The Battle Satan Couldn’t Win
Revelation 12:7-12
January 8, 2017

As you know we are studying through the book of the Revelation and last Sunday morning we began our third parenthetical section of the book.

In chapter 11, after the 7th trumpet sounded all of heaven rejoiced at the now evident reign of Christ.

Revelation 11:15-18 “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

We learned from heaven that Christ reigns.
And He does so despite the rage and rebellion of the enemy.

This most recent parenthetical section illustrates that reality.
Chapters 12-14 reveal to us how Christ reigns despite the rage and rebellion of Satan.

I told you last week that this section reveals 4 major events.
1) THE CHILD SATAN COULDN’T STOP
2) THE BATTLE SATAN COULDN’T WIN
3) THE WOMAN SATAN COULDN’T KILL
4) THE THRONE SATAN COULDN’T KEEP

WE SAW THE FIRST LAST WEEK

Way back in the garden God revealed to the serpent
That the seed of the woman would crush his head.

That woman is Israel and that child is Jesus. So Satan did everything he could to try and kill that woman before she could give birth to the child.
• He tried to use Pharaoh to annihilate them
• He tried to use Sennacherib and Tiglath Pileser of Assyria
• He tried to use Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
• He tried to use Haman of Persia
• He tried to use Antiochus Epiphanes of Greece

And each time God delivered the woman from his grasp.

Satan then resolved to wait for the child to be born and then kill him.
• This plan began early as Herod ordered all the babies of Bethlehem to be slaughtered, but again God delivered.

Satan did finally succeed in killing this child, but God simply raised Him up again and then successfully seated that child on His throne.

And we learned that despite Satan’s rage and efforts
He was unable to stop this child from coming or from reigning.

HOWEVER we know that despite the crushing blow rendered to Satan
HE DID NOT GIVE UP ON HIS BATTLE.
We know that he rages on, even today.

• Today his rebellion is seen through the accusation and the temptation of the
saints.
• Today his rage is revealed through deception and the instigating of sin and
rebellion against God.

Having failed in stopping the child, his goal is now
To turn sinners against God and to turn God against His children.
IT IS A BATTLE TO CONDEMN GOD’S ELECT

Now, to some extent this battle is absolutely necessary.
• Similar to the days of Job; Satan incited God against Job and God was willing to afflict Job at Satan’s request, but only to prove that the power God had to save Job was greater than the power Satan had to destroy him.

The rage of Satan today against Christ’s work of redemption
Only accomplishes that same end.

Satan’s battle only illustrates how great the work of Christ really is,
Since Satan has not been able to “undo” or even “prevent”
The salvation of one single person who are among God’s elect.

Despite Satan’s efforts God is saving every single one of them.

John 6:37-40 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

That passage reminds us that, despite his efforts, Satan isn’t winning. The cross is greater still.

Romans 5:18-21 “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

And again:
Romans 8:28-39 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Despite Satan’s rage and rebellion, the work of the cross;
The work of the child remains totally effective.

Satan is losing and he will lose forever.
Romans 16:20 “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”

This morning we see the day when
He will permanently lose this current battle he is fighting.

He already permanently lost the battle to stop the child.
This morning we look forward to the day when
He will permanently lose the battle to condemn God’s elect.

We’ve seen the child he couldn’t stop.
Now let’s look at the battle he couldn’t win.

There are three main points
#1 THE DRAGON EXPELLED
Revelation 12:7-9

When you read those three verses, regardless of the detail,
THE MAIN OBSERVATION IS CLEAR.
SATAN IS KICKED OUT OF HEAVEN PERMANENTLY.

This reality has caused confusion for some. I actually remember a 2 hour debate about this in one of my seminary classes.

So in case you have any confusion regarding what is going on,
I want to take a moment to see if I can clarify it for you.

LET’S JUST TALK ABOUT WHAT WE KNOW IS TRUE.

1) We know that Satan is a created angel, and therefore he must have been created perfect.
• When we read God’s creation account in Genesis, we see that God did not create anything that wasn’t perfect. It was all good. Satan certainly fit this bill.

• Beyond that Satan was in heaven with God, and this would not have been permitted if Satan were not one of the holy angels.

2) We know that Satan fell sometime before Genesis 3.
• Obviously something occurred because in Genesis 3 Satan shows up in the form of a serpent and he is a liar and a deceiver and a slanderer of God.

• This can only indicate that at some point in history this holy angel indeed fell into sin and rebellion against God.

In fact, we read about that event last week.
Revelation 12:4 “And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.”

This would be his demonic army, who are also fallen angels.
And they have been present on earth throughout history, which again gives us indication that Satan fell long ago and has been at war with God ever since.

(Incidentally, as a side note, there are many people today who do not believe in the security of the believer. There are many who claim that a saved person on this earth can in fact lose their salvation.

But I don’t know a single one of those people who does not believe that this salvation can be lost after a person enters heaven. In short, they believe security of the believer begins in heaven.

And yet we find here that their theology is flawed. If salvation can be lost then even heaven cannot secure it since even the devil and his angels fell from heaven.

The reality is that salvation is only secure in heaven
Because our security is not based upon our location
But rather upon the finished work of Christ.
This makes us secure not only in heaven but also on earth.

But we know that Satan fell long ago
And has been at war on the earth with his demonic army.

I believe that fall is specifically spoken of by the Old Testament prophets.
Isaiah 14:12-14 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”

Ezekiel 28:11-16 “Again the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. “You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. “You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. “You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. “By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire.”

So we know that Satan fell and is now at work with demonic armies
Who are clearly seen throughout the New Testament
And who continue even to this very day.

3) We also know that despite his fall Satan currently maintains some sort of strange access to God.

We see this in the book of Job.
Job 1:6-7 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”

Even in our test today down in verse 10 we read that Satan is “he who accuses them before our God day and night.”

So he currently has some sort of strange access
Whereby he continually accuses us before God.

4) Along with his work of accusation he is also engage in warfare continually with us on the earth.

Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

Not only does Satan accuse us before God,
He is also at work accusing God before us.
We call this TEMPTATION

Remember the wilderness when Satan tempted Jesus?
• He did so by accusing God of being a bad provider, “If You are the Son of God command these stones to become bread…”

• He accused God of being a bad protector, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself from this temple…”

• He accused God of having a selfish plan, “If You bow and worship me I will give you all the kingdoms of the earth…”

Like what Satan did with Even in the garden he did with Jesus in the wilderness, seeking to drive a wedge between Christ and the Father.

Beyond his work of temptation we also know him to be a liar,
Continually distorting truth to secure the destruction of sinners.

But you get the point: HE IS CURRENTLY AT WAR
He fell from heaven; he fell from holiness;
And he has been at war with God and God’s people ever since.

THE EVENT WE READ OF HERE IS THE END OF THAT WAR.
Here we read of him again falling from heaven.
This was not his original fall, this is his final fall.

This is the day when his access to God is forever revoked
And he can no longer continue in his work of accusation.

(READ 7-9)
• This type of warfare is not uncommon, it is also alluded to in Daniel 10.
• But here we find that Michael has had enough.
• Satan went on an all-out attack to regain his status in heaven and Michael thumped him.

“there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.”
• That is not just “heaven” but the heavens.
• We read in Ephesians that he is “the prince of the power of the air”, but on this day that access is revoked.

He is removed from the heavens and is relegated solely to the earth.
No longer will he ever be able to accuse God’s children before God.

We also learn a great deal about his warfare
Through the names he is given here.

“the serpent of old” is a reference to the garden and no doubt refers to his work of deception and blasphemy against God.

He lies about God in order to tempt and deceive people into sin.

“who is called the devil”
This is a word that means “accuser” which, as we have seen, is what he does relentlessly.

“Satan” is a word that means “adversary” and that probably sums him up better than any other since his only objective is to oppose whatever God is doing.

NOW WE ARE READING ABOUT THE DAY WHEN HE IS THROWN DOWN.
(He will still be a tempter and a liar, but his opportunity to be an accuser is over)

The timing of this event is also made clear to us.
Revelation 12:13-15 “And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.”

This final fall of Satan occurs at the half-way point of the tribulation.
This is simultaneous with the timing of the opening of the second seal.

• Remember the first seal is 3 ½ years of deception and false peace.
• Halfway through comes the abomination of desolation and world war

Here we see part of the reason for that world war.
Satan is kicked to the earth and so he begins a revolt on earth
Like has never been seen before in all of human history.

The Dragon is Expelled
#2 THE VICTORY EXPLAINED
Revelation 12:10-11

This event is NOT YET THE FINAL DESTRUCTION of Satan,
That will occur after the 1,000 year millennial reign of Christ.

But this event does sort of seal the deal.
• It’s like that touchdown to go ahead by 21 with 2 minutes to play.
• All of heaven (and Satan too) knows it’s over.

Jesus wins!
And that reality is what causes the celebration to begin.

“Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come…”

Everything we’ve been waiting for.
• The judgment of Satan
• The removal of the curse
• The glorification of all believers
• The full demonstration of the power of God
• The total reign of Christ

All of God’s children whom he has been accusing are totally secure.

WHY?
“for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”

Satan no longer has access to God
Whereby to accuse the brethren any longer.

If you are football fan, it’s like when your team is losing and there is two minutes left, but you don’t have any timeouts and the other team is just taking a knee.
The game is not technically over yet, there is still time on the clock, but there’s nothing you can do about it because you don’t even have the ball.

That is the predicament Satan is in.
He can accuse no longer.

Ever since the ascension of Jesus, when Satan lost that battle,
His main objective has been to condemn God’s elect
By accusing them before God.

It didn’t work, and on this day he’ll never be allowed to do it again.

But that is not all that is revealed to John,
THE MEANS OF THE VICTORY OF THE SAINTS is also revealed to John.

It is as though heaven wants John to know
How these saints managed to survive the battle
That was waged against them.

And I think this is very important and very relevant information.
Spiritual warfare is a popular topic among some circles of Christian life,
But I run across very few who have any clue how to wage it.

Many think it has something to do with rebuking the devil or commanding him to flee.
• You know, you’ve got to raise your hands in the air and command him in the name of Jesus to flee.
• I even had one pastor tell me about how in one of his services a man came down to the front of the church and started doing karate moves during the singing service. When the pastor asked him what he was doing, he said he was engaging in spiritual warfare.

But you don’t overcome Satan by karate kicking the air. You don’t overcome the enemy by giving him orders.
• Paul taught us to “put on the full armor of God”. Things like truth, righteousness, faith, assurance, readiness, and the word of God.
• Peter taught us to “resist” the devil.

Here the loud voice in heaven
Reveals how these saints defeated the enemy.

(11) “And they overcome him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”

This is how you fight spiritual warfare.
Let me explain it a little more.

There were 3 reasons given here as to
Why these saints were able to overcome the enemy.

1) THE WORK OF CHRIST
“the blood of the Lamb”

This is nothing short of the sacrificial atonement of Christ on our behalf.

Do your best live right and live good, and all of that stuff,
But the good you do will not outweigh the bad.

I don’t care how many dollars you give, or how many hours you pray,
God does not judge on the “good enough” system.

God judges by the standard of perfect holiness.
• One sin is enough to condemn you for all eternity and no amount of good deeds will ever undo that.

• Someone who commits a murder goes to prison regardless of how much money they’ve given to the Salvation Army.

• Guilt is guilt

And since Satan’s objective is to accuse the brethren before God,
You should know that there is not the slightest chance
That one of your sins will ever go unnoticed.
He is the ultimate tattle tale. He points out your flaws
And demands that God punish your sins just as God punished his.

So how do we overcome the “devil”; the “accuser”?
“the blood of the Lamb”

Romans 8:33-34 “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”

When we sin and Satan points out to God,
Jesus steps in and intercedes on our behalf.

He does not intercede based upon His fondness of us,
He intercedes based on the fact that He already paid the debt for His elect.
(Go read Zechariah 3)
His blood was shed as payment for our sin.

If you don’t have “the blood of the Lamb” you don’t have a chance.
• You will not be saved
• You could not stay saved
• And you couldn’t lead anyone else to salvation either

Without “the blood of the Lamb” there is no defeating Satan.

THESE SAINTS OVERCAME THE ENEMY
BECAUSE JESUS HAD REDEEMED THEM WITH HIS OWN BLOOD.

2) THE WORD OF CHRIST
“and because of the word of their testimony”

I hear this verse quoted all time as some sort of proof that
The power to overcome Satan is found
In you sharing your own personal testimony.

Now look, I’m certainly fine with people sharing what Christ has done in their life through His work of redemption.
• You can read Paul’s testimony in several places in Scripture.

But here WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT the power of a personal testimony as the secret to overcoming Satan.

What are we talking about?
Well, throughout the Revelation
We are told what “the word of their testimony” actually is.

Revelation 1:1-2 “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.”

Revelation 1:9 “I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”

Revelation 6:9 “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;”

The testimony being referred to here was not their personal testimony,
It is “the testimony of Jesus”

John 15:26-27 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

That’s why I showed you that video to begin today.
• “We Preach Christ”
• “We Preach the Gospel”

That is how you overcome Satan.
The gospel is the power of God for salvation,
Not your own personal testimony.

• Is your testimony useful? Certainly
• Should you give an account of the hope that is in you? Without a doubt

But more than that, preach the gospel.
Preach Christ
This is the message that leads sinners to salvation.
This is the message that cuts through the lies of the deceiver
And brings about redemption.

• You don’t waive your hands in the air and rebuke the devil.
• You don’t karate kick the air in some sort of frenzy.
• You don’t command or declare or break or any of that nonsense.

If you want to overcome the devil then you preach Christ.
You tell sinners about the finished work of the One
Who can set them free from the snare of the devil.

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

If Satan is going to be overcome it will require the work of Christ, the word of Christ
3) THE WORTH OF CHRIST
“and they did not love their lives even when faced with death.”

What does that mean?
It means they loved Christ more.
They valued Christ more.

What did Jesus say?
Matthew 10:37-39 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Luke 14:26-27 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

Jesus could not have been clearer in His preaching.
There is only one way to come to Him
And that is with absolute devotion.

• You don’t come to Jesus half-way.
• You don’t come to Jesus half-hearted.
• You don’t come to Jesus with rocky soil that will only follow when it is easy.
• You don’t come to Jesus with weedy soil that wants Jesus amidst all your idols.

You have to love Jesus more than life.
If you don’t, you will not overcome the enemy.

WHY?
Because his weapon is one of temptation.
And his target is the desires of your flesh.
If your goal is to gratify the flesh and love the flesh and love yourself
Then Satan will topple you every time.

That is why Peter said:
1 Peter 4:1-2 “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”

When you determine to love Christ more
When you determine to value Christ more
That is when Satan loses his grip.

These Saints were victorious over Satan…
• Because of what Jesus did on the cross
• Because of the gospel they preached
• Because they chose Christ over the world

That is the victory explained.
And it’s the same for your life.

The Dragon Expelled, The Victory Explained
#3 THE BATTLE EXPECTED
Revelation 12:12

Satan battled for years to stop that child,
But when he lost he began a new battle in the heavenlies accusing the saints.

Here he lost that battle too,
But that doesn’t keep him from starting a new one.

Once Satan is permanently removed from heaven,
He will start a new war on earth.

Now certainly heaven should rejoice at this.
“For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them.”

Absolutely, the accuser is gone, that is cause for rejoicing.
We win.

“Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”

He’s going to wage all-out war on the earth,
But even he knows the cause is lost.
He knows his time is short.

And the point we are making is that SATAN IS THE ULTIMATE LOSER

Since the day he first fell from heaven
He has scratched and clawed and worked and manipulated
To kill Israel, or kill the Christ, or destroy the redeemed
And he hasn’t succeeded yet.

And he never will.
OUR GOD REIGNS

That means we take the truths learned here
Regarding how to overcome him and we apply them to our lives
Knowing that victory is certainly ours as well.

Romans 16:20 “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”

The Child Satan Couldn’t Stop
Revelation 12:1-6
January 1, 2017

This morning we return to our study of the book of the Revelation,
And we return with yet another parenthetical section.
(I realize our return to the chronological flow was short-lived, lasting only 6 verses)

After the 6th seal was broken we heard the sinners of earth crying out, “Who is able to stand?”

That question was answered in our first parenthetical section of chapter 7.
Those whom God causes to stand by the atonement of Christ
And the preaching of the gospel.

After the 6th trumpet was sounded we saw that humanity still wouldn’t repent.

Faced with this reality we saw the second parenthetical section of 10:1 – 14:13 which taught us to “prophesy again” whether they listen or not

Because we don’t want their blood on our hands
And because we may not realize how God is going to use our preaching.

Most recently we heard the blasting of the 7th trumpet,
But BEFORE ANY DETAILS of that trumpet were given,
We heard a loud declaration in heaven.

(15b) “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”

• We learned that at this point there is a great transfer of power. The world will fall and Christ will reign.

• Furthermore we learned that Christ will reign in spite of the great wrath of His enemies.

(17-18) “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

And this is where we left off.
There was a heavenly announcement that Christ wins and reigns upon the earth despite the great wrath and rage of His enemies.

Certainly that is good news;
No matter how hostile this world or that devil becomes toward Christ,
Nothing will stop Him from taking His throne and ruling the world.

IT IS A GREAT TRUTH.
And it is a truth that is illustrated in this next parenthetical section.

In fact, that is the purpose of this next section;
To reveal how Christ reigns
Despite the wrath and efforts of the enemy.

This section runs from chapter 12 all the way through chapter 14.
When chapter 15 begins we actually see
The effects of what happened at the sounding of that seventh trumpet.

But here we are given 3 chapters
To reveal the victory of Christ despite Satan’s opposition.

From a time standpoint,
• The section begins with the birth of Christ in 12:2
• And it ends with the return of Christ in 14:1
• And ultimately the battle of Armageddon in 14:17-20

So we are looking at that time period
From when Messiah arrived on earth, until He returns again,
And specifically we are seeing the failed efforts of Satan to stop His reign.

This section illustrates that glorious claim of chapter 11.

What I also want to do is allow you to see this SECTION AS A WHOLE,
In order that you better understand the parts.
In this 3 chapter parenthetical section there are FOUR MAJOR EVENTS that are highlighted.

And I want to give you them right off the bat.
They are all major defeats that Satan has suffered and will suffer.

1) THE CHILD HE COULDN’T STOP (12:1-6)
• We are looking at this event this morning as we remember Satan’s foiled plans
at stopping Jesus when He came to earth.

2) THE BATTLE HE COULDN’T WIN (12:7-12)
• This event is yet future for us, but it deals with Satan’s final attempt to
overthrow heaven, which will end in his being totally removed from the
heavens and relegated only to earth.

3) THE WOMAN HE COULDN’T KILL (12:13-17)
• This of course deals with Satan’s attempts to destroy Israel (God’s chosen
people) and his miserable failure in that regard.

4) THE THRONE HE COULDN’T KEEP (13:1-14:20)
• The last two chapters deal with Satan’s attempt to establish his throne on the
earth, only to see that throne utterly destroyed with the return of Christ.

I just give you that ahead of time
So you can see the purpose and the point to this section.
We are talking about the absolute and guaranteed defeat of the enemy
And reign of Jesus Christ.

And by now you realize that this is one of the major events of Scripture.
Throughout the Old Testament we are continually looking for the Messiah
And His promised reign upon the earth.

So it is only fitting that we enter a section
Which gives great detail to the fulfillment of this promise.

It is the event which is loudly proclaimed at the end of chapter 11
And the event which is clearly illustrated in chapters 12-14.

For us this is still great news!
Our God Reigns!
Our God wins!
And Satan is the ultimate loser!

Well, let’s begin with that first of the four major events, which is:
THE CHILD SATAN COULDN’T STOP

There are 4 main points here
#1 A WOMAN IN LABOR
Revelation 12:1-2

“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;”

Let’s address who this is.
Many assume that this woman is the Virgin Mary. (IT IS NOT)

This woman is actually not a woman at all.
John said she is a “sign”.
She is a symbol, she is a picture.

And she is representative of the NATION OF ISRAEL.
Perhaps you will remember Joseph’s dream before his brothers.

Genesis 37:9-11 “Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, “Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.”

• Jacob = the sun
• Rachel = the moon
• 12 sons = 12 stars
This woman is Israel.

(2) “and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.”

This woman is “with child”

That means that this woman has A VALID EXPECTATION
That someday a child will be born to her. She is “expecting”.

Correctly understood then, we know that Israel
Is eagerly looking to the arrival of a very important child.

We are talking about the “seed”, the Messiah.

The FIRST TIME this “seed” was mentioned was in the garden.
After Eve sinned, God responded to her:
Genesis 3:14-15 “The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

It was obviously someone born of a virgin,
For women don’t have “seed”, and whoever this “seed” would be,
He would cause major problems for Satan.
He would be the One who would crush Satan’s head.

That prophecy obviously pointed to the virgin birth,
BUT IT WAS ALSO A PICTURE OF ISRAEL.

Israel had many promises in her past
That someday the “seed” would come.

Perhaps the most famous:
Isaiah 9:1-7 “But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

So this woman has an expectation of a coming child
To deliver and reign upon the earth.

And we see that this has become AN URGENT CRY.
“and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.”

The tense here is actually in THE HISTORICAL PRESENT
Which better reads, “and she is crying out, being in labor…”

This was not a one time cry, but a continual cry for relief.
She is in turmoil and is desperately begging for the deliverer to arrive.

It is the cry often sang about at Christmas time.
“Oh come, Oh come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel; who mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appears.”

“Come, Though long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free. From our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee. Israel’s strength and consolation, Hope of all the earth Thou art; Dear desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.”

Incidentally this is why the angels told the shepherds at the birth of Christ:
Luke 2:10 “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;”

• That doesn’t mean that all people everywhere would have joy in their hearts regarding Christ’s birth (Herod certainly didn’t), but joy would be the response of every heart in turmoil who had been longing for in labor and heavy burden.

This was most specifically Israel who was in constant turmoil
And constant labor eagerly waiting for their deliverer.

And her cry is heard many times in Scripture.
Psalms 89:46 “How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire?”

Psalms 80:4-6 “O LORD God of hosts, How long will You be angry with the prayer of Your people? You have fed them with the bread of tears, And You have made them to drink tears in large measure. You make us an object of contention to our neighbors, And our enemies laugh among themselves.”

Psalms 90:13-17 “Do return, O LORD; how long will it be? And be sorry for Your servants. O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us, And the years we have seen evil. Let Your work appear to Your servants And Your majesty to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.”

Psalms 94:1-7 “O LORD, God of vengeance, God of vengeance, shine forth! Rise up, O Judge of the earth, Render recompense to the proud. How long shall the wicked, O LORD, How long shall the wicked exult? They pour forth words, they speak arrogantly; All who do wickedness vaunt themselves. They crush Your people, O LORD, And afflict Your heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger And murder the orphans. They have said, “The LORD does not see, Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed.”

The cry for Israel was continual for God to send the one they expected.
They were waiting for “the seed”.

And we understand her turmoil.

The writer of Hebrews had this to say:
Hebrews 2:5-8 “For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, “WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? “YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.”

When God created this world, He did not give angels rule over it,
He gave rule over the world to man. Man was given dominion.

“He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.”

Man was supposed to be in control, but it is obvious that he is not.
In fact, in the garden, our control was usurped by an angel,
And he now is the god of this world.

And so Israel is crying out, she is in turmoil, she is in despair.
Things are not the way they are supposed to be.

Adrian Rogers once said:
“The world is in such a mess today because things are out of place. The King (Jesus) belongs on His throne. The bride (the church) belongs with the groom. The criminal (Satan) belongs in prison. One of these days, when the King is on the throne, the bride is with her groom, and the criminal is in prison, we will understand the way things are meant to be.” (Adrian Rogers, Unveiling the End Times in Our Time [Nashville, TN.: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004] pg. 7)

That is precisely why this woman is crying out.

So we see A Woman in Labor
#2 A DRAGON IN REBELLION
Revelation 12:3-4

Now, it was not a literal woman, this is not a literal dragon.
He is painted as a “great red dragon” to reveal his cruelty and brutality.

This dragon is none other than the serpent in the garden,
He is Satan himself, who is of course a fallen angel of God.

And we are given some important descriptors about him.
FIRST WE ARE FACED WITH HIS CONSTANT CONSPIRACY
(John wants you to see who this dragon is, and what he’s been up to)
(He wants you to understand the continual battle that has been going on.)

“having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.”

If you read further into the book of the Revelation we learn:
Revelation 17:9-13 “Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. “The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. “These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.”

These horns are symbolic of the kingdoms Satan has controlled. Five are over, one is presently in charge, and one is coming.

The seven kingdoms referred to are the seven kingdoms
That have specifically targeted the destruction of Israel.

THE FIRST FIVE (which are over) ARE:

EGYPT under the reign of Satan’s puppet – Pharaoh
Exodus 1:22 “Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”

ASSYRIA under the reign of Satan’s puppet – Shalmaneser
2 Kings 17:5-6 “Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.”

BABYLON under the reign of Satan’s puppet – Nebuchadnezzar
2 Kings 25:8-11 “Now on the seventh day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. Then the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon and the rest of the people, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into exile.”

MEDO-PERSIA under the influence of Satan’s puppet – Haman
Esther 3:8-9 “Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people and they do not observe the king’s laws, so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain. “If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king’s business, to put into the king’s treasuries.”

GREECE under the control of Satan’s puppet – Antiochus Epiphenes
Daniel 11:31-33 “Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. “By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action. “Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days.”

All five of those did their best to completely annihilate the Jews.
But they were not merely human empires.

They were empires controlled by Satan himself.
The final two kingdoms represent Rome and the kingdom of Antichrist.
The “ten horns” is the European confederation which will give their authority to the Antichrist.

But the point is that all of those nations that had continually oppressed Israel and caused her to suffer
Did so because they were under the control of Satan.

Satan knew about that prophesy that the seed of the woman
Would one day crush his head and he was doing everything he could
To annihilate the woman so that she never bore that child.

We also read:
(4) “and his tail swept away a third of the starts of heaven and threw them to the earth.”

Here we learn that the dragon’s animosity for Israel
Really began as animosity for God.
He hates God’s people namely because he hates God.
(Incidentally this is also why the world, which is under the power of Satan, also hates God’s people)

BUT FIRST SATAN HATED GOD
The Bible teaches that Satan was an anointed cherub
Who was cast out of heaven.

Isaiah 14:12-15 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.”

And when Satan fell, he took a third of the angels with him,
With them, he has manipulated 5 kingdoms to try and annihilate the Jews.

THE MAIN GOAL WAS TO ANNIHILATE THE JEWS
SO THAT THE “SEED” WOULD NEVER BE BORN.

However, Satan was not able to accomplish his goal.
Moses delivered Israel from Egypt
Cyrus set God’s people free from exile.
Esther delivered God’s people from Persia
Judas Maccabeus delivered God’s people from Greece

Despite his hatred for the woman and her seed,
Satan was not able to prevent the birth of the promised child

That moves to the 6th kingdom,
This kingdom did not seek to prevent the birth, but rather to kill the child.

ROME under the Satanic controlled Herod
Matthew 2:16 “Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.”

All that Herod did was the scheme of Satan.
(4) “And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.”

Satan couldn’t stop the “seed” from coming
So his plan was to kill Him instantly.

But of course that plan failed.

A Woman in Labor, A Dragon in Rebellion
#3 A CHILD IN VICTORY
Revelation 12:5

In this verse we find the shortest gospel account in all of Scripture.
In one verse we go from birth to ascension.

Obviously the verse leaves out a lot of information.
• Nothing about the miracles of the child
• Nothing about the preaching of the child
• Nothing about the death of the child
• Nothing about the resurrection of the child

BECAUSE THE FOCUS HERE IS SIMPLY ON THE FACT THAT
THE CHILD WHOM GOD SENT, DID SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE HIS MISSION AND RETURN TO GOD UNFAZED BY THE ENEMY.

Despite all the attempts of Satan
“And she gave birth to a son, a male child”

After years of suffering under the curse, the “seed” finally arrived.

The destroyer of Satan had come.

It is in fact the miraculous incarnation of God.
John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Colossians 2:9 “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,”

And then John shows us in one short statement
Why Satan (and the world) oppose Him so much.

“who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron;”

Satan doesn’t hate Him simply for being a Savior.
Satan hates Him for taking back what is rightfully His.

THE WORLD DOESN’T HATE THE BABY IN THE MANGER.
THE WORLD HATES THE KING ON THE THRONE.

THIS CHILD CAME TO RULE THE WORLD.
The world will let Christ be Savior, they just don’t want Him as Lord.

But He did not just come to be Savior, HE CAME TO BE LORD.

Listen to the Old Testament prophecies about Him.
Isaiah 9:6-7 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

Micah 5:2-5 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” Therefore He will give them up until the time When she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brethren Will return to the sons of Israel. And He will arise and shepherd His flock In the strength of the LORD, In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, Because at that time He will be great To the ends of the earth. This One will be our peace. When the Assyrian invades our land, When he tramples on our citadels, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight leaders of men.”

No wonder Satan and the world today wants Him dead.

And yet even after successfully killing the “seed”, we read.
Acts 2:22-24 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know — this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”

Satan succeeded in killing Him, he just couldn’t keep Him dead.
The “seed” arose from the dead.

And the verse 5 says:
“and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.”

After God delivered Him, God accepted Him.
Not just to His presence, but also to “His throne.”

It was determined that this seed would crush Satan and rule the world, and that is precisely what He will do.

Acts 2:32-36 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”‘ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Psalms 2:1-9 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'”

Satan did everything He could to stop this child, but he failed.
This is the child Satan couldn’t stop.
This reality brings about a major shift in Satan’s rebellion

A woman in labor, a dragon in rebellion, a child in victory
#4 A WORLD IN TRIBULATION
Revelation 12:6

Here we have fast-forwarded from the ascension of Christ
To the final 3 ½ years of the tribulation.

You will see in the following text why this time is significant.
• Namely because currently Satan is attacking by accusing the brethren before
God, but half way through the tribulation Satan will be kicked to the earth and his only objective will be to destroy Israel.

Revelation 12:12 “For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”

Once Satan is confined to the earth,
His plan will be worldwide persecution of the woman.

WE KNOW THAT THE TRIBULATION IS GOD’S WRATH ON THE EARTH,
And yet, it is ALSO A TIME when God accomplishes that wrath
By allowing Satan to torment and attack.

• We’ve already seen the working of Antichrist with his false peace, world war,
famine, and death.
• We’ve already seen the torment of that demonic locust army.
• We’ve already seen the death of that 200 million strong demonic army.

Yes it is God’s wrath, but it is also Satan’s attempt to destroy Israel.
His goal is to destroy her so that the child has no reason to return for her.

The problem for Satan is that God will not allow that to happen.
The woman is supernaturally cared for by God.

Revelation 12:13-17 “And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

What we find is that despite Satan’s efforts throughout the ages
• He was unable to prevent the child from coming.
• He was unable to stop the child when He did come
• He was unable to corrupt the child when He came
• And even after killing the child, he was unable to keep Him dead

Revelation 11:17-18 “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

Heaven declared that Christ reigns despite the wrath of the enemy,
And that is certainly holding true.
Here we learned about the Child he couldn’t stop.

Next time we’ll talk about: The Battle he couldn’t win.

This morning I encourage you again that our God reigns.
I encourage you again that Christ is King!

Worship Him, Honor Him, Obey Him, Serve Him, Trust Him

The Cost of Christmas
Philippians 2:5-11
December 25, 2016

This morning, as you can see, I want to take just a moment
And discuss with you about THE COST OF CHRISTMAS.

And of course I’m not talking about your credit card balance
Or how much you spent on gifts this year.

Rather, we’re talking about the very initial cost of Christmas,
Dealing with what Christmas cost Jesus.

FIRST, I WOULD REMIND YOU THAT
The idea of COST IS A CONTINUAL THEME throughout the gospels.

We often talk about salvation being free,
And that is true in the sense that there is nothing you can pay for it,
And that Christ does freely offer it.
However, that does not mean that it comes without a cost.

I could illustrate that very easily this morning by giving every kid in this room a “free” puppy. And every parent in here would turn it down because you know that it is not free. It will in fact come with great cost.

That is true of salvation throughout the gospels.
In fact Jesus continually reminds us of the cost of salvation.

There is the cost of your REPUTATION
Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

There is the cost of your RELATIONSHIPS
Matthew 10:34-36 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. “For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.”

There is the cost of your EARTHLY COMFORT
Matthew 8:19-20 “Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

There is the cost of your LIFE
Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

And those verses are just the tip of the iceberg.

In fact continually when speaking of the cost of following Christ,
We hear it spoken of in terms of “EVERYTHING”. It costs everything.

What I want you to understand is that
Christ can so easily make such demands
Because He was One who first gave everything
In order to offer this salvation.

2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”

AND SO THIS MORNING I want us to briefly consider
Exactly what this great cost which He paid was,
And even more importantly what our response to that should be.

We do so by looking at this amazing passage
Found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

• It is primarily a passage which speaks to your responsibility to love your brother unconditionally.

• In order to motivate the Philippians to quit walking in selfishness and considering their own needs, Paul lifts high the example of Jesus.

• Saying, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus”

So we understand that this is NOT ONLY A THEOLOGY LESSON
It is ALSO A MANDATE; an example of how we should live.

And in this we find a tremendous picture of the price Christ paid
In the event we refer to as Christmas.

PAUL BEGINS WITH A FOUNDATIONAL STATEMENT.
Before you can measure cost you first have to understand what a person has.

• For example, the two mites that were given by the widow doesn’t sound like
much of a cost until you find out that this was all she had to live on.

• On the flip side a gift of 1 million dollars might sound like an enormous
sacrifice until you find out that the giver had billions.

So cost can only be measured once you we have some idea
Of the level of riches and that is what Paul establishes first.

Paul says of Jesus (6) “who, although He existed in the form of God,”

And this is a phrase that must be examined a little.
The phrase “He existed” is HYPARCHO (hoo-parr-ko) in the Greek.
And it means “to be”

So we are talking about the very being of Christ.
And I must submit to you that a person’s being is unchangeable.
You, for example, are a human being and nothing will ever change that.
It is what you are.

Well we find of Jesus that in His very being He is God.
That is unchangeable, that is immutable, that cannot go away.
That is who He is.

And it’s important that you understand that
(also why I showed you the RC Sproul video at the beginning)
To help you understand the dangers of the past when men
Sought to use Christmas as a means to remove the deity of Jesus.

Whatever Christmas cost Jesus, it did not cost Him His deity.
That is who He is and it cannot change.

Now Paul also says that “He existed in the form of God”

“form” there is MORPHE (mor-fay)

This refers to: “The essential characteristics that belong to someone”
It is not just appearance, which you will see later in verse 8.
It speaks to His essential being and attributes.

• What are the things that make you human? (life, soul, emotion, communication, skeleton, muscles, etc.)

• What are the things that make Him divine? (omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, etc.)

SO WE UNDERSTAND WHERE JESUS BEGAN.
• In His very being He is God.
• And as such He has all the attributes of God.

Now that is the starting place.
Next we get to exactly what cost He paid to come to this earth.

(6b) “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,”

Again let’s think about this for a moment.
We find here that being equal with God
Was not something that He thought needed “to be grasped”

Now that can mean one of two things.
• TO GRASP can either mean to take hold of something, or it can mean to keep hold of something.

We are aware of Satan, who Isaiah tells us sought to make Himself equal with God.
Isaiah 14:13-14 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”

Satan sought to grasp equality with God.
(As do many humans today)

But we just learned that Jesus already had that,
So for Him it was not something to take hold of,
But rather something to keep hold of.

And we find that although Jesus had equality with God,
He chose not to hold on to it.

WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT HERE?
WHAT DID HE LOSE?
Let’s look at the rest of this text, and see if we can figure it out.

The CONFUSING PHRASE for many is found in verse 7
When it says He “emptied Himself”

And many, like Sproul talked about, assume that
Jesus at this point relinquished all of His divine attributes.

They say that Jesus was in the form of God, and then emptied Himself, therefore He must have emptied Himself of His deity.

But we already established that this is impossible.
Deity is His very being, and you can’t change what you are.

SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Well first let me tell you what He did, and then I’ll explain what He lost.

We are talking about the cost of Christmas
And yet what we actually see here is not Jesus losing something,
But rather JESUS ADDING something.

Jesus Emptied Himself By:
#1 TAKING THE ATTRIBUTES OF A SLAVE
Philippians 2:7

Notice the verb in verse 7 “taking”
It DOES NOT say “but emptied Himself, losing the divine form”

It says, “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant”

Whatever He lost, He lost because He took “the form of a bond-servant”

“form” there is the exact same word that it was in verse 6, MORPHE (mor-fay)
Which again speaks to “the essential characteristics that belong to someone.”

Furthermore we know that in the New Testament a “bond-servant” was really a SLAVE (that’s what the word literally means)

• Jesus clearly stated that He was a slave of God, coming only to do the Father’s will.
• Jesus even stated that He was a servant of men:
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

So we have this Jesus who in His very being is God
With all of the attributes that go along with it
And now we find that He added to those attributes
The attributes of a slave.

“taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

There is that idea of “being” again.

Jesus has not relinquished His being as God, but He has added another “being” which is what?
HUMAN BEING

“being made in the likeness of men”

• So we have here God.
• We have here One who enjoys all the privileges of being God.
• And He makes a decision to take, in addition to His divine being, also the being of humanity;
• And even more startling is that He takes the attributes of a slave.

This is what we call the hyper-static union.
Fully God and at the same time Fully Man

Jesus emptied Himself by:
Taking the Attributes of a Slave
#2 TAKING THE APPEARANCE OF A MAN
Philippians 2:8a

“Being found in appearance as a man”

“appearance” is the word SCHEMA
It’s where we get our word schematic

Even though Jesus was God in every sense of the word,
He added to that the appearance of a man.

HE LOOKED HUMAN.

Isaiah 53:1-2 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”

You see all those medieval paintings of Jesus with this golden halo over His head…not true.

Jesus didn’t look impressive at all.
• There was nothing about His appearance that caused you to think He might be anything other than just another man.

Listen to the crowd:
Matthew 13:55-56 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”

In fact that was part of the problem.
The Pharisees couldn’t figure out how such a normal human
Could conceivably make Himself out to be God.

He took on a non-distinguishable appearance.

So we are talking about how He “emptied Himself”
And He did that by Taking the attributes of a slave
And He did that by Taking the appearance of a man
#3 TAKING THE ASSIGNMENT OF A CRIMINAL
Philippians 2:8b

“He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

You are aware that the cross was a SHAMEFUL DEATH.
We find in the O.T. that cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree.

There could not have been a more humiliating way to die
Than the way that Jesus died.
AND YET HE SUBMITTED TO THAT MISSION.

And of course we know He did that
In order that He might redeem God’s elect from their sins.

NOW HERE IS THE QUESTION

We see that Jesus “emptied Himself”, and He did so by:
• Taking the Attributes of a Slave
• Taking the Appearance of a Man
• Taking the Assignment of a Criminal

SO WHAT DID JESUS LOSE?
• He didn’t cease to be God (He couldn’t)
• He didn’t lose His divine attributes (He obviously used them)

SO WHAT DID HE LOSE?

HE DIDN’T LOSE HIS DIVINE NATURE,
HE LOST HIS DIVINE PRIVILEGE;
HIS DIVINE WORSHIP, HIS DIVINE BENEFIT, HIS DIVINE GLORY

Jesus emptied Himself by taking on a humiliating role.
He didn’t quit being God, He just stopped being treated as such.

He stepped out of privilege into poverty.
He stepped out of glory into humiliation.
He stepped out of esteem into disgrace.

WHAT HE EMPTIED HIMSELF OF WAS GLORY.

Listen to Jesus praying the night before He was crucified.
John 17:1-5 “Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

Jesus didn’t cease to be God, He just stopped being treated as God.
And there He prayed that the Father would restore His glory to Him.

Which Paul assures that God has done:
(9-11) “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The book of Revelation certainly confirms that reality as well.
We’ve seen all of creation worshiping Him.

BUT WE WANT TO APPLY THIS TO OUR LIVES.

Now obviously, to be TRUE TO THE TEXT, you see how Paul is using that as an example for how you and I should treat one another.

• Don’t quit being a human, don’t quit being good at things, just quit seeking your benefit in who you are and what you do. Seek the benefit of your brother.

But REGARDING CHRISTMAS, I want you to understand.

CHRIST GAVE UP HIS GLORY that He might come to earth and save us.
At the very least we should make it the ambition of our lives
To GIVE HIM BACK WHAT HE LOST.

We couldn’t give Him deity (He didn’t lost that anyway)
We couldn’t give Him sovereignty (that was always His)

What He lost was glory, and that we can most certainly give.

“Haste, haste, to bring Him laud! The babe the Son of Mary”

“O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant…
O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!”

Christ walked out of His advantageous position that He might save us. The very least we can do is give Him the glory He deserves.
And to make sure the whole world knows what He did on our behalf.

Seeking God’s Favor – part 3
Zechariah 7:1-14 (11-14)
December 18, 2016

We are now in a new section here in the book of Zechariah.
• It has been two years since those night visions and the temple is about half-way finished.
• And during this period we had an incident occur that sort of inspired this new section.
• We had a group of men travel to Jerusalem from Bethel with the intention of seeking God’s Favor.

(2) “Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to seek the favor of the LORD.”
Literally “to soften the face of the LORD”

And their question gave us a little more insight there as well.
They wanted to know:
(3) “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?”

We noted that they had been fasting in the fifth month
In remembrance of the destruction of the temple and the burning of Jerusalem.

But there were two main reasons why that was no longer making sense.
• One was because the new temple was half-way finished and frankly it seems strange to fast about a destroyed temple when you’ve nearly got a new one.

• But perhaps the bigger issue was that it didn’t seem like that fast they had been so faithful to participate in had brought about the type of favorable response from God they had anticipated.

So now they are going to Jerusalem to see what’s up.
• God, are you just not interested in this fast?
• God, why are you not rewarding this fast like we expected?

So we are talking about what it means to seek God’s favor.
How you do it…
Why you do it…
What you should expect when you do it…

The first thing God addressed with them was in regard to their motive.
#1 CONSIDER YOUR REAL PURPOSE
Zechariah 7:1-7

What God revealed was that they weren’t fasting to please God,
They were ultimately fasting to please themselves.

They were only fasting as a means to manipulate good things out of God.
That is an absolutely wrong motive.

The things we do can only be done for one purpose and one purpose only
And that purpose is for the glory of God.

And even when we do receive reward from God we must understand that
It is only because He is generous, not because we have earned it.

Since everything we get from God is the result of His generosity
We have to quit looking at our service as a means to earn reward
And instead look at it as a means in which to glorify God.

Jesus spelled it out really clearly:
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

So the first issue you need to look at regarding a life
that seeks to please God or earn His favor is that you ask yourself:
Why you are doing it; what is your motive?

Is it for God’s glory or your benefit?
One is a true sacrifice, one is not.

So first we said to Consider Your Real Purpose

Then last week we started looking at the next truth to consider if you really desire to live a life that pleases God.
#2 CONSIDER SCRIPTURE’S REITERATED PROPHECIES
Zechariah 7:9-10

And this is really such a good and important point that is made.

(9) “Thus HAS the LORD of hosts SAID…”

In other words Zechariah points them
Not to a new revelation from God, but to an old revelation.

In this case it is a revealed word
That God has said over and over and over and over again.

“Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.”

We do need to look at that command in its specific nature,
But first we need to recognize that this is not a new command.

In fact, we looked at nearly every Old Testament prophet
And found that they were all saying this.

The problem was that Israel continually ignored those sermons
In favor of continuing on in their religious traditions.

And to that we were making this point.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SEEKING THE FAVOR OF GOD
AND IN DOING THE THINGS THAT ARE PLEASING TO HIM;
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DO THAT WITH A CLOSED BIBLE.

God has not kept His desires for how you should live your life a secret.
In fact in most cases He has said it over and over and over.

These people were going through strenuous religious ordinances
In order to try and earn God’s favor;
How much easier it would have been to just read the Bible
And see what God had already said He wanted?

AND HOW INSIGHTFUL THIS IS FOR US.
How often we come wanting God’s favor, wanting to please God,
AND LIKE THESE PEOPLE WE SEEK IT THROUGH A MEANS
WHICH GOD HAS NOT COMMANDED

Let me give you a New Testament example:
TURN TO: MATTHEW 15:1-9
• Did you hear Jesus there?
• It’s the same thing isn’t it?

You got all caught up in some religious ceremony
And totally disregarded what I’ve been saying for years.

Let me show you another New Testament church that got off track here.
The church at Colossae obviously wanted to please God,
But the problem was that they were trying to please God
Without knowledge of the truth that God had revealed.

That is why Paul prayed for them like this:
Colossians 1:9-10 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

What were they doing?
How were they trying to please God?
Colossians 2:16-23 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day — things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) — in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

Someone had told them that it was all about their religious routine.
Their festivals and new moons and Sabbaths and what they handled and tasted and touched and even more than that, what they abstained from.

And Paul said “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

In other words, those things all look good, but they really don’t help at all.
You would be better off to have a true knowledge of what God actually wants so that you know how to really please Him in the way you live.

Which is why Paul went on in chapter 3. (reminding what God wants)
Colossians 3:5-10 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him”

See, it’s not confusing.
Just learn to do the things that God has said to do in His word.

WHAT IS MY POINT?
• If you are serious about seeking the favor of the Lord…
• If you are serious about living in a manner that pleases the Lord…
• Then read your Bible and do what He says.

It is IMPOSSIBLE for someone to claim that they are seeking God and desiring to please Him WITH A CLOSED BIBLE.

1 John 2:3-6 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

It is also IMPOSSIBLE to claim to seek God and desire to please Him if a person DOES NOT DO what their Bible says.

James 1:19-25 “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

You get the point?
If you really are serious about living a life that pleases God
You cannot do this apart from studying and obeying the word of God.

These people want to please God,
Zechariah merely tells them that they should
Do what God has been saying for years.

With that being said, it is important that we not skip over those specifics.
We need to pay attention to those things as well,
Lest we end up just like the Israelites of old.

Look at the list:
“Dispense true justice”
(Treat your brother the way God says to treat him)
“practice kindness and compassion each to his brother”
(sounds like the golden rule here doesn’t it?)
“do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor;”
(that is refusing to take advantage of those who are easy to take advantage of)
“do not devise evil in your hearts against one another”
(that is focusing on self and how to get ahead of your brother)

I actually heard Joel Olsteen on TV this week say that
“You cannot love your brother if you do not love yourself.”

That is the exact opposite of what Scripture says.
Scripture says you cannot love your brother if you do love yourself.
You’ll naturally love yourself, you have to choose to love your brother.

Now none of those commands are surprising to us,
We’ve seen them continually.

These are the types of things that God has commanded if you want to please Him.
WHY?

Because all of these commands
Are a direct contradiction to the natural desires of the flesh.

• The flesh will cheat and lie to get ahead.
• The flesh will take advantage of people less powerful.
• The flesh will look out for itself before it ever cares about anyone else
• The flesh will constantly look for a way to get ahead, even by plotting evil

The ONLY reason a person would walk in “true justice”
The ONLY reason a person would “practice kindness and compassion”
The ONLY reason a person would care for “the widow or the orphan”
The ONLY reason a person devises good in their heart instead of evil

IS BECAUSE GOD HAS COMMANDED IT

Let me give you a New Testament equivalent here.
TURN TO: ROMANS 12

Everyone is familiar with that opening verse about worship being
When you present your body a living sacrifice to God.

But what does that mean really?

(READ 9-21)
There is something like 27 individual commands there
And none of them is easy and none of them is automatic.

The only reason you would do any of those things
Is because they please God.

And now you are starting to understand what worship is,
And what it means to seek God’s favor,
And what it means to live to please God.

We seek God’s favor…
We live to please God…
When we do the things that God has commanded, for God’s glory alone,
Even if those things don’t naturally appeal to us at all.
Make sense?

So you want to please God…
• Consider the Real Purpose (motive)
• Consider the Revealed Prophecy (what God has said)

But there is a third thing we need to understand as well.
#3 CONSIDER GOD’S REVEALED PASSION
Zechariah 7:11-14

We just looked at everything God had been saying throughout history
To His people through His prophets.

• It didn’t take us long to figure out what things really mattered to God.
• It didn’t take us long to figure out how to really please Him and seek His favor.

However, those in the past
Ignored all that God said through those prophets.

In short, God told them to drop the religion and start obeying from the heart and they ignored Him.
(11-12a) “But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets;”

The question is:
HOW DID THAT WORK OUT FOR THEM?

(12b) “therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.”

Really, what did His great wrath look like?
(13-14) “And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the LORD of hosts; “but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate.”

So let me ask you a question.
• Would you say that these things actually mattered to God?

• I know God said to do all those things, but did He really care whether or not you did them or was He just sort of cool about the whole thing?

I’d say it really mattered.
GOD’S REVEALED PASSION speaks volumes about how to please Him.
God was really angry. So angry in fact that He scattered Israel, destroyed their temple, ignored their prayers and made their land desolate.

• Time and time again God told these people to do justice and walk
humbly and love their brother.

• Time and time again they ignored those commands and sought
instead to bring sacrifices to God as an appeasement.

In response to their stubbornness God “refused to listen to them”,
He “scattered them…among all the nations”,
And He “desolated” their land behind them.

And apparently 70 years later, they still haven’t figured that out.

I know we looked at part of it last week, but let me take you a little further:
TURN TO: JEREMIAH 7

Last week we read (1-7), let’s go a little further.
(READ 8-16)
• Before Jerusalem there was Shiloh.
• It was were God first dwelled in Israel.

But God had no qualms destroying that place because Israel didn’t get it.

Now TURN TO: 1 Samuel 4

Here was Shiloh, where God’s ark dwelled.
(READ 4:1-11)

Now notice what Jeremiah was doing in Jeremiah 7.
He was asking people who were currently missing the point
To consider people who had previously missed the point.

Jeremiah was asking the religious people of Jerusalem
To consider how God previously destroyed the religious people of Shiloh.

In effect, he was telling them to Consider God’s Revealed Passion.

That is the same thing Zechariah is now doing 70 years later.
He is asking these refugees to consider the revealed passion of God back in the days of Jeremiah.

Do you see how angry God was back then?
• Just as Jeremiah told them they should learn from the previous destruction of Shiloh.
• Zechariah is telling them they should learn from the previous destruction of Jerusalem.

See, you learn what people want in the present,
By the way they responded to similar situations in the past.

I had a dad that could teach you how to read minds.
• Because if you didn’t learn to read his mind you were going to get in a lot of
trouble.
• I learned from past experiences how to please him in the present.

When Carrie was pregnant with Zek and we were living in Crawford,
• I was pouring a glass of tea, and after I finished pouring a glass of tea some
tea ran down the front of the pitcher. I grabbed the dish towel and wiped it off. Carrie looked at me and said, “I know you didn’t just wipe that tea off with my dish towel.” I’ve never done it again since!

YOU SHOULD LEARN FROM RESPONSES IN THE PAST.
(Israel didn’t)

And incidentally we should as well.
TURN TO: 1 Corinthians 10:1-11

Learn from the past.
• If you really want to please God, then find out what sort of things pleased Him in the past.
• If you want to avoid irritating God, then find out what sort of things irritated Him in the past.

Consider God’s Revealed Passion
WHAT IS THE POINT?

We have here a delegation of people who have been fasting for 70 years
And they have come to God to find out what their sacrifice is worth.

And to answer them God reveals that
• Although their sacrifice may have in fact been very difficult,
• It was actually no different than what their ancestors continually
did.
• They totally ignored what God said was important in order to do
the things they thought should earn them the most reward.

This never worked in the past,
So why would you expect that it would work now?

Listen to Jesus on the issue:
Matthew 23:23-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

It’s the same issue isn’t it?
If you want to please God…
If you are really interested in seeking God’s favor…

• Then open your Bible and read about what He says pleases Him and do that.

• But don’t invent your own system of religious works and then take them to God expecting Him to reward you for it.

• God is a generous and gracious God who does promise many times to reward His children with good things.

• But it is important to understand that those rewards are NEVER earned, but are always given out of God’s grace.

• In response to this grace, we then seek to do the things that God says please Him.

• Not because these things gain us more earthly treasure, but because these things bring God more glory.

If you want to seek God’s favor…
If you want to please God…
• Do it with a pure heart.
• Do it with an open Bible.
• Do it with a historical context of how God has responded before.

2 Corinthians 5:9 “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”

Our God Reigns
Revelation 11:14-19
December 18, 2016

Recently we have been looking at another parenthetical section in the book.

After observing the hardness of heart by sinners who refused to repent even after the horror of the first and second woes, which was also the 5th and 6th trumpet,
One had to wonder if all this preaching is really worth it.

If the truth I preach is only going to get me in trouble and they aren’t going to believe anyway, then why bother?

Chapter 10 and the first 13 verses of chapter 11 answered that question.
On one hand we “prophesy again” because we don’t want anyone’s blood on our hands.

There is a terrible judgment coming upon this world and sinners
(whether they listen or not) must be warned.

On the other hand we continue because we serve a God who has the ability to save even the most unthinkable people through the preaching of the gospel.

We saw that in chapter 11 where God used two faithful witnesses to bring about full scale salvation to:
• A city that was so evil that it was actually called “Sodom and Egypt”;
• A city so dangerous that Jesus Himself warned believers to flee.
• A city with a history of already having killed the Son of God
• A city where Satan himself currently sets up his center of worship.

We saw God save that city through His two faithful witnesses.

And so we learned that despite what it looks like,
We should remain faithful to preach the gospel
Because sinners must hear and because
We don’t know what God might actually be accomplishing.

Well now that parenthetical section is over and we are back on schedule, all be it, very briefly.

We read in verse 14, “The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.”

This verse actually flows seamlessly from the end of Revelation 9.

• That “second woe” was the 200 million strong demonic death army that killed 1/3 of the earth’s population.

• That woe is over “behold, the third woe is coming quickly.”

So we are back now into the natural chronological flow.
(You should know that this flow won’t last long,
as chapters 12-14, are yet another parenthetical section)

But for this morning we are back on track;
Specifically with the sounding of the seventh trumpet.

The seventh trumpet represents that coming and dreaded “third woe”.
And now it is upon us.

But before we see the specifics of that “third woe” we first are given here a very important and highly anticipated announcement.

It is the announcement of the reign of Jesus Christ.

3 things
#1 THE DECLARATION OF CHRIST’S REIGN
Revelation 11:15

Here we have that sounding of the seventh and final trumpet.
“Then the seventh angel sounded;”

And I would remind you that this trumpet is a very significant one.
One of the things we learned in that most recent parenthetical section is that
THIS TRUMPET WOULD MARK THE END.

Revelation 10:5-7 “Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, WHO CREATED HEAVEN AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE EARTH AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE SEA AND THE THINGS IN IT, that there will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.”

At this trumpet God’s patience will have fully run its course.
“there will be delay no longer”

Everything that God promised in the Old Testament to the prophets
Will finally come to its full fruition at the sounding of this trumpet.
When this trumpet sounds we know it is the end.

And that is why before we have a description of the details
We have a much anticipated announcement.

“and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”

With the announcement of the final judgment of God,
Also comes the announcement of the reign of Christ.

What is actually occurring here?
It is a transfer of power.

Yes it is true that God has always been and will always be sovereign.
He has never lost control in even the slightest measure.

However starting way back in the garden we saw the usurper show up and corrupt God’s creation.
• God had created everything perfect and God had declared everything good.
• However, the enemy deceived Eve and tempted Adam who transgressed
God’s command and instantly this world fell into the power of the evil one.

That is why throughout the N.T. we have such strange titles for Satan.
• 2 Corinthians 4:4 calls him “the god of this world”
• Ephesians 2:2 calls him “the prince of the power of the air”
• John 12:31 calls him “the ruler of this world”
• 1 John 5:19 says that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one”
• Revelation 2:13 taught us that Pergamum is “where Satan’s throne is”

In short, while God is sovereign over all things
We do understand that Satan is the usurper and deceiver
Who has set up his throne on the earth and currently
We do not see the physical kingdom of Christ here,
We see only the kingdom of Satan.

This is also why Satan was able to offer this kingdom to Christ during His temptation.
Matthew 4:8-9 “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”

Satan could legitimately make that offer because he is in fact the god of this world
And this world does in fact lie in his power.

Furthermore “the kingdom of this world”
IS A KINGDOM THAT TOTALLY OPPOSES GOD.

The Psalmist hit the nail on the head:
Psalms 2:1-3 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”

That continues to be the cry of the world even today.
There is no interest in bowing in submission to God.
There is no interest in following His commands.
The world is in a hurry to throw off God in every possible way.

Paul thoroughly described this rebellion in Romans 1.
TURN TO: ROMANS 1:18

We are hit with the reality that man does know God,
It is just that they don’t like the truth about God that they know,
So they suppress it.

God has made Himself evident through creation
And man has resisted that revelation at every turn.

Paul says that they “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man”

Instead of God, the world wants religion.
(You can easily craft religion to fit your own desires, much like an idol.)
They exchange the glory for an image.

(25) “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…”

They also exchange the truth for a lie.

(26) “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural.”

They exchange the natural for the unnatural
Thus rejecting God’s intention for humanity.

(28) “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer; God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,”

They also change what is proper for what is improper.

You get the idea?
The “kingdom of this world” is ANTI-CHRIST at every turn.

And to make things worse…
(Romans 1:32) “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

It is absolute and utter rebellion against God.
Not only is it participation in things which God calls evil,
But it is also approval of those who do it.

It is the kingdom of this world and it hates God, hates Christ,
And emphatically resists any rule that He might have over them.

Jesus summed it up after His parable of the minas.
Luke 19:27 “But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”

The world in which we live is in utter rebellion against Christ.
We do not see Christ’s kingdom reigning upon the earth.
The kingdom we see is a direct opposite of Christ’s kingdom.

AND GOD HAS CLEARLY DRAWN THE BATTLE LINES.
James 4:4 “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

These two kingdoms have nothing in common.
And God has clearly stated which kingdom must have our allegiance.

That is also why this current kingdom is SO GRIEVOUS to believers.
• Have we not prayed, “Your will kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”?

• It is why we saw John weeping in chapter 5, it is because he was afraid no one was ever going to overthrow that kingdom.

Well rest assured that “the kingdom of the world” will not last.
When that seventh trumpet sounds we finally hear
The declaration of what every believer has longed for.

It is the declaration of what every believer has prayed for.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ”

And you should know that it is an ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY.
Psalms 2:1-9 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'”

Even in the day when the world rebels the hardest,
And takes its strongest measures against the will of God;
GOD IS NOT WORRIED IN THE LEAST.

• When schools cancel prayer…
• When judges legalize gay marriage…
• When scientists promote evolution…
• When governments censor evangelism…

“He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.”

Their attempts are as futile as Pilate putting that seal on the tomb of Jesus.
It won’t work.

God has already decreed that there is a day coming
In which the kingdom of this world will fall and Christ will reign.

Philippians 2:9-11 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

1 Corinthians 15:24-28 “then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.”

CHRIST WILL REIGN.

“and He will reign forever and ever.”
• There is no “let’s just survive the next 4 years” mentality here.
• When Christ begins to reign He will never relinquish the throne.

Isaiah 9:7 “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

Daniel 2:44 “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.”

Luke 1:30-33 “The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

The kingdom is coming, and when it comes it will never end.

Adrian Rogers:
“People ask all the time, ‘What’s this world coming to?’. I’ll tell you what it’s coming to, it’s coming to Jesus. Jesus owns this world. It was made by Him and for Him and the Bible says it’s coming back to Him…and the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ.”

That is what we see here.
It is the Declaration of God’s Reign.

#2 THE DESCRIPTION OF CHRIST’S REIGN
Revelation 11:16-18

The fact of God’s reign is a certainty, but what will God’s reign mean?

We just finished an election cycle in our country,
And our new president will be sworn in in about a month.
Many are asking, “What will a Donald Trump presidency look like for America?”

Well that remains to be seen,
But I can tell you what a Jesus Christ kingdom will look like for this world.

1) IT WILL MEAN GLORY FOR GOD (16-17)
“And the twenty-four elders, who sit on the their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.”

Listen to heaven here:
You are and You were, and now we see that You always will be.
• You have always had the power to do anything You desired.
• You have always had the power to bring all things under Your control.
• You have always had the power to break all rebels into submission.

AND TODAY YOU HAVE FINALLY DONE IT!
Thank You God!!!

The Reign of Christ will mean Glory for God.
Philippians 2:11 “and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

On this day God will no longer be scorned or rejected or ignored.
God will be glorified.

2) IT WILL MEAN DEFEAT FOR THE ENEMY (18a)
“And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came,”

• We’ve already talked about the animosity of the nations.
• We’ve already seen how they did not want the Lord to reign over them.
• Today we see people repeatedly reject the truths of Scripture and the commands of Holy God.
• They read what the Bible says and then defiantly reject it, in effect telling God to leave them alone and “You’re not the boss of me!”

And here we find that when Christ did come to reign
The world was “enraged” at Him and sought to keep Him from reigning.
In fact they killed Him by death on a cross.

But as Peter said at Pentecost:
Acts 2:32-36 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”‘ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified.”

The nations may in fact be enraged at God and His Christ,
But that is of absolutely no significance.

The answer is given in 4 little words:
“but Your wrath came”

And of course they are referring to the great wrath of the tribulation
Whereby we have seen God exterminate sinners.

They rebelled against God, but they will not succeed.
Jesus will reign and His enemies, (regardless of how angry they are),
Will not survive.

The Reign of Christ means glory for God, and defeat for the enemy
3) IT WILL MEAN JUDGMENT FOR SINNERS (18b)
“and the time came for the dead to be judged,”

This world can cry “judge not!” all they want but that will not stop God.
He will judge all sinners.
Every man will give an account of their deeds.

Hebrews 9:27 “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

It is no secret that the world hates judgment.
• The world hates to have their sin exposed.
• The world hates to have their sin confronted.
• The world hates to have their sin rebuked.

But it doesn’t matter.
When Jesus reigns it will mean judgment for sinners.

4) IT WILL MEAN REWARD FOR THE RIGHTEOUS (18c)
“and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great”

Today the righteous press on amidst toil and conflict.

1 Corinthians 4:11-13 “To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.”

Jeremiah was probably the most outspoken about this.
Jeremiah 15:15-18 “You who know, O LORD, Remember me, take notice of me, And take vengeance for me on my persecutors. Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away; Know that for Your sake I endure reproach. Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts. I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, Nor did I exult. Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone, For You filled me with indignation. Why has my pain been perpetual And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream With water that is unreliable?”

The kingdom of this world is hard on those who are faithful.

But on the day that Jesus reigns
All those who remained faithful will be rewarded.

WHY?
Because for the first time in the history of the world we will have A JUST KING.

Isaiah 11:3-5 “And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.”

What a glorious day this will be!
• No more will sin be accepted…
• No more will sin be celebrated…
• No more will sin be tolerated…
• No more will righteousness be scorned…
• No more will faithfulness be attacked…

When Jesus reigns sinners are judged and the righteous are rewarded.
You get excited just thinking about it don’t you!

5) IT WILL MEAN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED (18d)
“and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

Here we find that God is an environmentalist,
But not in the way in which we think of it today.
He’s not referring to those who use hairspray or burn tires or make Styrofoam.

God is referring to those who have corrupted the world with their sin.
It wasn’t hairspray that wrecked God’s creation, it was sin.

Genesis 3:17 “Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life.”

Isaiah 24:20 “The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard And it totters like a shack, For its transgression is heavy upon it, And it will fall, never to rise again.”

It is sinners who continue to corrupt God’s creation

You want to know the biggest pollutant on the earth according to God?
Numbers 35:33 “So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.”

Listen: A Pro-Choice Environmentalist is an Oxymoron
(heavy on the moron)

But when Jesus reigns, not only will they be judged,
They will also be destroyed so that they never hurt this earth again.

Isaiah 11:9 “They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.”

God will be glorified
The enemy will be defeated
Sinners will be judged
The righteous will be rewarded
The wicked will be destroyed
And because the time has come, heaven is absolutely rejoicing!

The Declaration of Christ’s Reign The Description of Christ’s Reign
#3 THE DEMONSTRATION OF CHRIST’S REIGN
Revelation 11:19

This is an interesting scene,
And one which is a little difficult to fully understand.

In particular it is very Jewish in its feel
Since it deals with “the ark of His covenant”

If you are not familiar with the Ark of the Covenant, let me give you a very brief crash course.

• When Moses was on Sinai immediately following the Exodus from Israel God
gave him specific instructions regarding the building of this ark (like a chest)

• This ark was to be set inside the holy of holies and on top of this ark is where
the mercy seat would rest.

• And this would be the place where God would promise to meet with Moses and
speak with him.

It became synonymous with God’s presence, even God’s glory.
Many times in the Old Testament they would take the ark with them
Signifying God’s presence in their endeavors.

It also became a lasting symbol of God’s faithfulness,
Since the inside the ark they were to keep the ten commandments, a jar of manna, and Aaron’s staff which budded.

• The ten commandments represented God’s law
• The jar of manna was to remember God’s faithful provision
• Aaron’s staff was to remember God’s sovereign rule through His appointed leaders.

This ark then not only represented God’s presence,
But also His faithful working with and for Israel.

I THINK IT IS INTERESTING THAT IT APPEARS NOW.
We have already discussed that the primary purpose of the tribulation will be the salvation of Israel.

Well on this day, when Jesus begins to reign,
God allows Israel to see that although they had broken their covenant
And even lost their ark of the covenant, God never had.

• They may have broken God’s Law
• They may have forgotten God’s provision
• They may have rejected God’s appointed leader
BUT GOD HAD NOT

They were faithless, but He remained faithful.
Certainly after having killed their Messiah, they had no grounds to ever expect that He would still one day come and reign.

But He will, because God remains faithful to His promises.

But that is not all we see.
“and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.”

Here we have a preview of what is to come.
We know that after the blasting of this 7th trumpet there are 7 vials
Or 7 bowls of wrath that will be poured out.

Let me read to you real quick a description of that final bowl.
Revelation 16:17-21 “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.”

The final wrath will be seen in “lightning” and “thunder” and an “earthquake” and a “hailstorm”.

Here we have a taste of what God’s judgment will feel like on the earth.
When heaven announced that Christ would reign,
The earth instantly gets a little taste
Of what that final act of judgment will feel like.

NOW THE REALITY FOR THE EARTH IS THIS:
• There is no chance that the kingdom of this world will survive.
• Jesus is going to reign, God has already decreed it.
• And He will reign in perfect justice.

To that end, Peter asked:
2 Peter 3:11-13 “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

The Psalmist said it like this:
Psalms 2:7-12 “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'” Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

There is no future in resisting the reign of Christ in your life.

When Peter told the Jews at Pentecost that God had made the Jesus who they had crucified both Lord and Christ, here is how they responded:
Acts 2:36-42 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

That is a very fitting and appropriate response.
Since Jesus will reign and will judge and destroy all sinners,
It is only fitting that you repent of your sin and submit your life to Christ.

Our God Reigns.