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good morning everyone welcome to Free Grace Baptist Church it's a joy to have visitors out there with us this morning we welcome you to our church it's uh always a joy to gather together on the Lord's day with uh the Saints of Christ to rejoice in Father Son and Holy Spirit so we welcome everyone and we welcome any visitors who are with us this morning a couple of announcements before we begin worship this morning uh first off there will be no bible study this upcoming Wednesday December 28th uh we'll reconvene the following Wednesday so no bible study this Wednesday as well there is no children's Sunday School uh next week in in that hour prior to worship the 9:30 hour we'll have uh the prayer meeting up upstairs but there will be no children's Sunday school that will reconvene the following week well let's turn in our Bibles our call to worship this morning is going to be a reading from Ephesians chapter 1 Ephesians 1 beginning in verse three Ephesians 1 beginning in verse three this is the word of the living and true God blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and Without Blame before him in love having predestined DED us to adoption as Sons by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the Beloved in him we have Redemption through his blood the Forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and Prudence having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself that in the dispens ation of the fullness of the times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him in him also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory in him you also trusted after you heard the word of Truth The Gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the Redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory amen well let's stand and sing our first hymn will be in the large Trinity Himel 149 let's stand as a church and sing 149 to World let Earth [Music] s and heaven and nature sing sing and Earth the saor the [Music] the ground to His blessings as the CES [Music] the r world and glor of his rightous and please be seated let us pray Heavenly Father we come to you now in prayer as the Saints of Christ and this gathered assembly to sing your praises and to pray Lord God that you would cause your name to be hallowed in this place this morning and we do pray Lord God that you would stir up the hearts of your gathered saints that we might praise you and worship you in spirit and in truth we pray that you would send us that Aid of the holy spirit that our hearts may be stirred to that proper Praise of Father Son and Holy Spirit and we would again pray Lord God that you would cause this to be the case around the world that gathered assemblies around uh the world today would sing the Praises of Father Son and Holy Spirit that your gathered assemblies would be rejoicing in Sovereign and Amazing Grace and Lord God that they would be singing the Praises of the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel of so great a Salvation we thank you for that gospel Lord God we rejoice in the fact that you did send your son in the fullness of the times born of a woman and born under the law to redeem those who are under the law that we might receive the adoption as Sons we Rejoice yet again Lord God in that faithful saying that is worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into this world Sinners to save we thank you for that perfect life of obedience unto your law in the stad of all those who believe we Rejoice Lord God in that substitutionary and sacrificial death upon calvary's tree that perfectly secure the salvation of a multitude that no man can number we Rejoice Lord God in that powerful and Victorious Resurrection from the dead on the third day we thank you that this Christ Our precious savior has risen from the dead that he has ascended to your right hand and that he does ever live to make intercession for his people that he rules and that he reigns subduing the hearts of his elect and conquering his enemies and we rejoice in this savior who is who is on the throne and Lord God we do pray that you would help us to sing his praises to rejoice in so great a Salvation knowing that we have not been saved by Deeds of righteousness which we have done but rather according to your mercy you saved us through the Perfection of the work of the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and that applying and perfect power of the Holy Spirit who has made us to uh made us alive in Christ Jesus by Grace we have been saved we certainly and truly Lord God this morning as your Saints praise you father Son and Holy Spirit we do pray that you would impress upon us the glory and the joy of being found in chist Christ not having our own righteousness which is from the law but having that righteousness which is from God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we do pray God that you would be with those uh in our midst here or those who are unable to join us that are afflicted with disease and with physical illness injury whatever it may be Lord God we just pray that you would strengthen each and every one of our dear brothers and sisters who who are affected in this way those uh Lord that that you would strengthen them in body that you would heal various diseases and injuries God we know that you are the great physician and that you can do these things uh by your grace and For Your Glory and so we do pray that you would just strengthen our uh our struggling Saints our fellow brothers and sisters and those as well Lord God who are struggling spiritually we do pray that you would lift them up return to them the joy of their salvation Lord God that you might even strengthen all of us now in the inner man that you would cause Us by your grace and for your Glory's sake to lay hold with great joy and with great endurance the things of Jesus Christ Our precious Savior and that we would find in him our all in all we would ask Lord that you would be with those around the world who do suffer persecution under the heavy hand of oppressors and tyrannical governments we know that there are many Lord God multitudes of our brothers and sisters in foreign Nations who who suffer even daily uh persecution we do pray that you would help them that you would encourage them that you would lift them up Lord God strengthen them be near to them and we would pray that in the midst of much difficulty you would protect them that you would watch over them and that you would encourage their hearts we do pray that you would deal with those who do oppress them those who do persecute them and we long to see a a multitude of those Sinners saved those who are presently your enemies in opposition to the Church of Christ and to the Risen Christ we would pray Lord God that you would cause them to be made your friends that you would be bring them forth from deadness and sin to light and life in Christ Jesus the Lord that the one whom they former formerly persecuted that they would name him as Lord and Savior we do pray Lord God that you would judge those who would remain obstinate those who would remain in Rebellion against you in a in a Venom venomous opposition to the people of Christ and ultimately to Christ himself we do pray that you would take them out of the way that you would bring a temporal judgment upon them that you would use those providential means to remove them from bringing violence upon our fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ and on this note Lord God we do pray that you would be with those who rule over us those who govern the Nations and we pray that you would cause rulers to rule in righteousness and INE equity and Injustice and that you would take power away from those who would seek to propagate wickedness and vice in the land we would pray God that you would be with the preacher of the Gospel this morning as Pastor Butler comes up here to preach from your word we would ask yet again God that you would give him much Aid and wear here as the gathered assembly pray with one Accord that you would send your spirit that you would Empower him and strengthen him for that Mighty task of preaching we pray that he would know not his own strength in the Pulpit but the strength that a Triune God affords Ministers of the gospel of Christ we do pray Lord that the the worship of of father son and spirit this day we pray that the preaching of the word the the singing of hymns the prayers of the saints that all these things Lord God would be done unto the praise of your glorious Grace we would ask that you would be active and powerful and faithful this morning in the salvation of sinners in the strengthening of your people Lord God that you might receive all glory and all honor we pray all of these things Lord God in the name of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen let's stand and sing a second hymn together as a church a reminder Bible speaks to the fact that we as gathered Christians sing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs one to each other in effect preaching to one another and encouraging one another as we sing praises to our god let's stand and sing 151 together as a church that's 151 [Music] Jo and Triant [Music] toing of angels [Music] Christ God our creation oh come let us adore [Music] USR Angels s sing all the of [Music] glor to God in the highest us adore [Music] us us Christ [Music] Happ [Music] Jesus us adore oh let us adore [Music] CHR seated our New Testament scripture reading is from Matthew 24 you can CH uh you can turn in your Bibles there Matthew 24 beginning in verse 36 mat Matthew 24 beginning in verse 36 once again this is the word of God but of that day and hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven but my father only but as the days of Noah were so also will the coming of the son of man be for as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the Ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away so also will the coming of the son of man be then two then two men will be in the field one will be taken and the other left two women will be grinding at the Mill one will be taken and the other left watch therefore for you do not know what hour your lord is coming but know this that if the Master of the House had known what hour the thief would come he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into therefore you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect who then is a faith faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing assuredly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his Goods but if that evil servant says in his heart my master is delaying his coming and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the Hypocrites there shall be weeping and nashing of teeth amen let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for the reading of your holy word we Rejoice again Lord God as a congregation in the fact that we have Bibles in our hands that we have your Revelation to men that we can read of that we can Avail of that we can therein find Our God and uh read concern concerning the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Savior we do pray Lord as we continue in worship do be with us help us Lord God to worship you as we ought we pray Lord God that you would be active this morning in the strengthening of your gathered people and as well in the salvation of Sinners Lord God that once again having gathered together we would have praised and honored father Son and Holy Spirit and Lord God once again that everything that is done here this morning would be done unto the praise of your most glor glorious Grace and we pray in the name of Jesus Christ Our Redeemer amen our final hymn then if you'll stand with me one more time and sing we're going to sing hymn number 168 that's [Music] 168 glory to newn [Music] kyrist inle Angels Sing glory to the CHR Christ the everl [Music] Jus angeling glor all with in his [Music] glor the of Earth to the angel sing glor please be seated turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation 12 Revelation 12 Revelation 12 I'll begin reading in verse one now a great sign appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her head a Garland of 12 stars then being with child she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth and another sign appeared in heaven and behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns and seven diadems on his heads his tail drew a third of the St stars of heaven and threw them to the earth and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and her child was caught up to God and his throne then the woman fled Into the Wilderness where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there 1,260 days and war broke out in heaven Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and the dragon and his angels fought but they did not Prevail nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer so the Great Dragon was cast out that Serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world he was cast to the Earth and his angels were cast out with him then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now salvation and strength and the kingdom of of our God and the power of His Christ have come for the accuser of our Brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the death therefore Rejoice O heavens and you who dwell in them woe to the inhabitants of the earth and and the Sea for the devil has come down to you having great Wrath because he knows that he has a short time now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the Earth he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child but the woman was given two wings of a great Eagle that she may fly into the Wilderness to her place where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent so the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away by by the flood but the Earth helped the woman and the Earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth and the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her Offspring who keep the Commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ amen excuse me well let us pray Our God and our father we come before you on this sabbath day we come to praise and to honor and to glorify you we bless you father we come through your son the Lord Jesus who is our great high priest who always lives to make intercession for us we come by the power of the holy spirit that God may be all in all in this place we pray that you would Ren the heavens today that you would come down you would be found among your people here encouraging your Saints encouraging all of us who struggle daily with sin and Temptation and the Devil Himself and as well God we pray that today would be the day of salvation for all those who are outside of Christ we know that you are sovereign we know that you are powerful to save we know that your gospel is glorious it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes and we would ask today that the Holy Spirit would attend the preaching that you would Open Hearts and eyes and ears and cause us all to behold wondrous things that your law has for us do forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions grant us Grace God to receive with Thanksgiving your word and give give us Grace almighty God to glorify you I pray for my brother Joe ditto today I know his Grand uh grandfather just passed away we just ask that you would comfort their family God in this time of loss you would give strength to all those who survive we pray father that even in these circumstances you would draw Sinners unto yourself and we pray through Christ Our Lord amen well this is a particular Vision that the that that John the uh John the Apostle has on the island of Patmos where he is exiled for the word of God and for the testimony of our Lord Jesus you see that in Revelation 1 ver9 and John as he writes this particular book tells us it's going to be symbolic he tells us that it's not going to be just a literal account of the events in history but rather specifically in verse one of chapter 1 he says the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place and he sent and signified it by his Angel to his servant John so from the outset of the Book of Revelation we are taught to expect symbols we are taught to expect signs we are taught to expect vision and that is precisely what we have in chapter 12 now much that is behind the scenes in chapter 12 is a lot of the prophets fact the Prophet Daniel fares much in Revel a 12 we won't have time to investigate all of those things this morning but I just want to give sort of the broad Strokes of Revelation 12 and what it instructs us concerning our blessed Lord Jesus Christ the chapter I think breaks down naturally into three sections in the first place we'll note the Incarnation of the son in verses 1 to6 secondly we'll note the defeat of the Dragon in verses 7 to2 and then third ly will note the persecution of the woman in verses 13 to1 17 but as we begin in verse one we see that there are three uh primary parties or players in this particular Vision notice in verse one now a great sign appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her head a Garland of 12 stars then being with child she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth now the narrative goes on to highlight the birth of Jesus Christ he is the malech child referred to specifically in Verses 4 and 5 so many commentators many Bible readers assume here that this woman must be Mary the the mother of Jesus now certainly Mary was indeed the mother of Jesus according to his Humanity Mary was the vessel chosen by God to bring forth the Son of God in time under the law so that he could redeem those who were under the law but as the woman fares later in this particular chapter we see that a better identification might be the church or the Messianic Community the faithful of God in all ages the old Covenant people of God had a hope they had promises they had prophets they had all these things that were pointing forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ so we might call them the Messianic Community the people of God the remnant the Believers the faithful of the Old Testament of of course after the life and the death and the resurrection of Christ we call that people the Church of Jesus Christ and it is that church the woman who is being persecuted according to verses 6 and 13 and following so the woman here not uh does not refer in the first place to Mary the mother of Jesus but as David S Clark says the TW Stars may have reference to the 12 tribes of Israel the true Israel the Zion of God gives us the Incarnate Christ out of the bosom of the church Church comes Jesus Christ into the world as the promised Messiah who was to be the seed of the woman so that I think is a a good way to get at who this woman is now note as well the dragon identified in verses three and four again kids I want you to pay attention to this John writes in a way it's very Vivid it's very Lively it's very engaging it's very Soul stirring as you appreciate what's happening in Revelation 12 it's not the the the victory of the devil it's the victory of Jesus Christ your heart hopefully will leap as you see this one promised in Genesis 3:15 this seed of the woman that crushes the head of the serpent this is the player involved in this particular instance notice as he is described notice his identification another sign appeared in heaven verse three Behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns and seven diadems on his hor on his heads so what we are seeing there is this beastly ghastly wretched monstrous Figure Set over and against this male child that is born on the one hand you've got perversity wickedness and Evil on the other hand you have blessedness joy Holiness and Christ the author draws in sharp lines so that we will appreciate not the power of the devil but the supremacy of our Lord Jesus Christ in fact I sometimes think that people stay away from The Book of Revelation because they think it's about Antichrist they think it's about the Beast they think it's about nothing but evil and Mayhem and bad things and doom and gloom do you realize the focal focal point of je uh of the Book of Revelation is that Christ is on his throne it's the crown of Christ that is preeminent in the Book of Revelation no matter what interpretative view you bring to the the table with reference to Revelation you cannot miss the fact you cannot avoid the reality that Christ Supreme Christ triumphant Christ enthroned is the point of the Book of Revelation but readers today just assume that it means only bad things well if as we end today today you see only bad things in Revelation 12 I have certainly failed but notice this is a reference to the devil the the Great Dragon the The Serpent of old he is called the devil and Satan notice he's further identified that way in verse 9 so the Great Dragon was cast out that Serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world he was cast to the Earth and his angels were cast out with him again I think this is a clear reference to Genesis 3:15 that first promise in the Bible concerning salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ remember the scene Adam and Eve rebel against God Adam specifically as the federal head of his race plunges the race into sin plunges all of his posterity into sin God comes God sets forth a curse upon the Devil in the first instance he then deals with Eve and then he deals with Adam but with reference to the devil God the Lord most high says to him you uh uh uh uh Genesis 3:15 that there will be enmity that there will be this uh I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel so when John refers to the devil here is the the the serpent it ought to make us think of Genesis 3:15 it ought to make us think that what we are finding in Revelation 12 is the answer to the situation introduced to us in Genesis 3 these two seeds the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent or the serpent himself Revelation 12 is the record of Christ's accomplishment of victory over the devil in accordance with that Proto gospel now note what the devil does in verse 4B again we're not going to deal with all the particulars I would suggest a close reading of the Prophet Daniel to see some of the imagery that is used here but notice at the end of verse four and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born see that's the devil's purpose as reviewed in this section the devil wants to stop Jesus the devil wants to stop Christ the devil wants to stop this Messiah that is Promised by God to crush his head there's some selfin there isn't there in the Devil he's not contrary or unaware of the promise in Genesis 3:15 he knew that God purposed to have his head crushed and he sees this J Jesus as being the seed of the woman or he sees this promise concerning the seed of the woman as meaning his demise and so the devil in his self-interest uh tries to stop this and there are several instances in the Old Testament I mean probably we could already suggest Cain Wicked Cain murdering Abel now he wasn't the seed according to Genesis 3:15 but Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel did not know that you have Pharaoh's murderous Rampage against the Israelites in the book of Exodus you have that situation in Second Kings chap 11 Ralph Davis calls uh uh uh uh josah the the the lady that that saved Christmas that instance where Adelia attempts to destroy the ra Royal heirs and josah takes joash and hides him away so that the Royal heir joash will be available to Reign and to rule and to crush this Adalia do you see all throughout the history of old Covenant Israel and into the history of New Testament people of God you see this murderous rage and attempt by the devil to try and stop the seed again a very Vivid illustration is in Matthew Chapter 2 what happens when Herod hears about the birth of Israel's King he wants the wise men to tell him where he is so he can go and see him the wise are divinely warned in a dream not to go back and report to Herod so what does Herod do Herod destroys children Herod massacres the Innocents Herod can't get the specific location of the seed so he'll kill all the seed in order to try and rid himself of this particular Menace you see this is the devil working in and through his agents and again I think this is the point in Revelation 12 when you get to Revelation 13 who do we meet we meet this beast from the sea and we meet this beast from the land what's John telling us the beast from the sea and the Beast from the land get their power they get their Authority limitedly from the devil that was introduced to us in Revelation 12 he is the power behind the scenes with reference to the Earthly minations that are given to attempt to destroy the people of God you see all throughout history this birth of Christ was trying to be pre prevented what does it show us some uh you know just by way of a practical illustration or practical practical application shows us something about the tenacity of God doesn't it now tenacity probably is to be understood in the manner of men tenaciousness means that you need to work at something we might better suggest that it shows us the faithfulness of God God promises in Genesis 3:15 and all comers who try to prevent that all comers who try to oppose that allc comers who try to thwart that will be crushed because our faithful God has promised that the seed of the woman would indeed rise up and that he would lower that Holy foot upon the head of the serpent crushing it destroying it uh rendering a null and void and that is what we find in this chapter it's an amazing thing over the last several years something that I don't think the the history of the church has witnessed the way we do you know sometimes people say do you think the world is getting worse and worse I usually answer no I just think there's more Sinners you have more Sinners it just seems exponentially worse right you put one sinner in a house it's bad put a couple in there it's worse put few more in there it just becomes Mayhem well when you have a world that's populated with you know billions and billions of Sinners it's a bad place but you know over the last few years there have been these satanic groups that that that build these statues of Satan and they want to display them in public places I don't know if I've heard of this in Canada but I've certainly seen it in the United States I mean if anything bad is going to originate probably going to happen below us there in the US not to say that Canada is a Bastion of Holiness joy and goodness however statues to Satan do you realize that John tells us in this chapter that Satan fails four times he fails with the Incarnation he fails in this battle with Michael he fails with reference to his persecution of the woman in the first century and he fails with reference to the persecution of all of God's people throughout whatever Century V verse 17 other words they are making a monument and an idol to a loser now realize that in our day and age everybody gets a trophy who participates if you come in second you get a trophy no I'm not minimizing your efforts if you're a second place person praise God you've obviously worked hard but just listen to the analogy for a moment everybody gets a partic participation award I like what the US Navy Seals say they say second place means first place loser that may want to send some of us into our safe places if we are second or third placers did you get what they're saying second place is a first place loser that's how we ought to look at the Devil why would you put a monument up to a loser he's failed four times that's the emphasis in the Book of Revelation that's the emphasis specifically here in verse 12 he fails at the Incarnation he fails in heaven with his battle with Michael the Archangel he fails with the persecution of the first century church and he fails with the persecution of every Century of the church he fails this is why the Mandate in scripture for us as the people of God is when the devil haunts us as he does he roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour you know what God's word says we are to do with him go to conferences and learn 15 steps on how to outsmart the devil go to prophecy conferences or or or or or demonology conferences and learn all about your enemy and identify that demic you know spirit and rebuke him and reprove him and this that and the other no you know what James says resist him and he will what flee from you if you're giving in to the devil do not say well I just can't think I've shared with many of you before that comedian in America his name was Flip Wilson and old flip used to say the devil made me do it no Christian can say that for greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world he is a real foe he roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom you may devour but if you've got a problem with pornography you can't blame the devil if you got a problem with drugs you can't blame the devil if you've got a problem with anything in terms of sin and Rebellion against the word of the Living God you cannot blame the devil because the word of God says resist him and he will flee from you now I don't dispute I do not debate and I will certainly try and help you deal with those attacks because they are real you've got that old story of Martin Luther who the devil came to him and he took that inkw well and he threw it at him to repel it and Martin Luther said flatulence was one of the means by which he used to resist and repel the Devil he's probably a great guy to hang around with wouldn't you think so he is a real foe Brethren but he's not omnipotent he is not sovereign there is one omnipotent there is one Sovereign there is one Lord God most high father son and Spirit and the Son of God came into this world not to make men savable not to render the devil a a limping foe but to crush his head and he does it at the first coming we're not waiting for this to happen Revelation 12 tracks the defeat of the devil not to the second coming but to the first you know this time of the year everybody gets warm and fuzzy feelings about this little babe in the womb that was one time when he returns it says king of kings and Lord of lords it's not some helpless uh little babe in the womb I think the world likes a helpless babe in the world in the in the in the in the in the manger why because he's something table we can pick him up we can hold him we can stop him we can subdue him but he's that once in time space and history to affect the the application of Genesis 3:15 when he comes again Brethren you're not going to be able to subdue him you're not going to be able to say oh no I I don't want what you're putting down I I I want to do what I want to do no he's the king of kings and Lord of lords the devil has tried and the devil has failed now note the in uh the child is referred to in verse 5 so verse four tells us the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born now notice in verse 5 she bore a male child who was to rule All Nations with a rod of iron and her child was caught up to God and his throne it's a very intriguing statement that we find here in Revelation 125 John summarizes the entire complex of events associated with the life and Ministry of Jesus to two Incarnation and Ascension the Incarnation means the INF fleshman of the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ didn't begin to be however many years ago and we talk about a birthday for Jesus we must distinguish it's according to his Humanity he was born as the second person of God most high he's always been from Everlasting to Everlasting Thou Art God we just sang veiled in flesh the godhead sea hail the Incarnate deity you realize deity isn't born deity doesn't have a birth date deity doesn't have an expiration date there's no birth certificates or death certificates applied to deity the Incarnation is when the Son of God came into this world as the son of man he took on our nature with all the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof yet except sin and this is what's referred to notice in verse five she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and her child was caught up to God and his throne I take that as a reference to the Ascension the Ascension took place after jesus' life his death his resurrection and then he ascended on High the book of Acts speaks to this in Acts chap 1 you might ask the question why Incarnation and why Ascension I think there's several reasons for this in the first place you don't get one part of Christ without the rest other words Incarnation and Ascension certainly imply the life the ministry the death and the resurrection we know specifically the death is in view because in verse 11 the reference is to the blood of the Lamb John's not trying to slight life and death and Resurrection he is summarizing it for us he's giving us a snapshot of the whole Ministry of Christ and if you understand this you get rid of incarnation you've got problems with Life Death resurrection and Ascension you get rid of Resurrection you got problems with incarn you you see how it all fits together one man recently a PO popular bible speaker Bible teacher doesn't really matter what the Bible says about the birth of Jesus Christ if it really doesn't matter what the Bible says about the birth of Jesus Christ then it really doesn't matter what the Bible says about his life life about his death and about his resurrection because you see you see it just devolves into the realm of of of faith and and and and and mystery and and and Fable and myth and and it really doesn't matter what is objectively true it's what it produces in me no it matters what is objectively true you see Christianity is not a blind leap of faith you may hear this your University said ansers to Blind leap blind leap of faith we had 2,000 years of Rec how many thousands of years of recorded history prophecies that come down to the wire in terms of their application it's objective our faith in the Lord God most high isn't a blind leap it's about the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ such that John can snapshot the entirety of Christ's Ministry by referring to his birth and his being caught up his Ascension on high this isn't the only place the Bible does that Psalm 2 which is behind this particular reference notice in verse 5 what it says she bore a malech child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron that's Psalm 2 language Brethren that is Psalm 2 language you got to remember about the Book of Revelation it's the most old testen is book in the New Testament the most Old Testament like book in the New Testament you say well I don't have as many quotes in the Book of Revelation as St Matthew does if there are not direct quotations there's indirect or there's what's called illusion that's where the language of Old Testament is so ingrained in the man John that when he writes these Visions out under the inspiration of the spirit who incidentally gave us the Old Testament as well John writes in such a way as to bring Daniel and to bring David and to bring the Psalms and the and the prophets alive in these glimpses of our Lord Jesus Christ but Psalm 2 speaks of the Eternal generation of the son it goes from decree Eternal generation and the rule in the reign of Christ now the Apostle Paul in Acts 13 applies or refers to that generation in Psalm 2 as the resurrection so in Psalm 2 the psalmist moves from uh uh the begetting the begotten of of Christ resurrection and then to his Reign and it's intriguing as well when you read the the narratives the the the Matthew Mark Luke and John Who records the birth narratives of our Lord Jesus Christ that's Matthew and Luke isn't it John's not silent there is a reference to Jesus in John specifically 18 standing before Pilate when pilate says are you a King Jesus says you say rightly I am a king for this cause I was born born you see Jesus doesn't diminish his life his death his resurrection but he snapshots it are summarizes it under these two headings Incarnation and Ascension for this cause I was born I always love that passage in John 18 do we think about that today our turkeys and gifts and smells and family trumping the reality that King Jesus is on his throne and as we move our way through this passage what is most emphasized the means by which anyone ever overcomes the devil and his minations just an old Puritan word that means his evil attempts to try and do something bad his nasty attempts to try and do something bad it's through the blood of the Lamb that's what we ought to be concerned about today I don't mean blood in a cup you know that red that red liquid what it signifies Christ's life Christ Death Christ substitutionary atonement Christ's worked for Sinners such that any and all who look to him in faith will have everlasting life so you see what John is doing he tells us about this woman he tells us about this dragon or about this devil and then he tells us about this blessed Christ so the devil is poised or the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born she bore a more a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and her child was caught up to God and his throne so he's poised there to receive this child so that he can destroy and bring destruction like the devil does but John moves from Incarnation to Ascension maybe we're to appreciate in there too that with reference to his life every you know toe-to-toe Act of of combat by the devil toward Christ failed think about Matthew's gospel in Matthew chapter 4 after the baptism of Jesus what happens Jesus is driven by the spirit Into the Wilderness to be tempted to be tested by the devil and what does the devil do the Devil comes to him and pies him with very difficult things again we need to appreciate Christ is the second person of the Trinity but he took on on our nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof yet without sin you see Christ battling toe-to-toe with the devil in the wilderness and not giving in you see through his life he had to deal with these sorts of things so perhaps John by moving from Incarnation to Ascension is simply highlighting the reality of the Dismal failure of the devil once again he stood there poised he wanted to capture that that seed and he wanted to destroy that seed but not only did he not stop it this seed this man male child is caught up to the very Throne of God where he rules and He Reigns and he exercises sovereignty over the entire world now note what this means concerning the church this is developed further in verses uh 13 and following but notice in verse 6 then the woman that's the woman identified as the Messianic Community the church the people of God the faithful from whom Messiah comes then the woman fled Into the Wilderness where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there 1,260 days again it's going to be developed in more detail in verses 13 to 17 but before we move on we ought to appreciate this reality the Ascension of Jesus Christ did not mean the absence of trial in your life I don't know how easier more simple to make that but the Ascension of Christ does not mean the absence of trial in your life note the progression Christ is Incarnate Christ is ascended on high Christ is ruling and reigning at the right hand of God most high what happens to the woman what happens to the church she has to flee to the Wilderness this is the whole point of the warning in verse 12 woe to the inhabitants of the earth and sea after the devil is cast out Out of Heaven he turns his aggression upon the woman you see you need to appreciate something Christ has Never Promised You deliverance from trials but Christ has always afforded strength to endure through those trials isn't this the point of John 16:33 isn't this what he said say in this world you will have trouble how's that for a marketing Ploy Jesus tell us why we ought to be your followers well the Benny hens and the jool hins of our day put words in jesus' mouth well come to me and you'll get big mansions come to me and your life will be peachy King come to me and everything will be Rosy and everything will be sweet and everything will smell like you know beautiful things Christ says in this world you will have trouble love the word there it's tribulation flips this this idea of of of pressing you ever say that I really feel pressed in on all sides well you're using the word properly because that's what it means I get the the idea of the the the vice grips on a on a workbench you know you put your tool in there you put whatever you're working on and you just sort of Crank that baby we thank the Lord for the the utility of that device giving little concern for what's clamped in between right it's like when a cat plays with a mouse the mouse doesn't interpret it that way we get pressed upon you see one of the points of the Book of Revelation people of God life on Earth is hard people of God life on Earth is filled with trial and tribulation and difficulty John reinforces what Christ says in John 16:33 in this world you wh will have tribulation but John also reinforces what Christ continues to say in John 16:33 but be of good cheer why for I have overcome the world this woman after the Ascension of Christ does not just build great big buildings Drive great big cars and have great big summer homes after the Ascension of Christ recorded in Acts Chapter 1 what do you find in the rest of the book of Acts what do you see there you see Apostles beaten for preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus you see Apostles threatened for uh to not preach the Lord Jesus you see the Apostle Paul one of the most holy and righteous men that ever lived after his conversion being persecuted read about his exploits in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 the man suffered for the cause of Christ a God and truth and that's the point here the Ascension of Christ does not mean the absence of trials in your life think back to the illustration when Jesus is on the boat with his disciples and there storms and there's winds and there's waves I mean do we not get the obvious Christ in the boat with us does not mean there's not going to be winds and waves and and storms but Christ in the book with us means that we're going to be okay when all is said and done we're going to be okay right that's the point it's what John wants you to get yes he's using Visions yes he's using symbols yes he's using the prophets he's using the Psalms but he's weaving this together in such a way that the people of God can identify with this woman who is persecuted and say yes the Wilderness is a good place because that's where God cares for us that's his point now notice the defeat of the Dragon it's almost as if versus well it's not almost as if it is precisely verses 1 to 6 tell us what happened on the Earthly level verses 7 to 12 illustrate what's going on behind the scenes there's a lot of behind the scenes in this particular section as I've mentioned we get to Revelation 13 you see the beast from the land the beast from the sea and the Beast from the land well John wants you to remember chapter 12 well because behind the scenes of the beast of the the Sea and the Beast of the land it's the devil who is working through these P Powers well here the same thing is true we've got what can be viewed on Earth the Incarnation and the Ascension well 7 to 12 gives us sort of the behind the scenes view what what's this look like in the Heavenly realm what's this look like in terms of the things going on in heaven the function of Revelation 127 to2 is to explain the Dragon re ejection from heaven and his subsequent rage toward the church now there's a lot of questions and probably those who have read job have the same sorts of questions you remember that Satan presents himself before God and asks about job and you probably scratch or Noodle and say why is Satan there to talk to God about job and readers might find the same thing here what what wasn't the devil already cast out of Heaven this isn't talking about that first fall is talking about the the New Creation in Christ Jesus this particular fall and all the ins and outs and all the particular details are probably not going to be answered for you satisfactory this satisfactorily this morning but I think what John wants us to see is because of the Incarnation because of the Ascension because of the events associated with the Lord Jesus Christ namely his doing his dying his rising and his reigning based on that complex are series of of events the devil has been served in eviction notice he has been cast out he has been cast down notice very specifically the victory of Christ is indicated verses 7 to 11 war broke out in heaven Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and the dragon and his angels fought but but they did not Prevail nor was a place found for them in uh in heaven any longer do you love that I think we always Envision the kingdom of God is this sort of Nancy uh nambi pambi effeminate soft sort of a reality well the kingdom of God would never launch an onslaught against the enemies of God you hear that sometimes I think it was CS Lewis who said that David was wrong to to tell us or or the prayers of David in terms of the imprecations in the Psalms no New Covenant Christians ought not to pray those sorts of things well it is intriguing because those imprecatory psalms are quoted by New Testament authors and they never give us sort of a qualification to say well don't pray those verses we have this Namby pambi AFF feminite view of the kingdom of God that just marches around and does nothing in terms of offense notice Michael and his angels fought with the dragon they initiate they give the eviction noce noce they render God's judgment upon the devil and his angels the same is true with Matthew 16 I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not Prevail against it again how many times do we understand that particular verse teaching us this the church has this fence around her and the kingdom of darkness is battling against her that's not what the text says I will build my church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it what does that mean it means that the Church of Jesus Christ the visible expression of the kingdom of God is on a triumphant March and every time a sinner is translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the son of his love that is in effect the the the the the the the the Gates of Hell being assaulted by the kingdom of God see sometimes I think we just get this backwards View and I think that's what readers bring to the Book of Revelation and we see the devil and the Antichrist and the Beast and this and that we go wow it's a scary book it's not a scary book when you understand that Jesus wins Jesus has won Jesus always wins you don't have to make a monument to the first place loser you don't have to bow down to some Idol that cannot save you who has ears who cannot hear he has eyes who cannot see he has a mouth but he cannot speak that's not our God our God is in the heavens he does whatever he pleases it is Michael and his angels fought with the dragon the dragon and his angelss fought but they did not Prevail nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer so the Great Dragon was cast out that Serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world he was cast to the Earth and his angels were cast out with him now notice very specifically this well before we get into verse 10 a few passages that highlight the devil's destruction at his fir at Christ first coming Colossians 2 these are passages everybody should have in their mind Colossians chapter 2 I hope you don't take that sort of thing everybody should have that in their mind as guilt manipulation oh I feel bad pastor Butler said I have should this in my mind and I don't no it's an encouragement Brethren there's some Fanatics out there that actually think the devil's winning you say well this world's a mess yeah but the Bible tells us the world's still going to be a mess even with Christ ascended at the right hand of the father you see maybe that mess nature of the world has a purpose under God we know it does but one of those purposes is formative for the people of God you see the absence of Trials would probably produce a whole lot of Mad Men proud arrogant wretched people trials humble us don't they trials keep us dependent upon Yahweh and his grace trials put us in the proper perspective you see if there were no trials I I can't even imagine imagine what we would look like isn't this what the the the the pro uh Proverbs says give me neither poverty nor riches if I'm poor I'll go out and steal and I'll dishonor God but if I'm rich what will I do I'll forget God wasn't this a continual admonition to the children of Israel as they entered into the promised land isn't this what God through Moses on the plains of Moab repeatedly exhorted the people of God do not go into the land and forget God what did they do they went into the land and forgot God you see trials have a way of helping us not to forget God think back in your life probably some of the most Earnest praying was when you were going through trials now the lesson might be you need to pray more when you're not going through trials but these trials have a blessed and remedial effect under the hand of God for his people don't they that's Hebrews 12 God chasons us why because he loves us in This Book of Revelation the Lord Jesus Christ says to the worst of the seven churches he says to the leody Deans as many as I love I reprove wow the leod Deans are told that these people that were neither hot nor cold these people that Jesus threatened to vomit out of his mouth yeah even as many as I love I reprove you see these trials and these difficulties and these hardships and what the church finds herself in in terms of wilderness you see the Wilderness in the old Covenant the the IM is used here in Revelation 12 it was a time of trial to be sure but it was a time of protection who can forget Deuteronomy 1:31 where God refers to the time of trial in the wilderness as a father carrying his firstborn in his arms the language I I don't think we're going to get through the whole chapter so I'm just giving you some of it now the language of eagles Eagle's Wings that we find later on with reference to the woman in Revelation 13 uh uh 12 13 to 17 these these Eagle wings this this Exodus 19 God bore up his children with Eagle wings this is Deuteronomy 32 rehearsing God's faithfulness in the midst of the the Wilderness God bore them up on Eagle wings you see Brethren the devil has been defeated he has lost the war but like a cornered rat he is not going to Simply go away he's still going to roam about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour but the Armament given to the Christians by God most high has resist him isn't that great I don't have to go to a conference and learn 10 lessons on how to deal with the devil I've been to one of those conferences many many years ago I was just struck with with what a waste of time it was because James says resist him and he will flee from you why do I need your DVDs maybe it was VHS tapes back then but why do I need for you know $39.99 your program or your plan or your plot on how to deal with the devil when James tells me in very simple words resist him and he will flee from you well how can James say that because of the realities of what occurred at the cross notice in Colossians uh 213 I'm two sorry 2:15 well beginning in verse 13 and you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh he has made alive together with him having forgiven you all trespasses having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was taken again that was against us which was contrary to us and he has taken it out of the way having nailed it to the Cross see we don't wait for victory with reference to the second coming of the Lord Jesus we have Victory with reference to the first coming of the Lord Jesus verse 15 having disarmed principalities and Powers he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them in it Hebrews 2:14 Hebrews 2:14 this might be good uh dinner dinner table talk if you're with unconverted people today the question comes up why did Jesus come into this world did he come into this world so we could have one day out of the Year where people are semi civil to one another where people eat turkey and they get gifts and they have nice things is that why Jesus came into the world I hope that's not why we think Jesus came into the world the Bible informs us why notice in Hebrews 2:14 in as much then as as the children have partaken of Flesh and Blood he himself likewise shared in the same what Flesh and Blood the second person of the Triune God came into this world assumed our nature took our Humanity upon him he himself likewise shared in the same that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death that is the devil you see the New Testament authors do not say that Christ's Victory is with his second coming now certainly it is but it's connected to his first Advent that gentle Jesus Meek and Mild crushed the head of the dragon that gentle Jesus Meek and Mild crushed the head of the Dragon of our sin that gentle Jesus Meek and Mild through his crosswork on our behalf is in the process of building a a comprehensive Church made up of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and then one final passage in 1 John chapter 3 first John chapter 3 again answering the question why did Jesus come into this world again there are several answers that one could give to such a thing well it was God's plan it was according to his eternal decree certainly the fullness of the time God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law certainly one of the aspects of Christ's coming in the flesh in that first Advent was to crush the head of the serpent notice in 1 John 1 ver3 I'm sorry 1 John 3:8 he who sins is of the devil for the Devil is Sin from the beginning for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil you see Brethren that's our reality that's our present benefit that's our present blessing that's true for us in Christ Jesus if we by God's grace have believe the gospel if we by God's grace have looked and lived if we by God's grace have come out of darkness and The Marvelous Light our reality is is that in terms of the devil's works the devil's hold over us it's broken it's broken by the Bloodshed of Jesus Christ the lord again this ought to be an encouragement but it ought to be an exhortation don't blame your sin on the devil you're not Flip Wilson the devil didn't make you do it greater resources in him that is in you than he that is in the world maybe it's laziness maybe it's blame shifting maybe it's a lack of accepting responsibility I guess it's easier to blame the devil for those things that we have done than to say I have sinned against my God you see David sets forth the example against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight let's be more like David than the blame shifting safe space seeking snowflakes of our day the people of God are to be manly and I don't mean women you know have Adams apples and grow beards I love that translation in the King James version in Corinthians quit ye like men the nas renders it be brave like men he's talking to women as well other words Christianity isn't affec in it it is not limp wristed the church militant is the church militant or she will never be the church triumphant the day we embibe the sorts of cultural relativism that is all around us and we start being the same sorts that we see in this world it's gone we need to man up and be the kinds of people that God has called us to be and saved us to be well I don't want to end by not capturing verse 10 notice what happens here then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now salvation and strength in the Kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ have come for the accuser of our Brethren who accuse them before our God day and night has been cast down and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the death is that a beautiful expression of the Messianic Kingdom it is come it is with Christ it is the power of God and is Christ notice the accuser of our Brethren who accused them before our God day night has been cast down isn't that a beautiful reminder is that the the sort of tension that we find in the prophet Zechariah Zechariah Chapter 3 Joshua the high priest standing before Yahweh Joshua the high priest is covered in filth he didn't spill peanut butter on his shirt he's full of excrement he's full of vomit it's the language that the the text uses Joshua the high priest is in his filth before a holy God and Satan is right there ready to accuse Satan is right there ready to profer up his wickedness before Yahweh God doesn't even listen to the devil he says the Lord rebuke you Satan God knows what Joshua's about God knows what the Covenant Community is about that's why God says take the filthy garments off of them and clothe them with these beautiful garments God knows our situation he knows our unrighteousness he knows our wickedness hence the gospel if you have come here this morning if you're part of the CN crowd Christmas and Easter you only come on those two holidays you need to understand this the rest of us don't come weekly because we're better the rest of us don't come weekly because we think somehow we're going to earn our way into God's favor it's by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone we're all Joshua the high priest we're all that filthy Covenant Community our problem isn't a speck of peanut butter on the shirt it is vomit it is excrement it is every violation of God's holy law if the Lord most high had not sent his son we would all die in hell that's the purpose for Christ it's his life of perfect obedience it's his death at calvary's tree it's his resurrection from the dead you see we not only need forgiveness cleansing through his blood which the cross provides but we need that righteousness we need to be clothed with a righteousness not our own we need to be able to stand before God and the gospel answers to that in Christ we have both forgiveness and we have the imputation of righteousness that just means god takes Christ's righteousness and he gives it to us just like Joshua that filthy high priest in Zechariah 3 take the clothes off of him they strip him of his sin fulness and then they put these beautiful garments upon him and he stands before God but you see what the devil's doing he's right there isn't he he's right there oh yeah this guy's a wretch he may whisper these things in your ears when you come to pray again I'm not personifying him in the sense that he's standing there at your corner with a pitchfork and a cape and he you know has these horns but you get that sometimes don't you perhaps it's your own remaining corruption perhaps it's your own laziness and you don't want to pray but perhaps it is the devil why would you go to God you're a wretch why would you go to God you're filthy why would you go to God you're you're a miserable specimen of a human being if you're thinking biblically you ought to say that's precisely why I'm going to God because all those things are true but isn't this what the devil does Romans 8 Paul's you know Pion of praise to God most high you can turn there so I think it illustrates this particular point I promise we're not going to go long don't look at your and say there's four more verses he's not going to make it notice in Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things if God is for us who can be against us he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things who shall bring a charge against God's elect the devil tries doesn't he who do you think you are I saw what you did who do you think you are living that way who do you think you are doing those sorts of things and yet thinking you can go before God this is Paul's Point who shall bring a charge against God's elect it is God who justifies who is he who condemns it is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen who is even uh even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us you see what Paul's point is when the devil brings a charge against God's elect God's elect are not supposed to answer well you know I'm I'm trying I only did it 15 times this week and not the you know the 35 of last week he doesn't point to us he doesn't look at the transformative he doesn't look at the subjective he looks at the objective when that fiend of Hell Comes to accuse who is he it's God who justifies who is he who condemns it is Christ who died you see your hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness you dare not trust sweetest frames but wholly lean on jesus' name you see that is one of the functions that the devil occupies and he has been evicted he has been cast out they overcame him verse 11 Revelation 12 by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony and that word of their testimony comes as a result of the blood of the L L and they did not love their lives to the death isn't this how Jesus describes a Believer he who loves his life will lose it but who hates his life for my sake shall keep it isn't this an identifying Mark of the people of God we're not selfish selfish narcissistic wretches we may battle with it we may struggle with it but we don't give into it we try to fight it we try to resist it therefore Rejoice oh heavens you who dwell in them woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the Sea for the devil has come down to you having great Wrath because he knows that he has a short time again the woman persecuted is because of the Ascension of Christ so this is an interesting observation the presence of trial and tribulation in your life may just argue the presence and the pre uh power of God in your life so I don't think we think this way we're more of the the benan jool oin sort of elk as long as everything is going my way God's happy with me right my wife likes me my kids tolerate me I got a decent job God's favor is upon me I lose the job my wife abandons me my kids can't stand the sight of me and somehow I conclude that God has departed from me you're not supposed to do that God doesn't depart from his children trials and tribulations and difficulties and hardships may just prove the existence of the reality of God's presence in your life Paul who I think wrote Hebrews 12 says you're a bastard if you are not reproved by the most high you're illegitimate I have far more concerns for the Benny henss and the Joel oins than you dear brothers and sisters that are struggling the trials the presence of Trials was not something absence absent to our Lord he was a Man of Sorrows and he was acquainted with grief you see when the devil is served his eviction notice from Heaven the language is David S Clark's by the way he served his eviction notice from Heaven he comes and as a cornered rat he now turns his attention against the church Michael and the angels fought against him through the life the death and the resurrection of Christ encapsulated by incarnation an Ascension the devil is cast out so what does he do he turns his attention to the church he persecutes the people of God but in verses 13 to1 17 we see that God preserves his people when he tries to overwhelm them with this flood of waters the Earth steps in and saves the church it's a reference to the Red Sea parting at the time where God preserves his people as they they they escape the clutches of pharaoh God's always been in this business of preserving and taking care of his people it's not something new for him oh I've got to look after the church now he looked after Israel pretty successfully in the old Covenant didn't he if that Yahweh who sustained his people there is the same Yahweh of our blessed salvation now doesn't he know a thing or two about preserving us see this passage is so full of hope so full of encouragement so full of joy and so full of blessedness but unfortunately we look at wow the church is persecuted yeah because the church needs it under God in his decree according to his purpose and his plan he has seen that the way to conform us unto the image of Jesus Christ isn't with kid gloves I've shared with you before way back when we rented a house was when Josh I think was very little Micah might have just been a baby and we had these rose bushes in the backyard and I'm not a gardener you probably know that never wanted to be a gardener but we had these rose bushes and they were taking over it was it was menacing two ways to approach that get a bonnet and some of those lady shears and go out there and do a little clipping or take a chainsaw and let fly Brethren sometimes God deals with with us with these little shears these little things these convictions this text that that sort of sticks in our minds or in our hearts and we know that that we need to you know repent or or get things in order there's other times it seems as if he comes with a chainsaw doesn't it job knew something of this didn't he but job said though he slay me yet will I trust him job knew there were remedial purposes and God's dealings with his children today's jobs need to understand the same things God has his purposes Conformity unto Christ for persons such as us most likely isn't going to come through those shears it's going to come through a time with a chainsaw doesn't mean he's going to gut us and rip us apart and you know throw our pieces up against the wall like I did with that rose bush did you get the point we want God to put a bonnet on and deal with us gently we like God when he does that we need to be at the point with job where we say and we've lost everything never forget the man who said though he slay me yet while I trust him what did job lose up to that point what did he lose up to that point Brethren everything except God you see the the Lord has his purposes in our trials and that's the point in Revelation 12 the devil doesn't just vanish he's vanquished he's plundered he's destroyed he cannot deceive the Nations any longer Revelation 20 but he does roam about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour but trust in The God Who upore Israel upon Eagle's Wings he'll do the very same thing with the true Israel of God the people of God who is the Church of God this passage teaches the Triumph of the Lamb the Incarnation leads to his life and Ministry which led to his death and Resurrection which resulted in his Ascension to the right hand of God most high the message of the Incarnation Brethren is not you know increased sales in the retail world the message of the Incarnation is in turkeys it is in gifts it's Christ in his blood it's the gospel it's the joy of the Lord which is our Salvation the message of the Incarnation is salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ have come that's what we need to rejoice in we need to appreciate with reference to the identifying Mark of the church before we move on we go a couple minutes we're going to close this out we didn't expound 13 to 17 but I gave you the main point 13-6 I think probably refers to the first century Church notice in verse 17 and the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her Offspring this probably de details the rest of the church post first century see it didn't end at you know 899 clock flips over and then the devil says oh that's it I'm done he keeps going doesn't he he is a Relentless one I'll give him that he does roam about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour see verses 13 to 16 if they involve or if they include specifically the first century church and the various assaults she faced via unbelieving Israel and the Roman Empire it doesn't stop when unbelieving Israel and the Roman Empire have been dealt with the words this verse verse 17 does help us understand plan Parenthood helps us understand the realities of of evil political leaders it helps us to understand you know the movement in Ephesians as a book Pastor Porter would have continued to read we would have read at the end of chapter one about the enthronement of Christ God exalted Christ to his right hand he gave him a name which is above every name he's overall principalities and powers and dominions this is all stated in Ephesians 1 we get to Ephesians 6 and what happens we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers of darkness and evil forces you see the enthronement of Christ in Ephesians one does not remove Ephesians 6 and the battlements that the people of God must face on this Earth it's just not reality Benny hen and Joel ostein are wrong not only are they wrong they are heretical it's a direct violation of what Christ and the scriptures teach and if we have somehow got that in our hearts that the Christian Life should only be Rosy should only be peachy and if anything bad happens to come my way well well then that's that can't be God and God doesn't love me anymore and he's not treating me fairly we need to repent but if verse 17 refers to the remainder of the church the dragon was enraged with the woman he went to make war with the rest of Offspring who keep the Commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ notice what we can say about the people of god notice what we can say about the Church of Jesus Christ they are persons who have an interest in the blood right other words you're not in the church without an interest in the blood you are not a believer in Jesus Christ if you have not believed on Jesus Christ if the blood of Jesus Christ offends you if you think it's maab to even speak of such things if you think it's weird or it's odd then you don't know the gospel this cup is the New Covenant in my blood Christ says for what for everybody to be healthy happy and holy on Earth no for the remission of sins it's because you're vile it's because you're wretched it's because you're sinful it's because you have offended God that's why he shed his blood so Christians as the people of God and churches are those who believe on Jesus with a special and peculiar interest as Owen says to the Priestly office of Christ but notice secondly in verse 17 they obey God and the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her Offspring who who do what they keep the Commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ the Bible doesn't know an antinomian Christianity you've been Justified freely by his grace through faith in Jesus Christ guess what you're going to want to do you're going to want to follow the lamb it's beautiful identifier in Revelation 14 the people the lamb standing with his fair Army these persons are identified as those who follow the lamb wherever he goes they don't say I'll Follow You lamb in in in seven of the Ten Commandments because I really like to violate you know three of them I'll Follow You lamb when it comes to those things that benefit me or don't cause persecution to come my that's not the way the Christian church is supposed to operate or behave We Believe by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ who lived and died and rose again so that we might have eternal life and we are saved in order to do what God says we're not saved because we've done what God says we are saved in order to do Pastor Porter did read Ephesians 1 3 and 4 who chose us in him before the foundation of the world why that we should be holy and Without Blame notice he doesn't say he chose us because we were holy and Without Blame You See Brethren that is something that confronts the church today is antinomianism and anti-law ISM oh we're under grace we can do whatever we want no you can't your gracious Master says in John if you love me you will keep my commandments so the church is identif if iable in these two ways they have faith in Christ and they follow him other words they have justification and sanctification and if you're not a Believer here this morning verse 11 ought to be your hope verse 11 ought to be your confidence verse 11 ought to be something that you look to they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb or consider chapter 5 in the Book of Revelation specifically verse 9 you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made us Kings and Priests to our God and we shall reign on the earth or Revelation chap excuse me chapter 7 specifically in verse 14 so he said to me these are the ones who come out of the Great Tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb look at the language there they made their dirty robes white in the blood of the Lamb it's Paradox isn't it it no it's the gospel it's the blood of the Lamb that brings cleansing to Sinners it's the blood of the Lamb that can set you a right it's the blood of the Lamb that can ultimately deal with your issues today your issues aren't difficulties in life they're not trials in life there's not a you know hardships in life I didn't have enough money to buy my kids presents your hardship your issue if you are not a Believer today is that the wrath of God is over you now and if you do not look to Jesus Christ in the blood of the Lamb if you do not close with Christ if you do not believe the gospel I don't care how old you are today I don't care how young you are today if you remain in your sins if you continue to reject if you continue to Rebel you continue to break those Commandments you continue to throw off the law of God you continually resist the Lord Jesus Christ as he has preached in the gospel if you do not believe any problem any hardship any difficulty that you can conjure up in your mind concerning this world is nothing compared to the Wrath and the Fury and the Judgment of God most high you need to flee you need to look you need to live you need to believe on him in whom there is salvation let us pray Our God and and our father we thank you for the word of God we thank thank you for Revelation 12 we thank you that it not only tells us that Christ is Victor but the the Devil Himself is a loser he lost at the Incarnation he lost with Michael and his angels he lost with reference to the first century church and we are assured from this passage he will lose with the church in all ages God grant us Grace to see these things appropriately help us to appreciate the Incarnation not just as warm sentimentality but to see it as biblical truth concerning the second person of the Triune God who took on our Humanity so that he might deal with our sins that he might deal with Satan himself and ultimately that he might deal with the Wrath and fury of God we ask that you would go with us now bring us together tonight that we may worship you and we pray through Christ Our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed e