Go back to Revelation 12 now. Revelation 12 reads like a fable
of sorts, doesn't it? That's what the world believes.
The world believes the Bible is nothing more than a bunch
of Jewish fables, wives, fables, tales. But no, the truth This
is the truth that reads like a fable, and that on purpose,
because God has hid these things from the wise and the prudent,
and revealed them unto his children. The Lord spoke in parables often,
didn't he? And one time it said he did not
speak except in a parable. After a while, that's the only
way he would speak. And the Pharisees and the doctors
and the lawyers and the people, they were insulted by him. But
they didn't understand. And the disciples asked him why
he spoke in parables. He said, because it's not given
to them. Not hidden from them. It was
given to you. And he would open those parables to their understanding.
And I hope he'll do that with us tonight. These things are
hidden. The Lord, the King over all,
is unseen. Our God is unseen. Men don't
believe him because he's unseen. His kingdom is unseen. And so
men don't believe in it. His kingdom, he said, is not
of this world. He said, if it were, we would
fight for it. But it's not. And the enemy is
unseen. And so men don't believe in him
either, or them. All the while they're under his
rule. Paul said, the apostle said,
we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with unseen foes. We wrestle with principalities
and powers. rulers of the darkness of this
world that keep men in darkness. Paul wrote a great deal about
our enemy, our adversary. He said the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal either, but they're spiritual and mighty
to the pulling down of strongholds. And, you know, the Scripture
says our wisdom is not carnal wisdom or human reasoning. Paul
wrote this in 1 Corinthians. He said we don't use human reasoning
to try to convince people and try to reason with people. No,
we use spiritual wisdom, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
And he said, he that is spiritual judges all things, understands
all things. And we see clearly. Those whom
God has revealed these things to by His Spirit see clearly
what is hidden to most. And God's Word is what brings
to light all things. God's Word. God's Word brings
to light everything. There's nothing new under the
sun. It's all been recorded. The history of man has already
been recorded. Every event, every purpose under
the sun, God has already written it down in his book of life. It's all history to him. He has
already declared the end from the beginning. Are you with me?
The history of man. Man doesn't read this book. Man doesn't study it. Man doesn't
know it. Man doesn't believe it. And so,
he keeps repeating the same sins and things that man has always
done. And he fulfills everything exactly
the way God said he would do it. There's nothing new. People, rulers, societies, it's
all been the same. And it keeps repeating, according
to God's word. Men are fulfilling his will right
now. We looked Sunday at the election
that determined this last election. Isn't it? All things known unto
God are all his works from the beginning of the world. This
gives us great comfort that man doesn't read this, man doesn't
believe it, he rejects it, all the while he's repeating it and
fulfilling God's word. Now, let me listen to it. I say
this prayerfully. I say this carefully. And I say
this humbly, if you know me, you know me. I say it with certainty
that the most important man in this world is the preacher of the gospel,
the pastor, the teacher whom God has set up for you to show
you from his word, show you his truth, a watchman, Because when things happen, just
like God said they would, when things happen as they always
have, no matter what comes, we can clearly see it if a man shows
us. There's nothing to do. And there's
nothing to worry about. And when things collapse, when
things collapse, I'm here to tell you, They always have, and
they always will. Rich and affluent and world kingdoms all fail, and this one
will be no exception. And when it does, this is going
to be everything to you. This will mean everything. But
we're doing it. We're going to be clamoring for
answers. Where are we going to get them? The same place we always
have. In this story, I'll just give
a brief comment on these verses leading up to the last three
or four verses that I want to dwell on. Look at verses 1 through
3. There appeared a great wonder
in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her
feet, on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with a
child, and she cried, travailing in birth and pain to be delivered.
There appeared another wonder in heaven. Behold, a great red
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon
his head." This is certainly not talking about the Virgin
Mary. That's what Catholicism has made
out of this, twisted it. No, no. This is talking about
the church. That woman is the church. You're
going to see her name throughout this chapter. The church, you,
God's people, from the beginning have been persecuted by our great
adversary, the devil and Satan and the world. All right? She's with child. What does that
mean? Well, Christ came out of her. Christ came from the midst
of her. Psalm 89, God said, I have exalted
one chosen of the people. You go to Psalm 80. Christ came
out of the midst of her. Christ was born in the midst
of her, his church, and I have several scriptures for you to
read, but you can jot it down for yourself. Isaiah 66, verses
7 and 8 says, She travailed, Mount Zion, and travailed and
birthed. The dragon here is the god of this world. It talks about
him having seven heads and ten horns and over in Revelation,
I believe it's 17, clearly tells us that it's the great false
religion that sits on seven hills. Do you know that Rome is called
the city of seven hills? It's called the city of seven
hills. Amazingly. ten horns, and it said there
ten kings. Well, on this woman's head, who's
the head of the woman? Who's the head of the church?
Christ. Mary doesn't have a crown on
her head, and neither do you. Christ is our head. He's our
head, and on His crown is His twelve apostles, His Word. Crown Him with many crowns the
Lamb upon His throne." Well, verse 4 speaks of an uprising
that the dragon took a third of the stars of heaven and cast
them to the earth. The dragon stood for the woman.
Our Lord mentioned this. The Lord Jesus Christ mentioned
this. He said to His disciples who came back one time from casting
out devils, He said, I beheld Satan fall as lightning from
heaven. That's what he's talking about.
That's what he's talking about. And it says in verse 4 that this
dragon was sent to the earth to devour her child as soon as
it was born. If not, Peter writes, Satan is a roaring
lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. So his grand design,
Satan, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4 and another place that his
grand design is to blind the minds of people from hearing
the gospel. That's his great design. Verse
5, she brought forth the man-child who was to rule all nations with
a rod of iron. Who's that? Well, that's the
Lord Jesus Christ, of course. In Psalm 2 he says, God says,
I have made the decree, I have set my king on my holy hill of
Zion. It says that he will break his
enemies with a rod of iron. He says, you serve the Lord with
fear and rejoice with tremble. And he said in verse 5 that her
child being caught up unto God and to his throne, well Christ,
where is he? He's seated on the throne right
now. Well, this war, Satan was cast
out. Look at verse 6. The woman fled into the wilderness
where she had a place prepared of God that she should be fed
there a long time. A place in the wilderness. What's
that? You're sitting in it. He had prepared us a place in
the midst of our enemies, a church where she may resort and be fed
the gospel, feed on Christ, his blood, his righteousness. Read
on down through verse 11. And there was war in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon
fought and his angels prevailed not. Neither was their place
found anymore in heaven. They were cast out. The great
dragon was cast out. The old serpent called the devil,
Satan, which deceived the whole world. He was cast out into the
earth. And his angels were cast out
with him. Who cast him out? It talks about,
over in another chapter in the Revelation, that a great angel
came down and grabbed him by the tail and cast him out. Who's
that? Christ. We're going to see that
here in just a minute. he cast him out. Verse 10, I
heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation
and strength, the kingdom of our God, the power of his Christ,
for the accuser of our brethren, that Satan, is cast down, which
accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their testimony,
and they love not their lives unto death, the martyrs, those
that have laid down their lives for the gospel. Not accepting
deliverance. You've read in Hebrews 11 many
times, that great cloud of witnesses. Well, what is this war? Lots
of people, go to John chapter 12 with me, John 12. Lots of
people waiting on a big war to happen, aren't there? Well, you
don't want a big war to happen. Well, I'm here to tell you from
God's Word, and we read in Isaiah 40 that that war is already accomplished. I'm here to tell you, listen
to, that's why I'm here. I'm here to tell you. He said,
comfort my people. There's not going to be any war over Jerusalem. There was a war and one man fought
it and won. When Jehoshaphat and all the
people were assaulted by the King of Assyria, who always represents
Satan throughout the Scripture. The King of Assyria is the most
powerful king in all the world, all the days of Israel. He persecuted
Israel in every generation. The King of Assyria, the King
of Assyria, and Israel could not defeat them, and they were
always against them. Jehoshaphat, And all the people,
and their little ones, you remember that story, their little ones
were gathered before the Lord and said, we're at our wits end,
we don't know what to do, our eyes turn to thee. And God sent
a prophet, and you'd never heard of him before, and you'd never
hear from him again. And he stood up and preached
about a 45 second message. And he said, the battle is not
yours, just stand still, he said. You don't need to fight, you
just wait. Fight this battle for you. He
said, now start singing, because it's over before it started.
And they did. And the Lord is the one who fought
that battle for them. This is speaking of Christ and
Him crucified. They overcame Him by the blood
of the Lamb. Look at John 12. This was our Lord. He was going
up to Jerusalem the whole time from the cradle To his manhood,
verse 23, the Lord answered and said, The hour is come that the
Son of Man should be glorified. What is his glory? The salvation
of his people. Delivering the captives. Leading
captivity captive. Satan. Delivering the prisoners. Setting them free. That's his
glory. Did he do it? Yes, he did. False religion says
he tried. They take away his glory, don't
they? Look at verse 31. Verse 31. He says, Now is the
judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. When? On Calvary's tree. That's where Armageddon was fought. Dan Parks, he preached on Isaiah
4 and he said, the battle is over and the Lord Jesus won. He didn't fight it with him.
He fought it by himself. He said, the prince of this world
is cast out. Verse 32, Christ crucified, if I be lifted up
from the earth will draw all unto me, all of his people, all
that the Father gave him unto him. Chapter 13. He says this
all the way through to his disciples. Chapter 13, verse 27. Look at
it. After the sop, Satan entered into Judas, just like the Lord
chose him to do. The Lord chose him to be the
devil, to betray him. He reigns. And then he said unto him, What
that thou doest, do quickly. See, the devils take order from
him, like the ones he put in the swine. Look at verse 31. Therefore, when he was gone out,
Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified
in him. Now, everything is going exactly
according to my purpose. Everything and everyone is doing
my will and my bidding, even the devils. God has made all
things for himself, even the wicked, for the day of evil. He said, now is your day, the
day of darkness, but it's soon to be my greatest day, the day
of light, dispelling all darkness. Chapter 14, look at chapter 14. On and on, our Lord says this.
In verse 30, He said to his disciples privately, all of these words
here. He says, Hereafter I will not talk much with you, for the
prince of this world cometh. And I have nothing in me. We're
going to do battle. We're going to do battle. But
it's over. I'm going to crush his head.
You understand that? You know where it started? We
read that in Genesis 3, didn't we, Simon? The woman sneed. Against his seed. Chapter 16,
one more chapter here. John 16, verse 11. He says the Holy Spirit will
come and convince his people of judgment. Do you have it? Chapter 16, verse 11. Of judgment
because the prince of this world is judged. Well, I thought he
was going to be judged and cast into the lake of fire. Already
happened. He's already been judged. He's
on a chain. The angels that kept not their
first estate, Jude wrote it, Peter wrote it, they're in chains. I love the Pilgrim's Progress
where Pilgrim and his companion were walking up the road and
there were two lions in the way. In the distance there were two
lions and they thought they had barred the way and they couldn't
get by. Satan's called a roaring lion and Pilgrim and his friend
were walking down that road and the closer they got to those
lions they could see, behind them they could see, they're
in chains. And they walked right on by and
those lions could come so far. Roaring. Pilgrims said he could
feel his hot breath on his neck. But they walked right on by. Couldn't touch him. That's Satan. Satan complained to the Lord,
didn't he, about Job? He said, you've set a hedge about
it. Yes, he has. And he's never removed that hedge,
except as his purpose allows it, you see. God is God. Christ is Lord. Verse 20. Verse 20. Now, people, you're
going to be amazed by this. You've never seen them make the
connection. Verses 20 and 21. Barely, I say unto you, barely,
barely, I say unto you, you shall weep and lament, but the world
shall rejoice. That is, when Christ is crucified.
And you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned unto
joy as a woman who's in travail. That's sorrow. Her hours come,
and as soon as she's delivered of the child, no more pain, no
more anguish, just joy. People, we overcome by the blood
of the Lamb, by looking to Christ. Are you with me? By looking to
Christ. No matter who, no matter what,
no matter what goes on, the Lord reigns. Let the people tremble. If you tremble at the Lord, if
you fear the Lord, you need not fear anyone. Satan, his devils. All right, go back to our text
in Revelation 12. Revelation 12, go back to our
text, quickly. It says in verse 11 that they overcame him by
the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony. You
need to read of the martyrs. You need to read some of the
martyrs' stories. People will give you courage. It will strengthen
your faith. I told you about old Latimer
and Ridley. I'm going to tell you again. I'm going to tell
you again until all of you just shout for joy. Nicholas Ridley
and Hugh Latimer were two men that translated the Scriptures
into English so we could have it. And all the world was against
them to keep them from it. We can't. God had them write
it so we could have it. Well, they burnt those men at
the stake, Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer, friends, for the
preaching of the truth, for declaring the truth. And while they were
being burned, while they set that wood on fire and their bodies
were being consumed, Brother Nicholas Ridley said to Hugh
Latimer, play the man, Brother Latimer. Play the man, because
today we're going to light a flame, a light that will never be put
out. And it hasn't. You had this Bible
because people did that. And God did that. Why? There's testimony unto His grace,
to His glory, that though all the world tries to silence Do
away with his word, you can't do it, because forever, O Lord,
thy word is settled in heaven. And he writes it on the table
of his people's hearts, and they stand up for it, proof, glorifying
the Lord, whose cause they die for. And they love not their
lives unto death. No, they love his. They love
him, the Supreme. Rejoice, you heavens, and you
that dwell in them. Verse 12, he talks about Satan
cast into the world, and oh, what great woe and wrath has
come upon this place in a short time. See that? Just a short
time. Satan the dragon, verse 13, cast
into the earth and he persecuted the woman which brought forth
the man. He knew he had a short time. He doesn't know everything,
but he knows he doesn't have long. Like someone trying to
hold out. Now look at this. These last
four verses are just marvelous. But to the woman, to the church,
to God's people, were given two wings. She was persecuted. Has been from the beginning.
I thought about Cain and Abel. Do you not think that Satan thought
Abel might be that seeded woman? And his seed was Cain. And he made war on And he thought,
that's the man. He knew. He saw this man, Abel,
was following the Lamb, following Cain by blood. And he had his
seed. It was Cain. And he sent him.
He thought he did him in, didn't he? Satan's been trying that. Been persecuted from the garden.
Seed against seed. To the woman who was given two
wings of a great eagle. I'm going to turn to Psalm 57.
If you're fastened up, you can too. It says so often in the
scriptures, under his wings, under his wings, the Lord said
in Exodus 19, I brought you out on my wings. Listen to David. He said, Be merciful unto me,
O God, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee, yea,
in the shadow of thy wings. Will I make my refuge until these
calamities be overpassed? I'll cry unto God most high,
unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send
from heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would
swallow me up." That's my adversary, that's your adversary, Selah. God shall send forth to win. And this is all through Scripture,
His mercy and His truth. They are met together. Where?
In Christ, in the Gospel, in the Word. Mercy and truth. Righteousness
and peace. They have kissed each other.
My soul is among lions, David said. Same adversary, same problem. I'm among them set on fire, the
sons of men, their teeth are as spears and arrows, their tongues
as sharp sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above
the heavens. They've prepared a net for my
steps. My soul is bowed down, they dig
the pit for me." They're falling into it. And then he goes on
in verse 10 to say, thy mercy is great unto the heavens and
thy truth unto the clouds. Two wings to fly above the world
and sin. His mercy is truth, God's Word,
His prophets and His apostles. Two wings. The law and the testimony. And on His wings, under His wings
we resort, and on His wings we fly above this world of sins. He sets us in safety from Him
that would harm us. Place in the wilderness was given
her here in our text. A place in the wilderness where
she was nourished. Mount Zion, a city of refuge
where God dwells. His temple, his people, where
the gospel is preached, where they are nourished, it said.
Now look at this. It says the serpent cast out,
verse 15, out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman. that
he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth
helped the woman. The earth opened her mouth and
swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth." What is this? This flood that
comes out of the serpent's mouth, out of the dragon's mouth. I
started to title this message, Out of the Dragon's Mouth. Boy,
that would get a lot of hits on terminology, wouldn't it?
Because people like science fiction, they think. The flood out of the serpent's
mouth floods the earth and the earth swallows it up. What is
that? I do want you to turn one more
place, okay? Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah chapter 23. What is
this flood that comes out of his mouth that floods the whole
world and they swallow it up? And you know, lies, lies, lies. He's the father of lies. He started
with the first man and woman in the garden. He's the father
of lies. And he's been telling lies ever
since. And he's flooded this world with
lies. And he has his prophets, our
Lord said, they cover the world, his angels, transformed into
angels of light. ministers of righteousness, so
to speak. And they flood this world with
their lies. He says there's no God. And the whole world swallows
it. Don't they? Everybody believes it. They now
believe there's no God. Evolution has covered this world,
and that's what everybody believes. Swallowed it hook, line, and
sinker. Haven't they? I haven't. Have you? I'll tell you how this helps
us. Free will. They started in the garden, didn't
they? With the first man. And there's
a whole world. Everybody just swallows that.
They think you're crazy if you don't believe the man has free
will. Don't do it. It's just understood. Everybody
believes that. I don't. Do you? The sovereignty of man. He's a God. He's the master of
his own destiny. Everybody believes that. Universal
fatherhood of God. The brotherhood of man. Our Lord said there's two seeds,
didn't He? Didn't He? In the garden. He
told the first man, the seed of Satan and my seed. Universal
atonement. Satan's ministers. They all say
this without exception. Christ died for everybody. And
everybody believes it. I don't. Do you? His people don't believe it.
Lies. Flood the world. Look at Jeremiah 23, verse 16. Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto
you. They make you vain They speak a vision out of their own
heart, not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still, that
is, they continue to say unto them that despise me, didn't
the Lord say men are haters of God? They say unto those that
hate me, the Lord hath said that you shall have peace. They say
unto everyone that walketh after the imagination of his own heart,
no evil shall come upon you. God says, Who stood in the counsel
of the Lord, and perceived and heard his word? Who marked his
word and heard it? The whirlwind of the Lord is
gone forth in fury, a grievous whirlwind. It shall fall grievously
upon the head of the wicked. In the latter days, verse 20,
the anger of the Lord will not return in the latter day. You
shall consider it perfectly. I am against them that prophesy
false dreams, saith the Lord. Do tell them, and cause my people
to err by their lies. I sent them not, nor commanded
them. Therefore they shall not profit this people at all." No
one is saved under a false prophet ever. Lies. And so they spew out there from
Satan a flood of lives, flood, and it's covered this world.
Out of His mouth, a flood of words. I love Psalm 91. Oh, I love it. One of my favorite
psalms. It says that you shall not be
afraid for the noisome pestilence. All the things you hear, the
noisome pestilence, like locusts. All this noise you hear, all
these voices you hear, that noisome pestilence. They've flooded the
world with their noisome pestilence to make people afraid. Global
warming, and everybody's just swallowed it up. This is what
we really need to be concerned about. Global warming. They're telling everybody to
fear everything but God. Isaiah, he said, their fear toward
me is taught by the precept of man. No fear. Fear everything, everyone but
God. HMO or GMO, that's going to kill us all.
GMO food. Rumors. Jot this down, Isaiah
37. Jot it down. You need to read
this. Remember right before Hezekiah,
the story of Hezekiah? The king of Assyria came and
sent all these words scaring Israel to death. Scaring Israel
to death, all these words. And Hezekiah told the people,
don't believe a word he said. Don't believe a word he said.
And God destroyed that king and all of his people by a rumor. God sent a rumor. And they all
fell for it. And our Lord said, you, to His
disciples, you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. He said, don't be afraid. He said, don't be afraid. All
this must come to pass. You don't have a thing to be
afraid of. Nothing. How does this help us, Preacher?
What are you talking about? Well, how does this flood help
us? It helped the woman. It helped her. How does this
help us, this flood of lies and all that? I'll tell you how it
helps us. Let me tell you how. Because whatever the world believes,
what everybody swallows, we reject it. If the whole, whatever the whole
world gathers together and believes, we believe the opposite. People are gathering together,
the whole world, especially religion, and they're getting together. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
I thought of those three fellas in the furnace. And Daniel, I
thought about them. David Knesset set up that image,
and everybody in the whole world bowed down to it. He said, now
when we hear the trumpet, like a big charismatic Pentecostal
religious meeting, he said, everybody's going to get together, we're
going to have a world day of prayer, and we're going to bow down to this
image, and he said, now you get ready, you come with us, and
Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego said, we ain't going to do it. We'll throw you in the furnace.
Yep. You might just do that. But if
he does, our God sent him. And he's able to deliver us.
But if he doesn't, go to be with him. Go ahead. We're not going to bow down.
We're not going to meet with you. Whatever the world swallows,
whatever everybody swallows, reject it. Whichever way the
world is headed, run the other way just as fast as you can.
You hear me? Do you see that? It helped the
woman. It helped her to see clearly.
Look, they're all falling for it. Everybody believes that.
It can't be the truth. The truth has always been in
the minority. In the days of the flood, of
the flood, it finally got down to where only eight people believed
God. Eight people! And our Lord said
this, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Why, Lord, are you kidding? Look,
the whole world's full of Christians. Do you think they'll be able
to find it? Whatever the world swallows,
we reject it. God has. He's spewed it out of
His mouth. Oh, and the dragon was wroth
with the woman, made war with the remnant of her seed. How
do you know their seed? Her seed? The woman's seed? Christ's
people? How do you know them? They keep
the commandments of God. They lay hold to the word of
God. And they reject the words of
men. And the testimony of Jesus Christ,
the gospel, is their life. Like Paul said, let God be true
in every man, a liar. So let them foam at the mouth. And no matter who's in power
or what's in power, I, by God, reigneth. He reigneth. This has changed. It hasn't changed. Our God hasn't changed. Okay,
stand with me. Our Father in heaven, thank you.
Thank you for your Word. Thank you for revealing it to
us, opening it to our eyes and ears and hearts. O Lord, let
these sayings sink down deep. Let us rehearse them among one
another. O Lord, let not the fowl of the
air Let not our adversaries steal
these things away. Let your people, as we close,
let your people discuss these things, rehearse these things
among themselves. This is our peace. This is our
comfort. And we encourage one another and build up one another
on this most holy faith. The things of this world tear
us down. The things of this world frighten us. The things of this
world cause doubts and fears and worries and troubles, trouble
our hearts and minds, but when we set our affection on things
above and our minds are set on Him, we have perfect peace, whose
minds are stayed on Jehovah, the Rock of Ages. O Lord, keep
the bowels of the air from stealing it away, and the thorns and the
cares and the trivial vanity of this life from choking out
this Word. This is our life. This is our
comfort. This is our peace. This is what
helps us. Helps us. O Lord, may it please
Thee that we will love not our lives unto death, but for Thy
glory and Thy cause be we willing to lay down our lives for Thee,
because You laid down Your life for us. It's in Christ's name
we pray. Amen.