A LITTLE SEASON
Revelation 20:1 ¶ And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 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. 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, and 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. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
The angel with the key is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Here is what he states to the church of Philadelphia: Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
And his casting out of Satan was proclaimed by him as occurring at his crucifixion. John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
He had to cast out Satan to restore order within his gospel kingdom. Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. By his preaching of repentance he provided entrance into his kingdom, but by his death he not only provided the blood for atonement for his people’s sins, but also dealt with Satan, who had usurped the authority given to Adam.
And all this satisfied his Father! Isaiah 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
For Satan transforms himself into an “angel of light” in order to deceive souls with a false hope. 2 Corinthians 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. The majority of religious practiced in America today is carried on by “inordinate affections” (emotionalism), enflamed by the angel of light (Satan).
Of course there are ‘feelings’ such as joy and peace, given by the Holy Spirit. But the just shall live by faith: For it is faith that pleases God! Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
But the excitement in the halls of religion must be coupled with godly and holy living when those who have been excited exit the meeting! The religionists at Lystra could hardly be restrained by Paul and Barnabas from the fleshly excitement of seeing a ‘miracle.’ Acts 14:15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: 18 And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.
The Lord Jesus Christ, because of his faithful obedience to the Father in both his life and death, has been highly exalted above every name in this world and in the world to come! He now has all power and authority! Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
And there can be no doubt that it was the Lord Jesus who committed to the apostles the keys to his kingdom for the loosing of souls from the bondage of sin. Matthew 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
They also had the authority of these keys to bind up those who refused to believe in the gospel of the kingdom! Acts 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
2 Corinthians 2:15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: 16 To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
And there can be no doubt that the Harlot church usurped the authority of these keys and used them to shut out men’s souls from true salvation! Luke 11:52 Woe unto you, lawyers! {those who attended to Moses’ law for Israel.} for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.
The “little season” is the same period as “a short space” in Revelation 17:10. Neither are listed as having hours, days, months or years. And compared to the “thousand years” it is but of much shorter endurance. It is that unique period upon the earth when the evangelistic efforts of the true church have ceased. The nations have received the gospel, therefore the gospel must be withdrawn for the encroachment of Satan. John 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. Evangelism must cease, with the gospel being recalled in order for full and complete evil to reveal itself and be finally cut off!
And as in the days of Noah, once the ark was finished, with all the occupants within, the door was shut by God. Genesis 7:15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. 16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. Luke 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
Then Noah and his family sat quietly from all their previously labors, sealed up inside that ark for seven days, awaiting the rains to come down and raise that mighty ship above the flood waters of judgment. Genesis 7:10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. And so shall the true church be withdrawn to await God’s final judgment upon all those who have rejected Christ. Isaiah 26:20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
It is as hard for today’s religious system to conceive of the ceasing of evangelism as it was for Israel to embrace that God had “taken away” their old covenant, in order that “he may establish the second.” (Hebrews 10:9). But let us take note of three words in our above printed context. In verse three we read that the thousand year gospel reign of Christ shall be “fulfilled.” Then in verse five we read that it shall be “finished.” And finally, in verse seven it is said to be “expired.”
And that the thousand years is the gospel reign of Christ on earth is evident. For we have seen in the second column of our first page of this article that the Lord Jesus himself stated that he would cast out Satan at the time of his own death. Therefore that period which follows his crucifixion is the age of the church begun by the coming of the Holy Spirit. (See 1 Peter 1:12.)
Yet because carnally minded religionists, seek only to stay under the physical blessings of the first covenant, they cannot see the glories of the gospel kingdom, therefore they had to invent a future ‘millennial’ reign in order to deal with this ‘thousand year’ issue. Dear Reader, Christ IS presently reigning! Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
But why represent it with the number 1000? This is the Jews greatest number. The more zeros they added to the number of anything, the more glorious it was! A captain over ten is not as glorious as a captain over a hundred. And a captain over a hundred is never so honorable as a captain over a thousand! And when they would show the multitudes of angelic beings before the Lord God, it would be a “thousand thousands.” Daniel 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
It is also the number which was used to affirm the absolute protection of God for his people against all the forces of darkness. Psalm 91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Yet those scriptures, both of the Old Testament and the New, which speak of a glorious age, refer to the gospel age as compared to the darkness of the former age of the law. It is as light compared to darkness. 1 John 2:8 … because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. Matthew 4:12 Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; 13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
It is as the reversing of the effects of sin’s curse. Isaiah 11:6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. This is not referring to natural wolves and leopards, but to men acting as beasts! 1 Corinthians 15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus,… Luke 13:31 The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee. 32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected. Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
This is that glorious gospel age resulting after Incarnate God had come to fully bring forth his intended purposes for those whom he loved in Christ before the world began! (Ephesians 1:3) Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Matthew 13:17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. We are most blessed to live in the gospel age!
Pastor Gene Breed
September 28, 2017