Word of Salvation – Vol. 37 No. 25 – July 1992

 

The Millennial Reign Of Christ

 

Sermon by Rev. B. Gillard on Revelations 20

Reading: Revelations 20

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

I am calling your attention to the book of Revelation chapter 20.  In the first part of this chapter we read about the devil and how he is taken, bound in chains, and thrown into the abyss where he is locked up for a period of a thousand years.

There are a number of questions that we want to ask in connection with this event.  Questions that will help us, hopefully, to understand what it all means, and what the message of this particular chapter is for us.  So then, the first question I would like to raise in connection with this binding of the devil, is, when does it take place?

Is it something that takes place prior to our Lord’s second coming, or is it something that takes place after his coming?

There are those who say that it takes place after his second coming.  People who hold this view are usually referred to as Pre-Millennialist.  The word millennium means a thousand years, and the word ‘pre’, of course means ‘before’, and so Christ’s second coming according to premillennialists comes before the millennium or thousand year reign commences.

Why do they hold to this view?

Let me offer just one or two reasons for this view.  It is said that what we have in Revelation chapter 20 is a continuous narrative.  That is, the events of chapter 20 continue on from what we read in chapter 19.  In chapter 19 we read about the second coming of Christ, the defeat of the beast and the kings of the earth and so on.  Chapter 20 describes what takes place after this.

Then secondly the binding of Satan, they say, could not refer to the period prior to Lord’s second coming, because Satan clearly wasn’t bound during this period.  He was still free to roam the earth and do much damage.  But here in chapter 20, he is clearly taken from the earth altogether.  Therefore, the events in chapter 20 refer to something that takes place after our Lord’s second coming.  Christ in fact comes back to reign on earth for a thousand years, with his saints who are raised up from the dead.  This is what is meant by the first resurrection in verse 5.

Then at the end of this thousand years’ reign, Satan will be let loose again for a short period and he will gather together the nations of the earth in one final assault upon Christ and his people who are living and reigning upon earth.

Well, that very briefly is the premillennial view.  Probably the majority of evangelical Christians would hold to this view today, and have done so for the greater part of this century.

Now what can we say about this viewpoint?

Well, I would simply like to say that when you have a problem or difficulty of interpretation, then there is one clear rule to be guided by, and that is what we call the analogy of Scripture.  Or, if you like, compare Scripture with Scripture.  The question is, do we find anywhere else in the Scriptures, this view that Christ returns to earth and reigns for a thousand years, with his resurrected saints, while the rest of the world continues on as it has done?  And the answer, I believe, is no.  The Bible clearly teaches us that when Christ returns then that will be the time when the final judgement will take place and the eternal state will be ushered in.

Think for example of 2 Peter 3:10, ‘But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, the heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.’  Or take what our Lord said in John 5:28, ‘For a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.’  The final resurrection and judgement do not take place in two or three stages, but happen at the same time, and that time is when our Lord returns.  This is what we are told in Matthew 25:31.  When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘come you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you…’ then he will say to those on his left, ‘depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’

So then, the rest of Scripture gives no support whatsoever to the idea that Christ will return and then reign on earth for a thousand years before the final judgement will take place.  When he returns that will be the end of his present world as we know it, and the ushering in of the final state.

Now, if the thousand year reign does not take place after our Lord’s return, when does it take place?

There can only be one answer to that question, and that is, it takes place before his return.

That brings us to our second set of questions which are these: How does it take place, and what does it all mean?

The Symbolical Interpretation:

The first thing we have to recognise, of course, is that we are dealing here with a great amount of symbolism.

We read about an angel coming down from heaven with a great chain, with which he binds the devil, and casts him into the abyss.  Now, of course, we know that the devil is a spirit, and therefore, he could not be bound with a literal chain.  So we are dealing here with symbolism.

And the same thing has to be said for the thousand years.  The thousand years is not a literal period of time, but is symbolical.

What does it represent?  Well, it represents the entire period that spans the interval between our Lord’s first and second coming.

Why do we say this?  I believe it is perfectly consistent with what we see throughout this book.  John is constantly bringing us through history right up to the end of the world, and then he goes back, and he does the same thing all over again.  We see that on a number of occasions.  We see it in the breaking of the seals, and the blowing of the trumpets, and the outpouring of the bowls, and we see the same thing in the previous chapter, in chapter 19 which culminated in the coming of Christ, and the destruction of the two beasts.  There we are brought once again right through to the end of the world.  But there is no mention of the devil in chapter 19.  He gets special treatment here in chapter 20, and so once again we see that this chapter also culminates in the great and final judgement that takes place at the end of the world.

So then what John has done in chapter twenty is simply go back to the beginning, and bring us right through history once again, or if you like that period which spans our Lord’s first and second coming.

And what was it that took place at our Lord’s first coming?  Well, it was nothing other than the binding of the devil.  Our Lord came to defeat and to destroy the devil, who is our great enemy, and our great adversary.  And in this great work Christ was successful.

That, you see, is the comfort, and the encouragement that John wishes to bring to us once again in this particular section of the book.  To those believers who were facing persecution and hostility in the first century, and for those who have faced it ever since, John has a very encouraging message.  It is this: Satan, the devil, is bound.  He is chained.  There is a limit to what he can do.  That is the great message.  How did this defeat and binding of Satan take place?  It took place in the life, ministry, and death of Christ.  Remember what Jesus said in John chapter 12:31.  ‘Now is the time for judgement on this world, now the prince of this world will be driven out.’

Remember what he said in Matthew 12:28 about binding the strong man?  Jesus was accused of casting out demons by the power of the devil.  But Jesus said, ‘if that were the case then Satan would be divided against himself, and went on to say, that ‘he could only plunder the strong man’s house if he first bound up the strong man.  Now that is what John means here by the binding of the devil.  Jesus our Lord has destroyed his power through his life, and through the blood of his cross.  The power of the devil has been overcome, and our Lord is now reigning supreme in heaven, and has all authority in heaven and in earth.

This is the great message of comfort that John wishes to bring to the churches.

Now, it doesn’t mean that Satan is entirely bound, in the sense that he can do no harm.  No, indeed he can still do great harm, and does.  But the harm that he can do, is nothing in comparison to what he can do if he were without restraint.

We have an indication here of his great power in verse three, where we are told why he is bound, and it is said, to keep him from deceiving the nations.  Prior to the coming of our Lord, the nations, which in the Bible refers to the Gentile nations as distinguished from the Jewish nation, were in the dark.  They were deceived by Satan, worshipping idols and false gods and so on.  But the coming of Christ, and his victory over Satan, his power to do this was overcome.  We can see how throughout the history of this world, the glorious gospel of Christ, the good news that man can be saved and reconciled to God through Christ, has gone out to the ends of the earth.  People from every tribe, kindred, and tongue have come to faith.  This is the spoiling of the strong man’s goods.  The Lord Jesus bound the devil, and now through the gospel, he is calling all men to faith and to life.  That invitation comes to us all again today.  Through Jesus we may escape from our bondage and slavery to the devil.  In Christ we find life and forgiveness.  Thank God that Jesus came and bound the devil, and stopped him deceiving the nations, so that we Gentiles could also hear the message and be saved.

But let us also note that the devil is going to be given one last fling as it were.  He is going to be released for a time right before the end.  Once again he will go out to deceive the nations, and gather men in opposition to the Kingdom of God.  Now this harmonises, you see, with what the Bible tells us about the end times.  The Bible warns us of that time of falling away, and apostasy, and the revealing of the man of sin, the Antichrist and so on.  A period of intense opposition to the gospel.  Perhaps we are in that period right now.  Who knows?  Don’t we see the nations being greatly deceived at this present time?  Materialism, the New Age movement, Humanism, False Religions.  Islam is said to be the fastest growing religion.  Are we entering into the last times?  Will unbelief and apostasy grow from bad to worse?  Will Christians bear testimony with their blood?

I don’t know the answer to these questions.  But we are not to be fearful or afraid.  You see that is the message that John brings in this chapter.  The devil’s final attempt will end in complete and utter failure.  In verse 9 we read, ‘But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.  And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown.  They will be tormented day and night for ever and for ever.  They will never get out of there and they will trouble the people of God no more.  So then, once again, John has brought us to the end.  And this time it is the end.  There is no going back, because there is only one thing left, and that is to usher in the final state of glory for God’s faithful servants, so that they might enter into their final rest, and that is what is depicted for us in the last two chapters of this great book.

Let us then rejoice in the great message of this chapter, and of this great book.  Our Lord is the victor.  He has overcome, He has the devil on a chain, and under control.  The devil can only do as much harm as he is permitted to do, and soon our Lord will cast him into the lake of burning fire where he can trouble us no more.  Let us then be faithful to Christ, even unto death, and we will also reign with him in heaven, and throughout eternity.

AMEN