Devil's Days Are Numbered

SATAN’S DAYS ARE NUMBERED

Rev. 20:1-3,10

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. An angel was once given a special assignment—to go down to earth and make a list of all the people who had misbehaved. Two months went by.

2. Then one afternoon the angel came flapping wearily through the Pearly Gates to St. Peter. “Sir,” he said, “you don’t know the magnitude of this job. I’m going to need some help.”

3. Impossible,” St. Peter replied tersely. “We’re shorthanded up here as it is. You’ll have to go it alone.”

4. Then the angel was struck with an idea. “Saint Peter, suppose I made a list of all the people who didn’t misbehave. It would be much shorter and I could finish it in a week.” “Good thinking,” said St. Peter.

5. The angel returned to earth and, as promised, he was back in a week with his list. St. Peter studied it and ordered him to write a letter to everyone on the list, commending them for their good behavior.

6. “And do You know what else the letter said?” he asked. [When the people say, “What?”, say,] “AHA! I can see that YOU didn’t get one of the letters!” [James Dent in Charleston Gazette].

B. TEXT

[As Christians we know the end of the story, we have read the final chapter, we know that the devil is going down. We should have that peace; we should have that hope; we should be excited.]

1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and

sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations any more until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever” Rev. 20:1-3, 10.

C. THESIS

1. The New Testament reveals much about Satan’s inner nature, by his descriptions and names.

2. Devil (diabolos) means “false accuser, Satan, slanderer” in Greek. Satan is called “dragon” in Rev. 12:3;20:2, as well as the “evil one.” Rev. 12:9 calls him “that ancient serpent,” and Mt. 4:3 calls him the “tempter.” Other names for Satan include Beelzebub or Beelzebul (Mt. 12:27), Belial (2 Cor. 6:15), “god of this world/age” (2 Cor. 4:4), prince of this world (John 12:31), and father of lies (John 8:44).

3. Tonight we're looking at how "Satan's Days Are Numbered." We're going to see how this is a 1). cause for rejoicing, 2). a cause for concern, 3). and a parallel that should spur us to action.

I. CAUSE FOR REJOICING!

A. HE KNOWS IT’S GETTING CLOSE

1. In Matthew 8:29, a fearful demon cried to the Lord Jesus, “Have you come to torment us before the time?” It’s amazing that the Church doesn’t understand what the devil does.

2. Even the demons know there is an appointed time for their judgment, and they have a good idea of how close it is.

3. The devil’s going down soon—the reason you see so much demonic activity in our world today, is that his time is almost up.

4. The devil’s going down, the church is going up. We need to realize that his defeat and our victory are at hand. I believe we should give it all we have because we are in the last days.

5. I like the theology of a truck driver named Ricky that

visited a church. He said, “Pastor, I believe I should work harder for Jesus than I did for the devil.”

B. LISTEN TO THE GREAT ANNOUNCEMENT:

1. “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” Rev.12:10-11.

2. How wonderful! No more accuser; no more temptation; no more adversary; no more sickness; no more death; no more sorrow or crying; no more evil! What a wonderful promise!

3. Revelation 20 tells us that Satan will be thrown into the Lake of fire. He will never get out! Previous to this he was put in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years, but still to be released for a time.