Let's begin this evening in Isaiah
chapter 14. I want to read verse 12. How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the
ground which did weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart,
I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount
of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down
to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall
narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee saying, Is this
the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms? Whether or not this passage directly
speaks of the fall of Satan, it certainly portrays for us
the fall of Satan, the mighty prince of darkness. And in the
passage we read of his utter destruction, so that in the end
all shall look upon him and say, is this the one that kept us
affrighted, that made the nations of the earth to tremble? Is this
the one who caused us such pain and difficulty and agony all
our days? He is conquered. Satan is conquered. He is not a rival to God. He is not a rival to Jesus Christ. He has great power, far greater
power than any man or all men upon the earth, but he has no
power to rival the power of the exalted Son of God, our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. When he came into the world and
suffered and bled in our stead, He declared that by his death,
he had thrown Satan out of all realms of power. He had broken
his arms. And now the old serpent is bound
by Christ Jesus. He's bound. Indeed, he's bound
today. And the day is coming when the
Lord Jesus Christ shall come again and cast the old serpent
with all who follow him into the bottomless pit. and shall
triumph gloriously over him. But in the meantime, you and
I have to recognize the powers of darkness and the powers of
evil in the world and in our own hearts. And we have to contend
with those things today. Let me try to help you somewhat. It was ever the intention and
the design of God to save a people for the glory of his grace, to
exalt a chosen race of redeemed sinners to the place of highest
honor and dignity in the universe by making us the sons of God. As it was ever God's intention
to save his elect, it was ever his intention to save them in
Christ by the work of his son as our substitute from old eternity
God in infinite wisdom determined to create a world and a race
of men out of whom he would save a chosen multitude for the praise,
the honor, and the glory of his own great name. Why? Because
that was his pleasure. That's all we know concerning
it. We know these things are so. The only reason he gives
is that it's his will, his pleasure to do things in this way. Now
before we come to our text in Revelation 12, I want to make
three or four observations that I believe will be of benefit
to you and help you to understand something of the problem of evil
in this world. Number one, God in the council
halls of eternity ordained Christ to be the representative, substitute,
and mediator and the covenant head of his people. Turn over
to Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs the 8th chapter. Now
we cannot pry into the mind of God. We only know what he has
revealed. But he has most certainly revealed
to us some things that took place when none existed but God himself. In the covenant of everlasting
grace, before the world began, the Lord Jesus Christ was brought
forth and set up from everlasting to be our mediator. And everything,
now listen carefully, everything that God has done since that
covenant, everything God has done since that time when in
old eternity he brought forth his son and set him up to be
our mediator, everything has been done in reference to his
son. Everything in the world, everything
in the universe that has been, is, or shall be, in the last
day will redound to the glory of that one whom the Father brought
forth from everlasting. Now look here in Proverbs chapter
8 and verse 23. Here is wisdom speaking. You
know, of course, wisdom in the passage is none other than Jesus
Christ, who of God has made unto us wisdom. Proverbs chapter 8
in verse 23 Christ is speaking. He says I was set up from everlasting
from the beginning or ever the earth was Now, he's not talking
about his deity and his existence as God. He was from eternity
the Son of God. There never was a time when he
was set up or brought forth to be the Son of God, but from eternity
he was and is the Son of God. He's talking about his covenant
relationship with his people. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, before ever the earth was. When there were
no depths, I was brought forth. when there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth, while as yet he had not made
the earth nor the fields, neither the highest part of the dust
of the world. When he prepared heaven, I was
there. When he set a compass upon the
face of the depth, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree
that the waters should not pass his command, when he appointed
the foundations of the earth, then was I by him, as one brought
up with him. And I was daily his delight,
rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the habitable part
of his earth. And my delights, even back then,
you see it? My delights were with the sons
of men. The Lord Jesus is saying, when
the Lord God created the world, I, wisdom, the mediator, the
covenant head, Bobby Esther's substitute, I was by him. I was
there. When he gave his command to the
sea, I was there. When he laid the foundations
of the earth, I was there. When he appointed his decree
to all things, I was there. I was there ordering all, directing
all, accomplishing all, for everything that was made was made by me,
the word, the mediator, the substitute, and my delights were with the
sons of man." Back then, back then. The Lord God said concerning
his son, I will give thee for a covenant of the people. He
promised it. And so everything that God did,
he did as the result of this mediator and the covenant made
with him on our behalf. Secondly, the Lord God purposed
to create man in the image and likeness, now listen, God purposed
to create man in the image and likeness of this mediator, this
substitute, who in time would come. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ
did not eternally possess a human body or a human soul. But in
the covenant of grace, the Lord God had decreed and prepared
a human body for him. When he came in the fullness
of time, he said, I come. Lo, I come in the volume of the
book it is written of me. I delight to do thy will. O my
God, a body hast thou prepared me. And God had prepared that
body for Christ from before the world was. And when God made
man in his own image and after his own likeness, He did not
make man in the physical image of God, essentially, for God
has no physical image. He made man in the physical image
of that one who would come as a man who is himself the very
image of God. Now read the Scriptures. The
Lord God said in Genesis 1-26, let us make man in our image
and after our likeness. The Apostle Paul says in Colossians
1 15 that Jesus Christ, who is the image of God, he's the one
who's the image of God. And we were in the garden was
made as a man in the image of Christ, the substitute. Now,
follow me. Adam was made to be a substitute,
just like Christ. He was made to be a representative,
just like Christ. He was made to be a federal head,
just like Christ. Adam came as the first Adam,
but he was made in the image of the second Adam. And we fell
by the work and the deeds and the doing of Adam, our representative,
because God from eternity had ordained that we should rise
by the doing and the dying of Jesus Christ, our great and glorious
substitute, whom the apostle describes as the second Adam.
So we were made in the image and likeness of Christ, the mediator,
that one who would come in the fullness of time to save, to
redeem, and to justify all of God's elect. Now thirdly, God
Almighty ordained the fall of this entire race through Adam. Yes, I said it. I don't intend
to back up. I've been saying it a while.
God ordained the fall of Adam so that he might magnify his
own love, grace, and mercy in the redemption of his people
through Christ the second Adam. Let's see if we can make good
on it. Turn over to Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2, verse 17. God told Adam in verse 16, He
said, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. He said,
you can have everything in my creation, everything in the universe. But here's one tree, the symbol
of my sovereign authority, the symbol of my divine rule, the
symbol of my being, you don't eat it. You don't eat it. Everything
else I'll give you. The animals, the trees, I'll
give you everything. But this one tree is mine. Don't you eat it. Don't you eat
of the fruit of it. Now verse 17. But of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For if thou eatest thereof, thou
shalt surely die. Is that what it said, Lindsay?
So you're shaking your head? No. When thou eatest. in the day thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die." It was not something that God sat down
and said, now Adam, if this should possibly happen, if it should
come to pass that you just can't resist the urge to eat of this
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you're going to die.
The Lord God said, Adam, don't you eat it. And when you do,
you're going to die. You're going to die. Now, we
do not suggest for a moment that God caused Adam to sin, that
he compelled Adam to fall, or that he in any way forced Adam's
hand in the matter. Adam acted freely according to
his own will and purpose. Eve had been deceived. And because
Eve was deceived and Adam knew the consequences of eating that
tree, eating of the fruit of that tree, He willfully, deliberately,
full well knowing what he did, chose the companionship of his
fallen wife to the companionship of the eternal God. He did it
willingly. But I am not among those foolish
men who suggest that the sin and fall of our father Adam took
God by surprise. It did not. If it had been God's
purpose and pleasure to do so, God could have kept Adam from
sinning in the garden. You know He could. When Abimelech,
a fallen son of Adam, who had the nature of Adam, who had a
bent and bias toward evil, took Abraham's wife Sarah, the Lord
God said, I kept thee. from sinning against me. I kept
thee from sinning with her." Now, if God could keep Abimelech
from sin, surely he could have kept Adam from sin, had it been
his purpose to do so. God was not taken by surprise
when Adam took the fruit. The fall of Adam, like everything
else in the world, was ordained, predestined, and sovereignly
overruled by God for the accomplishment of his eternal purpose, even
the salvation of his elect, and the glory of his own great name. Hear the scriptures. We know
that all things, is the fall of Adam included in all things?
Answer for yourself. Is it or is that something outside
of all things? That's not one of the all things
Oh, yes, it is. Yes, sir Adams fall and Satan's
fall all things work together for good. They don't just happen
by some stroke of luck to work together for good, but by the
decree and the purpose of God, all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to God's purpose. For of Him and through Him and
to Him are all things, to whom be glory both now and forever,
And I'm telling you, as plainly as I know how, that nothing in
the universe, good or evil, nothing in the universe, righteous or
sinful, nothing in the universe, in heaven above, in earth beneath,
or in hell beneath the earth, nothing in the universe comes
to pass but by the sovereign, wise decree of God Almighty from
eternity. Therefore, we sing with the psalmist
David, Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder
of wrath shalt thou restrain." Now, having said those things,
here is this fourth statement. God ordained from eternity that
he would exalt these chosen, redeemed sinners, whom he has
saved from Adam's dreadful fall to the place of highest honor,
highest dignity, highest majesty, making us the very sons of God,
perfectly conformed to the image of his own dear Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Turn over to Romans chapter 8.
Romans the 8th chapter and verse 29. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he, his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified." The Lord God
determined from eternity. before ever the world was made,
that he would take men, men whom he had loved with an everlasting
love, men whom he had chosen as the objects of his eternal
mercy, love, and grace. He would take those men, create
them in a representative man, Adam. and that those men should
fall in the sin of Adam, that they should come under condemnation
and the curse of the law by Adam, and that they should all be born
in the world as sinners among a helpless, fallen, depraved
race, a race of corrupt, vile sinners. And he did all of that
because he was determined to show his glory, his grace, and
his love. We couldn't have known it otherwise.
We couldn't have known it. The angels in heaven were loved
of God, but they do not know the mystery of redeeming love.
The angels in heaven were preserved by God from the fall of Satan,
but they cannot know the wonder of God's saving grace. They don't
know it, for they've never experienced it. And, Merle Hart, you could
never have known the love of God in Christ had you not fallen
and been redeemed by the sacrifice of his Son. You could not know
the glory of God but as a fallen sinner redeemed and raised up
to the very throne of God as the sons of God. And then forever
we shall praise him. Now all of the angels of God
were created for this purpose. They were created to be ministering
spirits. sent forth to minister to those
who shall be the heirs of salvation and eternal life. You don't need
to turn there. If you want to look it up, the
reference is Hebrews 1 and verse 14. God created the angels to
be servants for His elect. You think about that. God created
the angels to be servants, ministering spirits, to minister to His elect. who shall be the heirs of eternal
life. Though the angels were a higher
order of beings by creation, God made them the servants of
his elect, who would be made higher than all creatures by
his redemptive saving grace. And this place of servitude was
unbearable to Lucifer, the son of the morning. In great pride
and arrogance, he led a rebellion against the throne of God himself,
and drew with him one third of the heavenly angels. And all
of this happened before the world was made. It all happened before
the world was made. But God's throne was unshaken.
His purpose stood fast. And then as soon as the triune
God began to execute his great plan, as soon as he created the
world and placed Adam and Eve in the garden, Satan began a
warfare against Christ, the promised man-child, a warfare which has
not yet ceased. Let me read you two other texts. Turn to Genesis 3. And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman. The Lord God is speaking to the
serpent, Satan. And between thy seed and her
seed. It shall bruise thy head. That
is, the seed of the woman is going to crush you to death.
The seed of the woman will destroy you. The seed of the woman will
break your power. The seed of the woman will conquer
you. And thou shalt bruise his heel.
You're going to hurt him. You're going to persecute him.
You're going to annoy him. You're going to be after him
all the time, but you can't conquer him. He's going to conquer you.
In the bruising of his heel, he'll bruise your head. Now turn
over to Revelation chapter 12. Revelation the 12th chapter. Verse 4. Here's this picture
of Satan, the old serpent. Now he's described as a great
red dragon, red with envy and red with malice. And his tail
drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them down
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. The church, formerly represented
under Mother Eve, the church is ready to deliver the child,
the man-child, Christ Jesus, the Redeemer, of whom the promise
was made. He's going to crush the serpent's
head. And as he's ready to come out
of his mother's womb, the dragon is ready to devour him. It began
back in the garden. It began back in the garden.
enmity between the seat of the woman and the seat of the serpent. And it continues to this day.
It will not cease until this world is over. When Christ Jesus
came, he conquered the old serpent. But the serpent, though he is
conquered, has not ceased his rage. Though his doom is sure,
the dragon's rage is not abated. Christ, the man-child, has been
raised up to the throne of God. Forever he is out of the reach
of Satan's arm. And therefore, with malicious
vengeance, the foe of God, our adversary the devil, has now
turned his rage upon the Church, God's elect in this earth. We're
no match for him. He's wiser. He's stronger. He's mightier than we are. But
we have the promise of God that just as Christ overcame and conquered
him, so shall we. Do you believe that? Do you believe
it? Turn to Romans 16, verse 20. Hold your hand here in Revelation
12. We'll be back in just a minute. Romans 16, 20. This is what I'm
getting to. The Lord God promised that just
as Christ Jesus, our substitute, overcame and conquered the serpent. You and I shall overcome and
conquer the serpent. Romans 16 and verse 20, the God
of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. He's going
to bruise Satan under your feet. He's going to do it. In our text
this evening, Revelation 12, And verse 10, John heard the
praises of those glorified spirits who were already in heaven. Those
who have already overcome the serpent's rage. And he tells
us how they did it. Begin reading with me in verse
10. I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come, that
is, as the result of Christ's finished work, having defeated
the old serpent, 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 God
day and night. And they, these who were singing
his praises, these who were already around the throne of God, these
who were already redeemed, justified, and glorified in their spirits,
they overcame him, the serpent, by the blood of the Lamb, and
by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives
unto the death. All who follow Christ shall overcome
and conquer Satan, the old serpent. Every believer, every believer.
We're more than conquerors through him that loved us and gave himself
for us. Now let me show you four things
in this text. with regard to those who have
overcome. The first thing I want you to
see is implied in the text rather than stated. Those saints of
God in heaven, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Peter, James, and
John, the Apostle Paul, Luther, Calvin, Hux, Humeyer, Spurgeon,
Gill, your dear companions who've most recently left you. Those
saints of God in heaven all fought the same warfare you and I fight,
every one of them. They fought the same warfare.
Once they were mourners here below and wet their bed with
tears. They wrestled hard as we do now
with sins and doubts and fears. Why tell us that, Don? We have
a tendency to think about the saints of God in heaven as though
they were something other than men. Somehow we kind of think
that Paul had a measure of godliness we can't have. Somebody said
a while back, said, the apostles, they had something we don't have.
Oh, no, they didn't. Oh, no, they didn't. They had
exactly the same thing you've got, exactly the same thing I've
got. They had the same struggles too. They had the same spirit
and they had the same flesh. They had the same grace and they
had the same sin. They had the same mercy and they
had the same weaknesses. They were just like us in this
world. All of those men and women in
heaven, Their only difference now from us is that they have
ceased from their warfare. Their warfare is over, but they
were exactly as we are in this world, and they had the same
warfare that you have today, the very same one. They're men
and women just like us. The cares of the world made furrows
on their brows, just like it makes furrows on ours. Grief
turned their hair gray just like it turns ours gray. They were
men and women of like passions as we are. These saints in heaven
were once assaulted by Satan, just like you are today, just
exactly the same. The path in which you walk, sometimes
you think you walk a path nobody's ever walked. You think nobody
could possibly understand what you're going through. Let me
tell you something. The path you walk in is the same path
Abraham walked in, and the same path Sarah walked in. It's the
path in which all of God's saints in heaven have walked before
you. Though all of us are individuals, there is a remarkable sameness
in our experiences. The Apostle Paul, that great,
mighty messenger of grace, that man so mightily used of God,
just like you, had a messenger of Satan. A messenger sent by
God. A messenger sent to buffet him,
lest he should be exalted above measure. When God prayed that
he would remove this thorn in the flesh, I don't know what
it was. I've got an idea that had something to do with his
pride. I've got an idea that had something to do with him
having experienced something of being brought up to the third
heaven. No man had ever experienced such
a thing. He saw and heard things no man could hear. And Paul said,
he said, Lord, remove this thorn. He prayed three times. Three
times it was a matter of earnest prayer. And God said to him,
you're going to keep it. You're going to keep it. Whatever
it was, you're going to keep it. It's a messenger of Satan. Constantly beating him, lest
I should be exalted above measure, he said. And the Lord said, along
with the messenger who beats you in the face every day, my
grace is sufficient for thee. My grace is sufficient. The trials,
the cares, and the heartaches of this world have all been endured
by our brethren before us. Perhaps the man of earliest date
mentioned in the scriptures besides Adam, who knew God, that is well
after Adam and Abel, man who lived at least in the days of
Abraham, was Job, God's servant Job. You see him? There he is, round
the throne. He said, I know that my Redeemer
liveth. I'm gonna see it. And he's seeing it. He's seeing
him. He hasn't yet seen him stand upon the earth again, but he's
going to. That man Job, he's got a palm of victory in his
hand. And he's singing triumph and praise and glory to the Lamb.
Boy, it's a heapsight different than it was when he was down
here, isn't it? He said, oh, I wish I'd have perished when
I broke my mother's womb. No man's had sorrow like mine.
And he's right. No man had. No man had. He lost
his family and his wealth. He lost his health. He lost his
friends. Everybody turned thumbs down
on Job. Everybody said that Job surely
had done some horribly evil thing. His wife even said, Job, you're
bothering me too much. Why don't you just curse God
and die? There he is. He's wearing a crown
of victory, a diadem of glory. Job, Lindsay, wants just like
you are, same trials, same heartaches in this world, same difficulties
as you have. The lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eye, and the pride of life. Wonder if the saints in
heaven ever had any problem with that. Yeah. Yeah. David. Holy David. He was a holy man. He was a holy man. The direction
of his life, the bent of his will, from his youth to his death. David was a man who walked with
God. So much so that when he came to death, the Lord God himself
recorded only three evils against the man. But this man David,
he knew something about the lust of the flesh. The lust of the
eye and the pride of life. He fell, oh how he fell. So much so that he turned to
God after the prophet had spoken a word of pardon to him. And
he cried, have mercy upon me, oh God. according to your loving
kindnesses, according to your tender mercy, blot out my sin,
my iniquity, my transgression, and my sin. He said, restore
unto me the joy of thy salvation. Cause me to again enjoy your
free spirit. Make the bones which you have
broken to rejoice. There he is, that one who was
brought down so low because of his sin and his trials and his
difficulties. that man who, because of his
own sinful flesh, was brought to such humiliation. He wears
a crown of glory. He weighs a palm of victory.
He sings the praises of the Lamb. And all of God's Saints have
constantly been engaged in a deep, never-ending warfare in the territory
of their own souls. And I know from the Word of God and my own
experience. This is the most painful realization
of any believer, and it's a realization that we most likely are to cover
up. And that's that inner sin. That old man, he's still there. There's not an abominable thing
recorded in the history of man that's not in your heart and
mine, yours, buddy, and mine, Shelby's and Don's. So I never,
I never dreamed or thought about such things as you describe.
You're a liar. You're a liar. I don't care who
you are. I don't care who you are. The word of God says otherwise.
Our hearts are full of iniquity, full of sin. Every blasphemy,
every evil, every atrocious thing that's ever been committed by
any man under the sun, you have committed, and I have too. It's
in our hearts. It's in our hearts. Yes, but
preacher, since I've been saved, things have been different. You're
a liar. You're a liar. You're trying to cover up. You're
trying to cover up. It's not so. Just not so. Your
evil heart of flesh is still an evil heart of flesh, and mine
is too. Sooner we recognize it and deal with it, the better
off we'll be, the better able we will be to withstand the lust
of the flesh. The Lord God's given us a new
nature, a heart Created in the image of Christ Jesus himself
the divine nature the Spirit of God has created a new heart
within us But I'm telling you that old man of flesh is constantly
there and all of God's people as long as they live in this
world are constantly Experiencing the flesh fighting against the
spirit and the spirit fighting against the flesh It's a constant
warfare going on in here every day every hour every hour so
that your best deeds, your best thoughts, your best imaginations,
your best purposes are constantly marred with the evil corruptions
of this flesh heart. Constantly. David knew what it
was. Here's David. Man after God's
own heart. Man after God's own heart. He
got a son who committed incest. He got a wife who hates him and
hates his God. He got another son who tried
his best to steal his father's throne, slandered his father's
name, and took his father's concubines and committed adultery before
all of Israel with his father's own concubines. David's a godly
man. He's a man who loves God and
a man who is loved of God. And he looks out over the fields
and he sees his neighbor, a godless man, a wretched man, a vile,
abominable man. All of his sons lived at home
till they were old men. All of his sons and daughters
constantly brought pleasure to their father. Not one of them
ever had any difficulty. The man's got plenty of money
and plenty of food. He's got everything heart could desire.
His eyes bug out with fatness. He has no trouble. He's even
secure and at peace in his own heart. He never has to struggle
with doubts or fears or any of those things that David has cried
over and lamented in the Psalms. This wealthy, mighty, wicked
man never had any of those problems. Kindly remind me, David, of you
and I. We're coming back from Lexington. We passed by those
pagan cathedrals on Harrodsburg Road the other night. Man alive,
the money they put in those things. They had just a little touch
of envy. Just, didn't they? Just a little touch of envy.
That preacher hates God. Just a little touch of envy.
Look how he prospers. David experienced it. Yeah, he
did. He says, foolish thing to serve
God. Did I think such a thing? Did such a thought ever cross
my mind? I dare not speak it. I dare not
speak it. The Apostle Paul, he said, when I would do good,
evil is present with me. He said, oh, I delight in the
law of God after the inward man. If I could, if I had it in me,
if I could have what I desire, I'd walk before God with a perfect
heart. I'd walk before God with perfect
love to God and perfect love to man. I would live in obedience
to God perfectly. There's another law in my members.
The law of sin and death. So that when I would do good,
evil is always there. It doesn't rule. It's no longer
boss. It's no longer in control. But
it's there. It's there. And it raises its
ugly head often enough that you dare not deny it. He says, the flesh lusteth against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. These two are contrary,
the one to the other, so you can't do what you would. Does that sound like anything you're
going through? Sound like anything you experience? Preacher, that's
the daily struggle of my heart, and I wonder Sometimes if I'll
ever overcome it, I wonder if I can go on in the battle. I
wonder if I can continue fighting. I get so weary. I get so weary
of that struggle. I get so weary of the fighting.
It's such a hard, hard thing I go through. Nobody knows about
it but me and God. But oh, if I could somehow another
conquer this flesh of mine. Look yonder. those saints in
glory, those glorified spirits of just men made perfect. Every
one of them's got a crown of glory, a diadem of victory, a
palm branch in his hand, and he's singing the praises of King
Jesus. And they say we're more than
conquerors through him that loved us and gave himself for us. They're all glorified now. But
every one of them who came up to the city of bliss came up
with battle scars all over his body. Not one of the redeemed
ones sailed to glory in an unshaken vessel. Not one of them took
his throne unchallenged. Before they enjoyed their conquest,
they all endured their conflicts. Though constantly assaulted by
Satan, by the lust of the flesh, by this world, These saints of
God all resisted as well. They resisted his assaults. They
fought the good fight of faith. No one overcomes an antagonist
without fighting with him. Victory does not come to passive,
indifferent men. Before we can take full possession
of our inheritance, the Canaanites must be driven out of the land.
And that's a battle. You children of God, Every man
here has to struggle with so many things of his flesh. Let
me just give a few. You can get right down to where
you're living. You men, some of you women as
well, get up early in the morning, drive to work, work hard, and
you have pressures. Some of you have unbelievable
pressures with your job, with your neighbors. Some of you have
unbelievable pressures with people around you, day after day. You
think to yourself, Tuesday night comes and you, oh, I'm so tired,
so tired. Man, I don't feel like going
down there and listening to Don preach for an hour tonight. We
won't get home till, man, it'll be 9, 30, 10 o'clock before we
get home. We want to stay at home. We want to stay at home. You stay at home and you get
a little breaking of conscience, you know. Then you persist in that indifference
and that neglect. That's what it is. It's a neglect
of your soul and a neglect of your heart, a neglect of the
worship of God. It's a neglect of food to a starving
man is what it is. It's a neglect of water to a
man dying of thirst. But after a while, it gets to
be so easy, so custom. If you're going to fight, if
you're going to win, you're going to have to fight. You have to
fight those tendencies of the flesh. And that's just one. That's
just one insignificant thing. It seems insignificant to many,
I should say, by no means insignificant. But I understand it. I do. I've been where you are. I know what it is to go work
with godless men, eight and sixteen hours a day. And I know what
it is to get dressed for church sometimes so tired you don't
think you can possibly go. I know what it is. And sometimes
I wonder, if I was where you are, whether or not I'd be there. I'm honest with you. Sometimes
I do. But I'm telling you, I'm telling you there's no overcoming
without fighting. There's no conquering without
resisting the assaults of Satan. I don't care whether you're talking
about matters of of hearing the word of God and worshiping God,
or whether you're talking about the matter of your relationship
with your family, or whether you're talking about your relationship
with your neighbor, or whether you're talking about the matter
of honesty or dishonesty in daily life and business, it doesn't
matter. Doesn't matter. There's no overcoming
the assaults of Satan, but by the fighting of the good fight
of faith. Consistent, persevering, standing,
having done all to stand. That's the man who overcomes.
You read the book of God. Every one of these who have now
overcome, resisted the assaults of Satan. Almighty King of Saints, these
tyrant lusts subdue. Drive the old dragon from his
throne. with all his hellish crew. The hill difficulty, which all
of God's pilgrims must ascend, is a steep hill. It's uphill
battle all the way, all the way. You're going to meet with Apollyon
with a drawn sword at every turn, and you're going to find it to
be a slippery place. The only way to get up that hill
is to crawl up on hands and knees. The only way to ascend that place
and to do battle with the prince of darkness is by prayer, always
praying, with all prayer and supplication, depending upon
God's grace, but persevering, persevering, staying at it. Secondly,
I've got to hurry. I want you to see that these
victorious saints in heaven all had the same weapons we have.
Look at the text. They had two weapons, and the
two weapons are really one. They overcame him, that is, they
overcame the dragon, the old serpent, Satan, the accuser of
the brethren, the devil. They overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. The blood of
the Lamb was theirs. They had appropriated it by faith. Now listen carefully. The blood of Christ effectually
accomplished the redemption of God's elect when he died. But that blood, as far as you
and I are concerned, that blood, as far as any man is concerned,
is of no value to any man until it is appropriated by faith and
made his own. He accomplished my redemption
2,000 years ago. I only found out about it a little
while ago, when by faith, I took the hand of faith and dipped
the hyssop in his shed blood and sprinkled it upon the doorpost
and the lentil of my own heart. And that's when the peace comes.
That's when we receive the atonement. That's when we receive justification. just like those Israelites in
Egypt. But once we take the blood with
the hand of faith and sprinkle it upon our own hearts, salvation
is ours and victory is ours. It is the blood that brings us
near to God. It's the blood that washes away
our sins. It's the blood that gives us
boldness at God's throne. It's the blood that is our life,
that is our peace, that is our security. This blood of the Lamb
According to verse 10, gave these saints everything they needed.
You read the text. Now has come salvation. That's
what we need. Now has come strength. That's
what I need. I'm a weak, helpless man. Now has come the kingdom
of our God. That's what I want. Now has come
power, the authority of his Christ. That's what he's given us by
the blood. These men and women overcame
the terrors of Satan's accusations and the power of his temptations
by the blood of the lamb. Oh, how often, how often, how
often. I found it to be so. Temptation comes. And Satan's got you by the throat. And you're ready to plunge head
first into a path of rebellion and ungodliness. But the blood, wait a minute,
wait a minute, I've been bought with a price. Get thee behind me, Satan. I've
been bought with a price. But then sometimes you go ahead
and plunge in head first when you know full well what you're
doing. And Satan, having brought you
down with his temptations, mocks you with his accusations. You,
you, a believer, you, a child of God, you, child of God, look
at you, look at you, look at you. And it torments your conscience. There you lay. How are you going to silence his
accusations? Get thee behind me, Satan. I've
been bought with a price. I've been bought with a price.
God doesn't hear you, and I won't either. I won't either. According to Jewish tradition,
Satan always accused God's saints day and night, all day long and
all night long, except one day, and that was on the Day of Atonement.
On that day he was silent. Well, the reality, the fact,
is much better than the tradition, because the fact is, every day
for God's elect is the Day of Atonement. The blood of Christ
never loses its power and the accuser of our brethren has been
cast down. He's been silenced. He can speak
no more. The other weapon by which these
saints overcame Satan was the word of their testimony. That is the preaching of the
gospel. They overcame in their age, in their day, by preaching
the word. Preaching the word. Gospel preaching
is the battering ram by which we attack the gates of hell.
Satan's power is broken. Satan's power is broken in the
hearts of men only by the preaching of the gospel. Satan's power
is broken in the nations of the world only by preaching the gospel. We don't send our missionaries
down to build hospitals and to erect societies and schools and
all of those. We send men to other lands to
preach the gospel. And if men ever come to know
Christ Jesus, they'll erect some hospitals, and they'll educate
their own, and their lives will be changed. They'll change their
environments. But we can't conquer the world but by the word, by
the preaching of the gospel. It's the reason we don't get
involved with the political arena and spectrum that men today are
so wrapped up in. We have but one weapon. We have
but one cause. We're reaching the hearts of
men. And the only way we do it is with the word of a testimony.
And it's interesting that the word of their testimony and the
blood of the Lamb is the same thing. That's what it is to preach
the gospel, it's to declare the blood of the Lamb. These saints
in heaven all fought in the same spirit with which we fight. The
scripture says here, they loved not their lives unto the death. I started to say, They all fought
in the same spirit in which we should fight. But that's not
so. This is not just the spirit we
seek. This is the spirit of God's elect
on this earth. It implies a courageous faith
to Christ or in Christ, an unswerving fidelity to Christ, an entire
consecration to Christ, the denial of self for Christ and perseverance
to the end. They loved not their lives unto
the death. One last thing. These saints in heaven all overcame,
and so shall we. The enemy strong, the battles
long, but they overcame, and the God of peace shall brew Satan
under your heels shortly." read a story about a preacher,
heard a story about a preacher. He was on a flight going somewhere
to preach. And he was sitting beside a businessman
who decided to try to make some conversation. The businessman
said to him, he said, I'm traveling on business for my father. Preacher
thought a little bit. He looked at him and said, well,
so am I. and sat there a little while
longer, and that fellow said, well, actually, actually, my
father and I are in business together. And the preacher thought,
well, so are we. My father and I are in business
together. A little while passed, and the
man, still trying to make conversation, he said, I'm going now to meet
my father. I'm going to give him account
of what we've, what I've accomplished. That preacher thought, so am I. And then the fellow, he said,
boy, I sure do hope my father will be pleased with what I've
done for him. And that preacher said to him,
so do I. These all overcame him. by the blood of the Lamb, and
by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives
unto the death. So shall we. Amen.