<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Amazing Facts

Coming World Blackout

Joe Crews

01 Coming World Blackout

Some time ago, a failure of electric generators threw much of the United States into total blackout.

But the amazing fact is that the entire world will soon be thrown into pitch darkness for a thousand years.

Hello this is Joe Cruz and the Amazing Facts broadcast, facts which affect you.

Say how would you like to be seated before a gigantic stage about 2, 000 feet wide and see there portrayed before you the final destiny of every man, woman, and child in the world.

Well that is exactly what God is going to do today as we enter into the study of the great millennial period of prophecy.

God will actually draw the curtain aside and give us a graphic view of the final destiny of every human being who has lived since time began.

Now many people think of Christianity as growing and increasing until the very end of the age.

In fact, multitudes believe that eventually all people will be converted in some golden age of millennial peace.

Now I wish this picture could really be true, but it is exactly the opposite of what the Bible actually teaches.

We are told that the world will become more God-defying and sinful until finally God has to intervene and destroy it.

Jesus said, As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.

And then in II Timothy 3, 1-5 we read of 19 prevailing sins that will mark the last days of this earth's history.

And Paul says perilous times would come, men would be lovers of their own selves, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.

No the picture of a temporal millennium is just a dream, and we are not interested in dreams and fancies.

We want to know what the future really holds for this poor old sin-wracked world of ours.

We are not going to make any great startling claims today, but every point will be established on the plain Word of God.

Why don't you mark it down and read these things in your own Bible as we go along in our study today?

Now the word millennium is not even found in the Bible at all.

It is a word taken from 2 Latin words, mille and anum, which really means literally a thousand years.

And we read mostly about this event in Revelation 20.

It describes the wind-up of things earthly, and there are 2 points we want to establish clearly by the Word of God.

When will the Millennium begin, and when will it end?

Now we will discover that this doctrine of the Millennium clusters closely around the Bible doctrine of the resurrection from the dead.

In Revelation 20, verse 6, we read, Verse 20, Revelation 20, verse 6, we read, Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, on such a second death hath no power.

But they shall be priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

So here is the beginning of the millennium, and it takes place with a resurrection.

Certain people are brought from their graves and begin their thousand-year reign with Jesus.

The Bible describes them as blessed and holy.

In other words, they are the righteous ones of all the ages who will be raised up to begin their thousand years of rule with Christ.

Now this clearly establishes then that only good people will have a part in the first resurrection, and it also establishes that this resurrection of the righteous marks the beginning of the thousand years.

But friends, if the good people only come up in the beginning of the millennium, I mean if only the good people come up at that time, when do the wicked people come forth?

Let's read another verse now in Revelation 20, verse 4.

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, in which had not worshipped 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.

Now here again we find that only the good people who do not have the mark of the beast will be brought forth to reign with Christ for this thousand years.

But now go on to the next verse, verse 5.

But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.

Well That has to be the wicked, of course.

The good people came up first, and now the rest of the dead will come up at the end of the thousand years.

We have a period of 1000 years with a resurrection at the beginning and a resurrection at the end.

The good people are raised at the beginning, the wicked people are brought up at the end of that millennial period.

Now this agrees perfectly with what Jesus had to say in John 5, 28 and 29.

He said, Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming, and to which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth.

They that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." So here we have the resurrection of good people and the resurrection of wicked, But there is a thousand years in between.

It is so very, very important to remember.

Now our next question is this, When will the first resurrection take place in which all the righteous are involved.

Reading now in 1 Thessalonians 4, 16, we find the answer to that question.

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." So there it is.

It is at the second coming of Jesus that the good people are brought forth out of their graves, and it says that they rise first.

In other words, that is the first resurrection.

When Jesus comes down from heaven with a shout and all the angels with Him, the trumpet blows, the graves are opened, and all the righteous are brought forth at the same time.

And this actually introduces the thousand-year reign of Christ.

It begins, in other words, at His Second Coming.

Now at this time there will be 4 groups of people to deal with, and we would like to know what happens to each of these groups at the coming of Jesus, the righteous living and the righteous dead, the wicked living and the wicked dead.

What happens to all those groups at that time?

First of all, let's think of the righteous dead.

Now we have already discovered that they come forth from their graves.

Will they come forth in the same weak, diseased forms in which they went into the graves?

I Corinthians 15 tells us of a tremendous change that will take place at that time.

Beginning with verse 51, Behold, I show you a mystery.

We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.

For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Oh, friends, we will be given new bodies that can never die, spiritual bodies that will be like that of Jesus after His resurrection.

So there will be no more pain, no more suffering after this glorious resurrection takes place.

But now we ask, what about the righteous who are living here on the earth when Jesus comes?

And the answer to that is found in 2 Thessalonians 4, or rather 1 Thessalonians 4, 17.

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Oh, what a reunion day this pictures for us, friends.

All the righteous people going up there to meet Jesus in the clouds.

You see, the feet of Jesus will not touch the earth at that time.

He comes in the clouds and all the good people are caught up to meet Him there in the clouds.

The resurrected righteous with their new immortal bodies will be there, and then the righteous living, who will also be changed into the same glorious form, they'll go up to meet Him in the clouds, and to be reunited with their loved ones for all eternity to come.

Well I can't begin to picture the rapture of that moment, friends, when loved ones are going to see each other again after a long separation.

Where do these righteous ones go after they meet Jesus up in the air and the clouds?

That of course is a very good question because it has been often misunderstood.

In John 14, 2 and 3, Jesus made this wonderful promise, 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, that where I am, there ye may be also." Now, please notice that Christ promised to come back and take His people to a place that He would get ready for them.

Well, That place, of course, is the beautiful New Jerusalem in heaven itself.

So after His coming, He actually takes the saints with Him to that heavenly home that has been prepared especially for them.

Now this explains it for the righteous people.

They will spend their thousand years right there in heaven with Jesus.

Now I have heard some people say that the righteous do not really go back to heaven at all with Jesus at this time.

Some have said, well, they just go over on the other side of a hill, they come back down onto this earth again and remain right here during the thousand years.

Well this is not what we have discovered so far in our study.

Jesus said He would go to get a place ready and then He would take those faithful ones to that place.

But now what about the wicked people who were on the earth at the coming of Christ.

Now first of all, let's think of the wicked people who were in their graves at that time.

We have already discovered that they will not come forth until the end of the thousand years.

Remember, Revelation 25 said, the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years were finished.

So they simply remain in their graves without any change whatsoever taking place at the coming of Jesus.

02 Coming World Blackout

Current flying saucer reports will be nothing compared to a spectacular future object which millions will see in the sky.

In a moment you'll hear the amazing facts about a UFO that will be identified too late.

Hello this is Joe Cruz in the Amazing Facts Broadcast, facts which affect you.

In our last broadcast, we studied the fascinating events that will lead up to the great millennial age of Bible prophecy.

By way of review, let's notice that this period of a thousand years begins with the resurrection of all the righteous.

Revelation 20, verse 6, "...blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.

They shall reign with Christ a thousand years." But then verse 5 reveals the truth about the resurrection of the wicked.

It says, "...but the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years were finished." Well, now that's clear, friends.

The millennium is a thousand-year period which begins with the resurrection of the righteous and closes with the resurrection of the wicked.

But now when do the righteous come forth to begin this long period of rule with Christ?

I Thessalonians 4, 16 says, 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.

So at that time when Christ comes, the wicked are slain, and the earth is devastated by a tremendous earthquake.

The righteous are taken to heaven to spend that millennium there, and the wicked are left dead on the earth.

And Isaiah says the earth will be in darkness and a state of utter destruction during that millennial period.

Now many, many people honestly think that the unsaved will have an opportunity to accept salvation during this period.

But you can readily see that it will be impossible for anybody to accept the gospel at that time.

Because the eternal line of demarcation that divides the saved from the lost will have been drawn before Christ appears, before the thousand years even begins.

It will be impossible for anybody to believe the gospel, just as impossible as it would be for a corpse to rise up in his own casket and be converted at the funeral service.

"...the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years were finished." Now friends, in the modern speech translation that says no 1 else who was dead was raised to life until the thousand years were at an end.

So instead of any of the unsaved being alive and hearing the gospel during that period, they are all dead.

They will not have any chance whatsoever to be saved during that millennium.

But now let's consider where the great adversary Satan will spend this long period of the millennium, and we read about it in Revelation 20, 1-3, 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 hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is a 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 should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season." Yes, the devil will be bound or confined during this period in a place called the bottomless pit.

Now, where is that bottomless pit, friends?

God clearly defines it and describes it for us, and He tells us it is a dwelling place of Satan for the millennium.

The word bottomless pit comes from the Greek word abousos which is translated abyss in our own English language.

In fact, the word is actually transliterated from the Greek language.

But now listen, that very same word Abusos or bottomless pit is used again in Genesis 1 verse 2.

In the Septuagint version it actually describes this earth and its chaotic state before it was molded by the Word of God.

And listen to the words, "...the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep." Now that word deep is the very same word of boussas which means literally the bottomless pit, and it is the same word that is used in Revelation 20, verse 3 to describe the place where Satan will be bound.

In other words, friends, this earth in its broken down state and its disorganized condition is actually called the bottomless pit in the Bible.

And that is exactly what it will be, of course, during the thousand years.

And Satan will be bound here by a chain of circumstances right to this planet.

There'll be no human beings alive here for him to tempt during that period.

They've all been removed from his influence, and that's what binds him during the period, so that he can deceive no 1 until that thousand years is over.

We read in 2 Peter 2, 4 that wicked angels are reserved in chains of darkness for judgment.

So during the millennium Satan will be bound by a chain of circumstances, a chain of darkness you might call it, which will prevent him from tempting a single individual during that time.

He will be able to look on the ruin that his program has brought, and no doubt that will be the most terrible punishment for the devil, to be confined with his own evil angels, and for such a long period having to live with himself, and thinking upon the ruin and misery that his rebellion has caused.

Now let's think of the events at the close of the millennium.

Notice carefully certain events that will mark the end of the thousand-year period.

In Revelation 20, verse 7, And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.

What will release the devil from his confinement here on this earth?

What will free him now to go forth and do his work of deception once more?

Why nothing else but the resurrection of those wicked dead would permit him to take up his deceptions again?

In Revelation 20, verse 5, it said, "...the rest of the dead live not again, until the thousand years were finished." And so they do come up at this time, and Satan is also released by that event.

Now he has somebody to work on, and he goes forth feverishly to mobilize these countless wicked ones in his warfare against God.

Verse 8 tells us that he shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the 4 quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea." Oh, what a scene that will present, friends.

All the wicked men of all ages are recruited by the evil genius of Satan for that final great battle and the controversy with God.

They will be like the sand of the sea for number, we are told, and all the sinners who have ever lived will be in that number, those who have lived from the very beginning of time, and all will be gathered at 1 time and place under the leadership of Satan himself.

And where is that battle to be fought, friends, and against whom will it be fought?

Revelation 20, verse 9 says, And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city...

Oh, listen, something else has happened at the end of that thousand years.

The holy city of God has come down to this earth.

In fact, it is described for us in Revelation 21, 2, And I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

So the object of Satan's wrath will be that beautiful city in which the saints have been living for a thousand years in heaven, but now that new Jerusalem comes right down to this earth.

You talk about flying saucers and UFOs, friends.

This will be the most spectacular sight that human eyes have ever seen, a gigantic city floating in space.

In Zechariah 14, 4 and 5 we have a description of that tremendous event.

And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east.

And the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley, and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south, and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

Now notice that the saints are coming with Jesus on this occasion.

Now really this is the third coming of Christ, you might say.

He came the second time in power and glory to catch His people up to meet Him in the clouds, and now He returns with the holy city.

And this time his feet will actually touch the Mount of Olives, and that great mountain will cleave in the midst, and make a mighty plain, on which the holy city can descend.

Now Satan is going up with great anger to lead the host of wicked ones against that city.

He convinces them that they will be able to capture the city and reclaim it for Him.

Well, what is the result of this last attempt of Satan to overthrow the government of God?

Revelation 20, verse 9 says, and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

And there is the end of the controversy, friends.

The devil will enter the last battle of his war against God, but the evil host will be overwhelmed by a flood of fire that devours them like stubble.

But not quite, for the fire that devours the wicked will also purge and purify this earth.

The very curse of sin will be burned out of it, leaving an atmosphere that is clean and pure without any trace of evil.

2 Peter 3, 12, 13 describes it, "...looking for, and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the element shall melt with fervent heat.

Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." Well, what a picture this closes on, friends.

Sin and sinners will be completely, utterly, and irrevocably wiped out of God's universe.

There will be no more rebellion, no more signs of discord or unhappiness.

God will create a new earth that will rival the Garden of Eden for beauty and perfection.

Verse 21, Revelation 21, verse 1, And I saw a new heaven, and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea." Revelation 21, verse 1.

So the saints of God will inherit this recreated earth as a home throughout all eternity.

The holy city will be here, of course, as the capital of the earth, and at that time the beatitude of Jesus will be fulfilled.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

The Lord's prayer will be completely answered then also.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So right now the meek, of course, don't inherit the earth at all.

The wicked man has most of it in hand, but then it is going to revert to the first dominion.

The saints of God and the meek of God will possess this earth.

But friends, here is a solemn thought for us to consider today.

When the fire comes down, you and I must either be inside the city with God or outside among the host of the lost.

No 1 can avoid that moment and that division.

There can be no question whatsoever about it, and we must now decide where we shall be on that occasion.

Back to Menu

Series

Coming World Blackout

02 Coming World Blackout

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Parts

01 Coming World Blackout

14m

02 Coming World Blackout

14m

Sound Doctrine