Satan Unbound 2/6/00

Revelation 20:1-3 & 7-10

Jesus Christ is coming again in the air for His church. This is known as the Rapture. All believers will be caught up to be with Him.

Thereafter follows a period of time known as the Tribulation. During this seven year period the Antichrist will deceptively rule the world in a reign of terror.

This global holocaust will end with Christ coming again to the earth for His saints to reign for 1000 years. This period is known as the Millennium. During this time Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit. This utopian environment will in effect be Eden restored.

As we relate to the passage under consideration it will become apparent why Satan hates the Book of the Revelation and does everything he can to divert ministers from preaching from it. The Book unveils the end times and Satan’s destiny.

In our pragmatic state of mind we tend not to believe in what we cannot comprehend with our basic senses. Therefore, the idea of world conditions being different from those we know seems far fetched.

Yet, scientists tell us there are spectrums of light the natural human eye can’t see. We can see the violet in the rainbow and believe in it. However, only slightly removed is the ultra-violet rays we cannot see. The fact we can’t see them does not mean they aren’t there. Likewise, there is a new and different era coming that though we find it difficult to comprehend it is coming. Consider yet another phase of the end times.

At the end of the 1000 year millennial reign Satan will be unbound and unleashed on earth again “for a little while.”

Question: Why?

His deceptive work will be resumed. A vast number of persons who have lived during the Millennial reign of Christ will defect. These are persons who though living in a perfect environment with Christ literally ruling on earth will have defected in their hearts. Outwardly they will conform to the rule of Christ, but inwardly they will not have willfully submitted to Him as Savior and Lord. Satan is released to reveal their covert rebellion. This is the final rebellion and proves you can’t change people by changing their environment. Depravity, not environment, is the issue. This is a lesson from which current sociologists should learn. It is noble to work to improve persons living conditions. However, it is not outward conformity, but inward conversion that changes people.

These defectors having lived in a perfect environment, never having been tempted by the devil, never having been tested will opt to desert Christ and follow Satan. Outwardly they will have conformed but will never have been saved. They will have given homage to the enthroned Christ but will never have trusted Him as Savior. Their outward appearance and compliance with His rule will be a sham. When Satan is unleashed their inward rebellion will erupt into outward insurrection. Why?

The answer is found in the heart of humanity. It began in the Garden of Eden and has afflicted every mortal since. The whole human race has “heart trouble,” known as depravity. It is the most ancient and all-pervasive disease. It is the most communicable disease the world means to corrupt or pervert. More literally it means “to fail the test.” It means man kind failed the test of pleasing God. It is a reference to the old sin nature with which every human being has been born since the time of Adam and Eve. In theological circles it is called the Adamic nature, meaning a nature like that of Adam. It is the most deadly form of heart disease.

One of the most broad-brush statements in Scripture relates to depravity: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

Three words jump out: “every,” “only,” “continually.”

Some things depravity does not mean are important to note:

• It does not mean every person exhibits
  depravity as thoroughly as possible.
• It does not mean every person will indulge in every form of sin.
• It does not mean that depraved people won’t
  perform many good deeds.

Most folks don’t “look” depraved. It is masterfully masked by some. Others have an admirable temperament and warm personality that keeps it from showing prominently.

Depravity doesn’t mean necessarily that a person acts bad. A person may not be bad, but without Christ is as bad off as possible.

The Bible is old but not out of date. It reveals the root cause of sin to be the heart.

It is the quality in our lives that necessitated the coming to earth of Christ to die as Savior.

That all-time classic poem helps our understanding of this profound theological issue.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

Like Humpty we need fixing. Many have tried but no one can. A revised version of Humpty Dumpty reveals our salvation.

Jesus Christ came to our wall;
Jesus Christ died for our fall.
He slew Queen Death.
He crushed King Sin.
Through grace He put us together again.

What Jesus does for the repentant person is the equivalent of unscrambling our omelet.

“The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7).

To be “in the flesh” means the same thing as to be “in Adam,” or unsaved.

In Romans 8:5 reference is made to those “who live according to the flesh…” This means to live as unsaved after being saved.

One reason for the Millennial reign of Christ is to disprove the complaint against God that a perfect environment will produce perfect people. It didn’t in Eden and it won’t during the Millennium.

Only Christians enter the Millennium with Christ. The survivors of the Tribulation will populate the earth. The perfect environment and absence of sickness will result in longevity. There will be children born to and reared by these Christian parents. This will result in a dramatic population explosion. These children will grow up in a perfect environment with Christ literally ruling on earth, and yet many will rebel. With Christ’s theocratic rule justice will have been absolute.

With the curse imposed in Eden removed nature will be harmonious and productive. Still there will be those who rebel. Outwardly they will conform because Christ will rule with a “rod of iron,” meaning He will be the only and absolute authority. Though there is outward conformity there will be those who inwardly resent and reject Him.

Throughout history God has tried various approaches to show His love and draw people to Himself. Under each administration there have been those who receive and those who reject. God’s purpose in using these varied approaches will be to exhaust every possible means and technique of showing and His. By the end of time persons will have lived under:

GOODNESS in Eden
GOVERNMENT the era of the Old Testament Judges
LAW the Old Testament period of the Commandments
GRACE the church era in which we now live
GLORY the Millennial rule of Christ.

In every era person’s free will have resulted in various responses. In these varied eras of God manifesting His presence and purpose He has exhausted every potential approach to reaching people. Each effort will be met with alternate responses.

These individuals who at the end of the millennial reign of Christ rebel and follow Satan have lived in a perfect environment and never been tempted or tested. Now for the first time they are and they yield. It is the heart of persons that is deceitfully wicked.

“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19).

Jeremiah, the prophet warned: “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Personal accountability is stressed throughout the Bible.

In our current time there are often Christian parents who lovingly provide well for their children. They meet their physical, cultural, social, and spiritual needs only to have their hearts broken by their children rebelling. Some of these even move to new communities in order to try to provide a more perfect environment for their children. Some have lavish expensive “toys” and provide game rooms at home in order to create a utopian environment for their children. Some even search for a church with a good youth program. Even then there are parents whose loving efforts fail to keep their child or children from evil.

Many of these parents with broken hearts blame themselves. In doing so they overlook one element they can’t control. It is controlled only by the individual child. It is their heart. In finality the child has a free will that not even God will make to conform to His will. Personal responsibility must be taken by the individual.

Numerous are the stories of children reared by Godly parents in a wonderful spiritual environment who have rebelled against Christ. They had both heredity and environment as assets and still rebelled. There are many sons and daughters of Godly parents in prisons today who willfully made the wrong choices and rebelled not only against their parents but Christ.

Conversely, there are accounts of those who were reared by ungodly parents in a deplorable environment who responded positively to Christ and became spiritually productive.

A former member of this church comes to mind. He was reared as a member of Chicago’s largest crime family. There never was a day he didn’t know, see, and do evil. He rose in the syndicate to a place of prominence and power. He told me of one night he and his body guards got out of his limousine only to see a person walking toward him. The man was carrying something immediately recognized and feared —- a Bible. He told me he was so enraged at the very sight of the Bible he pulled his revolver and said to the man, “If you say one word to me out of that book I will kill you.”

In continuing his account of his carnal life he related the day he repentantly embraced Christ as Savior and renounced the gangster life. At the time he was living here he was in the witness protection program and living a vibrant life for Christ. His will overcame his heredity and environment.

There is a classical Biblical example of two reared in the same environment and by the same family who went different directions. Moses and Pharaoh were reared together. Moses’s path is well known. A passage posing a bit of a mystery to some says, “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.” A superficial reading makes it appear God was unfair to Pharaoh. Not so! Moses was the only person of the era to whom God revealed as much as He did to Pharaoh. Pharaoh had more divine revelation than any person of his era other than Moses. Moses responded positively to God and Pharaoh hardened his own heart by rebelling.

Their number will be “as the sands of the sea” (Vs. 8). This indicates the deep, complex nature of evil. The source of rebellion does not rest in man’s environment or fundamentally with the devil, but within the heart of man. Satan’s return illustrates this dramatically in that people will rebel against Christ after His Millennial reign. Christ’s earthly rule does not end until He has dealt with this final challenge to His kingdom. At that time He demonstrates the victory of His cross and puts down this Satanic rebellion.

“For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet” (I Corinthians 15:25).

Satan and his forces are pictured as having “surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city” (Vs. 9). This may well be at Jerusalem, however, the reference is to all the people of Christ globally at that time.

At this point when it appears Satan will prevail physically fire comes down from God out of heaven and he is finally defeated. At this point there is a literal fulfillment of Hebrews 12:29, “Our God is a consuming fire.” The devil is at this time “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,” hell (Vs. 10).

Stick a fork in him —- he’s done. Fine! He is no longer a player on earth.

Satan was judged at the cross. At this time his final sentence is carried out. It is said of him and his cohorts “…they will be tormented day and night forever” Vs. 10).

Jesus told us when on earth He had a place prepared for the devil. It is called by Him “the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

Any person who goes there to share Satan’s destiny does it in rebellion to God’s expressed will.

“It is not His will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

The “whosoever” of John 3: 16 reveals our unlimited opportunity.

Our Lord has prepared for us a means of having a heavenly home. You can prepare now to avoid the Tribulation. The certainty of ones destiny gives great peace.

In the 1600’s there lived a faithful and bold band of believers who refused to capitulate to the tyrannical powers of the day. They covenanted together to be loyal to the Lord regardless of the cost. Hence, they became known as the Covenanters. One of their number, Hugh Mackail, the youngest and bravest of their ranks was condemned to be hanged in December 1666. They gave him four days to live before being hanged.

As the guards led him back to prison many in the crowd watched and wept. It seemed a pity one so young should suffer such a fate. In his own eyes there were no tears, on his face a bright subtle smile. The face of this young Galahad of the cross was radiant as he shouted “Trust in God. Trust in God.”

Suddenly he caught a glimpse of a friend in the crowd and shouted, “Good news, good news! I am within four days journey of enjoying the sight of Jesus Christ.”

You can begin your brief journey to see the face of Christ.

We can choose to live as a victim of our depravity in the energy of the flesh.

Or. We can choose to live as victors through the power of Jesus Christ.

Happy Hanukkah

The Jewish community has begun their eight day celebration of Hanukkah, Chanukiah in Hebrew. It is November 28 – December 6 in 2021.. It is based on the feats of the Maccabees’ revolt as recorded in “The First Book of Maccabees.” If you haven’t read it, do. It is the only Jewish holiday not in the Bible.

In summary, when Alexander the Great conquered Syria, Egypt, and Palestine, he allowed locals a certain degree of autonomy to continue the celebration of their religion. Under such benevolence locals took on certain Greek customs. Visitors to modern Israel will even find some red haired Jews who are descendants from intermarried couples of the time. Some of Jesus’ disciples had Greek names which were common in Galilee: John, Mark, Phillip, Matthew, and Luke. 

A Greek tyrant, Antiochus IV came into power a century later, oppressed the Jews and profaned their Temple. He had a superiority complex calling himself Antiochus Epiphanies, meaning the most high god. He replaced the Hebrew priests with Hellenistic priests. He blasphemously required pigs to be offered on the Jewish Temple altar. 

An elderly Jewish priest, Mattathias, a Hasmonean, was killed in his resistance to the degradation. His son Judah and his brothers took up the cause of the revolt against the Seleucid Greek government.

These resistance fighters used guerilla tactics to drive out their military superior suppressors. 

Hanukkah is a celebration of several factors. One is considered a fulfillment proclamation of the prophet Zachariah who wrote, “Not by might, not by power, but by My spirit.” The military victory is considered a spiritual occurrence. 

After the costly victory the people undertook the cleansing of their profaned Temple on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev in the year 165 BC. The Talmud, a sacred book of the Jews, records the miracle of there being only a one day supply of the scarce pure oil of the Temple, burned for eight days until more pure oil arrived.

Today in commemoration of the event one candle is lit each night until all eight are lit. They are placed where they can easily be seen in obedience to the command to “publicize the miracle.”

There are three versions of the menorah. The eight branch menorah is the modern symbol of the event and is often used as a symbol for Israel. It is associated with religious freedom. The ninth arm is above the others and is used to light the eight.  A seven branch preceded the nine branch one and is the symbol for the Jewish people and state.

I have always admired the Maccabees and the story of their heroism so much that once when my wife and I visited Israel by ourselves we set out to find their graves. Our seasoned guide didn’t know where to begin to find them and had difficulty finding directions from other guides. Ultimately we found them in a forest with little marking. Now their graves are better marked.

Portions of Psalm 113 to 118, known as the Hallel, are sung during the celebration. Persons of various faiths or no faith would find joining with the Jewish community in reading them inspirational. 

Jews are to be commended for keeping alive their heritage, through such celebrations. In a time when Americans tend to degrade their heritage we would do well to learn from them.

Happy Hanukkah.

Holy Hilarity

“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, to be content.”
(Philippians 4:11)

Keep in mind Paul was in a filthy Roman prison when he penned that.

With our nation in transition there seems to be a pall of gloom hanging over us. It brings to mind a “Peanuts” cartoon in which Lucy asks Charlie Brown, “Did you ever know anyone who was really happy…” Before she can finish the question, Snoopy comes dancing into the next frame. As only Snoopy can, he dances his merry way across the frames while Lucy and Charlie watch in amazement. In the last frame Lucy finishes her question, “Did you ever know anyone who was really happy… and was still in their right mind?”

It is hard to find a happy person. When they encounter you may they have found one. 

One of Paul’s favorite words is the Greek word hilarotes, from which we get the word hilarity. It literally means “laughter from the heart.”

He means bone-deep, blood-rich, exuberant laughter which comes up out of the depths of a person’s soul, joy which flows from the center of our being, happiness coming from the depth of our hearts.

Holy hilarity is born out of deep, inner peace; peace which passes all understanding; peace which comes from knowing that we are really loved and accepted by God.

It comes from having a biblical perspective of life. It begins by realizing as Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (“John 16:33) Notice in the text tribulation is sandwiched between peace and good cheer. Face it, life is hard, but “we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance…” (Romans 5: 3)

Like Paul we must realize,“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35)

We must be “rejoicing in hope, patience in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer…” (Romans 12:12)

In these texts perseverance and patients are essential traits amid tribulation. Lets pray for peace and good times and prepare for difficulty. Consider yourself in prep school getting ready for a tribulation examination.  In your right mind find the good in life and enjoy it while exercising holy hilarity. 

Take the council offered in a modern translation of Proverbs 15:13, “A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.”

Elevate Your Attitude Of Gratitude

Thanksgiving is a great holiday. It celebrates no birth, no battle, and no anniversary of one of our national heros. It is essentially the celebration of the condition of the heart. It is a pilgrimage into one’s inner self looking for an attitude of gratitude.

It can and should morph from a holiday to a lifestyle. Most folks have about the same amount of good and bad things happen to them. We tend to think no one has it as bad as we. In reality optimists and pessimists are subject to the same pressures of life. I have known some good looking, intellectual, wealthy pessimists. Conversely, I have known some optimists who were living below the poverty line in poor health. They know what the expression “a sacrifice of thanksgiving” is all about. 

Let this holiday season motivate you to a new and elevated attitude of gratitude. Doesn’t it make you feel good to be thanked for something? Well, it does others also. If you want to make others feel good, express thanks to them even for little things. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude.

Who would find it meaningful to receive a call or note from you expressing thanks for something? It may be current or a long overdue expression.

While you are expressing thanks, don’t forget to thank the God of all blessings. After all, He was the one our Pilgrim predecessors had in mind at the first celebration.

Often I read something and think I wish I had written that. Just because someone else writes something is no reason for not repeating it if proper credit is given. My wife clipped and shared such a piece from “Family Circle,” November 11, 1999. It is too good not to share.

I AM THANKFUL FOR ….

… the mess to clean up after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.

… the taxes I pay because it means that I’m employed. 

… the complaining I hear about our government because it means I have freedom of speech.

… the clothes that fit a bit tight because that means I have had enough to eat.

… my shadow that watches me work because it means the sun is shining.

… the parking space at the far end of the parking lot because it means I have the ability to walk.

… my heating bill because it means I have been warm. 

… the lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means I can hear.

… the piles of laundry because it means my loved ones are nearby.

… the weariness and aching muscles at the end of a day because it means I have been active.

… the lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning

and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.

… the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means I am alive.”

“Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Psalm 106:1)

Come Ye Thankful People, Come

Thanksgiving is a purely American holiday. However, the present generation of Americans often show little gratitude to God. By reflecting on conditions of the first Thanksgiving, it is obvious they didn’t give thanks because things were so good. They did it simply because of the condition of their hearts. Dispositionally they were thankful people. People are not thankful because they give thanks. They give thanks because they are thankful. Likewise, it is not happy people who are thankful, it is thankful people who are happy.

Thanksgiving is a critical season from the perspective of the faith community. It tests us. Many things in our society stimulate discontent, not thanksgiving. The advertising world stimulates discontent among us. A broad based philosophy among us is: “More is better, but more is never enough.”

Never let the things you want make you unmindful of the things you have.

Most things that give us a burst of “happiness” are relatively unimportant. Like the Pilgrims, thanksgiving results for a sense that God loves us and is willing to take care of us. They could give thanks because they had a deep confidence God was with them. This verse by John Greenleaf Whitter confirms this: 

I do not know where His islands lift
Their fonded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond His loving care.”

Verses like the following gave them a sense that God had His hand under them and was capable of caring for them. “He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things.”  (Romans 8:32) 

Unthankful people tend to be negative and critical. Their ingratitude blocks the view of bountiful blessings. Most new days find us surrounded by an unfolding field of blessing. Enjoy the view and inhale the fragrance. Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what God has done. Sing it. A word of thanks or a song of praise can unlock even the prison of depression. It is therapeutic. 

Even if heavily laden, thank God for giving you the strength to keep going.

There is always, always, always something for which to be thankful. The prophet Habakkuk wrote:

Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”

(Habakkuk 3:17-18)

May this season remind you of this.