There are three great miracles
which constantly charm my heart, intrigue my mind, and cause me
to praise and worship our God. Three in particular. Now, there
are many other miracles in the world. The world's full of miracles. But I ask you, do you believe
in miracles? Of course, I believe in God. And our God is a wonder-working
God. We perform wonders which men
can by no means explain or comprehend. We simply behold them. Creation
itself is a daily miracle. God, by the power of his word,
sustains the universe and orders all the affairs of the universe.
God's providence is a miracle of his daily goodness and grace.
by the hand of God, the very beast that the odor fed, and
we too are fed. I stand in awe of my Creator,
and I give thanks to God my Provider. But still, while creation fills
me with awe, and God's daily providence fills me with gratitude,
there are three miracles that ravish my heart. Let me give
them to you. not in the order in which they
occurred, but in the order in which I experienced them and
saw them. Here's a miracle of God's infinite
grace. Look this way. Look this way. There's standing before you a
man by nature a sinner, a rebel against God, one who lived with
his fist shoved in God's face for sixteen years. And I'm born
of Now, that's a miracle. That's a miracle. The Lord God
Almighty has called me by his grace. He's regenerated me. I'm born again. I'm saved by
the grace of God. I say that with a measure of
confidence, for I cannot doubt the word of God himself. I cannot
question the work of God's grace, the finished work of Christ.
While there is much in me that's contrary to everything I know
ought to be in me, I believe God. I trust his Son. I have no righteousness but his
righteousness. I have no cleansing but his precious
blood, no atonement for sin but the death of God's Son. And believing
God, Bob Pontzer, I'm born again. Behold what manner of love The
Father has bestowed upon me that I should be called a son of God. The world knows me not because
it knew him not. But when he shall appear, I'm
going to be like him, for I shall see him as he is. I'm born of
God. Now, that's a wondrous miracle
of grace. But before I was born of God,
another miracle had to take place. It happened long, long before
I was born. But it was a miracle performed
specifically for me. I'm talking about the miracle
of blood redemption. Now you get this. The Lord Jesus
Christ once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, loved me. Imagine that. And gave himself
for me. that I might live forever in
his presence for his glory. God's dear son freely, voluntarily,
willingly, deliberately laid down his life for me simply because
he loved me. Look at the scripture. Turn over
to Romans 5, Romans chapter 5. This is how Paul describes it
for us. Romans chapter 5, the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us. That is,
God the Holy Spirit has taught us something about God's love.
Here it is, verse 6. When we were yet without strength,
I didn't have any. I didn't have any strength, nothing
by which I could appease God or win God's favor. When we were
yet without strength, in due time Christ died. For who? for the ungodly. Godless wretches
like you and me. Godless, hell-deserving, vile,
sinful men and women. That's the people Christ died
for. Find me an ungodly man. Find me one. I'm talking about
one who knows himself to be ungodly. Find me somebody who knows himself
to be without God, without hope, without Christ in this world.
I'm going to tell that man Christ Jesus died for you. He died for
the ungodly. He died for the ungodly. For
scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure
for a good man some would even dare to die. Now this is what
Paul's saying. He's saying nobody died for a
self-righteous Pharisee. Some folks might be willing to
die, however, for a good man. That is, a man who is generous,
a man who's caring, a man who's kind, a man who who does good
to his neighbor. Somebody might be willing to
die for such a man as that. But listen to this, God commends
his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. That's how God commends his love.
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his
life for us, here in his love, not that we loved God, but that
he loved us and gave his Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. The Lord God loved me, and the Lord God, in the person
of his dear Son, died to redeem me, to put away my sins." I've
told you the story before to bear repetition. People ask sometimes
why I'm so insistent on constantly speaking of Christ. I hope that
people are at least made aware that this is my theme, this is
my subject, that I honor him, that I reverence him. Once a
friend of mine was sitting in a home of a lady and her daughter,
the lady was a widow, young girl was 16, 17 years old, and for
several days he had been in this home and they were sitting at
the dinner table one evening and this young lady spoke with
such admiration and high esteem for her father who had long ago
passed away and he couldn't resist. He asked her, you were just a
young girl when your father died. Why is it that you speak of him
so highly? Why is it that you you have such
admiration and esteem for him? The young girl told him. When
I was a little girl, my father had suffered a heart attack and
the doctors told him that if he had any exertion at all, He
would very likely suffer another one and it would be fatal. One
day my father and I were out on the beach playing. He took
me out for a day, just daddy and his girl. And I got out in
the water a little too far and began to drown. And my father
jumped and cast himself into the water. He rescued me. He had strength enough to bring
me back to the shore safe and sound. And he fell over dead. as I was made to live by his
effort. She said, I loved my dad, though
I hardly knew him, because my dad died for me. That's what
the Son of God did for me. He willingly, knowing the price
of my redemption, laid down his life for me. That's a miracle. God Almighty died in the room
of sinful men for sin that we might forever live in the presence
of God Almighty. That's a wondrous miracle. So
how on earth could God die? I won't endeavor to explain that.
That's beyond me. How God could come into this
world, how God could suffer the infinite wrath of God, how God
could be forsaken of God, but I know it so. God loved the church
and gave himself for it. God redeemed the church with
his own blood. Read the scriptures. That one
who died for me is very God of very God. But before this redemption
was accomplished, before Christ Jesus died at Calvary as my substitute,
another miracle had to be performed. God became a man. God became a man. I looked at that statement after
I wrote it down, and I know the theologians would be very critical
of the statement. No, Godhood did not change. No, God did not cease to be God. But I'm telling you that when
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, assumed our nature, divinity
and humanity were joined in one glorious person. divinity and
humanity were joined in one glorious person. The Lord Jesus Christ,
God's dear son, the eternal son of God, assumed a real human
soul and a real human body and came into this world as a man. Divinity took humanity into union
with itself in the person of Jesus Christ, our Lord. That
man who was Mary's child is also Mary's God, Mary's Lord, and
Mary's Savior. The Scripture tells us that when
Mary was with the child Jesus, and she and her cousin Elizabeth
came together, John the Baptist came near to Jesus as they were
in the womb. He leaked in the womb for that
babe that was in Mary's womb. I don't know how to explain that
either, but I know he did. I know he did. I know that Mary
rejoiced in God, her savior, that God who was within her own
womb at the very time. She sang the song of his praise
while he was in her womb. He's her God, her creator, her
sustainer, and her Lord. These three great miracles of
grace ravished my heart. Redemption, regeneration, and
the incarnation. In order to redeem me by blood
and save me by grace, the Son of God became a man like me. Look at the scriptures. Turn
over to Isaiah 7. Isaiah chapter 7 and verse 14. We hear so much the fact of the
incarnation and we We celebrate every year at Christmas time,
men and women all over the world celebrate the incarnation of
Christ, but they don't know what they celebrate. Most people never
stop to think about what's being said when we declare that Jesus
Christ came into this world, God Almighty, that he came as
a man born of a virgin, made of a woman, made under the law.
Now listen to the scriptures, Isaiah 7, 14. Look at verse 13. He said, Hear ye now, O house
of David, all God's elect, the whole church of God, the whole
ransomed tribe. It is a small thing for you to
weary men, but will you weary my God also? Therefore, the Lord
himself shall give you a sign. This is the sign. Behold, a virgin
shall conceive. not just a young lady, a virgin
shall conceive. And that virgin shall bear a
son and shall call his name Immanuel, God with us, God with us. God has assumed human flesh. God has come in humanity. Look in chapter 9 of Isaiah and
verse 6. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given. And notice how the prophet speaks.
He says, unto us a child, the child Jesus, the holy child Jesus
was born of the Virgin Mary. But Mary is not the mother of
God as the papist would have us to believe. She is not the
mother of our Lord. We read here that unto us the
child is born That human body, that human being came forth from
the virgin's womb, but that son, who is the son of God, her creator,
was given. Do you see that? The child, Jesus,
was born of the virgin, but the son, the eternal son of God,
was given in human form through the womb of the virgin. And the
government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government
and peace, there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David
and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this. Let's see if it does. Turn over
to Matthew chapter one. Matthew chapter one. You want to read at your leisure
the whole chapter. It's interesting that in the
genealogy of Christ, you know, there are only four women named.
Only four women. Every one of those women had
a blot of sin on their lives. Tamar. was in his line, she was
guilty of incest. Rahab was in his line, she was
guilty of harlotry. Bathsheba was in his line, she
was guilty of adultery. There were four women mentioned,
three of them had the taint of sin, the blot on their character. What does that tell you? That
tells you that he who comes, the son who is given, the child
who is born, was himself deliberately personally coming to be identified
with sinners, buddy, like you and me, with sinners. Now look
here in Matthew 1 and verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wise. This is how it happened. When
his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together,
that's not put there just to fill up space. Before they came
together as man and wife, before she ever knew a man sexually. Before they came together, she
was found with child of the Holy Ghost. A child whose body, whose
human soul, whose human body was formed in her womb by the
power and wisdom of God the Holy Ghost. So that our Lord, when
he came into the earth, he said, lo, a body has thou prepared
me, O my God." Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, not
willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her
away privately. That is, he was a man of some
sense of compassion, and he didn't want to hold her up to public
ridicule and scorn. He thought the woman had had
an illicit affair and she had become pregnant. And so he was
seeking a way to put her away without anybody knowing what
had happened. What a man he must have been. Not like any of us. Not like he was going to put
her away privately. But then verse 20, while he thought
on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto
him in a dream and said, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to
take unto thee Mary thy wife for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost and she shall bring forth the Son
and thou shalt call his name Jesus Joshua Jehovah thou shalt
call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins
now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the of the Lord by the prophets saying Behold, a
virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth the Son, and
they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God
with us. Then Joseph, being raised from
his sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and
he took unto him his wife, and he knew her not till she had
brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus
my Savior. This incarnation of the Lord
Jesus Christ is something that baffled John's understanding. Over in 1 John 1, he simply beheld
Him and declared what he saw. In John 1, verse 14, he says,
The Word, that Word which is God, that Word which was with
God, that Word by whom all things were made, that Word in whom
we live and move and have our being, the Word was made flesh. God. was made a man." Do you
see it? God was made a man and dwelt
among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Now, if you will,
turn to Revelation 12. We'll stay right here for the
rest of the night. Revelation chapter 12. Here John gives us a panoramic
view of the incarnation of Christ and the results of that incarnation
from the beginning to the end of time in this world. This vision
opens with these words, and there appeared a great wonder in heaven. A great wonder in heaven. That's
my subject. A great wonder in heaven. God
helped me never to get over the wonder. Help me never to cease
to be amazed at what Christ Jesus has done for my soul. May God
give us eyes to behold this great wonder and a heart to trust,
worship, adore, and obey this man-child who is God our Savior. Now, as we look at this picture,
I want us to look at the whole chapter, the whole picture that's
given in this chapter. And as we go through the chapter,
it'll open before us by God's illumination. I'll call your
attention to five things to help you kindly follow along. In verses
one through four, read with me. And there appeared a great wonder
in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her
feet and upon her head a crown of 12 stars. And she being with
child cried, travailing in birth and pained to be delivered. And
there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold a great
red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns
upon his head upon his heads and his tail drew the third part
of the stars of heaven and did cast them to the earth and the
dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered
for to devour the child as soon as it was born. Now in this passage
these four verses John is describing for us the incarnation. of our
Lord Jesus Christ. The woman in this chapter symbolizes
the church. Throughout the scriptures, the
church is described as a woman. In Isaiah 50, the Lord God speaks
of the bill of your mother's divorcement, speaking of the
church. In Isaiah 54, he speaks of the church again under the
figure of the woman. And he speaks of that barren
one, that is, the church of the Gentile age, which is now speaking
of us, that church that had not yet come into existence. That
barren one shall have more children than the children of the married
wife. That is, we of the Gentile age,
of this gospel age, shall have more who follow Christ by the
preaching of the gospel than the Jews ever knew during the
4,000 years of the Mosaic economy. And the book of Ephesians chapter
5, you might want to turn there. Ephesians 5 and verse 32. We
see a description of the church as being a woman. And that's
how it's often referred to through the scriptures. Ephesians 5 and
verse 32. The Apostle Paul says this is
a great mystery, the mystery concerning a man and his wife.
But I speak concerning Christ and the church. Christ loved
this woman, this church. He gave himself for this woman,
this church. He died for this woman, this
church, that he might sanctify it, cleanse it, purify it, present
it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing. Now, I don't need to tell you
that the church is God's elect people in every age. The Old
Testament church and the New Testament church is one church.
One head, Christ Jesus. One Lord, Christ Jesus. One Redeemer,
Christ Jesus. One elder brother, Christ Jesus. We are one covenant family, one
under God, one kingdom, one church, one holy priesthood. The church
is God's elect throughout all the ages of the world. to the
people of this world, this church of God seems to be an insignificant
thing worthy of ridicule and scorn. But that church as God
sees it and as God speaks of it, go back and read the Song
of Solomon. Every time the Lord Jesus speaks of his church in
the Song of Solomon, while she speaks of her infirmities, he
speaks of her beauty. While she speaks of her weakness,
he speaks of her strength. While she speaks of her nothingness,
he speaks of her as though she were everything. He speaks of
her and calls her, my love, my dove, my undefiled, my fair one. How can that be? He's telling
us how he sees his church, redeemed and robed in his righteousness.
And as God sees the church from heaven, he sees it a glorious
church. All the beauty, all the glory,
all the splendor of heaven is lavish upon God's church. Notice
how John describes her. This woman is clothed with the
sun. Clothed with the sun because
she's glorious and exalted. God has exalted his covenant
people. God has exalted his church, his
redeemed ones above all the people of the earth, so that he willingly
sacrifices men, people, and nations for our lives. You read about
it there in the book of Numbers, Wes. The Lord God destroyed the
Egyptians because of his love for his church. The Lord God
destroyed Pharaoh because of his love for his people. This
church has the moon under her feet. The symbolism is plain,
obviously. John is not talking about a physical
woman with her foot upon the moon. That would be ridiculous.
He's giving us a symbolic picture. The moon is under the feet of
this woman because this woman has dominion. Being made herself
the bride of King Jesus, like the queen of the universe, she
has dominion. We're made kings and priests
unto God Almighty so that we shall rule and reign with him
forever. This woman also has a crown of 12 stars upon her
head. That crown speaks of the victory,
the conquest, the great triumph of God's church. Our Lord Jesus
said, I will build my church upon myself, upon this rock,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. But as he
overcame and sat down at the right hand of his father, so
too you also must overcome and sit down at the right hand of
the father. And now we see this woman that is the church of God
pregnant in the pains of birth because she must bring forth
Christ Jesus, the Messiah of God. He's talking, obviously,
about the true people of God during that age of time when
Christ Jesus came into the world. It's true. They were few. It's
true that in the great house of Israel, the church of God,
that is God's true elect were few in number. But this Israel
of God, these true Israelites are those of whom Christ came
according to the flesh, Paul says in Romans nine and verse
five. And so the woman in the passage
speaks of the church of the living God, the child, the seed of the
woman. You know who he is. This man-child
is our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We read in verse
5, she brought forth a man-child who was to rule the nations with
a rod of iron. This is the fulfilling of the
prophecy of the psalmist David in Psalm 2, I believe it's verse
9, where he speaks of him ruling the nations with an iron rod. He rules as the sovereign monarch
of the universe. So this child that this woman
brings forth is the Christ of God, the Son of David, the King,
the Messiah, who must rule over all things as the God-man in
glory. This child is the great wonder
that John speaks of. He says, behold, there was a
great wonder in heaven. God himself comes into the world
as a man. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, how that though he was rich, rich with all the
glory of his divinity, rich with all the glory of his rule in
heaven, rich with all the satisfaction of the eternal Godhead, rich
in the worship of the angels. Though he was rich, yet for your
sakes, he became poor. He emptied himself. He made himself
of no reputation that you through his poverty might be made rich.
Behold, great wonder in heaven! God comes down to the earth as
a baby born in the world. That astounds me. God himself
came into this world as a man, the seed of the woman, to redeem
fallen men. Turn back to Genesis, Genesis
chapter 3. Here's the promise, the first
promise from which all other promises sprang. This is the
promise that's the foundation of every other promise given
in the book of God. This is the promise from which
all the purposes of God begin to be fulfilled in this world.
Genesis 3 and verse 15. The Lord God said to the serpent,
I will put enmity between thee and the woman. Now, I have no
question he's talking specifically He's talking specifically about
Mary, that woman, yes, but he's also talking about the woman
collectively representing his church. He's not talking about
Eve in particular, but he's talking rather about all who are represented
in Eve, God's believing child. I will put enmity between thee
and the woman and between thy seed and her seed. That is, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and it, the seed of the woman, shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel. That is, when this child is brought
forth, his heel will be bruised, and it will cause him pain. It
will cause him terrible agony, as the bruising of the heel does,
but not destruction. But in the bruising of his heel,
there will be the crushing of the serpent's head, and that
brings destruction. Now turn over to Galatians chapter
4, and you'll see the word fulfilled. Galatians chapter 4. The apostle Paul is writing to
the Galatians, and he says to them concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ, when the fullness of time was come, Galatians 4.4,
when the fullness of time was come, the time appointed of God,
the time God had ordained, when the fullness of time was come,
God sent forth his son, notice, made of a woman, made of the
substance of the woman, so that this son of God coming into the
world as the child of David, This man does not have the taint
and the corruption of an earthly father. He does not have the
tainted corrupt soul of an earthly man as those all of the sons
of Adam have received from their fathers. But this one is made
of the substance of the woman conceived in her by the overshadowing
power of God the Holy Spirit. Behold a great wonder in heaven. made of a woman made under the
law to this end, to redeem them that were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of sons. And then the dragon,
that great red dragon is Satan, Lucifer, the fallen son of the
morning, whose constant aim is the destruction of Christ. Try
to get a picture. Here's the church. In those days
when it looked as though the true worship of God had almost
vanished from off the earth. Vanished because the dragon was
constantly after that woman. Constantly trying to destroy
the true people of God. Trying to destroy the church
of God. He tried it with the sons of
Seth marrying the daughters of Cain. He tried it on and on through
the scriptures. We read of these things happening
where Satan was constantly trying to destroy God's covenant people.
And now the 4,000 years of Jewish law had come to nothing, and
the church was in travail and in pain, tormented and persecuted,
almost, it appeared, put out of existence. But she was in
pain and travail to bring forth this child, this child whom God
had promised before the world was made. And here's the dragon
standing before the woman. a fire-breathing dragon with
a long tail so that his tail of anger sweeps across the heavens
and in his fall he takes one-third of the heavenly host with him
so that one-third of the heavenly angels fail with the fall of
Satan. That dragon is ready to devour
the child as soon as he comes forth. He was there when God
announced to the angels that this child would come and this
child would be a man and that God through this man would exalt
manhood to the very throne of God himself. And the dragon said,
no, sir, over my dead body. That's when Lucifer lifted up
his heart with pride and he said, I'll ascend to the throne of
God and I will take myself the power of God and I will be like
the Most High. And when he did, He led a rebellion
of one third of the heavenly host and they all fell and were
cast down to the earth. This dragon is described here
as having seven crowned heads. They display for us a picture
of Satan's usurped dominion over all the world. He's called the God of this world. He's called the prince of the
power of the air. He's called the one after whom
the children of this world constantly yield themselves to obedience. It's a usurped dominion. It's
a dominion that's his only because God temporarily in his providence
for his own good purposes has allowed Satan to have it. But
it represents this usurped dominion and power of Satan throughout
the entire world. The stars that fell are the rebelling
angels. You can read of them in 2 Peter
2 or in Jude 6. And the ten horns on his head
represent Satan's destructive power. He's a destroyer. He's a destroyer. He's a destroyer. Oh God, make us wise. I pray for you young men and
women. God makes you wise. This wily old dragon, this crafty
old serpent, calls Eve to the tree, and man,
he can make that fruit look so good, can't he? He made it look
so good. And he makes it look good to
destroy you, to destroy you. You young people, please pay
attention to your pastor. I've been where you are, and
I know something of the enticements of this world through the enticements
of the old serpent. And I'm going to tell you, I'm
going to tell you, I tell you with a bleeding heart that aches
for you, the old serpent is a destroyer. He has no purpose but to kill,
to devour, and to destroy. And his deceitfulness, you look up to mom and daddy,
and you say, mom and daddy, you just don't want me to enjoy life.
You don't want me to have any fun. You don't want me to be
popular. You don't want me to do this. You don't want me to
do that. You don't know. You don't know. Oh, yes. We do
know, don't we, Lindsay? We do know. He's a destroyer. And what I've said to the young
children of God, hear me. He's a destroyer. Pay no attention
to his temptations, his allurements, his enticements. He's a destroyer. He gives the bait. But in that
bait is a deadly hook. Deadly hook. Then secondly, in
verses five and six, we read of the ascension of Christ. First
the incarnation, then the ascension. will overlap just a little in
verse five. And she, the woman, brought forth
a man-child, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was to rule the nations with
a rod of iron. And her child was caught up,
snatched up, quite literally, snatched up unto God and to his
throne. And the woman fled in the wilderness
where she hath a place prepared of God. I like it. God scatters
his people to the four corners of the earth. But he said, I
know where they are. I prepared a place for them. And in the
time of his mercy, he gathers together his dispersed ones from
the four corners of the earth. She was scattered into the earth
where she had a place prepared of God that they should feed
her there a thousand and two hundred and three score days.
I don't have time to take you back in the scriptures, take
your pastor's word for it. This 1,302 score days, the three
and a half years spoken of here figuratively are used in the
scriptures to represent times of persecution, hard times, rough
times, difficult times for God's elect. It's talking about the
whole gospel age in which we live. In this passage, we see
how that Satan tried to destroy Christ as soon as he was born. You remember the things that
happened? The old serpent was foiled at the birth of Christ,
for he inspired Herod to destroy the infants. One of the old writers
said concerning Herod, it was better to be Herod's dog than
to be his son. For Satan gave Herod such a jealousy
that he was willing to destroy his own son. He was one of those
infants that were killed. He destroyed all the infant children,
all the males, two years old and under, hoping by Satan's
craftiness to destroy this Christ who was to rule the world with
a rod of iron. But Satan was foiled. For the
Lord God came to Joseph and his wife Mary and said, take the
child and flee to Egypt. And there they fled and the child
was protected. Then Satan came to our Lord Jesus
in the wilderness. You read Matthew chapter four
and he tempted him. Explain that to me. I can't explain
that. But I know this. When the Son
of God saw that bread, he was hungry. When Satan said, turn
these stones to bread, he had been fasting for 40 days and
40 nights. Satan tempted him, tempted him,
tempted him. But the Son of God did battle
and foiled Satan in the wilderness. And then just before our Lord
was crucified, The only way I can understand what took place in
Gethsemane or understand it, no. The only way I can begin
to have some knowledge of what happened is that when our Lord
was there in the garden, calling upon God, sweating great drops
of blood falling to the ground, Satan had so impressed upon him
what he must endure as a man. that he tried there with one
desperate last effort to keep Jesus Christ from the cross,
for that was the place of his defeat. But he was foiled in
Gethsemane. And then the Lord Jesus is led
like a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before a shearer is
as dumb, so he opened not his mouth. And when he hung on that
cursed tree, Satan was foiled again. He was foiled in all his
plans and purposes. He was waiting waiting with a
bloodthirsty vengeance to destroy the seed of the woman as soon
as he came into the world. But all his purposes, all his
powers, all his efforts were totally defeated. And then with
a vengeance and a rage that was incomparable, he turned upon
the woman who had brought forth the child. After Satan had been
foiled, King Jesus was snatched up to heaven out of the dragon's
hands forever to rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And
we read in verse six, and the woman fled. Once Christ, the
seed of the woman, was caught up to heaven forever out of Satan's
reach, the dragon turned upon the woman, the church, in a rage
of anger. Read the book of Acts. Just read
the book of Acts. He turned upon the church in
a rage of anger because of her near relation to Christ. I'll
give you more about that in a few minutes when we get to the last
part of the chapter. But as the result of Christ's obedience,
as the result of his death and resurrection, as the result of
his ascension as our substitute, the serpent's head was crushed.
His power was broken. His usurped dominion in this
world was overthrown. And so next, John describes for
us in verses 7, 8, and 9, the defeat of Satan. And there was
a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon, and the dragon fought in his angels
and prevailed not. Neither was their place found
anymore in heaven, 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. I agree with Dr. Gill. I'm inclined to think that
Michael, the archangel, is himself the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over
to Daniel chapter 12, Daniel the 12th chapter. The word Michael,
the name Michael, Michael Campbell, listen up. The name Michael means
one who is God. It was a bad choice for you,
buddy. It just sounds good. It means one who is God. One
who is God. In Daniel chapter 12 and verse
1, we read of this Michael. And at that time shall Michael
stand up, the great prince. which standeth for the children
of thy people. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since
there was a nation even to that same time. And at that time,
thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found
written in the book. And many of them that sleep in
the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and
some to shame and everlasting contempt. This Michael is none
other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is that one who
is the angel of the covenant, the archangel to whom all the
angels belong, for he's their creator. More than that, I know
that this speaking of Christ, because the work that is here
described and attributed to Michael was the very work which Christ
himself performed. Turn over to John chapter 12.
John the 12th chapter. And verse 31. Our Lord Jesus is bracing up
for the cross. He said in verse 27, Now is my
soul troubled, what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.
Well, I can't pray that, for this cause came I unto this hour.
Father, glorify thy name. Then there was a voice from heaven
saying, I've glorified it and will glorify it again. And the
Lord Jesus declares to us, verse 31, now, right now, in my death,
by my power, by virtue of what I accomplish, now is the judgment
of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men unto me." This one who is Michael, one who is
God, certainly speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has himself
conquered and defeated Satan by his finished work of redemption.
Now notice the names that are given to Satan. He's called the
dragon because he's furious and ferocious. He's called the serpent
because he first appeared in the form of a serpent, because
he's a deceiver. He's called the devil, that is
the accuser. One who constantly accuses. Constantly
accuses God and constantly accuses God's elect. He constantly accuses
God to his people and constantly accuses God's people to their
God. He accuses God to us by causing
us to question him. He accuses God to us causing
us to question his truthfulness, his veracity, causing us to question
his covenant and his goodness. That's what happened in the garden
with Eve. Satan accused God to Eve. And then he turns around
and accuses us to God. He says concerning Job, he serves
you for what he can get out of you. He's a conniving wretch,
Job, he is. He's a vile man. He serves you
out of covetousness and greed. He serves you because you've
hedged him about. He constantly is accusing. And he's called
Satan the enemy. The enemy. The arch enemy of
our souls. The arch enemy of Christ Jesus.
The arch enemy of God himself. Satan is the deceiver of this
world. He is that one which deceiveth
the whole world. For 4,000 years, the light of
the gospel was given only to that little band of folks who
were called the seed of Abraham. All the Gentile world was in
darkness, deceived with pagan religion, deceived with every
vile abomination imaginable. That Gentile world described
in Romans chapter one was a whole lot like the Gentile world we
read about in our newspapers today. Not much difference. The
religion was basically the same and the people were basically
the same. Deceive because the God of this world hath blinded
their eyes lest the light of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ should shine through unto them and they should
be converted. But now this accuser of our brethren
has been cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out
with him. When the Lord Jesus Christ, the
incarnate Son of God ascended back to heaven in triumph Our
salvation was completely accomplished. And so John announces for us
what salvation has been accomplished. Notice in verses 10 and 11, the
announcement of salvation. And 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. Somebody asked me, do
you believe we're living in the kingdom? Looks like it. Looks
like it. The king's on his throne. He's
ruling the nations with a rod of iron. The government's on
his shoulders. And now has come salvation and strength, the strength
of Israel and the kingdom of God has been established. The
kingdom of God is not something we look for out in the future.
It's something we experience. We're born into God's kingdom
and the power of his Christ, the rule of his Christ, For the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before
our God day and night. What's he talking about? The
accuser of our brethren is cast down. Before Christ, Jesus came,
suffered and died and rose again, safe and accused. When the Lord
called for an accounting of of the sons of God, of the angels,
Satan appeared in heaven with them. And the Lord said, have you considered
my servant Job? Sure I have, let me tell you
about him. And he began to accuse. But Job was chosen of God. But Job is one whose sins were
forgiven as God looked forward to that sacrifice that should
be accomplished, looking back to that sacrifice that was purposed.
Satan said the blood's not shed, he's still guilty. Satan said
his sin's not removed, he's still guilty. I want to see the blood
before there's no reason to accuse Job. That's what he said continually,
accusing our brethren before God. And when the Lord Jesus
Christ came and he entered once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us, he said, Satan, get out of here.
Get out. No more accusation. No. So you
mean he's quit accusing? No, no. But now there is absolutely
nothing to which he can point, for the blood of Christ has removed
forever the sins of God's people. And now we raise the challenge
with Paul, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. Satan has been cast out,
and now we are redeemed. justified, sanctified, and made
perfect through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. And then notice how John describes
for us the people of God. He says they overcame him. Overcame Satan? Yeah. Overcame
his accusations? overcame his temptations, overcame
his deception, overcame his power, overcame his ferociousness, overcame
everything about him by the blood of the Lamb. What power do you have against
Satan's accusations? The blood of the Lamb. That's
it. Satan comes and accuses me in
the court of heaven. God looks to the blood. And Satan
comes and accuses me in the court of my own conscience. Meryl Hart,
I look to the blood. That's it. I look to the blood.
No more guilt. No more consciousness of sin.
The blood's taken it away. And by the word of their testimony,
I suspect principally that has reference to the gospel of God's
grace. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. Satan
comes. Often the accuser does You a child of God You an heir
of heaven you one who hopes to have eternal you How can you say such a thing
how can you imagine such a thing God said, whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And sometimes, put it where you
understand me, sometimes you hear things if you say it the
wrong way, I ain't got nothing, but I call on his name. Sometimes I've got nothing else,
nothing else. My heart's so dead. Any feeling that's there is nothing
but the emotions of corruption. My mind's so defiled. And he
accuses. Oh, he accuses. But I've got
the word of the testimony of the gospel of God himself. Bob Pontzer, I believe God. And
believing God, I can't be damned. That's right. Believing God,
I can't be damned. Trusting God, I can't perish.
Trusting the Son of God, I cannot fail to attain the glory that
God has prepared for me. And they loved not their lives,
even unto death. Now, just briefly, I'll come
back to this later. I want you to see what John tells
us about the persecution of the church. He began to describe
it in chapter, or in verse six, and then he left it off and he
comes back to it now in verse 12. Therefore rejoice ye heavens,
ye that dwell in them. Satan's been cast out. He's got
no power. He's got nothing he can point
to in heaven to accuse you. Nothing he can point to in heaven
to accuse your God, but woe to the inhabitants of the earth
and of the sea. That is to the whole world. For
the devil has come down to you. He's come down to you having
great wrath. Why? Because he knows that he
hath but a short time. He's got just limited time. Read
Revelation 20. He's been bound bound by the
hand and the power of Christ. And the day is coming when King
Jesus shall come and wrap up the old serpent in the chains
of his wrath and cast him forever into hell. And so the serpent
knows he has but a short time. And when the dragon saw that
he was cast unto the earth, when he saw that he was defeated,
he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
Now you can expect it. As long as you live in this world,
because of your relationship with Jesus Christ, the prince
of this world's gonna bring you trouble. He's gonna bring you
trouble. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle
that she might fly into the wilderness. Look at it. Into her place. Oh, God takes care of his own.
God gave her wings to fly away from Satan's rage. to her place,
the place he had prepared where she was nourished. There it is
again for a time and times and a half a time, a year, two years
and a half a year from the face of the serpent that is throughout
the age of the gospel. There she's nourished, there
she's protected. 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, heresy, delusion, deceptive
religion, false religion, as a flood coming out of the mouth
of Satan, the old dragon, hoping by this that he might devour
you and me, that he might devour the church of God, that he might
destroy the name of God off the earth. But he failed. Because
look at verse 16. The earth helped the woman. Didn't mean to, but it did. Wasn't
intending to, but it did. The earth opened up her mouth
and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. The whole religious world swallows
it hook, line, and sinker. But you have an unction from
the Holy One. You know all things and you abide in the truth. because
God's preserved you in the truth. Now verse 17, he couldn't destroy
the church, so he turns to individual believers. And the dragon 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. You can't destroy God's church
So it goes after each individual believer with heresy, delusion,
and darkness with the venom of his mouth. What's going to happen? Same
thing that happened with Peter. The Lord said, Peter, Simon,
Simon, Satan hath desired thee that he may have thee to sift
thee as wheat. Nevertheless, I have prayed for
thee, that thy faith fail not. And he who prayed for Peter and
preserved him prays for us and preserves us by his free grace.
Amen.