Revelation chapter 12, verse 7 through 12.
I have entitled this message, A Very Close
Look at Satan, because that is what it
is.
J.
I.
Packer has well said, Satan has no constructive
purpose of his own.
His tactics are simply to thwart God and
destroy men.
That is a great statement.
I like another thing that J.
I.
Packer said.
I like a lot of things J.
I.
Packer says in his books.
But I like this, he said, the natural
response to the denials of Satan's existence is
to ask, who then runs his business?
Who then runs his business?
Because it's very obvious, his business is present
in the world.
So, whether you believe Satan exists or not,
I think you'll see from the Bible today
that he does.
You're going to see a lot about him.
Let's read verse 7 in Revelation 12, down
through verse 12.
We read this staggering statement in verse 7.
And war broke out in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought with the dragon,
and the dragon and his angels fought, and
they did not prevail.
Nor was a place found for them in
heaven any longer.
The great dragon was cast out, that serpent
of old, called the devil and Satan, who
deceives the whole world.
He was cast to the earth, and his
angels were cast out with him.
Then I heard a loud voice saying in
heaven, Now salvation and strength and the kingdom
of our God and the power of his
Christ have come.
For the accuser of our brethren, who accused
them before our God day and night, has
been cast down.
And they, that would be the brethren, our
brethren, that's those brethren living on the earth
during this time as they are rejoicing in
heaven.
They overcame him by the blood of the
lamb.
They overcame him by the blood of the
lamb and by the word of their testimony.
And they did not love their lives to
the death.
Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell
in them.
And then this warning, woe to the inhabitants
of the earth and the sea.
For the devil has come down to you
having great wrath because he knows that he
has a short time.
There is a lot in that passage.
This is one of those passages that in
many ways resists outlining.
It's a passage that requires you to to
explore eternity in effect, to go into the
realm of eternity with God and the angels.
It's a passage that causes you to go
back in time and forward in time.
So what I have done is pulled out
the main things that I see here, and
that is the outline I want to give
you.
First of all, I want to talk about
the strategies of Satan, the strategies of Satan,
then the warfare with Michael.
Then the devil cast down to the earth.
What is that all about?
And finally, the celebration of the saints, the
strategies of Satan is the first thing I
want to look at when you read war
broke out in heaven.
Then you read Michael and his angels fought
with the dragon.
Verse nine, you read about the dragon, the
serpent of old, the devil, Satan, all of
those different names speak of the fact that
he has all kinds of different strategies.
And that's what I want to talk about
to begin with, to help us to look
at a biblical picture of Satan.
That's why I want to start a biblical
picture of Satan.
What do we learn about Satan in the
Bible?
Well, one of the devil's greatest assets is
the doubt people have about his existence.
But you see, to deny the fact of
Satan is to deny the truth of Scripture
because the Bible speaks so much about Satan.
The biblical picture of Satan is clear.
One thing it shows us is that he
is a liar.
Hold your place here and turn to John
chapter eight, verse forty four.
Jesus is preaching here.
He is speaking to some very, very religious
people back.
The religious leaders of Israel who are rejecting
him as the son of God and Messiah.
And he makes some pretty strong statements here.
He says in John eight, forty four, you
are of your father, the devil and the
desires of your father.
You want to do.
He was a murderer from the beginning and
does not stand in the truth because there
is no truth in him.
When he speaks a lie, he speaks from
his own resources for he is a liar.
And what does it say?
The father of it.
The whole process of lying finds its source
originally in Satan.
That's where lying comes from.
He is a liar.
It is his forte.
So much falsehood comes from Satan, the false
doctrines that sweep through the body of Christ.
I was going to say annually, but some
of them have a little longer shelf life.
But all the false doctrines that sweep through
the body of Christ, the deceives of many
biblically illiterate people, because that's who they pray
on.
They have their source in Satan.
The lies come from Satan.
He's a liar.
And that is a whole study we could
go on with.
But I want to move on to some
other things.
Not only is he shown in the Bible
to be a liar, but he has devices,
strategies.
Second Corinthians.
Let me just read it to you.
Second Corinthians two eleven.
Paul is writing.
I'm writing these things.
Let Satan should take advantage of us, for
we are not ignorant of his devices.
So he has devices, but you don't have
to be ignorant of them.
Thomas Watson used to say the devil's boots
don't creak.
You don't hear him sneaking up on you.
He's very good at what he does.
He is the master of stealth.
He's a liar.
His devices.
He also has power, power to corrupt your
mind.
In Second Corinthians eleven three, Paul says, but
I fear less somehow as the serpent deceived
Eve by his craftiness.
So your mind may be corrupted from the
simplicity that is in Jesus Christ.
We learned there that Satan has the power
to corrupt your mind.
He specializes in corrupting your mind away from
the simplicity that is in Jesus Christ.
Why?
Because your simplicity in Jesus Christ has to
do with a very current, very real, very
clear, very focused relationship with him.
To draw you away from that simplicity is
to lead you into a complex life where
Christ isn't the dominant, uppermost thought in your
brain and on your heart.
And know this to say the simplicity in
Christ is not ever to say that a
close relationship with Jesus Christ is simplistic because
it is not.
It is not to stay simple in Christ
is to stay focused.
And ultimately, it is to plow deep into
Christ.
I'll tell you something.
At any given time, if you were to
ask me until you go to heaven, how
would you like to be found on Earth?
I would like to be found plowing deep
into Christ, plowing deep.
So the devil specializes in corrupting your mind
with you pick and choose anything you want
as to how he does that.
Ask yourself how he's done it with you
to corrupt your mind away from the simplicity
that is in Christ.
Why?
To keep you away from the depth that
is yours in Christ.
Simple, but never simplistic.
Vance Havner said once, Satan produces mental and
spiritual anesthetics more potent than any shot from
the needle can numb your brain to Christ
by corrupting it with other things.
And he does.
He's a liar.
He has devices.
He has the power to corrupt your mind.
Let me give you a further thought.
He is most dangerous in your life when
he is most attractive.
He can approach your life in a way
that is in every possible dimension, ravishing and
attractive.
And he can tempt you down an avenue
like that in a way that is both
ravishing and attractive to your soul.
And remember, his boots don't creak.
So what you're facing suddenly is this thing
coming your way in your life.
It's ravishing.
It's attractive.
It's beautiful.
It seems so good for you.
And yet behind it happens to be the
devil.
Those things happen in our lives.
You say, well, how could that be?
In Second Corinthians, 1114, Paul said, for Satan
himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
That's how it can be.
And believe me, he uses that if that's
what he needs to do.
Sometimes the devil is a gentleman.
Let me put it this way.
The devil is most devilish when he is
most respectful in your life.
Van Savner said this, that Satan does far
more harm as an angel of light than
as a roaring lion.
Think about it like this.
It is only as posing as the champion
of truth that the prince of darkness is
able to persuade men to swallow his lives.
So he poses as a champion of truth.
And men swallow his lives.
You want an example?
The Antichrist will be so beautiful to the
world, the world, the whole world.
Think of it.
The whole world will be saying, who is
like unto him?
Who can wage war with him?
Who is like unto him?
He is going to appear to the whole
world to be the greatest human being who
has ever lived beautiful for three and a
half years.
But then when he sets himself up as
God, then when he commands the world to
bow down and worship him, he will move
from beautiful.
Put that behind him to brutal.
And then it will be you either bow
down and worship me, take my mark or
you die.
You will be hunted down and you will
be beheaded.
You will die or you will worship me
from beautiful three and a half years to
brutal the last three and a half years.
Tribulation period, most attractive, most brutal when he
is doing some of the worst work in
your life, it will come in an attractive
package.
He's really good at it.
That, my friends, is why we need to
walk in the spirit.
So he is most dangerous when most attractive.
Now, if then I am to beat him,
how can I beat him?
By putting on the full armor of God,
there is no other way to beat him.
There is no other way to beat him
than to put on the full armor of
God in Ephesians 6, 11.
Paul wrote and he said, put on the
whole armor of God that you may be
able to stand, not grovel, not run.
But stand against the wiles of the devil,
put on the whole armor of God that
you may be able to stand against the
wiles of the devil.
When the smoke clears, the battles over you
are found standing, maybe cut, maybe bleeding, maybe
hurt, maybe tired.
You will be hurt.
You will be tired, but standing nevertheless.
Thank God for that.
Nothing less than the whole armor of God
can beat the devil.
We must learn what the helmet of salvation
is.
We must learn what the breastplate of righteousness
is.
We must know what the belt of truth
is.
We must know what the shield of faith
is.
We must know what the sword of the
spirit is.
We must know what the shoes of peace
are.
And if you were given a pop quiz
right now on what the shoes of peace
are in the armor of God, would you
pass or fail or the shield of faith?
Pass or fail or the sword of the
spirit?
Well, everybody knows that when that was the
word of God.
But do you know how to use it?
Uh, how about the helmet of salvation?
Pass or fail?
You must know.
Why?
Because God wants to bless you with victory.
God doesn't want your Christian life to be
roller coaster, a big roller coaster ride.
God wants your Christian life to be the
kind of a life where you you take
the.
I remember General Patton in World War Two,
he was giving a speech and he was
addressing the troops.
And he says, I just want to let
you know something as we go into battle,
as we go into war, we are not
holding anything.
We are advancing all the time.
That's the way God's people are to be.
That is why Paul said, this one thing
I do, this one thing I do, I
leave yesterday behind and I press on today
toward the upward call of God in Christ.
This one thing I do and I do
it with the armor of God on.
The way we beat the devil is with
the full armor of God.
So that's a biblical picture of Satan.
Sum it up by saying what J.C.
Ryle wrote down years ago.
He said there is no enemy.
Listen very closely to this.
There is no enemy worse than an enemy
who is never seen, never dies, who is
near to us wherever we live and goes
with us wherever we go.
Who tell you what?
Where is the armor?
I want it on now.
Good insight.
No enemy worse than an enemy who's never
seen, never dies, is near to us wherever
we live and goes with us wherever we
go.
Thank God.
Jesus Christ said, I will never leave you
or forsake you.
And I can count on the fact no
matter how bad the battle gets, he's there.
So a biblical picture of Satan, what about
the lies that need to be exposed about
him?
Because as you go through revelation, one lie
after the next is exposed about Satan.
How about the lie of who he is?
Satan, I think, has done a tremendous public
relations job of convincing the world of a
myth about who he is.
What do you think is the average perception
of the devil?
In the mind of the average person in
the world today, what comes into your mind?
Let me put it this way.
What comes into your mind the minute you
say think about the devil?
How do you picture him?
What's the color?
Red.
How do I know that?
And so Satan has done a tremendous job
of convincing the world that who is the
devil?
Well, he's this mythological character.
We all know what he looks like.
He's dressed in red.
He has a cape.
He has a pitchfork that he stole from
some barn somewhere, I guess.
So he's red.
He has horns.
He has a pitchfork that he jabs people
with.
And he has sort of a goatee.
It's pointy on the end.
And, you know, listen, it's so popular that
he sold record amount of outfits at Halloween
every year.
Think about it.
People buy the outfit.
So let me ask you a question.
Is that the devil?
No, that is not the devil.
But he's done a very good job of
convincing people that is the devil.
That is not the devil.
How about another lie that needs to be
dispelled that he's in charge of hell?
That's a lie.
How many times have you ever witnessed if
someone and you're telling them, listen, you really
need to receive Jesus Christ.
There is a heaven.
There is a hell.
You get some kind of a cavalier answer
back like, oh, I don't care if there's
a hell.
In fact, I want to go there.
If there's a devil, I want to be
with him because I like the way he
does things.
In fact, my world is his world.
We get along very good.
People seem to have the idea that hell,
if the devil's in charge of it and
if he's in charge and if he's in
charge here, like we tell people he is,
this is Satan's world.
We tell them that.
So then they go, well, if this is
his world and if he's going to be
there in hell and I'm going to be
there with him, if this is a world
I like it.
Their idea then becomes, you know what?
My heaven is my sin.
All the sin I do, the world I've
built, my world, my infrastructure of the sins
I commit, the darling sins, as the old
Puritans used to call your besetting sins, the
darling sins that I love to cultivate and
nurture and do.
If the devil isn't going to be in
hell, then that's where I want to be.
They have this idea that their heaven on
earth, which is their sinful world, is going
to be their heaven and hell.
So they would rather have hell.
But you know something?
That's because they think Satan will be in
charge of hell.
Satan, it's a lie, is not going to
be in charge of hell.
You want to know the truth about Satan
and hell?
Let me give it to you right now.
I'm going to give you five things really
quick.
Just fire them off.
What is the truth about Satan in hell?
It is this.
Number one, Satan is not in hell.
Number two, Satan has never been to hell.
Number one, Satan is not in hell.
Number two, Satan has never been to hell.
Number three, he will not get to hell
until his final rebellion is crushed.
That will be at the end of the
1000 year reign of Jesus Christ.
Listen to this.
Number four, when he does enter hell, he
will not be in charge.
Number five, he will receive the worst punishment
of anyone there.
Satan is not in hell.
He's never been to hell.
He's not going to get to hell until
his final rebellion is crushed.
When he does enter hell, he will not
be in charge.
And when he is in hell forever, he
will be in the lowest part of hell.
He will be hell's lowest inmate in the
worst prison with the worst torment.
Don't ever forget this.
Hell was created for Satan and his fallen
angels.
Somewhere down there in the bottom of the
worst of hell is going to be Satan
and his two sidekicks that we meet in
Revelation.
And they are the Antichrist, also called the
beast, and the sidekick, the false prophet.
So the three of them are going to
be down in the lowest part of hell.
So those are lies exposed about Satan.
Where is Satan then?
Well, we've seen a big biblical picture of
him.
We've exposed the lies.
Let me give you his arena of activity.
Satan, where is he?
He's roaming the earth.
He is at times around your life.
I often wonder if he's ever been personally
around my life.
He has many demons at his disposal.
The prince of the power of the air
is a hierarchy of demons at his disposal.
Highly organized forces.
He goes about as a roaring lion, Peter
says, seeking whom he may what devour.
Where is he?
That's what he's doing.
He's going around lives, studying lives on planet
Earth, seeking whom he may devour.
And that's what his demons do.
But where else is he?
Not only roaming the area of the earth,
but he also has access to the throne
somehow of God.
Where is Satan?
Well, he spends a lot of time before
the throne of God in this passage right
before us.
In Revelation 12, 10, they're rejoicing in heaven
because Satan has been cast out.
The accuser of the brethren who accused them
before our God day and night.
Where is Satan?
Spends a lot of time before the throne
of God in heaven somehow.
That's where he is.
He spends a lot of time on earth.
So that is his arena of operation.
You say, well, wait, how can he?
How can he?
I thought Jesus defeated him at the cross.
If Jesus defeated him at the cross, then
how can he be allowed to roam around
like this?
Did Jesus really defeat him at the cross?
If so, when does he get his punishment?
How does he get his punishment?
How does that work?
His defeat was accomplished at the cross.
His full punishment has not been meted out
yet.
His sentence has not been fully served.
In John 12, 31, Jesus said, now is
the judgment of this world.
And now the ruler of this world will
be cast out.
Speaking of going to the cross in John
14, 30, he said, I will no longer
talk much with you for the ruler of
this world is coming and he has nothing
in me.
In John 16, 11, he said the ruler
of this world is about to be judged.
Then he went to the cross.
So Satan was defeated at the cross.
Why is he still loosened at large?
Because, as I said, his judgment has not
been fully meted out to him.
His punishment.
So here's how it works.
We read in our text, war broke out
in heaven.
We read Satan was cast out.
Then he was cast down.
Well, what happens in the final wrapping up
of God's plan for the ages?
Satan will be cast out without access from
heaven.
He will no longer be able to go
before the throne of God.
As he did in the book of Job.
Cast out without access.
This is how it will happen.
Cast out without access, then cast down and
shut out.
Cast down to the earth, confined to the
realm of the earth.
Shut out from any more access to heaven.
From there, it will move to incarceration in
the bottomless pit for 1000 years.
He will then be loose to deceive the
nations.
He will then be judged by God.
He will move from the incarceration to the
incineration where he will be cast into the
lake of fire forever and ever and ever.
That is his ultimate punishment.
That's how it's going to come.
So the answer to the question of how
is Satan judged because of the cross?
It comes to us in our text.
He's cast out of heaven, cast down to
the earth, incarcerated, then incinerated forever.
The strategies of Satan.
Let's move now and talk about the warfare
with Michael that we find in Revelation 12,
seven were broke out in heaven.
And Michael and his angels fought with the
dragon and the dragon and his angels fought,
but they did not prevail.
There was a place found for them in
heaven any longer.
So the great dragon was cast out.
That serpent of old called the devil and
Satan who deceives the whole world.
He was cast to the earth and the
angels were cast out with him.
War broke out in heaven.
What is that?
That is time and eternity past is the
only way to say it.
When Satan said, I will ascend to the
throne of the most high, Isaiah 14.
And be God and he led his rebellion
and war broke out in heaven.
Now we're dealing with the fact that God
is out of time, OK?
So there has been war in heaven since
the fall of Satan.
You understand that much?
War broke out in heaven because suddenly one
third of the holy angels became unholy angels.
Studying the book of Revelation, you find there
are millions, if not billions of holy angels.
So to take one third is a huge
amount.
And they began to fight a cosmic warfare
on a level that is beyond anything we
could ever imagine.
And that has been going on through the
ages.
OK, war broke out in heaven.
There has been war in heaven since the
fall of Satan.
When we come to Revelation 12, 7, here
is a new conflict started by Satan, finished
by Michael.
Revelation 12, 7, Michael and the angels fought
with the dragon.
That is a new conflict started by Satan,
finished by Michael.
The dragon and the angels fought for seven,
but they did not prevail, nor was place
found for them in heaven any longer.
Somewhere in eternity past, war broke out in
heaven somewhere.
Now, as we're studying through Revelation around the
time of the beginning of that last seven
years of man's history, this battle breaks out.
Michael fights with the devil right there.
Here is a new conflict started by Satan,
finished by Michael.
The Greek wording in the original language indicates
the starting of a sudden battle.
You say, well, how will they fight it?
That's not so much the main question as
what causes it.
What causes it?
Why does suddenly this battle break out?
There's no way to be absolutely dogmatic, but
I think we can have a very good
idea of what causes this battle to break
out.
We find it in our Bibles in First
Thessalonians, Chapter four.
Can you turn to First Thessalonians, Chapter four,
verse 16?
What causes the battle to break out?
I believe it is the rapture of the
church, the rapture of the church.
Follow very closely now.
First Thessalonians 416.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven
with a shout and with the voice of
an archangel and with the trumpet of God
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain shall
be caught up together with them in the
clouds.
That's the rapture of the church to meet
the Lord in the air.
And thus shall we always be with the
Lord.
Now, think about this.
Satan, the Bible says, is the prince of
the power of the air.
To go from standing where we are right
on Earth to pass through into the next
dimension into heaven with Jesus Christ, we must
pass through the devil's territory.
The devil is called in the passage we're
studying Revelation, the adversary that Satan is a
Hebrew word means adversary adversary.
Do you really think that God is going
to be able to rapture his church, snatch
them right off the earth, which the devil
at this time is fighting for with everything
he's got, snatch them right off the earth
and into heaven without any fight at all
from the devil.
Do you really think that?
Is he really going to take all of
his people that believe on him off the
earth in a moment of time without any
fight from the devil?
I don't think so.
And I think Michael is a big part
of this.
Now, follow this.
I'll read you some.
I want you to turn your Bible to
Daniel, the book of Daniel.
Go first to Daniel 10, 13.
I want to identify Michael there and Daniel.
We first meet with Michael long before Revelation
12.
We first meet with Michael in Daniel 10,
13, when Daniel has been praying and he's
been hindered, an angel shows up and he
says, I was in a big fight until
Daniel 10, 13.
He was in a fight with a demon,
this angel.
He says the prince of the kingdom of
Persia withstood me 21 days and behold, Michael,
one of the chief princes came to help
me, for I had been left alone there
with the kings of Persia.
So here this angel shows up and he
says, sorry, I was delayed.
Daniel got in a big angel fight and
this man, the demons I was fighting, I
wasn't doing well until Michael came back into
that fight really quick.
He says, finally, here's your answer.
Sorry for the delay.
But what you get with it is a
bonus.
You get to find out about some cosmic
warfare in another dimension that goes on between
angels and demons and the fact that Michael
can come at any time and deliver.
So we meet Michael.
Daniel 10, 13, then go to Daniel 12,
1.
Here is a prophecy.
Daniel 12, 1 is a direct prophecy of
the time of the tribulation and Michael's involvement.
Daniel 12, 1 at that time.
What does it say?
Michael shall stand up.
The great prince who stands watch over the
sons of your people.
Michael is in the Bible, God's protector, protector
against darkness.
That prince who stands watch over the sons
of your people.
And there shall be a time of trouble.
Old Testament language for the last seven years
on this earth, as never was since there
was a nation even to that time.
Last sentence, verse one.
And at that time, your people will be
delivered.
Everyone who is found written in the book.
Big verse, big, big verse.
Direct prophecy of the time of the tribulation.
When you read a verse one at that
time, what time?
Tribulation time.
What time?
Time of judgment.
What time?
The time of the last seven years here
on earth.
That's coming soon to this earth.
What time?
The time of Christ coming.
The time of his setting up of his
millennial kingdom.
At that time, when God's whole plan comes
to a focus, man's history on earth as
we know it comes to a halt and
an end and Jesus Christ comes back.
That time you will see Michael stand up.
So there is Michael in Daniel 12.
We meet Michael in the New Testament.
If you've held your place in Revelation, go
back there and then hang a left back
to Jude.
The easiest way to get to Jude is
to hang a left from Revelation and go
back to Jude.
But it's amazing over the years how many
things you find brought to light in the
book of Jude.
One chapter.
We meet Michael in the New Testament is
the defender of God's people here in Jude
nine.
Look at the terminology yet, Michael, what does
it say?
The archangel in contending with who the devil,
when he disputed about the body of Moses,
dared not bring against him a reviling accusation,
but said the Lord rebuke you.
There, Michael went toe to toe with the
devil when Moses died.
Moses died and he was buried.
Deuteronomy 34, six says in the land of
Moab, God took him and buried him.
And no one knows where his grave is
to this day.
I believe that he wanted the body of
Moses because Moses is going to be one
of the two witnesses.
He was trying to abort that whole thing.
Who stood against him?
Effectively, Michael.
OK, Michael, Jude says the archangel now follow
this.
We're going to pull this thought together.
The only other place in the Bible.
That you read of a reference to an
archangel, the only other place in the Bible
that you read of a reference to an
archangel.
It's in First Thessalonians four, 16, the rapture
for the Lord himself will descend from the
heaven with a shout and with the voice
of an archangel and with the trumpet of
God.
And there is the rapture of the church.
So back in Revelation 12, seven, war broke
out in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought with the dragon.
The dragon and his angels fought, but they
did not prevail, nor was there a place
found in heaven for them anymore.
The rapture happens.
The devil tries to stop it.
Michael comes to fight against him.
He prevails.
The rapture is successful.
And that is what triggers the last seven
years of man's history on earth.
And so Satan, then in defeat, immediately installs
his man on earth, the Antichrist.
And now is his last big push to
keep his kingdom in the last seven years
on the earth.
And so the strategies of Satan, we look
at that.
The warfare with Michael, we've seen that.
Let's go then to the devil cast down
to the earth.
Revelation 12, eight through 10.
Satan's realm of activity then has this point
where it suddenly changed.
He's banished from any access to God in
heaven.
He's cast down to earth.
Verse eight says they did not prevail, nor
was any place found in heaven any longer
cast down to the earth.
Verse nine, verse 10, cast down.
So the final confinement of Satan to the
earth seems to take place right at the
midpoint of the tribulation, the last three and
a half years.
He's cast down and confined.
His realm of activity has suddenly changed.
And when he hits the earth and he
cannot move out of the dimension of the
earth, he's furious.
And so we read in verse 12.
Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell
in them, but woe to the inhabitants of
the earth.
The cleansing of the heavens is the pollution
of the earth.
Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and
the sea, for the devil has come down
to you having great wrath because he knows
that he has a short time.
See that word wrath?
The Greek word translated wrath is thumos.
You know what it means?
It refers to a violent outburst of rage,
a violent outburst of rage.
The word depicts turbulent emotional fury as opposed
to rational anger.
Turbulent emotional fury as opposed to rational anger.
This is irrational.
This is violent.
This is a sudden outburst of rage from
Satan himself as he is suddenly caged, as
it were, down on the dimension of the
earth, confined only to the realm of the
earth.
And he knows now his time is running
out.
So his rage is compound rage, final expulsion
from any access to heaven whatsoever, confinement to
the earth and a very short time until
Jesus Christ is coming back to set up
his one thousand year reign on the earth,
his millennial reign.
Listen, that is what this big fight is
all about.
That's what Armageddon is all about.
It is Satan's last push.
All of this, it's his last push to
hold on to what he described to Jesus
Christ as all the kingdoms of the world
that he could give to them, for they
were, he said, his to give.
It's his last push to hold on to
being an unrighteous king, an unrighteous God, the
God of this world.
The unrighteous God of an unrighteous world, because
when Jesus Christ comes back and sets up
his millennial kingdom on earth and cleanses everything,
that is the end of his kingdom, the
only kingdom he's ever been able to get
from God.
Makes so much sense.
So here he is with his compound rage.
Can you imagine?
Here's the picture.
We're just about done.
Here is the picture at the point where
Satan is cast down to the earth.
The bottomless pit right about this time is
opened up and the demons are loose.
We studied that the river Euphrates has four.
I call them the big four, four huge,
furious, powerful demons that have been bound.
They are loosed.
We read of 200, an army of 200
million, which the best interpretation we've studied it
is 200 million demons different from a different
army later.
So you have all these demons, then Satan,
their commanders cast down and confined with them
to the earth with the other fallen angels
that roam with them all suddenly for the
first time ever.
And may I say this is what makes
this makes the great tribulation great.
Suddenly every demon in existence is confined to
the earth and loose and at large, and
Satan is in a rage of irrational, emotional
fury.
And he knows his time is short, probably
about three and a half years as all
he has got to work his destruction to
stop Christ from coming back and setting up
his kingdom.
Can you imagine what it's going to be
like?
Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the
truth and the life.
He that comes to me, I will in
no wise cast out.
He said whomsoever will let him come.
He said that he would never leave you
or forsake you.
He said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
believe on me.
Paul said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you believe in your heart, confess with
your mouth, the Lord Jesus Christ, you will
be saved.
Do you know Jesus Christ?
It's your personal Lord and Savior.
If you do know him, thank God that
you do know him.
Thank God that you're going to miss all
this.
Thank God that you will go when he
takes his church or you will go sooner.
Either way.
In the Father's house are many mansions and
you're going to get one and you're going
to get all of heaven, too.
And that's why we have the final thing
here.
We saw the strategies of Satan, the warfare
with Michael, the devil cast down to the
earth.
And finally, the great celebration of the saints,
Revelation 10.
They worship in victory.
Then I heard a loud voice saying and
have a now salvation, not just from sin
for people, but salvation finally will come.
The salvation, the rescue from Satan, finally salvation
and strength as God exercises his strength and
the kingdom of our God finally.
And finally, the full power of his Christ
has come all put in past tense because
it's all coming for sure.
For the accuser, the brethren who accused them
before our God day and night has been
cast down for they overcame him by the
blood of the lamb, by the word of
their testimony, and they did not love their
lives to the death.
Let me say this.
Only God living inside of you could enable
a human being to go through this, to
go through this time with this much demonic
power loose and raging and still overcome victorious,
still come through out of the darkness, into
the light and into the kingdom of heaven
to withstand this kind of demonic rage vented
on the human race.
All the way to the point of death
and still not deny Christ.
Only God living in the soul of a
man could do that.
The soul of a woman, the life of
God and the soul of man, that salvation
in Christ.
And that's what he does.
And that's why they're rejoicing in heaven.
It's the saints rejoicing in heaven.
Our brethren on the earth have withstood all
of this by the power of the word
of their testimony, by the blood of the
lamb and by the fact that they didn't
love their lives even to the death.
Even if they had to die, they wouldn't
deny Jesus Christ.
Our God is an awesome God who reigns.
And power and might and victory.
It was Martin Luther who wrote the great
hymn of mighty fortresses, our God.
One of the verses goes like this, the
prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for
him, his rage, we can endure for low.
His doom is sure.
One little word in the mouth of God
at the right moment in time will fell
him forever as he's cast into the lake
of fire that burns forever and ever.
There'll be no more sin, no more pain,
no more tears, no more darkness, no more
bad weeks, no more bad days, no more
guilty conscience, none of that.
There will be light and love and Christ
and communion and friendship as we've never known
it before.
Friendship as we've never known it before, because
we'll be freed from this flesh, which has
a way of eroding all relationships.
Friendship.
With our Christ.
With each other.
Forever.
No wonder they rejoice.
No wonder we should rejoice.
Is it any wonder?
It is a great wonder.
The greatest of all wonders, salvation of God
in Christ and the hope we have in
heaven.
Let's pray, shall we?
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being our blessed
God, our Lord, our savior.
Thank you for rescuing us from our sins.
And Lord, if there's anyone here listening that
has not been rescued from their sins, work
your rescuing, saving power this day.
Thank you, Lord, that you receive us when
we come to you, that you are so
quick to forgive.
So quick to fill us.
Lord, fill us now with your love, with
your life, with your spirit and lead us
forth as we follow you into your good
and perfect will.
May your kingdom come now to our hearts
and lives.
May your will be done now.
We ask it expecting more of your grace
and your love for we ask it in
Jesus name.
Amen.