[Originally preached 22 February, 2004]
Revelation 20.1-10
We come, today, to one of the more challenging portions of Scripture. As we do we all need to avoid two attitudes. The first assumes that a person’s understanding of our text and the millennium that it describes is of the highest importance. This is the issue of the Bible, according to this way of thinking. This person focuses on whichever millennial he has chosen. And God forbid that you should have a different view! It is unthinkable that any serious Christian could conclude the matter differently than he has. But what is this but pride. And the Scriptures are clear. Pride is a very dangerous sin. I certainly hope that none of you ever fall into this sin. But there is the other attitude that you must also avoid. This person just ignores the whole topic. The topic is just too confusing so it’s better just to forget all about it. But can that be correct? Does this text have nothing to teach us about faithful living? Is there nothing of the Gospel to believe here? Is there any part of the Bible about which we can say, ‘I don’t care what it says. It’s not that important.’ Now, we may well say about this text – and a host of others – ‘I don’t understand what it’s getting at, and I really don’t know how to figure it out.’ There’s no sin in that. But that is very different from saying, ‘It doesn’t really matter what it says. I can ignore it.’ You need to avoid both attitudes. Both are an insult to the God who has graciously granted you His Word.
Now, in God’s providence, this particular text is before us. And so, you will need to work a bit at understanding its message as I explain it to you. But bear in mind what the goal is. The goal is not to understand the text completely. We have done that with none of the texts that we have looked at in Revelation. The goal, instead, is to understand it enough so that we all might find help from God to live faithfully for Jesus. And we can be optimistic as we pursue that goal because God wants us to understand it enough. He wants us to be helped by our text. He has given us His Spirit toward that end. Now, let’s consider our text.
First, let me give you a basic idea of what is going on here. We have seen in previous passages that John has been presenting to us the same time period from different perspectives. So many of the visions that he wrote down are about the time between the advents, between the first and the second comings of Jesus. Each vision had something different to emphasize. Each vision had different lessons for us about faithful living in this present evil age. And that's what we have here again. The symbols of our text are just another way of looking at life now in this fallen world. I can summarize some of what John is saying here in a very simple way. And it’s all about Satan. Listen.
Satan is bound at the beginning of the thousand years.
Satan afflicts the saints during the thousand years.
Satan is overcome by the saints during the thousand years.
Satan is released at the end of the thousand years.
Satan is destroyed forever after the thousand years.
Now, let’s look at each of those thoughts.
Satan is bound. John is quite graphic. Satan is bound, thrown in a pit, which is shut and then sealed. What is the purpose of this binding of Satan? John tells us in verse 3. ‘… that he might not deceive the nations any longer…’ This doesn’t mean that Satan is inactive during the thousand years. He is still attacking the saints, killing some, persecuting the others who refuse to receive the mark of the beast. John tells us that also in our text. The binding of Satan is in terms of one specific aspect of his evil work: He can no longer deceive the nations. Now, what does that mean? Consider the end of Matthew’s Gospel. What does the resurrected Jesus say? ‘All authority on heaven and earth has been given to Me.’ As a result of His death and resurrection, Jesus has become Lord over all. Who had this authority before? Think back to the temptations of Satan right before Jesus began His ministry.
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Matthew 4:8-9
Was that a bluff? No. Satan had the control of the nations. He had deceived them into following him and doing his will. His offer was real. But Jesus refused it. Instead, He received authority over the nations according to the will of His Father, by means of the cross. And what was the result of Jesus receiving that authority over the nations? What’s the next thing Jesus says at the end of Matthew? ‘Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations…’ Satan is bound. His grip over the nations is broken. He can deceive them no longer. And what do we see as a result? The nations come to Christ. It is no longer just the Jewish race that is included in the kingdom. Now, the Gospel goes also to the Gentiles, the nations. Evangelism is not a major theme in Revelation, but here is one place where it shows up. And it’s a good thing, too, because the nations that the Gospel goes to is you. Satan’s power has been curtailed. He is not an invincible foe. Those seven churches of Asia Minor needed to hear that just as you do. And the proof of this is their – and your – conversion.
Now, this binding of Satan is not forever. As I told you, Satan is released at the end of the thousand years. What does that mean? John tells us. For one thing, that means that the nations will again be deceived. They will again follow Satan and do his will. And that shows in that the nations are gathered for battle against the Church. Life is going to get very difficult for the saints. In fact, it is going to look rather desperate. The temptation to quit and give up the faith, that is, to join the nations, will be great. But we’ve seen this final battle before. The last time we saw it was in chapter 19. I told you back then that the battle ultimately was no contest. Jesus slays them all with the sword of His mouth. And those who endure to the end will be saved.
We’ve looked at Satan bound and at Satan unbound. What happens in between these events? What goes on during the thousand years? Well, there is the spread of the Gospel. The Church pursues its missionary calling. But John tells us more. Life for the saints is not easy. Here, we see that Satan afflicts the saints. There is the conflict between the Church and the agents of Satan, the beast, the false prophet and Babylon, the prostitute. We see the evidence of the hardship of the saints when John refers to those who are beheaded and to those who refuse to worship the beast or receive his mark. What we saw before in previous chapters about these agents of Satan fits right here. So, on the one hand it is an exciting time for the Church. The nations are being called to Christ. But on the other hand, it is a very trying time for the Church. There is persecution and suffering, the pressure to conform and the examples of those Christians who pay the price of faithfulness, even, in some cases, being faithful unto death.
Here, the significance of the number ‘one thousand’ applies. We are so used to using very large numbers that we have to invent new names for them. When we want to stress that there is a large number of something we don’t talk about millions or billions or even trillions. Those are numbers that are too common. Just think about government budgets, distance to stars or the supposed age of fossils. Instead, we talk about a ‘b-zillion’. They didn’t commonly use large numbers like millions and the rest back in the first century. A thousand of something was big enough to make the point. So, a thousand years would convey the thought of a long time. ‘With the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.’ [1 Peter 3.8] This part of the history of the Church, this era that is both exciting and so very painful, will last a long time. The door of opportunity for the spread of the Gospel is open, and it will be for quite a while. And that’s really good. But at the same time, the age of suffering will also last for a long time. The Church’s life here isn’t going to be easy, not if it is being faithful. It’s going to be hard and it will be hard for quite a while.
But our text doesn’t leave us there. It offers hope to the suffering saints of the first century as well as to us. For one thing, John tells us to look ahead. The suffering of the Church is not endless. One day, after the thousand years, Satan will be destroyed forever. This warfare will not last forever. It will come to an end. And that end will be a complete end, not just a pause. Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire to be tormented forever and ever and ever. There is hope in the future.
But John doesn’t just have us look ahead. He also has us look upward. What does it mean when one of the faithful dies? Has Satan won? Absolutely not! Those who die in the faith come to life and reign with Christ. We’ve seen this thought before.
And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" Rev. 14:13
Satan does not conquer the saints by their deaths. This, rather, is their victory. They cease from the labors of this life and enter into their rest. Heaven. This is how Satan is overcome by the saints. These who, to the world, appear to have lost, have actually won. They become kings and priests, ruling with Christ and worshipping the God whom they loved – except now they do these things face to face. The losers are actually the winners.
There you have it. Satan is bound, afflicts the saints, is overcome by the saints, is released and then is completely destroyed. Our text has much more to teach us, but this much will do for now.
Let me draw out some ways that this relates to you. First, Satan is bound. The power of Satan has been curtailed. Now is the time for the spread of the Gospel to all the nations. The Church is to be a missionary Church. At the very least, you need to be praying for the spread of the Gospel. I hope that you have been praying for specific missionaries whom you know. Pastor Knight and WEBPCA qualify as being on a mission field. Do you pray for the success of that work? And consider. Who are the people whom you know who are among the nations, yet to be converted? What are you doing about that? As you guide your children into their futures, is it possible that God is calling some of them to go the nations – whether that means going to Uganda or to some poor section of an American city – for the specific reason of spreading the Gospel?
Second, remember that it is Satan’s goal to afflict you so that you give up. He is still trying to get recruits to join his rebellious army. You need a healthy respect for his abilities as well as the discernment to see where he is attacking you. Remember that he uses agents, the beast, the false prophet and Babylon. They are all active today. But the agent that is in the forefront for you is Babylon. She doesn’t go by that name today. Her name is Wal-Mart, Amazon, Buick, Sony. Her message isn’t about the notorious sins. Her message is about enjoying yourself – like your neighbors do. It’s about expecting the good life here and now. It’s about becoming like the world. Do you feel her temptations? Do you sense the pressure? You should. It’s there. Don’t be fooled. Be wise.
Then remember the promise of the text that the faithful overcome Satan. Now, that overcoming may include being persecuted to the point of death. But think about it. If that’s the worst that he can do, how bad could it really be? Death means being raised to heaven. So, even death is worth it for the saint.
Finally, it may be that you will be alive when Satan is released again. Are you ready for that? How are you doing at dealing with his afflictions now? Are you prepared for worse? And part of the preparation is building up your belief in the hope of our text. One day all of this suffering and struggling and affliction will be over, and that forever. Satan is doomed. His fate is sealed. And even he knows it. Do you? Is the age to come, that time when all the saints will be with the Lord whom they love – is the age to come your greatest desire and chief joy? Is it the foundation of hope for you?
Satan is out there. Are you ready to meet him?
Revelation 20.1-10
We come, today, to one of the more challenging portions of Scripture. As we do we all need to avoid two attitudes. The first assumes that a person’s understanding of our text and the millennium that it describes is of the highest importance. This is the issue of the Bible, according to this way of thinking. This person focuses on whichever millennial he has chosen. And God forbid that you should have a different view! It is unthinkable that any serious Christian could conclude the matter differently than he has. But what is this but pride. And the Scriptures are clear. Pride is a very dangerous sin. I certainly hope that none of you ever fall into this sin. But there is the other attitude that you must also avoid. This person just ignores the whole topic. The topic is just too confusing so it’s better just to forget all about it. But can that be correct? Does this text have nothing to teach us about faithful living? Is there nothing of the Gospel to believe here? Is there any part of the Bible about which we can say, ‘I don’t care what it says. It’s not that important.’ Now, we may well say about this text – and a host of others – ‘I don’t understand what it’s getting at, and I really don’t know how to figure it out.’ There’s no sin in that. But that is very different from saying, ‘It doesn’t really matter what it says. I can ignore it.’ You need to avoid both attitudes. Both are an insult to the God who has graciously granted you His Word.
Now, in God’s providence, this particular text is before us. And so, you will need to work a bit at understanding its message as I explain it to you. But bear in mind what the goal is. The goal is not to understand the text completely. We have done that with none of the texts that we have looked at in Revelation. The goal, instead, is to understand it enough so that we all might find help from God to live faithfully for Jesus. And we can be optimistic as we pursue that goal because God wants us to understand it enough. He wants us to be helped by our text. He has given us His Spirit toward that end. Now, let’s consider our text.
First, let me give you a basic idea of what is going on here. We have seen in previous passages that John has been presenting to us the same time period from different perspectives. So many of the visions that he wrote down are about the time between the advents, between the first and the second comings of Jesus. Each vision had something different to emphasize. Each vision had different lessons for us about faithful living in this present evil age. And that's what we have here again. The symbols of our text are just another way of looking at life now in this fallen world. I can summarize some of what John is saying here in a very simple way. And it’s all about Satan. Listen.
Satan is bound at the beginning of the thousand years.
Satan afflicts the saints during the thousand years.
Satan is overcome by the saints during the thousand years.
Satan is released at the end of the thousand years.
Satan is destroyed forever after the thousand years.
Now, let’s look at each of those thoughts.
Satan is bound. John is quite graphic. Satan is bound, thrown in a pit, which is shut and then sealed. What is the purpose of this binding of Satan? John tells us in verse 3. ‘… that he might not deceive the nations any longer…’ This doesn’t mean that Satan is inactive during the thousand years. He is still attacking the saints, killing some, persecuting the others who refuse to receive the mark of the beast. John tells us that also in our text. The binding of Satan is in terms of one specific aspect of his evil work: He can no longer deceive the nations. Now, what does that mean? Consider the end of Matthew’s Gospel. What does the resurrected Jesus say? ‘All authority on heaven and earth has been given to Me.’ As a result of His death and resurrection, Jesus has become Lord over all. Who had this authority before? Think back to the temptations of Satan right before Jesus began His ministry.
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Matthew 4:8-9
Was that a bluff? No. Satan had the control of the nations. He had deceived them into following him and doing his will. His offer was real. But Jesus refused it. Instead, He received authority over the nations according to the will of His Father, by means of the cross. And what was the result of Jesus receiving that authority over the nations? What’s the next thing Jesus says at the end of Matthew? ‘Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations…’ Satan is bound. His grip over the nations is broken. He can deceive them no longer. And what do we see as a result? The nations come to Christ. It is no longer just the Jewish race that is included in the kingdom. Now, the Gospel goes also to the Gentiles, the nations. Evangelism is not a major theme in Revelation, but here is one place where it shows up. And it’s a good thing, too, because the nations that the Gospel goes to is you. Satan’s power has been curtailed. He is not an invincible foe. Those seven churches of Asia Minor needed to hear that just as you do. And the proof of this is their – and your – conversion.
Now, this binding of Satan is not forever. As I told you, Satan is released at the end of the thousand years. What does that mean? John tells us. For one thing, that means that the nations will again be deceived. They will again follow Satan and do his will. And that shows in that the nations are gathered for battle against the Church. Life is going to get very difficult for the saints. In fact, it is going to look rather desperate. The temptation to quit and give up the faith, that is, to join the nations, will be great. But we’ve seen this final battle before. The last time we saw it was in chapter 19. I told you back then that the battle ultimately was no contest. Jesus slays them all with the sword of His mouth. And those who endure to the end will be saved.
We’ve looked at Satan bound and at Satan unbound. What happens in between these events? What goes on during the thousand years? Well, there is the spread of the Gospel. The Church pursues its missionary calling. But John tells us more. Life for the saints is not easy. Here, we see that Satan afflicts the saints. There is the conflict between the Church and the agents of Satan, the beast, the false prophet and Babylon, the prostitute. We see the evidence of the hardship of the saints when John refers to those who are beheaded and to those who refuse to worship the beast or receive his mark. What we saw before in previous chapters about these agents of Satan fits right here. So, on the one hand it is an exciting time for the Church. The nations are being called to Christ. But on the other hand, it is a very trying time for the Church. There is persecution and suffering, the pressure to conform and the examples of those Christians who pay the price of faithfulness, even, in some cases, being faithful unto death.
Here, the significance of the number ‘one thousand’ applies. We are so used to using very large numbers that we have to invent new names for them. When we want to stress that there is a large number of something we don’t talk about millions or billions or even trillions. Those are numbers that are too common. Just think about government budgets, distance to stars or the supposed age of fossils. Instead, we talk about a ‘b-zillion’. They didn’t commonly use large numbers like millions and the rest back in the first century. A thousand of something was big enough to make the point. So, a thousand years would convey the thought of a long time. ‘With the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.’ [1 Peter 3.8] This part of the history of the Church, this era that is both exciting and so very painful, will last a long time. The door of opportunity for the spread of the Gospel is open, and it will be for quite a while. And that’s really good. But at the same time, the age of suffering will also last for a long time. The Church’s life here isn’t going to be easy, not if it is being faithful. It’s going to be hard and it will be hard for quite a while.
But our text doesn’t leave us there. It offers hope to the suffering saints of the first century as well as to us. For one thing, John tells us to look ahead. The suffering of the Church is not endless. One day, after the thousand years, Satan will be destroyed forever. This warfare will not last forever. It will come to an end. And that end will be a complete end, not just a pause. Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire to be tormented forever and ever and ever. There is hope in the future.
But John doesn’t just have us look ahead. He also has us look upward. What does it mean when one of the faithful dies? Has Satan won? Absolutely not! Those who die in the faith come to life and reign with Christ. We’ve seen this thought before.
And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" Rev. 14:13
Satan does not conquer the saints by their deaths. This, rather, is their victory. They cease from the labors of this life and enter into their rest. Heaven. This is how Satan is overcome by the saints. These who, to the world, appear to have lost, have actually won. They become kings and priests, ruling with Christ and worshipping the God whom they loved – except now they do these things face to face. The losers are actually the winners.
There you have it. Satan is bound, afflicts the saints, is overcome by the saints, is released and then is completely destroyed. Our text has much more to teach us, but this much will do for now.
Let me draw out some ways that this relates to you. First, Satan is bound. The power of Satan has been curtailed. Now is the time for the spread of the Gospel to all the nations. The Church is to be a missionary Church. At the very least, you need to be praying for the spread of the Gospel. I hope that you have been praying for specific missionaries whom you know. Pastor Knight and WEBPCA qualify as being on a mission field. Do you pray for the success of that work? And consider. Who are the people whom you know who are among the nations, yet to be converted? What are you doing about that? As you guide your children into their futures, is it possible that God is calling some of them to go the nations – whether that means going to Uganda or to some poor section of an American city – for the specific reason of spreading the Gospel?
Second, remember that it is Satan’s goal to afflict you so that you give up. He is still trying to get recruits to join his rebellious army. You need a healthy respect for his abilities as well as the discernment to see where he is attacking you. Remember that he uses agents, the beast, the false prophet and Babylon. They are all active today. But the agent that is in the forefront for you is Babylon. She doesn’t go by that name today. Her name is Wal-Mart, Amazon, Buick, Sony. Her message isn’t about the notorious sins. Her message is about enjoying yourself – like your neighbors do. It’s about expecting the good life here and now. It’s about becoming like the world. Do you feel her temptations? Do you sense the pressure? You should. It’s there. Don’t be fooled. Be wise.
Then remember the promise of the text that the faithful overcome Satan. Now, that overcoming may include being persecuted to the point of death. But think about it. If that’s the worst that he can do, how bad could it really be? Death means being raised to heaven. So, even death is worth it for the saint.
Finally, it may be that you will be alive when Satan is released again. Are you ready for that? How are you doing at dealing with his afflictions now? Are you prepared for worse? And part of the preparation is building up your belief in the hope of our text. One day all of this suffering and struggling and affliction will be over, and that forever. Satan is doomed. His fate is sealed. And even he knows it. Do you? Is the age to come, that time when all the saints will be with the Lord whom they love – is the age to come your greatest desire and chief joy? Is it the foundation of hope for you?
Satan is out there. Are you ready to meet him?
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