Rev 20:6, 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. 
      We come to a passage that is fraught with various interpretations and ideas of what is being written to the churches by the Holy Spirit. Many doctrines have been put forth based on this passage. Entire denominations make their theological stands upon how they view this passage. It deals with the idea of the millennial rule of Christ and His Church. We could spend many, many weeks looking at the differences between those steadfast and true believers who hold to the idea of pre-millennialism, that Christ will return before the millennium and those steadfast and true believers who hold with postmillennialism, that Christ will return after the thousand year reign of the Church. 
	Both viewpoints use scripture as their basis of belief. Both hold that Christ and His Church will reign for an extended period of time. There is even controversy as to the specific length of that time period. It ranges from an actual thousand years to a symbolic presentation of the scope of the period of Christ’s direct influence in the affairs of man on this earth through His Church. And, in this aspect, there are myriads of explanations as to the type of Christ’s rule as either direct or behind the scenes or as representative through His Church. 
Rather than spend our time in these endeavors, as I stated at the forefront of our reading and study of this Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, let us concern ourselves simply with that which will please the Lord, in our gathering together in the sharing of His Word. 
I do not claim an expertise in this debate. I simply offer that which, at this current level of my limited understanding, serves to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ, no man should ever dare to be so self-enamored and proud as to offer up what he thinks is the absolute truth of God. All the things of God are only opened up by the Holy Spirit in life. 
We get glimpses. We see things more clearly and carefully as we spend ever more time with the Holy Spirit in study and in reflection and in prayer and in suffering the birth of His truth into our lives. But no mortal man can ever fully know the truth of God apart from Jesus Christ. He is all knowledge and all truth and all understanding and all wisdom. We come to the place where we more fully know His truths only as we more fully know Him. Absolute understanding will only be in place when we see Him face-to-face in all His splendor and glory. So again, and always, I hope to share only that with which I can stand before the Lord and say this pleases Him for His people. 
With that lengthy introduction, let us continue, in regard to this morning’s passage, with the following quote from the Holman Bible Handbook. What ultimately mattered for John is that the followers of Christ, those who have suffered the afflictions and persecutions of this present evil age, will one day be rescued and vindicated by the appearance of Christ, whose coming will destroy the powers of evil. It is abundantly clear in the New Testament that the shape and promise of the future hope should exert an influence upon our present behavior and moral devotion to Christ … Indeed, the very point of Revelation is to encourage Christian perseverance in the present in light of the coming triumph of God through Jesus Christ. (from Holman Bible Handbook. Copyright © 1992 by Holman Bible Publishers. All rights reserved.) End quote.
	Any valid interpretation or consideration of this passage must be centered on Jesus Christ and have Him at the forefront. Our hope and our salvation and our deliverance are set absolutely and singly in Him. It is in Him that we place all our anticipation and expectation, whether He is seen before, during, or after the millennium. The truth of His rule, alone in our lives, should have a tremendous effect on how we live today. This is the substance of what we have before us in this passage. It is the matter of living our lives in the manner that is fully and absolutely pleasing to God as His redeemed Church. 
	The arguments, therefore, for when the millennium will take place become secondary to the fact that, as Christians, we now know that He reigns on this earth. What is of greatest and preeminent concern to us is that He reigns even now in our lives. We live in accordance with the truth that we want Him to have only His way as we walk on this earth today. We do not wait in our obedience unto Him for another time to come. We focus our full attention to the fact that we are pleasing to Him today, so that when He does come, we are found already honoring Him in our complete service to Him.
	The Apostle Paul relates this hope to come with the way in which we are to view His Sovereignty in our lives today. Yes, we do hope for His immediate return because we love Him, but we do not discount the place and the time in which He has put us to complete His work into us. Rom 8:18-25, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. 
	We eagerly wait for this entire universe to acknowledge the reality that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all creation. While this is our hope and our desire, we demonstrate it today in the manner in which our lives reflect His dominion and His authority. We face every trial and every suffering in the knowledge and in the perfect assurance of His Lordship today, and forevermore. 
The Holman Bible Handbook reinforces this reality with the following quote. Indeed, the Book of Revelation makes abundantly clear … that Christ indeed has overcome and as such has been raised and exalted to the right hand of God. He is currently Lord of the churches. He is indeed currently Lord of the cosmos. He is the one into whose hands all power in heaven and on earth has been given. He has been raised far above all rule and authority and power and every name that is named (Eph 1:19-21). (from Holman Bible Handbook. Copyright © 1992 by Holman Bible Publishers. All rights reserved.) End Quote.
	However we choose to view the events to come, we can never lose track of the facts that are in place at this very and precise moment! Jesus is the Lord of all right now! He is currently seated at the right hand of God, ruling and overruling according to His infinite wisdom and knowledge! He already has the name which is above every name that can be named! Every one in all of creation will bow before Him and declare that He is Lord! We, as His Church, do so now. We recognize Him in His place of authority now! And, we count on Him in our every day-to-day walk on this earth, now! We do not have to wait for the millennium to come because we honor Him and live unto Him today.
	This brings us to one other quote concerning the millennium that we need to take to heart. Again, it matters not when that period of time will be in the dispensation of God, the reality of Jesus Christ supersedes all else! When we view Jesus, we know that all mankind must call upon Him for salvation. There is no other way of it. As Warren Wiersbe states, One of the main purposes of the Millennium is to prove conclusively that mankind cannot be changed, even under a perfect rule in a perfect environment. For, at the end of the thousand years, Satan will be able to muster a huge army to rebel against Christ! If people are not changed by the grace of God, nothing else will change them. (from Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Copyright © 1992 by Chariot Victor Publishing, an imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved.) End Quote.
	This is the reality that we all need to take to heart. It goes against all that this world proclaims as gospel truth. Man is not rendered good by his environment. Man is not made better with better educational and better governmental systems. Man cannot achieve perfection through higher levels of consciousness, or intellectual endeavors, or scientific studies. No matter what he tries, man can never make himself worthy of salvation. 
However one interprets the millennial government of Christ, and it will be perfect in its every aspect, mankind will still choose to rebel against His ideal authority and power. Man, in his every effort of self-realization will still choose evil and will willingly subject himself to the falsehood of the enemy in order to try to become as god unto himself. 
The only way anyone, now or ever, will change and find eternal hope and salvation is by the grace of God. Even the absolutely faultless earthly rule of Christ will not cause a single person to become saved. It is only by His grace and His mercy and His love demonstrated in Christ’s death and resurrection that anyone can find deliverance and escape from the righteous penalty of death. 
	Knowing that it is only by the grace and the mercy of God given to us in Jesus Christ, means that we are fully assured that the people of Christ are a holy and blessed people. We are kept by God, Himself! Isa 4:2-6, In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. And it will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy — everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. And there will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain. 
	This brings to immediate mind the manner in which God protected the Children of Israel in their escape from Egypt. This covering and this shelter are promised to all who call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, the Branch of the Lord. It is in Him that we are washed and purged of all the filth of this age. Jesus is our holiness and our blessing. It is by His death and resurrection that we are made holy and blessed. It is in His day to day guidance through the operation of His Holy Spirit and the washing of His Word, that we come into fruitfulness of life. His glory is our canopy and our shelter. He is our refuge and our protection from every storm and gale of this world order. 
	Then, as we read in Luke 14:12-14, And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and repayment come to you. "But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." This passage has much to say to us in terms of the blessing and the holiness that are ours in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. 
	First is the fact that it reflects the very heart of God toward us. We see that Jesus’ ministry is for those who are in need. His ministry did not appeal to those who thought they were rich and safe and secure. They thought they were fully covered in their self-righteousness and didn’t need Him. They could not receive the freely offered gift of salvation with joy, but rather with every concern as to how they would try to repay it in some measure. 
	On the other hand, those in utter need know that they have no means of repayment. They are absolutely and totally dependent on the mercy and the love and the grace of God for everything, and they live in accordance with that truth.
	Second, is that because we are so utterly reliant on the grace and the love and the mercy of God in our lives, we are to freely treat others with that same measure of understanding. We are to seek out those in dire need and offer them the same heart of Christ. We invite them into our hearts and keep them in prayer and give to them freely in the same measure of Christ as He has given us. This is reinforced for us in Rev 14:13, And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them." Amen. 
	Because our lives reflect the reality of the blessing and the holiness of Christ, others are blessed through that living testimony. Consider those who have preceded us into heaven. When we think of them, we are comforted because we know that they are even now receiving of the riches of Christ Jesus. Yes, we miss them with all our heart, but we would never want them to be back on this earth. We would not deprive them of the comfort, and the relief, and the joy, and of the rest that they have in the loving arms of Jesus. They are blessed and holy and we truly do rejoice in the knowledge that they are no longer suffering the trials and the tribulations of this realm. 
That is the truth that causes us to ever fully declare the goodness of our God to all those in need on this earth. Never let us shirk the responsibility that is ours as the chosen of God in Christ Jesus! We are always to live our lives in complete accordance with that which pleases Him in every measure. So be it!
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. Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Rom 5:1+2. Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. Amen.