If you will, turn with me in
your Bible to Revelation chapter 12. The chapter begins, chapter 12,
with John looking into heaven and saw something that was a
wonder to his mind and heart. I don't know if you know this, But everything about God is a
wonder. God himself is a wonder. He's a wonder in his eternality. His purposes are, they're a wonder,
they're a mystery. I'll never forget the first time
seeing some of those mysteries, the mysteries of the Jews, and
the mysteries of sin, and the mysteries of godliness, and all
of those things. They were wonderful. They were
a wonder to me. I'd never heard, hieth not seen,
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things
that God hath prepared for them that love him. But he's revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. And by spirit we see things and
everything we see about God is a wonder. It's a wonder. It fills our heart with wonder
and amazement. Well, what did John see? What
was this wonder that he saw as he looked up into heaven? Well,
he saw in the eternal heaven a woman clothed with the sun. clothed with light, clothed with the sun, radiating
about her light and warmth. And this woman is the church.
Now remember what John's looking at. He's not looking at a moment
in time, something that happened in a moment, but he's looking
at the eternal purpose of God. And he's looking at this concerning
these final days and he looks up into heaven and he sees this
woman clothed with light and radiating warmth and it's a wonder
to him. He just looks and it's a wonder
and she has her feet resting upon the moon. And this woman is the church and she's with child. Now here's the wonder. This woman,
which is clothed with this heavenly light, is about to give birth
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's a woman, not an angel,
not a divine being, but a woman.
And she's about to give birth to the Lord Jesus Christ, the
God-man. And then John tells us he saw
another wonder. And this also was in heaven.
He said, I saw a great red dragon. He had seven heads, ten horns,
and seven crowns upon his seven heads. It was a powerful, prominent,
influential beast. So powerful, so prominent, as
to draw one-third of the angels to leave their first estate and
come after him. What was this dragon doing in
heaven? Why point out the dragon? with
all this wondrous woman and she's about to have a child, what was
so significant about this great red dragon? What was he there
for? Why is he being recorded here?
What was he after? What prompted the beast to disturb
the serenity of heaven? What possible reason could he
have to draw away these ministering spirits after himself? What would
prompt such a being to do that? He heard the gospel. Yes, he did. Now, our Lord tells
us in Hebrews chapter one that these angels, he talks there
for two chapters in the book of Hebrews about angels and about
the significance of the preeminence of Christ over the angels. and
that God had bypassed the angels and chosen a man, chosen men
in Christ to be saved. He's going to take a man and
exalt him to the throne of God. Satan heard the gospel and Satan
said in his heart, oh no, no, he said, I will ascend to heaven. not this man i will i'm much
more glorious than the man i'm much higher in creation than
the man i'm much more significant than the man you read about this
in isaiah fourteen how art thou fallen from heaven oh lucifer
cause you said in your heart here's what he said i will ascend
into heaven i will exalt my throne above the stars of god I'll sit
also upon the mount of the congregation. I'll be the head of the church. I'll sit on the mount, Mount
Zion. I'll sit there. I'll sit upon the mount of the
congregation and the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds and I'll be like the Most High. It's the same thing. Are you
listening? It is the same thing that infuriates
every self-righteous, proud, high-minded sinner when he hears
that Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance. You mean God gonna save him and
not me? I've been going to church all
my life. He'd better drunk. I've worked,
I was faithful to work my job. I've earned a living. I'm a self-made
man. Look at this beggar. He's been
bankrupt three times. You mean you're going to save
him? You're not going to save me? It's the same thing that
infuriates every self-righteous, proud, and high-minded sinner.
Now I want you to listen to the Scriptures. He hid these things
from the wise and prudent. Who did? God did. And revealed
them unto babes. Listen to this one. It's not
of him that willeth. Men want to talk about their
will. You can talk about it all you want to. It's not of him
that willeth. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
You don't need an interpreter for that. It's not of him that runneth. Oh, I put my nose to the grindstone. I sacrificed everything. I gave
everything. Not of him that runneth. What's it about? It's of God
that showeth mercy. Picture yourself sitting there
with the angels. You're not the chief of the angels.
Not the chief of those heavenly beings, but you're not at the
bottom either. You're somewhere in the middle. And then imagine a voice comes
and says, I'm not saving any of you all,
but see that worthless man? I'm gonna save him and you're
gonna be his minister. and while he's cursing god and
while he's out there in the bar and while he's driving drunk
among the traffic you're going to minister to them who shall
be heirs of salvation. You're going to protect him.
You're going to defend him. Satan was infuriated. He was
infuriated. That old dragon took his influence
and deceit and drew a third of the heavenly host out of glory. Took them with him. To what purpose? Revelation 12 verse four. To
devour her son. This woman's son. But Satan and his fallen army
and all the deceived of the earth could not prevent, could not
thwart, could not consume the God-man. They couldn't do anything
with him. Oh Lord, don't go up to Jerusalem. They'll stone you.
They'll kill you. They hate your guts up there.
You go up there and they're going to kill you. He went up there,
entered into their temple, platted a whip, and beat the money changers
out of the temple. They were infuriated at him.
They said, we're going to throw him off the brow of the hill.
He walked right through the middle of them, and they didn't lay
a hand on him. Huh? They said, we're going to take
him by force and make him king. He going to deliver us. He said,
you ain't making me anything. He went off into the mountain
by himself and ignored them all together. God hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise and the weak things of the
world to confound the things which are mighty and the base
things which are despised hath God chosen that no flesh should
glory in his presence. Oh, he wants to devour his son,
but he couldn't do it. His son came and accomplished
the redemption of his people and manifested the glory of God
as he did. Verse 5, and then he was caught
up to God. This one the old dragon sought
to kill, to devour, to consume. He was caught up to God and to
his throne. That's where he sits today, on
the throne. I'll never forget, Brother Mahan
was on vacation and got the word that one of his sons was killed
in Vietnam. And about two weeks passed by,
and one of the preachers there in Ashland, Kentucky that knew
him saw him out on the street and he said, wrote Mahan, he
said, I've heard you preach the sovereignty of God, Christ on
the throne, all these things on TV. He said, where was Christ
when your son died in Vietnam? He said, the same place he was
when his son died, on the throne. On the throne, that's where he's
at, he's on the throne. Now I'm glad of it. He was caught up to God and to
his throne, and there he rules with a rod of iron. What's he
rule over? Everything that is. Nothing out
of his power or out of his control. But what of the woman? What of
her? That's how this chapter begins,
with the woman. What about her? Verse six. The
woman fled into the wilderness where she hath a place prepared
of God that they should feed her for the remainder of her
time on this earth. And those who see this vision,
verse 10, they say with a loud voice, now is come salvation. Here it is. Here's salvation. It's in that man. Seated on that
throne at the right hand of God. Now has come salvation and strength
and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the
old dragon, the accuser of our brethren, is cast down. He's defeated. Verse 11. 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 let me tell you something you
live in the cell house of the old red dragon you ever thought
about that? that's where we live that's where
we were born we're born in the same prison in the same cell
house as the old red dragon. That great dragon was cast out,
that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the
whole world. And religion, under the deceit
of Satan, would have you to believe that evil is here in this world
in little pockets. Little pockets down at the bar,
little pockets out on the streets, little pockets out there selling
drugs. Evil's out here. Evil's out here.
The churches preach that, but it's in little pockets, they
say. It's in these little cults. It's here and it's there. The scripture says, He deceiveth
the whole world. John said, We know we are of
God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. He deceiveth the whole world,
this ungodly and irreligious world, and the masses of antichrist
free will religion. And you and I are in the exiled
prison where Satan and his angels are reserved in chains of darkness
under the judgment of that great day. We live in a wilderness.
That's how John pictured it. That's how he saw it in the vision. Satan's in the bar, he's on the
river, he's in the lake, he's on the streets, he's in the pulpits
all over this world. And I don't know what kind of
picture you have of this earth, but here it's pictured as a wilderness. You know what dwells in a wilderness?
Snakes, scorpions, predators, spiders, and dragons. That's what's in the desert.
That's what's in the wilderness. And the only way you're going
to get to the promised land is to dwell in whatever place the
reigning Christ prepares for you. The only way you're going
to make it. It says she hath a place in this
wilderness prepared of God, in verse 6. And there not somewhere else,
there shall she be fed. I don't find any bread anywhere
else. You'll find it in that place that God has prepared. When the dragon, verse 13, when
he saw that he was cast into the earth, no longer in the presence of
God, no longer in the presence of his son, But cast into the
earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child.
He made trouble for her. He mocked her. He defamed her. He cut her out of his temples.
Oh, but listen to this, verse 14. And to the woman were given
two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness
into her place where she is nourished for a time, times, and half a
time from the face of the earth. Now, I'm not going to spend a
lot of time trying to prove to you what this is. There's a very
clear explanation here and I have my Bible open to it in Daniel
chapter 7. He's talking about this beast
here in verse 24 and it's ten horns which stand for the kingdoms,
these mighty kingdoms. And these kingdoms will be diverse
from one another. and and these kingdoms are going
to be an alliance with his false religion you ever notice how
nations they uh... every time we have a president
elected he has some kind of preacher there he has some kind of minister
there a catholic priest or whatever their priority is and you'll
have him there you ever notice how nations favor these you know
all of rome what do they celebrate catholicism Go down to Mexico,
you'll find the same thing. Their government is in partnership
with Catholicism. What you find in this country,
free will works religion as a whole. The accepted religion of the
land. He made trouble for her, he mocked her, and all these
things. But here in Daniel 7, he talks
about this. And it says here that he'll wear
out, he's gonna wear out the saints of the Most High and think
to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his
hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. So what
is this time, times, and half a time? What is he talking about?
He's talking about a period. Now if you want to, you can go
all the way back to 1 and 2 Samuel, and you can go back there in
the days of Elijah. where Ahab and Jezebel persecuted
the church. And you'll find that was a three
and a half year period. That's what it was. So what he's
talking about here in the book of Revelations is really not
a mystery. He's talking about a time of
great persecution for the church. That's the time, times, and half
a time. That's what he's talking about.
He's talking about in this gospel age, she's going to be persecuted
all the way until judgment, all the way to judgment. But she was given two wings as
of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness, into
her place where she is nurtured for a time, times and half a
time from the face of the serpent. Now let me tell you something,
this place of rest of food and of nourishment and this place
of security is the local church. That's what he's talking about.
It's the local church where two or more are gathered. Now you
listen to me. Where they're gathered together
in my name. Gathered to worship me. Gathered
to hear from me. Gathered out of this world to
hear the truth. Met together, that's where I'm
gonna be, right in their midst. Now that's the place. That's
the place he's talking about here, this place of rest, of
food and of nourishment. Well, what's these wings? These
are mysteries, aren't they? We're sitting here and we're
looking with John at these great mysteries or wonders. And here's
this woman. And Satan, she's in the cell
house in the same jail cell as Satan. And he's chained and he's
going about as a roaring lion and he's threatening them and
making trouble for them and here they are in the midst. And God
gives her two wings that she can fly into this place and she
can be nourished. What are these two wings? Faith. and love. Faith and love. There's only one way anyone is
going to leave their families like Abraham did. Abraham, get
you out of your father's house. Get out of there. Get out of
that house of idolatry. You get away from your kinsmen.
Where am I going, Lordy? I'll let you know. But now you
get out. How are you going to get out?
Faith and love. There's only one way anybody's
going to leave their families like Abraham did, and that is
by the irresistible power of God's Spirit giving them wings
of faith and love. It's impossible I hope you can
hear me. It is impossible for one to leave
the security of his job, the affection of his family,
and the security and comfort of his familiar home, except
God give him wings to rise above it. It's an impossibility. Revelation 12, verse 15. And the serpent cast out of his
mouth water as a flood after the woman that he might cause
her to be carried away by the flood. What is this flood? This flood is the flood of heresy. He spews out of his mouth the
heresy of free will religion. It's a flood. It's not just whispered
about here and there and in the back room or in the private hall
somewhere. He spews it out like a flood. It covers the earth. He spews out of his mouth the
heresy that man is the deciding principle of his salvation. He's
the one who decides. He's the one who purposes these
things. Salvation has been made possible.
God made it possible. Now he has to finish the work.
He has to do the work. I'm going to tell you something.
If all the Lord left for you to do was decide to be saved,
salvation would be a failure. That's right. What did he tell those Jews?
He said, you search the scriptures. In them you think you have eternal
life. You think you see the possibility of salvation. But you won't come
to me that you might have life. Huh? If God left just one thing
in your hand, salvation would be a failure. Why? Because there's none that
understandeth and none that seeketh after God. That's why. If all
that was left for you to do is to exercise your free will, then
the death of Christ would have accomplished nothing. The alternative of free will,
not choosing Christ, would prove to have been a waste of time
and suffering, wouldn't it? If Christ died for Judas Iscariot,
then his blood didn't count for anything. And Satan spews out of his mouth
the heresy of universal love, and the same principle applies.
If he loved Judas Iscariot, then his love made no difference at
all in the life of Judas. And Satan spewed out of his mouth
the heresy of works religion, that men can win the affection
of God by something that they do, that he can produce a righteousness
by his obedience to the law. Paul says in Galatians 2.21,
he said, I do not frustrate the grace of God. If righteousness
come by the law, Christ is dead and vain. And again, Satan spewed
out of his mouth a flood of heresy that man is called by grace and
then sanctified by works. And Paul asked the Galatians,
are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are you now made
perfect by the flesh? Is that how it works, or did
the Spirit of God come and regenerate you and give you life? My friend, this whole world is
deceived. John said in 1 John 5, 19, and
we know that we are of God and the whole world lies in wickedness.
Well, what was Satan's purpose in flooding the earth with his
heresy? Verse 15, Revelation 12, that he might cause the woman
to be carried away with the flood. You know what the number one
reason for men leaving the gospel and going back into religion,
do you know what the number one reason is? The multitudes. They can't get over the... You
mean to tell me that all of organized, accepted, traditional religion
is Antichrist? How could so many be wrong and
so few be right? Huh? That's why He flooded the world
with His heresy, to carry away the woman. To carry away the
woman. Our Lord said this, He said,
Enter in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad
is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in
there at. And because straight is the gate
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto light, few there be that
find it. The great dragon spews out his
flood of heresy to carry away the woman clothed with the sun.
Verse 16, and the earth helped the woman. Huh? I thought the world persecuted
the woman. It did. But it helped her. It helped
her. Now watch this. The earth helped
the woman. How? The earth opened up her
mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon spewed out.
Huh? You reckon she thought she was
helping you? Uh-uh. God just overrode and took what
was natural to her and helped you. Well, how did this present
evil world, swallowing up the dragon's lies, help the woman?
By fulfilling the word of God. That's number one reason. Secondly,
by evidence in God's testimony about man. He'll swallow up his
lies if you were of the world. The world would believe you.
The world would love you. The world would exalt you. But
you're not of the world, therefore the world hateth you. And then thirdly, by proving
to her who the true ministers of God is, he said, there must
be heresies among you. Has to be. To show you that those
which are approved show you who they are. They don't swallow
up what Satan spews out of his mouth. They won't have it. They
won't eat it. And then fourthly, by causing
her to take wing to the place God has prepared for her, shutting
her up to Christ. You know when men will move,
when they'll pack up, leave their families, leave, I'm talking
about people sitting over here alone with nobody to gather with,
nobody to assemble together. You know when they're going to
leave? When they don't have a choice. That's right. And you don't have
a choice when God shows you this world, swallowing up those flies. Swallowing up the earth. Ain't
no hope in the world. And when he does, he gives you
wings to fly. Gives you faith and love, and
you'll pack up. Last thing Brother Mahan told
me as a young preacher, I was working on a project way out
South Central Ohio. I was working out of the Carpenters
Union and we were building a medical center over there and doing some
work for General Electric test facilities. And Henry called
me one night, he said, you need to sell your house and quit your
job. He said, I've got a house right here in the parking lot
of 13th Street and you can rent this house. And you think about this, I had
two kids. Quit your job, sell your house, move 50 miles up the river. Wasn't
no work up there. Only thing up there was the gospel
and a faithful minister of God. You know how I did it? Give me
wings. Give me wings.