The Woman, the Dragon, and the Child that Saves

Heavenly Father, you are supremely wonderful and worthy of our worship, God.

It is a privilege and a joy to gather with brothers and sisters in Christ,

those that are different from us culturally all across the globe, God.

We've come together this morning, and we are unified in this,

that we have found our life and our hope and our identity in you, God.

For so many of us in this room, Christ, you have changed us and transformed us,

and it's an absolute delight to fix our eyes on you, God,

and to worship you and to sing your praises.

We love doing that, God, and so thank you, God,

for welcoming us into your throne of grace this morning, God.

Father, you are God, and there is no one else like you.

God, it's a privilege to remind our own souls and our own hearts and one another

of your many attributes and to find our hope and our rest in you.

And so we do that this morning, God.

Father, thank you for your greatness and your grace.

Thank you for your majesty and your mercy, God,

your sovereign magnificence and your tender patience with us.

God, we need you and we adore you this morning.

You are Lord and King.

Father, this morning we want to pray for the youth and the children at Watermark, God.

We want to pray for the next generation of our church family.

And Father, we bring our youth and our children before you,

and we pray, Father, that at a young age their identity and their hope will be found in you, God,

not in their school performance, not, God, in what society says about them or impresses upon them.

Father, we pray that the next generation in our church will be so grounded and rooted in you,

that their identity and their security will be in you, Father God.

Father, we pray as many of them head towards exams in the coming weeks and months and with stress.

Father, help us as parents in a church family to love them through it.

And Father, we really do want to ask you, God, that you help us as a church

to help the next generation get the gospel deeply,

not just in their heads but in their hearts, God,

to be formed by the good news of Jesus.

Father, even this morning as our kids go off to kids' church,

we pray that your Holy Spirit will be there,

drawing them closer to yourself.

Make the gospel clear and vivid and beautiful to them, we pray.

Father, this morning we also want to pray for Chris, who's on sabbatical.

We pray that you refresh him and encourage his soul, God.

We pray that you speak to him wonderfully in this time.

God, won't you wash him in your love and your acceptance.

We pray that this sabbatical season will be profoundly good for his own soul

and also for him and Fiona and little Etienne and their family.

God, we pray that you will continue to speak to them, God.

I pray that when he comes back early next year,

he'll be so charged and ready, God, having spent amazing time with you.

So we pray that this won't just be rest from work,

but, God, it'll be deep soul work in his heart.

Even this morning, God, wherever they are as a family,

wash over them, God.

Pour your love into their hearts, we pray.

Father, finally we want to pray for our friends in Bangalore,

Rajiv and Sarah and Coram Deo Church.

Thank you, God, for bringing them to Hong Kong last week

and the chance to meet them.

God, we pray for that church,

and we know, as they shared last week,

the many challenges they're facing.

So many people in this city are victims of abuse.

And, God, we pray that you give them profound wisdom and insight,

that they minister to their city.

We pray that Coram Deo, God, will be more than just a gathering of saints.

It'll be salt and light in the city of Bangalore.

God, won't you encourage them and strengthen them

as they go about that very important work.

God, as they gather this morning for their services,

we pray, Holy Spirit, fill them and flood them.

Wash them with your gospel, God.

Pray, encourage Rajiv and Sarah as they plant this church, Lord.

And we pray for the finances of that church,

that you'll bless them, that they'll be able to carry out their mission.

We pray for new leaders to be raised up.

God, we bring Coram Deo before you this morning

and ask in your amazing grace to strengthen them and be with them.

May they know that you, Christ, are head of the church.

And so we stand with our brothers across Asia this morning,

lift them up before your throne,

and say, Father, won't you strengthen them?

We pray these things in your wonderful and your very faithful name.

Amen.

Amen.

Great. We're going to listen to the scripture reading.

Annabelle's going to do that.

If you are new to Watermark,

we are working our way through the book of Revelation,

and we are in Revelation chapter 12.

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

And this passage, sorry, that was my fault.

This passage that Annabelle's going to read to us

is a really interesting one with lots of strange imagery.

We're going to try and make sense of it a little later.

So if you're new, just listen up,

and let's see if we can make sense of it.

But go for it, Annabelle. Thank you.

The scripture reading comes from Revelation chapter 12.

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

Please follow along in your bulletin or on the screen.

And a great sign appeared in heaven.

A woman clothed with the sun,

with the moon under her feet,

and her head a crown of twelve stars.

She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains

and the agony of giving birth.

And another sign appeared in heaven.

And behold, a great red dragon,

with seven heads and ten horns,

and on his head seven diadems.

His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven

and cast them to the earth.

And the dragon stood before the woman

who was about to give birth,

so that when she bore her child,

he might devour it.

She gave birth to a male child,

one who is to rule all the nations

with a rod of iron.

But her child was caught up to God

and to his throne,

and the woman fled into the wilderness,

where she has a place prepared by God,

in which she is to be nourished

for 1,260 days.

Now war arose in heaven.

Michael and his angels

fighting against the dragon,

and the dragon and his angels fought back.

But he was defeated,

and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

And the great dragon was thrown down,

that ancient serpent,

who is called the devil and Satan,

the deceiver of the whole world.

He was thrown down to the earth.

And his angels were thrown down with him.

And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

Now the salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God

and the authority of his Christ have come.

For the accuser of our brothers

has been thrown down,

who accuses them day and night before our God.

And they have conquered him

by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony.

For they loved not their lives,

even unto death.

Therefore rejoice, O heavens,

and you who dwell in them.

But woe to you, O earth and sea,

for the devil has come down to you

in great wrath,

because he knows that his time is short.

And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth,

he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.

But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle

so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness

to the place where she is to be nourished

for a time and times and half a time.

The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman

to sweep her away with a flood.

But the earth came to the help of the woman

and the earth opened its mouth

and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.

Then the dragon became furious with the woman

and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring,

on those who keep the commandments of God

and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

And he stood on the sand of the sea.

This is the word of God.

Great. Thank you, Annabelle.

You read that so well with such expression.

That was fantastic.

Okay, just before we dive in,

I've actually forgotten to say this the last few weeks.

Revelation obviously is an interesting book with lots of imagery.

If you have questions,

let's say you think,

what on earth is the dragon?

Like, what does that mean anyway?

Or who's the woman?

Or what's up with the numbers?

Please come and talk to us.

You can come talk to me or any of the leaders.

We'd love to answer your questions.

Okay, so don't go away confused

or even more confused after the sermon than you were before.

Come and ask your questions.

You can ask any question you want about anything in the world.

And we would love to try our best to answer.

Okay, so just know that.

Now, as we have said many times before in the last couple of weeks,

the book of Revelation is about showing us

what is happening in the story of the world,

particularly the story of the church,

from the time of Jesus, his death and resurrection,

to the time when Jesus comes back.

A short way of saying that is from the cross until the throne,

this period of the already,

when Christ's kingdom has already come,

but it's also not yet fully come.

It's the story of the church,

and Revelation is showing us the story

from many different angles

and many different perspectives.

It's like in a sports game,

something happens,

and the referee isn't so sure if that trial was allowed

or if that goal should have happened

or someone committed a foul,

and so he radios the referee upstairs

that's watching on the TV,

and they look at these different angles,

and different angles show a different perspective

on the same event.

And that really is the book of Revelation.

We're looking at it from many different angles

that show us the story of the church.

Now, in this passage today,

we see the story of the church as a great big drama,

and there are three acts or scenes in this drama,

and there are three characters,

and the three characters are this woman,

this child that she gives birth to,

and a fiery red dragon, okay?

And so let's dive in and see if we can make sense of it.

So act one is the coming of Jesus.

So the drama starts off like this.

It says in verse one,

there's a great sign appeared in the heavens,

and a woman is clothed with the sun and the moon

and her feet and on her head is a crown,

and she's pregnant.

And she's crying out in birth pains

at the agony of giving birth.

Now, John, who wrote the book of Revelation,

is drawing on a whole bunch of Old Testament passages,

specifically Isaiah 26, Isaiah 66,

and a whole lot of others,

that picture the nation of Israel,

the Old Testament people of God,

as this lady who is waiting to bring forth this child,

the Messiah.

And for the Jewish people,

whenever they heard that or read those passages,

they would have thought of an earlier passage,

Genesis chapter three,

in which what happens is Adam and Eve sin

in the Garden of Eden.

They are faced with the consequences of their sin.

All humanity is cursed.

But in the midst of that curse,

God promises them a promise of hope.

And this is his promise.

He says,

Eve, from you are going to come a whole lot of descendants,

and one of your descendants

is going to be born of a woman,

and he will be the savior of the world.

He will crush the head of Satan.

And so, for the rest of the Old Testament,

the people of God,

the nation of Israel,

is waiting for the time

when someone from the nation of Israel

will give birth to this Messiah King

that will save not only them,

but humanity from the curse of sin.

And so, Israel itself,

throughout the Old Testament,

is pictured as this lady

waiting to give birth to the Messiah King.

Okay?

Does that make sense?

Okay.

Well, anyway, moving on.

So, that's the first character.

And who is this child that's born?

Well, it's Jesus.

Remember Matthew chapter 1?

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

There's this long lineage

describing Jesus and his ancestry

and where he comes from.

And all of that is meant to point

to the fact that Jesus is the one

that God promised to Eve

and to the nation of Israel.

But then we meet this third character,

and that's this evil kind of looking dragon.

And he's pictured as having seven heads

and crowns and horns on his head.

And seven is the number of completeness.

And crowns and horns and heads

are pictures of sovereignty

and authority and power.

In other words,

here is this dragon

and his false claims

to having absolute sovereignty

and power in the world.

In other words,

here is this being

that has set himself up

as a rival to the one true God.

Okay?

And what is this dragon doing?

Well, look at verse 4.

It says,

The dragon stood at the woman's feet

who's about to give birth

so that when she bore her child,

he might devour it.

He might destroy this coming child.

He's bent on destroying the child

that the woman is about to bear.

Now, throughout the Old Testament,

we see this,

that God's people,

the one through whom

the Messiah from the world

is going to come,

are constantly being attacked

by the forces of evil.

I think of Exodus chapter 1

Exodus 1 · chapter mention

where God's people,

the nation of Israel,

are in Egypt.

They're being oppressed there.

And Pharaoh issues this decree

saying all male children from Israel

are to be drowned in the river.

They're getting too strong,

too powerful.

It's time just to wipe them out.

And that parallels

what happens later on in the Bible

in Matthew chapter 2

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

where Herod hears that Jesus

is the new king of the Jews.

Remember, he hears from the wise men

that come.

They say,

we're looking for the king of the Jews.

Herod gets a fright

and realizes,

oh boy,

my throne is being threatened.

And he issues this decree.

All male children

under two years old in Bethlehem

get slaughtered.

And so throughout the Bible,

God's people

are constantly under attack.

But what John is telling us

is that behind

the acts of humanity

is another force.

Behind the evil

that's going on in the world,

there is a demonic force

in the spiritual realm as well.

Satan is

doing his best

to destroy God's people

and specifically

to destroy the Messiah.

And all of this

is an attempt

to destroy the promised Messiah,

the one whom God promised

way back in Genesis 3

that this Messiah

would bring about

the downfall of Satan

and the salvation

of those who trust in him.

And so this continues

throughout Jesus' life.

Remember,

he's tempted in the wilderness.

Satan comes and tempts him.

And this climaxes

in the cross.

Jesus is nailed to the cross

and finally,

forces of evil

think we've done away

with him.

But verse 5

in our passage today

tells us something else.

It tells us

that all Satan's efforts

are in vain.

Because just when he thinks

he's about to destroy

the Messiah,

the one who God promised

Eve would crush

the head of Satan,

just as he thinks

he's got him,

Jesus evades him

and he is taken up

into the throne of heaven.

It's a reference

to his ascension

after his resurrection.

Look at what it says,

verse 5.

She gave birth

to a male child,

the one who is to rule

the nations

with a rod of iron,

but her child

was caught up to God

and is now

before his throne.

And so Act 1,

verses 1 to 6,

tells the story

of Jesus' first coming.

His promise coming,

his birth,

his death on the cross

where Satan thinks

he's about to destroy Jesus

and his resurrection

and his ascension

up to heaven.

That's the end of Act 1.

Act 2,

the defeat of Satan.

Now look at what happens

in verse 7 here.

Verse 7 describes

this cosmic battle

that takes place

in the spiritual realm,

in the heavens.

Now just by the way,

the heavens isn't

a physical place

up in the sky somewhere.

Okay?

Someone once said,

if you take a space rocket

and you go far enough,

you'll eventually get to heaven.

I don't know where

they got that from.

Heaven describes

the realm of God's rule and reign.

It's where God rules, right?

Remember, Jesus says

he's going to bring heaven to earth.

Jesus brings his kingdom

and he's,

Jesus is going to rule on earth

one day.

The kingdom of heaven

will come to earth.

And so in the spiritual realm,

there's this battle.

We shouldn't take it literally.

There's not a wrestling ring

up in the sky

between Michael and Satan.

It's this battle

that's taking place

between the armies of God

and Satan.

But verse five told us

that Jesus eluded

or escaped Satan.

Verse eight tells us

something else happens.

Jesus doesn't just flee

from Satan,

he actually defeats him.

Look at what verse eight says.

It says there's a battle

in the sky,

in the heavens,

but Satan was defeated.

Now here's the question.

How is Satan defeated?

How does Jesus

conquer

Satan?

Well, paradoxically,

he does it in the very moment

when Satan thinks

he's conquering Jesus.

He does it on the cross.

As Jesus dies on the cross

and rises from the cross,

the very moment

that Satan thought,

we've done away

with the Messiah,

we've got him,

that's actually the moment

when Jesus conquers Satan.

Look at what happens

in verse 10.

After this happens,

he says,

now,

now is the salvation.

Now has the kingdom

of our God come

for the accuser

of our brothers

has been defeated.

In John chapter 12,

John 12 · chapter mention

Jesus,

it's,

I think it's the night

before he is betrayed.

Maybe the week before.

He's about to go

to the cross

and he says

to his disciples,

he says,

the hour has come

for me to be glorified,

which is a strange thing

for Jesus to be glorified

when he's put to open shame

on the cross.

But actually,

the moment of the cross

was his moment of glory.

And he says

to his disciples,

now the Son of Man

will be lifted up

and I will draw

all men to myself.

And then he says,

and the ruler

of this world

will be cast out.

See,

as Jesus is hung

on the cross,

as he dies

and as he rises again,

the forces of evil

are destroyed,

are crushed.

Jesus' death

on the cross

and his resurrection

from the grave

was actually

his decisive moment

of victory

over Satan,

sin,

and the curse of sin.

Remember,

Colossians chapter 2

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

says God disarmed

Satan's forces,

putting them

to open shame

by triumphing them,

triumphing over them

in Christ.

How did he do this?

By canceling

our record of death

that stood against us,

setting aside,

nailing it

to the cross.

Okay,

so now the question

is this,

how does Jesus'

death on the cross,

how is that his victory

over forces of evil?

Well,

the one way

is Jesus defeated

death and the grave.

Remember,

death is the consequence

of sin.

Romans says that

the wages,

in other words,

the paycheck

of investing your life

in sin

leads to death.

That's the consequences

of our sinful nature.

But Jesus conquered death.

He conquered the grave.

That's why in Corinthians,

Paul mockingly says,

death,

where is your victory?

Jesus has conquered

the grave.

Death,

where is your sting?

Your trump card

that Satan thought

he could pull out

on followers of Jesus

has been rendered powerless.

It's been defeated.

Jesus conquered death

and conquered the grave.

But that's actually

not what our passage says.

Our passage doesn't

talk about that at all.

Look at what the passage

says here.

How does it describe

the devil?

Look at verse 10,

I think it is.

It talks about him

being the accuser

of God's people.

The one who accuses them

night and day.

Remember in the book of Job

in the Old Testament,

the devil is allowed

to come into God's presence.

And what does he say

in chapter 1?

He says,

God,

you know that servant

of yours, Job.

Well,

Job doesn't really love you.

He doesn't really serve you.

He only serves you

because you bless him.

Satan comes before God

and he brings an accusation

against God's people.

Okay?

And that's the job

of the accuser.

That's what Satan does.

He accuses you and I

day and night.

He says,

he comes before us

and he says,

hey,

sorry,

he comes before God

and he says,

God,

that guy,

Jeremy,

that guy,

he doesn't deserve

to be your child.

How can you really love him?

You know the things

he's done this week?

Do you know

what's in his heart?

He doesn't deserve

your favor

and your acceptance.

Satan comes

and he brings accusations.

And what's God's answer

to those accusations?

Silence.

The accusation

doesn't stick.

Now those things

may be true.

Jeremy may have had

a bad week.

Jeremy.

Those things

may be true

but the accusation

doesn't stick.

And why doesn't it stick?

Because God's people

are declared righteous

through the death

and the resurrection

of Jesus.

The verdict

in the courts

of heaven

has been given.

God's people,

those that trust

in him

and come to him

in faith

and repentance

are declared

guiltless,

righteous,

blameless,

above reproach

because our sin

has been put on Jesus

and Jesus' righteousness

has been put on us.

Our perfect standing

before the God

is credited to us

because of Jesus.

And that means

that the accusations

of the devil

have no bearing.

Now it doesn't mean

they're not true.

Satan comes to me

and says,

Kevin,

you're such a lousy sinner.

You're so self-centered.

You're so full of pride.

It's true.

Those things are true

of me.

I'm far worse than that.

Satan,

if you only knew

how bad I was.

But the accusation

doesn't stick

because my righteousness

doesn't depend

on how good I am.

It depends on

what Jesus says

about me.

My standing before God

depends on one thing only.

Am I righteous

in Christ?

Have I come to Him

and put my faith

and my hope in Him?

And if the answer is yes,

the accusations

don't stand.

In 1 John chapter 2,

1 John 2 · chapter mention

Jesus is described

as an advocate,

a barrister.

Right?

We've got a couple

of barristers here

this morning.

And what happens

is Satan comes

before God

and he accuses us.

He says,

God,

have you seen

that guy Leo?

You know what he's done

this week?

And Jesus,

our advocate,

our barrister,

comes before God

the Father

and he brings

the evidence

and he says,

Father,

look at my

blood-stained hands.

Look at my

nail-scarred hands.

The price has been paid.

No guilt remains.

The penalty

has been dealt with.

No guilt remains.

Jesus,

our barrister,

comes

and he removes

the accusation.

Remember the great hymn

we often sing?

When Satan

tempts me to despair

and tells me

of the guilt within,

what do we do?

I put our look

and see him there

who made an end

to all my sin.

Friends,

that's the hope

of the Christian

because that's the hope

of the gospel.

And friends,

do you know what?

If you're here today

and you're not a follower

of Jesus,

you may be here

and think,

the message of the church

is to be kind.

That's not the message

of the church.

You may think

the message of the church

is to be good moral people.

Now that is a good thing

to do,

but that's not the message

of the church.

That's not the message

of the Bible.

You may be and think,

the message of the church

is to tell us

to love one another,

to be nice to people.

Now that's a good thing

to do,

but that's not the message

of the Bible.

The message of the Bible

is that there is great hope

in Jesus

because if we come to him

in faith and repentance,

God has made a way

for our sin

to be removed from us,

for us to be declared

righteous in him.

And all that means

is that the accusations

of Satan,

that's how Jesus

defeats Satan.

He disarms

his accusations.

He removes

his accusations

from him.

And that brings us

to Acts chapter 3,

Acts 3 · chapter mention

which is Satan's

warfare on the church.

Look at verse 12

and onwards.

In verse 12,

we see that Satan

has been thrown out

of heaven,

as it were,

and in great rage,

knowing not only

that Jesus

has evaded him,

but actually defeated him,

he now turns

his tyranny

and his anger

and his rage

away from Jesus

towards Jesus' people

here on earth.

Because while Satan

has been defeated,

he hasn't yet

been destroyed.

While the death sentence

has been signed,

it hasn't yet

been carried out.

Satan's judgment

has been declared,

the judgment

has been given,

but the sentence

hasn't been carried out.

And so,

in this interim period,

Satan now wages war

against,

not against Jesus,

he knows he's defeated him,

but against Jesus' people,

against the followers

of Jesus.

Look at verse 13.

It says,

When the dragon saw

he had been thrown

down to the earth,

he pursued the woman

who had previously

been given birth

to a male child.

That's to God's people.

The woman was given

two wings of the great eagle

so that she might fly away

from the serpent

into the wilderness

to the place

where she has been nourished

for a time,

times,

and half the time.

Verse 17.

Then the dragon

became furious

with the woman

and went off

to make war

on the rest

of her offspring,

on those who keep

the commandments

of God

and hold

to the testimony

of Jesus.

So,

the image here is,

I don't know if you've seen

a movie

where there's a battle

going on.

There's two forces,

they're fighting each other,

and the one team,

the one army,

is completely demolishing

the other army.

They've taken up,

so let's say,

I was going to say

Team England,

but let's just say

Team A,

is holding the fort,

right?

And they're trying

to preserve

this stronghold.

And there's this

other advancing army

that is taking them down,

and they're shooting

off their defenders,

right?

Their defense.

And so finally,

there's one person

that is defending

this force.

And he's been shot up,

and he's bleeding profusely,

and he knows

that the end is done.

He's the only guy left,

and there's this whole army

that's approaching him.

And he knows

he's going to die,

he knows that

their team has lost,

the victory for the other team

is any minute now,

but he's still got

a few bullets in his gun.

And so what does he do?

The dying,

last gasps

of a dying man,

the final kicks

of a dying man,

is he's trying his best

to shoot off

a few of the advancing enemy

before they take him out.

Does that make sense?

You see that image?

In other words,

the victory is assured.

It's already done.

There's no way

he's going to win.

But he decides,

just before I die,

let me at least see

if I can take out

some of the enemy forces.

That's exactly

what's going on here.

Satan has been defeated.

It's done.

There's no way

he can win.

Christ has already

died and risen.

The victory is assured.

But just before

Satan is utterly destroyed,

he's going to try

his best

to take out

a few of Christ's followers

and to destroy them

and to destroy

their faith.

Satan's been defeated,

but now he's attacking

the church

in the final,

last kicks

of a dying enemy.

But look at what

happens here.

Jesus says

in verse 14,

I think it is,

or 15,

that the woman,

God's people,

are carried away

on the great wings

of the great eagle

into the wilderness.

And it's a picture

of how the people

of God

were delivered

from Exodus

out of the tyranny

and the rage

of Pharaoh

and they were brought

by God safely

into the wilderness

and in the wilderness

God looked after them,

he protected them,

he cared for them,

he fed them,

their clothes

didn't wear out,

their shoes

didn't wear out.

God took care

of them

out of Egypt

into the wilderness

until they got

to their promised land,

until they got

to the place

of their rest.

God brought them

out of slavery

into the wilderness

and finally

into freedom.

And Jesus is saying

the same thing here,

that for the people

of God,

you've been delivered

from the tyranny

of Pharaoh,

you've been delivered

from Satan,

sure,

and now God

is delivering you,

he's taking you

into the promised land

for a period of time,

not forever,

and finally he'll

take you into glory,

into your place

of rest,

the promised land,

into heaven.

The story of the people

of God in the Old Testament

is the story of the people

of God in the New Testament.

And then all this

is a reference

to Deuteronomy 32

where God says,

you saw what I

did to the Egyptians,

not what you did,

we didn't save ourselves,

not how you

saved yourselves,

you saw how I

saved you from Egypt

and I carried you

on the wings

of the eagle

and I brought you

to myself.

Friends,

this is what John

is showing us,

that yes,

Satan is alive,

yes,

Satan is real,

and for those of us

who are Christians

as the children of God,

there is a spiritual battle,

there is an enemy

you need to be aware of.

He won't win in the end,

he's been disarmed,

he's been defeated,

but he is still out there

to destroy your life

and to destroy your faith

in Jesus.

And so we shouldn't

be apathetic,

we shouldn't be naive

or indifferent,

there is an enemy

and in his final few bullets

he's trying to take you out.

He does want to destroy you,

but at the same time

don't be alarmed.

You don't need to be given

to despair

because he's a defeated foe.

Those who trust

in the blood of Jesus

who died on the cross,

God is rescuing us,

he's preserving us,

he will carry you through

to glory.

C.S. Lewis said,

there's two mistakes

we can make.

The one is we can be

overly enamored

with the devil

and think there's a devil

behind every rock,

but the other mistake

we can make

is to completely ignore him

and think he doesn't exist.

This is what John

is telling us.

Now,

think about what

this would have meant

to the Christians

in the first century.

The Roman Empire

is expanding and growing.

The emperor

is consolidating

more and more power

in his hands.

Christians are being seen

as a threat

because they won't acknowledge

that Caesar is Lord.

Christians won't take on

the cultural practices

of their day

and so they claim allegiance

to another authority,

a higher authority

and all this meant

that the Christians

were ostracized,

they were persecuted,

they were cast out,

some of them were imprisoned,

some of them were even killed.

Remember at the beginning

that it says

to the church in Smyrna,

it says you're slandered

by the Israelites

because you say

Jesus is Lord,

but you're also slandered

by the Romans

because you won't say

Caesar is Lord.

And so for the Christians

in the small town of Smyrna,

from every side,

from the religious

and the not religious,

they are being ostracized.

In the church in Smyrna,

Jesus says,

some of you will be

thrown into prison

and some of you

will even die.

Some of you will be

thrown to the lions.

Or to the church

in Pergamon,

Jesus says,

I know you're situated

where Satan's throne is.

In other words,

you're situated in a town

where the cultal temples

are so strong,

it feels like you're

in Satan's very living room.

And so here,

John shows these Christians

that behind the hostility

of Rome on earth

is the hostility of Satan.

But that's not all

he shows them.

He shows them

that Satan's power

has been stripped.

That what they're experiencing

now is the final kicks

of a dying enemy

because Satan

is a defeated foe.

And so what are they to do?

How would John's writing,

how would Revelation

help these Christians

in the first century?

What are they to do

in light of this

when they go to the marketplace

or they go to social settings

or their family members

have turned in on them

and are ostracizing them?

How is the book of Revelation,

how is this man

who helped them?

Friends,

maybe it's a good question

for us.

How does this help you

and I

as you go to work tomorrow,

as you go to the marketplace,

as you are

maybe in social settings,

as your family

don't understand

your Christian faith?

How do we live our lives

knowing that

the spiritual warfare

is real

but that Satan

who is an accuser

and a deceiver

is out to destroy us

but that he's been defeated?

Well look at verse 11

because the answer

is given to us

in verse 11.

And this is the most

important verse

of the passage.

It says this,

Friends,

to be a Christian

at its most basic level

is to be someone

who lives

by simple faith

in who Jesus is

and what he's done

on the cross for you.

Knowing that our lives

and our hope

are not found

in the things of this world

but they're found in Jesus

and him who conquered the grave.

Remember when Jesus

writes his letters

to the seven churches

he ends off each one

and he says

to those that conquer

I promise life

and blessing

and abundance.

But how do we conquer?

How do we conquer

when Satan

is doing everything

he can to conquer you?

Friends,

how are you this week

not going to be conquered

but to conquer him?

Well remember

when Satan

tempts me to despair

and tells me

of the guilt within

I put a look

and see him there

who made an end

to all my sin.

The way that we conquer

the work of Satan

is not by looking

to ourselves

but to look to the one

who truly did conquer.

Friends,

when we see

that we conquer

his accusations

by trusting

the sufficiency

of Jesus

on our behalf

Satan comes to us

and says

Kevin you're such

a lousy Christian

God could never love you

you mess up

so many times

you're so self-centered

God could never love you

and my answer is

it's not true.

The cross of Jesus

proves it.

Jesus loved me enough

to go to the cross

for me.

I was thinking

about it yesterday

when I was

16 years old

I was a very

insecure teenager

probably more so

than the average teenager

and remember

I was 16 years old

and I was at this

youth camp

I might have told you

this story before

and I was just feeling

like I am a pile

of rubbish.

No one could love me

and if there is a God

he certainly doesn't

love me.

As I'm at this

like Christian youth camp

and there's a service

going on inside

and I walk outside

because I didn't want

to even be inside

the service

I was just feeling

so lousy

and I thought

God you could never

love me.

Anyway I'm outside

and I pray this prayer

I say God

if you're real

somebody needs to tell me

of your love for me.

So I'm standing outside

and I'm doing my own thing

and someone

a guy called Steve Wimble

he goes to the microphone

during worship

and he says

I just feel

there's a young man here

and God says

he loves you

and he wants to be

your father

and he wants you

to be his son.

In that moment

I knew that God

loved me

but you know what

in some ways

I didn't actually need

Steve Wimble

to say that.

All I needed

was somebody

to tell me the gospel.

All I needed

was somebody

to say

Kevin

Jesus loves you

enough to die

on the cross for you.

You see

how am I going to

defeat the accusations

of Satan

when Satan comes to me

and says

Kevin

you're a pile of rubbish

God could never love you

you're such a lousy Christian

how am I going to

defeat

how am I going to

conquer over Satan

we conquer

by faith

in the blood

of the lamb

knowing that

Jesus died

on the cross for me

yes I'm a lousy Christian

I know it

but Jesus loves me

enough to go

to the cross for me

and you know

sometimes Satan

will come to me

and say the opposite things

sometimes you'll say

Kevin

you're an amazing Christian

God is so lucky

to have you on his side

if only more people

could be like you

and Satan will come

and tell me

you're such a moral person

oh God must love you

so much

and you've done

so many good things

you must really be

in his good books

and how do I conquer

the lies of Satan

about what a wonderful

incredible person I am

I say Satan

the cross of Christ

proves you wrong

I'm such a sinner

that Jesus had to die for me

I'm so depraved

I couldn't save myself

I needed Jesus

to die for me

how am I going to conquer

the lies

and the accusations

of Satan

they're conquered

by the blood

of the lamb

by simple faith

in Jesus' death

and resurrection

and friends

that's why we take communion

the way Oscar

led communion

this morning

was beautiful

the reason we come

to communion

week in and week out

is so that every week

we see the body

of Christ broken for you

the blood of Christ

shed for you

remember Psalm 103

it says

praise the Lord

oh my soul

and forget not

all his benefits

forget not

he has removed

your sin

as far as the east

is from the west

friends

when the Bible

says forget

it's not like

we've forgotten

where our keys are

or our cell phone is

when the Bible

uses the word forget

it talks about

not being

the truth

of the scripture

not being vivid

in our consciousness

the Bible says

remember the gospel

it's not because

we've forgotten it

it's because

it's no longer

vivid in our consciousness

how are we going

to conquer Satan

it's by having

the gospel

the fact that

Jesus died

the blood of the lamb

has been shed for us

vivid

in our consciousness

let me see where I am

friends this is what

the life of faith

is all about

a Christian is someone

not just who knows

the gospel in their head

it's someone who

lives by faith

in the goodness

and the sufficiency

of Jesus

and his death

on the cross

and that's the way

we conquer the schemes

of the evil one

but

last thing

that's not all

because look at what

else verse 11 says

it says

they conquered him

by the blood of the lamb

by faith in what

Jesus did on the cross

but also by the word

of their testimony

even to the point

of death

now what does that mean

it means that

the Christians

conquered the schemes

of the devil

by knowing that

this world was no

longer their home

and that the things

of this world

no longer had a pull

on them

the desires and the

allures of this world

no longer seduced them

because they've been

so captured by the

beauty and the wonder

of Jesus

and the hope of the

gospel

that's how you conquer

the schemes of the

evil one

and so in this day and

age

the Romans would come

and say

hey you want to

preserve your life

just deny Jesus

and the beauty of

Jesus was so real

to them

that the word of

the testimony

they'd say

no Christ is Lord

not Caesar

even to the point

of death

the things of this

world no longer

had a hold on them

Christ so long

so had a hold

on their hearts

that they were

even in the face

of death

were able to stand

firm and say

Christ is Lord

that's how they

conquered the evil

one

friends this week

you can be sure

that the deceiver

the accuser

is going to try

his absolute best

to destroy your

faith

and to

rid you of

following Jesus

he's going to do it

through accusation

and deceit

he's going to do it

through

lies

he's going to do it

maybe through

tempting you

with comfort

and ease

that you start

to love

and hope

the things

of this world

how are we

going to overcome

him

friends the way

to overcome

him

is not by

looking to

ourselves

it's by

turning our

eyes

to the

wonder of

Jesus

friends this

week you

and you

at work

the way

to overcome

the evil

one

is not by

going to your

boss's door

before he arrives

at work

and anointing it

with holy oil

from the holy

land

right

that's not how

you're going to

defeat the evil

one

the way you're

going to do

it is by

having your

eyes of your

heart so

captured by

the beauty

of Jesus

that even

in the face

of opposition

in your

heart of hearts

you can say

Christ is Lord

even to the

point of death

that's conquering

by the word

of the testimony

to the point

of death

friends this

week Satan

is going to

try his absolute

best to destroy

your faith

to ruin your

life causing

people to turn

against you

causing people

to slander you

and talk badly

about you

causing people

to stab you

in the back

are you going

to get defensive

are you going

to fight back

are you going

to preserve

your life

by slandering

them back

or stabbing

them in the

back

is it in a

dog eat

world

dog eat

dog world

the one who

gets the top

is that how

you're going

to win

friends the

way you're

going to

conquer the

schemes of

the evil

one

it's not

looking to

yourself

not trying

to save

yourself

it's by

seeing in

your hearts

the beauty

and the

wonder

and the

faithfulness

and the

trustworthiness

and the

majesty of

Jesus

it's been

more enamored

and captured

by who

Christ is

in the

things of

this world

and that

way that's

how we

conquer the

word of

our testimony

even to

the point

of death

friends this

week the

deceiver and

the accuser

is going to

try and

destroy your

faith by

bringing

something beautiful

in your life

maybe some

romantic relationship

maybe the most

beautiful person

you've ever seen

is going to

come waltz into

your life

and you're

going to

think my

savior has

come this

person is

going to

make my

life worthwhile

and romantic

relationships are

good but they

are not your

savior they will

not save you

friends how

you're going to

overcome sin

this week

you won't do

it by promising

to be a good

Christian

you won't do

it by looking

at the Bible

and saying how

much can I

get away

with what

am I allowed

to do and

what am I

not allowed

to do

friends the

way we're

going to

conquer the

schemes of

the devil

is by

seeing with

the eyes of

our hearts

that Jesus

is more

satisfying than

any sexual

experience

Jesus is more

beautiful and

glorious than

any intimate

relationship

that Jesus

the one who

died on the

cross and gave

himself for

you loves

you supremely

to the world

and back

friends that's

the way you

conquer sin

by saying yes

to the beauty

of Jesus

that's conquering

with the word

of our testimony

even to the

point of death

in other words

the way we

overcome Satan

is being willing

to die to

ourselves because

we've seen how

wonderful Christ

is how glorious

and faithful and

majestic and

beautiful and

reliable he is

as we come to

a close do you

remember John

Newton he

wrote that

famous hymn

amazing grace

amazing grace

how sweet the

sound that

saved a wretch

like me I

once was lost

but now I'm

found was blind

but now I see

do you remember

that hymn the

final stanza is

amazing it says

this through many

dangers toils and

snares we have

already come but

it was grace that

has brought us

safe thus far and

it's grace that

will lead us

home friends many

believers think

that the way you

become a Christian

is by trusting

Jesus and then

the way you get

to glory is by

self-effort and

determination and

just by making

sure that you

don't mess up