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May I turn in your Bibles to 
Revelation chapter 12? Revelation chapter 12. We're 
going to do more of an overview this evening than a detailed 
exposition. Several things are going on in 
this particular chapter. I think if we get the main thrust, 
that is our hope for this evening's sermon. We need to remember that 
the book of Revelation, though lacking in direct quotations 
from the Old Testament, is nevertheless the most Old Testament book in 
the New Testament. And what I mean by that is that 
John, the writer, as he's on the island of Patmos for the 
Word of God and the testimony of Jesus, he has the Old Testament 
scriptures in his mind and in his heart. And so he uses various 
images, he uses various word pictures, he uses various themes 
drawn from the Old Testament. As I said, if it is not a direct 
quotation, there is certainly an abundance of allusion. where the Apostle is referencing 
things that had happened in Israel's history. I just want to read 
chapter 12 and then we'll look at three broad categories in 
Revelation 12. We'll notice first, the woman, 
the dragon, and the child. We'll identify those three parties 
in verses 1 to 6. Secondly, we'll notice the defeat 
of the dragon in verses 7 to 12. And then thirdly, the persecution 
of the woman. in verses 13 to 17. Remember 
that John is writing to real, live Christians. He's writing 
to real, live churches. Those who were suffering, those 
who were being persecuted, those who were knowing the difficulties 
associated with the Christian life. And so he is giving a theology 
of suffering. He is giving a theology of why 
it is that there is this antagonism directed against the church. Essentially, according to chapter 
12, it's because Jesus defeated the devil that he then turns 
his rage against Jesus' bride. As I mentioned earlier, Jesus 
uses these things for His glory and for the good of His people 
in this lower world. Let's just pick up reading in 
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 head a garland of 
twelve 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 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 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 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. Father, 
we pray to you now for the illumination of your spirit. We pray that 
he would guide our study, that he would instruct us from your 
word, and that we would receive things calculated to edify and 
strengthen us in the fight. We ask God in heaven that we 
would again marvel at the glory of Christ, at his person, at 
his work. at what he has accomplished on 
behalf of his church. How we thank you that you've 
included us in this plan, how we thank you that you have blessed 
us with every spiritual blessing, and how we praise you, Lord God 
Almighty, for this opportunity now to consider our Lord and 
Savior. And it's in his name that we 
pray. Amen. Well, as we read this particular 
chapter, as I said, it's full of imagery, it's full of vision, 
it's full of things that are calculated to stir up one's imagination 
as they read this particular account. If you go back to chapter 
1 for just a moment, notice in chapter 1 at verse 2, it says, 
"...and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant 
John." I'm sorry, in verse 1. Right at the outset in the book 
of Revelation we are taught that it would be signified. There 
will be pictures, there will be image, there will be illusion, 
there will be vision. It's not straight narrative prose, 
but rather there are symbols that are used. Thankfully, however, 
the book is the Revelation. of Jesus Christ. It is the revealing 
of Jesus Christ. And as things are given in vision 
form or things are given in symbol form, there is always an interpretation. There is always an explanation 
so that we're not left wondering. And precisely what we find in 
chapter 12 is the power behind the beast. In chapter 13 we have this beast 
from the sea and this beast from the land. Well it is the devil, 
it is the dragon, it is this serpent of old that is the power 
behind these political and religious forces that are persecuting the 
church. So Revelation 12 gives us a behind-the-scenes 
picture of what is going on. Revelation 13 shows us what happens 
in this world, in this life, in terms of the persecuting powers, 
both politically and religiously. And as we read through Revelation 
chapter 12, I don't want you to be puzzled. Basically, what 
is recorded in this chapter is that the devil is defeated. The 
devil is defeated in four specific ways, which we'll look at in 
just a moment. But let's introduce the major 
players involved. Note first, the woman. At first 
glance, this may appear to be Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is more probably a description 
of the people of God who would bring forth the Redeemer. David 
S. 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 Christ. 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. So the woman of Revelation 
12 is the true Israel of God. After the devil is cast out of 
heaven, he then turns his rage against this woman. He persecutes 
the church. He seeks to destroy the church. He has been defeated by her master. Now he turns his rage against 
them specifically. Specifically, this is the faithful 
remnant of those in the old covenant who believed on Jesus Christ 
in form, the first fruits of the church. So that's the woman. Secondly, we have this dragon. 
Doesn't take a lot to figure out that this is the devil. In 
fact, the text is very specific. Notice the description given. 
He is a great, fiery, red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns 
and seven diadems on his head. Again, we have Daniel in the 
background in terms of this particular description. John knows his Bible, 
and John is conveying this information via biblical imagery. In verse 
9, we see that great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, 
called the devil and Satan. And then in verse 12, Rejoice, 
O heavens, and you who dwell in the earth, earn them. Woe 
to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has 
come down to you having great wrath." And then notice specifically 
the conflict in view. Before he gets to the church, 
he starts with the master. He desires to destroy this one 
sent from God. This is precisely what we read 
in verse 4. It's a horrific image, isn't 
it? I'm not a woman. Never been pregnant. Unless some 
miraculous feat of science occurs, I never will be. But I've got 
to imagine if I was a woman, and I was pregnant, I would want 
a sanitary environment to deliver the fruit of my womb. I would 
want to be attended by people that knew what they were doing. 
I'd want to be surrounded by a loving husband, full of compassion 
and kindness, who is slipping ice chips into my mouth. I would 
want it to be an environment that was conducive to bringing 
this new life into the world. Look at the antagonism that John 
paints with reference to Genesis 3.15. The seed of the woman is 
meeting the seed of the serpent and it is all out war. It is 
combat. It is battle to the death. It 
is warfare and it is typified or illustrated here in almost 
a vulgar way. The dragon stood before the woman 
who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it 
was born. Chilton says this conflict between 
Christ and Satan was announced in Genesis 3.15, the war between 
the two seeds, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. 
From the first book of the Bible to the last, this is the basic 
warfare of history. The dragon is at war with the 
woman and her seed, primarily Jesus Christ. He wants to devour 
this baby. He wants to destroy the child 
of promise. He wants to rid the world of 
this one who has come to save his people from their sins and 
to transfer people out of the kingdom of darkness into the 
kingdom of the sun of his love. In sum and substance, the devil 
is a murderer from the beginning. He is a liar. He wants to destroy 
that which has come to save mankind. That is the picture that is described 
for us. We see this in history. A couple 
of weeks ago I alluded to two biblical examples. Jehoshabah 
in 2nd Kings chapter 11. There was a wicked woman who 
ascended the throne in Israel. Her name was Adaliah. Adaliah's 
purpose was to destroy all the seed of David. She wanted to 
destroy every male in the Davidic line. She wanted to secure her 
spot on that throne and commit it to wickedness and ungodliness. 
Jehoshaphat, an unsung hero of the faith, took this baby Joash 
and hid him. Adaliyah did not find him. Adaliyah 
is ultimately executed and ultimately Joash, the Davidic king, assumes 
his place on the royal throne. Do not make a mistake. That was the wicked activity 
of Adaliyah, but it was the dragon behind her. In Matthew chapter 
2, when Herod gives the order to slaughter those innocent baby 
boys, yes, it was political, yes, it was wicked, yes, it was 
religious in nature, but as Paul tells us, we don't wrestle against 
flesh and blood, but rather it is the devil behind these men 
that are activating them in their machinations against the Church 
of the Living God. The devil wanted to destroy the 
rightful heir to the Davidic throne. The devil wanted to stop 
the progress of Christ's kingdom at the very inception of it. 
That is what verse 4 indicates. The dragon stood before the woman 
who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it 
was born. And then in verse 5 we have the 
description of the child himself, his identification. This is clearly 
the Lord Jesus Christ. She bore a male child who was 
to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Hopefully you're thinking 
Psalm 2. John has Psalm 2 in his mind 
as he refers to this reigning, ruling son who rules with the 
rod of iron. It is the Lord Jesus Christ that 
is in view in this particular scene. Notice in verse 5 the 
specific aspect of his ministry in view. 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. If I asked you what biblical 
doctrine does that refer to, I hope that you would say the 
Ascension. The Ascension obviously presupposes 
the Resurrection. The Resurrection obviously presupposes 
the Crucifixion. The Crucifixion obviously presupposes 
His spotless life and ministry. So when John says the ascension, 
or when he speaks here of the ascension, of this male child 
being caught up to God in his throne, when he highlights that 
one aspect, it does bring into the view all of the events associated 
with the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ. G.K. Beal 
says that this reference is a snapshot of the entirety of Christ's life. It is the ascension that is in 
view. I already read Daniel 7, 13 and 
14. We had a top 10 list of Bible 
texts that were misunderstood. I suspect that Daniel 7, 13 would 
probably make that particular list. If not in the top 10, in 
the top 20. Very often we take Daniel 7, 
13 as a second coming text. as a text when Jesus comes on 
the clouds again to judge the living and the dead. But that's 
not what Daniel's talking about. Daniel is talking about the ascension. Daniel says that this Son, this 
Son of Man, came to the Ancient of Days. He didn't come from 
the Ancient of Days, but rather He came to the Ancient of Days 
to assume universal empire, to assume the messianic reign. Daniel 
7, 13 and 14 provides the biblical background for the enthronement 
of Christ at the Ascension. Then to Him was given dominion 
and glory and a kingdom. I think that's precisely what 
John wants us to understand. At the ascension of Christ, when 
he sits down at the right hand of the throne of God Most High, 
it is at that point that the kingdom is given to him. It is 
at that point that he exercises universal empire. It is at that 
point that he rules and reigns over all things. It is at that 
point, brethren, that we are to appreciate. We're not looking 
forward to the reign of Christ. We are living in the reign of 
Christ. That is John's point in this 
section. It says, "...then to him was 
given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, 
and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting 
dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom the one 
which shall not be destroyed." So you see, we've got these three 
parties now identified. We've got the church, we've got 
the dragon, the serpent, the devil himself, and we've got 
Christ. So when the devil is poised there, 
ready to devour this male child, does it happen that way? Absolutely 
not. The male child grows. He continues 
in subjection to his earthly parents. He learns the carpentry 
trade. He lives a pretty common, ordinary 
life from between the ages of 12 and 30. The age of about 30, 
he goes and he is baptized. He goes into the wilderness. 
He begins what has already been typified of Him in the Old Testament 
Scriptures concerning Israel. The Lord Jesus carries out the 
role that the Father gave Him. He obeys the Father. He does 
what the Father says. For those of you who do not understand 
the message of the Gospel, it's very simple. God is a holy God. Man is a sinful wretch that deserves 
God's judgment, condemnation, wrath, and fury. But Christ came, 
and as a substitute, and as a curse-bearer, He died for our sins. But also 
He lived, and He fulfilled all righteousness. Because as sinners, 
we not only need the pardon of our sins, but we need a righteousness 
that avails with God, and Christ satisfies that beautifully. Christ does that perfectly, so 
that all who look to Christ in faith will have everlasting life. It's truly a beautiful thing. 
The gospel is, in fact, good news to weary sinners. So what we find in this particular 
section is that the devil wanted to destroy him, but he was unsuccessful. He failed. My other son has an app on his 
phone. Talking about apps today, I don't even know why that has 
come up. Well, there's this little game, 
and every time you lose, it says, fail. You don't carry out the 
little task, and it says, fail. It's not good for your self-esteem. 
These are simple games. You ought to be able to push 
the button in the appropriate spot, but it says, fail. This 
is the first fail in Revelation 12. He tries to destroy Jesus 
and he fails. Isn't that good? Isn't that glorious? Isn't that wondrous? Isn't that 
awesome? That our Lord Jesus is victorious. We see the triumph of the Lamb. We see the glory of the King. 
We see universal empire exercised in the defeat of the devil himself. Note the implication of this 
defeat for the church. Verse 6, then the woman fled 
into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God that 
they should feed her there 1,260 days. You read the Old Testament 
and you see what goes on in the wilderness. It is a place of 
trial. It is a place of testing. It 
is a place where God sends difficulties to His people to chasten them, 
to reprove them and rebuke them for their sin. But you know that 
the wilderness is also a place of safety? The wilderness is 
also a place where God cares for His people? Where the Lord 
is watching over Israel, that's what the wilderness signifies 
here in Revelation chapter 12. So let's look secondly at the 
defeat of the dragon, verses 7 to 12. War broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought 
with the dragon. Again, we've got Daniel in the 
backdrop here. Not going to get into all of 
the ins and outs concerning Michael, but suffice it to say that the 
good guys initiate the warfare on the bad guys. It is Michael 
and the angels who fought with the dragon. And the dragon and 
his angels fought, but they did not prevail. What's this? Fail number two. Michael and 
his angels undertake to dispense with the devil, to cast him out. Again, this isn't dealing with 
creation. It's dealing with the new creation. 
It's dealing with those events associated with the first coming 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The function of this section 
is to explain the dragon's rejection from heaven and his subsequent 
rage directed toward the church. John is theologizing, John is 
explaining, John is commenting, and John is telling his readers 
why they suffer trials in this world. In fact, the message of 
Revelation 12 is quite simple. When the church does what she 
is supposed to, she will suffer persecution. If we are never molested by the 
devil, if we never have trials, if we never have difficulties, 
if we never have tribulations, if everything is only sunshine 
and beaches and happy and bluebirds and joy in the church, we're 
probably not preaching the offense of the cross. You see, when the 
church of Christ does what she's supposed to, the devil turns 
his rage against them. And that is what John is explaining 
here. The victory of Christ is seen 
in the ejection of Satan from heaven itself. And I realize 
that creates a lot of questions. What was the devil doing there? 
What did it all look like? All of that sort of thing. I 
refer you to G.K. Beal on that one. But this much 
we see. War broke out in heaven. Michael 
and his angels fought with the dragon. 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. This 
is specifically connected to the work of Christ. Colossians 
2.15, the crucifixion. Jesus has disarm principalities 
and powers. Hebrews 2.14 specifies one of 
the works of Christ in his incarnation was to destroy the devil. 1 John 
chapter 3 verse 8, same idea. He was manifested to destroy 
the works of the devil. Jesus spoke of this in John 12 
at verse 31 when he says, now is the judgment of this world, 
now the ruler of this world will be cast out. What was Christ 
speaking of in that passage? He was speaking about himself 
being lifted up, drawing all men to himself at the crucifixion. What appeared to be defeat was 
victory, was triumph, was warfare being waged on the part of Messiah 
against the dragon himself. D.A. Carson says, although the 
cross might seem like Satan's triumph, it is in fact his defeat. I hope you're all getting it. 
This is good stuff. Everybody kind of looks like they're kind 
of tired right now. I know that it's Sunday night. 
I realize there's a warmth in here that can deaden the physicality. Spurgeon says the next best thing 
to grace in the heart is oxygen in the brain. Perhaps we ought 
to open the windows and let that blessed wind flow through here. What we are witnessing in Revelation 
12 is the triumph of the Lamb. If there isn't anything in this 
world that makes you happy, this ought to. And it is connected 
intimately to suffering in the church. It's no accident, brethren, 
that Revelation 13 is the exploits of the beast. The dragon uses 
meat. The devil uses political empire. The devil uses Rome. The devil 
uses imperial cult. The devil uses unbelieving Israel 
to try and target and exterminate and wipe out the church. But 
what Revelation 12 is teaching us is that the triumph of the 
Lamb overcomes those exploits by the devil. The triumph of 
the Lamb ensures the safety and protection of the church, not 
in terms of removal. You see, that's the way you and 
I would operate. Jesus save us, now remove us 
into this island community where we can all just sip tea and have 
fun. No, Jesus gives us grace to persevere 
through the trial, through the difficulty, and through the hardship 
that we face. That's the point in the book 
of Revelation. If you want salvation from sin 
and salvation from hardship, you signed up in the wrong place. We are saved from our sin, and 
more often than not, we enter into a hardship that we knew 
nothing of prior to our salvation. Again, the perfect embodiment 
of this is Pilgrim's Progress. Christian goes to the cross. 
He bows before the foot of the cross. And what happens? He loses 
that burden of sin. And then from then on to the 
celestial city, he skips, he dances, and he sings his way 
into heaven. You ain't read the book if you 
believe that. You say, you lost your burden 
at the cross. It sure seems like you've got another burden. Take 
my yoke upon you. There's a yoke associated with 
Christ. Yes, it's the yoke of discipleship. Yes, it's the yoke 
of obedience. Yes, it's the yoke of submission. 
But it's also the yoke of suffering. If the Son learns obedience through 
suffering, we will learn obedience through suffering likewise. I 
think John is doing the Church a great service. That's what 
bugs me about the wrong interpretation of Revelation. It makes no sense 
for the people in the context. If this was about Henry Kissinger, 
this was about Adolf Hitler, this was about Charlemagne, if 
this was about Barack Obama, these first century brethren 
would have no comfort. I want to tell you something 
that's going to happen in 2,000 years from now, and I want you to be 
happy about that. What do you mean be happy about that? Yes, 
I'm happy about the victory and the triumph of the Lamb, even 
if it occurs in 2,000 years from now. But there were seven churches 
in Asia Minor that were being tried, that were suffering, that 
were being persecuted, that were knowing something about being economically ruined. They 
saw, they tasted, they felt suffering. And so what John wants them to 
understand is the theology of it, and what is going on in terms 
of the devil. Carson says, although the cross 
might seem like Satan's triumph, it is in fact his defeat. In 
one sense, Satan was defeated by the outbreaking power of the 
kingdom of God, even in the ministry of Jesus. But the fundamental 
smashing of his reign of tyranny takes place in the death and 
exaltation of Jesus. See, these promises of the exaltation 
of Christ and the power of His sway in His kingdom and His rule 
in His empire, we're not waiting for that. We're in that. happened 
at the first coming. David Clark, when Christ arose 
from the dead and ascended to the throne of God, it was an 
eviction notice served on Satan. Verse 5 gave us the scene of 
ascension, and the following verses give us the victory and 
prelude of coming victories consequent upon that ascension. It is the 
aftermath of Christ's victory from the time of His ascension 
with which we are dealing with here. Notice, as a result of 
the devil being cast out, there is a victory shout, verse 10. 
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. Notice how verse 11 connects 
this to the bloodshedding of Christ. 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. So the scene is 
the devil is ejected, he's cast out of heaven. This is why there's 
the warning of verse 12. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, 
and you who dwell in them. The devil is cast out, so heaven 
rejoices. But woe to you, inhabitants of 
the earth and sea." In other words, the devil, since he has 
been defeated by Christ, failed. Since he has been defeated by 
Michael and his angels, failed. He is now going to turn his attention 
to the woman. And so that is why the cautionary 
word of verse 12, woe to the inhabitants of the earth and 
the sea. Is it any wonder that in Revelation 13 we have a beast 
from the sea and a beast from the earth? No, it's no wonder. Revelation may stretch the mind 
a little, but it ought not to confuse. It's pretty cut and 
dry. It's pretty easy to comprehend. We've got this dragon who's lost 
and now he turns his aggression against the church. Revelation 
13 shows us that via the beast from the sea, via the beast from 
the land. But lest we get sad, Lest we 
begin to weep, lest we begin to get dismayed, Revelation 14 
shows us again the Lamb is there with His fair army on Mount Zion. See, it never lets us lose sight 
of the triumph of the Lamb with reference to the distresses in 
this world. So there is a shout of victory 
in heaven, there is a warning to the inhabitants of the earth 
and the sea, the devil has come down to you having great wrath 
because he knows that he has a short time. He wants to busy 
up that time, he wants to try as he may to destroy the church 
of Jesus Christ. And that's what we then find 
in verses 13 to 17, the persecution of the woman. Now when the dragon 
saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the 
woman who gave birth to the male child. You see, he's an opportunist. Tried to destroy the male child? 
Fail. It's cast out of heaven by Michael 
and his angels? Fail. So now he's going to direct 
his energies and his attention to the woman. Can't kill her 
son. He's already dealt with me. Can't 
kill his angels. They've already dealt with me. 
So I'm going to go after this woman now and try and destroy 
her. You see the flow of the text. And in each instance, he 
fails. In each time, he loses. He tries 
to persecute the woman, or he does persecute the woman who 
gave birth to the male child. Verse 14 is rich with Sinai, 
rich with wilderness, rich with Old Testament, Old Covenant language 
of God's care for his people. 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. In Exodus 19.4, God 
says, You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore 
you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. In rehearsing 
Israel's history, God through Moses said, "...he found him 
in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness. He encircled 
him, he instructed him, 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 them on its wings. So 
the Lord alone led him, and there was no foreign God with him." 
In Deuteronomy 32. So what John is doing, he's employing 
this Old Testament imagery and language to show us God's protection 
of his church from oppressors. Egypt tried to destroy Israel. 
God bore her up as an eagle and brought them into a safe place. 
The beast will try to destroy the church. God will bear her 
up like an eagle and bring her to a place of safety. The Lord 
God is in control. The Lord God is in charge. The 
Lord God will most certainly superintend His people's lives. His church is safe. in his gracious 
hand and in his gracious care. Verse 15 describes the attempt 
or the attack of the serpent. 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 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the 
flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. So you see 
the dragon attempts, but God confounds. said the woman is 
treated as the congregation of Israel, saved from Egypt, lifted 
by the Lord on eagles' wings and brought to Sinai. The dragon's 
pursuit of her by throwing a water flood after her is a generalized 
image for the action of Pharaoh, who commands Israelite children, 
and especially Moses, to be washed down the Nile, comes out after 
escaping Israel with a host, and counts on the Red Sea to 
shut Israel in. So in verse 15, when the serpent 
is spewing this water, it should suggest to us the attack of the 
enemy in Old Covenant Israel and God's protection of her. 
in the midst of the trial. So what happens when the devil 
turns his attention to the woman? He fails. Right? That's third time. And then verse 
17 gives us the fourth fail. 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. What does the rest of the book 
of Revelation tell us? That those people overcome. Those 
people end up in the New Jerusalem. Those people, by the grace of 
God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, because of the blood 
of the Lamb, will indeed end in Emmanuel's land. So verse 
17 tells us that the people of God in all ages, the people of 
God throughout history, are safe from the rage of the dragon. 
He attempts to destroy them, but in like manner, he fails. Isn't it perplexing that at times 
people read the book of Revelation and they get depressed? They 
get scared. They think it's filled with gloom 
and doom. It's filled with gloom and doom 
for the devil. It's filled with gloom and doom 
for the enemies of Jesus. It's filled with gloom and doom 
and defeat and mayhem and destruction and all manner of horrible things 
for the devil and his people. Christ is the hero in the book 
of Revelation. May I suggest that you read it. 
May I suggest that you meditate upon it. May I suggest that you 
reflect upon the underlying theme that Christ is the Lamb who sits 
upon the throne, who has overcome this world, who has dealt the 
death blow to the devil himself in his first coming. And though 
the devil may rage, and though the devil may seek to destroy 
the woman, And while the devil may seek to destroy those who 
keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus 
Christ, he will always fail. You can rest assured that if 
you are in the hand of Christ, you are safe. If you are in the 
hand of Christ, you aren't going anywhere. Jesus doesn't fail. Jesus doesn't lose. Jesus is 
not subject to decay. Jesus is the same yesterday, 
and today, and forever. This same male child that was 
born, that lived in obedience to the law, that resisted the 
devil in the wilderness, that went to the cross, that died 
this death, that rose again and exalted to the right hand of 
His Father. That Jesus is trustworthy. That Jesus is one upon whom we 
can cast our soul and realize that He will take good care of 
us no matter what may happen, no matter what may come, no matter 
the hardships that we may face, no matter the struggles that 
we go through as church or as individuals. If we are those 
described herein, those who by the grace of God have believed 
on the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the grace of God are pursuing 
obedience to the commandments, those who have the testimony 
of Jesus Christ, hell itself cannot keep us out of heaven. 
God Most High has ordained His Son, Jesus Christ, as Lord, as 
Savior. Because of His Word, we are safe. That's the message of the book 
of Revelation. That's the message that we ought 
to take encouragement from. That is the message we ought 
to head into a new week with and a new year with. Whatever 
may come, Christ is there for his people. Well, let us pray. 
Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for the 
abject failure of the devil himself. We thank you for the perfect 
victory and the triumph of the Lamb. We thank you for our Lord 
Jesus, this male child, this one who ascended to the throne 
of God Most High, this one who has universal empire, this one 
who has absolute dominion and power and excellence in a kingdom. 
And we pray, Lord God in heaven, that we would live in light of 
passages such as these, that they would be a means of encouragement 
to us as individuals and as a local church, and grant us grace, Lord 
God Almighty, to live, to move, to preach, to minister, to witness, 
to pray in such a way that we will see some sort of opposition 
from the devil himself, and do protect us, do watch over us, 
continue to bear us up on eagle's wings. And we pray through Christ 
Jesus, our Lord, amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation and then be dismissed.