The Enemy Of Christmas - Revelation 12:3-5

As we continue our series in Revelation chapter

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

12, if you recall, we introduced the topic and

the subject two weeks ago, and we just talked

about the content and the material of Revelation

12, its flow and how it progresses and builds,

and we talked about how it's apocalyptic literature.

Last week... We considered this first great sign

that appeared in heaven. We learned about this

woman who's on the brink of having a child. We

read in verses 1 through 2, a great sign appeared

in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun and the

moon under her feet, and on her head a crown

of twelve stars. and she was with child, and

she cried out, being in labor and in pain, to

give birth. We recognize that this is the church

throughout the ages, that this is the redemptive

groanings of God's people leading up to the birth

and the incarnation of God himself and taking

on flesh. We recognize... That this was the people

of God longing for a Messiah and looking for

the messianic hope which had been promised to

them. Today, we come to the second sign that

appears in the sky, in the heaven. We read about

another sign which appears in heaven, a great

red dragon. We'll consider today the enemy of

the incarnation, the enemy of Christmas in a

very real sense, brothers and sisters, the enemy

of the Christian church, the enemy of Christ,

the enemy of the people of God, the enemy of

your soul. That's who we will consider today.

If we think about the... nature of history, secular

and church history, and we think about the orientation

of the world and society and cultures in the

middle of all of that. We think about the Christian

church, the church of the living God. Time and

time again, the culture, the world, and society

have opposed the church. heightened in intensity

and degree, but then it goes down and it fluctuates

and it goes up and it goes down. We think about

the threats and the dangers that come against

the Christian church. We think about the false

doctrine and the error that is so rampant in

the world. We think about Islam in our day, a

real true threat to the church of Jesus Christ

today in our world and in the future. Brothers

and sisters, we think about... political governments.

We think about kings and kingdoms all around

the world and how they have come against the

church and how they will throughout the rest

of this age. We have a tendency to think about

these groups or these aspects or these specific

people and to focus on those individuals, recognizing

and thinking that this is my real enemy. This

is where the malice and the hatred comes from.

This is why the church is opposed. But what we

find is that there is something very, very fundamental

to that opposition. There's something very, very

foundational. There's something hidden and unseen

behind that opposition, There's a very real enemy

behind that conflict. The devil. The enemy of

Christ and his church. This is who we will consider

today. We'll consider the great red dragon. We'll

consider the dragon's disposition towards the

woman and her child. And we will consider the

dragon's failure. and God's victory in this text.

So first, the great dragon. Notice in verse 3

that it says, Then another sign appeared. So

immediately, when we think about the great red

dragon, we're not talking about a literal, physical

dragon. We're talking about a sign. or a symbol,

something that represents something else. It's

expressing meaning in a symbolic way. So we have

to ask, who is this great red dragon? Well, we

come to an understanding of that by looking at

the description and looking at the rest of this

text. How is the great red dragon described?

How is he characterized in this text? Well, we

read further in verse 3. Then another sign appeared

in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon, having

seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were

seven diadems, or jewels, almost like crowns.

And so, who is this dragon? What is he like?

Well, his seven heads and his ten horns and his

diadems stand for his authority, his power, his

influence in the world and among the kingdoms

and especially in governments and places of power.

We read in Revelation chapter 17 verses 9 through

Revelation 17:9–14

14 this. Here is the mind which... Here is the

mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven

mountains on which the woman sits. And they are

seven kings. Five have fallen. One is. The other

has not yet come. And when he comes, he must

remain a little while. The beast, which was and

is not, is himself also an eighth and is one

of the seven. And he goes to destruction. The

ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have

not yet received a kingdom, but they receive

authority as kings with the beast for one hour.

These have one purpose, and they give their power

and authority to the beast. Now, we know that

the beast, and we know that the monster out of

the sea and the monster from the earth, the false

prophet, the harlot, and the false teacher, and

the false prophet, and the harlot, and immorality,

or Babylon, and the king we find in Revelation

12, that is the government that the devil works

through. We find that the devil, gives them authority.

The devil gives them power to operate and exert

influence in the world and to function as he

sees fit. They're his helpers in a very real

sense. So this speaks of the devil, his authority

and influence in the world. It speaks of his

power to work in the midst of societies, cultures,

and places around the world, in the earth, and

the hearts and minds of unbelieving men. And

this language of the dragon is rooted in Old

Testament literature. So some would link this

to mythology. would be associated with the first

century and so forth. But I think it finds its

roots, and it's alluding to Old Testament literature,

and specifically Old Testament literature that

has to do with the Leviathan, or the great dragon

of the sea, the beast, the most powerful of sea

creatures that could never be stopped. We read

in Job chapter 41, Of this beast. Job 41. Verses

Job 41 · chapter mention

1 through 5. We read this. How blessed is he.

Who considers the helpless. I apologize that

was song. Job 41. As I said. Job 41. Verses 1

through 5. We read this. Can you draw out Leviathan.

With a fishhook. Or press down his tongue with

a cord? Can you put a rope in his nose? Or pierce

his jaw with a hook? Will he make many supplications

to you? Or will he speak to you soft words? Will

he make a covenant with you? Will you take him

for a servant forever? Will you play with him

as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your

maidens? It's a rhetorical question that automatically

leads to the answer of no. Why? Because it's

a powerful beast. It's a powerful monster that's

uncontrollable. It's a powerful sea creature,

an animal which is fierce, which is dangerous.

We read in Psalm chapter 74. Similarly. specifically

Psalms 74 · chapter mention

in verses 13 through 14. You divided the sea

by your strength. You broke the heads of the

sea, monsters in the waters. You crushed the

heads of the Leviathan, of Leviathan. You gave

him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

In this text, brothers and sisters, the author

of the psalm, is taking this idea of the Leviathan

and applying it to Egypt and applying it to those

who are pursuing Israel into the wilderness and

God brought the water down upon their heads and

destroyed them and crushed them. They were the

enemy of God's people. So here we find the author

of this psalm, Asaph, applying this idea of the

Leviathan to the enemies of God's people which

God himself destroyed and crushed. And brought

the Red Sea to bear down full in its weight.

To remove them from their threat from the people

of God. So we find that this idea of this dragon,

this Leviathan. Is associated with being an enemy

of God's people. We read in Isaiah chapter 27

Isaiah 27:1

verse 1. These words. In that day. The Lord will

punish Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, with his

fierce and great and mighty sword. Even Leviathan,

the twisted serpent, and he will kill the dragon

who lives in the sea. God will overcome and destroy

the enemies of God's people. The most powerful,

the strongest opposers, those who bring the greatest

conflict against the church of Jesus Christ and

do the most harm to his name and slander his

name, God will deal with. And how does he refer

to them in this text? The Leviathan, the fleeing

serpent, the dragon who lives in the sea. I believe

that this imagery is drawn from the Old Testament.

The dragon, this great monster, this great enemy

of God's people. So who is the great red dragon

representing or symbolizing the devil? Satan,

the great arch enemy of God's people. And John

clarifies this for us in verse 9 when he says,

The great dragon was thrown down. and the serpent

of old who is called the devil and Satan. So

he's not talking about a literal dragon, brothers

and sisters. He's talking about the devil who

hates God's people. He has opposed God's people

from the earliest days and will oppose God's

people throughout the gospel age. This is who

he speaks of. The Lord Jesus called the devil

the prince of... This world. And 1 John 5 .19.

Speaks of how he has authority. And he has deceived.

This world. John goes on and says. Who deceives

the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth.

And his angels were thrown down. With him. It's

popular. In our day and our age. Brothers and

sisters. To not think about the devil. To not

think about Satan. And to either relativize him

away, to allegorize him away, or to just make

him insignificant, almost as though he doesn't

exist. We have a very real enemy. One that really,

genuinely opposes the soul of every true believer.

One that hates God and hates Christ's people.

It would be foolish and ignorant of us, brothers

and sisters, to ignore this reality or to make

light of this truth that we have a real true

enemy that is unseen that really strategizes

and schemes to oppose the church of Jesus Christ

in this world. 2 Corinthians 2, 8 -11 speaks

of how if we are ignorant of the devil's schemes,

we will surely be taken advantage of. If we overlook

or ignore the fact that we don't have an enemy,

do you think we will be taken advantage of by

that enemy, brothers and sisters? Absolutely.

This church and every other faithful church has

a real opposer, the devil. And he will do anything

he can to get his foot in the door, to rip it

apart, and to bring it and to shred it apart.

To hurt it. Now this is who the great red dragon

is. Satan, the serpent of old. But we also find

in this text the dragon's disposition toward

the woman and her child. Notice in this text

we read this. 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. Now, last

week we considered this image of the woman in

the night sky. And how John wants us to be aware

and to be conscious of the fact that she is literally

on the brink. Of having a child. She cries out

in travail. In pain. In birth pains. She's almost

to give birth. She's almost to have a child.

And on the other side of her. Another great sign

appears. But it's not a good sign. It's this

red dragon. And does he have. Good intentions.

With regards to the woman in the sky. This woman.

That's about to give birth. No. He has murderous,

malicious intent. That is what John wants to

communicate. What is the dragon doing in the

symbol? He's standing, crouching, waiting for

the woman to give birth. Why? So that he can

kill the child. So that he can destroy the Messiah.

So we find in this text, That John communicates

to us in this language, in this symbolic language,

Satan's malice towards the church and towards

Christ. His murderous intent and hatred and actions

against the people of God and the Messianic community.

So what is the source of this malice? Why does

the devil hate the church and hate Christ to

such a degree? Why does this conflict that John

is speaking of exist in the first place? Why

is the human race caught up in this conflict?

Why are we even involved in this cosmic quarrel

between the devil and Christ? Why? Are we in

the midst of it? Well, it goes back to the book

of Genesis and even before, brothers and sisters.

The Bible teaches that the devil sought out power.

He was prideful and arrogant and he sought out

authority for himself. And as a result, he persuaded

a portion of the other angels. to follow him

and to rebel against God. Listen to what the

text says. And his tail swept away a third of

the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.

The other angelic figures and bodies, what took

place? At least a third of them, a portion of

them, followed the devil in his rebellious and

unsubmissive. Actions toward the God of the universe

who made him. Likely the devil was one of a few

archangels. He was glorious and powerful. An

angel of light. There were none like him. But

he challenged the living God. We don't know all

the details. We can speculate certain things.

But we know that the angel fell before men fell.

The fall of the devil came before the fall of

Adam. So the devil opposes God and his people.

This is the backdrop. This is the context. And

this is the setting. Of Adam's fall, brothers

and sisters, who is it that tempts the woman?

Who is it that deceives the woman? Who is it

that comes to the woman and invites her and persuades

her to join him in his rebellion against the

living God? It's the serpent of old. We think

about the fall of man. And one of the things

that's so terrible about Adam's failure to appropriately

represent God's people and men and women throughout

the ages as their federal head is that he chose

to side with the devil. He chose to join in the

demonic rebellion against the living God. He

chose sin and unbelief and the demonic before

he chose the holy, good character and law and

promises of God himself. Adam willingly broke

the covenant that God had made with him when

the devil tempted Eve and Eve brought the fruit

to him. He willingly transgressed God's Prohibition

in God's command. And he willingly locked arms

with this dragon. As did every other sinner who

was found and represented in Adam. All those

Adam represented chose to lock arms and to hold

hands with the devil. himself and his rebellion.

Now quickly after the fall, quickly after that

the sin came into the world, what takes place

in Genesis 3 .15? God himself mounts the pulpit

and preaches the first gospel. God himself mounts

the pulpit and proclaims the gospel and the coming

Messiah and the fact that the... the serpent

would be crushed with a fatal blow. Now, here's

what I want you to think about in that, who is

God speaking to when he first proclaims the gospel?

Who is he addressing? The devil. He's not speaking

to Adam and Eve, they overhear it. He's speaking,

he's communicating, he's addressing the devil

himself. You know what God is doing in Genesis

3 .15? He is declaring the destruction, the defeat,

and the fact that he would be conquered by the

Messiah himself. That the offspring of the woman

would rise up one day and that he would crush

his head, but the serpent would lay an unfatal

blow on the heel of the Messiah. God was proclaiming

the gospel to the devil, and he's declaring his...

His destruction, brothers and sisters. And ever

since that point in time, ever since that moment,

a great conflict has ensued all throughout the

Old Covenant. All throughout the Old Testament,

we see this conflict playing itself out. The

seed, the serpent, and the seed of the serpent,

and the offspring of the woman, and the descendants

of the woman who believe in the promise. There's

this conflict and this divine quarrel that's

taking place. There's this hostility. There's

this enmity between these two where the devil

is constantly seeking to swipe. The devil is

constantly seeking to destroy and hurt and bring

the cessation of that lineage to an end. Or to

bring that lineage to cessation. To stop it.

We see it immediately after the garden, don't

we? Cain and Abel. What about all the corruption

in the world before the flood? What did that

have the potential to do? What was the problem

in her marriage? Corruption of the divine seed.

What about if we go forward and we think about

Ishmael? and Jacob. Or we think about Isaac and

Ishmael. I apologize. The hostility, the enmity

between the two, the conflict. We think about

Jacob and Esau. We think about Rachel and Leah.

There's all this conflict, brothers and sisters.

And then we get to Egypt. And what takes place

is the people of God are getting close to leave.

Pharaoh seeks to destroy the offspring of the

Jews. To kill off the lineage. And what do we

find as we move throughout the Bible and the

redemptive narrative? What happened with Saul

and David? Do you remember how many times Saul

drew his spear and tried to stick David with

his spear to kill him? Where does the Messiah

come forth from? David. Over and over and over.

What about the book of Esther, brothers and sisters?

Haman wanted to completely bring about a full

-blown genocide in the life of God's people so

that the seed would be no more. What about Queen

Athaliah? In 2 Kings chapter 11, I believe. Do

2 Kings 11 · chapter mention

you remember what she did? She sought to destroy

the royal lineage of David and just completely

wipe it out. Over and over and over and over,

we find the dragon trying to devour the woman's

child, to destroy the Messiah, to consume the

seed so that his defeat would not come about

in... There was one final attempt at the close

of the Old Testament and the start of the New

Testament. That final attempt is found in Matthew

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2. I'd like us to turn there. We all

know this story. If you remember, the Magi from

the East recognized the arrival of a king, a

great king. And they come and they seek out this

king. They go to Herod. Herod goes, yes, yes,

go search methodically and find him. And when

he comes back, when you find him, make sure to

let me know so that I can go and worship him

too. It sounds like there's good pure motives

there with Herod, don't you think, brothers and

sisters? So the Magi go and they follow the star

and they find the Messiah. but God intervenes.

And then what takes place? Herod is enraged.

He goes off the rails. And here's what we read.

Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked

by the Magi, he became very enraged and he sent

and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem

and all its vicinity from two years old and under

according to the time. which he had determined

from the Magi. What's at work in Herod to influence

and manipulate and bring about the slaughtering

of these baby boys? Is it Herod wanting to stop

another king? Or is there something behind the

scenes, something unseen? Is there someone that

is working to devour the woman's child? The devil

makes one final attempt before Christ could accomplish

his work to destroy the Messiah, the hope of

the world. He tries this and fails throughout

the life of Christ. Many, many times. We could

think about the wilderness, brothers and sisters.

You remember where the devil comes to Jesus and

he tempts him? And it's very similar to the garden.

Where Adam and Eve are tempted. But in the wilderness,

Jesus has... No food in his belly. He has no

help. He doesn't have a companion. He's not eaten

for a long time. He's fasting. He's weak. He's

by himself. He's not in a lush green garden that

has all the food and all the provision and all

the nourishment that exists. He's in a barren

wilderness with nothing to aid him on a starving

stomach and he's weak as you can get out. And

what happens when the devil comes to him, brothers

and sisters? He conquers the devil. He overcomes

the devil. He does not succumb to the temptation.

He overcomes the trial. The devil fails. What

happens when the devil works through Peter, the

disciple of Jesus Christ, to try and keep him

from the cross? Christ rebukes him to his face.

And what happens later on in his ministry, brothers

and sisters, when he enters into Judas and he

betrays the Son of God? The very thing that he

wants to happen, the death of Christ, brings

about the redemption and the victory which God

had promised in the garden. Time and time again.

The devil tries to consume the offspring or the

child of the woman that Revelation 12 Speaks

of. But this is important for us to understand.

Time and time again. Perpetually. Repeatedly.

Over and over. The devil fails. To accomplish.

His work. He never succeeds. In thwarting. The

promised lineage. And the promised Messiah. Not.

a single time. Behind the nativity, behind the

incarnation and the birth of Christ, brothers

and sisters, we find this great conflict taking

place. It ought to remind us that there is an

enemy. That there are forces at work beyond that

which the naked eye can see. That can only be

seen and understood by faith in what the word

of God says. But we have to keep a balanced perspective

of this as well. The nativity and Christmas and

this holiday season where we remember the birth

of Christ. We also have to remember the dragon's

failure and God's success in all of redemption.

Because we read in verse 5, And she gave birth

to a son, a male child who was to rule all the

nations with a rod of iron. And her child was

caught up to God and to his throne. He never

devoured the woman's child in the figurative

words of Revelation 12, did he? He never succeeded.

The woman gave birth, and the child accomplished

his purposes, and he's caught up away from the

devil to the throne of God. He succeeds, and

he accomplishes that which he's set out to accomplish.

Christ is never successfully opposed by the devil.

He accomplishes the gospel. The devil could not

stop his birth. The devil could not stop his

holy life unto the law. The devil could not stop

his atoning death on the cross. The devil could

not stop his powerful and mighty resurrection.

The devil could not stop his ascension to the

throne of God, brothers and sisters. Could he?

The devil failed at every corner in Christ and

God in his sovereignty to bring about the redemption

of mankind. Succeeds and is victorious at every

single corner, at every stage in the redemptive

story and throughout redemptive history. Christmas

is not just about the conflict behind the scenes.

Christmas is a reminder, brothers and sisters,

of Christ the victor. Christ the conqueror. Christ

the mighty king. You see, brothers and sisters,

the nativity teaches us. That it's not just the

devil opposing Christ. The nativity and the incarnation,

the life, death, the resurrection and the work

of Christ reminds us, brothers and sisters, that

God has successfully made war on the works of

the devil. That he sent his son to be born of

a woman. That he sent his son. to live a holy

and a righteous life, to obtain righteousness,

that He sent His Son to die on the cross for

the sins of God's people, to appease and satisfy

the wrath of God for sinners, to raise from the

dead, and to return to His throne. This was an

act of war. This was a squashing of the rebellion,

and it was successful. Perfectly and completely.

In the gospel. Christ is defeating the devil.

He is establishing his king. And his rule. And

he is claiming that which is his. The captives.

The devil has taken. He is taking back. Those.

that the devil stole from God, in a sense, in

Genesis chapter 3. It's a divine act of war against

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

the devil and his works. This is why we read

in 1 John chapter 3, verse 8, the Son of God

1 John 3:8

appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works

of... The devil. That was his purpose. For coming.

We read in the book of Hebrews. Chapter 2. Therefore

Hebrews 2 · chapter mention

since the children share in flesh and blood.

He himself. Speaking of Christ. Likewise also

partook of the same. That through death. He might

render powerless him. Who had the power of death.

That is the devil. And might free those. Who

through fear of death. Were subject to slavery

all their lives. That's why we read. In the book

of Colossians. Chapter 2. Verses 13 through 14.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

These words. When you are dead in your transgressions.

And the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made

you alive together with him, having forgiven

us all our transgressions. Having canceled out

the certificate of debt consisting of decrees

against us, which was hostile to us, and he has

taken it out of the way, having nailed it to

the cross. When he had disarmed the rulers and

authorities, he made a public display of them,

having triumphed over them through him. through

Christ on the cross. Brothers and sisters, as

we near this time of the year and we enjoy this

time of the year, let us not forget what Christmas

is all about. It's about conflict, but it's about

conquering in Christ and what he has accomplished

and brought about. The wonderful reality of all

of this, brothers and sisters, is that by the

grace of God, according to the mercy of God,

those in Christ are the recipients and the benefactors

of this glorious redemption which God has accomplished

that he triumphs over the devil in. That's us

as sinners who don't deserve any of it. As those

who sided with the devil, we ought to have the

devil's fate. But brothers and sisters, even

though we have sinned against God, he in his

mercy and his grace saves sinners through the

work of the gospel. Through the life, death,

resurrection of Christ, he gives men new hearts.

He makes them new and he changes them. He grants

them faith and repentance. He renews them. He

sanctifies them. He transforms them. And brothers

and sisters, He brings them to glory. And He

will give them the new heavens and the new earth.

All because He's merciful and gracious. And Christ

came to conquer the devil. We are the recipients

of that as those in Christ. All by the grace

of God. We don't deserve an iota of it. The smallest

amount. We've never earned any of it. Christ

himself obtained every aspect, every piece, and

every part. And not only that, not only are we

removed from the kingdom of darkness, from the

devil's grasp, from the devil's rule in our hearts

and our minds, the devil's influence, but brothers

and sisters, we've been made children of God.

We've been adopted into the family of God. We've

been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly

places in Christ. He treats us as he treats Christ

Jesus. But that's not true of all men. That's

not true of all women. That's not true of all

young people. Some remain under the power and

the authority and the rule of the devil. Some

remain in the kingdom of darkness. They never

forsake their sin. They love their sin. And the

devil actually uses that to keep them under his

thumb. They've never known the goodness of God

in salvation. They've never tasted of what it

means to have the Spirit of God dwell within

you and give you a never -ending hunger and thirst

for righteousness and holiness, to know God more,

know they live and they revel in their sin, whether

it's blatant immorality or whether it's self

-righteous pride. You are either in Christ and

free of the devil, or you are under the rule

and the authority of Satan himself. And the only

way out from this and getting over to this is

by trusting in Jesus Christ and turning from

your sins. Seeing the reality that you are a

desperate sinner and forsaking that sin and looking

to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, trusting in

Him for salvation, for eternal life. Those in

Christ... Are actually made. Christian soldiers.

In this battle. And they are given. One weapon.

One weapon to fight with. The word of God. The

word of God brothers and sisters. Is how we fight.

In this battle. And it must be wielded. With

much prayer. And intercession. as Paul teaches

us. So, be encouraged as you think about the

nativity, the cross, and Christmas. But brothers

and sisters, let it also encourage you to wield

the sword and to stand firm this part of the

season.