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good evening everyone welcome back to previous Baptist church for our evening worship we have no announcements so we will turn right to our call of to worship and this evening it will be from the Gospel of Luke turn to Luke chapter one we're going to read the prophecy of Zacharias the father of John the Baptist on the day that the Lord opened his mouth and the spirit filled him and we're reading from verse 68 to verse 79 of Luke chapter 1. blessed is the Lord God of Israel for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been since the world began that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His Holy Covenant the oath which he spoke to our which he swore to Our Father Abraham to grant us that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear in Holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life and you child will be called the prophet of the highest for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways to give knowledge of Salvation to his people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of our god with which the days spring from on high has visited us to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace amen we're going to start our service by singing hymn number 319 please stand with me 319 O Come All Ye Faithful are we here [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] let us turn to our great God In Prayer our gracious Heavenly Father we thank you for this day and for this occasion that we have to come before you thank you that you have called us out of Darkness into Marvelous Light and put within us this desire to praise you we thank you for it Christ has done on our behalf thank you for the Incarnation the fact that he was willing to leave glory on high and come and take on the form of a man and to live a perfect life for us and die the sacrifice that we could never provide to satisfy your wrath thank you Father for the the freedom from guilt and the freedom from condemnation Lord we celebrate this we we love to worship you and we pray oh God that our worship would be Sanctified that you would accept it as we worship you in spirit and truth I pray that you'd be present with us this evening and with our Brethren as they worship elsewhere we thank you for the congregation in Surrey pray that you would bless them this evening and encourage them encourage Pastor Kirkpatrick and give him unction to preach the word this evening bless the brethren in Armstrong as well I pray you'd grant them much grace much Unity much growth in the spirit and maturity pray Lord that you'd bless the work out in Ontario as well encourage that congregation as they meet from week to week and Lord we pray for our Brethren down in the Honduras we thank you for pastors Carlos and Luis we pray that you would encourage them and encourage their congregation we pray that those who will be traveling from our congregation here in in the next in the new year to visit down there would be a blessing to the to the people in Honduras the congregation there Lord we pray that you would do a good work do a good work both ways and encourage our Brethren here as well through the reports of the work down there Lord we pray for the church all over the face of the Earth and particularly for our Brethren that are being persecuted for their tenacity in in holding to the faith and Lord we pray that you would continue to give your people Grace to persevere in the midst of Trials those who are being who are being hounded who are being um who are being turned out from their own families and who are losing employment or business Lord I pray that you'd be merciful to them and I pray that the church would continue to grow I pray that the church would would grow in countries like Saudi Arabia and throughout the Middle East in China in North Korea in Vietnam in Cambodia all these countries Lord where there's persecution against your people I pray that you would continue to sustain your Saints and bless them and Lord we pray that you would do that work here in our country continue to bless the churches here where the gospel is preached and I pray for our congregation here that you would continue to cause us to grow to be unified I pray that you'd bless Pastor Butler even as he comes shortly to preach the word to us I pray that you would give him unction and power from one high to preach with authority the word of God and open our hearts to receive it and to put it into practice I pray and I ask these things for your namesake for your honor and glory amen now if you'll take your Trinity psalter Hymnal once again we're going to sing psalm 110. Psalm 110 selection a please stand with me as we sing thank you [Music] foreign foreign foreign [Music] foreign foreign [Music] for our scripture reading in the Old Testament this evening we'll turn to Numbers Chapter 17. numbers 17 and we will read the entire chapter and the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the children of Israel and get from them a rod from each father's house all their leaders according to their father's houses 12 rods write each man's name on his rod and you shall write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi for there shall be one rod for the head of each father's house then you shall place them in the Tabernacle of meeting before the testimony where I meet with you and it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will Blossom thus I will rid myself of the complaints of the children of Israel which they make against you so Moses spoke to the children of Israel and each of their leaders gave him a rod of Peace for each leader according to their father's houses 12 rods and the rod of Aaron was among their rods and Moses placed the rods before the Lord in the Tabernacle of witness now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the Tabernacle of witness and behold the rod of Aaron of the House of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds then Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel and they looked and each man took his rod and the Lord said to Moses bring Aaron's Rod back before the testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels that you may put their complaints away from me lest they die thus did Moses just as the Lord had commanded him so he did so the children of Israel spoke to Moses saying surely we die we perish we all perish whoever even comes near the Tabernacle of the Lord Must Die shall we all utterly die amen let us pray Father in heaven we thank you for the many accounts in the Old Testament where we see your mercy and your grace afforded to the children of Israel in spite of their rebellion in spite of their complaints against you and we Lo we know Lord that we are prone as well to complain we pray oh God that we would access that Mercy that is to be had in Christ each and every day for we do sin on a regular basis forgive us our sins cleanse us even now I pray in the blood of Jesus for your name's sake amen for our last hymn we'll turn to number 313. 3 13. angels from the Realms of Glory foreign [Music] foreign see you already lost foreign foreign foreign Revelation chapter 12. Revelation 12 I'll read the chapter we'll pray and then we'll look at this chapter and hopefully be drawn out to more worship of our great god father Son and Holy Spirit so beginning in Revelation chapter 12 at verse 1. now a great sign appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her had 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 Behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his heads his tail drew a third of the stars of the heaven of heaven and through 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 1260 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 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 therefore Rejoice O heavens and 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 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 might 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 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 well let us pray our gracious God and Father we thank you for this Lord's day for the rest that we have in our blessed savior for the glories of redemption by Sovereign Grace we know it's not because of our righteousness or our goodness by which we enter into heaven but it's because of what Christ accomplished when he took on our Humanity when he lived that life of perfect obedience to the father when he died as a sacrifice and substitute in our place and we when he was raised again and ascended on high we rejoice in this savior we rejoice in this Emmanuel in this blessed one and we pray that he would be proclaimed throughout the Earth not just this Lord's day but but subsequent to this we pray that your word would go forth conquering and to conquer that you would in fact say from every tribe tongue people in nation in a mass of great multitude that no man can number that will enter into that Heavenly Jerusalem even now God forgive us for all of our sins encourage our weary hearts and build us up in our Most Holy Faith and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well this is another passage in the scriptures that speak of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ it's highly charged it's in a book where there's lots of symbol it's in a book where there's a lot of Old Testament if not direct quotation but a lot of Illusion and I don't mean illusion with an eye but allusion to allude to something that is what John in the Book of Revelation does a lot in terms of the Old Testament G.K Beale has a uh probably the commentary on the Book of Revelation and he says it's the most old testament-ish book in the New Testament and so we won't look at every jot and Tittle but I just want to give us the three main sections in Revelation 12 1-17 we have first the Incarnation of the son in verses one to six secondly the defeat of the Dragon in verses 7 to 12 and then finally the persecution of the woman in verses 13 to 17 and in many respects what we have here in chapter 12 is a behind the scenes look at what happened in heaven over the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ we know there is a man word of fact we know that as a result of Christ's life death and Resurrection we enjoy every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ there's also a Heavenly effect the devil and his angels were cast out and we see this not just here but we see this in the gospel records we see it as well in the Book of Revelation at chapter 20. so I want to look first as I said at the Incarnation of the Sun and there's basically three persons here that we need to consider first the woman of verses one and two secondly the dragon in verses three and four and then finally the child in verses 5 and 6. but notice in the first place verse one now a great sign appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her had a Garland of 12 stars then being with child she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth seeing seems like a no-brainer that this is a reference to Mary in fact a lot of commentators take this as a reference to Mary others see it as a reference to the old Covenant Community the true Israel of God the faithful Remnant that was looking forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ now I don't think it's an either or proposition because Mary was certainly included in that second category of old Covenant Israel think this makes sense in light of Joseph's dream in Genesis chapter 37 he speaks of sun and moon and stars bowing down to him which represent the 12 tribes of Israel and so we have the faithful Remnant church that listen to the Prophecies of the old Covenant that were awaiting for the Lord Jesus Christ now of course in that category of persons we find Mary the mother of Jesus who did the task of bringing forth that son one commentator David Clark says the 12 Stars may have reference to the 12 tribes of Israel the true Israel the Zion of God gives us the Incarnate Antichrist out of the bosom of the church comes Jesus Christ into the world as the promised Messiah who was to be the seed of the woman and this makes sense as well as we move through the context we'll notice that the woman is driven out to the Wilderness this isn't a reference to to Simply Mary it's a reference to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm just going to cut us off at the past and indicate that the Victorious Triumph of the Lord Jesus does not mean no persecution for the church fact this chapter exists to tell us just the opposite what Christ does in terms of vanquishing the foe the devil nevertheless still involves the devil roaming about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour so after the birth of the male child we see that persecution of the church ratcheted up we see that persecution of the church increased and again this makes sense in light of the book of Acts after the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus it was not the case that the apostles went and preached to every city and everybody received them everybody believed their message everybody came to Jesus that is absolutely positively not what we find in the book of Acts there was enmity there was aggression there was persecution and oppression poured out on the heads of God's people and so Revelation 12 is another passage that indicates that reality so the woman is the old Covenant Community including Mary that has uh that births or brings forth the Messiah now notice we have this dragon in verses three and four we notice identification in verse three another sign appeared in heaven Behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his heads he drew his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the Earth so that's a bit of his identification or description again it's it's imagery it's it's uh symbolism it's language that is highly charged in a prophetic context what we call apocalyptic but if you drop down to verse 9 you will notice further elaboration on this fiery red dragon verse 9 tells us 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 I said that this is the backdrop or this is the sort of behind the scenes in heaven what happens at the life death and resurrection of Jesus but this connection holds as we proceed further in the book it's the dragon who gives power to the two beasts in Revelation chapter 13. so we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers that dragon is the motivating agent behind the beast from the sea and the Beast from the land that dragon is referred to to here specifically in verse 9 using again highly charged Old Testament imagery he is the serpent of all reminiscent of Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. when it was prophesied that the serpent would indeed bruise his heel but the Lord Christ the seed of the woman would crush his head the Great Dragon The Serpent of old is also called The Devil and Satan and that word Satan means adversary or accuser if you look specifically at verse 10 you see that intimated now salvation and strength in the Kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ have come for notice the Satan the accuser of our Brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down remember the devil appears in the presence of God most high to castigate job to cast aspersion upon job we have the devil in that prophecy of Zechariah where Joshua the high priest is standing before Yahweh and he's clothed with filth and we have the devil right there ready to rebuke him but God rebukes him so the devil is that adversary that accuser of the Brethren now notice the specific Contours of his plan according to verse 4B the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born so the devil understood not everything because ultimately it was the death of Jesus that would accomplish the Victory and the triumph over the Devil Himself but he knew there was this Messianic expectation he knew there was a champion that was being sent to Israel by God most high and so what has he tried to do he tries to stop it up he tries to stand in the pathway he tries to make sure that Messiah never comes and when you reflect upon Biblical history you will notice that this wasn't a one-off this was an activity that the devil engaged in from the very beginning again we have the announcement in Genesis 3 15. 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 there's going to be Victory there's going to be triumph over the seed of the woman but that Triumph that Victory is going to be a bruising of his heel now contrast that with a crushing of the head of the devil and you see in terms of the comparison Christ is Victorious over the devil but this then as I said launches a whole series of events throughout Redemptive history where the devil tries to stop the seed the first instance is Genesis chapter 38 there was a man by the name of Judah the tribe from which our blessed savior comes he had a daughter-in-law named Tamar Tamar was first married to ER he was wicked in the sight of God so God killed him and then she had another husband named Onan and Onan was another one that was wicked in the sight of God so God killed him as well and then Judah promises Tamar Shayla his other son well he never makes good on that he doesn't fulfill that particular promise and that leads to a series of what we no doubt would consider unsavory events where she plays the part of a prostitute Judah goes into her and as unsavory as that may seem to be it nevertheless perpetrated the line it was nevertheless an instance of God's preservation of the seed of the woman that would come and ultimately Vanquish the Devil Himself as we move forward and Redemptive history there is that woman that Dale Ralph Davis refers to as the lady who saved Christmas in second Kings chapter 11 mother of the Year by the name of athaliah just a real wretch right up there with with Jezebel she wanted to destroy all of the royal heirs she wanted to Vanquish all of The Heirs to the throne so that she could achieve that particular Renown and there was one woman by the name of jehoshiba who stole away this little boy boy Joe Ash and hit him so that he would not be killed by atholeia in her treason and treachery against the crown so God in his grace protected joash there you move on into the New Testament you have herod's desire to Massacre the innocence in Matthew chapter 2. and then from there you have the spirit Drive our lord Jesus out into the to the Wilderness and there he's tempted by the devil for 40 days and 40 nights the devil is Relentless he wants to try to usurp he wants to try an outbreed he wants to try to stop this Redemptive plan and of course it's the devil who uses all of the characters that are ultimately involved in the Betrayal and the death of our Lord Jesus Christ Satan entered into Judas Iscariot Luke tells us we know that it was the devil behind those religious leaders in their machinations to destroy Christ again the devil knew some things but he obviously didn't know that the death of Christ was the linchpin in this whole Redemptive scheme so we have here in this prophetic form John commenting on the intention of the devil to stop the Incarnation of our blessed savior so notice again in verse 4 B the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born and now we meet the child specifically in verses 5 and 6. notice 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 is thrown this is what G.K Beale calls temporal telescoping it takes two events the Incarnation or birth of the Savior and is a Sanchez and it encapsulates with those two events everything involved in the life and Ministry of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ so the male child is Christ the Messiah sent by God to crush that of the serpent is prophesied in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. the male child noticed he is destined to rule verse 5 she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron we saw that in the scripture reading this morning Isaiah chapter 9 verses 1 to 7. this is God's response to the problems uh six and seven of the response of God to the problems that begin that chapter and the ultimate answer the ultimate Victory is that son given unto us that child born the one upon whom the government rests upon his shoulders so the Messiah is described in verse 6 and then his kingdom is described in verse 7. and then in Micah's prophecy that we looked at this morning in Micah chapter 5 verse 2 in terms of the Incarnation what was the purpose the purpose wasn't simply to spread good cheer among men and teach them a pattern of gift giving at this time of the year it wasn't simply to highlight poinsettia does and all the sort of trappings that have attached themselves to this particular season the point in view was for his Reign for his rule for his kingly office he says to pilate for this cause I was born and John highlights that same fact here in Revelation 12 and verse 5. and Brethren if I could just say something very practically as we move through this section of Holy Scripture Revelation 2 and 3 as I mentioned this morning is life on Earth it's life under oppression it's life under persecution it's life when we're tested and tried and we're Afflicted what do you think the people of God needed to hear in terms of those realities they needed a fresh dose of Christ in his kingly office see readers of the Book of Revelation today I think they're misguided they think it's all doom and gloom and they think it's sad and weepy and and it's menacing and foreboding and it's fearful and it's scary no the point right of the Book of Revelation is the kingly reign of our blessed savior King it's not to the neglect of the prophetic or the Priestly but the accent falls on the crown of our savior in the Book of Revelation who is it that protects the people of God from the beast from the sea and the Beast from the land it's the Lamb with his fair Army in Revelation chapter 14. what protects and encourages the people of God when they rehearse the reality of the Incarnation he was born to rule he was born to Reign he was born to wield that scepter of universal Empire The Book of Revelation is meant to encourage the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ it is again it is a document that does provoke from the church militant that Spirit of perseverance that Spirit of encouragement that Spirit of stability so that we go forward in the fear of God most high so she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron now notice the Incarnation leads on to the Essentia and her child was caught up to God and his throne that temporal telescoping this is what bill says is involved in verse 4 is suggested by verse 5. now a snapshot of Christ's entire life his birth his Destiny of kingship and his incipient fulfillment of that Destiny in his Ascent to God's Heavenly Throne after his post-resurrection ministry is given in one line so the reference to the Incarnation and the reference to the Ascension in essence capsulates the entire Ministry of our Lord Jesus his coming into this world his life of perfect obedience his death at Calvary and his resurrection and Ascension to the throne of God most high the reference ultimately in verse 11 gives us the key component of how we maintain victory over the Devil Himself look at verse 11. 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 how do we overcome that roaring lion who seeks to devour us how do we overcome those uh principalities and powers that that assault us on a regular basis how do we overcome that well it's the testimony of the Saints the testimony of the Saints their Brethren is simply bearing witness to who Jesus is to being those kinds of people that understand what the scriptures say concerning our Lord it is the blood of Jesus Christ his son that brings that protection that brings that safety that brings that stability to the Church of the Lord Jesus that's why when you try to build churches on simply uh you know perceived needs or felt needs or when you try to build churches on on entertainment or on Celebrity when you try to build churches on anything other than the truth as it is in Jesus you're on a Fool's Aaron it is the truth of God's holy word given to us in the scriptures that fortifies and protects the Saints against the onslaught of the Devil Himself so we have the Ascension the male child lived he died he was raised and he ascended again into heaven and then notice before we move on the implication for the church verse 6 then the woman fled Into the Wilderness interesting isn't it see the health wealth Prosperity teaching goes like this because of what Jesus did now you just you live on Easy Street life's great you're going to be healthy you're going to be wealthy you're going to be you know Wise if you're of the Ben Franklin school of health wealth and morality the the the reality is it's just the opposite what happens after the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ the woman flees the woman is targeted the devil doesn't say well I I failed in my mission mission to get the the male child so I'm going to just leave all of his followers alone I'm just gonna not molest them I'm not gonna try to Savage them I'm not going to try and attack them no the devil will continue to rejuel reorient and retry to get the people who follow the lord Jesus the Ascension of Christ did not mean absolute Deliverance for for his church from all troubles in this world in this world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer I've overcome the world the the Lord never promises to deliver the church it does not always deliver his church from tribulation but he always grants the grace for us to persevere through tribulation again if you want a health wealth Prosperity Gospel The Book of Revelation is not for you the emphasis on the kingly office of Christ does not mitigate the reality that there's some mop-up battles before we enter into the New Jerusalem and you know previous generations of the church understood that they would identify the church on Earth as the church militant and they would identify the church in heaven as the church triumphant because when you're in heaven there's no more need for militants there's no more need for battle there's no more need for Warfare but the church militant on Earth she's not to be about entertainment she's not about felt needs she's not about whatever nonsense the modern church is trying to be good at she's supposed to be about holding fast to the truth of God's word and propagating that message throughout all the nations the Ascension of Christ did not mean the absolute Deliverance for his church from all troubles in this world The Narrative is going to develop that in verses 13 to 17 in more detail but John first as I said wants to go behind the scenes and show us what happened in heaven after the resurrection and Ascension of our of our Lord Jesus so notice secondly the defeat of the Dragon in 7 to 12. this is to explain the dragon's ejection from heaven and his subsequent rage directed toward the Church in the section John provides a theological explanation for the casting out of Satan from Heaven which is associated with the series of events connected to Christ's Life Death resurrection and Essentia this isn't at the creation of the world when the devil was cast out this is at the new creation this is when Jesus vanquished the straw wrong man this is when Jesus bound the strong man remember him talking about such things in the gospel records he spoke specifically about this activity and the rest of the New Testament underscores that he was successful and again the backdrop is Genesis 3 15. he crushes the head of the devil he crushes the head of the serpent he does what he was intended to do in terms of getting rid of that enemy so notice the victory of Christ verses 7 to 11 war broke out in heaven Michael and his angels fought with the dragon again this is Old Testament language Michael fairson The Book of Daniel and you've probably heard that Jehovah's Witnesses identify Michael the Archangel as the Lord Jesus Christ they're not the only ones John Calvin I think took that same sort of a a position it's not my intention here to argue either for or against but just because the Jehovah's Witnesses say it doesn't necessarily mean it's demonic and it's evil and it's reprobate as I said Calvin saw Michael the Archangel as the Lord Jesus Christ but be that as it may the backdrop is the Book of Daniel most likely and this war in heaven so 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 that his angels were cast out with him then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven now salvation and strength and the kingdom 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 death or to the death now before we proceed notice that the casting out of the devil the ejection of the devil is not connected to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ see we live in that era that the Old Testament calls in the New Testament calls the latter days or the latter times that period before the between the first and the second coming of our blessed savior we typically associate all the victory all the conquest all the Triumph with that second coming when he comes in glory to judge the living and the Dead when he comes as king of kings and Lord of lords but notice where John Associates this Victory not that there's nothing good about the second coming of Our Lord but the Lord accomplished what he was purposed to do in the first coming in other words this is what he receives the kingdom this is when he has Universal Empire this is when he has overall rule we're not waiting for the king to come and set up shop we are presently under the sway of the king himself what do you think he's doing at the right hand of God most high where he rules the nations with a rod of iron you think he's just suggesting you think he's just encouraging no he's ruling and he's reigning over all things all authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to him the first Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ was the decisive death blow against the Devil Himself this was the achievement of that which was prophet aside in Genesis 3 15 and again when you rehearse the New Testament documents you see that access you see that emphasis it's not that we're waiting for the king we're already under the reign of the king the war in heaven is the counterpart of the Earthly events in verses one to six so the devil tries to Dethrone the seed the devil tries to stop the Incarnation the devil tries to stop the plan and purpose of God most eye he's obviously a failure think about that as we proceed everything the devil does in Revelation 12 is a failure I don't think most people read Revelation that way if it's so scary it's so Eerie it's so foreboding it's so threatening do you notice that everything he's done up to this point has failed he tried to stop the birth of the male child fail he tries to fight Michael in the Archangel uh Michael the Archangel fail he's ejected from Heaven Brethren The Book of Revelation not only is it not a foreboding medicine menacing threatening you know book it's about the kingly reign of our Lord Jesus Christ and it's about the utter defeat of the Devil Himself he's a loser that is what John is telling us in Revelation 12. four things he loses he loses he loses he loses everything he tries to do Christ touches things and it turns to Gold the devil touches things and it breaks and fails miserably the devil and his angels could not Prevail against the lamb turn back to the Book of Matthew Matthew chapter 12. just want to show you some of these passages where Jesus was conscious of what was going on in terms of his ministry notice in Matthew 12 at verse 25 they've accused him of casting out demons by Beelzebub the ruler of the Demons verse 25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them every Kingdom divided against itself is brought to Desolation in every city or house divided against itself will not stand if Satan casts out Satan he is divided against himself how then is his how then will his kingdom stand and if I cast out demons by Beelzebub by whom do your sons cast them out therefore they shall be your judges but if I cast out demons by the spirit of God and he does Brethren you got to read the Bible that way when he says and if I do this you need to supply yes and he does if I cast out demons by the spirit of God notice what he says surely the kingdom of God has come upon you or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his Goods unless he first binds the strong man and then he will plunder his house he who is not with me is against me and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad turn over to John's gospel John chapter 12. just to see that the New Testament not just in Revelation 12 sees the decimation of the devil relative to the Life Ministry or life death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ notice in verse 30 of John 12 Jesus answered and said this voice did not come because of me but for your sake now is the Judgment of this world now the ruler of this world notice will be cast out the same language Christ Associates rising up on the cross with his death resurrection and Ascension that is connected to the casting out of the devil verse 32 and if I if I and I if I am lifted up from the earth will draw All Peoples to myself turn to the book of Colossians Colossians chapter 2 the Apostle Paul they're very clear on what happened in terms of Christ's Redemptive work Colossians 2 15 having disarmed principalities and Powers he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them in it having disarmed principalities and Powers he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them in it turn over to Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews chapter 2 specifically at verse 14 in as much then as the children have partaken of Flesh and Blood he himself likewise shared in the same that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death that is the devil really shows the Folly of the devil again he's not omniscient he's not on pre omnipresent he's not omnipotent he knew that Messiah was coming and the genius tried to kill him well that's precisely the means that God would use to accomplish the purpose of the Redemption of his people and the vanquishing of the Devil Himself again John is telling us in Revelation 12 that the devil is a loser first John first John we see the same emphasis attached to the first coming of our Lord Jesus the first Advent of our Lord Jesus first John chapter 3 verse 8. he who sins is of the devil for the devil has sinned from the beginning for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil so going back to Revelation chapter 12 verses 7 to 11 rehearse that blessed reality the devil is cast out that evokes this shout of victory in verse 11 or verse 10. 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 out when you search the pages of the New Testament Brethren you'll find that was their conviction Yahweh said to my Lord you sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool I I encourage I I invite you to consider this Doctrine or concept of the church militant she's fed by the victory that Christ has accomplished so that her place in the world is clearly defined she's supposed to shine as lights and crooked and perverse generation and hold forth the word of Truth we're not here to entertain the Heathen we're not here to impress the Heathen we're not here to bark for the Heathen we're here to preach to the Heathen the truth of God's word and testify that it's the blood of Jesus Christ his son that cleanses us from all sin and that overcame the devil that produced that death now upon the Devil Himself we need to engage in the victory that the early church saw relative to the life death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ look back at 11 15-19 then the seventh angel sounded and there were loud voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever and the 24 Elders who sat before God on their Thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God saying we give thanks O Lord God Almighty the one who is and who was and who is to come because you have taken your great power and reigned the nations were angry and your wrath is come in the time of the Dead that they should be judged and that you should reward your servants the prophets and the Saints and those who fear your name small and great and should destroy those who destroy the Earth then the temple of God was opened in heaven and the Ark of his Covenant was seen in his Temple and there were Lightnings noises thunderings and earthquake and great hail the point is simple if we do not have a view of Christ Victorious then we're not going to be the church militant if we fear the devil more than we fear God then we've missed the point of the Bible able if we are filled with fear and trepidation at the thought of this you know world power or this devil behind the scene or or the Christ is Lord Christ is King of Kings Christ is Lord of lords Christ has absolute Authority and power and the early church saw this and praised him with reference to that now salvation and strength and the kingdom 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 what a blessed reality what a glorious thought that our Lord Jesus Christ has taken the wrath of God has spent it on our behalf in his own beat in his own person so that we are no longer uh bound to that penal destruction Jesus accomplished that for his people and we can uh rejoice and revel in that and the decisive act as I mentioned is the blood of the lamb and then notice the this announcement in verse 12. it sets the stage for verses 13 and to 17. so verse 12 therefore Rejoice O heavens and you who dwell in them why do you think because the devil and his angels have been cast out that makes Heaven even more Heavenly it's glorious it's wonderful but now there's this warning to the inhabitants of the Earth it it again shows us or indicates to us that because the devil has been defanged or because the devil has been you know defeated by Christ it doesn't mean that he's no longer under the power and the rule in the reign of Christ to accomplish specific things in Christ's purpose as Luther said the devil is God's devil he is on God's leash he can go thus far and no farther but nevertheless God uses him to accomplish his purposes for the good of his people so after calling heaven to Rejoice there is this warning 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 so you see he's defeated by Christ in the first section he's defeated by the my Archangel Michael in the second section what is he going to do now well he's going to turn his Rage Against The Woman against the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and that's verses 13 to 17 and we'll wrap up here notice the devil's outrage verse 13. now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the Earth maybe you're like this you experience a defeat and then you try it again and then you experience a defeat you say you know what it ain't going to happen I'll just take my loss and and move on the devil isn't like that he's defeated once he's defeated twice so he's going to go it a third time and even in this he's going to be defeated because God most high is over him so when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the Earth he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child we are inclined to think that when the devil has been rendered defeated by our savior therefore the health wealth Prosperity guys might be right or must be right but the whole tension that we find in the New Testament is completely against that there is the already there is the not yet we've already tasted of the age to come but we've not yet fully entered in to the blessing that is the New Jerusalem and God has his purposes for the suffering and persecuted Church I mentioned this morning Hebrews 5 Jesus according to his Humanity learned obedience through suffering do you think we followers of Jesus are going to learn obedience through vacation we're going to learn obedience through no problems we're going to learn obedience or no testing through no trial through no difficulty no Brethren it is typically the trial the testing the difficulty and the Affliction that produces the sword of men and women that are the church militant God has his purposes in our suffering and this passage underscores that in Spades so the devil turns his aggression now to the church the reality of continued persecution we've seen that in Ephesians Ephesians 1 tells us Christ is enthroned at the right hand of God he is the head over all things to the church and yet in Ephesians 6 we're told we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers that that is what I mean by the tension of the New Testament John 16 33 in this world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer I've overcome the world there's going to be that on this side of the New Jerusalem there's going to be that on this side of Revelation 21 and 22 when God removes the curse when there is a new heavens and a new Earth wherein righteousness dwells wherein there is no Temple because God and the land is the temple but until that time brethren we need to be the church militant we need to pull up our big boy pants and we need to get serious about understanding the victory that Christ has wrought and understanding our place in a pagan Heathen Godless world it is to remain faithful it is to invoke that blood of the Lamb that blessed Lord Jesus Christ so the outrage of the Dragon notice we have the wings of an eagle in verse 14. but the woman was given two wings of a great Eagle that Shima might 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 this speaks to God's protection it speaks to God's provision there's two passages in the Old Testament that teach us that the Wilderness was God's nearness to his people Deuteronomy 1 29 to 30 34 the children of Israel interpreted the Wilderness wanderings as if God had abandoned them they they want to go back to Egypt we want those leaks and those melons and we want those pots filled with all kinds of good things why why did the Lord bring us out here was it just to kill us God's interpretation is completely opposite as a father carries his son so I carried you the prophet Hosea speaks to the Wilderness or speaks of the Wilderness as being that place of God's presence and provision to his people the same theme is here this is John's background down it's the Old Testament where they found Safe Haven in this Wilderness but with reference to the wings of a of a great Eagle this goes back to the books of Deuteronomy and exodus in Exodus we hear God tell his people after the Deliverance you have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore You On Eagle's Wings and brought you to myself Exodus 19 4. I didn't have time to go and look it up but I from what I understand the the Eagles are fiercely loyal and very family oriented and very protective of their spawn of their of their young I don't know if they're called spawn they're baby eagles whatever they might be the apparently they're fiercely loyal fiercely productive they're not like abortion mothers and you know modern modern America That Couldn't care less about that beautiful baby in the womb you don't see Eagles doing that sort of thing but as well Deuteronomy Deuteronomy chapter 32 verses 10 to 12. he found them in a desert this is rehearsal of God's dealings with Israel God through Moses says he found him in a desert land and in the Wasteland a howling Wilderness he encircled and he instructed and he kept him as the apple of his eye as an eagle stirs up its nest hovers over its young spreading out its wings taking them up carrying on its wings so the Lord alone led him and there was no foreign god with him so when John evokes that imagery again Brethren you're supposed to think Exodus and Deuteronomy you're supposed to understand that John the Apostle writing under inspiration of the Holy Spirit Knows His Old Testament he alludes to that Old Testament to bring that Comfort to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and then that brings us to the continual attack of the serpent in verses 15 to 17. verse 15. 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 the flood but the Earth helped the woman under God's Providence under God's blessing under God's delivering hand and the Earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth so you see at this outrage of the devil he targets the church he targets the woman he goes about that task of trying to destroy them he roams about like a roaring lion with that particular intention well what does God do 15 and 16 God tells us through John that he protects her nonetheless so the Life Death resurrection of our Lord Jesus dealt the death blow to the devil in terms of the war this might be the best or easiest way to explain this but that doesn't mean there's no battles after the fact doesn't mean that everything is going to be hunky-dory in life on Earth no we move forward to a new heavens and Sunday new Earth so we've got three miserable failures on the part of the devil he tried to stop the male child being born he lost he tried to beat Michael the Archangel he lost he goes after the woman in the wilderness what happens he loses again but the chapter ends with one more defeat for the devil in verse 17. notice 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 so you see what he does in the first century he can't stop her because God does like the eagle does shows protection and provision for his church but subsequent to that first century Church they had Offspring they had spiritual descendants they peopled the church for all generations and we know this to be the case that the devil is still enraged Brethren how how do you explain the antipathy or enmity against the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ if you don't see the spiritual Dimension if you don't see the spiritual Dynamic what possible threat do we pose here what possible threat to this order do we pose in terms of gathering together tonight we're not making noise to bother the neighbors we're not engaged in blood ritual to bother the neighbors we're not engaged in any Lawless Behavior why why do they hate us why do they despise us why do they want to exterminate the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ because they hate God they hate his Christ they want to decimate him but they can't so they go after the next best thing his people we can't get to Jesus if we can't throw God down off of his throne then we'll mess with these Christians well you know like we read this morning in that small Village in India 13 families were dispossessed from their Village unless they recanted their faith in Jesus Christ and returned to their tribal religion Brethren I can't even imagine what that would be like if goons came to my house and said you've got to leave Chile you've got to get out of here just go if you don't go it's going to be very painful for we can't even understand that but when we look at that we know that Psalm 2 is a reality why do the Nations rage why do the people plot a vain think against the Lord and against his Christ they hate God Brethren there is this antithesis Genesis 3 15 tells us there will be I will put enmity between you that is God the Lord's statement in terms of that prophetic promise about the life and death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus and its death blow to the Devil Himself so the devil not successful with that first century Church rages against the church from then on verse 17 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 well in conclusion we see the Triumph of the Lamb I hope you all see that I hope you all get that and I hope you all say praise God Almighty for that first Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ certainly we look forward to the second I mean John ends the book on that high note even so come Lord Jesus don't you all have that beating in your heart wouldn't you love for the Lord Christ to descend with that shout of the or the voice of the Archangel the the the the sound of the trumpet that great shout to come and collect as bride that Brethren is going to be glorious and wondrous but that's consummation the victory was rendered at the first Advent of our savior he came not clothed in bullets he came clothed in righteousness to fulfill all that the father had given him he came clothed in righteousness to satisfy the requirements of the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world things that the devil obviously were not was not expecting things that we now rehearse and rejoice in so we have the Triumph of the Lamb of God most high in Revelation chapter 12. salvation and strength in the Kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ have come and then as I said the four defeats of the devil the devil fails in his attempt to destroy the child the devil fails in heaven the devil fails with the woman and the devil fails with the rest of the woman's sea Ralph Davis says the good news of Satan's abjacked failure in many ways Revelation 12 shows us the Fulfillment of Genesis 3 15. it does serve to to encapsulate or bring together those threads of blessed of the Redemptive history and then thirdly the persecution of the church we cannot get into that mindset you know God has saved us God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ I I don't know why there's all these menacing things I I don't know why my life has to be difficult as a Christian because you're a Christian you side with the master if they hated the master they're going to hate the servants that's just the simple formula that Jesus taught us in the gospel records it it is the reality you don't sign up into Christ's Army and think you're in a life of ease and and Recreation and you know laying around no we're supposed to be the church militant and that we are not the church militant does comment on the fact that we need to revive we need Revival I'm not talking about us specifically though us specifically but the church in general did you know there were churches today that that closed church to celebrate the birth of Jesus I I I don't get it you're gonna close church to celebrate the birth of Jesus isn't that why we come to church to celebrate Jesus birth Life Death Resurrection Brethren these things ought not to be if do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together means anything it certainly means don't cancel church to have some Christmas observance at home with your families that's weak sauce that's not the church militant that is not this thundering shout of victory in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10. we should be embarrassed that we conduct ourselves this way that we would shut the people of God out from the house of God on the day of God to worship him and to glorify him so we find the persecution of the church G.K Beale makes the observation Christians can be assured that the serpent begins to battle against their bodies only after he has lost the battle over their souls this expresses one of the major themes of the book The Suffering of Christians is a sign not of Satan's Victory but of the Saints victory over Satan see that we think the devil attacking us is a sign of his Triumph the fact that the devil is attacking us is a sign of his defeat if he hadn't have been the big loser with Jesus or in heaven with Michael or with the church in the first century he wouldn't be messing with us so count yourselves blessed Brethren then he roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour if he seeks to clench you with his jaws of death and misery and vain again it's not a happy circumstance but praise God you're in the right Camp that's to be you know that should be encouraging it's not a sign of Satan's Victory but of the Saints victory over Satan because of their belief in the Triumph of the cross with which their suffering identifies them and then this is the final observation then we close the two things we saw verse 11. they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb what's a Christian it's one who overcomes by the blood of the Lamb now don't miss the phrase overcame by the blood of the Lamb because in each of the churches in chapters two and three there were seven letters written to the seven churches in Asia Minor do you know what the last statement to each of those churches was you know be the best entertain the best entertaining crew on Wellington you know Dazzle the Bagon really impress them with your abilities and your flutes and all that stuff you just you know show them what you're made of the last statement in each of the letters is a blessing to those who what overcome when you get to Revelation 21 verse 8 those who are in the Lake of Fire cowardly there isn't people afraid of snakes it isn't afraid of driving in the snow I'm deathly afraid of driving in the snow but I don't think that's going to land me in the Lake of Fire I think that's common sense Brethren the Cowardly that are in the Lake of Fire are the people that didn't overcome that's our call that's our our marching orders that's what the church militant is to be about those who overcame did so how it was through the blood of the lamb and then notice how Christians are identified in verse 17. the dragon was enraged with the woman he went to make war with the rest of her Offspring who's The Offspring of the woman Church who's The Offspring that make up the very people of God they're the people who keep the Commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ now we keep the Commandments of God as a reflex as a consequence as an effect of us having been Justified freely by his grace but this jives with Jesus words in John 14 if you love me you will keep my Commandments those Justified freely by grace are those who by Grace follow the lamb they obey the lamb they keep the Commandments of the Lamb they hold fast to that testimony of Jesus Christ they take seriously Jude's words in Jude 3 to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the Saints limp wristed Christianity is much of what we see in North America at this present time that is not the militant triumphant Christianity that we see in the first century now it's Triumph not triumphal is up they don't have that mindset of health wealth and prosperity but rather they have that mindset of battling Faithfully for our blessed savior by holding fast to his truth well let us pray Our God and our father we thank you for this day we thank you for the Blessed privilege of gathering in the house of God on the day of God with the people of God to worship Father Son and Holy Spirit we pray that you would go with us now that you would watch over each of us that you would give us encouragement and strength and help to be the sorts of people that make up the Church of Jesus Christ that we see in a passage like this may we reflect often upon the victory of our savior may we reflect often not just once a year upon the Incarnation of Our Lord upon his Ascension to the right hand of God Almighty as well upon his life of obedience and his death and Resurrection all these things bespeak a great and glorious savior who's able to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him go with us now we pray and we ask in Jesus name amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation