Conquering the Accuser
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
If you have your Bibles let me invite you to open with me to the book of Revelation chapter 12.
We have transitioned now in our study of Revelation to a series of seven visions that highlight and emphasize particularly the enemies of God,
their wicked work in the world,
and their ultimate defeat.
Last week John described for us a vision of a woman in the pains of labor…,
and a red dragon waiting to devour the offspring of the woman.
The dragon was unable to devour the offspring
The child was the one who will rule all the nations,
he was caught up to the throne room of God,
and the woman in the vision entered into a season where she was driven to the wilderness to be nourished by God…
We articulated the symbolism of the vision in this way.
The woman represents the people of God participating in the purposes of God.
The child of course represents Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension to the heavenly throne room.
The dragon represents Satan and his attempts throughout history to stop the plan of God through God’s promised son, Jesus.
Today we will continue our study of this section,
only this time,
we are told the story once again from a more expanded view of the spiritual war that especially climaxed with the resurrection of Jesus.
so lets read and pray for understanding.
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.
Lets Pray
Allow me to begin with what is most obvious in this text
What is most obvious is what this particular vision teaches us about who Satan is and what Satan does.
Before I explore the actual narrative of the vision…, let me just point out the description of the antagonist of the world.
Truth #1 Satan Wages War with Accusations and Deception
Truth #1 Satan Wages War with Accusations and Deception
The dragon, that is Satan, is pictured as a being who is presently waging war on the people of earth in great wrath,
There is a such thing as evil in the world.
And there is a very real spiritual being who works evil in rebellion against God and with a hatred against God’s people.
In verse 17, Satan is described as being furious at the people of God…,
In verse 11, he is described as wrathful and frantically working against the people of God because he knows his time is short.
In verse 9, he is called the “deceiver of the whole world”
From as early as Genesis 3, this evil being, has sought to lie to humanity about who God is and what God has said.
He worked to deceive Adam and Eve into thinking that God’s word was not actually what was best for them.
He worked to deceive them into thinking that God either lacked wisdom,
or lacked real love…
that God was the kind of God who was holding out on them.
Satan, the serpent, the dragon, wants to destroy the creatures that God made in his own image,
If he cannot fully and finally separate humanity from God by deception and alluring them into sin and idolatry…,
he will seek to attack them by way of accusation…
In verse 10 he is called “the accuser”
and he is described as the one who “accuses God’s people day and night”
In other words, he devours by pointing out the incompadability of a holy God having relationship with sinful people.
It means he seeks to destroy you by heaping guilt and condemnation upon you so much so that you do not think you can approach God.
He aims to destroy you by accusing you of being
un-savable,
un-forgiveable,
un-loveable .
If he can’t deceive you so that you think that you don’t need God’s grace..,
He will accuse you so much so that you don’t think you could ever receive it.
His aim is your destruction.
No matter what avenue you take, as long as it is a path of foolishness that leads to your destruction, he doesn’t care.
He doesn’t care whether you parish by way of buddhism or pornography,
By islam or by indvidiualism,
by mormonism or materialism…
he only cares that you don’t turn to the one true God as he has revealed himself.
The picture of Satan in Revelation 12 only confirms what is said of him throughout the rest of Scripture.
2 Corinthians 4 says satan is working to blind the eyes of unbelievers.
1 Peter 5 says satan is prowling around seeking whom he can devour.
Ephesians 6 says he is scheming against us and firing flaming darts at us.
This is the great enemy of our souls is,
he is real,
and he is waging war by way of deception and accusation…,
Now those descriptions of Satan are what is most obvious in this text…,
but what do we make of the unfolding narrative.
Verse 7 begins with a picture of great demonic and spiritual attack.
It is a mustering up of all evil spiritual forces for a full on confrontation..
Michael, the combat general of angelic beings ,
leads the angels of heaven in warfare against the dragon and all of his spiritual beings as the dragon tries to ascend to the heavenly places and take the throne.
Now…, I want us just to imagine the absolutely epic chaos of a vision that John was now seeing….
Imagine the great battle scenes in movies like Lord of the Rings, or Chronicles of Narnia, or the Avengers endgame, or whatever battle movie you prefer.
Think about what the images on the screen do to your heart rate.
Think about what it makes you feel when the good initiate their charge against the bad guys…
but now just Imagine not just watching it on a screen, but being thrust into a dream of sorts where you are immersed in the action all around you…
This is more like a Las Vegas 4D Imax sphere experience than it is just watching a screen.
The ancient serpent, the red dragon, and all of his demonic hosts going to battle with the fullness of the heavenly forces who have remained faithful to the one true God.…
John is caught up in this apocalyptic vision and he sees the red dragon,
as frightening as he appears,
being thrown down with power and authority back to the earth like a cosmic choke slam of satan and his cronies
crushed by the power and authority of angelic armies.
Lets read it one more time so the imagery lands on us rightly.
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.
Now we have to remember that these are dream-like images that point to the spiritual nature of the real realities of our unfolding world.
But what is this vision of spiritual war referring to?
When did this kind of thing happen,
OR when will this kind of thing happen?
Option 1: It could be that this refers to the spiritual conflict of Satan’s initial rebellion, when he set out to deceive Adam and Eve, and thus undercut the authority of God himself.
Jesus speaks of seeing Satan fall like lightening from his place in the heavenly courts.
18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Revelation 12:7-9 certainly fits that description of Satan falling like lightning…,
Option 2: Another option would be that the cosmic battle here describes the last stand at the end of time when Christ returns.
Maybe this is talking about a kind of armageddon reserved for the final day where Satan rallies his forces to face off against the return of Jesus.
Thats a viable option..
But, my problem with these views, is that they don’t account well for the fullness of the vision.
the imagery goes on to describe Satan to be continuing to wage war against believers,
who are saved by the blood of Jesus,
but who continue to walk through the wilderness of Satans warfare throughout their life on earth,
while they wait on Christ’s return.
Verses 10-12 tell me that this big cosmic spiritual battle described in this vision, is not actually future…,
but it describes something specific that took place in climactic moment in history..
look at verse 10 and 11.
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.
Now perhaps this could be still talking about Christ’s final coming at the end…,
but I don’t think it is,
because immediately following in verse 12,
we see that despite this defeat,
Satan goes back to the work of attacking people still living their lives on earth.
So what was this war of spiritual beings all about in this vision?
I think it actually refers to the spiritual realities that were happening behind the scenes in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.
Think about it with me for just a moment..,
What event marked the decisive victory over Satan’s attempts to overthrow God?
What event stole from Satan the power to accuse God’s people?
What was Satan trying to do from Genesis 3 up until the moment that Jesus was born???
He was trying to devour the son of promise,
He was trying to stop God’s plan of salvation for his sinful people…
He was trying to stop what Jesus would accomplish.
I think the spiritual war that John is seeing in this vision represents the spiritual realities at play…
When Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
the son who would rule all nations,
was taking every perfect, sinless, agonizing step to the cross…
to shed his own blood, and to defeat sin and death.
It appears from the Gospel narrative…,
that Satan was trying to destroy Jesus
Who was it that filled Judas with the aim of destroying Jesus?
3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.
This was not just a demon who entered Judas.
This was the dragon himself…,
the serpent of the garden…,
the enemy of God and all of God’s people…,
entered Judas
Who was it who enticed Peter to deny Jesus in his moment of suffering?
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
When Jesus fell to his knees in the Garden of Gethsemane with great sweat falling like drops of blood pouring from his skin as he considered the suffering that was before him…
who came to strengthen him?
41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed,
42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.
The cross of crucifixion was the climax of all of God’s promises.
Jesus was the offspring of Eve who came to crush the serpent’s head.
He was the offspring of Abraham who came to deliver a blessing to the nations.
He was the offspring of David who came to establish an eternal kingdom
He was the lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world.
But to do so,
he would have to be sinless,
perfectly obedient,
fully man,
and fully God in human flesh,
and he would have to take upon himself the full penalty of the wrath of God without wavering in righteousness.
The ministry of Jesus and the cross of Christ was the battle ground of spiritual realities beyond what we can see or fully comprehend…,
Here in Revelation,
I think we are seeing the angelic warfare that took place…,
but most importantly…,
we are seeing in vivid imagery…,
the decisive victory over Satan that was accomplished when Jesus died and rose again.
Regardless where you land on what exactly is taking place in this vision, and what it stands for whether past, present, or future…,
This truth is undeniably true no matter what interpretive approach you take.
Truth #2 Jesus Christ Has Won the Decisive Victory Over Our Accuser
Truth #2 Jesus Christ Has Won the Decisive Victory Over Our Accuser
I think the announcement in verse 10 is the announcement of the impact that Jesus’ resurrection had..
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.
Over and over again, the New Testament authors describe Jesus’ resurrection as a victorious triumph over Satan’s scheming.
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Don’t miss the connection.
Jesus paid all of your sin debt…,
So Satan has no more ammunition against you…,
he cannot accuse you in any meaningful way because you are totally pardoned and on your way to an eternity with God.
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Jesus conquered death,
so that now Christian, not even fear of death haunts you,
not even fear of death can get you to deny his name,
not even death can separate you from his presence.
Satan no longer has death as a weapon of warfare against you.
Listen to how Jesus speaks of his own death and resurrection in John.
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
Jesus’ death and resurrection was not just a spectacle to be observed.
It was not just an example of love to be followed.
Jesus’ death and resurrection stole from Satan his ability to accuse and enslave the people of God….
Through faith in Jesus we no longer owe a sin debt.
We no longer have to face the penalty of death and separation from God.
We no longer have to live in the defeat of our failures,
but rather we rejoice in the victory of Christ Jesus’ success over sin, and Satan, and death itself.
The shed blood of Jesus,
and the word of of our testimony of salvation through faith in him,
become to us the weapons of our warfare against Satan’s continual attacks.
Revelation 12:11 describes those believers who have already conquered…,
that is they have already made it to heaven and are enjoying the presence of God now…,
but listen to the way in which they conquered.
the brothers who were accused by Satan,
but who now dwell in heaven,
are described as co-conquerers with Christ.
They too have Conquered the evil one in their living and dying...
listen to the description of the people of God in verse 11.
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.
Truth #3 Christians Conquer by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of Their Testimony
Truth #3 Christians Conquer by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of Their Testimony
Why is this whole narrative here?
because this vision of the believers in heaven already enjoying the fullness of conquest over the enemy…, is meant to show us what our tools are for fighting the good fight today.
The reality of this vision shows us that, though the final victory is absolutely secure because of the triumphant blow delivered to the evil one at Jesus’ resurrection…,
The accuser in the here and now is raging and waring because he knows his time is short.
Thats really what the second half of the vision is all about.
It is yet another vision of Satan’s pursuit of God’s people in this age as we await Christ’s return.
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.
Now remember from last week, the woman symbolizes the fullness of the people of God…, and after Jesus’ ascension she is in the wilderness, the place where God has prepared for her and is nourishing her.
This is from last week.
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.
that reality is narrated here again, only this time, we see that the wilderness is a place of both God’s provision and protection, and Satan’s pursuit and attack.
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.
so whats the point of all that?
The woman…, representing the people of God is going to experience wilderness years…, just like we talked about last week.
Again, we see the symbolic time period of tribulation…
this time described as time, and times, and a half time..,
which is three and a half years,
1,260 days,
the symbolic period of acute tribulation and difficulty that will one day come to an end.
During these wilderness years, God is nourishing, and protecting.
The woman is given wings to help her avoid the serpent…, but the language comes straight from God’s promises to exiled Israel.
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
God is nourishing, strengthening ,and protecting while his people traverse this wilderness.
Satan is raging, and pursuing, and pouring out deception and accusation out of his mouth like a rushing river in every attempt to sweep away the people of God…,
He is constantly screaming at you with all of his might in desperation because he knows his time is short…,
he is hurling at you…,
God doesn’t love you…,
Your sin is too great…,
God could never forgive you…,
You are worthless in his sight…,
No one will respond to your evangelism…,
your ministry is meaningless…,
your too broken, too dirty, too stupid,…
he screaming at you that there is a better life to live than the Christian life…,
he is yelling…,
money is better
sex is better
cultural and societal acceptance is better
living for your comfort is better…,
live it up now…, there is no eternity…
Accusations and deceptions pour out of his mouth at God’s people during this season where we wonder in the wilderness waiting for Christ’s return…,
but this vision shows us that his attempts to destroy the people of God fail….
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.
The rushing waters of lies and deception and accusation can not touch us as the earth itself opens up and swallows his every attempt against those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
We Christians conquer him not with our own smarts,
not with our own will power,
not with our own works…
We wage war against the accuser, and we conquer him day by day with the same tools as those who went before us…,
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.
With every word of accusation of the enemy,
we have an answer…
and the answer is “Christ’s blood already paid for that.”
With every word of deception,
we have an answer…,
“The word of our testimony speaks a truer word than the lies of the evil one…”
even if our very life is threatened like so many believers who have gone before us…,
we have an answer…,
verse 11 describes it like this, “they loved not their lives even unto death.”
But Paul communicates the logic of believers in this way…
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Because this is our outlook as Christians,
we are empowered to conquer.
We conquer in the day to day battles…, from a place of confidence that the war is already one.
Not even death has victory over us.
Praise God for the blood of the lamb who silences the accuser both today and forever.
I’ll end with this commission for the believer that I think is good application of this vision.
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
Lets Pray
