Millennium and the End of Sin Honor

Missionary Activities - Bible Studies

Requirements

1. Know where the people saved by Jesus will go after His second coming. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; John 14:2-3)

   Answer: After the second coming, the saved will be caught up in the clouds (1 Thess 4:16-17) and taken to HEAVEN, to the 'Father's house' (John 14:2-3) where Jesus prepared dwelling places. There they will remain during the millennium (1,000 years), and then return to the renewed Earth, without sin, to live eternally with God in the New Jerusalem. — 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 describes the rapture: 'we shall descend from heaven... we shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air'. John 14:2-3 promises: 'in my Father's house are many dwelling places... I go to prepare a place for you'. Adventist theology understands that the saved go to heaven during the millennium and return to the recreated Earth afterward.

2. Explain what will happen to the wicked (those who rejected salvation) at the moment of Jesus' return. (Revelation 6:15-17; Revelation 20:5)

   Answer: The wicked, upon seeing the glory of Christ, will flee, trying to hide in caves and cliffs (Rev 6:15-17), and will perish by the brightness of His coming (2 Thess 2:8). The wicked who are already dead do not yet rise — they wait, sleeping, until the end of the millennium for the second resurrection (Rev 20:5), when they will be judged and definitively destroyed. — Revelation 6:16 shows the wicked asking the mountains to fall on them to flee from the face of Christ. Rev 20:5 says that 'the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed'. Adventist theology distinguishes two resurrections: the first (the righteous, at the coming) and the second (the wicked, after the millennium) for the final judgment.

3. Understand what the condition of the Earth will be during the thousand-year period that begins after Jesus' return. (Jeremiah 4:23-25)

   Answer: The Earth will be deserted and desolate during the thousand years: 'without form and void... there was no man, and all the birds... had fled' (Jer 4:23-25). The righteous will be in heaven with Christ; the living wicked were destroyed at the second coming; the dead wicked await, sleeping, the second resurrection. Only Satan and his angels wander the Earth as a prison (Rev 20:1-3). — Jeremiah 4:23-25 anticipates this scene prophetically: 'I looked at the earth... it was without form and void... I looked, and behold, there was no man'. Revelation 20:1-3 describes Satan 'bound' for a thousand years in the abyss (the desolate Earth). It is the symbolic 'prison' — with no one to tempt, he merely observes the ruins of the world he destroyed over six thousand years.

4. Study what the Bible says the saved will do during the millennium. (Revelation 20:4-6; 1 Corinthians 6:2-3)

   Answer: During the millennium, the saved will be with Christ in heaven taking part in the JUDGMENT of the wicked and the fallen angels: 'the souls... lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years... they sat... and judgment was given unto them' (Revelation 20:4-6); 'do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?... that we shall judge angels?' (1 Corinthians 6:2-3). This is the judgment of the millennium (a review/examination of the cases of the lost), distinct from the pre-advent investigative judgment that began in 1844, which dealt with those who professed the faith before the second coming. During this period the redeemed examine the records and confirm that every one of God's decisions about each person's eternal destiny was just, eliminating any doubt about the character of God before the final destruction of sin. — This judgment gives the saved the opportunity to verify personally the justice of the divine decisions. Each case will be examined — who was saved, who was lost, and why. Thus, at the end of the millennium, no one will have any doubt about the fairness of God's judgment, and every knee will bow acknowledging His justice before the executive judgment.

5. Understand how the great controversy between good and evil will end, and what the final destiny of Satan and of sin will be. (Revelation 21:2, 8; 20:5, 7-15)

   Answer: After the millennium, the wicked are resurrected (the second resurrection). Satan is loosed for a short time and leads the final attack against the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven (Rev 20:7-9). Fire comes down and consumes the wicked and Satan in the LAKE OF FIRE (Rev 20:14-15) — the 'second death', eternal destruction. — Adventist theology understands the 'lake of fire' as total annihilation (not eternal conscious torment). The wicked are destroyed forever, according to Mal 4:1-3 ('they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet'). The New Jerusalem comes down from heaven (Rev 21:2-4) and God dwells with the redeemed eternally, with no more sin, pain, or death — a total restoration of the harmony lost in Eden.

6. Memorize and recite Revelation 20:6.

   Answer: You must memorize and recite Revelation 20:6: 'Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.' Practice reciting it to a colleague or to the instructor of the Honor. — Revelation 20:6 promises three blessings to those who have part in the first resurrection (that of the righteous): 1) blessedness and holiness; 2) immunity to the second death (the lake of fire); 3) priesthood with Christ and reign for a thousand years. The verse is central to the Adventist theology of the millennium and of the assurance of salvation of the redeemed.

7. Share with a friend what the end of sin will be like and what will happen during the millennium described in Revelation 20.

   Answer: You should share with a friend how the end of sin will be and what happens during the millennium according to Revelation 20: the second coming of Jesus, the saved in heaven for 1,000 years, the desolate Earth with Satan bound, the second resurrection of the wicked, the lake of fire, the New Jerusalem. Use simple language and cite verses. Note in the report whom you talked with. — The act of sharing one's faith (witnessing) is part of the mission of the Pathfinders and the Adventist Church — the 'three angels' message' of Rev 14. Sharing the hope of the Second Coming and the final restoration is central to the Adventist DNA, and training the Pathfinder to do this naturally prepares them for personal Christian witness throughout life.