One morning, 4-year-old Kevin and his grandpa went out to buy donuts. On the way, Grandpa turned to Kevin and asked, “Which way is heaven?” Kevin pointed to the sky.
“Which way is hell?” Kevin pointed towards the floor of the truck.
Grandpa continued, “And where are you going?”
“Dunkin' Donuts,” Kevin replied. (Kathy Chapman, North Lauderdale, FL, “Heart to Heart,” Today's Christian Woman)
That’s the way most people live their lives. They don’t give any thought to their ultimate destiny, only to where they’re going today. As a result, their lives have no real direction or purpose, and they end up wasting their lives in empty pursuits. They end up wasting their lives in pointless detours that go nowhere.
Is that what you want for your life? If not, then I invite you to turn with me to Revelation 20, Revelation 20, where we can see our ultimate destiny. In fact, Revelation 20 shows us 2 ultimate destinies to pursue.
Revelation 20:1-3 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit [i.e., a maximum security prison for demons] and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. (ESV)
There is coming a day when Satan will be restrained. He will be chained in the PIT!
At the Ellsworth Correctional Facility, problem prisoners are placed in what the call “disciplinary segregation.” The inmates themselves call it “THE PIT.”
When we lived in Ellsworth, I had an opportunity to visit a prisoner in THE PIT once. He was in a little room on the other side of a big, steel door, and there was only one way he could communicate with me on the other side of that door. He had to lie down on the floor just so he could talk through a very small, low opening in the door.
Prisoners in THE PIT are completely locked down. Their activities are severely limited, and they have no contact at all with other prisoners.
Well, there is coming a day when God will put Satan in THE PIT! Hallelujah! He won’t be around to wreak havoc in this world like he’s been doing for thousands of years. He won’t be able to deceive the nations while he’s there. In fact, he will have no contact with anybody at all.
Isaiah, the prophet, describes what those days will be like. He says, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4).
“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:6-9)
When Satan is out of the way, there will finally be peace on earth. Hallelujah! What a day that will be!
Satan will be restrained, and the saints will reign. The believers will rule the world with Christ.
Revelation 20:4a Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. (ESV)
That’s us! – We who have trusted Christ in this age before the Tribulation. We are the ones given the authority to judge. Jesus promised his disciples that they would sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:29-30). And the Apostle Paul reminded us in 1 Corinthians 6 that we would judge the world, we who are believers in Christ.
Revelation 20:4b 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 foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (ESV)
These are the tribulation saints, i.e., those who will trust Christ during the Tribulation. They will come to faith in Christ after the rapture of the church, after the current believers are taken out of this world, and lose their heads for it. Even so, God will raise them from the dead, and they will reign with Christ for a thousand years, along with those of us who trust Him today.
Revelation 20:5-6 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. (ESV)
I know this is a little confusing, but it helps to understand that there are two resurrections surrounding the 1,000-year reign of Christ – one BEFORE His reign and one AFTER His reign. Those raised BEFORE His reign will include all those who have trusted Christ. They will be raised to reign with Christ. Those raised AFTER His reign will include all those who refused to trust Christ. They will miss out on Christ’s reign and be raised only to die an eternal second death in the lake of fire.
It will be like suffering the ravages of the last stages of cancer forever, without ever experiencing the release of death. Those who participate in this 2nd death will be dying forever in an eternal lake of fire.
Satan would have us believe that Christians are losers. He would try to convince us that those who trust Christ and live for Him miss out on all the fun. He even kills some believers to prove his point. But here, we find out who the real losers are. They are not Christians; for even if they die, they will be raised to reign with Christ. No, the real losers are those who believe Satan’s lies.
More than 500 years ago, when William Tyndale was born (1494), the Bible was available only to the clergy and only in Latin. Yet Tyndale had a dream that every English-speaking person would be able to read the Bible in his own language, even what he called “the common plowman.”
The Catholic Church had banned any translation of the Bible into English, but Tyndale pursued his dream anyway. He left England to complete an English translation of the New Testament and then smuggled copies of his New Testament back into England.
When the authorities discovered what he was doing, they arrested him, tried him, and sentenced him to death. He spent 15 months in prison, where he continued translating the rest of the Bible. Then they strangled him and burned him at the stake when he was only 42 years old.
It seemed like the forces of evil had won, but less than a year later, King Henry VIII gave his official approval to an English Bible that unknown to him was nearly 70% Tyndale’s work. The king proclaimed, “If there be no heresies in it, then let it be spread among the people.” (The Church Around the World, 5/94, Vol.24:6)
In the end, Tyndale won! You hold an English Bible in your hand today, largely because of Tyndale’s efforts nearly 500 years ago.
Believers always win, even when it looks like we have lost!
When Jesus spoke about His Kingdom in Matthew 25, he promised his followers, “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness” (Matthew 25:21,23, NIV). When we choose to follow Christ, we have the assurance of ruling and reigning with Him someday. We will share in the happiness of His reign, and He will put us in charge of “many things.”
According to the Old Testament prophets, Jesus will establish his capital in Jerusalem, on the throne of David. But he will send his followers around the world to rule the nations on his behalf. I may never become president of the United States in this life. But who knows, in Christ’s Kingdom I could be. Think of it – “President C. Philip Green.” Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? Or YOU could be president of the United States, governor of the State of Kansas, or the city administrator of Lyons, Kansas. You may not want that job today, but when Jesus reigns, with Satan out of the way, it could be a lot of fun!
Now, whether Jesus puts you in charge of an entire nation or just a remote, little town will depend on your faithfulness to Him today. You must be faithful in the “little things” he gives you to do today. Then, and only then, will He put you in charge of “many things.”
It’s our destiny as believers in Jesus Christ. We will rule and reign with Him someday! I urge you, pursue your destiny with Christ with everything you’ve got. Seek First His Kingdom and His righteousness more than getting rich or anything else. And today, if you haven’t already, please make your choice to…
REIGN WITH CHRIST.
Choose to rule with Jesus in his kingdom. Otherwise, you will…
BURN WITH SATAN.
You will smolder with the devil forever. Those are your only options. You can stand with Christ, or you will fall with the devil.
Revelation 20:7-9 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog [i.e., the rulers and their people], to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city [i.e., Jerusalem], but fire came down from heaven and consumed them… (ESV)
I don’t know why He does it, but after Christ reigns on this earth for a thousand years, He releases Satan for a time. God lets the devil out of “the pit,” and the devil deceives the nations into thinking they can depose Christ from His throne in Jerusalem.
Now, where does Satan get this army of people to oppose Christ? Where does he find so many who will join him at the end of Christ’s thousand-year reign? Because going into that thousand-year reign, there will be no one who opposes Christ. Christ will have killed all his enemies at his second coming, according to Revelation 19:17-21.
Everybody going into Christ’s Kingdom will be believers. There will be those of us that Christ brings with Him when He returns. We will have been resurrected or raptured out of this earth before the Tribulation begins. There will be the tribulation saints, who were killed during the Tribulation. They will be resurrected to rule and reign with Christ. All of the Old Testament Believers will be there. They looked forward to Messiah’s reign, and they too will be raised at the beginning of Christ’s thousand-year reign on this earth. The believers of all ages will be there in glorified, resurrected bodies.
Additionally, there will be those believers who survive the Tribulation. There will be those believers who will not be killed by the antichrist. They will enter into Christ’s Kingdom with natural, physical bodies. They will get married and have children. Then their children will have children, and so forth throughout the thousand years of Christ’s reign.
But the sad thing is not all those children will trust Christ. In fact, many of those children, by the end of the thousand years, will be looking for an opportunity to oppose Christ; and when Satan is loosed, they will find that opportunity. They will join Him in a futile effort to depose our Lord, the King, but they will be incinerated with fire from heaven.
That’s what happens to those who choose to side with Satan, and they will have no excuse. They will have been raised in the perfect environment of Christ’s millennial reign. They will have been raised under the perfect government of God’s Son. And yet, they will still choose to rebel against the Lord. They won’t be able to blame it on their environment. They won’t be able to blame it on outside circumstances. They will have only themselves to blame when they stand condemned before the Judge of the Universe.
You see, God doesn’t send people to Hell. They are there only because they have chosen to go there, and they won’t be able to blame God or anybody else. No. They are there without excuse.
One Sunday morning, two men were out in a boat, fishing. After several hours on the lake without catching a single fish, one of the men says to his friend, “You know, we probably should have stayed home and gone to church this morning.”
The other man says, “Well, I could have stayed home, but I couldn't have gone to church.”
“Why's that?” asks his friend.
“My wife is sick,” the fisherman answers. (Greg Huffer, Lebanon, Indiana)
That fisherman didn’t really want to go to church, did he? He was just looking for any excuse to stay away.
So it is, if you miss out on heaven. You will have no excuse, except that you really didn’t want to go there. It will be your choice, not God’s. For God “is not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Please, if you haven’t already, make your choice today. Choose to reign with Christ; otherwise, you will burn with Satan.
For after Satan is released for a time, then, he is roasted forever. God throws that old devil into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (ESV)
Hallelujah! He who tormented God’s people for centuries, will himself be tormented forever.
The sad thing is Satan won’t be the only one there. Soon he will be joined by all those who reject Christ, and they too will burn forever in the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. (ESV)
Not only will they have no excuse, there will be no escape.
Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. (ESV)
Their lives will be an open book for all to see. Perhaps, if this were written today, it would say, “The cameras are rolling. Everything that anyone ever thinks, says or does is recorded, and it will be revealed in that day, projected on an Omni-max screen for all to see.
Revelation 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades [i.e., death and the grave] gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. (ESV)
Now, this judgment is NOT for believers. It is only for unbelievers, those who are “dead.” Those of us who have trusted Christ are alive at this time, having been resurrected to reign with Christ. Only the dead are judged at this Great White Throne Judgment. Their deeds will be revealed, and they will die a 2nd death.
Revelation 20:14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. (ESV)
No one escapes. Everyone who comes out of the grave at this time is thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (ESV)
The book of life is a register of all the living. Those who have eternal life, through faith in Christ, have their names written in this book. Those who die in their sins, without Christ, have their names erased the day they die (Psalm 69:29), and they will stand before the Judge without any avenue of escape.
Rodin was a French impressionist sculptor, and even though a lot of people don’t know who he was, many are familiar with his work. He created the Thinker. It’s the sculpture of a naked man, sitting with his elbow on his knee and his chin on his fist, contemplating something very important.
A lot of people wonder what the Thinker is thinking about. Perhaps he’s wondering about where he left his clothes the night before. Do you think? No, of course not.
What the Thinker is thinking about is an eternity of judgment separated from God. Rodin created him to sit on top of his greatest masterpiece, which he called the Gates of Hell. (Neil Cole, He Had a Million of 'Em, www.ChicagoTribune.com, 10-6-04)
The thought of hell should sober us all up. It should cause all of us to stop and think for a while. Where will you spend eternity? Where will I spend eternity?
We have a choice my friends. We can choose to reign with Christ, or We can choose to burn with Satan. What will it be for you?
The title of an eBay auction from September 2005 reads, “Let Stephen King kill you in his upcoming book!” A nonprofit organization, called the First Amendment Project, created the auction.
They told potential buyers, “Here's your chance to be immortalized in literary history! Bid on a once in a lifetime opportunity to be a character in an upcoming book by Stephen King. What could be a better gift for his ultimate fan?”
The auction ended after 76 bids, with the winner agreeing to pay $25,100 for the chance to see his name printed in black and white. Another bidder paid $12,100 for a chance to appear in a John Grisham novel, and another paid $6,350 in order to be included as an utterance in Lemony Snicket’s Book the Thirteenth. (“First Amendment Project,” eBay.com, 9-26-05)
It’s too bad these bidders didn’t know about another book, which could make them truly immortal. The author’s name is Jesus. His book is the Book of Life, and He will pencil you in for free. All you need to do is trust Him. All you need to do is call upon Him and ask Him to save you from your sins. Please, if you haven’t done it already, do it today. Please, do it before it is eternally too late.
And if you know of anybody without Christ, please share this good news with them before it is eternally too late.
Valerie O'Connor, a high school student in Britton, Michigan, isn't in the habit of shoving her 63-year-old grandfather out the door into the snow. But her grandpa, Okey Howard, is glad she did. He was on fire at the time.
A February 2002 ice storm left many Michigan residents without power, so Valerie's grandfather had borrowed a kerosene heater from a friend to keep pipes and family members from freezing.
Unfortunately, someone must have put something other than kerosene in the heater. When Mr. Howard lit the heater, it exploded, spewing burning fuel onto his arms, hands, and upper body.
Valerie saw her grandfather completely engulfed, so she pushed him out the door into some snow and rolled on top of him to smother the flames. She suffered minor burns on her legs.
“I knew something had to be done,” Valerie said later. “After a moment of shock, I just reacted.”
Though badly burned, Mr. Howard had the presence of mind to stumble back into the house, where he used a large extinguisher to put out the house fire.
Valerie rode with her screaming grandfather in the ambulance to the hospital. Mr. Howard said later, “I thought I was going to die. It was like hell.” (Jeff Steers, The Exponent, 2-12-02; www.PreachingToday.com)
If a teenager is willing to risk her own life to save her grandfather from a fiery death on earth, how much more should we be willing to risk sharing the good news so others can avoid a fiery eternity. Because of her great love for her grandfather, Valerie put her fears aside and dove into action so he could be saved. Let’s do the same for those we love.
