A
hey I found this website and wanted to share 
It outlines an Amillennial view of Revelations 20.
lol I like his first admonishment:
"first, genuine, faithful believers hold diverse views concerning the meaning of “a thousand years.” I have good friends whom I hold in highest regard that embrace interpretive views that differ from my own. We must recognize that how someone views the millennium must never be a test of fellowship or acceptance in the body of Christ. Our agreement upon the gospel, the doctrine of God, of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, of the Church and of man carries much more weight in our fellowship than one’s view on the millennium."
Sermons from the Book of Revelation
"I. The devil bound—on earth
We’re not viewing this text in linear fashion but as another angle on the massive tapestry of redemptive history. The symbolic language continues as we’ve seen throughout this apocalyptic book.
1. Decisive act
Notice the vivid way that John expresses what Christ did to the devil at the cross. “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” The extrapolated names for Satan connect us with John’s previous declaration of triumph over our enemy. In 12:9, Michael, the angel throws down “the great dragon, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.” As we noted in our exposition of that chapter, John is dealing with the Incarnation and the redemptive work of Christ. In short focus, he shows us how Christ came and conquered Satan so that believers “overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb,” and how God preserves the church through centuries of persecution in spite of the devil’s antagonism. Though Satan rages, the Lord protects His people through the most difficult periods and brings each one safely into His presence. Satan is unable to thwart the work of the gospel or conquer the church. In that sense, Satan was bound by Christ’s redemptive work that continues to sustain the church.
Consider how Jesus put it. For centuries, since the Fall, Satan had blinded and duped all of the nations to the glory of God with the exception of Israel. God had laid His gracious hand upon Israel and maintained a clear witness to His sovereignty and glory, even in times of great apostasy. But at this point in history, the rest of the world had no interest in the Creator, choosing instead the vanity of idolatry. When Jesus came into the world, He spent much of His time casting out demons, showing the widespread power of Satan, even in Israel. When accused of casting out devils by the devil, Jesus explained the impossibility of Satan casting out Satan. Then He declared, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house” (Matt. 12:22-29). The same word (deo) that John uses for Satan being bound by the angel is the same word used by Jesus. With Christ came the advent of the kingdom of God in demonstration of His sovereign reign—He bound the strong man so that through the gospel, He might plunder his house. He further affirmed this in John 12:31-32, a text that has great bearing on Revelation 20:1-3. “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” Here the decisiveness of the cross explains that the devil will be cast out (ekballo), and thrown (ballo) into the abyss. And what is the purpose? That by Christ’s death, He “will draw all men to” Himself—that is, not just Israelites, but men of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Christ’s worthiness as redeemer of the world, not just Israel, is heralded by the gospel and amplified in Revelation (5:9-10; 7:9-10). It was the decisiveness of Christ’s first advent, and what He accomplished in it that bound the devil. His second advent will finish him off!
2. Boundaries set
The boundaries are very clear: Satan is “bound…for a thousand years.” The angel “threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed.” John’s symbolic language expresses that Christ has put the clamps on Satan! Having said that, we know that the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8); so how do we juggle this verse and the reality of Satan’s continuing presence? Two quotations will help us to see what John expresses. First, Greg Beale explains the background. “Indeed, after the Fall, the serpent and his agents do on a worldwide scale what the devil began to do in the garden…In the OT age Satan was able to delude the majority in Israel so that they were not able to fulfill their commission to be a salvific light to the nations (e.g., cf. Isa. 49:6)” [Beale 988]. So, would Satan thwart the purposes of God to save a people throughout the world? He seemed to be having great success in doing so, even among Israel. But then came Christ into the world; and the cross and resurrection. John expresses this in symbolic language in our text to show that Satan’s stranglehold on the nations was broken. The good news could now spread throughout the world. And that was greatly encouraging to the believers in Asia Minor! Second, Anthony Hoekema explains that our text “means that throughout the gospel age in which we now live the influence of Satan, though certainly not annihilated, is so curtailed that he cannot prevent the spread of the gospel to the nations of the world. Because of the binding of Satan during this present age, the nations cannot conquer the church, but the church is conquering the nations” [The Bible and the Future, 229].
If you were living in Asia Minor in the 1st century, feeling the overwhelming power of idolatrous Rome overshadowing you, then this message would encourage you to keep pressing on. You would understand the certainty that the gospel would go forth in unstoppable ways throughout the world.
3. Gospel expansion
Think about the early spread of the gospel. Satan had deceived the Roman Empire. They practiced emperor worship as well as the worship of numerous gods. They lived unrestrained lives, having no thought of conforming to the law of God. They denied the Lord God’s existence. In the previous centuries, Israel’s witness had only slight influence with other nations. But now, through Christ binding Satan in His death at the cross, the gospel continues to spread into the darkest lands. The binding and sealing of Satan, “so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed,” calls the church to confidently take the gospel to the multiplied hundreds of people groups in the world that still have no gospel witness.
We’re living in a gospel age. At last week’s Founders Conference (Owasso, OK, June 26-29, 2007), Raymond Perron of Quebec City warned of the misleading tendencies in our day to (1) “look for a miracle recipe to bring the world to Christ,” and (2) spending all of our time trying to analyze a person’s behavior and the issues of his life so that we’ll apply the appropriate methodologies in our evangelism, instead of giving him the gospel. He warned, “Beware of relying too much on methodology. The power is not in the sower or the method but in the seed”—that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because Christ bound Satan, having cast him down by the triumphant death on the cross, we can be assured that as we sow the gospel, God will bless it and bring forth fruit.
Yet, this will not continue forever. “After these things he must be released for a short time.” We don’t know how long the “thousand years” might be. It is much longer than the “short time” that Satan will have no restraints upon him in his opposition to the gospel. We are not yet in that time. We’re still in the age of the gospel. So, with the anticipation of the devil’s release that lies ahead, let us press forward as bearers of the good news of Christ while our enemy is bound."
It outlines an Amillennial view of Revelations 20.lol I like his first admonishment:
"first, genuine, faithful believers hold diverse views concerning the meaning of “a thousand years.” I have good friends whom I hold in highest regard that embrace interpretive views that differ from my own. We must recognize that how someone views the millennium must never be a test of fellowship or acceptance in the body of Christ. Our agreement upon the gospel, the doctrine of God, of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, of the Church and of man carries much more weight in our fellowship than one’s view on the millennium."
Sermons from the Book of Revelation
"I. The devil bound—on earth
We’re not viewing this text in linear fashion but as another angle on the massive tapestry of redemptive history. The symbolic language continues as we’ve seen throughout this apocalyptic book.
1. Decisive act
Notice the vivid way that John expresses what Christ did to the devil at the cross. “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” The extrapolated names for Satan connect us with John’s previous declaration of triumph over our enemy. In 12:9, Michael, the angel throws down “the great dragon, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.” As we noted in our exposition of that chapter, John is dealing with the Incarnation and the redemptive work of Christ. In short focus, he shows us how Christ came and conquered Satan so that believers “overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb,” and how God preserves the church through centuries of persecution in spite of the devil’s antagonism. Though Satan rages, the Lord protects His people through the most difficult periods and brings each one safely into His presence. Satan is unable to thwart the work of the gospel or conquer the church. In that sense, Satan was bound by Christ’s redemptive work that continues to sustain the church.
Consider how Jesus put it. For centuries, since the Fall, Satan had blinded and duped all of the nations to the glory of God with the exception of Israel. God had laid His gracious hand upon Israel and maintained a clear witness to His sovereignty and glory, even in times of great apostasy. But at this point in history, the rest of the world had no interest in the Creator, choosing instead the vanity of idolatry. When Jesus came into the world, He spent much of His time casting out demons, showing the widespread power of Satan, even in Israel. When accused of casting out devils by the devil, Jesus explained the impossibility of Satan casting out Satan. Then He declared, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house” (Matt. 12:22-29). The same word (deo) that John uses for Satan being bound by the angel is the same word used by Jesus. With Christ came the advent of the kingdom of God in demonstration of His sovereign reign—He bound the strong man so that through the gospel, He might plunder his house. He further affirmed this in John 12:31-32, a text that has great bearing on Revelation 20:1-3. “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” Here the decisiveness of the cross explains that the devil will be cast out (ekballo), and thrown (ballo) into the abyss. And what is the purpose? That by Christ’s death, He “will draw all men to” Himself—that is, not just Israelites, but men of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. Christ’s worthiness as redeemer of the world, not just Israel, is heralded by the gospel and amplified in Revelation (5:9-10; 7:9-10). It was the decisiveness of Christ’s first advent, and what He accomplished in it that bound the devil. His second advent will finish him off!
2. Boundaries set
The boundaries are very clear: Satan is “bound…for a thousand years.” The angel “threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed.” John’s symbolic language expresses that Christ has put the clamps on Satan! Having said that, we know that the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8); so how do we juggle this verse and the reality of Satan’s continuing presence? Two quotations will help us to see what John expresses. First, Greg Beale explains the background. “Indeed, after the Fall, the serpent and his agents do on a worldwide scale what the devil began to do in the garden…In the OT age Satan was able to delude the majority in Israel so that they were not able to fulfill their commission to be a salvific light to the nations (e.g., cf. Isa. 49:6)” [Beale 988]. So, would Satan thwart the purposes of God to save a people throughout the world? He seemed to be having great success in doing so, even among Israel. But then came Christ into the world; and the cross and resurrection. John expresses this in symbolic language in our text to show that Satan’s stranglehold on the nations was broken. The good news could now spread throughout the world. And that was greatly encouraging to the believers in Asia Minor! Second, Anthony Hoekema explains that our text “means that throughout the gospel age in which we now live the influence of Satan, though certainly not annihilated, is so curtailed that he cannot prevent the spread of the gospel to the nations of the world. Because of the binding of Satan during this present age, the nations cannot conquer the church, but the church is conquering the nations” [The Bible and the Future, 229].
If you were living in Asia Minor in the 1st century, feeling the overwhelming power of idolatrous Rome overshadowing you, then this message would encourage you to keep pressing on. You would understand the certainty that the gospel would go forth in unstoppable ways throughout the world.
3. Gospel expansion
Think about the early spread of the gospel. Satan had deceived the Roman Empire. They practiced emperor worship as well as the worship of numerous gods. They lived unrestrained lives, having no thought of conforming to the law of God. They denied the Lord God’s existence. In the previous centuries, Israel’s witness had only slight influence with other nations. But now, through Christ binding Satan in His death at the cross, the gospel continues to spread into the darkest lands. The binding and sealing of Satan, “so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed,” calls the church to confidently take the gospel to the multiplied hundreds of people groups in the world that still have no gospel witness.
We’re living in a gospel age. At last week’s Founders Conference (Owasso, OK, June 26-29, 2007), Raymond Perron of Quebec City warned of the misleading tendencies in our day to (1) “look for a miracle recipe to bring the world to Christ,” and (2) spending all of our time trying to analyze a person’s behavior and the issues of his life so that we’ll apply the appropriate methodologies in our evangelism, instead of giving him the gospel. He warned, “Beware of relying too much on methodology. The power is not in the sower or the method but in the seed”—that is, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because Christ bound Satan, having cast him down by the triumphant death on the cross, we can be assured that as we sow the gospel, God will bless it and bring forth fruit.
Yet, this will not continue forever. “After these things he must be released for a short time.” We don’t know how long the “thousand years” might be. It is much longer than the “short time” that Satan will have no restraints upon him in his opposition to the gospel. We are not yet in that time. We’re still in the age of the gospel. So, with the anticipation of the devil’s release that lies ahead, let us press forward as bearers of the good news of Christ while our enemy is bound."
