The Accuser of the Brethren

Introduction:

Sometimes as a Christian it can feel like you are in a battle. You’ve heard or used the expression, “Not today, Devil!” The truth is that we are in a battle and we do have an enemy. Today, we want to take a closer look at that enemy and find out what he’s up to. We have a lot to cover, so take your BIbles and turn with me to Revelation 12.

Revelation 12 ESV

1 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. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 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. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. 7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 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 to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 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. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” 13 And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. 15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

Pray

There is a lot to cover here this morning in this passage and the Book of Revelation has a lot of symbols in it. How you interpret those symbols will largely depend on your view of end times theology, also known as eschatology. For example, if you are a historicist, you will see almost the entire Book of Revelation as having been fulfilled at some point in the past. Many people in our Baptist churches today would be most familiar with some form of dispensationalism, which teaches that there is a rapture of the church before a literal 7 year period of great persecution called the Great Tribulation. This belief system would see symbols in Revelation as well, but would see them as pointing to what will happen during that 7 years.

A more classic reformed position might see these symbols as relating to the church of any age without the need for a literal 7 year tribulation period.

I am not going to break apart every one of the views here, but I will say that no matter what your position is, we can learn from the other positions, as long as they are orthodox to the Christian faith. I personally believe that the best interpretation often falls somewhere with a blend of several positions because there are some strong arguments to be made for each of them.

I don’t want to get into the interpretive weeds this morning, because the purpose of this message is not for us to get a timetable of events that will happen, but for us to take a glimpse at the enemy that we are fighting against. Remember that we are not waging war against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and principalities of darkness in the heavenly realm.

We are fighting against the great accuser of the brethren.

There are three things I want you to see this morning as we look at this passage and we will zoom in a little closer on each of the three.

The Dragon’s War

The Dragon’s Names

The Dragon’s Defeat

1. The Dragon’s War

Against Israel (vv.1-4)

Against Christ (vv.5-6)

Against the Church (vv. 10-17)

2. The Dragon’s Names

Dragon

Serpent

Satan

Devil

3. The Dragon’s Defeat

He was unsuccessful against Israel

He was unsuccessful against Christ

He will be unsuccessful against the Church

Conclusion:

No matter what your views are on Revelation, the application of this passage is clear. We are fighting a mortally wounded enemy.

He is as good as dead, but he is still dangerous! A snake can still bite you even though his head is cut off from its body.

He is furious. He knows his time is short and he wants to make the most use of that time to create as much anguish and suffering as he can.

We should likewise make the best use of our time.

The best use you can make of your time today is to trust Christ as your Savior and Lord. Get on the winning side.

Next, lead as many people to glory with you as you can.