McNeil, William: Ministry From The Revelation 34 ~ Rev 20;1-15

Just turn us to chapter twenty tonight. Revelation chapter twenty, fourteen verses in the chapter. That doesn't make it a long chapter, but it's one of these important chapters, one of the outstanding chapters of the Bible, if there is such a thing. I think every chapter is important, but some seem to shine out more than others. This is a chapter that offsets a great amount of error that has been taught, and strange things that are believed. This, this puts you on the straight course. It's one of the great chapters of the Bible. The first three verses deal with the restraint of Satan. Verses four through six tell us something of the reign of the sovereign Christ. And a very strange little portion, verses seven through ten, deals with the release of Satan and the final. A little matter that has created a big question mark in some people's minds. In verses eleven through fifteen, the righteous retribution on the ungodly. It's a stirring chapter. Let's read verse one. Now I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, the great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, shut him up, and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season. Now we'll stop there for a moment or two. We'll just see the little sections as we go down, try and find a lesson from each of them. The restraint of Satan. It's a wonderful thing if you would take time, some time with your Bible and a notebook, and go through and use a concordance to see all the different things you can learn about what the Bible says about Satan. I think it was Campbell Morgan, that great writer who wrote a little book once entitled The Voice of Satan. Now, suppose you were sitting in a class tonight, a little Bible class, and you all had a little piece of paper, and you were to write on it how many times you can remember in the Bible that you read about Satan speaking and who he spoke to. I wonder how many times you could recall and write them down. I know you could all go back to the Garden of Eden. That- that's an easy one. You would start there. How that he used the serpent, and he got the ear of Eve. I wonder what's the second one you would think of? See, back in the book of Genesis, he was speaking to mankind, actually to Eve. But when you come to the book of Job, you remember, he's speaking to God. You think of Satan speaking to God. Now, when he spoke to Eve, he lied against God. You remember he told Eve, oh, you'll not surely die? Have God said? So on, so on, so on. While speaking to mankind, he was speaking against God. When you come to the book of Job, you find him speaking against, and he's speaking to God, and he's accusing a man. Remember, he's speaking against Job. But when you come to the New Testament, you find him speaking again. You remember when the Lord went into the wilderness for the days, and then he was tempted, the devil. And here he's face to face with one who is both God and man. And there he's defeated, face to face, with his threefold accusations there and his challenges and temptations. Christ came through triumphant. But the devil uses other means in order to get his message over. He doesn't always come personally, although the Lord said to one of his disciples, says, Simon, Simon, Satan had demanded to have you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. So there may be times when Satan actually individually makes his thrust at some of God's people. Otherwise, he can use other means. Just as he used the serpent back in the garden, he can use other means. When you come to Paul's letter to Timothy, he speaks there of the doctrine of demons. Now, how do demons speak? Because doctrine is teaching. And demons, you know, speak through people. People are demon possessed, and those who are demon possessed can speak. And it's not the person that's speaking, it's the demon that's in them. I was just amazed recently, by the way, this is a little bit off a tan- at a tangent here, but I was just amazed recently when I was reading again that old familiar passage in the Gospel according to Mark, you know, where the man is demon possessed. And all the demons that were in that man, you remember he said his name was Legion. Now, if you were to calculate how many are in a legion. But you remember the number of swine that they went into. And if only one demon went into each one of the swine, that whole herd went down the steep hill into the sea where children. How many demons could possess one man? It's an amazing thing. Satan himself took possession of Judas. But the fact of the matter is that you have some things that said in the Bible about his past history. There's other things you learn in the Bible about his present activity. But here, when we come to Revelation chapter twenty, we learn something about his future destiny. Although chapter twenty doesn't give us his ultimate destiny, but it brings us to the point where there is a certain power exerted by an angel, and the angel is empowered to do six things regarding the great arch enemy of God and man. First of all, he was to capture the enemy. I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan. He takes hold of the man, or the one, I should say, who is the destroyer, the one who is the adversary, the one who is the deceiver. He lays hold upon him. The accuser. He binds him. Now I'll ask you one question. Is this something that has taken place in the past? Or is this something that will take place in the future? Now it seems obvious to me that this is a prophetic statement of something that is still future. But the reason I'm raising that issue with you is this: there are a certain class of people today who consider themselves very intelligent with regards to the scriptures, and they do not believe that what we're going to see in the next little section here, they do not believe that Christ is going to reign for a thousand years. You see, this is what we'll find when we come to it, it's the millennial reign, a thousand years. Now, there's a certain class of teachers today who teach that there will be no millennial kingdom. You'll come across them sooner or later. And one of them that I had to face right here in Raleigh a number of years ago, I said to him, look here, if Christ is not going to reign for a thousand years, when was Satan bound? For Satan is going to be bound for a thousand years. When was Satan bound? He says he was bound at Calvary. Well, I said, now look, if Satan was bound at Calvary, who's been carrying on his business? Because right here he's going to be bound, and he's going to be cast into the bottomless pit, and he's going to be shut in there and sealed. Oh, he said, yes, but you see, he's bound with a chain. So if you put a dog on a chain, it's bound, but it can only go the length of the chain. And he said, you see, Christ bound him at Calvary, and he can only go the length of the chain, thus far and no further. That was always the, the situation with Satan. He could only go so far and no further. God knew exactly how far to let him go. Now, here are some of the problems that will come up in your mind, and you're not the first, others have thought the same. Why didn't God just destroy Satan when he rose in rebellion against God? Why didn't God just take him and blow him away and destroy him then? Well, who am I, or who are you to try and tell God what to do? Hasn't God a right to do what he likes? Or hasn't he? According to some people, God hasn't the right to do what he likes. They don't acknowledge the sovereignty of God, but God is sovereign. And God in his sovereignty did not destroy Satan when he rebelled. That is, when he was Lucifer, son of the morning, and rebelled and became Satan. God didn't destroy him then. He's been letting him run his course. But right here, in this little passage here, he's going to take him, an angel's coming in power to bind him with a chain, and cast him into the bottomless pit. Now remember, at the end of chapter nineteen, the beast and the false prophet have been cast into the lake of fire. Now the lake of fire is not the bottomless pit. The bottomless pit is another place altogether. And Satan here is cast into the bottomless pit and shut in and sealed, so that he'll deceive the nations no more for a thousand years. Who has been deceiving the nations? It's obvious to you and obvious to me, but it's not obvious to a lot of people. It is not obvious to that crowd sitting up in, in, uh, New York, who call themselves the representatives of the United Nations. It's not obvious to them, for they are being deceived just the same as the people that they represent. Let's face it, the nations have been deceived, and the one responsible for deceiving the nations, according to the Bible, is this great personality called the devil, Satan, the old serpent, the dragon. He is the deceiver. But at this particular point, he's taken, and he's bound, and cast into the bottomless pit. Now, why doesn't God just put him right in the lake of fire? Well, you see, God must have some other thing for Satan to do yet. He let him run his course. But when he is bound and cast into the bottomless pit, as the enemy, he's put out of the way. Now, you remember when we were dealing with chapter nineteen, I said the Lord would come forth like David, man of war. Having dealt with his enemies, then he would set up his kingdom, and he would reign like Solomon, a reign of peace. Here's the great enemy cast into the bottomless pit, chained and bound. The beast and the false prophet who deceived the nations, under the power of Satan, of course, have already been taken and cast into the lake of fire. That being so, now look at verse four, the reign of the sovereign Christ. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them, and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. That makes it perfectly clear to me that he's going to set up his kingdom, and he'll reign for a thousand years. Here is the king who is competent to reign. You remember the first king that Israel had was Saul, failure, and he gave them David. But David was human, and so was Solomon. Now, if you're going to have an everlasting kingdom, you'll need an everlasting king. And here is the one who is competent to reign. He delighted the heart of his father. His father said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. He's the one who was anointed. He was anointed as a prophet, anointed as a priest, anointed as a king. He's God's anointed. He is competent to reign because he delighted the heart of the father, because he destroyed the power of the enemy and delivered those who trusted in him. What a king, what competence. Then you have the companions of the king. When a man is appointed as president in this country, then he chooses the men who are going to be his advisors or his cabinet and so on, and you know as well as I do, he's a big difficulty at times, and sometimes the men he wants he's not allowed to have, but nothing like that with the Lord. See, he's not voted in here. He takes his rightful place. He's not in here by the vote of the people. He's here by right of who he is. And he's going to have his companions in the kingdom that will be the redeemed church. They've come out with him from heaven. You remember, after the wedding, his wife made herself ready, and the armies of heaven came out with him, his companions coming with him from heaven. And not only so, there will be the resurrected martyrs. That's the ones that's mentioned in verse four. Those who came through the tribulation period and would not accept the mark of the beast and would not bow down to his image, they're there. Even those who were martyred were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image. These will be with him. They'll live and reign with Christ a thousand years. So he'll have his redeemed church. Church will be there, his companion, and then those martyrs, they'll be there, and all the saints. And innumerable crowd of people. Oh, by the way, there's something here that's been a, a, a puzzle to a lot of people. Puzzled me for a long time. I think you'll agree with me on this, that in all things Christ must have the preeminence. To me, I think that's a beautiful thought for any believer to relish, that in all things he will have the preeminence. But how do you fit that in with the fact that straight is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it? Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat. If the majority are going down the downward track, right to destruction, and the little minority are going the straight way to glory, how can he have the preeminence in numbers? Has that ever puzzled you? I got, I think, the key to it many years ago when I went to an old man that I knew very well. I said, brother, I am faced with a difficulty. I've been asked a question. I'm faced with a difficult. I wasn't too old at the time, but I wanted the answer to this. I said, what scripture do we take when someone has lost a little child, just a young infant? What scriptures can we take to comfort them, to prove that that child is in the glory? He looked at me, he said, you see that man sitting, sitting in the second front seat away down there on the left hand side? I said, yeah. He says, you know who that is? I said, yes, I know George, fine. He says, go down and sit beside him, ask him that question, he'll give you the answer. I did go down, sat beside him. There was about fifteen minutes to wait before the start of that meeting that night, and I gave him my problem. He nodded his head. He said, Willie, says you didn't know this, but he said, number of years ago, he says our first little child died before he was two years of age. He says it caused me to go to the word, and I studied it out, and he took me then to Romans five. He showed me from Romans five the answer to it. From then I saw it. Now look. If all the children who have died in infancy, before they have reached the age of accountability, are there under the headship of Christ, for they sinned not after the similitude of Adam's transgression. See, Adam's transgression was a deliberate thing. He knew what he was doing, and he did it. These children sinned not after the similitude of Adam's transgression, yet they died. And since they did not sin after the similitude of Adam's transgression, they are covered by the atoning work of Christ, and they're numbered with the redeemed. So therefore, even in that, in all things, he'll have the preeminence. And when he comes in all his glory, all the companions of the king, the redeemed church, the resurrected martyrs, and all the saints. Then there's the character of the kingdom. Christ shall reign in righteousness, and the people shall live in peace. The earth shall bring forth plentifully. Try and, try and picture in your mind the circumstances. An absent devil and a present Lord. See, during the tribulation, it's the very opposite. During the tribulation, you have an absent Lord, an absent church, an absent Holy Spirit, and a present devil, and the beast, and the false prophet, and all those that are running with them. What have you got? War, pestilence, and pandemonium. But here at the beginning now o- of the great reign of Christ, the enemies bound, the beast and the false prophet in the lake of fire, Satan bound and in the bottomless pit, his enemies overthrown when he came and stood on the Mount of Olives. Now, during his reign, you've got a present Lord and an absent devil, and the people readily acknowledging. When they look on him whom they've pierced, the nation will repent. That is the remnant of the nation. And all who'll be on the earth at that time, he will rule them with a rod of iron. A thousand years of reign. But it comes to an end. God has tested man under every order of rule you can think of. And we're told, and I repeat this again, that democracy is the best. Well, democracy is the last, put it that way, and it's the weakest. But when Christ reigns, it will not be a democracy, it will be a theocracy. Christ shall reign, and he'll reign in righteousness. And man will live for a thousand years during that reign in righteousness, with peace and prosperity. But what then? Man is still a sinner. The flesh is the flesh and will never be anything else. Look now. Look at verse seven. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city in fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are. Now remember, they were put there before the reign of a thousand years. They've been there for a thousand years. When the devil is cast there and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. The release of Satan and the final rebellion. In spite of man having a thousand years of the reign of Christ, with absolute prosperity, with righteousness and justice, man is still a sinner. And the moment that Satan is released, he goes mad again to deceive the nations. And just as Adam and Eve fell for his lie in the beginning, there are those that will turn again, and they'll turn against the very Christ who has reigned over them for a thousand years. God destroys them. Notice what he destroyed them with. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. That's true. Fire. Look at verse nine. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven. I've re- repeated this again and again. When you read of fire in the word of God, it is indicative of judgment. And God comes out in judgment on them. They're destroyed by the judgment of God. They're cast in the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever and ever. Oh, see the ruin from Satan's release. Well, why did God let him out? Seems to be only one answer. It's the final test. The final test. And those that turn again and believe the deceptive lie of the devil will be destroyed by judgment. And then, notice the closing verses. You've heard this scripture over and over again. Here is the righteous retribution on the ungodly. As we read down through these verses, we'll just read them, and I want you to notice this as we read them. Notice the greatness of the throne. Notice the vastness of the throng. Notice the justness of the trial and the fearfulness of the torment. And I saw a great white throne. It's the final size of the universe. Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, there was found no place for them. Notice the throng that's going to be there. I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books. Stop there a moment. Cast your mind back to things you've read in other places. It is appointed unto men once to die. A lot of men not afraid to to die, you know, but they're afraid of what comes after. After this, after this judgment. That's the thing that worries them. What's after this? What will be on the morrow? I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. The books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books according to their works. The sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. They were judged, every man, according to their works. Now let me say this, I think most of you in here believe this, agree with me. There'll be no Christians standing at the Great White Throne. I told a couple of men that a few years ago, I was having a public debate down in Lumberton. There's a man down there goes on the radio, his name is Adams. He thrashes everybody scurrilous. Our dear brother Venus Brooks, who used to live down in Pembroke, used to be on that radio once a week. This man would come on after him and just tear to shreds everything that her brother had said. One day, Venus spoke to him about it. He challenged Vinis to a public debate. The poor man was suffering, as you know, he died of cancer. He was sick at the time. He asked me if I would take his place. I said, I'd be glad to. Right up my street. Now we cleared out a big furniture store down there, belonged to Joe Butler at the time. Joe was a Christian. People gathered in. I never heard anything so stupid all my days. You see, he was a man, he's in what we call the Church of Christ. They believe you must be baptized to be saved, but they believe more than that. First of all, you believe, then you get baptized, and then you must keep on. And after you keep on going and be obedient to the word, then you must hope that you've done everything that's necessary. But you'll not be sure until you arrive at the Great White Throne, and then you'll know the verdict. I said, I'm sorry for you, sir. If you arrive at the Great White Throne, it'll be too late. Too late. At the great white throne, it's a throne of judgment, not a throne of grace. If we're not saved before we pass the boundary line into eternity, be too late at the great white throne. You see how many men are masquerading today under the name of religion, many of them on the air, teaching all sorts of rubbish. That man has a following, still goes on the air, and he cuts up everybody else's broadcasting. He's the only man in that area that's right. Everybody else is wrong. And the strange thing himself, he doesn't know that he's sure of his salvation. He's hoping that he's doing the right thing. You see, my friend, let's be sure that we believe what the Bible teaches. Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. If you ever get crossed over with any Jehovah's Witnesses who don't believe in hell, just say, now, all right, I want to read to you from a little book. If you've got a little New Testament, just take it out. I want to read you from this little book. Just read them these verses. Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. I read it to one fellow one night in a home. He got up off the chair, he had a good head of hair. He, he'd be the envy of a lot of us, perhaps, here, so far as his hair was concerned. Beautiful head of hair, yet he was an elderly man. He started to tear his hair, and he stomped back and forward. If ever I saw a man that was demon possessed, he looked like one. Stomping back and forward that floor, tearing his hair. And the only thing he could say was, I don't believe it, I don't believe it, I don't believe it. I said, just a minute, Peter. Whether you believe it or not, that will not make the truth of God without effect. It's the truth of God. It's solemn. You see, Christ shall reign. After a thousand years, the devil's let loose. People turn, see, you see, where are these people going to come from? Thousand years. Think on the population of the world that will be increased over a thousand years, and those that will be born, and all they'll know is to live through that thousand years, and yet at the end they're still sinners. And they're going to turn and take the lie of the devil. Then there will be that final judgment. The dead, small and great stand before God. He'll judge the living, and he'll judge the dead. His enemies shall be cast into the lake of fire. Brethren and sisters, knowing the terror of the Lord, we should be trying to persuade some. Men and women need to get saved. I can remember one man who used to preach a lot about hell and judgment, and when he did, he always wept. He always wept when he was thinking of those of his own family who weren't saved. He wept. It's there, brethren. It's in the book. Perhaps our brother Thorny will dismiss us with a word of prayer.