◑Preface
It’s a great privilege to be back with you folks.
When my son was about three, I asked him where he got his magnificent deep blue eyes. He responded with all the authority that a three year old can master, “From God”. Now of course he was right. If he’s been 21 and a biology student he might have answered well I have them because although neither of you nor mom has blue eyes both of you must carry the necessary recessive gene which happily combined in the formation of my DNA. Which answer would have been truer? They are equally true, which is more fundamental?
Another question, what cause the distraction in southern kingdom of Judah in 587 B.C.? Well one could mention the rise of the regional super power of Babylon, the decline and decay of the Davidic dynasty, the slightly earlier tragic pride of Hezekiah in throwing off the wealth of the land to emissaries from the rising neophyte empire of Babylon, the criminal stupidity of Zedekiah despite Jeremiah’s warnings, the sins of the people, sins that attracted God’s judgment, or one could have said ‘God did it’. Which answer is truer? They are equally true. Which answer is more fundamental?
What made Job suffer? one could mention the Sabeans and Chaldeans bouncing the taking away all his wealth? Or the windstorm that brought down the host that killed all of his ten children?, bereavement?, a nagging wife? one could mention a lot of things, or one could say God did it. Which answer is truer? They are equally true. Which is more fundamental?
▶Now then, what today causes the church around the world her greatest difficulties and sufferings and challenges? Phenomenological, the answers may be different in different parts of the world. The church for example in southern Sudan, 2,000,000 martyrs in the last twenty years, people competing for the oil under their land, militant Islam to the north, west old African tribalism, lust for power and one could look more broadly in Africa and comment on the rise of AIDS.
I was in South Africa not too long ago. I went to Soweto and met pastors who every Saturday on average take seven funerals from AIDS. one could mention drought in parts of that needy continent. Endless decease perhaps above all the lack of teaching in an area where there is a large of formal nominal Christianity but not much depth of instruction owing to the risen trice and urbanization and education in some of the major cities. As recently as 1963 Nairobi have university. It has now got half a dozen. And also in south of Sahara Africa, you’ll hear the cry in the few is now higher than the pulpit. And one could similarly move to Latin America, and to Europe, and to North America. What should we say? Rising secularization, philosophical parallelism, moral indifferentism, prayerlessness very often in the church, in delusive form of the gospel, endless hedonism, and so on so on.. but have you notice that only categories are sociological?, historical?, occasional?, demographic?, and psychological. They are performance-related, nothing about the devil, and nothing about God, and little about sin.
▶So do not misunderstand me. I’m certainly not saying that there is nothing to be learned from sociological analysis. There is a huge amount to be learned. The trouble is when all of our descriptions is what is right or wrong in the world follow those axis, it tends to be the case where we look for solutions likewise, looks to those axis. And that is a huge mistake. Moreover it doesn’t penetrate behind the sociological and culture phenomena to the God who still remains in charge, whose words we have helps us to understand the phenomena that are taking place around us.
◑Revelation 12, Satanic rage
Now if understand the passage given to us, Revelation 12. God here gives us a deeper analysis of the difficulties and sufferings of the church, this side of the coming of Christ. Before the final display of wrath in the seven plaques of Chapter 16, chapters 12-14 marked a major division in the book. Here we find the underlying cause for the hostility in suffering that will fall on the worlds in the conflict between the world and the church. So if you are going to understand this present evil age, this might be a very good place to begin. In fact there are many passages where we could look in some details but let us begin here then we’ll look briefly on other New Testament book and then try to draw some implications for ourselves today.
▶First then, John outlines the occasion for the satanic rage that
characterizes this chapter. For the end of the day what John does is trace all the problems that Christians face now to Satan’s rage. He is furious we were told in chapter twelve because he knows his time is short. But in the first instance what John does is to outline the occasion for this satanic rage. Verses 1 – 9, in John’s vision the sin opens with a great and wondrous sign. A woman sign here as sometimes else where in revelation is a spectacle that points in some way to consummation. The content of this spectacle is a woman, verses 1 and 2, and what a woman she is. Who is she? Many have argued across the century is she is Mary because they say she gives birth, verse 6, to a son, a male child who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter and that transparently refers to Jesus. But this is not Mary. This is the messianic community whether under the old covenant or under the new. Just as Zion or Jerusalem is the mother of the people of God in the Old Testament saying, “Oh barren woman”, we read Isaiah 54. So in the New Testament, Galatian 4:26, the heavenly Jerusalem is our mother. The Jerusalem that is above and free and she is our mother we are told explicitly in Galatians 4. Messiah comes out of this messianic community. The messianic community that has begun with the calling of Abraham and the constituting of the nation and now continues in new form under the terms of the new covenant.
This becomes obvious when you get down to the end of the chapter for the children of the woman, the offspring of the woman, are those who keep Gods commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus, which can’t really be Mary. This is a reference to the church, the church of the living God, the ongoing messianic community.
She’s clothed with the Son, we’re told that is utterly radiant. Her feet on the moon suggest dominion of some sort. Twelve stars on her head, causally the book of Revelation picks up twelve. Jesus himself links the twelve apostles with the twelve tribes constituting the entirety of God’s holy covenant people form the old and new covenant. And in verse two she is described as being pregnant in travail. She is undergoing what Jew cam e to refer to as the birth pains of the messiah. That is not the birth pains that the messiah himself suffers, but the birth pains endured by the people of God as Messiah came to birth. That notion was rooted in the Old Testament. In Isaiah 26:17, for example. We read, “As a woman with child as about to give birth, rise and cries out in her pain. So were we in your presence oh Lord as we wait for your coming and blessing.” So what we have here then is true Israel and an agony of suffering and expectation as the Messiah comes to birth.
▶The second sign in the pageant, in this spectacle, is an enormous red dragon, verse 3. “Another sign appeared in heaven an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept the third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.” He is identified for us, on case there is any doubt, in verse 9 we are told the great dragon was hurled down to that ancient serpent, picking up Genesis 3, called the devil or Satan who leads the world astray. So under these guys of a dragon then we are dealing with our artful Satan himself. Dragon or Leviathan or Behemoth and so on, this are categories that are often picked up in the Old Testament connected with all that opposes God. Associated with Egypt, for example, in psalm 74, with Assyria and Babylon in Isaiah 27, with pharaoh in Ezekiel 29. But the supreme opponent is Satan himself. And it does not have to be Satan in isolation but Satan behind his historical and even personal realities.
Thus for example in Matthew chapter 16, after Jesus has secured form His own followers the confession that He is himself the Christ the son of the living God. He then announces that He must go to Jerusalem and die and Peter thinking that since he has scored ones theologically, he might try for the second round. He says, “Never Lord this shall never happen to you” where upon Jesus wheels to him and says “Get behind me Satan”.
Now do not misunderstand that passage that does not mean that Peter is demon possessed that is not really Peter speaking. That Peter is not giving his considered judgment but its judgment is so mistaken that he actually serves as Satan’s mouth peace. But God of this world is even Peter’s eyes so that Satan himself can stand behind nations, regional empires, world orders, suffering in the times of Job and even in apostle.
He is a red dragon probably indicating murderousness. Recalling Jesus words, he was a murderer form the beginning, John 8. He has 7 heads like leviathan in psalm 74:14, away of signaling the universality of his power. (I wish I had time to unpack the ten horns which recalls the fourth beast of Daniel 7 but I’m going to skip that). He has crowns of his head not here victory reads but crowns of usurp, authority against Him as described in this book as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the one who has the right to rule with the wrath of iron.
◑The Woman, the Son
▶And then the drama itself begins in verses 4 – 6. It is grotesque, it is meant to be grotesque. The woman, don’t forget now she symbolizes the messianic community, she has her feet up in the stirrup pushing to bring to birth the Messiah which she has carried. And there is this hideous monster standing between her legs wanting to grab the baby as he emerges from the womb and eat him, that is the picture. Outside of the symbolism of the apocalyptic vision, immediately what comes to mind is the massacre of the innocence for example in Bethlehem. The crowd is trying to push Jesus over a cliff, those who take up stones to throw Him and behind all of it stands the monster, stands the devil himself, stands the red dragon.
▶But then there are two further symbolic elements that need to be unpacked. The woman, we’re told, flees to the desert, the wilderness, for 1260 days. And before those two elements are introduced, we are given just one line about the child, verse 5, “She gave birth to a child, to a son, a male child who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter and her child was snap up to God and to His thrown." So in one verse you move to His birth, to His childhood, to the arms of this public ministry, to the years of such public ministry. Issuing finally into his death, burial resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Majesty on high where He already reigns as God’s right hand.
All in one verse and you begin to say to yourself, “Why is the author skipping over all the important bits?” But you see he hasn’t you have to read chapter 12 after you have read 1 – 11. And already in chapter 4 and 5, the significance of the son has been set out. Chapter 4 is to chapter 5, what a setting is to a drama. In chapter 4 in simpler language you have given a picture of the transcendence of God in the highly symbolic terms, his otherness. The one who is sole creator, the one before whom even the highest order of angles bow down and cover their faces not daring to gaze on the holiness of His majesty crying, “Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God Almighty!
Picking up the language of the great vision of Isaiah 6, and ones this is established then the drama begins in chapter 5. “In the right hand of Him who sits on the thrown is a scroll and this scroll is sealed with seven seals”. As the book of revelation unfolds it becomes transparent that what this book contains is all of God’s purposes for judgment and blessing. That is what it contains. And in the symbolism of the day, “taking the scroll and slitting the seals brings those things to pass”. That’s how they are affected in what we call history.
So a loud voiced angel cries to the entire universe, “Who is holy to approach this God and take the scroll and open the seals”. Now the significance of this setting is clear. This is not a God before whom you just sauntered, “OH hi God I’ll volunteer”. He is the God before who even the highest angles cover their faces, angels who do not dare look the blazing glory, “Who is going to saunter into His presence and volunteer?” And so we’re told no one was found who was worthy. No angel, no earth bounds dweller, no necromancer, no one from the bones of the dead, and John weeps. He weeps not because he is so frustrated noisy parker, he weeps to have a pick into the future and God says, “No”. He weeps because in the symbolism of the vision, unless the seals of the book are slit and the scroll is opened, all of God’s purposes for judgment and blessing will not come to pass. So the church is suffering for nothing there is no guarantee of any just end, there is no guarantee of the balances being set out on the last day, there is no assurance that justice will be done and will be seen to be done, the whole thing is meaningless, history is meaningless, suffering is meaningless. But the interpreting elder taps among the shoulder and says, “John stop your crying, look the Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed to open the scroll”. “So I looked”, John said, “And I saw a Lamb”.
▶Apocalyptic literature loves to mingle its metaphors. You are not to think of two animals parked side by side, a Lion and the Lamb. The Lion is the Lamb that is the point. It’s a sort of thing that you can’t draw. It’s a sort of thing that apocalyptic frequently does. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the messianic figure from David’s line is also a Lamb. And that a slaughtered Lamb, we’re told a sacrificial Lamb. Yet at the same time a Lamb with a perfection of seven horns that is with all kingly authority and He does not come from the outside and have to approach this terrifying God. He comes from the thrown himself, he is one with God. And as a result of His sacrifices He calls together man and woman from every ethnicity, from every tongue, tribe and people of the nation gathering around the thrown singing to Him who sits on the thrown and to the Lamb. Not merely a song of creation but a new song, a song of redemption. Now all that has taken place before chapter 12. So that when we read chapter twelve verse 5, all of that should be at the back of our mind.
▶We are now focusing on the church. This woman who has brought to birth the messiah and who is still left here to with her children but the Messiah himself is now at God’s own right hand. What happens to the woman? That is now the focus. She flees to the desert, to the wilderness for 1260 days. What does that mean?
Consider the dessert first of all. In Old Testament symbolism the dessert, the wilderness has two foe sides. They compete and sometimes complement each other. The dessert is the place of wilderness before entry into the promise land. So there is a sense in which we are now in a kind of desert before the consummation takes place. We are still not in the consummation of the new heaven and the new earth. But in the prophecy of Hosea, the dessert has another symbolism that is wonderful and rich. You recall that Hosea is the prophet that pictures God almighty as the Almighty cocol, the betrayed husband. He is betrayed by his own people. And yet this God is so tender, so inherently faithful to His own covenantal promises, so loving that He thinks of his people and He says, “I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her”. For the wilderness was also the place where God in preparing His people for the land of promise, took them through miracle and protection, to provision of food, all the manna and quail necessary, their shoes not wearing out, God disclosing himself in glory over the tabernacle leading them leading them protecting them from their enemies. Do you see?
So the wilderness is the place where his opposition and terror. It is also the place where God carefully nurtures and prepares His people before the dawning of the messianic age, the final consummation of that age.
◑What about these 1260 days?
In fact there are four expressions that occur in these chapters 12, 13, 14. 1260 days on an idealized month of 30 days that is the equivalent of 42 months. Which you also find in 11:2 or 13:5, which is the equivalence of three and a half years, which is the same thing as time 1 year times two more and half a time. Time times half a time, three and a half years forty two month, 1260 days. It’s all the same thing. What does that mean?
(Now I do my best to step on at least with my two toes).
The primary controlling figure I suspect is that crucial three and a half years of Syrian tyranny lead by Antiochus Epiphanies. Let me explain.
Many countries have in their history some period of time or some date that is so much bound up with their self-identity that any citizen of that country hearing of that date or that period of time brings to mind all of the associations. So for I were to say in this gasp crowd, “four score years and seven”, is there anybody who does not know what I’m referring to? Did you see? Maybe if you are a Canadian who just moved down here or maybe you’ve just arrived from Tibet, you are excused. But if you have been brought up in an American school system you know that I’m referring to the Gettysburg address, that famous speech that captures so much and so little. And if you are a British, for example, if you say 1066 everybody knows what you’re referring to, you don’t have to explain it. In fact it is so central in British mythology that there even famous book taking the mickey out of it 1066, it’s a very funny book. Because that is the year when the Normans won at the battle of Hasting and the entire direction of the British Isles took off at a different direction.
So also 3 and half years was by this time, figuring hugely in Jewish self-consciousness. After the Greeks took over and Alexander the Great died, his mighty Greek empire which extended from Greece all the way to the boarders of India was divided up among four generals. one was called Ptolemy and he took over Egypt. And then a little further north, there was as Seleucid dynasty; a dynasty that took over what is now Syria. So that meant that little Israel was squashed between this Seleucid the North and Ptolemy’s in the south and become the play thing of both, really a no man’s land. Eventually the Seleucid in the north took over and there is a rose in their dynasty. And Antiochus the 4th of Epiphanies who decided that little Israel have to be paganized. So in 167 B.C, he marched in with his troops and slathered pigs in the temple. He made it the capital offence to observe the Sabbath, made it the capital offence to own any copy of Torah. He determined to slaughter all priest and so forth. He was going to paganize the nation. But in fact up in the hill country there was an old man with three sons and he killed the first of the emissary sent by the Seleucid. And his older son Judas started conducting guerilla warfare. It is the first known instance of guerrilla warfare in world history where we have a lot of records that has come to us, pages and pages in the first century by writer Josephus.
Judas came to be called “The Hammer” “Judas the Hammer” or in Aramaic, Judas Maccabean”, enhance the Maccabean revolt. In three in a half bloody years they kept fighting the Seleucid until there was a pitch battle on the Orontes River and they won. The temple was rededicated and 1260 days, three and a half years. Time times and half a time, 42 months became a symbol in Jewish consciousness of a period of time when you face huge suffering, struggle but at the end of it be sure God’s triumphs and the people of God will be exonerated.
▶So this is the way of saying here I think that this woman now, 167 B.C to 164 B.C, but this woman now after Jesus ascension at the right hand of the majesty, this woman and her children, the church that is you and me. We live through a suppressed time, a consecrated time. A time that is cut short for the sake of the elect where there will be persecution and opposition and antagonism from this beast until the consummation takes place.
Then in verses 7-9, also in highly symbolic language you’ll find the struggle that takes place in heaven. What happens down here has its counterpart in heaven and the result of it is that the devil himself now has been principally defeated in the like of Christ death and resurrection. He is thrown out, he is no longer in heaven, and he can no longer stand before God as the accusers of the brothers and sisters. How can he stand before God in this way? Because after all they have been justified and vindicated by the Christ’s own death.
▶So now with the defeated Satan, we read verse 10, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of our His Messiah for the accuser of our brothers and sisters who accusers them day and night has been hurled down”. Now how they’re trying for describe in verse 11. Pickup verse 12 and "so rejoice you heavens and you who dwell on them and work to the earth and to the see because the devil has come to you because his filled with furry because he knows his time is short."
◑Reasons for the Devils Satanic Rage
So John now in the second place identifies the reasons for the devils satanic rage. (Let mention them quickly) First he knows his time is close, verses 10 and 12. Second he knows his fear is restricted, he is cast out of heaven has no access to God, the way for example that Satan have access to God along with the other angels in the book of job. He is cast out of heaven he is defeated his fear is restricted. Third, his success is limited in verses 14 to 16. Here in this description of ongoing conflict there is a lot of exodus typology. The woman is given wings of an eagle drawn to Exodus 19 and Isaiah 40. The attempted drawn of the people of God in the flood. The way people tried to drawn Moses. The opening of the earth brings to mind the judgment that fell on call-in number 16. All of these sorts of things are close to mind in this ongoing symbol laden struggle. one remembers the word of Isaiah 43, “When you pass through the waters I will be with you. When you pass through the river they will not overcome you”. That is what is going on.
▶Now throughout the history of the church, Christians have divided pretty frequently whether not things are getting better or things are getting worst. I won’t mention of course any millennial views here that is not my task. I’m neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet and I work from a none profit organization but let me tell you what is going to happen.
There is a wonderful parable reported in Matthew 13:29-30, about the weed and the tares. And when the disciples want to pull out the weeds that an enemy has sown in God’s own field the master simply replied, “No let both grow until the end”. In the last hundred and fifty years there have more conversions to Christ, genuine conversions to Christ on the previous eighteen hundred years combined. There bit more martyrs in the previous 18 hundred years combined. “Let both grow to the end”.
If the Lord Jesus does not come back for another hundred year 200 years, let me tell what will happen, there will be spectacular times gospel growth that will be hugely encouraging and million and millions of people will be converted. And there will be bible printed and bible studies and preachers rise and whole society changed and cultures transform by the preaching of the gospel. Not only bloody martyrdom and persecution and violence and antagonism, “Let both grow until the end”.
Now try to figure eschatology around that tension. Let both grow until the end. And that is in fact what we are seeing in here too. Christ has risen, Christ is triumphant, and Satan is already a defeated foe. He is gone, he is vanished from heaven, his fear is restricted and he knows his time is short that is exactly why he is filled with fury.
▶In June 1944, the Russians were pushing in the east. The western allies have already cleaned that North Africa. They made a little foray into southern France, they are pushing up the boot of Italy, and they’re holding their own in the Balkans. And then in June 1944, in three days on the beaches of Normandy the western allies dump them 1.1 million men and tons and tons of war material. Anybody would that have a brain in his head could see that the war is over. In terms of man power, productive capacity, energy supply, technological efficiency, perseverance, money. All the things the German’s had at that point was the fact that at least their frontiers roll were internal. That is all that they have for them. Anybody would that have a brain in his head could see that the war is over. Does that mean that Hitler there said, “Opps! And super peace? Instead some of the bloodiest fighting of the war came next the battle of the Bulge where the Germans push to the coast and wouldn’t make it if they have run out of fuel, the battle for Berlin perhaps more bloody in style, horrendous fighting, why? It’s because Hitler was filled with furry.
Satan is filled with furry today not because he thinks he can win but precisely because he knows he can’t. He is filled with furry because he knows his time is short and so deep is his malice against God and all of God's people, locked out of heaven, locked out of even his ancient function as the accuser of the brothers and sisters. We are justified. We are already acquitted before the bar of Gods justice same as known even superficial norm is stranding anymore and he is filled with furry because he knows his time is short and that its huge part of how we opt to think about this present evil age.
▶Now there is lot of other facets to this measure of course. It’s possible to talk about the ongoing presence of God manifested in the creation. It is possible to talk about the goodness of God and the streams of common grace in the arts and in science. It is possible to talk about the way even before we are Christians we are after all human being created in the image of God. The first thing a human being ought to do is to confess his or her creature leanness. Made in that image of God, that is logically to confessing himself or herself to be a Christ believer.
So there are many things that we enjoy and the apostle Paul can, for example can tell us that God gives us these good things to enjoy. So one does not want to paint simply an antithetical period picture in which there is nothing but antagonism. It is more complicated it is more subtle than that. Moreover Satan himself is sometimes portrayed as a roaring lion seeking whom he will devour. And other times portrayed as an angel of life deceiving for possible the very elect so sometimes he may in fact unleashing his arsenal so as to cause the death of two million believers in Sudan and in other times he may be sending out false teachings, subtle which never come along and say, “Here is a great load of theological God’s love, go for it”. Inevitably it’s going to look a little different his not stupid. He is going to say, “OH I think that it is wonderful that you believe the gospel. The gospel is such a good thing, isn’t God nice? But you know there is something that we discovered that also helps you to apply things just a little better a little more richly. This will turn your life around. Believe your gospel that is good but in addition to believing the gospel you need rebirthing techniques in your counseling. This will be hugely how for those who come from abused background.” And you multiply thing until this gospel is made essentially irrelevant because it becomes fact which is merely assumed. It is not what you’re excited anymore it is not the fore front of your thinking.
▶I’m teaching more decades now that I can count and if I learned anything from all of my teaching is this, my students don’t learn anything that I teach them. What they learn is what I’m excited about. So if in the church of the living God we become excited about the gospel. That is what we pass on as our heritage. If instead the gospel becomes increasingly in us, what we assumed, what we ascend to in our creedal statement and the like, but what really captures us is a particular form of worship, or a particular style of counseling, or a particular view on culture or a particular technique in preaching or whatever. Then ultimately our students make that their center and the generation after that loses the gospel. The gospel is that which merely assumed, you’re only generation and a half from death.
◑Galatians
(So now let me take just a moment to show you that the picture I have given here in the apocalyptic categories from the book of revelation is in fact assumed throughout the New Testament. I will do this merely to pointing to one book).
▶Galatians, this is a book that is not apocalyptic book as you can imagine. But I want to insist strongly as I can that although the language in Revelations 12 is apocalyptic which all I can in the New Testament is the stanzas are very common. So begin with Galatians 1:1-5, I’m going to go too much of the book of Galatians and about 4 minutes.
“Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers and sisters[a] with me,
To the churches in Galatia:
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age,"
That is the sweep of the conflict do you see. And this verse he already summarizes us turning as self-sacrifice for our sins. So the rescue it and the training of the sins of this present evil age and all this
“according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen”.
That is the introduction.
▶Then verses 6 -9, Paul identifies the opponents to gospel exclusiveness. The opponents to gospel exclusiveness, so what characterizes this present evil age then among other things is that which denies gospel exclusiveness. If we or angel from heaven should preach any other gospel rather than this gospel let him anathema. That is part of the opposition in this present evil age.
▶Or again chapter 2:1-5, opponents to gospel sufficiency. In this Hades was brought to Jerusalem a gentile lad and he did not have to be circumcised to be acceptable by the Christian leaders in Jerusalem because if you can only be acceptable to Christians in Jerusalem because you have the gospel plus circumcision then the gospel itself is not enough. So this is a attract to gospel sufficiency and that is part of present evil age.
▶In verse 11 -21: opponents to the truth of the gospel in exclusive justification. (I don’t have time to unpack it.) In chapter 3 and 4: opponents to biblical cohesiveness. The whole argument of chapter 3 and 4 of Galatian is, don’t you understand this gospel that I’m preaching has always been announced in the Old Testament. If you understand the old covenant scripture are right they put together this way to point you to through justification by grace alone through faith alone.
In chapter 5:1-6: opponents to gospel freedom and grace. Chapters 5:7 and following: opponents to gospel perseverance. People wanted approach of the gospel where you taste a little devil do you but you don’t want to be really committed. In chapter 5:13 opponents to gospel fruitfulness. The gospel is more than justification. Justification declares our standing before God but the gospel itself is such wonderful what God has done in pouring out His spirit and regeneration and transformation, and already it still remain true by the fruit. You should know them. And if there is no fruit there is not a single reason for thinking that somebody is converted, not one. It is not merely a matter of believing the right thing because the gospel is a powerful thing that God has done, the announcement of this powerful thing to transform us and separate us from this present evil age and make us different. Do you see?
◑Rev.12:11
And that leads me to conclude with something that is really outside with my purview but I just can’t keep quite. Because you see the verse we skipped over in chapter 12 of revelation is verse 11. It is right to think through this present evil age what its characteristics are, what is, the profile is, the place of the devil behind all of its structures, its opposition and violence and deceit. It is alright to think about this things but verse 11 tells us how Christians overcome this devil. This deserves a couple of sermons just by itself but let me outline the three points that John makes.
▶1. Christians overcomes this satanic range first by the blood of the lamb. In fact the original is even stronger on the ground of the blood of the lamb. It is not by the blood of the lamb seen as a kind of devise but it’s on the ground of Christ atoning death. When Satan comes to accuse us psychologically or tries to vent his voice before God and say, “How can you let the Don Carson walk away? He is a sinner for goodness sake. You claim to be so holy and you let him go flee? Don Carson is not, I’m not as bad as all that. Don Carson‘s plea is the blood of the lamb. That is what silences the accuser, this is gospel freedom. This is why Satan has been cast out the cross danced at the heart of everything this needs to be unpacked and teaches out again and again so that we’ll understand the richness in what we have in Christ in overcoming this Satan and all of his wiles.
▶2. Second we overcome him by the word of their testimony. That does not mean that they give their testimony a lot. It means by the word of their witness that is a bear witness to the gospel. How are you going to advance the gospel, how are you going to push back the frontiers of darkness in America today? Start a political party? Law being in Washington? Don’t misunderstand me, there may be some place for this kind of thing as part of this fears of common grave but do not confuse them with gospel centeredness. The way the host of darkness is pushed back is by Christian witness Christian baring witness Christians giving testimonies to who God has in Christ Jesus. How else can there be a push back against Satan and his foes?
Here we are defeated simply if we look in words and keep silent. Be as reformed as you like but if you never ever shared the gospel either anybody else, you and yourself is being defeated. You are not pushing back the frontiers of darkness. This is how Satan is defeated, by the blood of the Lamb by the word of your testimony.
▶3. And third by not drinking even from death itself you die daily. That is merely following this savior who has gone to the cross and learning a fresh to take up your cross and follow Him.
That is why Christians as they face the problems of the 1st century could say things like this, it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on His name but also to suffer for His sake.(Phl. 1:29) Isn’t that wonderful? It has been granted to you.
I’m sure you remember the remarkable passage in Acts 5:41 when the apostles were first beaten up and they rejoice because they are counted worthy to suffer for the name. I’ve been thinking at it recently and I think I begin to understand why they rejoice. After all before Jesus has gone to the cross He spent a fair bit of what we call the farewell discourse talking about how His followers would suffer. He has done it earlier in Matthew chapter 10. He expected to probe Him even in what we call the sermon in the mountain. In Matthew 5, 6 and 7, in Matthew 5:10 and 13 He says, “Rejoice when people speak evil of you insults you” there can be persecution in those lines too. “Rejoice because your name is aligned with the names of the prophets.”
▶And now Jesus is gone back to heaven the spirit is fallen. Pentecostal Power is seeing so many people converted. People of the Jerusalem speak well of the apostles miracles are being performed in their hands and I imagine if the apostles are thoughtful at all they will sometimes saying to themselves man this is fantastic but where is the suffering?
It is all good but where is the suffering. I mean Jesus spoke so often about the suffering then he himself suffered. I know we can’t suffer and pay for the sins of others he did all that. That is wonderful but He said to take up the cross but I don’t see a cross. And then they are beaten up and they said, “at last”. Listen if you really understand that is how Christians are to react in this dammed world, it changes everything. And you will rejoice that you are counted worthy to suffer for the name. (Ac.5:41)
▶I told a folk I cherished how my sins are being forgiven how Jesus changed my outlook, took my guilt and gave me heaven. They thought I lost my senses turned fanatic lost my reason they charged me with betrayal with the vicious kind of treason and I wonder why salvation would cause me so much pain.
I told the folk I cherished
how my sins had been forgiven,
How Jesus changed my outlook,
took my guilt, and gave me heaven.
They thought I’d lost my senses,
turned fanatic, lost my reason.
They charged me with betrayal,
with a vicious kind of treason.
And I wondered why salvation
should cause me so much pain.
If they persecuted me,
they will persecute you —
For the slave is not above the Lord he serves.
My assignment was the cross;
you my slave will bear some loss:
My disciple takes his cross and daily nerves
his heart and mind to follow me.
Then soon I learned my brothers
and my sisters in the Savior
So often shine in suffering
with astonishing behavior,
Adorn the blessed gospel
with forbearing perseverance,
Forgive their cruel tormentors
with a graceful, firm endurance.
Still I wondered why salvation
should cause them so much pain.
If they persecuted me,
they will persecute you —
For the slave is not above the Lord he serves.
My assignment was the cross;
you my slave will bear some loss:
My disciple takes his cross and daily nerves
his heart and mind to follow me.
What alien perspectives
I’ve pursued with willful blindness.
For apostolic servants
would rejoice at God’s great kindness
In reckoning them worthy
to take on a little battering;
They longed to know Christ’s power
and the fellowship of suffering.
For they understood their calling
to trust and suffer pain.
If they persecuted me,
they will persecute you —
For the slave is not above the Lord he serves.
My assignment was the cross;
you my slave will bear some loss:
My disciple takes his cross and daily nerves
his heart and mind to follow me.
Let’s pray
Forgive us our sins which are many Lord God and grant us renewed vision of the cosmic sweep of the struggle in which we are privilege to be engaged. And us we delight in the triumph in the Lion Lamb grant Lord God that seared unto our consciousness will be the word those who suffer with me will rein with me, for Jesus sake. AMEN
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