Hell's War Against Heaven, pt. 2
What in the World is Going on? • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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If you will please turn to chapter twelve of Revelation, we will begin reading in verse number one, Revelation 12:1-5
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Last week we mentioned the struggle some people have regarding the back and forth nature of Revelation, not to mention the heavy use of symbolism in this particular chapter has raised questions for many. Last week we looked at two signs in the heavens, the woman and the dragon.
The interpretation of these signs, specifically the woman, is imperative to a proper understanding of Bible prophecy. The dragon is of course the devil, as is made plain in verse nine, but the woman is a bit more enigmatic for us. Last week we saw that the woman is a reference to Israel and we will not belabor that point today. Last week our focus was on the “Signs” this week we will focus on “The Son”.
I do not understand how anyone can equate the woman in this passage to the church. If we were to understand the woman as referring to the church, then we would have to believe that the church gave birth to the Savior. That is impossible!
Likewise I do not understand how some, such as the Catholic church, can equate the woman to the virgin Mary. Certainly she did give birth to Jesus, you will never hear me deny that, but long before she was named, long before she was even born, God had promised that through Israel, His Messiah would come.
This is where our message begins today, with Israel. Through the eyes of Israel, let us look at the Son. Notice first...
The Anticipation 1-2
The Anticipation 1-2
There are two verses that immediately spring to my mind when I think of Israel, the Messiah, and coming of Jesus:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
In Genesis you have the promise of the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Savior, and in Galatians you have the fulfilment of the promise. From the garden to the stable, from the stable to the cross, from the cross to the grave, from the grave to the throne the nation of Israel had to learn what it was to wait for their Messiah, what anticipation that must have built within them!
Look at how the woman is described in Revelation 12:2
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
For thousands of years, Israel waited for their Messiah to come. Each time they wandered away into sin they felt those pains of labor. “And she being with child cried...”
The word cried means to call out, to scream in pain! The could feel the pain of being God’s chosen and the hatred that comes along with it. No other nation in the history of the world has been hated as Israel has. What is the source of the hatred? That is our next point, we move from the anticipation of Israel to...
The Antagonist 3-4
The Antagonist 3-4
The Holy Spirit moves John quickly to tell us who the enemy is, who our enemy is. Satan is the great opposer of all things God. Notice Revelation 12:4
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Church, this verse takes us back before Genesis 3, to a time when Satan was the “anointed cherub”, the most beautiful, talented, creature ever made by God.
Have you ever stopped to consider that the first sin took place, not on earth, but in heaven?
Something happened that sparked jealousy in the heart of Satan, that jealousy stoked the fires of pride in his heart, and led him to rebel against his Creator. He was so influential that 1/3 of the angelic host followed him. What was that event?
I take it that he became jealous after the creation of man on day six. We are not told when the angels were created, though there is evidence it took place on day four, but we do know they existed before man. If they were created on day four, and man on day six, then this rebellion must have occured early on.
What led to the jealousy? Satan, was it, at least in his eyes. He was God’ crowning achievement, but God had a special place in His heart for humanity. Later on, God would narrow down His chosen people to one man and his family, Abraham, and Israel. Israel at that point would become the focal point of Satan’s hatred, but he would not stop there!
Have you ever wondered why there is so much evil in this world?
Church, I’ll get down right plain with you today: Have YOU personally ever seen a time when our children are under blatant attack? Let me share with you something that was shared with me last week by a pastor in Durham:
A mother in our church took her daughter who is going into 5th grade for her check up. The doctor asked the mom to leave the room for a few minutes, which the mother mistakenly did. The doctor then proceeds to question the little girl, “Have you ever been attracted to other girls?” That’s not the worst part, the worst part is this doctor, who took an oath to “do no harm”, proceeded to tell this little girl about ten years old, “Now, your mom is probably going to ask you what we talked about, but that is none of her business. You don’t have to tell her.”
That happened in Durham, but if you think it won’t happen in Randolph county, you better get your head out of the sand! Satan, hates all of humanity, he is seeking to destroy us. Church, we need to be prepared for this fight!
Ever since God announced the Messiah in Genesis 3:15, Satan has been trying to stop it.
Read Genesis 6 sometime. Satan so deluded, and perverted mankind attempting to make them so sinful God would have no choice but to wipe them out. Thank God for Noah!
Read sometime the book of Exodus when Satan inspired Pharaoh to kill all the Hebrew boys when they were born trying to stamp out the seed of the woman (Israel). Thank God for the midwives, thank God for Jochabed, thank God for Pharaoh’s daughter and her compassion.
Read sometime in the book of Matthew how that when Jesus was born Satan convinced Herod to kill all the babies that had been born in Bethlehem from two years and under.
Do you know the biggest failure of the church? When we win a victory, we stop. Satan never stops. He has been opposing God since he rebelled, and he is opposing God’s people today.
Thank God, we are on the winning side. We’ve seen Israel’s anticipation, we’ve seen the antagonist. Did you know that Israel was anticipating the same thing Satan was antagonizing? What was it? It was...
The Arrival 5-6
The Arrival 5-6
Jesus changes everything!
Read Rev. 12:5
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Look at that first phrase: “Ans she brought forth a man child...”
That immediately reminds me of when Israel’s anticipation began, Genesis 4:1
1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.
Eve, represented all of humanity, but she also represented Israel. God had made the promise of the Messiah to her, but also to us. She so anticipated God to deliver them from sin that when she gave birth to Cain, she thought she had given birth to the Messiah in fulfillment of the prophecy.
It would not be Eve through whom the Messiah would come, but from a young girl of the tribe of Judah about 2000 years ago named Mary. There are two truths about Jesus in this verse I want to close with:
His Second Coming
He will rule all nations with a rod of iron
Psalm 2:9 “9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
This rule did not take place at His first coming, but it will at His second
Notice the word “rule”?
It means to shepherd
Jesus, born of the line of David, is the Good Shepherd who “gave His life for the sheep”
What a day that will be my friends, when the Good Shepherd is sitting on the throne of David, then David’s words will have new meaning to us: Psalm 23:1 “1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
What about the rebellion that will follow the end of the millennial reign?
That is what that rod of iron is for!
Sin will be dealt with instantaneously in the kingdom age.
His ruling at His second coming is possible only because of...
His First Coming
“…and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.”
This phrase looks back to the point where Jesus settled His right to rule mankind
After the cross and the beatings
After the tomb and the resurrection
Jesus ascended to heaven and is seated at the Father’s right hand
Church listen to me now: As surely as we are gathered here today, Jesus is seated next to His Father in Heaven. What is He doing there?
He is interceding for us on our behalf.
He is waiting on the acknowledgment for God to gather us to Himself
He is preparing to judge this sinful world for, not only how it treated Him, but for how it has treated us as well.
Conclusion: Soon, I don’t know when, no one does, but I am convinced it is soon, Jesus will receive God’s blessing, He will step to the edge of our world and He will call us home.
When that happens anyone who has rejected Him and His message will be left behind to endure the tribulation with no hope of salvation. Ask yourself, “Will I be one of those left behind?”
Let’s bow for prayer as Gwen and Todd make their way forward.
With all heads bowed today and no one looking around, I want to close our time differently. For months now you have heard me ask, “If you know you’re saved, will you raise your hand”, but today I want to ask a different question.
Is there anyone listening to me today that would say, “Pastor, I don’t understand what you are talking about when you mention salvation. I hear you mention it every week, but it doesn’t make sense to me.” If that’s you would you please raise your hand, I will not embarrass you and you will not offend me.
What I would like to do for you is to sit down with you this week and discuss what exactly salvation is and why it is so important. In fact I would love to do it today!
If you would like to talk, see me after the service.