THE DAY THE WORLD BURNS UP

The Apostle Peter tells us, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that
ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn, and the Day Star arise in
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your hearts.” Bible prophecy is called the “more sure Word.” It is more sure than all the traditions
and writings and opinions and teachings of man. Amen? You know, my friends, I can f ind more comfort and
more hope in one word of Scripture than I can find in 10,000 words of Rants philosophy. Can’t you? The Bible
says that prophecy is like a light that shines. in a dark place. This world is a very dark place today. It’s dark
through the misapprehension of the character of God.

This world is dark because of spiritual darkness, but it is also dark because of ignorance. Do you know , the
Bible says in the book of Hosea , “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” It is fatal not be informed
as to what God’s will is. But notice, Bible prophecy will only do us good if we take heed. Isn’t that right? It’s
like a light shining in a dark place until the ‘Day Star,’ or Jesus, arise in your hearts. He is called the “Bright and
Morning star He is called the “Rose of Sharon,” “the Lily of the valley.” He is called the “King of Kings,” the
“Lord of Lords.” But prophecy is not just to make us better informed students of the Bible. It is not just to help
us so we can draw charts and diagrams of Bible prophecy, and know what is going to happen. No, friends.
Prophecy has meaning, and it has significance only as it draws us closer to Him in a love relationship with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Isn’t that right? God wants us to have His truth, my friends, and He ‘has given us His Word
because it is a message of love.

Tonight we are going to turn the great spotlight of Bible prophecy on one of the greatest prophetic dramas in all
the Word of God. We are going to actually peer over one thousand years into the future of Planet Earth. You
may wonder how this can be, but we are going right into the heart of God’s Word, and understand some things
as perhaps we haven’t understood them in the past.

Jesus tells us in John 5:28, 29. “Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves
shall hear his voice, and shall come forth. They that have done good, unto the resurrection of ...” What? “Of life;
and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” So o how many resurrections does Jesus refer
to here? Two. You see there are two resurrections. The first resurrection for those who have accepted the grace
of Christ. The second resurrection for those who have rejected the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Then we go on to the Apostle Paul, in 1 Thess. 4:16, and he says, “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.”
When? First ! Now this must be the first resurrection that Jesus spoke of for those who have done good. Right?
They will come up in this first resurrection.

John the Revelator, in the Book of Revelation, Rev.20:6, says that those who come up in this resurrection are
blessed and holy. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; they shall reign with Him a
thousand years.”

That thousand years is just the beginning. In fact, there is no end to the reign with Christ. Eternal life never
ends, does it? Blessed and holy. So you put these texts together and there shouldn’t be any reason or
misunderstanding should there? Those who are “blessed and holy” come forth in that first resurrection that Paul
spoke of, from the dead in Christ that Jesus referred to for those that have done good.

Now there is a second resurrection. Notice Rev. 20:5. “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand

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years were finished.” So the Bible pictures two resurrections as you have noted, and there is one thousand years
between them. The righteous come forth in the first resurrection and the “rest of the dead” has to refer to the
wicked, because how many classes are there? Only two, when you get right down to it. There are only two
classes of people, the righteous and the wicked. The rest of the dead, or the wicked, lived not again until the end
of that thousand years. So you see now, as we put these texts together, we have a resurrection of life referred to
by Jesus, and Paul, and John. There is the testimony of three witnesses there. The resurrection of life, separated
by a period of a thousand years, and then a resurrection of damnation for the rest of the dead.

Sometimes you see this word “millennium.” The word “millennium” is not actually in the Bible. It is a coined
word made up of two Latin, “mille” meaning 1000, and “annum” meaning year. But it is a good Biblical
teaching because the Bible does refer to a period of one thousand years, separating these resurrections. Now you
are going to have to follow me closely tonight, because I have got a lot of territory to cover. Can you listen fast?
I think most of you can.

I want to show you, seven things that take place at the beginning of this one thousand year period. We haven’t
referred much to the seven last plagues. They are the judgments of God. They are reminiscent of those ten
plagues that fell on ancient Egypt. Well, at the end of time, there are going to be seven plagues. There are going
to be other plagues that fall upon the world, the judgments of God. Now the very last of those seven plagues is
poured upon the earth just at the coming of Christ. So we put it there as one of those things that take place at the
beginning of the thousand years.

Christ’s second coming in power and great glory to take His people home, that event marks the beginning of the
one thousand years. At the same time, the righteous dead are raised, because you know, the Lord comes with a
shout, and the graves are opened, and the dead in Christ rise. Then something happens to the righteous living.
What happens to them? They are going to be changed. You say, “Pastor Bob, why do the living need to be
changed? if they are not dead, they are all right ! Oh, they have to be changed, because they are subject to death.
They are mortal, you see. They’ve got to be changed and given immortality. That’s going to happen. Cor. 15:51
says, “We shall not all sleep.” You see, there will be righteous people living on earth when Jesus comes.
Wicked living too, for that matter. We’ll talk about those in a few moments. Paul says, “We shall not all sleep.”
He refers to death as a sleep, you see. “But we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump.” Verse 53 says, “This mortal will put on immortality.” And the reason we are going to put it on
at the second coming of Christ is because we are not wearing it now. We don’t have immortality now. The Bible
says in 1 Tim. 6:16, that the Lord is the only one who has immortality. “Who only hath immortality.” So if He
only has it, then we don’t have it. But He has promised it to us. Immortality, eternal life is promised to us on
condition of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is bestowed at the resurrection, you see.

Now, remember last Sunday night we spoke on the subject “Life After Death.” How many were here when we
talked about “Life After Death.” Some of you weren’t here that night, so I think I will just throw in a few texts
by way of a brief review. “Life After Death.” The Bible says in Eccl. 9:5, “The living know that they shall die;
but the dead know not any thing.” How much does a dead person know? Tell me again. That much ... zero.
Zero, nil. A dead person doesn’t know anything. Psalm 146:4 says, “His breath goeth forth....” This, is what
happens at death. “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Now,
you remember we taught last Sunday night how God created man. In the beginning the race of mankind. It says
“He formed man from the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a
living soul.” As a result of the union of the breath with the body, man became a living soul. It doesn’t say, God
gave to man a living soul. He became a living soul when the body combined with the breath. But when a person
dies, his breath goes forth, that breath that God gave him. “He returneth to his earth, in that very day his
thoughts perish.” We illustrated it by an electric light. Just like the light burns when the current passes through
the bulb, the body and the breath together form a living soul. But just as when the electric current is shut off,

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and the bulb no longer shines, the light goes out. So when a person dies His breath goeth forth, his thoughts
perish, and he no longer is a living soul. It takes those two to make a living soul.

Let’s move on quickly. At this same time the righteous living are changed. They are clothed with glorious
immortality. They are no longer subject to death. Then the saints, that is, those who came forth from their graves
at the coming of Christ, and those who were living and caught up to meet Him in the air, the saints all ascend to
heaven. Notice how Paul illustrates that right here. I Thess. 4:17. Then we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord...” Where? I’m going to come back to that thought
in a few moments., but notice ... every single word of the Bible is important. Did you know that? God doesn’t
put in any words unnecessarily! It is so important that we understand how Christ is going to come. It is
important that we understand not only the purpose of His coming to take His people home, but the manner of
His coming. That is very vital. It is very crucial. The righteous are going to meet the Lord in the air.

Some people have been taught, and I was taught the same thing when I was a little kid in Sunday School, and
that is the way I used to say my prayers every night, you know, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my
soul to keep, If I should die before I wake- What is the rest of it? “I pray the Lord my soul to take.” Take with
me to be with you, Lord. I was taught by sincere Sunday School teachers, but I was taught something that isn’t
in the Bible. I know they were sincere. I don’t hold it against them because they were taught the same
thing too, and they just passed on to me what they had been taught. But you remember that Jesus said in John
14:3, to His disciples before He ascended to heaven after His resurrection, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I
will ... Do what? “I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Now, my friends, in language so simple that even these smallest children here in the audience tonight can
understand it, Jesus says, “Look. I’m going away now, but I’m going to prepare a place for you, and I’m going
to come back to take you with me to be where I am.” Even a child can understand that. Mommy and Daddy say,
“You sit right there, and we’ll be back in just a few minutes.” Now, they may not sit there, but they still
understand what you said, don’t they? They may not mind always, but they can understand that. Jesus uses
language so simple that we can understand it. Why would Jesus have to come back for His saints to receive
them unto Himself, if the saints had already gone to be with Him at death? Now that wouldn’t be very
reasonable, would it?

I am sure you are familiar with this popular scenario. A man awakens in the morning. He looks in the bed, his
wife is gone. Well may be she is out in the kitchen getting breakfast. I hope so. I’m getting hungry.” He goes
out in the kitchen. No wife. Maybe she is out watering her flowers. He looks out in the yard. She is not there.
Maybe she went down the street to see her friend. “Have you seen my wife?” The lady says, “No, have you seen
my husband?” Other neighbors are missing children and family members. How many of you have heard
this popular scenario before? The rapture ! We hear it all the time. “Christ is coming. He is going to catch
people away, take people to be with Him. Don’t be grounded when the Rapture comes. Christ is going to come
in secret.” That is what we are told. That is the popular teaching today, isn’t it? Well, let’s see if that agrees with
what the Bible says. Rev. 1:7. “Behold, he cometh with clouds.” How many will see Him? Every eye will see
Him, my friends. Every eye will see Him when He comes. The eyes of the wicked, the eyes of the righteous.
They are all going to see Him. Does that sound like a secret to you? How many think that sounds like a secret
rapture? Actually the word “rapture” in not in the Bible.

I’ll show you where this popular teaching came from. Ralph Blodget, editor of the Christian magazine, These
Times says, “The rapture teaching originated during the nineteenth century. John Nelson Darby was a man who
died in 1882, so you see the rapture teaching is just a little over one hundred years old. He was the first one to
propose the idea that God’s people would go to heaven, or as he called it, “Be raptured.” As I said, the word
rapture is not in the Bible. But he said they would be raptured and go to heaven before the final tribulations

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predicted in Revelation. His followers- in England were known as Plymouth Brethren. Now from England the
idea spread to America where many religious groups both new and old readily accepted it.” That is from Ralph
Blodget’s book, “Rapture is for Real.” But this idea of a rapture came into vogue a little over one hundred years
ago, and today it has become one of the fundamental teachings in religious.

Well, I want to tell you something, friends, we need to understand not only the purpose of Jesus’ coming, but
the manner of His coming. How He is going to come; Because Satan, the Bible says, “He is called that old
serpent, the devil, and Satan who deceiveth...” How much of the world? “Which deceiveth the whole world.”
So one of Satan’s last great deceptions, is going to be his attempt to impersonate Christ. He is going to
counterfeit Christ’s coming, but if we know how Christ is going to come, we won’t be deceived by the great
delusion that is going to take most of the world captive.

Paul says in 2 Cor. 11:14, 15. “And no marvel...” Don’t be surprised at anything that you see or hear. “No
marvel: for Satan himself is transformed into...What? “An angel of light.” Some people think of him as a being
with horns and a long tail and a pitch fork. Satan is happy for people to think of him in that way. Because that
only increases his power to deceives don’t you see? Paul says he is going to be transformed into an angel of
light. “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose
end shall be according to their works.” You say, “Pastor Bob, do you mean to tell me that Satan has ministers?”
Well, the Lord has ministers, and Satan is fighting God, isn’t he? And so why shouldn’t he have ministers? He
says his ministers are transformed ... they have the appearance of righteousness, but their end shall be according
to their work. Let me show you something here from the Book of Thessalonians. You know I told you that the
Bible teaches that Satan is going to make an attempt to impersonate Christ. However, God is not going to permit
Satan to exactly counterfeit and duplicate the manner of Christ’s coming. So if we know exactly how Christ will
come, that it will not be in secret, that every eye will see Him, then we won’t be taken captive by Satan’s
delusions and snares. Notice 2 Thess. 2:9. It is talking about Christ’s coming and destroying the wicked with the
brightness of His coming. Now notice... “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power
and signs and lying wonders.” Now Christ’s coming is when in relation to Satan? After Satan’s counterfeit, after
his great delusion, after his transformation into an angel of light. You see the impostor comes first. Christ’s
coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.

Now listen...“And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they receive not the
love of the truth, that they might be saved. For this cause God shall send them .... or permit them to receive ... a
strong delusion.” You see, my friends, the only antidote for error is what? The only protection against error is
what? It is the truth. That is the only antidote for the poison of error .......the truth. So it says because those
individuals would not receive the love of the truth, then there is only one thing left for them to receive, that is a
strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who receive not the truth.” My
friend, can you see tonight why God wants us to have His truth? It is not enough to say, “Well, everybody can
believe what he wants to.” Surely, everybody can believe what he wants to. God has given everybody a freedom
of choice, but it was never God’s will that people should wander astray and be carried about with every wind of
doctrine, was it?

God will never take from you that power of choice. He loves you too much to try to force you. We don’t like to
be pushed. We don’ t like to be forced, do we? I don’t like anybody to tell me what I’ve got to believe, do you?
Of course note God gives you a choice. God loves you so much that He will not crash the gates of your will,
your personality. He will let you believe a lie if you reject the truth, and He will let you die and go to hell bef ore
He will force your will. That is how much he thinks of your freedom. He won’t force your will. But the reason
God wants us to have His truth is so He can protect us. Psalm 91. “His truth shall be thy shield.”

So, here comes Satan, transformed to an angel of light. Christ’s coming is going to be after the marvelous

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coming of Satan. Let me ask you again ... is it important to know how Christ is going to come? Yes, or no? Of
course, it is. Because when He comes it says we are going to be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord
...where? In the air. Do you know what that tells me? If I meet Him in the air, that means I don’ t meet him on
the ground. Christ is not going to come down and walk on this earth at His second coming. The righteous are
going to meet Him in the air. Now, this earth is one day going to become the final home of the saved. We’ll talk
about that in a few minutes. But at this particular time of His second coming, the righteous will meet Him in the
air. That is a lot different than coming down and walking around on the ground. Satan is going to be grounded.
He isn’t going to be able to exactly counterfeit and duplicate Christ’s coming.

So if you see someone being interviewed by CBS news, and he is speaking the beautiful be-attitudes and healing
the sick, and saying, “I am Christ.” What are you going to do? Believe it not. That is what the Bible says,
“Believe it not.” I beg of you friends, when they get him on television, and they are going to have him there, the
devil is going to be on. Don’t think he isn’t going to put in a personal appearance. When the cry goes
out, “Christ is come ! Christ is come!” don’t even look. Don’t even look lest you come under his hypnotic gaze.
Satan is going to be transformed into an angel of light. People talk about a secret rapture. The Bible doesn’t
know anything about a secret rapture. Peter and Paul and John never heard of such a thing.

What happens to the wicked? We know what happens to the righteous when Jesus comes. The righteous dead
are raised. The righteous living are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Now, we had better shift into another
gear, and I’m going to move a little faster. What happens to the wicked when Jesus come

Rev. 20:5. You remember the rest of the dead- that is the wicked ... live not again until the thousand years are
finished. Now the dead who are in their graves when Jesus comes,. stay there. They oversleep one thousand
years. Wouldn’t that be tragic to sleep one thousand years too long? They don’t hear the voice of the Son of God
as it pierces the grave, the tomb and wakens the dead. If they didn’t listen to God when they were living, they
certainly can’t hear Him when they are dead. So they sleep on, that long sleep of a thousand years. The wicked
dead stay there in their graves. Now what about the wicked living? The Bible tells what happens to them when
Jesus comes. 2 Thess. 2:8. “And then shall that Wicked be revealed..” You can’t always tell who is on the
Lord’s side here today, can you? Some people will shout, “Praise the Lord, Hallelujah” and turn right around
and break God’s commandments. “Then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the
spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with....what? “The brightness of His coming.” Just as the germs of disease
and death cannot live in the direct rays of the noonday sun, so this disease of sin has to die in the presence of
God. It can’t live. It is not just an arbitrary act of God that zaps out the wicked here. They just cannot look upon
His righteousness and live. Paul says, “Our God is a consuming fire.”

So now, look what we’ve done here. We’ve shown you what is going to happen to all the people on earth. How
many classes of people do you have? Two. Righteous and wicked, and each of these classes is in one of two
conditions. They are either living or dead. Right? So you’ve got the righteous living and dead. You’ve got the
wicked living and dead. That’s four groups, right? The righteous living and dead will be with the Lord. The
wicked who were in their graves stayed in their graves. The wicked who were living were destroyed. Now who
does that leave? That takes care of all of them, doesn’t it? That tells you what happens to all of them. That is not
the end of the story, but that tells you what happens to the people on earth when Jesus comes.

Notice something else that the Book of Revelation says happens at the coming of Christ. Rev. 16:18. This takes
place at the same time as that seventh plague. “There was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were
upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the cities of the nations did what? Rev. 16:19. “The
cities of the nations fell.” I talked to one of my sons a few days ago. He’s out in California in the Los Angeles
area. He said the waters were shaking in the swimming pools and the pictures were shaking on the walls. They
had the strongest tremor they had there in fifteen years. They hadn’t had one since 1971 as strong as the one they

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had a few days ago out there. Now if those people knew about that one do you think the world is going to know
about this one?

Not since the earth began so mighty an earthquake and so great, and then people have the nerve to say, “It’s
going to be secret. He’s going to come in secret! Cities of the nations fell. Who’s going to keep that a secret?
Mount St. Helen, blows her top, and out in Mexico, twenty thousand people are killed with an earthquake. That
wasn’t a secret. What about when the cities of the nations fall? New York, Paris, London, Berlin, Rome,
Washington, D.C. A secret rapture ? My eye! Oh, friends, the Bible doesn’t know anything about a secret
rapture. You couldn’t keep that a secret. If just one grave opened up in this city, you would never hear the last of
it, would you? What about when the saints come out of their graves, my friends, and this old earth is reeling to
and fro like a drunkard?

What happens during the one thousand years? We showed you the things that happen at the beginning of the
thousand years. What is going on this earth during that thousand years? Jer. 4:23. By the way, read the book of
Jeremiah. He has a lot to say about the earth during the time when it is all broken down at the Lord’s coming.
Notice Jeremiah says, “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was. . .How ? “Without form and Void.” Now this is after
Christ comes and the earth is broken down. He says the great cities of the nations were fallen. He agrees with
John the Revelator, you see.

Can you think of another time in the Bible when it says that the earth was without form and void? Before
creation. That’s right. Gen. 1. Now this was in the beginning. Verse I says, “In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.” Verse 2 says, “ And the earth was without form and void.” This was after God had
created the raw material from which he proceeded to fashion the earth. He hadn’t put in the grass, the trees, the
flowers, and the people yet, or the waters, you see. It was just one big shapeless mass in its original chaotic
stage. The Bible teaches that once more the earth is going to be reduced to that original chaotic condition. That
is what it says, isn’t it? It is all going to be broken down at the coming of the Lord, and His fierce anger. So
once more the earth is going to be reduced to its condition of being “without form and void; and darkness was
upon the face of the deep.” That word “deep” describes the world in its original condition.

Let me show you something interesting. Many years ago Bible translators wanted to translate the original
Hebrew Old Testament into Greek. They called this the Septuagint. So when they were translating it into Greek,
they came to this word “deep.” And they asked, “What is a good Greek word to describe that Hebrew word for
“deep”? And they f finally came up with the Greek word “abusos” We get an English word from it. What do you
think it is? An abyss. A dark deep abyss. That is what they used to translate that word “deep” in the Greek
abyses describing this earth in its original chaotic condition. Now, I’m going to show you that same word in the
New Testament, that same word that is translated “deep” there, the Greek word “abusos” translates it in the New
Testament as the “bottomless pit.” But it still refers to the earth. Here it is. Let me show it to you. Rev. 20:1.
John said, “I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the “abusos ...” The same word you saw
there translated “deep,” here is called a bottomless pit. And a great chain in his hand.” So that bottomless pit
refers to the earth in Chapter 20, the Book of Revelation, all broken down at the coming of the Lord.

Let me show you something else here. Satan is going to be bound for one thousand years. Here it is in Rev. 20,
verses 2, 3. “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a
thousand years. And cast him into (the “abusos”) the bottomless pit.” That is the term to describe this old earth
without form and void in its destroyed state. And Satan is cast into this earth, 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.” So he is going
to be out of business. He is going to be on the unemployment list. You see, Satan’s chief occupation is deceiver.
He is called a devil, Satan, a murderer, a liar, and If I had time, I could hang- a lot of other names on him. But
anything bad, he invented it, you see. But he is going to be out of business for a thousand years. “After that he

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must be loosed a little season.” it doesn’t say exactly how long, but I am glad it is a “little season”, aren’t you?
Some people don’t believe in a devil. Did you know that I don’t believe in him much. I mean, I don’t believe he
has near as much power as God does, but he still exists. Some people believe that the devil is bound now. Have
you ever heard that? Some people think that he is tied up and bound right now. Well, I’ll tell you one thing, my
friends, if the devil Is bound now, I don’t want to be around if he ever gets loose. What about you?

One day he is going to be bound. And notice the condition of the earth during that thousand years. Jer. 25:33.
“And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth.
They shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” You know why
that is? Because all the righteous are in heaven with the Lord. All the saved undertakers and preachers are in
heaven. All the lost undertakers and preachers are down on the earth dead, so who is going to bury and who is
going to preach to them? Some people say, “I look forward to spending this millennium, this thousand years,
upon the earth.” I don’t want to be here on this earth. What about you? I don’t want to be within a billion miles
of this earth during the millennium. Nothing going on that is interesting down here. Nothing going on down
here at all, except Satan is chained to this old earth. The wicked are all dead. Satan is bound. The earth is
desolate. The saints are in heaven. For one thousand years all Satan can do is sit around and contemplate the
results of his so-called “better idea.” Didn’t he say he knew more than God? Well, he has got a thousand years
to see if he can do any better than God. Satan has been wanting to get control of this world. That’s what he
wants. “Give it to me.” God created it in six beautiful days, didn’t he? A perfect world, sinless environment.
Everything so beautiful, no sin, no death. Satan has been fighting for control of this planet, so now God says,
“Okay, devil. You’ve got it. You can have it for one thousand years. I created it beautiful in six days. Now you
take one thousand years and see what you can make out of it.” But all he can do is just contemplate the ruin that
his reign of sin, and reign of terror has brought. All the wicked with their bones bleaching here on this earth for
one thousand years. Who wants to be down here during the, millennium ? Not I.

In the meantime, back up in heaven, what’s going on up there? Rev. 20:4. John says, “And I saw thrones, and
they sat upon them,”...that’s the righteous... “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, 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...” How long? “A thousand years.” During that thousand years the wicked are dead upon the
earth, Satan bound here with all of his evil angels, the righteous are in heaven praising the Lord.

Let’s move on quickly to the next step. What happens at the end of the thousand years? Jesus and the saints
return, coming back to this earth. They came the second time to take the saints, now they are coming back with
the saints. Have you noticed this text before? Maybe you have never noticed this. Zech. 14:5. “The Lord, my
God shall come, and all the saints with thee.” At His second coming, He comes back for His saints, now He is
coming with His saints. Coming back to this earth. You say, “Pastor Bob, what are they going to do down
there?” God has some unfinished business to attend to down here on this earth. Now notice what happens. Zech.
14:4. “And his feet”...referring to Christ...“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.” A big excavation right there, in just a split second. God is purifying a special spot on earth.
What do you suppose He is going to do with that spot? Let’s look and see.

Rev. 21:2. “John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband.” You talk about the space platform. Oh, friends, imagine that city. That beautiful city,
1,500 miles in circumference. 375 miles on each side. That city lies foursquare. Just floating down from God
out of heaven and it settles down upon this earth. You say, “What do they want to be on this old earth for? Its all
broken down.” Well, God can change all that, can’t He? God said in the Book of Isaiah, twenty seven hundred

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years ago, that He created this world to be inhabited. He made this world for His pleasure. God intended that
this world should be filled with holy happy beings. He intended that righteousness should cover the earth, as the
waters cover the sea. And God said, “I will do all My pleasure.” He’s going to have it His way in the end, isn’t
He?

Revelation 21: 3. “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold the tabernacle is with men, and he
will dwell with them, and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God.” Do
you see, friends, that this old world, this one or lost sheep of the universe has a special spot in God’s heart?
Eight walls right here on this old earth that the son of God himself gave his life for a world of lost sinners. He
was slain. This old earth, literally, drag the blood of the son of God, didn’t it? So God is going to honor this
planet Earth by making it the final dwelling place of his people. The holy city, new Jerusalem will, and rest
upon it, and the Bible says he is going to create new heavens and a new earth. The holy city descends now at
the end of the 1000 years.

Now what about the wicked? God hasn’t forgotten about them. What is going to happen to them? They are
going to be resurrected. How do we know? The Bible says so. Revelation 20: 5. “But the rest of the dead
lived not again until....” When? “Until the thousand years where finished.” So now in our scenario tonight
from the Bible, the thousand years are finished. The weekend live again. Got raises them. Satan may try to
take the credit for it, but it is got who gives them life again you see.

Revelation 20: 7. “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. Out of this
bottomless pit, out of this old earth that has been his dungeon, you might say. His solitary confinement for 1000
years. I’ve talked to men imprisoned in solitary confinement. The cell is so small that you can hardly lie down.
And you can’t talk to anybody. Solitary confinement. Satan has his for 1000 years, to contemplate the ruin his
reign has caused. And now he is going to be loosed. What is it that loses Satan, do you suppose? The
resurrection of the wicked. He is back in business. He goes off the unemployment list now. His says to all of
his evil angels, “Okay, fellows. Time to go to work. The thousand year vacation is over.” All these wicked
people come out of their graves, and Satan goes right to work again. Here it is. Revelation 20: 8. “Satan shall
go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth... To gather them together... to battle.

Notice the number of the lost. “The number of whom is as the sand on the sea.” Have you ever gone down to
their seashore, picked up a handful of sand, led the grains of sand trickle through your fingers? Have you ever
tried to count the grains of sand? You can get a little idea of this great host of the lost. Just as far as theehigh
can see, from the east, west, north, south, all the corners of the earth, they come. This mighty host of the lost.

What are they going to do? “They wind up on the breath of the earth, and compassed of the Saints about, and
the beloved city.” They surround that great city, that New Jerusalem which has come to rest upon the earth.
Satan would like to get in there and tear God off his throne. He knows Christ is in there. The son of God that
he couldn’t hold in the grave. Satan has had 1000 years to think about it. Do you think he has repented? Do
you think he has decided to be a good boy now? Oh, no. If he had a million years, he still would go on fighting
God. So he marshals all these wicked. He must have a large group of them there. Think of all those great
enemies of the cross of Christ that put so many faithful to death back there in the Dark Ages. The great enemies
of Christ. All of them there, from every age of history, millions, billions of the lost. They surround that city. I
am sure Satan is firing them on. He says, “We can take it. There are more of us than there of them. We can take
it, and then we can have control of the world at last.”

But you know, as they surround that city, something happens. They see something. lifted up there high above
that city that stops them right in their tracks. They stand spellbound, speechless -What do they see? Revelation
20:11 “The great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away.”

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Whom did they see? Oh, yes. They see Jesus Christ enthroned. They stand there speechless. Then their whole
past flashes back before them. Instant replay. Instant recall. Sound, color...they see their whole lives. There it is.

We are going to be talking one week from tonight about God’s computers. I am going to show you some
amazing facts about the Book of Life on judgment day. Whatever you do, don’t miss It.

“I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.” Rev. 20:12. “And the books were opened; and another book
was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the
books, according to their works.” They see it all come back before them now. They see just where their feet
strayed from the pathway. They see just where they rejected truth. They see just where God gave them an
opportunity, and they rejected it. They turned it down. And they realize that they would not be happy inside that
city. They realize that by their lives, they have totally unfitted themselves for fellowship with the people inside
that city. They would be miserable there, wouldn’t they? They wouldn’t be happy there. They couldn’t carry on
life the way they wanted to. It would be a real drag to them. That would be a terrible life sentence to the wicked
to sentence them to an eternity in a place where all was pure, and holy, and lovely. Why, they would go stark,
raving mad. They have shut themselves out, by their own course of action, their own lives. Then what happens?

Phil. 2:10-12. Paul predicted that the day would come when every knee would bow. “That at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, ....every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Yes, every lost wicked
person, Satan himself, and all of his evil angels will admit that God is fair. God is just. There are two sides to
the coin of God’s love. There is God’s mercy and on the other side of the coin is God’s justice. Isn’t that right?
God’s mercy has been extended to this old world, while the jury has been out now for thousands and thousands
of years. Now the jury is about to return its verdict. Everybody on the inside of the city, certainly God has their
vote. What about everybody on the outside? Is He going to get their vote? Oh, yes. They are going to say, “God
is fair. God is just.” Even Satan himself is going to bow down and say, “God you have won. You have beaten
me, fair and square, in this great controversy. You have been fair through it all, and I deserve to die. Justice has
to be satisfied. Go ahead and get it over with.”

This is the moment God is waiting for, you see. He has been wanting to put sin out of the universe for thousands
of years, but he must do it, not by force, but by universal consent. Isn’t that right? Now He’s got the consent of
everyone. Then God says, “All right. Let the fire fall.” Rev. 20:9 “Fire came down out of heaven, and” ...did
what? “Devoured them.” God will put an end to sin and sinners. “The devil that deceived them was cast into
the lake of fire and brimstone.” I told you that I was going to tell you, tonight, where I plan to be when Satan
dies. I want to be on the inside looking out, not on the outside looking in. What about you? Think of it tonight,
friends, think of that host of the lost as they surround the walls of that holy city. There is every human being that
has ever lived. They all come face to face- the righteous and the wicked- The righteous on the inside and the
wicked on the outside. They come face to face with only those beautiful jasper walls, which the Bible says
“were as transparent glass.” That means you can see through, isn’t that right? That means that people on the
outside can see people on the inside. They can walk right up, but they can’t touch. They can’t reach through
those walls. Husbands can see wives on the inside. Wives can see husbands on the inside. Family members with
that beautiful jasper wall between can look through those walls. No wonder the Bible says there is going to be
wailing and weeping and gnashing of teeth. I’m sure someone is going to think they are having a bad dream.
“This is just a bad dream, a nightmare.” Then the awful realization sweeps over them, “Oh, my God. This is not
a dream. This is real. This is the second resurrection, and I’m lost. I am eternally, everlastingly lost. Lost !

But God is fair and He is just. Only after He gets everybody’s consent, both inside and outside the city, will He
let the fire fall. Now it says the fire did what to them? “It devoured them.” Some people say, “I thought hell fire
was going to burn on and on forever.” Well, let’s see what the Bible teaches. Jude 7. “Even as Sodom and
Gomorrah.” You’ve heard about those wicked cities of Abraham’s day. “And the cities about them in like

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manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh, are set forth for”... For what?
Sodom and Gomorrah are “an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” What kind of fire? Eternal fire !
Eternal in its consequences. They suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. Let me show you what happened in
Sodom and Gomorrah. 2 Peter 2:6. “Turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into...” What? Ashes ! It
consumed. And it says, “It made them an example unto those that should after live ungodly.” Now if you want
to see an example of eternal fire, the Bible says, “Look at Sodom and Gomorrah.” That is an example of eternal
fire. Are Sodom and Gomorrah still burning tonight? I have listened to Walter Cronkite for years, but you know,
I never heard Walter Cronkite end his broadcast by saying, “Sodom and Gomorrah, those ancient wicked cities
of the plains, still burning tonight. That’s the way it is.” Did you ever hear him say that? They are not still
burning. Why the Dead Sea washes over the spot where they used to be, according to archaeologists, but they
are an example of eternal fire.

Everlasting punishment! The Bible says the wicked are going to be punished with everlasting punishment. Did
you get that? Not everlasting punishing. There is a difference between a noun and a verb. You remember when
we were kids in school, the teachers said, “Bobby, Mary, give me an example of a noun.” If you put down a
verb, did you lose that point or did you get that point? You lost it. So when God says “eternal punishment”
that’s a noun. He doesn’t say “eternal punishing.” That’s a verb. Eternal punishment. Eternal death. Would you
call that punishment? I would call that maximum penalty, wouldn’t you? Eternal punishment. You see, if I have
a piece of paper up here tonight, and I light this paper with a match, that paper will burn, and burn, and
burn....for how long? Until it is consumed, and then what will happen? It will go out. Is that everlasting
destruction? Will it ever be paper again? No. That is everlasting destruction.

Notice what God says. Nahum 1:9. “What do you imagine against the Lord?” Some people think that God is
going to string them out over hell-fire for billions, and billions, and billions of years, as never stop burning. God
says, “What do you imagine against me? What kind of a God do you think I am?” What kind of a sadistic tyrant
do some people make God out to be? He says in Mal. 4:1, “For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an
oven, and all the proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be as What? “Stubble.” Does that sound like burning
forever, and ever, and ever? Now, friends, that idea come out of the Middle Ages. It was invented by an
apostatizing church of the Middle Ages. That comes from paganism. This everlasting burning, everlasting
punishing, comes from paganism. They invented this doctrine to scare out of people what they couldn’t preach
out of them. That is why they did it. To scare people into the church. To make people afraid of the fire at the end
of the road. The Bible says they will be ashes.

You say, “Pastor Bob, I see that you don’t believe in hell.” My friends, I do believe in hell. In fact, I believe in a
hotter hell than all the other preachers in this city put together. Did you know that? I believe in a hell so hot that
it is going to get the job done and go out. Not keep on burning and smoldering throughout all the ages of
eternity. Of course, we believe in hell-fire. We believe it just like the Bible teaches it. There is no hell burning
tonight. No wicked burning tonight. The Bible says, “They are reserved until the day of judgment to be
punished.” Fire comes down from heaven that burns the wicked. That is hell-fire. Look at this. Isa. 47:14.
“Behold they shall be as”...what? Stubble. Isn’t that what Malachi said? “The fire shall burn them; they shall not
deliver themselves from the power of the flame.” But what will happen after the flame has done its work, after
the fires of destruction has consumed root and branch? Notice. “There shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to
sit before.” That means hell is going to go out. That’s right. That is the only way that a God of love and mercy,
and justice, and love would have it. He wouldn’t have it any other way. If God was going to punish people
eternally, that would make Him a whole lot worse than Hitler, wouldn’t it? God says, “What do you imagine
against the Lord?” Eze. 18:4. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Do souls die? Yes, they do. God says they will
die.

If we only had this one text John 3:16. That could tell us the whole story right there in a nutshell. “For God so

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loved the world that He gave his only begotten son.” What does the rest of it say? “That whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Should not what? Perish, but have what? Does perish mean
live? No, it means die. Friends, God does not say, “Well, now, would you rather have everlasting life in hell or
everlasting life in heaven? He doesn’t give us the choice of living in one place or the other. He says, “You can
choose to perish or you can choose to have everlasting life.” It is clear when you look at it in the great search
light of Bible prophecy.

So then that great fire that destroys the wicked, goes on to purify the earth. What is happening to the New
Jerusalem? What happened to Noah’s ark and the people in it during the time of the Flood? Did they make out
all right? Why, surely. God’s hand was on it, and just as the ark floated on a sea of water on this earth, this New
Jerusalem will literally be there surrounded by a sea of fire. Those people inside are just as safe as a babe in its
mother’s arms, because “they are safe in the arms of Jesus.” Isn’t that right?

That earth is destroyed. 2 Pet. 3:10, 13. “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, the earth also and works therein shall be burned up.” “Nevertheless, we, according to his
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth.” God is going to recreate this earth in all of its Edenic beauty.
Rev. 21:4. “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor
crying, neither shall there be any more..” What? “Pain.” If you had people out there writhing in agony in the
flames for eternity, you’d have what? You’d have some pain. They won’t be there. They won’t have any pain.
“The former things are passed away.”

Remember this beatitude of Jesus ... Matt. 5:5. He says, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”
They are going to inherit heaven for one thousand years, but at the end of that thousand years, they are going to
come down and they are going to inherit the earth. That beatitude, that prophecy of Jesus, is going to finally be
fulfilled.

God is going to recreate this old world. Just get the picture now. Imagine it in our closing moments here.
Imagine how it is going to be when it is recreated. “Sin and sinners are no more. One pulse of harmony beats
throughout the vast creation. From the greatest world to the smallest atom, all things in their unshattered beauty
and perfect joy will declare that God is love.” Oh, friends, I want to be a part of that beautiful, new world. What
about you tonight? You and I can be there, if we make Jesus Lord of our life.

How many tonight, right where you are sitting, just by holding up your hands, want to say, “Pastor Bob,
remember me in your closing prayer. I want to make Jesus the King of my life. I want to crown Him now.” God
bless you. Will you bow your heads with me in prayer?

This is part 7 of a 21-part Prophecy Lecture series. If you wish to obtain a Free copy of the other 20 issues, please write to: 1191 South
Columbia Road, Grand Forks, ND 58201 or call 701 780 2000. You may email me nchelliah@heartnd.net if you want me to email the articles
to you.

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