Morning Sermon

May 11, 2008

The Binding of Satan

Text

For some people, the whole book of Revelation is little more than an extended commentary on these verses, nothing more than the context for the big question of the millennium. It seems like any discussion of eschatology, or the last things, makes reference to the thousand year millennium here in Revelation 20. And to hear some people talk, you would think that the issue of the millennium was the most important teaching of the whole Bible.

Well, if it is, then the only place that it is mentioned is here in Revelation 20. This is all we have, and so the better wisdom is to use other verses in the Bible to enable us to understand what we have here, rather than the other way around. The great danger, I believe, comes when this passage with the one single reference to the millennium becomes the defining identification of a person's faith.

On the other hand, the question of the millennium is not one to simply ignore as unimportant, and it has a large number of implications for a lot of other things. So here we are today, but even at that, the great subject being introduced in Revelation 20 is not the millennium. That's not the focus of this vision John receives. We have studied so far three of the final seven visions given to John in these last chapters of Revelation, so this is the fourth. Those three visions in chapter 19 began with,

Rev. 19:11 "Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war."

Rev. 19:17 "Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, "Come and gather together for the supper of the great God."

Rev. 19:19 "And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army."

Judgment, that's what John saw. The judgment of God pronounced upon the enemies of God. The judgment of Jesus upon the white horse. The judgment of the birds of prey coming to eat the bodies of covenant breakers. The beast seized and killed.

v.1 "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand."

We've seen that bottomless pit before, the abyss. Rev. 9:1 "Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth."

Judgment from hell, carried out by the star which had fallen from heaven! That's Satan himself. And here in chapter 20, judgment upon Satan. Judgment in the form of a binding, a prisoner chained, for a thousand years. That's what this is all about. The binding of Satan, and the millennium comes into view only in that context. The subject is,

I. THE BINDING OF SATAN AND THE MILLENIUM. And I'll with a rather brief overview of the differing ways in which this millennium is understood by Christians. There are numerous ways of interpreting the thousand years, and variations upon all of them, so I admit up front to be somewhat simplistic, but hopefully I can give you a good sense of the range of opinions that people hold. I'll use the three most common distinctions, with reference to the relationship between the millennium and Jesus' second coming. And they are premillenial, amillenial, and postmillenial. Or abbreviated, pre-mil, post-mil, and a-mil. First, the pre-mil view, which I would characterize this way:

A. Jesus' return at the end of this age inaugurates his kingdom on earth. It is easy to see where this view comes from, for it is a straightforward, chronological explanation of these verses. With reference to an actual, literal, specific age called the millennium. Taken at face value, it is assumed that this is a future event. There is this present age, then Christ's second coming at the end of this age, then the age of the kingdom for those thousand years when Jesus actually reigns upon this earth as king. And then comes the final judgment after that millennium.

This is a very old interpretation, but there are many further implications in a rather new, but very popular form of premillienialism that came into public acceptance in the mid-1800s. In that view, there is actually a coming of Jesus before the tribulation, then one again after the tribulation, then the millennium, then he comes again. In this view, there is a fundamental and abiding distinction between Israel and the church. There are two peoples of God, two plans of salvation, and two different ages, one for the church and the other for Israel. In fact, the whole of history is divided up in a series of seven or more distinct time periods or dispensations. And each time period cancels out the previous, so that all of the Old Testament is cancelled when Jesus comes. And during the thousand year millennium, a whole new kingdom age arrives such that much of the New Testament has its focus upon that age and not this present age. In that millennium, there will be a restoration of Israel as the people of God, and a restoration of the Jewish ceremonial and sacrificial temple worship.

That's the pre-millenial view. Then, the a-millenial view. I believe the name is rather unfortunate, because "a" means NOT, or the absence of a millennium. And the a-mil view is not that there is no millennium, but that the reference to a thousand years is a reference to the whole age, the whole of this present age. Thus the "thousand years" of Revelation 20 is a reference to this present age, beginning with Jesus' first coming and ending with his second coming. And the key point is that,

B. Jesus returns at the end of this age inaugurates the eternal age to come and brings the final judgment. This view admittedly interprets "a thousand" as a symbolic reference to the whole age, but with good reason. For example, we read,

Ps. 50:10 "For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine."

The point of that number is not that if you could find the thousandth and first hill it would not belong to God, since he has only a thousand, but that all the hills are his, all of them, and thus all "the cattle on a thousand hills."

"Thousand" is a hugely symbolic and representative number, and this idea that there is this age, that at the end of this age Jesus returns in glory and in judgment, and then there is the age to come is a plain and simple biblical outline of all history. The pattern is simply, the past age of the Old Testament, Jesus' first coming, this present age symbolized as a thousand years, Jesus' second coming, and then the age to come, eternity. I believe that is the emphasis made clear in,

1 Cor. 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power."

But then, the post-millenial view. Actually, this view is not fundamentally different than the a-mil view, because the thousand years are still typically understood as representing this whole age. But something is added. Something that will happen in this age, before Jesus returns. And that is the triumph of the gospel, the worldwide Christianization of all nations. So,

C. Jesus returns at the end of the worldwide triumph of the gospel that takes place during this age. Sometimes that triumphant age just before Jesus return is called "the millennium," sometimes simply the golden age. In either case, it is a reference to the triumph of the gospel over all the nations. And the idea comes from verses like,

Ps. 72:8 "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth. 9 Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him, And His enemies will lick the dust. 10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles Will bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba Will offer gifts. 11 Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; All nations shall serve Him...16 There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, On the top of the mountains; Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. 17 His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun. And men shall be blessed in Him; All nations shall call Him blessed. 18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things! 19 And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen."

So that's the general landscape, but again let me emphasize, the point of this passage is not upon the thousand years themselves but the binding of Satan. That's what John actually saw in this vision, the binding of the Devil. And that binding has direct reference to the kingdom of Jesus.

II. THE BINDING OF SATAN AND THE KINGDOM OF JESUS. So let's read, v.1-3

First of all, let me make it obvious that,

A. The binding of Satan is accomplished by the superior power of Jesus. Jesus is the one doing the binding!

v.1 "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven." That's Jesus. Jesus had "the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand."

v. 2 "[Jesus] laid hold of the dragon...[and] bound him for a thousand years."

v.3 "[Jesus] cast him into the bottomless pit, [Jesus] shut him up, and set a seal on him."

So Jesus is the one in superior power. Now. Already. He has already been established upon his throne. His kingdom already begun. In power, "the exceeding greatness of His power." Jesus was seated upon the throne of God in heaven, which Paul describes as,

Eph. 1:19 "the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

Thus when Jesus arrived on earth, in his first coming, the word of preaching was this,

Mat. 3:2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"

The kingdom was established by Jesus' first coming. That's the superior power of Jesus, demonstrated in the triumph of the cross.

Col. 2:14 "...having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."

Therefore,

B. The binding of Satan has already been accomplished by Jesus. Let me prove that with other Scriptures.

John 16:11 "...the ruler of this world is judged."

John 12:31 "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out."

Mat. 12:26 "If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 "And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28 "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you."

Luke 10:17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." 18 And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

Mat. 12:29 "Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house."

Heb. 2:14 "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil."

All of that, I believe, is what Revelation 20 refers to with the words, "He laid hold of the dragon...and bound him for a thousand years." Satan is restrained, chained by the power of Jesus, limited specifically in his effectiveness to deceive the nations of this world. That's what Jesus accomplished. Jesus claimed all the nations as his, which was quite a contrast to the circumstances under the Old Covenant, when God claimed but one country, Israel. All the other nations belonged to Satan. They were his kingdom, his empire. The kingdom of God was to be found in Israel.

With Jesus' coming in the flesh, with his death upon the cross and with his resurrection from the dead, all that changed!

v.3 "[Jesus cast the Devil] into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while."

Let the text define itself. The binding, the shutting him up, and the seal are defined this way, "so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished." So it is, I believe, that throughout this age, throughout all the years of this age, the kingdom of Jesus Christ is being extended to all the nations of the world.

Thus the connection between,

III. THE BINDING OF SATAN AND THE WORLDWIDE WITNESS OF THE GOSPEL.

A. The binding of Satan means that the nations are no longer his possession. So this is the promise,

Mat. 16:18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

How does Jesus know that? Because Satan is restrained. The gates of hell are restrained, by that chain of Revelation 20. And therefore, the job of the church is this,

Mat. 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

That great commission was preceded by these words,

Mat. 28:18 "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

"All authority has been given to me." "The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church." "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations." Do you see how all of that fits together?

B. The bi nding of Satan means that the church extends to all the nations. There will be a brief skirmish at the end, when Jesus returns, "But after these things he must be released for a little while." But have no fear. This is what we know will happen.

2 Thes. 1:7 "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work."

That's the personal encouragement. And this is the global and worldwide encouragement, that the gospel of Jesus Christ,

Rom. 1:16 "...is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."

Rom. 10:12 "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."

In fact, Gal. 3:28 "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

This confidence in the reign and rule of King Jesus is so central to the focus of gospel preaching that we read of this conclusion and application to Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost. So this is the message of Pentecost, when the gospel literally went to every nation and every tongue,

Acts 2:32 "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. 34 "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."' 36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

So let all the nations know that Jesus is the Christ. As Jesus has declared,

Mat. 24:14 "...this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."

This is our hope, this shall be the glory of heaven, that there will be in heaven those whom God has saved from all the nations.

Therefore we proclaim the gospel to all the nations, for the kingdom of Jesus Christ is to be found in every nation. Even the nation of NK, where it is illegal to convert to Christianity. Anyone suspected of converting is beaten severely, and only then are any questions asked. And if you profess Christ, you are executed on the spot. So Sam Folta writes in the recent New Horizons, "God can open closed NK! He will do it in his time, by his Spirit, and it is will to work through the obedience of the church. May we who seek to be truly biblical and Reformed understand the need and the issues involved in missions to NK and other closed places. May we pray and listen as God provides the answers in his Word and calls his workers to the harvest field."

What inspires such confidence and courage in missions? The conviction that the church is called by God to extend to all the nations. And the promise of Jesus to be with his church as they go.

Now, I doubt that is not the normal exhortation that you would expect as the conclusion to a sermon on the subject of the millennium, but it is the right conclusion. Quite obviously, I believe that the thousand years of Revelation 20 refer to this present age, for Christ is king here and now. And while I don't see the conclusion from Scripture that the whole world will be Christianized during some future golden age before Jesus returns, I do see an optimistic and triumphant outcome for the church. For Jesus reigns now in power, and he shall return in glory.

1 Cor. 15:25 "For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27 For "He has put all things under His feet."

One further and final vision of John, observing what heaven is like.

Rev. 7:9 "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

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