"CHRIST’S DOMINION OVER THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS"

Lesson #40

 Revelation 20:1-3


The book of Revelation gives us seven visions of the Person and work of Christ in this gospel age. In these seven visions the Lord revealed to John what he had done, is doing, and shall hereafter do for his church, in his church, and with his church. The whole purpose of the Book is to assure God’s children in this world of their ultimate conquest over the world, the flesh, and the devil. This blessed book is "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." By revealing to us who he is and what he does, our Lord calls for us to ever look unto him with confident faith, and assures us that we are "More than conquerors through him that loved us." The seven visions which John saw and recorded by Divine Inspiration are set before us in consecutive order in the twenty-two chapters of this book. He saw... These seven visions each cover the whole gospel age from the first to the second coming of Christ. They do not represent different ages, dispensations, or prophetic events. They all tell the same story. They all tell us what our Lord has done, is doing, and shall do for the salvation of his people. The use of the word "seven" is striking. There are "seven golden candlesticks," "seven stars," "seven seals," "seven trumpets," "seven angels," "seven vials." Seven is the number of perfection, completion, and satisfaction. And in each of these seven visions, the Holy Spirit assures us of the perfect rule of Christ as the Monarch of the universe for the complete victory and eternal salvation of his church. In Revelation 20, the final vision begins. Chapter 19 brought us to the very end of world history, to the final day of judgment. In chapter 20 we return to the beginning of the gospel age once again. In this vision we see once more the accomplishments of Christ’s first advent; and we are carried through to the final conquests of his second advent. Revelation 20:1-3 reveals the binding of satan which was accomplished by the work of Christ in his first advent. The sequence of events is clear: It should be clear to anyone who reads Revelation 20 that the language is figurative, as it is in all the pictures we have seen. "The thousand years" is no more a literal period of time than "the great chain" is a literal chain. As "the chain" represents restraining power, "the thousand years" represents a long period of time - that whole span of time between Christ’s first and second coming. It is also obvious that "the thousand years" precede (they do not follow) the second coming of Christ. In other words, we are now living in this "thousand year" period which began with the incarnation of Christ. This "thousand years" is this present gospel age. It does not begin at Christ’s second coming. It ends at his second coming (See v. 11.). Our Lord Jesus Christ has so thoroughly bound the prince of darkness that he has total dominion over him (Read vv. 1-3.).
 
 

WE SEE THE PURPOSE OF OUR LORD’S INCARNATION IN VERSE 1. This great and mighty Angel, which John saw come down from heaven, is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the Angel of the covenant, the Angel of God’s presence (10:1-7; 18:1). He alone has the keys of death and hell (1:18). No creature could ever bind the devil, or even hinder his influence. He was the greatest, most powerful creature of the Almighty. None but Christ, the Creator, could bind him. We know that the primary purpose of our Lord’s incarnation was the redemption and salvation of God’s elect by the merits of his blood and the power of his grace (Matt. 1:21; I Tim. 1:15). But in order to accomplish our salvation satan had to be bound. And here we see Christ coming with the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He is coming to shackle a treasonous rebel and lock him away! The Scriptures plainly tell us that one purpose of our Lord’s incarnation and birth was to make war with, conquer, and bind the prince of darkness (Gen. 3:15; I John 3:8; Rev. 12:5-11).
 
 

THE CHARACTER OF OUR GREAT ENEMY IS REVEALED IN FOUR NAMES (v. 2). Satan is too wise, too crafty, too strong, and too cunning for any of us to resist him, overcome him, or avoid his blinding delusions. And this great rebel against God is full of enmity, anger, wrath, and malice toward the souls of men. He knows that by the merits of Christ and in union with Christ, we shall have the place he desired. We shall sit with Christ upon the very throne of God and judge the world (Rev. 3:21; I Cor. 6:2). Satan’s hatred for God’s elect is fueled by envy and jealousy. Let us ever beware of this great enemy.
 
 

He is called "The Dragon." He is a beast of ferocious power in the earth. He is the instigator of all rebellion and opposition to God, holding power over the minds of men, taking them captive at his will. The governors, kings, and rulers of the earth are his willing subjects, by whom he breathes out the fires of persecution upon God’s saints. Since the days of Nimrod, he has led the confederated kings of the earth against the Lord and his Christ. And he will continue to do so, as God permits, until the time of Armageddon.
 
 

This great enemy of our souls is "The Old Serpent." He is old, very old. He has been around since the beginning of history. And he is the serpent. He is best represented by the slithering, crooked, deceiving serpent, with his subtle, hidden poison and deadly malignity. It was the serpent who deceived our first parents and seduced them into sin and death. It is the serpent who today deceives the souls of men and women, with presumptuous pride, false doctrine, perverted wisdom, and unbelief. And it is the serpent who corrupts, divides, and seeks to destroy the church of God

This deceiver is also "The Devil." The word "devil" means "slanderer, liar." This has been his character throughout history. "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth; when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). He slanders God to man (Gen. 3:1-5). "Yea, hath God said." And he slanders man to God (Job 1:9-11). The devil twists and perverts all: God’s Word, his providence, his gospel, and his grace!

And the great enemy of our souls is called "Satan." The word "satan" means "accuser." He is one who waits to entrap, to oppose, to disable, to bring disaster, and to destroy. He is a ready, vicious, unrelenting adversary. He opposed God in the beginning. He opposed Christ upon the earth. And he opposes God’s elect from the cradle to the grave. Child of God, this is the character of your soul’s great enemy. He is a powerful dragon, a subtle serpent, a deceiving slanderer, and a bitter, relentless adversary. But our Savior is mightier than our adversary! Satan is too great for us. But he is not too great for our Christ.
 
 

THE BINDING OF SATAN BY CHRIST IS DESCRIBED IN VERSES 2-3. John saw the Lord Jesus come down from heaven with a key to lock the bottomless pit and a chain to bind the devil (9:1, 11; 11:7). This bottomless pit has a lid upon it that can be locked and sealed. Remember, this is only a picture, a figurative symbol, nothing more. But it tells us of the work of Christ. He laid hold upon satan, overpowered him, rendered him helpless, and bound him securely with the mighty chain of his sovereign power. He cast him into the bottomless pit, locked the lid, and sealed it for a thousand years, more literally, "for the thousands of years." What does this mean? how did this binding of satan take place? You will remember that when our Lord Jesus began his public ministry, the Pharisees accused him of casting out demons by the power of satan. His answer was, "How can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will spoil his house" (Matt. 12:29). That word, "bind" is exactly the same in Matthew 12:29 and in Revelation 20. And it is talking about the same thing.

The binding of satan began when our Lord triumphed over him in the wilderness of temptation (Matt. 4:1-11; Lk. 4:1-13). When satan met Christ Jesus in the wilderness, he was foiled by the Word of God. As a result of this triumph, our Lord, having bound the strong man, began to spoil his goods, casting out demons. "The power and influence of satan over the deluded masses was beginning to be curtailed" (William Hendriksen).

In the garden of Gethsemane our Lord Jesus again broke the power of satan by faith and prayer (Matt. 26:36-46). In that dark, cold night, satan came to oppose our dear Savior, taunting him with the hideous load of sin that must be put upon him, tormenting him with the anticipation of being made sin, being made to suffer the wrath of God, and being forsaken by the Father. He was trying to keep the Lord from the cross. And our Savior’s tender, holy, human soul was crushed with sorrow. But he rose in triumph after he prayed (Heb. 5:7-9). In confident faith, he rose up to lay down his life for his sheep (Heb. 12:1-2).
 
 

Then, our great Savior, crushed the serpent’s head, bound him as a wild beast, and cast him into the bottomless pit, by his glorious, triumphant death upon the cross (John 12:28-32). By his death upon the cursed tree, our Lord broke the arms of satan’s usurped dominion over the nations of the world, and began to draw all men unto himself, Gentiles as well as Jews. The light was taken from the Jews who despised it, and sent to the Gentiles who never had it, that God’s elect in every nation might see the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and be saved.
 
 

When our Savior ascended up to heaven and was exalted as King over all things, he brought satan into captivity under his sovereign rule (Psa. 68:18-19; Col. 2:13-15; Rev. 12:5-11). The Son of God has always ruled satan, as he has ruled all things, by virtue of his total sovereignty as God. But now, he has, as the God-man, our Mediator, taken away satan’s power to deceive the world so that he might gather his elect out of every nation in the world. Every text of Scripture which speaks of the binding and captivity of satan refers to and is associated with our Lord’s first advent, his life, his death, and his exaltation. This is a glorious, comforting gospel truth which few people seem to apprehend. We are not awaiting the day when satan shall be bound and Christ shall be King. Jesus Christ is the sovereign King over al things today! And satan is bound already!
 
 

Our great adversary is under the total rule and control of our dear Savior - He cannot harm us! His temptations are under the rule of Christ! His assaults are under the rule of Christ! Even his roars are under the rule of Christ! This binding of satan is not his destruction. That comes later, at the day of judgment.
 
 

This binding of satan is specifically the destruction of his power, or the restraint of his power to deceive the nations. Satan’s influence in the world is not destroyed, but curtailed, so that he is unable to prevent the spread of the gospel, the salvation of God’s elect and the progress of Christ’s kingdom in the nations of the world. Satan cannot prevent, or withstand, the increase and completion of Christ’s church in this world (Matt. 16:18).
 
 

Satan is also bound today by the power of Christ, through the preaching of the gospel (Lk. 10:16-20). As we preach the gospel of the grace of God, when it is effectually applied to the hearts of men and women by the Holy Spirit, satan is bound and his house is spoiled! NOTE: I do not say, by any means, that satan is bound with reference to all men. But, in so far as God’s elect are concerned, satan is bound everywhere. He cannot stop the progress of the gospel until the thousand years are finished, until the church of Christ is complete, and all God’s elect are saved. But then he must be loosed for "a little season."
 
 

THERE WILL BE A LITTLE SEASON OF GREAT DECEPTION AT THE CLOSE OF THIS PRESENT GOSPEL AGE (v. 3). John tells us that satan "must be loosed a little season." The Lord Jesus will once again allow satan freedom to deceive the nations of the world, because they would not believe the gospel, nor receive the love of the truth (II Thess. 2:1-12). In that little season, there will be a famine of the Word of God (Amos 8:11-13). In that little season, the world will be zealously religious, but utterly ignorant of the true and living God, deceived with false religion (II Thess. 2:1-12; Rev. 16:12-14). But God’s elect shall not be deceived (II Thess. 2:13-14). His people are safe. They shall not be moved away from the hope of the gospel (I John 2:20-29). Child of God, rejoice! Satan is bound for you! He cannot harm you. He cannot accuse you before God. He cannot bring you into condemnation. He cannot prevent the success of Christ and his kingdom! Soon, God will bruise satan under your feet (Rom. 16:20; Rev. 12:11-12).


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