The Cosmic Battle

I had chosen to follow Jesus when I was a young adult in the late 90’s. Soon after I became a Christian, I started serving as a volunteer youth leader at a couple of churches and through that I felt a call to be a youth pastor. In May of 2000, I chose to get baptized as a profession of my faith. It was a great experience and the first time in over 40 years that my parents came to a church service. But the night before I was baptized, I experienced something that has stuck with me ever since.

I was in bed, making sure I was well rested for the morning, when at exactly 11:50pm I woke up wide awake. Not in the startled, disoriented way, but fully alert and cognitive. One minute later, my phone rings and my friend is frantic on the phone. There’s something weird going on with his girlfriend and he needs us.

I woke up my best friend, who was a pastor’s kid, and was living with me at the time, and we sped like crazy across town to get to our friends house, praying all the way. There, his girlfriend, who we knew well, was pacing around the room like a caged animal, muttering but not speaking aloud. We tried to approach her and she swung at us with her nails, trying to hurt us. I don’t know how I knew, but I knew that she had a literal demon in her. I don’t know where I got the idea from, but I asked her what her name was and she couldn’t answer. After a few moments, again I was never taught what to do, but I jumped up and was able to grab her from behind and pin her arms to her sides. She kicked out at her boyfriend and my friend and hissed at them. I lifted her off the ground and fell down on my side, still holding on to her. I was a lot stronger back then.

I prayed, out loud, in the name and authority of Jesus to cast the demon out and she bit hard into my arm, leaving teeth marks. Her boyfriend and my friend came over and put their hands on her as well, praying with me. I kept praying out loud and calling on the authority of Jesus as one of his children and after, what felt like a few minutes, I felt her body begin to relax and she started weeping. I asked her what her name was again and she was finally able to say it. I told her to call out the name of Jesus and although it was hard for her to say the name she did it and as she did, we felt the tension in the room break.

I had heard some teaching on the idea of the spiritual realm, although not very much, but that was my first encounter with it personally and it changed my concept of spirituality. I realized that there is more than just what we can see going on all the time and that humanity has an enemy that is actively working at keeping people from Jesus.

We have been working through the book of Revelation in a series called Unveiling Hope and, today, we are going to hit on the central axis of the book. Everything that John sees in his vision revolves around chapter 12 - so let’s read it and see what God says to us in it.

Revelation 12 NLT

1 Then I witnessed in heaven an event of great significance. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant, and she cried out because of her labor pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 Then I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept away one-third of the stars in the sky, and he threw them to the earth. He stood in front of the woman as she was about to give birth, ready to devour her baby as soon as it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son who was to rule all nations with an iron rod. And her child was snatched away from the dragon and was caught up to God and to his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place to care for her for 1,260 days. 7 Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. 8 And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. 9 This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. 10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth— the one who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.” 13 When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But she was given two wings like those of a great eagle so she could fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness. There she would be cared for and protected from the dragon for a time, times, and half a time. 15 Then the dragon tried to drown the woman with a flood of water that flowed from his mouth. 16 But the earth helped her by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that gushed out from the mouth of the dragon. 17 And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children—all who keep God’s commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus. 18 Then the dragon took his stand on the shore beside the sea.

May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word.

This passage answers a question generated by the claims of the gospel. Last week, we saw how at the end of the seven trumpets, God fully takes the reins of the cosmos. We see that in the end, through the sacrifice of the lamb, God wins. But if God wins, then why is there still so much evil, chaos, and sin in the world?

This passage in revelation gives us that answer. It gives us a peek behind the veil of history to show us the spiritual reality of what has been going on. His vision speaks of a pregnant woman, who is clothes with the sun, has the moon under her and has a crown of 12 stars. According to Darrell Johnson, in his excellent book Discipleship on the Edge, she is the people of God, both before and after the coming of Jesus, representing Israel, Mary (the mother of Jesus) and the church, all at once.

His vision also speaks of a dragon. This dragon is identified as Satan and he has authority and power, represented by the seven heads and the ten horns. This connects all the way back to Genesis when God says to that serpent of old:

Genesis 3:15 NLT

15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

John’s vision also shows us that the woman gives birth to a son. This is Jesus. Now the dragon tries to kill the child, which we see played out in the story of King Herod in our Christmas narrative, when he murders all the children ages 2 and under in Bethlehem, trying to kill Jesus. Then, in the vision, the child is caught up to God and his throne. This is the ascension of Jesus after his death and resurrection.

Then John sees that there is a war in heaven, a cosmic war with Michael and his angels battling the dragon and his angels. And the dragon loses and is cast out of heaven. How did he lose? Through the life, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of the child, Jesus. Jesus is victorious over Satan!

But, as I asked earlier, if Satan is defeated, then why is there so much war, chaos, sin and evil in our world? Because Satan is angry he lost and so he lashes out at God’s people, trying to keep them away from God.

Revelation 12:17 NLT

17 And the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children—all who keep God’s commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus.

So how does Satan attack God’s people? What does it look like? In this passage, there are three ways that Satan attacks us.

1. Fear

One summer night during a severe thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small son into bed. She was about to turn the light off when he asked in a trembling voice, "Mommy, will you stay with me all night?" Smiling, the mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly, "I can't dear. I have to sleep in Daddy's room." A long silence followed. At last it was broken by a shaky voice saying, "The big sissy!"

Many of us have irrational fears as children - fear of the monster under the bed or in the closet / fear of the dark / fear of vegetables. But as we age, many of us replace our childhood fears with grown-up fears like the fear of being alone, the fear that we didn’t do enough or weren’t good enough, the fear that everyone thinks terribly of us, the fear of failure, the fear of change or the fear of death.

And this is where the book of Revelation gives us hope. For those who are God’s people, who have put their faith in Jesus, the book of revelation gives us an apocalypse - a peek behind the curtain - so that we can know how the story ends and allow the good news to dispel our fears and empower us to live a godly life. This book helps us see that, for Christians, all fears are irrational fears, like fearing balloons or the colour purple. But our enemy likes to take our irrational fears and play them up because he knows he can distract us from our life in Christ and make us useless for the advancement of the kingdom if we allow those fears a place in our hearts and minds and let them dictate our actions.

Revelation 12:3 NLT

3 Then I witnessed in heaven another significant event. I saw a large red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, with seven crowns on his heads.

In John’s vision, the dragon, which verse 9 tells us is Satan, is red. Red is the symbol of blood and therefore death, as we saw in the second seal with the rider on the red horse who brings war and slaughter and in the sixth trumpet blast with the riders who wear red and kill 1/3 of humanity. And in revelation twelve, verse 11, there is a celebration over those who weren’t afraid to die, implying that some people compromised in their faith because of their fear. Satan likes to play on our fears in order to keep us from experiencing the fullness of life in Christ, to make us compromise our morals and our beliefs, and to keep us ineffective for the kingdom of God.

How many would-be missionaries have said no to an assignment because they are afraid of death? How many Christians don’t tell their friends and family about Jesus because they are afraid of not being accepted by them? How many people don’t follow Jesus because they are afraid of what they may have to give up to do so? How many Christians keep their sins private instead of getting help because they are afraid of other people’s opinions? Fear keeps us paralyzed and unable to move forward in our lives.

The first way that Satan attacks us is through fear. The second way is through DECEPTION.

2. Deception

Revelation 12:9 NLT

9 This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.

Satan has always been in the business of deceiving people. He deceived Eve into thinking that eating from the knowledge of good and evil would be a good thing for her. He tried to deceive Jesus by using Scripture to prompt him to jump from the temple . Jesus himself, when talking to the Pharisees, says,

John 8:44 NLT

44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Satan is all about lying to the people of God in order to keep them bound by their sin and their insecurities. He tries to deceive us by encouraging us to put happiness over holiness. He lies to us and tells us our feelings are more important than God’s word. He tries to trick us into following the idols of our world and the ideologies that oppose the way of the Lamb. He is the one who says, “You don’t need the church to be spiritual.” He’s the one who says , “You can’t afford to give to the Lord right now.” He’s the one who says, “Go ahead, it’s not a big deal.”

That dragon of old has always made it his mission to deceive the whole world, enticing people away from the Living God by making empty promises of fulfillment and happiness and by so doing, he enslaves us to sin.

We’ve now seen how Satan’s schemes use fear and deception. They also use ACCUSATION.

3. Accusation

Revelation 12:10 NLT

10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth— the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

The name “Satan” actually means “accuser” and it sums up one of his primary roles really well. Satan may be God’s enemy, but he is not God’s equal. He is still subject to God and so even though Satan wants to be God, he knows he cannot be so, in hatred for us, he throws accusations about us - about our sin and failures - to God. “See God, see how the church fights! See how your children worship false idols. See how much more they love themselves than they love you. See!!” Satan accuses us before God day and night.

But he doesn’t just accuse us to God. He also does it to us, hurling our every sin and failure back in our faces, because he knows that if we are wrapped up in our guilt and shame, then that will encompass our souls and we won’t experience God’s love and freedom. He’ll keep trying to tell us that we aren’t worthy of God’s love, that God couldn’t forgive us for “that” sin, and that you’ve screwed up so badly, there is no way out. I know - I have experienced every one of those thoughts and feelings and when I’ve been in that place where I am hearing those accusations, it takes over my mind and heart.

Our enemy, Satan, loves to throw our sins in our faces, he loves to deceive us and keep us captive in fear. But take heart, church, for there is good news! For our enemy is a defeated enemy because of the sacrifice of Jesus and by his Spirit, we can stand against the schemes of that wily dragon.

1 Peter 5:8–9 NLT

8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

So how can we stand firm against the fears, lies and accusations of Satan? The answer is found in verse 11 of our passage.

Revelation 12:11 NLT

11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.

This verse has three ways we can stand against our enemy.

1. Overcome ACCUSATIONS with TRUST (overcome by the blood of the Lamb)

The first way we defeat the enemy is by relying on the finished work of Jesus. We overcome Satan, not by our great efforts or strong will, but by trusting in the sacrifice of Jesus. Satan goes before God and comes at us with accusations of how bad we are, how much sin we commit, how unfaithful we are. And what’s difficult is that he’s right. We are often unfaithful to God and we do sin against God. It’s true, but it’s not the whole truth. The whole truth is that although we sin and fail over and over again, we have a savior who deals with sin.

The good news, the gospel, is that we aren’t saved by our efforts, but by Jesus’ sacrifice It’s faith in him and what he did for us that leads us to salvation. When the enemy hurls his accusation about us to God, I think God just raises one eyebrow and says, “but Jesus” and that ends it right there. And it’s true for when he comes at you and I with these accusations - when our minds are filled with thoughts like “I’m not good enough, God can’t forgive me, I’m too weak” or whatever the accusation you hear is. The answer to those accusations is the same, “but Jesus.”

Jesus took all those sins you have ever committed, including the ones you did on the way to church this morning, and all the ones you will ever do and nailed them to the cross, sacrificing himself for you and I so we can be free from the guilt and shame of our sin and be relationally re-united to God himself. Look at what the Apostle Paul says in...

Romans 8:31–34 NLT

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

The first way we stand against the accusations of Satan is by trusting in the lamb who was slain who took away all of our sin. The second way we stand against Satan is to overcome his deceit with TRUTH.

2. Overcome DECEIT with TRUTH (overcome by their testimony)

Verse 11 says that we also overcome Satan by our testimony. Our testimony is our declaration of truth - of how God is real and desires an intimate relationship with each person. Of how he reached down into our lives and pulled us from the miry muck of sin and set our feet upon a rock. Of how he filled us with the Holy Spirit and how we find spiritual vitality through him. Of how God is continuing to work out his plan in our lives, how he is shaping us and how we can put our hope in Him for our future.

The enemy wants to get into your head and lie to you about who you are. But you can stand firm with the truth of God’s word that says you are his beloved daughter or son. The enemy wants to lie to you about how you should do whatever makes you happy, but you know that when you pursue holiness, happiness will follow. The enemy wants to trick you into holding on to your comfort or power when you know that Jesus calls us to follow the way of the lamb - the way of self-sacrifice.

In John’s gospel, he records these words of Jesus:

John 8:32 NLT

32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Freedom is found as we continually seek truth, speak truth, and live truthfully.

We overcome Satan’s accusations by trusting in sacrifice of Jesus. We overcome Satan’s deceit with a zealous pursuit of truth, especially the truth revealed in the Bible. Verse 11 also teaches us to overcome fear with LOVE.

3. Overcome FEAR with LOVE (love God more than love self)

Verse 11 talks about those who overcame the dragon and says of them, “they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” They understood that death is not the last word - that there’s more to our lives than just the 100 years or so we get on this earth. They knew that they didn’t have to be afraid of death because their future was secure. That hope allowed them to love God more than they loved this world and more than they loved their own lives.

Polycarp was a disciple of the Apostle John, who wrote the book of Revelation, and an early church leader whose life ended when he refused to betray his Lord. Asked one last time to disavow his Christ, the old man replied, "Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong. How can I speak evil of my King who saved me?"

Here is his martyr's prayer, as recorded by the historian Eusebius. "Father of Your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of You, I bless You that You have counted me worthy of this day and hour, that I might be in the number of the martyrs. Among these may I be received before You today in a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as You have beforehand prepared and revealed. Wherefore I also praise You also for everything; I bless You; I glorify You, through the eternal High Priest Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, through whom, with Him, in the Holy Spirit, be glory unto You both now and for the ages to come. Amen." Eusebius adds: "When he had offered up his amen and had finished his prayer, the firemen lighted the fire."

Throughout history, thousands upon thousands men and women of faith have given their lives in service of God. When evil people threaten to kill them and force them to reject Jesus, they stand firm, even unto death. They didn’t love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. The question for each of us to wrestle with today is are we willing to love God so much that none of our fears can hold us back, not even the fear of death?

Conclusion

This passage in Revelation reminds us that we are in a cosmic war and that although our enemy has lost that war because of the sacrifice of Jesus, in his rage he attacks God’s people through fear, deceit and accusations. But we are not powerless. We have the Holy Spirit in us, empowering us to stand against this ancient dragon, this slippery serpent, this roaring lion and that we can thwart his attacks against us by trusting in the finished work of Jesus, the lamb that was slain, by knowing the truth of who we are, who God is and what he has done for us, and by loving God more than we love our own lives.

Stand firm then, church, and live out the victory that Jesus won for us.

Pray.