Salvation is Jesus – Revelation 20 Part VII

Pastor Martin Saine wraps up Revelation 20.
Sermons Notes found here: https://www.valleychristianchurchmorenovalley.org/sermon-notes/
Rev 20:7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison
Rev 20:8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
Even 1000 years of perfect utopia cannot change the
inherent nature of the heart of man (Jer 17:9)
Rev 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The Beast and False Prophet from Rev 13 were cast into the lake of fire in REv 19:20. Call them advance participants…
They’re still there after 1000 years! So much for the annihilation theory…
Also illustrates that Satan has been a tool in God’s arsenal …
And that Satan’s time of usefulness has an expiration date:
Rev 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
In Rev 4 we were introduced to the Throne Room in Heaven and given a glimpse of He who sat on the throne and of The Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world. This is NOT that throne! Nor is it the Bema Seat of Christ where rewards are given for faithful service and dead works done away with.
Read vs 11 again…

Rev 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

This judgment takes place out of space and time. The existing heavens and earth are not even in the picture…

Rev 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

Who is sitting on the throne? From whose face does the heavens and the earth flee?

Salvation is not a prize, it’s a PERSON!

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened.
“Books”- plural. Word of God involved:
Joh 12:47 And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
Joh 12:48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him— the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

This is a trial with a judge, but no jury.
There is no defense attorney.
There is no possibility of a “not guilty” verdict.
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
There is sentence, but no appeal.

The sentence is eternal.

Rev 20:13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

The works in the books determine the severity of the sentence, but not innocence or guilt.
Rev 20:14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
As a reminder:
Rev 2:11 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” ‘

Rev 20:15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
The position of your name, and the book that it is written in, is the determining factor for your eternity. To be found in Him, and have your name written in the Lambs Book of Life, is life!
Conversely, to have your name blotted out from that book is disastrous!
All the wicked join the Beast and the False Prophet in the lake of fire.

THE END!
Not of eternity, but the end of this present age.
God will do a new thing, but not until he has completed the thing He started in Genesis 1:1!
1Co 15:23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
1Co 15:24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

Jesus completes this phase of His creation, then presents His completed work to the Father so that a new phase can begin without stain or blemish or baggage!

Don’t let today pass without getting giving your life to the One who came to save you. The reason for Christmas is because Jesus Christ was born to die.