Focusing on what we can know Revelation 20:1-10 July 24th, 2016
I. An OVERVIEW of differing IDEAS.
A. PRE-Millennial 1000 year REIGN after the RETURN. (#1, #2)
B. POST-Millennial TRANSFORMATION before the RETURN. (#3)
C. A -Millennial SYMBOLIC reign BETWEEN cross and return. (#4) !
II. Some IMPORTANT things to REMEMBER…
A. Its OKAY to DISAGREE…
B. Its important to LISTEN and LEARN…
C. All STRESS some aspects while MISSING others.
Let me be completely honest. This is a week that I have not been looking forward too. The millennium is a complex subject in the Bible, and one about which many people disagree. That strikes me as interesting due to the fact that this is the only place in Scripture where it is referenced. But indulge me for a minute, lets just review what the different opinions are and then remind ourselves of what they are..opinions.
1. Where do you fall on the spectrum when it comes to your ideas about the
millennium? Have they come from study or from hearing others ideas presented to you?
2. What would you see as the benefits and drawbacks to both the position that you hold as well as the ones that you dont hold?
III. What the TEXT clearly TELLS us.
A. Satan is BOUND, RELEASED, and DEFEATED. (v.2,3,7-10)
B. RESURRECTION is a REALITY. (v.4-6)
C. Jesus will not BE King, He IS King. (Mt. 28:18; Rev. 1:5; 20:1-6, 11)
D. The FUTURE is in Jesus HANDS. (v.1-3,7-10)
E. The BEST is yet to COME. (Rev.21-22)
So what can we know? There are a few things that stand out, although some of them we dont fully understand. The key idea that we need to take away from this Revelation of Jesus is that He wont become King…
He ALREADY IS the King. The dragon has no power except what is given to him by Jesus.
3. How do you explain the binding and releasing of the dragon? What does this truth, regardless of exactly how it plays out, say to the believer?
4. If Jesus is already King, how do you convey that to people who look at the evil present in the world today?
5. Do you live as if the best is yet to come? What would a life lived that way really look like?
IV. The REVELATION for TODAY.
A. EVIL is a present REALITY. (Mt. 13:27-30)
B. The SAFEST place is in the KINGDOM of GOD. (Lk. 12:32)
C. Our LIVES (and our ETERNITY) are not PASSIVE. (v.4; Phil. 2:12-13; 2
Tim. 2:11-13)
D. The KING will make everything RIGHT. (Heb. 6:10; Rev. 21:5)
What to take home for a passage this complicated? Thats a great question. But dont let the complexity of the interpretations distract you from whats really clear in the text. Yes, evil is very real and very much opposed to the followers of Christ. But there is nowhere safer than in the Kingdom of Jesus. Today, and forever, we need to obey and surrender our lives to the calling, trusting that the King will make everything right.
6. In what areas of your life are you fearful? What does this passage say to those areas?
7. How should an active life of a disciple look?
8. If the King will make everything right, what are the implications of that for us today?