I invite you to turn with me
this morning to Revelation chapter 20. Our study last week was about
the dragon on a chain. It says our Lord laid hold of
the old dragon and put a chain on him and bound him in the bottomless
pit. I would not have anyone to understand or misunderstand,
I should say, the power of Satan. I'm not trying to in any way
underestimate his power. He is a powerful enemy of your
soul. If you don't believe that, you
look around in this world at the multitudes who you can preach
to in the plainest of language. And they just sit and look at
you and do this. That's power. He's very powerful. And he'll do or say anything
to cause men and women to make shipwreck of their faith. Constantly. But the devil is God's devil,
and that's what John's telling us here. This is the vision.
When he looked into heaven itself, he saw the reality of what's
going on, and the devil is God's devil. He can do what God permits
him to do and no more. He's on a chain. He's on a chain
of God's sovereign grace. And he's on the chain of darkness. He's reserved under fire, reserved
under hell. And he's been restrained by Christ
and he can do no more than Christ permits him to do. And this restraint
is about the preaching of the gospel. This restraint is to
promote, our Lord said, He went out on the brow of that hill
and his disciples were around him and they just were astounded
by the activities that had already taken place and by what was about
to take place. And our Lord turned to them and
he said, all power in heaven and earth given unto me. Now why did he tell them that?
Well, he tells them in the very next sentence, now you go preach
the gospel. Because apart from him having
all power in heaven and earth, there'd be no reason to preach,
nobody would believe. It's a sign, it's actually a
sign of God's sovereign grace and his reign over all things
if anybody believes. If anybody's permitted to understand
This is all a manifestation of his grace. Now I want you to
listen as I describe to you from the scriptures the work of the
devil. This is his primary work. I believe
that regeneration is very misunderstood in our day and so is the power
of Satan and what's taking place by him in this world. Sin and
wickedness and evil are all described in the scripture as darkness. Darkness. Hell itself is called outer darkness. That's what it is. Deceived minds
under a fallen nature, it says love darkness rather than light,
and that's how it's manifested. Man's walk in this world is described
by an understanding that's darkened. That which holds men in bondage
is called the power of darkness. And all those who serve the devil
and do his will are called children of darkness. And true conversion
is God causing the light, his light, the light of Jesus Christ
to shine within to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God. All these things are described
as darkness. This is how Satan works in this
world, by blinding the minds of them who believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ should shine
unto them. And Satan and his armies are
called the rulers of the darkness of this world. It's impossible. Here's what
I'm telling you. It is impossible for any man
to come to Christ apart from the binding of Satan. That's
what our Lord told him. He said, unless that strong man
is bound, unless he's armed, a strong man armed, unless he
be taken down, unless his power be broken, nobody's going to
be saved. Nobody's going to be saved. He
has to be taken down and then his good can be spoiled. Now this week I wanna talk to
you about this, the blessed resurrection. Let's begin in Revelation chapter
20 verse four. John tells us here under the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, I saw thrones and them that sat
upon them. and judgment was given unto them.
And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness
of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped
the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark
upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived, now watch
this, They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Now, you'll see, you'll run across
a lot of numbers in the book of Revelation and all these numbers
are just pictures. What he's telling us here by
a thousand years is a long period of time. They lived and reigned
with Christ for a long period of time. And that long period
of time is the whole of the gospel age. They reigned with Christ. Christ reigned as glorious all
through this gospel age. And I'm gonna tell you this,
all that's described in the scriptures as eternal life, is summed up
in these words, reigning with Christ. Reigning with Him. We're saved by union with Him. He is the surety of God's everlasting
covenant of grace. Salvation is union with Christ. Being chosen in Him, redeemed
in Him, justified in Him. And I want you to know as clear
as I can make it with words, there is no life, no light, no
power, no hope, no acceptance, no forgiveness, no righteousness,
and no salvation apart from a union with the Lord Jesus Christ. All
of these confessions of men are nothing more than soap bubbles.
They're just daydreams. They're just wishful thinking.
There's no substance to it, no basis to it apart from union
with Christ. God outside of Christ. Brother
Mahan, I've heard him say this a thousand times when I was growing
up. God outside of Christ is a consuming fire. That's what
he is. Somebody said to me one time, I just don't believe a good and
loving God would send anybody to hell. And I said, you may
be right. A good and loving God may not,
but a just and righteous God will. And our God is not only
good and loving, but he's just and righteous. Until we get some
understanding of how these things can be, we don't understand the
gospel. Justice and judgment, he tells
us, is the habitation of his throne. Are we reigning with
him? Then we're reigning with him with justice and judgment. Justice satisfied, judgment already
gone. So what happens when a believer
dies? What happens? Where does he go?
What does he do? What happens when a believer
dies? Is he put into a place called
purgatory? I hear men talk about that. My
father-in-law was Catholic when he died. They said he went to
purgatory. And then all of his relatives
donated money to help redeem him out of purgatory. Does he go to a place called
purgatory? where his final fate shall be
settled at the last day? Or does he become some disembodied
spirit that floats around on clouds and plays his harp and
sings? That's how it's depicted in Hollywood. Well, here in this verse, John
tells us about all those who have died in the faith and all
who shall yet die in the faith. And first of all, he tells us
that they're sitting upon thrones. I bet in your wildest imagination,
you can't picture yourself sitting in glory upon a throne, can you? But that's exactly where he tells
us we are. He raised us up with Christ.
and made us to sit together with him in heavenly places. Where
is he sitting? On the throne. On the throne. The Corinthian church was hesitant
to judge crucial matters in the church. And Paul said to them
in 1 Corinthians 6 verse 3, he said, no you not that you shall
judge angels? What a thought. How much more things that pertain
to this life? The church and all those who
believe the gospel judge and openly condemn angels and ungodly
men. I don't think you can preach
the gospel without it. Even here on earth, how much
more in heaven with a perfect understanding? But we don't stand
independent of the Lord in our reign with Him, or upon our throne,
or in their judgments. But we stand in union with Him.
We condemn what He condemns. I wouldn't even know what to
condemn apart from Him, would you? What at one time, what I called
godliness, I now understand through the gospel of Christ to be an
abomination before God. I called it worship in that day.
I called this my hope. I called this proof of his calling. Engaged in it actively. But now
through an understanding of grace, an understanding that was given
to me in Christ Jesus, I understand that these things are an abomination
before God. So we actively judge things even
here on this earth. And then he says this, he said,
I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness
of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped
the beast or his image, neither bore his mark in their foreheads
or upon their hands. Now quite a few martyrs die. If you care to read the book,
Fox's Book of Martyrs, you can read about some of the martyrs
and their death. But quite a few of the martyrs
died not because they worshipped Christ. That wasn't why they were put
to death. They were put to death because they refused to participate
in or give any credibility to any religion. that denied, ignored, or taught
any other gospel than the sovereign grace of God in Christ Jesus. That's why they were put to death. They warned those disciples,
they said, don't you preach in this name. They said, we cannot but preach
what we've been told and what we believe. I've only heard of a few cases
in our day of men and women dying the death of a martyr, but in
the early church it was pretty much common practice. 1 Corinthians
15, Paul's arguing against the doctrine of the Sadducees who
didn't believe in the resurrection. And he asked this question in
verse 29, he said, else what shall they do which are baptized
for the dead? He's not talking about a man
being baptized in proxy for somebody else, but what he's telling them
there is when he's publicly baptized, he's marking himself out for
martyrdom. And that's what happens even
today when we're baptized, when we identify ourselves with the
children of God and with the church of God and with the doctrine
of Christ. When we're publicly baptized,
all of a sudden, our name goes on the list. There's a young
man, I won't mention his name, but he's just full of hatred
right now for grace preachers. And he was online the other day,
and somebody sent me a clip of it, and I listened to it, and
he was calling off everybody's name, called off Clay's, and
mine, and Don's, and several of the other preachers. When
you're identified with the church, your name goes on their list.
And they despise you. They despise you because of what
you believe and what you're saying. Untold thousands died the death
of martyrs in the early church, refusing to be identified with
the beast or his image. What is the image of the beast? It's another Jesus. That's what
it is. That's the image of the beast.
Another Jesus. Another gospel preached by another
spirit. It's the false gospel he sets
forth. And God was not then and is not
now complacent toward the death of his martyrs. But he shall call for a full
recompense for men's deeds. That's why Stephen, I believe,
cried in his death to lay not this at their charge. And some
of those, well I know for sure some of them that were at the
death of Stephen consenting unto his death, either actively participating
in it or like Saul of Tarsus standing by giving his consent. Lord didn't lay it at their charge.
But he did some, he did some. And God gave these martyrs grace
and power to endure their sufferings for the glory of his son, and
now they're in heaven with him beyond all reach of their enemies. I was quoting a verse here from
Revelation last week, and I told our folks this. These armies
that followed him were dressed in linen. If I were going to battle over
in Iraq, I wouldn't dress in linen, would you? I'm going out
on the battlefield and there's guns and weapons of warfare out
there, I wouldn't dress up in linen. But I'm gonna tell you
something, these people, where they are, how they are, are beyond
the reach of any enemy. Any enemy. Their weapons are
useless against them. And they follow him, his armies
followed him, dressed in linen. And then lastly, We're told that they are living
and reigning with Christ throughout this gospel age. Believers right
now are reigning with Christ. Did you know that? You're immortal
if you're here this morning and you're a believer, you're immortal
until God calls for your death. That's exactly right. Believers right now are reigning
with Christ and their calling and their conversion and their
preservation are all manifestations of their reign with him. And
those who've been called to preach the gospel, I'm preaching the
gospel to you this morning and a little while Clay's gonna preach
to you. That gospel has its success because
of the reign of Christ in glory. And every good word we hear and
every good act of providence we enjoy and the very attitude
and character that we display are living evidences of his reign. Says, I can't quote it exactly,
but over in Romans chapter five it says that we were saved even
when we were enemies. How much more shall we be saved
by his life? He's alive, he's reigning. If
salvation was taken, purchased by his death, how much more the
risen Savior who's now seated at the right hand of God. Revelation 20 verse five. But
the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years
were finished. This is the first resurrection. Paul expresses his desire, his
prayer, and full expectation that every believing soul of
Christ's church would be enlightened as to what is the exceeding greatness. Now listen to this. This is taken
from Ephesians chapter one. They would be enlightened as
to what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe. Whose power? See, men and women
get the idea today that power's in them, in their nature, in
their ability to think, in their ability to reason. But that's
not where the power is. The power's in glory in Christ. And if it wasn't for that, nobody
would believe. And if you do believe, all he's
telling us here is that's the exercise of the reign in Christ
and his power working in you that believes. And this is what he tells us.
And he's telling us about this power which he wrought in Christ
when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right
hand in heaven itself. And then he further defines this
power in chapter two saying, and you, and you hath he quickened
who were dead. That where God found you, dead. I don't think there's a better
description of all the men in the scripture than that. He's
dead. The Lord stepped up before that
great stone, and Lazarus in that tomb, and they said, oh, Lord,
don't move that tomb. By now, he was dead. He was dead. They had no desire
to see him, no belief that he would come out of that tomb. He said, take away the stone.
And he called for Lazarus to come forth and Lazarus come forth.
That same thing happens in all of us when God regenerates us
and calls us out of darkness. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. Not dead in the sense that we're
not breathing, Not dead in the sense that we're mindless madmen,
but spiritually dead. Dead in their natures and dead
in their affections and dead in their wills. Dead in their
wills and dead in trespasses and sins. John says here in this
verse, and the rest of the dead. I just finished talking about
the saints in glory. They were raised up. They're
following Christ, they're in Christ, they're in glory. Now
the rest of the dead, who are they? They are the whole of this
unbelieving world. The rest of the dead. They're
those having eyes but cannot see. Having ears but cannot hear. Having no heart to understand. Our Lord is our covenant head,
our federal head, and representative of all his elect came into this
world as a man and accomplished our redemption. He accomplished
it. It's a done deal. It's finished.
He paid the price. God accepted what he did and
raised him from the dead, and then that resurrection justified
all his elect. He paid for our sins, paid what
God demanded and what strict justice demanded, and he wrought
out by his obedience unto death a perfect righteousness which
is imputed to us who believe. And then he was raised again
for our justification, carried into glory where he reigns over
all things as our surety and guarantor. And when the Lord
Jesus Christ sends his messenger to you with the gospel of his
sovereign grace and enables you to hear it, believe it, and trust
in him, you are a partaker of that first resurrection. You're a partaker of his resurrection. And because you're a partaker
with his resurrection, you enjoy the resurrection of regeneration. Nobody that was not in Christ
is gonna be regenerated. but everybody that was raised
up with him shall, without a doubt, hear this gospel, believe it,
and be regenerated. Now when the Lord Jesus Christ
sends his messenger to you and you believe it and trust in him,
you're a partaker of that resurrection and you're blessed beyond anything
that you can ever imagine. I just, I think about, I mean
I'm still hung up on being forgiven from sin. What a blessing that
is. What a blessing to have some
understanding and not follow, not be blown about with every
wind of doctrine. What a blessing he's bestowed
upon us and things. But there's blessings in glory
that we, our wildest imagination can't grasp right now. being with him. The inhabitants of glory looking
at those gathered around Christ in that white raiment and they're
saying, who are these? Who are these? My soul, think
what they've already seen and now they're astounded by what
they see gathered around Christ and gathered around his throne.
These blessings are beyond your wildest imagination, you can't
grasp. He tells us that we were dead
in trespasses and sins, wherein we walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit who now worketh in the children of disobedience. But God, God who is rich in mercy,
and for that great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ, raised
us up together with him, seated us in heavenly places in him. Now listen to this, that, that's
how that next verse starts, that, that. In the ages to come, when's that? That's all during this gospel
age. in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
For by grace are you saved through faith. That not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. God opens them blind eyes and
they see. He gives life to that lifeless
soul and it understands. This is the first resurrection
And we've been raised representatively in Christ. And we've been raised
spiritually by the power of God the Holy Spirit in regeneration.
And we shall be raised bodily when the Lord returns again. And make no mistake about it,
the rest of the dead are in hell and in torment right now. This
living again that he talks about here is talking about a bodily
resurrection. which shall make their torment
even worse. Beloved, listen to this. Verse
six, Revelation chapter 20. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath
no power. But they shall be priests of
God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. All through the gospel age, they're
gonna reign with him. We'll reign with him here, or
we'll reign with him there. Life and death had no power over
that. It'll just be a better, clearer
reign there than it is here. But we understand these things
even now. We're reigning with him. Reigning
with him. And he tells us here that God's
saints are holy, blessed and holy. They're holy by virtue
of the righteousness of Christ imputed to every believer in
the justification of Christ, who is their representative in
heaven, who was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification. And they're holy by a new nature
imparted to them in regeneration. They're holy. Ephesians 1, 13 and 14 tells
us that believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. The promise of being conformed
to the image of our Redeemer. Oh, what a blessed promise the
Spirit makes known to the believer. A promise of sin totally eradicated. Brother Don likes to say, all
the serpent slime removed, nothing left. The promise of living forever
in a place without sin. Can't imagine, can you? Not one
wicked thought, no sin. The promise of reigning with
our Lord and the promise of being with Him where He is. Let not
your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. My father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare
a place for you. And if I go, I will return. And I'll receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there you may be also. What a promise to be
with him, be with him. was sealed with the Holy Spirit
of promise, he tells us, which is the earnest of our inheritance,
until the redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of
his glory. And that man, that woman who
has part in the first resurrection, the resurrection of Christ and
the resurrection of regeneration, has nothing to fear by the second
death. The second death, he said, can
have no power Oh, you. No power to condemn, no power
to deceive, no power to hold or to punish. And by virtue of
the person and work of Christ and by the sovereign grace of
God, they've been reconciled to God and are presented to God
holy and unblameable. Now listen to this, and unreprovable. God himself can't find anything
else to improve. Unapprovable in his sight. Now what is this second death
that he talks about? Well it's the fixed end and eternal
condition of all those who receive not the love of the truth that
they might be saved. Permanent. Permanent. Now there's some in this world that he's fixed. And I don't
care how much you preach to them, I don't care how much they hear,
their fate is fixed. But he's talking here about the
fixed end of all those who love darkness rather than light. It's
the fixed end of all those who ignored and disregarded and mocked
the gospel of Christ. It's a manifestation and a warning
given in the Great Commission. He that believeth not shall be
damned. But there's one that frightens
me even worse than that, and you can find it over in John
chapter 3 at the very end of the chapter. He that believeth
not the Son shall not see life. He's not going to see it. I don't
care how clear you preach it, I don't care how many people
preach to him, he's not gonna see light. The wrath of God abideth
on him. Now there's none other name given
among men whereby we must be saved. And I want to say this to you
this morning before I close. You've heard these things from
me, and I'm talking about these warnings. I'm talking about these
blessed things. I'm glad you heard that of me,
and I hope that you hear it in that day of Him. But these warnings
that's given, you've heard from me. I beg you, don't wait to
hear it from Him. Don't wait to hear it from Him.
Seek His Son. There's mercy in Christ. God
delights to show mercy. He delights to show mercy.