Turn with me to Revelation chapter
20. Revelation chapter 20. And this
morning we'll be looking at verses 7 through 9. And the title of the message this
morning is, The Comfort of the Saints in Satan's Little Season. The comfort of the saints. in
Satan's little season. The scripture says, and when
the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of
his prison, and he shall go out and deceive the nations which
are in the four corners 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 out 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, and devoured them." Now, in this chapter, having
seen the gospel preached to us in verses 1 through 3, we saw
that the angel here, the Lord Jesus Christ, has come in the
flesh, and by His righteousness, and by His one offering, has
bound Satan. Bound Satan. He having the keys
of death and hell, having the chain in His hand, which are
a picture, a symbol of His power and authority. Our Lord Jesus
came down to do the will of God, which was to destroy the works
of the devil, which He did by His obedience to God and by His
death upon the tree. Thus He said, given unto me in heaven and in
earth in John 17 he said all power is given it to me that
I should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given me and this eternal life we know
this is to know thee," he said, to know the Father, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. And this has
taken place at Calvary. This took place, this salvation,
this binding of Satan took place at Calvary, but has continued
now for over 2,000 years. It's been 2,000 years since the
Lord Jesus Christ has died and was buried and rose again from
the dead. And all this time, Satan has
been bound. The Gospel has gone forth exactly
where God determined into all the world. The Gospel is preached. The elect are called. They are
saved. And there is none to hinder them
or deceive them. The Gospel is preached. The elect
They're called and they obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. And
so then, we know that this binding, it says, was for a thousand years. In verse 3, "...set that seal
on him till the thousand years should be fulfilled." Now this
thousand year period is not a literal thousand years. Like I said,
it's been two thousand since the Lord Jesus Christ has died. This is not a thousand years
literal, nor are we to be looking for a thousand years yet future,
because when the Lord comes, it's going to be over. There's
not going to be the Lord coming, setting up a kingdom, going back,
and then coming again. He's going to come again finally.
But this thousand years is a picture It's symbolic of the whole dispensation
of grace. It is a long period of time from
the time Christ went to glory until Christ comes back. That's
this thousand years. But the Word of God is clear.
This dispensation of grace will end. It will end. There will come
a time when God will loose Satan for a little season. A little
season. Satan who is bound must be loosed. But what is the purpose of this?
Why would God bind him and then loose him? Well, the scope and
work of Satan during this loosing is not left to our imagination,
but rather is told to us in our text. He must be loosed. For
what reason? Look at verse 8. And he shall
go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners
of the earth. What is his scope? What is his
work? It is to deceive the nations. Deceive the nations. Before the
Lord Jesus came to fulfill all the prophecies, before He came
the first time, we know this, that Satan was free to deceive
the nations by the multitudes. He was given free reign among
the Gentiles. There were very few in the world
among the Gentiles, but for the most part, The Gentiles were
deceived. They were deceived. And only the nation of the Jews
were given the law and the commandments and the prophets, and yet we
know this, that not even all of them were saved. This will again take place when
Satan is loosed. He will go about to deceive the
nations which are represented by this Gog and Magog. don't want you to people trying
to figure out who this is it's it's not complicated we don't
have to we don't try to figure out is it China is it is it Russia
is it this nation is this no no the scripture says that they
will deceive the whole world From the four corners of the
earth He will deceive them. Which is pictured by Gog and
Magog. And this is borrowed from a prophecy
in Ezekiel chapter 38. Ezekiel chapter 38. Which is a picture. It is only
meant to be a picture. Not to try to tell us which specific
country or specific person this is. It is going to be the whole
known world. that will be deceived. These nations then were gathered
together. This Gog and Magog over in Ezekiel
chapter 38, they were gathered together. I'm going to read you just a few
portions of this passage in Ezekiel 38. He said, Son of man, set
thy face against Gog and the land of Magog. So Gog is the
king. Magog is the land. He says, Set your face against
him, I will turn him back and put hooks in his jaws, and I
will bring forth all his army, his horsemen, and all them that
clothe with armor, and a great company of shields and bucklers,
and them that handle the sword. And after many days thou shalt
be visited, and in the latter years thou shalt come into the
land that is brought back from the sword, is gathered out of
many people against the mountains of Israel, which had always been
waste. but is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall
dwell safely." What he's talking about there, he said, look, I'm
going to bring you against my people. These people that were
brought out of the sword, these people that were brought out
of captivity, I'm going to set you against them. You're going
to gather an army so large, so vast, the Scripture says, and
thou shalt ascend like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud that
covers the land, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. This was a true thing. This Gog
and Magog, it happened. And you know what God said about
that? He said, when I kill them, you're not even going to need
to cut down a tree for firewood for seven years. There are going
to be so many bows and arrows laying on the ground, you can
have kindling wood forever, for seven years. It's going to take
you seven months to bury all the bodies. This was a large
army that God would kill, and He did kill. He did kill them. It shall come to pass in Ezekiel
38 verse 18 said it shall come to pass at the same time Gog
shall be against the land of Israel sayeth the Lord that my
fury shall come in my face for my jealousy and in the fire of
my wrath I've spoken surely in that day there shall be a great
shakening in the land of Israel see this thing that happened
back then and is a picture God uses now as to show the greatness
of this gathering. The greatness of the army of
those that are deceived that will set themselves against the
Lord. And you know what? The end of
them is going to be the same as Gog and Magog. God will rain
fire out of heaven and destroy them all. So it's not going to
be much of a battle. It's not even called a war, it's
called a battle, because it's only one final assault, and when
God's done, it's over. They'll be destroyed. So Gog
and Magog are not certain countries or nations, but rather all those
that are deceived. All the nations of the world
who are deceived, and listen how they'll be deceived. They'll
be deceived by false religion. They'll be deceived by false
religion. When Satan is loosed, he will deceive the nations to
believe the lie of false religion. And in vile hatred, he will set
all his deceived people against Christ and His church. Isn't
that what it says in verse 9 of our text? And they went up on
the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints
round about the beloved city, the church of God. Now these nations and people
who come, they come as a storm, as a thick cloud that covers
the whole earth. The scripture in this says that
they were as the sand of the sea for multitudes. Now, this battle we're speaking
of is what was called the Battle of Armageddon. We've mentioned
this several times in our study of the book of Revelation in
chapter 16 and in chapter 19. We see this battle being looked
at and viewed at from a different angle in these other chapters.
But this is the final assault, the final assault of Satan, the
final offensive against Christ. So then let us be warned, believer,
The time is at hand. The time is at hand. Satan must
be loosed a little season. Do you not suppose if it were
not so, Christ would have told us? Why do you suppose he tells
us this? So that we should be warned,
so that we should know. Our Father has not left us without
understanding. I like that when Abraham, you
know, God was going to destroy Sodom and he said, should I let
my friend Abraham know what I'm doing? Isn't this what our friend is
doing? Letting us know what he's doing before he does it, so that
we're not surprised when it happens. I know we most likely will be,
but may God the Holy Spirit teach us so when it does happen, if
it happens in our generation, we should not be surprised. We
should not be surprised. The assault will come. The world
will be deceived by a false gospel, a false God, be moved by a false
spirit in the name of a false Christ. This is how He will deceive
the nations. This assault will not be in word
only, but it will be violent. It will be in the destruction
of the saints as it was in the early church. Our Lord told His disciples that,
didn't He? He said, They shall put you out of the synagogues,
and they shall kill you. There's coming a time when they
will kill you, and think what? They do God a service. The time is coming, friends,
when Satan will be loosed and they will think they will be
so deceived as by killing you to think they do God a service. But let the saints of God be
comforted. For the deceived shall not harm
the church. they may kill us, they will not
harm the church. Let me ask you, when they killed
the prophets and the apostles, did they harm the church? Did
they hinder the gospel in any way? No. In fact, they furthered
the gospel by their persecution. So no way these will hinder us.
The church, though very small at this time, though few, they
shall not be deceived, for we know whom we have believed. When you hear another gospel
being preached, another Christ being preached, do not the alarms
of your soul go off? And you say what? I don't know
that man that they're talking about. You see, I know whom I
have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that
which I have committed unto Him against that day. You see, we're
not going to be deceived. This is the comfort during this
time. Though Satan deceive the whole world, he should not deceive
God's elect. We will not be deceived. That's
comforting news, isn't it? Though everybody else go away,
my people shall not be deceived. His people shall not be deceived.
The church, like in Revelation 11, they shall be as dead. There will be very few left.
But I tell you this, they shall be raised when Christ comes again. And I tell you, fire will come
down out of heaven and consume all those who do not believe. This will be the end. This will
be the end. They will come as the breath
of the earth, they will come as the sands of the sea, but i tell you the scripture
says that they shall be devoured facial compass about the saints
verse nine and beloved city and fire came down from god out of
heaven and devoured them the devil that deceive them was cast
in the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast in the false
prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever this battle
will be swift and decides the lord showed the send from heaven
with the shout and cast them into hell forever. And all whose names are not written
in the Lamb's book of life. Isn't that what it says in the
last verse of chapter 20? And whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. You son
of Adam, you fallen son of Adam, is your name written in heaven? Seeing only the elect shall be
saved, only the elect shall be redeemed, Are you then in that
number? Or will you be among the deceived? Now I know this, I don't know
when Satan will be loosed, but today, today the gospel is
preached. In your ears it is preached.
Today is the day of grace. Are you dead? Are you unable and unwilling
to come to God by Christ? I tell you, you cannot merit
God's favor. You cannot give yourself life. You cannot free your chains, loose your
chains. Only God can. Only the blood
of Christ can cleanse you of your sins, and only His righteousness
can robe you before God. So I tell you today, call on
Him. If you have not called on Him, call on Him. I tell you, there's a time coming
when men will not be able to. There's a time coming when the
Spirit of God will withdraw Himself from this place, and no one No
one will come. But today, today the Gospel is
preached. Call on Him. Sue God for grace
and mercy. Cast your soul upon Christ and
cast off every imagination of self-righteousness or self-acceptance
with God based on any merit of your flesh and believe on Him. And listen, all who do All who
do may have the comfort of the saints. All who believe on Christ
may have comfort, assurance, peace with God through the blood
and righteousness of Christ alone. For it says, Blessed and holy
is he that hath part in the first resurrection, over which the
second death hath no power. Now then, seeing what shall take
place, seeing that you know this. It's not hidden from you. We who believe on Christ, I want
us to see, I believe, seven lessons we can learn by keeping this
in mind. Seven lessons for believers as
we seek to serve God in our generation. With this in mind, knowing this,
that Christ has bound Satan, that it's for a certain time,
and soon Satan shall be loosed, only to be destroyed and the
elect should be saved, we who believe on Christ in our generation
desire that the gospel go out and that we should serve Christ.
So there are seven things we should keep in mind. first of
all we should keep this in mind we'd live in apostolic uh... we live in apostate generation
we are living in an apostate generation the word of god is
very clear that before jesus christ comes again there will
be an ag uh... great apostasy Great and willing
departure from the true gospel in turning toward a false gospel
We know this was even seen at the first century this started
at the first century didn't it The Apostle John he testified.
He said there are many Antichrists already They weren't even a hundred years
past Christ and there were already many antichrists gone out. Many
false prophets gone into the world. Yet I tell you in our
day we have never seen before in history of the church such
a complete and utter forsaking of the truth of the gospel of
God's free and sovereign grace. and the universal embracing of
salvation by free will works religion, never before in history
have we seen such a departing from the truth. Never. I tell you, we live in an apostate
generation. Men and women by the droves reject
the gospel of God's free grace and embrace the lie of free will
works religion. It is a wholesale departure from
the truth. A willing departure. Preach it
to a man and what does he desire to do? He desires to run from
you and be left alone. Don't tell me that. I don't want
to hear that. Doesn't make me feel good. Hear
of depravity. Doesn't make me feel good to
understand God has an elect people. Christ redeemed them. The Spirit
will call them and keep them. Doesn't make me feel good. I
don't want to hear it. Now, the Roman Church, we know,
has always been anti-Christ. But now, more than ever, so-called
Christian churches are embracing the same doctrines as the Mother
Harlot of Rome. I tell you, you can't walk into
a free-will Baptist church or walk into a Catholic church and
you'll hear the same thing. Come to the altar. Now with the free will, come
to the front, come make a decision for Christ, come down to the
altar. Well that's what the Catholic
Church believes, they say come down to an altar. No, the gospel is
come to Christ. Come to Christ. He's the altar. He's the offering. He's the sacrifice. As I've told you in many days
gone past, there are only two religions. So as believers are
not confused, I want this to be plain and simple. There are
only two religions, and I don't care what you put on the door.
I don't care what denomination it goes by. There are only two
religions, salvation by works and salvation by grace. Salvation by works is false religion. Salvation by grace is the true
gospel according to the Word of God. Only two religions. And we know this, the Apostle
tells us about works and grace in Romans chapter 11. He tells
us it is either of grace or it is of works. But it can't be of both. It can't
be of both. Salvation's either of grace or
works. He said, at this present time, there's also a remnant
according to the election of grace. And if by grace it is
no more works, otherwise grace is no more grace. If it be of
works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work.
You ruin the even very definition of the word by mixing the two. The scriptures are clear and
plain that salvation in its planning, its purpose, in its accomplishment
and its application, in its perseverance and preservation, all salvation
is of God and it is all of grace. It is all done by the Lord Jesus
Christ. It was purposed of God the Father,
and Jesus Christ accomplished the work of salvation. And the
Spirit of God applies that salvation to all that the Father gave Christ
to redeem. Just to make sure that you know
this is not my opinion, let's read these together again, Ephesians
1. Ephesians 1. Verse 3 blessed
be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who had blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
According as he had chosen us in Christ before the foundation
of the world That we should be holy without blame before him
in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
listen by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure
of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein
He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. In whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself,
that in the dispensation of the fullness of time he might gather
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven
and which are in earth, and even in him. whom we also have obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will that
we should be to the praise of the glory who first trusted in
Christ who first trusted in Christ God did God first trusted in
Christ by giving his elect to Christ putting all the responsibility
of their salvation upon his shoulders And He by His work redeemed them. And in the fullness of time He
makes known the mystery of His will to His elect. In whom you
also trusted. There's the evidence of grace
is faith in Christ. The evidence of election, the
evidence of our redemption is faith in Christ. We trust in
Him. How? After we heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation, you know this, that
God only saves sinners by His gospel and not by another gospel. No one is saved under false freewill
works religion. Now, I want you to think about that. Imagine all the millions of people
who sit under a false gospel every Sunday and Wednesday, assuming
heaven is theirs. They are deceived. Why? Because their salvation
is based on their will and work. They have mixed the work of Christ
with their own obedience. They have made faith not a grace,
but a work. And they've defiled the sacrifice. The scriptures are plain. that
Christ, when He died upon the tree, He actually accomplished
redemption. Any Christ who did not accomplish
redemption is not Christ. A Christ who only made redemption
possible is not Christ. Why? The Scriptures has said
so. The Scriptures says, He hath
by His one offering perfected forever them that are sanctified. By His one offering, He hath
obtained eternal redemption. You see, the Savior of the Gospel
is a victorious Savior. The Scriptures are clear. Man
is absolutely and completely, utterly depraved, dead in sin,
cannot and will not come to God by Christ alone, nor except God,
except God call him and quicken him to life and faith, that man
will never come. Man will never come, never come,
never come to Christ. This is not an opinion. This
is Scripture. Our Lord said, No man can come
unto Me except the Father which hath sent Me draw him. Why don't
believe that? That's because you're deceived. Men are deceived to think man's
will is sovereign. It is a delusion of the devil. to think man has some ability
in himself, some goodness in himself, some life in himself.
No. The Scripture says he is dead
in trespasses and sin. Wherein Scripture tells us about
Adam, Romans chapter 5, and verse twelve
wherefore is by one man's sin entered into the world and death
by sin so death passed on all men for all have sinned in adam
all sinned all died to refuse to believe this is
to refuse to believe the gospel so men in so-called churches
so-called christian denominations, they utterly deny the sound doctrines
of scripture, they refuse to hear of man's depravity, refuse
to hear of the election of grace, refuse to believe on a successful
savior, refuse to believe on a sovereign irresistible spirit,
but instead they insist upon the sovereign will of man. They assert the sovereign free
will of man instead of the sovereign free grace of God. The free will
of man and the works of man to add to it, to add to Christ,
only makes his blood ineffectual to save them. Paul said, if you be circumcised,
Christ shall profit you what? Nothing. add one thing to Christ
is to make a false gospel. This lost generation believes
that the will of man is sovereign to make the blood of Christ effectual. That the will of man is sovereign and commands the Spirit of God
to give him life. This is what the masses of churches
believe in our day, which is a deception and perversion of
the true gospel, a perversion of the true Christ and His perfect
work. Yet there are some who believe
the truth. You remember in Elijah's day
there was only 7,000. Out of how many millions of people,
and yet God said, I have reserved for Myself. Now who's doing the
reserving? Who's doing the saving? God said,
I've reserved for Myself 7,000 that have not bowed the knee
to Baal. This is the election of grace.
God has always had a remnant. God will always have a remnant
of grace. You always have a people. And though very few believe it,
we know this. We who do, we know that salvation
is of the Lord. Completely. So many go to church just to
feel good, to receive some kind of temporal or earthly blessing. And they believe their works
and their religious exercise, their flesh and outward actions
somehow influence God or manipulate God to save them. This is free will works religion
and it is a lie of Satan. And it is believed by the masses. Now I can't tell you when this little season of Satan
is coming. But I tell you, it seems to be
already started. It will appear, and when it comes,
we think it's universal now, but I guarantee you it will be
far worse than it is now. The wicked attitude to put aside
the gospel will be throughout the whole world. But we must
not be discouraged. Though we live in an age of apostasy,
though we live in a time where men embrace a false gospel by
the message, listen, you should not be discouraged. Believer,
you should not be discouraged. But we must continue to preach
the gospel of Christ until our dying breath. Why? Because God still has a people.
You know, I wouldn't preach this gospel if I didn't believe that.
If it was up to you to believe, I wouldn't preach. If it was
up to you to save yourself, I wouldn't preach, because you can't. But I know this, God can. And God does save His people. This is what we're to be about.
Don't be discouraged by their apostasy. Continue in the faith. Continue to preach and declare
the gospel of Christ to our generation. Our Lord is clear that before
His coming there shall be a great falling away. Look at this in
1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Timothy chapter 4. It says, Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, doctrines of devils,
speaking lies and hypocrisies, having their conscience seared
with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain
from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving
of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature
of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received
with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God
and prayer. There's going to come a time
when men are just going to depart from the truth, and what are
they going to do? They're going to start talking about forbidding
to marry. They're going to start talking
about carnal things. Touch not, taste not, handle
not. This is what the departing is.
They're going to look to earthly means to save their souls. This
is departing from the truth. In 2nd Timothy chapter 3, he
reiterates this same point. He said, "...and their perilous
times shall come. Men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truth-breakers,
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that
are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the
power thereof." That's exactly false religion. They are always
seeking the flesh. They deny the power of salvation
comes from God. This is an apostate generation. Jesus said the day would come
when men will not receive Me, who comes in the name of the
Father, but they will receive men who come in their own name.
Look, I don't want you to receive me because of who I am. I don't
want you to receive me because of my word, because of my opinion. I come in the name of the Father.
I come in the name of the Son. I am an ambassador of Christ
and do beseech you, be you reconciled to Christ. Yet to have a man come in his
own name, and they'll gladly receive Him. And listen, this reprobation,
I want you to know this, it's of God. It's God's judicial punishment
to those who will not believe, to those who will not come to
God by Christ. Reprobation is a work of God
that they should wholly reject the gospel. What is reprobation? What is that? It is God giving
men what they really desire, to be left alone. preach the gospel and have a
man tell you leave me alone if God give him what he wants
that man's reprobate when men hear the truth and openly
rejected for the lie and idolatry of false free will works religion
it is then that God gives them over to a reprobate mind And
divine reprobation, get this, divine reprobation is God's fixing
it so that they cannot hear the truth. That's what's going to
happen when he's loosed. The Spirit of God will depart
from this world and only remain in the church. Now who is it that does the loosing
of Satan? Who's doing this? God is. It's God that bound him
and it's God that loosens him. And this is only for a time.
He will allow the powers of darkness to prevail upon men and they
will all believe a lie and strong delusion. And as God put that thought in
Magog, if you go back to Ezekiel 38, God puts a thought into Gog's
head. God puts a thought into Gog's
head. And he says this, I will cause you to think you'll win. I'm going to give you a delusion
that you'll win. Isn't that what happens to wicked
men? They have a strong delusion that
they're winning. Well, look how few you are. Look
how small the church is. Look how rejected the gospel
of God's free and sovereign grace is. You must not be of God. You
see, God gives them a strong delusion to think they're winning.
They're not. They're not. Well, then how can we identify
these who believe this lie? Who preach this lie? It's very
simple. Anyone who adds anything to Christ
for salvation is a false preacher. Anyone who adds anything to Christ
and His work is a false preacher. I don't care how well he speaks.
I don't care if he does miracles. I don't care if he cures diseases. That man is a liar and you should
run from him. He is a false prophet. False
religion always makes salvation conditional. Free will, decisionism,
baptismal regeneration, the Lord's supper, obedience to the law
in any measure, is a denial of the gospel. And everyone who
preaches it is of Satan. And listen, even in these dark
days, I want you to know this, you can be comforted. You can
be comforted. Believer, consider this. No matter who's against you,
no matter what it seems or appears to be, our Lord gives us this
promise. All those who are against us
will be destroyed. Who does the fighting? In the end, who does the fighting?
God does. God does. When Christ shall come,
he will destroy our enemies. Therefore, we should rejoice.
We should give thanks in spite of this loosing. because god has by grace chosen
by grace reading by grace calls and i tell you by grace he keeps and in the end we will the the
church shall be triumphant even because Christ is our Savior,
our Redeemer, and our King. So then, in last, let us be faithful. Let us be faithful to serve Him. Knowing the end of all things,
should that not give you assurance of your success? Even in this apostate generation,
I tell you, the church is victorious. How do I know? Well, you believe,
don't you? Well, that's just proof. It's
evidence that this is victorious. God has a people, He saved those
people, and He'll call those people. How? By our gospel. Now may God give us grace, even
in the midst of an apostate generation, even if Satan is loosed. Let us be faithful to serve and
believe God. I pray God bless this to you.
Stand and be dismissed in prayer.