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Here is a great church to attend in Trumbull County, Ohio
FAITH Baptist Church
1401 Shaw Avenue, Niles, Ohio 44446
(330) 652-8151
10:00 a.m. Sunday School
11:00 a.m. Morning Worship
6:30 p.m. Evening Worship
6:30 p.m. Wednesday Services
Pastor Lenny Towle, with wife, Mrs. Amy Towle
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand."
In Chapter 20 here, John continues documenting what he is witnessing. John now sees another angel "come down from heaven". This angel has a very serious item in his hand. He is holding "the key of the bottomless pit". Being entrusted with a key is a very high privilege. Business owners only entrust their business keys to those whom they trust and hold responsible for the safe keeping of their business. This angel has been entrusted with the "key to the bottomless pit". He is a specially chosen angel for this job.
Keys have different uses. Mainly, keys are used to lock up a building or home. A jail is another place that uses keys. We have jails to lock up people who have committed crimes. The "bottomless pit" is Satan's jail cell. Satan will be locked up for his crimes. He is going to be put in 'Time Out" by this angel.
This angel also has "a great chain in his hand". This will be a very strong chain. "Great" means above average. This chain is not just a 'chain', it is a "great chain". This chain has to be exceedingly strong in order to bind Satan. This is a very difficult job this strong angel has to do. Satan is not going to go willingly. This is why this strong angel has "a great chain".
"And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years."
This strong angel is going to get a "hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan". These are the different names Satan is known by. Satan is referred to a "dragon" in Revelation 12:3; & 13:4. In the Middle Eastern world, the dragon was symbolic of the power of evil.
Satan being called "that old serpent" coincides with him when he was in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-4). He lied and deceived Eve."That old serpent" is a deceiver and a liar.
The name "Devil" means that he is hostile and destructive. 1 Peter 5:8 reminds us to "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour".
The name "Satan" means he seduces humans into sin. It has always been Satan's goal to discourage people from coming to Christ. He is trying to drag as many precious souls to Hell has he can. Satan also endeavors to cause Christians to fall.
The "Battle of Armageddon" ends with this strong angel coming "down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand." This angel will lay hold on Satan and "bound him a thousand years". He is going to grab Satan. This angel is going to bind him with "a great chain". This "great chain" will be around Satan's neck, feet and probably hands for "a thousand years". Satan will not be able to say anything, do anything or go anywhere for "a thousand years". He will be in the "bottomless pit" all by himself. Satan is going to have "a thousand years" of 'Time Out' in his own jail cell! He will be doing a lot of thinking.
Just to clarify, the "bottomless pit" is not the part of Hell where unsaved people are. It is not the Lake of Fire where the Beast and False Prophet are. Satan will join them later in verse 10 of Revelation. The "bottomless pit" is a special place that God has prepared to keep Satan in for a thousand years. It is Satan's jail cell. Satan is going to be kept under lock and key.
"And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season."
The strong angel with the key and "great chain" is going to cast Satan "into the bottomless pit". The angel is not just going to gently sit the Devil down. No. He is going to "cast" Satan "into the bottomless pit". To "cast" means to literally throw. This angel is going to literally throw Satan "into the bottomless pit".
Remember, "the bottomless pit" is where the locust came out of (Revelation 9:2). However, the demonic locusts are no longer in "the bottomless pit" (Revelation 9:1-11). They were released upon the earth. The Beast will have also come out of "the bottomless pit". The Beast and the False are now in the "Lake of Fire" (Revelation 19:20).
After this angel throws Satan down into "the bottomless pit", he is going to "shut him up". This means the angel is going to make sure Satan's jail cell door is secured and locked. The angel is going to make sure Satan cannot get out for a thousand years.
This angel is also going to "set a seal upon him". Just like Satan caused the worldwide population to receive his "Mark of the Beast" on their foreheads or in their hands, Satan is going to be sealed with a seal that shows that he is the evil one. God is having this "seal" put upon Satan so that "he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled".
In the last part of our verse, verse 3, God also reveals something else concerning Satan. God says that "after that he must be loosed a little season". This sounds scary. After a "thousand years" have passed upon the earth, God is going to let Satan loose! Think about this. Satan has been locked up for "a thousand years". He is extremely upset. He is extremely hateful, and he has had plenty of time to think. Satan will be scheming up his terribly evil plot about what he is going to do when he gets out of "the bottomless pit". He knows he has been sentenced for "a thousand years". He will be counting the years and he will be plotting to destroy the rest of the earth when he gets out.
We will find out what Satan will try when he is released after the "thousand years" in just a few more verses ...
"And I saw thrones, and they 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 worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."
The very first thrones that John saw were the thrones of the twenty-four elders that we studied in Revelation 4:4. We learned that these twenty-four elders are the twelve sons of Israel and the twelve apostles, which together equal the twenty-four elders. Now, John sees more thrones and people sitting upon these thrones. He also states that "that judgment was given unto them".
Then John says that he "saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God". Back in Revelation 6:9 John said he "saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held" These martyrs, that John saw under the altar of God, are the martyrs that have been killed for their "testimony" of God. These martyrs come from the beginning of time in Genesis to all the way through to the Rapture. These martyrs are kept close to God as He keeps them under His altar (Revelation 6:9). These martyrs are waiting for their special time that God has for them. But for now, God tells them that they "should rest yet for a little season" (Revelation 6:11). God has these special martyrs resting because He has a very big job for them coming soon. This is the Lord's second special group.
Now, we come to the third group. Our verse says that John "saw the souls of them ... which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years". This third group are the saints who will survive the seven year Tribulation Period. They are Christians who have experienced the extreme horrors of Satan. They will be the ones who endure Satan's demonic tortures. They will be the ones who will have to stand very firm for the Lord. They will refuse the Devil's mark even though it may cost them their families. They will be hungry, destitute, and forsaken ... but not by God.
These three groups are the ones chosen to reign with Christ for "a thousand years". We just read in Revelation 19:15 that Christ "shall rule them with a rod of iron". During the "thousand years" that Satan is going to bound in "the bottomless pit" (verse 3), Christ is going to rule the nations of the earth "with a rod of iron". During this thousand year reign, Christ has chosen three groups to be His 'court system'. Think of it like our court system. The United States has three branches of government. Of course, Christ will be the ultimate ruler. He is "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS". Ruling the earth under Christ will be "the twenty-four elders". These will be like our Supreme Court. Then under the "twenty-four elders" will be the martyred who are currently waiting under the altar of God. They also will be sitting on thrones judging the earth. The third group of those who will "reign with Christ a thousand years" (our verse here) are those who "had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon thier foreheads, or in their hands".
The nations of the earth that have survived through the Tribulation Period are going to be ruled "for a thousand years" by these three groups, overseen by Christ Himself. These groups, who are going to reign over these nations, have been through Satan's worse devices. How lenient do you think they will be on those nations who possibly killed their families and tortured them? A "rod of iron" is a very hard and cold instrument. These chosen 'judges' will be given a thousand years to reign over these nations. The martyrs that are "under the altar" of God even ask the Lord Himself: "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:10).
"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection."
This verse may be a little confusing at first glance, but if we take it in content, you can understand it more easily. The first word in this verse is "But". "But" is still referring to the verse before it, verse 4. Verse 4 is referring to Christians, to those who have accepted Christ as their Saviour. They died but they were saved. They are 'alive' in Christ. People who received Christ into their hearts and died physically are 'alive in Christ' in Heaven. 1 Corinthians 5:8 tells us that "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."
The "first resurrection" is referring to verse 4. We know this because the next verse, verse 6 states: "Blessed and holy is the he that hath part in the first resurrection". Jesus teaches us that there are two resurrections. In John 5:29, Jesus says: that "they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation". Unsaved people, who have died from the Genesis through the present, are literally in Hell. We went over other verses in Chapters 14 and 15 of Revelation about Hell. Isaiah 14:8 records that "Hell from beneath is moved ... it stirreth up the dead".
Hell is a real place located in the center of the earth. The center of the earth, also called the inner core, was thought to have a temperature of 9,392 degrees Fahrenheit. However, according to an article on Smart News by Colin Schultz, scientists now believe the inner core is 1,800 degrees hotter than previously believed. This would make the temperature to now believed to be around 10,800 degrees Fahrenheit! The Earth's core is also thought to be made of hot liquid iron and sulfur. This is what the Lord has warned us about all through the Bible, even in Revelation. All through the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), Jesus Himself gave many, many warnings to people to not spend their eternity in Hell. The Lord died on the cross to save people from Hell ... ONLY if they accept Him into their heart. Otherwise, they will be burning in the inner core of our earth until we come to Revelation 20:12. Until the time in Revelation 20:12, unsaved friends and loved ones will be continually "weeping and wailing" in the center of the earth until "the thousand years were finished" .
"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."
"He that hath part in the first resurrection" are the saved people. They have asked Christ to wash away their sins by His blood. They accept Him as their Saviour; therefore, they are "Blessed and holy" and they will have "part in the first resurrection".
"The second death hath no power" over those who "hath part in the first resurrection". There is a saying: 'You will either die once and live twice or you will live once and die twice". That saying is like what the Bible is saying here. When you are born, you are born as a baby onto this earth, one time ... no reincarnation. Then you have the chance to accept Christ as your Saviour. If you do, then you are 'born again'. So you have two birthdays ... a physical birthday and a spiritual birthday. On the other hand, when someone is born physically and does not accept Christ as their own personal Saviour, then they are just born one time. They have only one physical birthday. However, they will have two deaths. They will die their physical death and they will have a "second death" in Hell with Satan. "The second death hath no power" over the born again people.
Verse 6 goes on here talking about Christians, the saved people, people washed in the Blood of the Lamb of God. The Bible tells us here that there will "be priests of God and of Christ" in the "first resurrection". Priests in the Old Testament were in charge of most everything that went on. They kept the order of the sacrificial ceremonies. Some priests were to oversee the shewbread while others attended to the candlesticks. Some priests were in charge of always keeping the fire burning on the altar. They also took care of the order of the music. The list goes on. The daily ritual of the temple alone took over 1,000 priests to perform all the rituals required. Each priest was given a specific task that they were in charge of. The Lord is saying in this verse that He is going to assign certain tasks for those of us who are part of "the first resurrection". This thousand year reign is also called the 'Millennium'.
Micah 4:1-2 says: "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for the law shall go forth out of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off". This is the Millennium period.
Those of us who are part of "the first resurrection" will reign with Christ a thousand years. First, Christ is coming back with His 144,000 Jewish Army (chapters 14 & 19). They will have victory at the "Battle of Armageddon". Then Christ is going to throw the Beast and the False Prophet into the "Lake of Fire" (Revelation 19:20). After that, Christ grabs up Satan, has the strong angel bind Satan with a heavy chain and cast him "into the bottomless pit for a thousand years" (Revelation 20:2-3). During the time that Satan is chained up in the "bottomless pit" for the thousand years, we Christians will reign with Christ on the earth for that time period. We will be given certain tasks to do. We will be like caretakers over the earth. There will still be unsaved people all over the earth ... nations. These nations will be required to serve Christ as He will rule them with "a rod of iron" (Revelation 19:15). We that have part in the "first resurrection" will have the duty to make sure these nations comply with all the commandments and regulations of Christ as He rules the earth. Satan will be locked up in the "bottomless pit" for these thousand years.
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison."
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​After the end of the thousand-year reign of Christ, the Millennium period, the Lord is going to release Satan out of the "bottomless pit". The Lord is not letting Satan out for 'good behavior'. No. The Lord has one more reason for allowing Satan on the earth this last time.
Remember that during the thousand years there will still be nations on the earth. Sin has not been totally erased off of the entire world yet. This is why Christ reigns "with a rod of iron". He is trying to teach these nations (Micah 4:2). He is giving them one last chance to repent and come to Him. He will be teaching these nations all His commandments and statues. It will be up to each individual, of each nation, to make the decision to accept Christ or not. Remember, a thousand years are over ten generations. There will be a lot of people in 'the valley of decision'. There is still time for you, if you have not made your decision to accept Christ, to do so. Don't linger too long in your 'valley of decision'. There will come a time when it will be too late.
We are going to see, in the next two verses, why God loosed Satan out of his prison after the thousand years.
"And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea."
This verse is still talking about Satan, continuing from the previous verse (7). When Satan is "loosed out of his prison", he "shall go out to deceive the nations". Keep in mind that God is revealing this to us here in Revelation. God does not have to share with us about anything regarding the future, especially about Satan. But God does inform us about these things. God wants us to know in hopes people will choose Him. We are told here what Satan is going to do. We will also be told about Satan's end. God's hope is that when people read Revelation, they will turn to Christ.
The first thing Satan will do, when he is loosed, is to visit every nation that is upon the face of the earth. Our verse says that these nations "are in the four quarters of the earth". That means the nations in the North, East, West, and South. Satan goes to them all. Satan's diabolical plan is "to gather them together to battle". Even after a thousand years, Satan did not learn his lesson. He goes out to get as many people as he can to join him in his war against God.
These nations will be made up of Millenium people. They are ten plus generations of people that were born during the time Satan was in the "bottomless pit". These people were not alive during the Battle of Armageddon. However, they will know about Christ. Christ will be ruling the entire earth "with a rod of iron" (Revelation 19:15). This is the reason why God kept Satan around for a thousand years. Not only did God want to prove to Satan that he will never stop fighting against God, but God also wanted to show the world the evil that is down in the center of each of our hearts. The people during the Thousand Year Reign of Christ, the Millenium Period, will see Christ. They will have learned all His commandments. These people will also be given the chance to decide between Christ and Satan. These people will be given their Valley of Decision.
What will these people of the Millenium Period choose? Our verse, verse 8, tells us that almost all of them will choose to join Satan in his battle ... "the number of whom is aas the sand of the sea". The number of people that will choose to follow Satan and his Satanic attack will be so many that they will be "as the sand of the sea". This is totally sad.
"Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).
The next verse tells us what all these people will do ...
"And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."
The people from all the nations of the earth, which Satan has deceived, will join Satan. They will go "up on the breadth of the earth". Now, these people will not have known war. Christ has been ruling the whole earth. But Satan will deceive all these people, which number "as the sand of the sea". They will believe Satan. They believe they will be victorious over God, Jerusalem, and the "camp of the saints". So all these Millenium people will "compass the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city (Jerusalem).
These Satan followers will mess with God's people. They are going after the Jews and the Christians ("the beloved city" and "camp of the saints"). God warns us all through the Bible to not mess with His children. In Genesis 12:3, God told the Jews that He "will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee". In Zechariah 2:8, God says: "For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath He sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye."
Most of us have accidently gotten poked in our eye. Our eyes tear up. It hurts. Any person who tries to harm any of God's children will be like going up to God and poking Him right in His eyes! We wouldn't even do that to the president or even a boss and get away with it. These Millenium people are going to go right up to God's earthly temple, Jerusalem, and going to circle around all the Christians intending to harm them all. Their goal is to utterly destroy them. These nations are being in rebellion against God. They don't want Christ ruling over them. They will feel that they have had enough. They will be filled with hate and anger against Christ and His children. Be careful that Satan does not fill your heart with hate towards the Jews or Christians. This is a very dangerous situation.
"Fire" will come "down from God out of heaven" and "devour". Just like God will send His "fire" of destruction upon the unsaved people who intend harm against His children, so God defends His children today.
"...and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."
This verse just told us what God is going to do to all those nations that will come up against Him at the end of the Thousand Years. He will devour them. Our next verse tells us what God is going to do now with Satan.
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
Now it's the Devil's turn. He had "deceived them" that were on the earth. At the end of the Millenium Period, the Lord is going to grab Satan one last time. God Almighty is going to "cast" Satan "into the lake of fire and brimstone". Brimstone is a highly flammable substance. It emits a peculiar suffocating smell. The Lake of Fire is not only going to be extremely hot but it will also be extremely stinky ... just like Satan stinks. It 'stinks' that Satan has been able to deceive all these nations and people since the beginning of time. Now God is putting an end to all the influence Satan had on the world. Satan will be put away forever and ever in the "Lake of Fire and Brimstone".
There is something else God is revealing to us in this verse. God says that He will "cast" the devil "into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are". Look back at Revelation 19:20: "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet ... These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone". These both were thrown into the Lake of Fire BEFORE Satan was put into the "bottomless pit" for a thousand years. In other words, the "beast and false prophet" have been in the Lake of Fire for over a thousand years! Now, Satan is going to join them!
Our verse reveals to us that the "beast and false prophet" ARE still in the Lake of Fire. They have not disintegrated! They will not disintegrate. They "shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
Now that God Almighty has put Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet in their place in the Lake of Fire, God is going to deal with all the unsaved people whom Satan has deceived ...
"And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them."
John is talking here as he continues to document all that God commanded him to write. Now John sees "a great white throne". A throne is an emblem of royalty. This is "a great white throne". It is the greatest of all thrones. The "white" of the throne represents the judgment of death. Jesus said in Matthew 23:27 that the leaders were like "whited sepulchres ... which are full of dead men's bones". Unsaved people are spiritually dead. God Almighty is sitting on this "great white throne".
Do not get the "Great White Throne" confused with the "Judgment Seat of Christ". The "Judgment Seat of Christ" is for Saints ONLY. 2 Corinthians 5:10 states: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ". The Judgment Seat of Christ is where Christians will receive rewards for serving their Saviour. We studied this in Chapter 2 of Revelation. The "Great White Throne" judgment is for UNSAVED people. People who have not accepted the blood sacrifice of Christ.
Unlike the Judgment Seat of Christ, God Himself will be sitting on the "Great White Throne". The Lord Jesus Christ will be sitting on the throne of the Judgment Seat of Christ because He is the One Who gave His life for all the saints appearing at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Christ will not be on the "Great White Throne" because the people appearing before the "Great White Throne" have NOT accepted Christ as their Saviour. They have to appear before God Almighty Himself. We will see this in the next verse.
This is going to be a very frightful time. Even "heaven and earth" will flee away from the face of God: "And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them". When God Almighty appears on His "Great White Throne" not only will the earth flee away, but so will all the other planets and stars. They will be totally gone!
"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."
Now there is nothing left but empty space. Hoovering in the empty space is Almighty God sitting on His "Great White Throne". Soon this empty space is filled with all the people from the earth who have not accepted Christ as their Saviour. Just like all the Christians were Raptured up into Heaven just before the start of the Tribulation Period (studied in Revelation 4:1), the unsaved people will be brought up to stand before Almighty God at the "Great White Throne" judgment.
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John sees "the dead, small and great, stand before God". These people are the people who are alive at the end of Millennium Period. These people are 'spiritually dead'. God is going to gather all these people together to stand before His "Great White Throne" and be judged. Poor people, rich people, popular people, and people who nobody knows about will stand before God Almighty on this day. All these people will have refused to accept Christ as their Saviour have to answer to God. These people will have rejected God's own Son. God had sent His only begotten Son (John 3:16) to the earth to save these people from Hell. But these people rejected this Gift from God Himself. Now, they will be standing before God Almighty as He sits on His "Great White Throne". These 'spiritually dead' people will answer, one by one, to God Himself. This group of people are the ones alive from the earth and will be answering to God at this End Time at the "Great White Throne" judgment.
"And the books were opened". God has a book for every single one of these people. Each book is a record about each person's life. Each person's deeds have been written down in their own book. Good deeds and bad deeds, they are all written down. Our verse states that these spiritually dead people "were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works". (You can refer back to Revelation 19:13 also about the books.)
These people will stand there, one by one, in front of God's throne as everything that is written in their book is read. Everyone will be listening. There may be some 'good things' read that they have done but their bad things will also be read. Romans 14:3b states that: "... there is none that doeth good, no, not one". No matter how much a person believes that he has done a lot of good, he still has done some bad. In the book of James, God warned: "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all". So if a person believes in living a good life in order to get into heaven, and that person "offends in ONE point, he is GUILTY of all". People who think God is going to let them into heaven because their good works outweigh their bad, are totally wrong. God says here in His Word that if they had committed just one little offense, then they are GUILTY of breaking ALL the commandments. Our verse here states that these people "were judged out of those things which were written in the books".
The one 'good work' that all these people lacked and it is the first and great commandment: "Jesus said ... Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they mind. This is the first and great commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38). Every single person, in this group of people, broke this commandment. They did not love the Lord with all their heart. They did not love Him with all their soul or all their mind. They had rejected Christ as their Saviour. They may have known about Him but they did not accept God Almighty's Gift, His precious Son on Calvary. They did not love or accept Christ as their Saviour.
Then "another book was opened, which is the book of life". After God has gone over each book of each person, He is going to open "the book of life". The "book of life" is just as it says it is ... "the Book of Life". The "Book of Life" contains every person's name in it that have been born on this earth. Everyone has their name put in the "Book of Life" when they are born.
"And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."
After the Millenium people are judged "according to their works", those who died prior are raised up also to be judged at the "Great White Throne". All the bodies of the unsaved dead are brought back together with their souls. "The sea gave up the dead which were in it". Remember, we studied that "the sea" represents people nationwide. "Death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them". These are the unsaved people who died from the time of Genesis through the time ofRevelation. When an unsaved person dies during this time frame, their souls go directly to hell. Their soul remains alive in Hell. Their body dies but their soul lives on (See the Article on Hell on this site: Uneed2no.com). After the people from the Millenium are judged, God then raises up the souls that are in Hell and unites their soul and body to be judged.
"And they were judged every man according to their works". Most of these people may have truly believed that their works were good enough. There is also another lie from Satan that is going around which is called 'Easy Beliefism'. Preachers are falsely teaching that all a person has to do is 'believe'. It is more than just believing, it is "repenting" and receiving. Almost everyone today believes 'in God'. However, most people today have not received God. It is like a gift. You may see a gift. You may acknowledge that it is a gift. But if you do not take the gift into your own hands, then it is not your gift. Christ is the precious Gift from God the Father. We may 'know about Jesus'. We may read about Jesus. We may even pray to Him. But if we have never accepted Him into our hearts as our Saviour, then He is not in us. If we don't think we have sin, then we don't see a need for a Saviour. It is when a person realizes he has sins and then asks Christ to forgive him, that Christ becomes his Saviour. It is not just a mere belief about God. Jesus Himself said: "Ye MUST be born again" (John 3:7). Born again means asking Christ to forgive you of yours sins, come into your heart, and be YOUR SAVIOUR. Jesus also said twice: "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3,5). But these people we are studying about fell short of asking Christ to be their Saviour. Please make sure you have Christ down in your heart. Don't just hope like these people did and have to stand before God at the "Great White Throne" judgment. God tells us what is going to happen to these people in the very next verse.
"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fie. This is the second death."
We studied about the second death in Revelation, Chapter 2. These are unsaved people who died physically and then they will be resurrected and "cast into the lake of fire". "This is the second death".
In Revelation 20:5 we read: "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished". Again, after God cast Satan into the "Lake of Fire" in verse 10 of our chapter, God then judges those who are still alive in verse 12. Then God's third judgment brings the unsaved dead people's body and soul together to stand before His "Great White Throne" for their judgment.
After all of the people are judged, they will be "cast into the lake of fire". That makes this the second death.
There is a saying that goes:
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Born Once - Die Twice (unsaved)
Born Twice - Die Once (saved)
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In other words, born into the world and don't ask Jesus to be your Saviour = Die Twice (die once on earth, and die the second time by being cast into the Lake of Fire) = Born Once - Die Twice.
"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
We talked a little bit about the "Book of Life" in verse 12 of our chapter. The "Book of Life" is the book in which God writes down every person's name in it that were born. It is like God's 'Birth Record' book. Every time a soul is created, it gets written down in God's "Book of Life". Even little ones that have died in the womb are written in God's "Book of Life".
God gives every person opportunities to be saved. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance". All through a person's life, God gives everyone a chance to repent of their sins and accept Christ as their Saviour.
When a saved person dies, his name is left in the "Book of Life". When a person who is not saved dies, then God must erase that person's name out of His "Book of Life". That person died without Christ as his Saviour. There is no more hope for that unsaved person. We had studied this in Revelation 3:5 ... "and I (God) will not blot out his name out of the book of life".
"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
These unsaved people never took the time to ask Christ to forgive them and come into their heart. They never received "Eternal Life". Jesus told them in John 10:28 that He would "give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish", but these people would not accept this Gift (Jesus), so they did not receive "Eternal Life" in Heaven. They chose 'Eternal Death' in the "Lake of Fire" by not receiving Christ as their Saviour. They chose not to have their name in the "Book of LIfe".