Revelation 20:1-10
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
If you have your Bibles let me invite you to open with me to chapter 20:1-10.
If you need a copy of God’s word, just slip up your hand and one of our church members will be glad to hand you one.
This week I received an email from a pastor in another country.
Here is just a portion of what it said…,
“Dear brothers,
“Our brother…, (referring to another pastor)…, our brother has been subjected to hours of intense interrogation yesterday and then again today. More of our brothers who work with him have been investigated the whole day today. The government now has our church directory and various info about our ministry from their phones. The situation is scary and it can potentially unravel everything. Please pray. Don’t email us. Don’t try to contact us until you hear from us. Please delete this email after reading it.”
This brother is living in a frightening situation where the powers of darkness are attempting to put a stop to the spread of the gospel….
I received another message from a different pastor in that same country. He sent a video link where a news story ran this week saying that the mission of making disciples, multiplying churches, and training leaders is a form of extremism that must be stopped.
The story called the mission of church planting - dangerous, disturbing, and concerning.
The analyst being interviewed gave a passionate correction to what she saw as dangerous missional work… she said in her frustration…
“charity feeds the hungry, without asking them to change their gods…,
service uplifts the poor without uprooting them from their ancestors,
education empowers communities without teaching them to be ashamed of their traditions…,
One of the evil beasts that rose earlier in the book of revelation was described as having the appearance of a lamb, but speaking like a dragon…,
This my friends is a good example of dragon speech…,
she is acting righteous,
she is in support of feeding the hungry,
but she says it would be wrong to ask them to repent from worshipping their gods.
What word does the book of Revelation have for those brothers being interrogated this week for the testimony of Jesus ….
What word does this book have to the missionaries who have given their lives to proclaiming the gospel in this country, now scared that they may be banned from the country or worse?
What word does this book bring to the apostle John in his exile on the island of Patmos, and to those early believers in Rome facing persecution for their faith?
If you are new to St. Rose Community Church this morning, we want to welcome you into our study of the book of Revelation. We have been working our way slowly through this book for over a year now…, verse by verse and chapter by chapter.
Today, we come to one of the most hotly debated chapters in the book of Revelation and the Bible this morning….
but before we read the text,
I just want you to be reminded…,
this text was written for a purpose.
It was written to a people giving their lives for the the testimony of Jesus.
Beyond all the debate, beyond all the theological discussion, beyond all the interpretive methods…, there is meaning here…,.
there is power here…,
powerful truth that helps the Christian persevere.
let’s read and ask God that he would lead us, and give us understanding,
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who 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 for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Lets Pray
I want to begin with a few disclaimers.
1) I do not have time in this sermon to fairly represent all of the possible interpretations of this chapter.…
2) I do not believe that our interpretation this chapter should be a source of division among God’s people. It is difficult to interpret.
3) I do believe that despite the different ways of interpreting the details of this chapter…, the application for Christian people is the same. This text should deepen our appreciation for Jesus’ final victory, it should increase our confidence in God’s mission, and it should strengthen our resolve to follow Jesus in the midst of trial and tribulation today.
As I have throughout Revelation,
My aim today is to explain my own position on this text with a focus on the primary points we should agree upon,
and emphasize why this text should matter to our brothers being interrogated on the other side of the world, and to us as we try to live a faithful Christian life this week.
so lets dive in
First,
What does John see in this vision?
He sees the dragon, a symbolic image for Satan himself
Satan is being seized, thrown into a spiritual abyss called the bottomless pit.
There he is bound by a great chain.
The effect of this binding of Satan is that he is unable to deceive the nations as he had been doing before this moment.
The length of this binding is said to be a thousand years…,
During this period where he is bound…,
The souls of those who have been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus may be physically decapitated,
but they are spiritually alive
and they are reigning with Jesus in his presence as priests in God’s presence…,
But, one day Satan will be unbound for a short time just before he is fully and finally thrown into the lake of fire to be tormented forever and ever.
Now allow me to offer two reminders for interpreting the book of Revelation that we have consistently recognized throughout the boo.
Reminder #1 Revelation Unveils Reality Through Symbols
Reminder #1 Revelation Unveils Reality Through Symbols
This is apocalyptic literature which constantly utilizes imagery and symbolism to communicate theological realities.
The numbers used are symbolic.
The characters, and beasts, and imagery all point to something beyond themselves.
We are not to expect a literal dragon chained with a literal chain.., but we are meant to think deeply about the theological significance of such imagery.
Reminder #2 Revelation Unveils the Progression of History Through Cyclical Visions
Reminder #2 Revelation Unveils the Progression of History Through Cyclical Visions
meaning the visions do not unfold chronologically…,
They recapitulate - meaning they cycle through the same events yet retold through different imagery that emphasizes different realities.
For example, chapter 19 painted the picture of the final war between good and evil.
In chapter 19, all the rebellious nations, and kings, and armies of evil mounted up against God, and were destroyed.
chapter 20, is a new vision. We are told that Satan, the dragon, will rise up and deceive the nations to mount an attack against God’s people.., but didn’t all the nations just get destroyed in chapter 19?
this cannot be the next chronological event at the end of history…,
The chapters are not telling a chronology…,
Revelation chapter 20 is a recapitulation of the same progression we saw in chapter 19. It is also a recapitulation of the same progression we saw way back in Revelation chapter 12.
Using different imagery, it tells the same story.
In chapter 12, Satan is shown to be at war with God.
He is thrown down
from his thrown down position, he continues to try to make war against God’s people because he knows his time is short.
he attacks, but he becomes furious at his inability to devour God’s people.
I think both chapter 12 and chapter 20 are speaking to the same spiritual realities.
I think they are describing the progression of history….,
and they explain the spiritual dynamics that we face today in this age between Jesus’ first coming and his second…,
So what is that progression?
Its one that begins with the first coming of Jesus…
Before Jesus came, and lived, and died, and rose again, and gave his Holy Spirit to his disciples…,
Satan very much reigned over the nations of the world …,
He had deceived every nation,
he had a choke hold on every language group,
he was the ruler of every kingdom,
and he had influenced all peoples everywhere to worship false gods…,
Only Israel was set apart for the one true God…,
and Israel had gone the way of Satan over and over and over again…,
but in a very real moment in history,
despite all of Satan’s attempts to stop the plan of God,
Jesus of Nazareth came…
He resisted Satan’s temptations fully,
and Jesus made a way for sinful humanity to reconcile to God forever.
He took the curse of sin on himself,
He defeated death,
and
He sent his Holy Spirit to bring resurrection life to all who believe.
The Spirit now indwells God’s People
and empowers God’s people with a mission that would quickly explode into a missional movement to all nations of the world.
Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and great commission to his followers
marked a decisive victory over satanic power
and a real tangible change to his power in the world.
Within a generation the church had spread from a small group of disciples to churches being planted in all the major cities in the Roman empire.
Something had changed on the world scene…,
Jesus himself said what he came to do and
Jesus uses the same language of binding that is here in chapter 20.
Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 12.
28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.
Jesus came by the Spirit of God to bind Satan
and to plunder his goods,
that is to steal what Satan thinks belongs to him.
In John 12, Jesus says this….
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
The apostles understood that the coming of Jesus, and the pouring out of his Spirit upon God’s people changed the power that Satan once had to keep the nations deceived.…,
and it opened up the possibility of a global mission to be accomplished..,
Listen to how the apostles describe Jesus’ victory at his resurrection.
15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
I think this is the theological point behind the symbolic imagery that shows Satan being cast down and bound during a set period of time.
Truth #1 In this Age, Satan is Active but Chained
Truth #1 In this Age, Satan is Active but Chained
John sees a vision of an angel binding up Satan so that Satan cannot do what he ultimately wants to do.
Satan wants to assemble all the nations against the people of God.
he wants to overthrow God’s kingdom.
he wants to steal, kill, and destroy all Christians.
he wants to stop the Christian movement,
He wants to crush the Christian church,
he wants to keep all nations in a state of deception forever…,
And he is currently working to do so….
But he can’t fulfill his mission…
he is like a dog on a chain being yanked back every time he makes an advance…,
and the chain is held by the hand of a sovereign God…
Jesus says it this way… when Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ.
16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
this is the case for a thousand year period.…,
Christ is building his church..,. and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.
Now, just like all the numbers in Revelation, we should assume this is a symbolic number,
the 144,000 in chapter 7 was symbolic for the fullness of God’s people,
the sevens, and twelves, and the thousands are all symbolic numbers throughout Revelation.
We should not all of a sudden understand this 1,000 years to be literal.
We should understand it to be the state of affairs for a long time,
but it is a set time,
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
we are in a particular age between Jesus’ first coming and his second coming…,
where Satan is bound in a real way,
he is trying to work against the church but he is kept from fulfilling his goals.
Revelation 12 said it this way,
the woman being a symbol of the church…
13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.
16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.
17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
the picture is that of an active Satan in this world…,
but a frustrated Satan….
the church is given wings to evade him,
his attacks are diverted by the sovereign hand of God
and Satan is restricted
because he is bound
and he is prohibited from accomplishing his goals of deceiving the nations and rallying all the nations against the Christians.
In fact, when he does make advances…,
when he does have a Christian killed…,
they don’t even really die…
Truth #1 In this Age, Satan is Active but Chained
Truth #2 In this Age, Christians Die, but Live
Truth #2 In this Age, Christians Die, but Live
This thousand year period,
that some call the church age between Jesus’ first coming and his second is an age where believers still suffer.
Believers still die..,
Believers are still beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God…,
but death is not death for the Christian in this age…,
it is but a transition to life in the presence of our God.
John beholds this vision…,
of Satan being bound while at the same time the martyrs for the Christian faith are rejoicing in resurrection life.
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who 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 for a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
John sees those who did not worship the false gods.
They did not give in to Satan’s pressures.,
They have died, but they are alive.
and they are reigning with Jesus in the heavens.
They are enjoying the fruits of Christ’s resurrection life
and they are living as priests and kings in the presence of their God.
This is the reality of our age…,
and this is the frustrating reality of all Satan’s attacks.
He cannot kill the christian movement…,
it spreads literally no matter what he does…,
and he can’t even really kill the christian…,
because they live, no matter what he does, they live.
This year, we have seen a couple of our church members pass from this world…,
but in this age…, though their physical bodies may lie in the ground…,
Their souls are reigning with Christ in the heavenly places sharing in his resurrection life....
Listen to how the apostle Paul understood this…
He writes…,
8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,
9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!
10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him;
20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
This is the reality of our world in this present moment….,
We are living in a world full of death…,
but we Christians get to live without any fear of death…,
because for us, it has been conquered.
physical death it is not permanent death….,
physical death does not lead to what the bible calls the second death…,
meaning the eternal spiritual death…..,
But there is an eternal spiritual death that is coming…,
not for us….,
but for Satan an his followers.
Truth #3 This Age Will End With Satan Temporarily Released and Eternally Tormented
Truth #3 This Age Will End With Satan Temporarily Released and Eternally Tormented
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison
8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.
9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,
10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
This is the moment we have seen over and over again in Revelation.
a moment yet to come where Satan successfully mounts a final rebellion,
a final attack,
a final push to prevail against the church and against the Lord Jesus.
We don’t know exactly what this will look like…,
All we know is that for a brief moment,
Satan’s full strength will be put on display just long enough for it to be seen by the world and then crushed by Jesus.
Satan rallies all the rebels from all four corners of the earth…,
he mounds an attack on the camp of the believers..,
Paul calls it the rebellion led by the man of lawlessness…
3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
Satan is being restrained…,
he will one day be released briefly
and just as it looks as if Satan will devour God’s people…,
fire comes down from heaven and puts a stop to his advance.
The chain will be jerked back one more time…, only this time its the last time.
And the devil along with all of his accomplices will be thrown into the lake of fire where he will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
So what?
What does any of this mean for us?
Takeaways:
#1 Be Confident in God’s Mission
#1 Be Confident in God’s Mission
In this age, there is work to do.
We have the word of God to share
the testimony of Jesus to spread
we are commanded to make disciples of all the nations
to be Christ’s witnesses to the ends of the earth.
and as we look backward over the last 2,000 years…, we can see that the mission has been a successful mission…,
but we can also see that the mission is not yet complete.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
We do not know when Jesus will return…, but we do know what we are to be doing in the interim.
There people throughout the world that still have little to no access to the saving message of Jesus…,
And the promise of the Bible is that the gospel will be effective to bring people from every nation to saving faith in Jesus.
Do you believe that?
Do you believe that God is sovereign and all powerful to accomplish his mission through the preached word by the power of the indwelling Spirit of God?
Do you believe that Satan is on a chain being jerked back every time he tries to stop the Christian movement?
If we believe this…, we Christians should reject our cowardice and risk-adverse tendencies and we should wholly follow our Lord into the adventure of his great commission….
I am slightly concerned that our culture and especially the younger generation of Christians are being brought up to be totally risk adverse.
We grew up with smart phones.
We read all the reviews before we buy anything.
We do all the research before we go anywhere or eat anywhere.
We are careful to make the right decision so that we can secure the best possible future for ourselves out of the thousands of options that are available to us.
We are conditioned to reduce any and all unknowable variables.
We are conditioned not to risk anything ever.
But that is not the way of Christ…., we are not chiefly risk managers…,
We are risk takers because we are confident that we serve a God who is triumphing over the evil one…
I was recently speaking with a missionary in a country in Central Asia. He lives with the constant threat of being band from the country he serves in. But only .2 percent of the 90 million people in his country are Christians.
How does God aim to change those statistics?
Through believers willing to take risks for the glory of God with a confidence in God’s mission. That it is and will be accomplished through his people.
St. Rose is not a central Asian context…,
but 10 years ago, there was no promise that a healthy church could be planted here.
I was too young,
too inexperienced,
we were not well funded,
we were not well supported,
we were not many in number,
there were no guarantees…,
but we were convinced that God works through his people who devote themselves to the word, and the fellowship, and to prayer.
#1 Be Confident in God’s Mission
#2 Be Ready for Trial and Tribulation
#2 Be Ready for Trial and Tribulation
The crazy thing about this age…, is that though Satan is bound…, he is still active..,
Though the mission is going forward.., there is still trial and tribulation..,
In fact, Revelation 20 warns us that there will be a period toward the end of history where things actually get worse, not better, just before Satan’s final defeat.
Following Jesus isn’t about avoiding the fires of tribulation.
Its about passing through them for the glory of God and coming out the other side victorious, kings and priests, before our God.
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Don’t lose heart when things are hard…,
It is part of the plan for your good and to show off the glory of God.
and its temporary tribulation which will break way into eternal resurrection.
#3 Be Comforted by Resurrection Hope
#3 Be Comforted by Resurrection Hope
The second death has no power of you.
As we read most recently at Mrs. Millie’s husband’s funeral…
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Lets Pray that we will believe this…,
and that it will lead us to conquer with Christ both in this life and in the life to come.
