Introduction

Let us continue our study of Revelation Chapter 20. The theme is clear and stark: "The Destiny of Satan, the Beast, the False Prophet, and Every Individual." Brothers and sisters, you must understand one fundamental reality: the word "destiny" is of supreme importance to your life.

If a person simply drifts along with the prevailing trends, walking aimlessly step by step, he will eventually find himself in a terrible place and wonder: "How on earth did I end up here?" Did you not walk there on your own two feet? That is why the Bible warns us repeatedly: you must keep the final outcome firmly in mind!

Keep the Final Outcome in Mind

The plain truth is that many people are utterly blind to the consequences of their choices. They exhaust themselves judging good and evil by their own narrow standards. The greatest folly in life is not knowing where you will end up. Do not complain about how miserable your life is—if you insist on walking down that path, what else do you expect?

A person’s life lasts perhaps seventy or eighty years. Many fool themselves into thinking that once these decades are over, everything simply ends, and nothing else matters. Life does not work that way. God laid down the ultimate conclusion long ago in the Scriptures. The apostle John was given a vision of it. Whether it will come to pass is not a matter of debate; time will prove it.

If you are a Buddhist, you believe in the Buddhist concept of the end. But if you are a Christian, we believe the outcome written in the Book of Revelation. We must take this outcome seriously. It clearly separates humanity: Satan, the beast, the false prophet, and those whose names are not found in the Book of Life face one end; those who bore witness to Jesus Christ and laid down their lives for the Word of God face an entirely different destiny.

Look at the simple, hard logic of daily life. A brother recently told me: "Perseverance does not guarantee success, but lying flat (tang ping) is always easy." My question to him was: how long can you afford to stay comfortable? One thing is absolute: lying flat is not your final destination.

As a pastor, I take the future very seriously. What will become of a person? What is the outcome for someone who constantly gratifies the flesh and is obsessed with judging good and evil? Mark my words: in the near future, such a person will likely develop cancer. Look at the cancer rates today. A biologist recently noted: "One-third of the population now dies of cancer, and dying of cancer is an agonizing process."

I recently came across a video recorded at home by a terminal cancer patient before he passed away. The pain he was in was horrific. Someone had edited the video with medical animations illustrating how cancer cells relentlessly eat away at the bone.

Yet, people who develop cancer rarely realize that their prior conduct brought it about. Let me tell you plainly: cancer is not caused merely by overwork, nor is it just environmental pollution. While those play a part, the single greatest source of pollution is the human mind and its toxic thoughts. A corrupt mindset is destructive in the extreme.

One thing that continues to trouble me deeply is watching people charge headlong into ruin and spiritual bankruptcy. You cannot even stop them—if you try, they take offense! You warn them, "Do not go down that road," but they refuse to listen. Instead, they snap back: "What? Do you look down on me? Are you biased against me?"

This comes down to perspective and altitude. When your vantage point is low, your judgment of reality is warped. Put eternity aside for a moment—this applies directly to your present life. The road you choose to walk dictates the destination you arrive at.

I used to assume that graduates from prestigious institutions like Beihang University would possess drive and ambition. That is not always the case. A few days ago, I met an alumna. She was only thirty years old—the prime of her life. Yet she told me: "I have already adopted the Gen-Z mindset. Working hard is useless. I do a day’s work for a day’s pay and wait until I am retrenched. Working hard or slacking off makes no difference in the end." Is that the reality? Absolutely not.

Brothers and sisters, looking at problems from the bottom is entirely different from looking at them from the top. If you run a business, you quickly realize how difficult it is to find genuine talent in the market. When I was a corporate executive, I pushed our HR department to set competitive salary scales. Yet after screening 300 resumes and conducting rigorous interviews, we still struggled to find competent people.

Recently, we were hiring again. We interviewed candidates in their forties who had been retrenched from major corporations—such as Country Garden, Evergrande, and various banks. The interview results were dismal. They were incompetent at basic execution. When a young graduate begins to decay mentally at thirty, you do not need a brilliant intellect—even your common sense tells you where she will end up in her forties and fifties.

You think lying flat is comfortable? What will you do when the comfort runs out? The world is permanently short of capable talent. In this era of aggressive Artificial Intelligence, the next few years will reveal a brutal reality: the competent will become vastly more capable, while the incompetent will become entirely obsolete. Society will segregate people ruthlessly. The latter are not talent; they are deadwood, useless even as fuel for the fire.

Therefore, a person must carefully consider his final outcome. Thank God, even in my youth, I was intensely mindful of my trajectory. I set concrete benchmarks for my next role and prepared thoroughly beforehand, rather than waiting for an opportunity to present itself. If you wait, it is already too late. Even with preparation, stepping up one or two levels always forced me to struggle fiercely to adapt during the first six to twelve months.

People harbor foolish notions in their heads. They remain blind to the future, caring only about short-term indulgence. You must reflect on your end. If you spend your days judging good and evil, while Scripture states that man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, what are you doing? Are you sustaining yourself on the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

Sometimes I say jokingly: "I have become the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil for everyone." Though I pastor with the heart of a father and a mother, my counsel becomes an occasion for people to harbor offense. This happens because their judgment of the outcome is fundamentally distorted. My assessment is clear: if you continue down this path, station by station, your ruin is guaranteed. Yet you tell yourself: "Is that true? How is that possible? Really?" Once your judgment of the future is broken, disaster is inevitable.

Consider consumer credit. To this day, some brothers and sisters have not settled the online debts they ran up during their university years. Did you not know that borrowed money must be repaid? What were you thinking when you borrowed it? It felt good at the moment, didn't it? I face a severe dilemma: if I confront them, they may resent me; if I remain silent, my conscience condemns me. To this day, I ask myself: what does true pastoring require?

Broaden your perspective. When you are hurled into the Lake of Fire, to whom will you appeal? It pains me to see this, because human judgment is so flawed. God sits upon His throne, watching humanity rush headlong into destruction and the Lake of Burning Sulfur. That is why He inspired John to write the Book of Revelation: to show you the reality of the end. Is that what you want? If you march toward it, that is precisely where you will arrive.

The single most critical discipline in life is to keep the final outcome in mind. Do you want to end up like that? If not, why are you still walking toward destruction while demanding honor and respect from others? You do not have my resilience. I am prepared to be treated like dirt in this world; if people despise me, so be it. I can take it.

Yet when people do not honor you, your ego cannot bear it. At the same time, you refuse to pay the price for your future. Are you not deliberately walking into misery? Brothers and sisters, take God’s Word seriously. He will fulfill it without compromise.

Consider this: being cast into the Lake of Fire and Sulfur, unable to die, suffering torment day after day—what will that be like? That is the ultimate furnace. You do not have supernatural invulnerability. The torment there will not be like the agonizing cries of terminal cancer; it will be millions of times worse.

Can you not be serious about your future? People are reckless precisely because they are blind to the end. It is like running red lights every day—a fatal crash is only a matter of time.

The Destiny of Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet

"And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time." (Revelation 20:1-3)

"When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Revelation 20:7-10)

God created the angels; some fell and became demons. Do you think they will escape accountability? Judgment is certain; it is merely a matter of time. Satan, the fallen angels, the beast, and the false prophet once acted with immense arrogance on earth, enjoying fleeting glory. But what was the use of that glory?

Look at the affairs of this world. A man may become a mayor, enjoy a season of brilliance, and subsequently end up in disgrace and ruin. Once the limelight fades, only darkness remains. Even if the systems of this world let you off, spiritual laws will not.

Satan, the beast, and the false prophet all had their glorious history, but a glorious past cannot alter their ultimate end: to be cast into the Lake of Burning Sulfur forever. Satan executed his schemes and thought to himself: "Look how formidable I am!" How do our brothers and sisters become foolish? By convincing themselves that whatever they do is entirely right, that their decisions are brilliant and flawless, and that they are extraordinary. That is sheer delusion. Operating on such arrogance makes you nothing more than a complete fool.

Lucifer was once an archangel in heaven, right at the top echelon. But he got arrogant, thought he could overturn the very throne of God, and ended up becoming a complete fool—Satan himself. Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet were all thrown into the Lake of Fire. Make no mistake: navigating this life requires immense wisdom. We must know our place and understand the gravity of the stakes.

There is fundamentally only one secret to becoming wise. I tell people this constantly, whether they appreciate it or not: Ask yourself, "Is what I am doing right?" Think carefully about your ultimate objective. If your goal lies in the east, you cannot march west. Nor can you head south. Some might argue, "What if I circumnavigate the globe and eventually reach the west of Singapore from the east? Isn't that possible?" Yes, technically possible, but thoroughly exhausting and utterly foolish.

Therefore, we must know: Where are we heading? How do we intend to get there? What is our underlying logic? Are our actions correct? Yet some people completely disregard the fate of Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet, saying, "I'll just do as I please and deal with it when the time comes." How many people keep deferring reality? They said "we'll see" ten years ago, twenty years ago—and what can they say today? Nothing.

Let me tell you straight: the final outcome matters immensely. Do you still intend to walk straight into the Lake of Fire? Some of you are spiritually feeble—you cannot keep up in prayer, you cannot cast out demons, but demons certainly chase you around with ease. Where do you think this trajectory leads? Brothers and sisters, you must clearly recognize the end. That Lake of Fire is nothing short of a massive, eternal "chemotherapy" and "electrotherapy."

Blessed Are Those Who Have Part in the First Resurrection

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)

This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:5-6)

Where are you heading in this lifetime? If you are to bear witness to Jesus Christ, what kind of faith in God must you possess? If a person cannot even see three to five years into the future, how can he possibly see thirty, fifty, three hundred, or five thousand years ahead? He simply cannot.

If you want to see clearly, you must cultivate a long-term horizon. To see far, you must stand on high ground. When you occupy high ground, you gain a crystal-clear understanding of God’s truth and a firsthand experience of God’s power. How then could you remain muddle-headed?

If someone lacks discernment, he cannot just shrug and say, "Well, my understanding is poor, that’s just how I am." That is a deplorable, irresponsible attitude. We concoct all kinds of excuses for ourselves, but what kind of future awaits you? Let me be blunt: a person without faith in God has no future. False faith, superficial honor, and fragile ego mean nothing; they yield no future whatsoever.

A person with genuine faith in God would never talk like that. Instead, he says: "God delights in such a person, therefore I will do it!" When confronted with obstacles, his mindset is to cut paths through mountains and build bridges across rivers. What needs to be conquered must be conquered; what needs to be crushed must be trodden underfoot. Why? Because the destiny is to reign with Christ for a thousand years.

Why did those believers refuse to worship the beast and its image? Because they possessed truth in their hearts. If you have only a superficial, half-baked, fuzzy grasp of God’s truth, how can you make the right choice when faced with a matter of life and death?

Brothers and sisters, merely listening to me speak here is not enough to secure your grasp of truth. You must read the Bible rigorously and discern deeply! Do not walk the path of Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet. Do not deceive yourself into ruin. How can you have a future if you do that?

Those in the first resurrection are all overcomers. If God grants you the mind of Peter and also gives you the opportunity of martyrdom, it depends entirely on whether you have the mettle to seize it. We are called to be priests of God and of Christ, reigning with Him for a thousand years. Jesus spoke very plainly about this: you will be placed in charge of one city, or five cities.

Have we rigorously trained our faith in God today? If you truly have faith in God, what difficulty can stand against you? The core issue is rarely external circumstances; rather, it is our perverse attitude and our endless excuses.

I have said this repeatedly: your brains, your hardware, are perfectly functional. But the system is infected with viruses. What can you accomplish on your own? Only through Jesus Christ can we dismantle these twisted patterns within us, piece by piece, and execute according to God’s Word. Above all, exercise your faith! A person of faith possesses an overcomer’s character. Without faith, how can you serve anyone?

Therefore, blessed are those who take part in the first resurrection, who have not received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or hands. Some will live through the era when the Antichrist rules, facing a stark choice between death and the mark. That will be a brutal dilemma. If you have no clear foresight of the ultimate end, you might think, "I'll just take the mark; surely God understands my situation," or complain, "Why is it so difficult? God, why did You create such an ordeal?" Complaining will be completely useless.

Those Whose Names Are Not Found Written in the Book of Life Are Thrown into the Lake of Fire

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence the earth and the heavens fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. (Revelation 20:11-12)

The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:13-15)

When that day comes, people will be utterly bewildered, thinking: "Why am I being thrown into the Lake of Fire? I want to appeal!" But to whom can you appeal? Your name is not written in the Book of Life! Do you know what kind of people have their names recorded in the Book of Life?

Look at Joseph. He was literally sold into slavery in Egypt, yet he refused to discern good and evil against his brothers. But what about us? Even when others seek our benefit, we still harbor resentment and judge according to good and evil. What then is our caliber? Have you ever seriously concerned yourselves with how one gets their name written in the Book of Life? Many people only care about immediate, short-term interests, thinking the Lake of Fire is far too remote to matter.

Just the other day, I met a man of considerable academic standing, yet he harbored deep hostility toward Christianity. He declared, "If not believing in Jesus means going to hell, then let me go to hell." Well, going to hell is remarkably easy. A tiny, insignificant mortal—do you honestly think you can arm-wrestle with God?

The sea will yield up its dead, death and Hades will deliver up their dead, and after the judgment, they will be cast into the Lake of Fire. From the creation of mankind to the Lake of Fire, one full cycle concludes. Whether God will initiate a second cycle, we do not know. If He does, we cannot stop Him. Nor do we know whether a cycle occurred before our time.

If we have the opportunity to come before God and say, "Ah, I understand now—the bottom line is that I must overcome." If you are an overcomer, well and good. But if you fail to overcome, even if you produce ten thousand excuses, where can you possibly file an appeal?

Salvation versus overcoming: whether mere "salvation" equates to "overcoming," I cannot say for sure. But I know with certainty that an overcomer is victorious, and an overcomer will definitely be saved. Why settle for merely pursuing salvation rather than striving to be an overcomer? Overcoming demands rigorous toil, but I am entirely committed to it! Because my objective is not the Lake of Fire; my objective is to be blessed in the first resurrection.

People often hold flattering self-assessments. Isn't that pure folly? What is the use of stroking your ego with positive self-delusions? Whether people like hearing this or not, God's Word will be fulfilled regardless. My words may not all come to pass, but God's Word most certainly will. If even those with a positive self-assessment must strive with all their might, how much more urgently must those without one strive?

Once a person loses his sense of self-importance, he is left at a loss, completely disoriented. I tell you this not on my own authority; read carefully what the Apostle John wrote. Whether you fully comprehend it yet or not, remember this: the final destiny of Satan, the Beast, the False Prophet, and every individual is no trivial matter!

Our seventy or eighty years on this earth pass in a flash. Are we preparing for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, or for an eternal weight of the Lake of Fire? We must possess the fear of God! Without the fear of God, a person simply drifts blindly along his own feelings. Whether I like something is immaterial; what matters critically is whether God approves!

In this study, we have examined Revelation Chapter 20: the ultimate destiny of Satan, the Beast, the False Prophet, and every human soul. Those in the first resurrection are blessed; those in the second resurrection face the Lake of Fire. If you do not yet grasp the sheer gravity of this outcome, go and examine it for yourself.

Our present life is merely a brief demo. Through these seventy or eighty years, you are shown that the sufferings men endure are nothing other than what they have sown themselves. A man reaps what he sows!

This Bible study may sound heavy, but it is the unvarnished reality. What Scripture declares will surely come to pass. You must press forward toward your pre-determined objective, and you must know precisely where you are going! We will conclude our study here. May God bless you all!

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