The Defeat of Satan

Have your Bibles with you truly think you would to Revelation chapter 20. Looking at verses seven through 10 this morning and when the thousand years were ended.

Site will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations were at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle.

Their numbers like the sand of the sea 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 consume them, and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophets were and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Is pray. Heavenly father, we come before you today asking the Lord for clarity asking you Lord to help us, that we might see the truth in this passage that we might understand that we are in a war. Heavenly father, we would pray that you would help us, that we might hate Satan that we might despise who he is what he does, that we might despise his deception that we might look forward to that day when you bring about his end.

Heavenly father. Just be with us now in great power. Give us wisdom, direction and insight that Christ be exalted and lifted up in this message and may this congregation beatified through it and it's in Jesus holy and wonderful and precious thing that would pray. Amen. You may be seated for the Christian.

This world is not an arena.

It is an arena it's not an armchair. It is a battlefield. It is not a playground. As Christians we are called to be gladiators, not spectators Jay Gresham Macon said it is impossible for the Christian soldier not to fight. Now why is that so because a Christian has an enemy that desires our death and our destruction. We have an enemy who is really was vicious to his violent and it was filled with hatred throughout the Bible is called by different names.

The evil one. The ancient serpent, the God of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the murder, the tempter, the liar, the thief, the father of lies. The accuser of the brethren belie Beelzebub, a polygon Avedon the adversary, the enemy, the great red dragon, the devil, and of course Satan you may say no way to minute had Doug you're not telling me that you really believe in a personal devil.

Do you what choice do I have folks to if you go through the Old Testament. There are seven Old Testament books that speak directly about his existence. If you go to the New Testament, every New Testament writer speaks of Satan. Everyone Jesus himself in the Gospels spoke of Satan. 25 different times and often it's a direct conversation that he is having with Satan himself. But I dare not deny the existence of Satan. Satan is driven by two passions number one is hatred for God and number two is hostility toward the human race he wages war against the Christian in Ephesians 6 he undermines confidence in the word of God. Genesis chapter 3 he hinders Christian ministry. First Thessalonians 2. He brings discouragement in first Peter five.

He infiltrates the church with false doctrine and that's found in first John four a promotes division in the congregation.

Second Corinthians chapter 2, he is described as bearing the ferocity of a lion, and yet having the attractiveness of an angel of light, but he has power to attack us because he knows our weaknesses, and he knows our vulnerabilities. So today what I wanted to use only share with you four points as we take a look at Satan's defeat .1 is Satan's release, look at me at verse seven and when the thousand years are ended. Satan will be released from his prison home.

He took very quick review.

What is the thousand years. It is the church age is that long period of time between the first coming of Christ and the second coming of Christ. It is not a golden age.

A literal thousand year Golden age that will take place after the second coming is what's going on in this life right now. Second question, what is it mean that Satan is bound.

It does not mean that he is totally incapacitated. He is bound in one area and that areas this he can deceive the nations no more, and what is that mean that means he can't stop the proliferation of the gospel. He cannot stop the missionary enterprise next month on March 15 Dale Powell is going to be sharing with us the Gideon presentation. We have an opportunity take up an offering for the Gideons and they send Bibles out all of the world and Dale will be sharing with us how last year, hundreds of thousands of Bibles were given out in communist countries and Islamic countries and secular humanistic countries and many of those people have heard the word of God because of that have ran the word of God because it is a Bible in their hands and many of them have come to Christ, folks.

Satan cannot stop that.

But what can Satan do they can kill, steal and destroy free walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Paul says that we are ours that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities and rulers of darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places.

We are still told to stand strong against the wiles of the devil. We are told to resist the devil and he will flee from us. Satan is still alive and well but he is bound in his ability to deceive the nations but verse seven verse seven tells us that at the end of the thousand years.

In other words at the end of church history.

Satan is going to be released for a little while for a short season quit which actually means that he will be able once again to deceive the nations that what happened somebody pay his bail did it is you get time off for good behavior. Did God have a change of heart and the answer that is absolutely no look with me again at verse three. Verse three and throw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so they might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while if you got opinion take your PN and circle that word must it does not say. May it does not say could not say should it says that he must be released for a little while. In other words, the release of Satan, the allowing of him to deceive the nations again is a God thing. It's a God thing is not a change of plans.

This is not Satan having his way. This is a sovereign promise that we have from God that this is going to happen and is going to happen by a sovereign move of God. I hope you get a lot from the study. I hope you see the holes in dispensationalism.

I hope you understand that the church is not going to be spared persecution. I hope you reject the idea of a two phased second coming of Christ. But most of all I hope you see this truth that the concept of dualism is not truth know what is dualism.

Dualism bull is believing that there are two gods there. Satan, the God of evil, and there is God the God of good and that there fighting each other to to see who's going to be victorious in the end, no, no, no, totally reject that provoke. Satan is a created being of God, Satan's very existence is dependent upon God himself is evil against God is not hindering God's plan is part of God's plan is Satan wages war on God's sake, Saul and also Liam that he is sitting on. All right, point to Gog and Magog lick it with me versus 739 and 1000 years are ended. Site will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations were at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. The numbers like the sand of the sea and they marched up over the broad plain of the earth, surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consume them, you live back in the 1970s. You are a Christian, probably pretty good chance that you read a book by Hal Lindsey, the late great planet Earth how Lindsay wrote several other books and he wrote those books also from a dispensational premillennial hermeneutic and there were a plethora of other books that were written at that very same time that had this same understanding of the last days, as did, as did Hal Lindsey. They were taken. The newspaper in one hand and they were taken apocalyptic Scriptures from Ezekiel and Daniel and the book of Revelation and there were put them together and site wow look how this fits. And this was their conclusion. All this must mean that we are the generation that will be living when Jesus Christ returns to the earth, folks.

Jesus told us not to do that. He said that no man will know the day or the hour. And yet they've done the very thing anyway I was a brand-new Christian at that time and I bawled in the Hal Lindsey's book hook line and sinker. Man I thought this was great. Nobody had ever told me about apocalyptic literature and I didn't know that you were to take the historical books of the Bible would like Genesis or or the Gospels, and that you were to take them literally.

But when there's apocalyptic literature or parable you must take those symbolically noted, nobody ever told me that so what did what did Hal Lindsey say about God and Magog. He said that Ezekiel said that God was the chief prince and the word chief is in the Hebrew is Roche. He said while that sounds like Russia and Russia is a is nation that hates Israel, that is to the north of Israel. Many said he's the chief prince of me, check into ball. Misha excels a whole lot like Moscow and Moscow is the political capital of Russia and tube also is a whole lot like to blah ask which is the industrial capital of Russia. So here we have Russia to the north is an enemy of Israel and they are going to attack Israel to come down into Israel because they hate Israel because of the ties that we had. They had with the US and Israel's monotheistic rushes atheistic and say they are going to attack Israel. And it's going to happen sometime right after the rapture of Jesus Christ how Lindsay also went on to say that the rapture has to take place before 1998 and he says that this attack from Russia.

Only Israel will have to take place within the next 77 years, so it will have to take place before 1995 will guess what, it didn't happen.

It did not happen, but I didn't realize this but I discovered that Lindsay was not the first to do this. There are a plethora of of people with theologians all the way through church history that have made crazy while speculations about Gog and Magog, and who they were and Ian Goodman's commentary on Ezekiel.

He said the following, and listen to this carefully. They should perhaps few Old Testament passages have seen so many attempts to interpret them in the light of current events is Ezekiel 38 and 39. This is hardly a new phenomenon, the church father Ambrose right in the late fourth century constantly identified God as the Goths in the seventh century, Gog and Magog were the Arab nations that threaten the holy lands by the 13th century, Gog had become a name for the Mongol hordes from the East in the 17th century Gog was identified as the Roman Emperor, the pope or the Turks in the 19th century will him Jessenia's identified Roche's Russia. This tree was popularized by the Scofield reference Bible along with the idea that me check into ball were Moscow.

My scale lost the good concluded with its vivid imagery and pictorial language.

Ezekiel 38 and 39 lends itself to a flexible application to whatever the contemporary dangers to world peace are perceived to be in a world of much tribulation there will always be a plausible explanation of why these times. In particular, fit the description of the biblical in times name the Jewish town mood in the Jewish town at that the Jews use just as they they use that all the time in Jesus day. The reason it just extensively and you could find a Jewish town mood in every single synagogue in in Israel. John was very, very familiar with the with this Jewish town mood and if you study the Jewish Talmage you will find that has a lot to say about God and Magog, the Jewish Talmage states with no hesitation that the term Gog and Magog was not meant to point to a particular nation but that it was meant to appoint to the entire enemies of God throughout the world. The people that will rise up against God and and do everything they can to why God's people off the face of the earth.

Look at verse seven and eight again and ask yourself a question. Does this sound like a Russian invasion or is it much larger than that. And when the thousand years are in a ditch site will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their numbers like the sand of the sea and look at that vast number as many as the sand of the sea is not an attack from some localized nation. This is a worldwide revolt that he's talking about here.

Once again I will quote from dude would the point of Ezekiel 38 and 39 is not that some distant point in future history. Those particular nations will oppose Israel, while others America and Britain, for example, will rally to Israel's aid. Rather, these nations from the ends of the earth from all four points of the compass represent symbolically a supreme attempt by the United forces of evil to crush the peace of God's people listen carefully to this this, not coincidentally, is the interpreted interpretation given to Gog and Magog in Revelation 20 verse eight. They represent the nations in the four corners of the earth whom Satan gathers for the final battle against God's people, the city he loves.

Their defeat in Revelation is a prerequisite for the establishment of the new Jerusalem the heavenly city of Revelation 21.3 is Satan's defeat, liquidate verses 9 to 10 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 consume them in the devil or deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophets were and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Like the picture, here's the devil just leaving Christ rejecting unbelievers. They march over the broad plain of the earth, and they surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city, Jerusalem nephew take this literally you got a multitude of unbelievers who are, they are right. They are in in Jerusalem and in Israel and the Scripture says that there is many as the sands of the sea you have big Israel is. You can take the land area of Israel and put it in Mecklenburg in Union County. It's that small folks think of the absurdity of a literal translation here then this would mean billions upon billions of unbelievers they that are in this tiny little land of Israel and their surrounded the Christians who in a little campsite in Jerusalem is that really what John is trying to tell us know are all the true Christians and physical Israel at that time. Note this is symbolic imagery. John goes all the way back to the book of Exodus had people live had of the people of God live during the of the time with a they left Egypt and were headed to the promised land lately lived in tents. They had a big fence. It went all the way around that set that fence up. I put the tabernacle of God that represented God's presence right in the center of it in and they they would live in tents and why did they do that they did that so they could be mobile. They did that.

So as soon as God said, get up and go they could get up and go folks.

This is a put a picture beautiful picture of the Christian today. That's the way we are to look at ourselves.

This world is not our home were just passing through, where pilgrims and strangers on this earth. Our roots are not to be dug down to deep our home is heaven. This earth is just temporary. What is the tabernacle or temple today is a canvas tent. Is it a big brick building pulses no first Corinthians 619 says this, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Where's the presence of God nail it's in us. It's in the children of God. So the camp of the saints is a picture of true Christians all over the world.

The city of God. Here's called Jerusalem. Very interesting. Sometimes the book of Revelation is called a tale of two cities Babylon and Jerusalem.

We been studying what Babylon was what is it is a secular political world system. It is has a corrupt government, political corruption, financial greed dog eat dog philosophy we saw in Revelation 18.

How that day is coming when that world system is going to be absolutely destroyed, but Jerusalem is a picture of the true church, the people of God the chosen ones.

God's children so don't view this as a literal attack on the city of Jerusalem.

This is a worldwide phenomenon, persecution of the Christians at this point in time as we are reading it today is going to be at all time high.

We look at persecution of Christians around the world. Today we see it in Nigeria and the Sudan.

We see it in China and Malaysia in a rack in a ran's and places all over the world, but folks in this day in the last day is going be persecution all over the entire world.

Christians are not to be spared that persecution.

So it's everywhere.

And what happens look at at the last phrase in verse nine but fire came down from heaven and consume them. By this time, praise God. The Christians would been removed. What's gonna happen will first of all there's to be a resurrection of those believers who are in heaven. They are going to receive new glorified bodies there get them. He was Christ there in the clouds and then those believers who are here on earth are going to receive new glorified bodies and be translated and we will meet the Lord in the clouds and then we will immediately immediately return as the Lord brings judgment upon this earth.

Jesus speaks the word and fire consumes the unbelieving world in second Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 7 to 10 we see the same picture that John paints for us in Revelation chapter 20, but we get Paul's explanation of what's going on, we read that to you and to grant relief to you are afflicted, as well as to us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and all those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his mind when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed because our testimony to you was believed and what happened to Satan verse verse 10 and the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophets were and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Satan is finished his returns, he will be a lake of fire forever and ever.

He will never be heard from again to God's torment of of Satan.

Here is almost laughable because he can't do a thing about it. I can't picture like a there's a big weightlifter got muscles bulging all laboring and he sees just standing there and all the sudden mosquito lands on his bicep and he just reaches over and just smacks it into absolute oblivion. And that mosquitoes no more in Isaiah 14 we read the story of of Lucifer's fall and his business final destruction and is very interesting when it describes his final destruction. The world is just shocked and they're just amazed at at what's happened here he is, he's being destroyed is me and cast into hell and he can't do a thing about it. We read that take from Isaiah 1415 to 16 yet thou shall be brought down to hail to the sides of the pit they that see you shall narrowly look upon you and consider you saying is this the one that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms folks if we really believed what the Bible says about God's sovereignty about God's power about God's strength than we would not fear anything but God. A man, Satan cannot even put up a fight.

Jesus just speaks the word and is cast into a burning like a fire.

My fourth point. Paul's explanation of Satan being loosed and will go back to second Thessalonians 2 verses one through seven. Now, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed either by spirit or a spoken word or letter seeming to be from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is come 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, 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, do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things and you know what is restraining him nail so that he may be revealed in his time 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, Paul says that in the last days right before Christ returns. There will be a great falling away. Apostasy will cover across the earth and people will turn from Christ with no conscience about it at all.

Paul goes on to talk about the restrainer. Now who is the restrainer. The restrainer is the Holy Spirit. How does the Holy Spirit restrain Satan from deceiving. He does it by giving light.

He does it by showing the truth. So think about it when you got saved when you trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior had it happen only K had happened. The Scripture says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God so that you might have been witnessed to by somebody. You might've heard a sermon where you heard the gospel. You may have been reading the Scriptures and all of a sudden it was like the blinders fell off your eyes and all of a sudden you had spiritual light that you never had before. All of a sudden you saw that you had been the one who broke God's law. All of a sudden it was not just God's word. In general it was God's word to you personally. All of a sudden you realize that you are the one who sin and come short of the glory of God and you realize that you needed to Savior Jesus said on the way, the truth of the life no man comes to the father but by me.

There is only one way to the father and that is through the Savior, Jesus Christ. And so what happened, the Holy Spirit of God.

It regenerated your heart be illumined your mind and he gave you life and that's why you were able to come to Christ. So in the last days when Satan is let loose for a short season. What happens Holy Spirit stops giving light to the world. The Holy Spirit withholds truth and deception will flourish and people will follow the man's sin we see how this process of the removal of Common Grace Takes Pl. in Romans chapter 1.

Theologians call this the process of reprobation is when a man just gives himself over to sin and Easter spirals downward and downward till he gets rock-bottom.

I will read a little part of this passage to you and I want you to notice how many times it says and God gave them up. What is that mean it means that they had the opportunity to trust God, but they they wouldn't take it and they gave himself over to sin. And when that happened.

God lifted his hand of grace off of them and let them just do what they wanted to do.

Listen to this. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. Paul is telling us that in the last days the restrainer.

The Holy Spirit will be taken out of the way, doesn't mean the Holy Spirit's gonna leave the world couldn't function if there were no Holy Spirit, but it means that he backs off and he allows people to do with their wicked hearts wanted to close the Scripture say about the heart of man is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things, and when God takes his hand off that desperately wicked heart.

That heart is given to just do what it wants to do in this case and in this day and time.

They were talking about here, they will just give themselves over to following the antichrist. Yes, all that is done under the sovereign control of God. All that is done in God's perfect will. Jesus talked about that and you know John chapter 5 verse 43 Jesus said this I come in my father's name, and you receive me not if another shall come in his own name him, you will receive second Thessalonians 2 Paul goes on to say this versus 9 to 12, the coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power faults, signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false in order that they all meet may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness books. That's Paul's explanation of what John has been teaching us in Revelation chapter 20 when he says that Satan will be released for a little while or short season. Having said that let me close by remembering the theme of the book of Revelation calls brothers and sisters. The theme of the book of Revelation is our hope and what is the theme of the book of Revelation. It is this Jesus wins Jesus wins. That's our hope that is our let's pray heavenly father.

Tough passage today. We ask heavenly father that you help us, that we might see it that we might trust more in your sovereignty that Lord our fear might be a fear of God, not a fear of man not appear Satan not a fear, disease or death or destruction, but only a fear of God that we belong to you and we only fear just getting out of your will help us heavenly father that we might be submissive to you that we might love you more and more each day. Help us heavenly father that we might be prepared for any persecution that might come our way that Jesus would be exalted through us. God direct is now Lord in all that we do made this church via a beacon lighthouse in this community may the people in this community. See Christ in us, and they may be drawn to that Christ who saved us and gave us eternal life.

We love you Jesus, thank you and praise you for your goodness and love to us, and we assess prayer and your holy and precious name. Amen