Missions Paul

And it’s not God!

Never come before God with the feeling He will tell you off, slap you on the wrist and make you feel worse than before. Never think that the bad things that happen are your punishment. This is not God.

Every condemning, accusing, debilitating voice is from the dragon who is permanently angry at you because he failed to kill Jesus!

“Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.” (Revelation 12 v 17)

The dragon is interested in you because you love God and you love others, everything hangs on these and because you are not ashamed to declare you are a follower of Jesus.

I met a Missionary Pastor this week who is hoping that one day he will be imprisoned for his faith in Jesus. I’m not sure I carry the same desire but I was moved by his longing to be such a dangerous follower of Jesus that the dragon does exactly that!

We are not afraid of the dragon’s anger. We have seen that the blood of the lamb is greater than the blood of the dragon. We are Jesus’ people!

But it is important to live knowing the dragon is angry because every temptation is not him wanting to give you things but because of his anger; every trial is because you are making him angry because you are living right and making good decisions.

Let’s keep the dragon angry!

So we know the devil was thrown down. He lost the war in Heaven because of the work of Christ. He is finished and he knows he only has a short time left so he will not be silent.

“When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.” (Revelation 12: 13-17)

The war is over but the battle rages on.

In stark contrast to the river of God the dragon spews a torrent of water at the woman to drown her. Ever feel like you are drowning under a flood of accusations, deceitfulness and lies? Ever feel like walking out, giving up, handing in the keys saying you cannot cope anymore? It is the torrent that is coming against you.

You are part of this drama in these verses. Don’t be surprised.

But be encouraged:-

1. It is only for a short time: 1260 days, a symbol of the time between Christ’s first and second coming; our lives are short here on earth.
2. God will find a way for you to be rescued or to hold on in the midst of the suffering. The earth is on the side of God (and us) as it swallows up the torrent.

More difficulties will come for the dragon wants to bring as many down with him as possible but help is on its way. Hold on. More are with us than are against us.

So how did the martyrs in heaven that John saw previously (chapter 6) overcome?

Yesterday I held in my hands a hand-written copy of the book of Acts, written by a Chinese Pastor, who once the authorities had discovered it, he was martyred. How did he overcome?

In the worst of your days when facing terrible health problems or people are accusing you with all kinds of deceit and lies, how do you overcome?

Here is the answer!

“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” (Revelation 12 v 11-12)

1. By the power of the cross.

This power is the blood of the Lamb. Yes the dragon may be red, the colour of blood and he may look fierce, but the Lamb is blood stained. There is more power in one drop of His blood than anything the dragon can produce. Why is this important? Because the dragon accuses us day and night. Under the blood there is no voice that can reach us because the blood speaks a better word, you are forgiven, you are cleansed, you are made new.

• Our witness.

This testimony of the work of Christ and the nature of Christ is hugely important. For we do not reduce either to a lesser level. We hold out for the truth of who Jesus is and what He does. There is no watering down. There is no weakening of our belief and our creed. We do not pamper to those who want him as one of the gods. He is the King of Kings and He demands our all.

• Our self-giving of our lives.

This suffering is not our defeat but the dragons defeat. Some of you will remember the book ‘The Heavenly Man’ by Brother Yun. I listened to him yesterday in a conference describe how when he was in prison and severely beaten up he really wanted to die a martyr and it would have been easy to do so. But his family urged him to live for Christ. Living for Christ was more of a surrender than dying for Christ. Made me think! Either way as we give of ourselves to Christ how is this overcoming the enemy? It is because what can the dragon do to us if we are cloaked with heaven, if we are not of this world then what is the worst he can do? Precisely! So we overcome!

This is how we overcome!

Can you imagine waking up today having had a restless night with condemning thoughts and then going through the day having doubts about your abilities and who you are?

Of course you can.

Some reading this today will have woken in the night thinking of that accusation they are facing. Some are in the middle of it right now, they are under investigation, fingers are being pointed and stones are being thrown for the accuser is at work.

Can you imagine in all of that trying to be the best you can be for others, yourself and for God?

I’ve got some news!

“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” (Revelation 12 v 10)

The accuser is defeated, he is hurled down.

When God looks at you, when He investigates you, what does he find? It is not what your accuser wants you to know.

One of the most destructive events in the Bible, the plague on Egypt, was prevented from coming on the people of God because of the blood that was on their houses. But see this:

Exodus 12:13. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

When I see the blood. 12:23. When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

When I see the blood, it doesn’t say when you see it. It is what God finds on you. He finds the sacrifice of His Son. He finds His righteousness placed on you. He finds no condemnation. He finds grace, mercy and forgiveness.

Colossians 3:3 “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”

What people find is immaterial. What your enemies find matters not. Even what you may find in your self-condemnatory life does not count. It is what HE finds that counts.

I do love Chris Tomlins song ‘Indescribable’. It is a song that is trying to describe the indescribable God. It is a bit like John describing his vision. He is high, He is deep, no one can fathom Him, He is uncontainable, all powerful, untameable and we are awestruck. However, it is almost the last line of the song which I particular value: “You see the depths of my heart and you love me the same”. YOU SEE. That is the point. Our faith needs to be on what He sees.

If we lived our life on what He sees and what He finds and not what we know and what the accuser says then maybe we will live better and perhaps the many decisions of life will be easier.

Our Father in heaven sees and finds the blood of Christ, we are hidden in Him!

The accuser is thrown down.

Have I got a word this morning?!

Get into your day because the devil is not where he was!

Put a smile on that face because the devil is not where he wants to be!

Let a song come from your heart because the devil is not on the throne of your life, Jesus is!

What we are going to read in these next few verses is going to greatly encourage you if you allow the words to sink deep into your being!

“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. ¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. ¹¹ They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. ¹² Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” ¹³ When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.” (Revelation 12 v 7-13)

The devil and his angels lost their place, v8. The devil was hurled down, v9. The devil and his angels were hurled down, v9. The accuser has been hurled down, v10. The devil has gone down, v12. The devil has seen he is hurled down, v 13.

• He is thrown down. Put down. Lost the battle.

Pause. What does that mean for us today? As we battle with our circumstance and situation, knowing this truth, how do we respond?

There’s more!

• The devil knows he only has a short time to live. He knows the good news that Jesus is coming soon. “…he knows that his time is short” v12.

Pause. What does that mean for us today?Are we living our lives with that same knowledge that the devil has? How is that seen in our decisions and responses?

• He is angry. He pursues the woman and (we will see later) her offspring v17.

Pause. What does that mean for us today? In terms of our prayer and fasting life; our spiritual gifts and natural abilities; the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control flowing from our lives, do they reveal the battle we are engaged in?

The only person really anxious is the devil not us. Why?

He knows he is dethroned. He knows it is over. He has read the last page of the book.

If this ever seemed possible at all John says there was. He saw it.

“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. ¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah.” (Revelation 12 v 7-10)

At the centre piece of Revelation, the birth of the son, Jesus who was snatched to the throne of God is a war.

“She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.” (v5)

The birth, life and death narratives are behind this one short but powerful verse.

Was this war in heaven about the dragon’s pride who tried to rise as the Morning star? Maybe. But what is certain is that the story of Jesus sits at the centre of this war.

When the Son of God was conceived a horrible terrible spiritual war was taking place between good and evil.

The war was being fought as he was being born in a manger and sought after by Herod to be killed. The war was being fought as he grew to be a man. The war was being fought as he was tempted in the wilderness, as he delivered the demon-possessed, as he preached and healed and saw the transformation of many on the hills of Judea. The war was bring fought as his enemies were plotting to kill him, as he walked in the garden of gethsemane and sweated drops of blood and as he hung in the darkness on a cross the war as its worst.

But there was Resurrection day, Ascension Day and the Day of the Throne and the war was over! The war was over in heaven. The dragon, the devil or Satan and his angels had been defeated by Michael and his angels.

What had happened on earth had shifted what was happening with the war. We often think the other way round. But in this case I certainly believe that the victory that Jesus won on earth brought the victory to Michael.

And where is that victory seen?

NOW

Today. It is seen today in our lives and what we are facing. We face it with the victory of Jesus and a defeated dragon. More of that later.

Already in the shops, songs, gifts, excitement.

And here we are, we have arrived at the centre piece of revelation. In all the narrative stories read at Christmas this one doesn’t hardly get a mention, but it should.

“The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre”. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. ⁶ The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.” (Revelation 12 v 4-6)

This is not a Revelation to come but an explanation of what has been.

Jesus born to be King. At his birth Herod was after Him, but behind Herod was the dragon. Throughout his life the religious were trying to trick Him but behind them was the dragon. At His trial Pilate washed his hands of Him but behind Pilate was the dragon. He died on the cross. It looked like the dragon had won. But He rose and He ascended to the throne of God!

The woman is left, she is us, running in the wilderness and more of that later.

But this is the Christmas story and we must not forget it. The dragon tried and failed. The son was born and is victorious.

The Hebrews’ dragon was called Leviathon or Behemoth whereas the Greeks’ was called Python.

In Greek mythology, Zeus and a woman named Leto have a baby and his wife sends a python-dragon to kill the baby at birth. Zeus intervenes and rescues the baby and woman.

There are several versions of the same story and some with greater detail than my 2 sentences!

Back to the Bible …

“Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. ⁴ Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. ⁶ The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. (Revelation 12 v 3-6)

This is not a real dragon, it is another sign, just like the woman.

It has 7 heads, 10 horns and 7 crowns and we will look into this later on. But the numbers seven and ten are symbols for completeness. The dragon has complete authority, complete power and complete wealth. But we will soon learn that completeness is held under the Almighty God’s ultimate power! The dragon will be confirmed from hereon is the epiphany of the worst evil of evils. The dragon is the devil.

A third of the stars fall, is this a great apostasy of the righteous, is that possible? Are these angels the ones swept from heaven in the great fall of satan from heaven?

The dragon stands in front of the birth of the son who we now know is not a sign but the real thing, Jesus the Son of God. He is snatched to heaven by God. He is safe. But the woman escapes like Israel from Pharaoh into the desert, it’s akin to another exodus. She remains for a symbolic figure, again half a year, it is not complete, but she is taken care of by God. But we will see how the woman is chased in the desert, this is a great tribulation for her. The woman symbolic of us in this tribulation now. It happened after the birth of the son.

So the woman remains and will do so for much of the rest of the vision though another woman will emerge and a horrible one at that. The dragon is also here, for a time.

Can you feel the tension?

We need more detail and it will come. John sees more.

For the first century followers of Jesus suffering for their faith and struggling with the temptations and trials of their Roman Greek oppressed world they are understanding another world behind this. A world of an enormous red dragon who is playing havoc and causing chaos and who needs to be brought down.

They are introduced to spiritual warfare. What they are seeing is also what we must see. How they must adapt to what they see is also what we must do. For this not Greek mythology. This is real.

There are wars in the world and it is quite obvious who the opponents are. Then there are wars based around religion and ideologies where it is hard to define exactly who the opponent is. Factions arise and these break-off groups find a new name and continue the war against good in other places. Perhaps that’s what I am trying to say; the war of good and evil is hard to define exactly but it has existed before Christ, during Christ’s life and after His death.

We start a new chapter today on the back of seeing the Presence of God through the discovery of the Ark of the Covenant. We approach then confidently and without fear. That is the approach of John and that is ours. We wish John had given details of who he was seeing but he does give us a clue.

“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ² She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.  ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre.” (Revelation 12 v 1-2, 5)

So we have 2 people here on the same side of good. One is a sign and the other isn’t.

The pregnant woman is a sign, so she isn’t real. However the son she gives birth to is not a sign, he is the real thing.

Here is the clue in v5: will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre.

This quote is from the Messianic Psalm 2 which is the most quoted Old Testament Scripture in the New Testament always pointing to Jesus.

It has obviously led some to think this is Mary and it probably is. But not only Mary for this is a sign remember.

It could also be Eve, the mother of all, where God spoke to her enemy, the snake, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring^[ and hers; he will crushyour head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15) But not only Eve it could be more.

It could also be the whole of Righteous Israel and all of God’s people with the picture of the sun, moon, stars all surrounding the whole of the redeemed people, all of creation of all time coming into war with the child.

The child is Jesus, it has to be, there can be no other. He is not a sign. He is literally the real deal. He is coming with the nations into a Great War. We can guess who the opponent is.

However today our eyes are on Christ and His army. These are God’s people of all time in every generation for the Great War that isn’t only to come but has been and which is. Today if you in the middle of great difficulty, if you are battling and you are struggling to know exactly who the opponent is: for example, you might think it is your boss but you know it is not them but something or someone greater. The important thing to remember is this: you know which side you are on! You are on the side of the One with an iron sceptre and who rules the world! He is not a sign but He is exactly how He is described. You along with Mary, Eve and all mothers, the whole of the redeemed are going into battle today on the side of good, the side of Christ. Your opponent is here but so is Jesus!

Over the weekend I was in Brazil and there were moments when the presence of God in a place was stronger than I have known for a long time. The problem is trying to explain it. When we try and explain we always lose some of its impact. This is the case in this verse today which is an introduction into a powerful section of chapter 12 to 15 which actually could be said to be the centre of the Revelation.

Remember chapter 4:5 “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing” and in chapter 8:5 “Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”? We are back at the throne, God’s temple is opened again to us.

“Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.” (Revelation 11 v 19)

This time there is an important addition.

John sees the Ark of the Covenant. We know what it is. We know it contains the 10 Commandments and other powerful artefacts. We know the stories attached to its history. However, we don’t know the significance as we read that John saw it.

The Jews believe that God has hidden the Ark but that it will be restored and revealed at the end time. So this is the end of all ends. We are here.

The Jews believe that the Ark was the most sacred of all sacred articles. Underneath the cover of the Ark is the glory of God. They long for this day.

There will come a day that what John saw we will see.

Everything that is hidden will be revealed. We will be there, standing in His presence. It will be more fulfilling, more satisfying and more powerful than we have ever known. We will find it hard to describe but we will be there.