Heavenly Father, you are supremely wonderful and worthy of our worship, God.
It is a privilege and a joy to gather with brothers and sisters in Christ,
those that are different from us culturally all across the globe, God.
We've come together this morning, and we are unified in this,
that we have found our life and our hope and our identity in you, God.
For so many of us in this room, Christ, you have changed us and transformed us,
and it's an absolute delight to fix our eyes on you, God,
and to worship you and to sing your praises.
We love doing that, God, and so thank you, God,
for welcoming us into your throne of grace this morning, God.
Father, you are God, and there is no one else like you.
God, it's a privilege to remind our own souls and our own hearts and one another
of your many attributes and to find our hope and our rest in you.
And so we do that this morning, God.
Father, thank you for your greatness and your grace.
Thank you for your majesty and your mercy, God,
your sovereign magnificence and your tender patience with us.
God, we need you and we adore you this morning.
You are Lord and King.
Father, this morning we want to pray for the youth and the children at Watermark, God.
We want to pray for the next generation of our church family.
And Father, we bring our youth and our children before you,
and we pray, Father, that at a young age their identity and their hope will be found in you, God,
not in their school performance, not, God, in what society says about them or impresses upon them.
Father, we pray that the next generation in our church will be so grounded and rooted in you,
that their identity and their security will be in you, Father God.
Father, we pray as many of them head towards exams in the coming weeks and months and with stress.
Father, help us as parents in a church family to love them through it.
And Father, we really do want to ask you, God, that you help us as a church
to help the next generation get the gospel deeply,
not just in their heads but in their hearts, God,
to be formed by the good news of Jesus.
Father, even this morning as our kids go off to kids' church,
we pray that your Holy Spirit will be there,
drawing them closer to yourself.
Make the gospel clear and vivid and beautiful to them, we pray.
Father, this morning we also want to pray for Chris, who's on sabbatical.
We pray that you refresh him and encourage his soul, God.
We pray that you speak to him wonderfully in this time.
God, won't you wash him in your love and your acceptance.
We pray that this sabbatical season will be profoundly good for his own soul
and also for him and Fiona and little Etienne and their family.
God, we pray that you will continue to speak to them, God.
I pray that when he comes back early next year,
he'll be so charged and ready, God, having spent amazing time with you.
So we pray that this won't just be rest from work,
but, God, it'll be deep soul work in his heart.
Even this morning, God, wherever they are as a family,
wash over them, God.
Pour your love into their hearts, we pray.
Father, finally we want to pray for our friends in Bangalore,
Rajiv and Sarah and Coram Deo Church.
Thank you, God, for bringing them to Hong Kong last week
and the chance to meet them.
God, we pray for that church,
and we know, as they shared last week,
the many challenges they're facing.
So many people in this city are victims of abuse.
And, God, we pray that you give them profound wisdom and insight,
that they minister to their city.
We pray that Coram Deo, God, will be more than just a gathering of saints.
It'll be salt and light in the city of Bangalore.
God, won't you encourage them and strengthen them
as they go about that very important work.
God, as they gather this morning for their services,
we pray, Holy Spirit, fill them and flood them.
Wash them with your gospel, God.
Pray, encourage Rajiv and Sarah as they plant this church, Lord.
And we pray for the finances of that church,
that you'll bless them, that they'll be able to carry out their mission.
We pray for new leaders to be raised up.
God, we bring Coram Deo before you this morning
and ask in your amazing grace to strengthen them and be with them.
May they know that you, Christ, are head of the church.
And so we stand with our brothers across Asia this morning,
lift them up before your throne,
and say, Father, won't you strengthen them?
We pray these things in your wonderful and your very faithful name.
Amen.
Great. We're going to listen to the scripture reading.
Annabelle's going to do that.
If you are new to Watermark,
we are working our way through the book of Revelation,
and we are in Revelation chapter 12.
And this passage, sorry, that was my fault.
This passage that Annabelle's going to read to us
is a really interesting one with lots of strange imagery.
We're going to try and make sense of it a little later.
So if you're new, just listen up,
and let's see if we can make sense of it.
But go for it, Annabelle. Thank you.
The scripture reading comes from Revelation chapter 12.
Please follow along in your bulletin or on the screen.
And a great sign appeared in heaven.
A woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet,
and her head a crown of twelve stars.
She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains
and the agony of giving birth.
And another sign appeared in heaven.
And behold, a great red dragon,
with seven heads and ten horns,
and on his head seven diadems.
His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven
and cast them to the earth.
And the dragon stood before the woman
who was about to give birth,
so that when she bore her child,
he might devour it.
She gave birth to a male child,
one who is to rule all the nations
with a rod of iron.
But her child was caught up to God
and to his throne,
and the woman fled into the wilderness,
where she has a place prepared by God,
in which she is to be nourished
for 1,260 days.
Now war arose in heaven.
Michael and his angels
fighting against the dragon,
and the dragon and his angels fought back.
But he was defeated,
and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
And the great dragon was thrown down,
that ancient serpent,
who is called the devil and Satan,
the deceiver of the whole world.
He was thrown down to the earth.
And his angels were thrown down with him.
And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,
Now the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Christ have come.
For the accuser of our brothers
has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
And they have conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony.
For they loved not their lives,
even unto death.
Therefore rejoice, O heavens,
and you who dwell in them.
But woe to you, O earth and sea,
for the devil has come down to you
in great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short.
And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth,
he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.
But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle
so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness
to the place where she is to be nourished
for a time and times and half a time.
The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman
to sweep her away with a flood.
But the earth came to the help of the woman
and the earth opened its mouth
and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.
Then the dragon became furious with the woman
and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring,
on those who keep the commandments of God
and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
And he stood on the sand of the sea.
This is the word of God.
Great. Thank you, Annabelle.
You read that so well with such expression.
That was fantastic.
Okay, just before we dive in,
I've actually forgotten to say this the last few weeks.
Revelation obviously is an interesting book with lots of imagery.
If you have questions,
let's say you think,
what on earth is the dragon?
Like, what does that mean anyway?
Or who's the woman?
Or what's up with the numbers?
Please come and talk to us.
You can come talk to me or any of the leaders.
We'd love to answer your questions.
Okay, so don't go away confused
or even more confused after the sermon than you were before.
Come and ask your questions.
You can ask any question you want about anything in the world.
And we would love to try our best to answer.
Okay, so just know that.
Now, as we have said many times before in the last couple of weeks,
the book of Revelation is about showing us
what is happening in the story of the world,
particularly the story of the church,
from the time of Jesus, his death and resurrection,
to the time when Jesus comes back.
A short way of saying that is from the cross until the throne,
this period of the already,
when Christ's kingdom has already come,
but it's also not yet fully come.
It's the story of the church,
and Revelation is showing us the story
from many different angles
and many different perspectives.
It's like in a sports game,
something happens,
and the referee isn't so sure if that trial was allowed
or if that goal should have happened
or someone committed a foul,
and so he radios the referee upstairs
that's watching on the TV,
and they look at these different angles,
and different angles show a different perspective
on the same event.
And that really is the book of Revelation.
We're looking at it from many different angles
that show us the story of the church.
Now, in this passage today,
we see the story of the church as a great big drama,
and there are three acts or scenes in this drama,
and there are three characters,
and the three characters are this woman,
this child that she gives birth to,
and a fiery red dragon, okay?
And so let's dive in and see if we can make sense of it.
So act one is the coming of Jesus.
So the drama starts off like this.
It says in verse one,
there's a great sign appeared in the heavens,
and a woman is clothed with the sun and the moon
and her feet and on her head is a crown,
and she's pregnant.
And she's crying out in birth pains
at the agony of giving birth.
Now, John, who wrote the book of Revelation,
is drawing on a whole bunch of Old Testament passages,
specifically Isaiah 26, Isaiah 66,
and a whole lot of others,
that picture the nation of Israel,
the Old Testament people of God,
as this lady who is waiting to bring forth this child,
the Messiah.
And for the Jewish people,
whenever they heard that or read those passages,
they would have thought of an earlier passage,
Genesis chapter three,
in which what happens is Adam and Eve sin
in the Garden of Eden.
They are faced with the consequences of their sin.
All humanity is cursed.
But in the midst of that curse,
God promises them a promise of hope.
And this is his promise.
He says,
Eve, from you are going to come a whole lot of descendants,
and one of your descendants
is going to be born of a woman,
and he will be the savior of the world.
He will crush the head of Satan.
And so, for the rest of the Old Testament,
the people of God,
the nation of Israel,
is waiting for the time
when someone from the nation of Israel
will give birth to this Messiah King
that will save not only them,
but humanity from the curse of sin.
And so, Israel itself,
throughout the Old Testament,
is pictured as this lady
waiting to give birth to the Messiah King.
Okay?
Does that make sense?
Okay.
Well, anyway, moving on.
So, that's the first character.
And who is this child that's born?
Well, it's Jesus.
Remember Matthew chapter 1?
There's this long lineage
describing Jesus and his ancestry
and where he comes from.
And all of that is meant to point
to the fact that Jesus is the one
that God promised to Eve
and to the nation of Israel.
But then we meet this third character,
and that's this evil kind of looking dragon.
And he's pictured as having seven heads
and crowns and horns on his head.
And seven is the number of completeness.
And crowns and horns and heads
are pictures of sovereignty
and authority and power.
In other words,
here is this dragon
and his false claims
to having absolute sovereignty
and power in the world.
In other words,
here is this being
that has set himself up
as a rival to the one true God.
Okay?
And what is this dragon doing?
Well, look at verse 4.
It says,
The dragon stood at the woman's feet
who's about to give birth
so that when she bore her child,
he might devour it.
He might destroy this coming child.
He's bent on destroying the child
that the woman is about to bear.
Now, throughout the Old Testament,
we see this,
that God's people,
the one through whom
the Messiah from the world
is going to come,
are constantly being attacked
by the forces of evil.
I think of Exodus chapter 1
where God's people,
the nation of Israel,
are in Egypt.
They're being oppressed there.
And Pharaoh issues this decree
saying all male children from Israel
are to be drowned in the river.
They're getting too strong,
too powerful.
It's time just to wipe them out.
And that parallels
what happens later on in the Bible
in Matthew chapter 2
where Herod hears that Jesus
is the new king of the Jews.
Remember, he hears from the wise men
that come.
They say,
we're looking for the king of the Jews.
Herod gets a fright
and realizes,
oh boy,
my throne is being threatened.
And he issues this decree.
All male children
under two years old in Bethlehem
get slaughtered.
And so throughout the Bible,
God's people
are constantly under attack.
But what John is telling us
is that behind
the acts of humanity
is another force.
Behind the evil
that's going on in the world,
there is a demonic force
in the spiritual realm as well.
Satan is
doing his best
to destroy God's people
and specifically
to destroy the Messiah.
And all of this
is an attempt
to destroy the promised Messiah,
the one whom God promised
way back in Genesis 3
that this Messiah
would bring about
the downfall of Satan
and the salvation
of those who trust in him.
And so this continues
throughout Jesus' life.
Remember,
he's tempted in the wilderness.
Satan comes and tempts him.
And this climaxes
in the cross.
Jesus is nailed to the cross
and finally,
forces of evil
think we've done away
with him.
But verse 5
in our passage today
tells us something else.
It tells us
that all Satan's efforts
are in vain.
Because just when he thinks
he's about to destroy
the Messiah,
the one who God promised
Eve would crush
the head of Satan,
just as he thinks
he's got him,
Jesus evades him
and he is taken up
into the throne of heaven.
It's a reference
to his ascension
after his resurrection.
Look at what it says,
verse 5.
She gave birth
to a male child,
the one who is to rule
the nations
with a rod of iron,
but her child
was caught up to God
and is now
before his throne.
And so Act 1,
verses 1 to 6,
tells the story
of Jesus' first coming.
His promise coming,
his birth,
his death on the cross
where Satan thinks
he's about to destroy Jesus
and his resurrection
and his ascension
up to heaven.
That's the end of Act 1.
Act 2,
the defeat of Satan.
Now look at what happens
in verse 7 here.
Verse 7 describes
this cosmic battle
that takes place
in the spiritual realm,
in the heavens.
Now just by the way,
the heavens isn't
a physical place
up in the sky somewhere.
Okay?
Someone once said,
if you take a space rocket
and you go far enough,
you'll eventually get to heaven.
I don't know where
they got that from.
Heaven describes
the realm of God's rule and reign.
It's where God rules, right?
Remember, Jesus says
he's going to bring heaven to earth.
Jesus brings his kingdom
and he's,
Jesus is going to rule on earth
one day.
The kingdom of heaven
will come to earth.
And so in the spiritual realm,
there's this battle.
We shouldn't take it literally.
There's not a wrestling ring
up in the sky
between Michael and Satan.
It's this battle
that's taking place
between the armies of God
and Satan.
But verse five told us
that Jesus eluded
or escaped Satan.
Verse eight tells us
something else happens.
Jesus doesn't just flee
from Satan,
he actually defeats him.
Look at what verse eight says.
It says there's a battle
in the sky,
in the heavens,
but Satan was defeated.
Now here's the question.
How is Satan defeated?
How does Jesus
conquer
Satan?
Well, paradoxically,
he does it in the very moment
when Satan thinks
he's conquering Jesus.
He does it on the cross.
As Jesus dies on the cross
and rises from the cross,
the very moment
that Satan thought,
we've done away
with the Messiah,
we've got him,
that's actually the moment
when Jesus conquers Satan.
Look at what happens
in verse 10.
After this happens,
he says,
now,
now is the salvation.
Now has the kingdom
of our God come
for the accuser
of our brothers
has been defeated.
In John chapter 12,
Jesus,
it's,
I think it's the night
before he is betrayed.
Maybe the week before.
He's about to go
to the cross
and he says
to his disciples,
he says,
the hour has come
for me to be glorified,
which is a strange thing
for Jesus to be glorified
when he's put to open shame
on the cross.
But actually,
the moment of the cross
was his moment of glory.
And he says
to his disciples,
now the Son of Man
will be lifted up
and I will draw
all men to myself.
And then he says,
and the ruler
of this world
will be cast out.
See,
as Jesus is hung
on the cross,
as he dies
and as he rises again,
the forces of evil
are destroyed,
are crushed.
Jesus' death
on the cross
and his resurrection
from the grave
was actually
his decisive moment
of victory
over Satan,
sin,
and the curse of sin.
Remember,
Colossians chapter 2
says God disarmed
Satan's forces,
putting them
to open shame
by triumphing them,
triumphing over them
in Christ.
How did he do this?
By canceling
our record of death
that stood against us,
setting aside,
nailing it
to the cross.
Okay,
so now the question
is this,
how does Jesus'
death on the cross,
how is that his victory
over forces of evil?
Well,
the one way
is Jesus defeated
death and the grave.
Remember,
death is the consequence
of sin.
Romans says that
the wages,
in other words,
the paycheck
of investing your life
in sin
leads to death.
That's the consequences
of our sinful nature.
But Jesus conquered death.
He conquered the grave.
That's why in Corinthians,
Paul mockingly says,
death,
where is your victory?
Jesus has conquered
the grave.
Death,
where is your sting?
Your trump card
that Satan thought
he could pull out
on followers of Jesus
has been rendered powerless.
It's been defeated.
Jesus conquered death
and conquered the grave.
But that's actually
not what our passage says.
Our passage doesn't
talk about that at all.
Look at what the passage
says here.
How does it describe
the devil?
Look at verse 10,
I think it is.
It talks about him
being the accuser
of God's people.
The one who accuses them
night and day.
Remember in the book of Job
in the Old Testament,
the devil is allowed
to come into God's presence.
And what does he say
in chapter 1?
He says,
God,
you know that servant
of yours, Job.
Well,
Job doesn't really love you.
He doesn't really serve you.
He only serves you
because you bless him.
Satan comes before God
and he brings an accusation
against God's people.
Okay?
And that's the job
of the accuser.
That's what Satan does.
He accuses you and I
day and night.
He says,
he comes before us
and he says,
hey,
sorry,
he comes before God
and he says,
God,
that guy,
Jeremy,
that guy,
he doesn't deserve
to be your child.
How can you really love him?
You know the things
he's done this week?
Do you know
what's in his heart?
He doesn't deserve
your favor
and your acceptance.
Satan comes
and he brings accusations.
And what's God's answer
to those accusations?
Silence.
The accusation
doesn't stick.
Now those things
may be true.
Jeremy may have had
a bad week.
Jeremy.
Those things
may be true
but the accusation
doesn't stick.
And why doesn't it stick?
Because God's people
are declared righteous
through the death
and the resurrection
of Jesus.
The verdict
in the courts
of heaven
has been given.
God's people,
those that trust
in him
and come to him
in faith
and repentance
are declared
guiltless,
righteous,
blameless,
above reproach
because our sin
has been put on Jesus
and Jesus' righteousness
has been put on us.
Our perfect standing
before the God
is credited to us
because of Jesus.
And that means
that the accusations
of the devil
have no bearing.
Now it doesn't mean
they're not true.
Satan comes to me
and says,
Kevin,
you're such a lousy sinner.
You're so self-centered.
You're so full of pride.
It's true.
Those things are true
of me.
I'm far worse than that.
Satan,
if you only knew
how bad I was.
But the accusation
doesn't stick
because my righteousness
doesn't depend
on how good I am.
It depends on
what Jesus says
about me.
My standing before God
depends on one thing only.
Am I righteous
in Christ?
Have I come to Him
and put my faith
and my hope in Him?
And if the answer is yes,
the accusations
don't stand.
In 1 John chapter 2,
Jesus is described
as an advocate,
a barrister.
Right?
We've got a couple
of barristers here
this morning.
And what happens
is Satan comes
before God
and he accuses us.
He says,
God,
have you seen
that guy Leo?
You know what he's done
this week?
And Jesus,
our advocate,
our barrister,
comes before God
the Father
and he brings
the evidence
and he says,
Father,
look at my
blood-stained hands.
Look at my
nail-scarred hands.
The price has been paid.
No guilt remains.
The penalty
has been dealt with.
No guilt remains.
Jesus,
our barrister,
comes
and he removes
the accusation.
Remember the great hymn
we often sing?
When Satan
tempts me to despair
and tells me
of the guilt within,
what do we do?
I put our look
and see him there
who made an end
to all my sin.
Friends,
that's the hope
of the Christian
because that's the hope
of the gospel.
And friends,
do you know what?
If you're here today
and you're not a follower
of Jesus,
you may be here
and think,
the message of the church
is to be kind.
That's not the message
of the church.
You may think
the message of the church
is to be good moral people.
Now that is a good thing
to do,
but that's not the message
of the church.
That's not the message
of the Bible.
You may be and think,
the message of the church
is to tell us
to love one another,
to be nice to people.
Now that's a good thing
to do,
but that's not the message
of the Bible.
The message of the Bible
is that there is great hope
in Jesus
because if we come to him
in faith and repentance,
God has made a way
for our sin
to be removed from us,
for us to be declared
righteous in him.
And all that means
is that the accusations
of Satan,
that's how Jesus
defeats Satan.
He disarms
his accusations.
He removes
his accusations
from him.
And that brings us
to Acts chapter 3,
which is Satan's
warfare on the church.
Look at verse 12
and onwards.
In verse 12,
we see that Satan
has been thrown out
of heaven,
as it were,
and in great rage,
knowing not only
that Jesus
has evaded him,
but actually defeated him,
he now turns
his tyranny
and his anger
and his rage
away from Jesus
towards Jesus' people
here on earth.
Because while Satan
has been defeated,
he hasn't yet
been destroyed.
While the death sentence
has been signed,
it hasn't yet
been carried out.
Satan's judgment
has been declared,
the judgment
has been given,
but the sentence
hasn't been carried out.
And so,
in this interim period,
Satan now wages war
against,
not against Jesus,
he knows he's defeated him,
but against Jesus' people,
against the followers
of Jesus.
Look at verse 13.
It says,
When the dragon saw
he had been thrown
down to the earth,
he pursued the woman
who had previously
been given birth
to a male child.
That's to God's people.
The woman was given
two wings of the great eagle
so that she might fly away
from the serpent
into the wilderness
to the place
where she has been nourished
for a time,
times,
and half the time.
Verse 17.
Then the dragon
became furious
with the woman
and went off
to make war
on the rest
of her offspring,
on those who keep
the commandments
of God
and hold
to the testimony
of Jesus.
So,
the image here is,
I don't know if you've seen
a movie
where there's a battle
going on.
There's two forces,
they're fighting each other,
and the one team,
the one army,
is completely demolishing
the other army.
They've taken up,
so let's say,
I was going to say
Team England,
but let's just say
Team A,
is holding the fort,
right?
And they're trying
to preserve
this stronghold.
And there's this
other advancing army
that is taking them down,
and they're shooting
off their defenders,
right?
Their defense.
And so finally,
there's one person
that is defending
this force.
And he's been shot up,
and he's bleeding profusely,
and he knows
that the end is done.
He's the only guy left,
and there's this whole army
that's approaching him.
And he knows
he's going to die,
he knows that
their team has lost,
the victory for the other team
is any minute now,
but he's still got
a few bullets in his gun.
And so what does he do?
The dying,
last gasps
of a dying man,
the final kicks
of a dying man,
is he's trying his best
to shoot off
a few of the advancing enemy
before they take him out.
Does that make sense?
You see that image?
In other words,
the victory is assured.
It's already done.
There's no way
he's going to win.
But he decides,
just before I die,
let me at least see
if I can take out
some of the enemy forces.
That's exactly
what's going on here.
Satan has been defeated.
It's done.
There's no way
he can win.
Christ has already
died and risen.
The victory is assured.
But just before
Satan is utterly destroyed,
he's going to try
his best
to take out
a few of Christ's followers
and to destroy them
and to destroy
their faith.
Satan's been defeated,
but now he's attacking
the church
in the final,
last kicks
of a dying enemy.
But look at what
happens here.
Jesus says
in verse 14,
I think it is,
or 15,
that the woman,
God's people,
are carried away
on the great wings
of the great eagle
into the wilderness.
And it's a picture
of how the people
of God
were delivered
from Exodus
out of the tyranny
and the rage
of Pharaoh
and they were brought
by God safely
into the wilderness
and in the wilderness
God looked after them,
he protected them,
he cared for them,
he fed them,
their clothes
didn't wear out,
their shoes
didn't wear out.
God took care
of them
out of Egypt
into the wilderness
until they got
to their promised land,
until they got
to the place
of their rest.
God brought them
out of slavery
into the wilderness
and finally
into freedom.
And Jesus is saying
the same thing here,
that for the people
of God,
you've been delivered
from the tyranny
of Pharaoh,
you've been delivered
from Satan,
sure,
and now God
is delivering you,
he's taking you
into the promised land
for a period of time,
not forever,
and finally he'll
take you into glory,
into your place
of rest,
the promised land,
into heaven.
The story of the people
of God in the Old Testament
is the story of the people
of God in the New Testament.
And then all this
is a reference
to Deuteronomy 32
where God says,
you saw what I
did to the Egyptians,
not what you did,
we didn't save ourselves,
not how you
saved yourselves,
you saw how I
saved you from Egypt
and I carried you
on the wings
of the eagle
and I brought you
to myself.
Friends,
this is what John
is showing us,
that yes,
Satan is alive,
yes,
Satan is real,
and for those of us
who are Christians
as the children of God,
there is a spiritual battle,
there is an enemy
you need to be aware of.
He won't win in the end,
he's been disarmed,
he's been defeated,
but he is still out there
to destroy your life
and to destroy your faith
in Jesus.
And so we shouldn't
be apathetic,
we shouldn't be naive
or indifferent,
there is an enemy
and in his final few bullets
he's trying to take you out.
He does want to destroy you,
but at the same time
don't be alarmed.
You don't need to be given
to despair
because he's a defeated foe.
Those who trust
in the blood of Jesus
who died on the cross,
God is rescuing us,
he's preserving us,
he will carry you through
to glory.
C.S. Lewis said,
there's two mistakes
we can make.
The one is we can be
overly enamored
with the devil
and think there's a devil
behind every rock,
but the other mistake
we can make
is to completely ignore him
and think he doesn't exist.
This is what John
is telling us.
Now,
think about what
this would have meant
to the Christians
in the first century.
The Roman Empire
is expanding and growing.
The emperor
is consolidating
more and more power
in his hands.
Christians are being seen
as a threat
because they won't acknowledge
that Caesar is Lord.
Christians won't take on
the cultural practices
of their day
and so they claim allegiance
to another authority,
a higher authority
and all this meant
that the Christians
were ostracized,
they were persecuted,
they were cast out,
some of them were imprisoned,
some of them were even killed.
Remember at the beginning
that it says
to the church in Smyrna,
it says you're slandered
by the Israelites
because you say
Jesus is Lord,
but you're also slandered
by the Romans
because you won't say
Caesar is Lord.
And so for the Christians
in the small town of Smyrna,
from every side,
from the religious
and the not religious,
they are being ostracized.
In the church in Smyrna,
Jesus says,
some of you will be
thrown into prison
and some of you
will even die.
Some of you will be
thrown to the lions.
Or to the church
in Pergamon,
Jesus says,
I know you're situated
where Satan's throne is.
In other words,
you're situated in a town
where the cultal temples
are so strong,
it feels like you're
in Satan's very living room.
And so here,
John shows these Christians
that behind the hostility
of Rome on earth
is the hostility of Satan.
But that's not all
he shows them.
He shows them
that Satan's power
has been stripped.
That what they're experiencing
now is the final kicks
of a dying enemy
because Satan
is a defeated foe.
And so what are they to do?
How would John's writing,
how would Revelation
help these Christians
in the first century?
What are they to do
in light of this
when they go to the marketplace
or they go to social settings
or their family members
have turned in on them
and are ostracizing them?
How is the book of Revelation,
how is this man
who helped them?
Friends,
maybe it's a good question
for us.
How does this help you
and I
as you go to work tomorrow,
as you go to the marketplace,
as you are
maybe in social settings,
as your family
don't understand
your Christian faith?
How do we live our lives
knowing that
the spiritual warfare
is real
but that Satan
who is an accuser
and a deceiver
is out to destroy us
but that he's been defeated?
Well look at verse 11
because the answer
is given to us
in verse 11.
And this is the most
important verse
of the passage.
It says this,
Friends,
to be a Christian
at its most basic level
is to be someone
who lives
by simple faith
in who Jesus is
and what he's done
on the cross for you.
Knowing that our lives
and our hope
are not found
in the things of this world
but they're found in Jesus
and him who conquered the grave.
Remember when Jesus
writes his letters
to the seven churches
he ends off each one
and he says
to those that conquer
I promise life
and blessing
and abundance.
But how do we conquer?
How do we conquer
when Satan
is doing everything
he can to conquer you?
Friends,
how are you this week
not going to be conquered
but to conquer him?
Well remember
when Satan
tempts me to despair
and tells me
of the guilt within
I put a look
and see him there
who made an end
to all my sin.
The way that we conquer
the work of Satan
is not by looking
to ourselves
but to look to the one
who truly did conquer.
Friends,
when we see
that we conquer
his accusations
by trusting
the sufficiency
of Jesus
on our behalf
Satan comes to us
and says
Kevin you're such
a lousy Christian
God could never love you
you mess up
so many times
you're so self-centered
God could never love you
and my answer is
it's not true.
The cross of Jesus
proves it.
Jesus loved me enough
to go to the cross
for me.
I was thinking
about it yesterday
when I was
16 years old
I was a very
insecure teenager
probably more so
than the average teenager
and remember
I was 16 years old
and I was at this
youth camp
I might have told you
this story before
and I was just feeling
like I am a pile
of rubbish.
No one could love me
and if there is a God
he certainly doesn't
love me.
As I'm at this
like Christian youth camp
and there's a service
going on inside
and I walk outside
because I didn't want
to even be inside
the service
I was just feeling
so lousy
and I thought
God you could never
love me.
Anyway I'm outside
and I pray this prayer
I say God
if you're real
somebody needs to tell me
of your love for me.
So I'm standing outside
and I'm doing my own thing
and someone
a guy called Steve Wimble
he goes to the microphone
during worship
and he says
I just feel
there's a young man here
and God says
he loves you
and he wants to be
your father
and he wants you
to be his son.
In that moment
I knew that God
loved me
but you know what
in some ways
I didn't actually need
Steve Wimble
to say that.
All I needed
was somebody
to tell me the gospel.
All I needed
was somebody
to say
Kevin
Jesus loves you
enough to die
on the cross for you.
You see
how am I going to
defeat the accusations
of Satan
when Satan comes to me
and says
Kevin
you're a pile of rubbish
God could never love you
you're such a lousy Christian
how am I going to
defeat
how am I going to
conquer over Satan
we conquer
by faith
in the blood
of the lamb
knowing that
Jesus died
on the cross for me
yes I'm a lousy Christian
I know it
but Jesus loves me
enough to go
to the cross for me
and you know
sometimes Satan
will come to me
and say the opposite things
sometimes you'll say
Kevin
you're an amazing Christian
God is so lucky
to have you on his side
if only more people
could be like you
and Satan will come
and tell me
you're such a moral person
oh God must love you
so much
and you've done
so many good things
you must really be
in his good books
and how do I conquer
the lies of Satan
about what a wonderful
incredible person I am
I say Satan
the cross of Christ
proves you wrong
I'm such a sinner
that Jesus had to die for me
I'm so depraved
I couldn't save myself
I needed Jesus
to die for me
how am I going to conquer
the lies
and the accusations
of Satan
they're conquered
by the blood
of the lamb
by simple faith
in Jesus' death
and resurrection
and friends
that's why we take communion
the way Oscar
led communion
this morning
was beautiful
the reason we come
to communion
week in and week out
is so that every week
we see the body
of Christ broken for you
the blood of Christ
shed for you
remember Psalm 103
it says
praise the Lord
oh my soul
and forget not
all his benefits
forget not
he has removed
your sin
as far as the east
is from the west
friends
when the Bible
says forget
it's not like
we've forgotten
where our keys are
or our cell phone is
when the Bible
uses the word forget
it talks about
not being
the truth
of the scripture
not being vivid
in our consciousness
the Bible says
remember the gospel
it's not because
we've forgotten it
it's because
it's no longer
vivid in our consciousness
how are we going
to conquer Satan
it's by having
the gospel
the fact that
Jesus died
the blood of the lamb
has been shed for us
vivid
in our consciousness
let me see where I am
friends this is what
the life of faith
is all about
a Christian is someone
not just who knows
the gospel in their head
it's someone who
lives by faith
in the goodness
and the sufficiency
of Jesus
and his death
on the cross
and that's the way
we conquer the schemes
of the evil one
but
last thing
that's not all
because look at what
else verse 11 says
it says
they conquered him
by the blood of the lamb
by faith in what
Jesus did on the cross
but also by the word
of their testimony
even to the point
of death
now what does that mean
it means that
the Christians
conquered the schemes
of the devil
by knowing that
this world was no
longer their home
and that the things
of this world
no longer had a pull
on them
the desires and the
allures of this world
no longer seduced them
because they've been
so captured by the
beauty and the wonder
of Jesus
and the hope of the
gospel
that's how you conquer
the schemes of the
evil one
and so in this day and
age
the Romans would come
and say
hey you want to
preserve your life
just deny Jesus
and the beauty of
Jesus was so real
to them
that the word of
the testimony
they'd say
no Christ is Lord
not Caesar
even to the point
of death
the things of this
world no longer
had a hold on them
Christ so long
so had a hold
on their hearts
that they were
even in the face
of death
were able to stand
firm and say
Christ is Lord
that's how they
conquered the evil
one
friends this week
you can be sure
that the deceiver
the accuser
is going to try
his absolute best
to destroy your
faith
and to
rid you of
following Jesus
he's going to do it
through accusation
and deceit
he's going to do it
through
lies
he's going to do it
maybe through
tempting you
with comfort
and ease
that you start
to love
and hope
the things
of this world
how are we
going to overcome
him
friends the way
to overcome
him
is not by
looking to
ourselves
it's by
turning our
eyes
to the
wonder of
Jesus
friends this
week you
and you
at work
the way
to overcome
the evil
one
is not by
going to your
boss's door
before he arrives
at work
and anointing it
with holy oil
from the holy
land
right
that's not how
you're going to
defeat the evil
one
the way you're
going to do
it is by
having your
eyes of your
heart so
captured by
the beauty
of Jesus
that even
in the face
of opposition
in your
heart of hearts
you can say
Christ is Lord
even to the
point of death
that's conquering
by the word
of the testimony
to the point
of death
friends this
week Satan
is going to
try his absolute
best to destroy
your faith
to ruin your
life causing
people to turn
against you
causing people
to slander you
and talk badly
about you
causing people
to stab you
in the back
are you going
to get defensive
are you going
to fight back
are you going
to preserve
your life
by slandering
them back
or stabbing
them in the
back
is it in a
dog eat
world
dog eat
dog world
the one who
gets the top
is that how
you're going
to win
friends the
way you're
going to
conquer the
schemes of
the evil
one
it's not
looking to
yourself
not trying
to save
yourself
it's by
seeing in
your hearts
the beauty
and the
wonder
and the
faithfulness
and the
trustworthiness
and the
majesty of
Jesus
it's been
more enamored
and captured
by who
Christ is
in the
things of
this world
and that
way that's
how we
conquer the
word of
our testimony
even to
the point
of death
friends this
week the
deceiver and
the accuser
is going to
try and
destroy your
faith by
bringing
something beautiful
in your life
maybe some
romantic relationship
maybe the most
beautiful person
you've ever seen
is going to
come waltz into
your life
and you're
going to
think my
savior has
come this
person is
going to
make my
life worthwhile
and romantic
relationships are
good but they
are not your
savior they will
not save you
friends how
you're going to
overcome sin
this week
you won't do
it by promising
to be a good
Christian
you won't do
it by looking
at the Bible
and saying how
much can I
get away
with what
am I allowed
to do and
what am I
not allowed
to do
friends the
way we're
going to
conquer the
schemes of
the devil
is by
seeing with
the eyes of
our hearts
that Jesus
is more
satisfying than
any sexual
experience
Jesus is more
beautiful and
glorious than
any intimate
relationship
that Jesus
the one who
died on the
cross and gave
himself for
you loves
you supremely
to the world
and back
friends that's
the way you
conquer sin
by saying yes
to the beauty
of Jesus
that's conquering
with the word
of our testimony
even to the
point of death
in other words
the way we
overcome Satan
is being willing
to die to
ourselves because
we've seen how
wonderful Christ
is how glorious
and faithful and
majestic and
beautiful and
reliable he is
as we come to
a close do you
remember John
Newton he
wrote that
famous hymn
amazing grace
how sweet the
sound that
saved a wretch
like me I
once was lost
but now I'm
found was blind
but now I see
do you remember
that hymn the
final stanza is
amazing it says
this through many
dangers toils and
snares we have
already come but
it was grace that
has brought us
safe thus far and
it's grace that
will lead us
home friends many
believers think
that the way you
become a Christian
is by trusting
Jesus and then
the way you get
to glory is by
self-effort and
determination and
just by making
sure that you
don't mess up
but John Newton
is right the
grace that has
saved us thus far
is the grace that
will get us home
the way you become
a Christian is
fixing your eyes
on Jesus and
putting your hope
in him who died
on the cross
but the way that
you get to glory
and the way that
you conquer the
schemes of the
evil one is the
exact same way
by fixing our
eyes on Jesus
the one who
died on the
cross for us
friends traditional
religion will tell
you be more
disciplined be more
dedicated be more
moral go to more
church events do
more stuff
contemporary self-help
will say blow that
stuff look to
yourself just you be
free throw for the
shackles of other
people's expectations
do whatever you want
friends Jesus says
look to me look to
me they conquered
by the blood of the
lamb by faith in
Jesus and what he
did and by the word
of their testimony
friends you see what
this passage is
telling us that
followers of Jesus
conquer the evil
one by simple faith
in the one who
conquered him on the
cross the grace that
saved us is the
grace that has
brought us thus far
that same grace will
lead us home they
conquered him by
their faith in the
blood of the lamb
and the word of
their testimony let's
come to him now
maybe I can ask you
to stand if you
let's stand together
and pray
oh sovereign God
loving father
wonderful Christ
beautiful spirit
Trinitarian God we
come before you this
morning and
God our hope is in
you God for those
of us this morning
that have been
overcome by the
things of this world
either seduced by the
pleasure of this world
or been overcome by
the accusations of
Satan those of us
God that have
believed the lies
and the deceit of
Satan we pray God
that you'll help us
to fix our eyes on
you God we don't
we know these things
in our head but
Christ we need you
to open the eyes of
our hearts to see
your majesty and your
beauty Jesus more
than just a sermon
and more than just a
Bible study Jesus we
need you to come by
the power of your
spirit to come and
breathe fresh life into
our hearts and souls
God and to fix our
eyes on you God I
pray for each one of
us here this morning
that really we will be
those who live our
lives by simple faith
in the blood of the
lamb that God just as
your people were saved
from Egypt by the
blood of the lamb so
we too are saved and
redeemed and brought to
glory brought to our
promised land by our
faith in the blood of
Jesus Christ we do
pray that you will come
and apply this message
to our hearts God come
and lead us I pray this
week God that as
Satan does try to
destroy our faith and
take our eyes off of
you that God you will
by your grace and by
your spirit God lead us
back to your throne of
grace and help us to
fix our eyes on you
help us be those that
conquer by our simple
faith in the blood of the
lamb and the word of our
testimony we pray these
things in your wonderful
and your powerful name
amen