Sermon Tone Analysis

We are continuing through Revelation 12 tonight and we are considering the topic of this chapter on the Epic War of the Ages.

We introduced this to you a couple of weeks ago.

With having a couple of weeks off, it would be a good idea to provide you with a brief review on what we’re studying.

Chapter 12 is a broad brushstroke of history going all the way back to when Satan fell and attempted to lead a rebellion against God in Heaven and continues through to the victorious coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and his defeat over Satan.

We learned last time that since the fall of Satan and then the deception and fall of man, Satan has work insidiously to hinder God’s people and thwart God’s blessings over His people, especially Israel.

That was the essence of Revelation 12:1-6 that we studied a couple of weeks ago.

The Woman described in Chapter 12:1 is Israel.

She is pregnant with child, meaning Christ the Messiah.

The Dragon in verse 3 is obviously Satan.

And the child on verse 5, of course is Jesus Christ.

Lastly, verse 6 we hear that the woman (Israel) was forced to flee into the wilderness for 1,260 days, which is 3 1/2 years, meaning the last half of the Tribulation Period, known as the Great Tribulation.

It is this time that the Antichrist will turn against the Jews, offer an unholy sacrifice in the Temple and demand that he himself be worshipped as God.

Jesus talks about this event in Matthew 24:15-16: “15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

A key characteristic of this period of time is the great deceptions that Satan will actively employ to deceive people.

Matt 24:23-24 “23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.

24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”

The only way you will not be deceived is to know God’s Word.

If you don’t know your Bible, then it is impossible to be know doctrine and theology and if you do not understand the foundations of doctrine and theology then you will not be able to discern false doctrine and teachers.

Satan is on a mission to destroy your faith - he wants to unseat Christ from the throne of your heart.

If not to destroy you, then to prevent you from sharing that faith with your family, children, and friends.

This may come as a surprise to you and really, it needs to be understood because it leads to a great deal of bad theology, but Satan’s current home is not in Hell.

In fact, Satan has never been to hell.

Satan spends most of his time right now in Heaven.

Verse 10 tells us what he is doing:

Satan accuses us of our sins before God.

Satan doesn’t want God to extend His grace and forgiveness to us, nor does he want us to be the recipient of God’s forgiveness and blessings.

Satan will do whatever he can to convince you that you are unworthy of God’s gift of salvation

Satan’s goal is the same as it was in the Garden: to deceive us to rebel against God’s moral law and fall into the trap of his counterfeit kingdom.

Throughout all of history, Satan has deceived the nations and he will continue to do so.

I believe he is well-aware of the late hour of this world and is in overtime deceiving us through demonic philosophies, psychologies, the media, medical ‘science,’ immoral behaviors, and so son.

Satan makes war against God, His holy angels, and the people of this earth who worship and serve Christ Jesus.

He wants the entire world to worship him and destroy those who follow Christ.

So we are to be strong in the Lord through prayer, fasting, the Word, and resisting sin.

Look at Daniel 10:12-13

Back to Rev 12:10 John tells us that there is going to come a time when Satan is thrown out of heaven and cast down to earth.

I believe all of this is going to happen at the moment of the Rapture.

Satan is a defeated foe and he knows this.

So when the victory of the church is consummated with the rapture and the wedding feast in heaven, Satan is cast out of heaven, which begins the tribulation period.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 (ESV)

16 with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.

Why would the archangel be shouting at the rapture?

Could it be that he is confronting Satan and his demons as they try to thwart the rapture?

Could it be that this is the archangel Michael shouting.

It is the war ensuing in heaven as the souls of the saints are snatched out of harms way after Satan is hurled to the earth?

It is possible that what triggers this war in heaven there in Revelation chapter 12 could be the rapture.

Michael always seems to be fighting for God’s people - Israel, the church, and he’ll stand up for all the saints at the end of the time of the tribulation.

We can never underestimate the war that is raging in heaven over the souls of man and that includes your life.

That warfare constantly spills into the world we live in right now.

That is going to come to a violent head where Satan is thrown down to earth and we will be snatched away.

Matthew 11:12 (ESV)

12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

Romans 16:20 (ESV)

20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

Hebrews 2:14 (ESV)

14 through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

At the conclusion of the rapture, Jesus returns victoriously with all the redeemed saint.

With a single word from the mouth of Christ, Satan is cast into the lake of fire.

Henry Morris writes, “With what weapons and by what tactics is this heavenly warfare waged?

That’s beyond our understanding.

Angels cannot be injured or slain with earthly weapons, and such physical forces as we know about are not able to move spiritual beings.

But these beings do operate in a physical universe so there must exist some powerful physico-spiritual energies of which we yet can only have vague intimations, energies which can propel angelic bodies at super luminary velocities through space and which can move mountains and change planetary orbits.

“It is with such energies and powers that this heavenly battle will be waged, and the spectators in heaven (including John) will watch in awe.

When Michael finally prevails and Satan is forced forever out of the heavens, a tremendous cry of thanksgiving will resound through the heavens.”

Romans 8:31 (ESV)

31 If God is for us, who can be against us?

Verse 10 gives praise to God for triumph in heaven; verse 12 gives praise to God for his victory on the earth.

God’s victory over Satan will be swift and complete in heaven and on earth.

How do we become the beneficiaries over of God’s victories?

Through incantations, exorcisms, bindings, or by resbuking him.

No. First, they overcame him because of the blood of Jesus Christ.

The sins of the saints were covered and no accusation would stand.

It is called justification.

It is a legal and binding forgiveness of debt (sin) and the imputing of Christ’s righteousness in replace of our unrighteousness.

It is given by grace alone through faith alone by Christ alone.

The saints of God do not have some personal power ourselves.

2 Corinthians 10:4 “4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”

And in us is the Christ who is our advocate, the Spirit who intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

All of the accusations against us fall on deaf ears because we have been saved by the blood of the Lamb.

Secondly, they overcame because of the word of their testimony.

That is the faithful devotion to Christ as he works in our lives to sanctify us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Even in a world engulfed by demons and cursed by God, their testimony never wavered.

This is the idea of an ongoing testimony.

They were faithful no matter what was going on around them, no matter how consumed the world was in both the curse of God and the fury of Satan, their witness was steady and sure.

Thirdly, “They didn’t love their life even to death.”

Their character was built upon Christ’s justification and sanctification so they persevered to glorification.

They loved their Lord more than they did their own life here on earth, no matter the trapping and temptations, they willfully chose Christ over this world.

Now, Satan is defeated in heaven and thrown down to earth and what does he do?

Give up?

No he pursues the woman - who is the woman in Revelation 12? Israel.

I won’t go back and repeat how Israel has historically been persecuted by gentile nations over the thousands of years.

Even in recent history of WWII and contemporary history with Iran and other nations repeatedly threatening Israel with annihilation.

Just as the saints of Christ are the target of Satan’s endless torments, so it Israel the continual preoccupation of Satan to wipe from the face of this earth.

And when Satan is cast to earth, verse 13 tells us that immediately wages war against her.

The holocaust of WWII will pale in comparison to the brutality of last half of the tribulation, known as the Great Tribulation.

It’s going to be so great that it’s never been so in the history of the world, and if the days weren’t cut short, nobody would survive.

‘For the sake of the elect’, is reference to Israel So Israel is going to be pursued by Satan - the antichrist - and some believe that Israel will flee to a place in Jordan called ‘Petra.’

It is said that people have stored Bibles there for the Jews when they arrive.

Satan is a deceiver - he is using false teachers and christs to convey that deception.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 24 that Satan is going to try to woo Israel and the elect out of hiding through false christs and false prophets.

He’s doing it today and these deceptions are becoming rampid in the church.