Bible Study Lesson 128 – Truth – The Judgement

 

Dear Brethren and Friends,

 

Scripture references in blue, or red for emphasis. Comments by Wallace in black, or red for emphasis.

 

Tonight we take a close look at chapters 20, 21, and 22 in  the Book of Revelation,.  As you know much of the Book of Revelation is figurative language, and not understood easily.  But I believe that the parts that pertain to us in  the world today may be understood, if one will take the time to study it carefully; while using the knowledge he has of the rest of the Bible to help in that study.

 

Rev 20:1-22:20

 

Satan Bound 1000 Years

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan , and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

 

4 The Saints Reign with Christ 1000 Years

And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

 

7 Satanic Rebellion Crushed

(cf. Ezek 38; 39)

Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan  will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They (devil) went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints (the children of God) and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

 

11 The Great White Throne Judgment

Then I saw a great white throne and Him(God) who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works (We need to know that in the end we all will be judged, according to our works!), by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.   15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

Revelation 21

 

21:1 All Things Made New

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. (Indeed, the children of God will at this time be with God, Himself). God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain(What a wonderful thing, indeed, to be with God, in heaven, no more pain, and God shall wipe away all tears from the saints-His children- eyes), for the former things have passed away."

5 Then He who sat on the throne said,"Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."

6 And He said to me,"It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes (and how does one overcome?  by obeying God’s commandments, and properly worshipping Him) shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son (children of God). 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral (we are talking here about gays, and other people who need medical help to right themselves, so that they can be right with God, and can be children of God), sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

 

9 The New Jerusalem

(cf. Ezek 48:30-35)

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."   10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.

14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

 

22 The Glory of the New Jerusalem

But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved (children of God) shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.   25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day(there shall be no night there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.   27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life (The Lamb’s Book of Life.  Indeed the Lamb of God, or God the Christ, came to the earth as God’s Messenger, gathered together the saints-the children of God- those who are saved; and now they will rest with God and the Lamb in heaven).

 

Revelation 22

 

22:1 The River of Life

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal (I really love the song, Shall We Gather at the River), proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.

 

6 The Time Is Near

Then he said to me,"These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place (I believe that the word ‘shortly’ here is figurative, but the ‘shortly’ is getting even shorter as each day goes by, brethren and friends, so we all need to be watchful and make sure our lives are right with God, and that we are walking as children of God in the world).

7 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." 

8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

9 Then he said to me,"See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book (children of God). Worship God." 10 And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still."

 

12 Jesus Testifies to the Churches

"And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.  13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." 

14 Blessed are those who do His commandments (the children of God), that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star." 

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (It is really that simple; please go to my website www.bentleypublications.com and open ‘Are Your Saved’ and it will tell you all you need to do to be saved.)

 

18 A Warning

For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. (Do you hear and understand what He is saying?  Please make sure you do!  I just do not believe that we should make up our own church, and our own rules of worship, and our own way of living; brethren and friends, God has already done all of that for us.  We must do His will if we want to be saved in heaven; and if you do not want to be saved in heaven, be sure, please, what the alternatives are.  God has arranged another place for those who do not want to be saved in heaven.  And that is one of the reasons we write Bible lessons, and why we teach the church of God; so that you will hear and follow His path to salvation!!!)

20 I Am Coming Quickly

He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly."

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.  NKJV

 

We cannot serve God and the world (Satan) at the same time. Satan is of the world and the ruler of it! If the Bible says that something is not of God, then it is of the world (of sin-Satan).  We must do the will of God if we want to live with Him in glory! When we do we are of the Father, when we do not do the will of the Father we are of the world (of Satan). There is no gray area in which we are neither of the Father nor of the devil, we are either of the Father or of the devil at all times! We need to be constantly aware of that!

 

It is our intent to teach only the truth, the Word of God as it is written in the Bible and to teach about the true church described in the Bible, the church of God. If you find that we are not doing this we will appreciate it if you will please call it to our attention. Thank you.

 

In this study, as in all we will publish, if you have questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact us: walter@bentleypublications.com or walter1@cafes.net. We also invite you to visit us online at www.bentleypublications.com.

 

And, as you go, wherever you go, please go with God!!!

 

For God and Christ,

Wallace