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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
February 15, 2026
* The Final Rebellion & Judgment
Revelation 20:7-15
Introduction
I am grateful for Phil preaching last week while Diane & I were away for our church association’s leadership retreat which was graciously hosted by Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC. Every time we have been down there I have been more impressed by the quality of the staff and students there. It is not the legalistic Bob Jones College of when I was young. They have recently restated the motto of their mission statement as “Pursue a Higher Calling – anchored in truth, mentored in wisdom, and strengthened in faith.” That appears to be true as they are striving to bring the Scriptures to bear in all the disciplines of study available there and have attracted a good group of students that want that in their lives. It will be one of the institutions we will be contacting in seeking staff for our church.
Diane and I had a great and productive time while there. We picked up some good resources and made some good connections which will benefit our church here in the future. One of the tasks is being involved in a couple of working groups to develop material that will help churches in various aspects of leadership development. Those projects will continue through the rest of the year.
Phil spoke on 2 Corinthians 13 and the importance of living the Christian life in the power of God which is the testimony of true faith. Paul pointed to that in his own life that though he himself was weak, in Christ he had life and was enabled to carry out the ministry that God had called him to do, which in the context of that passage included rebuking those that were not walking with Christ as they should. 2 Corinthians 13:5 is often used as a verse to challenge someone’s faith. I have used it that way myself many times, yet the point of the passage is that those who are true Christians with faith in Jesus should recognize Christ living in them. The test is not living a sinless life for that is an impossibility for all of us this side of glory. The test is recognizing that Christ changes you and enables you to do what you cannot do in your own human weakness in becoming conformed into His image. Paul stated it this way in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
This morning we turn our attention to Revelation 20. We will be looking at the final rebellion that Satan fosters which is quickly crushed and then followed by the final judgment before the Great White Throne. However, we will first quickly review the sequence of events and time periods leading up to this passage it to set the context.
*Review
This is the 40th sermon in this series on Revelation. We have been careful to make sure we are understanding the book and its contents in their proper context. * Revelation 19:11-21 covers the return of Jesus Christ with His heavenly armies and conquers the earth and destroys all those in rebellion against Him. The beast and his false prophet will be seized and “thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone,” and the rest, those who had followed the beast, will be“killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse” (19:20-21). The corpses of those that will be at the battle of Armageddon will be let to be fed on by the birds and beasts, and those who were not there will be gathered and crushed in the wine press of God’s wrath (Rev. 14:19; 19:15).
* Revelation 20:1-3 describes the transition from the conclusion of the seven year period of tribulation to the start of the millennium. The first action will be laying hold of Satan, binding him, and throwing him into the abyss which is shut and sealed for a thousand years. *Rev. 20:4-6 describe the resurrection of the tribulation martyrs who join with the glorified saints that returned with Jesus to become part of the government Christ sets up as He reigns as king over all the world for a thousand years. This is referred to as the millennium. My sermon several weeks ago was simply on the fact of it since the plain meaning of Revelation 20:1-6 is denied in Amillennial and Postmillennial theology (The Fact o the Millennium – Rev 20:1-10). I followed that with a sermon that gave a quick overview of the many Old Testament prophesies that describe this incredible period (Descriptions of the Millennium).
*The only normal humans left on earth when the Millennium begins are those who refused the mark of the beast and became followers of Christ in the midst of the tribulation period and survived it. However, just like the saints of the church today, they are redeemed, saved and have a new nature, but they are not glorified so they will still sin. They will marry and have children who like all children born today will be sinners in need of salvation which only comes through repentance and faith in Christ. That is a key to understanding how Satan is able to foster a rebellion at the end of the millennium after he is released from the abyss for a short time.
*The earth will have a restoration that nearly defies imagination as the curse of sin is lifted and nature returns to what it must have been like before Adam and Eve fell in to sin. Dangerous carnivorous animals – the wolf, leopard, lion and bear – dwell together with their normal prey – lamb, young goat, calf and cow – without harming them for they will all graze together eating vegetation. Young children will be able to play with snakes that are currently deadly because of their poison. Plant life will flourish, and areas currently marginal for growing plants will receive plenty of rain and become lush. Agricultural crops will do so well that the reapers will not have finished the harvest before those plowing to plant the next season’s crops will overtake them. The average length of life will be incredible compared to today for a man who dies at a hundred will be considered to have died young. It will become similar to the garden of Eden from which sinful man was shut out and was destroyed in the flood in the days of Noah.
*Also nearly defying imagination, there will be a perfect government for there will be a perfect king, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the government bureaucrats will be glorified saints, so there will be no corruption. Justice will be administered perfectly and quickly. So though there will be sinful humans, their sin will be held in check for any harm they cause others will be quickly corrected. There will be no wars and cities will be without walls for there will be no need of protection against either other groups of humans or wild animals.
With that in mind, we now come to the end of the millennium. Please follow along as I read Revelation 20:7-10
*The Final Rebellion – Revelation 20:7-10
7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. 9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
*Satan’s Release – Revelation 20:7
The actions of this passage begin only “When the thousand years are completed.” *This is the sixth time this specific time length is repeated. As pointed out in previous sermons, that specific repetition of a precise number is itself is a contradiction to the interpretive methods that seek to make this allegorical, symbolic or mystical. *This is the third time this length of time is connected to Satan being bound and then cast into the abyss which was shut and sealed for that time period (19:1-3). The place of the devil’s confinement is referred to here as “prison” (fulakh:V / phulak s), a place of secure confinement. The same word is used in 1 Peter 3:19 to describe the place of confinement of the disobedient spirits from the time of Noah.
It will be one thousand years from the time Satan is confined in the abyss until he “will be released from his prison.” That is the period of time of the millennial kingdom of Christ I briefly described a few minutes ago. *The text does not tell us how he will be released, but only that he will be, and since it is in the passive tense, it is not something Satan gains for himself. He does not break out of his prison. He is released just as verse 3 states – “after these things he must be released for a short time.” The passage does not state specifically why he must be released, but I think there are some clues in it which I will comment on after we have examined all of it.
*Satan’s Deceptions – Revelation 20:8
Verse 3 also states that Satan’s confinement is so that he will no longer deceive the nations for the thousand years. In verse 8 we find that upon his release he will immediately go back to deceiving the nations. 8 “and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.”
*Throughout Revelation we have seen that deception is a primary tool of the devil. In Rev. 12:9 he is described as he “who deceives the whole world.” He empowered the false prophet to use deception to promote worship of the beast (Rev. 13:14; 19:20). It is no surprise that this is Satan’s activity since Jesus pointed out that he a liar by his very nature and is the father of lies. It was by deception that he convinced Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-6; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14). It was by deceptive signs that the unclean spirits coming from the dragon, the beast and the false prophet gathered the nations for Armageddon at the end of the tribulation (Rev. 16:13-16), and this passage points out that it will be by deception that Satan will gather the nations for a final war. Please note that this final war at the end of the millennium is not the same as the Armageddon which will occur at the end of the tribulation as I explained in an earlier sermon (What’s the Difference? Rapture, second Coming, Day of the Lord, Armageddon)
*The phrase “four corners of the earth” is a metaphor for the whole world just as it was in Rev. 7:1. It refers to the four points of a compass and cannot be used the support the ridiculous idea of a flat earth which is contrary the teachings of the scriptures from very early on. *Job 22:14 refers to the “circle of heaven.” Isaiah 40:22 refers to the “circle of the earth,” and Proverbs 8:27 states that God “inscribed a circle on the face of the deep.” The idea of a flat earth comes arises from paganism, not the Bible.
*The references to Gog and Magog narrows the description of who will be involved. These names are used as references to particular people or the nations descended from them in some Old Testament passages, and in Ezekiel 38 it is more specifically people who were against Israel and would attack it. That would be the idea that John conveys to his readers here to make this a more specific reference that from out of the whole world Satan will deceive those people that are against God and His people to gather to make war. *It will take deception because it is a foolish idea from its inception that man can make war against God and win in any way shape or form. *You would think that growing up in a world that God blessed with great abundance, justice and a perfect government that there would be few that would fall for Satan’s deceptions, but instead it will be a countless number “like the sand of the seashore.” This says a lot about the inherent nature of Satan and man.
*The Final Battle – Revelation 20:9
Verse 9 describes the final battle which ends very quickly. 9 “And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.”
*This is the restored and rebuilt Jerusalem whose topography was radically changed at Christ’s coming with the Mount of Olives split east -west with a valley between them, water flowing from the temple toward the south and east and becoming a river as it goes into the Arabah (what is now the valley of the Dead Sea), and the areas around the city becoming plains. This vast army will gather on those plains surrounding Jerusalem. *But before this overwhelming and seemingly invincible army attacks, God sends fire down from heaven which devours them all. It is over quickly – faster than the defeat of the fellow that brought a knife to a gun fight. There is no weapon, even if demonically energized, that can win against the power of God.
*The Destruction of Satan – Revelation 20:10
As a result of this defeat, Satan will be judged and finally destroyed. 10 “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” *Satan is immediately cast into the same place where his followers, the beast and the false prophet which caused so much evil and trouble during the tribulation, will already be as described in Revelation 19:20. It is a place of eternal, constant and conscious suffering. It is the just punishment for their evil. That this is inevitable end of Satan is no surprise since Jesus spoke of it in Matthew 25:41 stating that “the eternal fire” “has been prepared for the devil and his angels.”
*Reasons for Satan’s Release
The question arises of why would God release Satan at all after having already bound and imprisoned him? The earth will be doing great during the Millennium without his influence. Why not let man just continue in the wonderful environment of the restored earth with a perfect government? The text does state a specific reason, but the text does strongly point to Satan’s deceptions bringing about the final results, and in that there is a pointing to some of the possible purposes. Here are some of my thoughts based on that.
*First, it proves Satan is irrevocably evil in his self-deception. His imprisonment will keep him from harming others, but it does him no good. He is an evil being that does not change. He is given a thousand years to think about his failures throughout the thousands of years of human history culminating in his utter final failure at the end of the tribulation that occurs at the peak of his power and influence on earth. After a thousand years to contemplate repentance and submission to God’s superior position and power, he remains self-deceived to go out as soon as he is released to deceive as many humans as possible to join his rebellion against God with the utterly foolish idea he can win against God and usurp His position (Isaiah 14:12-16).
*Second, it proves man’s evil nature is inherent, not environmental, and does not change without the intervention of the grace of God. Many human philosophies promote similar themes of the same lie that man is inherently good, so the problem lies in external influences – lack of resources, injustice, oppression by others, etc., etc. There will be no lack of resources in the millennium and there will be perfect justice. People will not be oppressed by one another for Jesus will reign with a rod of iron and those who are wicked will be put to death (Isaiah 11:4-5). The only thing oppressed then will be evil. Yet an innumerable number of people who grew up in a perfect environment with a perfect government will fall quickly for the devil’s deceptions to rebel against God at the first opportunity. Evil is inherent in the human heart and is not the product of the environment – physical or sociological.
*The third purpose quickly follows the second purpose. It separates the righteous and unrighteous. Despite the physical presence of Jesus Christ having perfect rule over the earth, the unrighteous never repent of their sins and place their faith in Him. They quickly separate from the righteous to join Satan’s rebellion to form his armies. God will be just in His condemnation of them as will be seen in the last section of this chapter.
*A fourth purpose which is also related to the second point is that it will show the necessity of the destruction of the present heavens and earth and creation of new ones in which only the righteous who are glorified will dwell. There will be no more procreation of sinful beings. Sin will come to an end. That new world will be described in Revelation 21 & 22.
*The Final Judgment – Revelation 20:11-15
The Throne & Disappearance of Earth & Heaven – Rev. 20:11
Verse 11 introduces the sixth scene of the seventh bowl judgment. 11 “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.”
*There are several reasons for this throne to be described as great beginning with the prestige of who is sitting on it and followed by the importance of the judgments He will make from it. *The white color is probably reflective of the purity, holiness and righteousness of the judgments made from it. *Throughout Revelation it has been God the Father that has been sitting on the throne in the various scenes described in chapters 4, 5, 6, 7 and 19. However, Jesus Christ the Son has been sitting with Him as described specifically in Rev. 3:21 and 22:1, 3, and Rev. 22:12 specifically references Jesus as coming quickly “to render to every man according to what he has done.” More important to understanding these verses is Jesus’ statement in John 5:22 that “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,” and also John 8:16. “But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.” The conclusion then is that this is Jesus on the throne to judge in conjunction with the Father.
*Let me quickly point out that this is not the judgment of the martyrs for that took place at the beginning of the millennium, nor is it the bema seat judgment of 2 Corinthians 5:10 which is only for believers in determining their reward or loss of reward as described in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15. *The relationship of this to the sheep and goat judgment in Matthew 25:31-46 is not as clear. Since Jesus is present throughout the Millennium ruling from David’s throne in fulfillment of the Davidic covenant (2 Sam. 7:12-16) it appears these are different judgments with the finality of the condemnation of the goats to eternal punishment having a future fulfillment. I think this is the case. However, if the “glorious throne” in Matthew 25:31 is the same as the “great white throne” described here, then the coming of the Son of Man in glory with His angels is a special coming at the end of the Millennium and these are the same judgments, and the gathering of nations would have to take place before earth and heaven flee away.
*Note carefully that the judgment at the great white throne does not take place until after earth and heaven have fled away with an emphasis of their ceasing to exist because “no place was found for them.” This matches the description in 2 Peter 3:10 & 12 that this will come suddenly “like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up,” and that “the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!” Revelation 21:1 will look at this as a past event when the new heavens and earth will appear. What exists at the present time will be completely and utterly destroyed and no longer exist. MacArthur’s description of this as “the reverse of creation,” captures the sense of the radical nature of what will occur. The physical existence of the present creation will be “uncreated” and no longer exist.
*The great white throne will be outside of human history or the realm of anything currently physically existing for both will have come to their termination point in relationship to what man can experience in the present time.
*The Books & The Judgment – Revelation 20:12-13
Verses 12-13 is the seventh scene which comes from the seventh bowl of wrath and it describes the basis for this judgment to come. 12 “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.”
*There will no longer be a physical creation, so there will be no normal, physical humans alive when this begins. All the wicked will have died. All the saints of the Old Testament, the church and the tribulation period will have been resurrected or translated to having their glorified bodies, and we assume the same for the saints of the millennium based on the simple promises of Jesus that those who believe in Him receive everlasting life (John 3:15-16, 36; 5:24; etc.).
*John sees “the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne.” He continues on to point out that these are all the dead from all sources including the sea, death and Hades, and all of them are resurrected to stand before God’s throne for judgment (John 5:29). The sea is specifically mentioned because Greeks and Romans placed a high value on land burial and it was an abhorrent fate to them to have a body lost to the sea. But the truth is that no matter how a physical body is returned to its earthly elements (Genesis 3:19), God will bring about a resurrection of that body to either everlasting life or punishment (Matthew 25:46; John 5:29; Acts 24:15). These bodies will be resurrected prior to the destruction of the earth and heaven.
*There is no partiality with God (Rom. 2:11), so whatever standing a person had in life will be of no importance when Christ judges them except in relationship to any deeds they have done, for the judgment is based on their deeds all of which are written down in the books. God keeping a register of man’s deeds and man being judged according to them is a theme throughout the Scriptures (Ps 56:8; Isa. 56:6; Dan. 7:10; Mal. 3:16). Jesus states it Himself in Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.” This is not a weighing of good deeds vs bad in a balance for several reasons. *First, Isaiah 64:6 is direct in declaring that “all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.” Second, any righteous deed done will not profit (Isaiah 57:12) for no work of the law can justify the sinner before God (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16; 3:11; 5:4). *Third, this judgment is based on the deeds that have transgressed God’s law for that is what brings the condemnation. These last two principles are easily understood from our own traffic laws. When you break the speed limit and the policeman pulls you over, your many years of consistent obedience to the law does not exempt you from getting a ticket.
*Death & Hades Destroyed – Revelation 20:14
1 Corinthians 15:26 states, “The last enemy that will be abolished is death,” with verses 54-55 pointing to a future time when “death is swallowed up in victory” (Isaiah 25:8). Revelation 20:14 is John’s prophetic record of that happening. 14 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”
*Don’t be thrown by the reference to Hades. It is simply the Greek word equivalent to the Hebrew word, Sheol, which is the holding place of the dead. This personification of death gives a vivid description of its destruction as well as the holding place of the dead by being thrown into the lake of fire. Death is a consequence of sin, and since all the righteous will have been resurrected or translated to receive their glorified bodies and be sinless, and since death and Hades will have given up all the dead in them so that they can be judged before the Great White Throne by Christ (vs. 13), then death and Hades will be empty. And since there will no longer be any death or need for a holding place for their souls, both are therefore destroyed in the lake of fire. John notes that the lake of fire is the second death. I will explain that in a moment when we get to verse 15.
*An interesting side note to add here is that since verse 11 already described earth and heaven having fled away and no longer existing before the judgment at the Great White Throne, then Hades has to be a non-physical location to still exist after all physical elements have been destroyed. There is a real spiritual dimension that currently intersects with God’s physical creation, but it exists independent of the physical.
*The Final Condemnation – Revelation 20:15
Verse 15 is a very profound conditional statement. 15 “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
God’s attributes of righteousness and justice have always been tempered by His attributes of mercy and grace. *His judgment and condemnation of the wicked is His righteousness and justice. As already explicitly stated twice in verses 12 & 13, each person is judged and condemned on the basis of their very deeds which transgress God’s laws. No one is righteous of themselves (Romans 3:10-12). Every person has sinned – missed the standard of perfect holiness – and justly earned death (Rom. 3:23; 6:23). No one can justify himself before God and earn his way into heaven (Gal. 2:16).
*The book of life is God’s mercy and grace for it records the names of those who are in Christ Jesus and therefore redeemed and no longer subject to condemnation (Romans 8:1). *The only way to ensure your name is written in it is to be saved from your sin by God’s grace alone through being justified by faith alone in the person and atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ alone so that you are made righteous in Him (Eph. 2:8-10; Romans 3:28; 4:5; Phil. 3:9-11). * God’s mercy and grace are seen in that even at the final judgment there will be one more examination of the Book of Life to be sure that no one who is written in it is among those who are being condemned.
Failure of the condition brings finality of the condemnation of all those who do not know God and those that do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus (2 Thess. 1:8). They are “thrown into the lake of fire.” Preceding them will be the beast and the false prophet (Rev. 19:20), Satan (Rev. 20:10), and then death and Hades (Rev. 20:14). I have preached on this subject before (The Reality of Hell). *The Greek term gevenna / gehenna is also used to refer to this eternal lake of fire and is translated in English as hell (Note: in 2 Peter 3:4, tartarwvsaV / tartar sas is also translated as hell). In summarizing the descriptions of it, Dr. Thomas succinctly states, “language like this leaves no room for any form of universalism, soul sleep, an intermediate state, a second chance, or annihilation of the wicked.”
In contrast to the eternal life given to the righteous, here are brief descriptions of what the unrighteous will receive “everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2), “eternal punishment” (Matt. 25:46), “eternal destruction” (2 Thess. 1:9). It is a place of “unquenchable fire,” and “their worm does not die” (Mark 9:43, 49), with “the wrath of God abiding on him” (John 3:36) to continually experience “tribulation & distress” (Rom. 2:9), torment with fire and brimstone forever and ever without rest day or night (Rev. 14:10-11) and “outer” “black darkness” in which there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12; Jude 13).
*A final aspect to the torturous existence of those who will be thrown into the lake of fire is that it is the second death. Death is a separation. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the physical body. Spiritual death is the separation of the soul from God. The second death is the finality to that separation. It is a soul that has been resurrected to an existence of torment utterly separated from God and therefore without hope of any kind.
*Conclusions
You don’t want to go there. You don’t want anyone you care about even remotely to go there. The righteous do not want even their worst enemies to go there, for God does wish for anyone to go to a place prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). * 2 Peter 3:9 states concerning the fulfillment of these prophecies of coming judgment, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
That answers the questions of both why God has not already brought about the tribulation period and final judgment and the proper response to His patience. As 2 Peter 3:15 states, we are to “regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” We consider that every day the Lord delays in His return is another day for sinners to repent – to change their mind about themselves and Jesus – and place their faith in the person and work of Christ for salvation from sin and its consequences including condemnation by Christ at the Great White Throne judgment. If you are not positive your name is in the Book of Life, then today is the day to make certain that it is written there. You don’t want to find out it is missing after it is too late and you are stepping into eternity. Talk with me or any of our church leaders.
*For true Christians whose names are in the Book of Life, we look forward to the fulfillment of God’s promise for new heavens and a new earth, and while waiting for Jesus’ return, we are to strive to “be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless” (2 Peter 3:13-14). *And because of our love for God and people for whom Christ has died, we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ that another soul will praise God throughout eternity and escape the torments of eternal hell.
Sermon Notes – 2/15/2026
The Final Rebellion & Judgment – Revelation 20:7-15
Introduction
Review
Rev. 19 :11-21 – Jesus ________with His heavenly armies to conquer the earth ending the reign of the beast
Rev. 20:1-3 – Satan is bound, thrown into the abyss which is shut & sealed for a _____________years
Rev. 20:4-6 – The glorified saints (tribulation martyrs & the church) reign with Jesus for a ______________
Only saved _________populate the earth when the Millennium starts – they will bear normal, sinful children
The curse of sin ________on the earth – dangerous animals become safe, agriculture abounds, life lengthens
There will be a _______king with a perfect government & perfect justice suppressing evil so it is safe for all
The Final Rebellion – Revelation 20:7-10
Satan’s Release – Revelation 20:7
The specific designation, thousand years, is used for the 6th time in 6 verses – it is the _______length of time
Satan’s imprisonment is stated three times to be a _____________years – the time period of the Millennium
Satan “must be _____________for a short time” after the thousand years (vs. 3) – he does not break out
Satan’s Deceptions – Revelation 20:8
Satan was confined to stop him from _________the nations (vs 3). He goes back to that upon release (vs. 8)
A primary tool of Satan is ______________(Gen. 3:1-6; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14; Rev. 12:9; 16:13-16)
The phrase “four corners of the earth” is a metaphor for the ________________just as it was in Rev. 7:1.
The Bible teaches the earth is ____________- Job 22:14; Isaiah 40:22; Proverbs 8:27
Gog and Magog narrows the description of who will be involved – people that are against God & _________
It will take _____________to get people to join in with the foolish idea that they can win a war against God
Despite great abundance, justice & a perfect government, a ______________number join Satan’s rebellion
The Final Battle – Revelation 20:9
The topographical description is of Jerusalem in the __________________
Once the armies gather, God destroys them with ________from heaven. The rebellion is quickly annihilated
The Destruction of Satan – Revelation 20:10
Satan is cast into the ____of fire & brimstone where his followers, the beast & the false prophet, are already
Reasons for Satan’s Release – The text is not specific, but here are some possibilities
It proves Satan is ___________________in his self-deception – God is just to throw him into the lake of fire
It proves man’s evil nature is __________, not environmental & does not change without God’s intervention
It _________the righteous from the unrighteous who join Satan’s armies in rebellion and are then destroyed
It shows the ____________of the destruction of the present heavens & earth and the creation of new ones
The Final Judgment – Revelation 20:11-15
The Throne & Disappearance of Earth & Heaven – Revelation 20:11
The throne is great because of ______________on it and the importance of the judgments He makes from it
It is white to reflect its _____________, holiness and righteousness
Though Father & the Son co-occupy thrones throughout Revelation, judgment belongs to ______(John 5:22)
This is ___________the judgment of the martyrs (Rev. 20:4) _______the Bema seat judgment (2 Cor. 5:10)
Some __________of the sheep & goat judgment (Matt. 25:31-46) fit this judgment & other elements do not
The GWT does not take place until ____earth & heaven flee & cease to exist – which matches 2 Pet. 3:10,12
The GWT will be ___________of human history or the realm of anything currently physically existing
The Books & The Judgment – Revelation 20:12-13
There no longer be a ____________creation; all the saints will be glorified; all the wicked will have died
The wicked dead are resurrected from ___________including the sea to stand before the GWT for judgment
There is no partiality with God (Rom. 2:11) & He judges on the basis of the __________a person has done
Man has no good deeds (Isa. 64:6) & would not profit (Isa. 57:12) for no work can ___________(Gal. 2:16)
The GWT judgment of condemnation is based on deeds that have ______________________God’s laws
Death & Hades Destroyed – Revelation 20:14
Death, the _________________________, will be swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:26; 54-55)
Death & Hades (the holding place of the dead) are ______(vs. 13) & will be cast into the lake of fire (vs. 14)
Hades is ___________________. There is a real spiritual dimension that exists apart from the physical
The Final Condemnation – Revelation 20:15
God’s righteousness & justice demands the death of all sinners – which is _______(Rom. 3:10-12, 23; 6:23)
The Book of Life is the record of God’s mercy & grace are extended to redeem and save ______________
The names of those who have _______________& placed their faith in Jesus Christ are in the Book of Life
The Book of Life is _________________one last time before the wicked are condemned to the lake of fire
Descriptions of the lake of fire (also Gehenna / Hell) are of __________torment that is permanent & eternal
A final aspect of its torment is the _____________- shut out from the presence of God forever – no hope left
Conclusions
God is ________because He wishes for people to repent & believe the gospel instead of perish (2 Peter 3:9)
The righteous desire the fulfillment of all of God’s prophetic promise and pursue __________while we wait
KIDS KORNER
Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents. Older Children – Do one or more of the following: 1) Count how many times Satan is mentioned. 2) Discuss with your parents what happens to Satan and those that follow him in wickedness.
THINK ABOUT IT!
Questions to consider in discussing the sermon with others. Why is Satan released at the end of the millennium? What does he do? What happens to him and his followers? When and where is the Great White Throne judgment? Who is judged? What is the basis for the judgment? What happens to the condemned? Describe the torments of those cast into the lake of fire? Can there be any type escape from it? Why or why not?
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