(Revelation) the Banishment of Satan — Willie Mullan

Revelation 20 and the Millennial Interpretations

And we're at chapter twenty this evening, the book of the Revelation, chapter twenty, and you can see from your notes that we're looking at the first three verses. That seems a very short portion for the class this evening.

And in these three short, shall I say simple verses, they're not arrayed themselves around these verses, more battles about dispensational truth than anywhere else in the Bible. You see, the camp of the post-millennialists, as they call themselves, they have planted their standard in the ground here.

And of course the amillennialists, they've brought their sources to the first three verses of chapter twenty. And of course the pre-millennialists have held the fort here for a long time. For those of you who don't know exactly what I'm talking about when I talk about the post-millennialists, the post-millennialists are the people who believe that the coming of Christ to this earth is after the millennials.

In fact, they tried to tell me that we're in the millennial mouth of the millennial and ulster, I assure you. I just can't understand the mentality of the people who talk like that. Funny that when we get some of the other boys on the other side, one of them said to me the other day, he says, you know, we're in the heart of the great tribulation just now.

Well he was sitting looking out of a big Mercedes car about three thousand cc, and I happen to know that he's maybe got two hundred thousand pounds in the bank. And I said there's a lot a folks could do with the tribulation you're getting.

They amuse me the way they talk, but the post-millennialists believe that there will be no coming of Christ until the millennialists pass, and they argue that we're in it now. Of course, amillennialists, it simply means against the millennial, anti-millennialists.

They don't believe that there's any such thing. They don't believe that there's anything literal in these three verses, and we'll see to much. They tell me it's all spiritual, you know, all the blessings that you talk about as a millennial, they're all spiritual.

Well, we'll just see, won't we? Because we're going to take it at us. I'm a pre-millennialist. I believe that Christ is coming very soon to the earth on this day. And I believe that the moment that we rise to meet the Lord in the air, then the day of the Lord's wrath will begin on this earth.

And there will soon come that period that's called the great tribulation. And at the end of the tribulation period, the Christ who came to the air will come to the earth. And in that day, his feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, and he'll take the throne of his father David, and Jesus shall reign, and the great millennial reign will begin.

But you're going to find out tonight, as you look at these three verses, just in whatever way you would dare to interpret them, will tell us what camp you're in. Because this is where they set the different camps.

And that we're going to see this evening. You know, two weeks back, we were looking at Christ's second coming to the earth, and we contrasted it with Christ's first coming to the earth. And I said to you that when Christ came the first time, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

He came to deliver captives. He came to declare God. No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, he hath declared him. And he didn't only come to deliver sinners and to declare God, he came to destroy the works of the devil.

And just watch it, the works of the devil. He also came to demonstrate how believers should live in this planet when they have trusted Christ. He left us an example that we should follow in his steps.

And we contrasted the first coming to the earth with the second coming to the earth. Could we differentiate between the first coming to the earth and the second coming to the earth, and the coming to the earth?

But when we contrast the first coming to the earth to deliver and declare and to demonstrate how we should live and destroy the works of the devil, we found out that when he will come the second time to this earth, he's coming to deal with sinners.

He's coming to make war, we found out. Let's go back to chapter 19 where we were the other day. Verse 11, John speaking, said,. And I saw, I like the way John does this, I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True.

Capital F, capital T, you can't miss who this is. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. He's coming to make war. Let's get that bit settled. This is quite different from the first coming to earth.

He came to save the first time. Now it's not wooing men, it's warring with nations, coming to make war. Then John describes him and what he looks like and all the rest of it, and he said this, verse 15,.

Out of his mouth brought a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. You know, that's not saving them, you're not smiting them, you should see the difference. He's not coming to woo, he's coming to war.

He's not coming to save, he's coming to smite. Do you see what it says in that middle of the verse, verse 15,. And he shall rule them, who, the nations, with a rod of iron. You know he's not coming to arrest you now, he's coming to rule.

I think that you can see that quite clearly, it's quite different, isn't it? You see, we were looking last week at the great portion he read out of Isaiah 61. Let's just read it over again for the sake of the young people.

Christ’s First Coming and the Day of Vengeance

Let's go to Luke's gospel, chapter 4 please. Luke's gospel, chapter 4, verse 16,. And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. Isn't that a great phrase, you know? If you could only see the place, what a miserable, stinky town it is.

Yes, that's where he was brought up. And as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. I think that's great that it should be written like that. The synagogue wasn't always a great place, you know, there was a lot of old Pharisees and hypocrites about it, like some of the professing churches I know.

But you don't stay at home because there are hypocrites there. The Lord didn't stay at home, he was more holy than you are. And his custom was, he just went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, never mind about the hypocrites.

He stood up for to read. This was a privilege in some of the synagogues. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. It's just the Greek way of saying Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written.

You know, it was a long scroll they gave him, and there wasn't chapters and verses. This was done much later. And you know, he could open the scroll and roll it out, and he knew all about it. He found the place where it was written.

Actually, we know it now as Isaiah 61 and verse 1. And here's what it says there, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Because the other wanted me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set up liberty then that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

And mark the word Lord, because that's when he stopped reading. And he closed the book. Just like that. Now let's go through Isaiah 61 and just see this for ourselves. The prophecy of Isaiah 61, and you'll notice that he read the first verse.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the other wanted me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

And he shut the book. Now it's not the end of the sentence, is it? I didn't think like that. Some of the old grammarians around me, all the boys who think they know everything, they would say, my dear, what's he up now?

Well, he never went to school, he doesn't know. Ah, well along, sometimes the way you tittle-tattle just shows me your ignorance. The Lord didn't make any mistake or anything, you know. He knew where to stop.

And he came the first time, he came to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to open the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And the Lord said, come on, he stopped, because he couldn't read this.

And the day of vengeance, oh no, it hadn't come up at that time. The day of vengeance belongs to another dispensation deal. And the boys who tried to argue with me about dispensations don't know why he stopped.

The day of vengeance is different altogether. And when he comes the second time, he can read the rest of it, because he's coming to war then. He's coming to smite then. He's coming to rule the nations with a rod of iron.

It will be the day of vengeance. What a day it will be. Terrible day. I would have thought that would have taught everybody who argues against dispensationism a trick or two, but you can't teach some of them.

Surely the master's trying to tell us something. Last Tuesday in the class we were looking at the day of vengeance has fully come. And we were in chapter 19, and we're back there just now. Chapter 19, and the Lord is coming to us, and he's coming to war, and he's coming to smite the nations, and he's coming to rule them with a rod of iron.

And at verse 19 John said, and I saw the beast, the Antichrist, and the kings of the earth. And there is a mess of kings. The kings of the earth are all united there. And their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse.

And I said the audacity of the people. Mr. Edgar said to me, every time you said audacity, I said to myself, stupidity. I think that was the better word, because it's a stupid thing to do, to make war with a king of kings.

And you'll find that they gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. And you'll notice this, the beast was taken, oh, just lifted like a shot. And this, and the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, and what's the word, miracles, with which he deceived them.

For God received the mark of the beast, and then that worshiped his image. And the Lord just lifted these two, and they were cast alive. Oh, there's no tribunal or anything. There's no law court and higher court and super court here.

Just lifts them and throws them into the lake of fire. You see, it's the day of vengeance now. Have you got that? Yes, you'll find from your notes that there was vengeance upon the unclean beast, and vengeance upon the unreal prophet.

And although the chapter has a division there, I don't think it should have, but that doesn't matter. It begins, and I don't know, I saw an angel come down from heaven holding the key of the bottomless pit.

He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, and it's vengeance for him too. Because the day of vengeance, he's coming to make war. He's coming to smite these unclean nations. He's coming to deal with this unclean prophet, or this unreal prophet, this unclean beast.

And now this unholy devil comes to deal with him. This is the time when the devil is going to be banished from this earth for a thousand years. That's where the arguments begin, isn't it? That's exactly.

Lucifer’s Creation, Occupation, and Rebellion

But we want to do something for the young people tonight before we get into the depths of this. I want to take you through the whole history of the devil, from his creation. Let's go back to Ezekiel 28.

Just mark these down beside these headings. I haven't room all the time for everything. We're at the creation of Lucifer, because he wasn't created the devil, and he wasn't created Satan. Oh no, he was Lucifer.

He was son of the morning. We're at Ezekiel 28, verse 11. Then also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, that's the way God always talked to Ezekiel. And he's telling him, get up and lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus, Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus, saith the Lord God, thou singest of the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

You know, this person of every age, he's called the king of Tyrus, and if you go back into history, there was no such person. But he was the person who was the sum total of wisdom, full of wisdom, and the sum total of beauty.

Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. You know, that's tremendous, isn't it? Not many of us have qualifications like that. Usually you'll find the fellow who's got brains, he's got no face at all. Some of you can take comfort, and some of you know what I'm talking about.

And usually, you know, when you get a pretty face, a very pretty face, a tall face, you can be pretty sure that inside the head there's as much as in a balloon. You know what John McNeil did once? He went to Oxford, he was a terrible character, you know, went to preach at Oxford, and before all these great lads and lasses at Oxford, he preached on David slaying Goliath at Vestoria.

And two of these Oxford dons thought to themselves at the end of the meeting, we'll have a chat over this whole thing. So they came up round and said, hello Mr. McNeil, that was a great, great message.

We never had preaching like that in here before. That was really some good. They said, but surely you don't believe this Mr. McNeil. You don't believe that a real lad threw a stone and it entered into the giant's head and he fell.

You don't believe that. And old McNeil laughed and said, son, if the giant's head had been as soft as yours, I'd snowball with it. Never tried to take it out on an old preacher, you know, there are some of them dead wise.

But here are qualifications. And the person was full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. And then this thing is said of this person, thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God. Now don't go too quick with that.

It says, every precious stone was thy coupling, the sardis, the topaz, the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, the caribuncle and gold. The workmanship of thy tablets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou was created.

This is the created being we're looking at. A created being who was full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Who was covered with all this glory. That's who we're looking at. In Eden, the garden of God, of course, some of the scholars jump to this and say, that's right, the devil came.

I'll tell you, he never came to the garden of God like this. He came like a serpent. This is some kind of Eden. This is the way before that, you know. This is when the devil was created and he was placed in the garden of God in all his glory.

This is what we're looking at. Don't jump the gun now. I was talking to some of these evolutionists the other day and I was reading this to them that he was created in all his glory, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty and a lot of other things that I see here.

I said, now where did he come from? This was before the monkeys came at all. Now when you take evolution backwards, we get in a bit of a fix, don't we? He evolved from a monkey. There were no monkeys.

Oh no, he was created is the word, sir. In the garden of God created. Yes, he was created. Make no mistake to that. So that's his creation, isn't it, sir? It says this in verse 14, Thou art the anointed cherub.

He was one of the cherubims. This was his occupation. Have you got those two things now in your notes? In Ezekiel you can see his creation and his occupation. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 14, please. Prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 14, and verse 12 says, Thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning.

That's the character we're thinking about. But we're thinking about his form now. Thou art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning. Thou art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations.

For thou hast said in thy heart, what say I wills? I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. And when we use the word stars there, we're not thinking about the twinkle, twinkle in the sky.

We're thinking about the angels and he's gone to exalt his throne above the angels. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

Listen to it. I will be like the most high. Now that's the day that he rebelled. That's a rebellion. God created him. God gave him wisdom. God gave him beauty. God gave him the greatest job in heaven, the anointed cherub that covereth the throne of God.

And because of his exalted position, this tribe entered and sin entered and he said, I will be like the most high. I'll be like God. I'll take it all. That was his rebellion. Of course he's passed down now.

And when God created man, because he created him too, in the day that God created them, male and female created he then. And the old devil came to retaliate. Ah, but he's the serpent now. You can see the creation of Lucifer and the occupation and the rebellion.

Satan’s Deception, Opposition, and Defeat at Calvary

But it's the retaliation of the serpent now. The old serpent comes. You know what he came for? I hope you do. He came to deceive. And he deceived Eve too. Keep that in the back of your mind as we get into the subject now.

Because you'll find as you go right through the scriptures that his indignation was set against everything that God chose. When God chose Israel to bring Christ to this world, the old serpent was against Israel.

When God's Son was born, why, he tried to slay the baby. Right down through the years you can see the indignation of the devil. And when Christ died on Calvary and stepped into death and entered into death, it was by death that he destroyed him or paralyzed him.

Who had the power of death was his ruination. Calvary was his ruination. Just a little bit of the history of the devil for you young ones. As you got it now, in Ezekiel you can see the creation of Lucifer and the occupation of Lucifer.

In Isaiah 14 you can see the rebellion of Lucifer. In Genesis 3 you can see the retaliation of the serpent. If you go through the scriptures and look only at Israel and Christ, there are many others of course, you can see the indignation of the devil.

If you go to Calvary you'll see the ruination. For the serpent's head was crushed. Now we're coming to the place tonight where you see the deportation. You know, from the But he's going to be taken out of the scene altogether for a thousand years.

The Literal Binding of Satan in Revelation 20

But there are many arguments we must face the arguments. Let's go to Revelation chapter 20 and do it properly now. You know I was talking to some of these characters who argue with me, bless them. And one of them said to me, you know, there's nothing literal here at all.

It's very millennialist. Don't believe in the literal interpretation of the scriptures, do you? Don't. It's spiritual, isn't it? All right now, I'm taking you on now. So I read to this character. I'm reading to a boy like that, a snobby one.

I says and it says, and I saw John, isn't it? He's literal, surely. You're not telling me he wasn't there? Surely John's literal enough for you, isn't it? I'll tell you what's more, you know. It's just a follow-on of what she'd been saying.

Go back to 19 and do it with me. See verse 11? And I saw, that's how that begins. You're no bothered over there, are you, John? Funny that you knew who it was then. You see verse 17? And I saw an angel standing in the sun.

You hadn't any bother with that, sure you hadn't. Now there was no thousand years in that book that didn't bother you then. See verse 19? And I saw the beast. Yes, he saw the beast taken and the prophet taken.

And then he says in verse 20, and I saw an angel. Tell me this now, is the angel not literal? All right then, spiritualize it for me. I think you'll have to accept it's an angel or you'll be a bother.

I think you'll have to accept that it's the apostle and it's an angel. Would you dare to say it's not a literal? You'll need to back it up a wee bit. And I saw an angel come down from heaven. Heaven, not literal.

Coming down from heaven, having the key. And this is a bit of a problem. Now leave the key to the side for a second and you'll see what I'll do with it. I'm not running away from the bottomless pit. Is this not a literal place?

And the fellow I was talking to said, no, no, no, you're going to his home, I said. All right, I said, we'll have to do it out for you. Let's go back to chapter 9, Revelation 9. Revelation 9. And the fifth angel pounded the bridge.

And I saw a star fall from heaven. It's the same old word you know. It's an angel falling down from heaven onto the earth. And to whom? This could give you the clue. To whom? It's not a star, you know.

It's a him, a person, with given the key of the bottomless pit. And then the pit's open, you know, and these demons come out. And we have had a night with them. And you know, they can be commanded, says in verse 4, and it was commanded them.

And they understand, you know, to them it was given, verse 5, that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months. And it goes right on down until it comes to verse 11, talking about these demons.

And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon. Is this not a person? You like to spiritualize it for me. My, you would sit looking at it a long time, wouldn't you?

Oh, the bottomless pit's real. Told at this moment with demons and the delight before long. The way things are happening in Ulster, you would think some of them had escaped already. Oh, the bottomless pit is real enough.

Make no mistakes about it. Let's go back to 20 again now. This one, and I saw an angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit, and the great chain in his hand. Oh, how they love to talk about this.

Leave it with the key for a minute or two, and we'll come back and do it properly. And the angel, he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil and Satan. Is he not the truth? The serene angel is a serene devil.

He laid hold on him. What a moment that will be when God gives an angel power to take the hold of the devil and Satan. He must be a very select angel. I wouldn't be fit for the job, but I would like to tackle it, because I would shake him for a good long while.

But he's laying hold on the dragon and bound him a thousand years, and they say, Millennialist, don't mind it. It doesn't mean a thousand years. Now everything else means what it should have. No way to take the word of God.

But we'll see in a moment. We'll see. Worshiped, laid hold on him, bound him, cursed him. Isn't that great? Cursed him into the bottomless pit, shunned him, shut him up, set a seal upon him. Why, this angel's getting about the job.

He laid hold on him. He bound him. He cursed him. He shut him up. He set a seal upon him. Now for this reason, this is why this bit takes place, that he, the nations, no matter, he's not literal. I don't know how you argue sometimes.

This big fella standing at my side, who has had all the schooling that this country can give him, he says there's nothing literal. Oh dear friends, I wonder what goes on in their minds. Oh, it's a keep on a running of doctrine.

That's what it's for. Surely the nations are literal. Now this is what I did with them. I said, all right, you don't believe a word of this. You don't believe the thousand years. You don't believe that this is just the way that I'm seeing it.

Do you agree that whatever happens here, it happens that the old devil should not deceive the nations any more. Are we agreed on that? And we agreed on that. Then you see, what I believe is that the way back at Calvary he was bound.

Fair enough now, tell me the rest of it. He was bound the way back at Calvary that he should deceive the nations no more. From Calvary to now has he not deceived anybody? Because that's what you're, that's what you're professing.

If you were a millennial, that's what you're trying to say. You're trying to say that he was bound back at Calvary so that they won't be able to deceive anybody any more. He hasn't deceived anybody from then till now.

Satan’s Continuing Deception After Calvary

So I did this with them. I took them over to 2 Corinthians. Would you mind going over there? 2 Corinthians and up the 11th chapter please. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. God writing to these saints at Corinth and he's saying this to them in verse 1, would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly, and indeed bear with me, or as it should be, and indeed ye do bear with me.

For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy. For I have despised you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, Paul was afraid of something, lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtle faith, so your mind could be corrupted.

What was he afraid of, of the devil which teamed up and he couldn't deceive anybody. Let me tell this class that the word beguiled there is a very wonderful Greek word. It's exipati. Some Greek scholars in the class know more about it than I do.

It's the Greek word exipati. And it's the word that's rendered beguiled here, but it's the word that's rendered deceived there. For it beguiled and deceived the serpent. In fact he said he wasn't allowed to deceive anymore.

He's telling me he's bound for what he can't deceive. If Paul knew as much as you knew, he wouldn't have been so afraid, would he? It happens to be that Paul didn't know what you were trying to say. It happens to be that Paul was afraid of the devil doing the same with the saints as he had done with Eve.

And for any sort of second-hand modernist that might be in this class, let me tell you that Paul believed that the serpent beguiled Eve. If you don't believe Genesis chapter 3, I'm telling you it's there all right.

And it happens to be inspired. The Holy Ghost believes the truth. Yes, Paul was afraid that the old devil would steal the truth. He wasn't bound then. Let's have a look at this. See Corinthians, we're at 2nd Corinthians.

Let's go back to chapter 4, 2nd Corinthians 4. He's talking about the gospel here, and he says in verse 3,. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid for them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.

Is this not the devil at his diabolical work of deceiving? Is it not? That's what you told me he was locked up. I'm telling you Paul didn't believe it. And most certainly neither do I. Oh no, I don't think that would work.

Let's go to Acts chapter 5. It becomes a lot clearer there. The Acts of the Apostles chapter 5. It's the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Verse 1, But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, kept back part of the price, kept a bit of the money.

His wife also bequeathed to it and brought a second part and laid it at the apostles' feet, pretending it was the whole sum. But Peter said, because Why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?

Is the devil not abroad then? That you told me he was tied up. That you told me he was tied up that he would deceive the nations no more. I think you'd better rethink it. Because this is long after Calvary I can tell you.

And these are two believers in the church and the old devil has deceived them to bring this story of this money. And now Peter knows the whole story. He says, Why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?

I don't think there's any problem about this at all. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy, and we're at the third chapter. You know, we're talking about the last days of church history here. Verse 1, This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come.

He's writing to Timothy, you know, perilous times shall come for the church. And I believe that with all my heart. Because I don't think that the church is going to go through the great tribulation or anything like that.

I think that the great tribulation, of course, is the wrath of God against wicked men. But I believe that tribulation is the wrath of wicked men against good men. And it may come to us in this part of this island.

Sometimes when I listen to the TV, I wouldn't hardly know what's going on. You wouldn't know what he's got one day or another. He seems to have gotten himself into a bit of a muddle tonight anyway. Never mind, we don't need to discuss it.

But this is something that's sure, that in the last days perilous times shall come for believers. And I'll tell you where they come from. They come from men. For men. There's a lot of them around. Shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemous, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers.

There's a big word for you. My dear friend, you could preach for a night on that just now, and you'd no bother getting on your face and reading. False accusers, incontinent, fierce. Look at this wee bit.

Perilous Last Days and the Call to Separate from Apostasy

Despisers of those that are good. You just take your stand for the Lord. You just live godly in Christ Jesus till you see, my dear friend, you're in for trouble. You know they're traitors, fuzzy, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.

And at the same time, although the word unholy is here, although the word blasphemers are here, although the phrase despisers of those that are good is here, yet they're going to have a form of godliness.

Won't they now? So the ecumenical movement will have a form of godliness, and there's more blasphemers in it than anywhere else. And I think you know the day's fast coming when they're going to despise those that are good.

They're going to blame us for keeping back this bandwagon of theirs. They're going to have a form of godliness. But all the time these old muddliness are going to deny the power thereof. I'm not having prayer meetings three or four times on a Sunday morning.