Revelation 19:11-20:15

Good morning, church. And it is a good morning for us because God’s people are gathered to hear God speak through His word – and that is a very good thing. And I pray that as we’ve gathered to hear God speak through the book of Revelation we have been encouraged, that we have been challenged and we have been reminded that we have nothing to be afraid of.

Having said that, today, we’re talking about Satan. And Satan, for many Christians, around the world is an object of much fear and dread. In many cultures, there are strong beliefs of superstitions that surround him. And in many ways, Satan is full of mystery and, yet, in other ways, he is very, very clear. He is the chief enemy of God. He works through lies and deceit. And ahe hates God and he hates Christ. And because he hates God and Christ, he especially hates people who are Christian, like you… and me.

Now, how do we stand firm against Satan and not fear Him? How can we have hope to resist such a spiritual power? That’s why we need to listen to God’s voice in Revelation.

And I think God actually tells us a story in Revelation. Now, I don’t mean some sort of fiction or make-believe story. But, as He peels back our reality to reveal the world as He sees it, God gives us the highs and lows of a great story in Revelation. It has characters and side adventures. It has detailed and, yet, grand language, with evil dragons and fearless prophets, with horrific plagues and terrific displays of worship to God. And there are real stakes, like a good story – winners and losers, good guys and bad guys. And of course, no really good story can end without a happy ending.

And so, today, we’ve come to the climax of God’s story in Revelation, where the conflict is at its high point. God has judged the earth by pouring out the seven bowls of His wrath. God has toppled the great and arrogant city of Babylon, the pinnacle of systemic evil in human institutions. And now, God destroys the final enemy, the god of this age, the prince of the air, Satan.

So, let’s pray before we begin.

Dear God, we have gathered to hear you speak today. So, Father, tell us a story. Tell us the story of things to come and the things that should happen now. Tell us a story that will not leave us unchanged. Tell us a story that will equip us to live fearlessly in this life, for the sake of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

I’m going to tell you two stories. The first story sets us up for our story in Revelation. So, two stories – first the set up, then Revelation. And then I’ll close with some reflections. Well, let me tell you a story.

A long, long time ago, after God had created every part of creation by His voice, he finally created humanity. Humanity was capable. Humanity was intelligent. But, most importantly, humanity was made in the image of God. They were to be rulers of God’s good creation, rightful carers over the earth, so long as they listened to God’s voice.

But Satan hates God. He is so overflowing with hatred that everything Satan does is against God. Every breath he takes is in defiance against God and His rule. So, Satan entered humanity’s world, God’s world. And, in the form of a serpent, he asks humans, “Did God really say that? Can you really trust His voice?”

And no sooner said than done, doubt and temptation didn’t just enter humanity’s world. Doubt and temptation entered human hearts. It shattered their relationship with God. And God’s voice was broken to them because they had listened to the voice of Satan, instead.

Now, there was another time when God was speaking to Satan. Satan says to God, “I’ve been roaming around the whole earth, but I can’t find anyone good.”

And God says, “Oh, really? How about this man, my servant? He is good, a man who listens to God and hates evil.”

But Satan says, “Pffftt… That guy? I bet if you took away every good thing from him; if his whole life was destroyed; if he was poor, diseased, lonely and grief-stricken, I BET YOU that your servant would curse you to your face.”

Now, God very well knows what Satan was trying to do. He knows that all Satan wants is for God’s good servant to fail and so for God to fail. But nevertheless, he permitted Satan’s request. And Satan took every liberty he could to destroy the life of God’s servant. Satan killed his livestock and even his family, so that God’s servant would stop listening to the voice of God. 

Satan tempted the servant by showing him how unfair God was. And the servant genuinely doubted God. Towards the end, the servant wasn’t sure anymore whether God was still good and fair, or if he was evil and unjust, or if he cared at all. Satan’s voice was so loud, it was like God was entirely silent.

Now, there was one more time Satan wanted to destroy another one of God’s servants. The servant was travelling through the desert when Satan began his test. First, when the servant was starving, Satan offered him bread. But, God’s servant refused. Then, knowing the servant had nothing, Satan offered him all the kingdoms of the earth. And again, God’s servant refused. And finally, putting him at the top of the tallest temple, he asked him to jump off to see if His God would really save him, His beloved servant. But again, God’s servant didn’t listen to Satan’s voice. Three times Satan tempted him, and three times he refused.

For, the servant was no ordinary servant. He wasn’t just good, he was the only servant that was perfect. This servant was here on earth to save humanity and to destroy Satan.

So, Satan had to devise another plan. If he couldn’t deceive this servant, he has to deceive someone else – someone else who would listen to Satan and ignore God.

And lo and behold, he found one of the servant’s closest followers, no, not just a follower, but a friend. Temptation and doubt filled the heart of this friend and it didn’t take much for him to listen to Satan’s voice – only 30 silver pieces – the price of a slave.

And so, finally, Satan had won. Satan had defeated God, by destroying his servant, by deceiving the whole world, even his closest friends, to betray and abandon him. All is lost because, well, Satan is victorious… or so he thought.

Little did he know that by bruising God’s servant, he was left open to being crushed. You see, God’s servant knew what he was doing. He needed to be destroyed by Satan to take on the sin of his people. He needed to die, so that God could raise him to life and to defeat Satan’s greatest weapon – death. And so, in his death and resurrection God’s servant defangs and disarms Satan so that he can rescue his people out of Satan’s kingdom and into God’s; out of the kingdom of darkness and into God’s wonderful light. This was his mission all along.

And one day, when he’s finished with his work on earth, he comes back… he comes back, this time, with a different mission. His mission is to destroy Satan, not just to bring his demise, but to defeat him, once and for all; to bring him to judgement and to fix everything he’s broken. But, that day is still to come. And that’s the end of our first story.

Now, friends, at this point, we need to pause from our stories because our story will soon continue into our passage in Revelation. At this point, let me ask you: in each of these mini-episodes, with Satan, who is in control? Who is in control?

When Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan’s lies about God’s word, who was in control?

When Job had his life destroyed by Satan and he began to doubt God’s goodness, who was in control?

And when Jesus was tempted by Satan and when Satan entered Judas to betray Jesus, who was in control?

You see, stories are a funny thing. They tell us an account of what happens, but when you don’t reach the end, the story becomes very different.

What would happen if I told you these stories without the ending with Jesus’ death and resurrection? It’d be a really bad story.

And that’s like living the Christian life, and not reading Revelation. Because your story, my story is not over. Without Revelation, we could have no idea what the end of our story is like.

Can you imagine living in the early church and enduring the horrific persecution without knowing their ultimate end? Can you imagine the fear and trembling of their hearts when faced by the works of Satan? Can you imagine the hopelessness of their faith and existence, as they see friends, family, church brothers and sisters relentlessly taken from them, not knowing when they will be next? Or maybe even worse, when they give up their faith and turn back to following the ways of the world?

You see, Satan still wants us, Christians, to turn our back to God and live the ways of the world, just like we learned last week, with Babylon. Things haven’t changed. Although thousands of years have passed, behind whichever city we live in, is the same devil that lures Christians away from God. The same Satan was behind the persecution of the early church, and he is behind the temptations of our world today.

But, the story’s not over yet. Because there are three ways God reverses Satan’s work, each in its own vision, or like a mini-episodes, where God rights every wrong.

Let’s continue the story.

Now, in the first vision, well, God’s servant tells us his name – He is called the word of God. And this time, the word has not come to save, he has come to judge. He has not come to bring peace, but he has come to wage war.

And he cries out across the battlefield to Satan’s minions, his mobsters, the beast and the false prophet, and he says,

“Hey! Remember when I entered the city on a lowly donkey? Now, I ride a horse, pure and white. Remember when you spat in my face and crowned me with that crown of thorns? Now, I wear real crowns, one for each of the kingdoms I rule. Remember when you dressed me with a purple robe splattered with my own blood? Now, I wear a robe dipped in the blood of my enemies. Remember when you made me walk alone, up that hill, carrying my own cross? Well, now I have heaven’s armies with me. Remember the plaque written above my head, where I was crucified, that said “king of the Jews”? Now, it is written that I am the “king of kings and lord of lords”.

You have dined with Babylon, the prostitute, and you were drunk with the blood of my people. You killed them senselessly and ate their flesh, like they were your animals. So, now, gather and come to my wedding feast. You don’t need to bring anything for the meal, for tonight, you will be the meal. You feasted on the people I loved, so now, you will be a feast for the birds. When I’m done with you, you will all be bird food.”

So, the armies are armed and ready. They are prepared for a cosmic battle – the greatest the world has ever seen. A quintessential moment in all of history. Good vs evil. God vs. Satan. And…

the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet

And like a flash of light, or a gust of wind, the battle is won…

It was a walk in the park. It was a piece of cake. The Word and His armies could have fought it blind-folded and one hand tied behind their backs and they still would have won.

And the beast and the false prophet are arrested and receive their just punishment. They are thrown alive into the lake of fire… and their armies – they were dinner for the birds. This is the end of the first vision.

Now, the second vision is… mmm… not so straight forward. You see, God’s people on earth were told to do the impossible. God told them to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. Why? Because that’s what their saviour did.

And so, Satan took full advantage of this to beat, to extort, to torture and to kill thousands and thousands of Christians, just for listening to God’s voice. And for the longest time, Christians were silent to the slaughter, just like their saviour.

Now, this time, God’s people wouldn’t be taking it anymore. It will be Satan who takes it. They won’t be the ones being imprisoned anymore, it will be Satan who is imprisoned.

God sends an angel to bind Satan and to throw him into a prison. So while Satan is shut up from leading more people to death, those who were killed by Satan… are brought to new life. While Satan is arrested and thrown into captivity, those who were killed by Satan reign freely with God.

And when Satan is finally set free, he is only set free for one purpose… and it is to be destroyed. His days are numbered. And his end is nigh.

You see, God wants Satan to do what Satan does best – to steal, kill and destroy. God knows he can’t do it alone, because Satan can’t do anything by himself. So, he’s going to copy his minions’ homework. He hasn’t learned a thing. He gathers an army from around the world for one last battle – a last ditch effort to destroy God’s people before he is ended.

And, perhaps to his surprise, he actually reaches God’s city. He manages to surround its walls. And he prepares his army for battle.

But Satan, not only has he not learned from the beast and the false prophet, he also hasn’t read the scriptures.

You see, the story of Gog and Magog is an ancient one from a prophet long ago, called Ezekiel. It tells of a great army that represents the pinnacle of evil in this world. All the evil practice and corruption and vile, violent atrocities are symbolised by this army, called Gog and Magog.

And in this ancient story, the evil army puts God’s people in this exact predicament. God’s people were surrounded too. They were helpless too. And just in a matter of moments, they were also about to be destroyed. But, this story is no ordinary story. It was a promise – a two-part promise. A promise God made to, one day, destroy evil once and for all. And a promise God made to, one day, restore His people to know and love Him. And if you know God, a promise is a promise.

So, in our story, at just the right time, God sends fire to destroy evil forever. At once, Satan is thrown into the lake of fire, where he will be forever and ever. As promised, evil is no more. This is the end of the second vision.

Now, this is the third vision. With Satan defeated and the end… of the real war that ends all wars, there is but one last thing – to call every human to account. Every sin, every evil committed will be brought to justice. Every wrong will be made right by judgement.

And so, the judge of the living and the dead takes his seat and the trial is in session. There before him are books upon books – accounts of every deed done, every word uttered and every thought pondered. Each human’s life is laid bare. Every wrong pronounced, prosecuted and condemned.

One by one, person after person is judged and sentenced. Even the places of the dead begin to cough them up – the sea, death and Hades. They are tipped out into the courtroom to have their hearing.

For every one who is not written in the book of life – the book of people whose sins are forgiven by the Word – every one who is not written in that book, is thrown into the same place – the lake of fire.

And when the seas are emptied and death and Hades are cleared, even death and Hades – these places of the dead are thrown into the fire. There is no more use for those places anymore. For their time is up and a new time has began. This is the end of the third vision.

So friends, that’s our story – what did you think? At morning tea, you can chat about it. Seriously, ask one another what you thought about the story. What did you like about the story? What are things you didn’t like from the story? Which part of the story surprised you the most?

Well, I think the most surprising part of the story, for me, was that I learned something about myself. I learned that I don’t know if I can imagine evil defeated. I don’t think I can imagine Satan destroyed. I just can’t really understand that. Like, I can understand it conceptually and theoretically. But, in my heart of hearts, that’s not a reality I can ever imagine knowing. And I wonder how deficient my Christian life is because of that.

I wonder what I’m missing out on if I believe I live in a world where evil will rule forever, where cheating always gets you ahead, where being a bully always brings you power, where lying always makes people trust you more, where living for yourself is always the best way to live. It’s hard for me to believe anything else, because that’s very much the world we live in now. That’s the world we see and experience today.

And if I’m being honest, when I sin and live in the ways of the world, the way Satan wants me to, things seem to feel good at first. I get my way after that argument. I get more respect from my friends, from my boss, after I do this thing, pretending it’s for them. I feel good after I get a hit from my sinful addictions. Let’s be honest, it feels good to sin and when we listen to Satan.

And yet, God tells us a different story and he shows us a world where we can see how all these rules that we are so familiar with as Satan reigns, how they will all be destroyed one day. He shows us a world that is crumbling every day, and a way of life that is meaningless and so, so destructive.

And if I believe in what God showed me today, and the destruction of Satan, then I wouldn’t be afraid of doing the right thing, of listening to God’s voice.

If the destiny of Satan and evil is to be destroyed and living for Jesus means I get to spend eternity with him, then I don’t need to be afraid of being more generous than I should. I don’t need to be afraid of social rejection when I invite someone to church for Christmas. I don’t need to be afraid of job pressures, and relational issues, and problems with my body, financial security, and marks and exams, and whether people think I’m stupid, and if people like me. I don’t need to be afraid of those things. I need to be wise and godly and caring over those things.

But, if I know that Satan twists those good things to become a source of fear that I obsess over and am distracted by, then I don’t need to be afraid, because his days are numbered. He’s doomed for death, and I’m destined for life. That is the ending to my story

So for now, and today, I take seriously the Lord’s prayer when he taught us to say,

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”

I will try to incorporate guarding against Satan into my daily prayers, because when I think about it, I virtually never pray that. And I will pray that God will make me more aware of the daily moments of temptation. I need to be more aware of the ways I just live like the world does, so I can resist it more and more everyday.

And even though, I will take Satan more seriously because… he is a prowling lion waiting for someone to devour. But, he’s a lion on a leash. God is in control of his destiny and God is in control of Satan now. Satan does nothing without God’s permission. So, I don’t need to be afraid of him.

And lastly, when I think of Jesus, I usually think of victory over sin and death. But our story today shows me that Satan is part of that victory, and since it’s the climax of Revelation, perhaps this victory is even more important than the others. So, this Christmas, I won’t just remember Jesus coming to save us from our sins, I’ll also remember that he came to destroy Satan forever. And by doing so, he ushers in a new world. A world we can’t even begin to understand.

But, that’s a story for another day.