We can’t always trust people’s words. But we can always trust God’s words, which will be fulfilled exactly as He has said in His Word. This episode opens with Revelations 21:5, where the Lord Jesus Christ says to the Apostle John that His promises about the new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem are certain and must be recorded “for these words are true and faithful.” Later, Christ identifies Himself as “Alpha and Omega,” underscoring His divine sovereignty and the finality of God’s plan. God’s Word is true and faithful to what it promises to both believers and unbelievers. The moment you trust that Christ died for your sins personally and rose again, you are saved from your sins and the lake of fire, and obtain the free gift of salvation, a home in heaven, and eternal life in Christ.

Revelation 21 describes the eternal state in which God creates a new heaven and new earth, with the new Jerusalem descending from heaven to the earth as a holy, radiant city where God will dwell with His people. It emphasizes that the first heaven and earth will pass away, the curse of sin will be removed, and the new creation will be free from death, sorrow, and suffering. The new Jerusalem is pictured as a bride adorned for her Husband and will be inhabited by the redeemed, who will live in God’s immediate presence. In this lesson, we also learn how many of the things that are true for Israel on the earth in the eternal state will be true for the Church, the Body of Christ, in heaven forever as well.

In this episode, we learn that when unbelievers stand before Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment, they will not be judged by the code of morality they have written for themselves, but by God's perfect standard. And because they died in their sins and unrighteousness, all who appear at this judgment will be eternally condemned to a place of eternal torment in the lake of fire. May these sobering truths drive us toward fulfilling our commission to beg people to be reconciled to God before it’s too late. There are many roads to hell, but there is only one way to avoid it—believing that Christ died for your sins personally and rose again.

This teaching explains that during the Millennial Kingdom, many people born into its perfect conditions will still reject Christ—not believing He is the Messiah and the Son of God—and that after 1,000 years, Satan will be released to deceive those unbelievers and gather them for a final rebellion. That revolt will instantly be destroyed when God sends fire from heaven, and Satan is then cast into the lake of fire to be tormented forever. This passage in Revelation 20 illustrates that human hearts remain sinful apart from new birth, so even utopian conditions cannot produce universal faith, and that God’s sovereign plan includes a final purging of unbelief before the eternal state.

This message focuses on Revelation 20:4-6, which explains that Tribulation martyrs who refuse the beast’s mark will be resurrected in the “first resurrection,” given thrones and priestly authority, and will live and reign with Christ for 1,000 years. The “rest of the dead” (unbelievers) will not be raised until after the Millennium and will face final judgment. Although this passage emphasizes Israel’s role as priests in the earthly kingdom, we as members of the Body of Christ can also be urged to live with eternity in view, and that faithful service as Christ’s ambassadors will be rewarded with an eternal reign in the heavenlies.

We begin a series that examines the events that the Apostle John saw leading up to and then into the eternal state, as recorded in the last three chapters of the Book of Revelation. As we’re bombarded with chaos, temptation, deception, broken families, corrupt governments, and opposition against God—much of which is the result of Satan’s work—it is very comforting to know that the devil’s days are numbered. We are reminded in this episode that God is in control and will have the final say over the devil. Satan has made the fatal choice in rebelling against God and at first will be bound for 1,000 years, loosed for a short time, and then ultimately cast into the lake of fire to suffer in torment there forever.