Our God is Greater

Our God is Greater

Revelation 20:1-6 

Intro: A one-handed catch.

Last week we looked at the end of the tribulation period, when Babylon is defeated and Jesus returns to rule and reign on earth. The tribulation period
is a seven-year period and it will end with Christ’s return. At His return, the heavens rejoice as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords returns and
victory belongs to Him.

Jesus will come to set some things right. The world system will be destroyed, the nations will be defeated, but there will be one more thing that will
need to be set right.

If Christ is to rule and reign on the earth, then Satan must be removed. In order for Satan to be removed, someone has to remove him. You might be preparing
your mind for a great battle, a showdown, a fight to fatigue. But as we see in Revelation 20, there is no such fight, our God is greater than any other.

Read: Revelation 20:1-6

To bind up and subdue Satan, the Lord will send an angel. It is not Jesus, it likely isn’t some high-ranking angel since the angel is not named. The final
importance of Satan is indicated in the fact that an unnamed angel is able to bind him up. There is no battle that takes place, no struggle, the angel
will lay hold of Satan and bind him up in the abyss, which is a holding place, for 1,000 years.

I. Know that the Lord is Above All

• There is no equal to our God. There is no opposite to our God.
  
• We often imagine this huge cosmic struggle going on constantly between God and Satan. We know that that God is ultimately the victor, but for now,
  the outcome might be uncertain or touch and go.
  
• This isn’t true. There is no equal to our Lord. There is none like Him. 

Deuteronomy 4:39, Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above, and on the earth below; there is no other.

• Satan is a created being, previously known as the archangel Lucifer, he has always been a created being. If he has a counterpart, it would be an angel,
  but even that comparison fails because angels are under the authority of God.
  
• Knowing this is important, understanding the power of our Lord, who lives in and is with us always.
  
• Our Lord is above all, and the reality is that Satan is a defeated foe by the victory of Christ on the cross of Calvary.
  

A. There is a real foe

• When Jesus returns, this real foe, the devil, must be bound up, removed, in order for the Lord to reign on earth.
  
• As Jesus returns, the foe is removed. In verse three we understanding that the reason will take place, why Satan must be removed, is so that he cannot
  deceive the nations any longer. 

• This reveals to us a depiction of the primary vehicle of attack, Satan is a deceiver.
  
• Scripture tells us that he seeks whom he may destroy, whom he may deceive. 

I Peter 5:8, Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

• Jesus also gives the contrast between the purposes of Jesus and the purposes of Satan in this world.
  

John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

Illus. Is there really a devil?

• He is not fictitious or to be thought of as a fairy tale, however, he knows his time is short.
  

Revelation 12:12, Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.

• With his removal, the earth will no longer be deceived. This gives us insight into the primary mode of attack he will use today, deception.
  
• If deception is the primary mode of attack, the most potent weapon we have, is the truth of God’s word.
  
• The truth is ever against deception. What we know to be a lie cannot command our respect.
  
• Paul wrote about the armor of God (Ephesians 6), and he started out with the opportunity we have to bind ourselves up in truth. 

B. Wear the belt of truth

• Untruth can only gain credence or acceptance by being disguised, as to appear to be the truth. Falsehood has no power over us until we are led to believe
  and conclude that it is the truth.
  
• Deceiving and getting people to follow lies, under the persuasion that they are following the truth, is the work of Satan. 

John 8:44, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

• What counters lies and deception, is truth. It is the truth that sets us free. 

John 8:31-32, 36, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free…if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

• The truth that we know is that Satan is defeated. 

John 19:30, “It is finished.”

• Victory is won, and though the war goes on today, we do not fight for victory, we fight from victory. 

• When we were saved, Jesus took up residence in our lives, we have new understanding, a new armor, an armor given from God. 

Ephesians 6:11-12, Put on the full armor of God, so that can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

• When you’re fighting with your boss, your employees, fighting with your parents, or your teenagers, that is the wrong battle.
  

Illus. Let’s get this done quickly, I’m on your side!

• These difficulties come up personally, where we feel someone is out to get us and we must fight. But there is a better way, we should put on God’s
  armor.
  
• There is a deceiver who would like you to think that it’s those people you need to fight against. 1 Peter
  
• In 1 Peter 5:8, Peter doesn’t identify Satan as THE adversary, but as your adversary. You might think, I’m not that important, the devil isn’t worried
  about little old me…. “your adversary” makes it personal.
  
• It is God’s truth that sets you free. Wear the belt of truth, have your life bound up in truth, not deception. 

II. Choose Jesus

• When we choose Jesus, we choose victory. This victory is available today and for eternity.
  
• When Satan is sealed up for 1,000 years, he will not be able to deceive the nations any longer and Christ will reign on earth.
  
• You might be thinking, “well, that was easy, why doesn’t that just happen today, bind the enemy up!”
  
• Love requires a choice. If there is no other choice to make, a person can only choose Jesus. We choose Jesus today, knowing that there is an alternative
  to that choice.
  
• During the millennium, the citizens of earth will acknowledge and submit to the Lordship of Jesus. It will be a time of perfectly administrated righteousness
  on earth. 

A. He has made a way

• Verses 4 and 5 detail that the church will rule and reign with Jesus during the millennium.
  
• Verse 5 references the first resurrection. It is important to understand that the first resurrection mentioned is not a single point, rather it is
  all those who have received Jesus and are included in salvation.
  
• The first resurrection includes Jesus as the first fruits, those who believe in Jesus and pass away, believers who are raptured, those who are martyred
  in the tribulation and did not take the mark of the beast, and the Old Testament saints who believed in Yahweh and died before Jesus came. 

1 Corinthians 15:20,23, But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep… But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.

• Jesus depicted as the firstfruits means that He is the first of more to come. It means that He has made a way.
  

Illus. In the Old Testament, there was a Feast of Firstfruits depicted the day after the Passover. It would take place the day after the Passover and the Jews would wave wheat from their crops toward heaven.

• As in the firstfruits offered to God, the Jews were assured of God’s blessing on the whole harvest; Jesus is the firstfruit because there is more to
  come. That’s us.
  
• The first death is physical, the second death is eternal. Praise be to God because there is victory in Christ, the second death has no power, Jesus
  has made a way.
  
• Despite what might be going wrong today, you are blessed, you are going to heaven and death has no power over your life.
  
• Today we have the opportunity to walk with a perspective beyond today, beyond what is temporary. 

B. Live as Citizens of Heaven

• Our Lord is the victor and we are victorious through Him, and will be victorious with Him.
  
• This perspective of what is to come can shape our decisions, actions and attitude. 

Philippians 3:20, But our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

• Our citizenship is in heaven. Our perspective should remain there in the way we speak, our conversation, our lifestyle. Your citizenship is revealed
  in the way you live today.
  
• Are there bad things going on today? Yes. Do things always go the way we want? No. Remember where your citizenship is.
  
• Spend your days, your weeks and your years well. This life you live has been entrusted to you, and the God you serve, our God, He is greater. 

Illus. In Matthew 25:14-30, a parable is depicted of a man who went on a journey and entrusted his possessions to them. To one 5, to another 2 and to another 1, each according to his ability.

Illus. Time to get in the game!

Colossians 3:23 -24, Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

Revelation 20:1-6    NASB