The Devil

Father, your Son himself has warned us that as we hear your Word, which was just read,

and as we think upon your Word together now, that it is possible for us to be one of four types of soils.

And Father, Jesus has just warned us about this.

Father, you know those of us who, even as we were listening to Jesus,

we did not pay attention that the devil took the words from us.

You know those of us, Father, who almost instantly were paid attention but then drifted off somewhere else.

You know those of us, Father, who are too consumed with worry to really hear what you say.

We give you thanks and praise, Father, that your Son would so speak to us and warn us,

and that the desire of your heart would be that we will be good soil.

Father, we cannot be good soil on our own.

We ask in your mercy and in your kindness that you would so pour out your Holy Spirit upon us this morning,

that we will be good soil that hears your Word and receives your Word and holds fast to your Word with joy,

so that we will bear fruit with our lives, bear fruit that brings you glory.

So, Father, please pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.

Make clear your Word.

May it go deeply into our hearts and our wills and our minds and our lives.

And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

Okay, now I've found my stopwatch.

The devil is real.

He is our enemy.

He is alive.

He is active.

He is doomed.

And in the face of his opposition,

we are to testify with our lips and with our lives

of our Savior, Jesus Christ crucified.

The devil is real.

He is our enemy.

He is alive.

He is active.

He is doomed.

And in the face of his opposition,

we are to testify with our lips and with our lives

of our Savior, Jesus Christ crucified.

The devil is real.

He is not a metaphor,

an analogy,

a symbol,

a process,

a myth,

or a mere storybook character.

He is not a primitive way

of talking about mental illness

or evil.

Even though politicians

have evilly used the devil

to demonize other people,

their misuse

is not the proper use.

The devil is not a tool

of politicians

to label others

or enemies

and stir up mobs

and armies

to battle.

The devil is not misunderstood.

He is not a hero.

He is not a rebel.

He is not a freedom fighter.

He is not hip.

He is not cool.

He is not the yin

or the yang

to God.

He is not an antithesis

leading to a new synthesis.

He is not energy.

He is not our friend.

He is not our ally.

He is not our means.

He is not our tool.

He is not a joke.

And in ourselves,

he is more powerful

than we are.

The devil is real.

He is our enemy.

He is alive.

He is active.

He is doomed.

And in the face

of his opposition,

we are to testify

with our lips

and with our lives

of our Savior,

Jesus Christ,

crucified.

If the devil

does not exist,

then the two Bible passages

that we read

are a complete

and utter

waste of time.

If the devil

does exist,

then today's passages

are unbelievably

practical

and important.

So,

today,

my sermon

will be a little bit

more like a Bible study

than a proper sermon.

I really only have

one point.

And I'm going to keep

saying that one point.

I've already said it

three times.

I'm going to say it

a fourth time.

The devil is real.

He is our enemy.

He is alive.

He is active.

He is doomed.

And in the face

of his opposition,

we are to testify

with our lips

and with our lives

of our Savior,

Jesus Christ,

crucified.

That's the message

of Revelation 12.

So,

if you have your Bibles,

please open them up

to Revelation 12,

and we're going to

read the text,

mindful of what it is

that the Bible

is teaching.

that there is

in existence

a real devil

who stands

in opposition to us.

As I stand

and speak to you

right now,

he stands

in opposition

of what I say.

So,

any Sunday,

if you've forgotten

your Bible

or you don't own a Bible,

there's always some Bibles

up here at the front.

You're always welcome

to take it,

and if you want,

you can keep it

as a gift from us.

So,

Revelation 12,

let's look at

the first six verses,

which gives

a sort of

a vignette,

an overview,

in very,

very powerful

imagery

of the basic

story

of the devil.

In just six verses

with very,

very powerful imagery.

And for some of us,

if you're like me,

I'm not actually

a very visual

type of person,

although I really love

watching movies,

but I like words

the most,

I like sort of

ideas the most,

and that means

probably that

when I read

certain,

like,

Colossians or something,

like,

I'm reading something

in my sweet spot.

Others of you

like poetry,

and you like

playful types of things.

Others of you

like images,

and the Bible

is for the whole,

all human beings,

and so,

here the Bible,

in its most

concentrated teaching

on the devil,

will use powerful images,

and for those of you

who are,

who love images,

this will teach you

very powerfully.

And so,

here we get this,

these first six verses

go like this,

and a great sign

appeared in heaven,

a woman clothed

with the sun,

with the moon

under her feet,

and on her head,

a crown of twelve stars.

She was pregnant,

so neat that as soon

as I said she was pregnant,

a baby made a noise,

isn't it?

Do you know how hard

it is to organize

things like that

in a sermon?

It takes weeks,

we practiced every day

just for a baby

to make a noise

just at that exact

right time.

She was pregnant

and was crying out

in birth pains

and the agony

of giving birth.

And just sort of

pause here.

We'll go through

the whole story

to get you

the whole vignette,

and then we'll go back.

So, verse two,

she was pregnant

and was crying out

in birth pains

and the agony

of giving birth,

and another sign

appeared in heaven.

Behold,

a great red dragon

with seven heads

and ten horns,

and on his heads

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 was 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 1260 days.

Sort of a very powerful image,

as I've joked

or said several weeks

in advance,

I actually asked Jeremiah

to play a Christmas carol

today

because there's

an obvious connection

to the Christmas story.

You might not remember,

but in the book of Revelation

it's a book about Jesus,

about what he's done,

what he's doing,

and what he will do.

And so here we get

a story that includes

the birth of Jesus,

something which has happened

when John wrote this

about almost,

well, over 90 years prior

to John writing this.

This is when Jesus

would have been born.

And so let's just

sort of capture

some of the images.

Who is the woman?

Look again,

verse 1,

and a great sign,

and it's the same word

that's used

if you read John's Gospel,

it keeps calling,

it calls the,

John calls the miracles

of Jesus

in John's Gospel,

he calls them signs.

And he means that

they're a mighty act of God,

something that God does,

which points to something,

which points to,

I mean,

in and of itself,

it's real,

but it not only is real,

it's like a window,

and it's like a window

with someone pointing

to ask you to look

at some great reality,

some great truth,

some great insight,

or wisdom,

or stark knowledge

that comes from God.

And so the vision begins,

and a great sign

appeared in heaven,

a woman clothed with the sun

and with the moon

under her feet

and on her head

a crown of 12 stars,

and she was pregnant

and was crying out

in birth pains

and the agony

of giving birth.

And in a sense,

what we capture here

is that John gets

a vision of Israel,

he gets a vision of Eve,

and he gets a vision

of her lineage

of which the Messiah

would be born,

and he has a vision

of Abraham,

and he has a vision

of Isaac and Jacob,

and he has a vision

of Israel

and all of its history

because the woman

is Israel.

The imagery comes,

if you go back

and read the book

of Genesis,

the imagery comes

from the story

of Joseph

and his dream

that he tells

before he's sent off

to Pharaoh,

before he has

all of his misadventures

because his brothers

sell him to

slave traders,

and the imagery

comes from Joseph's dream

of the moon

and the sun

and the 12 stars,

and so the woman

is Israel,

and John pictures

Israel

from whom

the Messiah will come

because salvation,

as Paul says

in Romans,

salvation is

from the Jews.

Salvation is

from the Jews,

Romans 2,

and he pictured

as a woman

in glory,

a great sign,

and then it moves

to the dragon,

and notice immediately

how the dragon

is dethroned.

The woman

is a great sign,

but the dragon

is just another sign,

another sign.

Verse 3,

and another sign

appeared in heaven.

Behold,

a great red dragon.

Think of Smaug,

those of you

who've seen the movie,

with seven heads

and ten horns,

and on his heads

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,

he might eat it.

I'm not going to see

that in a Christmas

pageant very often,

although maybe

it would be very

interesting to do

an adult pageant

with a whole pile

of adults

dressed up

like a Chinese dragon

waiting to eat

the baby

as it emerges

from the womb.

And here,

John is seeing

something even older

than the birth

of Israel,

even older

than Genesis 2

and Genesis 3,

even older.

John has a vision

of what happened

long before

there were any

human beings

of the ancient

rebellion

led by a powerful

archangel

that captured

the hearts

and the minds

or whatever the

equivalent is

for an angel

of a third

of all of the angels

and a third

of the angels

joined the devil,

the great dragon

in his rebellion

against God.

A third of them

fall from their place

in God's glory

and his splendor

in the heavens.

A third of them

follow him

and they fall

from heaven.

They're thrown down

and they come

to the earth

and they are aware

of the great sign

of the woman.

The devil is aware

of the great sign

of the woman

and the significance

of the child

and so it is

that the devil

is there waiting

to devour.

And for those of you

who know the Bible,

all of a sudden

you hear Matthew chapter 2

Matthew 2 · chapter mention

and Herod

and all of a sudden

you're thinking

of the early parts

of Matthew

and of Luke

and of the devil

tempting Jesus

in the wilderness

and all of a sudden

you're thinking

of the book of John

and how after

Jesus institutes

the Last Supper

that the devil

enters Judas

and Judas goes out

to betray Jesus

that he might be killed,

a shameful criminal's death,

that the Jewish people,

that the mother,

that the mother

would turn on the child

and hand the child

to the devil

for his death.

All of that captured

in this powerful image.

And then the story continues.

She gave birth,

verse 5,

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 1260 days,

three and a half years.

And here,

in a very, very short,

powerful image,

in a sense,

you get the whole picture

of the gospel.

You get Matthew, Mark,

Luke, and John

all completely

and utterly compacted

that the devil

who desires

to devour Jesus,

the baby,

will be born

and at the end of the day

the baby will be

beside God in heaven

no longer as a baby

but the one

who rules the nations.

And the woman,

Israel,

the woman,

the people of God

is in a place

of wilderness

which means

that as it is

always the case,

as it is the case

for our congregation

today,

even though we do not

picture ourselves

as dwelling

in a wilderness

but picture ourselves

in post-modern,

post-industrial,

highly affluent

Canada

that just won

a gold medal

in men's hockey

and we don't think

of ourselves

or understand ourselves

as being in the wilderness

but the image

of a wilderness

in God's nourishment

is that God's people

always are completely

and utterly dependent

upon God

for being fed

and for being protected

and for staying

the people of God

and that it's never

a matter of us

being able to do this

purely and utterly

in our own strength

because we always dwell

in a wilderness

after Genesis 3

that we are completely

and utterly dependent

upon the nourishment

and the grace

that comes

from our Heavenly Father.

The devil is real.

He is our enemy.

He is alive.

He is active.

He is doomed.

And in the face

of his opposition,

we are to testify

with our lips

and with our lives

of our Savior,

Jesus Christ,

of our Savior,

Jesus Christ,

crucified.

The Bible,

this text,

God wants us

to take the devil seriously

but he doesn't want us

to take him

in a brooding way.

He doesn't want us

to obsess about the devil.

He doesn't want us

to be fearful of the devil

and he does not want us

to take the devil

on his own terms.

He wants us

to be attentive,

to be prayerful,

to be realistic,

and to be confident

in him.

Now, I don't mean

to insult anybody here.

I really don't.

But one of the problems

that we have

is that we think

that we're smarter

than the ancients.

And we don't quite

put it into words

but we think

that because we have

running water

and flush toilets

and we have

fancy smartphones

and we have

a lot of money

and we have

antibiotics.

By the way,

none of which

we've made.

I mean,

maybe there's

one person here

who could figure out

how to make

a smartphone.

Maybe I'm

insulting you here.

Maybe there's

two people in the room

who could actually

figure out

how to make

a smartphone.

The rest of us

just know how

to play with

the icons,

okay?

But part of

our modern world

and I don't mean

to insult you

because it's

all of us

is that we have

this very,

very deep conceit

that because

we have

running water

and flush toilets

and indoor plumbing

and iPhones

and all of that

that we're somehow

smarter than

ancient people

and there's no

question that

our culture

is far better

with technology

and techniques

and science

than the ancients

but we definitely

aren't smarter

than them.

We're definitely

not smarter than them

and in fact

you want to know

something that

one of the problems

just,

you know,

talk to maybe

Gary Graber

afterwards or something

he could point you

to some ancient text

but one of the

problems that we

have often

if we read

like the church

fathers,

people who are

writing in like

the 3rd and 4th

and 5th century

but one of the

problems we have

and even later

like guys like

Aquinas and guys

like Calvin

even later,

one of the problems

we have is that

their use of language

is so subtle

and so careful

and so reasoned

and so balanced

we can't follow it.

we have a hard

time reading it

and then we think

oh well we're

just smarter than

them.

We can't actually

follow the subtlety

of their thought

and so here

this becomes

very important

because you see

the Bible

is an ancient

text.

I'm reading right

now a very

very fascinating

story.

It's,

I don't know

how many of you

have read it.

I'm really loving

it.

It's by a woman

by the name

of Rosaria

Champagne Butterfield

and she was

a postmodern

literary critic

a queer theorist

head of the

woman's studies

faculty at

Syracuse University

and it describes

her conversion

and it's a

fascinating read

about how

for some of us

when we came

to Christ

it was maybe

a bit traumatic

but relatively easy

but for someone

like her

to come to faith

as she describes

it,

it was a train wreck

and it's,

she's very,

very,

very,

very articulate

in the problem

that she has

as a postmodern

scholar

taking the Bible

seriously

and the whole

conflict within her

as she's drawn

to the Bible

yet at the same

time all of the

habits of her

thought make her

despise the Bible.

It is great reading.

You have to order

it on Amazon

or something like that

but I highly recommend,

I'll probably do a blog

about it so you can

find it a bit more

easily.

But you see the thing

is that when we come

now to Revelation 12

because we're so used

to just thinking

we're smarter

and because we just

like to gallop

through things

we don't sort of

capture the subtleties

of this piece

of writing

that John did

almost 2,000 years ago

and it's a very,

very subtle writing

because you see

first what John does

is he gives us

this vignette,

this powerful

encapsulated teaching

of the devil

and then he's going

to give a series

of three other

sort of things

which sort of

play on this

first story

and as he plays

on the story

he brings out

new truths

for us to understand

but if we gallop

through the text

we just think

he's contradicting

himself

but you know what?

Ancient writers

understood contradictions

and so when we

read the Bible

rather than reading

the Bible

and thinking

that it's filled

with contradictions

the better question

to ask is

what is the subtlety?

what is it?

How is the Bible

asking us to slow down

and ponder

and meditate

and note the subtlety

rather than race through

and think it's contradictory?

And so John does

an act of great subtlety

so the first story

tells of the dragon

with his tail

sweeping down

a third of the stars

of heaven

now in verses

seven to nine

he's going to return

to that story

and look at it

from a different angle

let's listen

verses seven to nine

now war arose

in heaven

he's still going back

to before Genesis

chapter one

Genesis chapter two

Genesis

long before that

he's going back

and he's telling

the story again

bringing out subtleties

of that initial story

with these three

simple verses

once again

with very powerful images

now war arose

in heaven

Michael and his angels

fighting against

the dragon

and the dragon

and his angels

fought back

but he

that's the dragon

was defeated

and there was no longer

any place for them

in heaven

and the great dragon

was thrown down

that ancient serpent

who was 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 in the original language

it's the language

is instantaneous

it's as if

it's as if in a movie

that I'm talking to you

and all of a sudden

as I'm talking to you

like this

my hands are still moving

I'm still talking to you

but all of a sudden

I find that I'm on

Parliament Hill talking

and it just happens

like this

and that's the language

that there's this

mighty act of power

that comes upon

the devil

and his angels

which we now know

of as demons

and they think

they're fighting

Michael and all

and the next moment

they're not

they're here

they're here

read the Narnia Chronicles

read all of the Narnia Chronicles

and all of your questions

about how time

and heaven

and different times

all work

and Lewis will

challenge

and incite

and give you

all sorts of interesting

insights about time

and Narnia time

and earth time

and time

and time of this battle

and our time

and how it works together

serious suggestion

by the way

read the Narnia Chronicles

for wisdom about this

but this is the story

different way of telling

of the third

falling down

and note once again

how it is

that the member

at the beginning

I said

I said that the devil

is not

either yin

or yang

to God

he is not

the antithesis

to God

leading to a new synthesis

he is not like that

in the text

in a very very subtle way

completely and utterly

dethrones

the devil

the devil might like

to be betrayed

and many people

in our culture

betray him

as if it's somehow

the devil versus God

but who fights?

Michael

I mean God

I mean

it's not like

even like

like the championship

fighter of the world

trying to fight

some old guy

like me

I mean it's

it's not even

in the picture

the devil doesn't even

reach the level

of fighting God

he fights Michael

the devil and his angels

now known as demons

fight Michael

and the angels

and gets completely

and utterly defeated

he gets thrown down

helpless in a moment

and now finds himself

on earth

and the text

describes

in a very very

very powerful way

the very very nature

of who it is

that the

who the devil is

in fact

in these verses here

in these verses

in this very very powerful

and important verse

verse 9

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

from the earth

to the earth

and his angels

were thrown down

with him

in this very very

powerful passage

we will understand

the most common way

that you or I

will experience the devil

on Friday

Thursday and Friday

and Saturday

technically

I was in Vancouver

I left for Vancouver

on Thursday morning

I came back

Saturday afternoon

actually I was supposed

to leave Thursday morning

but my plane steering

didn't work

and the pilot wisely thought

maybe that's not a good idea

to take off

when the steering

doesn't work

so we actually spent

like four or five hours

in the airport

so we arrive in Vancouver

and I'm going to Vancouver

because I'm on the board

of the Anglican Network

in Canada

the denomination

we're part of

and it's a board meeting

and the primate is there

and all the bishops

are there

and lots of

it's a full room

important people

and I've been asked

by the bishop

to do the morning devotional

20 minutes

and on Friday morning

and I have to stand up

at the table

and my notes

are way down low

and I

because my notes

are way down low

as I'm in my talk

I realize that

I've lost my place

and I'm wandering around

in my talk

and it's a terrible thing

for a speaker

to realize

that they've lost

their place

in their notes

and they don't quite

know how to get back

to it

and I did the best

I could

and I wrapped

the talk up

and I sit down

in my seat

but the second

I sat down

in my seat

instantly

I just felt

that I had done

a terrible job

I felt guilty

I didn't even feel

like I could

raise my eyes

and look at people

and even though

later on

during the coffee break

I had six, seven, eight

people tell me

how good the talk was

how much it meant

to them

that it was spirit anointed

I just was so overwhelmed

with this sense

of accusation

and condemnation

I'd done a terrible job

that I'd let the bishop down

it colored everything

I was experiencing

and this lasted

for 24 hours

and it was only

the very next day

like about 24 hours later

that I'm on the plane

I'm working on my sermon

and I realize

that the very thing

that's being talked about

in the text here

is what I actually

have been experiencing

for 24 hours

what I had been experiencing

was more than just

having made a mistake

and having messed up

what I was experiencing

was a profound sense

of condemnation

and accusation

that was different

than conscience

I don't know if any of you

have had that experience

but if you've had

any type of experience

of great internal

accusation

and condemnation

then you have experienced

the devil's touch

because it tells us

right here

the very fundamental way

that most of us

will experience

the devil in our lives

and I'm not talking

about conscience

I mean there's sometimes

I've done

I have done some

very bad things

in my life

and you probably

have done some

very bad things

in your lives as well

things that if we were

to share them

openly

we would

other people

we would be horrified

by it

and there is a proper

place for guilt

and the proper place

of guilt

is to realize

that we've done

something wrong

and to feel

some type of sorrow

an appropriate amount

of sorrow

and to turn to God

and ask for forgiveness

and to make an amendment

of life

and ask forgiveness

for the person

that we have wronged

and there is a sense

whereby there can be

an appropriate type

of memory

of the wrong

that we have done

but this is radically

different from being

locked

and imprisoned

in a time

of accusation

and condemnation

that colors

everything that you say

and everything

that you feel

and all that's going

on around you

and it was

while I was flying back

I was thinking

here I am

talking about this

and I didn't even

recognize that I was

experiencing it

and verse 9

is so powerful

and the great dragon

was thrown down

defeated

that ancient serpent

brings you up

the idea of Genesis 3

and the serpent

leading to the fall

of the human race

it's the same word

who is called

the devil and Satan

Hebrew and Greek words

so that both Hebrew speakers

and Greek and Latin speakers

would get the point

and both of them

mean accuser

destroying accuser

who wants to condemn

not just somebody

who says

yeah yeah

I think that person's guilty

it is accuser

that's the very very nature

of who it is

that we have to deal with

the deceiver

of the whole world

the deceiver

the accuser

of the whole world

and many of us

maybe have not experienced

demonic

great great demonic oppression

or involved in witchcraft

maybe there are some in here

who that's part of your story

maybe it's part of what's brought you here

this morning

you have not yet come to Jesus

but here's the fundamental thing

I guess I'm going to say

two things

the first thing is this

that in light of this sense

of condemnation and accusation

there are six really important words

for us to learn

and I meant to look it up

I can't

it's not my words

it's somebody else's

and maybe some of you will later on

tell me who it is

but it's these six very important words

in my place

condemned

he stood

the cross

when Satan tempts us to despair

word of a hymn

when we get imprisoned

in condemnation

and accusation

there are human means

that we can do

and use to help with this

it might be that a conversation

with a friend

will really help

it might be that a pat on a shoulder

or a hug

will really help

it might be that

like maybe in my case

I go for a run

and that can help

and there are really good things

you know a cup of tea

a cup of coffee

a friend's pat on the back

a hug

you know

from someone who loves you

just you know

some time

these are all good things

and God doesn't

doesn't despise

such common

ordinary means

of grace

and of experiencing

his goodness

but the primary thing

that we need to remember

and that the devil

will want us to forget

completely and utterly about

is as

his voice

is loud

and insistent

and persistent

we are to remember

I am to remember

you are to remember

six

simple words

thinking about Jesus

dying on the cross

in his

sorry

in my place

condemned

he stood

in my place

condemned

he stood

all those accusations

all that condemnation

he loved me enough

and he loved you enough

that thought that

it was worth it

out of his love

for the father

and his love for you

and his love for me

that in

in my

place

condemned

he

stood

six words

for the rest

of your life

in

my

place

condemned

he

stood

here's the other thing

some of us

will experience

a far greater

touch of Satan

in our lives

and I am going

to be very

very unhip

and I am going

to be very

uncool

and

I am going

to tell you

this

have nothing

to do with

Ouija boards

have nothing

to do with

crystals

have nothing

to do with

seances

have nothing

to do with

spells

or any type

of magic

whether white

or black

have nothing

to do with

parapsychology

do not seek

out types

of meditation

or trances

that involve

animal guides

or other

physical objects

as your guides

avoid all

mantras

where you

do not

know the

words

or any

type of

repetition

that does

not involve

exalting

Jesus

flee from

such things

flee from

talismans

flee from

idols

flee from

spirit guides

flee from

trying to

learn levitation

flee from

learning out of

body experiences

flee from

seeking anything

to do with

extraterrestrials

any psychic

flee

flee

and flee

not to

not to

me

I mean

we will

pray for

you

but flee

to

Jesus

and the

story

continues

how's my

time

we're doing

good

remember I

said there

was a

subtlety

so there's

this big

story

in six

verses

then there's

these three

verses where

there's a

focus on

on Satan

and his

nature

and then

there's three

verses in

my in my

version ESV

it's written

as prose

but it's

actually should

be written

as poetry

it's a hymn

of victory

and it's

verses 10

to 12

here it is

and I

heard a

loud voice

in heaven

saying

and in

this in

the original

language this

word saying

implies music

as well

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 and

sisters

has been

thrown down

who accuses

them day and

night before

our God

and they

that is those

who are in

Jesus

have conquered

him

how have they

conquered him

because we're

cute

because we're

smart

because we have

flush toilets

because we know

how to use an

iPod

because we think

we're very very

clever

where we're very

athletic

where we're very

rich

how have we

conquered him

and they have

conquered him

by the blood

of the lamb

and by the

word of their

testimony

for they love

not their

lives even

unto death

therefore rejoice

oh heavens

in you who

dwell in

them but

woe to you

oh earth

and sea

for the devil

has come down

to you in

great wrath

because he

knows that

his time

is short

I guess really

there's a two

point sermon

in my

place

condemned

he

stood

the other

point

the devil

is real

he is our

enemy

he is alive

he is active

he is doomed

and in the face

of his

opposition

we are to

testify with

our lips

and with our

lives

of our

savior

Jesus

Christ

crucified

and that's

what this

tells us

and it's

very neat

look again

at verse

11

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

and you

know the

wonderful

thing about

that

in the

original

language

see in

English

you can

only

translate

translators

have to

make a

choice

when they

translate

a phrase

in another

language

which could

be translated

equally

two different

ways

I mean

it has a

double meaning

in the

original

language

but there's

no English

equivalent

to a

double

meaning

and this

testimony

and here's

where it

says

and their

testimony

sorry

by the

word of

their

testimony

it also

means

God's

it means

not only

it also

is at the

same time

saying

God's

testimony

about

me

it's a

wonderful

wonderful

thing

and some

of your

translations

might make

it sound

as if it's

God making

a testimony

about me

but in the

original language

it does both

at the same

time

and so

in the

face of

in the face

of opposition

of the devil

we are to

testify to

Jesus

when Satan

tempts me

to despair

I'm to

testify

about

Jesus

when all

of a

sudden

a

conversation

at a

Starbucks

or a

hockey

rink

or in

my

neighborhood

or at

my

workplace

and the

conversation

could turn

to the

things

of God

and instantly

we think

of all

these reasons

why we

should not

say anything

we are to

understand

that we are

being tempted

by the devil

to not

testify to

Jesus

and in the

face of

opposition

we are

to testify

to Jesus

and not

only is it

our testimony

of him

but he

says of

me

George

George

George

be gripped

by the

gospel

you are my

disciple

be gripped

by the

gospel

I have

chosen you

in Jesus

you are

mine

the devil

might say

all sorts

of words

of accusation

against you

but I

get the

final word

and when

even the

worst

person

puts their

faith

and trust

in Jesus

then we

know in

advance

what God's

final word

will be

about us

and whether

it is

when Jesus

returns

or whether

it is

that I

die

before he

returns

the scriptures

tell us

we are going

to see it

later on

in the book

of Revelation

he says

to us

to you

and me

in Jesus

I am so