And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. Revelation 20:1, 2.
The revelator foretells the banishment of Satan and the condition of chaos and desolation to which the earth is to be reduced, and he declares that this condition will exist for a thousand years. After presenting the scenes of the Lord’s second coming and the destruction of the wicked, the prophecy continues: “I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” Revelation 20:1-3.
That the expression “bottomless pit” represents the earth in a state of confusion and darkness is evident from other scriptures. Concerning the condition of the earth “in the beginning,” the Bible record says that it “was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Genesis 1:2. Prophecy teaches that it will be brought back, partially at least, to this condition. Looking forward to the great day of God, the prophet Jeremiah declares: “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down.” Jeremiah 4:23-26.
Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years. Limited to the earth, he will not have access to other worlds to tempt and annoy those who have never fallen. It is in this sense that he is bound: there are none remaining, upon whom he can exercise his power. He is wholly cut off from the work of deception and ruin which for so many centuries has been his sole delight.
Maranatha p. 307
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Prayer Requests
—–Please pray for Eileen who is having some health problems. Pray that the doctor will figure out what is going on and that it will be nothing serious. Pray also for Brian who is at AFCOE. Ron needs pray as he is still in a lot of pain because of his broken collarbone. Rose
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Dear Friends
Many years ago, my grandmother was going about her daily routine when, suddenly, she felt something very strange inside her nose. She wondered why all of a sudden she felt like something was crawling around in there. She started sneezing and sneezing, but instead of being sneezed out, that bug was drawn up into her sinuses. My grandmother, who had felt fine just moments before, now felt like she had a terrible cold as her body tried to rid itself of that foreign substance. That bug must have held on tightly, because he stayed inside.
A few days of misery followed. Finally my grandmother could stand it no longer and went to the doctor. After trying several easy ways to get that bug out, he finally had to remove it surgically. At last my grandmother was rid of that offending creature. Then she could heal from the infection it had caused, although she was in a lot of pain for awhile.
How much sin is like that tiny bug. Once it gets inside, it holds on tightly and will not let go. Once we allow it even a tiny entrance, it takes over everything. We can fool ourselves into believing that we can stop sinning any time we want to, but that is not the case. We can only exclaim as did the apostle Paul, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Rom 7:24
Praise God! There is a Great Physician waiting to help us. Indeed, He is longing to rid us of the sin bug in our life. He greatly desires to for us to call upon Him that He may cleanse us before it is too late. With tears in His voice, He pleads, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” “Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.Eze 33:11; Joel 2:12, 13
Sometimes when the Great Physician is cutting away the bug of sin in our life, it is very painful. Paul speaks of this very thing, “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Heb 12:5-11
May we look to the Great Physician to rid us from the sin bug that has such a hold upon us. May we exclaim as did Paul, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal 2:20 In view of such love, may we live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:12-14 May we allow Him to have full control of every aspect of our life is my prayer.
Rose
Satan is Bound