The Second COming fo Satan
The Glorious Appearing
The Second Coming of Satan
Daniel 7:13-14
 
We are continuing our study on "The Glorious Appearing" focusing on the eventual return of Christ to the earth to set up a millennial kingdom.  If you were here last time we met, I mentioned that Satan will be bound for that time and for 1,000 years there will be no satanic influence on the earth. 
 
That hearkens back to the Garden of Eden.  It was a  perfect environment and a perfect place for man to live and enjoy perfect fellowship with God.  Adam walked with God and God walked with Adam.  And all was well until Satan entered the Garden of Eden.
 
And when Satan entered sin entered.  And when sin entered, man fell from the place that God intended for him to have.  And now for about 10,000 years we’ve had the influence of sin on the earth. 
 
But there comes a day when the Lord Jesus comes to the earth, defeats the false prophet and the antichrist and the armies of this world, and binds Satan away from the presence of mankind. 
 
John talks about that in Revelation 20, but it is also mentioned in the Old Testament by Daniel.  Daniel is to the Old Testament what the book of Revelation is to the New Testament.  In fact, they give great commentary to one another. 
 
Daniel 7:13-14
 
Now compare that with what we read in Revelation 19.  John said he saw heaven open.  He said that he saw the clouds and the Son of Man coming with clouds.  He said he saw a horse and a rider on that horse.  And he saw a great army behind that rider.  And he described the rider as a mighty conqueror. 
 
Here we find very similar language, but remember, Daniel was writing some 700 years before Christ appeared the first time.
 
Now obviously, “The Ancient of Days” is referencing God the Father.  And we find a description of a great world kingdom that had been, that is and will come.  In other words, he is describing an everlasting kingdom.  This is a kingdom that will exist on the earth and it will be ruled by the one who is called "one likened to the Son of Man."  We know that to be the Lord Jesus ruling on the earth for a 1,000 years as a part of an everlasting kingdom. 
 
Now, in order for this kingdom of God to be everything Scripture promises it to be, there must be first of all,
 
1.  The Removal of Satan
 
Revelation 20:1
 
Here we see the reality of Satan's person.  We get a little insight into his strength and power.  When it comes time to bind him, an angel comes down out of heaven, having the key to the abyss.  This angel who comes down out of heaven is a mighty angel.  We are not told the name of this angle, but this is a real angel of God, an angel that God has dispatched to lay hands on Satan and to incarcerate him.
He comes down out of heaven.  He unlocks the key to the abyss and he has in his hand a great chain.  This is language that tells us he is going to chain the power of Satan.  He is going to restrain the power that Satan has had on the earth.  We think Satan has great power and he does, but here we can see that God's power is so great that only one of His angels is needed to restrain the power of Satan.
 
What is the abyss?  It is a place of darkness.  Abyss means a pit, a dungeon.  It is mentioned in Jude.  It is mentioned in Peter.  It talks about a place which is reserved for the most evil demons of hell.  There are demons that will not be loosed on the earth until the tribulation time. And then in Revelation 9 they are loosed like scorpion like creatures to go out and torment the souls and minds of men.  This is the abyss.  He has the key to the abyss.
 
Then notice verse 2
 
Why is he called the dragon? Because the dragon is dangerous.  In all of mythology we know that the dragon stands for danger.  Even in children's books the dragon always stands for danger.  So here is a personage who is very, very dangerous.  It is interesting to me that he is called here the dragon.
 
He is called the serpent.  Why?  Because he is devious.  We think about a slithering snake that can become so much like the ground and environment that we cannot see him or discern him. 
 
And we are told in Genesis that the serpent was more subtle or devious than any other beast of the field. 
 
\And Satan, before he crawled on his belly like a serpent, even when he could stand on his two feet was devious.  He can change himself into different personalities.  He can change himself into different likenesses.  Paul says that Satan himself can transform himself into a minister of light. 
 
And then he is called a devil.  He is discouraging.  He comes to discourage the people of God.  And discouragement is one of the most worn tools of the devil.  If he can discourage us from serving God, then he can win the victories over us.
 
He is called Satan.  That implies that he he is destructive.  Everything he does is destructive.  He never builds up, he always tears down.  He never edifies, he always come to destroy. Jesus said the thief comes to steal and to kill and to destroy.  I am come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. These are Satan's personal characteristics.
 
Revelation 20:3
 
It says that he is locked up so that he will no longer be able to deceive the nations.  Think of all the deception down through the years.  Think about how Hitler was deceived.  He was simply one in a long list that thought the Jew had to be destroyed.  I’m not removing their personal responsibility, but Satan was also involved. 
 
That’s how he works.  He works through deception.  He deceives the leaders of nations.  Then he deceives the followers of the deceived leaders.  How could the followers of these evil men be deceived by these evil men?
Because they are deceived of Satan, they are blinded by Satan.  So before there can be a thousand years of peace, Satan has to be confined.
 
We are told in particular that he is bound so that he cannot deceive the nations.  So Satan is removed from the earth and confined in the abyss for a set period of time of 1,000 years. 
 
Then notice
 
2.  The Reign of the Saints
 
Revelation 20:4
 
Obviously these are tribulation saints. They refused to take the mark of the beast; they refused to bow down and worship the beast and it cost them their life.
 
But you know that if you live for the Lord you don’t stay dead! "They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years." 
 
We talked about the first resurrection last time.  The first resurrection includes the Old Testament saints, the New Testament saints, and the tribulation saints.  The Scripture goes on to say "blessed are those who are a part of the first resurrection for on them the second death has no power". 
 
Then following their resurrection, they are given some responsibilities; “judgment was committed unto them.  Here is a tremendous role reversal.  All of these seven years, particularly the last 3½ years of the tribulation, they have been punished.  They have been hounded.  They have been hurt. 
They have been hunted.  And now they are sitting on judgment throne.  They are going to judge.  We’ll  take a look at this judgment at another time and what we discover is they will judge the nations on the basis on how those nations treated Israel during the tribulation time.  There will be a judgment on the nations.
 
By the way, that is pictured in the judgment of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. 
 
He will say to the goats, "depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire." But He will say unto His sheep, "Enter into my kingdom ye blessed of my Father". 
 
What kingdom is He talking about there?  He is talking about His earthly kingdom.  The kingdom He establishes on earth.  And the basis for that judgment is how they have treated Israel during the tribulation time.  Those that gave Israel shelter, food, and water are recognized for that, and those who did not are going to be judged and given their punishment.  And these first resurrection saints have some responsibility in that time because judgment was committed unto them.
 
They also have a rule.  They live and they reign with Christ for a thousand years.  So throughout the tribulation period, these believers, that includes you and me, it includes the tribulation saints, it includes all of the believers, are going to assist Christ with His reign.
 
Then notice Revelation 20:5-6a
 
 
 
Now those who have part in the first resurrection are provided an immortal body and they are protected from what the Bible calls the second death, or eternal hell.
 
Now look at the second resurrection. 
 
Revelation 20:13-15
 
The second resurrection is powerful.  It says here that those buried in different places, diverse places were raised in a resurrection body to stand before God.  And no matter where they are, no matter where the elements of their bodies are, they will stand in a body of corruption, to stand at the judgment bar of God to give an account for what they did with Jesus Christ.
 
The second resurrection is personal.  It is personal.  They will stand one by one. 
 
Verse 15
 
It says, "15If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life..."  See it is very personal.  If their name was not found written in the book of life, they were cast into the lake of fire.  It is not a matter of a group of people; it is people individually standing before God.  And their name must be in the book of life.  They must individually give an account of themselves. 
 
This is a permanent resurrection.  They are thrown in to the lake of fire and the lake of fire is a permanent judgment.  How do I know that? 
 
 
Well, because the beast and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire in chapter 19 and in chapter 20, a thousand years later, they are still in the lake of fire.  It is a permanent judgment, the second resurrection. 
 
So, you don't want to be in the second resurrection.  That is the resurrection of damnation.  You want to be in the first resurrection which is a resurrection of salvation.  You have the first resurrection and then it says the rest of the dead live not until the thousand year reign of Christ is over.
 
See the contrast?  on the one hand, there is eternal lostness and separation from God.  In contrast to that we see
 
the purity of the saints.  They are happy and they are holy.  "Blessed are those who have a part in the first resurrection."  Blessed and holy, they are happy, they are blessed and they are holy the Bible says.  The second death has no power over them.
 
Then in verse 6 you see the position of the saints
 
"...they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years." 
 
In a real sense we are royalty.  We are priests and this refers to our righteousness.  The Bible says, "even now we are a kingdom of priests", that we have God's royalty, God's righteousness, not through anything we have done, but through what Christ has done for us.  We have the royalty of Christ.  We are heirs with God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.  And we have the righteousness of Christ.
 
We could spend a lot of time there, but I’ve got to move on.  First we find the removal of Satan, then the reign of the saints, then we see
 
3.  The Rebellion of the Sinners
 
verse 7
 
Why in the world would God release him?  Everything is going great for a thousand years.  I mean, the world is doing fine.  Everybody is well and happy.  Why is he released? 
 
There is some unfinished business in the kingdom.  In this period of time called the millennium there will be people born who are of human flesh and they will be born with a sinful nature. They are the offspring of tribulation saints who are alive at the 2nd coming of Christ.  They will not have received a glorified body.  They are able to reproduce.  They are fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.
 
And during the reign of Christ, they will obey Christ because it says He will rule with a rod of iron but when Satan is released, the sin nature within them will respond to his temptations and just as Adam and Eve followed him in the perfect Garden of Eden, they will rebel against the Son of God.   
 
Then God will demonstrate once again that His Word is true, that all the sociologists and all the analysts who say if man just has a perfect environment, if man has all the food he needs and all the clothes he needs and if man has all the equality, he will not do the things that he does. 
 
 
God will show that even after all those years when everybody has everything that they could possibly need, that when given a chance, they will still follow Satan.  And here we discover that what God said a long time ago is really true when He declared, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17).
 
And notice what happens: Revelation 20:8-10
 
I told you that the beast and false prophet a thousand years later are still in the lake of fire and now Satan must join them and there they are tormented forever.   By the way, you cannot torment a dead body. You can disgrace or defile a dead body, but you cannot torment a person who is in a grave.  They know nothing. 
 
This is why hell is not a grave.  Hell is not lacking the consciousness of existence.  Hell is a place of consciousness.  It is a place of memory and it is a place of conscious existence.  There is a real fiery lake.  There is a real place of punishment.  And the Bible makes it very clear that it is an eternal place, forever and ever.  If you think that heaven is eternal then you have to think that hell is eternal because the same word that the Bible uses to describe heaven eternal is used to describe the eternality of hell, the very same word.
 
Well, that’s a good jumping off spot.  We’ll take another look at the thousand year reign of Christ next time and see more about how celestial beings and terrestrial beings will live together and a little bit more about how believers in glorified bodies will interact with people in natural bodies.  I hope you will be here.  Let’s pray.