{"id":18983,"date":"2019-04-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-07T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/revelation-035-the-long-spiritual-war-against-god\/"},"modified":"2023-01-10T11:21:42","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T17:21:42","slug":"revelation-035-the-long-spiritual-war-against-god","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/revelation-035-the-long-spiritual-war-against-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 035 – The Long Spiritual War Against God"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[490],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18983","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-revelation","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Revelation 035 - The Long Spiritual War Against God","sermon_date":"20190407","sermon_month":"04","sermon_year":"2019","sermon_notes":"","sermon_slides":6549,"sermon_mp3":6551,"sermon_id":"4719115561931","series_or_event":490,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"12:1-5","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\r\n\r\nThe Long Invisible War Against Christ\u00a0\u00a0 4-7-19\r\n\r\nRevelation 12:1-5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 35\r\n\r\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to the Book of Revelation, chapter 12 taking a look this morning at verses 1-5.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is The Long Invisible War Against Christ.\u00a0 We have been working our way through the Book of Revelation verse by verse.\u00a0 We have studied very carefully the different judgments that will come upon the earth, most recently the trumpet judgments and we\u2019ve studied those in detail, last week having taken a look at the seventh trumpet.\u00a0 The seventh trumpet judgment is very interesting because it\u2019s really not a judgment, it\u2019s more of an announcement as to what is happening.\u00a0 The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.\u00a0 What is happening as we have studied in the Book of Revelation is the authority of this world under Satan\u2019s domain, a legal transfer is taking place.\u00a0 And so that transfer is described, we saw it last week, heaven praises the Lord and then there\u2019s an anticipation of things to come.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that we have taught as we have worked our way through the Book of Revelation is that generally speaking the Book of Revelation is chronological.\u00a0 That\u2019s why it says first trumpet, second trumpet, third trumped, etc.\u00a0 In other words, these events are meant to be understood in chronological order, much like you would understand the plagues in the Book of Exodus, plague one, plague two, plague three, etc.\u00a0 However, what makes it sort of confusing is when you hit a six in a series there\u2019s a gap, or a break, or a pause in the action.\u00a0 And it typically stops the chronology to describe something more in depth that\u2019s happening.\u00a0 So there\u2019s a gap in between seal six and seal seventh, trumpet six and trumpet seven, bowl six and bowl seven.\u00a0 And what I\u2019ve told you is the truth but it\u2019s just not the complete truth.\r\n\r\nAnd the reason I haven\u2019t told you everything is I didn\u2019t want to discourage you out of the gate thinking that you can\u2019t understand this book because of so many details. But there are two more breaks in the action.\u00a0 One occurs, and we are starting to look at it now, chapters 12-14, after trumpet seven.\u00a0 And there\u2019s going to be another one after golden bowl of wrath judgment number seven, Revelation 17 and 18, the fall of Babylon.\u00a0 So if you can just remember when you hit a six in a series there\u2019s a break, that helps you understand non-chronological parenthetical insertion number one, number two and number four.\u00a0 So far so good, right?\u00a0 And then just remember there\u2019s one more at the end of the trumpets, that\u2019s number three there, and one more at the end of the bowls, what\u2019s number five there.\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s probably more information than what you were looking for on a Sunday morning but I\u2019ll try to make reference to this as we progress because I really want to walk away with a sense that the Book of Revelation is something that God wants us to understand.\u00a0 A lot of believers just kind of throw up their hands, it\u2019s too complicated, and\u00a0 yet if you know a few rules it\u2019s not as complicated as everybody makes it out to be.\r\n\r\nSo the trumpet judgments are over and we are now into another break in the action, chapters 12-14, and it consists of three things: Israel\u2019s flight into the wilderness, chapter 12, the two beasts, chapter 13, and six scenes of hope, chapter 14.\u00a0 And why are all of these things happening?\u00a0 Satan is not just going to sit back and allow this legal transfer to happen.\u00a0 Satan, ever since Genesis 3 has enjoyed ruling this world as he will continue to do so until these events happen.\u00a0 And when this announcement is given that \u201cThe kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ\u2026\u201d Satan is going to say, much like Saul said when it was apparent that Saul had lost the anointing to rule the nation and David had been anointed as the next king, Saul went out to destroy David to prevent him from coming to the throne.\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s what Satan\u2019s doing in chapter 12, 13 and 14.\u00a0 He is, number one, attacking the nation of Israel, Revelation 12, the nation through which the kingdom will come.\u00a0 He is, Revelation 13, using two human beings, the two beasts, to do his bidding, Revelation 13.\u00a0 And just so you don\u2019t think that all hope is lost and God has somehow lost control of things we have chapter 14 which is a counterbalancing chapter which shows us through six scenes of hope that God is still very much in control.\u00a0 And so that\u2019s sort of how all of this fits together as we move this morning into Revelation chapter 12, taking a look at Israel\u2019s flight and Satan\u2019s hatred for the Jewish people.\r\n\r\nAnd one of the things I love about chapter 12 is it reveals the reality of the fallen angelic world.\u00a0 This chapter as a whole is going to reveal Satan\u2019s great hatred for the Jewish people but more generally it reveals to us the reality of the fallen angelic world.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is the moment you place your personal faith in Christ as\u00a0 your Savior is the moment you inherit three enemies you didn\u2019t have before, and you say to yourself well, I don\u2019t want any enemies when the reality is you\u2019ve got three as a Christian.\u00a0 And sometimes they play tandem on you and team up on\u00a0 you.\u00a0 Those enemies are\u00a0 number one, the flesh or the fallen nature.\u00a0 Have you noticed that just because you\u2019re a Christian your fallen nature and it\u2019s appetites didn\u2019t just disappear?\u00a0 Can I get an \u201camen\u201d on that?\u00a0 I was wondering if I was preaching to the right crowd here this morning.\u00a0 [Laughter]\r\n\r\nAnd we are to apply the resources of God, reckon the old man dead and live according to the new nature but the desires of the old nature will always be there until your dying day or until the rapture, whichever comes first.\u00a0 The second enemy you face as a Christian is the world system in which you live, its systems of philosophies which are anti-God.\u00a0 1 John 2:15 and following describe it as lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life.\u00a0\u00a0 [1 John 2:15, \u201cDo not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16,] \u201cFor all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.\u201d]\u00a0 Simply living in the world reminds us of our need to have our minds renewed constantly in the Word because the world system will exert pressure on\u00a0 you constantly as a Christian to get you to adopt its way of thinking.\u00a0 And then of course the third enemy you face is Satan himself and his demons.\r\n\r\nIt was Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse who years ago wrote a book and I believe the title of this book is called The Invisible War.\u00a0 And I love the title of the book because it describes the fallen angelic kingdom that we are constantly in conflict with and\u00a0 yet many times don\u2019t even realize it.\u00a0 The things that are happening in the physical world oftentimes are dictated by an invisible angelic conflict between the good angels and the fallen angels.\u00a0 Just ask Job about that some time when you get to heaven; Job lost everything except for his wife who said \u201ccurse God and die.\u201d\u00a0 And he probably thought I wish I\u2019d lost her as well.\u00a0 And it was all predicated based on a conversation between God and Satan that Job knew nothing about.\r\n\r\nOr you take 2 Kings 6:15-17 where Elisha is with the servant and the servant is complaining and saying the enemy has surrounded us.\u00a0 And Elisha says to the servant, don\u2019t worry, \u201cthose that are with us are more than those that are with them.\u201d And the servant was puzzled by that statement and Elisha prayed for his eyes to be opened and for an instant he could see into the invisible angelic world and he could see the mountains and the mountainside filled with armies and chariots.\r\n\r\nOr take for example 1 Chronicles 21:1 where David apparently had an idea to number the troops of Israel, [1 Chronicles 21:1, \u201cThen Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.\u201d]\u00a0 That\u2019s not something God wanted because God wanted David to trust God and not his physical armaments.\u00a0 And we learn in that passage that it was Satan that implanted that idea into David\u2019s mind and moved David to number the troops of Israel.\u00a0 David probably thought it was his idea but we learn there it wasn\u2019t, it was the devil\u2019s idea.\r\n\r\nTake for example Daniel 10:12-13 and verse 20 where Daniel is praying and he doesn\u2019t get an answer to his prayer for 21 days or three weeks.\u00a0 [Daniel 10:12-13, \u201cThen he said to me, \u201cDo not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this<\/em> and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. [13] But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. [20] Then he said, \u201cDo you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come.\u201d]\r\n\r\nAnd finally an angel is dispatched from heaven to explain to Daniel why there was this delay and the answer to the prayer request and it had to do with the angel dispatched from heaven, who I think would probably be Gabriel, was fought by a demon over the Prince of Persia and over the Prince of Greece and they duked it out for 21 days.\u00a0 Another angel had to be dispatched to help Gabriel and finally the initial angel got through and answered Daniel\u2019s prayer request after a three week conflict that Daniel didn\u2019t understand the delay.\u00a0 If you wonder why your prayer requests aren\u2019t answered immediately look at Daniel 10, it\u2019s very interesting.\u00a0 Then the angel says I\u2019ve got to fight my way back out, just like I fought my way in.\r\n\r\nOr you have this statement by Peter in Matthew 16:21 and 23 where Jesus at Caesarea Philippi says He\u2019s got to go to the cross and die and Peter basically says that\u2019s not going to happen to You.\u00a0 And he took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him.\u00a0 Can you imagine rebuking God? And Jesus looked at Peter and saw the angelic force motivating Peter\u2019s thoughts and statement and said \u201cGet behind Me,\u201d you know the rest, Get behind Me Satan.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Matthew 16:21, \u201cFrom that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. [22] Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, \u201cGod forbid it,<\/em> Lord! This shall never happen to You.\u201d [23] But He turned and said to Peter, \u201cGet behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God\u2019s interests, but man\u2019s.\u201d\r\n\r\nOr what about Luke 22:31-32 where Jesus made a statement to Peter one day.\u00a0 He said, \u201cSimon, Simon, Satan has requested permission to sift each of you like wheat. [32] But I have prayed for you\u2026.\u201d How would you like the Lord to tell you that one day, that there\u2019s conversations in heaven right now happening about you.\u00a0 You say well I\u2019m glad, that\u2019s all gospel stuff and Old Testament stuff, I\u2019m glad that doesn\u2019t apply to us.\u00a0 Well, are\u00a0 you so sure about that?\u00a0 Why would Paul say in Ephesians 6:12, \u201cwe wrestle not against\u201d what? \u201cflesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and rulers of this dark world.\u201d\u00a0 [Ephesians 6:12, \u201cFor our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces<\/em> of wickedness in the heavenly places.\u201d<\/em>]\r\n\r\nIf you want to see evidence of it in your life try to do something for God.\u00a0 Step out in obedience and do something for God and you\u2019ll find conflict coming at you from the most unlikeliest of sources.\r\n\r\nSo there are certain chapters in the Bible, like Revelation chapter 12, that pull back the curtain and allow us to see as mere mortals this invisible spiritual conflict.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I love Revelation chapter 12.\u00a0 I also love Revelation chapter 12 because it reveals the two strategies of Satan.\u00a0 Are you familiar with the strategies of Satan?\u00a0 You know, in my basketball days we would, when we were getting ready to watch the NCAA championship tomorrow, March madness and all of that kind of thing, I never really understood why they call it March madness when the championship game is in April but I\u2019m not going to complain about it.\u00a0 But anyway, you watch the game shows, the game time shows and the commentators and the teams and how they\u2019re always talking about strategies between the two teams.\u00a0 And when I played basketball we used to watch countless tapes, these were back in the days of VHS recordings, now\u00a0 young people don\u2019t know what that is anymore, but there were these black things with reels on it that you would stick into a TV and watch and we would watch all of these recordings of the other team playing to understand their strategy.\r\n\r\nHave you become familiar with the strategies of Satan?\u00a0 Paul, the apostle, says, \u201cso that no advantage will be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.\u201d\u00a0 [2 Corinthians 2:11, \u201cso that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.] \u00a0\u00a0Apparently he has schemes.\u00a0 Paul says I am \u201cnot ignorant of his schemes.\u201d\u00a0 Are you ignorant of his\u00a0 schemes?\u00a0 Do you know how he operates against you.\u00a0 The Bible has a lot to say about that.\u00a0 And Revelation 12 reveals the two strategies of Satan.\u00a0 These are two things that he does to prevent God\u2019s work from happening.\u00a0 He believes, Satan does, in what we call preemptive strikes meaning I will take you out before you take me out.\u00a0 That's how Satan thinks.\r\n\r\nYou remember when we were afraid of WMD\u2019s, Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, not too long ago.\u00a0 So a conglomeration of nations went in and did what they thought was a preemptive strike on Iraq, we\u2019re going to take you out before you build these WMD\u2019s and take us out.\u00a0 That\u2019s what you call a preemptive attack.\u00a0 And you say to yourself, well Satan is not very bright is he, because how can you stop God?\u00a0 The misconception is people think that Satan is rational, that he thinks logically.\u00a0 He does not think logically.\u00a0 \u201cThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of\u201d what? \u201cwisdom.\u201d\u00a0 [Proverbs 9:10, \u201cThe fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.\u201d]\r\n\r\nIntellect works correctly when it\u2019s in submission to God.\u00a0 Humans have an intellect, the angelic world, Satan himself has an intellect and look\u00a0 what happened to Satan\u2019s intellect in Ezekiel 28:16, \u201cYour heart was lifted up because of\u00a0 your beauty, you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019re dealing with a being that is not logical, he is not rational, but he thinks in his darkened mind and understanding, which is not in submission to God, that he can stop God.\r\n\r\nRevelation 12 reveals the two preemptive strategies that he\u2019s used.\u00a0 The first is a past strategy that in the past has failed revolving around the first coming or the first advent of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 That\u2019s the strategy we\u2019re going to look at this morning as we take a look at verses 1-5.\u00a0 Now that that strategy has failed he\u2019s got a second strategy.\u00a0 That second strategy is described in verses 6-17, it\u2019s a present and a future strategy revolving around the nation of Israel yet to fail in the events surrounding not the first coming of Christ but the second coming of Christ.\u00a0 And we\u2019ll get into that when we study those verses next week.\r\n\r\nAnd I think the reason John brings up verses 1-5 is this vision given to him from God is simply to demonstrate Satan here is working to stop God\u2019s kingdom program from materializing.\u00a0 He\u2019s reacting against the transfer legally that\u2019s happened with the seventh trumpet judgment.\u00a0 And the point of verses 1-5 is that should not surprise us because this is what Satan has always done.\u00a0 He\u2019s always worked in history to stop God\u2019s plan and program from happening.\r\n\r\nSo let\u2019s take a look, with that background in mind, at Revelation chapter 12, verses 1-5, and notice what it ways.\u00a0 Revelation 12:1-5, \u201cA great sign (s\u0113meion<\/em>) appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; [2] and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.\u00a0 [3] Then another sign (s\u0113meion<\/em>) appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were<\/em> seven diadems. [4] And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.\u00a0 [5] And she gave birth to a son, a male child,<\/em> who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.\u201d\r\n\r\nWhat in the world is going on here?\u00a0 What this is is a history lesson; it\u2019s a revelation of strategy number one that Satan tried and it didn\u2019t work trying to stop the birth of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 This is no ordinary history lesson; this is a history lesson narrated from the perspective of the angels.\u00a0 This is describing what was happening in the invisible realm, the invisible world, the invisible war as biblical events were happening in the physical world, because what\u2019s happening in the invisible world dictates largely what\u2019s happening in the physical world, it\u2019s just we as humans can\u2019t see it.\u00a0 And so we\u2019re dependent on certain parts of the Bible to pull back the veil for us, to pull back the curtain for us to give us understanding into this invisible conflict to give us understanding in the long invisible war against Christ.\r\n\r\nApparently Satan has declared war on Christ for a long time, exercising strategy number one, yet to no avail.\u00a0 Now this is a little bit tricky to understand because obviously when you study Revelation 12:1-5 it sure doesn\u2019t read like the Gospel of John.\u00a0 It sure doesn\u2019t read like the Book of Romans.\u00a0 You\u2019re dealing here with heavenly symbolic material.\u00a0 In fact,\u00a0 you\u2019ll notice the word \u201csign\u201d appears in verse 1 and verse 3 that shows us we\u2019re dealing with symbols here.\u00a0 And you notice the Greek word s\u0113meion<\/em> translated sign.\r\n\r\nWhat we have just fallen into here in Revelation chapter 12 is the most symbolic chapter of the most symbolic book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t get more symbolic than what we\u2019re reading here and yet there\u2019s a very easy way to ascertain what every symbol here means.\u00a0 And if you follow the rules I\u2019ll give you can figure out virtually any symbol anywhere in the Bible, anywhere in the Book of Revelation.\r\n\r\nAnd what\u2019s important to understand is all human language fits into two categories.\u00a0 People either speak literally, sometimes if you want a fancy name for that that\u2019s called connotative speech.\u00a0 Other times they\u2019ll speak literally, a fancy name for that is denotative speech.\u00a0 My wife asked me this morning, \u201cwell how\u2019d you sleep last night?\u201d\u00a0 I said \u201cI slept great, I slept in till\u00a0 8:00 a.m.\u201d which is true, \u201cand I slept like a log.\u201d\u00a0 Now you\u2019ll notice that in that statement I just used plain speech and figurative speech, denotative speech and connotative speech.\u00a0 We do this all the time.\u00a0 When I say I slept in till 8:00 a.m. she doesn\u2019t say \u201cwell, what do you mean by 8:00 a.m. is that some kind of code?\u201d\u00a0 Well in my case it may be but the reality of the situation is she is an inherently linguistic speaking being, as I am, she knows exactly what I mean by 8:00 a.m.\u00a0 Then I turn right around and I said I slept like a log and she doesn\u2019t say well, I know our last name is Woods and so you must have turned into a\u00a0 piece of wood in the middle of the night?\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 No, the word \u201clike\u201d alerts her that I\u2019m\u00a0 using a figure of speech called a simile where you equate two things with like or as.\r\n\r\nWe\u00a0 do this all the time; the Bible written in language does this all the time.\u00a0 The Book of Revelation, written in language, does this all the time.\u00a0 And the danger is mistaking something for literal speech that\u2019s meant to be understood figuratively or mistaking something for figurative speech that\u2019s\u00a0 meant to be understood literally, and vice versa.\u00a0 So one time I had some coffee that I put in the microwave oven and I forgot it was there.\u00a0 Has that ever happened to anybody?\u00a0 As you get older you kind of start doing these kinds of things.\u00a0 You walk in a room, you can\u2019t remember why you walked into the room and all of these sorts of things.\u00a0 And so the coffee is in the microwave oven and it\u2019s boiling over and I just went into my office in the house there and forgot it was there and my wife yells out to me \u201cHoney,\u00a0 your cup is running over.\u201d\u00a0 And I said \u201cyeah, you\u2019re right, I\u2019m very blessed and my\u00a0 cup is running over.\u201d\u00a0 She said \u201cno, your cup is running over.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, I was misunderstanding her thinking she was giving a figure of speech when she was meant to be understood literally.\r\n\r\nAnd sometimes I\u2019ll go into our closet and try to figure out what I\u2019m going to wear and one time were getting late and she yelled out to me, \u201cyou need to come out of the closet,\u201d and I thought [laughter] what in the world is she talking about, \u201ccome out of the closet.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 So you can see how many times you can miscommunicate, you understand something figuratively that\u2019s meant to be understood literally, and vice versa.\u00a0 And we risk that error when we read the Bible,\u00a0 you risk that error when you get into heavily symbolic material like this.\u00a0\u00a0 So how do you figure out what it means?\u00a0 Well, there\u2019s obviously three symbols here; the word \u201csign\u201d alerts\u00a0 us to that fact.\u00a0\u00a0 You have the son, s-o-n not to be confused with the sun, s-u-n, in verse 1, son, s-o-n verse 5, and then\u00a0 you have a dragon, verse 3, then you have a woman clothed with the sun, s-u-n, and the sun, moon and the stars, verse 1.\r\n\r\nSo this is obviously three symbols and you need these three symbols to understand what Satan is doing related to strategy number one.\u00a0 So how would we figure out what these three symbols are.\u00a0 Well, there\u2019s basically two rules, you follow these two rules you\u2019ll understand every symbol in the whole Bible, you\u2019ll\u00a0 understand every symbol in the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 The first rule is you search the immediate context because many times in the same context, usually in the same paragraph, usually in the same chapter, the symbol will be interpreted.\u00a0 Why does God do that?\u00a0 Because He doesn\u2019t want us to rely\u00a0 upon our sanctified imagination to interpret His Word.\u00a0 You get on youtube I\u2019ve seen some of the craziest interpretations ever on Bible prophecy because people just come to a symbol and they just dump into it any meaning they want and the don\u2019t pay attention to the rules or the context which will usually interpret the symbol for you.\r\n\r\nNow John Walvoord in his commentary on Revelation says this happens twenty-six times in the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 Well what if the immediate context doesn\u2019t help you?\u00a0 Then you\u2019ve got to go to other places of the Bible; with the Book of Revelation\u00a0 you\u2019ve got to go to the Old Testament.\u00a0 It is very interesting, the Book of Revelation has 404 verses in it, 278 of the 404 verses are references or allusions to the Old Testament.\u00a0 Robert Thomas, in his commentary on the Book of Revelation gives us that number.\u00a0 And the reason that the Book of Revelation is so mystical to us and it\u2019s so foreign to us is we really haven\u2019t studied the Old Testament.\u00a0 If you know a little something about the Old Testament suddenly the things in the Book of Revelation start to make sense.\r\n\r\nWith those two rules in mind let\u2019s apply them to our three symbolic characters so we can under\u00adstand this angelic history lesson, so that we can understand Satan\u2019s past strategies that failed.\u00a0 The first symbol here is the Son, S-o-n, verse 5.\u00a0 Now any guesses as to who that would be?\u00a0 Look at Psalm 2:9,\u00a0 It says, \u2018You\u201d a Messianic Psalm, \u201cshall break them with a rod of iron, you shall shatter them like earthenware.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 There\u2019s one coming who will rule all the nations with a rod of iron if you know Psalm chapter 2 is a very clear reference to the Messiah or Yeshua or Jesus Christ Himself.\u00a0 And it\u2019s sort of a giveaway when you go back to Revelation 12:5 where it says the son, s-o-n \u201cwas caught up to God and His throne.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 12:5, \u201cAnd she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.\u201d]\r\n\r\nAny guesses as to when that happened in biblical history?\u00a0 That\u2019s Acts 1:9, the ascension. It says,\u00a0 \u201cAnd after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.\u201d\u00a0 If you know Acts 1:9 and you know Psalm 2:9 you know that the son, s-o-n, verse 5 is none other than Jesus Christ.\r\n\r\nAll right, well what about this second symbol here, there\u2019s a dragon.\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s not hard to decipher either because if you go down to verse 9 look at what it says, same chapter, \u201cThe great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 12:9]\u00a0\u00a0 Notice the very end of the Book of Revelation, chapter 20, and notice if you will verse 2,notice what it says: \u201cAnd he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;\u201d]\u00a0 There the serpent is called none other than Satan himself.\u00a0 So using the simple rule, search the immediate context,\u00a0 you know exactly who the dragon is, you don\u2019t have to use your sanctified imagination because the Bible is its own interpreter.\r\n\r\nThe tricky one is this woman, verse 1, \u201cclothed with the sun,\u201d s-u-n, \u201cthe moon and the twelve stars.\u00a0 There are a lot of people out there that will tell you that this woman is the church.\u00a0 \u201cHouston, we have a problem with that.\u201d\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because this woman is giving birth to Jesus; the church never gave birth to Jesus!\u00a0 In fact, Jesus gave birth to the church.\u00a0 Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, \u201c\u2026I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 This is talking about an entity, whoever this woman is, giving birth to Jesus.\r\n\r\nAnd by the way, if this is the church I thought the church was supposed to be a virgin bride betrothed to Christ; this lady is pregnant and I think the groom might be a little upset about that.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 So this can\u2019t be the church, in fact, the word \u201cchurch\u201d isn\u2019t even used here.\u00a0 Other people say well, this must be the virgin Mary; that\u2019s probably closer to the truth but you\u2019ll notice the word \u201csign\u201d there.\u00a0 The virgin Mary was a literal person; what we\u2019re studying here is a sign or a symbol for something else.\u00a0 And the problem is you can go through Revelation 12, you can go through the whole Book of Revelation and this woman, verse 1, clothed with the sun and the moon and the stars will never be identified anywhere in the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 So if that happens where do we go?\u00a0 To the Old Testament.\r\n\r\nAnd if you know the Joseph story you start to see an immediate parallel.\u00a0 \u201cNow he\u201d that\u2019s Joseph, \u201chad still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, \u2018Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun\u201d s-u-n, \u201cand the moon and eleven stars\u201d Joseph being the twelfth star \u201cwere bowing down to me.\u201d\u00a0 [Genesis 37:9]\u00a0 Does that start to sound familiar?\u00a0 He related it to his father\u201d that would be Jacob, \u201cand to his brothers, and they said\u201d this is great, praise the Lord that God has given us this vision.\u00a0 No, they were jealous of him, they \u201crebuked him.\u201d\u00a0 And in the process of the rebuke the symbols of the dream start to get deciphered.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c\u2026rebuked him, and said unto him, What is<\/em> this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow down ourselves before you to the ground?\u201d\r\n\r\nAnd this is what got Joseph the trade by his brothers, thrown into the pit, sold as a slave into Egypt and just pure jealousy because this vision was given to Joseph when he was seventeen years old.\u00a0 By the time he hits age 30 the dream is fulfilled where he\u2019s elevated to second in command over all of Egypt and his family comes to him to find grain in the midst of famine. But you\u2019ll notice that as this is interpreted the sun, s-u-n, who would that be?\u00a0 That would be Jacob, his father.\u00a0 The moon would be who?\u00a0 Leah, Jacob\u2019s wife.\u00a0 What about Rachel?\u00a0 Rachel already died; Rachel died in Genesis 35.\u00a0 Jacob had two wives, right, as you know the Biblical story, this is Leah.\u00a0 The eleven stars would be Joseph\u2019s brothers bowing down to Joseph, the twelfth star, twelve stars taken in whole represents the twelve tribes of Israel, Jacob\u2019s dozen, Jacob\u2019s sons, who became the twelve tribes.\r\n\r\nSo Genesis 37 tells us that the sun and moon and the twelve stars taken together is none other than the nation of Israel.\u00a0 Why is this important?\u00a0 This is important because many people are telling you that the Book of Revelation, it\u2019s amazing how well I planned my sermon today, [laughter] they actually offer a class in seminary how to coordinate your teaching with weather patterns [laughter] so I worked very, very hard on this and am glad it\u2019s bearing some fruit.\u00a0 So we\u2019re going to go as long until the power kicks out and then we can\u2019t go anymore unless you want to sit here in the dark with me screaming at you.\u00a0 [Laughter]\r\n\r\nMany people are telling you today that the Book of Revelation can\u2019t be understood.\u00a0 This is a view called postmodernism.\u00a0 The view of postmodernism is all truth is uncertain.\u00a0 And I usually say are\u00a0 you certain about that?\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 Because you can be uncertain about anything except your own uncertainty.\u00a0 That becomes a certainty.\u00a0 You can be agnostic about anything except the reality of your own agnosticism.\u00a0 And it\u2019s a view that says you can\u2019t get to the truth and the post-modernists have a field day with the Book of Revelation; they say it can\u2019t be understood.\r\n\r\nIn fact, did you know that some of the greats in church history wouldn\u2019t touch the Book of Revelation?\u00a0 John Calvin, one of the most voluminous writers in church history comments through commentaries on every single book of the Bible except the two little John letters, 2 John, 3 John, and Revelation, on the grounds that the Book of Revelation can\u2019t be understood.\u00a0 Martin Luther, who we respect as a church performer didn\u2019t even think the Book of Revelation should be included in the biblical canon.\u00a0 And so all through the centuries people have told you the Book of Revelation can\u2019t be understood and\u00a0 yet isn\u2019t it interpreting that little old me and little old you by just applying a few simple rules can understand the whole thing!\r\n\r\nI like what Henry Morris says in his commentary.\u00a0 \u201cIt must be stressed that Revelation means \u2018unveiling,\u2019 not \u2018veiling.<\/u>\u2019\u201d\u00a0 In fact Revelation 1 gives us the title of the Book of\u00a0 Revelation, it\u2019s a translation of the Greek noun apokalopsis,<\/em> which means to disclose.\u00a0 Why would a book be called the disclosure if God didn\u2019t want us to understand what it means?\r\n\r\nAnd so what is happening here is a history lesson, rightly understood, from the angelic perspective.\u00a0 Now look at verse 4, right in the middle of the verse.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026and the dragon\u201d who\u2019s the dragon?\u00a0 Satan!\u00a0 \u201c\u2026and the dragon stood before the woman,\u201d who\u2019s the woman? Israel.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child,\u201d who\u2019s the child?\u00a0 Jesus Christ.\u201d [Revelation 12:4]\u00a0 What is being described here is what was happening in the spiritual world when Jesus Himself was born into our physical world.\r\n\r\nYou see, if you were simply to study Matthew\u2019s Gospel and Matthew\u2019s accounting of this the only thing it tells you is there was a man named Herod who was insecure over his own throne, he found out where the Christ child was going to be born and he began to kill all of the male infant Bethlehem innocent children.\u00a0 And that\u2019s all Matthew 2 tells\u00a0 you.\u00a0 The Book of Revelation comes along and says let me give you that same story\u2026same story, but let me tell you what was happening in the invisible world, in the spiritual world, as that story was unfolding in the physical world.\u00a0 It was actually the devil himself who was using Herod as his instrument to prevent Jesus from coming into our world.\r\n\r\nNow when I talk to preachers or would-be preachers I say look, when it comes to Christmas time don\u2019t give them Matthew 2 again, they\u2019ve heard that ten thousand times, they already know the Matthew 2 story.\u00a0 Give them Revelation 12, that\u2019ll be a Christmas message they\u2019ll never forget.\u00a0 And essentially what this is, is it\u2019s a divine commentary on the strategy of Satan to stop the fulfillment of the first Messianic prophecy ever given in Scripture in Genesis 3:15.\u00a0 Genesis 3:15 I think is perhaps the most important verse in the Bible because if you can understand Genesis 3:15 you can understand the whole Bible.\u00a0 The whole Bible is an unpacking of Genesis 3:15.\u00a0 Remember when our forbearers fell in Eden?\u00a0 Remember what God said? \u00a0[Genesis 3:15] \u201cAnd I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Now there\u2019s coming one from the seed of the woman, who\u2019s the woman here?\u00a0 Eve, who\u2019s going to take your head, Satan, and crush it.\u00a0 That\u2019s a reference to the coming Messiah.\u00a0 Now along the way you\u2019re going to be able to exercise some damage of a temporary nature; you\u2019re going to be able to bruise His heel but He\u2019s going to crush your head.\u00a0 If you had your choice would you rather have\u00a0 your heel bruised or your head crushed?\u00a0 I\u2019ll take the heel because once your head is crushed it\u2019s over.\r\n\r\nSo Satan, who was in Eden as the serpent to hear this prophecy is put on notice, his intellect does not work correctly, his splendor has been corrupted, his splendor has corrupted his wisdom, and he is working in history to stop that prophecy from being fulfilled.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why he moves into strategy number one to stop the lineage leading to Christ.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the whole Old Testament is about.\u00a0 If you understand that then all of the details of the Old Testament start to fit into place.\u00a0 That\u2019s kind of weird, why does Genesis 4 record Cain killing Abel?\u00a0 1 John 3:12 tells us that the evil one, Satan, was in the thoughts of Cain.\u00a0 [1 John 3:12, \u201cnot as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous.\u201d]\r\n\r\nSatan reasoned that the Messiah is going to come through Abel\u2019s lineage because Abel sacrifice was accepted, Cain\u2019s was rejected.\u00a0 He thought the Messiah was going to come through Abel, I\u2019ll fix this problem right now, I\u2019ll\u00a0 have Cain murder Abel.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t understand Genesis 3:15 you don\u2019t understand why that murder happens in Genesis chapter 4.\u00a0 Do you see that?\u00a0 And God always gets around it supernaturally, in this case the birth of Seth.\r\n\r\nWell, what about that weird story in Genesis 6:1-4, \u201csons of God\u201d who I understand as angels, cohabitating with human women.\u00a0 Why would that happen. [Genesis 6:1-4, \u201cNow it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, [2] that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. [3] Then the LORD said, \u201cMy Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.\u201d [4] The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children<\/em> to them. Those were the mighty men who were<\/em> of old, men of renown.\u201d]\r\n\r\nWell there again Satan is at work trying to mix or damage the genetics of the human race so that a Messiah can\u2019t be born that\u2019s fully man.\u00a0 You say I need some more explanation on that.\u00a0 Well, when I get into the subject of angelology in Sunday School I\u2019ll give you the reason why I think that\u2019s true.\u00a0 But it fits this pattern.\r\n\r\nHow about Exodus 1 where Pharaoh arises and he begins to enslave the Egyptians and he begins to take the infants and have them drowned in the Nile.\u00a0 Why would Pharaoh do that?\u00a0 It\u2019s another attempt by Satan using Pharaoh to prevent the birth of the Messiah, Satan understanding that the Messiah must come from the Hebrew race.\u00a0 [Exodus 1:15-17, \u201cThen the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, \u2026; [16] \u00a0<\/sup>and he said, \u201cWhen you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them<\/em> upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.\u201d [17] \u00a0<\/sup>But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.\u201d]\r\n\r\nAnd if you want a time in history where Satan got within a millimeter of winning it was in 2 Chronicles 22 where the usurping queen, Athaliah, went on a rampage exterminating all of the royal offspring of the house of Judah.\u00a0 The kings must come from which tribe?\u00a0 Judah.\u00a0 There was almost no one left from Judah. \u00a0And had it not been for Jehoiada the priest<\/em>, <\/strong>hiding baby Joash, the only Davidic descendant, in the temple until Athaliah died, had that not happened the Davidic line would have been cut off and Satan would have won.\r\n\r\nHow about the story of Esther in the Persian period where a wicked man named Haman devises a plan to exterminate the Jewish race?\u00a0 That\u2019s another example of Satan working in history to prevent the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15.\u00a0 Then the Messiah is born; have you noticed that there were several attempts to take Christ out during His earthly life, prior to Him dying on the cross?\u00a0 Remember Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and he said what?\u00a0 \u201cThrow yourself off,\u201d trying to prevent the Messiah from fulfilling His mission.\u00a0 And then you have John 8:59 where they picked up stones to stone Him to death, that\u2019s Christ, because He claimed to be God.\u00a0 [John 8:59, \u201cTherefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.\u201d]\u00a0 And yet He magically, or supernaturally I should say, escapes through the crowd.\r\n\r\nOr how about all of the times on the Sea of Galilee and out of nowhere comes a storm.\u00a0 Where did the storm come from?\u00a0 These are all part of this first strategy that Satan has to stop either the birth of the Messiah or prevent Him from fulfilling His mission and what is happening in Revelation 12:1-5 is just the latest chapter in that failed strategy.\u00a0 Satan used the insecurity, it\u2019s right there in verse 4, he used the insecurity of a man named Herod to kill all of the innocent male infants in Bethlehem because Satan knew the Messiah was going to be born in Bethlehem, Micah 5:2. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[Micah 5:2, \u201cBut as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.\u201d]\r\n\r\nAnd\u00a0 I\u2019m going to work in history to prevent this Messiah from even coming. I, in my darkened mind, will stop Genesis 3:15 and in the process I will prevent my head from being crushed.\u00a0 That\u2019s the conflict that\u2019s going on, the invisible spiritual conflict.\u00a0 And guess what folks?\u00a0 Satan lost round one; that\u2019s the Christmas message; the Christmas message is despite attempt after attempt after attempt after attempt after attempt to kill Christ prematurely or to shut off the lineage leading to Christ, God is always in control, He supernaturally superintended and the Messiah was born.\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s why Jesus, 1 Peter 3:18-20, in between His crucifixion and resurrection descended to where the demons are involved in the Genesis 6 sin, they\u2019re incarcerated, those demons involved in that, and he did not euangelizal<\/em> them, evangelize, the verb is carusso<\/em>, He proclaimed to them that they\u2019re on the losing side of history.\u00a0 The Messiah was born; the Messiah accomplished His mission despite Satan\u2019s first strategy to stop the plan and the work and the program of God. \u00a0\u00a0[I Peter 3:18, \u201cFor Christ also died for sins once for all, the<\/em> just for the<\/em> unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; [19] in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now<\/em> in prison, [20] who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the<\/em> water.\u201d]\r\n\r\nSatan is trying to now move into strategy two; he\u2019s trying to prevent this from happening, Revelation 11:15 where \u201cThe kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.\u201d\u00a0 He hears that proclamation with trump number seven and he says you know what, I like ruling the world so you know what I\u2019m going to do about halfway through the tribulation period, I\u2019m going to launch a frontal attack against the nation, the woman clothed with the sun and the moon and the twelve stars (who is that again?) Israel, I\u2019m going to gobble up Israel during the final 1,260 days of the tribulation period to prevent the coming of the kingdom, because I know prophetically that just as the Messiah had to come through the Jewish race I also know prophetically that the capital city of the kingdom one day will be where?\u00a0 Not Washington D.C., Jerusalem, a Jewish kingdom.\r\n\r\nAnd my goodness, Satan says, I can\u2019t let that happen because once that happens I\u2019ll be bound for a thousand years with Jesus ruling from David\u2019s throne and then I\u2019ll be thrown into the Lake of Fire at the end of that so in my darkened mind I\u2019m going to stop that whole thing from happening by blotting out the nation of Israel.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what begins to be explained in Revelation 12:6-17 which begins to describe, not a past strategy but a present and a future strategy, a strategy that I believe to some extent is being used right now, to prevent the birth of the kingdom.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t prevent the birth of the Messiah but I\u2019ll tell you one thing, Satan says in his darkened mind, dollars to donuts that kingdom will not come.\u00a0 I know it\u2019s been announced but I\u2019m going to stop it.\u00a0 God makes a move, Satan makes a counter move!\u00a0 And that\u2019s what\u2019s happening in Revelation 12:6-17, Satan\u2019s second strategy.\r\n\r\nAnd you say wow, I\u2019d still like to hear more about that.\u00a0 Well, you\u2019ll have to come back next week when we\u2019ll talk about it.\u00a0 But it truly is an astounding part of the Bible that reveals this conflict that goes on all around us all of the time that we\u2019re not really aware of and yet the Bible describes these things as absolutely reality.\r\n\r\nSo the real question is what side of the conflict are you on?\u00a0 And what\u2019s interesting is in a war like this there\u2019s no such thing as neutrality.\u00a0 You\u2019re either on one side or the other!\u00a0 You say well, I don\u2019t believe in all of this stuff.\u00a0 Well when did that matter?\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe in the law of gravity, does that somehow allow me to jump off a three story building?\u00a0 These are actual truths whether we accept to embrace them or not.\u00a0 And if\u00a0 you\u2019ve never made a decision for Jesus Christ then you\u2019re on the losing side of history, you\u2019re on the wrong side of the battle.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it an exciting thing when a person comes to the realities and they trust in Christ and Christ alone as their Savior and they suddenly, in an instant, are moved into the winning side of history.\u00a0 Warfare continues but we know how this whole thing is going to play out.\r\n\r\nAnd so here at Sugar Land Bible Church we don\u2019t like to conclude our services without giving people an opportunity to come onto the right side.\u00a0 What did Jesus\u00a0 say?\u00a0 If you\u2019re not for Me\u00a0 you\u2019re against Me.\u00a0 People say oh, I\u2019m not going to make a decision for Christ today.\u00a0 Well you know what?\u00a0 That\u2019s a decision in and of itself; you just made a decision whether you realized it or not.\r\n\r\nAnd so what we are teaching here, what we celebrated this morning at the Lord\u2019s table, is the gospel; the gospel is Jesus did everything necessary to bridge the gap between fallen humanity and a holy God.\u00a0 In fact, His final words on the cross prior to His death were, \u201cIt is finished!\u201d\u00a0 Everything\u2019s done.\u00a0 Christianity is not a doing religion, it\u2019s a done thing which allows you to have a relationship with God and the only way you can have it is by receiving what Jesus did for you as a free gift.\u00a0 And the only way to receive a free gift from God is by faith, faith alone!\u00a0 Good works won\u2019t accomplish it. \u00a0Good intentions won\u2019t accomplish it.\u00a0 Joining a church won\u2019t accomplish it.\u00a0 Giving money won\u2019t accomplish it.\u00a0 Trying to be a good person won\u2019t fix the problem.\r\n\r\nWhat fixes the problem is what Christ did for us two thousand years ago through His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, and the Spirit convicts us of our need to trust in what He did, not ourselves, not our denominations, not our parents, not what someone else in our family tree believes, but we personally trust in what He\u2019s done for us.\u00a0 And if the Spirit of God is convicting you of your need to do that our exhortation to you at Sugar Land Bible Church, either here in this room or people that may be listening via online is to go ahead with that next step which is to trust what Jesus did.\u00a0 You can do that right now in the quietness of your own thoughts and heart and mind as the Holy Spirit places you under conviction.\u00a0 Again, it\u2019s not something you have to walk an aisle to do,\u00a0 join a church to do, it\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord where you rest or trust, which are all synonyms for saying you believe in what Jesus did.\u00a0 And the moment that happens your eternal destiny is changed, your identity is changed and you\u2019re transferred in a nanosecond from the losing side of the angelic conflict to the winning side.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something that you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\u00a0 Shall we pray.\r\n\r\nFather, we\u2019re grateful for chapters like this that show us realities that we could know no other way.\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ve called us to warfare, help us this week to put on the full armor of God as we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, and powers and rulers of this dark world.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give You all of the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026. Amen!","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t