Well, it's good to see you this
morning, and it is an absolute wonderful day to be able to come together
and to hear the gospel. I think about the blessed privilege hearing
the only message that God Almighty is going to bless to the salvation
of a sinner and to realize that He's given us this privilege
to be able to hear. Let's pray together. Our Father, how we thank You
that we can approach You boldly only in the person and in the
name by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, our great
High Priest who even now as we pray makes intercession for us. How we ask you this day to have
mercy and Lord teach us, settle our hearts, Let us see, let us
behold the wonder of the goodness of Your grace. Lord, help us
to stop and to realize Your presence in Your blessed Son. And we ask
You, Lord Jesus, teach us by Your Spirit. May we hear Your
voice and follow You. For Christ's sake we ask, Amen. Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20. I've entitled this message Armageddon. I've thought about
it and tried to look at the passages that we were dealing with and
try to come up with a title that's going to sum up Armageddon. Verse 6 of this 20th chapter
says that all that have a part, blessed and holy is he that hath
part. in the first resurrection. All
that have a lot that is assigned to them. That's what part means. If you have a lot, if it has
been given to you to believe, all that have a part in the first
resurrection, the actual spiritual raising to life, in regeneration. That's the first resurrection.
God has quickened you by His Spirit and has raised you up
in newness of life. You've been resurrected spiritually. All that has a part. You're blessed
and holy. Blessed by Almighty God and happy. That's what the word means. Happy. in the fact that Almighty God
has been pleased to show you mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ
and has taught you that, has revealed to you that He's shown
you mercy and compassion. And you're wholly sanctified, set apart to to two
people that in themselves are dug out of the same pit. Does the potter have the right
out of the same lump of clay to make one vessel unto honor
worth the cost and another unto dishonor left to himself in judgment? Does the potter have the right
to say I will take this one and sanctify him, set him apart in
the Lord Jesus Christ and in Christ, declare him in Christ. When I say that, I mean to be
represented by, for the Lord Jesus Christ to be the federal
head of, the Lord Jesus Christ to be the life Meaning, he lived
in obedience to God's command for obedience to the law, and
his obedience is charged to me. What he did, God charges that
to me and says, well done, my good and faithful servant. That woman that had an issue
of blood, twelve years, been hemorrhaging for twelve years.
And she came to the Lord. She saw Him. If I can get to
Him, I touch the hem of His garment, I'll be made whole. She touched
the hem of His garment. He said, Somebody touch me. The
disciple says, Everybody's touching you. Everybody's touching you. No, he said, Virtue has gone
out of me. Somebody touch me in faith. And he looked at this woman And
she worshiped. And He said, Woman, thy faith. Where did she get it? He gave
it to her. And that was hers. Thy faith is made thee whole.
His obedience is charged to me. And the Father looks upon me
imputing, charging to my account His obedience. And He says, Well
done. Holy. Those that have a part
in the first resurrection, they're blessed and they're holy. Holy
in Christ. And the second death, that is,
the eternal judgment of God, being separated from God, cast
into the lake of fire, the second death has no power, no lawful
right. The second death has no power. They shall be priests, those
that offer the sacrifice, praise, and thanksgiving. And I'm telling
you, that which we offer right now shall forever be offered. You go back and read Revelation
4 when the four and twenty elders, the representatives of the entire
church, all of them, fall down before Him who took the book
out of the hand of Him that sat on the throne. And they said
unto Him, casting their crowns, the crown of God's glory that
was given to them, not anything they earned, but what God gave
them. And they said, You're worthy to receive all honor and glory
and praise. You redeemed us. I thought about
that Scripture and I thought, what will we know in heaven?
Well, based on that Scripture, When they fall before the Lamb,
they said, You've redeemed us. They're going to know something
of redemption. If you know something of redemption, you know something
of what you've been redeemed from. How much do we know right
now concerning redemption? Do you think that we'll just
automatically forget it all when we're in glory? Do you think
all of this? No, we'll see it more clearly.
We'll see it perfectly. And we'll know Him, and we'll
know as we're known. Think of how He knows us now.
What He's done for us now. And how we look through a glass
darkly. What do you think we'll know
then? We'll know all things. He'll teach us all things. Things
that right now we just see in part, know in part. Oh, and how it thrills our hearts
to hear glory of Almighty God in redemption, what shall we
know then? Well, John says that those that
have a part in that first resurrection, the
second death, have no power, but they shall be priests of
God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years. Don't try to limit that thousand
to a thousand years. The word's plural. It's plural. A thousand years. How long is
that? As long as Almighty God says
it is. Verse 7, let's pick up here.
When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of
his prison. When the thousand years are accomplished,
expired, Now, the word expired there means, and I just wrote
down the exact interpretation, it means the termination or the
limit which a thing ceases to be. And it says always of the
end of some act or state, but not of the end of a period of
time when it is Expired when that certain it has nothing to
do right here when it says when it's expired, it has nothing
to do with it being the end of time. I'll show you that in a
minute. When it's fine when a man is
elected to his office to an office and the and his office, his time
of political office has expired, that means is two years or four
years or eight years or whatever he was elected to. It came to
us. That state came to an end, but it had nothing to do with
time ending. Expired. That's what it was.
When the thousands years have ceased to be, when God has said
enough of Satan being bound. It says when the thousands years
are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. When God Almighty has determined that Satan will
be bound no more as to his ability to deceive the nations. When
Satan, having been bound for a thousand years, when he has
been bound to his ability to deceive God's elect, Almighty
God is going to loose him out of that prison. He's going to
be unrestrained by God. He's restrained, he's bound right
now. Now, I can tell you, I truly believe, I believe that we're
still in that state of God binding Satan. But I'm going to tell you something.
There's going to be believers that have heard the gospel and
have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and trusted Him. When Satan is loosed from his
prison and he goes out to deceive the nations, there will be believers
still on this earth Though Satan has been loosed
to go out and deceive unrestrained. You say, how do you know that?
Because Paul the Apostle said that we which believe and remain
upon the earth that the second coming of Christ shall not prevent
them that have died or sleep in Christ. Those that sleep in
the Lord Jesus Christ shall be raised first. And Paul says,
and we which remain. There's going to be believers
here. at the time, because in a few minutes we're going to
find out that Armageddon has come. And I'm telling you that
Armageddon is going to be with believers on this earth when
it happens. I believe that Satan is still
bound, because if he is not bound anymore, I'm going to tell you
something. There will be no more called
out of darkness. He will be loosed. Unrestrained when the thousand years are expiring.
I pray God call someone out of darkness today. I pray, I pray
if the Lord be pleased that Satan still be bound. I've got people in my family
that don't know the Lord. I pray God have mercy. I pray
the Lord be pleased to save those that He has everlastingly loved
today. I pray that today is the day of salvation. I pray that
God Almighty have mercy on someone here today. But I'm going to
be honest with you. It does not change the fact that
whenever the thousand years are expired, and knowing that there's
going to be A period of time, a short season, that's what the
scripture says, he's going to be loose. Verse 3, loose a little
season. How long is that? I don't know.
Little. But I do realize this. When those
thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. And he shall go out to deceive
the nations. which are in the four corners
of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle,
the number of whom is the sand of the sea." He's going to be
loosed. He's bound right now in chains
of darkness. God is holding him back. No scripture is more revealing
to that truth than when God asked Satan concerning Job. Have you
considered my servant Job? Satan said, well, yeah, I know,
but I can't get to him. You got him hedged about. I'm
bound. And the Lord just gave a little
restraint, or loosed that restraint just a little bit. He told him,
this is what you can do. This is how far you can go. Satan
is bound. That Almighty God called you
out of darkness is because God Almighty bound Satan, kept him. He'll go out to deceive the nations.
Now, listen, this has ever been the desire of Satan, to deceive
the nations. What was the first thing that
he did in the garden? What do you think his desire
is? The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, 3 and 4, but
if our gospel be hid, It is hid to them that are lost, in whom
the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe
not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine upon them." If our gospel is hid to anyone,
it is hid to those that are lost that Satan has blinded their
eyes. Why do men not believe? Because they are dead, blind,
deaf. Turn with me to John 12. John 12, verse 37. John 12, verse
37. But though he had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believed not on him, that the
saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he
spake, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom hath
the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe,
because that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes and
hardened their hearts, that they should not see with their eyes,
nor understand with their heart, and be converted, I should heal
them. These things said Isaiah when he saw His glory and spake
of Him. Now, that scripture right there
says that the Lord Himself is who has blinded their eyes and
hardened their hearts. Whenever, back in verse 37 of
John 12, But though He had done so many miracles before them,
yet they believed not on You know the amazing thing is
that carnal man does not have a problem with miracles. Man
by nature doesn't have a problem with miracles. I'll tell you
what he's got a problem with. He's got a problem with believing
and seeing that in those miracles that were performed by the Lord
Jesus Christ, was the spiritual, was a spiritual revelation of
actual spiritual healing. Now you've got, you've got these
clowns that are going about today, miracle workers. They strut around
like they're some kind of a peacock or something. And they just push
them backwards. And stuff like this. All in the world they're doing
is they're bringing attention to themselves. And I'm going
to tell you something. Miracles that were sent by God
Almighty through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ first,
and then those that heard Him. Those miracles set forth Christ.
Men have no problem with miracles. They have problem with seeing
that those miracles that were first given through the Lord
and then His apostles set forth spiritual healing. Now let me show you. Turn to
Acts 2.22. Why were there miracles? Number
one, why were there miracles? Acts 2.22, ye men of Israel,
hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God, among
you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by Him in
the midst of you as you yourselves also know." Almighty God, in
His infinite wisdom, proved the Lord Jesus Christ, the man Christ
Jesus, God-man, the Messiah. He proved him, a man approved
of God. How? By miracles and wonders
and signs. Whenever the Lord healed the
blind, He healed them stating, setting forth that men are spiritually
blind. Those were lame and they walked. They took
up their bed and walked. What it said was man is spiritually
lame and cannot walk before God. Whenever He raised men from the
dead, men are dead in trespasses and sins. God Almighty proved. Now, people didn't have problems
with the miracles. The problem was that they didn't
see Christ. That's what John says back in
John 12, verse 37. But though He had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believed not on Him. They saw
the miracles. There were 5,000 men plus the
women and children, and they took five loaves and two fish,
and they fed them. Man, they liked that. They followed
Him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. We liked that. He said, Why are you here? Because
your belly is full. They didn't see His glory. They
didn't see His honor. Here was a man approved of God
by miracles. signs and wonders. These, back
in Revelation 20, verse 8, they shall go out to deceive the nations
that are in the world. Men by nature do not see the
glory of Christ. He shall go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth. Let me
tell you something, deception is not confined to any particular
person or place or group. All men left to themselves are
deceived. He has gone out to deceive the
nations. How do you know if a man or a
woman is deceived? There is so much preaching, there's
so many lines of thought. There are so many denominations. How do you know? Let me tell you the sign. Listen to the sign of deception. Deception is evidenced by not
believing the gospel of God's free grace. Any message that
denies that Almighty God is the author and finisher of
salvation, any man that tries to inject anything on man's part
as far as being saved, justified before Almighty God, he's deceived. John 6. Turn over to John 6,
28. John 6, 28. I'm telling you,
you go ahead and look at all religions. All religions. Here's what it's going to come
down to. It's either salvation by something that men do. And
as I've said before, men all have their pack of peanuts. Either
they say that you've got to do this or you've got to do this.
Or you've got to do this, or you've got to do this, or you've
got to do this. It has to do with something that you do in
order to be saved. Men are not saved by faith. Men
are not saved by faith. You're saved by grace. And you know it by faith. We're saved by grace through
faith. That's what that means. Listen
to this, John 6, 28, And then said they unto him,
What shall we do that we might work the works of God? What shall we do that we might
work the works of God? Verse 29, Jesus answered and
said unto them, This is the work of God. This is the work of God. This is not your work. This is
not something you do. This is not something you produce.
You're not the source of this. You're not the foundation of
this. You're not the beginning of this. This is the work of
God that you believe on Him whom He has sent. This is the work
of God. If you believe and trust and
behold by faith The Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm going to tell
you something, anything that you do, what shall we do to work
the works of God, has nothing whatsoever to do with it. Satan will be loosed out of his
prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the
four corners of the earth. Gog and Magog. You know, there's
been a lot of speculation. As to the exact meaning of those
two words, Gog and Magog, what does that mean? Years ago, somebody
told me it was the Russians. And then he said it's Chinese
because they're going to come down from the north. And, you
know, it's the Russians. It's the Russians. Maybe somebody,
maybe it's the, you know, maybe it's the Arabs, maybe. Gog and
Magog. Turn over to Ezekiel 38. I believe that Ezekiel 38 verses
1 to 3 probably gives as closely as I can tell the understanding
of Gog and Magog. Ezekiel 38 verse 1, And the word
of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against
Gog, the land of Magog. The chief prince of Meshach and
Tubal and prophesy against him. Now, let me before I read the
next verse. We sit here and debate all day long. And I couldn't
find anybody that gave me any kind of, you know, understanding
who the chief prince of Meshach and Tubal actually is. Nobody just know doesn't seem
to. be anyone that could explain
who that is. But I will say in this next verse,
there's a great revelation concerning who these people are. This land. Verse 3, And thus saith the Lord
God, Behold, I am against thee, O Gog. the chief prince of Meshech
and Tubal. I can tell you who Gog and Magog
are, not specifically. I can't tell you that they're
Russians, Chinese, Americans, Southerners, Northerners, British. I can't tell you exactly. I can't
name them, but I can tell you this one thing about them. God
said, I'm against them. And if Almighty God is against
them ever, He's always against them because He doesn't change. Who is Gog and Magog? I'll tell
you who it is. It is those that Almighty God
sees not in the Lord Jesus Christ. All that are not found in Christ,
represented by the Lord Jesus Himself, is Gog and Magog. I'm against you. John said in Revelation 20, verse
8, Satan shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the
four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog. All those left to
themselves, all those without a representative that God accepts,
all those without a substitute, all those without a mediator.
I'm against you. I'm against you. And they're
going out, back in Revelation chapter 20, they're going out
to gather them together for battle. The grand purpose of Satan and
his deception is clearly set forth right here. His purpose
is warfare against Almighty God, his Christ, his kingdom, his
glory. He is going out. How is this warfare manifesting? He's going out there to gather
them together for battle. The Lord said in Matthew 12,
30, He that is not with me is against me. Here is the battle. Those that are not in love with,
viewed by the Lord God Himself in Christ, those that are left
to themselves in unbelief. They're against God because God's
against them. They're left to themselves. And
Satan is going to be loosed for a short season to go into the
nations and deceive the nations, unbridled, no restraints whatsoever. The only reason that there's
any civil order to anything right now is because Satan is restrained. The wrath of man shall praise
Him, and the rest is going to be restrained. God is going to
restrain them. The only reason He is going out to all the world,
God is going to gather them together, a number of whom is the sand
of the sea. Satan has always desired battle
against the Lord. Revelation 12, turn back there
and look at this, Revelation 12, 7. There was war in heaven, Revelation
12, 7. Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon and the dragon fought his angels and prevailed
not. Neither was their place found anymore in heaven. And
the great dragon was cast out. The old serpent called the devil
and Satan, which deceived the whole world. He was cast out
of the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Would Satan will fight against
Almighty God in heaven. He never ceases to war against
the Lord. Why is he warring against God? Because he wants to be God. Isaiah 14. You've read the Scripture. Isaiah 14. Turn there with me.
Isaiah 14. Here is the attitude of Satan. This is his attitude. I'll show
you this. Isaiah 14, verse 12, How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the
ground which doth weaken the nations? For thou hast said in
thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mountain
of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee." It means they're
going to stare at him. And consider these, saying, Is
this the man that made the earth to tremble that did shake the
kingdom? When God Almighty brings him
down, men will look at him and say, This is who caused all this? When God brings him down, cast
him into the lake of fire. And the Scripture says, and they
went up, and we'll stop with this last verse. Well, verse 10, 9 and 10. And
they went up on the breadth of the earth. Satan, he's been loosed. When he is loosed, there will
still be believers on this earth. Because the Scripture says in
verse 9 that they went up on the breadth of the earth and
encompassed the camp of the saints about. There's still going to
be believers. On this earth, when Satan is
loosed, God will always have a witness here. And they go about,
they went up on the breadth of the earth. Now this is Armageddon.
Here it is right here, the final battle that's going to be fought.
They went on the breadth of the earth, encompassed the camp of the saints.
It went up on the breath, or they were spread out over the
earth. That's what it says, spread out. You know, I want you to read
something with me. Let me just say it like I read
one of the old writers said, if I be not wrong here, and I
pray I'm not, but I just want to give you something to think
about. Turn with me, turn back to Revelation 16, 16. I've always
had it in my mind. I've always been told. I've always
assumed that that Armageddon is going to be in one is going
to be one spot. And in fact, I've even watched
it on History Channel. I saw where it's going to be.
Now, they actually showed me the valley where it's going to
be. Hermetico, this big flat plane it's going to be. And I
just. I thought, well. Maybe it is, maybe it is. But
I got to reading something that I just want to share with you,
just let you think about it. Revelation 16, 16, and he gathered
them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue. Armageddon. Now, the reason I'm saying this
is because I just read back in Revelation 20, verse 9, they
went up upon the breadth of the earth. That is, the great extent
of the earth is what that means, or spread over, all over the
earth is what that means. They went up on the breadth of
the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about. What that
scripture is saying is that God has gathered them over the entire
extent of the earth. Well, then you say, well, how
then do you justify Revelation 16, 16? He gathered them together
into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Well, the word place there means
the condition. He gathered them to the condition.
He gathered them to the opportunity. He gathered them. Men shall be
gathered. Where is Armageddon going to
be fought? Well, whether it's fought in Hermetigo, in that
one open plain, whether everybody else is going to be, whether
the rest of the world is going to be emptied, and all of the
earth is going to travel to that one plane that you can look at
and all the earth is going to be and all the believers are
going to be right in the middle and maybe the rest of the world. Or whether Armageddon is going
to be that God is going to bring them to the condition, he's going
to bring them to the place. Whether one or the other is right. And I kind of tend to believe
that they are going to be brought to the condition of. That there
are going to be believers all over this world, and unbelievers
are going to be brought to the condition of Armageddon. One does not supersede the other. God Almighty is going to bring
them to the place where He is going to deal with men. They
went up, verse 9, back in Revelation 20, they went up on the breadth
of the earth and they compassed the camp of the saints, the beloved
city. And here's what happens when
that heavenly Jerusalem, the city of God, the bride of the
Lord Jesus Christ, when she finds herself in great tribulation because
Satan has been loosed and has brought unbridled rebellion. Men are still in rebellion right
now. They are still restrained right now. But obviously there
will come a time where there will be no restraint. Satan is
going to be loosed and he is going to deceive and that deception
will come to the point to where believers in this world are obviously
brought to a point of great open unbridled hatred. And they'll encompass them, that
beloved city. And I'm telling you, when that
short season is ended, God will lose Him for a short season. And the Scripture says that Almighty
God will send fire down from heaven and shall devour them. Divine judgment cast down from God out of heaven
and destroyed all the rebellion. You know, you think about Armageddon,
the last battle, the last battle, the last battle. Whenever Noah
built the ark, And Almighty God put Noah and his wife and their
kids and their husband, I mean, yeah, their boys and their wives
and all those animals in the boat. All the resentment that was against
Noah, it was still restrained. And God put them in a boat and
God shut the door. And he rained water. down from
heaven and obliterated everything that was not in that boat. A
picture of Christ. Whenever God Almighty took the
Israelites out of Egypt and they walked across the Red Sea and a strong wind blew and divided
that water. And the Israelites were on a
little strip of ground and here comes the Egyptians and there
is the Red Sea and Moses says, Stand still. Stand still and
see the salvation of your God. And God parted that and delivered
those Israelites across that Red Sea. And then those Egyptians
came in there and they were going to go the same way they thought. And that which was deliverance
to the Israelites was destruction to those Egyptians. Whenever
Almighty God took Lot and his wife and daughters and those
angels, took them out of Sodom, and Almighty God delivered them
and then rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom. as God has
shown and shown and shown. And that final battle is going
to be a final battle. And when Almighty God says that
Satan now has been unrestrained and great tribulation upon this
earth, and God has sent that great tribulation The famine of hearing of the
gospel, hatred and resentment, and all of these, this earth
encompasses the camp, that beloved city. God will smack them. It will be over. And verse 10
says, ìThe devil that deceived them cast into the lake of fire
and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are.î And
she'll be tormented day and night forever and ever. Just as this world's tyranny,
all acts of man's fallen nature, all religious idolatry going
to be cast into the lake of fire, the second death. Satan finds
his place there, tormented, tortured forever, but all found in Christ. I love that part in verse 9.
They compassed the camp of the saints about the beloved city. Beloved by Almighty God. Always
beloved. I've always loved you. I'm never
going to leave you. They said, but what about all
this trouble right here? Paul said, these are light afflictions.
light affliction, just for a moment. This is the best that an unbeliever
is ever going to have right here. This world and its trials and
its tribulations and its diseases, this is the best an unbeliever
will have. But this is the worst for God's
people. This is the worst of it right
here. This light affliction which is but for a moment when Almighty
God allows Satan to be loosed and deceive the nations unbridled
deception. God Almighty shall give men exactly
what they want. I want to be deceived. I will
not have this man to rule over me. I don't want him. I don't
love him. I don't need him. In fact, I'll
be honest with you. I really don't think he's going
to do anything to me. That's what man by nature thinks. That's
what he believes. If he didn't believe that, he'd
fall on his face right now and ask God to have mercy on him.
Lord, don't let me take one more breath without knowing You. Lord, don't let me see another
sunrise without realizing something of Your mercy and grace to me.
God Almighty, help me. Lord, don't leave me to myself.
But an unbeliever, they walk through this earth unconcerned. They don't care. Deceived. And when Almighty God says it's
over, it's over. When God shut the door in the
ark, how many do you think got in after that? None. When God took lots, Out
of Sodom, how many of you think survived? None. None. May Almighty God
have mercy on our souls. Bring us to that place to where
we behold Him. The fear of the Lord. The reverence
of the Lord. That's the beginning of knowledge.
Reverence. Lord, as You say You are, You
are. Where is He going to be? Who is going to be there? Believers
that are beloved, those that are beloved, and those that God
said, I'm against you. How long is it going to last?
They gathered themselves together and encompassed the saints and
God rained fire down and consumed them and devoured them. How long
will it last? A moment. Immediately. The next verse we're going to
look at is the great white throne judgment. As soon as Armageddon
is over and God has destroyed all, then all men, believers
and unbelievers, Almighty God is going to bring them to Himself. And all men will stand at that
day in their bodies raised. The dead in Christ were raised.
Their souls will be joined. All men are going to stand before
God. and shall give account of the deeds that were done. All
the books are going to be open. Blessed be that part that says,
and the book was open. Lord willing, next Sunday, the
great white throne judgment. All right, let's take a break.