The War in Heaven

This morning, and I want you to turn with me in your Bibles this morning or on your uh app on your phone, whichever.

And uh again, we welcome, we welcome those that are watching online this morning.

Uh we praise the Lord for that.

Anyone up here needs a anybody need a worship guide?

Anybody, anyone?

All right here, all right.

Um and again, uh, and also Barry, I love Barry started his discipleship class today.

I'm excited about that class.

And uh, Barry, stand up so everybody can kind of see your your uh beautiful face.

I started to say ugly face, but uh no, I didn't want Tracy.

But anyway, uh so let me encourage you.

They had five this morning in the discipleship class.

This class is gonna be phenomenal.

It's gonna teach you how to how to walk with the Lord, what it means to be filled with the Spirit of God and put on the armor.

It's just gonna be basics, but it's gonna be powerful.

I'm telling you.

I'm telling you, I'm telling you.

It's it's I want the whole church to go through it.

Uh uh, we uh if you've never been through a basic discipleship class, and what's great about that class on Sunday mornings at 8 45, you can come in anywhere because each lesson is uh self-contained.

So that way you you're not you don't have to have had the previous lesson to get this lesson.

And uh so, and we designed it that way, so you could come in anytime.

Well, today we're gonna be looking at probably the most misunderstood, but yet the most critical chapter in the book of Revelation.

And it's chapter 12, it's halfway through the book of Revelation, and it's a powerful uh chapter, it really is, and as we are starting to move into the second half of the book of Revelation, the second portion opens with an amazing vision of two great wonders in heaven.

While chapters, if you remember, four through nine dealt with the plan of the tribulation, we see chapters 12 through 19 deals with the characters of the tribulation.

And it's important that you understand that.

We're introducing today to some of us, I think the individuals who will play the major part of the second half of the tribulation.

It's so important.

And what is said right here in chapter 12 is essential to a proper understanding of what is going to be said in the rest of the book.

So that's why we got to play, pay special attention and follow with me closely.

If we misinterpret the things in this chapter and who these key characters are, then you're gonna, you're not gonna understand the rest of the application of the book of Revelation.

So it's that important.

So we're gonna be a lot of teaching this morning because I don't want you to miss anything.

We don't want to be uh, hey, we don't want to misinterpret the scriptures.

Can I get an amen?

That brings me to a cute little uh uh thing that I found as I was researching this past week.

Dr.

Ken Trevit shares the story of a young preacher speaking to a pulpit committee.

He relates the story as follows.

Listen to this.

The pulpit committee had met this young man and brought him to be interviewed.

They set him down, and one of the committee members asked him, John, his name was John, or actually the committee member said, son, because he was so much younger, do you know your Bible pretty good?

He said, I would think I do, but I just graduated from seminary.

He says, Well, which part do you like the best?

The Old Testament or the New Testament?

And he said, you know, convincingly, the New Testament.

I know the New Testament.

So the chairman of the pulpit committee eased back.

He said, Okay, young man, tell us about the prodigal son.

Y'all do remember the prodigal son, correct?

Tell us about the prodigal son.

Now, I hope you've read your Bible about the prodigal son, because this is going to be cute if you have.

If not, I'm gonna find out where you really are.

Now listen to what he said, the young preacher.

Are you ready about the prodigal son?

The young preacher said, There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, who went down to Jericho by night, and he fell upon stormy, uh, excuse me, and he fell upon stony ground, and the thorns choked him half to death.

The next morning Solomon and his wife, Gomorrah, came by and carried him down to the ark for Moses to take care of.

But as he was going through the eastern gate into the ark, he caught his hair and a limb, and he hung there for 40 days and forty nights.

And he afterwards did hunger.

After the ravens came and fed him, the next day the three wise men came and carried him down to the boat dock, and he caught a ship to Nineveh.

And when he had got there, he found Deliah sitting on the wall.

He said, Chunk her down, boys, chunk her down.

And they said, How many times shall we chunk her down till seven times seven?

And he said, Nay, but seventy times seven.

And they chunked her down 490 times.

And she burst asunder in their midst.

And they picked up 12 baskets of the leftovers.

And in the resurrections, whose wife shall she be?

The committee chairman suddenly interrupted the young minister and said to the remainder of the committee, fellas, I think we ought to ask the church to call him.

He sure knows his Bible.

Well, that's why we want to really know our Bible.

I thought I read that and I laughed and I laughed.

I loved it.

But anyway, so the primary characters of the passage are two key people.

They are a woman and a red dragon.

A woman and a red dragon.

First thing I want us to look at this morning is the revealing of the woman in verses one through six.

And the first thing I want us to see about this woman is her personality.

The personality of this woman in verses one and two.

Tremendous.

And the Bible says a great sign appeared in heaven.

A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of 12 stars on her head.

She was pregnant.

She was bearing a child and cried out in labor and agony to give birth.

So we see the first two verses here, the identity of this woman has been a subject of debate for hundreds of years.

I meant through all kinds of different theological debates, which led a lot of it to false doctrine for centuries.

Now let me share, I think, three of the most common but yet most understood.

The Roman Catholics, for example, said that this woman is Mary.

There are several reasons why this cannot be true.

Mary never ascended into heaven.

Mary gave birth on earth and not in heaven.

So Mary cannot be placed in 2 verse 6.

Secondly, some believe that the woman's the church.

The church.

However, it was Christ, the man-child, that gave birth to the church and not the other way around.

Matthew 16, 18, Jesus said, Upon this rock, the church, I'll hey, upon this rock, me, Christ, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

So it's not Mary, the mother of Jesus, and it's not the church.

Then another very popular view is a woman by the name of Mary Baker Patterson Glover Eddie.

Whew! What a name! Claimed that she was the woman.

And the religion she gave birth to in 1879 was the Christian science religion.

And she said that Christian science at birth was the man-child.

For sake of time, let me just say neither one of those views are correct at all.

And the clues that are given and the truths that are given in this passage will tell us who this woman's identity is and was.

For example, verse 1.

Clothed with the sun.

Now listen to what that speaks of.

That speaks of heavenly glory.

The moon is under her feet.

This speaks of dominion and power.

And then she wears a crown.

This speaks of royalty.

And then the 12 stars, they speak, are you ready?

Of the 12 tribes of Israel.

They are referenced to the 12 tribes of Israel.

So I believe, and I'll show you even more proof, that this woman is none other, none other than the nation Israel.

This is who this woman is.

It has to be, because that is where Jesus came from.

He was birthed out of the nation Israel.

And I really believe this.

And I think this is very well seen in the Old Testament passages that tells of a dream, if you remember, that Joseph had in Genesis 37, verses 9 through 11.

Genesis 37:9–11

And to save time, you need to go, I gave you the verses to read it.

But basically, he tells his family that one day he's going to be the ruler and they're going to bow to him.

And Jacob gets a little disturbed and says, Whoa, whoa, you shouldn't be like that and shouldn't have said that.

But in reality, it was obvious in to Joseph's dream that the sun, the moon, and the stars represented, when he was talking to his family, the nation Israel.

And we see that especially in Genesis 15, verse 5, where hey, and I love this, the seed of Abraham is compared to the stars.

Genesis 15:5

And remember what he said in Genesis 15, 5?

Your off springs will be what?

As many as the what?

Sand, as the sand of the shores.

So again, we see that this has to be the nation Israel by the description.

Notice the second thing in verse 2, the destiny here.

The woman here is in childbirth.

She's in great travail.

She's bringing her child into the world.

And we're told in verse 5, look, that her son is to be the ruler of the world.

Now, this is a reference to the Messiah, to the Lord Jesus Christ.

This picture of Israel in childbirth reminds us that it was the nation of Israel that God used to bring Jesus Christ into the world.

Jesus Christ was a Jew.

So it's important that we understand that.

In fact, listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 1.1 about this.

He is called, that is Jesus, this man-child, notice what he's called.

He is called both the son of David and the son of Abraham.

And then I want you to see this.

I think the verses, they can pull this one up.

We hear of this verse constantly when God gave the great prophecy of this event taking place where the son, his son, was going to be born.

Genesis chapter 3, at the very beginning, dealing with Satan, here's what he said.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

I will put enity, and this is good, I will put enity between you and the woman.

There's the woman that we're talking about right here, and between your seed and her seed.

Verse 15 says, He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise what?

His heel.

Now, here's what I want you to notice.

This woman is in great travail.

What does that mean?

The pain and labor, yes, but what we see here and what it is, she is in labor and she's bringing forth her son with pain and suffering.

And this brings to mind the pain and the suffering that Israel went through and that, hey, it went through as Satan from the very beginning tried to prevent the birth of Jesus Christ.

Everywhere he turned, Jesus, hey, I meant Satan tried to take the birth of Christ out.

He tried to keep Jesus from being born.

In fact, when Jesus was born, the nation of Israel was, hey, under such ironclad torment and pressure of the Roman Empire.

So this expectant woman right here is Israel, who brought the Messiah into the world.

She paid a price, a major price, in order to bear and birth the Son of God.

But that Genesis 3.15 is magnificent to understand this picture in Revelation 12.

Perfect.

Perfect.

So let's look at the second thing about this woman, the persecutor.

Verse 3 and 4.

Here we see the personality of the dragon.

The next vision is of a great red dragon who has, look, seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns on his head.

Now, let's take this description of the dragon and break it down for the purpose of understanding who Satan really is.

Now, let me tell you what's going to be let me tell you why Satan can't stand this chapter.

That's why when I woke up this morning, saw the bad weather, I said, Well, Satan's happy.

It's raining.

You know, when it rains, people they can't get out, it's too dangerous.

They get out.

But it may be they'll hold a rain, they'll go to a ball game and sit in a ball game two and a half hours and rain with an umbrella and rain suits and yell and holler.

And then they're sick, though.

When Sunday gets here, because they were out.

No, I'm joking.

But anyway.

But anyway, I thought to myself, yes, Satan's happy because they're not gonna, you know, people are not gonna get to hear this unless they're watching online.

But praise God, that didn't happen today because this is so important.

Satan can't stand for what I'm about to preach to you.

I want you to listen to it time and time again after today.

I want you to share it with your friends.

We're fixing to unmask who this guy really is.

For example, red, the color stands for war and bloodshed.

It brings to mind, if you remember, in Revelation chapter 6, verse 4, what?

Revelation 6:4

The red horse.

The red horse.

This dragon is a killer.

He brings death, war, and bloodshed everywhere he goes.

He's come to kill and steal and destroy.

But now watch, the dragon.

The word dragon, it means here a winged serpent.

There's no such thing in our natural world.

But isn't it interesting that every science fiction kind of show you see, you see dragons?

Winged dragons.

Isn't it peculiar you see winged dragons with four feet?

On all these shows, even Walt Disney shows.

You think God, uh hey, excuse me, you think Satan is trying to give us a uh subliminal message?

Is that right?

Maybe, maybe.

He's the God of this world, he's the prince and power of the air.

Maybe.

So we see that.

In fact, we are very safe in the de, hey, identifying this dragon as the devil, because if you look at verse 9, he says, so this great dragon was thrown out, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world.

He was thrown to earth and his angels with him.

I mean, hey, the Lord calls it what it is.

He's the devil.

He's Satan.

And then we look at the seven heads.

The seven heads speak of vast intelligence.

Here's what you don't understand.

We're dealing with a brilliant, hey, creature here.

In fact, listen to what he says in Ezekiel 28, verse 12.

Ezekiel 28:12

I think I have that one for you.

Thou sealest up the sum full of wisdom.

Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

Not only was he smart, he was beautiful.

In fact, we're gonna see he was the chief angel in heaven before he fell.

He was the chief cherubim in heaven before he fell.

I mean, this guy is something.

And then look at the ten horns.

Horns are a symbol of power.

Now, Satan's not all powerful, but his power is cast.

He's a powerful creature.

And then the number 10 here, no doubt in my mind, may refer to the ten nation kingdom that will figure, figure greatly in the alignment of the nations coming against Israel, even getting ready for the Battle of Armageddon.

And then the seven crowns.

Crowns are a symbol of authority.

Satan is still the God of this world, 2 Corinthians 4, 4.

So we see this beautiful, smart, unbelievable creature, powerful creature that is doing everything he can to stop the salvation of God's people and to destroy his creation.

That's his purpose.

And we see that.

Look at verse 4.

The reference to the stars of heaven being cast down to the earth by the tail of the dragon refers us back to the fall of Satan.

This has not always been.

Hey, Satan's not always been an evil creature.

In the beginning, he was the ranking angel in heaven.

Do we?

Yes, there it is.

All right, pull it up for me, Jason.

Ezekiel 28, verses 12 through 18.

Ezekiel 28:12–18

Here we go.

Son of man, I'm gonna let y'all read it there.

I'm gonna read it right here.

Here we go.

Son of man, lament for the king of Tyree and say to him, This is what the Lord God says.

Now you can't miss this.

This is the beginning of what took place.

He's in heaven, he's in his post.

A lot of people believe that he was the master of music.

And uh he led the heavenly choirs, and and uh and there's there's reason to believe that, and that's why he is so masterful in using music to block our memories and to change our thinking and to the brainwashes through bad music.

Evil communications corrupt good manners, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14.

So we see, what's this?

He says, This is what the Lord God says.

You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

You were in Eden, the garden of God, every kind of precious stone covered you.

All the emeralds, jasper, touch cords, uh, diamonds, emeralds, your mountings and settings were crafted in gold.

They were prepared on the day you were created.

You were an anointed guardian cherub.

For I had appointed you.

You were on the holy mountain of God.

You walked among the fiery stones.

From the day you were created, you were blameless in your ways until wickedness was found in you.

Through the abundance of your trade, you were filled with violence and you sinned.

So I expelled you in disgrace from the mountain of God and banished you.

Hey, and banished you, guardian cherub, I banished you from among the fiery stones.

Your heart became Proud because of your beauty, for the sake of your splendor.

You corrupted your wisdom.

So I threw you down to the earth.

I made a spectacle of you before kings.

You profaned your sanctuaries by the magnitude of your iniquities in your dishonest trade.

So I sent out fire from within you and it consumed you.

I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of everyone watching you.

Wow.

All those who know you among the nations are appalled at you.

You have become an object of horror and will never exist again.

What a description.

What a description.

He tried to overthrow the Lord.

Let's see, Isaiah 14, 12, 14.

You need to see these two passages of scripture important.

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning, how you are cut down to the ground.

You who weaken the nations.

For you have said in your heart, I will ascend unto heaven.

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.

I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the father's sides of the north.

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

I will be like the Most High.

So he was cast out of heaven.

And when Lucifer failed, he drew one-third of the angels of heaven into his rebellion.

They were cast out of heaven as well.

Now, watch this.

We call these fallen angels demons.

They are part of Satan's kingdom and plan.

And let me tell you what they ought to do.

Watch Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12, right here.

Ephesians 6:12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age.

This is who we are wrestling against right now, folks.

That's why in Ephesians 6.10 he says, put on the armor of God, stand firm.

Hey, hey, be strong in the power of God.

Hey, don't let his tricks and his tactics and his manipulations take you out.

That's his plan.

It's to stop us from being saved and to destroy God's creation.

That's what he started at the very beginning of Genesis chapter 3, verse 15.

Genesis 3:15

And to this day, he's still trying to stop it.

But thank God he can't.

Amen.

The plans of the dragon, here they are.

Look at the plans of the dragon again in verse 4.

Satan, right here, look at verse 4, is pictured as standing before Israel, before the woman, waiting for the birth of her child.

His intentions is to destroy the seed of the woman as soon as he is born.

Satan had worked from the very beginning of time to this day, trying to stop it.

Oh, I started doing research and Satan.

Hey, I really had a Pentecostal daring.

I had a Pentecostal spell right there in my office when I started doing the lineage.

Satan moved.

Are you ready?

I gotta share this with you.

Satan moved Cain to kill Abel, thinking that he could stop God's plan.

He did not know that God would send Seth.

Hello, he's not omniscient.

He doesn't know everything.

All knowing.

He knows a lot, but not all knowing.

Secondly, he tried to corrupt the human bloodline by having the godly line of Seth intermarry with the evil line of Cain.

He did not know about Noah and the ark.

He aroused Esau to anger so that Jacob might be killed.

He did not know God would help Jacob escape.

He tried to kill off the Jews in Egypt by having Pharaoh slay every child two years and younger, put them to death.

He did not know that God would, hey, save a little boy named Moses who would lead the people out of Egypt.

He tried to lead Israel away in adultery, thinking God would destroy the nation.

He did not see God sending them into captivity where he would forever rid them of their idols.

He failed in every attempt to stop the birth of Christ.

And when the time came for Jesus to enter the world, Satan did everything in his power to slay Christ's child when he, hey, had Herod destroy all the babies from two years of age under in the region, killed them.

Matthew 2, 16, 18.

Christ predicted this.

But then look at the third thing.

We see the progeny or the seed of the woman.

Verse 5.

You're right.

He didn't know about the seed of this woman.

He is called a male, a man child, a male child.

The seed of the woman came into the world like every other child through the birth and through the seed of a woman.

The only difference, which was the major difference, a miracle difference, the miraculous difference was that she had no father.

He had no male father.

He was conceived by the person of the Holy Spirit of God.

Mary was conceived of a virgin.

Isaiah 7.14, know ye not that this woman, hey, that name Mary will be conceived, was a virgin, and who would bring forth a child and would name, hey, this child Emmanuel, being in God with us.

Mary said in Luke 1.34, how can this be?

I know no man.

And he was and is God in human flesh.

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten Son of God.

John 1, 14.

This man Job would come into the world and he would one day rule the world.

Let's look at Revelations 19, 15.

I think we have that there, Jason.

He talks about his mouth there being a sword.

Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron.

Wow.

He himself treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Well, he will rule for several reasons.

First, he will rule because he created the universe and all his.

Can I get an amen?

Colossians 1.16, all things made by him.

Hey, hey, and without him was not anything made that was made, and for him everything was made.

Secondly, he will rule because he purchased this world with his own blood.

Revelations 5, 9.

And thirdly, he will rule because he alone is world worthy to rule.

Revelations 4, 11.

The only one worthy to break the seals of the book.

So, wow.

And then look at verse 5.

The man child is pictured being caught up to God.

I love this.

Look at this.

I want you to see this.

But she gave birth to the son of male who is going to shepherd and rule all nations with an iron scepter, and her child was caught up to God and to his throne.

Woo!

Here's the gospel.

Here it is.

Here's the resurrection.

Here's the resurrection of Christ.

Oh, look at it.

Jesus Christ died for his sins on the cross, but what?

He did not stay dead.

On that third morning, he rose up.

Behold, I'm he that liveth and dead.

Behold, I'm alive forevermore.

Revelation 1.18.

He rose from the dead.

This is the picture.

Look at it.

And after he arose from the dead, he ascended back to heaven.

Acts chapter 1, verses 9 through 11.

Acts 1:9–11

Then he sat down at the right hand of his father in heaven.

Hebrews 1.3, 10, 12.

But he won't stay there.

He's coming back.

One day the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together in the plows to meet the Lord in the air.

Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.

This is the gospel.

Amen.

Right in his face of revelations, he presents the death, the barrel, and the resurrection of Christ.

Powerful truth right there.

Powerful.

Letting us know that he's the king of kings and the Lord of Lords.

Revelations 19, 16.

And then look at verse 6.

The protection of the woman.

The woman flees from the dragon and she goes away into the wilderness to hide.

We are reminded here that Satan hates the nation of Israel.

Hates it.

Why do you think everybody's against Israel?

This is going to help you.

You're watching the news.

I meant we're moving our embassy to the city of Jerusalem, which is the capital.

Guess what?

We finally got it right.

Thank God we got it right.

Now we've been saying we're going to do it for the last 30 years.

But we're doing it.

I don't think that's coincidence, folks.

I think everything's lining up because I think the time is drawing nigh.

It's not a coincidence.

Everybody's against Israel.

That one little piece of state, Israel, everybody.

And here's why, though.

They are hated unbelievably.

Adolf Hitler thought he could snuff them out, killed over six million.

Stalin thought he could kill them, over three million.

Every.

Hey, and by the way, the Muslims, nations of the Middle East, cry for the destruction of Israel every day.

That's why when people talk about Muslims, I hey, I love Muslims because they need to be saved.

But what they stand for is against everything we believe.

They hate God and hate Israel.

They hate everything God stands for.

Just like the Antichrist, the dragon.

Same way.

Same way.

I pray for salvation for them.

But this hatred, listen to me, it's not going to get better.

They can try to get them to have peace all they want.

It's not going to happen.

Not going to happen.

He said that in the prophecy right here.

This hatred will continue to grow into the tribulation period.

And during that time, the Antichrist will be, hey, bring persecution upon the nation of Israel like they've never seen before.

For a short period, though.

Only a short time.

Jesus even predicted that in Matthew 24.

He said, this will only be for a short time.

Because he says you couldn't endure it.

Jesus said that.

In Matthew 24, verses 15 through 22.

Matthew 24:15–22

I gave it to you.

Satan hates Israel for two reasons.

Are you ready?

You know, I never really thought about this.

And I found an old book, old Puritan book.

I was reading about this chapter.

I was trying to read anything in my study on chapter 12 because it's so crucial.

And you know what he said?

Out of the blue, they just said there's two reasons why Satan hates God and hates Jesus and hates Israel.

And it's so simple, I said, that's too simple, but it's so true.

Are you ready?

Two reasons.

Unbelievable.

One, he hates Israel because she is a constant reminder to him that his power is limited.

Hey, Satan, you can do this for a little while, but then sucker, it's over.

You go into the pits of hell.

See, Satan's not in hell, remember?

He's roaming the earth.

He's in the air.

He even has, he even has some access still to heaven for to go up there and accuse us.

And that's why this title of the message, The War in Heaven, that what happens right here when he's coming down to settle it and win the final battle of Armageddon and all, the hey, the final battle with Satan in heaven takes place with Michael leading the charge, and they kick him out forever.

But see, right now he runs up there and accuses you and me.

And a lot of theologians believe that he may even be at the beam of judgment seat when we're, you know, handing out the rewards for us and the bad part, the good part, you know, with things we didn't do, we lose rewards, things we do, we get that he's up there accusing us.

I never thought about that, to be honest with you.

But we know he can go up there and accuse us now because he does it.

He did it with Joshua, did it with uh Jacob and Job, Job chapter 1, Job chapter 2.

Job 1 · chapter mention Job 2 · chapter mention

I've got all that, those verses for you.

So he's an accuser, and we're gonna see that in a minute.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

But here's the second reason: a constant reminder to him of the glory.

Now, this is a good one.

It's a constant reminder of for him that he lost the glory that he once had.

I mean, he was the cherub in heaven.

And it reminds him he'll never have it again.

But yet, deceivingly and accusingly, he's trying to get it now on the earth.

Wow.

Wow.

But look at her deliverance.

Look at the woman's deliverance.

Israel will find refuge in a wilderness place.

Now, can I tell you what possibly could be that place?

I've been there.

Petra.

Has anybody ever heard of Petra?

Or Petra, whichever way you want to pronounce it.

We've been there.

And I kind of described it a little bit.

The city is surrounded by towering hills of rust-colored sandstone, which gave the city some natural protection against invaders.

The entrance into Petra is through what is called the Sig, a ravine enclosed by immense walls that reach hundreds of feet at places.

Its layout makes a good place to hide and seek shelter.

We do not know if this will be the place that they will seek for shelter or not, but there will be a place prepared for the people by God Himself.

Now there was one man who believed this so much.

His name was a tailor, a rich man, spent eight million dollars to buy cases of Bibles to put in the caverns in Petra so that these Jews would have the word of God to read if that was the place that they end up going.

I thought that was pretty interesting.

But that they, look at the word here.

We do not know who they are who would feed the Jews, but we do know that for the last half of the tribulation period, 1260 days, Israel will be cared for.

You know what that tells me?

My God shall supply all our needs according to his riches and glory through Christ Jesus.

I've got good news for you.

If you are a child of the king, I don't care what you're going through, my God will take care of you.

Can I get an amen?

Can we give Jesus a clap offering for that?

Amen.

Man, if he'll take care of the Jews during this time, he'll take care of us in this time.

Lucifer becomes Satan.

And he has done everything since he has since Lucifer the angel became Satan.

He has done everything in his power to disrupt the eternal plan of God to redeem it.

Hey, to keep God from redeeming his people, and he's tried to ruin his creation.

That's been his plan.

Satan the great dragon is forever cast out of heaven.

Can I get an amen?

Now, let's look at the second part.

The revealing of this dragon.

Verses 7 through 17.

This is powerful.

There are several passages that we've already looked at, but let's look at verse 9.

Look at his name.

Look at his name.

So the great dragon was thrown out, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil, and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world and has thrown to earth his angels with him.

Alright, ready for this?

Look at the word dragon.

I've already told you a little bit, but I want you to look at more of it.

A winged mythical, I looked up the definition in my strongs.

It's a winged, mythical creature that reassembles a serpent.

Hey, uh Yeah, thank you.

As a serpent with four legs.

Dragons, and then here's what it says, are usually associated, and here's what it's associated with.

Ready?

Fierceness, brutality, violence, and destruction.

Is that not who Satan is?

He comes to kill, steal, and destroy.

He is a violent character bent on total destruction.

Look at the next word, old serpent.

This immediately calls us back to the first appearance of Satan in the Bible.

Where was it?

Genesis 3, verse 1, with Eve.

Genesis 3:1

And how he tempted Eve and deceived Eve to disobey God.

The image of a serpent.

Are you ready?

Is an image that is evil, contemptible, detestable, deceitful, underhanded, and sly.

Wow, who does that sound like?

Satan.

What a perfect description of the devil.

He's the liar and what?

The father of lies.

John 8 44.

And then look at the next word, devil.

You know what the word devil means?

God bless.

It means, listen, slander or false accuser.

It pictures him as a creature who stands before God, accusing the saints of God.

This is just what the Bible says he did in Job 1 and 2.

When we fail, he accuses us before the throne of God.

He slanders our name and he also slanders the Savior.

Now watch this.

When you hear people slandering other people, are you ready for this?

They are being used as a tool of Satan.

When someone's gossiping and slandering someone else, he is being used as an instrument.

I say.

Because that's what Satan does.

So be very cautious.

And you know what I've learned?

Satan can use good people to do that.

Hello.

He can use me so quick it's unreal.

Have you ever done that and say, why didn't I do that?

Or here's what you do.

I shouldn't have said that.

Thank God, that's the Holy Spirit convicting us not to do that again.

Kind of get an amen.

Are you listening?

See, that's why Satan doesn't want you to know this.

So when I see somebody ripping somebody else, you know how I can still love that person?

When Susan's just ripping me to pieces, you know how I can still love her.

She doesn't do that.

But I didn't want to use anybody else.

Because it's not her.

It's Satan.

She'll tell you, I've had some people really just really give me some bad stuff.

Call me a Jim Jones.

Saying you keep going to that church, he's gonna bring out the Kool-Aid.

Yeah, is that not true?

I mean, it was in the paper.

In the front page on Easter Sunday morning.

Pastor Bans burnt books from university.

I mean, just all kind of stuff.

It's because I took a stand on the mice and men book that there's two copies, one without the language and one with the language, and they were trying to make my boy do a do a uh report with the one that had GD 35 times in it.

I said, no, he's not gonna do that.

And so they was they they said, Oh, yep, yep, yep.

So long, then I just got my lawyer in the church and Dave, we went to work and got all our legal stuff, and so I showed up at the school uh with my TV camera and started telling the principal what I was gonna share live and wanted to interview him about it.

It's amazing how quick that changed.

It's amazing how quick they let him use the other version.

Why?

Yeah, we took a stand.

Amen.

But from that I am Satan.

They were calling me Satan.

But that's the way the devil does.

He's an angel of light.

That's what he does.

He's an accuser.

And then look at the word Satan.

That means adversary.

You ready for this word?

One who stands opposed to God.

Everything God stands for, he's opposite.

That's what it means.

In fact, hey, he opposes everything God's trying to do.

He opposes God's people, he opposes God's house.

He doesn't want you coming to church on Sunday morning to hear the word of God taught like it's taught here.

Why?

Because he knows once you hear the truth, you should know the truth.

Woo! And what?

Truth just set you free.

He doesn't want you to hear the truth.

He tries to manipulate the truth.

He tries to slant the truth.

He doesn't want you to know the whole truth.

Hey, he opposes the, hey, the word of God, the plan of God.

He stands in open opposition against God.

Look at verse 9 and 10.

We see his nature.

Oh yeah.

This passage not only reveals Satan through his names, but look at verse 9 and 10 through his nature.

Look, two most common activities of the devil.

Look at verse 9.

Which deceiveth the whole earth.

Hey, first of all, the thing that reveals him most is his earthly deceptions.

The word deceives there.

Are you ready?

It means to seduce, to lead astray, to lead out of the right way.

Okay, now think a minute.

What is Satan gonna do?

He's gonna use every two, whether it's movies, music, people, whatever, to lead you out of the right way.

Because he knows once he gets you out of the right way, you have no authority, you have no power to resist him, and his plan, and his plan is to take you out.

And then once you're out of the right way, Jesus' way, Jesus' word, you have no offensive weapon, you have no power, and then he's gonna use whatever he wants, drugs, sex, alcohol, whatever, to take you out.

To make you codependent on what he wants you to be codependent on.

That's the way it works.

When he appeared before the Lord.

You know what?

I'd never seen this before.

I will, this is good.

Listen to what he said when he appeared in Job 1.7 and Job 2.2.

Here's what it says: From going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down in it.

In other words, what are you doing here, Satan?

Oh, I'm prowling.

I'm looking.

I'm looking.

Is that not what it says in 1 Peter 5, 8?

Be sober.

In other words, have your priorities in order, be on the right path, be sober, be vigilant, be watchful.

Because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour.

That's his job.

This week, when you walk out of these doors, he's going to be prowling wherever you're going, watching you and looking at the opportunity he can have to take you out.

It can be a thought, it can be a movie, it can be a song, it can be whatever.

Anything to get your thinking process off the right thinking.

Woo! That's good, preacher.

Back to dust, Lucifer.

That's who he is.

He's horrible.

I want you to see this.

Pull up 2 Corinthians 11, 13, 14.

Woo! Yeah, watch this.

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.

And then he says in verse 14, and no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into the angel of light.

He even uses teachers and preachers and false prophets and false teachers and preachers to lead you astray, to lead you into the wrong path.

That's why it's so important you know your Bible.

That's why I use that illustration at the beginning.

That whole pulpit committee thought that young man really knew his Bible.

Oh, he knew the Bible, but he had it all scrambled up together.

And that's Satan.

That's the way Satan does it.

Great illustration of Satan.

Satan knows the truth, but not the whole truth.

And he'll take the truth and tangle it up.

That's what he does.

That's what he is.

In fact, Satan is the deceiver and has always been.

Listen, remember the word he used to uh Eve?

I went back and did a word study.

Subtle.

You know what it means?

Crafty and shrewd.

He was subtle.

How in the world can he get a beautiful woman named Eve in a perfect society to swallow the lie?

They were in a perfect society, no sin.

They were living happily ever after.

Till this snake started tempting her.

He made it sound so good, it looks so good.

And she bit.

And once she bit.

Remember fishy?

Fishy see bait?

No problem.

Fishy won't bait, no problem.

Fishy bite bait, big problem.

Fishy on the wall.

Amen?

Is that not true?

That's the way he works, folks.

And then look at verse 10.

He was real revealed by some, and I love this, heavenly declarations.

Look at what he said.

Satan is described here by the host of heaven as the accuser of our brethren.

It's cast down which accused them before our God day and night.

The word accuser, here's what it means.

Means to make an accusation.

It speaks of a plaintiff who brings up another person on charges.

That is Satan's business.

He tries to make you and me feel like we are useless and worthless.

And he tries to make you and me feel like we have no hope.

But can I remind you?

Are you ready?

And I wrote this down.

Yet when he opens his mouth and declares his case, the saints of God have a man on the inside.

We have a lawyer in heaven, and his name is Jesus Christ, our advocate.

Our advocate.

Here's what he says.

Oh yes, oh yes, that may be true, Satan.

Hey, that may be the case, Satan, but listen to me.

I want you to know I paid the price.

I took the sin.

I took, hey, I'm his mediator.

I'm taking his responsibility.

And he, I am giving to him free of charge, my righteousness.

So for you, Satan, for him, he is not guilty.

Because of what I did on Calvary on the cross.

Wow.

That makes 1 John 2 come alive.

I love it.

The Father cries.

Here's another way.

Can you see he's up there in the courtroom?

And after all's been delivered, and Jesus stands up and tells God the Father of what he did on Calvary and bestowed that unmerited grace and favor upon us.

Jesus pleads his case, and God the Father stands up there as the hey, as the judge, and he says, case dismissed.

Amen.

Two things, and I'm through about this dragon.

One, the removal of the dragon, verses seven and nine.

We do not know who initiates the war in heaven, but we do know who wins the war in heaven.

The angelic host of heaven are led in a conflict by an angel named Michael.

Right here.

His name means who is like God.

He is a special angel.

He is called an arch angel in Jude 1.9 and in Daniel 10, 13.

He is called, look, listen to this, one of the chief princes in Daniel 12:1.

Daniel 12:1

He is called the great prince.

Michael opposes the onslaught of Satan and his demonic army, and he leads the heavenly angels and hosts, God's host army.

Permanently ousting Satan and his demon from heaven, verse 8 tells us neither was their place found anymore in heaven.

Verse 9 tells us, cast out into the earth.

The words cast out here means I'm so glad I looked up that word, those two words, cast out.

It means to let go of a thing without caring where it falls.

In other words, they just kicked that old boy and his angels out and didn't care where they landed.

He said, You're out of here.

You're gone.

Reminds me of Jesus on the Mount of Temptations when he was tempted three times.

And he said, Get thee behind me, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thou serve.

When Satan attacks you, here's what you say.

You just turn around and say, get gone.

Boom! You're out of here.

He was defeated by the heavenly warrior, and in verse 10, 11, he was defeated by the holy witness.

When Satan is cast out of heaven, heaven literally explodes in praise and thanksgiving.

The tormentor, the accuser of the brethren, the arch in hey, the archenemy of God and the most feared and hated of all the beings is gone.

I thought about that when we get to heaven.

He's gone.

He's gone.

There'd be no sin up there.

There'd be no temptation up there.

What a picture.

No wonder they're praising God.

No wonder they're and notice they use three things.

First, they use the blood of the Lamb.

They did not fall for Satan's lies that religion is good enough.

They didn't fall for the lives.

I understood the truth of the truth, the blood of the Lord.

I understood the testimony.

Now the word what the word testimony means a report.

Report.

It's a report of all you are.

Your testimony is, hey, is a witness of what you claim to be.

It's a report of who you say you are.

So if you claim to be a Christian, or if you claim to be saved, now listen to me.

That isn't a report card of your actions as a Christian.

Did you hear me?

I said a report card.

How many of them remember report cards?

Maybe they don't do those anymore.

I remember them.

It meant a lot at my house.

Meant a lot back here, too.

Especially that conduct.

Do you know I had my daddy and mama fool for a couple of years that F meant fine?

I tried it, it didn't go very far.

Elf, my daddy said, Yeah, I'm gonna show you what fine means.

I'm on to the fine fine.

Boom! I didn't make too many elfs after that.

Especially in conduct.

He'd rather me have an A in conduct than anything.

He would.

You know why?

You know what he told me?

He says, you know what that conduct means?

Means who you really are.

And he says, you want to be who you say you are.

You want to be a man of integrity, you want to be a man of character, you want to be a man of truth, and you want to be a man that when you say something, your word means something.

And I really have tried to live my life that way.

Have I been?

No, perfect.

But I have really tried to live.

And that's why, again, and I know we live in general, don't care.

I can't help but say, yes, sir, no, sir, yes, ma'am, no, ma'am.

Why?

That's my character.

That's my conduct.

And young people, you may not be taught that at school anymore.

You may not be taught that at home, but I'm going to tell you something.

It means a lot to people to hear you say yes, sir, and yes, ma'am, and no, sir, and no ma'am.

It shows respect.

Let me tell you, that's your conduct.

And then we see the last thing they used was supreme love for Jesus.

They would sooner die.

I wrote this down.

I gotta read it to you because it's tongue tie, but you may want to run it down.

God gave me this and I love it.

They would sooner die for him who died for them than deny him.

That's pretty good.

Ready?

They would sooner die for him who died for them than deny him.

I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone to believe it, to the Jew first, and then to the Jew.

Listen, and I close.

We see the rampage of the dragon.

Look at the fury, verse 12 of the dragon.

The inhabitants of the earth.

He pronounces the divine woe upon the inhabitants of the earth.

Oh, he can't stand it.

And then look at his focus 13 through 17.

In other words, he has, he knows.

Let me tell you, whoo, I get so excited here.

You know what right here is talking about?

He knows.

Listen, Satan already knows that his time's short.

He's fixing to be thrown, hey, out and into the pits of hell.

So he's gonna give literally all the hell he can on earth during the tribulation.

As the short period of time, he's gonna try to take out as many as he can.

He's gonna try to kill as many as he can.

Now let me tell you, folks, you don't want to be here during that time.

But if you're to die today without Christ watching online, if you're to die today without Christ, do you understand?

And the rapture takes place and the tribulation begins, you're gonna go through the most furious tribulation, horror that you've ever, ever could imagine.

Nothing on the screen as horrible as you see these movies that are so terrible.

Nothing can compare to what's gonna happen during those three and a half years, that last three and a half years.

Until the end of it, Jesus comes back.

We've unmasked Satan today.

Let me ask you.

Let me ask you.

Aren't you excited though to know that we've won?

Can I get an amen church?

We won! We win! That's why I didn't say we win.

We won.

It's over, it is finished, Tatalastic.

One day, we're going home.

And you know the exciting thing?

We're gonna come back with him.

Hey, we're coming back.

We're gonna be involved in the end of this tribulation.

We're gonna be a part of that.

I don't know if I'll be on a white horse, but bless God, I'll be shouting, Jesus is awesome.

That I know I will be.

Amen.

So let me ask you this morning.

You know what the invitation is?

What kind of report card do you have?