"For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.

"In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself." John 14:2, 3.

"I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens and they had no light." "I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger." Jer. 4:23, 26; Isa. 24:1-3.

"I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled." Jer. 4:25; Zeph. 1:3.

"The Lord hath a controversy with the nations; He will plead with all flesh; He will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord." Jer. 25:31; 2 Thess. 1:7, 8.

"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." Rev. 20:4.

NOTE: These who are seen sitting on thrones of judgment, were at one time dead. Some of them were beheaded for Christ's sake. But the record says they lived. -- 1 Cor. 6:2-3.

"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." Rev. 20:6.

"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." Rev. 20:5.

"And He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." Rev. 20:2.

"And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him." Rev 20:3.

"And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit." Rev. 9:2.

NOTE: If smoke out of this pit should arise to darken the sun and our atmosphere, it is evidence that the pit itself is located here on the earth. The primary signification of the word is, literally, abyss, and is thus given by the American Bible Union. The same word is in some places in the Bible translated "deep." The Septuagint thus uses it in expressing the original condition of the earth in Gen. 1:2; "And darkness was upon the face of the deep." Having previously learned that during the 1,000 years the earth has again become "without form and void," we conclude that Satan's place of confinement is on this earth in its chaotic condition.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter 5:8.

The saints are taken to heaven at the coming of Christ, and the wicked fall dead at His presence, to remain thus during the thousand years. Satan's occupation is gone; there is nothing left for him to do but to wander over the desolate earth, and view the terrible work of which he is the author. There is now no one for him to tempt, and he is therefore bound in his operations.

"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison." Rev. 20:5, 7.

NOTE: When the wicked are raised from the dead, Satan is loosed in the sense that he has opportunity to resume his former work of deception.

"That he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season." Rev. 20:3.

"And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea." Rev. 20:8.

NOTE: At this time the city of God, the New Jerusalem, with the saints, will have come down and taken its place on the earth. ( Rev. 21:2. ) Satan will then inspire the wicked, who have been raised from the dead, with the thought that they can take it for their own.

"And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Rev. 20:9.

"Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it." Ps. 37:34.

"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power." Rev. 20:6.

"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1.

"But the heavens [atmosphere heavens] and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Peter 3:7.

"And the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also; and the works that are therein shall be burned up." 2 Peter 3:10.

"Never the less we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Peter 3:13.

"For evil doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." Ps. 37:9.

"But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Ps. 37:11.

"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." Rev. 5:13.

THE BIBLICAL MILLENNIUM

We live in the last days of history. The end of life as men now know it is nearly ended. Soon Jesus will return. We only have one period of probation and that is during our present life. The Millennium will not be a thousand years of glory and peace here on earth. And it will not be an age of technological progress or a "second chance" for the wicked. All mankind will not be converted before it, during it, or after it. And neither Christ nor His redeemed ones will be on the earth during that thousand years.

Here is the truth about the Millennium and the events that mark its beginning and end:

1. Jesus is going to return for His people: He promised us that He would ( John 14:1-3 ), and so we can know that He will.
2. There are four identifying marks of His Second Advent that cannot be counterfeited by false Christs:
   • He will come so that all alive on the earth at that time can see Him return ( Rev. 1:7; Acts 1:9; Matt. 24:30, 23:27 ).
   • He will come so all can hear Him as He returns ( Matt. 24:31; 1 Thess. 4:16 ).
   • He will come in immense glory, that of His own and the millions of angels that will come with Him ( Luke 9:26; Matt. 28:2-4; Matt. 25:31; Rev. 6:14-17 ).
   • He will come unexpectedly ( Matt. 24:36,44 ).
3. His Second Coming will mark the beginning of the Millennium. Six events will take place:
   • He will raise the righteous dead ( 1 Thess. 4:16 ).
   • He will catch up the righteous living together with the resurrected righteous dead-to meet Him in the clouds ( 1 Thess. 4:17 ).
   • He will change their vile bodies to be like unto His glorious body ( Phil. 3:20-21 ) and translate them ( 1 Cor. 15:51-55; Isa. 25:9 ).
   • Having gathered all the righteous ( 1 Thess. 4:17-18; Matt. 25:34-40; 24:30, 31 ), He will take His redeemed ones to heaven ( John 14:1-3; 17:24; 1 Thess. 4:16-18 ).
   • He will destroy the living wicked with the brightness of His coming ( Luke 17:26-30; 2 Thess. 2:8 ).
   • He will bind Satan to this earth ( Rev. 20:2, 3 ).
4. During the Millennium, the earth will be desolate ( Rev. 20:3; Jer. 4:23-26; Isa. 24:1, 3 ), the wicked are dead ( 2 Thess. 2:8 ), there is no man left ( Isa. 24:20-22; Jer. 4:25, 26; 25:31-33 ), Satan is bound on a desolate earth ( Rev. 20:1-3 ), and the righteous are in heaven ( Rev. 20:4, 6; Dan. 7:22 ) engaged in a work of judgment ( Rev. 20:4; 1 Cor. 6:1-3; Acts 24:25; Jude 6 ).
5. At the close of the Millennium, the Holy City descends from heaven ( Rev. 20:9; 21:1-5; Zech. 14:4,9 ); the wicked are raised, the "second resurrection" ( Rev. 20:5 , first part), and Satan is thus loosed to deceive them again ( Rev. 20:7-8 ); Satan and the wicked surround the City to take it ( Rev. 20:8, 9 ); all of the wicked are destroyed ( Rev. 20:9 ), and this earth is made new ( Rev. 20:1-5; 2 Pet. 3:10-14 ).

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