or anything like that,” after the resurrection. The Bible does say simply that the disciples were meeting behind locked doors when Jesus came in (John 20:19). Grudem goes on to say that Peter was also behind locked doors in prison and God miraculously opened them so that Peter could walk out (Acts 12:10). Maybe the idea heavenly bodies that dematerialize comes from watching too much Star Trek or something, but it does not come from the Bible.
And I do believe that we have been deceived to try to distance ourselves from who we are as created human beings by God. We do not picture angels being changed into anything else. For this is who we are—but then glorified. In other words, someday with eternal life, without pain, without sin, without gasping for air on the hockey bench, with minds will work and do things that we have never experienced before. True, without marriage, so with some differences. But likely more similar than we think. In other words, in heaven some newcomers may still get Larry and I confused. But with no defects, though I do hope I can skate faster than Larry in heaven! Bodily resurrection. Next:
Heaven and Hell
The fact that the Bible teaches of a real heaven and a real hell is undeniable. And from any Bible description there seems to be no end to the glories of heaven and the agonies of hell. Many have tried to change hell into something that is either a place of instant judgement, but no eternal judgement; or a place that is made to look like a destination that people who enjoy sin will want to go to; or to a warning the Bible gives but has no real existence in eternity. And so, everyone ends up in heaven. And if a few do not go to heaven, they are immediately annihilated at death, or death just means to some as an imaginary place of peace and comfort without pain.
We need to understand that all of this has no biblical basis and therefore no truth. Jesus, who is often depicted as always loving, spoke of hell more than any other teacher in the Bible. He used terms such as “eternal fire” (Matt 5:22), “unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43), and “eternal punishment” (Matt 25:46). Now, are there various degrees of punishment in hell? Well, there must be as God is the perfect Judge. As the Bible seems to indicate that there will be those who are more accountable than others. Jesus was speaking about cities that would refuse the teaching of the gospel, and He said this about such places:
“Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.”
Matthew 10:15 (LSB)
And you may not think that respected churches would try to downplay the existence of hell, but that is not true. I spoke with a Christian Reformed pastor—who would not represent all Christian Reformers—but who plainly said that after the non-Christian dies, he is immediately annihilated. In other words, there is no eternal punishment. Yet this goes directly against the words of Daniel, he wrote:
“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to reproach and everlasting contempt.”
Daniel 12:2 (LSB)
So, whether someone dies outside of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who knew much of the gospel and who lived a very sinful life; or the person who never heard the gospel verbally, and who in comparison lived a decent life by human standards. Both will be judged by God for their sin, and both will experience eternal suffering as the Judge of all the earth will determine. Heaven and hell. Next:
Rapture and Tribulation
Now our theology cannot be determined by what we see around us, but we do see a world that is running further and further away from God. In our study of Revelation, we saw where John received a vision of what would come:
“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.’”
Revelation 4:1 (LSB)
Now when it says “after these things” it was referring to the descriptions to the seven churches (Rev 1-3). Letters that were sent with both commendation and condemnation to literal historical churches. And then the very next chapters (Rev 4-5) he wrote about the glories of heaven. And then (Rev 6) we are introduced to the beginning of the seal judgements, and the great devastation coming to the earth as a judgment. And taking Scripture literally, we dismiss the idea that these judgments are merely symbolic of spiritual tribulation. but that they are real events. Revelation 6 ends with this:
“Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’”
Revelation 6:15-17 (LSB)
Later in Revelation there are more judgements. For after the seal judgements, there comes trumpet judgements, and then bowl judgements—judgements, if literal, have never happened before. In Revelation 17-18, it speaks of the final destruction of the world system. And then in Revelation 19, Christ returns, and concludes with this:
“And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who did the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sits on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.”
Revelation 19:20-21 (LSB)
That there will be a time on earth with great tribulation is quite clear in the Bible. The Bible speaks of it seems two periods of 3-1/2 years or 1260 days, where many teach a seven-year tribulation time of God judging the earth. There is an interesting verse regarding believers in the church of Philadelphia in Revelation 3:
“Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 3:10-11 (LSB)
This verse clearly teaches that at least some will be kept from the time of the tribulation, as there is little doubt that the passage is speaking here of the tribulation that is spoken about in the chapters immediately following this passage. This “keeping” believers from the pending tribulation is what we refer to as the rapture. And the term “rapture” means “to remove suddenly or snatch away.” The Greek word is harpazō. First Thessalonians 4:16-17 says:
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up [harpazō] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (LSB)
There is similar language in 1 Corinthians 15:
“Behold, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.”
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (LSB)
And this goes along with our statement. That the rapture of the church is imminent, in other words, it could happen at any time. It literally means we could be taken up this morning, and will include all believers on earth, both those who are alive and those who are dead. Followed by the outpouring of God’s wrath, known as the tribulation, which includes the descriptions given in Revelation 4-19. The Antichrist, the two witnesses that God will send, and some of the catastrophic events that will happen on the earth and that are described in those chapters. So, we have the earth as it is today, when at some point the Lord will rapture, snatch away all those who believe, where we will meet Him in the air. And then God will judge the earth during a time called the tribulation. And at the end of the tribulation we then turn to the chapter after Revelation 19, which is chapter 20. So, believers taken up, tribulation on earth, ends at Revelation 19, then Revelation 20.
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were finished. After these things he must be released for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their witness of Jesus and because of the word of God, and who also had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. And when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison.”
Revelation 20:1-7 (LSB)
Millennial Kingdom
Now some have chosen to symbolize the meaning of the 1,000 years. Yet, after reading the clear wording of this passage, there is no need to do this. It speaks about 1,000 years and records this for us seven times in seven verses, so that we would understand it is talking about 1,000 years. And these references to the 1,000-year reign of Christ we call the Millennium or Millennial Kingdom. That following a time of tribulation, Christ returns to reign on the earth for 1,000 years prior to the eternal kingdom. Now I wish to give you some descriptions recorded in the Bible regarding this Millennial Kingdom. And this is by no means exhaustive, nor is this a study this morning on the Millennium. And I suppose we might ask the question of why a Millennial Kingdom on earth. Well, the people of Israel were promised many things by God beginning with Abraham that they will be given the Promised Land and that all the nations of the earth will serve them. And then the Lord told David that someday an eternal King will sit on his throne in Jerusalem, and that the nations will know that the Lord is God.
Well, though Israel was a very powerful nation after David, especially during the reign of his son Solomon, Israel never did possess all the land which God had promised Abraham. Yet in the Millennial Kingdom there is now a King, Christ, who will rule in Jerusalem. Many verses in the Old Testament speak of a time when people will say, know the Lord. And it says that the response will be, we already know the Lord. Even after Israel was exiled to never again be a great nation, men such as Ezekiel and Amos spoke of a time when Israel will be more numerous and prosperous than their fathers. When the desolate cities of Israel will be rebuilt and the people will flourish—a promise not yet fulfilled by God. Hosea spoke of the reign of the line of David and that someday will come One who will rule in the fear of the Lord. The psalmist taught that the nations will be destroyed and tells the rulers of the earth to serve the Lord with fear, a promise not yet fulfilled by God. Isaiah wrote that all the nations will come as the word of the Lord would come out of Jerusalem. Zechariah said that those who fought against Jerusalem will be destroyed, a promise not yet fulfilled by God.
The Old Testament told of a time of righteousness and peaceful habitation, and flowers blooming in the desert. Isaiah spoke of a multitude of gold and silver and the riches of kings with no more violence or devastation, a promise not yet fulfilled by God. The Bible spoke of both Judah and Israel being reunited, joining together in Jerusalem, and that all the nations will come together in that place. And Jeremiah 30 speaks of God’s people going back to the land to Judah and Israel, a promise not yet fulfilled by God. And Micah also wrote about the remnant becoming a strong nation. The prophet said that God will gather Israel and Judah and restore their fortunes. Zephaniah stated that there will be rejoicing again in Jerusalem, a promise not yet fulfilled by God.
Therefore, I believe there will come a day after the church has been raptured to meet Christ in the air, when the earth will experience a time of great tribulation, and when God will pour out His wrath on the earth. But through this God will preserve a remnant in Israel, and Christ will return to the earth with the church, and will reign as her King, when Israel again will be in her land. Barry Horner writes:
“[Abraham’s] hope was of the future messianic age, the millennial kingdom in which heaven would be manifest on earth and residences there would be gloriously holy and permanent.”
Barry E. Horner, Future Israel 250
John wrote, “And when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison” (Rev 20:7). Why Lord? What would be the purpose after this wonderful reign 1,000-years on earth to again allow Satan to cause rebellion, which he does (vs 10) as he again will deceive the nations? Why Lord? That might be my question. Yet what did D. A. Carson say last week, “There is no place for my opinion against God’s.” I am good with that, aren’t you? As maybe we should let God determine what will happen. That is a great statement, a good sign to put up in my office! “There is no place for my opinion against God’s.” As God obviously has His purposes in all His plans for all of His creation. So, we come to the final topic.
Eternal Kingdom
The description of the eternal kingdom is more like what we grew up with thinking about heaven. But we will actually see that it is a new heaven and a new earth, and those 2 terms are never divided.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.”
Revelation 21:1-2 (LSB)
Interesting that back in Isaiah the prophet spoke about a new heaven and a new earth. And we can imagine that it will be something other-earthly, no longer any sea, as obviously, glorified bodies will no longer be dependant upon water. And there will be the New Jerusalem, this is not the old Jerusalem. It is the holy city as all its residents will be holy. The writer of Hebrews calls it the city of the living God. It would almost seem like it is an existing city that God brings to the new heavens and new earth.
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.”
Revelation 21:3 (LSB)
Here we read that somehow God will dwell with man. God will be known in His fullness, with no sin hindering our relationship. As John writes that we will see God as He is (1 John 3:2).
“[A]nd He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain. The first things passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true.’ Then He said to me, ‘They are done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.’ He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”
Revelation 21:4-7 (LSB)
Those who are overcomers are those who are described by John.
“For everything that has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the overcoming that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
1 John 5:4-5 (LSB)
And then John will describe the New Jerusalem.
“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God … And the one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and its wall. And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, 12,000 stadia; its length and width and height are equal. And he measured its wall, 144 cubits, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.”
Revelation 21:10-11a; 15-17 (LSB)
The size of the New Jerusalem in this Eternal Kingdom is approximately 2,400 km x 2,400 km. That is roughly going east to west, from Arkona to almost the border of Alberta. And going north to south, from Arkona to Miami, Florida. But also 2,400 km high. That’s 600,000 stories high—according to man’s measurement, which is the same as the angels. Arkona to Alberta, Arkona to Miami, Florida, 600,000 stories high!
“And I saw no sanctuary in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. And its gates will never be closed by day, for there will be no night there; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. And nothing defiled, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Revelation 21:22-27 (LSB)
Wow! This is heaven! No more sin, no more death, no more sorrow. And notice this is after the 1,000 years have ended. No need of the sun or the moon. And that kings will enter the city. Some have suggested that all will be sons and kings in heaven, while others suggest that these are the kings from the MK who served Christ.
“Then he showed me a river of the water of life, bright as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
Revelation 22:1-2 (LSB)
It does not say whether we will eat of the tree, though we know that angels ate with Abraham. And Jesus ate with His disciples after he was resurrected. Maybe we will be able to enjoy eating or something much greater with no calories! All you can eat Pop-Tarts!
“And there will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His slaves will serve Him; and they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night, and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them, and they will reign forever and ever.”
Revelation 22:3-5 (LSB)
God’s name will be on our foreheads as an eternal reminder that we are His children, and we are His redeemed slaves. Then John will close his book by saying that the time is near, and that the Lord is coming quickly. So, listen to the invitation that Christ gives.
“And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes receive the water of life without cost.”
Revelation 22:17 (LSB)
We need to come to Christ. Why? Because of whom Christ is. Because of the exclusivity of heaven. Because of the truthfulness of Scripture. Because of the certainty of Christ’s return. “In mansions of glory and endless delight, I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright.” We can only imagine! So, may we say, “Even so come, Lord Jesus.” And all God’s people said, amen.