Revelation 20:1-6

It has been quite a trip, hasn’t it? From the vision of our Lord and Saviour in Chapter 1 and His letters to seven very specific churches that represent all of the significant issues that Christ’s people have faced through all of history, up to the end of a war that began before humanity arrived on the scene and may in fact have been about us in the first place, we see many things, but all fall under the general category of either actions or consequences.

I have said this before, but it bears repeating. ALL actions have consequences. Good actions ultimately have good consequences, because our God is just and fair. However, most of the actions of our enemy and his followers have been bad, and those consequences, accordingly and ultimately, have terrible consequences. Somehow, people try to get mad at God about those consequences or God’s servants for trying to explain that God is just and fair, and we as humans are all awful sinners and will receive justice. Justice in this case is exactly what we all deserve. It may not be what we get, and that’s the good news.

If that last statement bothers you, let me try to explain. When humanity disobeyed God’s command not to eat the fruit of a specific tree called “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” we became subject to the stated penalty of that action. The consequence for the one who broke the command was death. Genesis 2:17 says, “…but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” They didn’t die right away, but they did die. The action had consequences that went beyond just the two of them. I suppose the message there is that your sin doesn’t always just affect you. Their actions affected folks outside of just the two of them – it turned the entire human race into a species of traitors. The death that they were now subject to, all humanity now falls under. We are all responsible for paying the price for that action, because it altered the very nature of humanity. From that point on, we have all been born dead in our transgressions and sins. We are unable to pay that price because it would take an innocent and righteous human to die on our behalf to pay that penalty. Uh oh…

Please don’t despair, it happened. God Himself became a human being to accomplish this. In the person of God the Son, the Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit) caused a virgin girl, Mary by name, to conceive without human intervention. She gave birth to Jesus, whose birthday we celebrate each year. He lived a perfect life under the Law that He gave to Moses in the first place, and at the time He chose, He gave up that life to atone for all of the sins of all who will ever turn to Him and ask for forgiveness for their sins. In dying, He justified us before God by paying our penalty for us, that is, atoning for our sins. With that payment, He wiped away our debt, cleaning the record of our sins, which means He expiated them. Because of the consequences of that act, WE are FREE if we will turn to Him in repentance and faith. For all those who will, we are redeemed and become His for all of eternity. See? I told you; it happened.

This is the very individual who was at the head of the conquering army, and quite possibly the only one who did any of the fighting in the battle we encountered, but didn’t read the details in the text we considered last week.

I broke down the text as follows:

KV6: Actions and Consequences

6: Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

1-3: The Punishment of the Enemy

4-6: The Beatitude of the First Resurrection

This passage in Revelation 20 serves as the introduction to the topic that provides our theme for this evening. We see a mix of good and bad consequences resulting from the actions performed by characters whose moral character we are familiar with. It isn’t difficult to infer from what was seen last time (the Antichrist and his False Prophet being cast into the Lake of Fire while still alive) that the consequences will be very severe. The good consequences of those who remained faithful, even if it cost them their own lives, will be very good. We will discuss these as we encounter them. Let’s get on with the text.

KV6: Actions and Consequences

This is a hint that even death is not permanent for those individuals who trust that their lives are preserved and hidden in Christ with God if they give them up in the service of Christ, or in bearing witness to Him and His divinity. That word for witness, I will again point out, is the Greek word μαρτυρίαν in the text (accusative, feminine, singular noun), and it is where we get our English word “martyr.” One who is a witness, one who bears true testimony, even at the expense of their own life. We will say more about this in a little bit, but this kind of faithfulness is what is expected by all who will identify as His. It might be a defining character of those who will die for Christ, or more often, I think, who will live for Him. This gives rise to a principle that needs to be stated and understood by all those who will identify as being with or in Christ.

You must be faithful to what He has called you to in life. Once you know what that is, you need to pursue it. I heard God’s call to ministry in 1987, Beloved. Like most people who experience God calling them to a life of service, I listened to my own logic, which resulted in my ignoring this call for 30 years. Praise God for His mercy in bringing me back to it, but my point is, I wasted a lot of time not chasing God or His will for me because of some of my intellectual ideas at the time, which limited me from the kind of service to which God was calling me, the preaching of His word from the pulpit, and the shepherding of the souls that He brings into my sphere.

Not everyone will be called upon to die as a martyr for Jesus. The most recent public martyr I can think of before Charlie Kirk is a young man named John Allen Chau. He had a burden to preach the gospel to a people group called the Sentinelese, who lived on North Sentinel Island in the Andaman Islands, an archipelago off the coast of India. My understanding of the story is that he landed on the island in a modified canoe or kayak, and encountered a man whom he tried to greet, and that man killed him with an arrow. He gave up his life pursuing the mission he was persuaded God had given him. He trained for it, he prepared for it in the best way he could, and he attempted to execute it. He went to the island, attempted to make contact with the residents of the island, and was struck and driven off by a volley of arrows. The next day, he returned and was shot with an arrow, which killed him. He was 26.

I have heard it before. People have said in my hearing, “I’m ready to die for Jesus.” Amen. I know of some people in Benue State, Nigeria, who have said that. I fear they have encountered Fulani Herdsmen, who are Muslim and of the opinion that anyone who isn’t should die. God bless them. May we all find that kind of strength if they come for us in like fashion.

What amazes me is that no one wants to live for Jesus. Beloved, God has called all of us to pursue Him toward whatever He calls us. John Allen Chau heard that call and responded, though he paid the maximum price for it. I find myself asking, “What about Gerald William Brinkman? Will he follow Christ and do what is required?” I picked that question and challenge because it is personal, and as such, I know the answer. “I will do so, God giving me the grace and strength needed.” This is a part of that this evening. Every study we have is me saying, “Yes, Lord.” It isn’t always easy. However, and I also see this in the text, it will be worth any suffering I undergo because of it. That being said, let’s examine the text.

1-3: The Punishment of the Enemy

Here, we begin to see the wages (the things we earn with our works, which are a result of our collective opinions, i.e., faith) of sin, and in the worst and original case, Lucifer. He’s been a naughty boy, and it has earned him some things that, as with all works, are richly deserved. Let’s look and see.

1: Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

This is a bit of foreshadowing, is it not? Here comes another angel. He’s coming from Heaven, so we can assume he’s still a good angel, a servant of God. He is holding a key. He is also holding, as I suspect his job requires, a great chain (again, a form of μεγά). Why does his job require it? This is heaven’s jailer. He has the key to Heaven’s jail, the ἀβύσσου, the bottomless pit.
There is some minor debate among commentators about whether this is the same angel who now holds the key. I do not think this is the case, because the previous angel who had the key is described in Revelation 9:1 as follows: “Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him.” Stars from heaven that had fallen to earth, we decided at that time, referred to fallen angels, those who had followed Lucifer into rebellion. This appears to be a new angel, at least to me. I’m not sure it is of consequence to our story, but for what it is worth, there it is. The jailer descends. Some suggest it is Michael himself, and there is a poetic meaning in that, but we have no way of knowing until we get there.

2: And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;

First consequence: Arrest. The heavenly jailer physically seizes that evil serpent, the great and terrible dragon, the devil, the accuser of the brethren.
Second consequence: Handcuffs. It says the jailer binds him. I am making an equivalence with the act of slapping cuffs on a perpetrator of a crime or crimes. His crimes are many and heinous.
Third consequence: Imprisonment. The sentence of the Judge? 1000 years. Some suggest this cannot be 1000 literal years, but that number seems oddly specific. The answer lies in your eschatology, interestingly.
There are three ways (essentially) to view this thousand-year period, and these views line up with Amillennialism, Postmillennialism, and Premillennialism (which would include Dispensationalism, because it is a framework to order the premillennial view). Whether the number is symbolic or literal, it corresponds to the length of time Christ’s kingdom will be on Earth, and there are events at the end of that period that change the age into the eternal state. We will say more about that when we get there.
- Amillennialists suggest that this 1,000-year period is not limited to 1,000 years. They believe it is the time between Christ’s first coming and His second coming, and think of this binding of Satan with the great chain as him being kept from working in the lives of believers, from deceiving unbelievers, and stopping the advance of the gospel.
- Postmillennialists believe that the 1000-year reign has happened or is happening now, similar to the AMIL camp. They believe that the church’s task is to conquer the world with the gospel, and ultimately, in a time of peace, Satan will be loosed, and Christ will return, defeat Satan, and establish His eternal kingdom. Both of these camps believe that Satan is bound for a time on earth.
- Premillennialists (including Dispensationalists) believe that the 1000-year kingdom is a literal thousand years and is still a future event. We believe that Christ’s return will occur after a time of Trouble (spoken of in Daniel and described throughout this book as well as other places), and He will bring believers into His millennial kingdom on Earth. The purpose of that tribulation is to turn apostate Israel back to God so that a remnant of them will recognize Jesus as their Messiah, because they missed him the first time. At THIS time, Satan will be chained, as in this verse. The AMIL and POSTMIL camps have this problem, and it is impossible to get around: Satan, who is supposed to be bound for this period, has chains that seem far too long for either theory to fit the facts at hand.
It is our position here at BereanNation.com that Premillennialism seems to be the biblically supported eschatology. Our views are a little looser on the location of the rescue of the church, because there is no clear text that will allow us to determine when it will occur. Jesus has said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matt. 24:36, Mark 13:32). I am crystal clear that there is a day and an hour, but to try to figure out when that day or hour is, is somewhat foolish, and not in keeping with what our Lord said. What we do know is that Satan will be contained for the length of time King Jesus will run His kingdom on Earth, and at the end of that time, Satan will again be set at liberty for a short time. We will discuss this further in our next study.

3: and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.

For the moment, Satan is contained. He is thrown into the bottomless pit and Satan has, literally, a seal set over him.” The sense here is that the door is sealed shut over his head. This seal is stronger than the one set over Jesus on resurrection morning, to be sure, because we know how ineffective that seal was. This one is MUCH stronger, held shut by the very creator of the universe, who rules all things. If He says that Satan cannot break free, then Satan cannot break free. That’s all there is to it.
One of the ways that we can know this is not a figurative binding and imprisonment is that Satan has no ability to reach anyone on the outside of the pit. The text states that he will no longer be able to deceive the nations. If the AMIL camp or the POSTMIL camp is correct, then this should not be happening now. When you can test a theory by reading headlines from the news, right? If this is correct, and I have to say this with a little disdain, Satan’s chains seem just a little not there. He is able to act in the world today, and as metaphorically as anyone can take that, that is an impossible condition in those two specific cases. Logic and Scripture: the most potent tools in the arsenal of the Berean.
This “thousand years” is repeated again. I do not think, given the failure of the AMIL or POSTMIL metaphor, that number is a metaphor. I’m not a big fan of the Jewish Rabbis, but every once in a while, they have an interesting thought. According to them, as the world was created in six days, and God rested on the seventh, so would there be seven millenary periods for Earth. (I had to look it up to be sure, but if you guessed that millenary periods are periods of a thousand years, your logical mind is functioning well. The word originates from the 16th century, derived from the Latin millennarius, meaning “having a thousand.” Think about this: 2000 years before the Law, 2000 Years under the Law, 2000 years under Christ, and the last millenary period is 1000 years of rest in the kingdom of Christ, a sabbath rest of 1000 years. This was a tradition that was in the house of Elias in approximately AD 200 (and it may have begun much earlier). Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Cyprian, and others all held a premillennial view of eschatology. This was only discarded as the church fell more in love with the world. Augustine was amillennial in his views, for example. Origen, most notably, was a proponent of what became postmillennial thought. If you would like more information on this topic, I suggest consulting The Commentary on Revelation 12-22, part of a larger series by Dr. John MacArthur, which includes a discussion of these issues in the section on this passage, pages 228-233. I don’t usually provide those kinds of references, but it is the most cogent argument, and it is stated more eloquently than I could ever speak, coming from someone who I am certain has read all of the references, not just giving second-hand quotes.
What it is saying is that we have not yet seen the end of Satan, but we will have to wait 1000 years at least to see it. We will look at that text next time. It tells us that he must be released for a μικρὸν χρόνον. A little time. He gets to lose the mega-chain for a micron of time, probably speaking comparatively, given what his actions will be. Again, we will see it next time.

I titled this thought unit “The Punishment of the Enemy” because that is what we see in the text. There are other issues addressed in this text, but I will focus on those for the moment. Moving on.

4-6: The Beatitude of the First Resurrection

We have been commenting on the beatitudes we have seen in the book of Revelation, but this is a “blessed be” statement if I have ever read one (v.6). I will say more when we get there. What we have seen to this point is the price of disobedience to God and His will, which is in His word. Now we will begin to see the reward for those who will remain faithful to Him and follow Him and His word no matter what. I’ll give a slight hint. There are benefits and privileges associated with the obedience of faith in Christ. Let’s look at that.

4: Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

It’s a much longer verse than we usually deal with, but we will parse it because it is very encouraging to see what it says. This is the part of the movie where the musical score starts to swell into the last anthem we will hear as viewers, and it is a grand chord, crystal-clear, in the most major key. Ready? Here we go.
I saw thrones. Beloved, who sits on thrones? Is it not those who rule the kingdom? It is here. And “they” sat on them. In fact, judgment was given to them. Who are “they”? It may be useful to remember the three most important principles for interpreting Scripture, which are context, context, and context. I ask again, who are “they”? If you are not certain, keep reading. It is the souls of those who 1) had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and the word of God (His word), 2) those who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and 3) those who had not received his loyalty mark on their forehead or hand. It is THESE who occupied these thrones. How do we know? We know it is these because THEY came to life and ruled with Christ for 1000 years.
That pesky 1000 years again. It is a repeated value. This, in my thinking, gives weight to a more literal interpretation of the number. For those who would offer a more metaphorical explanation and definition here, please allow me a question: Was the fulfilled prophecy in Isaiah 7:14 a metaphor or more literal? Allow me to read the verse. “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” Please don’t tell me HE was a mere metaphor. I don’t use the word “heretic” lightly, but that would be RANK heresy. I’m not saying metaphor does not exist; there is a great deal of it in Revelation itself. But when something is a repeated detail like this, it tends toward literal interpretation. That is a handful on purpose, as it were.
I would suggest that all believers through all time will sit with them on those thrones also. Daniel 7:27 tells us that the Old Testament saints will rule on those thrones as well. If they will sit on some of those thrones, then so will the New Testament saints, which would include us, and all those since the beginning of the church. Here are all of the tribulation saints (for lack of a better term) who lost their lives for their witness and obedience to Christ, joining us on those thrones. The ones who remain alive but were believing and following Christ are not mentioned here, but there is evidence elsewhere that these will enter the millennial kingdom of Christ and become millennial saints. John says no more about that group of people.
Isaiah perhaps does; in Isaiah 11:6-10, it says, “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.” I will remind you that my degree is in biology, specifically in the field of natural history. This is usually understood in taxonomic terms, where living creatures are classified into various Phyla, Orders, Families, Genera, and species. Herbivores are a broad category of animals that eat plants. Wolves, leopards, lions, bears, vipers, and cobras all can eat meat, and most often prefer it. This is a biological impossibility, at least based on what I learned in university. This describes the remaking of the animals. Children are typically victims of snakes, being the curious little agitators that they are. Most often, these snakes are responding to what they would see as a violent threat to them or their offspring. The kids described in this text will play with them gently! Beloved, this will be incredible, this 1000-year kingdom. And it is only God Himself that can remake all animals.
Moreover, I think he’s done it before; it may be returning the animals to the state they had before the curse that man’s sin inflicted on the entire world, and I think before the flood, when the human diet was changed by God. Genesis 9:3 says, “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.” Why else would God announce the change to Noah and his family? However, like I said, John says no more about it, so we will leave that to your own private studies. Moving on.

5: The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

Here, a specific difference is being emphasized. There are those who were killed or died in a state I will call “In Christ” (the biblical term), and then “NOT in Christ.” The previous verse set the context for the reward for those in Christ. Here is setting up the consequence without describing it for those who are not in Christ. The first little bit is seen in that they remained dead for the 1000-year reign of Christ on Earth. They did not participate in what John calls here the First Resurrection. This first resurrection is clearly a resurrection into reward and position that is only granted by Christ, who knows everyone and everything. Those who stay dead, well, it strongly implies they remain dead for a reason that we will see in the text starting in v.11. We will look at this when we get to that text. This is an incomplete thought that is finished in the next verse.

John is telling us that there is a special blessing to be had in being worthy of taking part in that first resurrection, and that blessing is related to the holiness of the individual involved. That holiness cannot belong to us, it must come from Christ, the holy, anointed one of God, the Messiah, the Christ, our great Saviour, our King, the King of all kings, and Lord of all lords. To take part in this first resurrection is to participate in this beatitude, the fifth of seven. This may be speculation, but it certainly fits. According to the Brethren Theologian F. W. Grant, in his book, The Numerical Structure of Scriptures, five is the number that represents grace. This blessedness is a gift of grace from Christ to all those who participate in it.
This gift also defines an exclusive category. If you are a participant in the first resurrection, then you and anyone else in this category cannot be hurt by the second death. It will not affect you as an individual. What? I thought we could only die once! You mean I might die after I die? Yes, that is what this is saying. The old saying I once heard was, “Born once, die twice; born twice, die only once.” This refers to your response to the good news that Jesus Christ took your place on the cross and died in your place. You know, that actually happened. Jesus physically took the place of one Barrabas, an insurrectionist and murderer, on the cross. He was the one who should have been crucified that day in history. Richard Fleischer once directed a movie by that name in 1961. Barrabas was played in the film by Anthony Quinn. It was the story of how Barrabas ultimately became a follower of Jesus, and it was quite an adventure. He could literally say Jesus died in his place. Beloved, so can we. For anyone who believes enough to turn from their own sins and accept his penal substitutionary atonement on their behalf, the literal act of Him paying your fine, you can say the same thing. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21)
Here, the Apostle John tells us that all who participate in this resurrection will be priests of God and Christ, and kings and queens who will reign with Him on Earth for 1,000 years. Beloved, I’ve lived for 58 years. I’ve seen a lot of stuff and had some excellent days. (Yes, I’ve had a lot of bad days too, but that’s not my topic.) None of those good days will even be able to compare with the privilege and honour it will be to serve God in that place and in that way.
A priest is a form of intercessor, the way I read it in the Old Testament. The Levitical priest was the one who collected the live animal offerings from the people and offered them to God in the act of slaying them. The Melchizedekian priests offered the sacrifice of bread and wine to God, and it is the very New Testament emblems of the ordinance of human worship that Christ instituted at the Last Supper. However, this priesthood is ancient, dating back at least as far as Abraham in the Old Testament. Both priests gathered worship to God and gave it to Him on behalf of the participating individual. Do you see that this was the job of the now-imprisoned Lucifer, by the way? I mentioned last time that little insight by Dr. Del Tackett. We are indeed Lucifer’s replacement as priests to God.
The King is to establish and enforce the laws given by God and to protect the rights and freedoms given by God to humanity. In a sense, we will all be kings and queens in that position, protecting each other’s rights and freedoms by being careful with our own. This is one of the reasons that Jesus is the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. Even as the Apostle Peter said in His second letter, “For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (2 Pet. 1:4) As true as this was when he first wrote it, it will be perfectly true then. We will have been raised from the dead or transformed in the air to meet Him, and we will be then truly given His nature, and our sinful fleshly nature will be removed permanently. As I mentioned earlier, I am now 58. A thousand years is a LONG time. Even as long as that will be, it is not the end; it is only the beginning for those who will inherit the “life of the ages.” [ζωὴν αἰώνιον from Matt. 25:46]
It does not say what will happen after those 1000 years here, but we will see it before the end of the book, and we will get as good a glimpse as John had of that life of the ages.

What I said at the beginning of this study should be applied in all of our thinking, whether we are in Revelation or the Psalms. There is a lifestyle that is appropriate for all of those who will be followers of the Christ. If we are to reign truly with King Jesus, we must own Him as our One True King now. For example, Canada’s government is technically a parliamentary monarchy. King Charles III is currently the King of Canada. Our Governor General, Mary Simon, is his representative when Charles is not in Canada. As a citizen of Canada, that makes Charles my earthly king. However, as a follower of Christ and citizen of Heaven (Phil. 3:20-21, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”), Christ is my One True King. My earthly king is a pale imitation at best of my Lord in Heaven, and if the two ever come into conflict, I have already chosen to follow my Heavenly King. This is not treason; it is adherence to the doctrine of the lesser magistrate. It would be treason to disobey my Heavenly Lord.

Many throughout history have seen this dichotomy, so my idea is not original. Some have paid a high price for this view. William Tyndale, with his last words, prayed, “Lord, open the eyes of the king of England.” Then they strangled him and burnt him at the stake for the crime of translating the bible into English, among other stupidities. Jon Huss [lit. John Goose in English], as they were lighting the fires that would bring his death at the stake, called out in what we might call Czech, “You may cook this goose, but I see the coming of the swan,” foretelling the rise of Martin Luther 100 years or so before it happened. Martin Luther’s banner was a swan. Time would fail me if I told of others who perished like Steven, James (son of Zebedee), Polycarp, Ignatius of Antioch, sister Perpetua and her slave Felicity, Cyprian, and others in a very long list of Christian martyrs, all died because they would not bow their knees to someone else calling themselves King, and demanding their fealty.

As it was then, the test of loyalty is probably easy to perform today. Then, it was to throw a pinch of incense into the fire and recite the words, “Caesar is lord, or kaiser kurios.” For the Christian, there is only one Lord we must obey, and that is Christ; Christos Kurios. The deed is easy, but the cost is too steep to pay. Today, it demands we live in the insane world of everybody is interchangeable, and car thieves, to use our old euphemism, can also be Christians, as if it were acceptable for a Christian to live in open sin. It is not hate to identify sin as sin. It is not hate to tell a car thief, or a homosexual, that they are living in sin. If they wish to continue in that sin, we must inform them of the consequences, but then it is up to them to decide whether to repent and leave it behind or not.

Our quickly forming one-world religion is going to make it very simple to ignore this commission from God. They will make it acceptable for “you to do you,” so to speak. TV Character Catholic Father Francis Mulcahey from M*A*S*H made it easy. “Each man prays in his own way,” he said. And I’m a fan of the show! Catholics play word games. They redefine and change the word for “repentance” and substitute “penance.” Repentance is the inner change that results in the behaviour change we often speak about in our bible studies. You are making an inner change because you truly regret the sinful action and no longer wish to give it a place in your life. It is a change that starts inside you. Penance focuses on outward behaviour as a form of payment for one’s sins. Beloved, nothing could be further from the truth.

Guys like Michael Knowles, a Catholic Apologist, are very smooth at it, to the point that unless your radar is turned up to the highest setting, it slips right by you. The Episcopalians (American Anglicans more or less) say that we are all children of God. NO, Beloved! We are NOT ALL the children of God. Is Hitler included in that? Stalin? Mao? Pol Pot in Cambodia? Hugo Chavez, who carried out assassinations personally and advocated it as a form of regime change? How about none of them? We are all created in the image of God, but the bible tells us that some are what the Scriptures call the “sons of destruction” in the NASB.

We must adhere to the holiness to which we are called. There are verses, but do a Bible search for ‘holiness’ and see what comes up. Paul calls this walking in a manner worthy of our calling by God in at least four places. In doing so, as those whom God has called children by adoption, we will participate in this first resurrection.

That’s what I saw in the text this time.

Next time, we will look at verses 7 through 10. Yes, I know it is only four verses, but there is a lot in those four verses, just like there is a lot in these six verses. That should be, Lord willing, next Thursday. Same BAT time, same BAT channel, in other words.