If you have a Bible with you, would you please take it and turn to the book of Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20. If you're a guest with us, it's typically our practice to preach through books of the Bible here at Covenant Presbyterian Church. And we've been working our way now for some weeks through this wonderful and challenging portion of God's Word, the book of Revelation. If you'd like to follow along, but you don't happen to have a Bible, there should be one in the seat back in front of you. And you can find your way to the very last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 20. I want to read for us this morning verses four through six. And if you're able, would you please stand as I read this portion of God's inspired and holy and life giving Word. Every word of it is true. This is the Word of God. Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God. And those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their forehead or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection. Over such a second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and they will reign with him for a thousand years. This is the Word of God. Let's pray. And now, oh Lord, we ask you for your help that we can properly hear and understand your word. Holy Spirit, would you please apply your word to our lives and all the ways that we that we require that. God, would you grow us up in Christ today? Would you cause us to to advance in godliness today in love for you and in love for our neighbor? We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. You may have a seat. In February of 2015, 20 Egyptian Christians clad in orange jumpsuits were lined up on a beach in Libya. And before the eye of a video camera, one by one, they had their lives taken from them savagely. And the sort of suffering that the church endures and has endured sometimes leaves us asking the question, who's in charge here? Who is in charge here? The gruesome scene there on that Libyan beach has been repeated in so many ways and in so many times over the last 50, 100, 2000 years. The passage I just read, connected with the passage that we looked at last week, tells us the comforting news of what happened to the souls of those who were treated so cruelly. And as we've said from the beginning, one of the great ways that the Book of Revelation serves us is that it gives us a look into the world that we cannot see with our eyes. It shows us what is going on in the heavenlies, what is going on in the spiritual world that explains the things that we see going on in this world. And for the Christian, this is great comfort. It is a source of confidence for us because what we see is that however nasty the beast is or however deceitful Satan is, they are losing combatants in a war they cannot win. They are hopelessly outgunned. Satan's malice is so great in part because Jesus' death and resurrection and the promise of his return were all such publicly humiliating events for the evil one. The fighting still goes on. But the outcome of the war is not in question. And so let's begin this morning with the understanding, the acknowledgement, the declaration that puts all of hell in a rage, which is this, that Christ is the reigning King over all creation. There are no worthy contenders. There is no actual threat. Christ is King now and forever, full stop. The week from the viewpoint of the average onlooker, Jesus nevertheless repeatedly declared that in him the kingdom had come, that it wouldn't come some day, but that it had come during his ministry. Consider what we know about Christ's earthly ministry. The signs of his present reign were stamped all over it. From his uniquely authoritative teaching to his miracles to the casting out of demons, through all of that he was declaring that the kingdom had now arrived in him. His earthly reign was also confirmed by the fact that for the very first time, the light was now breaking into the Gentile nations like the sun rising against the eastern sky. Previous to this event, previous to the Lord's first coming, previous to his incarnation and his ministry in the world and his completed work, previous to that, those Gentile nations had been lost in an unbounded darkness, held there by an unbounded Satan. But as we were told last week in those first three verses, during this present reign of Christ, Satan has been bound. And as we acknowledged last week, if we look around the world, we wonder, hold it, it doesn't look as though Satan has been bound. We know the world looks so different because not until Jesus came, did those Gentile nations have anything within him that would seek the light or receive the light or look to the light of God's saving promises. When we're told that Satan is bound in the previous section, we are not told that Satan is bound such that he can no longer tempt Christians to sin. We are not told that he's bound in a way to keep him from doing any mischief at all in the world. Rather, we are told specifically that Satan was bound when Christ came, he was bound specifically from, quote, deceiving the nations. That is, he cannot keep the light of the gospel from the once hopelessly pagan nations. And we rehearsed some of those truths last week, being reminded of how the gospel has gone around the world and continues to. Satan cannot, except for a little while, we're told, when the end comes, until then he is unable to mobilize that international rebellion against God's people that we'll read about in the next section of Revelation. Because Christ is strictly bound, the evil one, and therefore he can never act outside of the sovereign purposes of God. Verses four through six that we just read here, John is given a vision concerning the thousand years, what we spent so much time looking at last week. It's that time with a view of those Christians who have died and whose souls are now in heaven. That's the perspective now that we're given. What's going on with those Christians who have died? Well, this is what we see here. And this is a challenging passage, just like so many of the passages we've looked at from Revelation. It's challenging. Some Christians argue over it. But here's what I want to try to do. I want to go about completing our time this morning by answering a few questions. And the first question is this. Where is this happening? What John has just described to us, where is it happening? He says in verse four, then I saw thrones and he sees those thrones, quote, along with the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus. Now, these words run parallel to what John sees way back in Chapter six, where the martyred saints in heaven pray for God's vindication. They pray for the Lord's perfect justice. So the thrones that John is seeing here are thrones that are in heaven. He is seeing a vision of what is happening in heaven, not on earth, but in heaven. The word translated throne here, Thronos, appears 47 times in the book of Revelation. Seven of those times refers to thrones pertaining to Satan and wickedness. The other 40 times all refer to thrones or a throne of God and his saints in heaven. Not a single time is Thronos used to depict a throne or thrones that are actually on the earth, but rather in the heavenlies. As one commentator puts it, quote, verses four through six show us what happens in the heavenly realms during the long complete period before Jesus returns. Those who have suffered for Christ on earth go to be with him to reign in heaven. That's what John is seeing. That's where the vision is taking place. It's in heaven. Secondly, who is John seeing? Who is he seeing? Again, verse four, and also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God. Now, there is good reason to take the view that John is seeing here all Christians who have died and gone on to heaven, not just those who have, quote, been beheaded. So, for example, the Christian martyrs were not all executed by beheading. You didn't know we were going to talk about this when you got up this morning, did you? In fact, given the likelihood that many Christians, perhaps most Christians during this time of the first century, did not possess the status of Roman citizenship, though some of them did, it's likely that many, if not most of them, were not Roman citizens, it's likely that the majority of Christian martyrs were killed by crucifixion or stoning or by wild animals in a Roman arena. You see, execution by beheading was a form of execution considered far more dignified than the other forms available to Rome. And so, therefore, it was Roman citizens who were executed by beheading. Sorry to get into all that detail, but it serves the point. One commentator writes this, quote, because this group is later described as, quote, the camp of God's people, the city he loves, it seems that all believers, including the martyrs, are in view. Notice how John further defines this group. He says these are those, quote, who have not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. And I think that this is a clear indication that he's referring now really to the whole company of God's redeemed people, to which he gives the promise that they will be seated with him in glory. Therefore, who John sees are the souls of all believers who have died and await the resurrection of their bodies. And he uses Roman execution as a way of referring more broadly to their persecution at the hands of wicked governments. One commentator, again, writes this, quote, all faithful followers of the Lamb who have died are included here, for these rulers are also described as those who did not worship the beast. This fidelity or this faithfulness, not the circumstances or method of their death, distinguishes them as qualified to share in the Lamb's rule. I think that's right. So John, as he peers into heaven, sees the hosts of God's people seated with Christ, reigning with Christ, sharing in the victory of Christ. Historically, theologians have distinguished between the church militant and the church triumphant. The church militant describes the church in the world as we take our stand against the enemy, armed with the weapons of spiritual warfare. So we here are the church militant, and we fight with the sword of the word. We fight with the witness of the gospel, the power of the gospel. We fight by making disciples, by placing the sign of the covenant upon them, by feeding upon the Lord's Supper and being nourished by him. All things that the world looks at as incredibly weak and foolish, but are in actuality the things that God does to upend the kingdoms of this world. We are the church militant. While the church triumphant refers to all the saints who have gone before us into glory. And that is who John sees in this vision, the church triumphant, the church at rest. Such a vision would have been an enormous source of encouragement for the suffering churches that John was writing to. Just as it is for those Christians, those churches around the world, in every generation who take their stand for Christ. Particularly those who take their stand for Christ in a culture, in a nation, among a people for whom it will cost them a great deal to do so. Third question. What is the state of those who have died in Christ? What is the condition of those who have died in Christ? So John is seeing the souls of those who have died in Christ who are now in heaven, as Paul says in the book of Ephesians, they are seated with Christ in the heavenlies. That's who John is looking at here. And I want you to look again at our verses. And I just want to quickly review, starting with that last clause in verse four, look at it again. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death has no power. But they will be priests of God and of Christ and they will reign with him for a thousand years. We did a lot of reading during sermon preparation this week. Lots of reading. Now, again, this is one of those difficult passages that we have to interpret by looking at the rest of scripture. By looking at passages that are more clear, we are helped to look at these more challenging passages. Now, John speaks here of a first resurrection and a second death. Now, if that term first resurrection seems odd to you, then you're in good company because this is the only time in the entire Bible where that clause is used, first resurrection. Second death is almost as unique because it is only used four times in the Bible and only in the book of Revelation. So, we need the help of the rest of scripture to understand these terms. And I just want to, we're not going to look at the whole Bible this morning, just most of it. See, the benefit, if you didn't know this, the benefit of coming to the first service is that there is a time limit. There are constraints. But I want to wrap up this morning with two questions then. First, what is the first resurrection? What is the first resurrection? Now, remember, John is looking into heaven. He's seeing Christians who he says, quote, came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. So, that's the first resurrection. These Christians came to life and they are in heaven with Christ during his millennial reign. So, he sees the souls of the saints in heaven reigning in heaven with Christ. The rest of the dead, he says, did not come to life until the present reign of Christ this thousand years has been completed. Now, the rest of the dead, they're in verse five, are those who have died apart from Christ. They have died in their sins. They are not reigning with Christ, but their souls are kept for the coming judgment at the end of the age. So, the first resurrection is something that applies only to believers in Christ. And that means, among other things, that it cannot be the physical resurrection that the Apostle Paul references in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. So, we're told, for instance, in 1 Corinthians 15, also in John chapter 5, that the bodily resurrection of those saints in heaven occurs in conjunction with Jesus' second coming. Jesus returns and he raises up the bodies of those who have died in faith. Therefore, this, quote, the fact that they came to life, so this coming to life or this first resurrection is not the bodily resurrection promised to believers at the return of Jesus. What John is seeing here is something that happens before that. So, what does it mean? Well, the fact that they came to life, this coming to life, this first resurrection that John sees must refer to the life experienced by those souls in heaven who live in the joy of Christ's presence. Though their bodies have not yet been raised, they have indeed been brought to life. Their souls have been raised up, a sort of resurrection, if you like. And indeed, think about it, are believers in Jesus not brought to life at the moment of their death? Of course they are. And so this first resurrection, I think, is just a great, brilliant, vivid way of describing the reality that at the moment of our death we are brought to true life. And in seeking clarity in these matters, I think we have to keep in mind John's original readers, those seven churches in Asia Minor, some of whom were being persecuted quite cruelly already. Rome had demanded a kind of allegiance to the emperor that Christians could not give. And so when John wrote Revelation, some of those churches in Asia Minor were already experiencing heavy persecution. Go back and look in chapter 2 when you get a chance. And indeed, how weak the church must have felt over such overwhelming power and opposition as they received from Rome. And to those embattled Christians, John's vision is declaring to them, look, I know that some of your own have been dragged away. I know that some of you are under that same threat. I know that you have seen some of your membership taken off and executed by Rome. I know that this is going on, but I want you to hear me now, and I need you to believe, and you need to affirm this, that the moment you die, you live. The moment of your death is the moment that God raises you up. That's why Paul can say that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And in fact, some theologians locate this first resurrection not at the moment of the believer's death, but at the moment of their salvation, the moment of their regeneration, that moment when the Holy Spirit brings us to life and we believe in Him for the first time. And there's a good argument to be made for that, that this first resurrection, that this coming to life is the very moment of the new birth. What can death ultimately do to you when it serves only as the door that opens up the first resurrection? Without many of you have heard the famous words of the 19th century American evangelist D.L. Moody, when he wrote this, quote, Someday you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield is dead. Don't you believe a word of it? At that moment, I shall be more alive than I am now. I shall have gone up higher. That is all. I shall have this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal. I love his language there. I shall be more alive. What a great way to understand this life of the first resurrection. We are made in that moment more alive than we've ever been. That's the first resurrection. So then what is the second death? In verse 6, we have a benediction, a word of blessing. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection. You've been saved. You've been brought to life. Over such, the second death has no power. Now, if there's a second death, it follows that there must be a first death. And the first death is the death that we are all familiar with. It is physical death. It is the death that we all must face. Physical death is the wages of sin, Scripture tells us. Death is the final enemy to be defeated when Christ returns. Paul tells us that in 1 Corinthians 15. The writer of Hebrews tells us that every single one of us are appointed to die once and then face the judgment. That's physical death. So the second death, by contrast, is spiritual death. The death that will be suffered by all who have sought to live happily in their sin in this life. Who have lived life without reference to their Creator. Who have never seen a reason to repent of their sin and flee to Christ. They've never seen the need of a gracious salvation. And so they've never sought it. It is the death beyond death. It is the final sentence of those who are outside of Christ. Commenting on these passages in Revelation, the late, great New Testament scholar Alec Mateer writes this, quote, Those who hated God will hate him there. The morally careless in earthly life will be morally careless still. The defiant will continue to be defiant and the unclean will remain uncleansed and unrepentant. That's the second death. And notice that we are promised here that those who share in the first resurrection, those who have been brought to life by Christ, will be untouched and untouchable by that second death. And so what is Revelation unveiling for us here? Is it not that Christ has removed death's sting? Is it not the triumphant announcement that death cannot keep its hold on a single one of God's sons and daughters? Now I want to offer you as clear a statement as I can regarding what I believe we can anticipate in terms of particular events based upon the passages that we've been looking at recently. I believe that we are told that during the time between Christ's two advents, his first coming and his return, we call that the church age. The church age has been going on for a little more than 2,000 years now and only God knows how much longer it will go on. But in that timeframe between Christ's first coming and his second coming, Satan is bound and he's bound from keeping the gospel from the nations. He's also bound from organizing them for the purpose of an international assault against the church, which we seem to read about here in the book of Revelation. During this time, during the church age, the millennial reign of Christ, all believers who die will join the Lord in heaven where they will reign with him and live joyfully in his presence. And that means every single believer that you've ever known who has died, families, moms and dads who have lost your covenant children, they are safe in the arms of Christ. They are safe in the presence of Christ. Shortly before Christ's second coming, Satan will be unbound. And during that time, which will only be for a little while, we're told in verse 3, Satan will deceive the nations once again and lead them into a doomed effort to destroy the church once and for all. An effort symbolically given the name of that great battlefield Armageddon. And at that point, Christ will return triumphantly with his risen saints to cast Satan into the lake of fire. Judged, too, will be all those who have spurned God's grace, preferring instead the deceptions of the beast to the mercy of Christ. We know the story. We've read to the end. And so, Christian, you need not live in fear. You need not panic over politics, over the principalities and powers of this dark age. Do not fear. Do not panic. Care? Yes, we should care. We ought to resist the wickedness in our own hearts. We ought to resist our own sin, and we ought to push back against the darkness in this present age that still mocks God and still harms his image bearers. Yes, push back in the name of Christ. But when we meet those realities with panic, that's when the church loses sight of our mission. When we panic, we get off mission. What's our mission? To declare the gospel, to make disciples of Jesus Christ. That's the church's mission. And when we panic, we start doing other things. When we panic, the church begins to believe that social activism, either left or right, is the mission of the church. And what gets left undone is the making of disciples. Prayer gets neglected because it appears so weak. Preaching becomes a weekly soapbox for the pastor to rail about whatever he happens to be angriest about that week. That's what panic will do. It will take us off mission. So remember, beloved, Christ is reigning. Christ is reigning. He's not going to lose. Kingdoms will rise and fall. Nations come and go. No nation will outlast the church. The church shall never perish. Her dear Lord to defend. This week, I read an account passed along by a PCA pastor about a man that he knows who used to direct a ministry in Ukraine. And as part of their work, they purchased an old run-down church building which had stood vacant for years. The Soviet Union had shut it down, along with countless other churches, and either left them abandoned, or in some cases, they turned those former church buildings, in order to humiliate Christians, they turned them into public restrooms. But when the Soviet Union collapsed, and that was a glorious day, various Christian ministries began purchasing those long-abandoned church buildings and went about the work of restoring them. And during one such restoration, while men were making repairs on the roof of this particular church building, one man on the roof noticed down below him, in a ditch next to the church, something that looked familiar. And he went down to inspect, and what he found was, underneath some vegetation and trash and dirt, was indeed the cross that had once stood atop that church on its roof. When the Soviets had shut down the church, they had clearly cut the cross off and tossed it away like trash, where it had remained for years. And those men, working to restore the building, then carefully took that cross and restored it and returned it to the top of the church. Now, symbolically, that is powerful when you know the history. That men who once shook a proud fist of unbelief, declaring that God is dead, where are they now? They imagined they could stop Christ and His Kingdom. They could imagine that saying, God is dead, would make it so. They thought missiles and tanks could bring an end to the Kingdom of Christ. And they were wrong. That cross in the gutter, small and appearing very weak and pathetic, was raised once again to declare, as it were, that the Kingdom of Christ is still here. So, Christian, what is it that you fear? Is there any reason for you to panic? Any reason for you to panic that would make sense in light of what we know? Why should we act as though Christ's Kingdom hinges upon every political victory or on the machinations of Hollywood or whether godless men foolishly mock their creator? Let me tell you something. Hollywood may ruin the Chronicles of Narnia, but it will not stop the Kingdom of Christ. No matter what the world may do to God's people, the end is always eternity in God's blessed presence. And so we may live confidently in this world despite the trials and the persecutions. And the reason we can live confidently is because our present and our future are hidden in the victory of the Lamb. This is the meaning narrative of our lives, and it's not something that we created. It's a meaning narrative that has been placed upon our lives by a power beyond ourselves, namely the one who has written history. And so be bold in your witness. Be confident in your future. Be courageous in the battle. Mid toil and tribulation and tumult of her war, she waits the consummation of peace forevermore, until with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blessed, and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest. Hallelujah. Let's pray.