What in the World is Going to Happen? - Resurrections

- last week we began talking about the millennial kingdom

- we said that this was a major Bible theme and we talked

about some very important things

- I'd like to begin tonight by reviewing a couple of the main

concepts

1) What is the millennium? (1000 year rule of Christ on this

earth following the tribulation)

2) What was one of the main reasons we highlighted last

week for expecting a coming kingdom sometime in the

future? (old testament propmises which haven't been

fulfilled)

3) We also said that, even though everyone has the same

Bible, not everyone believed in a future millennium. What

were the three "millennial options" we discussed?

(a-millennial, post-millennial, & pre-millennial)

4) What do each of these options mean?

(amillennial - no future kingdom)

(postmillennial - church ushers in kingdom, Christ returns

afterward)

(premillennial - Christ returns to this earth and

establishes his kingdom)

5) What did we say was the main issue that determined which

of these "milennial options" a person believed in?

(hermenutics)

6) What are three ways to interpret Scripture that we

discussed?

(literal method, spiritualizing method, critical method)

7) How did we tie this together with the three groups,

amillennialists, premillennialists, liberals

liberal - literal but wrong

amil - right but must be spiritualized

premil - literal and right

8) What verse did we go to in the NT to show how believing

in a premillennial return of Christ should affect us

today? (Col. 1:13 - "Who hath delivered us from the

power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom

of his dear son)

- we said that while we are not technically living in

the kingdom of God today, Paul could certainly make

this statement because we are personally related to

the king

- it doesn't do much good to believe in a

premillennial return of Christ unless we're working

hard at kingdom living here and now--

- that is looking for more and more ways to be

submissive to his lordship

- tonight we're going to deal with an event that happens at

the beginning of the millennial kingdom -- one of the geat

resurections

- you might ask - why take up that subject?

- answer is - because the book of Revelation makes a big

point to connect these two events (turn to Rev. 20)

- while you're turning there - let me just say that this

subject of the resurections opens up a whole list of

questions.

- For example:

- is there such a thing as "soul sleep" where people who

have died are in a state other than conscious existence?

- what happened to the people in OT times who died without

believing in Jehovah God? - where are they now? - is

anything going to happen to them in the future?

- What happened to the people in OT times who died

believing in Jehovah God? Where are they now? - is

anything going to happen to them in the future?

- What about the people in NT times who didn't believe in

Christ who have died? - where are they now? - ...

- What about believers in NT times who have died?

- What if one of us died tonight - where would we go?

What would we be like? What would our existence be

like?

- What if a person down the street died? - where would

they go? ...

- what good is it to be able to answer all these

questions?

- lets see what this passage has to say about these

things:

- read Rev. 20:1-6

I. Where Are The People Who Have Already Died Today?

- how that question is answered depends completly on

whether or not the person was a believer

A. The Saved

1. the body separates from the immaterial part of

man at death. Jesus makes it clear that a person

can live without a body.

- Luke 23:43 - to thief on the cross - this day

shalt thou be with me in paradise

2. The immaterial part of man goes to be with God

until the resurrection.

- Ecc. 12:7 - then shall the dust return to the

earth as it was, and the spirit shall return

unto God, who gave it

- II Cor. 5:8 - we are confident, I say, and

willing rather to be absent from the body

and to be present with the Lord

3. There is a conscious existence of both the

righteous and wicked, even though one has not yet

been united with his/her resurrected body.

- Luke 16 - rich man and beggar Lazarus -

neither had resurrected bodies but both were

alive and able to communicate

B. The Unsaved

- just like the saved, they have conscious existence

during an intermediate state before the

resurrection of their bodies

1. They are in torment

- Luke 16:23 - "And in hades he lifted up his

eyes, being in torment"

2. They are under punishment

- II Peter 2:9 (NASB) - "The Lord knows how to

rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep

the unrighteous under punishment for the day

of judgement"

- point is that every person who has died and every

person who will die prior to the end times will be in

an "intermediate state" in the sense that they have not

yet received their resurrection bodies

- thats what the verses in Rev. 20 are talking about

- verses 4 and 5 talked about different resurrections

because verse 4 mentions a group who will be raised,

but then verse 5 talks about those who won't be raised

till 1000 years later

- so that leads us to the question - how many

resurrections are there?

II. How Many Kinds of Resurrections Are There?

- lets let Daniel answer that question:

- read Daniel 12:2

- Daniel talks about two resurrections - lets see how

that compares to what Jesus said:

- John 5:29 (read)

- so the Scripture makes it clear that every person is

going to be resurrected - those who are saved to the

resurrection of life--those who are lost to the

resurrection of judgement

- so, the answer to the question, how many resurrections

are there is two,

- Now we've already seen that these two ressurections

don't take place at the same time

- INPUT - where did we see that? (Rev. 20:4-5)

- Now, (please don't answer this next question, but I'd

like you to think about it

- has the first ressurection taken place yet?

- be careful on this one - Do you remember what

heresy Hymenaeus and Alexander taught? (that the

resurrection had already past - II Tim. 2:18)

- so the first resurrection hasn't already past,

but it has started

- the point is - the first ressurection doesn't take

place all at the same time

III. What Is The Order of the Ressurections?

- please turn to I Cor. 15 (read 20-24)

A. First

INPUT - who is the first person to be raised in the

first ressurection? (Christ)

1. Christ - I Cor. 15:23

2. they that are Christ's at His coming

a. Church age believers at the rapture

I Thess. 4:13-18

b. OT saints and tribulation saints after the

tribulation

Rev. 20:4

B. Second

INPUT - when did we see that the second ressurection

would take place?

- after the millennium

- the point of what we've seen so far is this:

- Christ is going to establish his millennial kingdom

using believers, both Old and New Testament, to

rule and reign with Him

- that means, Andy here may be given charge over a

section of Oklahoma and be assigned to work with

Moses and Aaron

- Pastor Dutton may be assigned to northern Libya

with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego

- Ranny Wright will probably be assigned to Paduka

Kentucky with Baalam's donkey!

- now you might ask, well what will my body be like

- the Scripture gives us some hints about that

IV. What Is The Nature of the Ressurection Body?

- Psalm 17:15

A. Like Jesus

(Phil. 3:21, I John 3:2)

- by the way, that means we will eat in the

millennium - how do we know that? (Christ ate a

fish breakfast with the disciples after he had been

resurrected)

B. Tangible

- could be seen and touched (Luke 24:36-43)

- not made of flesh and blood (I Cor. 15:50)

- made of a different flesh (I Cor. 15:39)

C. Identifiable

- I Cor. 15:38

D. Incorruptible

- not subject to decay (I Cor. 6:13, 15:42-49)

- the last question we want to look at tonight is: Why did

God give us all this information on the resurrection, and

why did He tie it so closely with His description of the

millennium?

V. Implications of the Resurrections

- I think we can find the answers to those questions in

Rev. 20:6

- read

A. You have nothing to fear

- people are afraid of all kinds of things

- heights, snakes, you name it - there a phobia

that goes with it

- but you know what folks are most afraid of - dying

- have you ever thought about why that is?

- I don't think its the pain associated with dying

that scares folks as much as it is the uncertainty

- not knowing what's going to happen next

- John says that a person who has trusted Jesus

Christ as Savior can be blessed, happy,

secure...because the second death has no hold on

him

- thats why Paul could write, "O death, where is thy

sting, O grave, where is thy victory? But thanks

be to God, who giveth us the victory through our

Lord Jesus Christ"

- see, you have nothing to fear

- that ought to put everything else in perspective

- spoke last night to a friend from another state who

works for a company that involved in an unfriendly

merger (maybe you've been in a situation like that

sometime in your career)

- its a very fearful situation

- the first thing the new management did to his

department was fire half the workers and demote

those they kept

- he said working there has been an absolute

nightmare

- he never knows when he leaves for work that morning

if thats going to be his last

- but he's been able to handle it because he has some

things that can't be taken away

- there's great peace that comes from knowing you'll

have part in the first resurrection

- "they can take my job, they can take my livelihood

- but my eternity's secure"

- blessed and holy are those that have part in the

first resurrection

B. You have a future

- I think its interesting that the majority of the

information on the resurrection is found in the

book of I Cor. and the book of Rev.

- INPUT - what do we know about the church at

Corinth? (carnal, divisions, etc)

- most of the Revelation churches had serious

problems as well

- God wants people to know, "You haven't messed up so

bad that I can't use you"

- if you'll trust Christ as Savior and Lord, there's

a place for you in the kingdom of God

- you've got a future

- that truth ought to motivate us

- God told churches like the one at Corinth and the

Revelation churches about their futures because the

more clearly a person sees his future, the more

likely he is to change his present

- see, show me a person who's willing to stand up for

what's right even if it may cost them their job or

their popularity

- I'll show you someone who understands their

future

- show me a person who's not just chasing after the

world as if thats all there is to life

- I'll show you someone who understands their

future

- people who are wiling to make great sacrifices to

serve God are people who understand their future

- it would be good to get into the habit of asking

the question:

- is that any way for a future ruler with

Christ to be behaving?

...thinking ...speaking

- see, you have a future

- by the way - this subject has a way of putting this

life in perspective

- you might be here tonight and would say - Oh PV,

I'm getting old - my work's about done

- thats not what the Bible says, frankly, you've just

begun

- it doesn't matter how old you are, comparatively

speaking, you're an infant

- you've got a whole millennium to live through, and

then all of eternity to praise the Savior

- you've got a future, and you're just beginning

C. You have a productive future

- if I asked you to fill in this blank tonight, how

would you do it

- the job I'd really like to have right now would be

__________

- the job where I could be most productive with my

skills would be __________

- maybe some would say

- I'd like to be the comptroller of the company

- I'd like to be the office manager

- I'd like to be invited to work on the

president's staff

- think of the greatest position you could possibly

envision

- then remember this - you'll have a much greater

position in the kingdom of God

-the verse says that you'll be a priest of God and

of Christ, reigning with him 1000 years

- I think some folks view heaven as a place where

they'll lay around and eat banana pudding

- thats not what the Bible says

- the Bible says that you'll be busy serving in the

kingdom of God

- but it will be much different than things today

- you'll have a glorified body so you don't have to

worry about the weakness of the flesh anymore

- you'll have a perfect supervisor, the Lord Jesus

Christ

- you'll be part of a government which is a perfect

blend of mercy and truth

- if you've trusted Christ as personal savior, you

have a productive future ahead