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Satan
Bound — Revelation 20:1-3 The whole purpose of the Book of Revelation 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.” Revelation 20:1-3 reveals the
binding of Satan by our all-glorious Christ, the almighty Angel of God’s
presence, the Angel of the Covenant. 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). 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,” the whole
Gospel Age. 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” (Matthew 12:29). That word “bind” is exactly the same in Matthew 12:29 and in Revelation
20:2. And it is talking about the same thing. In
the Wilderness The binding of Satan began when our Lord
triumphed over him in the wilderness of temptation (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke
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. Thus, as William Hendriksen observed, “The power and influence of Satan
over the deluded masses was beginning to be curtailed.” In
Gethsemane In the Garden of Gethsemane our Lord Jesus
again broke the power of Satan by faith and prayer (Matthew 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 and made his,
tormenting him with the anticipation of being made sin, becoming vile
(Lamentations 1:11), being made to suffer the wrath of God, and being
forsaken by his Father. He was trying to keep the Lord Jesus from the cross.
And our Savior’s tender, holy, human soul was crushed with sorrow. But he
rose in triumph after he prayed (Hebrews 5:7-9). In confident faith, he rose
up to lay down his life for his sheep (Hebrews 12:1-2). The
Cross 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 Jesus broke the arms of Satan’s usurped
dominion over the nations of the world, and began to draw all men unto
himself, God’s elect scattered among the nations of the world, Gentiles as
well as Jews. The light was taken from the Jews who despised it and sent to
the Gentiles who never before 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. His
Ascension When our Savior ascended up to heaven and
was exalted as King over all things, he brought Satan into captivity under
his sovereign rule (Psalm
68:18-19; Colossians 2:13-15; Revelation 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. The 1000 year period set before us in Revelation 20 does
not follow our Lord’s Second Advent. It precedes it. We are not awaiting the
day when Satan shall be bound and Christ shall be King. Jesus Christ is the
sovereign King over all things today! And Satan is bound already! No
Harm Our Lord Jesus Christ has so thoroughly
bound the prince of darkness that he has total dominion over him. Our great
adversary is under the total rule and control of our dear Savior. — He cannot
harm God’s elect (Isaiah 54:10). 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. Power
Restrained This binding of Satan is specifically 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 (Matthew 16:18; Luke 10:19. Satan is bound in this Gospel Age by the power of Christ, through the
preaching of the gospel (Luke 10:16-20). As we preach the Gospel of the grace
of God, when it is effectually applied to the hearts of chosen, redeemed
sinners by God the Holy Spirit, Satan is bound and his house is spoiled! 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. Don Fortner |
Pastor Fortner’s |