Here we are, nearing the end of the Book of Revelation.Chapter 20 pretty much wraps up all the descriptions of judgment that will come upon evil and sin. This chapter is sort of “Evil’s last stand.”Once again, in this chapter, we see the power and holy judgment of God on display. Once again, we’re reminded that we can trust the promises of God.Join me in prayer as we begin our study of this chapter.(prayer)Ok, we’re going to see five observations in this chapter, so let’s get to it.First, we see that . . . I. The dragon is bound.Now, let’s remember who the dragon is. We know from earlier in Revelation that the dragon is Satan, the devil.So, let’s look at verses 1-3:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven holding the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the abyss, closed it, and put a seal on it so that he would no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years were completed. After that, he must be released for a short time. When I came as pastor of this church, our sanctuary was in desperate need of an aescetic upgrade. We had stained pew cushions, holes in the carpet, and an old lighting system. By God’s provision, we were able to update all of that about five years ago. Another part of what needed to be updated was our two balcony restrooms. They had not been in use for many years. Our Properties Team worked hard to get those looking really nice, and one of them became functional. However, the other one is not functional because the wastewater pipe must go all the way from the third floor down to the ground floor. However, the pipe is missing on floor number two. So, when that toilet got flushed after it was renovated, the water just spilled out and headed down to our choir room. Luckily, it was only dirty water from a paint bucket that was flushed. However, that toilet can cause a lot of damage if flushed without the pipe being fixed. So, we have locked the door to that bathroom and have secured the key. No damage can be done by that toilet.Here in Revelation 20, we see that Satan will be bound by lock and key in the abyss so he cannot do any damage for 1,000 years.Listen, church: God has complete power over the devil. He will easily be able to subdue and lock away Satan. The Lamb is more powerful than the dragon.God is working out His wise, powerful plan to bring glory to Himself and bring rescue to His people. Part of that plan includes a period of time where Satan will be bound while God’s people are protected.Well, for what purpose are they protected? That’s a great question.Let’s learn next that . . .II. The dead are raised.Look at verses 4-6:4 Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.John describes this next vision in which he sees people sitting on thrones as well as the souls of those who had been killed for following Jesus.Notice what these people were doing: They were reigning with Jesus.This idea of believers reigning with Jesus is found in many places in the Bible.Revelation 2:26 says:“The one who conquers . . . I will give him authority over the nations . . . ” Revelation 3:21 says: “To the one who conquers I will give the right to sit with me on my throne . . . ”Revelation 5:10 says:“You made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth.” The Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:12:“ . . . if we endure, we will also reign with him . . . ”In the Old Testament, we learn in Daniel 7:27:“The kingdom . . . will be given to the people, the holy ones of the Most High . . . ” We gain two major pieces of information in these verses:First is that these believers will reign with Jesus for 1,000 years. Second, we learn that this event is referred to as the first resurrection.This 1,000-year reign is what many simply call “The Millennium.” This period of time is spoken of a lot in discussions of the Book of Revelation.Know this for now: I believe this is a future event, I believe Jesus will reign in an actual, visible way, and I believe that He will be joined by Christians. We can talk about The Millennium more at our next Digging Deeper on Wednesday night.Also, this event is referred to as the “First Resurrection.” The First Resurrection refers to when Christians will be raised from the dead, likely all Christians.If there’s a first, there must be a second. Well, there is, and we’ll talk about that a bit more in a moment.For now, know that the dead in Christ are raised to new life by a miracle of God.Jesus promised this event, and He keeps His promises. Those who are in Jesus will live again!Next, we learn about . . . III. The destruction of Satan.So far in Revelation, we’ve learned about the beast being destroyed, the false prophet being destroyed, and Babylon the Great being destroyed, but Satan was not destroyed; he was locked in the abyss.Let’s see what happens. Look at verses 7-10:7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 They came up across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the encampment of the saints, the beloved city. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed them. 10 The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Sometimes my young sons like to simulate a battle with me. They line up action figures, dinosaurs, cars, or whatever. We prepare for what looks like a fair fight, but somehow they have one figure who just immediately annihilates my entire army. It does not end up as a fair fight.That’s how this battle will be. Though Satan was released from his prison and was allowed to deceive many to join him for battle, Satan and his army will have no chance of victory.The evil army will surround the people of God, but fire from heaven will consume the armies of evil. It won’t be much of a fight; it will be a total defeat for the powers of evil.By the way, that reference to “Gog and Magog” is a reference from the Book of Ezekiel that is used symbolically in Revelation to refer to the powers of evil.Notice, also, what happens to the devil. Verse 10 tells us that he is thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, which is where the beast and the false prophet were already thrown.We’re told what happens there and for how long it happens: They are tormented day and night forever and ever.What we’re witnessing in these verses is the destruction of Satan on earth and the judgment for his sins forever and ever.Another occurrence in Revelation 20 is that . . . IV. The dead are judged.Ok, keep in mind that we just learned that Christians have already been raised at the first resurrection.Now, we witness a second resurrection of people.Look at verses 11-13:11 Then I saw a great white throne and one seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books. 13 Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works.This event is what we call “The Great White Throne Judgment.”By the way, all the evidence from Revelation and the entirety of the Bible, suggests that the one on the judgment throne is Jesus.We see that everyone who stands before the throne is judged based on their works.Everyone is judged. Great and small. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from, you will stand before the judgment seat of Jesus.Of course, for those of us who are in Jesus, our sins have been paid for by the death of Jesus, and the righteous works of Jesus have been applied to us.For those without Jesus, they will be judged by their works, and they will not be able to stand before God’s righteous judgment.This moment is what we refer to as the second resurrection. People will be raised from the dead in order to be judged by Jesus.Verse 13 says that bodies came up out of the sea, and that some came up from hades, which refers to the grave. In other words, the earth and the sea gave up dead bodies to be raised from the dead in order to be judged.Jesus spoke of this resurrection in John 5:28-29:“ . . . a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.” The Apostle Paul spoke of this in Acts 24:15:“ . . . there will be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous.” So, we see that the dead are raised and are judged.Finally, we see . . . V. The death of death.Look at verses 14-15:14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Let’s remember that at this point in Revelation, the beast has been thrown into the lake of fire, the false prophet has been thrown into the lake of fire, and Satan has now been thrown into the lake of fire.All that is left is death itself and sinners themselves.At this point, we see that sinners are judged and death is put to death.In one sense, this is very sad to see sinners pay such a terrible price for their sin. In another sense, it is good to know that sin will be gone forever.You see, sin cannot be destroyed if sinners are allowed to remain. So, sin and sinners will be gone forever from this earth, to a place of eternal judgment. Death will be no more, and those in Jesus will reign with Him forever.This takes us to our bottom line:Bottom Line: The Great Judge will deliver His final verdict.The judgment of God has been going on for several chapters in the Book of Revelation.However, at the end of Chapter 20, that time is over. God gives His final judgment. The Great Judge delivers His final verdict.There will be no more Satan, no more death, no more sin, and no more sinners.God will keep His promises, and Jesus will stand victorious.Challenge yourself this week in this one way:Weekly Challenge: Identify three ways that Jesus brings victory for you.As we reflect upon the victory of Jesus in this passage, think about some ways that Jesus brings victory in your life.Sometimes we can focus on the bad in our lives and lose sight of all the good that is found in the promises of God.My family and I were on vacation this week, and it was quite a week. Before we left, my car started making a weird noise, and the “check engine” light came on. I rode to the beach with my family, hopeful that my car would keep running. My wife drove separately, and she arrived with a flat tire. We got settled in our AirBNB, and rode on the provided golf cart to the beach, only to discover that the beach access near our rental was closed, and the golf cart also had a flat tire. No worries, our rental had a pool. Well, my middle son, Levi, got a fishhook stuck in his thumb from a pool toy that was littered with fishhooks. So, we spent part of the evening at urgent care. Our house was nice, so it came with an elevator. Well, we spent a few moments stuck on the elevator because it didn’t work well on the third floor. Tuesday went fairly well, but then on Wednesday, my youngest son, Samuel, fell in the garage and busted his chin, so we ended up at the ER to get stitches. Add to that some things that were happening in our church family that needed my attention, including writing this sermon, and it wasn’t the most relaxing vacation ever.Now, I’m not saying any of that to get sympathy from anybody. I actually had a pretty good time. Here’s the point: There are plenty of things happening in our lives that can tempt us to focus on negativity, right? However, there are plenty of blessings in our lives as well.The greatest blessing of all is the victory that is found in Jesus! So, take some time this week and focus on the victory that is found in Jesus.(Gospel presentation)(closing prayer)COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author. The reproduction or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author intends to provide free resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in Kingdom work.a