Turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12. Revelation 12, I'll begin reading in 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, and 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

Michael's Victory in Heaven

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.

The Accuser Cast Down

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.

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. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she may fly into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.

And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Amen. Excuse me. Well, let us pray.

Opening Prayer

Our God and our Father, we come before you on this Sabbath day. We come to praise and to honor and to glorify you. We bless you, Father. We come through your Son, the Lord Jesus, who is our great High Priest, who always lives to make intercession for us.

We come by the power of the Holy Spirit, that God may be all in all. in this place. We pray that you would rend the heavens today, that you would come down, that you would be found among your people here, encouraging your saints, encouraging all of us who struggle daily with sin and temptation and the devil himself. And as well, God, we pray that today would be the day of salvation for all those who are outside of Christ. We know that you are sovereign.

We know that you are powerful to save. We know that your gospel is glorious. It is the power of God unto salvation. For everyone who believes, we would ask today that the Holy Spirit would attend the preaching, that you would open hearts and eyes and ears and cause us all to behold wondrous things that your law has for us.

Do forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions. Grant us grace, God, to receive with thanksgiving your word, and give us grace, Almighty God, to glorify you. I pray for my brother Joe Ditto today. I know his grandfather just passed away.

We just ask that you would comfort their family, God, in this time of loss, that you would give strength to all those who survive. We pray, Father, that even in these circumstances, you would draw sinners unto yourself. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, this is a particular vision that John the Apostle has on the island of Patmos, where he is exiled for the Word of God and for the testimony of our Lord Jesus. You see that in Revelation 1, verse 9. And John, as he writes this particular book, tells us it's going to be symbolic. He tells us that it's not going to be just a literal account of the events in history, but rather, specifically, in verse 1 of chapter 1, he says, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place, and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John.

So, from the outset of the book of Revelation, we are taught to expect symbols. We are taught to expect signs. We are taught to expect vision. And that is precisely what we have in chapter 12.

Now, much that is behind the scenes in chapter 12 is a lot of the prophets. In fact, the prophet Daniel fares much in Revelation 12. We won't have time to investigate all of those things this morning, but I just want to give sort of the broad strokes of Revelation chapter 12 and what it instructs us concerning our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. The chapter, I think, breaks down naturally into three sections.

The Incarnation of the Son

In the first place, we'll note the incarnation of the son in verses 1 to 6. Secondly, we'll note the defeat of the dragon in verses 7 to 12. And then thirdly, we'll note the persecution of the woman in verses 13 to 17. But as we begin in verse 1, we see that there are three primary parties or players in this particular vision.

Notice in 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.

The Woman and the Male Child

Now, the narrative goes on to highlight the birth of Jesus Christ. He is the male child referred to specifically in verses 4 and 5. So many commentators, many Bible readers assume here that this woman must be Mary, the mother of Jesus. Now certainly Mary was indeed the mother of Jesus according to his humanity.

Mary was the vessel chosen by God to bring forth the son of God in time under the law so that he could redeem those who were under the law. But as the woman fares later in this particular chapter, we see that a better identification might be the church. or the messianic community, the faithful of God in all ages, the old covenant people of God had a hope, they had promises, they had prophets, they had all these things that were pointing forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We might call that the messianic community, the people of God, the remnant, the believers, the faithful of the Old Testament, Of course, after the life and the death and the resurrection of Christ, we call that people the church of Jesus Christ, and it is that church, the woman, who is being persecuted according to verses 6 and 13 and following. So the woman here does not refer in the first place to Mary, the mother of Jesus, but as 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 that I think is a good way to get at who this woman is.

Now

The Dragon Identified

note as well the dragon identified in verses 3 and 4. Again, kids. I want you to pay attention to this. John writes in a way, it's very vivid, it's very lively, it's very engaging, it's very soul-stirring, as you appreciate what's happening in Revelation chapter 12.

It's not the victory of the devil, it's the victory of Jesus Christ, Your heart hopefully will leap as you see this one promised in Genesis 3.15, this seed of the woman that crushes the head of the serpent. This is the player involved in this particular instance. Notice, as he is described, notice his identification. Another sign appeared in heaven, verse three, behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his heads.

So what we are seeing there is this beastly, ghastly, wretched, monstrous figure set over and against this male child that is born. On the one hand, you've got perversity, wickedness and evil. On the other hand, you have blessedness, joy, holiness, and Christ. The author draws in sharp lines so that we will appreciate not the power of the devil, but the supremacy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact, I sometimes think that people stay away from the book of Revelation because they think it's about Antichrist. They think it's about the beast. They think it's about nothing but evil and mayhem and bad things and doom and gloom. Do you realize the focal point of The book of Revelation is that Christ is on his throne.

It's the crown of Christ that is preeminent in the book of Revelation, no matter what interpretative view you bring to the table with reference to Revelation. You cannot miss the fact. You cannot avoid the reality that Christ supreme, Christ triumphant, Christ enthroned is the point of the book of Revelation. But readers today just assume that it means only bad things.

Well, if as we end today, you see only bad things in Revelation 12, I have certainly failed. But notice, this is a reference to the devil. The great dragon, the serpent of old, he is called the devil and Satan. Notice he's further identified that way in verse 12. 9.

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. Again, I think this is a clear reference to Genesis 3.15, that first promise in the Bible concerning salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Remember the scene, Adam and Eve rebel against God.

Adam specifically, as the federal head of his race, plunges the race into sin, plunges all of his posterity into sin. God comes, God sets forth a curse upon the devil in the first instance. He then deals with Eve and then he deals with Adam. But with reference to the devil, God the Lord Most High says to him, Genesis 3.15, that there will be enmity, that there will be this, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed.

He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. So when John refers to the devil here as the serpent. It ought to make us think of Genesis 3.15. It ought to make us think that what we are finding in Revelation 12 is the answer to the situation introduced to us in Genesis 3.

These two seeds, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, or the serpent himself. Revelation 12 is the record of Christ's accomplishment of victory over the devil in accordance with that proto-gospel. Now note what the devil does. In verse 4b, again, we're not going to deal with all the particulars.

I would suggest a close reading of the prophet Daniel to see some of the imagery that is used here. But notice at the end of verse 4, and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born. See, that's the devil's purpose as reviewed in this section. The devil wants to stop Jesus.

The devil wants to stop Christ. The devil wants to stop this Messiah that is promised by God to crush his head. There's some self-interest there, isn't there, in the devil. He's not contrary or unaware of the promise in Genesis 3.15.

He knew that God purposed to have his head crushed. And he sees this Jesus as being the seed of the woman, or he sees this promise concerning the seed of the woman as meaning his demise. And so the devil in his self-interest tries to stop this. And there are several instances in the Old Testament.

I mean, probably we could already suggest Cain, wicked Cain, murdering Abel. Now he wasn't the seed according to Genesis 3.15, but Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel did not know that. You have Pharaoh's murderous rampage against the Israelites in the book of Exodus. You have that situation in 2 Kings chapter 11.

Ralph Davis calls Jehoshaphat the lady that saved Christmas. That instance where Adaliah attempts to destroy the royal heirs and Jehoshaphat takes Joash and hides him away. so that the royal heir, Joash, will be available to reign and to rule and to crush this Adeliah. You see, all throughout the history of Old Covenant Israel and into the history of New Testament people of God, you see this murderous rage and attempt by the devil to try and stop the seed. Again, a very vivid illustration is in Matthew chapter 2.

What happens when Herod hears about the birth of Israel's king? He wants the wise men to tell him where he is so he can go and see him. The wise men are divinely warned in a dream not to go back and report to Herod. So what does Herod do?

Herod destroys children. Herod massacres the innocents. Herod can't get the specific location of the seed, so he'll kill all the seed in order to try and rid himself of this particular menace. You see, this is the devil working in and through his agents.

And again, I think this is the point in Revelation 12. When you get to Revelation 13, who do we meet? We meet this beast from the sea and we meet this beast from the land. Well, what's John telling us?

The beast from the sea and the beast from the land get their power, they get their authority, limitedly, from the devil that was introduced to us in Revelation chapter 12. He is the power behind the scenes with reference to the earthly machinations that are given to attempt to destroy the people of God. You see, all throughout history, this birth of Christ was trying to be prevented. What does it show us?

Just by way of a practical illustration, a practical application, it shows us something about the tenacity of God, doesn't it? Now tenacity probably is to be understood in the manner of men. Tenaciousness means that you need to work at something. We might better suggest that it shows us the faithfulness of God.

God promises in Genesis 3.15, and all comers who try to prevent that, all comers who try to oppose that, all comers who try to thwart that, will be crushed. Because our faithful God has promised that the seed of the woman would indeed rise up, and that He would lower that holy foot upon the head of the serpent, crushing it, destroying it, rendering it null and void. And that is what we find in this chapter. It's an amazing thing.

Over the last several years, something that I don't think the history of the church has witnessed the way we do. You know, sometimes people say, do you think the world is getting worse and worse? I usually answer, no, I just think there's more sinners. You have more sinners, it just seems exponentially worse, right?

You put one sinner in a house, it's bad. Put a couple in there, it's worse. Put a few more in there, it just becomes mayhem. Well, when you have a world that's populated with billions and billions of sinners, it's a bad place.

But you know, over the last few years, there have been these satanic groups that build these statues of Satan, and they want to display them in public places. I don't know if I've heard of this in Canada, but I've certainly seen it in the United States. I mean, if anything bad is gonna originate, it's probably gonna happen below us there in the U.S., not to say that Canada is a bastion of holiness, joy, and goodness. However, statues to Satan.

Do you realize that John tells us in this chapter that Satan fails four times? He fails with the incarnation, he fails in this battle with Michael, he fails with reference to his persecution of the woman in the first century, and he fails with reference to the persecution of all of God's people throughout whatever century vis-a-vis verse 17. In other words, they are making a monument and an idol to a loser. Now, realize that in our day and age, everybody gets a trophy who participates.

You come in second, you get a trophy. Now, I'm not minimizing your efforts. If you're a second-place person, praise God, you've obviously worked hard. But just listen to the analogy for a moment.

Everybody gets a participation award. I like what the U.S. Navy SEALs say. They say, second place means first-place loser. that may want to send some of us into our safe places if we are second or third placers, but you get what they're saying.

Second place is a first place loser. That's how we ought to look at the devil. Why would you put a monument up to a loser? He's failed four times.

That's the emphasis in the book of Revelation. That's the emphasis specifically here in verse 12. He fails at the incarnation. He fails in heaven with his battle with Michael the archangel.

He fails with the persecution of the first century church. And he fails with the persecution of every century of the church. He fails. This is why the mandate in Scripture for us as the people of God is when the devil haunts us as he does, he roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

You know what God's Word says we are to do with him? Go to conferences and learn 15 steps on how to outsmart the devil. Go to prophecy conferences or demonology conferences and learn all about your enemy and identify that demonic spirit and rebuke him and reprove him and this, that, and the other. No.

You know what James says? Resist him and he will what? Flee from you. If you're giving in to the devil, do not say, well, I just can't.

I've shared with many of you before that comedian in America, his name was Flip Wilson. And old Flip used to say, the devil made me do it. No Christian can say that. For greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

He is a real foe. He roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. But if you've got a problem with pornography, you can't blame the devil. If you've got a problem with drugs, you can't blame the devil.

If you've got a problem with anything in terms of sin and rebellion against the word of the living God, you cannot blame the devil because the word of God says, resist him and he will flee from you. No, I don't dispute, I do not debate, and I will certainly try and help you deal with those attacks because they are real. You've got that old story of Martin Luther who the devil came to him and he took that inkwell and he threw it at him to repel it. Martin Luther said flatulence was one of the means by which he used to resist and repel the devil.

He's probably a great guy to hang around with, wouldn't you think? So he is a real foe, brethren, but he is not omnipotent. He is not sovereign. There is one omnipotent.

There is one sovereign. There is one Lord God Most High, Father, Son, and Spirit. And the Son of God came into this world not to make men savable, not to render the devil a limping foe, but to crush his head. And He does it at the first coming.

We're not waiting for this to happen. Revelation 12 tracks the defeat of the devil, not to the second coming, but to the first. You know, this time of the year, everybody gets warm and fuzzy feelings about this little babe in the womb. That was one time.

When he returns, it says, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It's not some helpless little babe in the womb. I think the world likes a helpless babe in the manger. Why?

Because he's something tameable. We can pick him up. We can hold him. We can stop him.

We can subdue him. But he's that once in time, space, and history to affect the application of Genesis 3.15. When he comes again, brethren, you're not going to be able to subdue him. You're not going to be able to say, oh no, I don't want what you're putting down.

I want to do what I want to do. No, he's the King of kings and Lord of lords. The devil has tried and the devil has failed.

Incarnation and Ascension Summarized

Now note the child is referred to in verse 5. So, verse 4 tells us, "...the dragon stood before the woman, who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born." Now notice in verse 5, "...she bore a male child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and His throne." It's a very intriguing statement that we find here in Revelation 12.5. John summarizes the entire complex of events associated with the life and ministry of Jesus to two, incarnation and ascension. The incarnation means the enfleshment of the Son of God.

The Lord Jesus Christ didn't begin to be however many years ago. You know, we talk about a birthday for Jesus. We must distinguish. It's according to his humanity he was born.

As the second person of God Most High, he's always been. From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. We just sang, veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Hail the incarnate deity.

You realize deity isn't born. Deity doesn't have a birth date. Deity doesn't have an expiration date. There's no birth certificates or death certificates applied to deity.

The incarnation is when the Son of God came into this world as the Son of Man. He took on our nature. with all the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof, yet except sin. And this is what's referred to, notice in verse 5. She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and His throne.

I take that as a reference to the ascension. The ascension took place after Jesus' life, His death, His resurrection, and then He ascended on high. The book of Acts speaks to this in Acts chapter 1. You might ask the question, why incarnation and why ascension?

I think there's several reasons for this. In the first place, you don't get one part of Christ without the rest. In other words, incarnation and ascension certainly imply the life, the ministry, the death. and the resurrection. We know specifically the death is in view because in verse 11, the reference is to the blood of the Lamb.

John's not trying to slight life and death and resurrection. He is summarizing it for us. He's giving us a snapshot of the whole ministry of Christ. And if you understand this, you get rid of incarnation, you've got problems with life, death, resurrection, and ascension.

You get rid of resurrection, you got problems with incarnate, you see how it all fits together? One man recently, a popular Bible speaker, Bible teacher, doesn't really matter what the Bible says about the birth of Jesus Christ. Well, if it really doesn't matter what the Bible says about the birth of Jesus Christ, then it really doesn't matter what the Bible says about his life. about his death and about his resurrection, because you see it just devolves into the realm of faith and mystery and fable and myth, and it really doesn't matter what is objectively true. It's what it produces in me.

No, it matters what is objectively true. You see, Christianity is not a blind leap of faith. You may hear this in your university settings, it's a blind leap. Blind leap of faith?

We have 2,000 years of, how many thousands of years of recorded history, prophecies that come down to the wire in terms of their application. It's objective. Our faith in the Lord God Most High isn't a blind leap. It's about the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ such that John can snapshot the entirety of Christ's ministry by referring to His birth and His being caught up, His ascension on high.

This isn't the only place the Bible does that. Psalm 2, which is behind this particular reference. Notice in verse 5 what it says. She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.

That's Psalm 2 language, brethren. That is Psalm 2 language. You've got to remember about the book of Revelation. It's the most Old Testament-ish book in the New Testament. the most Old Testament-like book in the New Testament.

You say, well, I don't have as many quotes in the book of Revelation as St. Matthew does. If there are not direct quotations, there's indirect, or there's what's called allusion. That's where the language of Old Testament is so ingrained in the man John that when he writes these visions out under the inspiration of the Spirit, who incidentally gave us the Old Testament as well, John writes in such a way as to bring Daniel and to bring David and to bring the Psalms and the prophets alive in these glimpses of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But Psalm 2 speaks of the eternal generation of the Son. It goes from decree, eternal generation, and the rule in the reign of Christ. Now, the Apostle Paul in Acts 13 applies or refers to that generation in Psalm 2 as the resurrection. So in Psalm 2, the psalmist moves from the begetting or the begottenness of Christ, resurrection, and then to His reign.

And it's intriguing as well. When you read the narratives, the Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. who records the birth narratives of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's Matthew and Luke, isn't it? John's not silent.

There is a reference to Jesus in John, specifically 18, standing before Pilate. When Pilate says, are you a king? Jesus says, you say rightly, I am a king. For this cause, I was born.

You see, Jesus doesn't diminish his life, his death, his resurrection, but he snapshots it or summarizes it under these two headings, incarnation and ascension. For this cause I was born. I've always loved that passage in John 18. Do we think about that today?

Are turkeys and gifts and smells and family trumping the reality that King Jesus is on his throne? And as we move our way through this passage, what is most emphasized? The means by which anyone ever overcomes the devil and his machinations. Just an old Puritan word that means his evil attempts to try and do something bad.

His nasty attempts to try and do something bad. It's through the blood of the Lamb. It's what we ought to be concerned about today. I don't mean blood in a cup, you know, that red liquid.

What it signifies, Christ's life, Christ's death, Christ's substitutionary atonement. Christ worked for sinners, such that any and all who look to Him in faith will have everlasting life. See what John is doing, he tells us about this woman, he tells us about this dragon or about this devil, and then he tells us about this blessed Christ. So the devil is poised or the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born.

She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and her child was caught up to God and his throne. So he's poised there to receive this child so that he can destroy and bring destruction like the devil does. But John moves from incarnation to ascension. Maybe we're to appreciate in there too that with reference to his life, Every, you know, toe-to-toe act of combat by the devil toward Christ failed.

Think about Matthew's gospel in Matthew chapter 4 after the baptism of Jesus. What happens? Jesus is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted, to be tested by the devil. And what does the devil do?

The devil comes to him and plies him with very difficult things. Again, we need to appreciate Christ is the second person of the Trinity, but he took on our nature. with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin. You see Christ battling toe-to-toe with the devil in the wilderness and not giving in. You see, through his life he had to deal with these sorts of things.

So perhaps John, by moving from incarnation to ascension, is simply highlighting the reality of the dismal failure of the devil once again. He stood there poised, he wanted to capture that seed and he wanted to destroy that seed. But not only did he not stop it, this seed, this male child is caught up to the very throne of God, where he rules and he reigns and he exercises sovereignty over the entire world.

The Church in the Wilderness

Now know what this means concerning the church. This is developed further in verses 13 and following. But notice in verse 6, then the woman, that's the woman identified as the messianic community, the church, the people of God, the faithful from whom Messiah comes. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she has a place prepared by God that they should feed her there 1,260 days.

Again, It's going to be developed in more detail in verses 13 to 17. But before we move on, we ought to appreciate this reality. The ascension of Jesus Christ did not mean the absence of trial in your life. I don't know how easier or simple to make that, but the ascension of Christ does not mean the absence of trial in your life.

Note the progression. Christ is incarnate. Christ is ascended on high. Christ is ruling and reigning at the right hand of God Most High.

What happens to the woman? What happens to the church? She has to flee to the wilderness. This is the whole point of the warning in verse 12.

Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and sea. After the devil is cast out of heaven, he turns his aggression upon the woman. You see, you need to appreciate something. Christ has never promised you deliverance from trials.

But Christ has always afforded strength to endure through those trials. Isn't this the point of John 16.33? Isn't this what he says? In this world, you will have trouble.

How's that for a marketing ploy? Jesus, tell us why we ought to be your followers. Well, the Benny Hinn's and the Joel Osteen's of our day put words in Jesus' mouth. Well, come to me and you'll get big mansions.

Come to me and your life will be peachy king. Come to me and everything will be rosy and everything will be sweet and everything will smell like, you know, beautiful things. Christ says in this world you will have trouble. I love the word there, it's tribulation, flipsus, this idea of pressing.

You ever say that? I really feel pressed in on all sides. Well, you're using the word properly because that's what it means. I get the idea of the vice grips on a workbench.

You put your tool in there, you put whatever you're working on, and you just sort of crank that baby. We thank the Lord for the utility of that device, giving little concern for what's clamped in between. It's like when a cat plays with a mouse. The mouse doesn't interpret it that way.

We get pressed upon. You see, what are the points of the book of Revelation? People of God, life on earth is hard. People of God, life on earth is filled with trial and tribulation and difficulty.

John reinforces what Christ says in John 16, 33. In this world, you will have tribulation. But John also reinforces what Christ continues to say in John 16, 33. But be of good cheer.

Why? For I have overcome the world. This woman, after the ascension of Christ, does not just build great big buildings, drive great big cars, and have great big summer homes. After the ascension of Christ, recorded in Acts chapter 1, what do you find in the rest of the book of Acts?

What do you see there? You see apostles beaten. for preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus. You see apostles threatened to not preach the Lord Jesus. You see the Apostle Paul, one of the most holy and righteous men that ever lived after his conversion, being persecuted.

Read about his exploits in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. The man suffered for the cause of Christ, a God in truth, and that's the point here. The ascension of Christ does not mean the absence of trials in your life. Think back to the illustration when Jesus is on the boat with his disciples and there's storms and there's winds and there's waves.

I mean, do we not get the obvious? Christ in the boat with us does not mean there's not gonna be winds and waves and storms, but Christ in the boat with us means that we're gonna be okay. When all is said and done, we're gonna be okay, right? That's the point.

That's what John wants you to get. Yes, he's using visions. Yes, he's using symbols. Yes, he's using the prophets.

He's using the Psalms. But he's weaving this together in such a way that the people of God can identify with this woman who is persecuted and say, yes, the wilderness is a good place because that's where God cares for us. That's his point. Now,

The Defeat of the Dragon

notice the defeat of the dragon. It's almost as if Verses, well, it's not almost as if, it is precisely. Verses 1 to 6, tell us what happened on the earthly level. Verses 7 to 12 illustrate what's going on behind the scenes.

There's a lot of behind the scenes in this particular section. As I've mentioned, we get to Revelation 13, you see the beast from the sea and the beast from the land. Well, John wants you to remember chapter 12, because behind the scenes of the beast of the sea and the beast of the land, it's the devil who is working through these powers. Well, here the same thing is true.

We've got what can be viewed on earth, the incarnation and the ascension. Well, 7 to 12 gives us sort of a behind-the-scenes view. What's this look like in the heavenly realm? What's this look like in terms of the things going on in heaven?

The function of Revelation 12, 7 to 12, is to explain the dragon's rejection from heaven and his subsequent rage toward the church. Now there's a lot of questions and probably those who have read Job have the same sorts of questions. You remember that Satan presents himself before God and asks about Job and you probably scratch your noodle and say, why is Satan there to talk to God about Job? And readers might find the same thing here.

What wasn't the devil already cast out of heaven? This isn't talking about that first fall. It's talking about the new creation in Christ Jesus. This particular fall and all the ins and outs and all the particular details are probably not going to be answered for you satisfactorily this morning.

But I think what John wants us to see is because of the incarnation, because of the ascension, because of the events associated with the Lord Jesus Christ, namely His doing, His dying, His rising, and His reigning, Based on that complex or series of events, the devil has been served an eviction notice. He has been cast out. He has been cast down. Notice, very specifically, the victory of Christ is indicated.

Verses 7 to 11. War broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail.

Nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. Don't you love that? I think we always envision the kingdom of God as this sort of nancy, namby-pamby, effeminate, soft sort of a reality. Well, the kingdom of God would never launch an onslaught against the enemies of God.

You hear that sometimes. I think it was C.S. Lewis who said that David was wrong to tell us the prayers of David in terms of the imprecations in the Psalms. No covenant Christians ought not to pray those sorts of things.

Well, it is intriguing because those imprecatory Psalms are quoted by New Testament authors and they never give us sort of a qualification to say, well, don't pray those verses. We have this namby-pamby effeminate view of the kingdom of God that just marches around and does nothing in terms of offense. Notice, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. They initiate.

They give the eviction notice. They render God's judgment upon the devil and his angels. The same is true with Matthew 16. I will build my church and the gates of Haiti shall not prevail against it.

Again, how many times do we understand that particular verse teaching us this? The church has this fence around her and the kingdom of darkness is battling against her. That's not what the text says. I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

What does that mean? It means that the church of Jesus Christ, the visible expression of the kingdom of God, is on a triumphant march. And every time a sinner is translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the son of his love, that is, in effect, the gates of hell being assaulted by the kingdom of God. See, sometimes I think we just get this backwards view, and I think that's what readers bring to the book of Revelation.

We see the devil and the Antichrist and the beast and this and that. We go, wow, it's a scary book. It's not a scary book when you understand that Jesus wins. Jesus has won.

Jesus always wins. You don't have to make a monument to the first place loser. You don't have to bow down to some idol that cannot save you. He has ears that cannot hear.

He has eyes that cannot see. He has a mouth, but he cannot speak. That's not our God. Our God is in the heavens.

He does whatever he pleases. It is Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. The dragon and his 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. Now notice, very specifically, this, well, before we get into verse 10,

The Cross and the Devil's Defeat

a few passages that highlight the devil's destruction at Christ's first coming. Colossians 2. These are passages everybody should have in their mind. Colossians chapter 2.

I hope you don't take that sort of thing. Everybody should have that in their mind as guilt manipulation. Oh, I feel bad. Pastor Butler said I should have this in my mind and I don't.

No, it's an encouragement, brethren. There's some fanatics out there that actually think the devil's winning. You say, well, this world's a mess. Yeah, but the Bible tells us the world's still gonna be a mess, even with Christ ascended at the right hand of the Father.

You see, maybe that mess nature of the world has a purpose under God. We know it does. But one of those purposes is formative for the people of God. You see, the absence of trials would probably produce a whole lot of madmen.

Proud, arrogant, wretched people. Trials humble us, don't they? Trials keep us dependent upon Yahweh and His grace. Trials put us in the proper perspective.

You see, if there were no trials, I can't even imagine what we would look like. Isn't this what the proverb says? Give me neither poverty nor riches. If I'm poor, I'll go out and steal and I'll dishonor God.

But if I'm rich, what will I do? I'll forget God. Wasn't this a continual admonition to the children of Israel as they entered into the promised land? Isn't this what God, through Moses on the plains of Moab, repeatedly exhorted the people of God?

Do not go into the land and forget God. What did they do? They went into the land and forgot God. You see, trials have a way of helping us not to forget God.

Think back in your life. Probably some of the most earnest praying was when you were going through trials. Now the lesson might be you need to pray more when you're not going through trials. But these trials have a blessed and remedial effect under the hand of God for his people, don't they?

That's Hebrews 12. God chastens us. Why? Because He loves us.

In this book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus Christ says to the worst of the seven churches, He says to the Laodiceans, as many as I love, I reprove. The Laodiceans are told that? These people that were neither hot nor cold? These people that Jesus threatened to vomit out of his mouth?

Yeah, as many as I love, I reprove. You see, these trials and these difficulties and these hardships and what the church finds herself in, in terms of wilderness. You see, the wilderness in the Old Covenant, the image is used here in Revelation 12, it was a time of trial to be sure, but it was a time of protection. Who can forget Deuteronomy 1.31 where God refers to the time of trial in the wilderness as a father carrying his firstborn in his arms?

I don't think we're going to get through the whole chapter, so I'm just giving you some of it now. The language of eagles. Eagles' wings that we find later on with reference to the woman in Revelation 12, 13-17. These eagle wings.

This is Exodus 19. God bore up His children with eagle wings. This is Deuteronomy 32, rehearsing God's faithfulness. In the midst of the wilderness, God bore them up on eagles' wings.

You see, brethren, the devil has been defeated. He has lost the war. But like a cornered rat, he is not going to simply go away. He's still going to roll about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

But the armament given to the Christians by God Most High is, resist him. Isn't that great? I don't have to go to a conference and learn 10 lessons on how to deal with the devil. I've been to one of those conferences many, many years ago.

I was just struck with what a waste of time it was. Because James says, resist him and he will flee from you. Why do I need your DVDs? Maybe it was VHS tapes back then, but why do I need for, you know, $39.99 your program or your plan or your plot on how to deal with the devil, when James tells me in very simple words, resist him and he will flee from you?

Well, how can James say that? Because of the realities of what occurred at the cross. Notice in Colossians 2.15, Well, beginning in verse 13, and you being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

See, we don't wait for victory with reference to the second coming of the Lord Jesus. We have victory with reference to the first coming of the Lord Jesus. Verse 15, having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Hebrews 2.14.

Hebrews 2.14. This might be good dinner table talk if you're with unconverted people today. The question comes up, why did Jesus come into this world? Did he come into this world so we could have one day out of the year where people are semi-civil to one another?

Where people eat turkey and they get gifts and they have nice things? Is that why Jesus came into the world? I hope that's not why we think Jesus came into the world. The Bible informs us why.

Notice in Hebrews 2.14, inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same. What? Flesh and blood? The second person of the triune God came into this world, assumed our nature. took our humanity upon him.

He himself likewise shared in the same that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil." You see, the New Testament authors do not say that Christ's victory is with his second coming. Now certainly it is, but it's connected to his first advent. That gentle Jesus, meek and mild, crushed the head of the dragon. That gentle Jesus, meek and mild, crushed the head of the dragon of our sin.

That gentle Jesus, meek and mild, through his cross work on our behalf, is in the process of building a comprehensive church made up of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And then one final passage in 1 John chapter 3, 1 John chapter 3, again answering the question, why did Jesus come into this world? Again, there are several answers that one could give to such a thing. Well, it was God's plan, it was according to His eternal decree, certainly.

In the fullness of the time, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law. Certainly one of the aspects of Christ's coming in the flesh in that first advent was to crush the head of the serpent. Notice in 1 John 1, verse 3, I'm sorry, 1 John 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. You see, brethren, that's our reality. That's our present benefit. That's our present blessing.

That's true for us in Christ Jesus. If we, by God's grace, have believed the gospel, if we, by God's grace, have looked and lived, if we, by God's grace, have come out of darkness into marvelous light, our reality is that in terms of the devil's works, the devil's hold over us, it's broken. It's broken by the bloodshed of Jesus Christ the Lord. Again, this ought to be an encouragement, but it ought to be an exhortation.

Don't blame your sin on the devil. You're not Flip Wilson. The devil didn't make you do it. There's greater resources in him that is in you than he that is in the world.

Maybe it's laziness. Maybe it's blame shifting. Maybe it's a lack of accepting responsibility. I guess it's easier to blame the devil for those things that we have done than to say, I have sinned against my God.

You see, David sets forth the example, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight. Let's be more like David than the blame shifting, safe space seeking snowflakes of our day. The people of God are to be manly, and I don't mean women, you know, have Adam's apples and grow beards. I love that translation in the King James Version in Corinthians, quit ye like.

The NAS renders it, be brave like men. He's talking to women as well. In other words, Christianity isn't effeminate. It is not limp-wristed.

The church militant is the church militant, or she will never be the church triumphant. The day we imbibe the sorts of cultural relativism that is all around us and we start being the same sorts that we see in this world, it's gone. We need to man up and be the kinds of people that God has called us to be and saved us to be. end by not capturing verse 10. Notice what happens here.

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. Isn't that a beautiful expression of the messianic kingdom? It is come. It is with Christ.

It is the power of God and is Christ. Notice, the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down. Isn't that a beautiful reminder? It's not the sort of tension that we find in the prophet Zechariah.

Zechariah chapter 3, Joshua the high priest standing before Yahweh. Joshua the high priest is covered in filth. He didn't spill peanut butter on his shirt. He's full of excrement.

He's full of vomit. It's the language that the text uses. Joshua the high priest is in his filth before a holy God, and Satan is right there, ready to accuse. Satan is right there, ready to proffer up his wickedness before Yahweh.

God doesn't even listen to the devil. He says, the Lord rebuke you, Satan. God knows what Joshua's about. God knows what the covenant community's about.

That's why God says, take the filthy garments off of them and clothe them with these beautiful garments. God knows our situation. He knows our unrighteousness. He knows our wickedness.

Hence the gospel. If you have come here this morning, if you're part of the C&E crowd, Christmas and Easter, you only come on those two holidays, you need to understand this. The rest of us don't come weekly because we're better. The rest of us don't come weekly because we think somehow we're going to earn our way into God's favor.

It's by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. We're all Joshua the High Priest. We're all that filthy covenant community. Our problem isn't a speck of peanut butter on the shirt.

It is vomit, it is excrement, it is every violation of God's holy law. If the Lord Most High had not sent His Son, we would all die in hell. That's the purpose for Christ. It's His life of perfect obedience.

It's His death at Calvary Street. It's His resurrection from the dead. You see, we not only need forgiveness, cleansing through His blood, which the cross provides, but we need that righteousness. We need to be clothed with a righteousness not our own.

We need to be able to stand before God and the gospel answers to that. In Christ we have both forgiveness and we have the imputation of righteousness. That just means God takes Christ's righteousness and He gives it to us. Just like Joshua, that filthy high priest in Zechariah 3.

Take the clothes off of him. They strip him of his sinfulness, and then they put these beautiful garments upon him, and he stands before God. But you see what the devil's doing. He's right there, isn't he?

He's right there, oh yeah, this guy's a wretch. He may whisper these things in your ears when you come to pray. Again, I'm not personifying him in the sense that he's standing there at your corner with a pitchfork and a cape, and he has these horns, but you get that sometimes, don't you? Perhaps it's your own remaining corruption, perhaps it's your own laziness and you don't want to pray, but perhaps it is the devil.

Why would you go to God? You're a wretch. Why would you go to God? You're filthy.

Why would you go to God? You're a miserable specimen of a human being. If you're thinking biblically, you ought to say, that's precisely why I'm going to God, because all those things are true. But isn't this what the devil does?

Romans 8 calls, you know, pion of praise to God most high. You can turn there. So I think it illustrates this particular point. I promise we're not going to go long.

Don't look at your watch and say, there's four more verses. He's not going to make it. Notice in Romans 8.31, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall we not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? The devil tries, doesn't he? Who do you think you are?

I saw what you did. Who do you think you are living that way? Who do you think you are, doing those sorts of things and yet thinking you can go before God? This is Paul's point.

Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is He who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

You see what Paul's point is? When the devil brings a charge against God's elect, God's elect are not supposed to answer, well, you know, I'm trying. I only did it 15 times this week and not the 35 of last week. He doesn't point to us.

He doesn't look at the transformative. He doesn't look at the subjective. He looks at the objective. When that fiend of hell comes to accuse, who is he?

It's God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died. You see, your hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

You dare not trust sweetest frames, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. You see, that is one of the functions that the devil occupies, and he has been evicted. He has been cast out. They overcame him, verse 11, Revelation 12, by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

And that word of their testimony comes as a result of the blood of the Lamb. And they did not love their lives to the death. Isn't this how Jesus describes a believer? He who loves his life will lose it, but he who hates his life for my sake shall keep it.

Isn't this an identifying mark of the people of God? We're not selfish, narcissistic wretches. We may battle with it, we may struggle with it, but we don't give in to it. We try to fight it, we try to resist it.

Therefore rejoice, O heavens, you who dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. Again, the woman persecuted is because of the ascension of Christ. So this is an interesting observation.

The presence of trial and tribulation in your life may just argue the presence and the power of God in your life. So I don't think we think this way. We're more of the Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen sort of ilk. As long as everything is going my way, God's happy with me, right?

My wife likes me, my kids tolerate me, I got a decent job, God's favor is upon me. I lose the job, my wife abandons me, my kids can't stand the sight of me, and somehow I conclude that God has departed from me. You're not supposed to do that. God doesn't depart from his children.

Trials and tribulations and difficulties and hardships may just prove the existence of the reality of God's presence in your life. Paul, who I think wrote Hebrews 12, says you're a bastard if you are not reproved by the Most High. You're illegitimate. I have far more concerns for the Benny Hens and the Joel Osteens than you dear brothers and sisters that are struggling with trials.

The presence of trials was not something absent to our Lord. He was a man of sorrows and he was acquainted with grief. You see, when the devil is served his eviction notice from heaven, the language is David S. Clark's by the way, he's served his eviction notice from heaven, he comes and as a cornered rat he now turns his attention against the church.

Michael and the angels fought against him through the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ, encapsulated by incarnation and ascension, the devil is cast out. So what does he do? He turns his attention to the church. He persecutes the people of God.

But in verses 13 to 17, we see that God preserves his people. When he tries to overwhelm them with this flood of waters, the earth steps in and saves the church. It's a reference to the Red Sea parting at the time where God preserves his people as they escape the clutches of Pharaoh. God's always been in this business of preserving and taking care of his people.

It's not something new for him. Oh, I've got to look after the church now. He looked after Israel pretty successfully in the Old Covenant, didn't he? If that Yahweh who sustained His people there is the same Yahweh of our blessed salvation now, doesn't He know a thing or two about preserving us?

See, this passage is so full of hope, so full of encouragement, so full of joy, and so full of blessedness, but unfortunately we look at, wow, the church is persecuted. Yeah, because the church needs it. under God, in his decree, according to his purpose and his plan, he has seen that the way to conform us onto the image of Jesus Christ isn't with kid gloves. I've shared with you before, way back when we rented a house. It was when Josh, I think, was very little.

Micah might have just been a baby. And we had these rose bushes in the backyard. And I'm not a gardener. You probably know that.

Never wanted to be a gardener, but we had these rose bushes and they were taking over. It was menacing. Two ways to approach that. Get a bonnet and some of those lady shears and go out there and do a little clipping.

Or take a chainsaw and let fly. Brethren, sometimes God deals with us with these little shears, these little things, these convictions, this text that sort of sticks in our minds or in our hearts, and we know that we need to repent or get things in order. There's other times it seems as if he comes with a chainsaw, doesn't it? Job knew something of this, didn't he?

But Job said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Job knew there were remedial purposes in God's dealings with his children. Today's jobs need to understand the same things. God has his purposes.

Conformity unto Christ for persons such as us most likely isn't going to come through those shears. It's going to come through time with a chainsaw. It doesn't mean he's going to gut us and rip us apart and throw our pieces up against the wall like I did with that rose bush. But you get the point.

We want God to put a bonnet on and deal with us gently. We like God. When he does that, we need to be at the point with Job where we say, and we've lost everything. Never forget the man who said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him.

What did Job lose up to that point? What did he lose up to that point, brethren? Everything except God. You see, the Lord has his purposes in our trials, and that's the point, Revelation 12.

The devil doesn't just vanish, he's vanquished, he's plundered, he's destroyed, he cannot deceive the nations any longer, Revelation 20. But he does roam about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, but trust in the God who upbore Israel upon eagles' wings, he'll do the very same thing with the true Israel of God, the people of God, who is the church of God. This passage teaches the triumph of the Lamb. The incarnation leads to his life and ministry, which led to his death and resurrection, which resulted in his ascension to the right hand of God Most High.

The message of the incarnation, brethren, It's not increased sales in the retail world. The message of the incarnation isn't turkeys. It isn't gifts. It's Christ and His blood.

It's the gospel. It's the joy of the Lord, which is our salvation. The message of the incarnation is salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of this Christ. That's what we need to rejoice in. we need to appreciate with reference to the identifying mark of the church.

Before we move on, we got a couple minutes, we're gonna close this out. We didn't expound 13 to 17, but I gave you the main point. 13 to 16, I think, probably refers to the first century church. Notice in verse 17, and the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring. This probably details the rest of the church post first century.

See, it didn't end at, you know, 80, 99. Clock flips over and then the devil says, oh, that's it. I'm done. He keeps going, doesn't he?

He is a relentless one, I'll give him that. He does roam about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. See, verses 13 to 16, if they involve or if they include specifically the first century church and the various assaults she faced by unbelieving Israel and the Roman Empire, it doesn't stop when unbelieving Israel and the Roman Empire have been dealt with. In other words, this verse, verse 17, does help us understand Planned Parenthood.

Helps us understand the realities of evil political leaders. It helps us to understand, you know, the movement in Ephesians as a book. Pastor Porter would have continued to read. We would have read at the end of chapter one about the enthronement of Christ.

God exalted Christ to his right hand. He gave him a name which is above every name. His overall principalities and powers and dominions. This is all stated in Ephesians 1.

We get to Ephesians 6 and what happens? We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers of darkness and evil forces. You see, enthronement of Christ in Ephesians 1 does not remove Ephesians 6 and the battlements that the people of God must face on this earth. It's just not reality.

Benny Hinn and Joel Osteen are wrong. Not only are they wrong, they are heretical. It's a direct violation of what Christ and the scriptures teach. And if we have somehow got that in our hearts, that the Christian life should only be rosy, should only be peachy, and if anything bad happens to come my way, well, then that can't be God, and God doesn't love me anymore, and he's not treating me fairly.

We need to repent. But if verse 17 refers to the remainder of the church,

Marks of the Church's Offspring

Notice what we can say about the people of God. Notice what we can say about the church of Jesus Christ. They're persons who have an interest in the blood. Right?

In other words, you're not in the church without an interest in the blood. You are not a believer in Jesus Christ if you have not believed on Jesus Christ. If the blood of Jesus Christ offends you, if you think it's macabre to even speak of such things, if you think it's weird or it's odd, then you don't know the gospel. This cup is the new covenant in my blood, Christ says.

For what? For everybody to be healthy, happy, and holy on earth? No, for the remission of sins. It's because you're vile.

It's because you're wretched. It's because you're sinful. It's because you have offended God. That's why he shed his blood.

So Christians, as the people of God and churches, are those who believe on Jesus with a special and peculiar interest, as Owen says to the priestly office of Christ. But notice, secondly, in verse 17, they obey God. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who do what? They keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The Bible doesn't know an antinomian Christianity. You've been justified freely by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Guess what you're going to want to do? You're going to want to follow the Lamb.

It's a beautiful identifier in Revelation chapter 14. The people, the lamb standing with his fair army, these persons are identified as those who follow the lamb wherever he goes. They don't say, I'll follow you, Lamb, in seven of the 10 commandments, because I really like to violate three of them. I'll follow you, Lamb, when it comes to those things that benefit me or don't cause persecution to come my way.

That's not the way the Christian church is supposed to operate or behave. We believe, by the grace of God, in the Lord Jesus Christ, who lived and died and rose again so that we might have eternal life and we are saved in order to do what God says. We're not saved because we've done what God says, we are saved in order to do. Pastor Porter did read Ephesians 1, 3 and 4.

Who chose us in him before the foundation of the world, why? that we should be holy and without blame. Notice he doesn't say he chose us because we were holy and without blame. You see, brethren, that is something that confronts the church today is antinomianism and anti-lawism. Oh, we're under grace.

We can do whatever we want. No, you can't. Your gracious master says in John, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. So the church is identifiable in these two ways.

They have faith in Christ and they follow him. In other words, they have justification and sanctification. And if you're not a believer here this morning, verse 11 ought to be your hope. Verse 11 ought to be your confidence.

Verse 11 ought to be something that you look to. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. Or consider chapter 5 in the book of Revelation, specifically verse 9. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth.

Or Revelation chapter 7, specifically in verse 14. So he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Look at the language there. They made their dirty robes white in the blood of the Lamb.

It's a paradox, isn't it? No, it's the gospel. It's the blood of the Lamb that brings cleansing to sinners. It's the blood of the Lamb that can set you aright.

It's the blood of the Lamb that can ultimately deal with your issues today. Your issues aren't difficulties in life. They're not trials in life. There's not a You know, hardships in life, I didn't have enough money to buy my kids presents.

Your hardship, your issue, if you are not a believer today, is that the wrath of God is over you now. And if you do not look to Jesus Christ and the blood of the Lamb, If you do not close with Christ, if you do not believe the Gospel, I don't care how old you are today, I don't care how young you are today, if you remain in your sins, if you continue to reject, if you continue to rebel, you continue to break those commandments, You continue to throw off the law of God. You continually resist the Lord Jesus Christ as he is preached in the gospel. If you do not believe, any problem, any hardship, any difficulty that you can conjure up in your mind concerning this world is nothing compared to the wrath and the fury and the judgment of God Most High.

You need to flee, you need to look, you need to live, you need to believe on Him in whom there is salvation.

Closing Prayer

Let us pray. Our God and our Father, we thank you for the Word of God. We thank you for Revelation 12. We thank you that it not only tells us that Christ is victor, but the devil himself is a loser.

He lost at the incarnation, he lost with Michael and his angels, he lost with reference to the first century church, and we are assured from this passage he will lose with the church in all ages. God grant us grace to see these things appropriately, help us to appreciate the incarnation, not just as warm sentimentality, but to see it as biblical truth concerning the second person of the triune God. who took on our humanity so that he might deal with our sins, that he might deal with Satan himself, and ultimately that he might deal with the wrath and fury of God. We ask that you would go with us now, bring us together tonight, that we may worship you, and we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture References

• Genesis 3:15
• Exodus 19
• Deuteronomy 1:31; 32
• 2 Kings 11
• Psalm 2
• Zechariah 3
• Matthew 2; 16
• John 16:33; 18
• Acts 1; 13
• Romans 8:31
• 2 Corinthians 11
• Ephesians 1; 1:3-4; 6
• Colossians 2; 2:13; 2:15
• Hebrews 2:14; 12
• 1 John 3:8
• Revelation 1:1; 1:9; 5:9; 7:14; 12; 12:1; 12:3-5; 12:6; 12:11; 12:12; 12:13-17; 12:17; 13; 14; 20