Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Revelation 12. A few years ago when we were going
through this precious book, obviously we dealt with it. I had this passage of scripture
on my heart a week ago, and it kept coming back to my mind and
coming back to my mind. I feel as though this is the
passage that I need to deal with today. Before I get into it, I'm going
to just try to just tell you. in just a few words, what it's
all about. So you'll be with me as we're
looking at it. This passage of Scripture deals
with how the Lord comes to His people before they ever know
Him in grace and regeneration, and how that battle And the battle
that's spoken of here is actually that power where one comes into
a strong man's house, into Satan's house, one that's stronger than
the strong man, and binds him, kicks him out. Takes that which
formerly belonged only for a while to Satan, but was eternally God's. It's His people. That's the battle.
That's the war. And then how Satan, because of
his anger and resentment toward God and to those that he formerly
held for a while, is mad. And how he tries to deceive them,
get them, and how he tries to deceive all of God's elect, but
how God keeps them and protects them. That's what this whole
passage is about. Now, let's look at Revelation
12. We know before I start in verse
7 that there is a spiritual war going on. It's a battle within
and without. A believer knows something. A
believer never gets away from this battle that's within. He
is constantly warring within himself. There's two natures
there. And I'm telling you, that battle is real. And he feels
it. The believer feels it. And he
sees that old man in there and he just... He says, as the Apostle Paul
said, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? The weapons of our warfare, they
are not carnal, but they are mighty through God to the pulling
down of strongholds. What strongholds? Ignorance. Prejudiced? Fleshly lost? Got to be pulled down by God's
Spirit. Almighty God shall do it. Now,
this matter that I'm about to read about, starting in verse
7, doesn't start with the believer. It starts in the believer before
he's converted. But this battle actually begins
in regeneration, and it doesn't cease until the Lord calls us
out of this world. Now let's look at verse 7. Revelation 12, there was war
in heaven. Now let me say this. Let me tell
you what that is not referring to. It's not referring to when
Satan was thrown out of heaven. Now, let me show you that. I'll
prove this. I've said before, remember when we were going through
this book and I said, if I can't back this up, I just won't make
the statement. But I can make good on this one.
Look at verse 1 to verse 6 in Revelation 12. There appeared
a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the
moon under her feet, upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she being with child cried,
prevailing in birth, in pain to be delivered." Now, there's
always been a people of God. Before they were ever manifest
in birth, in Adam, they've always been there. And there's always
been the purpose of God to bring through His people, the lineages,
like we just looked at a few minutes ago. God made this covenant
with Abraham, and Abraham seeded the Lord Jesus Christ, and He
was going to come. And in the fullness of time,
that virgin conceived and she brought forth, came through His
people. There appeared another wonder
in heaven, and behold, a great dragon, having seven heads and
ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads, and his tail drew
the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them to the
earth." That's when that war took place, which was no battle.
God kicked him out. The third of the angels of heaven. That's when that event took place. Cast him to the earth. And the
dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered
for to devour her child as soon as it was born. When did he start
watching? As soon as God made Adam. There
was a serpent ready. I know he's coming. I know he's coming. And as soon
as He comes, I'm ready. I'm going to be ready. Did God say you couldn't eat
of the fruit? Yes, God did say that. God said we can eat all
the fruits except this one right here. We eat that and we're going
to die. You're not going to die. You
know why He said that? To deceive God's elect. Deceive
God's people. Why? Because he hates God. Hates
God, hates God's people, hates God's gospel. And I want you to look at this
in verse 5, and this one verse right here sums up The whole
life of Christ. The birth, the life, the death,
the ascension of Christ. All in this one verse right here.
And she brought forth a man-child who was to rule all nations with
a rod of iron, and her child was caught up unto God and to
His throne. Almighty God did what God purposed
to do. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world to save His people. Lived for Him, died for Him,
ascended into heaven even now, ever living, to make the intercession
for Him. Bought and paid for in His own
precious blood. And verse 6 says, And the woman
fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of
God, that they should feed her There are 1,203 score days. You know what that 1,203 score
days means? It means from the time of Adam
until the second coming of Christ, whatever that number is. It's
a perfect number. And it's known by God, but we're
never told exactly what those dates mean, what those years
mean. from the time of Adam's being brought into this world
in creation until God Almighty has saved the last of His elect.
How long is it going to be? Exactly how long God says. So
I know based on those first six verses, Satan has been thrown
out of heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ has come
into this earth, has lived far and put away the sin of all of
His elect. And right now, as the ruler,
the king of kings and of lords, he's doing whatsoever he's pleased
to do. Now, when Almighty God is pleased
to call out one of His elect, here's what happens. Verse 7,
there was war in heaven. What do you mean, heaven? is
wherever God Almighty is pleased to manifest Himself in His glory,
in His presence. Here is His people. They've always
been His people. They've always been in Christ. They've always been His. They've
always been beloved. Here they are before God ever
calls them out of darkness, but they're still in Him. But they're
still in Him. So what are they referred to
as? Heaven. Whenever Moses came up that mountain,
caught something out of the corner of his eye out there. It was
a bush. It was burning. And it wasn't
consumed. And God spoke to him out of that
bush, and He says, Draw not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off thy
feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." This
is heaven. You're standing in heaven. This
is holy ground. Why? Because God was there. You want to know where heaven
is? Heaven is wherever the Lord is, wherever He is pleased to
manifest His presence. This war, right here, verse 7,
this war refers to and reveals the binding of Satan and the
spoiling of his good by our Lord in the regeneration of God's
elect. There is a war in heaven. Michael
and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought
against his angels. Michael, that title, that word,
that name right there, you know what it means? Who is like God. And there's none like God but
God. He said that. He said, there's none like me.
Michael, none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Michael. He and his angels, it means messengers, preachers. Here's how the battle
is fought. Here's how the war is waged,
not raged. He and his angels fought against
the dragon. This war is waged by the preaching
of the gospel through the preaching of God. But Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of. I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
This is the power of God unto salvation. This battle right here, this
war right here, continues right on through the life of a believer. This is the manifestation of
what Paul would refer to as the good fight. That course is to
be finished. That war is fought. Faith is
kept. So this war in heaven, in the
place of the manifestation of God's purpose and will and pleasure,
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon
fought, and his angels. Everything that is real and true
and holy has got a counterfeit. This is what Paul warned the
Galatians about. Galatians, if we or an angel
from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which
we've preached, let him be accursed. This is where the battle. Satan,
the dragons, angels, they're false preachers. The Scripture
says, "...who privily bring in damnable heresies, even denying
the Lord, who has bought his people, bringing upon themselves
swift destruction." But this war, this battle, this war in
heaven, is not one that Satan can win. It's one that he's the loser.
You can bet that. This battle that is being fought
by Satan against God and his false preachers, lying gospel,
it prevailed not, the scripture says. Verse 8, neither was their
place found anymore in heaven. You know what happened? God threw
him out. He threw him out. Matthew 16,
18 reveals that the gates of hell are trying to keep out. You know, you shut a gate because
I don't want anybody coming in to my place. I shut my door at
night. You know why? Because I don't want anybody
in there that I don't want in there. The gates of hell is not
going to prevail against God. He's going to do all of His pleasure
Almighty God is going to deliver His people. Satan is bound for
a thousand years, as I've told you before. And you look it up.
That word thousand is plural. He's bound for thousands of years.
He's bound for a thousand years. How long is that? From the time
that Adam was brought into the garden until the Lord Jesus Christ
comes back. Satan is bound for a thousand
years. Bound from what? From stopping
God from saving His people. He cannot stop Him. Why? Because God is all-powerful.
He is the mighty God. He is the Savior. He shall save
His people. Does that mean that He's going
to be able to save them if He can overpower Satan? Is He going
to save them if He can get them to understand? Thou shalt call
His name Jesus, Savior, for He shall save His people from their
sins. Here's the Bible. And I'm telling
you, everyone called out of darkness knows something about this. This
is what they say. God Almighty overcame. The Lord
delivered me. The deliverer of His people. He delivers the captives that
He's everlastingly loved. And when He comes in power to
deliver one of His own out of the darkness of sin and unbelief,
you write this down, Satan's place is found no more in heaven. in those chosen in Christ, redeemed
by His blood, called by His Spirit. God's Word is yeah and amen. There's no maybes with God. This
is why I know that the gospel that we preach is effectual. This is going to accomplish.
This Word, the purpose for which God sent it. Now look here, verse
9, And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called
the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast
out into the earth. And his angels were cast out
with him. You know why God's people don't
believe a lie? Because God's given them a heart
and taught them the truth. And they're all taught of God. And this One that deceiveth the
whole world, He may continue to accuse the brethren, but His
ability to deceive and subdue God's elect has been removed. He can't do it. Oh, I'm not saying He doesn't
try. I'm telling you, He cannot do it. God has cast Him out and
His angels with Him. You that believe. You hear a
man stand up and start talking about man's will, man's free
will, I'm telling you, you know why you don't believe that? Because
God has taught you. You're not just super smart. We're just not that strong. Verse
10 says, I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come
salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power
of His Christ. For the accuser of our brethren
is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
This mighty voice, this loud voice, this mighty disclosure
is heard, the Scripture says, in heaven. That is the people
of God disclosing from their heart what they've heard the
Spirit of God teach them. This is them talking. Now is
salvation come. I thought I knew God before. Paul thought he knew God before.
Everyone that's ever come up in false religion, everyone that's
ever sat under the gospel of God's grace, that heard the gospel
in word only, But then when God brought it in power and in much
assurance, that's when you say, now salvation! I heard for the
first time. God Almighty has called me out
of darkness. And it's a loud and powerful
voice of God's Spirit through that new heart in regeneration. And what they say is this, God
Almighty has saved me. God has saved me by His grace. And they overcame, verse 11,
Him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. And they loved not their lives
unto the death. This mighty victory. Though we're said to fight the
good fight, it's not won by our power. It says, and they overcame
by the blood of the Lamb, 1 Corinthians 15.57 says, Thanks be unto God
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. The victory
is through the shed blood of our precious Savior who laid
down His life at Calvary. And it's known when the Spirit
of God, through the preaching of the gospel, opens the eyes
and gives ears, new heart, God's people. And they'll say, we have
overcome by His grace according to His purpose and His Word through
His blood. And they love not their lives
unto the death. That's best described in Acts
20.24. Let me just read that. You want to turn to Acts 20.24. Paul says, but none of these
things move me, neither can I my life dear unto myself, so that
I might finish my course with joy in the ministry which I have
received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace
of God. He said, I don't count my life
dear over this truth. If He slays me, I'm going to
trust Him. I'm going to die. I know I'm
going to die. Lord, keep me by your grace.
Verse 12 and 13, Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell
in them. Lord of the inhabitants of the
earth and of the sea, for the devil has come down unto you,
having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short
time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth,
he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child."
All believers, those who have died in the faith,
died in the Lord, and those still upon this earth, have great reason
to rejoice. I read back in Revelation 5,
And it said, the four and twenty elders rejoicing, they fell down
before the Lamb and cast their crowns before Him. That crown
of righteousness is due only unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And
they said, You're worthy. You're worthy to receive all
the honor, the glory, the praise. You've redeemed us out of every
people, kindred, nation, tongue. Lord, You're worthy. They know.
that God Almighty saved them. They know it in heaven and rejoice
in heaven. The Scripture says, Therefore
rejoice, ye heavens, ye that dwell in them. But then it talks
about the believers that are still here on this earth. Woe
to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! For the devil
has come down unto you having great wrath, because he knoweth
that ye have but a short time. Oh, those departed saints. There's
not going to be any more tears, no more crying. They're never
going to experience, never going to experience the battle again.
It goes on within and without. Satan wages against God's elect. But for those that remain on
this earth, they're kept by the power of God through faith. But the Scripture says and gives
them a warning, Alas! Woe! That's what that word means.
Woe! Not from God who's keeping His
people, but from the hatred. Beware! Beware! Alas! Look! Consider! I thought about this verse right
here, Revelation 7, verse 14. And John saw a sign. He said,
who are these Verse 13, What are these which are arrayed in
white robes, and whence came they? And listen to this, I said
unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation, washed their robes,
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Who are these? These are the ones that are still
on this earth that God kept. Kept them through the blood of
Christ, by the power of God. Woe to them! Alas to you! Satan
is in this world as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Scripture sets forth in verse 14, unto the woman were given
two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness,
into her place. where she's nourished for a time
and times and half a time from the face of a serpent. This woman
is still in the earth right now. Those that are still here. God's
people that are still here. They're still kept. They're sojourners,
pilgrims. But where are they? Well, they're
in this wilderness in her place, secure, hidden in Christ, still
subject. Still subject to the accusations
and the warring that goes on within and without, the lying
and persecution and tribulation against them. But she's kept. So the woman was given two wings
of a great eagle. Who do you think that eagle is?
Exodus 19. I'll read this to you. Exodus
19. It was talking about when the
Lord brought His people out of Egypt. And the Lord said, you've
seen what I did unto the Egyptians. How I bear you on eagles' wings
and brought you unto Myself. And those Egyptians were bearing
down. Where were we going to go? God opened up the water. And they walked across on dry
land. And the Lord said, to the people through Moses. He said,
you see what I did to the Egyptians? You know how you got a cross?
You know how you made a cross? I bore you on eagles' wings.
I kept you in Christ. This woman right here given two
wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness
to her place where she's nourished, kept. And here's God right now. Think about this morning. Here
we are nourished. The Lord giving His people Understanding. Teaching. Revealing Christ to
them afresh. Nourishing them with the bread
of heaven. And how long? Time and times and half a time.
Same as the number that he just said. That perfect number known
of God, but never revealed to us. The times that we don't know. When is the Lord coming back?
When He's pleased to. Until every one of God's elect
are called out of spiritual darkness, God's going to nourish His people.
They're going to feast upon the bread of heaven, protected from
the face or the presence, because He's there. A serpent. Verse 15 says, And the serpent
cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that
he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. Now, here,
and I'm telling you, I've got God's Word on this. And I'll
stand on this. This is God's Word. And I'm telling
you that this is so. Right here, you're told, we're
told, the purpose and the reason for all false religion. Why is there false religion in
the world today? Every street corner just about
has got a church. And it's either this one, or
this one, or this one, or they believe this, or this one says
no, this is right, says no, this is right, and this is right.
Where did they come from? Where did they come from? I'll
tell you where they came from. Out of the very heart of Satan
himself. The serpent cast out of his mouth,
you know out of the belly of a believer, you know what's going
to flow? Rivers of living water. Alive water. Truth. Truthful water. Truthful words. But the serpent cast out of his
mouth water as a flood, and you know what it was for? He was
coming after the woman. Do you want to know why there
is false religion in this world today? It's because Satan does
not know who God's elect are. But this is his method. He's
coming after the woman. And he knows that whoso believeth
not is going to be damned. And his purpose In false religion,
in false preachers, that's His angels that were spoken of. In
verse 7, where that war is taking place, the purpose of all false
religion and false preachers, well, we're all working for the
same thing. No, we're not. No, we're not. I have no tolerance
for a liar whose purpose is to damn men's souls. They're liars. Paul said, I'll quote again,
Galatians 1.8, If we or an angel from heaven preach any other
gospel, in this gospel, let him be accursed. He's a liar. And
he's of his father the devil. And I, by the grace of God, I
will not back up from that statement. That's why somebody is going
to stand in this pulpit, and I've had challenges on somebody
that wanted to be able to stand in this pulpit and preach. Not
if I don't know you. Not if I don't know what you
preach. No, sir. No, sir. The serpent cast out
of his mouth water after the woman that he might cause her
to be carried away of the flood of deception. And the Scripture says, "...and
the earth helped the woman. The earth opened her mouth and
swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth."
Now you're talking about mercy and power. Even the wrath of
man is going to praise God. Here is the devil himself casting
out of his mouth from his heart in hatred toward God's people
because he hates God. He spews out these lies and the
scripture says that the earth helped the woman. The earth opened her mouth and
swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast of his mouth.
While Satan is attempting to sweep away the people of God. I'm telling you, That's what
it was for. He cast out of his mouth as a
flood after the woman. Every place where a lie is being
proclaimed today is Satan's attempt to kill God's people. That's
the reason for it. They say, well, we're just trying
to help people. We just want to be a help to the community
and we want to help abandoned mothers. No, you don't. No, you
don't. You want to kill God's elect.
That's what the purpose is. But the earth opened her mouth.
And because the Scripture says they love darkness rather than
light, God, because that's what they wanted, sent them strong
delusion that they should believe a lie. The earth opened her mouth and
helped the woman and drank it down. and said, that's good. And God gives them exactly what
they want. And the dragon, verse 17, was
wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant
of her seed which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ in their heart. He went after her. He went after
her with lies and deception. But we have God's Word on this.
He said, I'm never going to leave you. I'm never going to forsake
you. Oh, the blessing! When I tell
you, if God's given you a heart to believe Christ and to have
no confidence in your flesh, you are a blessed man or woman. Help us today for Christ's sake.
Amen.