Good morning, church. If you were here last week, you know we spent an entire message walking through the darkest chapter the planet will ever experience. We looked at the great tribulation, this final three and a half years that Jesus described as a time of great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now (Matthew 24:21).

That is a heavy way to end a message, and some of you left here last Sunday feeling the weight of it. So today I want to turn the page and give you something different, because the very next chapter in your Bible is not more darkness; it is the moment everything gets put right.

Here is something I have noticed about every great story ever told. Right before the ending, there is always a chapter that feels unbearable. The hero is out of options, the enemy looks unstoppable, and if you closed the book right there, you would walk away discouraged. But with the Bible, you do not close the book, because you already know something the characters inside the story do not yet know. You know the author is not finished.

That is exactly where we stand this morning. In Hebrews 12:2, Jesus is called the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He let the apostle John see the final chapters so that we would not have to guess how the story ends. Revelation chapters 19 and 20 describe two of the greatest days planet Earth will ever experience. The first is the return of Jesus Christ himself. The second is the thousand years that follow, a season known as the millennium, from the Latin translation.

If you are a notetaker, I want to encourage you to grab a pen, because there are nine specific events packed into these two chapters, and I want you to walk out of here knowing exactly what is coming.

Let’s set the scene. For three and a half years, the three dark powers, the Dragon, the Antichrist, and the false prophet, will deceive the nations, persecute the people of God, and control the world’s economy. However, their reign reaches its climax at Armageddon in northern Israel. The Euphrates River dries up, and the armies of the world march down its riverbed to take up their positions. Every nation on earth gathers there for one final battle. For a moment, it looks like evil might actually win.

But then, heaven opens up, and the apostle John tells us:

"There before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation 19:11-16).

I want you to notice that there is no strategy meeting, no battle plan, and no shots fired. In fact, Jesus simply speaks, and the war humanity started is finished before it even begins.

From this point, nine things happen in rapid succession, and I want to walk through them together this morning.

The first event we will call the cleanup because, before the battle is even described, God calls in what I can only describe as a cleanup crew. John tells us,

"I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, 'Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great'" (Revelation 19:17-18).

That is not a pleasant picture, but it tells us something that we need to know about God. He does not leave a mess behind, and so whatever humanity starts, he finishes, and he cleans up completely.

The second event is the sentencing of the Antichrist and the false prophet.

"The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur" (Revelation 19:20).

I want to pause here for a moment, because up to this point in the Bible, the word used for the place of the dead is usually Hades, a reference to a temporary holding place. Jesus used that word in the story of the rich man, who was in hell (or Hades), where he was in torment, looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side (Luke 16:23).

But this word, translated as the lake of fire in Revelation chapter 19, is a completely different word. It is Gehenna, named after a valley outside Jerusalem where trash burned continually. Jesus specifically used this word for this place of final, eternal judgment, and the beast and the false prophet were the very first two beings ever to enter it.

Now, I must admit, I do not enjoy preaching about hell, but I love you too much to hide it from you. The lake of fire is not primarily about flames; it is a place of darkness, exclusion, and anguish - the complete and total absence of God forever. And God did everything possible on the cross to keep people out of that place.

However, he gave each of us free will, and he will never override it. He will never force himself on anyone or compel us to love him, so whoever chooses eternity without God simply gets what they asked for.

The third event is the defeat of every army that gathered at Armageddon. The Bible says,

"The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse" (Revelation 19:21).

In other words, the same Jesus who spoke the universe into existence in the beginning now speaks this war to an end. No armies clash, no shots are fired. He speaks, and it is over.

Now chapter 20 opens, and the focus shifts to Satan himself. This is the fourth event, and John tells us,

"I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended" (Revelation 20:1-3).

This is the same bottomless pit the demons begged Jesus not to send them into, as recorded in Luke’s gospel, chapter 8, verse 31. For a thousand years, the accuser of the brethren, the one who has been whispering lies to humanity since the Garden of Eden, now has no voice or influence on planet Earth.

The fifth event is one that should get every believer in this room excited, because it involves you. The martyrs and the faithful are raised to reign with Christ. John says,

"I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years" (Revelation 20:4).

This first group is made up of those who came to faith or were martyred during the tribulation. But Scripture points to a wider group as well: the raptured and resurrected church is reigning alongside them. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:2,

"Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" (1 Corinthians 6:2).

And in 2 Timothy 2:12, he writes,

"If we endure, we will also reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:12).

And so, believers from every generation will share in this reign. John says, “This is the first resurrection.”

"The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended" (Revelation 20:5).

In other words, the Bible describes two resurrections, not one. The first began at the rapture, when the dead in Christ rose to meet Jesus in the air, and it is completed here as the tribulation martyrs rise to reign with him. The second resurrection is for the unrighteous and will not occur until a thousand years later, when they are raised to face judgment.

John continues in verse six to give us a promise every believer can hold onto.

"Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years" (Revelation 20:6).

Now, let’s pause for a moment to picture the scene as Jesus actually returns to earth. There is lightning, thunder, and a trumpet blast. An earthquake so massive it splits the Mount of Olives itself in two.

Zechariah described this literal event hundreds of years before Jesus came to the earth the first time.

"On that day,” he says, “his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south" (Zechariah 14:4).

That earthquake will reshape the entire region, flattening the hill country of Judah and turning it into a plain. But amid all that upheaval, something remarkable happens to one city in particular. This is the sixth event. The Bible says,

"Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place" (Zechariah 14:10).

In other words, the city itself is lifted above the surrounding land, exalted like a throne set apart for a king. The prophet Isaiah saw the same thing centuries earlier. He said,

"In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it" (Isaiah 2:2).

That leads directly into the seventh event, a yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem, similar to the ancient Feast of Tabernacles that once celebrated Israel's exodus from Egypt. Only now, the nations will be celebrating something far greater, their entrance into the real promised land. The prophet Zechariah says,

"Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles" (Zechariah 14:16).

So, there’s going to be worship, but what will life actually look like during those thousand years?

Well, we know that every believer from the first resurrection receives a body like the resurrected body of Jesus, no longer subject to sickness, aging, or death. But there will also be a separation of the righteous and the unrighteous as this age begins. Jesus described it himself, saying,

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats" (Matthew 25:31-32).

In other words, the goats face eternal punishment as the sheep, the believing survivors of the tribulation, enter the millennium in natural, mortal bodies. They are saved but remain in the flesh, ordinary human beings who marry, raise families, and grow old. That population becomes the generation that repopulates the entire earth over the next thousand years.

Here is something important for us to understand. Their children are not born into the kingdom. In other words, they are not automatically saved. Every person born during the millennium still inherits a sinful nature, no matter how peaceful the world around them is or how perfectly Christ reigns from Jerusalem. A perfect government can legislate morality, but it cannot produce a regenerated heart or perfect citizens.

And so, some of those children and their descendants will grow up under ideal conditions yet never give their hearts to Jesus. They may outwardly conform because rebellion is swiftly and visibly judged under Christ’s rule, but conformity is not the same as faith or love.

In fact, the Bible tells us that some people will refuse to make the pilgrimage to worship the King altogether. Even then, God gives those reluctant worshipers an incentive to come. The Bible says,

"If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain" (Zechariah 14:17).

And so, the Lord no longer sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. But for everyone who does walk in step with the king, Isaiah gives us a breathtaking picture of what that world will be like. He says,

"The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:6-9).

In the Hebrew, this is very poetic, but it is not poetry for poetry's sake. It is a description of peace so complete that predator and prey will lie down, side by side, without fear. Isaiah adds even more detail in chapter 65, telling us,

"They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them" (Isaiah 65:21-23).

He tells us that work will have value in the millennium, that it will mean something again, and that families will finally be secure.

For the first time in history, all of this becomes possible, and Isaiah tells us who sits on the throne. He says,

"To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever" (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Today, you and I can choose to live righteously; we can declare, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” But for the first time ever, the whole world will live under a righteous government because the King on the throne will be Jesus himself.

And yet, after a thousand years of that perfect reign, the Bible tells us something that truly stretches my understanding. Maybe it is because God’s patience runs so much deeper than mine, but this is the eighth event, Satan’s final release. John tells us,

"When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore" (Revelation 20:7-8).

That phrase, like the sand on the seashore, reveals the sheer scale of this final rebellion. This is not just a handful of rebels. This is a massive population that grew up under the direct, visible reign of Jesus Christ, yet generation after generation, they chose not to love and worship him. Satan is released from the abyss and finds an army waiting for him, composed entirely of people who lived their whole lives under a perfect king, yet they despised him and never gave their hearts to him.

Revelation, chapter 20, verse nine, says,

"They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves" (Revelation 20:9).

But that rebellion does not last long, as the Bible says,

"Fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Revelation 20:9-10).

That is the ninth and final event. After a thousand years, Satan finally joins the Antichrist and the false prophet in the lake of fire, forever.

Next week we will look at what closes out this age completely: the Great White Throne judgment for unbelievers and the Bema Seat for believers before we step into the new heaven and new earth that becomes our forever home.

But here is what I want you to carry out of this room today. Whatever you are walking through right now, whatever season feels heavy or uncertain, it is not the end of your story. If you belong to Jesus, your best days are not behind you. They are still ahead of you. Not just a good afternoon or a fruitful season, but a thousand years on this earth under a righteous King, followed by forever in his presence. The Bible promises:

"Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection" (Revelation 20:6).

Graphics, notes, and commentary from LifeChurch, Ministry Pass, PC Study Bible, Preaching Library, and Sermon Central. Scripture from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.