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You can turn with me in your 
Bibles to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 12. Revelation 12, I'll read the 
chapter, we'll pray, and then we'll look at this chapter, and 
hopefully be drawn out to more worship of our great God, Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit. So beginning in Revelation chapter 
12 at verse 1. Now a great sign appeared in 
heaven. A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under 
her feet, and on her head a garland of 12 stars. Then being with 
child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And 
another sign appeared in heaven. Behold, a great fiery red dragon 
having seven heads and 10 horns and seven diadems on his heads. 
His tail drew a third of the 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. Our 
gracious God and Father, we thank you for this Lord's day, for 
the rest that we have in our blessed Savior, for the glories 
of redemption by sovereign grace. We know it's not because of our 
righteousness or our goodness by which we enter into heaven, 
but it's because of what Christ accomplished when he took on 
our humanity, when he lived that life of perfect obedience to 
the Father, when he died as a sacrifice and substitute in our place, 
and when he was raised again and ascended on high. We rejoice 
in this Savior, we rejoice in this Emmanuel, in this blessed 
one. And we pray that he would be 
proclaimed throughout the earth, not just this Lord's day, but 
subsequent to this, we pray that your word would go forth conquering 
and to conquer, that you would in fact save from every tribe, 
tongue, people and nation in a mass of great multitude that 
no man can number that will enter into that heavenly Jerusalem. 
Even now, God forgive us for all of our sins, encourage our 
weary hearts and build us up in our most holy faith. And we 
pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. Well, this is another 
passage in the scriptures that speak of the incarnation of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. It's highly charged. It's in 
a book where there's lots of symbol. It's in a book where 
there's a lot of Old Testament, if not direct quotation, but 
a lot of allusion. And I don't mean illusion with 
an I, but allusion, to allude to something. That is what John 
in the book of Revelation does a lot in terms of the Old Testament. G.K. Beal has probably the commentary 
on the book of Revelation, and he says it's the most Old Testament-ish 
book in the New Testament. And so we won't look at every 
jot and tittle, but I just want to give us the three main sections 
in Revelation 12 1 to 17. We have first the incarnation 
of the sun in verses 1 to 6. Secondly, the defeat of the dragon 
in verses 7 to 12. And then finally, the persecution 
of the woman in verses 13 to 17. And in many respects, what 
we have here in chapter 12 is a behind-the-scenes look at what 
happened in heaven over the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
We know there is a man-word effect. We know that as a result of Christ's 
life, death, and resurrection, we enjoy every spiritual blessing 
in the heavenly places in Christ. There's also a heavenly effect. 
The devil and his angels were cast out. And we see this not 
just here, but we see this in the gospel records. We see it 
as well in the book of Revelation at chapter 20. So I want to look 
first, as I said, at the incarnation of the Son. And there's basically 
three persons here that we need to consider. First, the woman 
of verses 1 and 2. Secondly, the dragon in verses 
3 and 4. And then finally, the child in 
verses 5 and 6. But notice in the first place, 
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. Seems like a no-brainer 
that this is a reference to Mary. In fact, a lot of commentators 
take this as a reference to Mary. Others see it as a reference 
to the Old Covenant community, the true Israel of God, the faithful 
remnant that was looking forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Now, I don't think it's an either 
or proposition because Mary was certainly included in that second 
category of Old Covenant Israel. I think this makes sense in light 
of Joseph's dream in Genesis chapter 37. He speaks of sun 
and moon and stars bowing down to him, which represent the 12 
tribes of Israel. And so we have the faithful remnant 
church that listened to the prophecies of the old covenant that were 
awaiting for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, of course, in that category 
of persons, we find Mary, the mother of Jesus, who did the 
task of bringing forth that son. One commentator, David Clark, 
says the 12 stars may have reference to the 12 tribes of Israel. The 
true Israel, the Zion of God, gives us the incarnate 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. 
And this makes sense as well as we move through the context. 
We'll notice that the woman is driven out to the wilderness. 
This isn't a reference to simply Mary. It's a reference to the 
church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm just going to cut us 
off at the pass and indicate that the victorious triumph of 
the Lord Jesus does not mean no persecution for the church. 
In fact, this chapter exists to tell us just the opposite. 
What Christ does in terms of vanquishing the foe, the devil, 
nevertheless still involves the devil roaming about like a roaring 
lion, seeking whom he may devour. So after the birth of the male 
child, we see that persecution of the church ratcheted up. We 
see that persecution of the church increased. And again, this makes 
sense in light of the book of Acts. After the life and the 
death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, it was not the 
case that the apostles went and preached to every city and everybody 
received them. Everybody believed their message. 
Everybody came to Jesus. That is absolutely positively 
not what we find in the book of Acts. There was enmity. There 
was aggression. There was persecution and oppression 
poured out on the heads of God's people. And so Revelation 12 
is another passage that indicates that reality. So the woman is 
the old covenant community, including Mary, that births or brings forth 
the Messiah. Now notice we have this dragon 
in verses three and four. We notice identification in verse 
three. Another sign appeared in heaven. 
Behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and 10 horns 
and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the 
stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. So that's a bit 
of his identification or description. Again, it's imagery, it's symbolism, 
it's language that is highly charged in a prophetic context, 
what we call apocalyptic. But if you drop down to verse 
9, you will notice further elaboration on this fiery red dragon. Verse 
9 tells us, So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of 
old called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. 
He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with 
him. Now, I said that this is the backdrop, or this is the 
sort of behind the scenes in heaven, what happens at the life, 
death, and resurrection of Jesus. But this connection holds as 
we proceed further in the book. It's the dragon who gives power 
to the two beasts in Revelation chapter 13. So we don't wrestle 
against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. 
That dragon is the motivating agent behind the beast from the 
sea and the beast from the land. That dragon is referred to here, 
specifically in verse 9, using, again, highly charged Old Testament 
imagery. He is the serpent of old, reminiscent 
of Genesis 3, verse 15, when it was prophesied that the serpent 
would indeed bruise his heel, but the Lord Christ, the seed 
of the woman, would crush his head. The great dragon, the serpent 
of old, is also called the devil and Satan. And that word Satan 
means adversary or accuser. If you look specifically at verse 
10, you see that intimated. Now salvation and strength and 
the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come 
for notice the Satan, the accuser of our brethren who accused them 
before our God day and night has been cast down. Remember, 
the devil appears in the presence of God Most High to castigate 
Job, to cast dispersion upon Job. We have the devil in that 
prophecy of Zechariah, where Joshua the high priest is standing 
before Yahweh, and he's clothed with filth. And we have the devil 
right there, ready to rebuke him, but God rebukes him. So 
the devil is that adversary, that accuser of the brethren. 
Now notice the specific contours of his plan according to verse 
4b. The dragon stood before the woman 
who was ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it 
was born. So the devil understood not everything 
because ultimately it was the death of Jesus that would accomplish 
the victory and the triumph over the devil himself. But he knew 
there was this messianic expectation. He knew there was a champion 
that was being sent to Israel by God Most High. And so what 
does he try to do? He tries to stop it up. He tries 
to stand in the pathway. He tries to make sure that Messiah 
never comes. And when you reflect upon biblical 
history, you will notice that this wasn't a one-off. This was 
an activity that the devil engaged in from the very beginning. Again, 
we have the announcement in Genesis 3.15, I will put enmity between 
you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed, he shall 
bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. There's gonna 
be victory, there's gonna be triumph over the seed of the 
woman. But that triumph, that victory is gonna be a bruising 
of his heel. Now contrast that with a crushing 
of the head of the devil, and you see in terms of the comparison, 
Christ is victorious over the devil. But this then, as I said, 
launches a whole series of events throughout redemptive history 
where the devil tries to stop the seed. The first instance 
is Genesis chapter 38. There was a man by the name of 
Judah, the tribe from which our blessed Savior comes. He had 
a daughter-in-law named Tamar. Tamar was first married to Ur. 
He was wicked in the sight of God, so God killed him. And then 
she had another husband named Onan, and Onan was another one 
that was wicked in the sight of God, so God killed him as 
well. And then Judah promises Tamar, 
Shelah, his other son. Well, he never makes good on 
that. He doesn't fulfill that particular promise. And that 
leads to a series of what we no doubt would consider unsavory 
events, where she plays the part of a prostitute, Judah goes into 
her, and as unsavory as that may seem to be, it nevertheless 
perpetrated the line. It was nevertheless an instance 
of God's preservation of the seed, of the woman, that would 
come and ultimately vanquish the devil himself. As we move 
forward in redemptive history, there is that woman that Dale 
Ralph Davis refers to as the lady who saved Christmas. In 
2 Kings 11, mother of the year by the name of Athaliah, just 
a real wretch, right up there with Jezebel. She wanted to destroy 
all of the royal heirs. She wanted to vanquish all of 
the heirs to the throne so that she could achieve that particular 
renown. And there was one woman by the 
name of Jehoshabah who stole away this little boy Joash and 
hid him so that he would not be killed by Athaleah in her 
treason and treachery against the crown. So God, in his grace, 
protected Joash there. You move on into the New Testament. 
You have Herod's desire to massacre the innocents in Matthew chapter 
2. And then from there, you have 
the Spirit drive our Lord Jesus out into the wilderness, and 
there he's tempted by the devil for 40 days and 40 nights. The 
devil is relentless. He wants to try to usurp. He 
wants to try and upbraid. He wants to try to stop this 
redemptive plan. And of course, it's the devil 
who uses all of the characters that are ultimately involved 
in the betrayal and the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Satan 
entered into Judas Iscariot, Luke tells us. We know that it 
was the devil behind those religious leaders and their machinations 
to destroy Christ. Again, The devil knew some things, 
but he obviously didn't know that the death of Christ was 
the linchpin in this whole redemptive scheme. So we have here, in this 
prophetic form, John commenting on the intention of the devil 
to stop the incarnation of our blessed Savior. So notice again 
in verse 4b, the dragon stood before the woman who was ready 
to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born. And now 
we meet the child specifically in verses 5 and 6. Notice verse 
5, she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with 
a rod of iron, and her child was caught up to God and his 
throne. This is what G.K. Beale calls temporal telescoping. It takes two events, the incarnation 
or birth of the Savior and his ascension, and it encapsulates 
with those two events everything involved in the life and ministry 
of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. So the male child is Christ, 
the Messiah sent by God to crush the head of the serpent as prophesied 
in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15. The male child, notice, he is 
destined to rule. Verse 5, she bore a male child 
who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. We saw that in 
the scripture reading this morning, Isaiah chapter 9, verses 1 to 
7. This is God's response to the 
problems, 6 and 7 are the response of God to the problems that begin 
that chapter. And the ultimate answer, the 
ultimate victory is that son given unto us, that child born, 
the one upon whom the government rests upon his shoulders. So 
the Messiah is described in verse 6 and then his kingdom is described 
in verse 7. And then in Micah's prophecy 
that we looked at this morning in Micah chapter 5 verse 2, in 
terms of the incarnation, what was the purpose? The purpose 
wasn't simply to spread good cheer among men and teach them 
a pattern of gift-giving at this time of the year. It wasn't simply 
to highlight poinsettias and all the sort of trappings that 
have attached themselves to this particular season. The point 
in view was for his reign, for his rule, for his kingly office. He says to Pilate, for this cause 
I was born. And John highlights that same 
fact here in Revelation 12 in verse five. And brethren, if 
I could just say something very practically as we move through 
this section of Holy Scripture. Revelation 2 and 3, as I mentioned 
this morning, is life on earth. It's life under oppression. It's 
life under persecution. It's life when we're tested and 
tried and we're afflicted. What do you think the people 
of God needed to hear in terms of those realities? They needed 
a fresh dose of Christ in His kingly office. See, readers of 
the Book of Revelation today, I think, are misguided. They 
think it's all doom and gloom, and they think it's sad and weepy, 
and it's menacing and foreboding, and it's fearful and it's scary. 
No. The point of the Book of Revelation 
is the kingly reign of our blessed Savior King. It's not to the 
neglect of the prophetic or the priestly, but the accent falls 
on the crown of our Savior in the Book of Revelation. Who is 
it that protects the people of God from the beast from the sea 
and the beast from the land? It's the Lamb with His fair army 
in Revelation chapter 14. What protects and encourages 
the people of God when they rehearse the reality of the Incarnation? 
He was born to rule. He was born to reign. He was 
born to wield that scepter of universal empire. The book of 
Revelation is meant to encourage the church of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. It is a document that does provoke from the church 
militant that spirit of perseverance, that spirit of encouragement, 
that spirit of stability, so that we go forward in the fear 
of God Most High. So she bore a male child who 
was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. Then notice the 
incarnation leads on to the ascension and her child was caught up to 
God and his throne. That temporal telescoping, this 
is what Beal says, is involved in verse four is suggested by 
verse five. Now a snapshot of Christ's entire 
life, his birth, his destiny of kingship and his incipient 
fulfillment of that destiny in his ascent to God's heavenly 
throne after his post-resurrection ministry is given in one line. So the reference to the incarnation 
and the reference to the ascension, in essence, capsulates the entire 
ministry of our Lord Jesus. His coming into this world, his 
life of perfect obedience, his death at Calvary, and his resurrection 
and ascension to the throne of God most high. The reference 
ultimately in verse 11 gives us the key component of how we 
maintain victory over the devil himself. Look at verse 11. They 
overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their 
testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. How 
do we overcome that roaring lion who seeks to devour us? How do 
we overcome those principalities and powers that assault us on 
a regular basis? How do we overcome that? Well, 
it's the testimony of the saints. The testimony of the saints, 
their brethren, is simply bearing witness to who Jesus is. to being 
those kinds of people that understand what the scriptures say concerning 
our Lord. It is the blood of Jesus Christ, 
his son, that brings that protection, that brings that safety, that 
brings that stability to the church of the Lord Jesus. That's 
why when you try to build churches on simply, you know, perceived 
needs or felt needs, or when you try to build churches on 
entertainment or on celebrity, When you try to build churches 
on anything other than the truth as it is in Jesus, you're on 
a fool's errand. It is the truth of God's holy 
word given to us in the scriptures that fortifies and protects the 
saints against the onslaught of the devil himself. So we have 
the ascension. The male child lived, he died, 
he was raised, and he ascended again into heaven. And then notice, 
before we move on, the implication for the church. Verse six, then 
the woman fled into the wilderness. Interesting, isn't it? See, the 
health-wealth-prosperity teaching goes like this. Because of what 
Jesus did, now you just, you live on easy street. Life's great. You're gonna be healthy. You're 
gonna be wealthy. You're gonna be, you know, wise, 
if you're of the Ben Franklin School of Health, Wealth, and 
Morality. The reality is, it's just the opposite. What happens 
after the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord 
Jesus Christ? The woman flees. The woman is 
targeted. The devil doesn't say, well, 
I failed in my mission to get the male child, so I'm going 
to just leave all of his followers alone. I'm just going to not 
molest them. I'm not going to try to savage 
them. I'm not going to try and attack them. No, the devil will 
continue to retool, reorient, and retry to get the people who 
follow the Lord Jesus. The ascension of Christ did not 
mean absolute deliverance for his church from all troubles 
in this world. In this world, you will have 
tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. The 
Lord never promises to deliver the church. It does not always 
deliver his church from tribulation, but he always grants the grace 
for us to persevere through tribulation. Again, if you want a health, 
wealth, prosperity gospel, the book of Revelation is not for 
you. The emphasis on the kingly office of Christ does not mitigate 
the reality that there's some mop up battles before we enter 
into the new Jerusalem. And you know, previous generations 
of the church understood that. They would identify the church 
on earth as the church militant, and they would identify the church 
in heaven as the church triumphant. Because when you're in heaven, 
there's no more need for militants. There's no more need for battle. 
There's no more need for warfare. But the church militant on earth, 
she's not to be about entertainment. She's not about felt needs. She's 
not about whatever nonsense the modern church is trying to be 
good at. She's supposed to be about holding fast to the truth 
of God's word and propagating that message throughout all the 
nations. The ascension of Christ did not 
mean the absolute deliverance for his church from all troubles 
in this world. The narrative is going to develop 
that in verses 13 to 17 in more detail, but John first, as I 
said, wants to go behind the scenes and show us what happened 
in heaven after the resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus. So notice secondly, the defeat 
of the dragon in seven to 12. This is to explain the dragon's 
ejection from heaven and his subsequent rage directed toward 
the church. In the section, John provides 
a theological explanation for the casting out of Satan from 
heaven, which is associated with the series of events connected 
to Christ's life, death, resurrection, and ascension. This isn't at 
the creation of the world when the devil was cast out. This 
is at the new creation. This is when Jesus vanquished 
the strong man. This is when Jesus bound the 
strong man. Remember him talking about such 
things in the gospel records? He spoke specifically about this 
activity and the rest of the New Testament underscores that 
he was successful. And again, the backdrop is Genesis 
3.15. He crushes the head of the devil. He crushes the head of the serpent. 
He does what he was intended to do in terms of getting rid 
of that enemy. So notice the victory of Christ, 
verses 7 to 11. War broke out in heaven. Michael 
and his angels fought with the dragon. Again, this is Old Testament 
language. Michael fears in the book of 
Daniel. And you've probably heard that 
Jehovah's Witnesses identify Michael the archangel as the 
Lord Jesus Christ. They're not the only ones. John 
Calvin, I think, took that same sort of a position. It's not 
my intention here to argue either for or against, but just because 
the Jehovah's Witnesses say it doesn't necessarily mean it's 
demonic, and it's evil, and it's reprobate. As I said, Calvin 
saw Michael the archangel as the Lord Jesus Christ. But be 
that as it may, the backdrop is the book of Daniel, most likely, 
and this war in heaven. So war broke out in heaven. Michael 
and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his 
angels fought. But they did not prevail, nor 
was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great 
dragon was cast out. That serpent of old called the 
devil and Satan who deceives the whole world. He was cast 
to the earth 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 death or to the death. Now, 
before we proceed, notice that the casting out of the devil, 
the ejection of the devil is not connected to the second coming 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. See, we live in that era that 
the Old Testament calls and the New Testament calls the latter 
days or the latter times, that period between the first and 
the second coming of our blessed Savior. We typically associate 
all the victory, all the conquest, all the triumph with that Second 
Coming, when He comes in glory to judge the living and the dead, 
when He comes as King of kings and Lord of lords. But notice 
where John associates this victory. Not that there's nothing good 
about the second coming of our Lord, but the Lord accomplished 
what he was purposed to do in the first coming. In other words, 
this is when he receives the kingdom. This is when he has 
universal empire. This is when he has overall rule. 
We're not waiting for the king to come and set up shop. We are 
presently under the sway of the king himself. What do you think 
he's doing at the right hand of God Most High, where he rules 
the nations with a rod of iron? You think he's just suggesting? 
You think he's just encouraging? No, he's ruling and he's reigning 
over all things. All authority in heaven and on 
earth has been given to him. The first advent of our Lord 
Jesus Christ was the decisive death blow against the devil 
himself. This was the achievement of that 
which was prophesied in Genesis 3 15. And again, when you rehearse 
the New Testament documents, you see that accent, you see 
that emphasis. It's not that we're waiting for 
the king. We are already under the reign 
of the king. The war in heaven is the counterpart of the earthly 
events in verses one to six. So the devil tries to dethrone 
the seed. The devil tries to stop the incarnation. The devil tries to stop the plan 
and purpose of God most high. He's obviously a failure. Think 
about that as we proceed. Everything the devil does in 
Revelation 12 is a failure. I don't think most people read 
Revelation that way. Oh, it's so scary. It's so eerie. It's so foreboding. It's so threatening. Do you notice that everything 
he's done up to this point has failed? He tried to stop the 
birth of the male child. Fail. He tries to fight Michael 
and the archangel. Michael the Archangel, fail, 
he's ejected from heaven. Brethren, the book of Revelation, 
not only is it not a foreboding, menacing, threatening book, it's 
about the kingly reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it's about 
the utter defeat of the devil himself. He's a loser. That is what John is telling 
us in Revelation 12. Four things. He loses, he loses, 
he loses, he loses. Everything he tries to do. Christ 
touches things and it turns to gold. The devil touches things 
and it breaks and fails miserably. The devil and his angels could 
not prevail against the Lamb. Turn back to the book of Matthew. 
Matthew chapter 12. I just want to show you some 
of these passages where Jesus was conscious of what was going 
on in terms of his ministry. Notice in Matthew 12 at verse 
25, they've accused him of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the 
ruler of the demons. Verse 25, Jesus knew their thoughts 
and said to them, every kingdom divided against itself is brought 
to desolation and every city or house divided against itself 
will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he 
is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, 
by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be 
your judges. But if I cast out demons by the 
spirit of God, And he does, brethren, you got to read the Bible that 
way when he says, and if I do this, you need to supply. Yes. And he does. If I cast out demons 
by the spirit of God, notice what he says. Surely the kingdom 
of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong 
man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong 
man? And then he will plunder his 
house. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does 
not gather with me scatters abroad. Turn over to John's gospel, John 
chapter 12. is to see that the New Testament, 
not just in Revelation 12, sees the decimation of the devil relative 
to the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice 
in verse 30 of John 12, Jesus answered and said, this voice 
did not come because of me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment 
of this world. Now the ruler of this world, 
notice, will be cast out. It's the same language. Christ 
associates his rising up on the cross with his death, resurrection, 
and ascension that is connected to the casting out of the devil. Verse 32, and I, if I am lifted 
up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself. Turn to 
the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter 2, the Apostle 
Paul, they're very clear on what happened in terms of Christ's 
redemptive work. Colossians 2.15, having disarmed 
principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, 
triumphing over them in it. having disarmed principalities 
and powers. He made a public spectacle of 
them, triumphing over them in it. Turn over to Hebrews chapter 
two. Hebrews chapter two, specifically 
at verse 14. In as much then as the children 
have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in 
the same, that through death he might destroy him who had 
the power of death, that is the devil. really shows the folly 
of the devil. Again, he's not omniscient, he's 
not omnipresent, he's not omnipotent. He knew that Messiah was coming 
and the genius tried to kill him. Well, that's precisely the 
means that God would use to accomplish the purpose of the redemption 
of his people and the vanquishing of the devil himself. Again, 
John is telling us in Revelation 12 that the devil is a loser. 1 John. 1 John. We see the same emphasis attached 
to the first coming of our Lord Jesus, the first advent of our 
Lord Jesus. 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. So going back to Revelation chapter 
12, verses seven to 11, rehearse that blessed reality. The devil 
is cast out. That evokes this shout of victory 
in verse 10. Now salvation and strength in 
the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come. 
For the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God 
day and night has been cast down. When you search the pages of 
the New Testament, brethren, you'll find that was their conviction. Yahweh said to my Lord, sit at 
my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. I encourage, 
I invite you to consider this doctrine or concept of the church 
militant. She's fed by the victory that 
Christ has accomplished so that her place in the world is clearly 
defined. She's supposed to shine as lights 
and crooked and perverse generation and hold forth the word of truth. 
We're not here to entertain the heathen. We're not here to impress 
the heathen. We're not here to bark for the 
heathen. We're here to preach to the heathen the truth of God's 
word and testify that it's the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, 
that cleanses us from all sin and that overcame the devil that 
produced that death knell upon the devil himself. We need to 
engage in the victory that the early church saw relative to 
the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look 
back at 11, 15 to 19. Then the seventh angel sounded, 
and there were loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of 
this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, 
and he shall reign forever and ever. And the 24 elders who sat 
before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped 
God, saying, We give thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one 
who is and who was and who is to come, because you have taken 
your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and your 
wrath has come in the time of the dead, that they should be 
judged, and that you should reward your servants, the prophets and 
the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great, and 
should destroy those who destroy the earth. Then the temple of 
God was opened in heaven, and the ark of his covenant was seen 
in his temple, and there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, 
an earthquake, and great hail. The point is simple. If we do 
not have a view of Christ victorious, then we're not going to be the 
church militant. If we fear the devil more than 
we fear God, then we've missed the point of the Bible. If we 
are filled with fear and trepidation at the thought of this world 
power or this devil behind the scene, Christ is Lord. Christ is King of Kings. Christ 
is Lord of Lords. Christ has absolute authority 
and power. And the early church saw this 
and praised him with reference to that. "'Now salvation and 
strength and the kingdom of our God "'and the power of his Christ 
have come. "'For the accuser of our brethren 
"'who accused them before our God day and night "'has been 
cast down.'" What a blessed reality. What a glorious thought that 
our Lord Jesus Christ has taken the wrath of God, has spent it 
on our behalf and his own person so that we are no longer bound 
to that penal destruction. Jesus accomplished that for His 
people, and we can rejoice and revel in that. And the decisive 
act, as I mentioned, is the blood of the Lamb. And then notice 
this announcement in verse 12. It sets the stage for verses 
13 and 17. So verse 12, Therefore rejoice, 
O heavens, and you who dwell in them. Why do you think? Because 
the devil and his angels have been cast out. That makes heaven 
even more heavenly. It's glorious. It's wonderful. 
But now there's this warning to the inhabitants of the earth. 
It again shows us or indicates to us that because the devil 
has been defanged or because the devil has been defeated by 
Christ, it doesn't mean that he's no longer under the power 
and the rule and the reign of Christ to accomplish specific 
things in Christ's purpose. As Luther said, the devil is 
God's devil. He is on God's leash. He can go thus far and no farther, 
but nevertheless, God uses him to accomplish his purposes for 
the good of his people. So after calling heaven to rejoice, 
there is this warning, woe to the inhabitants of the earth 
and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great 
wrath because he knows that he has a short time. So you see, 
he's defeated by Christ in the first section. He's defeated 
by the Archangel Michael in the second section. What is he gonna 
do now? Well, he's gonna turn his rage 
against the woman, against the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's verses 13 to 17. And 
we'll wrap up here. Notice the devil's outrage. Verse 13. Now, when the dragon 
saw that he had been cast to the earth, Maybe you're like 
this, you experience a defeat and then you try it again. And 
then you experience a defeat and you say, you know what? It 
ain't gonna happen. I'll just take my loss and move 
on. The devil isn't like that. He's 
defeated once, he's defeated twice. So he's gonna go at a 
third time. And even in this, he's gonna 
be defeated because God most high is over him. So when the 
dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the 
woman who gave birth to the male child. We are inclined to think 
that when the devil has been rendered, defeated by our Savior, 
therefore the health, wealth, prosperity guys might be right 
or must be right. But the whole tension that we 
find in the New Testament is completely against that. There 
is the already, there is the not yet. We've already tasted 
of the age to come, but we've not yet fully entered in to the 
blessing that is the New Jerusalem. And God has His purposes for 
the suffering and persecuted church. I mentioned this morning, 
Hebrews 5, Jesus, according to His humanity, learned obedience 
through suffering. Do you think we followers of 
Jesus are going to learn obedience through vacation? We're going 
to learn obedience through no problems? We're going to learn 
obedience through no testing, through no trial, through no 
difficulty? No, brethren, it is typically 
the trial, the testing, the difficulty, and the affliction that produces 
the sort of men and women that are the church militant. God 
has his purposes in our suffering, and this passage underscores 
that in spades. So the devil turns his aggression 
now to the church, the reality of continued persecution. We've 
seen that in Ephesians. Ephesians 1 tells us Christ is 
enthroned at the right hand of God. He is the head over all 
things to the church. And yet in Ephesians 6, we're 
told we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against 
principalities and powers. That is what I mean by the tension 
of the New Testament. John 16, 33, in this world you 
will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I've overcome 
the world. There's going to be that on this side of the new 
Jerusalem. There's going to be that on this 
side of Revelation 21 and 22, when God removes the curse, when 
there is a new heavens and a new earth, wherein righteousness 
dwells, wherein there is no temple, because God and the land is the 
temple. But until that time, brethren, 
we need to be the church militant. We need to pull up our big boy 
pants and we need to get serious about understanding the victory 
that Christ has wrought and understanding our place in a pagan, heathen, 
godless world. It is to remain faithful. It 
is to invoke that That blood of the lamb, that blessed Lord 
Jesus Christ. So the outrage of the dragon, 
notice we have the wings of an eagle in verse 14. But the woman 
was given two wings of a great eagle that 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. This 
speaks to God's protection. It speaks to God's provision. 
There's two passages in the Old Testament that teach us that 
the wilderness was God's nearness to his people. Deuteronomy 1, 
29 to 34. The children of Israel interpreted 
the wilderness wanderings as if God had abandoned them. They 
want to go back to Egypt. We want those leeks and those 
melons and we want those pots filled with all kinds of good 
things. Why did the Lord bring us out here? Was it just to kill 
us? God's interpretation is completely opposite. As a father carries 
his son, so I carried you. The prophet Hosea speaks of the 
wilderness as being that place of God's presence and provision 
to his people. The same theme is here. This 
is John's background. It's the Old Testament where 
they found safe haven in this wilderness. But with reference 
to the wings of a great eagle, this goes back to the books of 
Deuteronomy and Exodus. In Exodus, we hear God tell his 
people, after the deliverance, you have seen what I did to the 
Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought 
you to myself. Exodus 19.4. I didn't have time 
to go and look it up, but from what I understand, the eagles 
are fiercely loyal and very family-oriented and very protective of their 
spawn, of their young. I don't know if they're called 
spawn. They're baby eagles, whatever they might be. Apparently, they're 
fiercely loyal, fiercely protective. They're not like abortion mothers 
in modern America that couldn't care less about that beautiful 
baby in the womb. You don't see eagles doing that 
sort of thing. But as well, Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 
chapter 32, verses 10 to 12. He found him in a desert. This 
is rehearsal of God's dealings with Israel. God through Moses 
says, he found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a 
howling wilderness. He encircled and he instructed 
and he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirs 
up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, 
taking them up, carrying on its wings. So the Lord alone led 
him and there was no foreign God with him. So when John evokes 
that imagery, again, brethren, you're supposed to think Exodus 
and Deuteronomy. You're supposed to understand 
that John the Apostle, writing under inspiration of the Holy 
Spirit, knows his Old Testament. He alludes to that Old Testament 
to bring that comfort to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
And then that brings us to the continual attack of the serpent 
in verses 15 to 17. Verse 15, so, The serpent spewed water out 
of his mouth like a flood after the woman that he might cause 
her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the 
woman under God's providence, under God's blessing, under God's 
delivering hand. And the earth opened its mouth 
and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of 
his mouth. So you see, at this outrage of 
the devil, he targets the church, he targets the woman. He goes 
about that task of trying to destroy them. He roams about 
like a roaring lion with that particular intention. But what 
does God do? 15 and 16, God tells us, through 
John, that he protects her nonetheless. So the life, death, resurrection 
of our Lord Jesus dealt the death blow to the devil in terms of 
the war. This might be the best or easiest 
way to explain this. But that doesn't mean there's 
no battles after the fact, doesn't mean that everything is gonna 
be hunky-dory in life on earth. No, we move forward to a new 
heavens and a new earth. So we've got three miserable 
failures on the part of the devil. He tried to stop the male child 
being born, he lost. He tried to beat Michael the 
archangel, he lost. He goes after the woman in the 
wilderness, what happens? He loses again. But the chapter 
ends with one more defeat for the devil in verse 17. Notice, 
and the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to make 
war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of 
God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. So you see what 
he does? In the first century, he can't 
stop her because God does, like the eagle does, shows protection 
and provision for his church. But subsequent to that first 
century church, they had offspring. They had spiritual descendants. 
They peopled the church for all generations. And we know this 
to be the case, that the devil is still enraged. Brethren, how 
do you explain the antipathy or enmity against the Church 
of the Lord Jesus Christ? If you don't see the spiritual 
dimension, if you don't see the spiritual dynamic, what possible 
threat do we pose here? What possible threat to this 
order do we pose in terms of gathering together tonight? We're 
not making noise to bother the neighbors. We're not engaged 
in blood ritual to bother the neighbors. We're not engaged 
in any lawless behavior. Why do they hate us? Why do they 
despise us? Why do they want to exterminate 
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ? Because they hate God. They hate his Christ. They want 
to decimate him, but they can't, so they go after the next best 
thing, his people. We can't get to Jesus. If we 
can't throw God down off of his throne, then we'll mess with 
these Christians. We'll, you know, like we read 
this morning in that small village in India, 13 families were dispossessed 
from their village unless they recanted their faith in Jesus 
Christ and returned to their tribal religion. Brethren, I 
can't even imagine what that would be like if goons came to 
my house and said, you got to leave Chilliwack. You got to 
get out of here. Just go. If you don't go, it's 
going to be very painful for, we can't even understand that. 
But when we look at that, we know that Psalm 2 is a reality. Why do the nations rage? Why 
do the people plot a vain thing against the Lord and against 
His Christ? They hate God, brethren. There 
is this antithesis. Genesis 3.15 tells us there will 
be. I will put enmity between you. That is God the Lord's statement 
in terms of that prophetic promise about the life and death and 
resurrection of our Lord Jesus and its death blow to the devil 
himself. So the devil, not successful 
with that first century church, rages against the church from 
then on. Verse 17, the dragon was enraged 
with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her 
offspring who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony 
of Jesus Christ. Well, in conclusion, we see the 
triumph of the Lamb. I hope you all see that. I hope 
you all get that, and I hope you all say, praise God Almighty 
for that first advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly, 
we look forward to the second. I mean, John ends the book on 
that high note. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Don't 
you all have that beating in your heart? Wouldn't you love 
for the Lord Christ to descend with that shout of the voice 
of the archangel, the sound of the trumpet, that great shout 
to come and collect his bride? That, brethren, is going to be 
glorious and wondrous. But that's consummation. The 
victory was rendered at the first advent of our Savior. He came 
not clothed in bullets. He came clothed in righteousness 
to fulfill all that the Father had given Him. He came clothed 
in righteousness to satisfy the requirements of the perfect Lamb 
of God who takes away the sin of the world. Things that the 
devil obviously was not expecting, things that we now rehearse and 
rejoice in. So we have the triumph of the 
Lamb of God Most High in Revelation chapter 12. Salvation and strength 
and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have 
come. And then as I said, the four defeats of the devil. The 
devil fails in his attempt to destroy the child. The devil 
fails in heaven. The devil fails with the woman 
and the devil fails with the rest of the woman's seed. Ralph 
Davis says, the good news of Satan's abject failure. In many ways, Revelation 12 shows 
us the fulfillment of Genesis 3.15. It does serve to encapsulate 
or bring together those threads of the redemptive history. And then thirdly, the persecution 
of the church. We cannot get into that mindset. 
You know, God has saved us, God has blessed us with every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. I don't know why there's 
all these menacing things. I don't know why my life has 
to be difficult as a Christian. Because you're a Christian, you 
side with the master. If they hated the master, they're 
going to hate the servants. That's just the simple formula 
that Jesus taught us in the gospel records. It is the reality. You don't sign up into Christ's 
army and think you're going to have a life of ease and recreation 
and, you know, laying around. No, we're supposed to be the 
church militant. and that we are not the church 
militant does comment on the fact that we need revival. I'm not talking about us specifically, 
though us specifically, but the church in general. Did you know 
there were churches today that closed church to celebrate the 
birth of Jesus? I don't get it. You're going 
to close church to celebrate the birth of Jesus? Isn't that 
why we come to church? To celebrate Jesus? Birth, life, 
death, resurrection? Brethren, these things ought 
not to be. If do not forsake the assembling 
of yourselves together means anything, it certainly means 
Don't cancel church to have some Christmas observance at home 
with your families. That's weak sauce. That's not 
the church militant. That is not this thundering shout 
of victory in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10. We should be 
embarrassed that we conduct ourselves this way, that we would shut 
the people of God out from the house of God on the day of God 
to worship him. and glorify him. So we find the 
persecution of the church. G.K. Beal makes the observation. 
Christians can be assured that the serpent begins to battle 
against their bodies only after he has lost the battle over their 
souls. This expresses one of the major 
themes of the book. The suffering of Christians is 
a sign, not of Satan's victory, but of the saints' victory over 
Satan. See that? We think the devil 
attacking us is a sign of his triumph. The fact that the devil 
is attacking us is a sign of his defeat. If he hadn't been 
the big loser with Jesus or in heaven with Michael or with the 
church in the first century, he wouldn't be messing with us. 
So count yourselves blessed, brethren, that he roams about 
like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. If he seeks 
to clench you with his jaws of death and misery and pain, again, 
it's not a happy circumstance, but praise God, you're in the 
right camp. That should be encouraging. It's not a sign of Satan's victory, 
but of the saints' victory over Satan because of their belief 
in the triumph of the cross with which their suffering identifies 
them. And then this is the final observation, 
then we close. The two things we saw. Verse 
11, they overcame him by the blood of the lamb. What's a Christian? It's one who overcomes by the 
blood of the Lamb. Now, don't miss the phrase, overcame by 
the blood of the Lamb. Because in each of the churches 
in chapters two and three, there were seven letters written to 
the seven churches in Asia Minor. Do you know what the last statement 
to each of those churches was? You know, be the best entertaining 
crew on Wellington. You know, dazzle the baggins. 
Really impress them with your abilities and your flutes and 
all that stuff. You just, you know, show them 
what you're made of. The last statement in each of 
the letters is a blessing to those who, what? Overcome. When you get to Revelation 21, 
verse eight, those who are in the lake of fire, cowardly, there 
isn't people afraid of snakes. It isn't afraid of driving in 
the snow. I'm deathly afraid of driving 
in the snow, but I don't think that's gonna land me in the lake 
of fire. I think that's common sense, brethren. The cowardly 
that are in the lake of fire are the people that didn't overcome. That's our call. That's our marching 
orders. That's what the church militant 
is to be about. Those who overcame did so how? It was through the blood of the 
Lamb. And then notice how Christians are identified in verse 17. The 
dragon was enraged with the woman. He went to make war with the 
rest of her offspring. Who's the offspring of the woman 
church? Who's the offspring that make 
up the very people of God? They're the people who keep the 
commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 
No, we keep the commandments of God as a reflex, as a consequence, 
as an effect of us having been justified freely by His grace. 
But this jives with Jesus' words in John 14, if you love me, you 
will keep my commandments. Those justified freely by grace 
are those who by grace follow the Lamb. They obey the Lamb. They keep the commandments of 
the Lamb. They hold fast to that testimony of Jesus Christ. They take seriously Jude's words 
in Jude 3 to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for 
all delivered to the saints. Limp-wristed Christianity is 
much of what we see in North America at this present time. 
That is not the militant triumphant Christianity that we see in the 
first century. Now it's triumph, not triumphal 
is up. They don't have that mindset 
of health, wealth and prosperity, but rather they have that mindset 
of battling faithfully for our blessed savior by holding fast 
to his truth. Well, let us pray. Our God and 
our Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the 
blessed privilege of gathering in the house of God, on the day 
of God, with the people of God, to worship Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit. We pray that you would go with 
us now, that you would watch over each of us, that you would 
give us encouragement and strength and help to be the sorts of people 
that make up the Church of Jesus Christ that we see in a passage 
like this. May we reflect often upon the victory of our Savior. 
May we reflect often, not just once a year, upon the incarnation 
of our Lord, upon His ascension to the right hand of God Almighty, 
as well upon His life of obedience in His death and resurrection. 
All these things bespeak a great and glorious Savior who is able 
to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through 
Him. Go with us now, we pray, and we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. We'll close with a brief time 
of meditation.