Episode Transcript
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, go therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Welcome to go teach all nations, bringing you Christ's teachings through australian and international speakers.
And here is today's presenter, Pastor George Burnside.
I was walking on the Mount of Olives, and I walked from there down onto the little hills of Bethany, overlooking Bethany. It was their friends, just over 1900 years ago, that Jesus walked with his disciples. He was telling them he was going away, but he said, don't be discouraged, but I'm coming back again.
And as he talked with them, he raised his male scarred hands in blessing over his disciples and began to ascend back to the glory country. His disciples looked up as he went. They wanted to go too, but looking back, Jesus said, don't be discouraged.
I'm coming back again. And as he went up, those words came echoing down from the vaulted skies. I'm coming back again.
And when Jesus was on the very borders of the eternal world, he paused. And turning to two of his angels, he said, look, I want you to go back to the earth with a special message for those men that I have left. Those angels said, look, Lord, we want to go through the glory gates with you.
Your Father is preparing a wonderful welcome. We want to be there. Yes, Jesus said, I know that, but I've got a special message I want you to take back to those men I left on the earth.
And back they went. I'm going to now read you the rest of the story, Acts 1. And down here in verse 9, we read.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sights. And while they looked steadfastly towards heaven, as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. And friends, those words so gripped the hearts and minds of the disciples that they went back there into Jerusalem with joy just beaming from their faces.
And they went out to preach the gospel to a world that said, we don't want your gospel. And in the face of the lions, gaudy mane and the arena and the axeman's block, they went out and they preached that word. And it shook the Roman Empire.
And, friends, it was that knowledge that Jesus was coming again that empowered those men to preach that message. And to willingly die because they knew that Christ was coming again. And that was all that mattered.
Nothing else mattered in this world. Jesus was coming again. And that was the secret, friends, of the inspiration of those early Christians in the first century.
In fact, as you go through the word of God, you'll find that the second coming of Christ is mentioned more than any other subject in the Bible. People say, well, I only want a certain part of the Bible, friends, it doesn't matter which part of the Bible you believe in. You'll have to believe in the coming of Christ.
For the coming of Christ is mentioned in every part of the Bible. And regardless of what church you go to or which part of the Bible you accept, you must believe that Jesus will come again, because it's all true. The word of God.
Of course, the devil hates the coming of Christ, and he's done all he possibly can to brush it aside. He doesn't want people to know about the coming of Christ. He hates it.
In fact, when Jesus was talking about his coming again and the disciples came along, as you read in Matthew 24:3, they said, Lord, tell us, when shall these things be? What shall be the sign of thy coming? And at the end of the world, you naturally would expect Jesus to start right in and give you some signs. But they said, what is the sign? But the very first word that Jesus uttered in regard to his coming again was a warning. You'll find it in verse 4 of Matthew 24.
Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you. Why, listen, for many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ and shall deceive many. And they're going to do amazing things too.
So neither multitudes nor miracles is a proof. And now I showed you the other night how you can easily understand how Jesus will come again. For four times in the sixth chapter of John at least, you'll find that Jesus said he will raise the dead.
When? At the last day. And when you turn over to 1 Thessalonians 4. 16, we have that great statement made by the apostle Paul.
In fact, Paul, I think, mentions the coming of Christ just about every few verses through every epistle that he ever wrote. But here in Thessalonians he makes it very strong and plain. For he said, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God.
And the dead in Christ shall rise. Then, friends, the last day will be the day when Jesus comes and calls the dead from their dusty beds. And they rise and they Rise to go home with him.
Now, I've had quite a number of questions that I promised to answer, so I'll try to cover them this afternoon. I've had a few in regard to the millennium. Now, the millennium is mentioned over in Revelation 20.
Actually, the word millennium is not found anywhere in the Bible. But millennium simply means a thousand years. Just as a decade means 10 years, or a century means a hundred.
So the millennium, the word millennium simply means a thousand years. And while the word millennium is not in the Bible, it is quite cor. You read quite a deal about the thousand years.
But the thousand years, friends, is only mentioned in one chapter in the Bible, and That is Revelation 20. You'll find it mentioned over and over and over again. Notice Revelation 20, verse 1.
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid a hold and the dragon, that old serpent, which is called the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years 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 shall be fulfilled. And after that he must be loosed a little season.
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgement was given unto them. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are 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. And so you see, friends, over and over and over again the thousand years is mentioned in this great chapter.
And you'll notice on either end of the thousand years is a resurrection. For it says, there is the first resurrection and the second resurrection. And the rest of the dead, they didn't rise until the close of the thousand years.
It says, blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. Well now we know when the first resurrection takes place, because we have just read there in 1 Thessalonians 4, 16, that when the Lord himself descends from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, the dead in Christ shall rise when first there's the first resurrection, when Jesus our Lord comes again. What a wonderful day that will be.
We live today, friends, in a very wonderful time. The present age, a golden age, yes, but too often a godless age. But one of these times, friends, it's going to cease.
This age will end. In fact, some translations, instead of the end of the world, they translate at the end of the age. The age in which we live is going to terminate, and it's going to terminate with the coming of Jesus when he raises his people.
And that will end. Friends, when Jesus comes and the righteous are raised. Now, after the resurrection of the righteous, you have a thousand years.
That is very, very plain because it says that it begins with the first resurrection. And after that resurrection, then the devil is bound for a thousand years. I meet some people that believe we're in the millennium today.
In fact, they used to take the name millennial Dornus because they maintained that Christ came to this Earth in 1914 and the millennium really began then, and that the devil is bound today. Well, friends, if the devil is bound today, heaven help us when he's let loose. Don't you think so? But if he's bound today, it must be with a rubber chain.
It can certainly stretch a long, long way, don't you think so? It's very, very evident, Friends, we are not in the millennium today, but the millennium is future. And we'll commence with the resurrection of the righteous when Jesus comes and raises the righteous dead first of all. That is the first resurrection.
And if we see something of what happens on that great day, we can understand just what conditions will be like. For it says the devil will be bound in the bottomless pit. I have a lot of questions about the bottomless pit.
They say, how can you have a pit without a bottom in it? They say it'd be a whole right truth. It certainly looks like it too. However, that word is translated from a Greek word, abyssos.
And abyssos simply means a barren, chaotic condition. It is mentioned seven times in the book of Revelation. There's another seven for you, if you like.
And in every case, it is talking about this earth in a barren condition, either spiritually or physically. In every case, no exceptions. And friends, when Jesus comes and the righteous dead are caught up, and it says that the righteous living will be caught up together with the dead that have just been raised, and they'll be transported right home to glory where they live and reign with Christ.
Well, friends, if all the righteous dead rise here and the righteous living are caught up, tell me, how many good people will be on the earth after Jesus comes? Not one. They'll all be gone. What happens to the wicked? I don't know if I'll take time this afternoon to read you a whole line of text that shows exactly what will happen over.
In Thessalonians 2, Thessalonians 2, 8, it says that when Jesus comes, the wicked will be struck dead with the very brightness of his coming. Over there in Isaiah, it says that the Lord will make the earth empty, he'll turn it upside down, and he'll scatter abroad the inhabitants. And Jeremiah says that the wicked will be lying across the earth dead.
They'll neither be lamented, neither gathered. They'll lie there as rubbish in the earth. There's not a soul to bury them, for the righteous are caught up and taken home to glory, and the wicked are deaths.
And so, friends, there'll be nobody there. And the devil will be out of a job for a whole thousand years because there's nobody to tempt. The righteous are beyond his power and the wicked are dead.
They're gone. And so there's nobody. And that is the very meaning, friends, of the word bottomless pits.
It means a barren, chaotic condition. And over and over again, the Bible refers to the earth as a desolate place after the coming of Christ when the cities of the nations fell. And Jeremiah refers to this earth, barren, chaotic, and it will be reduced to that condition at the presence of our Lord when he comes again.
And so I don't think I need to take time to read up a lot of texts and emphasise that. However, if there's anybody got a question, drop a question in the box and I'll very soon give you plenty of evidence on it. But I don't want to take time to pour in a whole lot of evidence when I don't think it is needed.
Now, friends, we are coming down to the close because the Bible distinctly says that we have two resurrections here in Revelation 20, the first one when Jesus comes again and the righteous erased. In Revelation 20 and verse 5, it says the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are finished. Well, pray tell me, friends, if all the righteous are raised here, then who will the rest of the dead be, eh? The only people it could be is the wicked.
And they will rise at the close of the thousand years. So you see, friends, this great period of a thousand years is bounded on either end by a resurrection. First, when Jesus comes and the righteous are raised, and then down at the close of the thousand years, when the wicked are raised, you've got two resurrections.
And if you die, and if Jesus doesn't come soon, you will. Every one of us will die. For at the end of every road, like the path of glory it leads.
But to the grave. But you'll rise again. For everybody that goes down in death will rise again.
You'll have no choice on that. You will have a choice as to whether you rise here or whether you rise here. You'll have the choice.
Jesus referred to those two resurrections. John, the fifth chapter would probably be the best verse, or at least one of many we could read on this interesting subject. John 5.
And I'm reading to you verse 28. Note it. Jesus himself said, marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which how many? All that are in the grave shall hear his voice.
They'll all rise, and they shall come forth. They that have done good unto the resurrection of life, they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. And so, friends, you have the two resurrections standing right out.
One the resurrection of the righteous and the other the resurrection of the wicked, the resurrection of life or the resurrection of damnation, as Jesus refers to. And there are many, many passages in the Bible that refer to those two great resurrections. When Jesus our Lord will come, he raises the righteous.
When he comes again, and down at the close of the millennium, he will raise the wicked. Now, some people wonder just what we are going to do during the thousand years. Why does God put this period in? Well, I'll read you just why and what we'll be doing.
And then we'll come on to some very, very interesting themes. For here In Revelation chapter 20, we have clearly outlined the millennium. I don't know why anybody ever needs to get confused on this great theme, because it is outlined so clearly here in this chapter.
Very, very clear. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such, the second death hath no power.
You see, friends, it is only the blessed and the holy that rise here. On such the second death hath no power. If you rise here, the second death won't have any power on you.
We'll deal with that in a minute. But they shall live and reign with Christ a thousand years. The righteous will be living and reigning with Christ during the thousand years.
Now, they can't be living and reigning on the earth because we've already discovered there won't be anybody there. Now, where do they live and reign with Christ? The very expression tells you they live and reign with Christ. When Christ comes, the redeemed are caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
Jesus said, in my Father's house, what are many mansions, many dwelling places? Last night we saw some of them on the screen. Countless billions of suns with Worlds revolving around them throughout space. Jesus said, in my Father's house are many mansions or many dwelling places.
I go to prepare a place for you. And he went right home to the third heaven to prepare a place for his people. And as sure he said, as I go away, I'll come again, and I'll receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye will be also.
So Jesus is coming to transport his people right home to the land of glory. That's the reason why we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And then his angels gather up the host that have been raised and they are transported right home for 365,000 days in the third heaven where they will live and reign with Christ.
Now listen, friends, if you come and live with me, that's in my place. If I come and live with you, that's at your place. The righteous friends will live and reign with Christ in his place.
I'll show you later on, when Christ comes to live and reign with men, it won't be for a thousand years. It'll be for all eternity. I meet a lot of people, friends, that think that Jesus is coming to reign on the earth for a thousand years.
You know, you can read this dear old book from COVID to cover and you won't find a verse anywhere in the Bible that says that Christ will reign on the earth for a thousand years. Not one. Not one.
But it distinctly shows us that they'll live and reign with Christ in the third heaven for a thousand years. I'll show you, friends, when he reigns on earth, that'll be for all eternity. But during the thousand years, they live and reign with Christ in the land of glory.
The record says that they'll have a part in judgments. They'll be able to investigate the book of records and see why certain people are not there. But all God's judgments, friends, will be carried out above wars.
And nobody will ever be able to question the justice of our God. That's the reason why, when the battle is over and the victory won for all eternity, that every being in the universe will say, just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. God's judgement, friend.
Every being will agree that it was just and true. They've seen the records. They've seen the reason why certain people are not there.
And they'll be all in perfect harmony with it. But friends, we are going to have a wonderful time in the third heaven. A wonderful time.
For not merely will we have part in judgement, but in Revelation 19, we are told that we are going to have part in the marriage supper of the Lamb. In the greatest supper that was ever held throughout all eternity will be when the redeemed are gathered home with Jesus. In fact, Jesus said on one occasion that he is going to gird himself and he is going to serve his people.
What a wonderful thing to be invited to a banquet when Jesus himself will wait on his people. You see, Jesus loves his people and he can't do enough for us and even friends, when he is king of kings and has the adoration of a holy universe, he said he will gird himself and step down and wait on his people, the people that he has redeemed from this earth. You know, I meet a lot of people that don't like to step down and serve anybody.
Jesus is willing, friends, to step from the highest and come right down and feed his people. On another occasion, he kneeled down and he washed the dirty feet of his disciples. There's no such a thing as pride in the heart of our Lord.
He loves his people and he's willing to do anything at all for them. Enduring the thousand years. We'll have parts in the great married supper of the Lamb.
But friends, that is not all. Ah, no, that's not all. But here in Revelation, chapter 14 and verse 4, we read this statement talking about the people who will be redeemed from the last days.
Especially it says verse four, I won't read at all. These are they which follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. These have been redeemed from among men.
These are they which shall follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. Wherever Jesus goes, his people can go with them. And where will Jesus go? Remember, friends, that Jesus will be the King of kings.
It says at his name every knee shall bow, whether in heaven or on earth. Throughout the whole universe they'll all be under King Jesus. He said, in my Father's house are many mansions.
This world, friends, is not all there is to it. Oh, no. In fact, in Hebrews 11:4 it says, by faith we understand that worlds plural were created by the word of God by Jesus.
He is the creator and he is the King of all. He is the great superintendent of the universe. Turn over to Romans and I will show you some very wonderful things here.
Romans, this time the eighth chapter. And here in the 17th verse we read. I won't just quote it, I will turn it up and I will read it to you so I won't make the slightest lip.
Romans 8, 17. Listen. And if children, then heirs Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
We will be joint heirs with Christ. What does that mean? What does it mean to be a joint heir with Christ? I could illustrate it this way. Mrs.
Burnside and I are joint owners of all that we possess. The little we have is in a joint account in the bank. I'm over here in New Zealand.
She could go along and draw the whole lot of it. Or if I went back, I could go along and draw the whole lot of it. We have a joint account.
All we own. We are joint owners. It's not mine.
It's not hers. It's ours. We are joint owners.
Jesus makes his people joint heirs with Him. That is, we are fellow heirs with Him. And what is his is ours because we are joint heirs with Him.
You know, friends, I'd far sooner be a joint heir with Christ than a millionaire on this earth, wouldn't you? A million times over. But I want to show you, friends just what you'll come in for. You turn over.
Now, in the third chapter of the Gospel of John, John, chapter three. And I'm reading to you. Verse 35.
The Father loveth a son and hath given all things into his hands. In the third chapter of John, and verse 16, it says, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish but have everlasting life. God loved this world and he gave Jesus his only Son.
And because he did that in a special way, the Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hands. Jesus is the owner of all things. Everything is His.
Just before he ascended back to the glory land, he raised his nail scarred hand and he said, all power in heaven and in earth is mine. Think of it. It's all His.
And the record says that the Father has given all things into the hands of Jesus. You and I, friends, can be joint owners with Christ, joint heirs with Christ. We can be then joint owners with Christ.
Then, friends, if all things belong to Jesus and we are joint heirs with Christ, then all things are ours. Paul tells us that in one of his epistles. He says that all things are ours.
For through Christ, friends, we can come in and be joint heirs with Christ. And as Christ is the great superintendent of the whole universe, he will be able to visit those various worlds right throughout his vast dominion. He said, in my Father's house are many, many dwelling places.
And Jesus will be able to visit all of those places as the great superintendent. And as he goes, he takes with him the company of his redeemed, the people that he rescued from that one black spot in the universe of our gods. He lifts them right hope, and he takes them, friends, whithersoever he goeth, for thou follow the Lamb wheresoever He goeth.
We'll be able then, friends, on that glorious day to wing our tireless flights to worlds afire. For the whole universe will be opened up to the people of gods. Every person that has studied astronomy that I know anything about, as I've spoken with them, they all tell me that they see so much and they get so enraptured they want to see a little more.
That's why they keep building bigger and still bigger telescopes, to try to see a little more of the wonders of the universe. But they're getting to the place, friends, where they build telescopes so big now that any bigger. Well, they just couldn't handle them.
You see, they built what they call refractory telescopes. That is, you look through it like an ordinary pair of field glasses or a telescope, you know. But they could only build those to a certain size.
And then they got so big and so long, they couldn't handle them. So they can't build refractory telescopes much bigger than, say, about 24 inches. I think that's about the biggest.
And then, friends, they're so long, they couldn't handle them. So then they have got to resort to reflectors. And the light comes down and is reflected from a mirror and then caught on a little prism and they see it through an eyepiece.
And when you look at the stars up there, you look in the side here and you see what is reflected from a mirror down there. They've got to do that in order to handle it. And the biggest telescopes in this world are reflectors.
And, friends, they've got to the place now where they're just about far too big to handle. And if they build a bigger one, well, then they'll face the gigantic problem of being able to handle it. They have just about reached the limits of their ability to build bigger telescopes.
But, friends, they long to see a little more. They say it'll take at least 30 or 40 years to map the heavens with the telescopes they have got. And when they get to that, I suppose they'll try to build a bigger one, but they don't know how they'll ever do it.
It seems to be beyond them. But the more you look through, the more you want to see just a little more. What a wonderful day, friends, when with Jesus, the King of glory, we are able to wing our tireless flights to worlds afar.
And down here, in these last days, when Jesus is about to transport his people home to glory, men have become strangely interested in space travel. A few years ago, they never talked about it, they never thought about it, but now, friends, they are talking a lot about it. God is making the sons of men conscious of space travel and they're beginning to think about getting up there.
And like the people of ancient Babel, they were going to build a tower to reach to heaven, but they didn't get very far. Now they're talking about shooting rockets away through there into the starry heavens, but they're beginning to run into a terrible lot of problems. They've accomplished an amazing thing.
When they hit the moon with a rocket, they fired a shot and they hit the moon. A lot of people don't think they did. Friends, I'm inclined to think they probably did.
They may have. They may not have, as a lot of people think, but I'm inclined to think probably they did. For this moon, friends, is only.
The moon is only a satellite of this Earth. It's not very far away, comparatively speaking, when you come into the universe, well, the moon is only like going to your back door. And to get around the rest of the place is like taking a trip around the world.
In contrast, it is no more 240,000 miles and you're at the moon but the nearest planet, friends, you're into millions of miles and with the fastest rocket that man has today, even travelling at thousands of miles and minutes, it would take them weeks to reach the nearest planets. And they know now that with a bombardment of radio particles coming from the sun, that it would be next door to impossible for a man to get through to a planet without coming in contact with those things. And it would be certain death unless he was encased with literally tonnes and tonnes of leads.
Which makes it of course, an utter absurdity for friends, they couldn't possibly get through. And they can talk about it and they can speculate around it, but, friends, as far as interplanetary travel is concerned, they haven't even got to the back door. To get to the moon is a tremendous problem.
To shoot a rocket there is a tremendous thing, but that's only a start. For to get a man up there will be a big thing, but that's only the beginning of the problem. To land a man there, because he'll have to take oxygen, he'll have to take water, he'll have to take food, and then he'll have to get enough fuel to get him back because there's nothing on the moon.
And not only that, he'll need to take a lot of protection because if he's in the sun, it'll be above boiling point. If he gets out of the sun, he'll be 200 degrees below zero and he'll be frozen stiff. So you see, friends, there's a tremendous lot of problems.
And mankind, friends, hasn't begun to solve the problems yet of space travel. But my dear friends, God is, as it were, attracting the attention of mankind to the heavens today because he is getting a people ready to go home. And when Jesus comes, millions of unfallen beings from heaven, the angels will visit this world.
We'll have the privilege of seeing beings from outer space coming here. And not only that, but we are going to have the privilege of visiting with them in worlds of fire. But remember this, friends, space travel will be limited only to the people of gods.
They can talk about it and they can speculate about it. But the only people, friends, who will be going will be the people of God. The people who will be joint heirs with Christ.
I think I told you about it the other day when the students had their procession up there in Brisbane. They had me sitting straddle legged on a big float, you know, they had me up there on the rockets leaving Woomer and headed for heaven. And they paraded that around the streets.
In fact, they had two floats about me when I was lecturing there in Brisbane at the time. And they had two big floats about me. I don't know really what the other one was about.
I didn't see it, but I heard quite a deal about the one where they had me shooting off to heaven on a rocket. Well, I said, that's quite all right. They had me going in the right direction.
But I'm not planning, friends, by going on a rocket. I'm planning on space travel very soon. But it won't be by a rocket.
It'll be by Emmanuel's glory special when he sweeps his people right home to the third heaven where they'll live and reign with Christ. And then they'll be able with him to visit in worlds afire. Truly eye, if not seen nor ear hurts.
Neither hath it entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those that love him. There are tremendous things ahead for the people of God. Tremendous things to be a joint heir with Christ.
Think of it, you know, they showed me through when I was in the States. They took me down what they Call Millionaires Row. Every home in that street was built and owned by a millionaire.
They took me through the great home that once was the home of John D. Rockefeller. They said, you know, the trouble is he doesn't know what he's worth.
I said, really? That's my trouble. That's my trouble. I don't know what I'm worth.
And my dear Christian friend, you don't know what you're worth. You couldn't begin to estimate it. For Jesus said, if you are a child of God, then you are a joint heir with Christ.
And all things not merely on this world is his, but all things throughout a whole universe belongs to him. And to be a joint heir with Christ, well, friends, it is certainly worth more than being a millionaire on this earth, isn't it? Never feel envy about a millionaire down here. I bless your heart.
If he's not a child of God, that's all the poor man's ever going to get, and he'll leave the lot. There are great things in store for the people of God. Yes, great things.
And the main purpose, friends, why Jesus will come again and gather up his people, is to transport them home to heaven, because they can't get there without him. When Nansen, the Norwegian explorer, went away up into the Arctic, he crossed those hundreds and hundreds of miles of ice, just ice floes. I flew once across the northern Atlantic in the early mornings.
I looked down and the whole ocean was frozen. You could see great icebergs towering up. You could tell they were at a fair height by the long shadow they threw in the early morning sunlight.
And I looked down at an ocean that was frozen. We were away up north of Newfoundland in the early spring. Well, when Nansen went away up there, he went up into those flats, limitless expanse of ice, flat ice.
And do you know what he did? He took a pigeon out of a box and he wrote a little message on a small piece of paper, a message back to his wife in Norway. He tied it to the leg of the pigeon and he threw it up. That pigeon circled a couple of times, and then like an arrow, it shot away across that trackless way for home.
No man could do it. How the pigeon can do it, we don't know. No human being could do it, for no man could find his way home.
No human being, friends, will ever find their way to heaven. Never. So Jesus has got to come down here and take us home.
And he's not only going to take us home, friends, but he's going to take us through worlds afar when we'll see the king in all his beauty and we'll behold the land that is very far off. Now I must show you a few more things because I promised to answer a few questions this afternoon. We've come now right down to the close of the thousand years.
We discovered that Satan will be bound for a thousand years because there'll be nobody to work on when Jesus comes. The righteous are caught up to glory and the wicked are dead. At the close of the thousand years, the wicked are raised.
And how? Because Jesus comes down at the close of the thousand years in the city of Goth. Here he comes and raises his people and takes them home to the glory land. And at the close of the thousand years, that wonderful city of God comes down here onto the earth.
That's the time when the feet of Jesus will touch on the Mount of Olives and it will part in two. And on that new land will rest the city of God. And that, friends, will become the eternal home of God's people, or at least it will become the capital.
And when Jesus comes here, he raises the righteous. When he comes here, he will raise the wicked. For it's only the voice of Jesus that will ever raise them.
And no doubt, when Satan sees the wicked raised, he goes out and tells those people that he raised them and tries to stir them up. But we come right down now to the close of this great period. Notice it.
Revelation 20, verse 7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. Now how will he be loosed down here? He was bound here, friends, because he had nothing to work on.
He'll be loosed here because he's got something to work on. Isn't that so? And as soon as the wicked are raised, he gets right back in his old job again. Listen.
And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. People say to me, oh, well, it must be all right. Everybody does it.
Friends, if you want to come up down here, that's just what to do. Do what everybody does. For the record says that when the wicked are raised, they come up like the sand of the sea in multitude a tremendous host.
I often think that's about the saddest verse in the whole of the Bible. They'll rise a tremendous host. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about the beloved city and fire.
Came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. As they go up there to take the city of God, they surround it because that wonderful city is down here on the earth. John said in Revelation 21:2, he said, I saw the holy city come down here onto the earth.
And the great host of the wicked, as they rise, they can look in through the Jasper walls because they're crystal clear. And they look through the walls. And egged on by Satan, they are quite convinced that their great host is well able to capture the city because they far outnumber the redeemed in sight.
And it says they surround the city of God. They're going to take us. And they go up to take it, when suddenly fire halts them in their track.
And that fire, the Bible says, devours them. It eats them right up. It swallows them up.
It devours them and it eats them right up. And that fire, friends, will burn up all the thorns and the thistles and every corruptible thing on this earth, and God will wipe them out. They're gone.
And I read in verse 14 of the same chapter, and death and hell, or death and the grave would cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Jesus comes and he raises the dead here, friends, he ends death forever.
For the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. It's referred to as the second death. Jesus has just told us that those that rise here won't come in for the second death.
But the wicked, friends come in for what the Bible says is the second death. That's the hell fire of the Bible. And Jesus refer to the hell fire that the wicked will face.
Unquenchable fire. Unquenchable fire, friends, doesn't mean fire that won't go out. It means it's fire that can't be put out.
We talk about a big building going up in unquenchable fire. It can't be put out. The fire brigade is beaten.
That all the fire brigades of the earth, friends, won't stop this fire, but it'll burn out. For death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire and there devoured. For that fire devours them. And, friends, out of the ashes of this old world, God will make a new earth entirely.
And that will become the eternal hope of God's people. And throughout the ceaseless ages of all eternity, God's people will be able to enjoy the work of their hands. For Jesus has redeemed them.
Then, my friends, the meek will inherit the earth. Tremendous things lie ahead for this world. And wonderful things lie ahead for the Saint of God.
An old lady was getting right along in years, and somebody said, you know, her best days are finished. She said, no fear, my best days will be in the kingdom of God. They are still ahead.
And the best days, friends, ahead for the people of God are there in the land of glory, on the other side of the coming of our Lord. You say, well, how can we find and how can we reach that city of the blessed? I tell you, Christian friends, you'll need to be in earnest about it. You won't drift in.
You remember, on one occasion Jesus said, strive to enter in that word strive there means agonise. Put forth everything you've got to get in there, for it'll be worth it. And on another occasion, Jesus said, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
Make it the very first business of your life. For, friends, there are amazing things ahead for the saint of gods. For if you miss it, you'll miss everything.
Jesus said, what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole of this world and lose his own soul? For, friends, if you got the whole of this world, you're not very likely to get much of it. But if you got the whole lot of it, it would only be a speck in the universe of our God, what we can come in for as joint heirs with Christ. There's tremendous things ahead, you know, friends.
And the day when the wicked gather round the city of God, we'll all be there. That's the time when Paul referred to, and he said, we'll all stand before the judgement seat of Christ. We'll all be there.
Either inside the city walls or outside, you'll all be there. Your fathers will be there, your mother, your brothers, your sisters, your uncles, your aunts, your cousins, your friends, your enemies, they'll all be there. Everyone that's ever lived will be there.
Either inside the walls or outside. We'll all stand before the judgement seat of Christ. That's the time when Jesus will say to those in his right, come ye blessed of my father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the earth. And that's the time, friends, when he'll say to the wicked, depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For that fire, friends, will eat them up.
And they'll be gone. It'll be everlasting. For from that second death, friends, there'll never be a resurrection.
It'll be everlasting. They're gone. But we read over there in Malachi, the day will come when all the wicked and all the prouds will become as stubble.
And the day that cometh will burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, and leave them neither root nor branch. They're gone. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do it.
Seth, the Lord of hosts. They're gone. God won't perpetuate sin, friends.
God won't have just over the edge of heaven a great big hell where they're going to roast throughout all eternity. They're gone. In fact, somebody put a question in, I think it was yesterday, some new Australian who'd come from a communist country.
He said Stalin, when he was over there, had put to death thousands. He was brutal, he said. He came over here to Christchurch and he listened to a Protestant minister who said that Jesus would damn people and they would suffer on and on and on throughout the ceaseless ages of all eternity.
He said that sermon terrorised him. And he came to the conclusion that Stellan was a saint alongside of Jesus Christ. But, my dear friends, that is not true.
For Jesus will not perpetuate sin anywhere. He'll wipe it out. And the whole purpose, friends, of hell, is to wipe out the wicked and to bring in a new earth.
In fact, there are two main words in the New Testament, you know, that are translated hell. I've had a few questions about it. One is from the word Hades, which means the grave.
In the majority of cases in the Bible, the word hell is talking about Hades, the grave. The other word is the word Gehenna. And that, friends, is where Jesus referred to as their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched.
Now, what did he mean? Gehenna, friends, was a valley just outside of the walls of old Jerusalem. It was really the city's rubbish dump. They threw the rubbish out there.
Even the bodies of criminals and animals they would throw out there. And the fires were continually burning because they were continually throwing rubbish there. And Jesus pointed to that, to Gehenna, as the hell fire of the wicked.
It was a place of destruction, not a place of torments, but a place friends of destruction. And in case anybody got the idea that they might escape the fire, because sometimes bodies rolled out, he reminded them if they weren't burned, the worms ate them any rates, he said their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched and he referred to Gehenna as a place of destruction. But, friends, it's not burning today.
For I walked the full length of Gehenna not very long ago. You'll often hear people say, well, nobody's ever been to hell and come back and told us, have you ever heard that? Well, I've been to hell, friends, I walked the length of it and came back. And it wasn't too hot when I was there either.
Not too hot. You don't very often meet a man who's been to hell and come back again. Well, I went to Gehenna, friends, the place that Jesus referred to.
But it's not hot today. In fact, I wore my overcoat through the whole place. It was cold.
It was in the early spring. And friends, Jesus referred to that because our God is a God of love. And if people don't want him, friends, well then.
And they don't want to live with him. The only thing that he can do is wipe them out and they'll be gone. And that fire, friends, will eat them up.
It's the second death as they die, the death of separation from God. And they go down to oblivion. And they're gone.
And the next chapter says, and God shall wipe away all tears from all eyes, and there shall be no more suffering, no more sorrow, and no more death. There's not a pain in the whole universe. It's gone.
No sorrow, no sighing, no suffering. That couldn't be true, friends, if there was a perpetual hell burning. But they're gone.
And the Bible opens very much the same way as it began, with the new heavens and a new earth, and no doubt from this earth, and it becomes the great capital for Jesus. From there too, we'll be able to visit around to worlds of fire. Some people say, what are we going to do in heaven for all eternity? I tell you, friends, every time we get a new glimpse of Jesus, we'll see a new beauty in his character that we've never seen before.
We'll never exhaust Jesus, and every time we meet him, he'll be able to show us something new. For, friends, this earth would take a tremendous lot of exhausting in all its wonders. But then, friends, we've got 10 billion blazing suns with worlds too.
In my Father's house are many mansions and you and I, friends, will have the privilege of with Jesus winging our tireless flight to worlds afar. We'll see the King in all his beauty and we'll behold the land that is very far off. Truly our God has great things in store for his blood, bore children.
You know, we ought to be the happiest people in the whole world, shouldn't we? And even friends, as you see the tremendous things looming up on this earth, when the hearts of men and women are terrified, when they are failing them for fear as they look on the things that are coming on the earth, Jesus said, when you see those things, what about it? He said, look up. Lift up your heads. Why? For your redemption draweth nigh.
Your redemption draweth nigh. Perhaps I should pause for a moment and ask you the question, will it be your redemption? Will it? Friends, if you miss out there, you've missed everything. That's what Jesus meant when he said, seek first the kingdom of God and then, my friends, all of these things will be added unto you.
Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come again and receive you. And, friends, if that is true, and it is well, then what else matters?
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