Vacation

Vacation is going great! So one more week and I’ll be back to work and school… So keep my family in your prayers.

 

Chris White

 

Please Pray for Matt Chandler and his family.

Pray for Matt Chandler, his wife Lauren, their children Audrey, Reid, and Norah, and the 6000 people at The Village Church in Dallas. As you probably know, Matt had a seizure on Thanksgiving. Then on December 4 surgeons removed a tumor from the frontal lobe of his brain. Now this update:

On Tuesday, Dr. Barnett informed Matt and Lauren that the findings of the pathology report revealed a malignant brain tumor that was not encapsulated. The surgery to remove the tumor, the doctor said, was an extremely positive first step; however, because of the nature of the tumor, he was not able to remove all of it.

Matt, who is being released from the hospital today, is meeting with a neuro-oncologist this week to outline the next steps of the recovery process. There is a range of treatment possibilities but the exact course of action has not yet been determined. He will continue outpatient rehab.

Here’s an article in Christianity Today that explains more of the story, along with some good links to Matt’s comments leading up to surgery.

Here’s the most recent update with prayer requests from the Village Church as posted on Between Two Worlds.

Here is message from Matt:

Thanks Matt, for continuing to teach us and point us to Christ, even through some of the hardest times. We are all praying for you and your family and The Village Church. May God be glorified!

Chris White

Trevin Wax top 10 book giveaway

A Christmas book give-away and top ten list from Trevin Wax. Sign up and win free books and take a look at the blog

 

 

Chris White

 

Millennium, Part 8

So what we are looking at is a heavenly scene.

Now, who are we talking about? Well it is one group of people described in two different ways. Narrowly, the group of people we are talking about are martyrs. “I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the Word of God.” Now, Revelation does this in a number of places. It looks at God’s people in one sense as martyrs, because many of them were, but that is also something of a metaphor. God's people here are facing the temptation to compromise. So if they withstand this temptation, they maintain their testimony to Jesus in one sense they will all be persecuted. They will all be martyrs of a type. So, narrowly, what we are looking at are those who literally were killed because they were Christians. But more broadly, we are looking at anyone who has maintained faithful testimony to Jesus. Look at the next sentence in verse four. So first they are described as martyrs, and then it says, “They had not worshiped the beast, or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands." So we are talking, narrowly, about martyrs, more broadly about God's people, about overcomers, about you, I hope, who do not receive the mark of the beast, but maintained your faithfulness to Christ. Revelation 3:21 says, “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne." So we are looking at Christians who did not give in, did not compromise. These are overcomers. And they have received their reward, now, in heaven, sitting on thrones. So these are dead Christians in heaven as disembodied souls sitting on thrones with the authority to judge. And we will say more about that at the end.

So this brings us to the end of verse four, our question: “They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Now that is just a summary sentence of what I have just explained. This is a picture of believers who upon death come to life as disembodied souls and reign with Christ. Now, let me deal with a couple of problems with this interpretation. The first is the Greek word "zao." Zao means "they came to life." They live. Think of the word zoology. It has that Greek prefix of life, of living things. Zao means to live. And zao, often in the New Testament, means a physical resurrection. Matthew 9, Romans 14, I could give you a number of passages. But I want to argue that this is not a physical resurrection here. When it says, “They came to life,” it does not mean that their bodies came out of the ground and were made immortal. It is talking about a spiritual resurrection upon death. As a Christian, our ultimate hope it is the resurrection of the dead. But there is what theologians call an intermediate state. Before Christ comes back, and before they resurrection, our souls are with Christ in Heaven. They are not asleep. They are not just bodies in the ground, and we go out of existence for a while. Our souls--I do not know how it works–but our souls are separated from our bodies for a time during this intermediate state.

Remember premillennialists will say, “There is a first resurrection, that is the believers. And there is a second resurrection, and thousand years later, that is the unbelievers.” But Scripture seems to teach consistently that there is only one resurrection. Daniel 12:2, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the Earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.” You do not get the sense that there is a thousand years between this. But all people are brought up out of their graves. Somehow, Christ puts all of their atoms together again, and some are sent to their reward, and some to punishment. Jesus says the same thing in John 5, “Do not be amazed at this, for an hour...” He means a specific time, a moment. Not over the course of a thousands of years. “…An hour is coming when all who are in their tombs will hear His voice and to come out.” Just like Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth.” What is Lazarus going to do? He is going to come forth. That is what Christ will say, “Dead, arise.” And in a twinkling of an eye, all of these atoms from in the ground, and decomposed into the earth, and in urns somewhere, are all going to come together. And Christ says, “Those who have done good will go to the resurrection of life. And those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” So Christ talks about this resurrection of the good and the bad happening at the same time.

And there is confirmation that zao does not refer to physical resurrection here. There’s confirmation from 1 Corinthians 15. Now, just follow this train of thought with me. 1 Corinthians 15 is where Paul is talking about the resurrection. And he says in verse 54, “When the perishable,” that is our dead bodies, “have been clothed with imperishable,” our new resurrection bodies, “and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory.” In verse 26 of 1 Corinthians 15, he says that “Death is the last enemy.” So do you follow what Paul is saying? When the resurrection happens, when our bodies are clothed with immortality, then we will know that death has been defeated. Death is finally over. Death, our last enemy, has been conquered. And yet if verse four is talking about a physical resurrection, and then another thousand years, and then another final battle royale, we can hardly say that death has been conquered. We can hardly say that there are no more enemies, because we have a thousand years and we still have the whole thing to finish. There is plenty of death left to come. So Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15 would not be true that when we have our new resurrection bodies, then we know death has been defeated.

So zao, this word, they live, they come to life, means that they live with Christ in heaven. What John sees here are believers who, though dead, are more alive than ever before. The coming to life describes the souls of believers who have died, but now share, even without their bodies, in the reign of Christ. Think of Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:8 where he says, “I would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Or Revelation 14:13, “Blessed are those who die in the Lord.” Or look at Luke Chapter 20:38. If you read the books that I do, people will say, “Well, this Greek word zao it never means this kind of spiritual resurrection. It always refers to real flesh and blood kind of life.” Except for Luke 20:38. This is where the Sadducees and Pharisees are arguing. Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead, and the Sadducees didn't. And so they are having this debate. And Jesus takes the side of the Pharisees, because he believes in the resurrection. And there was the sort of intramural Jewish debate about whether the Torah, or anywhere in the Old Testament, taught the resurrection. Could you prove the resurrection from the books of Moses? This sort of what rabbis might do for a good time.

And so Jesus weighs in on this. And he solves the riddle, maybe not to their satisfaction, but he solved the riddle. And he says, “God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” And they are saying, “Yes, that is true.” And then he says, “God is the God of the living, not the dead.” Zao, there. In other words, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living in a very real sense. They are living and yet there bodies are in the ground, not resurrected. Jesus used that to demonstrate to the Sadducees that there will be a resurrection, because we already have life in heaven. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living, are zao.

So the hope offered to the saints in verses four and five is the same hope that has been offered time and time again in Revelation. This vision is saying, “Look, Christians, it may appear that evil is winning.” Why do we have 24-hour news channels? I don't know except to make us all scared and paranoid, so we can know every single time some child somewhere is missing; every time someone in the country has been killed. It is fearful. But this vision says, “Christians, take heart. If you overcome in this life, you will be triumphant in death.” This is the picture right now, the saints--some of your kids, some of your grandparents, some of your siblings, some of your spouses--saints already sitting on thrones, judging, reigning with Christ during this thousand years; living as glorified souls in heaven even as they await their final hope, the resurrection from the dead. That is the first resurrection. The first resurrection is the saints who died, whose souls now reign with Christ in heaven. It is the reality of 2 Timothy 2, “If we died with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure, we will also reign with Him.” So that if you experience the first resurrection, where you live and reign with Christ after death, then you will not experience the second death.

 

Chris White

Millennium, Part 7

How are we to understand, the end of verse four, where it says, "They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
So you need to think carefully with me. What does this mean, "They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years"? Because here is what premillennialists would say, "Christ comes back, and the dead in Christ, those who believe in Jesus and are dead, they are raised up from their graves, bodily, and they meet Christ in the air and they go back up to Heaven. Then Christ establishes his thousand-year reign on the Earth. It is a literal 1,000 years, where he is on a literal throne in Jerusalem. At the end of that Millennium Age, then those who did not believe in Jesus, their bodies are now resurrected and they are sent off to judgment.”

So the premillennialists would see there are two resurrections. There is a first resurrection, the believing dead, and then a thousand years later, the unbelieving dead. This is not a terrible interpretation. Many godly people would offer that. It is just not what I think that the text teaches. So we are going to move through this beginning at verse four.

In order to answer this question, we need to start by figuring out where are we? What are we looking at in this text? The simple answer is we are looking at a scene in Heaven. This isn’t Earth. This is Heaven. We know that, because we see thrones. Almost every other time in Revelation where there are thrones, it is a Heavenly scene. Think back to Revelation Chapter 4, John's vision of Him who sits on the throne, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. He is on the throne. And around that are what? Twenty-four other thrones on which sit 24 elders representative of the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles of the Lamb. Twenty-four being a symbolic number, Christ's people in both Testaments, old and new, 24 being Christ's people. And they are sitting on thrones. That is Heaven.

We also know this is Heaven, because we are looking at disembodied souls. The second sentence in verse four says, “I saw the souls of those who have been beheaded.” This is similar to the heavenly scene described in Daniel Chapter 7. Daniel said,

“I looked and thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was as white as snow. His hair was white as snow. His throne was flaming with fire. A river of fire was flowing coming out before Him thousands upon thousands attended Him. 10,000 times 10,000 stood before Him. The court was seated and the books were opened.”

(To be continued)

Chris White

Millennium, Part 6 (Almost half way through

A Few Cautions
Whenever we try to define something as big, broad, and potentially confusing as the kingdom, it’s important we state our definition in positives and negatives. So in addition to the three statements above, let me suggest five cautions.

1. Don’t be afraid to talk about the kingdom. Some conservatives avoid preaching the gospel of the kingdom, believing that kingdom talk is for liberals. But Jesus and the apostles showed no such hesitation. The message about God’s reign and rule was hugely significant to their theology and should be to ours as well.

2. Don’t have a truncated view of the kingdom. For many people the kingdom of God equals social services. But the kingdom is not just the alleviation of suffering, it means conquering God’s enemies, ridding the world of impurity, and acknowledging the splendor of the King. So before we get all excited about “doing kingdom work” we should remember that the coming kingdom will not just be devoid of hunger, it will also be devoid of the wicked and unbelieving.

3. Don’t drive a wedge between the church and the kingdom. The church does not equal the kingdom, but in this age the kingdom is largely manifested in the church. That’s where we find the people of the King. That’s where we are supposed to see reconciliation, the alleviation of poverty, the mitigation of suffering, the conquering of evil powers, and the worship of King Jesus. A vision for the kingdom is a vision for the growth, reformation, and revival of the church.

4. Don’t think we build the kingdom. The kingdom is something brought by the King, not something we build. The verbs related to the kingdom in the New Testament aren’t verbs like “build” or “expand,” but verbs like “receive,” “inherit,” and “enter.” The kingdom is a gift that God gives to us, not a project that God expects us to accomplish.

5. Don’t forget to talk about how we enter the kingdom. As Greg Gilbert has pointed out before, we haven’t proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom unless we have told how people they can enter into this kingdom. The good news of the kingdom is not simply that God is in the world establishing his rule, conquering his enemies, righting wrongs, forming a holy people for himself, and reversing the effects of sin and suffering. The good news must also include the message that through Christ’s wrath-bearing death and his glorious resurrection we can be a part of this kingdom. The gospel of the kingdom is no good news unless we tell people how unrighteous, unholy, undeserving sinners can receive this kingdom through repentance for our sins and faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Chris White

CJ MAHANEY ON TIGER WOODS

Hunting Tiger Woods by CJ Mahaney

Tiger Woods wants his privacy back.

He wants the media entourage to disappear from his life.

He wants to be left alone so he can manage his personal problems in private.

Not a chance.

The story began unfolding in the early hours of last Friday when he crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a tree and a fire hydrant near his Florida home. He refused to speak with the police about the incident, raising curiosity about the circumstances. The story has now escalated into allegations of marital infidelity, and that generated a blog post from Tiger that stated, "I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart." This statement by Tiger has led most to believe that the allegations of infidelity are true.

Hunted by the Media
As expected, the allegations of adultery involving a public figure are attracting a media pile-on. This is a big story with a big audience and it's a story that will not disappear soon. Tiger Woods is being hunted by the media.

But let us make sure we do not join the hunt. A Christian's response to this story should be distinctly different. We should not be entertained by the news. We should not have a morbid interest in all the details. We should be saddened and sobered. We should pray for this man and even more for his wife.

And we can be sure that in the coming days we will be in conversations with friends and family where this topic will emerge. And when it does, we can avoid simply listening to the latest details and speculations, and avoid speaking self-righteously, but instead we can humbly draw attention to the grace of God in the gospel.

Hunted by Sin
But Tiger is being hunted by something more menacing than journalists. Tiger's real enemy is his sin, and that's an enemy much more difficult to discern and one that can't be managed in our own strength. It's an enemy that never sleeps.

Let me explain.

Sin Lies
The Bible in general, and the book of Proverbs in particular, reveals an unbreakable connection between our character, our conduct, and the consequences of our actions. These three are inseparable and woven by God into His created order.

Deception is part of sin's DNA. Sin lies to us. It seeks to convince us that sin brings only pleasure, that it carries no consequences, and that no one will discover it. Sin works hard to make us forget that character, conduct, and consequences are interconnected. And when we neglect this relationship--when we think our sins will not be discovered--we ultimately mock God.

Sin Hunts
We've all experienced it: Sin lies to us. We take the bait. And then sin begins to hunt us.

One commentator on Proverbs articulated this truth like this: "The irony of a life of rebellion is that we begin by pursuing sin...and end up being pursued by it!....You can 'be sure your sin will find you out' (Num. 32:23...)."* In other words, sin comes back to hunt us.

In light of this fact, sin is an enemy Tiger can't manage. He can't shape this story like he does a long iron on a par 5. Tiger doesn't need a publicity facelift; Tiger needs a Savior. Just like me. And just like you. And if by God's grace he repents and trusts in the person and work of Christ, Tiger will experience the fruit of God's promise that "whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Proverbs 28:13).

Conclusion
Tiger cannot intimidate this enemy like he can Pebble Beach or any of the field of professional golfers. And there is no privacy he can claim from this enemy, regardless of his resolve, his silence, or the name painted on his yacht. It's likely Tiger only perceives the press hunting him out of a vain "curiosity about public figures." But Tiger is being hunted and hounded by a far greater foe: the consequences of his sin.

And this story should humble and sober us. It should make us ask: Are there any so-called "secret sins" in my life? Is there anything I have done that I hope nobody discovers? Is there anything right now in my life that I should confess to God and the appropriate individuals?

And this should leave us more amazed by grace because there, but for the grace of God, go I.

 

This article originally appeared on Sovereign Grace Ministries Blog.

 

 

Chris White

 

Millennium, Part 5

Thinking About the Kingdom
"The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." In this one sentence we find four of the most important words in the New Testament: kingdom, gospel, repent, and believe. Although we are familiar with these four terms, many Christians would struggle to articulate an accurate definition of each.

This is especially true of “kingdom.” Clearly the kingdom is central to the story of the gospels (basileia occurs 162 times in the New Testament). But what does the word mean? Let me suggest three complementary ways to look at the kingdom. I realize this is not an exegetical study. But perhaps the theological overview will be helpful.

 

What is the Kingdom?
1. The kingdom is God’s reign and rule. At its simplest, the kingdom is where the King is. Where God is acknowledged, where his subjects are saved, where his enemies are vanquished, where his ways are obeyed, there we see the coming of the kingdom.

2. The kingdom of God is the long-awaited Messianic rule. Jesus’ prefaced his preaching of the gospel of the kingdom by announcing, “The time is fulfilled...” God’s Messianic rule was explicitly predicted in the Old Testament (e.g., Psalm 2). It was also prefigured in different ways. The Garden of Eden, with its peace, prosperity, absence of sin and suffering, and perfect relationship between God and man, was a picture of the kingdom of God. So was the nation of Israel in the promised land. The covenant blessings were blessings of the kingdom: safety, security, health, prosperity, God’s presence. These blessings reached their zenith under King David. He was a type of the Messianic King to come.

3. The kingdom of God is the age to come breaking in to the present age. Think of what we see in the visions from John and Isaiah of the new heaven and new earth. We see a new kind of Eden: no more tears, no evil, no impurity, perfect security, abundance, and holiness, a place where God is all in all, where the Lamb is worshiped, adored, and obeyed. This is the heavenly age that has broken in to our world with the coming of Christ. In Jesus’ ministry we see the signs of the kingdom. The sick are healed. The hungry are fed. Demons are defeated. Sinners repent and come to God in faith.

With Jesus, the kingdom has arrived, but it hasn’t fully set up shop. The kingdom of this world has not yet become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ (Rev. 11). We have the kingdom now as an appetizer. We can taste it. It is real food, but it’s not the main dish.

 

Chris White

Two Points of Application

So, here’s where we need to finish. You’re saying, I see some parallels with the gospels, and Satan maybe is bound and he’s defeated. But what exactly does it mean to say Satan is bound now? Look at verse 3 of Chapter 20. It gives us the answer. They threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations any more till the 1000 years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. The binding of Satan does not mean that he can’t harm, or that he isn’t active, or that he doesn’t tempt you, or that he doesn’t need to be resisted, or fled from. The binding of Satan means two things in particular.

First, the binding of Satan means that he cannot deceive the nations and gather them together to wipe out the church. When it says in verse 3, cannot deceive the nations, compare that with verse 7. Here’s what he will do when he deceives the nations. When the 1000 years are over, Satan will be released from his prison, will go out to deceive the nations, and the four corners of the earth, to gather them for battle. So, the deception here is to gather all of his forces, to gather the nations against Christ and his church. And because of Christ’s work in the gospel, Satan is unable to do that. No matter what persecution there is, he will not be able to wipe out the church. If Satan were not bound, the church would’ve been gone long ago. That’s the first thing.

Second, the binding of Satan means that the nations will no longer be in times of ignorance, but will be responsive to the gospel. That’s where it says “he will keep him from deceiving the nations anymore.” So, Paul, in Acts, Chapter 14, speaking in Lystra, says, “In the past, God let all nations go their own way.” In Athens, he said, “In the past, God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. In Ephesians 2, he says, “The nations used to be strangers and aliens to God’s promise.” And in John’s gospel we read that Christ is drawing all men, all peoples to himself. Revelation 20, read in light of these passages, becomes a missions text. Satan’s reign has come to an end and Christ is conquering the nations.

In A.D. 100, less than 1% of the world’s population was Christian. And only 6% had been evangelized. By A.D. 500, 20% of the world were Christians, 30% had been evangelized. And then Christendom takes place, and the growth of the church numerically stagnates. But then by the end of the 18th Century, the modern missionary movement begins, so that by 1900 now 35% of the world were Christians, and 46 % had been evangelized. And by the year 2000, roughly the same percentage of the world, much larger in total number, are Christians, and now 73% of the people, 3/4th have a viable witness to Jesus Christ. There are 12,000 people groups on the planet, and most of them have a church. Now there are still thousands, small ones, interior tribes, that don’t. But peoples have been coming to Christ. Matthew 24:14, “The gospel of the kingdom will be preached and the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” So, I am confident that evil will grow. And I am equally confident that the gospel will go forth and the great commission will be completed. Nobody likes goals that you never intend to make. But the church will fulfill the great commission. And all nations will hear of Christ. So let this be an encouragement.

Here’s the application. Go to the hard places if you hear Christ calling you there. Far away places that scare mom and dad. Urban centers, not just the cool ones where all the young professionals live, the burned over ones. Dangerous ones. Let this be a call to pour ourselves into international ministry. Resources, time, people, prayers, because the nations will come to Christ. Because Satan is bound. Let this be an incentive for personal evangelism. Who know who Christ is right now drawing unto himself. I hope that by the fall we can have an evangelism program and some people trained to do an evangelism program in our church, and maybe in our communities, and your office, in your neighborhood. Backyard vacation bible schools going on.

Be bold in your witness. Christ has conquered. The nations belong to Him. We are not serving a defeated king, but one who is triumphed and has so bound Satan, not so that we will never be tempted. But so that the nations, Afghanistan, North Korea, Iraq, Japan, the Netherlands, Ireland, can come to know Christ. And there will be a witness among every people to Jesus because of his work.

 

Chris White

 

Reformed Preaching, it's powerful.

Normally don't post videos on this blog, I leave that for my other blog Nuht House, but this one is well done and has an amazing message.

What is meant then by Satan being bound for 1000 years?

At this point you may be saying, “I’ve been here for enough of Revelation. I’m sort of tracking with the first question. I understand the parallelism. I think I’m getting the hang of it now. Okay, I can get that, but is Satan really bound right now? Come on. Look at my life. Look what’s going on in the world. Is Satan really bound?”

I’m going to take you to a few passages in the gospels. First is Mark, Chapter 3. I will explain in just a few minutes what it means that Satan is bound, because it certainly doesn’t mean he’s inactive in the world. But I do believe that the binding of Satan occurred in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Turn to Mark 3:23. This is where some of the teachers of the law are accusing Jesus of being possessed by demons. And Jesus says, “How can Satan drive out Satan?” In other words, “I’m casting out demons. I can't do that by the power of demons.” “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possession unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. He is guilty of eternal sin. He said this because they were saying he has an evil spirit.” I want to look in particular at verse 27. Jesus is implicitly giving an explanation of what his ministry is like. He’s saying, “I don’t cast out demons by demons. A house divided against itself can't stand.” And he describes himself as one who is entering a strong man’s house to carry off his possessions, to expel these demons. He says you can't do that unless you first tie up the strong man, who is Satan. Now, the word translated “ties up” is the Greek word deo. And it is the same word used in Revelation, Chapter 20, that’s translated bound. Satan is tied up. The strong man is tied up. Jesus understood himself, that in his ministry, he was, in effect, tying up Satan in knots.

Let me give you another example. Luke, Chapter 10. Luke Chapter 10, verse 17, Jesus here has sent out the 72 disciples to go on a short-term mission trip, and to go preach about the kingdom, and to do signs and wonders. And then they return in verse 17. It’s says the 72 return with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” Then verse 18, he replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven.” In other words, Jesus tells the disciples, in your ministry, in your gospel kingdom ministry, I saw Satan fall. I saw him cast down. The word here is similar to the word – actually, to the concept in Revelation, Chapter 12, which we’ll see in just a moment, where the great dragon is hurled down. So, Jesus understands that, in the ministry of the gospel, Satan has already fallen. He’s already been cast down.

One more passage. John, Chapter 12. And this is maybe most significant. John, Chapter 12, verse 31. Jesus says, “Now is the time. Now is the time for judgment on this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out.” Jesus says in my ministry, in my death and resurrection, the prince of this world, Satan, will be driven out. The word is ekballo. The word used in Revelation 20, verse 3, when it says Satan was thrown down into the abyss is ballo, they’re cognates. And then look at verse 32, because this is significant. But when I, “when I’m lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” Now why is that significant? Because in Revelation, Chapter 20, as we’ll see more in just a moment, the purpose of binding Satan is so that he can no longer deceive the nations. And so you see the connection. In Revelation, Chapter 20, Satan is bound so that he can no longer deceive the nations. In John 12, Jesus says the prince of the world is cast out, he’s thrown down, he’s driven out. And then “I’ll draw all men unto myselves.” Not meaning every person everywhere will believe, but all men, all types of men, all peoples. It’s the truth of Colossians 2:15, “Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them trifling over them by the cross.” We underestimate what Jesus did on the cross, and the defeat that he handed to Satan.

Now let me show you a couple of other places in Revelation, and then we’ll conclude with some application. Look at Revelation, Chapter 11. We won’t read through the account of the two witnesses, but the two witnesses are metaphors for the church. And Chapter 11 shows us a picture of the church that is both vulnerable and invincible. They’re trampled upon, but they also breathe out fire. And they’re also brought back to life. This is a picture of the church in this age. Yes, persecuted. Yes, attacked. Yes, under assault. But ultimately, God has promised us she’ll be victorious. Which is the point of Chapter 20.

Let me show you the other passage, which is more to the point. In Revelation, Chapter 12, look at verse 7. Now if we had time, I could show you, there’s about seven or eight parallels between Revelation 12 and Revelation 20. Verse 7 says there was war in heaven. So, we’re looking at heaven. Revelation 20 is a scene of throne rooms and souls in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was not strong enough. They lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down. That ancient serpent called the devil or Satan. It’s the same fourfold description of the devil that we have in Chapter 20.

But what about, “Who leads the whole world astray?” Now here’s where we need to hold two truths intention. And there’s a word that’s very important, that’s different. Satan is the one who leads the whole world astray, and yet Satan is bound so that he may no longer deceive the nations. Not the same thing. The world is according to John the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, fleshliness, its corruption. Satan leads the world astray. But he’s bound such that the nations, people groups, countries, missions can be successful. So, he is a deceiver. He is leading astray. But the nations are also coming to Christ. And it goes on in Chapter 12 and it talks about those who are martyrs for the testimony. It’s very similar scene. We don’t have time to look at it any more than this.

 

Chris White